Diplomacy Zine -- Chapter Eight EP #248 From: Eric_S_Klien@cup.portal.com Date: Thu, 10 Oct 1991 00:52:08 +0000 Issue #248 of ELECTRONIC PROTOCOL: ************************************************************************* Dr. Suess meets The Reaper Should we put him in a box? He won't jump out. We won't need locks. Should we put him in a tomb? He doesn't seem to need much room. Should we put him in a jar? Or spread his ashes near and far? Should we salvage him for parts? There's always a demand for hearts! Should we send him into space? It appeared to be his normal place. Should we wrap him tight with gauze? And give him to a noble cause? Should we freeze him in a bag? We didn't see an Alcor tag. Let's just watch; see what he does. Let us, let us, Ted-That-Was. ************************************************************************* 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: BEREZINA, PORTNOY, JUTLAND, TIBERIUS, MARENGO, PARIS, SPARROW, SNORRI AJAX, DIEN, FONTENOY, AGINCOURT 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, THE COMMANDERS ------------- Chapter Eight ------------- Table of Contents: The Importance of Being Belgium Why I hate Triples GIMME THREE STEPS ISSUE NINE (21-9-91) (Contains info about a new game start for a variant called DELUGE) ---- The following was scribed by cmmjr@flight-sim.gatech.edu/Cliff McKeithan From Diplomacy World #61: The Importance of Being Belgium by General John McCausland "No, I want Belgium." "I want Belgium!" "No, I want Belgium!" Smack. "Ahhh..." Such was the scene when I returned home from work the other day. This violent argument over a single supply center was quickly resoleved to my satisfaction; I sent the three-year olds to bed. But what do you do when the combatants are a bit older and you do not have much authority over them? Perhaps if we wxplore the merits of owning Belgium, we can come up with some type of answer. Belgium is the most centrally located supply center on the gameboard. It is only two moves away from seven home supply centers, eight if you want to include a convoy of English A Liverpool. However, with all of there units able to converge on this single dot, none of the major parties (England, France, and Germany) can capture it in 1901 if the other two powers want to prevent it. Further, only France can capture it alone if either England or Germany remains neutral. By being so centrally located, it is common sense that Belgium is an important province. It borders on two sea areas, two coastal provinces, and two land-locked provinces. It can have an effect on both sea-based and land-based invasions. It can offer support north, south, east and west, as well as accepting such support. Belgium seems like such a wonderful place to be! However, there are several problems with Belgium, first among them being its central location. While Belgium can offer support into six different areas, that support can also be cut from those same six provinces. Second, whoever owns Belgium is frequently seen as a major threat to the other three powers in the vicinity. Third, many players get attached to Belgium and expend all their energy trying to maintain control rather than try other tacks. As you can see, there are advantages and disadvantages to owning this supply center. The situation will be different in each new game, but there are decisions you must make. Let us look at the situation where you are one of the three western powers, and you have equal trust with the other two players. You, of course, want Belgium yourself, but assuming you cannot get it and your future ally insists he have it, which power do you pick? France has the easiest choice of the three. Always insist on the German fleet capturing Belgium. This fleet carries very little risk to France, and this move is usually made in conjunction with A Ruh-Hol (or to Mun if threatened). It also implies an anti-English stance. A German army would put too much temptation for a quick thrust into Burgandy and beyond. If you feel England must take Belgium, a fleet is slightly better than an army because it can only treaten Brest, but it slows down English progress against other German supply centers. England never wants to see an opponent's fleet in Belgium. At all costs, England must insist on supporting an army in. However, in so doing they are usually giving somebody a sizth center. Because of this, Germany should be the recipient as they would be much more likely to build three armies. The one exception to this is if Italy moves into Piedmont. You then know that France will probably use everything to defend agains that attack, so you can gamble on giving them the extra build. Germany has a very difficult time giving anybody support into Belgium. Any English unit is a threat, as is each Frech unit. If you fell you must support somebody, a French fleet in Belgium is less of a threat in the long run. The best option for all three powers is a neutral Belgium in 1901. This strategy is best even if you are not planning a Western Triple alliance. You are not taking a chance of giving your potential enemy an extra build, plus you are prohibiting your ally from getting too large a jump on you. As you can see, Belgium does serve its purpose, but it is not as important early in the game as many people think. It is not worth ruining a potentially good alliance over, as my three year olds discovered, much to their amazement. General John McCausland is the pseudonym for on of the most experienced postal and tournament Diplomacy players in the Hobby. The following was scribed by cmmjr@flight-sim.gatech.edu/Cliff McKeithan From Diplomacy World #62: Why I hate Triples by David Hood I hate triple alliances, with a passion. Doesn't matter to me that some of the hobby's best writers have praised the triple in magazines from DW to Avalon Hill's The General. People like Melinda Holley and Mark Berch have outlined various strategies and methods by which triple alliances can be originated and maintained. Rod Walker's famous Gamer's Guide to Diplomacy discusses the possibility of a triple between the Western powers of England, France and Germany like it was a normal option in an normal Diplomacy game. And for that matter, I have been in numerous games, both face-to-face and postal, that featured triple alliances enjoying some measure of success. No, I still hate 'em. The biggest problem with triple alliances is that most players know the danger of facing one and will take steps to stop you in your tracks. Particularly in FTF games, a triple is difficult to hide and thus opens you up to the formation of an opposing triple on the other side. For example, there are telltale signs that a smart Austrian will notice when the Western powers are setting up for a triple. He will have little difficulty getting his Eastern neighbors to organize against the Western Triple, that is, unless these people are rank novices. Not only does this mean that the Triple is unlikely to progress; it also means that the game is about to settle into a boring fight over stalemate lines that is about as much fun as jumping in a pit of hydrochloric acid. The fun of Diplomacy is in the fluidity with which experienced players will make and break alliances to suit the problem at hand. When the game boils down to a nasty tactical exercise, you might as well be playing Squad Leader or something. Probably the least emotional reason I have for opposing triples is that joining one is often a terrible blunder in terms of expansion. Obviously, when three guys gang up on somebody else, the loot has to be divided three ways and Triple units will have limited avenues of movement. It may be neat to beat up on Russia and Italy for a while in a Western Triple, but you often will have little ability for growth afterwards. Now, I know the counterarguments to this. Since the Triple is often penetrating the stalemate line, there is good tactical reason for participating. After all, a later stab can get the goodies you left behind on your side of the board. Yeah, but the problem is that the stab potential would be much better had you gone the traditional route of two against one in your own area of the board. A France who just finished off Germany with English help is going to be in a better position to stab England than if he had worked in a Triple against Italy. The bottom line here is that a Triple is fine if you just want to play an alliance game and call a three-way draw. But if you want to wheel-and-deal, then the Triple is inferior. Now, I do not mean to say that the offer of a Triple is not a good negotiation tactic. Even commitment to such an alliance for a year or two is not a bad idea. My beef is with actually thinking that the Triple is a good idea in the long- term. Lie all you want to about wanting a Triple, but don't actually believe yourself! Another problem with Triples is that they are really a myth. All communication in Diplomacy is bilateral in nature, and this is especially true postally. When you talk, the actual communication is taking place in the mind of each one of your Triple partners. My point is that what you say will be interpreted, judged, debated, etc. by each individual player involved. If you delude yourself into thinking that talking to one partner means you are talking to "the Triple" then you will make serious errors in judgment. A "Triple" is really just a series of bilateral alliances, so remember to play it that way if you "do the wrong thing" and Triple up. Even if you are thinking multilaterally, your partners may not be. The following was submitted directly by Mark Nelson; he also publishes a Bridge zine which is available directly from him at amt5man@cms1.ucs.leeds.ac.uk. ************************************************************************* ************************************************************************* GIMME THREE STEPS ISSUE NINE (21-9-91) GIMME THREE STEPS is a British email fanzine (perhapes the first one!) produced by Mark Nelson (amt5man@uk.ac.leeds.cms1) and distributed by himself and through Eric Klien's ELECTRONIC PROTOCOL. It exists to run games (mainly diplomacy variants and orphans) and to discuss hobby/games related matters. It first appeared in June 1991. It currently runs one game of diplomacy and one game of Gunboat. WAITING LISTS WAITING LISTS WAITING LISTS WAITING LISTS (1) DOWNFALL. This is a variant based upon J.R.R Tolkien's Lord of The Rings and traditional is associated with reams of Press. There are seven players, each playing one of the major powers described in the books. First designed in 1974 the game has undergone countless revisions and has established itself as a classic variant design. However, I do not intend spedning time retyping 7 pages of rules. If you want to play mail me your snail mail address and I'll post you the rules. PLAYERS: Michael Norrish (New Zealand) SIX MORE WANTED (2) DELUGE The rules for this variant are printed in this issue. It is an excellent variant and a constant favourite of postal dip fans. I can supply maps to all the players, or you can draw your own up. 7 players wanted. STANDBY PLAYERS are always wanted. Please sign up on the Standby list! Paul Norris (UK). More wanted. DA! DA! DA! THE EDITORIAL THE EDITORIAL DA! DA! DA! DA! DA! DA! THE EDITORIAL THE EDITORIAL DA! DA! DA! Paul Norris runs a nice snail-mail zine. He emailed me contents and I decided to re-email it to you (deleting just a couple of things). Hope you enjoy what he has to say, note he even has the rules for a variant. Deluge happens to be an excellent variant. If you're worried about reedrawing the maps each season, don't. I have maps for each year already drawn out and will supply all the players with a copy. If you have any questions about Paul's zine his email address is PM3_NORRIS@BRISTOL-POLY.PRIME2 ************************************************************************* ************************************************************************* LET THE PEOPLE BE HEARD (A LETTER COLUMN) No letters this time. ************************************************************************* ************************************************************************* ========================================================================= From: Paul Norris <PM3_NORRIS @ BRISTOL-POLY.PRIME2> (3-9-91) ((comments in double brackets are by Mark Nelson are intended to clear things up)) UCK. A fading seaside resort on the coast of Eurasia. Games, Beer and Good Company Manorcon is now receding into the mists of history. This will probably be the last account of the weekend to reach print, but I enjoyed it so much that I don't really care. I travelled home (Kidderminster) on the Thursday night to see the parents and they gave me a lift to Kiddy station the following morning. As a result, after encountering James Nelson at Five Ways, I arrived at High Hall horrendously (some three hours) early. Various people started to trickle in after we'd been there an hour and a half or so and things started to swing round about 2.30. To be honest I don't remember much about what I did on the Friday, apart from being introduced to Airlines by Mike & Pat Ferguson and Mick Haytack. The food proved to be as abominable as ever on renewal of acquaintance. Saturday saw me studiously avoiding the Diplomacy tournament. I'm not very good at the game face-to-face and there were better things to be done, like trying to find a game of Civilisation. At approximately 10 o'clock eight of us started playing. I was keeping a careful eye on Paul Hoad's Crete, after he won from that position last year. Occasional coffee breaks showed a total of four games being played around the place. I got myself into a reasonable position, just behind the leaders (Danny Victor & Clive Palmer) and urging everybody to dump on those two. Unfortunately, I then made the mistake of assuming that Danny would go through the seven card barrier at the same time as me. I did. He didn't. I promptly became the target for every disaster going and he went on to a joint win with Clive at about 7.30, fulfilling my Cassandra-like prophecies. In the meantime Joe Draper arrived proclaiming that his car had broken down on the way and while he was giving a lift up to some continental visitors. At least when my car gave up the ghost it had the decency to do so on the way home from a con. A couple of purchases from Mark Green's stall (Adel Pferflichtet and Airlines) was followed by me trouncing the competition at Adel. Saturday night is Chaos night. Eventually enough interested parties had gathered to get the traditional game under way. With about twenty players, some of us had two centres. A large number came out close together. I had Naples and Venice; unfortunately Tunis and Rome was another pairing. Myself and Steve Howe (most of Austria) soon eliminated Richard Walkerdine (Trieste) and I then had a struggle for survival. After some swapping of supply centres and the paring down of the field to nine, I was left with an army in Gascony after Spring '06 and no chance of getting into any SC in the autumn. My only option was to propose a draw, which to my astonishment was unanimously accepted. A game of Suppenkaspar and a few other oddities saw me to bed at about 2 am. On Sunday I was roped in to show Bill O'Neill, Paul Richards and various others how to play Airlines. Bill had bought a little game called Bauerschlau, promptly christened for Tim Collieu as it involves herding sheep. A few games of this, one of City and I was looking for people to play against for the general games tournament. I had another game of Airlines, finishing second and a game of Grass followed in which I managed to just sneak away from Mick Haytack on the last hand. Essex, most boring and therefore most acceptable of the Home Counties. Unfortunately I then came up against Mick and Lukas Kautsch for Adel, where they were half way round before the rest of us had started, and Der Ausreisser, in which I was dropped further and further behind, finishing some eighty minutes back. Another late night was finished off with a few hands of Family Business involving Harry "Vendetta" Bond. On Sunday Neil Kendrick and I finally got four others to play the last game for the general tournament - Family Business. I got knocked out third, but Neil went on to beat Denis Jones narrowly and so clinch the tournament. After yet a fourth game of Airlines, the last major event had I think it was fifteen of us playing Speed Circuit. I'd not tried this game before and was up against some people who really knew what they were doing. Speed freak Denis Jones took an early lead but ran out of brakes on the second lap and crashed, leaving victory for Walkerdine for the third time in four years. Having started sixth on the grid I finished third. Quite pleasing for a novice. The con slowly wound down after that. One of the first to arrive I was also one of the last to leave, waiting for Andy Bate to finish various discussions. Thanks to Ian Andrews for the lift to New Street and to the committee for a highly enjoyable weekend. Next years festivities move across the campus a ways to Lake Hall. Can the food be any better? Whether or no, I'll be there. ((ManorCON is the UK's biggest dip convention (we have three) with around 300 attendees and you'll have noticed that lots of games besides diplomacy get played! Indeed many people go there with the intention of not playing diplomacy!)) Beer, Skittles and Paint As last weekend was bank holiday, several people descended on Cleeve Road in Knowle for a variety of activities. After a successful trip at the last hobbymeet, eleven people gathered on Friday night and headed off to Weston for some ten-pin bowling. Rich Jackson had booked us two alleys for two games each. In each game you get ten "frames", each of two bowls at the triangle of ten skittles, scoring one for each that is knocked over. If you hit all ten with the first bowl, a "strike", the scores for your next two bowls are added to that ten points (effectively doubling them). If it takes both bowls to knock all ten over, a "spare", only the next bowl is added on. A strike or spare on the tenth frame gives the relevant number of extra bowls. Maximum score is 300. I started quite appallingly, unable to get the right line. Watching most of my bowls roll into the gutter at the side of the alley, I scored a grand total of 54 for the first game. With the computerised scorer adding up the total for the alley, it was embarrassing to see six of us score about 420 against about 475 for the other five. The second game was better for everybody. Bill O'Neill started us rolling with two strikes in a row and I managed to relax. Just letting the bowl swing through and concentrating on placing it rather than putting any power behind it I scored two strikes and a couple of spares for 107. Bill's 136, the best individual game of the evening, took us past the 600 total for the first time. On the other alley, the more consistent John Cudmore had the best aggregate for the evening. A fun time out, booking for two games is definitely recommended as it takes a little while to get into the swing of it. I can't think what to say about Ipswich except that I don't like it. Saturday saw a few more arrivals at Cleeve Road and a relaxed afternoon and evening with a few quiet games and a video - thanks for the food, Bidz. Sunday, up at the crack of dawn to cycle over to Knowle for a lift to Warminster's Skirmish site and a day of Paintball. Eighteen people, most of whom had played before had been sorted into teams by captains Rich Egan and Martin Draper. After the usual safety chat, we were shown the guns. These operated from compress air and held six pellets in a reservoir to one side, tilting necessary to feed one into the breech. They also proved to have a great tendency to misfire. This leaves paint all down the barrel, making another misfire more likely and screwing up the trajectory if the pellet does make it out. A few people were caught unawares during the day, trying to clean out their gun. The first couple of games involved one team trying to get five hits on a white board in the middle of a fort area defended by the others. Defending first, in a rather passive fashion, we Blues soon lost as the Reds took a wall from behind which they had a clear view of the board. Our turn to attack and I was one of six blues taken by surprise by a raiding party from a more active red defence. Emma Draper did get one shot on target before being hit. With the fire fight whittling it down to three Reds against two Blues, Steve Howe, who recently claimed to be a complete physical incompetent, circled virtually all the way round the fort to come in from behind and win the game from short range. The next few were games thought up by "Joe" Draper. Firstly, each team had to carry a flag with them as they tried to capture that of their opponents. Myself and Rich Jackson managed to keep Rich Egan and Tim Collieu pinned down for some while, until Rich rushed me just as I had to reload. However, this had kept enough of them away from our flag long enough for a blue victory. Joe's other design involved finding a flag hidden midway between the teams starting points and taking it to the enemy camp. The first of these games was declared void, the second won for Blue by Rich Jackson's speed and guile. He got to the flag first, then lay hidden with it while the Reds charged past, leaving him a clear run to their base. With the score standing at 3:1 to Blue we had an interlude before lunch. Four, randomly determined teams of four/five were sent into an area to kill each other. The victims were to hand their armbands over to the person who got them and the team with the most armbands would win. Emma, John Cudmore, Gary Lyon, Tim Waterhouse and myself thought we'd lie low for a while and come out to mop up the remnants after the other three teams had decimated each other. Unfortunately, the other three teams had the same idea and not a shot was heard for the first ten minutes or so. After a brief skirmish with Yellow, one dead each, we moved round the perimeter to where White and Red were fighting. we got there just too late to capitalise on the situation and White won thanks to Tim Collieu's marksmanship. A second game in the Alamo area of the early morning went much the same way. We holed up in the middle and came out too late to make any real impact. Another win for TC was followed by lunch - soup, burger and chocolate. A landrover ride to another part of the site to revive the Red/Blue conflict in an arena with walls each side and a flag to be grabbed out of the middle and returned in a suicide mission under enemy fire. My biggest frustration of the day occurred in the first of three of these games. A clear shot at a totally unsuspecting "Ninja" Cudmore hit a twig an inch from him. Shell all over him, but no kill. The Reds pulled back to 4-3, as I got my only kill of the day in the last game - on Jim Riddoch, one of my own side as he raced Tim Waterhouse for the flag. Back in the landrover, to a very thick area of wood with lots of young saplings, the aim of the next game was to get the flag to the marshal behind the advancing opposition. Finding a clear path, I advanced in front of Steve to where I could see Harshini. I was just about to fire when the ambush to the right of me took me out. Tim Waterhouse was one of four Reds lying up against a bank who I'd just walked straight past. This tactic caught a couple more, and as these guys had the flag it was soon four all. Finally, a "Shoot the General" game. Us defending Emma, who made herself useful reloading for people while trying to stay out of the way, the Reds were protecting Rich Egan, who was remarkably quiet. Once more I found myself on the right flank, this time with Steve. We were in pretty much a standoff position, me getting a hit slap in the face mask at one point. Then Pete Groome first got Steve with a lucky hit on the end of his gun barrel and then me with a good one on the right hand- the only part of me showing. With that flank out the Reds took the last game, Harshini getting her first victim in Rich Jackson. I thoroughly enjoyed the day, but on the whole I think I preferred the earlier trip to The Edge at Lullsgate. The games were, on the whole, more inventive and the guns were much more reliable. Easier to load and with twelve shots between reloads rather than six, the only problem is the greater expense. Final score - a come-behind win for the Reds, 5-4. Wait till next time.... A bookshop owner in Walsall claims it is the Occult centre of Great Britain. It needs something going for it. Some Rules Deluge This variant was originally designed by Tim Sharrock. 1) All the rules of Diplomacy apply except where amended below. 2) Due to rising sea levels, provinces become submerged as shown in Table One. The submergence of a province occurs after the adjustments in winter. Submerged provinces are then counted as sea spaces. 3) Supply centres that submerge cease to function as such and are not available for builds and unit maintenance in subsequent years. 4) Any army that remains for a season in a supply centre and is neither ordered to move, attack, be convoyed or give support, may be ordered to change into a fleet thus: A(Lon):F(Lon). (with this order existing, any army occupying a submerging province will drown). 5) Switz becomes a passable land province in after '04 adjustments. 6) Submergence causes the population to move inland, resulting in the formation of new supply centres as shown in Table Two. 7) New supply centres are owned (in order of priority) by - a) the country occupying the province; b) the country within whose borders they lie; c) the last country to have a unit in that province; d) neutral. 8) The Abstraction A/F rules should be used. (A copy follows). 9) The winner is the survivor after Winter '08 (the owner of Switzerland). Table One - Submergences Winter '01 Lon; Hol; Bel; Gas; Ven; Lvn. Winter '02 Lpl; Yor; Pic; Apu; Rum; Sev; Fin; Syr; Den. Winter '03 Bre; Par; Tus; Nap; Bud; StP; Arm; Kie. Winter '04 Mar; Por; Rom; Vie; Gre; Pru; Mos; Ber; Ruh; Gal; Ukr; Bul. Winter '05 Wal; Cly; Swe; Tri; Alb; Con; War. Winter '06 Edi; Spa; Tun; Ser; Smy; Sil; Boh. Winter '07 Nwy; Mun; Pie; Tyr; Naf; Bur; Ank. Table Two - New Supply Centres Spring '02 Wal; Ruh; Tyr. Spring '05 Boh; Swi. Spring '03 Ukr. Spring '06 Sil. Spring '04 Pie. Spring '07 Naf. Thus by Spring '08 only Switzerland is above sea level. These rules are unclear as to what happens to Armies in a submerging province. Some Gms automatically convert them to fleets. I tend to the opinion that they should drown, otherwise there's little point in providing the Convert order. This is the rule I shall apply unless a majority of players state with their Spring '01 orders that they want the former. Copies of the maps for each game year will be provided for all players. Abstraction A/F Rules The brainchild of Fred C. Davis Jr. 1) The Fast Ferry. Convoy by the standard Diplomacy means is only allowed if it covers the crossing of a single sea space. This one space convoy will be referred to as the Fast Ferry and the order for its use is "FF". A fleet may FF an army of any nationality. If the army does not succeed in its disembarkation, then it stays aboard the fleet to become an Army/Fleet (A/F). If the units belong to different powers, the army must return to its starting position because multi- national A/Fs are not allowed. 2) Army/Fleets. All convoys involving the crossing of more than one sea may only be undertaken by the formation of an A/F to carry the army "piggy-back". On a given move, an army in a coastal province adjacent to a sea space containing a fleet may be placed aboard that fleet, to form an A/F. The A/F may then move to another sea space, and may then also disembark the army into a land province bordering the second sea space. EG A(Mar) E F(GOL); A/F(GOL) - WMS; A(WMS) D Tun. (E = Embarks; D = Disembarks) An A/F may only consist of two fleets belonging to the same country. 3) Army/Fleet Combined Operations. An A/F has the same "combat factor" as a single fleet; it may attack, support or be supported. It cannot convoy another army via the FF. An A/F can only exist in a sea space - it cannot be ordered to a coastal province as an entity - but it may support some other unit into a coastal province. If an army is ordered to board a fleet, and the A/F is prevented from moving to another sea space the A/F remains intact. An A/F may be ordered to stand. If an army is ordered to board a fleet, and the fleet is attacked form another sea space, or if the fleet is ordered to support another unit, the army is considered to have failed to board and it remains in its land province. This is true even if the fleet successfully defends itself against attack. A fleet which lands an army in a coastal province, before making a move, may then support that army to land as its move, or it may move elsewhere. If an army's disembarkation fails, the A/F remains intact and any orders for fleet movement will not be carried out. A fleet may not simultaneously land one army and pick up another. If an A/F is annihilated, then both units are removed from the board. By way of explanation all the following are possible in one given move: A(Lon) E F(ENG); A/F(ENG) - MAO; A(MAO) D Por. A/F(ENG); A(ENG) D Bre; F(ENG) - NTH. A/F(ENG); F(ENG) S A(ENG) D Bre. F(ENG) FF A(Lon) - Bre. But not A(Lon) E F(ENG); F(ENG) S A(Lon) - Bre. 4) Retreats, Dislodgements and Annihilation. If an A/F is dislodged whilst trying to disembark its A, this move fails and the A and F must retreat together. If an A/F is dislodged and can only retreat to a land space (no suitable sea space being available), the F may retreat but the A is destroyed. Where an A disembarks from the F, and the F then moves away without supporting the A; if the now vacated sea space is then occupied by another unsupported F or A/F, the A disembarkation succeeds; if the second occupation is supported, the disembarkation fails and the A continues with the F. Lies, damn lies and zine reviews Various mad people have decided that they quite like the look of this little effort and are prepared to trade with me. Apart from four mentioned last time out, this has brought some new zines to my attention. Well, new to me at any rate. I'll just mention a few of them here. Greatest Hits can hardly be described as new as it's passed the 160 mark. Pete Birks doesn't run any games. This is purely a chat zine; but what chat. The sample I have contains discussions on food, politics and music in the letter column; some book reviews, some game reviews and just some general chat. An absorbing read, eclectic is perhaps the best word to describe this one. Electric Monk won the zine poll last year and I can quite see why. Produced by Andy Key and Madi Smith (to whom congratulations, belatedly, on their engagement) it runs a nice variety of games with some interesting comment. It looks very good and is reputedly an extremely reliable place to play. Polar Pig, whose Jim Reader was one of the Civilisation mob mentioned earlier, is another worthy little rag. It's the variety that I like here. As well as the usual bits and pieces it runs a small game of En Garde! and such delights as Fog-bound Snowball Fighting and one which would appear to be based on a pub-crawl round Newcastle, with points scored for pints drunk and other matters best left to the imagination. Jim's sent me a copy of the rules for fog-bound. If anybody's interested in a game, I'll print them next time around and open a list. The main criticism of this effort has been the lack of any solid binding. The reason for this was that, ill-prepared as ever, I couldn't find a stapler with an arm long enough to reach to the middle of a sheet of A4 paper. This situation should now have been rectified, with thanks to Rich Egan for the loan. It was a night in for me yesterday (Sunday), as it will be for the next five months or so, with the start of the American Football season. My predictions for who's going to finish where had already been lodged with Bill O'Neill but don't look too bad after the first set of results. From that point of view it's positive that the Buffalo Bills beat Miami (I've got the Bills down to take the Bowl this season) but as a Dolphins fan I'm weeping into my half-pint of bitter shandy. The other encouraging result for the predictions was seeing that the New England Patriots, probably the worst team in the NFL in recent years came out and won their opener against the Indianapolis Colts - I've got the Pats down to finish next to bottom in their division for once. I've just had a week off work not doing anything in particular. Just bumming around Bristol reading, half watching the athletics, keeping an eye on the cricket scores, listening to some music I've not heard in a while (the rest of the house doesn't like Andy Shephard) and cycling. Just before Manorcon I invested in a new bike, as the owner of the one I had been using moved out. I've been slowly getting myself back into the habit of the thing over the past month and a half and yesterday completed the Bristol/Bath Railway Path. This runs along the route of a disused railway line, taking a wide loop to the north of Bristol and coming into Bath pretty much along the route of the river. At about 14 miles each way this was easily the longest I've tackled in some while and is the first stage on trying to get myself fit. The main reading has been The Lord of the Rings for the first time in about five years. As a teenager I read it regularly, four or five times a year and after finishing university it was definitely time to take a break. Going back to it, I find myself wondering why I left it so long. I also find myself questioning why I read some of the trash that's on the market these days. I think what really makes this book stand out is the sheer depth to Tolkien's world, the care that he lavished on the detail and the history of his creation. The thing that struck me most this time through was the songs and poems. There's an oral tradition in Middle Earth which rings true, which mirrors that of Early Middle England and the Scandinavian sagas (which the man taught, after all), but which is missing in ever other work of fantasy fiction that I can think of. The other aspect, thinking about this, is the moral depth of it. Yes, it's a straightforward, good versus evil contest on the surface; but there's an awful lot of grey areas in there. Again, most of his imitators don't bring out these ambiguities in their writing. This issue should contain the rules for Rich Egan and John Cudmore's new Middle Earth based variant, Necromancer - if it doesn't I've cocked up somewhere along the line. I quite like the look of this one. I've played a couple of games of Downfall (the usual LotR based variant) and while interesting I do feel that having the Ring as a piece that can be picked up does add an awkward element of luck to the game. There's a list on the back page for this new approach to the scenario, which I'd like to run if there's people interested. As usual, if you've got any suggestions for games you'd like to see in these pages, do let me know. Back to books. I'm now trying, for the first time since my last unsuccessful attempt, about six or seven years ago, to read Lord Jim. Conrad's The Secret Agent, was one of my A-level texts and I thoroughly enjoyed it, but somehow, I never managed to get into this one. I've got further than before, so I'll let you know. For "light relief", it's the odd chapter of Julian Barnes' History of the World in Ten and a Half Chapters. More of these stories are based on fact than I at first realised. It was only recently that I read an obituary of an American astronaut. A man, who on his return to earth, got religion and set up a foundation to try and locate the remains of Noah's Ark - the subject of one of the later chapters. Recently read and worth a look are Patricia McKillip's Deverry series (Daggerspell, etc). These evoke a reasonably convincing Celtic twilight. War is seen as an ugly rather than a glamorous pursuit. The magic is quite well thought out and the central idea of reincarnation allows a long overview of the background to the "modern" tale. I found the last book particularly disappointing. The action moves south into an area that the author isn't so good with and the final choices, though logical, seem to me very rushed. It's as if the author's had enough of this particular world and wants to cut loose from it as soon as possible. The Outro This has been the second issue of Die Dampfmaschine, an amateur (very amateur) zine dedicated to the playing of games by post. It has been brought to you by Paul Norris, Top Flat, 53, Ashley Hill, Montpelier, Bristol. BS7 9BE. who may also be contacted on 0272 427061. This and future issues will cost fifty pence, as I've had a further think about production procedures. I'm be trying to get this thing out monthly, so as to distribute it at the Bristol Hobbymeet. This illustrious event occurs on the first Friday of every month at The Knowle, Leighton Road, Knowle, Bristol, usually repairing to 23, Cleeve Road afterwards. Further details, contact me, Bill O'Neill or Rich Egan (to be honest Rich is the best bet as it's his place we go to). The next Hobbymeet will be on Details of the York hobbymeet can be obtained from Iain Bowen. For Birmingham, contact Paul S Richards of 12, St James Close, Pelsall, Walsall. All this issues quotations are from Driffs, except for the one that isn't. Driff's Guide to Britains' Secondhand and Antiquarian Bookshops is worth a look, if you can find a copy, for the sheer cussedness of the man and the inventiveness of his description. I first came across it with a cutting hung in one of Aberystwyth's shops, comparing Galloways on Pier Street to a n undertakers for dead books. Unfortunately the edition I eventually found doesn't have that particular gem, referring just to "The slagheap of bookshops". ************************************************************************ ************************************************************************* EMAIL: AMT5MAN@UK.AC.LEEDS.CMS1 HOME : 21 Cecil Mount, Armely, Leeds, WEST RIDING. LS12 2AP ENGLAND (0532)-637878 WORK : Department of Mathematics, The Univeristy, Leeds, WEST RIDING, ENGLAND. LS2 9JY ************************************************************************* Publisher comments: Quote is from 73130.65@compuserve.com/Dirk Rosholt. 71450.1773@compuserve.com/Steve Harris added a line to make this even more special. You can get a subscription to Diplomacy World for $10 in USA ($12 for First-Class Mail), $15 Canada or overseas surface mail, $20 overseas air mail. Send your money to David Hood 104-F Terrace Drive, Cary, NC 27511. ****************************************************************************** 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