Diplomacy Magazine -- Chapter Two From: loeb@geocub.UUCP (Daniel LOEB) Date: Mon, 04 Nov 1991 10:21:53 +0000 Issue #262 of Chapter Two of the Electronic Protocol By Daniel Loeb (loeb@geocub.greco-prog.fr) November 4, 1991 ------------------------------------------------------------- Electronic Protocol Games played on the Diplomacy Adjudicator ------------------------------------------------------------- **** TABLE OF CONTENTS **** (this one is long!) Contest Mailer Problems Hall of Fame Diplomacy Programming Project: Index Reprint from Chap7: Judge Paris update Cloak and Dagger Update Letter: Unmoderated Games Letter: How do I GM? Replies to conversation with Crawford on CD List of game openings List of EP games on the DA List of Gamemasters Fontenoy Update Berezina End of Game Summaries by Judge by Italy, by England **** CONTEST **** Julian West gave me the idea for a few more puzzles: 1) Connect the supply centers on a diplomacy map with lines, so that there is a path (not necessarily direct) between any two supply centers. What arrangement minimizes the total length of all the lines? 2) What is the shortest path that allows a salesman to visit every supply center? (Give the total length here as well.) (This puzzle is not the same as puzzle 1.) 3) How many seas and provinces on the diplomacy map have you visitted during your life? I will post all answers and give honors to the winner. You do not get credit for a land province if you passed over it in a plane or passed through it in a train without leaving the airport or train station. To get credit for a sea, you must have either swum or ridden in a boat in that sea. Answers and responses in a latter issue. **** MAILER PROBLEMS **** From last Saturday until recently, mail hasn't been working well here in Bordeaux. Please resend any mail I haven't replied to. Moreover, for those getting this chapter directly mailed to them. I'm not sure this service was working. Please tell me if you received this message directly from LOEB (not via DIPL-L or REC.GAMES.PBM) **** HALL OF FAME **** It would be nice to keep a list of all diplomacy game players along with information on what games they are in, or have played in and what was the end result. Cross-references would be used for draws and replacements. This way we could find out who the best players were. We could prevent players from allying together in game after game, and we could see when players have resigned from their games. **** DIPLOMACY PROGRAMMING PROJECT : INDEX **** Updated: 21 October 1991 The Diplomacy Programming Project hopes to design programs that play diplomacy and actually negotiate with each other. We have already written an interface to be used by the programs (Diplomats) and determined a protocol to be followed. A group of Israelis have written a diplomat based mostly on negotiation. I and Michael Hall have written a plan for a diplomat based mostly on strategy. We hope to implement a strategy this year in Bordeaux. Other groups in Holland, France, and the US might also write diplomats. In August 1992, we could then include diplomacy as a competition in the 4th Computer Olympiad. Thanks for your interest in the Diplomacy Programming Project. The best way I can tell you more about it, is to send you a sample of some of the files relating to the project.... (The files I didn't send, you can request directly from me). Please tell me if you want me to put you on the mailing list for future reports. I hope you decide to join us, and possibly write a program for use with the project. LIST OF FILES ------------- name topic art.tex A better version of "hall.article" (in publication) conversations An appendix to "protocol" giving examples of syntax course How to get credit for your participation dea.tex A proposal (in French, latex format) for a Master's thesis regarding this project dipl.sml The Diplomat Interface progress written in LCS Program is in many parts including: datatypes.sml declarations dipl.bugs list of bugs to fix dipl.comments general comments about the program draw.sml handling of the DRW command endofturn.sml production and distribution of results general.sml a package of general purpose functions init.sml initialisation routines map the standard diplomacy map map.sml the parts of init.sml which depend on the map process.sml the "front-end" of the program rules AH rulebook with commentary regarding DPP strings.sml string "beautification" package submit.sml handling of the SUB command how.to.get.lcs Ad for LCS (the language dipl.sml is written in) impartial Article on multiplayer impartial game intro First proposal for DPP maas1 Report on Diplomacy Talk in Maastricht (w/bibliography) poker Poker Programming Project version of article.tex protocol The language in which Diplomats communicate snake Rules for a simple multiplayer game strategy A VERY simple diplomacy strategy table.of.con... This letter update.... progress reports SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY --------------------- The following, is a selected bibliography. I can send photocopies to people who want to make "fair use" of certain of these articles which they can not otherwise obtain, and if marked with a *. Au: Sarit Kraus, Daniel Lehmann, Eithan Ephrati (*) Ti: An Automated Diplomacy Player Jo: Heuristic Programming in Artificial Intelligence Ed: D N L Levy, D F Beal Pu: Ellis Horwood 1989 Pa: 136-153 Au: Michael Hall and Daniel Loeb (*) Ti: Thoughts on Programming a Diplomat Jo: Heuristic Programming in Artificial Intelligence, 1991, To Appear Au: Davis and Smith Ti: Negotiation as a metaphore for distributed problem solving Jo: Artificial Intelligence 20, 63-109, 1983 Au: Kraus Ephrati and Lehmann Ti: Evaluation of Suggestions during Automated Negotiations Jo: Proc of the 11th Cognitive Science Conference, 1989 Au: Kraus Ephrati and Lehmann Ti: Using Interaction Goal-processes for automated negotiation Jo: Proc of the 4th International Symposium for Intelligent Systems 1989 Au: Kraus and Lehmann Ti: Automated Negotiator Jo: Technical Report 88-7, Leibniz Center for CS, Hebrew University, 1988 Au: Kraus and Lehmann Ti: Diplomat, an agent in a multi-agent environment: an overview Jo: Proc of the 7th annual IEEE Phoenix Conf on Computers and Communication 434-438, 1988 Au: Rosenschein and Genesereth Ti: Deals among Rational Agents Jo: Proc of the 9th International Joint Conference on AI, pp. 91-99 Au: Sarit Kraus and Daniel Lehmann (*) Ti: Designing and Building an Automated Negociator Jo: SUBMITTED TO Computational Intelligence Au: Sarit Kraus and Daniel Lehmann (*) Ti: Knowledge Acquisition in Negotiation Games Jo: Proc of 8th Congress of Cybertenics and Systems, TO APPEAR Ed: F Geyer Au: Sarit Kraus and Daniel Lehmann (*) Ti: Negotiation in a Non-Cooperative Environment Jo: TO APPEAR in J.E.T.A.I. **** REPRINT FROM CHAP7: JUDGE **** Letter from Michael Norrish <NORRISH@ST1.vuw.ac.nz> I like the suggestion that the volume of stuff actually published be reduced. This seems sensible, although it does mean that there have to be criteria for deciding which games are 'interesting' and which are not. Personally, I don't really have the time to observe any games at all so I just restrict myself to the range of interesting things that you put into Chapter 7. Obviously the players would like to see this stuff, but the rest of the world is not so likely to want it. If someone really does want to observe a game, then s/he can ask the GM directly for game reports. Michael Eric's response: I am moving towards having most of my games on Judge where a person can easily ask to be added to the mailing list. I only post what turn these games are up to as I can count on Judge on storing the information that I need for endgame reports. I can also count on Judge on letting me know instantaneously how a game is doing and I can count on Judge on not dropping out as a GM. My games that are completely human moderated are less reliable so I like to be able to watch them by checking out published chapters. Note that I love it when players send me e-mail notifying me that a game is having problems. If all players did this, I wouldn't need to publish any games. Letter from AMT5MAN@cms1.ucs.leeds.ac.uk/Mark Nelson Dear Eric, I would always prefer to play under a good human GM rather than JUDGE, although I suppose one would have no way of knowing if the `good' human GM was in fact just using JUDGE without telling one! **** PARIS: UPDATE **** Just wanted to let you know that although Paris was originially advertised as for edu netwrok only, that is no longer true. It is just a plain old Standard game. Please correct chapter appropriately. I assume that we are no longer going to be publishing detailed game results in the various chapters for the EP games running on the judge? My reply: The change in Paris is indicated below. Except for a few games (indicated below) their detailed results are not going to be published anywhere. Anyone can get info about them by sending the following message to JUDGE@U.WASHINGTON.EDU: OBSERVE <name-of-game> <password> So sending out the results to everyone is a waste of the net. However, I would appreciate articles to publish about games (moderated or unmoderated), or about the game in general. **** CLOAK AND DAGGER: UPDATE **** These games were set "unmoderated" when Ken left for vacation. Now, they are both being moderated again by Ken, so I have put them back on the list of games below. **** LETTER: UNMODERATED GAMES **** From: nick@sunburn.uwaterloo.ca (Nick Fitzpatrick) Just saw the latest issue of chapter two of the EP in rec.games.pbm, How come none of the un-moderated games are ever listed??? My reply: Basically because I am trying to encourage all games on the JUDGE to be moderated. I think games run much better that way, yet it doesn't take much work to moderate a game on the JUDGE. **** LETTER: HOW DO I GM? **** From: nick@sunburn.uwaterloo.ca (Nick Fitzpatrick) Well I've been floating around the judge long enough that I believe I can moderate a game (standard). How do I go about it? I assume by just creating it on the judge. Anything else I should know? Nicholas Fitzpatrick My Reply: I suggest you get a copy of the files MASTER, DEADLINES and PRESS. This gives you the technical information you need to know. Also, reread the houserules EP.HOUSE.RULES and my article on how to be a GM. After you've created your game, send articles about its progress occasionally to me and I'll print them in Chapter Two. Good luck on being a GM! **** REPLIES TO CONVERSATION WITH CRAWFORD ON CD **** From: Nawwar (skiman@leland.stanford.edu) By the way, I really liked your article about NMR. What you say makes absolute sense. The other guy was talking about non-judge games all the time, and obviously does not understand how good the judge is. I have really not had any problem so far in terms of games collapsing. From: nick@sunburn.uwaterloo.ca (Nick Fitzpatrick) Incidently in reference to you 'conversation' in the issue with Matt, it is interesting to note that a week ago the Youngstown game 'kiev' was terminated at S1901, because of it was impossible to get 10 people at the same time who were willing to actually play! Bad luck I guess . . . Nicholas Fitzpatrick From: /dev/null (Anonymous) If I were you, I would simply point out that the Judge games now run better now that a no-NMR method is used. I doubt this will convince him but it is a very good arguement since Judge is doing the same good GMing job that it was doing before, it is simply the new no-NMR method that makes the difference. This is a better arguement than comparing a human GM trying the two possible rules since human GMs vary in their performance. **** LIST OF GAME OPENINGS ***** Amazingly enough there is only one opening in *ALL* of the games listed below. Let's finally get Fontenoy back on track, and why not start up so new games while we are at it! (Of course, many of the games listed as in formation would appreciate signups!) GAME OPENINGS: Fontenoy I-Edi (1/1) GAMES IN FORMATION: Normandy, Cannes, Eylau, Iena, Bataan, 7senuf, vega **** 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 July31 Aug12 Sep4 Sep25 Oct4 Oct17 Nov4 ------- --- -- ------ ----- ---- ----- ---- ----- ---- STANDARD RULES banditos j_oregan S02M S03M S03M S03M S03M F03R S05M Black press is allowed berezina 92/4 loeb F12M F12B F13B F14M F14M S15R over See below for summaries by judge and the 2 co-winners jutland 112 loeb F04M F04B*1 S05M S05M-1 F05M S06M S07M marengo 129 scottb -5 F01B S03M S03M S04M S05M osijek 137 cebulad S01M F02M paris 134 skiman -5 -4 -4 S01M S02M Local game (Stanford) portnoy 125 koll02 S08R S09M F09M F09B-1 F10M S11M F12M sparrow 133 casmacin -1 F01B S02R S03M F03B tiberius 83/8 loeb S08M S09M*1 F09M F09M-1 S10M F10M F11M # normandy loeb -7 -4 -4 -2 -3 -3 All press will be written in French. Le jeu sera en francais. # cr**** 148 nick -2 Nick wants all potential players to contact him first He hopes to attract some less experienced players STANDARD GUNBOAT - Identities of players unknown. All messages are public. boadica 147 pl436000 -6 S01M F04M # khafji skiman S01M S03M Fast pace. Long delays (over a couple of hours) unacceptable. YOUNGSTOWN RULES (10 players) Extended map including Asia and Africa. dien 124 ken F06M S07M-1 F07M F07B F07B F08M F09M giggles dwiseman S01M S02M F02B S03M F03B F04B Local ERIM game PURE RULES (7 players) Reduced map with only 7 spaces all connected. cannes loeb -5 -5 -5 -4 -4 -5 -5 LOEB9 RULES (9 players) Spain and Scandanavia are added as extra players. eylau loeb -5 -5 -4 -4 -3 -3 S01M GREAT BRITAIN RULES (7 players) Britain starts with 6 SC's but all armies! hastings 139 loeb -4 -4 -3 -3 S01M S01M-1 F01M CHAOS RULES (34 players) Regular map. Each SC is owned by a different player. fontenoy 114/4 ken S05R-7 S05R-7 S05R-6 S05R-7 S05R-6 F05M-5 S06M iena ken -22 -21 -21 -21 -21 -21 -18 1898 RULES (7 players) Regular map. Each player starts with only his capital. agincour 120 dmb F07M S08M F09M F09B S10M S11M F12M France is nearing victory bataan dmb -6 -3 CROWDED RULES (10 players) 3 players are squeezed in, leaving no neutrals. 7senuf ken -9 -9 -7 -6 -5 -5 -5 emu C9106225 S02M-4 MACHIAVELLI RULES - An economic variant of Diplomacy marketed by Avalon Hills vega cebula -8 -7 -7 -6 -5 cloak ken S54M U54M-1 S55M S55R ??? ??? F55B Gunboat variant dagger ken S54M S54M-1 F54M F54B ??? ??? S56R --- FOR MORE INFO --- 1) For more recent information send "LIST" to JUDGE@U.WASHINGTON.EDU 2) For more detailed information about a particular game send "LIST <name_of_game>" to the JUDGE. For more detailed information about all games send "LIST FULL" to the JUDGE. 3) For information about the history of a particular game send "SUMMARY <name_of_game>" to the JUDGE. 4) To be informed of changes on an even more timely basis send "OBSERVE CONTROL <password>" to the JUDGE. 5) For a copy of the house rules, send "GET EP.HOUSE.RULES" to the JUDGE. For a copy of the rules for variant, send the "GET INFO.<name_of_variant" to the JUDGE, or "GET PRESS" or "GUN GUNBOAT" in the case of those variants. 5) Any other questions about a particular game should be addressed to the GM. General questions can be addressed to me or Ken Lowe. **** 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 Nick Fitzpatrick nick@sunburn.uwaterloo.ac 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 Michael Luft scottb@cs.utexas.edu Sean MacIntosh casmacin@atlas.cs.upei.ca Matt McLeod c9106225@wombat.newcastle.edu.au Jonathan Monsarrat jonmon@cadence.com Nawwar Kasrawi skiman@leland.stanford.edu John Aidan O'Regan J_ORegan%csvax1@iruccvax.UCC.IE **** FONTENOY UPDATE **** The game has now finally gotten off the ground thanks to a whole bunch of subs. Here is a summary of the game to date. (This is the 34-player variant). Recent Happenings: I will continue to compile these statistics since Judge does not yet automatically generate summaries from Chaos variant games. 3 more players were eliminated this turn (Mar,Smy,War) which brings our ranks down to 50%. All remaining players can thus be considered to be doing better than average. The Greater German alliance BS continues pushing their advantage with help from the English. The only remaining power engaged against them are W-Por and (for the English only) 4-Swe. The Italian alliance and Austrian alliance both involved backstabs which perhaps is not suprising considering the number of replacement players recently. This last while I,7,T,Y,P,3,Q,1,9 have all been replaced most of which lie in the Italian/Austrian sector. With their backstabs, Y and X both move to 3 supply centers. However, the do not yet seem to be the threat that Germany is since they have no allies helping them yet, nor for that matter do they appear to be working together. Finally, the Turkish alliance is falling apart to with Z-Ser backstabbing 1-Smy out of the game and A-Ank and F-Bul bouncing each other in Sevastopol. ***NUMBER OF SUPPLY CENTERS Bel Bre Bul Den Gre Kie Lon Mos Nap Par Rom Ser Smy StP Tri Ven War Ank Ber Bud Con Edi Hol Lvp Mar Mun Nor Por Rum Sev Spa Swe Tun Vie A B C D E F G H I J K L N P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1900 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1*1 1 1 1 1 1901 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1902 2 2 1 2 1 1* 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 2*1 1 1 2 1903 1 2 2 2 1 2 2 1 3 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 1 1 1904 1 3 1 1 1 1 2*2* 4 1 1 2 2 2 1 2 2 2* 2 1* 1905 1 4 1 1*1 2 2* * 4 1* 1 3 3*2 * 3*2 1 2 * Note: number = number of supply centers at the END of that year blank = no supply center left at the END of that year * = 1 change of command DURING that year ***OWNERSHIP OF SUPPLY CENTERS Bel Bre Bul Den Gre Kie Lon Mos Nap Par Rom Ser Smy StP Tri Ven War Ank Ber Bud Con Edi Hol Lvp Mar Mun Nor Por Rum Sev Spa Swe Tun Vie 1900 A B C D E F G H I J K L N P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1901 A B S D Y 1 A L I J B K N P Q 3 Q T 4 V W X F Z R 1 W U 4 5 6 7 8 9 1902 A B S P Y Z 1 I I J B K N P Q 9 S T 4 V W X F Z A 1 6 3 4 5 6 7 Y 9 1903 F B S P Y Z Z I I J B S N P Q 3 S T 4 V W X F 5 A 1 N 3 4 5 6 7 Y 9 1904 F B S P Y Z Z I 4 J B S N P Q 3 S T 4 B W X Y 5 A 1 Q 3 S 5 6 7 7 9 1905 F B S P Y J Z I 4 T B S N P N 3 S X 4 B W X Y Y A Z B 3 S 5 6 7 7 9 **** BEREZINA END OF GAME SUMMARY **** Judge's summary (see below for England and Italy's summary) Summary of game berezina through F1916B. Master: Danny Loeb loeb@geocub.greco-prog.fr Austria: Brian C. Cronk cronk@convex.csd.uwm.edu England: Brian Cadieux cbc0b@hagar5.acc.Virginia.EDU from F1901B: John Banagan ccm007@deneb.ucdavis.edu from S1904M: Michael Luft scottb@cs.utexas.edu France: Walter J. Collins, III wcollins@eniac.seas.upenn.edu Germany: Knut Mork kmork@ulrik.uio.no from F1914M: Steven Stuart stuart_s@ocf.Berkeley.EDU Italy: Al Petterson calsci!al%gvgpsa.gvg.tek.com@RELAY.CS. Russia: Magnus Selhammar selham@pdc.kth.se Turkey: Chris Chambers C.J.Chambers@stl.stc.co.uk 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 I E E E F F F F F F G G G G G R . R R R R T T T T R A A A A A 1902 I I I I E E E F F F F F G G G G G G R . R R R R T T A A R A A A A A 1903 I I T I E E E F F I F I G G G G G G R R R R R R A R A A A A A A A A 1904 A I T I R E E F G I I I G G R G R G G R R R R R A R A A A A A A A A 1905 A A T I R E E E G I I I G R G G R G R R R R R R A A A A A A A A A A 1906 A A I I E E E E G I I I G R G G G G R R R R R A A A A A A A A A A A 1907 A A I I E E E E G I I I G R G G G G R R R R R A A A A A A A A A A A 1908 A I I E E E E E G I I I G R G G G G R R R R R A A A A A A A A A R A 1909 A I I E E E E E G I I I G G G G G G R R R R R R A A A A R A A A R A 1910 I I I E E E E E G I I I G G G G G G R R R R R R A A A A R A A R R G 1911 I I I E E E E E G I I I G G G G G G G E R R R A A R A A R A A R R A 1912 I I I I E E E E G I I E E G G E G G G E R G R A R R I A A A R R R I 1913 I I I I E E E E E I I E E E G E G G G E R G R A I R I A A I R R I I 1914 I I I I E E E E E I I E E E E E G E E E R G R A I I I A A I I I I I 1915 I I I I E E E E E I I E E E E E E E E E E E R I I I I I I I I I I I 1916 I I I I E E E E E I E E E E E E E E E E I E E I I I I I I I I I I I History of Supply Center Counts ------------------------------- Power 1900 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 Player Austria 3 5 7 9* 10 12 13* 13* 11 9 Brian C. Cronk England 3 3 \ Brian Cadieux 3 3 \ John Banagan 2 3 4 4 5 5 Michael Luft France 3 6 5 3 1 Walter J. Collins, III Germany 3 5 6 6 6 5 6 6 6 7* Knut Mork Italy 3 4 4 5 5 4 5* 5* 5 5 Al Petterson Russia 4 6 6 7 9 9 6 6 7 8 Magnus Selhammar Turkey 3 4 2 1 1 1* Chris Chambers Index: 10 23 25 30 35 39 40 40 36 34 Power 1910 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 '16 Player Austria 6 7* 4 3 3& Brian C. Cronk England 5 6 8 10 13 16 17 Michael Luft Germany 8 8 7 5 \ Knut Mork 2 Steven Stuart Italy 6& 6 8 11 14 17 17 Al Petterson Russia 9 7 7 5 2 1 Magnus Selhammar Index: 34 33 34 40 54 78 82 * = 1 unused build. & = 2 unused builds. 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. -------------------- Italian analysis of Berezina: 1901: Nap, Rom, Ven; A3 E3 F3 G3 I3 R4 T3 I negotiated a neutral zone (Ven-Tri-Trl-Adr) and an agreement to attack Turkey with Austria prior to the first move -- boring, traditional standard Lepanto. He had also allied with Russia to take out the Turk. I had the problem of what to do with A Ven, since Austria didn't want it in Tyrolia. It wound up wandering west, then south, almost antagonizing France and generally being useless. The first year of English moves changed my mind concerning enemies. Turkey was well in hand, with both Russia and Austria trashing him, so I gave some thought to my western border. I believe the player running England in '01 was a bit inexperienced, and his failure to get any builds made him a juicy target for both France and Germany and gave me a lot less time than I'd hoped before having to worry about the Frenchman. 1902: Nap, Rom, Tun, Ven; A5 E3 F6 G5 I4 R6 T4 I could see what was likely to happen if the current situation stood. Germany/France/Russia would ally to take out England (Germany's build of two fleets made this intent obvious), and Austria/Russia/myself would take out Turkey. After that, given that the two strongest alliances were Italy/Austria and France/Germany, the Austrian and German would likely ally temporarily to attack Russia. This would leave France and myself as likely antagonists, and I didn't like my chances, especially with all the fleets France would build to take out England. Besides, France had committed an unpardonable sin by getting three builds in the first year -- I was determined to see retribution for this offense. I worked with the new Englishman to convince Germany to stab France. It worked -- I don't know whose diplomacy had more effect on Germany, England's or mine -- and my "out of position" fleets were suddenly denying France all access to the Mediterranean. 1903: Nap, Rom, Tun, Ven; A7 E3 F5 G6 I4 R6 T2 With my solid (so I thought) alliance with Austria, I saw myself going after England once France was out of the way. Visions of convoys all the way from Tuscany to Clyde became delicious daydreams. My dreams of glory were only slightly hampered by Turkey's lone fleet wandering into Naples -- fortuitously, the Frenchman concentrated on a northern strategy in the fall (thinking, no doubt, I would have to reduce my attack and bring a fleet back to the Tyrrhenian to stop Turkish wandering about my home centers) and I was able to take both Marseilles and Spain while losing Naples, and build a fleet to protect Rome. 1904: Mar, Rom, Spa, Tun, Ven; A9 E3 F3 G6 I5 R7 T1 Things looked rosy. I took Portugal and was heading past Gibraltar. Austria, in alliance with Germany, was engaged in pitched battle with Russia. France was crumbling. Turkey's lone F Nap was simply an annoyance which I would correct as soon as I got around to another build. Then Austria wandered into Venice in the fall. The Gamer's Guide has a whole section on when to stab an ally. The sentence that stuck in my mind from my first reading through to the present was this: "Pity the player who does not stab when a decisive advantage is to be gained. And pity the player who stabs a perfectly good ally in order to grow from a measly seven units all the way up to eight." After stabbing me in order to grow from a measly eight units all the way up to nine, Austria sent me a letter: "The Austrian resistance regrets the government's decision to invade Italy. The government is seen as being greedy, and may well pay dearly for it." My response: "They may well." 1905: Mar, Por, Rom, Spa, Tun; A10 E2 F1 G6 I5 R9 T1 The newest Englishman sent marvellous email. His flowery language and fresh enthusiasm (not to mention excellent tactical aptitude) helped overcome the war-weariness of the rest of the players. Austria, despite his curious strategy of opening another front when he was already hard-pressed against Russia, was growing massive and threatening. His continued alliance with Germany threatened to sweep the globe. Once again, I had to work to put an alliance together to deal with the new threat. Russia and I were natural allies. Where would England come down? Fortunately, he recognized that any attack on those fighting Austria would guarantee a win for the Dual Monarchy. He negotiated alliance with Russia, regaining Edinburgh, and helped Russia and myself convince Germany to switch sides (again talking Germany out of alliance with the strongest power on the board). As for myself, I lost Rome (believing I had no chance to hold it, as Austria *must*, so I thought, have had an agreement with Turkey to help divest me of my remaining home center. He did not, and so I gave up the center in return for better position.) 1906: Mar, Por, Spa, Tun; A12 E3 G5 I4 R9 T1 Knowing I wouldn't be believed, I told Austria Germany was about to switch sides, and made an offer of renewed alliance. Even after the stab took place, he was unwilling to ally. "Three on one will be a strategic challenge," he wrote. "The diplomatic option is no longer open to me." Even at thirteen centers, he was lost from the moment he wrote those words. Russia and England each wanted very much to bring a fleet around into the Mediterranean. I continued to turn down their help -- I was too vulnerable to attacks on Iberia. I finally retook Naples, eliminating the Turk, but had no place to build. Nor, it seemed, would I. 1907: Mar, Nap, Por, Spa, Tun; A13 E4 G6 I5 R6 I agreed at last to a pair of English fleets. England was clearly willing to do nothing in preference to making personal gains at the expense of the alliance, so I trusted his movement around Iberia. As he maneuvered around, I told him Spain and Portugal were his once he helped me gain four centers from Austria. He agreed enthusiastically and the alliance was cemented. I'm quite proud of my tactics (well, guessing) that fall. Austria had A Rom, A Apu, and three fleets adjacent to the Ionian -- two useful for nothing but attacking it. I had F Ion, F Tyn, and owned Naples. I had to guess exactly right to keep Naples vacant, as I was down to three units. You can read the move and find what happened. Every player on the board, including Austria, complimented me after the move. 1908: Mar, Nap, Por, Spa, Tun; A13 E4 G6 I5 R6 Austria was still at 13 centers, but the tide had turned against him. The English fleets moved in. I let him into Tunis, because tactics demanded it, and because I would eventually give him Spain and Portugal in any case. 1909: Mar, Nap, Por, Rom, Spa; A11 E5 G6 I5 R7 1910: Mar, Nap, Por, Rom, Spa; A9 E5 G7 I5 R8 Several years of war ensued, with Russia eventually gaining Austrian home centers but unable to build a southern fleet, and me retaking Rome and Venice and finally winning control of the Ionian. 1911: Mar, Nap, Por, Rom, Spa, Ven; A6 E5 G8 I6 R9 Russia was now the paramount threat; he was bigger than Austria and not likely to be reduced as things stood. For the third time, Germany was allied with the strongest power on the board and was convinced to stab him in alliance with other powers. The 1911 stab went very well -- in fact so well that England and I both became immediately concerned that Germany would sweep to victory. Austria remained stubbornly difficult to defeat -- he had regained Trieste, but the thought of him being able to leave it vacant and thus build was ludicrous. His moves this year indicated he was planning to make a last stand around the Black Sea, which suited me fine, since it meant Greece, Smyrna, and Trieste were being abandoned. I continued to cooperate with Russia in dismantling Austria even as my allies crushed his northern border. Diplomacy makes strange bedfellows. 1912: Mar, Nap, Por, Rom, Spa, Ven; A7 E6 G8 I6 R7 England stabbed Germany in the spring, and I did my best to remain friendly with all three northern powers as I made a slightly delayed Lepanto, convoying Naples to Syria. England and I made a prearranged swap of Tunis for Spain. Now it was looking like the Balkans would mostly fall to me as Russia and England attacked Germany. As I was about to dislodge the English Ionian fleet (which he would disband and rebuild) I found I liked the idea of being the only power in the Mediterranean. Without my interference, Russia would soon regain Sevastopol and might then start building fleets. Something had to be done about this. 1913: Mar, Nap, Por, Rom, Smy, Tri, Tun, Ven; A4 E8 G7 I8 R7 I nearly telegraphed my attack. Russia told me he believed I was attacking him after the spring move. On hearing Russia was suspicious, England offered to forego taking Portugal, which offer I gratefully accepted. At the same time, I managed to convince Russia I wasn't actually attacking, after which I promptly did, with decisive results. 1914: Con, Gre, Mar, Nap, Por, Rom, Smy, Tri, Tun, Ven, Vie; A3 E10 G5 I11 R5 The game was clearly all over but the shouting. Austria's total disinterest made it completely impossible for Russia/Germany to hold anything together. The conquest was to proceed so swiftly as to be anticlimactic. 1915: Ank, Bud, Con, Gre, Mar, Nap, Por, Rom, Ser, Smy, Tri, Tun, Ven, Vie; A3 E13 G2 I14 R2 Final maneuvering guaranteed me my seventeen centers preparatory to a draw with England. We agreed he would take Portugal and I would take St. Petersburg via an eight-sea convoy (to celebrate our dual win). 1916: Ank, Bud, Bul, Con, Gre, Mar, Nap, Por, Rom, Rum, Ser, Sev, Smy, Tri, Tun, Ven, Vie; E16 I17 R1 The GM was furious at the supposed violation of the spirit of Diplomacy, but the convoy went off as planned. 1917: Ank, Bud, Bul, Con, Gre, Mar, Nap, Rom, Rum, Ser, Sev, Smy, StP, Tri, Tun, Ven, Vie; E17 I17 The Holy Roman Empire officially draws with the British Empire. Al Petterson ---------------------------- Broadcast message from scottb@cs.utexas.edu as England in berezina: f.o. 1102/812 His Majesty's Government has already proposed a division of Europe into equal spheres of influence - communicating this desire to the beneficent Deity who rules all things - so its assent to the proposal of the Kingdom of Italy of the 1st instant is guaranteed. Thus the central objective of the foreign policy of this ministry is finally achieved - a balance of power on the Continent favorable to His Majesty's Government. At a result, this office is now free to publish previously classified material pertaining to the Official Mind of the Foreign Office. SPRING 1904 When this administration accepted the reins of command, it had no idea that the foreign policy crisis was so daunting. In three years of war, the previous administrations had made no gains, and the French were aparently willing to surrender unconditionally to the Italians in order to exact revenge upon the coastline of the British Isles. The French diplomats expressed a willingness to end the costly Anglo-French war, but British strategists argued that the British and French were deployed in such a manner that allied action would only lead to joint defeat, as the Germans and Italians could easily outflank the Anglo-French units. The Kaiser's offer of alliance, negotiated by the previous administration, seemed of greater likelihood to result in the continued preservation of traditional English freedoms, but at the risk that the Germans and Italians would continue onto the British Isles after the elimination of France. The Tsar of all the Russias made no response to British diplomatic inquiries, in contrast to the helpful attitude of the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary, which transmitted useful information as to the personalities and attitudes of the Crowned Heads of Europe. Yet, with war raging between the Russian Empire and the Dual Monarchy, this office could expect little aid or hostility from the Russian bear. Armed with this information, British strategists extrapolated that the British Isles could survive the French onslaught, depending on British diplomacy to save the Empire in the aftermath. FALL 1904 The Cabinet nearly fell when the Russians blundered into Edinburgh for no apparent reason. British strategists were dumb-founded. They simply could not believe that the Tsar would authorise an attack on the neutral British while retreating before the Austrian invasion AND attempting to continue the war with the Germans. But apparently the Russians had faith in their ability to wage a three-front war, or simply underestimated the gritty determination of the British citizenry to defend their homeland. The Russians were politely asked to go home, as British hotels were overbooked for the holiday season. British hoteliers noted with chagrin that the German-run hotels in the Lowlands still had plenty of vacancies. The Tsar was unmoved, as British units were busy with the French threat. While British forces labored to deal with French fleets in British coastal waters and the surprise Russian decampment in Edinburgh, far to the south a blow had been struck that lifted the threat of a future Italian assault upon the homeland of freedom. The Austrian invasion of Italy was the miracle for which British strategists could only wish. This forced the Italians to head east instead of north, and eventually created a large enough threat that Russia and Germany could actually be convinced to forgo their war in order to form a coalition to stem the Austrian tide. British policymakers could only marvel at their luck. 1905 The British public rejoiced at the destruction of the French menace and the first occupation by British forces of a foreign supply center - Brest. The military made plans eject the Russian Navy from Edinburgh if diplomatic initiatives bore no fruit. Meanwhile the Ottoman Empire-in-exile was destroyed. Nobody cared, except to note that the Dual Monarchy looked increasingly formidable. 1906 The Russians left Edinburgh to the strains of "Bad Times Come Back Here No More" but the heady feeling in the Foreign Office was forestalled by a war scare with Germany, which developed when the Kaiser ordered some moves that could only mean a German attack upon the British outpost in Brest. The crisis was defused after a stiffly worded diplomatic note warning Germany of the consequences of its action convinced the Kaiser to back off. The Austrian threat was certainly a factor in the Kaiser's decision, but British diplomats were frankly still surprised that Germany and Russia were able to bury their mutual enmity in order to face the greater threat. British strategists were rather disappointed to trash their Black and White Plans for war with Germany or Russia, but it was clear that attempting either operation would result in Austrian domination of the Continent - and not the steady growth of British power desired. While bringing the Ksier and the Tsar together was necessary in order to stem the Austrian tide, British diplomats worried that once the German and Russian Empires allied, they might decide to use theie surplus fleets for a joint invasion of the British Isles. The Foreign Office tried to forestall this by making friendly threats that any such action would result in British forces working to aid the Austrian offensive. Meanwhile British strategists formulated the Grey Plan, to defend against any such invidious Russo-German attack. For whatever reason, this great fear of British policy- makers never became reality. 1907 The Royal Navy was pleased to accept the request of the Italian Government for naval support in the Mediterranean, and swiftly moved to plug the whole in alliance defences there under the direct supervision of the Pope and his advisors, whose tactical brilliance in this operation was inspiring. Englishmen everywhere began giving serious thought to becoming Catholic. 1908 As the reconquest of Italy continued, Tunis fell into British hands for safe-keeping. To harden Anglo-Italian friendship, the Pope offered the eventual transfer of Iberia to the British Empire for its loyal service in the war against the Dual Monarchy, conditional of course on the return of Tunis to Papal control and continuing good relations between the British Empire and the Kingdom of Italy. British diplomats were greatly touched by this offer, expecting nothing in return for its aid except a more stable balance of power in continental affairs. Gratefully, the Cabinet agreed. 1909-10 The siege of the Dual Monarchy continued. Strains began to show in the Four Power Pact, as Germany and Russia were increasingly uncoordinated in their attacks upon the Austro-Hungarian forces. 1911 With Russia looking to become dominant in the Continent, it wasrealtively easy to convince the Kaiser to restart his war with the Tsar, this time with the aid of British forces. "Operation Bear Hunt" was an immediate and stunning success, so much so that the second stage of "Divide and Conquer" - the War Ministry's plan to foment a Russo-German war, stabbing each of the principals in turn, thus gaining enough units to push for sole hegemony of Europe - was implemented before completing all the objectives of the first phase. The Foreign Office assured the Tsar that Britain would settle just for Norway, and would not press for St. Petersburg as originally planned if Russia would continue to wage war with both the Germans and Austrians. The Tsar's positive response cleared the way for the next year's stab of Germany. 1912 The year opened with what seemd on the surface a foolish stab of Germany, now the greatest power on the Continent, and in danger of sweeping the board. Against the Kaiser's eight battle-honed veteran units, the British sent only 4 untested units - as the two most experienced British fleets were still busy in the Mediterranean, far from the field fo conflict. Navally the conflict was a toss-up, three fleets to three, but British strategists were quite confident of victory. Germany was already at war with Russia, and many of its units were far from positions from which to defend its far-flung possessions. By an indirect strategy of occupying non-home centers, the British could swiftly even the odds, and then marshall overwhelming force against the German Fatherland. In pursuit of this strategy, the forces of this government liberated Belgium and unexpectedly Kiel, rising to 8 centers and becoming one of the leaders for the first time in the Great Game for Empire. 1913-14 British strategists continued to be surprised at the ease of the conquest of Germany. Expecting the Kaiser to focus on the defence of the Fatherland and revenge against the British forces, they were dismayed by his futile attempts to wage a two-front war. Not for the first time, the Cabinet had discussions as to the feasibility of achieving sole hegemony of Europe. While there was little desire to wage war on the worthy Italians, the Cabinet had no compunctions about racing to a position of economic control of Europe, which seemed achievable, as the Italians looked to be bogged down in the Balkans. This hope faded when the raged remains of the Austrian forces disbanded rather than fight on against the tactically superior Italian units. Thus the Foreign Office formalized its assent to the Italian proposal that Europe be divided into spheres of influence between their two respective governments and that to celebrate this victory an Italian army be convoyed from Syria to St. Petersburg. This seemed an elegant ending to an all-too-often inelegant war. 1915 The last moments of tension passed as the Italians passed up on a golden opportunity to stab the British for a win, clearly preferring to keep the agreement already made. The Cabinet released a collective sigh of relief, although its members had little reason to doubt the probity of the Pope and his advisors. 1916 The final preparations having been made, the celebratory convoy went off as planned, despite the urgings of those who saw that now the British were in uncontested position to achieve continental dominance. But British officials felt it would be ungentlemanly to break the deal then. And a great silence fell upon the battlefields of Europe, for the war was over at long last. Michael Luft-Greystoke Minister for Foreign Affairs Secretary of State for War First Lord of the Admiralty His Majesty's Government Up