Diplomacy Magazine -- Chapter Two From: loeb@geocub.UUCP (Daniel LOEB) Date: Tue, 04 Feb 1992 09:01:47 +0000 Issue #272 of Chapter Two of the Electronic Protocol By Daniel Loeb (loeb@geocub.greco-prog.fr) February 4, 1992 ------------------------------------------------------------- Electronic Protocol Games played on the Diplomacy Adjudicator ------------------------------------------------------------- **** TABLE OF CONTENTS **** PART ONE - Opinions, Letters, and Editorials: DESPERATELY SEEKING AN OWNER Letter from Nick PART TWO - Summary of all moderated games on the Judge: List of game openings List of EP games on the DA For more info List of Gamemasters PART THREE - Report from the Battle Front Marengo 1908 update ***** PART ONE ***** **** DESPERATELY SEEKING AN OWNER **** Several people have complained that they no want to be on the DIPL-L mailing list, but they don't know how to remove themselves. Or that they want to change an incorrect address. Often this can be done automatically, by sending UNSUB DIPL-L to LISTSERV@MITVMA.BITNET, but when that does not work, the list owner must help out. Currently there is no list owner, which causes a major problem. If this goes on, then DIPL-L will have to be closed, and CHAPTER TWO would then only be available by direct mail to game-masters, and via Usenet news to everyone else. Those people without access to Usenet would probably not be able to read CHAPTER TWO anymore. Please volunteer to run DIPL-L. LISTSERV's HELP files indicate how to do so. Please contact me and NHART@MITVMA.BITNET if you are interested. It sounds like Nick Fitzpatrick is going to take over responsibility for the HALLOF FAME and ONGOING GAMES files, so we only need a new list owner for DIPL-L itself. (Nick should contact me and NHART when he wants to make the change....) **** LETTER FROM NICK **** From: nick@sunburn.uwaterloo.ca (Nick Fitzpatrick) (1) In reply to: > Are Games actually played through this list or are people playing via > EMAIL. Does anybody know about a Computer version of Diplomacy? i.e. > Computer plays countries not being played??? No this is a discussion group. Very little discussion though. All games are played be E-mail. For regular E-mail games, contact eric at Eric_S_Klien@cup.portal.com For E-mail games using an electronic adjudicator (and this is where most of Eric's games end up anyway) send the message help in the body of a mail message to judge@u.washington.edu For information on computers playing diplomacy, talk to loeb@geocub.grec-prog.fr or I believe Eric is looking for players, for an "Unrestricted" non-press gunboat game. Most games are restricted to Humans, the Unrestricted means computers can play, the catch is that being gunboat, their identity is a secret! I suppose that aliens can play, however I don't believe any do though being gunboat, who knows (2) Following up Danny's reply (20/12/92 Chapter 2) to Karl Dotzek's (DOTZEK@DS0LILOG.bitnet) letter to the editor. KD Why not list unmoderated games played on the judge, too? This would KD Make it easier to find alternates or temporary players. Some info KD about the progress of the games could be taken from the summary KD of each game (of course quite some editing work). If there's KD good press going on in this games, why not mention some of it. KD Maybe some of the active players could send in a review from KD time to time (doing the job, the GM does usually). DL I have published from time-to-time reports of unmoderated games. The DL problem is finding people to write them. Regarding the capsule DL updates. I avoid listing unmoderated games for several reasons. One is DL that there is no reason to expect they are being run according to EP DL house rules. Another is in order to encourage people to run and play DL in moderated game. Finally, this information is already somewhat DL available direction from the JUDGE. Actually most of the non-moderated games follow the rules quite closely! Mostly becuase when they don't, someone cries foul, and what else are they going to use to come to a solution!! For good press, (though perhaps overwhelming), observe the Gunboat games with press (like hide), though they can generate up to forty press messages a day when things get sticky! Just try not to mention to anyone that you have seen such and such in a gunboat game, identities are hard to keep secret sometimes. KD I tried to get the HALLOFFAME file from DIPL-L at MITVMA, but that KD seems not to exist anymore, it never showed up here. KD The other file of game openings is not much actual neither. Should KD be updated! The server at MITVMA was my first contact with the KD email dippy world, you can imagine how disappointed I was first, KD when I saw, that the files hadn't been updated since a long time. DL The HALLOFFAME and ONGOING GAMES on MITVMA are no longer updated. Is DL there any volunteer to do this? By the way, I direct your attention to DL an earlier article where I proposed that the JUDGE automatically DL create listings quite similar to HALLOFFAME. The HALLOF FAME (and perhaps that was your mistake, note space) is still available from MITVMA. The big news here is that I am working on a new version, contact me for a subscription! (And Danny, we will have to discuss how I can post to MITVMA, no rush, my REAL workload is slowing me down at the moment!) ***** PART TWO ***** **** LIST OF GAME OPENINGS **** Moderated Openings: Dagger - Venice (6/30) Unmoderated games opening include: drewids, iowa, zippy, gold Signups available for the following moderated games in formation: evolt, normandy, 7senuf, poverty, timor 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 Oct4 Nov4 Dec5 Jan3 Jan 19 Jan28 Feb4 ------- --- -- ----- ---- ---- ---- ------ ----- ---- STANDARD RULES cubit jdr -4 S01M S01M dram jdr -4 S01M evolt jdr -7 banditos 149 j_oreganS03M S05M S07M F07R F07R F07B over Black press is allowed. Summary next issue? marengo 129 scottb S03M S05M F06M F07M S08M F08M S09M Ita strong. Ger builds. Fra survives. Eng/Aus weaken. SEE BELOW osijek 137 cebulad F02M S04R S05M S05R F05R S06M The Juggernaut has stumbled, what will the FEGI do now?!? paris 134 skiman -4 S02M F03M S04M F04M F04M S05M portnoy 125 koll02 F10M F12M F14M F15M F16M F16M S17M sparrow 133 casmacin S02R F03B S05R S06M S06M F06M S07M Italy trys to play Kingmaker, England pulls ahead of Turkey. # normandy loeb -2 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 All press will be written in French. Le jeu sera en francais. croatia 148 nick -2 F02M F02R F02R-2 S03M F03M For beginners. Ger attacked from all sides, Tur enters Rus. muddle 150 durrell S03M S03M F03M over 1 day/turn game. Most/all diplomacy carried out on a MUD. STANDARD GUNBOAT - Identities of players unknown. All messages are public. boadicea 147 pl436000-6 F04M F08M S09M F09M F10M S11M # khafji 138 skiman S03M F05M-1 F05B F05B S06M-1 F06B Fast pace. No press. Delays over a few hours unacceptable. conan pl436000 -5 -2 S01M F01B F02B YOUNGSTOWN RULES (10 players) Extended map including Asia and Africa. dien 124 jdr F07B F09M F10B-1 S11M F11M F11M-1 F11M giggles dwiseman S03M F04B S06R S07R S08M F08M F08B Local ERIM game timor nick -10 LOEB9 RULES (9 players) Spain and Scandinavia are added as extra players. eylau 153 loeb -3 S01M F01B-1 S03M S03M F03M F03M Spain stabs England. Austria/Russia at war. GREAT BRITAIN RULES (7 players) Britain starts with 6 SC's but all armies! hastings 139 loeb S01M F01M F03B F04M-1 F04R F04B S05R Eng's exp force disbands! Ger takes lead as Rus falls in ruins. CHAOS RULES (34 players) Regular map. Each SC is owned by a different player. fontenoy 114/4 jdr S05R-6 S06M F07R F08M S09M S09M F09M Mun/Bel/StP alliance loses majority lead as Rom smashes through Iberia, and Lon/Lpl consolidate England iona jdr -20 -13 F00B F00B S01M Just started. 30 players share 34 supply centers. 1898 RULES (7 players) Regular map. Each player starts with only his capital. bataan 158 dmb -3 F99M F00B S01M F01M F01R CROWDED RULES (11 players) 4 more players added, leaving no neutrals. 7senuf jdr -5 -5 -6 -6 -6 -6 -6 emu mjmcleod S02M-4 S02R-1 F02M-2 F02B S03M F03M MACHIAVELLI RULES - An economic variant of Diplomacy marketed by Avalon Hills vega cebula -7 -5 -4 -3 S54M S54M U54M dagger jdr ??? S56R S57M U57R F57M F57M-1 F57B-1 poverty andre -6 -6 -5 -5 -3 **** FOR MORE INFO **** 1) FOR A PARTICULAR GAME: For more detailed information about game's current status: Send "LIST <name-of-game>" to JUDGE@U.WASHINGTON.EDU For the game's history: Send "SUMMARY <name-of-game>" to the JUDGE For regular game updates: Send "OBSERVE <name-of-game> <password>" to the JUDGE For a copy of the variant rules: Send "GET INFO.<name-of-variant>" or "GET PRESS" or "GET GUNBOAT" For other information (including house rules): Contact the GM. (See list below) 2) FOR THE JUDGE IN GENERAL: For general information about the judge, Send "HELP" to the JUDGE For an update of the list of games given above: Send "LIST" to JUDGE@U.WASHINGTON.EDU For a more detailed list: Send "LIST FULL" to the JUDGE To be informed of all changes in the list of games, Send "OBSERVE CONTROL <password>" to the JUDGE. For a copy of the default house rules: Send "GET EP.HOUSE.RULES" to the JUDGE. For other information: Contact me (loeb@geocub.greco-prog.fr) or Ken (jdr@u.washington.edu) 3) FOR THE ELECTRONIC PROTOCOL IN GENERAL: For general information: Contact the editor Eric Klien (eric_s_klien@cup.portal.com) 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 **** 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 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 Andre Verweij andre@duteina.tudelft.nl andre@hlniob.uucp ***** PART THREE ***** **** MARENGO 1908 UPDATE **** ITALY DOMINANT! GERMANY BUILDS! FRANCE SURVIVES! ENGLAND & AUSTRIA WEAKEN! Marengo continues to prove interesting. The big news for the past few years has been the steady ascension of Italy, now at 11 SCs. Is that rarest of results - an Italian victory - at hand? Germany also had a rare honor - losing two centers and still getting a build (his first since Winter 1901!) This was accomplished by losing his home centers, then having 3 (count 'em 3) unusable builds last year while regaining Kiel. Able to leave Kiel open this winter, he was able to build there despite the loss of two centers. France continues his naval peregrinations, vacating Berlin to sail the many lakes of Sweden. This fleet has certainly been well-traveled, having wintered in London, Belgium, & Kiel, in addition to Berlin & Sweden. What other scenic places remain on its itinerary only time will tell. The Anglo-German war continued to weaken the British. Germany took the unusual step of aiding the Italians take Liverpool, a German center rather than allow it to fall back into English hands. With the Italians entering the war, can English resistance be long maintained? The Southern Theatre witnessed another dramatic reversal of alliances when the Russians attempted to switch from war on the Austrians to war on the Turks, but this proves to have little short-term effect, as the canny Sultan had adopted a defensive posture, repulsing the Austro-Russian assault on Rumania and protecting Ottoman gains in Greece. Nonetheless, the Tsar was able to levy his first unit since 1904 by reclaiming the undefended capitol of St. Petersburg from the Germans. Meanwhile, Austria must wonder if its on-again-off-again alliance with the Italians is off again, as Italy searches for its next target. With a fleet in the Adriatic and an army in the Tyrol and a possible build in Venice, Italy is in strong position to satisfy irredentist pressure for Trieste, and perhaps more. In Winter 1908, this is Michael Luft, Marengo GM, signing off. Up