Multiplayer Diplomacy in Civ II by Techumseh

1. Introduction

In one current PBEM Civ2 game of World War II in Europe, Germany has dispatched a stiff note to France, protesting the French occupation of Belgium and warning against French aggression against Holland. In another game based on the Napoleonic Wars, Great Britain has meekly bowed to international pressure and abandoned Gibraltar! What has happened? How have these terrors of land and sea been reduced to peacefully resolving disputes in a way which falls far short of their military potential?

These are not exceptional situations. The forums are full of PBEM games which resemble the diplomacy and warfare style of the early 18th century - a city changes hands now and then, and few are willing to risk a major battle if it can be avoided. Caution reigns. The kreig has lost its' blitz. What's wrong? Is there too much reliance on negotations and diplomacy in PBEMs?

On the contrary, the opposite is true. There isn't enough diplomacy, or at least not enough diplomacy which is effective. Effective diplomacy is an essential ingredient in preparing, conducting and ending successful wars. In most PBEM games, without effective diplomacy there can't be an effective war.

2. The purpose of diplomacy.

Wars are risky and expensive. If you have to have one, you want it to be as short as possible and have a strong chance of success. To achieve this, a war should be planned from the very start of the scenario. You want to bring overwhelming force against your opponent so that the war is short, your losses are minimal, and the gains large. As Clauswitz wrote, the destruction of the enemies' forces should be your first objective, so as to destroy his capacity to resist.

In most scenarios, you won't be overwhelmingly more powerful than your neighbours. So you want to find allies. Start as soon as the game begins. Canvass all other players. Try to find out what objectives they have. Look for opportunities and threats. Decide who might make a good meal and who might be salivating over you. Don't jump at the first offer you get, but try to evaluate the whole landscape. In selecting a potential ally, you may want to consider a number of aspects:

First, do you have common objectives? For example, Germany and Russia would have a common objective in the conquest of Poland in 1939. Or in 1805, Britain and Austria might have a common objective in stopping French expansion . So if you're not under direct threat of attack, you probably want to look for a partner or two to invade a weaker civ. If you're under threat from a stronger power, look for others in the same boat.

Second, do you have complimentary advantages? A land power might want to ally with a sea power. A high tech power might want to combine with a larger but more backward one. Lots of units and lots of money make a good combination. And so on. If each civ brings something to the alliance that the other lacks, the alliance has more payoff and will tend to last longer.

Third, do you have similar style of play? If you're itching to march your legions into a neighbours capital city and your potential ally wants to finish all his recycling centres before taking on the nearest AI controlled city, it's not going to work. Be sure you have a common understanding of the plan and that you agree on the timing.

3. Good Treaties

The actual deal should be beneficial to all parties more or less equally. A negotiation which doesn't benefit each partner in roughly the same measure will create resentment and eventually friction. If one civ in the alliance is quite a bit more powerful than the others, it should avoid trying to minimize the payoff for it's allies.

Players should avoid making deals for the duration of the game. You're just kidding yourself. The best arrangements have well defined objectives. When these have been met, it's time to reconsider your options. If you aren't, you can be sure your erstwhile allies are.

4. Isolating your enemy.

Picking an enemy is something you should consider early on. If you don't take the initiative, someone else will. A weaker enemy is obviously preferrable, but with enough allies, a strong power can still be tackled. If somebody is much stronger than the other civs and growing fast, putting together an alliance to stop them is essential. Don't be shy. Once they've dispatched their current victim, they'll come for you.

At the same time as you want to find allies, you want to deprive potential enemies of them. There are a number of ways to do this. Here are three examples:

First, negotiate non-aggression pacts with other powers. Suppose you're playing a Napoleonic scenario as the French and have selected Prussia as a victim. You might offer Britain, Russia and Austria non-aggression pacts. They don't need to know what you're planning. Then, provided that they live up to their agreements, you could attack Prussia with minimal risk of intervention.

Second, try to involve your victim in a dispute or war with another power. Taking a leaf out of the real Napoleon's book, you could encourage Prussia to expand into Hannover which is British, while moving your own forces up to the Rhine. This would put France a good position to advance through Prussian controlled Hannover and on into Prussia itself. Under the circumstances, it's very unlikely that Britain would come rushing to Prussia's aid when la Grand Armee pours across the Rhine.

Third, if you have no other choice, bribe other powers to stay neutral. Give them gold, techs or even territories. If you can, offer future considerations. Once you stand astride your prostrate victim, the entire equation will be changed.

5. Quick wars.

Do everything possible to plan and carry out quick wars. If you get bogged down in a slug-fest, both you and your opponent will quickly decline in power relative to other civs which remain at peace. Make sure you have more and hopefully better units, and keep reserves. An empty rear area is too tempting a target for another player. Again, build alliances. It's far better to share half a country with an ally than to fail to capture any of it because of a botched offensive.

If you do get bogged down, make peace. Better to do so early, when you still have some strength and clout at the negotiating table. Appeal to your opponents rational side. His pride will be on the line and he may want to fight to the bitter end. In the long run, it's probably in his best interest to cut a deal. As negotiations progress, keep up a vigourous diplomatic offensive. You may still find a new ally willing to take advantage of your opponents embarrasment.

6. Diplomacy for a strong power.

A strong power needs alliances as much as weaker ones. Don't disregard small powers. They can be useful allies or awkward enemies.

As a rising superpower, you want to delay as long as possible the day that everyone realizes that you are the only real threat. Your goal is to build up your strength and that of your allies at the expense of others, all the while trying to widen the gap between yourself and your friends. Think of ways to keep your allies at odds with each other, if you can. You should be the glue of the alliance for as long as it exists.

7. Diplomacy for a weak power.

As a weak power, the need for alliances is especially critical. Find a protector if you can, preferrably one that also finds you useful. If your stronger ally agrees to aid you in the event you are attacked by a third party, make sure everyone knows about it.

Stick with your ally as long as you can. This is one situation where loyalty pays. A small power that's treacherous has a pretty short life expectancy. Try to avoid getting into wars where you are the front line. Small powers need to be more conservative than larger powers. Caution and patience are required. Work your way up to a mid-strength power.

8. Negotiation vs. Propaganda

There's a difference between diplomacy and propaganda. Diplomacy should be conducted between players privately, via PMs or email. Many inexperienced players think that negotiations should be conducted on the forums, in full view of all players. Shun them. They will do almost as much damage to you as they do themselves.

The forums are used for general communication about the game, ie. rule amendments, finding replacement players and for posting save games. Everything else posted on the forums is PROPAGANDA! Even the entertaining dipatches some of us like to post are pure propaganda. Be sure to use the forums to get your message out. By all means let people know what you're up to and some of what you're thinking. The best propaganda is often (mostly) true. If another player is trying to sway the group in a way that's contrary to your interests, you had better weigh in and counteract him.

9. Big picture thinking.

All other things being equal, the player who looks at the big picture right from the start will be ahead. You should develop an overall plan for the entire game early on, and then revise it regularly as you move through the game. If you're Germany in 1939, think past the conquest of France. Are you going to try to make peace with Britain? Attack Russia? Convince Russia to help you finish off Britain? The answers to these questions may influence how you deal with Italy, Spain and/or Turkey even before you roll into Paris.

10.Playing to win.

I think some people fall into an inactive and over-cautious pattern because they don't want to ruin someone else's game. So they hold back. I'm reminded of Gen. George Patton's famous quote: "No poor bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. Wars are won by making the other poor bastard die for his country." The objective of a PBEM is not to have the other guy have a lot of fun. It's for you to have a lot of fun. And the best way to have fun is to win.