Diplomacy Zine -- EP #186 Chapter Six From: Eric_S_Klien@cup.portal.com Date: Wed, 18 Jul 1990 02:59:03 +0000 Issue #186 of ELECTRONIC PROTOCOL: ************************************************************************ Being a mortgage trader at Salomon more often meant being a mortgage buyer than a mortgage seller. "Steve Baum [t************************************************************************ Chapter One contains: BLITZKRIEG, GETTYSBURG, RED STORM RISING, and PASSCHENDAELE And is published by daybell@aludra.usc.edu/Donald Daybell Chapter Two contains: DRAGONSLAYER, JACAL, MANHATTAN, VERSAILLES, DRESDEN, and KHAN And is published by tedward@cs.cornell.edu/Ted Fischer Chapter Three contains: MULHOUSE, DAWN PATROL, SNIKKEL-2, BERLIN, SNIKKEL-1, EL ALAMEIN, SQUALANE, UNGAWE, CAPTAIN CAVEMAN And is published by cwekx@htikub5.bitnet/Constantijn Wekx Chapter Four contains: FIRE WHEN READY, BIG WILLIE, NICKEL, and OZARK And is published by dm8sstaf@miamiu.bitnet/Douglas M. MacFarlane Chapter Five contains: ARCHANGEL, BORDEL, ERIS, MASADA, and YALTA And is published by uunet!bnrgate!bmers1!dgibbs/David Gibbs ----------- Chapter Six ----------- Fall '03 of the game GROUND ZERO (BNC number not known) (GM is Eric_S_Klien@cup.portal.com/Eric Klien AUSTRIA WINS BIG! AUS: <F Adriatic Sea - Ionian Sea> F Aegean Sea S A Bulgaria - Constantinople A Budapest - Vienna A Bulgaria - Constantinople A Greece H A Rome - Naples A Venice - Rome ENG: <F Edinburgh - North Sea>[ret](CLY YOR) F Wales - Irish Sea FRA: A Belgium H F English Channel - Wales F Gulf of Lyon - Tyrrhenian Sea <F London S A Denmark - Yorkshire>[nso] A Marseilles - Piedmont A Picardy S A Belgium H F Tyrrhenian Sea - Tunis F Western Med S F Tyrrhenian Sea - Tunis GER: A Denmark - Edinburgh F Heligoland Bight S F North Sea H A Holland H (patches the dikes) A Kiel S A Holland H F North Sea C A Denmark - Edinburgh ITA: <F Ionian Sea S A Tunis H>[att] <A Tunis H (watches the camel races)>[ret](NAF) RUS: <F Armenia S F Sevastopol - Black Sea>[att] A Livonia H F Norway S F North Sea H F Norwegian Sea S A Denmark - Edinburgh A Rumania S A Ukraine H <F Sevastopol - Black Sea> A Ukraine H TUR: <F Ankara - Armenia> <F Constantinople - Black Sea>[***] <A Smyrna - Constantinople> Position Report Fall 1903 Game ZER AUS: F ADR F AEG A CON A GRE A NAP A ROM A VIE = 7 ENG: F ??? F IRI = 2 FRA: A BEL F LON A PIC A PIE F TUN F TYS F WAL F WME = 8 GER: A EDI F HEL A HOL A KIE F NTS = 5 ITA: F ION A ??? = 2 RUS: F ARM A LIV F NOR F NWS A RUM F SEV A UKR = 7 TUR: F ANK A SMY = 2 Supply Center Report Fall 1903 Game ZER AUS: BUD BUL CON GRE NAP ROM SER TRI VEN = 10( 7) +++ VIE ENG: LVP = 1( 2) - FRA: BEL BRE LON MAR PAR POR SPA TUN = 8( 8) GER: BER DEN EDI HOL KIE MUN = 6( 5) + RUS: MOS NOR RUM SEV STP SWE WAR = 7( 7) TUR: ANK SMY = 2( 2) Press: (Berlingske Tidende, K|benhavn --- July 1'st) From our Esbjerg office: Unnamed sources in the German military command in Esbjerg blames seasickness for the spectacular failure of the attempted transfer of german forces from our beloved country. Their long sojourn on our shores are said to have rendered the german soldiers incapable of navigating any amount of fluid beyond that present in a bottle of Carlsberg. Violent denials are made to any suggestion that English resistance had any effect upon the operation. Editorial comment: While the present editor has no doubt what so ever of the ineptness of the German military establishment, it is very clear that the main cause of the continued german military presence in our country is the despicable English. The least our western neighbours could do in this hard time for us all would be to accept their part of the burden of supplying the german forces with beer. Do doubt Yorkshire bitter is an inferior brew compared to our own brands, but surely it is good enough for the barbarians. (Politiken, K|benhavn --- July 12'th) The editor of our companion publication `Berlingske tidende' has been placed under military arrest, following his virulent attacks on the protectionary forces. The present editor cannot but applaud the decision. We must stand together with our true friends in this turbulent time. Traditionally, the Scots have been rather more resistant towards foreign invations that the English. This time may be different. (Ekstrabladet, K|benhavn --- August 15'th) [...] The arrest of the editor of `Politiken' by military authorities is based on sound principles. The disclosure of military secrets cannot be condoned, whatever the motives. [...] Other games will be published in next issue. Publisher comments: Quote is from p. 114 of Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis. Starting with issue #187, I will stop listing BNC numbers unless I get my backordered BNC *AND* MNC numbers by that issue. I will continue to apply for numbers in the future to show that we exist, but I will only post EP numbers. Here is a letter to the editor from loeb@geocub.greco-prog.fr/Daniel Loeb: Dear Editor, Thanks for all your work in preparing the Electronic Protocol. I am especially writting with regards to the many articles you are having typed. They should serve as an excellant and easily accessible library of diplomacy strategy for the players on the network. Towards that end, I suggest that the articles be classified by the scribe according to their topic. (A sort of Diplomacy Decimal System.) Although some articles (such as the recent one on stabs) are quite general, most deal with strategy for and/or against certain groups of powers. Thus, I propose the following system of categories: Code Topic / general article A/ how to play Austria /A how to stand up to Austria EG/ the England,German alliance A/I how Austria can attack Italy RAT/I how the Russia,Austria,Italy alliance can attack Italy AI/RT Austria and Italy versus Russia and Turkey I suggest that all scribes (and authors) apply this classification system to this articles, and that the archivists retroactively apply this system to all back articles. For time to time, you could then publish an index (or have an index available via Listserv) which would tell in what issues I should look at when I am France and Germany has stabbed me! Finally, I would like to see an article on the topic of replacement players. It seems to me that the strategy adopted by or towards a replacement player should be somewhat different than the general strategy. Does anyone have a reference to any such article? Here is an article scribed by the same great guy: Saint George and the Dragon, No. 35, December 10, 1978, pp. 7,8,11. Dragonfire, "How to Play Germany," by Dipple O. Massey scribed by Daniel Loeb DDS: G/ Does it thake an article to tell you how to play Germany? How stupid! Anybody can play Germany. All you have to do is write down your orders and send them in. Just be sure you write legibly so the GM can understand what you want. In fact, anybody can play any country by follwowing the above procedure. See what a knack I have for turning something appearing so co;plicated into downright simplicity? Oh, you want to WIN? Well, why didn't you say so. That's a different matter altogether. It's still very simple, actually. Just make sure your mother plays England and Peggy gemignani [DL: ???] play France. If you can't meet this basic requirement, the situation becomes somewhat more delicate. Ok, you find yourself in a game as Germany with six other guys you can't even pronounce their names. Let's assume these other guys are just as anxious to slit a throat as you are (although in some circles it is argued that this is established fact, and therefore, no assumption is necessary.) The first requirement is to get England and France to go at it. If they are even neutral towards one another, you chances diminish. You can rule out a 3-way alliance also because after you've mopped up everybody else, there YOU are in the middle of two 11 power countries. If you are going for a draw, that's fine. But western triple alliances are not favorable for a German win. How do you get France and England slashing each other right off the bat? Well, that's YOUR problem, but I will offer one suggestion. Tell Italy that France is going into the Channel, he will tell England. Tell Russia that England is going into the Channel; he will tell France. Tell Austrai and Turkey the same thing, just to cover everything. You also write E/F and tell them the same thing. Now they may think you are just blowing air, but if they receive the same reports from other corners of the board, chances are you will see a war in the channel. Phase II of your pre-game negotiations consists of forming an Austro-Turkish alliance in the east. You write A/T subtly hiniting what an honest, forthright, babykissing fellow the T/A player is. And of course what a weasel is the Russian rogue. You then proceed to cite "overwhelming" proof that your opinions are well-founded. A strong Russia in the early game will kill most chances for a German win. In Phase III, you persuade Italy to go east. You have successfully maneuvered A/T into keeping Russia pinned down, but you don't want them to grow to strong in the process. You want Italy there to keep them both honest. The game begins. The F/E standoff in the channel virtually assures you Beligium, Holland, and Denmark in 1901 and therefore, 3 builds. You have attacked no one, made no threatening moves, and all your neighbors are engaged in bloody conflicts. [DL: Better to give up the 3rd build in 1901, since otherwise someone is sure to point out that Germany is the leader, and then the shit will really hit the fan. Better to build 2 in 1901 and save Belgium for 1902. The free supply center to one of your "allies" will certainly make him happy, and in reality costs you nothing.] E/R/F are all coming to you with hat in hand, each desperately needing your help. You build two armies and a fleet and all your neighbors are happy. To Russia, you are in good position to help him against Austria. England now has visions of your sweeping in on France. France realizes that you are about to help you good buddy Russia against Austria and that you have built an additional fleet for an English assault. But here you must be careful. You don't want to throw most of your strength against England because he can hold you off with just a few forces of his own, while France can breeze into the English backdoor. Yet you cannot deny aid to France because then he might just decide not only that it is useless to tackle England alone but that YOU are the bigger threat, which could very well lead to a F/E reconciliation. So you move your fleets into SKA and DEN, two armies you send into SIL and PRU. England may be wary of this and cover himself in Norway, but he will not move against you and deliberately provoke a two front war, since it is obvious you are merely going after Russia. France sees two German fleets in good position to hit England. [DL: Appearantly, the other two armies move into France to help or attack as the case may be.] 1902 is a good year for Germany. You take Sweden and maybe Warsaw. France is just beginning to make headway and England positions his forces to meet the immediate threat. In 1903, you take Norway and convoy another army to Livonia. France may or may noit have taken London or Liverpool, but, if not, you give him BEL as a generous tidbit just so he will not feel that he is stagnating. Always remember to keep France happy. In 1904, you march into STP and take control of NTH. At this point, you make heartwarming overtures to Italy or Turkey (with whome you have maintained friendly relations and communications all along) whichever is the strongest and has the better position. If Turkey is in good shape, you convince him how cool and suave it would be to his Austria from two opposing sides. You would also send "scouting parties" to the Italian peninsula where Turkish and French fleets will soon be beating each other up. Soon it will be only you, France, and Turkey remaining. At this point, it should be fairly easy for you to see which of the other two is most vulnerable and forthwith stab the dimwit in the back for the win and congratulations from all parties involved (stabee excluded). If Italy is in the best shape, however, you generously grant him the privilege of being the beneficiary of your military genius and the two of you proceed to munch on Austria and Turkey. Of course, you convince France it is time he dealt with the Italian upstart, if he hasn't begun to move in that direction already. You also perform your moral duty and inform Italy that France is coming. This innocent maneuvering on your part insures that you will get most of the eastern spoils, provides France with someone other than you to hassle, and positions much of the French strength in the south. [DL: However, taking Turkey and the Balkans without the full force of Italian fleet will be quite a trick.] When the forces begin to reposition, you execute as brilliant stab of France to the applause of Italy and the GM. A quick strike into Burgundy and the English holdings prove to one and all that you are indeed Patton's seventh incarnate. You and Italy now proceed to demolish the lower class. But you must remember to keep Italy happy. Give him no cause to suspect your bloodlust. Otherwise, he might think you are only playing him for a sucker and may well join with the opposition. When he does realize that you have indeed played him for a sucker, it will be too late for him or anyone else to do anything about it. Now all this may sound great in theory, but putting it into practice WILL require some diplomatic effort on your part. Sure there are other ways to win with Germany, but I believe that this one gives you the best chance. An initial alliance with England is fine, IF you are willing to play for a draw. But it is too confining to permit many German wins, England would probably insist that you possess no more than two fleets, and he always has some units at your back. And an England knife can be very sharp indeed. That's the way I see it, and I'm Dipple O. Massy. ((Note [editor of G. & the D.]: There is good advice in this article, coming as it does from a multiple winner. I didn't win that way as Germany, but the important thing that shows up in the article [...] is that you must be THE active diplomat in the g ame. If your ally is the one constantly coming up with suggestions instead of you, you may share in a draw, but you are almost certainly not going to win.)) Following are comments from people about my average rating in the poll, names removed to protect the innocent. Unfortunately, no one gave any solid suggestions on how I can improve my rating. If my zine only gets an average score, there must be something wrong with it. Please tell me what it is, don't just send me a lot of praise. ">What is wrong with the zine? Let me know and I'll >change it. I don't like working so hard at keeping this huge >zine afloat, only to get trashed in the poll. Hi, Eric. For starters, I gave the zine a 7 for a simple reason. I have nothing to compare it to, so I didn't feel right giving it anything except an average score. Anyway, what's wrong is more our fault than yours. I play diplomacy for the games. I could care less about the articles. Too many diplomacy games (and this was a problem on the net long before you came along) end up in a quagmire because a player or the GM gets lazy/ticked off/whatever, and the other players suffer. Before EP came along, I lost count of how many dippy games I started which were aborted at about 1903. For too many players, the second they starts losing, they head for the hills. My preference would be to pay more attention to the games and less to the articles. I think you're doing a great job at a tough job. Please keep up the good work." "I wouldn't worry too much about not placing highly in the RP. The 'zines that get really high ratings are the 'homey' ones, where all the subbers are well aquainted with each other (and the pubber). In such cases, it doesn't matter how good the 'zine is to an outsider--it's going to get 10's from its readers. The only reason I can think of why EP would get average ratings is that it is so large and efficient. That makes it a little impersonal, and engenders an honest rating rather than the inflated rating many zines (and GM's) get. (Isn't there a rating which is weighted by the number of readers?) Anyway, I sure like EP and hope it continues its high standards!" "Rec'd the latest EP today, thanks so much! Sorry you're unhappy w/the Runestone Poll, for my part, it was rec'd so late that I was unable to fill it out and return it. I think you're doing a great job, don't let someone else's poll discourage you. Next time get them out sooner, that's all." "don't let the showing in the runestone poll effect what you do with EP. you do a good job. i have not seen a copy of the results yet, but how many people voted for EP and other zines? from the people i am familiar with, most could have only voted for EP as they get no other dip zine. also, think about the type of players you have. those that tend to get a zine for playing only also tend to be more harsh when assigning values. for example, ... usually is in the middle of the pack even though i think i put out one of the best gaming zines available. but i know many of my players, and they feel as i do that a ten is almost impossilbe to achieve while a fiveor a six means a job well done. for example, this year i gave no tens (I have never given a ten), one nine (and that for a subzine), and a few sevens and eights. EP got either a seven or eight. i would tell you exactly, but i didn't save the e-mail copy but only the hard copy i made. so you were up there among my favorites, and i get about 30 zines. hang in there. you are appreciated." ****************************************************************************** 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