When playing Diplomacy, the only goal is to win. However, the game, due to the balance of seven equal powers, can easily be lost through no fault of your own. Good Diplomacy players know not only how to win, but how to lose with grace and style. This article discusses the art of the end game when your not winning and is based off post 1304 in Diplomacy World club on Yahoo Clubs.

Why is there an article on losing? Of course, nobody likes to lose. But if you lose well, you will build respect among your fellow players and improve your odds against the next game. You will increase your skill with fewer units so you can mobilize them better when their number is increased. Most of all you will make the game more enjoyable. Personally, I cannot stand players who are in a poor position and quit or turn in "standing" orders. Diplomacy is a game to be played and enjoyed, even in the worse situations.

Deciding to lose is not an option. Every game of Diplomacy is unique depending on players and positions. However, depending on your personal position, there are many alternatives to losing well. Here are some options and strategies that work

1) Throwing the game to a favored player. If someone has been a good consistent ally and there is still no chance of winning, it is always positive to play the game out to help your ally. This demonstrates to all the players that you are a strong ally, that you stay in a game, and it is enjoyable because you are on the winning "team". The Kingmaker role is always a good place to be.

2) Taking out the main aggressor. The rally around the flag scenario where you try to give the rest of the players a chance and attack the king pin. This puts you in a position of prime power and as a motivational leader. It can keep you alive longer as you become the peace maker, the strategist, the middle man whom without, the alliance would fall apart.

3) Taking out your enemy. This is not the same as 2. This is revenge, pure and simple going directly after whomever that jerk was who kept stabbing you throughout the game, with no reason to although you only wanted to be friends and now both you and they are hurting. It is amazing the annoyance factor of one or two units, completely devoted against one country. Imagine England who has control of Germany, France and the Baltic's, but still has a French fleet wandering in the North Atlantic. It will take multiple units to contain this enemy which allows those on the front time to align themselves and can change the balance of the game

4) Survival factor. How long can you survive in a game with three, two or one unit, not giving up until the very end. Sometimes my conditions are to survive past player x. As long as they die first, I don't mind dying.

5) Annoyance factor, when you continue to play just to annoy the appropriate person. One German (or better yet, French) unit wandering around Galacia, Budapest, Warsaw, Rumania, Sevestapol, Serbia, Bulgaria, etc. can annoy may people at once. Why stop then? In one game, I was England (owning most of Germany, Scandinavia and parts of Russia) with a strong French ally who owned the majority of Italy and Austria. Unfortunately one Italian Fleet was parked in Wales when all she owned was Trieste. Talk about keeping my attention.

6) Spy. Hey, everybody trusts the guy with one unit. Information can be traded to gain a center, especially from the guy who has twelve and nobody wants to talk to them. Information in a game of diplomacy can twist the entire game around. Use you position as the weak helpless player to learn and strategize. It can save you.

7) Ties, if you can stalemate a game, sometimes that is all you can do. Why not do it well. Lock the game down so nobody else can even think of winning. With good players it happens so to be a good player you must understand it

8) Re-conquer the homeland. Sometimes I am just happy with ending with what I started. It is not so bad to be a king of a consistent, albeit small, kingdom. There is also a certain amount of prestige to seeing the world destroyed and conquered, knowing that your borders held strong. This is particularly impressive when you are surrounded by enemies. Russia can easily win a game if Austria is a solid ally and it is not all that surprising when Russia gains their eighteenth center. What is more impressive is if Turkey is still standing strong with three units at the time of the Russian win

9) Cat and Mouse. You can learn about other players by having them hunt you down. A good player knows how to utilize on or two units. If you learn how to survive this part of the game, your one or two single units will be much more valuable when you have ten. It also gives you an opportunity to know your opponents. This is a valuable tool in future games so do not ignore this chance

10) Mercenary. Lackey. Help another player. Enemy, friend, ally and keep them in the game longer. It may mean your survival too. Also, if you can turn one country into a powerhouse, it may distract attention from your country, give you a chance to regroup.

11) Finally, above all else, there is always a possibility of coming back into play. As long as your alive, you may be able to regain centers and grow. I've seen players knocked down to two units year one and end up being a major player in year 07. It doesn't happen often, but not because of skill or ability, but because the majority of players would have quit right there. If you put up the good fight, you can come back and win.

The main point is that you must set your own victory conditions. Winning with 18 supply centers is always the glorious route, but there are have been six other players on the board. Once you set your own conditions for the game, you can have fun even with two units. Not only will you have fun, but the others will as well. Diplomacy is a game, and all games are fun to win, but they are much more fun when everyone enjoys and there are no sore losers.

Don Vana (vana_ad)