Like Great Britain, with its dispersed initial position, playing Brazil offers a player the opportunity to engage in diplomacy across the totality of the “Y” axis of the board due largely to the unique placement of a home supply center (Sao Salvador) on the Mid Atlantic Ocean (MAO). This enhances the relevance and immediacy of Brazilian entreaties to other powers, most notably Venezuela, Great Britain, and Argentina given the quick movement from MAO to both South Atlantic Ocean (SAO) and North Atlantic Ocean (NAO). From these positions, Brazilian Atlantic naval dominance is by no means assured but is only exceeded by Great Britain’s access to both the NAO and SAO. Moreover, Brazil’s starting size of four units (two ships and two armies) presents equal opportunity to lean to either the ground or the water in initial advances. In fact, many Brazilian players choose to split their efforts in equal two-unit directions, similar to playing Russia on the traditional map, even though others favor concentrating their forces against an initial foe.
Within this inherent Brazilian dynamism, however, lies potential danger for the immediate neighbor powers of Argentina and Venezuela. This is especially true for Argentina. With the relative paucity of nearby neutrals available to Argentina, especially considering the lone British fleet’s (Malvinas) 1841 plans, Argentina is usually eager to obtain a gain from either Asuncion or Uruguay. This requires discussion with Brazil to be assured of success. In the north, a similar immediacy confronts Brazil in Venezuela’s desire to discuss the fate of Manaos. While often less urgent due to Venezuela being often assured Georgetown, the issue occasionally becomes a question of choice in whether Brazil will “allow” Venezuela to take Manaos or have to be satisfied with only Georgetown. In both cases, however the “choice” can rest with Brazil giving the Brazilian player an initial advantage in negotiations. Finally, there is the question of Mato Grosso which is a strategic crossroads in the south and a critical location for Brazil. Any initial moves must factor in the defense of Mato Grosso. All in all, the position of Brazil’s neighbors in relation to their own force significant questions upon Brazil that must be answered and, if not handled skillfully, can result in undesired conflict that will hinder the advantageous strategic position Brazil enjoys.
PROVINCIAL CONSIDERATIONS
Mid Atlantic Ocean
As noted above, Brazil is the only power on the board with a home supply center adjacent to the MAO. This adjacency allows for immediate entry to a sea zone touching delicate waters of other powers in the same way as Great Britain’s does. It also affords Brazil the same power to outflank opposing players using these waters and threaten multiple rival’s provinces by moves from the MAO to either Guiana Current or the Sargasso Sea. Additionally, a follow-on Brazilian move to the NAO can open up access to all of Great Britain’s northern centers, an option that many players don’t immediately anticipate since players can assume that Brazil will remain in the Southern hemisphere during the initial few turns. Finally, a move to SAO can threaten both the Argentine and British positions in the south from numerous angles. The impact of these potential moves on Brazil’s diplomatic relationships must, of course, be considered but, from a purely tactical position, the Mid Atlantic Ocean’s geographic access is powerful and provides access to other parts of the eastern side of the board giving Brazil a unique opportunity to have access to SAO or NAO. Only Britain, again, with Malvinas and Halifax is in position to challenge Brazil’s command of the Atlantic sea zones in the early years.
From a defensive standpoint, the MAO also provides Brazil the possibility of standing off Britain’s attempts to destroy Brazilian maritime power in the Atlantic assuming that Britain opts use their northern and southern ships to counter Brazil and has arranged to do it without interference. Additionally, keeping Britain from making use of their southern possession(s), forces Britain to play from only the northeast corner of the board, greatly harming their prospects to win themselves.
South Atlantic Ocean
The SAO is the key position for Brazil in terms of its balance of power with Argentina. From the SAO, either Brazil or Argentina dominates the other on the sea in the Southern maritime region. To a lesser degree, because Britain’s forces are mainly to the north this is also true for Great Britain. However, for Argentina and Brazil, the question is existential and a point of likely conflict. The issue is often deferrable in the first year but becomes pressing in the second with the potential building of fleets in Buenos Aires (for Argentina) and Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro (for Brazil).
Mato Grosso
Up to this point, most of the attention has been upon the question of Atlantic sea zone control. However, Mato Grosso, a relatively massive province in the center of South America, is a crossroads of empires for three powers in South America (Venezuela, Argentina, and Brazil). For this reason, it should be seen as one of the few strategic locations on the map due to its size and numerous borders. This makes it critical to hold but hard to defend without consuming a lot of time and attention. Peru could also be included here. Fortunately for Brazil, these others powers usually have enough to consume their attention to prevent their focus on Mato during these first turns. Peru must grapple with Chile to the south and New Granada to the north. While they may push to Santa Cruz, pushing further runs the risk of becoming over-extended. in the early part of the game. Venezuela and Argentina do not have these counterbalancing pulls absent unusually early stabs by Chile against Argentina or joint attacks against Venezuela by Great Britain and New Granada. However, Mato is usually viewed initially by these players from a defensive point of view. Venezuela usually desires Manaos due to its contact with Angostura and Argentina, bereft of any assured gains in 1841, looks for the safety of Asuncion, if they seek that in talks with Brazil or on their own. The occupation of Brazil will be seen through that prism. On the flip side, Brazil has a strong incentive to garrison Mato Grosso for its contact with Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte. In sum, three empires are keenly interested in what happens in Mato Grosso to an existential degree and, for players looking ahead, all movements involving it, require context both tactically and strategically.
STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS
Thwarting a Venezuela-Argentina Alliance
The primary strategic objective for Brazil at the start of the match is developing a strategy for managing the relationships with Argentina and Venezuela. While geography isn’t destiny, Brazil will have to eliminate at least one of these powers to grow and, very likely, both on the path to victory. At a minimum, Brazil has to ensure that they do not work together against it. Often Chile is helpful against Argentina. Tempting Chile to go into Mendoza may be useful but Brazil has to be careful that Chile does not simply replace Argentina as a threat in the Southern Atlantic. If Chile is willing to remain focused on the Pacific while Brazil stays in the Atlantic, there is a strong synergy that could allow Brazil the opportunity to occupy the southeastern corner portion of the board with all of the advantages that presents. This will require negotiations with Great Britain in Malvinas and dictate a strong push against Argentina right out of the gate. It usually also means that avoiding a conflict between Peru and Chile is in Brazil’s interest as it leaves Chile open for a move against Argentina.
It is often very challenging to find a partner in the early years to move against Venezuela besides Brazil, with Spain resolving the issue of being intertwined with Great Britain in the Caribbean and New Granada very often in a sort of Anschluss like arrangement with Venezuela whereby the two powers simply look away from each other so as not to see both of their fortunes fall from fighting each other in the center of the board. The issue with Venezuela is more challenging, as noted above. There is always the potential that Venezuela will remain distracted by the situation in the Caribbean or tangling with Britain over Guiana Current and the centers on the coast. However, Brazilian and British cooperation naturally exist as Britain occasionally shows interest in attacking Argentina, being in contest for the tip of South America and may appreciate Brazilian assistance in the vicinity of Trinidad, and thus helping against Venezuela. This has the side benefit of keeping Britain’s southern ship less interested in contesting the South Atlantic and giving Brazil a chance to then make their own way for it in 1842, provided things go well in 1841 in terms of builds.
The Quest for Atlantic Dominance
Although the importance of the Atlantic provinces have been noted, it cannot be overstated how critical to establishing Brazilian regional hegemony that they not lose the naval competition that develops over time between them and Great Britain if Great Britain remains an, at least, viable power into the mid game. While earlier Brazilian stumbles in establishing control of the SAO and MAO can be recovered from, tenuous Brazilian control of these zones by the mid game is an existential problem and Brazilian efforts to dominate Great Britain in the maritime regions need to have been fulfilled by the mid game or Brazil will continue to confront risks to their largely coastal possessions in the homeland and likely the north coast of South America. This makes control of the Atlantic a long game of dominance that begins fittingly with Brazil’s starting with two fleets and a home center on the MAO. Brazil can cooperate with Great Britain in the beginning of the game, but If Brazil can see Britain broken through coalition with northern powers, the NAO can also break open and Brazilian naval dominance in the Atlantic can become almost unbreakable.
Control over the Stalemate Line in the Atlantic
Unlike traditional Diplomacy, this variant has few stalemate lines. One of them exists between the northern part of the Atlantic and the southern Atlantic provinces. Since Brazil’s home territories sit astride this vital chokepoint, it can be a leverage point in negotiations if Brazil can retain control of the region. This is especially true as players reach an endgame with partners. This part of the map is one of the few places where partners can guarantee that one player will not race for a solo.
TACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Moving from Big to Small on Land
Brazil’s large exterior land provinces of Mato Grosso and Para make for both an obstacle to land invaders and a call to move quickly through as Brazil attacks so as to avoid situations where it becomes difficult to marshal forces for a breakthrough on land. In terms of defense, existential situations where an adversary takes Mato Grosso can be both jarring and provide brief respite if Brazil has the land units in place to push them out. However, upon successful counterattack, Brazil finds themself with the same limitations their invaders faced. Being originally Brazilian land, it is incumbent on Brazilian armies to break beyond Para and Mato Grosso with land units quickly, whichever power they are targeting so as not to get bogged down on the advance.
Maritime Coastal Considerations
As noted above, it is critical for Brazil to control over SAO to best protect the Brazilian coastline. While the map provides for a buffer zone that can be helpful to avoid surprise attacks, it also makes deployments tedious and can delay maritime deployments outside Sao Salvador. This is why Sao Salvador the most important Brazilian center to retain. Although this buffer zone is useful, it also makes kicking out an enemy from these locations extremely difficult. Therefore, strategic considerations should incorporate the principal of keeping opposing units outside of these buffer maritime regions.
VICTORY CONSIDERATIONS
Brazil has one natural path for a solo victory which relies on occupying enough of South America with additional Atlantic centers to get to 24 centers. Other pathways, such as concentrating on the Caribbean and north after defeating Venezuela are possible but unlikely given Argentina would likely remain a persistent thorn in Brazil’s side if not an existential threat as Brazil became dominant. As for all South American powers, but especially Brazil and Peru, it is the domination of that continent that is the most obvious and safest path to a solo victory.. Brazil’s central position on the continent is both advantageous to this effort from a troop deployment perspective but also means that anchoring themselves from a relatively safe corner is more difficult while competition with Argentina remains active. Therefore, balancing maritime interests with the recognition that victory ultimately resides on the continent is the greatest challenge. Brazil’s size, besides its location, is also both an advantage and disadvantage in that size gives Brazil an easier time getting from point A to point B but also can lure Brazil to overextend by overestimating their ability to occupy the continent. Overall, for Brazil to be successful, they must find a way to dominate South America while assuring dominance of the Atlantic.
Upcoming Articles: Venezuela and Argentina
A really good analysis!
I was hoping this series wouldn’t be forgotten!