Diplomacy zine -- Chapter Four From: Eric_S_Klien@cup.portal.com Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1989 00:05:19 +0000 Issue #118 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, and TRENCHFOOT And is published by tedward@cs.cornell.edu/Ted Fischer Chapter Three contains: TANNENBURG, VERDUN, ENTENTE, MULHOUSE, and DAWN PATROL And is published by dragon@agora.hf.intel.com/Bill Wheeler (For the next month he will be sending it to me and I will be posting it on rec.games.pbm.) ------------- Chapter Four ------------- Summer '04 of the game RATATOSK (BNC number 1989IJ) (GM is jall@diku.dk/Mogens Jallberg) A Mos retreated to War. Spring '04 of the game BUSHIDO (BNC number 1989IN) (GM is ronin@cory.berkeley.edu/Sam Parazette) Not Received. Autumn and Winter '02 of the game HUGO (BNC number 1989IO) (GM is willis@trwind.ind.trw.com/Willis Marti) HUGO - Diplomacy Winter 1902 ============================ England: Build F LIV Germany: Disband A PRU Russia: Build A WAR Turkey: Disband F BLA Austria: None Italy: Build A Ven F Rom F Nap France: None ------------------- New Positions: England(5):F WAL F NTS F SKA A BEL F LIV Germany(4):F DEN F BAL A RUH A HOL Russia (6):F GOB F SEV F ARM A RUM A SWE A WAR Turkey (2):F ANK A CON Austria(5):A TYR A MUN A GAL A SER F BUL(sc) Italy (7):A TRI A GRE F ION F SMY A VEN A ROM A NAP France (5):A MAR A GAS A BUR F PIC F ECH =================================== The Weekly Crier "All the news that fits, we print." =================================== London to Constantinople: ``Farewell, Turkey. We hardly knew ye...'' Spring '03 moves due 3 Dec. Spring '02 of the gunboat game VERSAILLES (MNC number 1989JErb32) (GM is sccs6016@iruccibm.bitnet/Gearoid Casey) Players on vacation, will be completed later this week. Spring '01 of the game JUGGERNAUGHT (BNC number not known) (GM is rdesper@eagle.wesleyan.edu/Rick Desper) England (Protoolis): F LON->NOR,F EDI->NWG,A LIV->EDI France (Lebrun):F BRE->MAO, A PAR->BUR, A MAR->SPA Germany (Scardamaglia):F KIE->DEN, A BER->KIE, A MUN->RUH Austria-Hungary(Silver):F TRI->ALB, A BUD->SER, A VIE->BUD Italy(Walker):A VEN->TYO, A ROM->VEN, F NAP->TyS Turkey(Litvin):F ANK->CON, A CON->BUL, A SMY S F ANK->CON Russia(Kottmann):F STPS->GOB, A WAR->GAL, A MOS->UKR, F SEV->RUM All moves went through. Fall moves were published in last issue. Autumn and Winter '01 of the game JUGGERNAUGHT (BNC number not known) (GM is rdesper@eagle.wesleyan.edu/Rick Desper) England:F EDI, F LON France: F MAR, A PAR Germany: A KIE, A MUN Austria-Hungary: A VIE Turkey: F SMY, A ANK Russia: A WAR Italy: A ROM Autumn and Winter '01 of the game TOKUGAWA (BNC number not known) (GM is joseph_harold_thomas@cup.portal.com/Joseph Thomas) (Still missing Spring'01 results) Due today. Summer '01 of the game PETAIN (BNC number not known) (GM is ssmith@ms.uky.edu/Scott Smith Nothing happened. Fall '01 of the game PETAIN (BNC number not known) (GM is ssmith@ms.uky.edu/Scott Smith ORDERS: Austria (Quarnstrom): Italy (Capwell): F Alb - GRE F ION C A Apu-Tun A SER S RUSSIA F Bla-BulE A Apu - TUN A Tri - VEN 2-1 A Ven H FAIL DISL England (Ames): Russia (Jog): F NTH - Den FAIL 1-1 F Gob - SWE F Nwg - NWY F Bla - BULE 2-1 A Yor - LON A UKR S A Gal-Rum A Gal - RUM 2-1 France (Chow): F ECH S A Pic-Bel Turkey (Bartlett): A Pic - BEL 3-0 F CON - BulE FAIL 1-2 A Spa - POR A Bul - Rum FAIL DISB A Smy - ARM Germany (Hasting): F HOL S FRENCH A Pic-Bel A TYR S AUSTRIAN A Tri-Ven A KIE - Den FAIL 1-1 Capitals indicate final position of the unit. Italian A Ven must retreat to Pie, Tus, Rom, Apu, or disband. Tukish A Bul must disband due to lack of valid retreat. The Italian retreat is due Tuesday 10:00 PM (EST). ----- UNIT POSITIONS: Austria: A Ser Ven F Gre England: A Lon F Nth Nwy France: A Bel Por F Ech Germany: A Kie Tyr F Hol Italy: A Tun (Ven) F Ion Russia: A Rum Ukr F Swe BulE Turkey: A Arm F Con ----- CONTROL: Austria: [6] Bud Tri Vie SER VEN GRE England: [4] Liv Lon Edi NWY France: [5] Bre Mar Par POR BEL Germany: [4] Ber Kie Mun HOL Italy: [3] Nap Rom TUN (Ven) Russia: [7] Mos Sev Stp War RUM BUL SWE Turkey: [3] Ank Con Smy New in caps, lost in parentheses. ----- BUILDS: Austria: Build 3 England: Build 1 France: Build 2 Germany: Build 1 Italy: Nothing Russia: Build 3 Turkey: Build 1 (A Bul was disbanded) Builds Tuesday 28 November at 10:00 PM (EST). They may be made conditional on the Italian retreat which is due at the same time. ----- PRESS: Geneva: Intriguing move. Lausanne: Reminder: all military leaders should send their orders for the Spring of 1902 to the observers here in Switzerland by Saturday 2 December (10:00 PM EST). News from around the world. BERLIN DAILY: The best slant on all the news. Today, The Danish Baker's union declared that the government was a farce. German forces have been ordered there in order to investigate. Our brothers the Austrians have come around. They have agreed to a few cooperative military manuevers. General Zimmer said today that "Nothing major is expected from it, but it is always good to keep a close eye on one's neighbor." The Greens party is having a peace rally at the capital tomorrow, so lets all turn out for it. Norwegian Press: There was talk at the capital today about the secret agreement between Russia and England to split the scandinavian penensula with each getting half. Portugese Pravda (newswire) In other news, a French spy was shot in England yesterday after being interrogated by officials. The authorities have not released information on what may have transpired before the shooting, but an official present was seen laughing. Greek Gnus :-) Come one, come all! We have the baklavas that you need. Hey Buddy, want a Gyro Sandwich? Constantinople: Responding to pressure from the mobs in the docks and palace court yard, the Sultan has moved to protect the sanctity of his borders. This move is purely a defensive posture and should not be seen as a hostile move. Vienna Probe (All the news that is fit to primp) War at last. War at last. Thank god it's war at last. Vienna (Free Associative Press) Through some devlish papist trick, the Austrian first army was duped into attacking the peace loving peoples of Venice. What is even more astounding is that the Germans were simultaneously tricked into supporting this atack. The Austrian minister of defense, Herman Vastenblunder was quoted as saying, "We do not know how the pope accomplished this, but he will pay dearly." Austrian citizens are encouraged to sell any stock they may hold in Italian companies. Vienna Probe (All the news that is fit to primp) Young Zsa Zsa Gabor was admitted to "Our Sister of Merciful Triage" hospital today with what is described as, "Some mysterious South Pacific slapping disease." Vienna (Free Associative Press) In a somber press conference, the Austrian Emperor, Wilhelm Gotterdamerung, exlpained that Austria was forced to temporarily lease its soul to Russia in order to save Budapest. "Some day the hateful slavs will pay for this," the emperor said. Vienna Probe (All the news that is fit to primp) Austrian first fleet attacks Greece. When asked why he felt that Greece might fall to one fleet, the admiral of the fleet, Joseph Drauninmeister, said, "Well, Greece is usually vulnerable to an attack from the rear." Admiral Drauninmeister would not elaborate on this insight. Bulgaria: The market for foot gear has risen enormously. London (Reuters): Queen Beulah II has announced her engagement to the Duke of Lavery. A Royal wedding is being planned for late 1902. All are invited. Summer '01 of the game DUNKIRK (BNC number not known) (GM is sjzwange@phoenix.princeton.edu/Steven Jacob Zwanger) Nothing happened. Publisher comments: I will be breaking off another chapter in the next week or so. Why? Because I am about to start a ton more games. Here are available positions for my next group of games: 2 spots for next regular game, 1 spot for next 1914 variant, one spot for next gunboat variant, one spot for next blind variant, and two spots for my classic variant. As you can see, it wouldn't take many people to get a lot of games going! What does this mean? I could use some guest publishers! This quite simple job has turned into my most important job. So if you can help out in this area, let me know! If you think the job would be too hard, why don't you become a chapter checker instead? Or why don't you help me start one of these games by joining up as a player? *********************************************** Transmitted via scribe Bob Givan/rlg@ai.mit.edu *********************************************** From Passchendaele #95: YES, SAHIB A Second Article in a series on "Relationships" The object of the game is to win or draw: little recognition is awarded for order of finish and survival. Certainly, rating systems do not reward anything else, either, except for the now defunct ODDMOD (which, in a significant departure from convention, would reward players for second or even third place). Accordingly, it is hardly surprising if most serious players will show no interest for any arrangement which does not directly enhance their ability to achieve the stated goals of the game. What _i_s_ astonishing is their inability to show flexibility in the face of adversity, their stubborn pursuit of the sam policies that have so clearly taken them down the path to oblivion. An expansionist policy may be appropriate in 1901, when it is still possible to treat all opponents as equals and to strive for a so-called "equitable" deal with potential allies, usually at the expense of one or even two neighbours. Yet any power of similar strength in 1904 would be foolish to pursue the same objectives: the conditions have changed and so should the policies. Commonly, though, the player will stubbornly persist in his all-or-nothing duel against old opponents. No consideration is given to the alternative: surrender, or puppethood. It should be clear, however, that any competent player will routinely reject this option unless no alternative other than summary elimination exists---and rightly so, considering the object of the game. We are more concerned here with so-called "hopeless" positions. Normally puppethood will evolve either as a result of surrender to a larger opponent (once the level of "pain" has become intolerable), or even following "cooperation" with a nominal "ally" (who then proceeds to take over control of critical areas as part of his "rescue"). In either case, the puppet ends up relinquishing his original victory aims in favour of a policy of faithful assistance to some "master" in fulfilling his. In return, some guarantees regarding survival are provided; a promise of second or third place (for what that's worth) might even be proferred if the puppet's position is uncommonly pivotal. In this sense puppethood is surely the most profitable course, giving the weaker player a chance to survive and continue within the game, at least. For as long as he remains capable of affecting the final outcome to some extent there will be hope. Still, the purpose of a good puppet is not survival as an end in and of itself, but rather as a means of living to fight another day. Unfortunately, the ability to wage war with any effectiveness against a master dims with each passing season. No doubt will the dominant power use its superior position to occupy key points and keep the puppet at complete mercy. Such agreements are notoriously difficult to wrangle out of: at a moment's notice, most if not all centers are occupied by the enemy, and the bold rebel hurled out of the game. Because of this vulnerability, the o_t_h_e_r players will also stop taking the puppet seriously, only making matters worse. Only when the tide turns and the front collapses does the puppet get his "chance", though of course the master will anticipate this and, in an effort to consolidate and retrench, will likely choose to do away with this potential fifth column. Perhaps the most decisive advantage of puppethood is diplomatic. The other players will not be thrilled to see that a four-center position has just joined forces with a 14-center leader, for instance, and in a desperate effort to avoid defeat may give the puppet a better deal than it originally could have expected out of even a stop-the-leader coalition. With firm guarantees of foreign assistance, David may suddenly find himsef capable of resisting Goliath after all, bringing about a change in his attitude towards puppethood. The same result might come about to some extent in other situations too, especially if a power of equal strength chooses to challenge the master but must drive the two of you apart in order to be successful. By effectively switching from frontline state to kingmaker, the puppet has acquired considerable blackmail power. Puppethood offers some clear benefits to the weaker power, but what's in it for the master? He has no intrinsic interest in offering his protection, since his object is to win, not make futile displays of charity. Especially in the early stages of the game, the would-be puppet might have trouble even finding one: a two-center France in 1903 may find both England and Germany strangely reluctant as they are at this point only interested in tangible growth. Unless the puppet can persuasively show that his cooperation will be valuable, if no critical, his centers will probably be too tempting a target. Nevertheless, arrangements of this type can frequently be of value to the master, especially in the mid- or end-game: - the puppet might have some critical forward units that weill be of assistance in opening the way or even in forestalling the formation of a stalemate line. Or it might enable the master to turn his attention to some more important front. The puppet might even provide a useful diversion in a region that the master cannot himself reach (a common benefit of Russian puppets from an Austrian or Turkish point of view). - a puppet can sometimes provide strength in the master's areas o weakness. For instance, Italian fleets will usually be invaluable to Austria. - the puppet's home centers, in a sense, can start acting as home centers for the master. Turkey, for instance, commonly experiences difficulty deploying units built in Constantinople or Smyrna to the "main" front on time. In this respect, a puppet Italy will be able to build fleets where they can be used in the Mediterranean right away, or armies that will exert pressure on Germany in short order. In this respect the competent player will ensure some growth for his puppet witout making him strong enough to challenge the relationship---usually by nibbling from the rear. - in some stranger situations, the master may be unable to build himself, either because he no longer owns a home center or is unable to vacate them long enough to build. This will often lead to large powers playing with many units short; for this reason alone if nothing else, the master might keep the underling and his mercenary units around, rather than wipe him out for a couple of centers. - sometimes the deal will be of some merit on its own. Italy might approach Turkey with an offer, in an effort to split up a hostile RT juggernaut. The puppet avoids elimination, but would all of his centers have been captured by Turkey? In accepting the arrangement, Turkey may be carving a larger share of the spoils for itself. -the arrangement can assist in disguising the true strength of the master. Many opponents typically do not worry about a 13-center power, but surely their outlook would be different if they knew that it a_l_s_o had a 5-center puppet. Sometimes it can be useful to delay the capture of some centers, particularly if they have been effectively "locked up", just so as to avoid the appearance of being too strong. In spite of many benefits, a measure of caution must be exercised in handling the relationship. It may become advisable to dispatch a number of units to occupy key points, thereby maintaining a constant threat to his very survival. Never forget that the arrangement came about as a direct result of his natural fear for elimination: his loyalty will quickly dissipate if the grip loosens. But this may mean that resources sorely needed on the "main" front will simply not be available. Perhaps the best solution involves getting the puppet to sustain much of the frontline action, leaving his own homeland utterly undefended. In this situation, only a few units will be required to effectively maintain the pressure, while the remainder can be used elsewhere. Still, his units should never be considered completely reliable, so it will also be advisable to keep a few frontline units even in his sphere of responsibility, to prevent a total collapse of the front in the event of defection. A 13-center power with a 4-center puppet does not have the flexibility of a true 17-center position; too many resources are "wasted" just keeping tabs. In the end, victory will come only with 18 centers, and as the master approaches that number it may be tempting to stab the powerless puppet for an "easy" win. At the same time, the weaker power will noticeably be getting more nervous, partly in fear of the obvious attack but mostly because a win means defeat for him (along with all th other players). Since his purpose in joining the alliance was survival in order to fight later, he may choose this moment to resist, even if such a course of action would be suicidal. But the master is usually strong enough in his own right; ending the game one or two game-years earlier just isn't worth a poor reputation. There is almost no percentage in stabbing a worthy ally if victory can be achieved some other way. The one exception is if there i_s_n't: sometimes the alliance may be stalemated, and the fact that it controls 19 or more centers achieves precious little: in the end the master may be forced to betray the arrangement just to make it over the hill. For both players the deal was one of convenience, a means to an end, and never a goal in and of itself. I am enjoying moderating this zine, keep that mail coming! Eric Klien Up