The Hedgehog is the name of a well-known opening strategy for Austria-Hungary in the Diplomacy board game. It became known to the public in November 1976, when Richard Sharp published an article describing it in a Diplomacy magazine.
As most veteran Diplomacy players will agree, Austria-Hungary is infamous for being eliminated early in the game. The premise of the Hedgehog is that because of this tendency for fast death, Austria's primary goal is to defend itself. The Hedgehog strategy leaves Austria in a good defensive position, even if any of its neighbors should try to attack. Richard Sharp felt that the Hedgehog could ensure the survival of Austria until 1903, and that by that time one could engage in sufficient diplomacy to arrange further survival.
The Hedgehog strategy only dictates the very first set of orders submitted. There are a number of variations on it, each with their own name:
The "Classic" Hedgehog
This was the original Hedgehog strategy outlined in Sharp's article. His only dissatisfaction with it was with the army in Budapest. Russia almost always orders its unit in Sevastopol to Rumania, which would mean that the army in Budapest would not be able to move into Rumania. Thus he invented...
The Southern Hedgehog
This was also suggested in Sharp's article. He altered the Budapest order, instead moving the army to Serbia. This move is guaranteed to succeed, because no other country can reach that territory on the first turn. This was Richard Sharp's preferred opening for Austria.
The Great Northern Hedgehog (aka Hedgehog, Alpine Variation)
Also outlined in Sharp's article, this strategy was not recommended. He offered it up, but then dismissed it as leaving Austria to open to attack from Italy and/or Russia.
The Turkish Hedgehog (aka Sharp's Opening or Soak's Bane)
The Turkish Hedgehog was published by Nicholas Whyte in October 1985. Turkey doesn't really need a hedgehog strategy, at least in the sense that they have no worries of early elimination. Turkey is one of the most difficult countries to eliminate, due to their defensible position in the corner of the board. In fact, this strategy really does not have much in common with the Austrian Hedgehog, save the name, which Whyte probably chose solely for recognition purposes.
Other Hedgehogs
Perusing through the openings library on www.diplom.org, I found a few other Hedgehog openings that I had not heard of before, all of which were named by Richard Sharp:
Hedgehog, Porcupine Variation
Hedgehog, Dead Porcupine Variation
Hedehog, Fisher's Folly Variation
Not Everyone Likes Hedgehogs...
Prior to Sharp's 1976 article, the Hedgehog opening had rarely been used. According to Sharp, in the 313 postal Diplomacy games he had on record, the Hedgehog had only been tried 3 times and the Southern Hedgehog had been tried 4 times. Almost three years later, an April 1980, Richard Hucknall published an article discussing the Hedgehog opening. At that time, Hucknall reported that the Hedgehog opening had become so popular that it was the standard Austrian opening. After having seen it in action many times, Hucknall concluded that it was not a favorable opening after all. It was too warlike, and it limited how much the Austrian player could gain. Hucknall argued that Austria would be better off securing diplomatic agreements with its neighbors, rather than assuming they would all be attacking. Only as a last resort should the Hedgehog be used, argued Hucknall.
Conclusion
The Hedgehog variations are still employed today, in all of their forms, although some are more popular than others. In a debate of opening strategies for Diplomacy, rarely is there a definitive final word.
To learn more about the Hedgehog, I suggest the following sources. I consulted them during the creation of this writeup.
- http://www.diplomacy-archive.com/resources/strategy/articles/hedgehog.htm
- http://www.diplomacy-archive.com/resources/strategy/articles/hedgehog-asset.htm
- http://www.diplomacy-archive.com/resources/strategy/articles/turkish_hedghog.htm
- http://www.diplom.org/Online/Openings/