Diplomacy Zine -- Chapter Four EP #137 From: Eric_S_Klien@cup.portal.com Date: Sun, 28 Jan 1990 06:49:12 +0000 Issue #137 of ELECTRONIC PROTOCOL: Chapter One contains: NAVARONE, BLITZKRIEG, OPERATION OVERLORD, GETTYSBURG, and HMS HOOD And is published by daybell@aludra.usc.edu/Donald Daybell Chapter Two contains: DRAGONSLAYER, BISMARK, COLD WAR, JACAL, MANHATTAN, and VERSAILLES And is published by tedward@cs.cornell.edu/Ted Fischer Chapter Three contains: TANNENBURG, ENTENTE, MULHOUSE, and DAWN PATROL And is published by xcbe12a@ucrmath.ucr.edu/Wayne Wallace (I am working on publishing the chapters that dragon@agora.hf.intel.com /Bill Wheeler created. He has them but can't transmit.) ------------- Chapter Four ------------- Summer '99 of the game INSANE (BNC number 1989ZZ) (GM is a mental patient) No moves due, some press was sent. GERMANY "A new decade is coming up." RUSSIA "Yeah. Big deal! Hmph." RUSSIA "Where are the flying cars? Where are the moon colonies?" "Where are the personal robots and the zero gravity boots, huh?" "You call this a new decade?! You call this the future?? HA!" RUSSIA "Where are the rocket packs? Where are the disintegration rays?" "Where are the floating cities?" GERMANY "Frankly, I'm not sure people have the brains to manage the technology they've GOT." RUSSIA "I mean LOOK at this! We still have WEATHER?! Give me a break!" Spring '05 of the game RATATOSK (BNC number 1989IJ) (GM is jall@diku.dk/Mogens Jallberg) Delayed due to Winter vacations. Spring '05 of the game BUSHIDO (BNC number 1989IN) (GM is ronin@cory.berkeley.edu/Sam Parazette) Due Jan 20 Fall '04 of the game HUGO (BNC number 1989IO) (GM is willis@trwind.ind.trw.com/Willis Marti) Due Jan 28 Fall '03 of the game JUGGERNAUGHT (BNC number 1989IR) (GM is rdesper@eagle.wesleyan.edu/Rick Desper) Due Jan 28 Fall '03 of the game TOKUGAWA (BNC number 1989IS) (GM is joseph_harold_thomas@cup.portal.com/Joseph Thomas) Delayed because a player was on vacation Fall '03 of the game PETAIN (BNC number 1989IT) (GM is ssmith@ms.uky.edu/Scott Smith) Due Jan 27 Summer '03 of the game DUNKIRK (BNC number 1989KN) (GM is sjzwange@phoenix.princeton.edu/Steven Jacob Zwanger) Due Jan 24 Autumn '03 of the gunboat game VERDUN (MNC 1989AZrb32) (GM is eric_s_klien@cup.portal.com/Eric Klien) Austria disbands A VIE Spring '04 of the gunboat game VERDUN (MNC number 1989AZrb32) (GM is eric_s_klien@cup.portal.com/Eric Klien) Due Jan 28 Fall '01 of the game BERLIN (BNC number 1989KQ) (GM is cwekx@htikub5.bitnet/Constantijn Wekx) Due Jan 21 Spring '01 of the game BIG WILLIE (MNC number not known) (Blind game, GM is okamoto@hp-ses.hp.com/Jeff Okamoto) Due Jan 19 Spring '01 of the game FIRE WHEN READY (BNC number 1990B) (GM is rlg@ai.mit.edu/Bob Givan) Not due yet. Fall '01 of the game DREADNOUGHT (BNC number not known) (GM is rbk@aiai.edinburgh.ac.uk/Richard Kirby) Due Jan 28 Publisher comments: It looks like I may have gone from a few issues behind to two issues ahead. Well, I do have a lot of stuff that I wish to publish! Issue 138 will be published Monday the 29th, and I will continue on at two issues a week from there. This is the first time in about a year that I have published more than two issues in a week. For the record, I believe that ALL games are running fairly well and that I have NEVER had a game die on me. If anyone has any complaints about their GM, send me e-mail of course! The press for the game INSANE was taken from Calvin and Hobbes. A good comic strip that has been excellent lately with Calvin having made duplicates of himself. By the way, if anyone has a lot of money that they want to spend in the quest for immortality PLUS would be willing to sign up for a Diplomacy game that starts Jan 19, 4091 then send me e-mail. We will play face-to-face using the holographic phone network JCI. Planet will be chosen at a later date. If you can't make the Diplomacy game then keep your money! By the way, the game ULTIMA on the Nintendo is excellent. It is a big reason why I fell behind in publishing this zine. (Snow and computer contract work also factored into the delay.) The following is from paulr/Paul Raulerson on the BIX network: Read:========================== sf/only.books #4607, from paulr, 819 chars, Sat Jan 20 08:13:34 1990 This is a comment to message 4587. There is/are comment(s) on this message. -------------------------- Yeah- well drivers from the Philadelphia area regularly scare New York taxi drivers to death! Of course, all the Philly drivers have a copy of "Redline Speedway" as their bible; if you can't pass somebody (on whatever side, left, right, up, down, whatever ...) just bash 'em! It includes such commandments as: *Always* make a left hand turn from the *right* lane *Never* alternate at four way stops *Never* leave more than 4 inches space from the car in front of you; someone may want to get in front of you... *Always* be sure your brother inspects you car so you can have copious quantities of noxious vapor available for suffocating the driver behind you .... *Always* drive 25mph above the speed limit, especially in snow! There are more but you get the idea .... <grin> Here is more of the latest Zine Register: Ground Zero: (???) Timothy Raithel 2131 N. Lincoln St. Arlington VA 22207 No sub info available. Openings: Diplomacy, Russian Campaign, Third Reich, Downfall VII, and Beseiged! Haven't seen this one, but got the info, sparse as it is, from Cathy Ozog. I've written Tim offering a trade and soliciting a sample and/or more complete info, but so far, no response. Cathy says the issue she saw had no games running yet, and no price. Hopefully, we'll have more to say next time, or write for a sample and let me know what you find out. TEN Hagalil Hamaarvi: (#24 October) Ran "Randy Grigsby" Ben-Israel, 93 St. Vincent St., R.R.#3, Barrie, Ont., L4M 4S5, CANADA $8 US or $9 Can/10 issues, digest, xerox, 20-24 pages, 5 weeks, circ. 54, est. May 1987. Runs: Diplomacy (2), Gunboat (2), Downfall of the Lord of the Rings (2). Openings: Diplomacy ($3), Viking Dip II ($3). The zine features articles with a Judaic theme. RB-I Also the Yiddish proverb of the month, Adrian Karmel's subzine "Karmel's Panorama," a lively lettercol that features but is not limited to, discussions on Israel, Zionism, and international politics, and a hefty dose of the Downfall variant of late. TEN Hansard: (#54 December ('88)) Robert Sacks, 4861 Broadway 5-V, New York, NY 10034. $6/12 issues, digest, xerox, 8 pages, monthly, circ. 39, est. July 1984. Runs: Pax Britannica (2), Kremlin, En Garde!. Openings: Blood Royale ($20), Britannia ($15), Axis & Allies ($15), Pax Britannica, En Garde! ($6/yr), Kremlin ($10), Parlement ($15), Skinny Dip ($15). Hansard is a monthly zine for postal diplomatic games. The name is taken from the debates of the House of Commons; Hansard was originally intended for the play of Parlement, but I've never gotten near enough players. (Where are all the hobby's master politicians when you need them?) Instead, the zine has had to settle for being the premier zine for the play of Pax Britannica. RS Haven't seen it. TEN The Home Office: (#30 December) Fred Hyatt, 60 Grandview Pl., Montclair, NJ 07043. $9/12 issues, open page, xerox, 14 pages, monthly, circ. 57, March 1986. Runs: Colonia VI (5), Diplomacy (6), Youngstown, Gunboat, Gunboat Colonia. Openings: Diplomacy, Colonia VI. The Home Office is a Diplomacy variant warehouse zine with little or no chat. When Fred revived THO a few years ago, he also revived interest in his monster variant Colonia. Now it has become one of the most popular variants around with several zines running Colonia games or offering Colonia game openings. KP Yeah but try GMing it! Ok, I think I will... Something must be VERY wrong if Cameron managed a win here. TEN Heroes of Olympus: (#3 Decemberr) Steve Nicewarner 107 Finance Support Unit, Box 98, Ft. Bragg, NC 28307. .40/issue. Open page ((Wrobel'd kick him out of WARTHOG if it wasn't! - ed.)), xerox, monthly. est. 9/89. Runs: Blood Royale, Down With the King. Openings: Blood Royale, Conquistador, Nomic, Food Fight, Nuclear War, Final Conflict, Down With the King. Heroes is still a zine in evolution. Down with the King and maybe Food Fight will probably start in issue #2 and then Heroes will take final form. If you want friendly games and a continuing story on how screwed up the US military is, Heroes is for you. SN The US military screwed up? Really? C'mon Steve, the US military? What a shock! I'm truly amazed. Steve is no newcomer to the publishing endeavor, having been editor/publisher of Politesse once; for one issue. Yet he carries the WARTHOG philosophy deep into the heart of the Military/Industrial complex, not to mention C.A.D. country. He's a nice sort, too nice to stab brutally in a Dip game in Perelandra, so I can't for the life of me figure out why I did it. Looking to start an Illuminati variant based on the MegaDip power structure, and has been looking for ideas. For 2 straight issues he tells us the only one to send him any ideas has been Robert Sacks, and although "Robert has some really good ideas, they all reflect his personal viewpoint on the hobby's power structure. To present your viewpoint and counter any statements Robert may have made against you (and I'm not telling you what they are or aren't) write me with your own ideas." Hey Steve, send me rules for Food Fight! TEN House of Lords: (#21 September) Richard Martin, 17601 Lisa Dr., Rockville, MD 20855. $1/issue (or all-for-all trade), open page, xerox/laser, 24-36 pages, 2-3 months, circ. 40, est. Sept. 1986. HOL is a zeen by, for and about publishing and publishers, GMing and GMs. It runs no games, and is available to just about anybody. It's composed primarily of the thoughts of its publisher, and an array of letters on topics relevant to publishing and dipzeen in the modern world. Hopefully, this is a forum for those with experience to share the wealth. DM The most outstanding American zine I see. MN The Ten Favorite Zines of Overseas Hobbyists HOL's high finish on this list startles me; non-North Americans generally tend to dislike feud zines. BL I still get (and read) about nine zines. The top five, based on a totally subjective rating scheme are: House of Lords (the only one that I immediately read cover to cover); SL I'm letting my sub to HOL lapse, because I haven't had time to read or respond to it, and it's definitely a zine that demands and deserves that. PG HOL is an excellent place for discussing problems and differences of opinions on relatively important hobby matters, as well as a place for expressing one's point of view. It is what all discussion zines strive to be. JC Yes, this is a zine that breeds opinions and conversation. It might not always be calm, cool and collected, but dull it never is. KP I like it. A Lot. Only problems are too many Nelsons from Britain contribute, and too many Martins from Rockville have published it. I get confused about who's who. TEN Kathy's Korner: (#153 December) Kathy Caruso, 636 Astor St., Norristown, PA 19401 $1/issue to suffer, digest, xerox, 24 pages, monthly, circ. 60, est. Jan. 1979. Runs: Diplomacy (6). Openings: When they pressure me. Maybe real soon. Not for straight laced stuffed shirts or English professors! A crazy zine for those playing with half a deck. The sillier the better, only the games are taken seriosly. (And to think, I'm only 3 days after the deadline! Don't lose this as I'm not about to fill out some form every time I turn around! Once every 5 years is plenty!) KK This is a reader particiaption zine, which explains why a casual reader will have a peroblem with it. At a glance most would think that the insane asylum has begun to allow pens and paper , but if read oftern enough, you find yourself compelled to tell daffy how stupid you think her webbed feet look, or reply to greedy that his Cardinals are shitting all over the Mets. Don't come into KK's realm with a chip on your shoulder, use a baseball bat, and swing it page after page. The only time Kathy is serious during the whole zine is with the games, and KK is well known as a great place to play. She encourages press, loudly used, and and runs a contest in every issue with an opportunity to win free issues. I'm sure that a good word about her Indians (Cleveland style) will get you a freebie. RWG Greier is joking. Don;t you dare write Kathy with a kind word about the Indians. Everyone knows her favorite team is the Orioles... write her extolling them, and you're SURE to get a freebie. TEN The Last Resort: (#18 Decmeber) Charles Fargo, 76 Traveler Ln., Marshfield, MA 02050 $4/10 issues, open page, xerox, 12 pages, monthly, est. March 1988. Runs: Diplomacy (4), Gunboat. Openings: None. The Last Resort is a personal, small game-oriented zine that runs its games efficiently and still finds time for commentary and occasional articles. KP In the most recent issue, Charles announces he will open no more games, let the current ones run down over the next year or so, and then fold. He states his reasons as being his recent problems getting the zine out in a timely manner (work load at his job, followed by a hard disk crash taking most of the zine's data, and a ridculous repair time on the disk... all events that apppear outside his control), and the guilt and frustration he has experienced as a result. In case you haven't picked it up by now, in Britain this would be referred to as "running down to a fold." Too bad, to the casual observer it appears to run games well and reliably. TEN Life of Monty: (see: A Sharp Mind and a Straight Knife) Lord of Hosts: (#5 January) Julie Martin, 17601 Lisa Dr., Rockville, MD 20855 Cost + postage, open page (reduced), xerox, 10 pages, circ. 155. The official statszine of the other person who gives out numbers to Diplomacy variant games... the Miller Number Custodian Under the Covenant. Don't ask. Really. Enjoy your naive months of novicehood while you can. You'll know all too soon. TEN Mad Dog (#4 June) Barnard L. Bearry Jr. 1196 Normandy Road, Macon, GA 31210-3317. $8/season for United players, .50/issue for subbers. Open page, xerox, 6-8 pages, 4 weeks. Circ. 24, est. 3/89. Runs: Americanized United Soccer League. Openings: Standbys only. Will expand for season 2 in early 1990. Mad Dog uses a set of rules titled "Americanized United." AU is a cross nbetween Jim Goode's Disease City and Alan Parr's United rules. MD operates on a 4 week tournaround and is usually neat and on time. BB Maniac's Paradise: (#9 December) Douglas Kent, 54 W. Cherry St., #211, Rahway, NJ 07065 .75/issue, open page, xerox, 10 pages, monthly. Circ. 40, est. March 1989. Runs: Diplomacy (3), Gunboat (3), Kremlin, Civilization. Openings: Diplomacy, Gunboat. MP is a fairly new zine dedicated to confusiong the hell out of its subscribers by changing formats, print styles and content. Seriously, timeliness and a minimum of GM errors are the main points of this zine. Once a few more games are underway we'll begin adding more articles, letters, and other mindless drivel. If you have .75 a month to spare (or if you can borrow it), give us a try. If you don't like it, you can always use it as a flyswatter or as toilet paper. DK MP has become one of the most successful of the new wave of the new wave, filling games with reckless abandon, coming out regularly, getting a decent lettercol going, and developing a personal style that includes a lot of humorous self-deprecation in his editorial musings. Plus, he gets a lot out of the laser printer he has access to, for a nice look and feel. Promising. TEN The MegaDiplomat: (#19 November) Chris Carrier, .75/issue (.80 in Canada), open page, dot-matrix and xerox, 18 pages, no set schedule, 9 issues produced in last year, est. Oct. 1985 as subzine to NFA). Runs: None. Openings: None. MD is the publication of the Feud Number Custodian, is primarily devoted to discussions and letters concerning The Hobby, The Real World, and relationships between. MD is also a place for bashing hypocrites, Moral Morons, pathetic whiners, and people who think that the Great Feud is a world-historical atrocity. CC Hmmm... one of the difficult tasks about doing the ZR is describing this zine to the novices who make up over half its readership. The rest of the readership is mostly zine poubbers, and you already know what MD is all about and have your minds made up one way of the other, eh? Well, here it is: see Diplomacy is an intensely competitive game that involves the clash of strong personalities. As a result, hard feelings often develop. Sometimes these carry over, or in fact get started, out of the game arena itself and rather in the world of hobby politics. When these hard feelings turn ugly, spill over into many forums, and start involving more people than just the original participants, we call it a feud. Hobby histroy is FULL of them. There was one in particular, that went through several phases of activity and dormancy from 1980 until about a year ago. It is usually referred to as "The Great Feud." It got real ugly, involved many people, and in the minds of some hobbyists, hurt the hobby and its ability to attract novices in a serious way. It was in its full flower when Chris Carrier entered the hobby, and he found it all quite amusing. Chris, you see, likes feuds. He finds them exciting. He prefers, it seems, watching and reporting on others' feuds, but when they are at a low point, as in the last year, he starts his own. That's what MD is all about. "The glories of postal warfare," as he refers to it. If you find that sort of thing interesting, you should get this zine. If you find it distasteful, avoid it. There are no games. There is, in addition to the feud content, ongoing discussions by Chris and his contributors, on national politics, the insurance industry, foreign affairs, etc. But make no mistake, this is a "feudzine" who's raison d'etre is to talk about who is attacking whom, why, and what side everyone else is on. TEN Megalomaniac: (#5 November) Rich McKey, P.O. Box 831, West Chatham, MA 02669 .75/issue, open page, dot-matrix/xerox, 8 pages, monthly, except August and December. Circ. 19, est. June 1989. Runs: No games filled yet. Openings: Dip (3) ($2 gamefee), Youngstown XII in subzine War Correspondent, no game fee. We chat some, I spew some views on whatever catches my malevolant eye, and we wait for games to fill. I'm playing with the format, trying to find something I like, and I've just added War Correspondent, a subzine dedicated to the needs of the novice PBM Dipper, put out by Chris Warwick, my arch-nemesis. He voted for Bush and I voted for the Dweeb - I mean the Duke, and we're arguing over flag burning, abortion, and the fate of the earth in general. Come on in, the water's fine! RM This is one of the new wave of the new wave, zines which have appeared just this Spring and Summer, and maybe the best of those. Rich's energy, enthusiasm, and wry humor make it a good read. The heated debate 'twixt zine and subzine editors, while not always of the immaculately reasoned political debating style of the Lews and Hoods of the hobby, has the fire and passion of a couple of friends arguing like hell over a couple of beers at the neighborhood tavern on Friday night. I hope Rich's games fill soon, as it can be quite discouraging to the new pubber with energy to spare to wait month after month for players to sign on, and with a few games and some press, I think this'll be a lively, entertaining zine. It's ugly as sin though... TEN The Messenger: (#36 March) Geoffrey Richard, 306 West Carson, Bryan, TX 77801 .50/issue (or SASE each), open page, computer printed, 10 pages, 6 weeks, circ. 25, est. Dec. 1983. Runs: Diplomacy (3), Gunboat, Source of the Nile, Conquest of the Empire, Narnian Wars, Downfall. Openings: Diplomacy, Conquest of the Empire. TM started as a monthly results flyer funning a Diplomacy game to keep old friends in touch who went off to different colleges, etc., and it has expanded from there. It's pretty much a simple game results zine than anything else. GR Old info, needs updating. I've heard nothing from Geoff, partly because his copy of the last ZR came back as unforwardable and it took me a while to track down a current address. Still, I wrote him in mid-October... Anyway, I know it's going because I keep hearing about Pete Gaughan GMing a Downfall game there, and Brian Hogan running a game of his new variant, the Narnia Wars, as well. I'd love to see a copy... (hint, hint) TEN The MetaDiplomat: (#9 November) Jeff McKee, 3801 W. 13th, Wichita, KS 67203-4430 $5/12 issues (.50 single issue), digest, xerox, 16 pages, 5 weeks, est. May 1989. Runs: Diplomacy, Gunboat (2), Round Robin Gunboat Tournament (2). Openings: Diplomacy ($5). My nightmare. That McKee creature followed me into the PBM hobby and started his own zine! I have yet another place in which to have to endure him. Good lord, was my past life really that rotten? At least he has the sense to prominently feature the letter writing of Mickey Preston, and to gratuitously steal my idea for interviewing hobby members (the Melinda interview was very good Jeff). And KK checks in to abuse him now and again. But why did this man want to GM an all-women's game? Little voyeuristic, are we Jeffy? But seriously folks, lettercol is smokin', and he somehow got access to a laser (whoops, lost it again, back to ugly dot-matrix). Only ominous trend is that mentions of my name keep declining. Be there or be very definitely square. Another fine Brat Pack Publication. TEN Moire: (#7 December) Timothy D. Moore, 405 Fair Drive, #C101, Costa Mesa CA 92626- 6215. .50/issue, $6/year, $5 game fee. Digest, laserwriter/xerox, 15-30 pp, 5 weeks. Circ. 36, est. April 1989. Runs: Dip (3), Gunboat, Kingmaker. Openings: 34 player Anarchy, Dip, Gunboat. Trying to go solo after hiding behind the wings in Dark Mirror, Moire is a gamer's zine. I like to have lively press wars from all the participants, commentary from the peanut gallery, and bits and pieces thrown in for the balance. Plenty of openings for everyone. We have both novice and veteran players subbing, five games running, with room for more, a fledgling letter column dealing mostly with Dip, though more than willing to branch out into the real world at a moment's notice, and Ask Zap - our in- house answer to Mr. Wizard., all packed into every whopping issue. If you're looking for something different, dive between the pages of Moire. TDM An unfortunate beginning, chronicled in the DM review. Tim's moving on, and so far, doing a fine job. If he keeps imitating me (spinning his subzine into full zinehood, the interview format, etc), I may sue him, but then again, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, eh? And his obsession with me is certainly understandable, if not a little eiree. Has overtaken McKee in most mentions of my name per issue. Always a good thing. TEN Mondoj (#15 September) Glenn Overby, c/o Octagon Enterprizes, PO Box 36983, Grosse Pointe MI 48236. $9/year (52 issues, mailed every 5 weeks), $5 game fee, open page, xerox. Est. 1989. Hmmm... I thought we were trading, but I guess I was wrong. Have seen just a couple of issues. Basically the idea is this... he runs four games, all variants, on 4 week, but staggered deadlines. Thus, each game has a deadline each of the four weeks of the month, and each he types a mini-zine with the results of that week's game, and perhaps a small bit of chat. Players in that week's game get the prior three weeks' issues along with their game. Is that about right? Anyway, Overby was apparently a bit of a shooting star early in the decade, getting very involved in the hobby and publishing very quickly, then flaming out to a messy fold. He's back offering to make good on old debts and jumping right in with a major variant presence. Has developed and is pushing a North American variant poll, and has recently, if I remember correctly, become variants editor at Dip World. Now, if only I can get him to trade! TEN Mouse of Lords (#1 July) Bruce Linsey P.O. Box 1334, Albany NY 12201 Price: 1 800K Macintosh diskette/issue, preferably containing contributions. Mac disk, no hard copies, 4-5 weeks. Est. 7/10/89. Runs: none Openings: none Mouse of Lords is a discussion zine, distributed by Mac Diskette. It will simply be a place for Mac users in the gaming hobby to gather in a friendly atmosphere to discuss the Mac as it relates to gaming. Each issue will have three sections: "Mouse Rules" for adinistrative info about the zine, "The Rat Hole" for letters and comments from the readers and publisher, and "Mouscellenia," for distribution of public domain software and shareware. If you use a Mac and are interested, let me hear from you! BL I will refrain from the all too-easy comments on the other well known Mac users in the Hobby, and how elitist computers with idiot-proof interfaces from the man who brought you Pepsi, draconian "look and feel" lawsuits, and ripoff upgrades, make strange hobby bedfellows (obligatory Mac put-downs from the new, DOS only management of the ZR!). I know more "isses" have come out, but since I don't read Mac diskettes, I don't get it and don't know how many. TEN Niccolo (#3 December) George Mann, 1701 NW 81st Way, Plantation, FL 33322. Free to Machiavelli GMs, available by trade to other number custodians. No sub price given. Open page, xerox, 4 pages, quarterly. Circ. 13, est. 1989. Runs: Nope. Opnings: Nada. Niccolo is the Number Custodian (for Machiavelli)'s forum for publishing articles, game starts, game results, and game openings, and the Machiavelli Ratings Poll. This zine is to be published when a game starts or ends and at least quarterly. GM Unless, of course, there's wrestlin' on the Tube - hyork, hyork! The MNC/UC issues Machiavelli numbers, the MNC does not, so George, I guess, with time on his hands and no steel cage death matches on cable, jumped into the breach to create this new post and new zine. Drop 'im a l;ine and let 'im know Mark Lilleleht dropped out of the hobby! TEN No Name Flyer: (#23 October) John Barnes, 444 Lora Ave., Youngstown, OH 44504 $5/10 issues, open page, xerox/computer printed, 4 pages, 5 weeks, circ. 26, est. June 1987. Runs: Diplomacy (2). Openings: Diplomacy ($8 gamefee includes sub for length of game). I think of NNF mostly as a small game zine, but also try to run some articles on tactics and rules interpretations. Novices (and their questions!) are especially welcome. JB This is one of those zines I just don't understand. I mean, I don't understand why it isn't big time. John is an extremely good GM. He is personable as well, running puzzles for subbers to work on and such. Now John is a Dominoid, working in Youngstown Ohio, which expalins somehat why the guy's a bit nuts! But as far as a good place to get in a game, John's go that, and yu should really consider his zine a place to play in. RWG Northern Flame: (#17 November) Cal White, 1 Turnberry Avenue, Toronto, Ont. M6N 1P6, Canada. .03/page plus postage ("send me a lump sum and I'll keep track.") digest, xerox, 30 pages, 6 weeks, circ. 55, est. Dec. 1987. Runs: Diplomacy (3). Openings: Diplomacy, International Diplomacy, International Downfall,Nuclear Diplomacy. FEUD FREE ZINE PROMISE OF PERFORMANCE: 1) I will, at all times, remember that this is a hobby and that there are NO life and death issues at stake. 2) I will attempt to maintain personal objectivity, preferring to remember that there are two sides to every story. 3) I will never make any claim or accusation for which I cannot present material proof. 4) I will not allow any dispute to drag on in these pages if it threatens to become a detriment to the hobby. 5) If someone objects to anything written in this zine, he or she will always have the right of response (subject to point 4). 6) I will neither allow, nor resort to, name calling in my zine. The original Feud Free Zine, NF is the place where hobbyists come to have a good time. Lots of chat, games, and general entertainment. NF is definitely a reader's zine. Discussion is very much encouraged - I just don't let it get out of hand. If you're the kind of person who is in the hobby to do some sniping, then Northern Flame isn't for you. If you're in the hobby for a good, entertaining time, then give us a try. CW NF is a good zine. Lot of meat on them bones. Articles, letters, autobiographical ramblings, Scruples, strategy, plenty of Acheson and Cuerrier bashing. A solid zine of the sort you can take with you to the Saturday morning bath, and still have some stuff left over to read next week. Now if only he'd stop encouraging Mark Nelson... TEN Not New York: (#52 November) Paul Gardner, 20 Spruce St., Brattleboro, VT 05301 $7/10 issues, open page (2-cols. reduced type), xerox, 10 pages, 3 weeks, circ. 49, est. Dec. 1984. Runs: Diplomacy (3), Nuclear Destruction, Railway Rivals (3), Empire Builder. Openings: Railway Rivals, need N.D. standbies! No game fees. NNY has a letter col. focusing on issues along lib./conser. political lines. Runs about the fastest games of Rivals I know of (8-10 months per game). Have several good positions in Nuclear Destruction, which have been abandoned but not damaged (yet). PG I play both Dip and RR in NNY. It was, until about 2 months ago, just a flat out good gaming zine. Again, the key word is fast, with 3 week deadlines and a fast turnaround time that is usually regular as clockwork (he did miss a deadline by a long shot this Spring, to get married fer cryin' out loud! Somebody help this boy get his priorities staraight!). There wasn't much for the non-player, however, aside from the "Our Founder" quizzes (each issue prints a picture of someone famous or infamous with a one issue sub extension to anyone who can correctly identify it), some occasional notes from Paul on his life and movies he has seen, birthdays, of subbers and rock stars, printed on the back page, and continual postpoments of his special "Austria" issue. Then recently Paul said... gee, I think I'd like to have a letter column, and suddenly it was there, fully formed, mature, and intense! How the heck did he do it! Good living through Railway Rivals, I can only assume! TEN ************************************************************************ I need more scribes! I need more scribes! I need more scribes! I need ************************************************************************ I am enjoying moderating this zine, keep that mail coming! Eric Klien Up