Diplomacy zine -- Subzine From: Eric_S_Klien@cup.portal.com Date: Wed, 02 Aug 1989 23:17:13 +0000 Issue #85 of ELECTRONIC PROTOCOL: Chapter One contains: D-DAY, NAVARONE, BLITZKRIEG, OPERATION OVERLORD, GETTYSBURG, and HMS HOOD And is published by Daybell@aludra.ucs.edu/Donald Daybell Chapter Two contains: DRAGONSPLAYER, DOUGHBOY, BISMARK, COLD WAR and JACAL And is published by Goebel@emunix.emich.edu/Matthew Goebel ------------- Chapter Three ------------- Fall '07 of the game MAELSTROM (BNC number 1989AA) GERMANY STALLS AS HE NEARS 18 CENTERS! ENGLAND: F LON-H, F BRE-MAO, A GAS-SPA, F POR SA GAS-SPA FRANCE: (A SPA-MAR), (F WME-SPA(sc)), (F MAO SF WME-SPA(sc)) GERMANY: (A RUM-BUD), (A UKR-RUM), A SEV SA UKR-RUM, (A VIE SA RUM-BUD) (A TYR-TRI), A BOH SA VIE-VIE, (A SIL-GAL), (A BUR-MAR), (A RUH-BUR) A PAR-H, F ECH SF ENGLISH BRE-MAO, F NTS-H, A YOR-WAL, F CLY-NAO F NOR-NWS ITALY: F ROM SF TYS-TYS, F TYS SF ROM-ROM TURKEY: A BUL-RUM, F BLA SA BUL-RUM, A SER SA BUL-RUM, (A BUD-GAL) (A TRI-VIE), (F VEN-TRI), F ADR SA VEN-TRI, A ION-H F NAP SF ION-ION, F AEG-H Press: The streets of Berlin are quiet as the entire population seems to hold its collective breath as a German Frau of impressive poundage arrives for a special presentation at the Brandenburg Gate. Slowly she climbs a short flight of stairs to a small stage erected in the center to the square. She moves up to a microphone and begins to shuffle through a small folder of sheet music. She nods her assent to the orchestra conductor, takes a deep breath, and prepares to sing. GM Notes: France must disband A SPA, Germany must disband A RUM. France can retreat or disband MAO, MAO can retreat to GAS, IRI, or NAF. France gets no builds if MAO is not disbanded. ENG: BRE LON POR SPA = 4( 4) FRA: MAR TUN = 2( 1) + GER: BEL BER DEN EDI HOL KIE LVP MOS MUN = 16(14) ++ NOR PAR SEV STP SWE VIE WAR ITA: ROM = 1( 2) - TUR: ANK BUD BUL CON GRE NAP RUM SER SMY = 11(10) + TRI VEN Autumn '07 of the game MAELSTROM (BNC number 1989AA) France disbands A SPA Germany disbands A RUM Winter '07 of the game MAELSTROM (BNC number 1989AA) Spring '01 of the game TANNENBURG (BNC number not known) (GM is Ebrosius@lucy.wellesley.edu/Eric Brosius) Due date August 6th. GM comments: ******************************************************************** I need both GMs and Guest Publishers, we are growing faster than our round table of knights predicted. ******************************************************************** We need someone to take the position of e-mail problem solver. This person would help people figure out how to contact other people, letting them know what e-mail addresses are possible. Also, if someone wants to write a little article on how to solve e-mail problems, I would be glad to publish it. I have one opening in my next postal game. It is nearing the Fall school season. If anyone has addresses for University papers plus their classified ad rates, I would be interested. And remember that I also have flyers that can be passed out (especially at hobby stores) and am always looking for more magazines to advertise in. Been There, Done That is now a subzine to both e-mail zines on this planet, THE ARMCHAIR DIPLOMAT (on CompuServe) and ELECTRONIC PROTOCOL. Note that at some time in the future CompuServe will be hooked up to Usenet and then we will be able to help the players in that tiny zine to find a decent place to play. **************************** * Been There, Done That * * #7 - July 1989 * **************************** 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. BT,DT has just been liberated from subzinehood in "The Wrapper," or as it is otherwise known, Mark Lilleleht's The Scribblerist. It will, however, continue as an electronically distributed subzine to Ken Hill's The Armchair Diplomat. Got that? 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! Publishers: Some of you responded to last issue's sample and offer to trade with a note. Others I heard nothing specific from, but in unrelated correspondence said things which indicated you expect to continue to get BTDT. My liberal trading policy of ZR and BTDT in return for two copies of your zine still stands, but you have to let me know if you want to continue to get BTDT. It doesn't take much to get this thing at this point in time, but you do have to at least let me know you want it! Let me clarify one other thing... if you are playing, your game fee covers the cost of your sub while your position is viable. Once you are eliminated from your last game, or it ends, you need to sub. Some of you sent in game fees and sub money. The sub money will be credited against your account for when the game is over. The thing I didn't consider is what to do about people who sign up for a game, send in the fee, with no sub money, and the game won't start right away. Hmmm... tough one there. Boardman do? For now, I won't charge "pre-game start" sub fees, but if I end up losing a bundle I may revise this. BT,DT: the zine mark lew called "a sort of pleasantly non-descript zeen now gone solo." All feuds are off! I'm too mellow what with the birth of my son, Sam, last week! Mellow, hell, the reality is I'm so damned sleep deprived I couldn't carry on a feud if I were serious! And concluding another in a series of far-too-long colophons,, 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. BABY SAM This may get to you a bit late. No, not some other new pubber already falling behind on his pubbing plans, realizing he bit off more than he can chew. Rather, as I mentioned on page one, the direct result of the birth of my second child, Samuel Charles Nash, on July 9, at 4:15 AM. Sammy was in a bit of a hurry to get here, arriving 8 days early, and beating Zachary Wolf Sneiderman- Lerner, his poppa's best friend's baby, by a day. He checked in at 7 lbs, 3 ozs, and unlike his big sister Emily who was a bit, uh, feisty right out of the womb, Sam is a real gentleman. A bit jaundiced too, necessitating daily return engagements at the hospital for bilirubin tests. I am, as I was after Emily's birth, sleep deprived to the extent of feeling like I'm in a hallucinogenic daze half the time, but when you give up the use of all psychoactive substances (except caffeine) you take your cheap highs where you can. The family's doing fine, thanks. Game Openings Regular Dip: Opening one more. Hoffman (paid), Preston, J. Williams (paid $1), Heintzman (paid), Norman, and Carlberg signed up. Need one more. Gunboat: Will open one game. 6 or 7 signed up. May start real soon. Railway Rivals: Will open two games. Spain map: Gardner (paid), Preston, Goode (paid), Hill, Brown, von Metzke, and Walker signed up. We're just about ready to roll! Will take 1 or 2 more if you let me ASAP. Chesapeake and Ohio map: Gardner (paid), Goode (paid) Preston, Hill, Brown, von Metzke, and Walker signed up. Closed! Gamestart on page ! I'm looking through the Mad Policy/Costaguana/Not New York houserules, and the Prisoners of War HRs. Any thoughts from you vets on the better set? Postal Kremlin: Ed Wrobel signed up. 3-4 needed. Likewise I am looking at various HRs. Anybody have a set? Purest Dip: Hoffman, Reynolds (paid), Mann (paid, sort of) signed up. Steve Smith is "interested." What's it gonna be Stevie? This game has your name written all over it! Game Fee is $5 for all games. LETTERS: Nelson Heintzman (2255 Delaware Ave #C-4, Buffalo, NY 14216): This letter will be included in the next issue of ELECTRONIC PROTOCOL, I ran out of room! (50K limit on some mailers) Vince Leamons: "My vision of Diplomacy Hell is a cloven-hoofed, horned Jeff McKee prodding me into an Round Robin Gunboat Tourney with a pitchfork. AIEEEEEE!" ((I couldn't have said it better myself!)) Wallace Nicoll (48 Broughton Road, Edinburgh EH7 4EE, Great Britain): "... I'm out on strike today... The reason for this official (sanc-tioned by the Union - a 60-40 vote in favor by the members) strike is to get a few tenths of a percent more in salary - which would still leave us behind the galloping rate of inflation (thank god we're not in the likes of Brazil or Argentina where it is really galloping) - but also to stop some serious changes in national pay bargaining. I'm a computer programmer with the local council. Nearest equivalent would be your state government. We, effectively, extract money from the inhabitants of the region to pay for local services libraries, schools, roads, drainage, social services, police, etc). IT's the clerical and technical staff who've come out, so everything will be in chaos today. Problem is that while I can afford one day of strike, the union planned a total of six... "So it's a lovely day out. Some of the other chaps have gone out to play golf - me, sat in front of a computer writing letters to folk in the States, and catching up on all the outstanding requests for sample copies of PoW! To be truthful, I do intend to get out in the sun this afternoon, and trying to sort out some of the travel details for my forthcoming trip to north Italy. "Ta for the BTDT. As I started reading through the letter page I had a vague race memory of The Fugs - never heard them, just heard of them. It began to look as if you were all trying hard to remember the line-up., so I dug out my "Rock record" book which lists pretty much all the mainstream bands, their albums, and line-ups from the late 50s through to 1983. There is a more recent edition, but I haven't seen it lately. Anyway, it lists 8 Fugs albums, ranging from their "First Album" from 1965, through to "Fugs 4 Rounders Score" from 1975. Tuli appears on all 8 albums, Weaver on 6, Sanders on 5 -not on either of the first 2. If you want more details these can easily be supplied. It also looks as though Tuli released a solo album called "No Deposit, No Return." No details as to date, but released in the US on ESP no. 1035. Weaver appears on one Hendrix album, while Sanders has a section for himself, having released 2 albums: "Sanders' Truckstop," and "Beer Cans on the Moon." Again, no dates, but Reprise (6374 and 2105 respectively). Maybe you know all this already." ((No, I didn't. I vaguely remember the 2 Sanders' solo albums once you mention them. "Truckstop" was, I believe, an attempt at a country and western album. Something to behold from a man who was reputed to have ancient Egyptian religious symbols tattooed on his genitalia, and who set the poetry of Blake to rock 'n roll. I do believe we've just about covered the Fugs to the fullest possible extent. Once again, I urge all ageing hippie types out there to do anything you can to find Sanders' forgotten classic "Tales of Beatnik Glory." Right Ari? And I have no idea who published it, or where it can be found. BTDT - the zine that pioneered the Fugs revival!)) Jason Bergmann (10740 Lathrop, Dallas, TX 75229): "So BTDT is now a full fledged zine? Okay then. You get two copies of Entropy each issue. One for ZR and one for your own rag. At least I never had a wrapper to worry about. "A question about Purest Dip: are there Spring and Fall turns or are Winter adjustments made after each turn? It would seem to be a much more difficult game to play if it were Spring and Fall. ((Who says it isn't supposed to be difficult? That's the point, and yes, there are Spring and Fall turns. For those who didn't see it in BTDT #5, her are the rules for Purest Dip - The rules of regular Diplomacy apply except where otherwise noted. There are only 7 provinces on the map, each one a home supply center for the power controlling it, and named for that power. Each power starts with an army in its home center. All 7 provinces are contiguous; i.e. a unit in one can move to any of the other 6, or support a movement from any of the other 6 to any of them. All units are armies, and only armies can be built (and only, of course, in your single supply center). There are no retreats; an army which is dislodged must be removed. The victory criterion is control of 4 supply centers. There is little tactical skill to this variant, it looks like it should be all diplomacy and persuasion.)) "Getting dangerously close to feuding? I know what you're doing. I've figured out the trick. You feud-happy diplofools announce off the cuff that there is a feud going on, then a feud number is assigned, and you're off. Well, no such luck. I hereby announce that I am not getting dangerously close to a feud. It is Nash who is provoking this as just another stepping stone towards his goal: ultimate hobby power. Look at him. He dropped the wrapper; he's picked up the ZR, a hobby service publication. Pretty soon he'll be issuing Miller Numbers (regardless of whoever else in the hobby is). We must end this power play before it's too late! ((Sorry. It already is too late! No MIller Numbers for me, I'll leave that to McKee. Yes, it's true, it's all a plot! Me and Mcee are outside PBEM agitators that are going to take over the PBM hobby and run it with an iron fist! (No, not Olsen). Don't like British style, eh? Too bad! We're in charge! And it's all a plot to drive Steve Smith running and screaming from the hobby! Funded by Susan Welter and Mickey Preston. BTW, speaking of outside agitators, I wonder if the Acheson /White/Grigsby Gang of Three is going to ask for a seperate block of Canadian Feud Numbers?)) "Who runs the Brat Pack? ((Need you even ask?)) Have you appointed yourself to that exalted role as well? ((of course - what's the use of a blatant Metadip power play if it's half- hearted?)) And you had the nerve to include me on your list with Lillylivers? By the way, take Gabel off your list. News From Bree has folded." ((Really? Officially? Cleanly? Things are looking bad for the Brat Pack. The Scribblerist is now two months late, and Dark Mirror is over 6 weeks late, for it's second consecutive quite late issue. Then again, stacked up against some of the Old Fart zines - Perelandra almost 2 months late, Retal turning into a quarterly, Praxis turning bi-annual, we're still doing OK.)) Ron Cameron (7821 Bouma Circle, La Palma, CA 90623): "Maybe Ken Peel made a good decision after all in choosing you for the Zine Register. BTDT #6 was very good compared to some of the first 5. In particular, the Connie interview was interesting. Too bad you or he can't make it to DipCon. I met with Larry Peery, Don Del Grande, Tim Moore, and Don Williams this past weekend to iron out details for DipCon XXII. Larry paid me the ultimate insult in saying that you and I are alike in numerous ways: family, background, personality, and even, uh, physical appearance. ((Why Ronster, I had no idea you were such a handsome devil! I would have guessed you to be as ugly as your heart is evil!)) He further stated that we were both Dodger fans and he would absolutely get a kick out of seeing us in the same FTF game, Now I've always thought highly of Larry, although my opinion of his character judgement has really taken a dive. Are we feuding? Over what? ((Well, if you don't know, you really are a simple minded antelope. I've about had it with the Dodgers... all that great pitching wasted as they lose yet another 2-1 game. I'm sticking to the Orioles this year.)) "I am looking forward to meeting Susan Welter and Jeff McKee at DipCon. Can these computer people really cut the mustard playing FTF? Maybe they will enter a team in the team event, though I pity them if they come up against some of my ringers! Tim Moore is getting up a team also, which should be damn good too - well oiled and supple - but it's too bad Tim himself will be on it. Har Har. "You may add me as a standby to your reg Dip games. The good Dr. Lutterbie will like that. He will have reamed himself a new one too, by his return from DipCon. Keep up the good work, Tom, but don't keep anything else up; we'd like you to be able to make World DipCon next year." ((The PBEM crowd has formed a team, and is, even as I type this, trying to settle on a name. Can they play? You bet. Both McKee and Welter are fine players, but the real one to watch is Steve Smith. Especially since he's taken a licking in a couple of games recently, and he'll be MAD and HUNGRY.)) Garret Schenck (40 Third Place, Basement Apartment, Brooklyn, NY 11231-3302): "Hi Tom ... you'll notice I have you down for a "T" which of course means trade. I assume that's why you sent me BTDT... Or maybe you were just going to put me on your mailing list, figuring that if you want to be head of the Brat Pack you'd have to bribe your way to the top. Well, look, guy, I may not be any sort of spring chicken, but doesn't the term brat imply a certain amount of, shall we say, youth? I seem to remember a certain greyness about the head when I met you at Clone Con. Not to worry, as it seems to have worn off on me - my poor beard is sprouting more of that sort of stuff. ((To paraphrase Pesky Kenny Peel, Brat Packdom, like Hobby Old Fartdom, is a state of mind.)) All kidding aside I like this idea of yours of the Brat Pack (even though it really isn't yours, but apparently Ken Peel's). ((It's not really Ken's, originally, but rather mark lew's.))... I would have made this ish ((of Upstart, most graphically appealing zine this side of Wallace's Prisoners of War))a Brat Pack publication but I forgot... My wife to be is getting her PhD in Counseling Psych - am I making a mistake?" ((Dear Wondering in Brooklyn: how do I know, I've never met her? Oh, you mean about the Counseling Psych stuff - hey think of this way, if you ever find yourself in conflict over your intense sexual feelings towards another woman, you've got a free therapist to talk it over with, right?)) George Mann (1701 NW 81st Way, Plantation, FL 33322): "... Out of curiosity, I'd like to know what your subbers think of Florida, (the state). I've always lived here and take the beaches, sun, and women for granted... Do people really think of Florida as paradise? I love the place and never would live elsewhere (I've lived in California, Arizona, and Georgia), but we do have our drawbacks -mosquitoes, humidity, northerners, etc. In south Florida our roads suck and we constantly play a game to see if the 4th car can make it through the red light (50-50 chance). "Oh yeah, what do you think of Dusty Rhodes going to the WWF? ((Huh? Jeffrey Lerner, translate this for me, please!)) I think it stinks, but the money had to be worthwhile. I would appreciate it if your subbers would talk less about Jeff McKee and the Fugs, and more about Pro Wrestling. It would definately liven up your letter column. How about running a wrestling quiz each month? ((Folks - the SCARY thing is that he's serious!)) It would probably increase your subscriber list tenfold. It might even keep McKee from writing to you and get Lilleleht on your standby list. Wrestling can produce miracles." ((Keep McKee from writing? OK, George, you got a deal! - BTW, there's something I'm DYING to ask you. Has the CDO approached you about a seperate block of Canadian Machiavelli Numbers yet? Just wondering.)) Mickey Preston (223 Breckinridge, Louisville, KY 40220): ".. To add insult to injury, I don't even rate a mention on his potential feud list, much less the actual list itself. And here I've been, trying my best Gnash bashing. Guess I'll just have to turn up the flames of my diatribes against Tom. Man, what's a guy gotta do to get on Tom's ca-ca list? ((Do well against me in a Dip game... and that, my dear Mickster, is why you are not on, nor ever shall be on, my ca-ca list.)) "Reading your letters and responses to the Fugs vs. Mothers question, I experienced a strange time-warp. Although not a true "child of the 60s" (I was born in '59), my parents were in their 20s during that decade. So I was heavily influenced by all of the 60s culture. Being in elementary school and such, I lived vicariously through my parents and their friends. But I was involved in the anti-war marches - I was the little kid in the pictures - and I listened to the music of the day. It was nice to hear others reminisce about the times! "Ya know what I am dreading? When my son, who is now 6 months old, asks me about my teen aged years. My Ghod - how does one describe the 70s to one who never lived through them? The high points - ah, er...John Travolta? Saturday NIght Fever? The Bee Gees? Jerry Ford and his "WIN" Program? Jimmy Carter and anything he did in his 4 years? This will not be pretty gang - does anyone have any good memories of the 70s? Anything I can be proud of? Help! "Tom, you call yourself a Brat Packer. Is this in reference to the mythological "Bad Boys" of yesteryear? ((No - it's in reference to the all-too-real Brat Pack of today.)) Does this mean you are accepting the passing of the torch from the old hierarchy? ((The Bad Boys, a hierarchy? Huh?)) I ask you this, and this is from a novice in the PBM hobby, what qualifications does one need to qualify as a "Bad Boy?" A "Brat Pack?" And what do you call the others of our hobby? Non-aligned? The Young Turks? ((For the former one needs a biting sense of humor, a total disregard for the feelings of others, and the absolute assurance of the narcissist that just because one makes between zero and $10,000 a year, one is intrinsically better than others who make 2 and 3 times that because your values are entirely materialistic and it is a sure thing that you will make tons of money some day, fer sure, dude, like, rilly, because you are clearly so smart and just... well... wonderful. For the latter it is far simpler. Just send a 35 page application, in triplicate, to me or McKee, and include a $500 non-refundable application fee... actually make that check out to and send it to me, not McKee, in fact it'd be better if you didn't even mention that to him at all. He's not good at numbers, poor guy, and it'd just confuse him. Anyway, we'll get back to you just as soon as we've had a chance to review your application. Remember now, this is important, dammit, the check comes to ME. Got it? As for the others in the hobby, well I call them things like Tim, Steve, Melinda, Don, Mickey, etc. Seems to work, too.)) "Well, I suppose I should lay down the gauntlet of challenge to you Tom. Justify to this anarchist why we need a formal hierarchy for our hobby. Why do we need an "organization?" I would accept the need for an organized hobby if: a) As Mr. von Metzke claims, the Diplomacy hobby could insure the continuity of the game and the future of its existence; b) This organization could induce outsiders to discover and participate in the game; c) It monitored and kept track of the multitude of zines, subzines, etc. so that it would be accessible to all players (I guess that s what the Zine Register does). ((yep.)) d) And finally, it settled on one set of rules for standard dip. "Without these, I don't see why we worry about an "organized" hobby. Until someone can convince me of the this need, I shall remain the standard bearer of the anarchist front - neither Bad Boy nor Brat Packer, but just in the hobby to play and have fun." ((You threw down the gauntlet to the wrong person. No, I will not justify it to you, since I go one step further than you. You see, I really am an anarchist. Member in good standing of the I.W.W. And I don't see the need, and in fact would intrinsically and inherently mistrust any attempt at a hobby organization even if all four of your conditions were fully met. Why do we need one set of rules? If one GM wants to play DIAS, while another goes for voted draws, so much the better, as it gives us players greater choice and flexibility. Screw formal organization! However, anarchist theory provides for and promotes the existence of free- association collec-tives and networks. Voluntary SIGs as it were. So joining the Brat Pack in no way contradicts anarchist theory. Now, if I tried to force you into joining, and said that now, as a member, you must adhere to my rules, laws, covenants, and pay my tax, under threat of punishment, that would be simple extortion. Actually... hmmmm... of Mickey, you ARE a member of the Brat Pack, didn't you know? And the new Brat Pack usage tax is $500 per annum, payable to me, NOT McKee, by the next deadline. Failure to comply may lead to penalties and interest, and failing that, I pass a constitutional amendment outlawing you and send Rocco the Fish to pay you a visit.)) Ed Wrobel (6204 Bardu Ave, Springfield VA 22152): "Now that you are rapidly heading for burnout, perhaps you'd like to apply to become WARTHOG's ((that's Washington Area Retinue of Tacitly Highly Organized Gamesters, for those poor few who didn't know)) Baltimore Area Tusk (BAT). We are publishing a Bill of Impeachment against the current BAT but he may hang on. He's practically one of our founders. "As a youth (ah, those bygone days!), I preferred the Mothers to the Fugs, at least until Zappa went commercial (JOe's Garage et. al.; even the Flo and Eddie stuff was a bit much). I don't agree that the Mothers were a pale reflection or rip-off of the Fugs originality. Certainly the Mothers were more "accessible" despite their pretensions, and better produced and more widely marketed. Tales of Beatnik Glory and The Cattle Killer Digest sound like fun reading. The East Village Other a "zine?" What games did it run? ((The exact same ones House of Lords, Politesse, and Diplomacy Digest run, Ed. Actually, that comment was an attempt to point out the other side of the same argument used by the University Sociology Department, that according to Peery, is very interested in acquiring and cataloguing the Hoosier Archives as part of their comprehensive collection of Samizat, which they define broadly as amateurly produced personal press.)) The Fugs were so discordant -- and difficult to dance to ((not under the... er, proper psychopharmacological circumstances.)) "Eric Brosius asks who thinks the Poll does not "measure a subjective quality?" Well, apparently the gentleman who runs the poll. He calls the results "The Cream Shall Rise" and has claimed that the poll winners are the best (or was it "greatest") zines. There's something about ranking zines in a hierarchy that turns me off. Maybe that's just my ageing hippy bias, but really, let's see, would you give your wife a 10? A 9? A 2? How about your parents? Do you like your son or your daughter better? "I Enjoyed your DixieCon review. Give it an 8 (Can't dance to it)." ((Geez, Ed. Thanks a bunch! Here I was, quietly establishing my reputation as the only zine in history who's letter column featured such never-before-discussed topics like the Fugs and Cattle Killer Digest, and then you slip in the most already done, dealt with exhaustively in every zine in existence since, what, 1984?, talked to death topic since, well, since hobby organizations! Hey, guy, I been there, done that! Can't you tell I'm shooting for a little originality here? Just for that, no BAT!!)) Don AKA "Heinowski's Folly" Williams (44016 4th St. East, Lancaster, CA 93535): "Yep, you did it... YOU FOOL! You cretin, you dolt, you idiot! You sorry twit, you'll be so damn sorry you ever got into full-time publishing ((Don, why don't you get to the point and say how you really feel about this and stop beating around the bush?)). I mean, it's one thing to chide others about late deadlines--or deadlines missed entirely--and quite another to suffer such slings and arrows yourself while realizing that it ain't always easy to keep to schedules (the entropy inherent in the universe abhors a timely publishing schedule). ((Jason Bergmann... there's an apt slogan for your zine!)) Publishing a zine has been the David to a number of would be pubbing Goliaths over the years. "Actually I suppose congratulations are in order, though I do so hate to encourage you as you'll (no doubt) only do it again. AAaarrrrggghhh! I finally consummate my Master Three Year Plan to get rid of that ARCH NINCOMPOOP, Olsen, burning him out and driving him from the hobby, and then you come along. Sigh, is my Karmic balance that outta kilter? "Honestly (for a moment anyway), I was surprised and pleased to see the TS-less BTDT arrive the other day. (Not that I'm happy about TS' scheduling troubles, I'm just happy to see that his deadline problems are no longer your deadline problems. I wish you and your zine many readers and much success...) "Well, I've now been BNC for about 3 1/2 days. "They" weren't kidding when "they" said this job is a lot of work--it really is, and I've only just begun. Right now its clearing away the small backlog of game number assignations, going through the five boxes of stuff Heinowski sent me to see if any of it has any useful purpose, and starting to set some order (bureaucratically speaking) to the whole mess. Lots of questions about trades and stuff too. "And I see you are going to do the ZINE REGISTER as well? Frankly, I was sorry to see Ken Peel leave as I think he did a terrific job and made what could be a rather dreary zine into something that was fun to read. I think you were a good choice and also wish you well with that project. (Gad, if I don't get rid of these warm fuzzy feelings I have I'm going to get very, very ill, very, very quickly)." ((Too late for me. I went into insulin shock about midway through that last unparenthetical sentence and blew my cookies over my brand new keyboard. You'll be getting the bill for a replacement. I only got one box of stuff from Ken when the ZR got passed on. But believe me, I have almost met my match for disorganization. Going through that box was interesting. It was labeled "Zine Bank," and sure enough, was full of zines. Unfortunately, the majority of them were way too old, and/or way too folded to pass on in a Zine Bank sample package. Some were interesting... a bunch of Retals from the 1985-86 era, pre-laser dot matrix quality, some vintage Costas, KK/Ws, etc. And out of one of those very KK/Ws plopped a check from John Caruso to Ken from the summer of '87. Mr. Peel either never figured out it was there, or promptly forgot it. Going through it and sorting it out into the useful, the useless but interesting, and the kitty litter box lining, was an interesting couple of evenings effort.)) Conrad von Metzke (4374 Donald Ave, San Diego CA 92117): "The interview turned out nicely, I approve wholeheartedly, and I thank you very much for the opportunity as well as the idea. I'll be fascinated to see who future victims are. "Jim Goode, a Rivals player in Tennessee, has just designed a beautiful RR map of his own state, and wants to run a playtest game or two. I'm going to run a couple on my own, but JIm wants to GM his own if he can find a place to put the results - in other words he wants to set up a very small subzine and go from there. Are you in a position to consider doing this? I think we're probably looking at 2 pages a crack. What say?" ((I have been in touch with Jim, and looks like Tennessee Rails will be debuting here in the next issue - appropriate since that is going to be my special Railroad Games theme issue. He'll also be posting the results in Scott Cameron's Protozoan.)) The Games: ---------- The games will be included in the next issue of ELECTRONIC PROTOCOL, I ran out of room! (50K limit on some mailers) Space Filler #1 In the latest Retaliation, Dick Martin, to celebrate his zeen's 10th anniversary, encloses a copy of his first issue... and I agree whole heartedly with his attached note describing it as about the sorriest, most pathetic little first issue he's (or me) ever seen. Which does a lot to keep my enthusiasm rather high for the raft of issue #1s of a veritable flood of new zines that have come my way in the last couple of months (take over the ZR and you get everything). But if Retal can go from that sorry dog to what it is today, I have tons of hope for some of the newer, albeit slim, efforts coming out this summer. ------------------------------------------------------------------ The BTDT Interview - Ken Hill My first DIp GM was Ken Hill. Back in 1986 when I was still suffering through my PCjr phase, I owned a copy of Computer Diplomacy, but never had found anyone to play with. I signed on to CIS's PCjr forum regularly, and when someone decided to organize a Dip game there, I joined quickly. In the process of putting the game together, we discovered the Gamer's Forum and The Armchair Diplomat. The game was quickly housed there, and Ken agreed to GM. We played with weekly deadlines, and had still the best press exchange I've ever taken part in or seen in any game. Of course I won. And Ken's GMing, and encouragement and help for us novices, as we all were, played a major role in hooking me on this damned game. Having a perspective of 5 years as a PBEM GM, and then editor/publisher of the, dare I say it, "flagship" PBEM zine (though a warehouse flagship, at that), who's seen players cross both ways between the 2 hobby segments, I thought Ken would be an ideal candidate for the BTDT interviewee. If only he'd stop encouraging McKee! BTDT: How did you first discover and become involved in Dip? KH: I was into gaming from an early age and when I was about 14, I stumbled on to a group of older gamers who lived nearby. It was with them that I played my first game of Diplomacy. The fact that luck played no part in the outcome of the game appealed to me. From that point on, it became a favorite of mine. I played as often as I could. (You could always count on me to suggest Diplomacy as the game to play when there was more than 5 people around.) I have played in a number of local tournaments (at our local gaming conventions) and in the MichiCon tournaments (never making it past the first round.) My normal group of gaming "buddies" are pretty silly so units ordered to hold were never just ordered to hold. It was *always* "A Mos digs long trenches, drinks vodka and sings to keep from freezing to death" or "F Mar gives up this ridiculous idea of fighting and goes off to find a nice restaurant." So, as you can imagine, my early experiences with Dip were enjoyable. BTDT: How about PBEM? How did you stumble into that? KH: I was into computer gaming from the time I got my first machine (an Atari 800) back in 1983. I read about PBEM Diplomacy in an early issue of Computer Gaming World in which Russ Sipe was interviewed (along with Doug Beyerlein) concerning the PBEM hobby which he had founded on CIS. It was interesting. Later that year (1984) when a good friend got a job as a programmer for CIS and he told me more about CompuServe, I signed up. I got on-line and found GameSig (as it was called in those days). I left notes to Russ Sipe but as I found out, there wasn't that much happening. There were just a few games running and no new ones were getting started. I volunteered to be a GM, was approved, and began to organize the games. Pretty soon, I was GMing C10 & 12. BTDT: And how did you become editor? KH: Russ began complaining that he was just too busy with Computer Gaming World to do much with TAD. He passed off the editorship of TAD to his good friend, Johnny Wilson. Johnny is a real nice guy but just a bit odd. (Old-timers will remember some of his Wilhelm X. Buxley commentary columns. They were pretty strange. It was about the only column I can remember reading with a dictionary open. He used a good deal of obscure English.) Johnny was a little unreliable at times. Many times, TAD didn't get posted until Thursday or Friday. I was GMing C10 & 12 and to keep my games going, I was sending the game reports to the players via Easyplex. The hobby was floundering a bit and it was clear to everyone that a change was needed. Nightie (the Sysop in charge of GameSig) approached me about taking over the TAD editorship. I was a little hesitant at first because I knew that Russ would be upset about the change. After all, PBEM was his baby and he still wanted to be involved. Nightie talked me into it saying that she would handle Russ. To make a long story short, Russ gave in and agreed to the change and letting us continue to use the name "The Armchair Diplomat." (Ironically, we were going to change the name of the zine to "The Electronic Diplomat." Now, of course, we have the subzine "The Eccentric Diplomat." Ugh!) BTDT: When was this? KH: I took over the TAD editorship with #144 which was published November 4, 1985. That means I am closing in on four years and later this fall, I will publish my 200th TAD. We have had three distinct periods of TAD that I can see. After I took over, there was a major expansion period when we went from 4 games and a handful of players to running 8 or more games with a larger group of regulars. Next, we had some of our cross- over players (like Nash, McKee, Blau etc.) getting involved in the mainstream hobby. Now, we have just entered another new period with Nash and McKee publishing mainstream zines and more PBEM players crossing over into the "regular" hobby. TAD itself is pretty much the same, mostly game results and news. The types of people we have playing here have changed and that makes the difference. BTDT: How do you see TAD and PBEM having changed in that time? KH: First of all, I can't take much (if any) of the credit for the growth here. All I do is try to provide a good environment in which to participate meaning having well run games with on-time TADs etc. The growth has to be attributed to the players who have taken the extra step to really contribute beyond just playing or GMing a game. Tom, you and McKee are responsible (blame?) for it above all others. Both of you have chosen to become very active in the hobby both on CIS and in the main hobby. I have never had the energy or much of an interest in the outside hobby other than the few columns I wrote for Diplomacy World. (I am still honked off at Larry Peery for naming someone else to be "PBEM" editor for DW. Listening Larry?) But, you two have taken it upon yourselves to do things I never thought possible or possibly never thought about. I think the growth is terrific. My only concern is that we on CIS will become too fragmented but so far, this hasn't happened. BTDT: Can you talk about the links between PBM and PBEM? KH: The link between PBEM and PBM is very important because, let's face it, PBM's days are numbered. With computers, modems, electronic mail and commercial networks becoming more and more prevalent in our society, I believe that PBM as we know it will be extinct by the year 2000. It will be so archaic that no one except old-timers will still be playing by U.S.nail. PBEM is the future; PBM is the past. ((Brief editorial comment here - I disagree somewhat. I don't think PBEM as we now play it is the future. I think the real future is PBF - Play By Fax. I think there will always be large numbers of people who don't have computers, and especially, modems and accounts with electronic info services. But, I think fax machines will be the pocket calculators of the 90s. Within 5 years you'll get one every time you open a bank account. Prices will plummet and everyone will have one. The advantage to fax, unlike computers, is for the publisher, in that you don't have to stick to ASCII text. You can print your single copy of a zine, with all the formatting, fonts, graphics, and underlining you please, and fax it to all your players/subbers in a few minutes time. Presto! Instant zine! With no printing costs. I have taken to submitting orders by fax to one zine I play in already.)) BTDT: Do you see any upcoming changes in TAD? KH: TAD is in a state of flux right now. The last 6 or 7 months of my life have been pretty screwed up but they are settling down now. I have been polling our readers for suggestions on what TAD should be. TAD currently is a warehouse zine in the extreme. There is very little except game news and results. That may change but only if the majority of the players want it. Maybe I just leave the writing and the chit-chit to you and McKee <grin>. BTDT: How about the future of PBEM? KH: The future of PBEM can go a number of different ways. I can see Diplomacy BBS becoming more popular. I can see more Diplomacy becoming available on other commercial networks other than CIS (there have been games on the Source and GEnie, but they haven't been sustained as far as I know). The inter-BBS mail systems such as FIDOnet and such have a vast potential for this type of gaming. The list could go on forever. The future is bright. BTDT: You've said in the past that you are a poor Dip player. True? KH: I am, beyond a doubt, a lousy player. My record on CIS proves it. Most of the time, I just don't have the time to play the game properly. Even so, I have a tendency to over-simplify tactical situations and always seem to be stabbed instead of stabbing my allies. I like lasting alliances in games and I have yet to find a really faithful ally in any of the games I have played. Oh, yes, I also trust my allies *way* too much. You would think I would have learned! Part of the problem, I think, is that people know that I am the editor/section leader and say "He must be an expert; let's get him out of the game." Nothing could be further from the truth. I intend to play more in the future so hopefully I can sharpen my playing skills some. BTDT: Any favorite memory from your hobby involvement? KH: I guess I don't really have a favorite single memory. The times I remember the most is when someone complements the way I run the games on CIS (which I am glad to say, has happened on numerous occasions.) As I said before, I do this for the players and when they are happy and we have a busy section, I am extremely pleased. BTDT: What's the biggest problem facing the hobby now, in your opinion? KH: I see the biggest problem now as attracting new players to the game. My experience has been that the people playing Diplomacy are getting older and we aren't attracting the younger players to the game any more. Maybe Dippy just isn't an "in" game for the high school and college age gamers anymore. I really don't have an answer for it but without new blood, the hobby will be weakened greatly. BTDT: Who is Ken Hill outside of CIS and PBEM Dip? KH: Outside of CIS and PBEM, I am a 26 year old, white male, married, no children (yes, we are the classic DINKs) with a golden retriever. I have a degree in Accounting but I now getting ready to change onto a new career path in PC support with the MIS department of a Fortune 500 company here in Columbus. I have forsaken the role-playing habits of my youth (when I had a longer attention span and more time) and have become a fanatical board gamer. Favorite game other than Dippy is EMPIRE BUILDER. We have a small group of folks who get together about once a week and play something quick, usually EB. But, we are going to try 1830 and some of the other rail games. I am also a Civil War buff in a very amateur way. Most of what I read (what little I do read) is on that subject. I am also a heavy computer gamer and have two machines, a PC (which does the Dippy work) and an Amiga (which is a game machine.) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Susan Peele-Welter, 740 River Drive Apt 16F, St. Paul, MN 55116, is sellling some wonderful Dip-related stuff of her own design. First is the Diplomacy Player's Excure T-Shirt. A couple of dozen excuses ("it wasn't a stab, it was a defensive move!," around Susan's cartoon of some sharp knived negotiators in action. $10 + postage ($11.50). Specify size, and I assume, color, though all I've seen is my very own red one. In addition, she's done a set od Dip cartoon post cards. A set of 30 different cards (unstamped) each with a unique dip drawing, for $5. I was going to scan in an example, as well as maps for the games, and a photo of Sam, with my new scanner, but, well, I left installing the scanner to the last minute, and, well... uh... maybe next time, eh? Speaking of next time, the next BTDT, which will be out in early September, is the special Railbuilding games theme issue. Any article, or simple 2 cents worth, on the design, play, strategy, GMing, etc of any rail building game, PBM or FTF, will be eagerly considered, and published unless you write like a Taiwanese software documentation writer. Deadline is August 30. I am enjoying moderating this zine, keep that mail coming! Eric Klien Up