Diplomacy zine -- Caporetto From: Eric_S_Klien@cup.portal.com Date: Tue, 15 Aug 1989 00:20:29 +0000 Issue #88 of ELECTRONIC PROTOCOL: ******************************************************************** "Not hungry," Case managed. His brain was deep-fried. No, he decided, it had been thrown into hot fat and left there, and the fat had cooled, a thick dull grease congealing on the wrinkled lobes, shot through with greenish-purple flashes of pain." ******************************************************************** 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: DRAGONSPLAYER, DOUGHBOY, BISMARK, COLD WAR and JACAL And is published by Tedward@cs.cornell.edu/Ted Fischer (I will print all the chapter twos that have been missed, our first two chapter one guest publishers had inadequate mailers. All GMs please send future turns to Ted, thanks!) ------------- Chapter Three ------------- Fall '08 of the game MAELSTROM (BNC number 1989AA) Bruce Bowers is on vacation, the game will resume at its latest next Sunday, I will try to restart it eariler than that. Spring '01 of the game TANNENBURG (BNC number not known) (GM is Ebrosius@lucy.wellesley.edu/Eric Brosius) Not Received. GM comments: The quote was from page 138 of Neuromancer by William Gibson. Taken from Pouch #53: CAPORETTO by Gil Neiger In Duncan Smith's recent series of articles on Diplomacy openings he mentioned for Italy the Western and Eastern Lepanto. However, he left out the Northern Lepanto, or Caporetto opening. I have never seen this opening used or used it myself. Therefore, the basis of this article is basically tactical. Caporetto is well known as the defeat that the Austrians and Germans dealt to the Italians in 1917 (Aus A Tri-Ven, Ger A Tyr S Aus A Tri-Ven, see "A Farewell to Arms", but it is not so well-known that Caporetto was an Austrian twon, and that the Italians had dealt several defeats to the Austrians along the Isonzo line in the previous year. The opening generally assumes an Italian position after the first year of F Ion, F Nap, A Tun, and A Ven. The Spring 1902 moves would be F Ion-Adr, F Nap-Ion, A Ven-Tri, A Tun holds. If the move to Trieste succeeds (a reasonable assumption), then the Italians are in excellent shape. A supported convoy is then possible into Albania, giving a support on either Greece or Serbia. Or, the A Tri can be supported if necessary. If the move to Trieste fails, one can still support oneself to Trieste in the fall, and make the convoy unsupported. An alternative is that if Trieste is left vacant after Spring 1901, and it will be vacant in the Fall, one can move A Ven-Tri in Fall 1901, building an army in Venice, with the F Nap. Either way you are in a strong position after 1902. Unfortunately, this opening requires several things to be true to succeed. France must be allied or neutral. Try to stimulate an Anglo-German alliance to attack France. You mjst have either Turkey or Russia (not both; although Germany MAY be a possible substitute) on your side. Turkey should prove to be quite awkward as both Italy and Turkey are Mediterranean sea-powers at heart. However, an alliance with Russia is not impossible, and it may be the key to stopping the Austro-Turkish. As with most stoppings of the Austro-Turkish, with this move, it is best smelled out before the frist moves. If htat occurs, Russia should move A Gal-Vie in the Fall (obviously moving A War-Gal in the Spring). If by some freak chance Italy can get into Vienna in the first year, Austria (and the Austro-Turkish) is dead, and act on your own instincts. If not (don't try if you can't), Italy could support Russian A Vie-Tri in Spring 1902. This will ususally work, though it can't be guaranteed. If it succeeds, the Austrian position is torn in two, and cannot hold. Don't worry about the Russian A Tri blocking your expansion. He usually should be able to get into either Vienna or Budapest in the Fall, and if he can't, you can always oust him yourself, but this is not advised. It is important that Turkey NOT get Sevastopol in the first year. Otherwise he can get a supported attack on the Ionian in Fall 1902. But usually this can be avoided if Russia is competent. The beauty of Caporetto is that it is a wait-and-see move. By Spring 1902 any Anglo-German alliance will be formed, and a possible Russian alliance will be there, if either of the above are to appear at all. If they aren't, there are other moves for Italy. Taken from Supernova, the novice packet available for $1.00 from Bruce Linsey: SOME QUESTIONS, ANSWERS, AND DEFINITIONS By Bruce Linsey A discussion of Diplomacy is impossible without knowing the meaning of certain terms used in the game. The postal game, in particular, has a vocabulary of its own that rivals that of bridge or chess. Even in the first two pages of this Packet, I found it hard to avoid flinging a few terms at you, such as "NMR deposit", "gamesmaster", "zine", and "Boardman Number". It's time to step back and define a few terms, then, and also to answer a few questions that you may already be asking about the game. So here goes. 1. What is a zine? Zine (pronounced "zeen") is short for magazine. It's a term we borrowed from other fan circles, meaning any amateur publication. In postal Diplomacy, a zine is usually published at regular intervals and carries several games. Additionally, a zine will often have articles, letters to the editor, hobby news, humor, and an assortment of other material. The hobby's zines are its main mode of communication; publishers will agree to trade their zines with each other, and other players can communicate with the hobby by writing letters or articles and submitting them to a zine. 2. What is a gamesmaster? The gamesmaster (GM) is the eighth party in a postal game. He is the person who collects the orders from the players, makes up a report showing the orders and results for each season, interprets the rules, sets deadlines for the next season, and so on. He may also, but not necessarily, be the editor of the zine that carries the game he is GMing. 3. What is a Boardman Number? A Boardman Number is a unique identification number assigned to a postal game. This system makes it easy for players and GMs to keep track of their games. It works like this: The first game started in, say, 1980 will have the Boardman Number 1980A. The second will be 1980B. After 1980Z will come 1980AA, 1980AB, and so on. The numbers are used after their inventor, John Boardman. 4. What is an NMR? NMR stands for No Moves Received. Now and then, a player will for some reason or other fail to get his moves to the GM before the deadline. When this happens, he is said to have NMR'd, and all of his units merely hold in place. NMRing is the surest way to destroy your position, and you should take steps to ensure that you never do it. Some GMs require that you submit a small "NMR deposit" at the beginning of the game. This is refunded to you when you are wiped out, or when the game ends. It is foreited if you drop out of the game, which in most cases means if you NMR twice in a row. NMRs are very disrupting; the player who does it often is not going to do well. 5. What is a standby? When a player NMRs, the GM will often call on a second person to submit orders for the country in question. If the first player NMRs a second time consecutively, the second player's orders are used and he takes over the position for good. The second player is known as a standby. Standbys are almost essential in postal Diplomacy; the games take so long to complete that many games lose three or four of their original players by the end. Some GMs run games without standbys, and there are varying opinions on the merits of this system, but in North America most of the players and GMs prefer to fill abandoned positions with standbys. 6. What is a stanby list? A GM cannot just pluck a standby out of mid-air whenever he needs to call on one. Most GMs maintain a list of potential standbys known as a standby list. All you have to do to get on a standby list is mention to the GM that you'd like to stand by. There are advantages and disadvantages to this. First, the disadvantages. You usually have no idea when you will be called upon to enter a game as a standby. The abandoned position is a poor one more often than not, and the other players have often made up their minds to attack your country no matter what. On the plus side, you usually play for free as a standby, and frequently less negotiation is required for a standby position than for a starting position. GMs will love you if you offer to be on their standby lists, because many GMs have trouble finding standbys. WARNING: Usually a GM will print the name and address of a standby before he submits any orders, so that the other players have a chance to negotiate with him beforehand. Some GMs, however, insert replacement players with no advance notice. This is obviously bad for the players and bad for the game. You should avoid GMs who operate in this fashion and protest vigorously if it happens in your game. 7. What are houserules? Houserules (HRs) are rules that a particular GM uses in running his games. The Rulebook was not written for postal play, and so there are a lot of areas that need to be clarified. A good GM will have a good set of houserules to cover situations like NMRs, deadlines, acceptable ways of writing orders, and so on. There are a few GMs who run games with no houserules at all; this merely serves to indicate that the GM has not carefully thought out in advance how he will handle his games, and it is wise to avoid such GMs, in my opinion. When you enter a game, you should ask the GM for a copy of his HRs, and study them before the game begins. If you have any questions, ask the GM. It is your right to know the exact set of rules you are playing by. 8. Is postal play expensive? Yes. Game fees normally range from $2 to $5, plus there will often be an NMR deposit of about the same amount, plus you must keep up a subscription to the zine you are playing in. Additionally, you will spend several dollars on postage for negotiations and sending in orders. If you use long-distance phone calls, your expenses will increase still further. On the average, a player might expect to spend $20 to $40 for a game. Of course, this figure becomes much less formidable when you realize that the expenditure is spread out over more than a year of real time. 9. Is it time-consuming? Yes, if played properly. You will need to spend a few hours each month writing letters of negotiation and planning for your orders. A good letter may take half an hour or more to prepare. It is for this reason that it is wise to avoid joining more than one or two games at first. Later, you may decide for yourself whether you can take on more games. It is also wise, by the way, to avoid joining more than two games in any one zine. Nothing is worse than having all your orders for all of your games due at the same deadline. Avoid over-extending yourself. 10. How long does a game take? Most postal games take from 1 1/2 to 3 real years to complete. This figure is dependent on how often moves are due, and on how many gameyears are played. The average game lasts until about 1907 to 1911, but I've seem them go into the 1920's. 11. How often do I submit orders? The GM sets the deadlines. Usually they will be anywhere from two weeks to five weeks apart, with four weeks being the most common interval. 12. Are all zines equally good? The quality of a zine is purely subjective. Some people will love a given zine, and others will hate it. The purpose of writing to several publishers for samples is to see for yourself which zines look good to you. Undoubtedly, you will find the content of some zines more to your liking than others. 13. Are all GMs equally good? Definitely NOT! Some, in fact most, GMs are very conscientious about adjudicating the games accurately and in a timely fashion. Since this is a hobby, any GM will occasionally make an error or mail his zine a few days late. But those listed in the enclosure with this packet generally have good track records, and although I personally can take responsibility only for my zine, I do feel that those I've listed will give you a good, solid game for your money. 14. What if the GM quits? This happens occasionally. A reliable GM who loses interest or finds himself unable to go on will refund your money and try to find another GM willing to take over his games. Once in a while, though, a GM will just vanish without a trace - it's a risk you take. The games he was running are called "orphaned games", and there is a hobby group which will help you out if this happens to one of your games. Should your GM disappear (unlikely with those listed on the Packet enclosure), write to any of the following people for help: John Daly, Rt. 2 Box 136-M5, Rockwell, NC 28138; or Dick Martin, 26 Orchard Way North, Rockville, MD 20854. These gentlemen may not be able to get the old GM to refund your money, but they will work to find a new home for your game. I should stress that it is rare for a GM to just disappear with your money; the vast majority are honest. 15. What is press? Press, or propaganda, is writteFaterial submitted with a player's orders, to be printed up with the game report. It is written by players who wish to make the game more interesting to both participants and outsiders. An article about press appears later in this Packet. 16. How are retreats, builds, and removals handled? A postal game would take forever if each of these activities was done seperately. Therefore, retreats are usually due at the same deadline as the following season's moves, and some GMs also combine builds/removals with the subsequent spring moves. The players may use "conditional orders", that is, they may make their moves dependent upon the actions of other countries that technically take place before the season in question. Example: England could say, "If France builds a fleet in Brest, use set A of orders for my spring moves; if he builds an army in Marseilles, use set B, and in all other cases, use set C." He would then write three sets of orders; A, B, and C. The GM would use the set that corresponded to the French build. Please note that you CANNOT make orders conditional upon other countries' actions of the SAME season. If the GM sees that the board situation is very complex, he will usually call for a seperation of seasons, thus simplifying matters for the players. Also a good set of houserules should provide for a seperation if, say, two or more players request it. 17. How many games should a newcomer join? I've already touched on this, but let me discuss it in a little more detail. Generally, it is wise to restrict yourself to two games at first, and possibly to join one or two standby lists. The amount of negotiating is usually the greatest in the 1901 to 1903 time frame of a game, and even one game will keep you busy at the start. After you have played for a couple of months, you may decide that you can handle another game or two and sign up for more. As I am typing this, I am playing in four games, and that is two too many! There are some hobby members who are (in my opinion) in a ridiculous number of games, like 40 or 50. I have yet to meet up with one of these poor souls who has enough time for each one, however, and the result is that such a player usually does poorly in most if not all of his games. Start with one or two, and join new games only when you are sure you have time for more. 18. Is it better to stick with older, more established GMs? Not necessarily. New GMs deserve their chance too, and are more likely to give you and your game the "personalized" attention that is deserved. A more experienced GM may be less likely to fold up on you, and he may make fewer mistakes, but I have found that newer GMs tend to care more about the players as individuals. Again, I do recommend ALL of the GMs listen on the sheet enclosed with this Packet. 19. What are "novice games"? Some GMs organize games just for novices, which can be helpful if you have a tender ego and don't want to feel completely outclassed. The level of correspondence in these games can be quite high, as all seven players struggle to make a good start in the hobby. There are drawbacks, though. Diplomacy, with its one-winner-in-seven ration, is an inherently cruel game; the sooner you are exposed to that, the better. Also, the best way to learn how to write a persuasive letter is to receive one from an experienced player, and be persuaded by it. Then go back and see how he did it! Learning is quite important in your early games, and you will learn the most by being exposed to a variety of skill levels. Novice games are OK, then, but you should not restrict yourself to them. 20. Should I reveal the fact that I am a novice? In general, no. Some experienced players may attack you for that reason alone. If you are asked point blank, however, you probably should not deny it. Some other players will be able to judge your level of experience anyhow, and lying about it will only decrease your credibility. As a rule of thumb, then, don't go out of your way to tell others that you are new to the game, but don't actively hide the fact. After you have impressed an ally with your competence, there is usually no harm in revealing that this is your first game. 21. What is a miswritten order? A player who does not wish to make a move that he has promised to make may intentionally miswrite the order. While the others may realize that the error is probably deliberate, there still may be some doubt. Care must be taken that the order will not be corrected by the GM under the "badly written order" sentence in hte rulebook, or by the GM's houserules. On very rare occasions, one may induce this error in another, by asking a careless enemy NOT to make a ceratin (miswritten) order, in the hope that he'll copy the order directly from your letter. There is a risk that when a genuine error occurs, it may be though deliberate. 22. Why am I going on an on with these silly questions? I don't know. Let's proceed to the next part of this Packet. I am enjoying moderating this zine, keep that mail coming! Eric Klien . Up