I like unorthodox openings too - as long as I'm not the one doing them! As you put it, Seboden, the unorthodox ones aren't commonly used for very good reasons. I'd rather play a boring opening move than get obliterated early because my gamble didn't pay off. Although - and Tai should take heart from this - by this stage in Diplomacy III there was a French army sitting in my Munich. It was most uncomfortable, especially with the Russians bearing down on me, but obviously I recovered from it.
I dislike it when games have very few options and the start of the game follows a settled pattern. For Turkey and Russia the Black Sea Bounce is nearly mandatory, since any other option means at least one country is too trusting of its neighbor. A Con - Bul is also exceedingly obvious, since no country can stop you having Bulgaria. Since a combined attack by Austria and Russia can eject A Bul, A Smy - Con is also quite obvious - Constantinople is also the only land route to anywhere, bar Sevastopol via Armenia. F Kie - Den is just as obvious for Germany as A Con - Bul and there are similar examples (Tunisia for Italy), but Germany has more freedom of action in going for both, one, or none of the Low Countries, or going east, et cetera, standing the Russians out of Sweden.
