Diplomacy zine -- EP #126 Chapter Four From: Eric_S_Klien@cup.portal.com Date: Wed, 27 Dec 1989 03:13:24 +0000 Issue #126 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 VERSAILLES 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 (He has been compiling the chapters but has so far been unable to get them back to me. We are working on the problem. This problem may not go away until the holidays are over. Unfortunately, all people who have volunteered to replace him can't start helping me until after the holiday are over. To put it mildly, I need more guest publishers!) ------------- Chapter Four ------------- Spring '05 of the game RATATOSK (BNC number 1989IJ) (GM is jall@diku.dk/Mogens Jallberg) Not Received, looking into this. Spring '05 of the game BUSHIDO (BNC number 1989IN) (GM is ronin@cory.berkeley.edu/Sam Parazette) Due Jan 20 Spring '04 of the game HUGO (BNC number 1989IO) (GM is willis@trwind.ind.trw.com/Willis Marti) Due Jan 17 Spring '03 of the game JUGGERNAUGHT (BNC number 1989IR) (GM is rdesper@eagle.wesleyan.edu/Rick Desper) Due Jan 23 Spring '02 of the game TOKUGAWA (BNC number 1989IS) (GM is joseph_harold_thomas@cup.portal.com/Joseph Thomas) (Still missing Spring'01 results) Will be published soon, I checked into this. Spring '03 of the game PETAIN (BNC number 1989IT) (GM is ssmith@ms.uky.edu/Scott Smith) Due Jan 7 Autumn and Winter '02 of the game DUNKIRK (BNC number not known) (GM is sjzwange@phoenix.princeton.edu/Steven Jacob Zwanger) Due Jan 20 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 Summer '05 of the game TRENCHFOOT (BNC 1989IH) (GM is temporarily eric_s_klien@cup.portal.com/Eric Klien) England retreats F NWY-SKA France retreats A BEL-PIC, A SPA-GAS, disbands A RUH I have an I/G/R draw proposal. At this point I have established contact with everyone but Italy. I am sure I will do so in time for the Fall 1905 moves. Deadline is next Sunday, send your votes and moves in now! If I get six yes votes before the deadline, I may publish results early. Publisher comments: You know things are getting quiet over the vacation period when the only game you have results on is one that you GMed! By the way, I need players for my gunboat, blind, 1914, and classic Diplomacy games. The following is republished from issue #54 of ELECTRONIC PROTOCOL. I have gotten a few requests for an article of this type recently. The following article about Stalemates was taken from the Gamer's Guide: A stalemate is a position on the board which prevents futher advance by the enemy. The statemate line is a line of units, none of which can be dislodged by any combination of attacks and supports. In this Guide, a "stalemate line" is also defined as follows: 1. The line has not more than 17 units, holding not more than 17 centers (and not fewer centers than units). 2. The line is held by one or more players against an alliance of two or more players (who would then control 17 or more centers and units). 3. There are no enemy units behind the line and the enemy has no capacity for building any such unit. The first known stalemate positions were published in WILD 'N WOOLY in 1966. Since that time several dozen such lines have been discovered and published. Six basic positions and some of their variants are discussed below. In many instances, the position will work whether a given unit is an army or fleet. In these cases, the abbreviation "U" (for "unit") will be used instead of "A" or "F". Position 1. A SEV SA UKR, A UKR SA GAL, A GAL SA UKR, A BUD SA GAL, A BOH SA GAL, A TYR SA BOH, F PIE SF LYO, F LYO SF WME, F WME SF LYO, F NOR SF WES. Discovered by Conrad von Metzke in 1966, ((who still plays games and publishes a zine!)), this position uses only 10 units to hold nearly half the board (15 centers). The army in Budapest could just as easily be in Vienna or Rumania. However, to reduce the number of centers covered requires, paradoxically, an icrease in the number of units. There are some 13- and 14-unit positions which can be held: see Position 4. Position 1a. A variant of this position requires only 3 fleets: F NOR, F WME, and F TYS. F PIE becomes A PIE, add A TUS. New orders: F WME-H, F NOR SF WME, F TYS SF WME, A PIE-H, A TUS SA PIE. Here 11 units still hold 15 centers. In these positions, the East holds all of Italy. It has been asserted that an Eastern stalemate is impossible without all of Italy (John Beshara, 1971), but that is a mistake. Karl Pettis and others have since noted positions holding only part of Italy ... there are possible lines holding only Venice, or only Naples, or Venice/Rome, Naples/Rome, or Venice/Naples. See Position 6 for an Eastern stalemate which holds no Italian centers at all. Position 2. F MAO H, F POR SF MAO, F NAO SF MAO. This was first noted by John McCallum in 1966. It uses three units to blockade the exit from the Mediterranean. It holds four centers (England & Portugal). F NAO could be IRI or ECH. England (or a Power that holds England) can maintain this position under certain circumstances. The enemy is a southern Power (Austria, Italy, or Turkey). The Atlantic Powers (France, Germany, Russia) have been eliminated or are allied. It is not impossible to see a game stalemated like this: two southern Powers have overrun the board. Their armies occupy all of Europe. However, their fleets are bottled inside the Mediterranean and they can't get out. They hold 30 centers (15 each or perhaps 14-16 or 13-17). Neither can win without stabbing the other. This is a powerful weapon in England's hands. Position 2a. In a variant of this position, England can hold 8 centers with 6 units. Here Russia can still be in the game, so long as she has no fleets in the north. In the south, this is as in Position 1. In the north: U DEN H, U STP H, F BAR SU STP. This position leaves England with two extra units with which to harass the enemy, contemplate expansion, or take advantage of stabs on the other side. It can be expected to include France, Iberia, Belgium, Holland, and parts of Germany. A large number of resulting positions cover 14 to 16 centers. Many of these take into account enemy fleets in the north. See Position 5b for an example. Position 3. U ARM H, U CON H, U NAF H, U SPA H, U POR SU SPA, F WES SU SPA. This unusual position holds 6 centers (Turkey, Iberia, Tunis). The enemy is presumably an Anglo-German alliance that has swept the rest of the board. It will not hold if there is an enemy fleet in the Black Sea or the Mediterranean. Position 4. U ARM H, U RUM H, A BUL (or F BUL(sc) SU RUM, F BLA SU RUM, A BUD H, A SER SA BUD, A TRI H, A TRI SA TYR, A VEN SA TYR, F WES H, F NAF S WES, F LYO H, F PIE SF LYO. This is Position 1 reduced to 13 centers (Italy, Turkey, Balkans, Tri, Bud, Tun). There are variants in which VIE or SEV could be added for 14 centers, and one which adds both and omits TUN. In the last case, the position around Italy becomes: Position 4a. F ION H, F GRE SF ION, U ROM H, U NAP SU ROM, U VEN H, U APU SU VEN, F ADR SU VEN. With a few adjustments, including U VEN SA TRI, the East could hold Vienna and Budapest without holding Tyrolia, Bohemia, of Galicia. Position 5. U NWY H, U SWE SU NWY, F NAO H, F IRI H, U BRE H, F ENG SU BRE, A BUR H, A PAR SA BUR, A BEL SA BUR, U KIE H, A RUH SU KIE. This position holds 11 centers against any southern power. There can be no enemy fleets in the north, which means that Russia has been eliminated. Position 5a. If Russia is still active, there is an 11-unit position that holds 12 centers. Remove U SWE and add U STP. Then: U STP H, U NWY SU STP. There are several variations of this position. Position 5b. U NWY H, F BAR SU NWY, F SKA SU NWY, U KIE H, U HOL S U KIE, A RUH SU KIE, U DEN H, F HEL SU DEN, A BUR H, F LYO H, F MAR SF LYO, F WES SF LYO, U TUN H, U NAF SU TUN. This typical northern position holds 14 centers. The opposition could have fleets in STP, SWE, BAL, and/or BER without being able to break out. Tunis must be held or the Mediterranean would eventually be lost. Variants of this position run up to 17 centers. Position 6. U DEN H, A STP* SA LVN, F MAO H, F POR SF MAO, F NTS** SF MAO, U CON H, F BLA*** SU CON, U SMY H, U SMY SU SMY, A UKR H, A MOS SA UKR, A SEV SA UKR. Notes: * Could be F STP(sc), F BOT, or F BAL. ** Could be F IRI or F ECH. *** Could be U ANK. This position is one in which Russia (minus Warsaw) can stalemate with 13 centers. Russia is the one Power which could eliminate both England and Turkey and have fleets in both north and south ... and essential prerequisite for this position. This could also expand (into Warsaw or Bulgaria and Rumania), or it could contract in a number of ways. Position 6a. F MAO H, F POR SF MAO, F NTS (or IRI or ECH) SF MAO, F AEG H, F CON SF AEG, F EME SF AEG, U ARM H. This is the minimum contraction of Position 6. One of the 4 southern units is supplied by a center in the north. Although Russia is virtually the only Power which can achieve this configuration, it is now centered entirely on the two corner powers. Of course, there can be no fleets in the north nor in the Black Sea. (This means that the coalition Russia is facing would be Austria/Italy.) THE USE OF STALEMATES. List of stalemate positions are tedious reading, at best. One is tempted to ask, what good is all this? The answer may be that a stalemate is the best alternative if you can't win ... and maybe it isn't. Every individual game has its own character. A player's decision as to whether he is even interested in a stalemate depends on how he feels about the game as a whole and about the other players. Perhaps he will prefer to come in second. Perhaps he will even prefer to be eliminated in order to help achieve a particular result. It is silly to insist that there is any single "best" goal in DIPLOMACY. Everyone has his own priorities and trying to fit them all into one's own mold is small-minded. However, an awareness of stalemates is essential to strong play. A stalemate line is a powerful position and the threat of a stalemate is a potent diplomatic weapon. On one hand, a winning alliance can be broken up by an opposition which can force a stalemate. On the other hand, a small power can use her position to bargain with. A strategic situation may often mean achievement of stalemate to one side and breakthrough to the other. Each should be willing to pay a high price for an alliance. A small power which controls the key position may be able to bargain quite well for herself. Stalemates are frequently hard to set up and are often tactically complex (if an alliance is involved on the defensive side). For these reasons, players may be tempted to spend more time on them than they are worth. A stalemate is, after all, a sort of last refuge. It is the final resort of a large power that can't win ... or of one or more players who can't stop an impending victory any other way. Compared to a free-wheeling game where the situation is flexible, a stalemate is dull and uninteresting. In the final analysis, it represents the ultimate failure and breakdown of diplomacy. Still, a stalemate is sometimes better than any available alternative. An alter DIPLOMACY player should be ready to use his knowledge of stalemates whenever necessary. I am enjoying moderating this zine, keep that mail coming! Eric Klien Up