Re: Diplomacy zine -- Quiz issue

From: carroll@odin.ucsd.edu (John Carroll)

Date: Fri, 05 May 1989 19:14:12 +0000

In article <59207@yale-celray.yale.UUCP> Martin-Charles@cs.yale.edu (Charles Martin) writes:
>In article <17824@cup.portal.com>, Eric_S_Klien@cup writes:
>>Rule XII.5 says the following:  "A CONVOYED ATTACK DOES NOT CUT
>>CERTAIN SUPPORTS.  If a convoyed army attacks a fleet which is
>>supporting an action in a body of water; and that body of water
>>contains a convoying fleet, that support is not cut."
>
>This seems highly bogus to me.  The whole idea of cutting support is
> [more stuff]
>Charles

In the various replies I've seen, I don't think anyone has mentioned
why the rule exists (and indeed makes sense).  Say two fleets D & E
along a coast are teaming up to dislodge an adjacent fleet C which is at
sea, and the victim fleet C has no adjacent fleets to support it
in place.  If the two coastal fleets D & E have no enemies *adjacent*
to them, there should be no way to thwart the dislodging of the
lone fleet C.  But wait! If C was adjacent to some army A on another
continent, convoying A toward D or E has a 50% chance of preventing
C's dislodgement if Rule XII.5 is not followed.

Were C to attack D or E, it would run the risk of being dislodged if D & E
attempt to displace it; the intent of Rule XII.5 is to ensure that that C
runs the same risk if it undertakes the even more tenuous task of convoying.

I don't suppose any argument can convince everyone that one scheme is better
than the other, but I hope the above discussion illustrates how some people
might passionately regard the absense of Rule XII.5 as highly bogus, too.
Variants of "pure" diplomacy can be great things, as long as the new rules
are clearly outlined; small changes like this hardly seem worth the overhead,
though.

Cheers,
John Carroll

References

Diplomacy zine -- Quiz issue
Eric_S_Klien@cup.portal.com
Tue, 02 May 1989 00:27:07 +0000
Re: Diplomacy zine -- Quiz issue
Martin-Charles@cs.yale.edu (Charles Martin)
Tue, 02 May 1989 20:58:58 +0000