Diplomacy Magazine -- Chapter Two From: loeb@geocub.UUCP (Daniel LOEB) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 1992 14:07:00 +0000 Issue #279 of Chapter Two of the Electronic Protocol By Daniel Loeb (loeb@geocub.greco-prog.fr) March 27, 1992 Distributed via: rec.games.pbm rec.games.board dipl-l ------------------------------------------------------------- Electronic Protocol Games played on the Diplomacy Adjudicator ------------------------------------------------------------- **** TABLE OF CONTENTS **** PART ONE - Opinions, Letters, and Editorials: Austrian Openings Contest Results (Part 1) Judge problems Round Robin Startup I like to play ... England PART TWO - Summary of all moderated games on the Judge: List of game openings List of EP games on the DA For more info about the Judge For more info about the Electronic Protocol List of Gamemasters PART THREE - Report from the Battle Front Vittle End of Game Report ***** PART ONE ***** **** AUSTRIAN OPENINGS **** This 7 part series presents the Spring 1901 openings for each country. If you have data for any games that were NOT listed below, please send them to me. In addition, for the games listed below please send me any information regarding the final result of the game, and/or any corrections. Finally, if you have any commentary on openings not mentioned in the player's guide - please send it. Or if you have any short reputals to the player's guide send that too. SUMMARY OF OPENINGS FOR AUSTRIA ------------------------------- A Bud A Vie F Tri #Games Game Names ----- ----- ----- (#wins) Wins are marked in parenthesis 1. Ser Bud Alb 20 (1) (JUTLAND), Banditos, Blind, Cannon, Koursk, Land, Munk, nifty, osijek, portnoy, purple, Guadal, Berezina, Hastings, 1966AA, Quartz, Quebec, Radar, Xenon, Yellow 2. Ser Tri Alb 17 Manhattan, Drewids, Bach, warp, water (1b from players guide) Grossc, Hyperwar, khafji, Leipzig, Ludwig, Maregno, Mystery, Paris, rose, snorri, squid, stanford, vittle 3. Ser Gal Alb 11 (1) 100andup, Cubit, Dram, Fast, jutEland, (1a from player's guide) muddle, orange, sparrow, swift, turbo, (AJAX) 4. Tri Trl Adr 2 conan, spam (2 from player's guide) 5. Ser Boh Alb 2 acre, boadicea (1-variant from player's guide) 6. Tri Gal Alb 2 croatia, under 7. Ser HOLD Alb 1 lobo (1c from player's guide) 8. Ser Gal Ven 1 dppb 9. Ser Trl Ven 1 loeb9 10. Ser Gal HOLD 1 zounds 11. Ser Bud HOLD 1 sugar 12. other... 1x10 eylau, bolt, austerlitz, dppa, topple jade, asia, evolt, gold, king, Excerpts from the Player's Guide. --------------------------------- 1. A Bud-Ser, A Vie-Bud, F Tri-Alb unlisted 2. A Bud-Ser, A Vie-Tri, F Tri-Alb OPENING 1: "This is virtually _the_ opening for Austria. It is followed by F Alb-Gre, A Ser S F Alb-Gre gaining two centers. Austria should make no other opening without sound and sufficient reason. Here the burden of defense is left mostly to A Vie. What the Austrian player does with that unit depends on whom he distrusts most....." "1b: Here the object of distrust is Italy. (A Tri) can still defend against Russia if she moves to Galicia. As in (1a) however, the defense is primarily a guessing game." 3. A Bud-Ser, A Vie-Gal, F Tri-Alb OPENING 1: see above "1a: Here the object of distrust is Russia. The moves defends against (A War-Gal) which would threaten Vienna and Budapest. If (A Vie-Gal) succeeds, it may still defend Vienna or Budapest (if Italy slips into Trieste). More importantly, it offer the anti-Russian option of (A Gal-Rum, A Ser S A Gal-Rum). If Turkey is friendly (F Alb-Gre) may still succeed. Austria thus has the possibility of 3 builds! The Fall 1901 moves (A Gal-Ukr) is also possible. It's devastating for 1902." 4. A Bud-Tri, A Vie-Trl, F Tri-Adr OPENING 2" "This seemingly suicidal set of orders has on rare occasions given good results. If it succeeds, Venice falls and Italy is crippled. (Italy's (A Ven-Trl, A Rom-Ven) would save Venice however.) These orders might be used in the special circumstance that Austria is allied with Russia AND Turkey. The alliance strategy would call for the rapid destruction of Italy in order to hit France and break into the Atlantic. Even so, Austria is usually foolish to give up Serbia. 5. A Bud-Ser, A Vie-Boh, F Tri-Alb OPENING 1: see above Variant: "A Vie-Boh is marginal: if Russia is absolutely friendly, and if there is definitely an Anglo-German alliance against France, it provides good options. It will help preserve the Balance of power in the west." 7. A Bud-Ser, A Vie H, F Tri-Alb OPENING 1: see above "1c: This non-move may keep everybody happy, but it is very passive and not recommended. It allows the defense of (A Vie-Bud, A Ser-Bud) if Russia has ordered (A War-Gal). (However if Russia then orders (A Gal S AUSTRIAN A Ser-Bud) the result could be only 1 build or none in 1901!) **** CONTEST **** I have proposed the following contest related to the game opening series. People can propose up to three openings for each country. It is not too late to participate!!! Here are the rules... You earn 3 points each time opening 1 was used, 2 points each time opening 2 was used, and 1 point each time opening 3 was used. Here are the results to date (maximum number of point possible so far is 105): Contestant Points Freqncy Austrian Openings ---------- ------ ------- ----------------- Matt Ender 51 17 Tri - Alb, Bud - Ser, Vie - Tri TOTAL = 91 40 20 Tri - Alb, Bud - Ser, Vie - Bud 0 0 Tri - Vie, Bud - Ser, Vie - Tyr Pete Jennings 51 17 A Bud - Ser, A Vie - Tri, F Tri - Alb TOTAL = 75 22 11 A Bud - Ser, A Vie - Gal, F Tri - Alb 2 2 A Bud - Tri, A Vie - Tyo, F Tri - Adr Dave Cebula 33 11 F Tri-Alb, A Bud-Ser, A Vie-Gal TOTAL = 68 34 17 F Tri-Alb, A Bud-Ser, A Vie-Tri 1 1 F Tri-Ven, A Bud-Ser, A Vie-Tyr Chris Lopez 33 11 Bud -> Ser, Tri -> Alb, Vie -> Gal TOTAL = 68 34 17 Bud -> Ser, Tri -> Alb, Vie -> Tri 1 1 Bud -> Ser, Tri -> Hold, Vie -> Gal Torben Mogensen 60 20 Tri-Alb, Vie-Bud, Bud-Ser TOTAL = 62 2 1 Tri H, Vie-Bud, Bud-Ser 0 0 Tri S Vie-Trl, Vie-Trl, Bud-Ser Jamie Dreier 33 11 Vie-Gal, Tri-Alb, Bud-Ser TOTAL = 36 2 1 Vie-Gal, Tri-Ven, Bud-Ser 1 1 Vie-Tyo, Tri-Ven, Bud-Ser Next week, Openings and contest results for ENGLAND! **** JUDGE PROBLEMS **** (1) People in Bordeaux and in England have been experiencing some problem contacting JUDGE. Ken Lowe seems to have patched over the problem --- which is really a problem on the "other end". Anyhow, a big thanks to Ken! (See Ken or me for more info...) (2) More recently marty@pc1504.Chemie.Uni-Marburg.DE (Martin Brumm) reports some problems passing through DEARN. (3) Ken Lowe reports a problem with judge recently. Judge accidentally processed several games multiple times. Everything is ok now. Please check however that none of the players tried to change their orders in between the various results. In case of varying results, only the first one counts. Ken Lowe should be contacted so that the orders can be reset. Yellow has already been fixed, and Dedication points have been restored. Ken says: "I felt it appropriate that game "Spam" was the first game to start experiencing this problem. It was as if the judge were saying "Spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, baked beans, spam, spam, spam and spam". (4) From: skiman@leland.stanford.edu Reports of my death are slightly exaggerated! I have been on Spring Break, and I will resume control of everything by tommowrow evening. All will soon be well in Paris and other! -- Nawwar **** ROUND ROBIN STARTUP **** Are you interested in playing Round Robin diplomacy? This is a game where seven people play seven no press/gunboat games, where each person gets to play a different country in each game. If you are intersted in playing in one of these, please get in touch with either of the following people : Jamie Dreier (PL436000@brownvm.brown.edu) Nawwar Kasrawi (skiman@leland.stanford.edu) We would like to try to get two games going as soon as possible. These game would probably be very high speed, high intensity games that shouldn't take too long. So drop us a line. We're just itching to run these games. **** LOW COUNTRIES **** Ken Stuart <OTZJ@CORNELLA.BITNET> asks who ruled HOL, BEL in 1901. From: Doug van Belle <ASDAV@ASUACAD.BITNET> HOL has a queen now. BEL hasn't been independant long, so no king/queen Doug asks what the Dutch word for King/Queen is. From: Andre Verwey <andre@DUTEINH.ET.TUDELFT.NL> The Netherlands, have on this moment indeed a queen: Beatrix, and so have we had three Queens before. The situation for diplomacy is as follows. In about 1898 the last king (Willem III I believe) died, without a male followup, only a young daughter. So there was a period of an interim Queen : Regentes Emma, until ther daughter of Willem III could take the trone : Queen Wilhelmina. She has been the queen both during the First and Second World War. (During the first The Netherlands stayed neutral). In 1948 she was followed by Queen Juliana. As for Belgium. Belgium was in the 19 century a part of the Netherlands, but became independend in 1850. I don't know much from the rulers in that time, but they have a King now. His name is Boudewijn. I think that around 1900 there will have been a King too. Finally we have Luxemburg. That has had a Duke. (Many time the King of the Netherlands). BUt I don't know if you are interested in this very small country. Otherwise I can look for some more info at home. **** I LIKE TO PLAY ENGLAND **** (Part 2 of a 3 week series) From Saint George and the Dragon - No. 51 - Page 7 - April 13, 1980 Have you ever sat down to write out your preference list for the new game you are signing up for, putting Italy and Austria in their natural last places, and wondered how the GM manages to choose someone to play Italy and Austria when everyone puts them last? Well, it's time you knew. Some people like to play them. Have you noticed that some people are excellant players of Germany, but stink as Germany? The fact is that a different playing style pays off when playing each country. If you can identify the type of person you are on hte way to understanding what he will, and won't, do, and you are on the way to winning the game. England is a non-committal country. England can afford to lie back and not commit himself to anything initially. After all, A LVP-YOR, F LON-NTH, F EDI-NWG can be used for practically anything. England is cautious; he can wait to choose between France and Germany until he has seen whether either has kept his word. England must be a master of the convoy. More than any other country which at times plays as a sea power, England must rely on the convoy. The convoy is a sort of "army out of nowhere" idea, since for its most effective uses, the convoy relies on surprise. Turkey [DL: and Italy!] uses convoys, but he also has a land route. England also has a built-in warning system. To be attacked, he must be hit with fleets. The build of F KIEL or F BREST or a shift of a French unit from SPA-MAO is a sure tip-off. It's hard to pass these off as attacks on someone else, though your enemy will try. England has disadvantages too. If you are attacked by both your neighbors, you hope for help depends on the countries on the other side of Germany and France -- Italy and Russia. They are often involved in the east so heavily that by the time they can help you, you may not be around. But you again have the advantage of remoteness. 2 each of the 3 units France and Germany start with, the armies, must be convoyed to your country. France and Germany must build fleets, but too many and they leave themselves open to the other. AND there are only three centers in your home country. This may sound obvious, but it isn't. When you talk about attacking France, you are also discussion the 2 Iberian centers. An attack on Austria includes the Balkans. But an attack on England is essentially only an attack on England. Norway will go to Russia. Germany COULD maneuver to take it, but in so doing he would move around Russia so much that war would probably ensue and that before Germany even gets to England. Those are the basic strengths and weaknesses. The good English player is one whose natural bent follows along. Consequently, when you find someone who does well as England playing another position, you can make some generalizations. He won't take many risks, he won't fall for a wild idea which requires him to commit himself, he will usually wait for an ally to make a move before he does in a joint attack, but he is defensive and if he is playing an internal country, you can use the knowledge against him. That's the type of player who likes to play England. Figure him out, learn to identify him when he is playing other positions, and you have leverage. Next time: Germany. ***** PART TWO ***** **** LIST OF GAME OPENINGS **** No Moderated Replacement Openings. Unmoderated games openings include: Berekeley, Zippy, Blind, Elba, Mac, Lasagna, Belch Signups available for the following moderated games in formation: Meter, Kaiser, Dppe Moderated games in formation are at a low! Please volunteer to be a GM! **** LIST OF EP GAMES ON THE DA **** --- EXPLANATION --- Here is an update on games played on Judge. Each game is represented by a line of data (followed possibly by a line of comments --- please send me comments I can use if you are a GM!). The games are sorted according the the variant rules which are used. The 1st column gives the name of the game including a "#" if the game is a "private" or "unlisted" game. The 2nd column gives its Electronic Protocol number if available. If the game is published in another EP chapter (other than number two), then that is indicated after a slash. The 3rd column gives the name of the GM (see list of GMs below). The other columns give updates on this game in chronological order with the most recent entry on the right. The updates for a game in formation indicate the number of players needed to start. For example, -5. The updates for a game in progress indicate the season (F for Fall or S for Spring), the last 2 digits of the year, and the phase (M for movement, B for builds, and R for retreats). All this is possibly followed by the indication of the number of replacement players (-1), temporary replacements (T1) needed, or needed later on (*1). I'm listing the status of each game not only for this week but for the last several weeks, so that you can see not only where the game is, but how fast it is moving. Please tell me if this extra information is useful to you. --- LIST --- Name EP# GM Nov4 Dec5 Jan3 Feb4 Mar10 Mar20 Mar27 ------- --- -- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----- ----- ----- STANDARD RULES cubit 158 jdr S01M S02M F02B S03M dram 159 jdr S01M S02M F02M S03M evolt 161 jdr -7 F01M F01M S02M furlong 164 jdr S01M-1 S02M S02M gallon 162 jdr F01M F02M F02R hector 165 jdr S01M F01M F01B infinite 166 jdr S01M F01M F01B jugful jdr -1 S01M S01M karat jdr S01M S01M lot jdr -6 S01M meter jdr -2 marengo 129 scottb S05M F06M F07M S09M F10M S11M F11M Ita strong. Ger builds. Fra survives. Eng/Aus weaken. osijek 137 cebulad F02M S04R S05M S06M F07M F07M S08M paris 134 skiman S02M F03M S04M S05M F06B F07M S08M Skiman just returned from vacation. Meanwhile, Judge seems to have mixed up a retreat and move phase. Everyone confused! sparrow 133 casmacin S02R F03B S05R S06M F07R F09M S10M Austria and Turkey digging in to prevent English win. # normandy loeb -3 -3 -3 -3 S01M*1 S01M*1 F01M French game. Ce jeu (en francais) a vient de commencer. grass karl -5 -3 All press will be written in German. Spiel in Deutsch, alle Verhandlungen werden auf Deutsch gefuehrt. kaiser karl -7 -5 Normal game, negotiations in English. croatia 148 nick -2 F02M F02R F03M F04B S05M S06M Russia eliminated, Austria down to 1, Turkey & England in lead quebec 154 nick F02M S03M F03M FG and R attack England, Invasion of Britain expected soon! STANDARD GUNBOAT - Identities of players unknown. All messages are public. # khafji 138 skiman S03M F05M-1 F05B F06B S09M S10M S11M Fast pace. No press. Delays over a few hours unacceptable. France/Russia endgame. boadicea 147 pl436000 F04M F08M S09M S11M F12B F13M F13M conan 163 pl436000 -5 -2 F02B S05M S06M F06M dppa 167 loeb F01M F02M F02M ddpb 168 loeb F01M F02M F02B dppc loeb -5 S01M S02M dppd loeb -4 S01M dppe loeb -1 Play against a computer opponent (DPP version 1b). No press. YOUNGSTOWN RULES (10 players) Extended map including Asia and Africa. dien 124 jdr F09M F10B-1 S11M F11M F12M S13M S13R giggles dwiseman F04B S06R S07R F08B S10M F10M F10M Local ERIM game timor 160 nick -10 F01M F02M S03M Russia and Japan co-operating, France and China too? LOEB9 RULES (9 players) Spain and Scandinavia are added as extra players. eylau 153 loeb S01M F01B-1 S03M F03M S05M F05B S06M Spain and Austria vie for control of the game. GREAT BRITAIN RULES (7 players) Britain starts with 6 SC's but all armies! hastings 139 loeb F01M F03B F04M-1 S05R F07B F08R S09M Ger gains 8 in 2 yrs (3 from victory). Eng gets 2nd fleet. CHAOS RULES (34 players) Regular map. Each SC is owned by a different player. fontenoy 114/4 jdr S06M F07R F08M F09M F10M S11M F11M No elims this year. BS3 alliance reaches 23SC. iona 169 jdr -20 -13 S01M F02M F02R S03M 2 interesting convoys. Con->Bul (to avoid Bul->Con) & Bel->Wal 1898 RULES (7 players) Regular map. Each player starts with only his capital. bataan 152 dmb -3 F99M F00B F01R S04M F04M S05M CROWDED RULES (11 players) 4 more players added, leaving no neutrals. 7senuf jdr -5 -6 -6 -6 -1 S01M F01M emu mjmcleod S02M-4 S02R-1 F02M-2 F03M F04M S05M S05M MACHIAVELLI RULES - An economic variant of Diplomacy marketed by Avalon Hills vega cebula -5 -4 -3 U54M U55M F55B F55B Pope almost out. The price he paid for Florence was too high. dagger jdr S56R S57M U57R F57B-1 F58M U59M F59B poverty andre -6 -6 -5 U54M F54M F54B **** FOR MORE INFO ABOUT THE JUDGE**** For X: Send Y to JUDGE@U.WASHINGTON.EDU: ------ --------------------------------- (QUESTIONS ABOUT A CERTAIN GAME) More detailed information about a game: LIST <name-of-game> History of a game: SUMMARY <name-of-game> Regular updates for a certain game: OBSERVE <name-of-game> <password> Copy of variant rules: GET INFO.<name-of-variant> or GET PRESS or GET GUNBOAT (GENERAL QUESTIONS) General information HELP Update of the list of games above LIST More detailed list LIST FULL To be informed of all game changes OBSERVE CONTROL <password> Default house rules GET EP.HOUSE.RULES Other information: Contact me (loeb@geocub.greco-prog.fr) or Ken Lowe (jdr@u.washington.edu) or your game master (see list below) **** FOR MORE INFO ABOUT THE ELECTRONIC PROTOCOL **** To solve Email problems, contact one of the email wizards: swb@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu, andre@hern.stonemarche.org eisen@cs.jhu.edu, eisen@jhuvms.bitnet, or wcw27974@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu For back issues: Contact the archivist, jlitvin@swtec1.intel.com/John Litvin, or Anonymous FTP from 137.248.151.12, directory: /pub/incoming/Ep-chapter Other information: Contact Eric Klien (eric_s_klien@cup.portal.com) **** LIST OF GAME MASTERS **** Brian Bacher bacherb@physics.orst.edu David M Bowen dmb@bigd.cray.com dmb@sequoia.cray.com Dave Cebula cebulad@physics.orst.edu Karl Dotzek karl@adler.philosophie.uni-stuttgart.de Jamie Dreier pl436000@brownvm.brown.edu, pl436000@brownvm.bitnet Bryant Durrell durrell@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu Nicholas Fitzpatrick nick@sunburn.waterloo.edu Nawwar Kasrawi skiman@leland.stanford.edu Edward J Koll koll02@snybufva.bitnet Koll02@snybscva.bitnet Danny Loeb loeb@nestor.greco-prog.fr Ken Lowe jdr@u.washington.edu ken@milton.u.washington.edu Matt McLeod c9106225@wombat.newcastle.edu.au Michael Luft scottb@cs.utexas.edu Sean MacIntosh casmacin@atlas.cs.upei.ca John Aidan O'Regan J_ORegan%csvax1@iruccvax.UCC.IE Doug Van Belle ASDAV@ASUACAD.BITNET Andre Verweij andre@duteina.tudelft.nl andre@hlniob.uucp ***** PART THREE ***** **** VITTLE END OF GAME REPORT **** Game ends in a four-way draw: France/Germany/Italy/Russia From ender2@husc.harvard.edu as Russia in vittle: End O' Game Statistics Summary of game vittle through F1908B. Austria: Christer Borang d0chris@dtek.chalmers.se from F1903M: Richard Sullivan sullivan@erim.org England: Oyvind Bjartveit oyvind@jade.ab.ca France: Paul Kidd WISEMAN@phvax.physics.uq.oz.au Germany: James Codik Jim.Codik@EBay.Sun.COM Italy: Mauri Krouse mauri@whidbey.stanford.edu Russia: Daniel Priven depriven@ocf.Berkeley.EDU from S1904M: Matt Ender ender2@husc.harvard.edu Turkey: Keith Mortensen keithm@mips.com Historical Supply Center Summary -------------------------------- Ven Nap Edi Lvp Par Por Bel Mun Ber Swe Stp Mos Con Smy Rum Ser Vie Year Rom Tun Lon Bre Mar Spa Hol Kie Den Nor War Sev Ank Bul Gre Bud Tri 1900 I I I . E E E F F F . . . . G G G . . . R R R R T T T . . . . A A A 1901 I I I . E E E F F F F F G G G G G G . E R R R R T T T T R I A A A I 1902 I I I I E E F F F F F F G G G G G G E E E R R R R T T T R I T A A I 1903 I I I I F E F F F F F F G G G G G G G E E G R R I T T I T I T T A I 1904 I I I I F F F F F F F F G G A G G G E F R G R T T T I I I I I I I I 1905 I I I I F F F F F F F F F F G G G G G F R R R R I T T I I I I I I I 1906 I I I F F F F F F F F F F F G G G F G R R R R R I T I I I I I I I I 1907 I I I F F F F F F F F F F F G F G F F F R R R R I R I I I I I I I I 1908 I I I F F F F F F F F F F F G F G F F F F R R R I R I I I I I I I I History of Supply Center Counts ------------------------------- Power 1900 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07 '08 Player Austria 3 3 2 \ Christer Borang 1 1 Richard Sullivan England 3 4 5 3 1 Oyvind Bjartveit France 3 5 6 7 9 11 12 15* 16 Paul Kidd Germany 3 6 6 8 6 5 4 2 2 James Codik Italy 3 5 6 8 12* 12 12 12 12 Mauri Krouse Russia 4 5 5 2 \ Daniel Priven 2 4 5 5 4 Matt Ender Turkey 3 4 4 5* 3 2 1 Keith Mortensen Index: 10 21 25 30 39 44 47 56 60 * = 1 unused build. Index is the sum of squares of the number of supply centers divided by the number of players. It is a measure of how far the game has progressed. Personal Comment by: Matt Ender, Tsar of All the Russias, 1904-Present Good game, folks. 'Twas nice to take over a two-unit power and eventually wedge myself into the draw. Up