Diplomacy zine -- Chapter Three From: Eric_S_Klien@cup.portal.com Date: Mon, 11 Sep 1989 23:16:24 +0000 Issue #96 of ELECTRONIC PROTOCOL: Chapter One contains: D-DAY, NAVARONE, BLITZKRIEG, OPERATION OVERLORD, GETTYSBURG, and HMS HOOD And is published by Daybell@aludra.usc.edu/Donald Daybell Chapter Two contains: DRAGONSLAYER, DOUGHBOY, BISMARK, COLD WAR, JACAL, and TRENCHFOOT And is published by Tedward@cs.cornell.edu/Ted Fischer ------------- Chapter Three ------------- Spring '02 of the game TANNENBURG (BNC number 1989HZ) (GM is Ebrosius@lucy.wellesley.edu/Eric Brosius) Not received due to GM having e-mail problems. (I know he sent it, I just didn't get it.) Also note that Fall '01 was published a few issues ago, my message about not receiving it was incorrect. That's right, Eric, please resend the results to me. I got your other messages though! Fall '01 of the gunboat game VERDUN (MNC number 1989AZrb32) (GM is Sccs6069@iruccibm.bitnet/Michael O'Regan) +++++++++++++++++ Verdun Fall '01 +++++++++++++++++ Moves in * * failed, or bounced or whatever. Austria *A(Gal) -> Rum* A(Ser) S *A(Gal) -> Rum* *F(Tri) -> Ven* England F(Lon)-H F(Nth)-H F(Edi)-H France F(Bre) -> Pic A(Mar) -> Spa *A(Bur) -> Bel* Germany A(Kie) -> Den A(Ruh) -> Bel F(Hol) S A(Ruh) -> Bel Italy F(TYS) -> Tun A(Ven) -> Tyr *A(Rom) -> Ven* Russia A(Lvn) -> War F(GoB) -> Swe *A(Ukr) -> Rum* F(Sev) S *A(Ukr) -> Rum* Turkey F(Ank) -> BLA A(Con) -> Bul A(Bul) -> Gre ********** UNIT POSITIONS Austria : F(Tri), A(Gal), A(Ser) England : F(Lon), F(NTH), A(Edi) France : F(Pic), A(Bur), A(Spa) Germany : F(Hol), A(Bel), A(Den) Italy : F(Tun), A(Tyr), A(Rom) Russia : F(Sev), A(Ukr), A(War), F(Swe) Turkey : F(BLA), A(Gre), A(Bul) ********** Ownership of Supply Centers 00 01 Austria 3 4 Home, Ser Build 1 England 3 3 Home France 3 4 Home, Spa Build 1 Germany 3 6 Home, Bel, Den, Hol Build 3 Italy 3 4 Home, Tun Build 1 Russia 4 5 Home, Swe Build 1 Turkey 3 5 Home, Bul, Gre Build 2 ********** GM -> All So well that was the year that was 1901. An eventful year. There is however one slight problem and that concerns deadlines. The GM hereby announces that he shall be away Inter-Railing around Europe for the next 3 weeks. I would transfer the game to another GM but one of ye is also away most of that time. I know it, he knows it and the rest of ye know it now. Anyway the transfer system amongst GM doesn`t work too smoothly by it`s very nature. I promise that the game will be speeded up as soon as I get back. Sorry for the inconvenience. ********** GM -> England Hi, you appear to have missed the deadline, by a considerable amount. If you want to drop out let me and Eric know. If you want to continue let me know that too. ********** GM -> The Great GM in the Sky (Eric) If England drops out could you line up a replacement by the time I get back? He won`t need extra time for diplomacy, we all shout at each other in this game. Can I advertise for a standby list or have I just done it? "Life ! Don`t talk to me about life ....." <Marvin the paranoid android - HHGttG> Answers from pretty good GM: You should not have NMRed England as NMRs are illegal in my zine, I translated his NMR into an order for all units to hold since my houserules forbid me from replaying seasons. In the future, you should contact players who don't submit orders. Yes, you can advertise for standbies, but I will be glad to provide them as needed. ********** DEADLINE SUMMARY - That`s a long life ! WINTER 01 retreats/builds + press Sun Oct 1st SPRING 02 moves + press Wed Oct 4th ********** Austria to Italy: The Austrian Government requests that Italy view the world in a more Continental respect rather than a local one. Stay off our back if you want to survive! Keep your eyes on the west! ********** Austria to Italy: Sorry that we bounced there around Venice and Trieste. I guess we both didn't trust each other, but maybe we can turn it around into a strong alliance. I propose that we demilitarize those areas as soon as possible to reduce stress between our nations. We need to work together to have any chance of stopping the Russo-Turkish alliance. ********** Austria to Turkey: I cannot be stopped...especially by the likes of you flea- infested drinkers of camel's milk!! ********** Austria to Turkey: Keep watch of the balence of power. The answer you need lies in the West! ********** London, England (UPI) Today, the Queen praised the recent actions of the Italian navy. She reportedly said that "a move to the Tyrrhenian Sea indicates a desire to work with Her Majesty's Royal Navy to eradicate the French forces. When questioned about last season's proposal to work with the French, she said "That was before they tried to occupy OUR channel. Yes, OUR channel. It does have our name on it. We didn't really expect them to try such a bold move. All bets are off. We are at war. -- End -- ********** France -> Germany: Let's blow the English boats out of the water. ********** Berlin: October 12, 1901 The Kaiser expressed outrage at England's reported desire to ally with France to attack Germany. France has repeatedly expressed a desire to ally with Germany and Russia against England. Germany has not aided the French in this quest, but has extended peace laurels to "our cousins the English". The Kaiser warns that continued English aggression towards Germany will result in severe actions being taken by Germany. ********** Italy -> A/H: Let's get out of the closet, shall we? ********** Italy -> Germany: Just maneuvering. The Italian government's stand against A/H is on public record. Good luck in the lowlands. ********** Italy -> Russia: As is readily apparent, Mr. Roberti's intelligence reports have been verified. Treachery against the Czar is as blatent as it is against Italy. "Not to be viewed as hostile"!!!! Bah! Let's get 'em! ********** Italy -> Turkey: Don't those Balkan dots look goooood to you.... ********** Russia -> France: The English boats are a pain in the neck. Lets get England, with or without Germany's help. ********** Russia --> Germany We appreciate your move to Holland to leave Sweden to us uncontested. In return, we promise to so all we can to help you against those filthy Brits. ********** Russia --> Turkey Congratulations on the naval exercises in the Black Sea. They were a wonderful success and I think it has prepared our forces for some military action against....Austria? ********** Turkey -> Italy You can consider them stopped in this direction. You take Trieste and Vienna, Russia can take Rumania and Budapest, and I will take Serbia and Greece. After that has all been done, I assume we will have to renegotiate depending upon the position at that time. How well I get along with Russia will be depend upon how determined he is at having a fleet in the Black Sea. ********** Turkey -> Russia Read my note to Italy and you will know my stand. ********** GM comments: I definitely could use some more scribes, let me know how many pages you would like to type in and I'll send them to you. (This is real important, my wrist is a mess! I now have a brace on it.) If anyone would like to GM the remaining turns of a twenty player Diplomacy game, let me know. The game is now down to 7 players and you would start GMing September 27th. If someone would like to compile rating statistics on our players, I would be glad to give him results of all our games. If anyone wants to give me info about themselves for a biography of our subscribers, send it to me! And here is part of the latest issue of BTDT, I will post the rest of it in the future: Been There, Done That is an approximately monthly postal gaming zine mostly devoted to the play of Diplomacy and its variants, but including the play of other PBM games, especially, as it seems to be developing, Railway Rivals. BT,DT has been liberated from subzinehood in "The Wrapper," or as it is otherwise known, Mark Lilleleht's The Scribblerist just in time to avoid the great TS foldorama. It will, however, continue as an electron- ically distributed subzine to Ken Hill's The Armchair Diplomat. Got that? Diplomacy was invented by Allan Calhamer and is distributed by Avalon-Hill, and Railway Rivals was invented by David Watts, and was, until very recently, distributed in the US by Games Workshop. BT,DT is available from the editor/publisher, Tom Nash, who resides at 5512 Pilgrim Road, Baltimore MD, 21214. (301) 254-2836 (don't call between 9 and 10 PM, It's my daughter's bedtime!). CIS PPN - 74676,3310. The cost is .75/issue, or $6/10 issues, for the incredible savings of $1.50 if you sub for 10 issues! All players and current standbys will continue to get the zine free, for now. Letters and articles will earn sub credit at the rate of .75/page. So play and/or write, and you get the damn thing free! Trades are actively solicited, but I am probably already trading with you for the Zine Register. Hey, that's cool, send me two copies of your zine in return for ZR and BTDT so I have more for those hungry novices who request the North American Zine Bank sample! This issue brings several new aspects to BTDT. First of all notice the crisp laser printing! Pretty spiffy, huh? Did I pop for a LaserJet? Yeah, and the national debt is gone too. Seriously, this represents an experiment in cooperation and reliance on several communications media. I typed the thing using WordPerfect, formatted for a LaserJet. Saved the file in WP format, ARCed it, sent digitally it via modem and phone line to Ken Hill in Columbus, who unarced the file, printed it on his work LaserJet, and mailed the hardcopy masters to me for xeroxing and mailing. If it works, I'll be thrilled, as it means the ZR can continue in its laser printed glory. This issue also brings the addition of BTDT's first subzine, Jim Goode's Tennessee Rails, a RR subzine set up specifically to run and play test Jim's map of his home volunteer state. When those play test games are over, TR will self-mutate into Texas Rails, which is, I suppose. pretty self- explanatory. Appropriate that TR makes its debut in this, BTDT's special choo choo game issue. Speaking of which, it's here. I solicited articles from a host of hobbyists I knew to have something interesting to say about the play and/or design of railway games. I batted about .500 in getting the articles, and have articles on board by Ed Wrobel, Eric Brosius, Bruce Linsey, and (ta-da!) David Watts, the inventor of Railway Rivals, on the development of that game. Dick Main still threatens, er... promises, to have his 1830 article in before the file goes out over the phone lines, but time is running out! Hope you like the issue, it sure was a lot of typing! Lots of games, letters, and assorted goodies inside... And finally, it's official. Mark Lilleleht has formally folded The Scribblerist. It was a squeaky clean fold, with sub money returned and the games provided for. What most of the people speculating in the hobby press over the last few months didn't appear to know was that Mark continued adjudicating his games fairly regularly during the hiatuses between issues. Between the last issue, which appeared in April, and the fold notice, which came in August, there were 3 separate adjudications by flyer. Mark plans to continue to run the games in this fashion, and to do a roving subzine called, I believe, Riotous Assembly (that may be "Righteous," I can't remember and don't feel like rooting around in hobby mail for a half hour looking for the answer). In a move sure to prove that the circle does indeed remain unbroken, RA will have BTDT as, if not a formal, permanent home (roving subzine that it will be), perhaps a summer home of sorts, a semi-permanent home to return to again and again when the urge or need arises. Mark promises a blow-out, gigantic last issue with all the mail and chat he's been collecting and slowly typing over the months. We, of course, wish him well. TS will be missed, but the clean fold shows class. Game Openings: Regular Dip: 1989IA, Marv Throneberry, gamestart went out this month by flyer. Opening one more, despite my swearing not to. Signed up: Zarr. Six more needed. Gunboat: Gamestart inside. You are playing if this is circled. And believe it or not, I am opening another due to popular demand. Two signed up, five needed. You are signed up if this is circled. Postal Kremlin: Signed up: Wrobel (paid). Smith and Russell interested. Need four to make it a go. I won't keep the list open too much longer if there isn't more interest. Purest Dip: Hoffman, Reynolds (paid), Mann (paid), and McHugh (paid) signed up. need 3 more. Steve Smith is still "interested." Colonia VI: I've been persuaded to open a game of the monster, 9 man global variant designed by Fred Hyatt. Signed up or seriously interested: Leamons, Morris, Blau, Heffner, Shapiro, Aube, Winship?, Rifle? Need 1-3 more. Game Fee is $5 for all games except Colonia VI, which will be $10. LETTERS Ken Peel: "Now I remember the confusion about you vs. Cameron. When Hood first put together his Dixiecon bid, he suggested a committee of him, Billenness and me, as three supporters of the Dixiecon/Dipcon/World Dipcon bid. Billenness then withdrew himself from consideration, as his interest and time are both quite constrained these days. Some at Dipcon had suggested Cameron as a third committee member, but it seems that there was a spontaneous stab..., er, draft Nash movement by the Dipcon society. Although I certainly had nothing to do with it (and I most *definitely* will _not_ be moving to the Channel), I think that you bring some real assets to the committee. Although Billenness will certainly still be interested in helping to promote the con in Britain, you do have some foreign connections of your own, if I am not mistaken. "On MOD and Supernova, I thought I had explained my previous arrangement with the novice package custodians, but maybe not. In Billenness' tenure, both Bruce and Woody duplicated and distributed a copy of the ZR free with each S/MOD request. Simon would send them a set of masters when each ZR issue came out, and they did the rest. Once I took over, went full page (reduced type) and seriously porked the thing up, it became too much of a burden for Bruce and Woody to do that free of charge. At first I just asked them to send me a list of those who purchased the novice packages every month or two, but that is a difficult thing to remember to do, and Woody didn't really keep any records. Finally, I struck the idea of typing up coupons for them to slip inside each S/MOD that went out. The coupon was good for one free issue of the ZR, had my address, and had some lines for the person to put in a name and address. It was then up to the novice to send it to me. If he or she had already purchased a ZR, I put him or her on the list for the next issue. If not, the current issue went out gratis. "Since the ZR is now more expensive, I don't know what arrangement you might want to work out. You might try out the one-free-issue coupon idea and see if it overtaxes you. Alternatively, you might make it a one-half off coupon (reducing the cost from $1.50 to 75~). Whatever. But you will probably want to contact Woody and Bruce in any case, as they, together with Peery and Rex Martin of Avalon Hill, are on the front lines of a novice's first contact with the hobby, and that is when the ZR is most useful. "Did you notice that in the RP, the ZR got the second most number of votes next to DW? Someone commented that the ZR probably now has the second highest distribution of all zines. Given the unusually high number of ZR's that I had to run off this issue (over 200), I think that most certainly is the case (yeah, but how many of them are actual paying customers?...best not to inspect too closely...), although I'm still not sure if the ZR is really a zine. In my mind it is caught somewhere between special purpose publications like Supernova or MOD, and regular working zines that actually do something. "Next weekend Susan and I will be up visiting Woody in Philly. Mike Mazzer will also be in Philly with his lovely wife Peggy, and the five of us (with maybe Mainardi or someone else in the area) will paint the town red Saturday. See, Tom, don't let McKee get to you. There are lots of old fogeys in Dipdom like us who manage to stay moderately productive. You can join us when you retire from your current high-pitched involvement." Mickey Preston: "Greetings! You being the semi-knowledgeable type, might have the answer to this question: is there a collected body of works dealing with the strategy and tactics of Diplomacy? "Or is there really any defined set of tactics to our game? Is it actually that since there are so many variants each turn, it is practically impossible to map anything out more than one or two seasons ahead? "Are there any great "no-nos" like the ones Susan and I keep breaking, such as never putting an army in Tunis after 1905, or never putting anything in Livonia? "I ask because I think I need to work on my mid-game and end-game, but I'm not sure about how to go about it." ((Mickey, careful, that very question, posed on the Diplomacy section of CompuServe is what lead me to the Zine Register, Masters of Deceit, and Supernova, and the whole world of PBM Dip. Anyway, in my humble opinion, the best single source of Strategy and Tactics articles is probably the Diplomacy World anthology of Mark Berch's writings. Contains a major section of Mark's S & T articles, many of them excellent. You'll find, however, that most Dip S & T articles focus on the openings, for the reasons you give, i.e. there are so many variables once the game really gets under way. You'll find that a key facet of Berch's theory is that there are no absolute tactical no-nos. Everything depends on the diplomatic context. Another reason why dunderhead McKee favors Gunboat. He is fond of making those very absolutes, like "never open to Livonia as Russia," or "never put an army in Tunis after 1905." All well and good in the sterile realm of Gunboat, but as Berch states over and over again, limitations on your diplomatic freedom in Dip. In fact one of his articles deals exactly with the Russian opening to Livonia in Spring 1901. When it is precisely, albeit rarely, the exact right opening. In my current game as Russia in Fiat Bellum, I just convoyed an army from Fin to Livonia, thereby saving Mos and maybe StP as well. Any other move would have guaranteed the loss of both centers. So much for "never put anything in Livonia." The Berch anthology is available from Larry Peery. Not sure on the price. I can Email it to you if you're interested. As in anything from Larry, expect a tedious and unreasonable delay after ordering. Otherwise, the best other way to work on mid and late game strategy is to play a lot. Or set up the board and play imaginary games against yourself. Or, (gag, choke...) play a lot of short deadline gunboat.)) More Mickey: "Here's another burning question for his Nashness: What is your opinion of ratings? For Dip players that is. I know The Armchair Diplomat had a rating chart for a bit, but I haven't seen that for eons. Now, I will admit that a ratings system smacks of organization and official "hoobydom" (gasp!). But one occasionally wonders how one stacks up against other players (at least I do). How does the Nash feel about these ratings, since you probably rate highly on most lists? ((The irony is that you, Mickster, mailed me this letter about a month before the Great Ratings Controversy broke out on the message board of the Diplomacy section of Compuserve. So you probably already have my answer. The bottom line is that I feel ratings are fine, are fun, if kept in perspective. Like tournament Dip, they can become odious if they rule the way people play the game. I have, a long time ago, been attacked in Spring 1901 by three players for no other reason, as admitted in the endgame statement of the layer putting together the alliance, than I was at the top of the TAD ratings at the time, and he figured that hurting me was his best chance at improving his own rating. That honked me off. But it's also a fact of life. I play for the fun of the game, and would play whether anything is rated or not. But again, as long as it's not the crucial factor in people's play, I have no problem with it, and it is fun to measure yourself against your current opponents and allies. If we must have ratings, as I stated in the current TAD discussion, I personally favor, at present, a simple system like the Calhamer Point Count, averaged over the number of gamestarts. Unlike the modified Dragonstooth System we use on TAD it doesn't reward survival over elimination, it doesn't reward for number of centers held, or shortness of the time the win takes. It's simple. One point awarded per game. If there's a sole win, that player gets the whole point, everyone else gets zero. If there's a draw, the players who share in it split the point equally. That's it. As I said in TAD, once Ken Hill updates the ratings along the DTRS (should be done before you read this), I plan, given the time, to use his raw data to put together an averaged Calhamer Point Count rating system. It will be very interesting to compare the two systems. My hunch is there won't be too much difference. Although the philosophy of the game being the systems varies (is it better to survive than be eliminated, is "strong second" worth anything, how much better than a 2 way draw is a win, should number of centers, or length of time it takes to win, matter?), that the bottom line is that good players will rank high, and poor ones low, in any reasonable system. There will be some variability, of course, but I suspect not a whole lot. I hope to be able to publish the results of the comparison in the next BTDT.)) Yet More Mickey: "Oh yeah, another burning topic - what in Hades has gotten into the Orioles this year? Did Steinbrenner secretly sell the Yankees to Baltimore while only keeping the names of the players intact? Is this the same team that lost the 1st 49 games straight in 1988? Or have you done a replay of "Damn Yankees" and sold your soul to the Devil for a pennant? (Y'know, being a Cubs fan, that's not such a bad idea...) "PS - can you tell I'm at work and bored silly?" ((Mickey, if anyone knew how the Orioles were doing it this year, they's have their fortune made. Hey, I'm an Orioles fan (and, I admit it, DOdgers too... groan!!!), and I picked them dead last in the East this year. Yet I still don't think they'll win when all is said and done. My preseason pick, the Blue Jays, since getting rid of he who must be the worst manager in history, Jimy WIlliams, not to be confused with BTDT's own Jimmy Williams, are coming on strong, 1 game out as I write this, and I really think they'll take it. What's really amazing about the Os is they are doing it with sub par or outright stinko years from players whom they felt they had to get great years from just to have a decent last place year: Sheets, Bradley, Schmidt, the two kids in center, Anderson (back in AAA) and Finley (a real bust so far), Bautista, and Traber. When you look at that, and the current injuries, Billy Ripken, Worthington, and most importantly, the astounding Tettleton, it really borders on the miraculous. They just plain ain't that good! But how 'bout them Cubbies? What week in September do you predict this year's fold will come?)) Cathy Ozog: "Hello - oh great one - we small people do grovel at your feet. Congrats I guess on World DipCon/DipCon. I think it's first for one like you to rise so quickly. I have offered me help to David Hood for the International pull - but you needn't worry about that - just don't fall oh rising star. Of course Susan ((Welter -Ed.)) told me all about you - so I know the real Tom Nash now. Anyway, I'll have to send you some money soon so I can stay cool and hip. I hate to be left out in the Dark Ages. Sorry about mentioning Gunboat and your name together. It was a mistake!" ((I have heard this rumor persistently since DipCon that I have somehow been elected to the DipCon Committee with David Hood and Pesky Kenny, but nobody has ever "officially" informed me, or even told me what a member does. Kenny Peel implies: "not much." Well, I'll have none of that. If I'm on, somebody let me know, please, and give me something legitimate to work on. David? And furthermore, how did this even happen? I will believe, to the grave, that is was a plot by those nefarious twin demons of pure evil and Gunboat sickness, Smith and McKee, just to wear me out so they stand a chance against me in PBEM games during the course of the next year. Ha!)) More Ms. Ozog: "It's about time that little me wrote to you, but now I have an excuse, see. I always need an excuse to write, I guess that's why I'm just deadwood. First, here, take my money ((gladly)). I can't stand it. I must be hip. How could I be left in the dust with all the deadwood when there is such life in the Hobby now - yes - I know Susan told me not to say nice things to you, but that's the way it goes ((Susan said what? Gee, did I lose her Choo Choo Coleman orders, again?)). "Second, business before games. As you are the new Zine Register person - making it a very hot thing now - I was wondering if you would like me to give you some help with the British zines. With Simon's fold ((Billenness, of the late Excitement City Unlimited, for those not as hip as Cathy-Ed.)) I'm not sure how many he gets. I get the following - Masters of the Prime, Prisoners Of War, Denver Glont, Yer Tiz, Hopscotch, Pigbutton, C'est Magnifique, Pyrrhic Victory, Will It Lead To Trouble, and Y Ddraig Groch. Let me know , OK? I could just fill out the basic info and give you a brief description if you like." ((Cathy - YES! Please! Outstanding. I get about 12 British zines, but there is almost no overlap. Of the ones you get, I only receive PoW, WiLtT, and C'Mag. So again, yes please, send along info and reviews. In fact, I am actively soliciting any and all brief - i.e. short paragraph, reviews of any zines anyone reading this sees. I already have received some nice ones, particularly from Robert Greier, and will take any more I can get my hands on. I'd like to make as much a collaborative hobby effort as is possible. Deadline is September 30 though, so hurry!)) Don Williams: "Enclosed is your 'GM Helper' sheet for your new gamestart and your BN assignation, 1989IA. Please make sure I get the names right. We run-amok-control-freak-power-hungry types just hate to make embarrassing mistakes (but you already knew that being as you're one of us and all, right?). Oh, and thanks for the donation, it really does help. "Thanks for the kudos on the Runestone Poll thing. You must have great connections; your letter arrived two days before I received notification from Linsey (I was also called by Pete Gaughan and your pal, Ron Cameron, asking me if it was true... seemed to me they were full of shock and disbelief). "Me, too, though as you mentioned, the poll stuff that goes on is nice fluff and hardly worth any serious chest-puffing. Frankly, Fiat Bellum's taking the RP surprises me because most of my readers are not Linsey fans. Or maybe that should be "were" not; FB's demographics have changed a good deal since last year. That fact is more important, as you may already know, or as may become apparent to you as BTDT matures: zine publishing/ readerships seem to be excellent candidates for "inbreeding," sort of a non-biological diminution of a zine's "readership gene pool." Picking up new people - i.e new readers, vs. new players (some of my newest readers are long time hobbyists/players) is not only a way to keep up the reader interest/participation, but keeps things fresh for the pubber too. "Regarding your promised and much ballyhooed abuse of me - do your worst! You are but a mere gust to a gale force wing (said gale force wind being that arch nincompoop, Bob "Winner" "Iron Fist" Olsen). If I can withstand 5 years of his vitriol, he being a Master of Abuse, as you know - I can certainly tolerate your deranged blitherings, mewlings, and sundried claptrap. "Hey, I've got dirt to scratch and eggs to lay, so I'm out of here (Hey, I am SUPREME HEAD BOTTLEWASHER now, and I must presume that all this BNC stuff some intrinsic value, right?)." ((First Don, you are truly an embarrassment. As one holder of an English degree to another, using the word "hey" twice in one sentence, even if once was parenthetical, hey, is sinking low. Quite and truly low. Hey, clean up your act. Second, look out: I have my minions of abuse. Vince Leamons, in his great desire to be my supreme toady, harangued Steve Smith with 100 electronic mail messages in one day, just to harass him because Smith displeased me. Can Olsen muster that kind of third party abuse? And finally, what is impressive abut FB's year is its winning both the Runestone and Marco Polls in the same year. What with the very different methodologies, and, one presumes, quite different sets of voter/ participants, winning them both is impressive. But then again, it's a lot like what I was saying earlier about ratings, Even with the different underlying philosophies behind different rating systems, or zine polls, quality wins out in the end. But let me try this. There were 3 zine polls this year. The Runestone, the Marco, and Swider's "Xyns People Read Poll." Let's look at the top 10 of all 3: Marco Poll 1. Fiat Bellum 1. House of Lords 3. Rebel 4. Kathy's Kornor 4. Penguin Dip 6. Canadian Diplomat 6. Praxis 8. benzene 9. Diplomacy Digest 10. Costaguana Runestone Poll 1. Fiat Bellum 2. Perelandra 3. Carolina Command & Commentary 4. benzene 5. Penguin Dip 6. Paachendaele 7. Comrades in Arms 8. House of Lords 9. Northern Flame 10. Dark Mirror XPR Poll 1. Comrades in Arms 2. Canadian Diplomat 3. Praxis 4. House of Lords 5. Rebel 6. Fiat Bellum 7. Vertigo 8. Diplomacy World 9. Perelandra 10. Kathy's Kornor Nota Bene: Pete Gaughan disqualified his own zine Perelandra from the Marco, since it ran in that zine, and he felt it would have an unfair advantage. Note the high number of zines that appear in top ten of at least two. If you go to top 15 or 20, the number that appear in all 3, is quite high. Northern Flame was 13 in XRP and 12 in Marco, Penguin Dip was 19 in XRP, Canadian Diplomat was 12 in Runestone, Passchendaele was 14 in Marco and 16 in XRP, CIA was 16 in Marco, Rebel was 14 in RP, etc. The two major discrepancies are Praxis, a solid top 10er in both XRP and Marco, and 56 in RP after winning it last year; and Dark Mirror, 10 in RP, but 79 in XRP and 41 in Marco. Both of these, can, I believe, be explained on timing. XRP and Marco were conducted in late fall, early winter, when Praxis was still a going concern, sort of, and Dark Mirror had put out about 1 issue. The RP voting period ran through July. As Praxis disappeared, sort of, with no announcement of a fold, and a very occasional, half hearted issue, feeling apparently soured. Dark Mirror, on the other hand, quickly became an excellent chat and game zine, capturing, obviously, many readers' fancy. A fact making all the more ironic and disappointing its recent severe problems with, at the most charitable, an irregular publishing schedule. Now then, assigning a zine a 10 for finishing first in any of the 3 polls, 9 for finishing 2, etc down to 1 for finishing 10, I hereby announce the overall Zine Poll winners for 1988-89, with the permanent asterisk that Perelandra should, and would have, been in the top 3, probably, were it not for Pete's noble self-disqualification: 1. Fiat Bellum - 25 points 2. House of Lords - 20 points 3. Comrades in Arms - 14 points 3. Canadian Diplomat - 14 points 3. Rebel - 14 points 6. Praxis - 13 points 6. Penguin Dip - 13 points 8. Perelandra - 12 points **** (disqualified from Marco Poll) 9. benzene - 10 points 10. Kathy's Kornor - 8 points Now how's that for a nice, pointless exercise? Mickey, can you tell that I'm at work and bored silly?)) Ed Wrobel: "Tom - I would be honored to appear next to the highly revered and extremely hip Dick Martin in BTDT, despite my moral objection to "digest" zines. Get big, Tom, get with it. ((Highly revered? Extremely hip? We must be talking about different Dick Martins. This is the one who publishes Retal, not the one on Laugh-In. Besides, although your choo choo article is ready to be typed, Mr. Martin's promised 1830 article is still nowhere to be seen. I did get a frantic electronic mail message the other night saying "when was that deadline?" but it remains to be seen if it arrives)). "We did a choo-choo issue of Politesse some time back. There was an article by Louis Newman on Empire Builder. Louis has left the greater WARTHOG ((Washington Area Retinue of Tacitly Highly Organized Gamesters... Ed is Big Tusk, First Shoat, the Porcine Prince, thereof - Ed.)) service area, alas. Matt Ellis wrote one on Rail Baron which was later picked up for "The General" (same issue as Ed Fahrmeier on 1830 - did you see that one?). ((No - Ed.)) "Actually, I don't know what to say about choo-choo games except that I tend to like them. I expect I could even learn to love 1830 if I ever mastered the rules. I recently played Merchant of Venus for the first time. Have you ever played that? I really liked that. It's a choo choo game set in space. Would you be interested in that angle? Or would you prefer to stick to traditional RRs? "Sorry for being so un-hip. Having been out of Dipdom for a few years, I have only vague notions of what's hot, what's bad, what's declasse, and what's banal. Actually, it appeared to me at first that nothing much had changed, but I see now that zines such as BTDT are at the cutting edge of Great and Significant Revolution in DipDom. You are, however, too old to be a brat. But good luck in ending feuds with sarcasm. Perhaps Olsen could help you out on that. ((Actually if the famed Winner helps me out with anything, I would prefer it to be the ongoing abuse and total humiliation of BNC Williams. I'm not trying to use sarcasm to end any feuds, just keep my own ass out of them.)) "I went looking into my archives for the Politesse issue on rail games but didn't find it. I don't have much to say on strategy and tactics. I have been contemplating a more personal and universal approach but I don't know if these vague notions will congeal. I'll try. "Congrats on the birth of Samuel Charles. Nice name. SO is "Emily" (also my daughter's name - she's two; my son is five.)" ((Ok, Ed. Since both you and the inestimable Ms. Ozog both have concerns r.e. being hip, cool, in, with it, etc., allow me to share my personal expertise. Ready? Here goes: WHAT'S HOT WHAT'S NOT Fiat Bellum Praxis Dick Martin Julie Martin Susan Welter Cathy Ozog Tom Nash Ken Peel Nash-Smith Linsey-Byrne Melinda Holley Kathy Caruso Rival KGO/ZDs Smutty Letters Audrey Jaxon Melinda Holley Kathy Caruso John Caruso RRGTs Dip Demo Games Eric Brosius Bruce Linsey CDO PDO DAA (Dip Alliance of Australia) CDO Doug Acheson Bob Acheson BTDT The Scribblerist Canadian Boardman Numbers Rival Miller Numbers Comrades in Arms Bushwacker Colonia VI Cline 9 Final Conflict Youngstown David Hood Larry Peery Peery-Canada Martin-Coughlan Jeff McKee Bob Olsen Mickey Preston Conrad von Metzke The New Zealand Hobby The British Hobby OPERABLE Foot in Mouth The Walrus The First Citizen PBEM PBM Play by Fax PBEM Lee Kendter Jr Lee Kendter Sr Kremlin Titan Brad Wilson Dick Martin The Brat Pack The Bad Boys The Columbus Crowd The MadLads Freddy Krueger Steve Smith Doug Winship Bimbo the Wonder Dog W.A.P. D.I.A.S. PBM Railway Rivals PBM Empire Builder The DipCon Site Vote The Runestone Poll Randy Grigsby Ran Ben Israel The Class of '88 Folds The Class of '88 The MetaDiplomat The MegaDiplomat Eric Klien Melinda Holley There. I hope that clarifies things for you all. Any more questions, just forward them to me, the final arbiter of all things hip, chic, and cool, Diplomatic. No, no, don't thank me, just send money. And remember, make the check out to me, not McKee!)) More Ed Wrobel: "Got your CloneCon report and will feature it prominently in the September issue ((of Politesse - Ed.)) along with your campaign for BAT-hood. I have a feeling our BAT controversy can be milked for several more months before becoming boring. If only Byrnes would re-surface! I would call him but he's probably not interested. I think he's going through some major change of life of some kind. "Gosh, I'm excited to be back in DipDom, sort of. I know I won't make the same mistakes again!" ((Enquiring minds want to know, Mr. Big Tusk, First Citizen, Grand High Poobah of the Shoats... what mistakes were they? We expect, nay demand, a full recitation of your "mistakes" in the next BTDT or the BAT-purge shall be transformed to a major "Walrus-purge." Does this mean we should not hold our breaths waiting for the appearance of "Feudesse II - The Sequel"????)) David Orne: "I think all those fraternity parties in college have finally caught up with me. The brain calls that were assigned to remember that I had sent you a sub or game fee must be on the fritz. AS I remember it, you sent me BTDT #6 along with a note asking me to sub. I seem to remember sending card which basically said , "Thanks, but no thanks." I think I told you, quite tactfully I might say, that I wasn't able to play in games over the computer because I didn't have one (this is being produced at work, but don't tell my boss!). You sent me a card claiming BTDT is not a PBEM zine, and you attempted to guilt me into subbing. I don't believe I replied at all to that ploy. "Then yesterday I received #7, and a note urging me to make up my mind about playing in a game. I don't quite understand this, but as I said, I'm carrying my share of dead grey matter around with me. At first I thought, "well if he's going to send me a free zine I might as well read it." Now I realize that is the same tactic fanatics use at airports. You're not a Hare Krishna are you? After looking over the zine, I decided to bow to the enormous pressure you're putting on me. Alright, alright, I'll do it! Here, take my money, now let me be! Have pity on me; my first zine was The Scribblerist, OK? ((OK. And the blessed Avatar of the Divine, the Guru, the light, the Walrus and First Shoat himself, who sends me out selling flowers and hawking zines that I may receive his blessed bliss, the Wrobel himself, Guru of the sect of the living Hog, cleverly disguised as a gaming club, thanks you as well.)) "To be honest, after reading the zine I found the letter column to be quite entertaining, and I remembered that is one of the things I liked when it was a subzine. Your sense of humor is pretty good, but don't print that, I'll deny it straight faced. I can't believe I'm subbing to a zine where the pubber claims to know something about music and doesn't know that Donald Fagen and Walter Becker were, are, and once again will be Steely Dan! ((Of course I knew that... it's just that I too have my share of dead ones, and I was typing the damned thing very late at night, went blank, and did not at all feel like getting up to look through albums and get their names of a record jacket! What do you mean "will be again?" Are they re-forming? In this summer of nostalgia and old groups re-forming, I wouldn't be surprised. I'm getting sick of it, aren't you? I can't wait until summer 2009. The days the TV will broadcast show after show dedicated to "the 20th anniversary of the Summer of nostalgia." Interviews with people... "were really you at a Remembering Woodstock taping of the Oprah show, or you just one of the thousands who claim to have been? Where were you when you first heard a 20th anniversary salute to Sgt Pepper? Do you remember the feeling of mystery, of excitement, of cosmic wonder, when you suddenly realized... 20 years ago men walked on the moon? Ah those were the really good old days, when we really remembered the good old days...")) "Thank you for enlightening me on the Fugs, a group I had never heard of and which has obviously faded into obscurity. Before you vent retribution on my head, please remember that I had to suffer through the disco craze during my high school and college years. That's one of the reasons I turned to jazz-rock fusion... "I think the interview idea is a great one, and I hope you will keep it up. I've only been playing for a year now, and I would read all these letters about feuding and personalities and have no idea what they were talking about. Slowly, I think I'm learning more about the past of the hobby and the people involved, and I'm sure the interviews will help. "I've never been to a con, and don't plan on it either. I had a couple of chances when I was in college and played (groan) D & D. I'm much better now, thanks for asking. "Congrats on the arrival of Sam ((Thanks. Want to babysit some weekend?)). Robin Williams once told of a dream-turned nightmare he had soon after the birth of his son. It covered the spectrum of accom- plishments his son might be capable of during his life, starting out with an MC announcing: "And now, receiving the Nobel Prize for Peace, Robin Williams Jr.," and ended with a 40 year old man behind a counter asking "You want fries with that?" "Now will you send me a sample of the ZR and sub info for it? Also, please send me rules for the other games you're running? I don't know how to play them and I like to follow along, especially if there's press. ((I plan to collate a few ZRs tonight, and send you and Susan Welter copies, as well as a few to pubbers of a couple more zines I've heard tell about. There will be about 20 zines listed in the next ZR that were not in the last one. If you don't get rules for Railway Rivals and Kremlin soon, bug me. I forget those kind of things quite easily.)) "Enlighten me as to what Wallace Nicoll when he says "Ta" for BTDT? Is it a compliment or put-down? ((Brit slang for "thank you," I believe, right Wallace?)) "You're giving up on the Dodgers? Have you finally seen the light? No matter how bad the situation gets in Cincinnati, I'll always be a Reds fan ((I'll show great restraint and avoid the all-too-easy straight line with a response like: "I'll bet.")) I was in high school when they won back-to- back Series in 75-76, and I could see Riverfront Stadium from my bedroom window in Newport KY. Get out your atlas and look it up. I practically grew up at Riverfront and could not imagine cheering for another team. I am very happy with the Bengals now, after all the poor years they've had lately... where was I? Oh yeah. It sounds to me, with your dumping the Dodgers and picking the Orioles, that you may be one of the worst types of sports fan imaginable... a FRONTRUNNER! But then again, you do live up there, so maybe not. ((I plead innocent. What I meant was I was giving up on hoping for the Dodgers to win the pennant, or even be a factor in the race this year. Hey, the Dodgers left NYC, my home town, in 1957, when I was 4 year old, and I still root for them. That's frontrunning? I've always liked the Os since moving to this area in 1982. In fact, I can PROVE I am a loyal fan regardless... last year, when the Os were the worst team with the worst record in baseball, I went to about 10+ games. This year, when they've shocked and delighted us all, I've been to only 3. Of course Sam has a lot to do with that!)) "George Mann is scary, I agree. He sent me an unsolicited sample awhile ago, and my reply boiled down to "Thanks, but no thanks. I've got better things to do with my time two overweight and over-the-hill weightlifters do choreographed moves for 15 minutes and call it "sport."" And as a personal reply to his question, not only is Florida not thought of as paradise by everyone up north, it's not thought of in those terms by all of us living here. For the right price for my house, and a good job offer, there are a number of places I'd be willing to move to. Of course, Lakeland is not on the beach and I'm surrounded by retired folks. SO out of your "beaches, sun, and women" that you take for granted, all that's left for me is the hot Florida sun. And you'd have to pay me an awful lot to get me to live down there near Miami like you do. ((Aw geez, David. Here my wife and I just made arrangements for a trip to Florida in October to interview for jobs in Port Saint Lucie, getting all excited about finally fulfilling our fantasy about living on the beach someplace warm, and you go and destroy our illusions. I think we'll still take our trip though, and make up our own minds. Though I agree with you r.e. professional wrestling, I love Son of Flip for the simple reason that George and his cohort Eric have, it is evident, so much fun putting the zine together and out, that I find it infectious.)) "To Mickey Preston: it's good to see a fellow Kentuckian in the hobby... ((sorry David, Mickey's a very recent exile to the Bluegrass state from his beloved ChiTown, and probably wouldn't appreciate your fond recollections of UK basketball in the 70s.)) "To Ed Wrobel: What do you do? Work in the Pentagon? Where do you come up with these acronyms? Also I never thought I'd ever hear anyone accuse Frank Zappa of going commercial. I am enjoying moderating this zine, keep that mail coming! Eric Klien Up