France v Austria:
This variant is very favourable for the Austrian player as long as he knows what he is doing.
The most important supply centres to fight for are the Italian centres, Tunis, Munich, Berlin and St. Petersburg. All other centres are well within the power sphere of one power or the other and there is no use trying to contest them.
Munich and Berlin are Austrian 100%, Tunis and St. Petersburg are Austrian 100%. (long term)
The real imbalance lies in the short term, where Austria can take, and deny France the important SCs for a significant time.
Austria S 1901 A Vie - Tyr, F Tri - Alb, A Bud - Gal. Venice is not needed because it is important to get a fleet to Tunis at the same time that France does, ie. 1902. If Tunis is lost too early, it is hard to bottle up the Ionian.
France S 1901 F Bre - Mid, A Par - Pic, A Mar - Bur. There is no need to take Portugal too early as it is a waste of move tempo. You must focus on taking Munich, because once you take and fortify it with Kie/Ruh/Bur, Austria cannot get in, whereas if you are slow, Austria will get in and the converse is true for you.
Austria F 1901 A Tyr - Mun (bounce probably), A Gal - War, F Alb - Gre. Alb - Gre to ensure you have 2 builds, because falling behind in builds is very bad and you will be overwhelmed by superior forces. Taking Warsaw is the precursor to taking Berlin in 1902. Build A Vie, A Bud to continue your conquest of Germany.
France F 1901 A Bur - Mun (bounce probably), A Pic - Bel, F Mid - Spa. Spain will have to go south to contest Tunis, while your armies must hold off the Austrians. Build A Par, F Bre. Building F Mar is not useful at the moment; you need to take 3 supply centres this year because that is what Austria will get.
Austria S 1902 F Gre - Ion, A Tyr - Mun, A War - Sil, A Vie - Boh, A Bud - Rum. Your mission is to take Sevastapol, Munich and Berlin this year,and stop France getting St. Petersburg and Tunis.
France S 1902 F Spa - WMS, A Par - Bur, A Bur - Ruh, A Bel - Hol, F Bre - Eng. No time to lose, you have to take Kiel before Austria takes that too, and if Kiel falls, then Austria wins. You must also get fleets into Denmark and beyond to force St. Petersburg and try to get Berlin.
Austria F 1902 F Ion - Tun (bounce), A Rum - Sev, A Boh s Mun, A Sil - Ber. Three builds, F Tri, A Vie, A Bud. Fleets must start coming out now or France will overwhelm you with his 2 fleets per year.
France F 1902 F WMS - Tun (bounce), F Eng - Nth. and either support yourself to Kiel or force Munich. I would take Kiel because it's better to be safe here. Here you must go with just 2 builds, as with Bur/Ruh/Kie you blockade Austria already. You only need F Mar, F Bre. Moving to North Sea would allow you to stop Austria from stealing St. Petersburg. If Austria takes St. Petersburg, he will win before you can retake it.
From now on, Austria can definitely take Moscow, Warsaw, Berlin, Munich, Venice and anything behind them, for 16 centres. France can definitely take Tunis, Norway, and everything behind them. StP, Rom and Nap are the only ones that are really contested, but as it is easier for Austria to pour armies through Venice, and fleets through Ionian, into the Italian boot, Austria would win more easily.
More on the analysis of other 1v1 battles. And I hope we can find some more balanced 1v1 variants!