Diplomacy Zine -- EP #232 Chapter One From: rlister@cti1.UUCP (Russell Lister) Date: Tue, 11 Jun 1991 22:36:29 +0000 Issue #232 of ELECTRONIC PROTOCOL - Chapter One: A magazine devoted to the electronic mail playing of Avalon Hill's game Diplomacy. Coordinated by Eric S. Klien (see end of posting). ************************************************************************* ----------- Chapter One ----------- This chapter publishes results for the games AUSTERLITZ, BAGHDAD, BLACK OCTOBER, BLITZKRIEG II, GET SOME, GUADAL, JUTLAND, OPERATION DESERT STORM, THE SOMME, Gunboat game PASSCHENDAELE, and no press gunboat game KING'S GAMBIT. Publisher: Russ Lister (rlister@cti.com -or- uunet!cti1!rlister) Checker : Michael Norrish (norrish@st1.vuw.ac.nz) ----------- Highlights! ----------- **** Publisher resumes after a lengthy bout with work and a slightly sick system. Fortunatly, many of the games have slowed due to the season. **** BAGHDAD (EP #78) Votes to end the conflict! Congradulations to roger@nuacc.acns.nwu.edu (England) and enyart@en.ecn.purdue.edu (Germany)! ----------- This Issue: ----------- Final Report for BAGHDAD (EP #78) (GM is campbell@capsrv.jhuapl.edu/ Rich Campell) Spring & Fall 1908 of PASSCHENDAELE (EP #65) (GM is uunet!prism.gatech.edu!ccoprmd/ Matthew DeLuca) Gunboat Fall 1905 of BLITZKRIEG II (EP #100) (GM is dougi@astro.as.utexas.edu/ Doug Ingram) ============================================================================= Baghdad -- Final Results ============================================================================= The E/G draw passes by 4 Yes, 0 No, 1 NVR. Therefore Fall 1910 is not played. Final center tallys are: Country Provinces Strength ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Austria Tri 1 England Spa,Por,Lon,Lpl,Edi,Den,Nwy,Swe,StP,Mos,Sev,War,Tun,Rom,Bud 15 Germany Ber,Kie,Hol,Bel,Par,Bre,Mun,Mar,Rum,Vie 10 Italy Ven,Nap 2 Turkey Smy,Con,Ank,Bul,Gre,Ser 6 -------------------------------------- I am missing the center counter for 1901-1904. If anyone has these, please e-mail them to me. I need them for the end of game report. End of Game statements are due by June 4 (since Italy is gone until then) I'd like to thank everyone for taking part and for being pretty consistant in beating the deadlines. Rich ============================================================================= Passchendaele -- Spring 1908 ============================================================================= Italian military takes 50% casualties! Austrian units sack Venice! German army in disarray; are all communications out? French army liberates Marseilles! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Orders for Spring, 1908. Orders in parentheses indicate failure. Austria: (F Tun - TyS) <bounce with Italian navy> F Con - Aeg A Ank - Con A Arm - Sev A Mos - Liv A Ukr - Mos A Tyr - Pie A Tri - Ven A Vie - Tyr A Boh S A Vie - Tyr A Pru - Ber A Sil S A Pru - Ber A War S A Mos - Liv England: F Edi - Cly F NwS - NAO F Lvp S F NwS - NAO F Iri S F NwS - NAO (A StP S German F GoB - Liv) <No German unit so ordered> France: F MAO S F Spa[sc] - Hold F Spa[sc] S A Bur - Mar A Gas S A Bur - Mar A Bur - Mar Germany: A Mun - Hold A Ruh S A Mun - Hold A Kie S A Mun - Hold A Ber - Hold F GoB S A Ber - Hold F Fin S English A StP - Hold F Bal S A Ber - Hold Italy: F GoL S A Mar - Hold (F NAO - MAO) <disbanded> (F Rom - TyS) <Bounce with Austrian navy> (A Mar - Hold) <disbanded> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Units disbanded: Italy: F NAO, A Mar ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Current unit positions: Austria: A Mos, Liv, War, Pru, Sil, Boh, Tyr, Ven, Pie, Sev, Con F Tun, Aeg England: A StP F NAO, Cly, Lvp, Iri France: A Mar, Gas F MAO, Spa[sc] Germany: A Mun, Ruh, Kie F Fin, GoB, Bal Italy: F Gol, Rom ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Geneva World News 'All the news that fits, we print' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A-I: Well, I really hadn't intended to attack you. I thought that it would be a real challenge to find a way to break through the stalemate line. It's amazing what a little bit of time away from commanding my forces while I watched the War in the Gulf can do to my intentions! :-) A-G: Of course, I still feel a need to pound some sense in to you! :-) Honestly, if you had stayed with the non-agression pact I would have honored it. You were doing well and I certainly could have helped you against the English. Now I get to help myself against both of you. A-E: That unit in StP is kind of a pain. But, as long as it stays put I won't eat it for lunch! :-) A-F: Looks like you're a hurtin' pup there bub. While I am going to munch on the Italians I will still defend them against you just out of principle. Although, there is a good possibility that they won't have any home centers by the end of the year anyway! A-World: I hereby now and forever (unless I change my mind) vote against all draw proposals. <- This is my vote!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! England -> All: Let's wrap this up. The only question mark now is whether or not Italy will live to see the end of this, and that depends on how benevolent Austria feels... England -> Italy: Unless France moved out of the MAO, you are sunk. Hope you enjoyed your North Atlantic cruise. If you somehow wind up retreating into the MAO... well, at least you are giving me something to do! Shouldn't you go home and protect your borders? England -> Austria: I would appreciate it if you would cease all attempts to cause a stab among the F/G/E alliance. Any split among us will only benefit YOU and is therefore unlikely. The only thing you can do is beat up on your ally Italy. If you aren't going to do it, then vote for a draw and let's all move on to other battlefields. If you are going to cream Italy, then go ahead and get it over with. You've played a great game, but it is up to you to prolong it. Is a few more supply centers worth the effort of knocking off your ally? How ruthless are you? I don't appreciate Italy's anti-French efforts during this whole game, and wouldn't mind seeing Italy exterminated, but why not give him a break and let's conclude this peacefully without any further bloodshed... England -> Germany: GOOD SHOW! Excellent! The northern and central portions of the stalemate line are secure. Thanks for the support of StP. I am writing support of F GoB-Lvn as requested. I've almost finished off the Italian Navy in the NAO and France has made considerable progress in the south! Let's keep up the great teamwork! England -> France: BRAVO! Italy is way out of position! He may have Mar now but you can blast him out. Hopefully your F MAO didn't move. If it didn't, then Italy's northern navy is history. If you did move it, we've got problems. Namely Por, Bre etc. are all threatened. I hope this isn't the case. Anyway, assuming I knocked it off, I should be in the Iri and NAO. I will not write any move orders that would endanger your supply centers. I plan on supporting your F MAO from the Iri and NAO. The possibility of a Mediterranean offensive exists. Please advise me on what you need me to do... I could move forward into MAO, but I don't want to interfere with your defense. Since Austria and Italy do not have a lot of fleets, we might be able to make some significant progress against them down here. The stalemate line should be the first priority though. Anyway, my fleets are at your service... France -> England - We stayed in MAO this turn to stop the retreat of the miserable Italian up north. Hope you killed him. France -> Germany A stalemate line? Well, I'm doing my part :) France -> Italy So when do you get Tunis back from your Austrian pal? You realize that this can become a completely different (and dare I say, more interesting) game if you were to stab Austria. Now would be a good time, before his forces make it back from Turkey.... France -> Europe It is nowhere written that this game must end with an Austrian victory. I propose a 4 power alliance (Italy, England, Germany, and France) to susbdue the Austrain menace. It will take all of us, at this point... Ger - All: Germany has done her part, now it is up to her western neighbor. Long live the unLikely aLiance. GM - All: Not surprisingly, the two draw proposals died an ugly death. The five-way vote went down 1-4, and the four-way died 2-3. Both draws have been proposed again for the upcoming season; let's have those votes. Remember, not submitting a vote is the same as a 'no' vote. Thanks to the efficiency of the English and French military, and the inefficiency of the German troops, there are no retreats for this season; all dislodged units were destroyed. Let's try to have those Fall 1908 orders in by 11pm EST March 17, 1991. We're approaching the end of this; let's not stumble now! Matthew DeLuca Passchendaele GM ============================================================================= Passchendaele -- Fall 1908 ============================================================================= Royal Navy crushes French fleet! Austrian army invades Italy in force! German stalemate line holds! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Orders for Fall, 1908. Orders in parentheses indicate failure. Austria: A Pie - Tus A Ven - Apu A Tyr - Ven A Boh - Tyr A Sil - Boh A War - Sil A Pru S A War - Sil A Mos S A Liv - Hold A Sev - Ukr A Con - Bul A Liv S A Pru - Hold F Aeg - Ion (F Tun - WMe) <Bounces with French navy> England: (A StP S Ger F GoB - Liv) <German unit not so ordered> F NAO - MAO F Iri S F NAO - MAO F Cly S F Lvp - NAO France: A Mar - Pie (A Gas - NAf) <Convoy disrupted by English> (F Spa[sc] - WMe) <Bounces with Austrian fleet> (F MAO C A Gas - NAf) <Convoy disrupted by English> Germany: A Mun - Hold A Ruh S A Mun - Hold A Kie S A Mun - Hold A Ber - Hold F Fin S Eng A StP - Hold F Bal S Ber - Hold F GoB sings praises of undefeatable German people and holds Italy: F GoL - TyS F Rom S F GoL - TyS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Current unit positions: Austria: A Mos, Liv, Pru, Sil, Boh, Tyr, Ven, Apu, Ukr, Tus, Bul F Tun, Ion England: A StP F MAO, Iri, Cly, NAO France: A Pie, Gas F ???, Spa[sc] Germany: A Ber, Kie, Ruh, Mun F Fin, GoB, Bal Italy: F Rom, TyS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Retreats: The French fleet from the Mid-Atlantic may retreat to Por, Bre, Ech, or NAf, or may disband. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Supply center ownership: Austria: (+2) Mos, Sev, War, Ank, Smy, Bul, Con, Gre, Ser, Rum, Vie, Tri, Bud, Ven, Tun England: (+0) StP, Nwy, Edi, Lvp, Lon France: (+0) Bre, Par, Por, Spa Germany: (+0) Swe, Den, Ber, Kie, Mun, Hol, Bel Italy: (-1) Nap, Rom, Mar ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Builds: Austria: +2 (War, Vie) Italy: +1 (Three centers, two units on board) Note: Warsaw seemed to have gotten misplaced last season. Please, check things over, each of you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Geneva World News 'All the news that fits, we print' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A-E: I probably kept the French out of the Med. this turn so they really aren't in position to do anything to me. You should probably consider picking up some of those free floating centers on French and German soils. I know from experience that it is easier to coordinate unit movements when they are all yours. A-F: Hmmmmm..... A-I: Well, the only move that will save you is F Rom-Tus and F GOL-TyS. For your sake, I hope you made it, for mine, I hope you didn't! :-) A-G: You know, we could still negotiate something here and completely crush the rest of Europe! It's up to you. I vote no on all draw proposals! England -> All: I think my press from last time made it obvious that I am proposing these draws. I think it is clear that we are headed toward at least a four way draw. A five way would have been nice for Italy, but since his "buddy" has decided to slam him, I don't think there is enough time to save Italy from his "ally" - especially if Austria keeps voting down the draws. So it is up to the Alliance (F/G/E) to convince Austria that he has gone as far as he can. We can do that by solidifying the stalemate line in the south. And that can be done this turn (perhaps). From then on, F/G/E can submit perpetual orders (to infinity) to do the exact same thing every turn while voting down any and all other draw proposals that Austria might cook up (like "Austria wins"). Eventually, the game will have to end with the F/G/E/A draw accepted. This may be boring, but it beats dying. And it beats having Austria wipe us all... England -> Germany: I just about had a heart attack when I saw what happened in the spring. Thank goodness Matthew straightened it out. I think it was obvious to everyone that that was not what you intended. So hopefully everyone will be understanding and not complain about fixing your moves. The only one who has a (small) right to complain is Austria, but he owns almost half the board anyway and shouldn't have expected to be sitting in Berlin at the end of last turn. Anyway, hold the fort - we are almost done with the brick wall. England -> Austria: Again, I compliment you on a game well played. I will continue to propose both draws. I ask that you please vote for them. I understand that you might want to wipe out Italy first. When you get done with that task, please vote for the four way A/F/G/E draw. We've got you boxed in. You should be willing to let some of us survive. Be nice to some of us for a change. England -> Italy: You've gotten awful quiet. Wish we could help, but I think we are running out of time. We can at least try to stop Austria from steamrolling you. Direct your efforts against Austria. France and I will try to keep you from getting wiped out for as long as we can. Meanwhile, I'll keep proposing the five-way draw. At this point, I think Austria holds the key to your survival. Unfortunately for you, your country is on the other side of the stalemate line. England -> France: OK. I moved toward the MAO in force. I hope this doesn't antagonize you. I will NOT move into any of your supply centers. My goal is to help stabilize the southern stalemate line, or join in an offensive in the Med with you. Do you prefer to go on the offensive or just finish up the brick wall? If you want to finish the stalemate line, and if I have put your MAO fleet into retreat (sorry), simply retreat it to Portugal. The stalemate line is then complete. I will do: F MAO S FRENCH F Spa(sc) H (unnecessary support, all it has to do is H) F NAO S F MAO H F Iri S F MAO H You do: F Por S F Spa(sc) H F Spa(sc) S A Mar H (unnecessary support, all it has to do is H) A Mar S F Spa(sc) H (unnecessary support, all it has to do is H) A Gas S A Mar H Meanwhile, Germany can continue to play his extremely important role of safeguarding Berlin and Munich, and protecting my StP unit. (Thanks Germany - I know it is boring). This completes the line. Since Austria can't bring more than two units adjacent to MAO, Spa or Mar, he is stalemated. Period. No victory. Four way draw. The end. I am in favor of just solidifying this brick wall and waiting for the draw to pass. However, since Austria has only two fleets, we might be able to support Italy and make some progress against Austria in the Med. Who knows, we might be able to *defeat* Austria eventually. Such a thought is not unrealistic since Austria doesn't have the fleets to defend himself down here. We could turn the corner on his massive army, and eventually "cut it off and kill it". Where have I heard that before? Meanwhile, Germany can hold back the bulk of his forces in the stalemate position, awaiting a chance to go on the offensive as Austria withers. It really is in Austria's best interest to accept one or both of these draw proposals. But if he is adamant and refuses to accept them, then time will tell us whether or not the high tide of the Austrian empire has been reached. One thing is for sure, he can't win, he can't get much bigger, but the F/G/E team with its continued outstanding teamwork may be able to roll him back. It all depends on whether we want the game to end sooner rather than later. Anyway, that's all of my thoughts for now. Congrats on beating back the Italians. England -> Germany, France: Long live the Alliance! England -> Austria: Going to vote yes or what? France to Austria It surprises me that one who has played so skillfully would sully their victory with press as stupid as that which you directed against me last year. Apologies, of course, are unnecessary; still I have shown nothing but respect for Austria in this game (after all, I *did* try to get Italy to stab you every turn) I anticipate that I will finish second to you in this game, which I consider a modest achievement given the condition of France when I took it over. But many things are possible. France to Italy It's not like I haven't been warning you. Sigh. Well, perhaps you can do me a last favor by helping me take Tunis. If you can get your fleets to Rome and Naples you may hang on, since Austria can hardly afford to ignore me... France to England Nice job on the Italian fleet. The answer is, no, I don't need your fleets in the Med or in the MAO. You're going to wish those fleets were armies pretty soon, as Germany looks likely to collapse. But we're doing our best... France to Germany If you don't move well effectively this time, we lose. G-E ;-) sorry to give you such a scare. Any chance to take austria out? G-F 8^) Keep it up. If you can take out Italy I'll try to help if possible. G-A %={} What have I done, or what did I do, or what did I almost do. Sorry I couldn't help you ;-). I'm glad to see that you are not honoring your pact with Italy, otherwise I would feel bad about not following what my predecessor worked out with you. G-R-T Hope you guys are having fun out there in exile land. G-I :-() We weep for you. We laugh at you. We sing your glory. We try not to choke. We'll let you know the next time that germany wants to start a world war and maybe you'll pick the right partner then. Some Press from Rome -------------------- Welp, that has got to be the weeniest backstab I ever saw. Not only will it not give A-H the game, but it could just end his life. Assuming the coalition forces will be able to hold things together to finish him off. Any requests for wut small Italian aid is available please speak up, limited time offer. GM - All: Draw proposal results: We had a yes for each proposed draw, a no for each proposed draw, and three countries who did not respond. The draw fails, of course. I am going to modify the rules slightly, to try to reduce the non-participation in voting: a no-vote-received is now a *yes* for a proposed draw, not a *no*. Keep this in mind. The draws have been proposed again: a five-way and a four-way. Please, let's have those votes. If there's any question over France's supply center totals, he did not remain in Marseilles this season; to claim a center, you must own it at the end of the Fall season. Warsaw seemed to have been forgotten last season. Please, go over the results for your country with a fine-toothed comb. If each of you does this, no error will be passed on to the next season. As you all know, we are reaching the end of this game...let's keep up with those deadlines. Deadline for the builds is Saturday, April 6, 1991, by 11:00pm EST. I'll have them out to you just as soon as you get them in to me. :-) Matthew DeLuca Passchendaele ============================================================================= Blitzkrieg II -- Fall 1905 ============================================================================= Blitzkrieg II -- Fall 1905 "Gack, I really screwed that one up." -- Doug Ingram *************** Austria (Tom Goodwin)......F Ion S Ita F TyS-Tun, (A Ven-Tus), (A Tyr-Ven), F Tri S A Tyr-Ven, A Gre-Alb, (A Boh-Mun), A Ukr S Rus A Mos, A Con S Ita A Smy-Ank England (Bruce Beutel).....F Ber S A Den-Pru, F GoB S A Lvn, F NtS-ECh, F Fin S A Nwy-StP, F Bal C A Den-Pru, A Ruh-Bel, A Nwy-StP, A Kie S Fre A Mun, A Lvn S A Den-Pru, A Den-Pru France (Brad Gillette).....A Mun H, A Bur S A Mun, F MAO-WMe, *F Tun H*, F GoL-TyS, *[F Rom S F GoL-TyS]*, [A Tus S F Rom], (A Pie-Ven) Italy (Stewart Winter).....F Nap-Rom, A Apu S F Nap-Rom, F TyS-Tun, A Smy-Ank Russia (Ted Fischer).......A Mos S A War, A War S A Sil-Pru, (A Sil-Pru) Turkey (Mattias Olofsson)..*A Ank H* Notes: () indicate bounced moves. [] indicate failed support orders. ** indicate displaced units. *************** Supply Centers: Total/(Units Owned)/Status Austria: Bud, Vie, Tri, Gre, Ser, Rum, 9 (8) + Bul, Con, Ven England: Lon, Lvp, Edi, Nwy, Kie, Swe, 11 (10) + Den, Hol, StP, Ber, Bel France: Bre, Par, Mar, Por, Spa, Mun, 6 (7) - Italy: Rom, Nap, Ank, Smy, Tun 5 (4) + Russia: Mos, War, Sev 3 (3) *************** Unit Positions -- Winter 1905: Austria: F Ion, A Con, A Boh, A Alb, A Ukr, A Tyr, A Ven, F Tri England: F Ber, F GoB, F Fin, F Bal, F ECh, A Kie, A StP, A Bel, A Lvn, A Pru France: A Bur, A Tus, A Mun, A Pie, F TyS, F NAf, F WMe Italy: F Tun, A Ank, A Apu, F Rom Russia: A Sil, A Mos, A War *************** GM Notes: Ok, as three players were quick to graciously point out some errors, I thought it best to just re-release these results in their corrected format. Looks like everyone but Russia has something to do this Winter, so I'll set a real deadline for, say, Thursday, May 23, at 1 pm PDT. The errors: Italian F TyS-Tun succeeds (thanks to Austrian support from the Ionitan), displacing the French fleet there, which is moved to North Africa as its only available retreat. This means French F GoL-TyS succeeds, and the units have been shifted accordingly. Also, I had listed English A Ruh-Bel as successful, but I didn't update the unit position and thus missed the supply center exchange between France and England, resulting in a final tally which you see above. Sorry about all the problems, but my fiancee is in town, after all. :) I'll send out deadline notices at the appropriate times. If anyone needs more time, please let me know ASAP. Note that Russia will be out of town until May 28th or so, in case you are trying to contact him. Luckily, we don't need any orders from him this season. Subject: Blitzkrieg II -- Game statistics through 1905 Status: RO Game Summary of Blitzkrieg II (EP #100) GM = Doug Ingram Fall 1900 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 Place Player of Record Austria 3 5 5 7 8 9 Tom Goodwin England 3 5 8 9 10 11 Bruce Beutel France 3 5 5 7 8 6 Brad Gillette Germany 3 5 2 Tim Moore Italy 3 4 4 5 4 5 Stewart Winter Russia 4 5 6 4 3 3 Ted Fischer Turkey 3 4 4 2 1 Mattias Olofsson Mahler 00 02 23 42 54 59 Index Note: The Mahler Index (read #'s as percentages) is an index which gives a rough estimate of the percentage of the game completed. It is figured according to the formula given below, and it is supposedly a good figure which shows how "advanced" the game is toward a single-player victory (since it doesn't take alliances into account). Variance = Sum of SC's held squared - (Total SC's held squared / 7) Std.Dev. = Square root (Variance / 7) Mahler Index = (Std.Dev. - 0.35) / 0.06 Status: Current turn is Winter 1905 ---- Historical summary of supply center ownership: P S B M P B H L L E N D S K B M S W M S T N R V T V B R S G B C S A o p r a a e o i o d o e w i e u t a o e u a o e r i u u e r u o m n r a e r r l l v n i r n e e r n . r s v n p m n i e d m r e l n y k t i s s i g l e d n w m d l l i P s c a i l e i e n a a b e g s r a u n t e s i a r o b a a e . i c e a o s s e . c s n p n i c a t n r g . . i . u n p n o y r n . n h t w w t . s . e t a e i a e r a a a a . . l . m d o . r . k . . . . e . . o . . . . e . s a . . i n . . Winter 1900.... f f f e e e g g g r r r r i i i a a a t t t 1901....f f f f f e g e e e e g g g g r r r r i i i i a a a r a a t t t t 1902....f f f f f e g e e e e e e e r g r r r r i i i i a a a r a a t t t t 1903....f f f f f f e e e e e e e e r f e r r r i i i i a a a a a a a t i t 1904....f f f f f f e e e e e e e e e f e r r r i i f i a a a a a a a a i t 1905....f f f f f e e e e e e e e e e f e r r r i i i a a a a a a a a a i i 1906.... Blitzkrieg II -- Winter 1905 "The great powers of our time are like travellers, unknown to one another, whom chance has brought together in a carraige. They watch each other, and when one of them puts his hand into his pocket, his neighbour gets ready his own revolver in order to be able to fire the first shot." -- Otto von Bismarck *************** Austria (Tom Goodwin)......Build A Vie England (Bruce Beutel).....Build A Lon France (Brad Gillette).....Disband A Tus Italy (Stewart Winter).....Build F Nap *************** Supply Centers: Total/(Units Owned)/Status Austria: Bud, Vie, Tri, Gre, Ser, Rum, 9 (9) Bul, Con, Ven England: Lon, Lvp, Edi, Nwy, Kie, Swe, 11 (11) Den, Hol, StP, Ber, Bel France: Bre, Par, Mar, Por, Spa, Mun, 6 (6) Italy: Rom, Nap, Ank, Smy, Tun 5 (5) Russia: Mos, War, Sev 3 (3) *************** Unit Positions -- Winter 1905: Austria: F Ion, A Con, A Boh, A Alb, A Ukr, A Tyr, A Ven, F Tri, A Vie England: F Ber, F GoB, F Fin, F Bal, F ECh, A Kie, A StP, A Bel, A Lvn, A Pru, A Lon France: A Bur, A Mun, A Pie, F TyS, F NAf, F WMe Italy: F Tun, A Ank, A Apu, F Rom, F Nap Russia: A Sil, A Mos, A War *************** GM Notes: As some of you Blitzkrieg I veterans may have noticed, I have run out of good quotes (well, I really just don't have the time to dig up more Dave Barry stuff right now), so I'm starting over again with some more of the "classical" quotations which are appropriate to the game. If anyone has some quotes they'd like to share to extend my collection, I'd be happy to have them. In other, more vital, news: England has decided to drop out of the game due to time constraints. This means that unless everyone votes to end the game, I will have to find a replace- ment player for England so that we can continue on into 1906. Either way it goes is fine with me...if the game ends, I'll just work through Eric to start Blitzkrieg III; if not, we'll find a replacement and get to Spring 1906 within a couple of weeks depending on when players are on vacation. So I'm asking all of you for a vote. If you want to end the game now as a five-way draw, then vote YES to end the game. If you want me to find a replacement for England so that you can play on, vote NO. If I receive no vote from you, your default vote is YES. The vote must be a unanimous YES for the game to end in this way (unless someone wants to propose something besides a five-way draw...any draw proposal requires a unanimous vote, however). This is called "negative option Diplomacy marketing." :) Since the Russian is on vacation until the 28th or so, I will make the final voting deadline May 29th, which is next Wednesday. If I receive all votes sooner (or a NO vote), I will, of course, publish the results. If the game is to continue, I will start the process of getting a replacement. Due to vacation time for some players, the game will not get back underway until probably after June 14, unless we rush to slide the Spring 1906 turn in before June 7. Anyway, I'll keep you posted. Voting deadline is Wednesday, May 29th, at 1 pm PDT. Spring 1906 deadline is temporarily suspended. ****************************************************************************** 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. ****************************************************************************** If you don't own Diplomacy, you can buy it at your local hobby store or from Avalon Hill directly. Avalon Hill's prices are $25.00 for the game, or $10.00 for the mapboard, $5.00 for the rules, $2.00 for the basic rules sheet, $5.00 for the game pieces, and $3.00 for a set of 7 conference maps. They also sell a Gamer's Guide to Diplomacy (a great reference) for $4.50. Their phone numbers are 1-800-999-3222 and (301) 254-9200. Address is 4517 Harford Road, Baltimore, MD 21214. Postage and handling is 10% for the U.S., 20% for Canada and Mexico, and 30% for anywhere else. Up