Diplomacy zine -- The inventor speaks! From: Eric_S_Klien@cup.portal.com Date: Tue, 18 Jul 1989 00:24:35 +0000 Issue #80 of ELECTRONIC PROTOCOL: Autumn and Winter '10 of the game PANZER (BNC number 1989H) Autumn '10 of the game PANZER (BNC number 1989H) England disbanded A HOL France retreated F NAP-TYS Germany retreats F BAL-LIV Winter '10 of the game PANZER (BNC number 1989H) Turkey builds F SMY France disbands F GOL and A BUR Germany builds F BER The 4-way draw proposal failed 2-2. I now have a G/T draw proposal. Press: ----------------- The Daily Ottoman ----------------- "Mercy? Hah! When I first took over this war, I pleaded with the so-called governments of England and France for mercy. What was the result? Unwashed French sailors spitting on my fleets and snotty English soldiers trying to move into Sevastopol like they owned the place!" So yelled the Enlightened Emperor Henry "Hank" Arrah in reply to an English/French request for clemency at a special press conference yesterday. "Besides, we've already ordered one hundred thousand Brillo pads for cleaning the rotting flesh of our enemies off the streets," continued the Emperor. In other news, Turkish troops in Marseilles were given orders to hold their position and wait out the French assault. "We had hoped to be moved out of here, but I think maybe the lime-fresh smell of some parts of the city may have scared the French away," complained one soldier. Commander E. Geeyun of the Fifth Fleet currently in the Eastern Medi- terranean said, "We'll have those French rats squashed in no time. What I'm really looking forward to is the historic Syria to Clyde convoy I keep hearing rumors about. Oh, that was supposed to be a secret. Sorry." Spring '11 of the game PANZER (BNC number 1989H) Please note the addition of press to the Winter '10 orders reported on a paragraph ago. MY LONGEST GAME ENDS! ENGLAND: A BEL-H, F NTS SA BEL-BEL, A FIN-H, A NOR SA FIN-FIN, F DEN-H F BAL-GOB, F SWE SF BAL-GOB FRANCE: F SPA-H, (A ROM-H), (F TYS SA ROM-ROM), F TUN SF TYS-TYS GERMANY: A STP-H, A MOS SA STP-STP, (F GOB SF LIV-BAL), F LIV-BAL (A KIE-DEN), F BER SF LIV-BAL, A HOL-H, A RUH SA HOL-HOL A PAR-BUR, A BRE-PIC, A MUN-SIL TURKEY: (A MAR-SPA), A PIE-TUS, F VEN-H, A APU SF NAP-ROM, F NAP-ROM (F ION-TYS), F ADR SF EME-ION, (F EME-ION), F AEG-GRE, F SMY-AEG GM Notes: France had to disband A ROM. Germany had to disband or retreat F GOB. The German/Turkish draw passes! Send end-game statements to me! There was no press. Autumn '06 of the game MAELSTROM (BNC number 1989AA) A calm Autumn breeze blows. Winter '06 of the game MAELSTROM (BNC number 1989AA) Germany builds A MAR, A BER England disbands A PAR Turkey disbands F ALB GM Notes on Maelstrom: If I get moves by Wednesday, I will post them. Otherwise we will go with a Sunday deadline. There was no press. Summer '05 of the game RED STORM (BNC number 1989AB) (GM is MaryFW@cup.portal.com) Nothing happened. (I misread the last report and thought something was going to happen that's why I said not received in the last issue.) Fall '05 of the game RED STORM (BNC number 1989AB) (GM is MaryFW@cup.portal.com) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Fall 1905 Results for Red Storm ------------------------- England: <F <Nwy>-Stp>, <F NWG-Nwy> Germany: <A <Mos> S *English* F Nwy-Stp>, <A RUH-Mun>, A Hol-KIE, F Ska-NWY F SWE S F Ska-Nwy Russia: A URK S A War-Mos, A War-MOS, <F LIV-Stp>, <A <Gre>-Ser> Turkey: A Sev-RUM, F BLK S A Bul-Com, A bul-CON, F Smy-AEG Italy: A Mun-BER, <A BOH-Mun>, A Vie-GAL, A BUD S A Tri-Ser, A Tri-SER F Alb-GRE, A Ven-TYR, F ION S F Alb-Gre, F Aeg-BUL(sc), F Eas-SMY France: F Nao-MAO, F Yor-NTH, F Nth-DEN, F EDI S F Yor-Nth, A Bur-BEL A Bel-HOL, A Lpl-YOR, F ENG S A Bur-Bel Orders inclosed in <> have failed. The final position of each unit is given in all CAPS. If the final position is inclosed in <>, then that unit must retreat. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Current listing of Supply Centers as of Fall 1905 England: -2 StP Germany: -2 Kie, Swe, Nwy, Russia: -2 Mos, War, Turkey: +0 Ank, Con, Sev, Rum Austria: none Italy: +3 Rom, Nap, Ven, Tri, Vie, Bud, Mun, Ber, Tun, Gre, Ser, Bul, Smy France: +3 Par, Bre, Mar, Lon, Lpl, Spa, Por, Bel, Edi, Den, Hol As a result fo retreats Sev may change hands. In that case Turkey would need to disband 1 unit while Germany would save 1 unit. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Press: The German people are prepared to commit every shred of their beings to prevent the further expansion of Italy. Italy controlls more than 1/4 of Europe, and it is time to stop this expansionist force. Italy to the world: Come on, guys, give it up. Unless France stabs me or I stab France, the game was over 2 years ago. France has 10 centers, I have 11 centers, and all of the rest of you have only 13 centers among you. Austria died long ago, Russia and England are practically dead, and Germany won't last another year. I propose a French-Italian draw, and the sooner the better. Besides, you won't suffer too much.{ Our cooking is clearly superior! Rome: The Pope today honored Lord Valentine for his valiant efforts in expanding the influence of the Church. He is quoted as saying, "With all of Europe under rule of the Catholic states, we might finally stand a chance of stamping out heresy forever." However, as he turned away from the podium, a sign saying "Kick Me" was noted on the back of the Lord's robes. Perhaps the Italian rule is not so complete after all? Later, one reporter reportedly overheard the Commander mumbling something like "I'll kill those mo#$%&*@..." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Red Storm GM Notes: The vote on the Italian Victory also failed (sigh). But we have yet another offer on the French/Italy draw. VOTE ON IT!!!! -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Spring '05 of D-DAY (BNC number 1989AW) (GM is Pav@cs.duke.edu/Paul Vick) Not received. Spring '04 of NAVARONE (BNC number 1989AX) (GM is Pwoodruf@orion.cf.uci.edu/Peter Woodruff) Orders for SPRING 1904 (Failed moves in parens) AUSTRIA: F Alb S F Gre, A Ser S F Gre, (F Gre S Italian F Tun - Ion)++, A Boh - Tyr, (A Gal - War)# ENGLAND: F Hol - Kie, F Nth - Lon, F Ska - Nth, F Nwy - NAt, A Nwy hold FRANCE: A Bre - Wal, F Eng C A Bre - Wal, F Mid - Iri, (A Kie S Italian A Mun - Ber)*, A Bel - Hol, A Ruh S A Bel - Hol, A Bur hold GERMANY: F Den S English F Hol - Kie, F Swe - Bal, (A Ber S English F Hol - Kie)** ITALY: (A Mun - Ber)+, A Tyr - Ven, A Nap hold, F Rom - Tyrrhenian, F Tun S F Rom - Tyrrhenian RUSSIA: A StP hold, A Pru - Sil, (A War S A Pru - Sil)##, A Ukr S F Rum, F Rum S Turkish A Bul TURKEY: A Bul S Russian F Rum, A Con S A Bul, (F Ion - Tyrrhenian)%, (F Aeg - Gre)%% Notes: * Support cut by attack from Holland; unit is dislodged and must disband. ** Support cut by attack from Munich. + Fails to dislodge German army; see *. ++ Support cut by attack from Aegean. # Fails to dislodge Russian army. ## Support cut by attack from Galicia. % Defeated by F Rom - Tyrr with support from F Tun %% Fails to dislodge Austrian fleet. Units: Austria: A Gal, A Tyr, A Ser, F Alb, F Gre England: A Nwy, F NAt, F Lon, F Kie, F Nth France: A Wal, F Iri, F Eng, A Hol, A Ruh, A Bur Germany: F Den, F Bal, A Ber Italy: A Mun, A Ven, F Tyrr, F Tun, A Nap Russia: A StP, A Sil, A War, A Ukr, F Rum Turkey: A Bul, A Con, F Aeg, F Ion ******************************************** PRESS: ****** AUSTRIAN EMPEROR GIVES EMPIRE SEASON OFF (Munich) AP - While vacationing in Munch this week, the Austrian emperor Franz Vick announced that he would be giving his entire empire the season off, with pay. "I think they've all done just a marvelous job," beamed the emperor. "At first I was worried that we wouldn't be able to keep up with the other countries and their unfair trade practices, but after really pulling together I think we're well on our way to economic recovery. And maybe a little respect." The press conference culminated with the promise that all military units would be put under orders to "be friendly to your neighbors" and that the Bohemian army would be brought home to Tyrolia. "After all, we're all such good pals down in the Balkans, I wouldn't want to appear antagonistic to any of my friends." As news of the vacation spread throughout the empire, a rash of serious partying followed in its wake. German beer imports rose dramatically, and foreign analysts are hoping that this inflow of cash will help prop up the ailing economy of the Kaiser. Mysteriously, sales of old Elvis records also were boosted dramatically as Austria-Hungary's craze for Elvis continues. ****************************************** Pete's Points: Due to the many summer vacations, etc. I am going to go to longer cycles for the next two or three moves. The next order deadline will be Sunday July 30 at the usual time. I will be in late that night, so the results may be a tad delayed. Then the next move will be THREE weeks long, as I will be away on vacation from the 12-21 of August. Moves will be due Monday, Aug 21. After that I hope we can get back to a regular 1.5-week schedule. As always, retreats and builds/disbands are due 2 days after the move deadline. If anyone has problems with this schedule, contact me. If the three-week gap is too long for you, I suppose we can find a guest gm for that move. BTW, I will be at DipCon XXII on the weekend of the 28th; wish me luck! I hope you are all enjoying your summer! Eric's Points: Remember that ELECTRONIC PROTOCOL is glad to provide guest GMs so our main GMs can party for a few weeks. Let Pete know if you think you can't wait a few weeks between turns. Fall '02 of BLITZKRIEG (BNC number 1989HL) (GM is Dougi@astro.as.utexas.edu/Doug Ingram) It seems that we are currently having difficulty communicating with players on the portal system, MaryFW@cup.portal.com in particular though I have noticed that Eric has also had some trouble reaching me. Thus, the game must be delayed a week while the concerned parties decide what to do. I have proposed to Mark that we can either all try to find a solution to these e-mail problems or he can drop out. In the latter case, I know of a player who would like to take his place immediately, namely Frank Poduska, to whom a carbon copy of this letter has been sent. Once I hear from Mark and/or Eric as to what Mark wants to do and whether it's ok for Frank to take Mark's place if Mark decides to get into a different game, I will inform you all. Until then, I apologize for all of the problems we're having. Tentatively, we will plan for fall 1902 moves, order changes, and press to be due on Sunday the 23rd. If anyone has any suggestions, comments, hate mail, money, or neat graphics files, then feel free, as always, to send them to me. Thanks. -------------------- Doug Ingram (dougi) "Twice enlightened is unenlightened." Eric's Notes: I'm in this game no matter what! I request no delays for any problems I may be having. OPERATION OVERLORD: Summer 1902 (BNC 1989HM) (GMed by Davisje@crd.ge.com/Jon Davis) Retreats: Austria-Hungary: F Gre retreats to Alb Germany: A Bel retreats to Ruh Russia: A Gal retreats to Ukr Fall 1903 moves are due by Sunday, July 16th by 10 PM EST. Eric's Notes: I received this twice with the messages arriving in the reverse order that they were sent. (It looks like they were sent two days apart.) Neat! OPERATION OVERLORD: Fall 1902 (BNC 1989HM) (GMed by Davisje@crd.ge.com/Jon Davis) Not received. Spring '01 of GETTYSBURG (BNC number 1989HN) (GM is Adams@multiflow.com/Steve Adams) Not received. Fall '01 of DRAGONSLAYER (BNC number not known) (GM is Genesch@aplvax.jhuapl.edu/Eugene Schwartzman) AUSTRIA: <A Vie - Gal>, <A Rum S A Vie - Gal>, <F Tri - Ven> ENGLAND: <A Yor - Bel>, F Nth.S. C A Yor - Bel, F Nwg.S. - Nor FRANCE : A Spa Hold, <A Bur S ENG A Yor - Bel>, F MAO - Por GERMANY: A Kie - Den, <A Mun - Bur>, <F Hol - Bel> ITALY : A Ven - Tyr, <A Rom - Ven>, F Ion.S. - Tun RUSSIA : <A Ukr - Rum>, <A War - Gal>, F Sev S A Ukr - Rum, F GoB - Swe TURKEY : A Bul S Aus A Rum, A Con - Smy, F Ank - Blk.S. Failed moves are marked by <> There are no disbands or retreats. ==============================================================================> Final Positions: AUSTRIA: A Vie, A Rum, F Tri ENGLAND: A Yor, F Nwg.S., F Nor FRANCE : A Bur, A Spa, F Por GERMANY: A Den, A Mun, F Hol ITALY : A Tyr, A Rom, F Tun RUSSIA : A War, A Ukr, F Swe, F Sev TURKEY : A Bul, A Smy, F Blk.S. ==============================================================================> Supply Center Ownership: AUSTRIA: +1 [4] Vie, Bud, Tri, Rum ENGLAND: +1 [4] Liv, Edi, Lon, Nor FRANCE : +2 [5] Par, Mar, Bre, Spa, Por GERMANY: +2 [5] Ber, Mun, Kie, Den, Hol ITALY : +1 [4] Ven, Rom, Nap, Tun RUSSIA : +1 [5] War, Mos, St.P., F Sev, Swe TURKEY : +1 [4] Con, Smy, Ank, Bul GM Notes: BUILDS ARE DUE BY MIDNIGHT EST, TUESDAY, JULY 18. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Remember, the sooner you get them to me, the sooner I can get them back to you, the sooner you can start negotiating for next move. tatatatataat.... WE INTERRUPT THIS ZINE FOR AN IMPORTANT BULLETIN.... It would appear that Austria and Turkey have allied and are trying to come up Russia's belly. At this point we cannot report for sure as to what is happening, but we can see a lot of smoke and fire coming from the area of the Black Sea. Apparently the report last week of the Turkish Ambassador being insulted was a ploy to confuse the Russian leader. It worked. In other news, Venice once again is under attack. So far they have held strongly, by blowing all the bridges and reverting to canal warfare. Using the gondolas as speed boats, they have used hit and run tactics to thwart the Austrian fleet once again. It was also reported that one of the Austrian battleships ran aground in the canals. Switching to the North, Norway and Sweden welcomed the newly arrived guests with open arms and enough raw materials to equip an army or a fleet in the comming months. Let's just hope that they also gave the two fleets some warm clothes for the comming winter, bbrrrrrr.... After what appeared as peaceful actions by France and England, they jumped head first into the battles. In an attempt to capture a beach head, England attempted a landing on the Belgian beachfront with France's support. The move was almost successf> but in the last minute action, the german army from Munich attacked and helped its navy from Holland. Black smoke has been reported coming from across the English Channel near Belgium and rumors have it that several ships on both sid> have been sunk, but those reports could not be confirmed. Stay tuned for further developments. We now return you to your regularly scheduled zine..... <blink!> Press: Anatolia Daily News ------------------- SULTAN BETRAYS PEOPLE! It appears that our SUltan has made a pact with the Infidel. A treaty has been arranged with the Austrian War Mongers! It seems that incompetence reins in the halls of the Capital! Turkish Government Press Release -------------------------------- (Ankara) The Anatolian Daily News has been dissolved. The entire staff has been executed. The editor was drawn and quartered in the streets of Istanbul yesterday. A new national paper is being created to take the place of the News. This agencey will be entitled the Ottoman Times. The Islamic Holy law is being dumped in Turkey. By order of the Sultan, all Turkish subjects are to convert to Zen Buddhism. Any subject who is not interested in converting will be volunteered for Land mine testing in the Black Sea. Fall '01 of DOUGHBOY (BNC number not known) (GM is Matt@oddjob.uchicago.edu/Matt Crawford) Not received. GM comments: If I didn't have 4 not recieveds, this zine would have had to be broken up. So I obviously need GUEST PUBLISHERS. All a guest publisher does is cut and paste five games together and posts them on rec.games.pbm. That's it! You don't need mailing list facilities or anything else fancy. All you need is a word processor. Let me know if you can help our zine grow and grow! All GMs should remember that they should be sending results directly to their players in addition to me. Finally, I should note that most of my Not Received's lately have been caused by slow e-mail from me to the GM. Our players are doing a pretty good job at getting their moves in. Remember that I have game openings for regular Diplomacy, 1914 Diplomacy, and Gunboat Diplomacy. Taken from Diplomacy World #52: THE INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMACY CONVENTION AT BIRMINGHAM By Allan B. Calhamer, inventor of Diplomacy. Some time in 1987, I received an invitation from Richard Walkerdine to appear as the guest of honor at the International Diplomacy Convention in Birmingham, England. I managed a three-week vacation covering the period. My wife and I flew non-stop from O'Hare to Heathrow on July 3. Since there is a time difference of six hours, the day leaving was effectively 18 hours long, and the day returning was 30 hours. Neither of us experienced any jet lag. I discovered that if you fly from Chicago to London, you don't have to reset your watch. All you do is look at it upside down, and read time off the hour hand. If you want the time more accurately, you can then turn the watch right side up, and read minutes past the hour conventionally from the minute hand. After the condensed night over the Atlantic, I spent the morning looking at the cloud formations, which reminded me of a lot of deserts and mesas, and photographing them. The pictures came out well, but did not capture the imposing nature of these formations. We landed after an eight hour flight and took a rental car at the airport. The car was small and low, with a tight turning radius, and five speeds forward. To simplify matters I cruised in third for a while and then in fourth. The traffic drives on the left. You have to stay alert to the difference; at intersections you have have to watch for cross traffic from the right direction in each lane. The steering wheel is on the right, and you have to shift gears with the left hand. All of this sounds like a simple reversal of left and right, but you still clutch with your left foot and brake and accelerate with your right. Thus when you shift gears you use both left appendages at once, which feels something like a flag flapping in the breeze. The English have similar problems when they drive on the Continent, which drives on the right. Most of the intersections outside the cities, and may inside, are roundabouts, which Americans would call traffic circles; some so small that they are just circling arrows painted on the pavement at an intersection; some circling several acres. At an American traffic circle you nearly always have to stop; then you merge any way you can. At a roundabout you can go right on if no one is coming. This saves lots of time, since you may go through them one after another all day long. If anyone is approaching you, coming around the roundabout, however, you must stop and wait for him to pass. This gives the driver great safety and freedom to watch for his turnoff as he comes around. Almost everyone follows the rules. Direction signs, especially at the every-present roundabouts, are excellent. Except on the modern highways called Motorways, there are no shoulders along the roads. Ocassional well-marked laybys are provided, frequently big enough for only one car, where you can pull off. In the West Country especially, roads are closely lined with hedgerows or stone walls. Drivers avoiding the stone walls sometimes lay over the center line, and come around curves at you that way. There are also two-lane roads that narrowed to one lane occasionally. You might have to back up to let a truck pass in the other direction. It rained almost all of the time we were there, and was so cool I had to buy a wool cap. Since Chicago was in the middle of its record hottest summer, with 7 days over 100 degress F., this trip was a welcome way to break up the summer. When we got five minutes of sunshine, I hastily took pictures; but most of the time the overcast was light -- a porcelain sky, Conrad might have called it -- and pictures taken under that sky came out well. No wonder the English countryside is so green; it gets all that rain, and grass looks greener on a cloudy day. The countryside, I might add, was absolutely as remarkable as they say it is. It is usually heavily rolling, and the sheep keep it trimmed. Of sites we visted, castles, if Royal (Edinburgh, Tower of London) were in fine condition and contained many buildings dating from the 13th century. Other castles seemed to haven been knocked down by the central government (whether moarchy or Protectorate) for obvious reasons. We saw a lot of ruins (Barnard, Urquhart). At Dunster Castle, just the wall was knocked down; it was restored by a 19th century merchant prince. Castle Drogo was built from scratch in the early 20th century by a merchant prince. Brougham Castle was inherited in the 18th century by somebody who didn't want it, who tore it half down to sell the building materials. Monasteries were closed in 1539. These seem to have been stupendously large buildings. Jedburgh Abbey still stands minus its roof. We visited another abbey, of which just a part had been re- roofed, froming a huge church for a tiny community. Of industrial history, there is the greatest treasure trove, and I find it most interesting, but I decided I would have to leave it largely for a later trip. For everything you see, you skip a hundred other things. We did see a 150 year old bobbin mill (it made wooden spools), and the steam engine that originally raised and lowered the Tower Bridge. We saw a few manor houses, Van Dycks and Sir Joshuas on the wall, inlaid tables, formal gardens, libraries full of books in ancient bindings. We also visited Wordworth's home; which includes the informal garden; said to be still substantially as Woodsworth laid it out. He was highly though of as a landscape gardener to receive commissions. A remarkable high point that we stumbled across was the home of Issac Newton, a very old, small, primitive manor house, where Newton wrote some of his major works, and transacted the business of the manor, when he was not in Cambridge. Of Roman remains, we saw Hadrian's Wall at different points. Originally twenty feet high, it is now no more than six, and about equally wide. Such a wall had to be manned, so there are also remains of forts and blockhouses. We saw the famous Roman Baths at Bath, which are well interpreted for the public; and stumbled across the remains of the Temple of Mithras (the foundation stones) in the City of London. Of churches, some had been desanctified and were in use as community centers and the like. One small one in a central city had old, uneven stone floors, memorial plaques to servicemen killed all over the globe in a long series of conflicts; one plaque going back to the 16th century; a plaque commorating a churchman who had encouraged emigration to Massachusetts Bay. We encountered two statues of knights recumbant that might have dated from the 15th century; 18th- century grafitti had been carved on the stomach of one of them. We viewed a number of Cathedrals; the one at Bath had two stone ladders going up its entire facade, with souls attempting to climb them; one soul was falling off. I was impressed by the regional architecture of Britain on this first trip. Whole cities seem to be built in the same style. New buildings are built to harmonize with the old. Nearly every building seems to be out of stone. This is a material we do not see nearly so much of in the suburbs of Chicago, where the favored building material was brick from about 1945 to 1980, and wood both before and after that. Wood does not seem to be used in Britain for anything larger than a toolshed. Texture was a big thing in art a few years ago, and stone walls have an interesting, attractive texture. When a whole city is built in one texture, and the next one in another, and so on, this can be pretty impressive. Thus Dorchester was built in a rounded, white or light yellow stone, interspersed with brick. The small town of Abbotsbury seemed to be built in the stone of Dorchester, without the brick (I understand this village has been extensively restored). At Barnstaple and nearbaouts, walls were plastered smooth and painted in very light pastels. Bath seemed to be built of very large yellow stones, sawn smooth. Many villages were built of smooth red stones. In the North, there seemed to be more of a mix, but some older buildings were built of jagged black stones, which, inspited of deep indentations between stones, were laid up into very straight walls. Heathrow is west of London and we headed west from there. We passed the Salisbury Spire in a driving rain. Main roads frequently go right through the center of town, streets narrow, parking impossible. Every city seems to have a well-marked parking lot close to the center, reasonable fees, and space nearly always available; so you might as well give up and go straight to the lot. We then arrived at Stonehedge. Here the builders chose a large, yellow-gray stone. The structure was more compact and lighter in color than I had imagined. On the green plain it reminded me of a cue ball on a billard table. We proceeded to Dorchester, said to be Thomas Hardy's "Casterbridge." Almost every house in England seems to be a row house, typically built wall to wall, frequently without front lawns or parkways. The result is that the earth seems to be armored like a turtle's shell. Pan the scene for a black and white movie and it may look a little drab, but the reality is more cheerful. Frequently roofs are tiled in bright orange, and bright orange brick is common, rather than the dull red which is prefered in the United States. Roofs always seem to be tile or slate, except for some thatch in the South; never asphalt shingle as in the United States. A lot of stone homes have a vaguely Hansel and Gretel appearance. It is easy to see why the English coined the term, "A man's home is his castle." If they build a gatehouse, say, in the local materials, and then add a crenellated roof line, it looks a lot like a castle. Discovering how much hotels cost, we stopped at private homes that advertised Bed and Breakfast. These people generally charged eight or nine punds ($14.00-$16.00) per person per night for a good room, sharing the bath with maybe one or two other families, and breakfast. The dining room would usually have two or three small tables in it, and breakfast normally included all of juice, cereal, eggs, back bacon (Canadian bacon), sausages, toast, and sometimes mushrooms or small tomatoes fried in with the bacon and eggs. To covert pounds to dollars you double and subtract ten percent of the result. Dollars to pounds, you halve and add ten percent. Actually changing the money was little trouble. You are asked for your passport, and you want to act when you see a bank open, since they keep short and unexpected hours. We passed through Dartmoor, said to be Hardy's Egdon Heath, to the passing eye just a little hillier than what we had seen. Coming back along the Bristol Channel, we rode on an inclined railway that operated by filling a tank below the passenger compartment with water. The weight of the water pulled the car down, pulling the other car up. At the bottom, they ran the water out, while the other car was filling at the top. We saw a fighter plane, down low and moving extremely fast, like a dart from a blow gun; drove up Porlock Hill, overlooking the Bristol Channel; swung past Glastonbury Tor, once surrounded by marshes and said to be the Island of Avalon; gawked at the cathedrals of Wells and Bath; then moved up the Motorway to the Lake Country. Thus inspired, we travelled along Hadrian's Wall, turned north through some treeless, yellow-green country that looked about like Wyoming, then entered Scotland. We walked past a "Chicage Pizza Factory" on the way to Edinburgh Castle. There are at least two excellent roads in Scotland, meeting at Inverness. We went up one and down the other, coming back along a chain on lochs, everything in shades of gray at Loch Lomand; then through a valley, high hills and low clouds. We then switched back to the east side and went down to Cambridge, where we gawked at the University buildings. Time for the convention at hand, we puzzled our way through Hitchin and met Richard Walkerdine at his place. We had a delightful evening of conversation with Richard and his lovely and sparkling wife. Richard is twelve feet tall and about about six inches wide a the shoulder. I presented him with the inevitable Chicago Bears sweatshirt anyway. He seems to be a prehistorian, cricket player, economist, and young man on the way up of the kind Maggie Thatcher likes. Next day, Richard let me up throught the roundabouts to Birmingham. The tournament was in High Hall, perhaps 17 stories. We were housed in a room that seemed comfortable for two students, overlooking a park-like area which included a pond and statuary. Downstairs was a large cafeteria, where 200 people could play Diplomacy and eat their meals without crowding. The tournament was run with a firm fist around a mug by Nick Kinzett. The tournament plan seemed excellent. The first day was devoted to team play and the second to individual play. One member each played each of the seven countries, of course at different boards. The next day players played for the individual title, which was decided by summing up the individual's score from both days. There appeared to be several advantages to this scheme. If pals get together to from a team, they end up at different boards, reducing the pre-game conniving. A pre-game alliance between two teams would involve fourteen people. It would probably be harder to work it up and harder to keep it secret. A player who falls behind is not so likely to throw the game to someone else, either, since he would be letting his team down. He would also be hurting his score for the individual title, to be decided the next day. Thus it seems there is encouragement to compete vigorously and fairly. At least one team arrived in identical tee shirts; some sported names like S.L.O.B.S. and Mouse Police; some were assembled at the tournament. The winners were War & Peace, consisting of John Gatheral, Richard Williams, Simon Brooks, Pete Mason, Andrew Glynn, Phil Creed, and Paul Finch; their worst score was six centers, and the next worst ten! The following day Phil Day, who had a 20 unit Russia during the team competition, added a five unit Turkey to win the individual title, second and third going to Matt McVeigh and Jim Mills. I gave a speech about the invention of Diplomacy, events and experiences along the way, strategy in the game and in general, MacKinder's geopolitics, and so one. Their eyes glazed over after about an hour and a half, but I made the most of the rare opportunity to talk with people who knew just what I was talking about. I put the original Diplomacy set on display; it has armies 2 1/2 inches high and fleets 3 inches long, in historical flag colors, and a large map to match. Rusty Bolt Awards were handed out to hobby types. Martin Taylor, who competed in the croquet tournament, gave a magic show. The convention was excellently run and deserved the splendid 200 player turnout. Larry Peery was there, wearing a Diplomacy World Staff tractor cap. Fred Davis was there. Monday afternoon, we drove down to Heathrow, left the car, and took a cab into London, where a television producer had provided a hotel room for two nights. He has an excellent plan for a television program based on Diplomacy, for one of the smaller and more erudite channels. I spent some time discussing the project with these people; we also attended a foreign policy seminar, the speakers having just returned from the Communist Party Congress in the Soviet Union. Apparently the theme of the Congress turned out to be, "Restructuring Is Fine But The Party Must Lead It." The speakers took this theme seriously as a conservative shift; but I thought Gorbachev had gotten most of the specifics he wanted, and the conservatives had gotten in return little more than a generality, of a sort which you would have to expect at a Party Congress. We had a little time to see the sights of London, and, this being the first trip, we spent the time on some of the best-known sights. We were just off Oxford Street, the prime shopping area. From there, double-decker buses took us through Trafalgar Square and Picadilly Circus to the House of Commons, St. Paul's, the Tower, etc. Since we have children of college age, we also had to make a trek to the Hard Rock Cafe, to buy tee shirts. From where the bus left us, we had to run across eight lanes of one-way traffic and climb a fence. (I realize the fence was there to discourage people from running across.) An amusing incident occurred during the few minutes we were watching the House of Commons. It seems there were hardly any members present, on either side of the aisle. One young Conservative was lying in his seat, with his feet up on the seat in front of him. A minister completed the presentation of the Education Reform Bill, and a Laborite rose to reply. This man began his remarks by saying that you could see how little the government cared about education, from the fact that they allowed only thirty minutes to debate the bill. Thereupon the Conservative, without changing his position, waved at the empty Labor benches and yelled, "Where are they?" The flight back went way north, over islands that appeared to be uninhabited (no visible roads). I photographed quite a lot of ice, which had collected into long drifts in the ocean. It was a memorable trip in which everything went well; the convention was great, the Diplomacy people were great, and Britain is great. I am enjoying moderating this zine, keep that mail coming! Eric Klien. Up