The "Forward Retreat"
Retreating is Sometimes Better than Moving
Delay Disbanding until Adjustments
Disband and Rebuild Instead of Retreating
Converting Fleets into Armies
Keep Home Supply Centers Open for Builds
The Value of Destroying a Unit
Waiving Builds
By working with an ally, it is sometimes possible to intentionally dislodge your own units to achieve a "forward retreat." While you are not allowed to dislodge your own units, there is nothing to prevent an ally from doing so. This can be very useful, since you can choose where to retreat after all of the other players have moved. In Example 2.1, Italy can only defend Naples or Tunis, but not both. Austria and Turkey are allied against Italy, and Austria wants very much to take a supply center this turn (it is Fall). By using a forward retreat, Austria can assure his success:
Turkey: Fleet Greece SUPPORT Fleet Aegean Sea -> Ionian Sea.
Turkey: Fleet Aegean Sea -> Ionian Sea,
Austria: Fleet Ionian Sea HOLD. (*dislodged*)
The dislodged Austrian fleet can retreat to whichever port Italy fails to defend.
But Italy has a trick you must watch out for. By lending "unwanted support" to the Austrian fleet, he can prevent it form being dislodged!
Turkey: Fleet Greece SUPPORT Fleet Aegean Sea -> Ionian Sea.
Turkey: Fleet Aegean Sea -> Ionian Sea. (*bounce*)
Austria: Fleet Ionian Sea HOLD.
Italy: Fleet Tyrrhenian Sea SUPPORT AUSTRIAN Fleet Ionian Sea.
Unfortunately for Italy, it is easy to block this defense too. The support will be void if the fleet is ordered to move:
Turkey: Fleet Greece SUPPORT Fleet Aegean Sea -> Ionian Sea.
Turkey: Fleet Aegean Sea -> Ionian Sea.
Austria: Fleet Ionian Sea -> Naples.
Italy: Fleet Tyrrhenian Sea SUPPORT AUSTRIAN Fleet Ionian Sea. (*void*)
If Austria doesn't want to move to Naples (or Tunis), then he can order his unit to Greece or the Aegean Sea instead. Either of these moves is sure to fail, but prevents Italy from supporting the Ionian Sea to hold. Whatever you do, you must not hold, since then Italy's support might succeed.
If you know that you're going to be dislodged and you don't have a clear escape route, it may be better to hold and wait to be dislodged. Then when you choose where to retreat you have the advantage of seeing your opponent's moves. Furthermore, trying to escape during the movement phase may create a standoff that reduces your options for retreating.
In Example 2.4, Austria knows he will be dislodged from Munich, but wants to push through the opening in the German lines to threaten the Lowlands. If he blindly charges into the Ruhr, then he might bounce with the army in Burgundy. Since you can't retreat to a space where a standoff has occurred, he would be forced to retreat back toward Austria.
Austria: Army Munich -> Ruhr. (*bounce, dislodged*)
Germany: Army Burgundy -> Ruhr. (*bounce*)
Germany: Army Berlin -> Munich.
Germany: Army Silesia SUPPORT Army Berlin -> Munich.
On the other hand, if Munich simply holds and waits to be dislodged, then he will be able to retreat to Burgundy or Ruhr, whichever Germany has left open. The general rule is to be careful of creating standoffs when you know you might have to retreat, since a standoff would allow one enemy unit to block you from two spaces at the same time.
Note that moving to Burgundy would also be safe, but doesn't offer any real advantage in this example (you never know, Germany might not throw you out of Munich after all). If the situation were slightly different and the German fleet was in Denmark instead of Kiel, then it might make sense to attack Kiel instead. By bouncing Denmark in Kiel and then retreating to either Ruhr or Burgundy, the army in Munich is effectively making two moves in a single turn!
Don't disband a unit which is forced to retreat if you know you'll have to remove it in the immediately following adjustment phase. By keeping the unit through the retreat phase, you make it harder for the other players to plan their own builds. Even if it seems completely irrational that you would retain an isolated unit at the expense of another unit back home, it is still possible that you would do so. Players who are near elimination are the least likely to behave rationally (since it is not clear what constitutes "rational" play in a hopeless situation anyway).
On the other hand, if you won't have to remove units in the adjustment phase, then it may be better to disband the unit and rebuild it elsewhere. You can essentially teleport a unit back home, where it might be better positioned for defense.
In Example 2.5, Italy is sure to capture Spain, but France wants to be sure to occupy Marseilles so as to be able to defend it next turn. But there is no need for Burgundy to support Spain to Marseilles, since if the move fails France can disband the unit and rebuild it in Marseilles anyway. It's as if the move to Marseilles were guaranteed. This frees the army in Burgundy to do something else this turn, such as attack Belgium.
France: Army Spain -> Marseilles.
France: Army Burgundy SUPPORT Fleet Picardy -> Belgium.
France: Fleet Picardy -> Belgium.
Italy: Fleet Portugal SUPPORT Fleet Western Mediterranean -> Spain (south coast).
Italy: Fleet Western Mediterranean -> Spain (south coast).
Another reason to disband and rebuild is simply to hide your intentions a little while. Let's suppose a unit is forced to retreat after a Fall turn and you wish to retreat to one of your home supply centers. By disbanding and rebuilding in that same spot you make it harder for the other players to plan their own builds. Or you might change your mind about where to build after seeing the other players' retreats.
Note that unlike retreats, there is no rule saying that you can't
build in a supply center where there was a standoff during the
movement phase.
If you have fleets or armies which you no longer need, it is generally difficult to convert them to the other kind of unit. If Russia and Turkey are allies, then the Southern Russian fleet is often of little value. Similarly, after conquering England, the attackers may find themselves with an excess of fleets.
There are two basic ways you can trade old units in for shiny new ones. The first is to have an ally dislodge the unit so you can disband it and rebuild it, as we saw in the previous section. You may even hope to have an enemy dislodge you by failing to protect the unit.
The other approach is to "borrow" a supply center for a year (either from a willing accomplice or an unwilling one). The new center lets you raise a unit of the desired type, and when the debt is repaid you remove the other, undesired unit. You can reverse the order of these events by "lending" the supply center for a year instead of "borrowing" it. The choice depends on whether you or your ally can spare a unit for a year.
If you're anticipating a build, be sure to keep your home supply centers open. If you want to build a fleet, make sure that a coastal supply center will be open. This may seem obvious, but it sometimes requires planning ahead. In certain situations you can use a self-standoff to defend a supply center while leaving it open.
Conversely, if your enemy is anticipating a build, try to arrange for their home supply centers to be occupied. Italy can often prevent Austria from building another fleet by simply keeping a unit in Venice and being a little vague about its intentions. The mere threat of hopping over to Trieste in the Fall may cause Austria to occupy it himself, blocking any possible fleet build.
If you can take the fighting to your enemy's homeland, you are likely to interfere with his ability to build new units.
Sometimes it is especially valuable to destroy an enemy unit instead of merely dislodging it. A unit which has pushed out far from its homeland is more valuable to your opponent than one back at home, so it is especially worth destroying. (This is similar to the concept in Chess that if you trade an undeveloped piece for a developed one then you are ahead by however many moves went into developing that piece.)
If your opponent's home centers have been captured or are occupied, or he already has a backlog of unused builds, then any units that you destroy won't come back for a long time, if ever. Destroying a unit in a Spring turn is better than in a Fall turn, of course.
The flip side of this argument is that some units are not as valuable, and can be given risky assignments which might allow them to be destroyed.
Sometimes it's better not to build a unit, even when you're able to. For example, if Russia intends to attack England and gets two builds, it might be better to build one fleet in St. Petersburg (North Coast) and waive the other build. This allows him to build another Northern fleet next year, even if he gains no new centers in the meanwhile.
A pending build can also be a good deterrent against a potential backstab. Rather than building a unit to sit at home, you can waive a build. Should the attack come, you can build the right kind of unit in the best position for defense. And if it doesn't, you can build the most appropriate unit for some new offensive.
Since it's usually quite difficult to remove a unit once you've built it, you should consider waiving a build rather than building the wrong kind of unit.
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