A relative newcomer to the hobby, the first issue of the Pouch I read was the Winter 1999 issue. Suffice to say I was in love after the first article I read. The most interesting article I ran across was by our esteemed publisher about a new Austrian opening: The Blue Water Lepanto. At a recent gathering of the Potomac Tea & Knife Society (PTKS) I drew Austria and Tim Richardson (also known in some circles as the Prince of Darkness) drew Italy, so I knew right away it would be an interesting game.

The base premise of the opening strategy, as Manus described the Blue Water Lepanto, is that it is totally an Austrian show. But Tim (Italy) approached me right away and asked if I had read the article. I said I had, but I was foggy on some of the details. We worked out our 1901 moves before our Spring orders were due so that we wouldn't have to speak after I "broke our deal." That way it would appear as if I had turned on him and we had nothing to discuss.

Negotiations with the other powers is critical to the success of the opening. I managed to negotiate a DMZ in Galecia with Russia and indicate interest in a long-term arraingement with Austria as a land-based power and Turkey as a sea-based power controling the Mediterranean & Black Seas. To cement our deal I told him that I would be opening anti-Italy, which to any independent observer that would certainly seem to be the case. In addition, Tim secured a DMZ in Piedmont (which he would break). All was prepared for our Spring 1901 orders:

So right now to an impartial observer it would appear that Italy is poised two get two builds but has to cover his home center. I look like I am threatening Venice. The DMZ in Galicia holds and Turkey believes I am trustworthy. Tim and I publicly acted as if I had violated our agreement. I told Turkey that I wanted Greece and avoided any discussion of Serbia. Convincing Turkey of my need for Greece was simple - if I am to carry on the attack on Italy then I need more armies. It is critical that you not discuss Serbia so that any bounce there can be shrugged off as a misunderstanding. Russia and I agreed to keep the DMZ in Galicia. Meanwhile Tim was busy convincing France that he did not have to worry about Marseilles because he would have to cover Venice. Our deceptions complete, we put in our Fall 1901 moves:

I have been told since by players involved with the game that it truly did appear as if Italy and I were no longer working together. Only one player may have seen through that, and that was Russia - but it wasn't apparent yet. However, after the moves had been read and I denied Turkey any builds in the Balkans save Bulgaria, he was none too pleased. I was able to chalk up Serbia as a miscommunicaiton. Russia held fast with Galicia, although he was now having some reservations in his diplomacy. Tim and I met again, judging our moves as more of a reconciliation publicly. Unfortuantely for France, he believed Tim and did not cover Marseilles. Tim managed to get two builds for Italy, an impressive feat only surpassed the next week when he managed to get three builds as Italy! I sort of knew he was going to go for Trieste, because he is a mischevious player, as evidenced through the rest of the game, but ultimately he knew (as did I) it would not go through so it was not a big deal. We set about our plans for the next year after he built a fleet in Naples and a fleet in Rome and I built an army in Budapest. We worked it out that I would try and hit one of his supply centers, which I told everyone I planned to do. He would move his army to Apulia so it would be ready for the convoy in the fall. I told Turkey and Russia of my plans against Italy and both seemed happy I was proceeding that way. But either they were on to us, or felt that it was the perfect time to scarf up some centers because Russia went into Galicia without letting me know in advance and he also supported Turkey's move into Serbia, which was bounced by my support from Greece for Budapest moving into Serbia. Here's how Spring of 1902 shaped up:

Obviously Russia was hedging his bets. He figured that either Austria or Turkey was going to prevail in this situation and he wanted to be sure that he would be in a position to hurt or help either side. He did that quite nicely and put Turkey into a panic. Obviously the dislodgement of my unit in the Ionian was a topic around the table, but my retreat was considered questionable. Everyone observed Italy attacking me and could not figure out why I would choose to use the fleet against Turkey instead of Italy. Italy's move to Apulia probably should have tipped them off, but Germany was growing fairly well, France was suffering from that growth and from the Italian invasion of Marseilles, and Russia and Germany were working together against England up north. As you can see, everything was set to convoy the Italian army in Apulia to Turkey. Unfortunately, the Turk was either clairvoyant or else he wanted to leave the Agean open for his fleet in Constantinople, or he was working on a long term plan that involved Russia sailing through Con in a spring year and then sailing into the Aegean to support his naval activities. (The last is probably most likely, as this player used this tactic in a later game as well.)

Eventually, we were able to get the Italian army to land with Russian support. Turkey was the only power eliminated in this game, which ended in a three-way draw between Russia (9 centers), Austria (8 centers) and Italy (7 centers) just before 1908. It had some play in it and Austria had a stronger strategic position on Italy and Russia, but who knows what would have happened if play had continued. The point of this article was to demonstrate how the opening can be played jointly between the Italian and the Austrian to the benefit of both powers. At the time of the draw, France was down to a single center (Portugal), and it was broken down primarily because Italy was able to break across Piedmont in the first year. This, in turn, was made possible by the Austrian feint toward Italy, which aided in convincing France of his security.

Summary

Let me know what you think or if you have different experiences using this opening. It definitely ranks up there as a strong, deceptive opening for both powers.

Derek Pillie ([email protected])

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