Diplomacy Zine -- EP #246 Chapter Eight From: Eric_S_Klien@cup.portal.com Date: Wed, 18 Sep 1991 04:37:38 +0000 Issue #246 of ELECTRONIC PROTOCOL: ************************************************************************* A man walks into an office. Man: Good morning, I'd like to have an argument, please. Receptionist: Certainly, sir. Have you been here before? Man: No, this is my first time. Receptionist: I see, well we'll see who's free at the moment. Mr. Bakely's free, but he's a little bit concilliatory. No. Try Mr. Barnhart, room 12. Man: Thank you. He enters room 12. Angry man: WHADDAYOU WANT? Man: Well, Well, I was told outside that... Angry man: DON'T GIVE ME THAT, YOU SNOTTY-FACED HEAP OF PARROT DROPPINGS! Man: What? A: SHUT YOUR FESTERING GOB, YOU TIT! YOUR TYPE MAKES ME PUKE! YOU VACUOUS STUFFY-NOSED MALODOROUS PERVERT!!! M: Yes, but I came here for an argument!! A: OH! Oh! I'm sorry! This is abuse! M: Oh! Oh I see! A: Aha! No, you want room 12A, next door. M: Oh...Sorry... A: Not at all! A: (under his breath) stupid git. The man goes into room 12A. Another man is sitting behind a desk. Man: Is this the right room for an argument? Other Man:(pause) I've told you once. Man: No you haven't! Other Man: Yes I have. M: When? O: Just now. M: No you didn't! O: Yes I did! M: You didn't! O: I did! M: You didn't! O: I'm telling you, I did! M: You didn't! O: (breaking into the developing argument) Oh I'm sorry, is this a five minute argument, or the full half hour? M: Ah! (taking out his wallet and paying) Just the five minutes. O: Just the five minutes. Thank you. Anyway, I did. M: You most certainly did not! O: Now let's get one thing perfectly clear: I most definitely told you! M: Oh no you didn't! O: Oh yes I did! ___ M: Oh no you didn't! O: Oh yes I did! M: Oh no you didn't! O: Oh yes I did! M: Oh no you didn't! O: Oh yes I did! M: Oh no you didn't! O: Oh yes I did! > very fast M: Oh no you didn't! / O: Oh yes I did! / M: No you DIDN'T! / O: Oh yes I did! / M: No you DIDN'T! / O: Oh yes I did! / M: No you DIDN'T! / O: Oh yes I did! ___/ M: Oh look, this isn't an argument! (pause) O: Yes it is! M: No it isn't! (pause) M: It's just contradiction! O: No it isn't! M: It IS! O: It is NOT! M: You just contradicted me! O: No I didn't! M: You DID! O: No no no! M: You did just then! O: Nonsense! M: (exasperated) Oh, this is futile!! (pause) O: No it isn't! M: Yes it is! (pause) I came here for a good argument! O: AH, no you didn't, you came here for an *argument*! M: An argument isn't just contradiction. O: Well! it CAN be! M: No it can't! An argument is a connected series of statement intended to establish a proposition. O: No it isn't! M: Yes it is! 'tisn't just contradiction. O: Look, if I *argue* with you, I must take up a contrary position! M: Yes but it isn't just saying "no it isn't". O: Yes it is! M: No it isn't! O: Yes it is! M: No it isn't! O: Yes it is! M: No it ISN'T! Argument is an intellectual process. Contradiction is just the automatic gainsaying of anything the other person says. O: It is NOT! M: It is! O: Not at all! M: It is! >DING!< The Arguer hits a bell on his desk and stops. O: Thank you, that's it. M: (stunned) What? O: That's it. Good morning. M: But I was just getting interested! O: I'm sorry, the five minutes is up. M: That was never five minutes!! O: I'm afraid it was. M: (leading on) No it wasn't..... (pause) O: (dirty look) I'm sorry, I'm not allowed to argue any more. M: WHAT?? O: If you want me to go on arguing, you'll have to pay for another five minutes. M: But that was never five minutes just now! (pause... the Other Man raises his eyebrows) Oh Come on! Oh this is... This is ridiculous! O: I told you... I told you, I'm not allowed to argue unless you PAY! M: Oh all right. (takes out his wallet and pays again.) There you are. O: Thank you. M: (clears throat) Well... O: Well WHAT? M: That was never five minutes just now. O: I told you, I'm not allowed to argue unless you've paid! M: Well I just paid! O: No you didn't! M: I DID!!! O: YOU didn't! M: I DID!!! O: YOU didn't! M: I DID!!! O: YOU didn't! M: I DID!!! O: YOU didn't! M: (unable to talk straight he's so mad) I don't want to argue about it! O: Well I'm very sorry but you didn't pay! M: Ah HAH!! Well if I didn't pay, why are you arguing??? Ah HAAAAAAHHH! Gotcha! O: (pause) No you haven't! M: Yes I have! If you're arguing, I must have paid. O: Not necessarily. I *could* be arguing in my spare time. ************************************************************************* Chapter One contains: BAGHDAD, AUSTERLITZ, BLITZKRIEG II, KING'S GAMBIT, PASSCHENDAELE, DRAGONS, BLACK OCTOBER, OPERATION DESERT STORM, THE SOMME And is published by uunet!cti1!rlister or rlister@cti.com/Russ Lister Chapter Two contains: REPUBLIC, BORODINO, KHAN, SUTHERLAND And is published by loeb@geocub.greco-prog.fr/Daniel E. Loeb Chapter Three contains: SQUALANE, BRUSILOV OFFENSIVE II, CULLODEN, GANDALF'S REVENGE, GOODBYE BLUE SKY, MASTERS OF DECEIT, PANDORA, NOW AND ZEN And is published by mad-2@kub.nl/Constantijn Wekx Chapter Four contains: DEADLY DAGGERS, MONTREUIL-SUR-MER, FIRE WHEN READY, THUNDERDOME, BEREZINA, FONTENOY And needs a publisher. Chapter Five contains: YALTA, AJAX And is published by ddetlef@csd4.csd.uwm.edu/David Aaron Detlef Chapter Six contains: BERLIN WALL, HIROSHIMA, GENGHIS KHAN, SEA LION, VIOLENT PEACE, GIBRALTAR And is published by barry@brahms.udel.edu/Barry Fausnaugh. Chapter Seven contains: TIBERIUS, BETELGEUSE, IRON CROSS, TEUNISGEK, RIYADH'S RECKONING And needs a publisher. Chapter Eight contains: HELM'S DEEP, GROUND ZERO, TIBERIUS, BETELGEUSE, IRON CROSS GUERNICA, TEUNISGEK, WOLF BLITZER ------------- Chapter Eight ------------- Table of Contents: Practical Stalemates Lines ---- The following was written by pl436000@brownvm.bitnet/Jamie Dreier Practical Stalemate Lines by Jamie Dreier As we all know, there really is no better way to improve at Diplomacy than to play. There are not many independent lines of study to pursue, as there are in chess, that will noticeably improve your play. But there are a few. I myself found that my understanding of the topology of the board, and consequently of some large-scale structural features of games, increased markedly when I tried some of Danny Loeb's posers. What space borders the most other spaces? The answer helps you understand a very important "bottleneck." How many spaces border no coastal land space? The answer drives home the importance of sea power. Which pair(s) of spaces are connected by the largest number of distinct sequences of different spaces? Draw the lines to see how a locally victorious northern power can invade the south (or vice versa). Documentation of various openings and their purposes is helpful, and those given in the Gamer's Guide are almost indispensible, but treatment of issues that arise in the middle and endgames are fewer and far between. There is one subject of study, initiated in the Gamer's Guide, that really does help. It is the study of stalemate lines. (I won't give the definition of stalemate lines or list the ones given in the Guide, but even the reader unfamiliar with the concept will be able to piece the idea together from what I say below.) I found it the most useful section of the Guide, and I recommend it (I believe that it was reprinted in an issue of _EP_). But with one very notable exception, the lines published in the Guide are not very "practical." By "practical" I mean roughly, "exerting influence on actual games." I should quickly point out that in order to exert an influence on a game, a stalemate line does not actually have to be formed, or even nearly formed. It is enough that at least one player recognizes that the line COULD be formed, even in the distant future, and takes some action based on that recognition. For example, Germany may be tempted to try a not-very-tactically-sound invasion of Austria fairly early in the game on the grounds that if a certain stalemate line is not crossed early, a budding Austro-Turkish alliance may establish it later, and the beautifully laid FrancoGerman strategy will fizzle into a 4-way draw. The exceptional line is Line 2 in the Guide. It exploits the Gibraltar bottleneck with f MAO H, f Por S f MAO, f NAO S f MAO; the Denmark bottleneck with U Den H; and the StP bottleneck with f StP h, f Nwy S f StP. I have seen this position or the threat of it exert influence on several games. Why? I suspect it's because the position, or chunks of it, arise naturally from England's course of expansion (or that of an alliance that includes England). The stalemating powers do not have to plot their whole game around establishing the line; rather, they can try for a win and fall back into the line if things turn sour. Another reason may be that it is very simple to visualize. Gibraltar, Denmark, and StP just LOOK like bottlenecks. So it is easy to keep the line in the back of one's mind. The other lines are certainly theoretically possible, and there's no really obvious reason why they shouldn't exert practical influence (except for Line 3, which is quite freakish). But in fact I've never seen them come anywhere near fruition, and I doubt that they've exerted any influence at all in the games I've played. So I'd like to add a new line to the documented ones, or rather a few related lines. They are all not-too-distant relatives of Gamer's Guide Line 1, as it happens, but they have a very important property not possessed by any listed lines: They hold 17 centers. By the Guide's definition, a stalemate line can't hold MORE than 17 centers. But if a line holds FEWER than 17, then a determined power on the other side could win even if the line is set up. The Guide notices this, of course, and the rationale (and a sensible one) is that stalemate lines can be used to stop a coalition of powers from wiping out defenders on the other side. That's true. But at least some of the time what you want is a sure-fire way to stop a single power from using its momentum to win alone. If you could set up a 17 center line, you'd be free to try your luck at knocking off the front-runner at no risk. Just such a situation arose in HORSE, a game run by Ken Lowe's Adjudicator. The key powers were Russia (Dave Cebula), Austria (Nick Waterson), and Turkey (me). An R/A/T coalition rolled over Italy and Germany, then expanded out into the West via France in the south and England in the north. In the course of the expansion, Russia grew a bit faster than the other two allies. When we proposed a three way draw, Russia vetoed. Dave was going to try for the win. France, the only other power left, agreed to puppet for Russia, and a quick center-count showed that if France would be able to turn over all his centers to the Bear, Russia would have 16. Could he be stopped? Here was the practical stalemate line that Nick and I worked out. First, notice that we could be fairly secure in the following centers: Austria (3), Balkans (4), Turkey (3), Italy (3), Tunis (1). To prevent a Russian win, we needed 3 more. The natural candidates were Munich (which Austria held at the time), Marseilles and Iberia (held by me, and in any case likely prey for Turkish fleets), and Sevastopol (if Turkey could establish a stronger Black Sea presence than Russia could). Now stalemate cognescenti will quickly recognize that Munich is out of the question. It simply can't be held from below, because it has too many northern neighbors. So we needed three out of the other four. It turns out that there is a good line that holds all four, and one that holds Sev but not Por, as well as one that holds Por but not Sev. In the actual game, we reached a position from which we could guarantee a draw holding Por, and we might get Sev too, but Russia could hold on to it if he made just the right moves. I'll list both categories of lines. The other elements of variation turn on whether the T/A defenders can hold Gal, and/or MAO and Gal (in the line which holds Por). I'll give the eastern and western halves of the lines separately. In the West. Mar must be held, and Spain. Either Wes or Naf, or, in 1 and 3, both. Here are the variations. (As should be obvious, "U" means a unit where it doesn't matter whether it's a fleet or an army.) West 1: Por is not held. f Naf H f Wes s U Spa U Spa H f Lyo s f Spa U Mar H U Pie s U Mar West 2: Por is held, with MAO and Gas. f MAO h f Por s f MAO f Wes s f MAO U Gas h a Mar s U Gas f Spa[nc] s U Gas (could be an army, too) f Naf s f MAO West 3: Por is held, but neither MAO nor Gas. f Naf h f Wes h f Por s U Spa U Spa h U Mar h U Pie s U Mar (or a fleet in Lyo) Now the Eastern part. Tyrolia must be held, and Bohemia, and the former always supports the latter. Budapest and Vienna are occupied, but their action depends on whether Galicia is also occupied. [Completely irrelevant note: has anyone else noticed that on the Conference Maps the Ukr area is labeled "Ukraina"??? Do I have a rare edition, or what?] Rumania is occupied. The rest varies. (I'll drop the specification of unit type from here on.) East 1A: Gal and Sev are both held. Tyo s Boh Bud s Gal Vie s Gal Rum s Sev Sev h Gal h Boh h East 1B: Gal is held, but not Sev. Tyo s Boh Vie s Gal Gal h Bud s Gal Rum h f Bla s Rum Arm h Boh h East 2A: Sev is held, but not Gal. Tyo s Boh Vie s Boh Bud s Rum Boh h Rum h Sev h Arm or Black S Sev East 2B: Neither Sev nor Gal is held. Tyo s Boh Boh h Vie s Boh Bud s Rum Rum h Bla s Rum (NOT bul or ser!) Arm h Here are some remarks about the variations. 1. Gas and MAO go together. I didn't list separate variations for holding Gas without MAO or vice versa, because once one goes the other can't be held without luck. 2. Holding 17 Of course, if you want to hold at exactly 17 centers, then you have to use the East and West variations in the proper combos, holding either Sev or Por but not both. 3. Independence of the flanks It is interesting, I think, that there is no interdependence between the two halves of the board. Changing variations in the West make no difference to the orders in the East, and vice versa. The reason for this is pretty obvious, see the next comment. 4. Switzerland The importance of Switzerland is highlighted in these variations. For one thing, it accounts for the independence of the flanks. No unit that can influence the western flank can also influence the eastern flank. Notice also that Switzerland's presence is exploited in each flank. Marseilles needs one or no supports because of its impassable neighbor. Tyrolia not only needs no support, but it can offer useful support to Bohemia because the only hostile neighbor is also one of Bohemia's (so that Munich can cut Tyo support or attack Boh, but not both). Units sitting right on the stalemate line often cannot order useful support, but they can when they exploit bottlenecks. (The Rum support of Sev in variation East 1A is another example, but there the bottleneck is created in a less obvious way.) 5. Free Units The line requires between 13 and 15 units. The Western lines take 6, or in West 2, 7 units. The Eastern line takes 7, or in East 1B, 8 units. So you'll have between 2 and 5 units that aren't doing duty in your stalemate line (but 5 only if you hold both Por and Sev). 6. Advance and Fallback positions. Why bother listing the positions that hold Galicia? After all, these reduce easily and without risk to positions that don't hold it, so that when you've achieved the one you automatically achieve the other. Similarly for the position that holds MAO and Gas; it can fall back into a position that still holds Portugal (though if Gas is lost, you'll need something to back up Mar). The reason is that having reached your stalemate position, you don't necessarily have to accept a draw. You may want to fight on for a 2- way draw (or even better...). After all, your side holds half the board, why shouldn't you have a shot at wiping out the opposition? (In Horse it was never really an option, because the two allies knew that they probably couldn't pull off the precarious 2-way draw. I guess I should mention that the actual game was a three way draw: T/A/R). You can set up the advanced position, use it as plateau, and there's even the chance that the opposition won't notice that you have a fallback line and so will expect you to protect the advanced one at all costs. That could give you an edge. ------- Well, there you have it, my practical stalemate line. Use it in good health. But not against me. I hope we'll see some more articles along these lines. A study of bottlenecks? How to invade England? I think some thoughts on the interface between theory and practice are long overdue. Publisher comments: Quote is from Monty Python Live at City Center. I'm back! First, if you don't want to get this Diplomacy zine tell me now. In the near future, I will start publishing quite a few issues. I would like to thank the 24 people who voted for me in the Runestone Poll, giving me a final score of 6.569, this moved me up 22 percentile points, puting me in 25th place out of 73rd. I hope to do even better next year because I will retire in about two months, giving me much more time to do this zine. This zine has grown a lot recently, I am having a hard time just keeping up with game endings! (It takes me about ten minutes to process a gameend summary.) One trick that I am starting to do is to place more games in the hands of GMs who use the Judge program. I have found that two things ruin games: 1) bad players 2) bad GMs. Using the Judge program pretty much solves the bad GM problem and I have noticed that games run with the Judge program go much more smoothly. Of course, I am continuing my policy of banning bad GMs from running any more games and banning bad players from playing in any more games. But I have learned that good players can become bad players and the same goes for GMs, which is why it is nice to have a steady GM like the Judge program. Of course, the Judge program is not perfect, which is why I only deal with games run with that program that have human GMs moderating them. Considering how large this zine has become, it is easy for players to fall through the cracks. If you have signed up for a game and haven't heard from me in awhile, feel free to contact me. I also greatly appreciate hearing from players who are having problems with their GMs. My biggest need at the moment is for scribes who would type in Diplomacy articles. Let me know if you are interested. ****************************************************************************** To join in the fun, send your name, home address, home and work phone numbers, and country preferences to Eric_S_Klien@cup.portal.com. ****************************************************************************** Up