| Broadcasts for Spring of 1901 in describe |
Movement
I had incorrectly set the press flag to no partial, as a couple of
people had pointed out. I've just set it to partial press, which
is what it should have been.
- Simon
Okay, the game is under way.
I just wanted to give a slightly more detailed description of what
the purpose of this game is than I did in my original message. The
showcase games I'm running are an attempt to provide information for
less experienced players about how to improve their Diplomacy games.
The rules of Diplomacy themselves aren't really all that difficult
to learn. Knowing how to play well goes quite a bit farther than
just knowing the rules. One needs to know how to look ahead, how
to think, what tactics are available, and when and how to use them.
Unrelated to my interest in running these games, Matthew Self has
written a column for the next issue which summarizes various tactics
that are at a player's disposal. While the list is helpful to
players who are unfamiliar with tactics such as self-standoffs or
beleaguered garrison, there's something you gain from observing a
game that you wouldn't get from just reading such a list.
Taking the concept further, just watching a game isn't perfect,
because you don't know what's in a player's head. You may be able
to figure out "Oh, he did that to achieve this". However, sometimes,
it's not so clear just from observing because there may be multiple
reasons for doing something, or a player may be thinking several
moves ahead. Learning to think ahead, to plan a strategy for where
you want to be not just next phase but further in the future than
that is a really difficult thing to learn. But it's cruicial. It's
usually by accident that you end up with an attack on an enemy SC
that is guaranteed to succeed without having planned that position
ahead of time. Learning how to outguess other players is equally
important since most of the time, moves are not guaranteed.
So the purpose of this game is to get the observers into your heads,
to let them know not what you are doing, or how you are doing it,
but more importantly, why you are doing it. So now I'll get to
what I'd like from all of you, but in case anyone found this message
boring, I'll send it in a separate message so you can delete this
one if you like.
- Simon
End of message.
A couple of last administrative details:
I'm have no problem giving extensions. I find that players
get less frustrated with delays if they are due to extensions
than if they are due to significant lateness. If you need
one, just ask. Let me know your holiday schedule as soon as
you can if you will need an extension. Otherwise, I'm hoping
the game will move rather quickly.
If you have to leave the game permanently, you should have
a good reason. I prefer players to be committed in general,
but in this game in particular I think it will lose something
to have players being replaced.
The game is DIAS. If somebody wants to propose a draw, let
me know and I will broadcast a message saying (nothing more
than) a draw has been proposed. I'll broadcast at most one
such message per phase. If everyone votes for the draw, the
judge will end the game in a draw. Otherwise, the game will
continue.
Anything else?
- Simon
This message seems not to have made it out, so I'm resending it.
Okay, now that you have an idea of what I'm trying to do, I'll
let you know what I'd like. As I had said in my initial message,
I'm asking every player to send me email every phase (including
retreats and adjustments) with a summary of what they are doing
and why. This includes:
1. For each unit, a justification of why they are sending in that
particular order.
This justification should go as far into the
future as your thinking has. For instance, if you are supporting
an attack to a empty province in order to set up an attack on a
power, don't make the only justification as wanting to take that
empty province, but rather what you are attempting to set up.
If you don't have a definite plan that's fine. However, if you
have a concrete objective, be specific about it. For example,
if you plan on attacking a neighbor, you can just say that, but
if you plan on attacking a given supply center, be specific.
Objectives include attacking a power, province or supply center,
defending against an attack, setting up defenses in case of attack,
setting up stalemate lines, creating alliances, setting up for a
stab, supporting an ally, defending another power to stop an enemy
from growing, etc.
If you have no plan or doing the equivalent of flipping a coin
to decide your move because you don't know what somebody else will
do, you can explain that as well.
2. Along with the justification of moves, I'd like a description of
your intentions regarding each of the other powers, for as far
out as you have considered. Do you plan on helping them, attacking
them, allying with them, stabbing them, don't care? When I say for
as long as you thought it out, perhaps your short range plan is to
help a power, but with the intention of stabbing him once you
eliminate another neighbor. Or you may plan on ignoring a neighbor
but have decided that as soon as anyone attacks him, you'll join
in and grab what you can. "Don't care" is perfectly valid here.
3. The last thing is a couple of more general comments regarding the
current situation. A complete analysis could take pages, which
would be unreasonable for me to ask. So consider this section to
be optional and only mention a couple of highlights that you feel
are relevant. For instance, perhaps you you may thing that power
A is setting up to attack power B, or to attack you. You may
notice that a power is setting up a stalemate line. You may
determine that power A is on the verge of winning and if everyone
doesn't cooperage against him right away, he will. You may get
the impression that power A, after being stabbed by power B, is
trying to throw the game to power C, etc. Just some more general
comments about what you think others are doing or planning that
may not appear in points 1 or 2 above.
As you can tell, my descriptions above turned out to be somewhat
wordy because I wanted to give several examples to illustrate what
I mean. I want to emphasize that I don't want this game to be a
burden on any of the players. You don't need to make your
messages to me long. They can be as brief as you like - I'd just
like them to be complete for points 1 and 2. The amount you include
in point 3 is completely at your discretion. It can be just a couple
of lines, or nothing if you have nothing to note. The example I
gave in my original message compacted quite a bit of information
in just a few lines.
Of course, if you want to take the time, more detailed descriptions
or analyses are welcome for all three points. I just don't want to
people to feel obligated to spend more time than they want on this.
The summaries can be sent to me via normal email
or via press to M.
If there are any other questions or things I have left out, please
let me know. If not, enjoy the game!
- Simon
Fellow Leaders of Europe,
It has come to our attention, through informational resources of
our goverment, that military units are mobilizing throughout this continent
and Asia Minor. Of course, we cannot confirm all of these movements, but
our agent Mr. Bond is well-known for his reliability and loyalty to the
crown.
If this is indeed the case, we all have much to fear. Wars are
never good for a country, a people, let alone a ruler's gastro-intestinal
system. We would prefer that war never came about, especially since we
English have invented a wonderful game that we call football. Instead of
building battlecruisers and cannon, we would rather be heading at goal.
To that end, towards a century of European peace, we would like
to call a conference of the continent's powers, with the hope that war
can be avoided through careful and thoughtful negotiation. We would be
happy to host this conference here in our nation, and we have selected
Liverpool as the site of any talks. Therefore, we extend to each of you
an invitation to Liverpool, so that we may meet and a peaceful settlement
reached.
Please respond when you are able.
Lord Edward Sheringham, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The game describe has been given the Miller Number 1995ANPrb104.
This number can be set on the judge in the same manner that EP
numbers are set. Could the GM please signon and send the command:
set mn 1995ANPrb104 (If the game is unmoderated I have already set the MN)
More information on Miller Number's (the old announcement), is available
by FTP as the file mnc.announce in the directory /usr/nick directory of
ftp.sentex.net (205.50.3.1). Also there is the log file of MN's I have
already given out; it is the file mnc.log.
Nicholas Fitzpatrick
[email protected]
In response to the detailed description of what should be included in our games
descriptions, I would like to suggest that email (instead of press to master)
might be made compulsory: if someone were to make a typing error and broadcast
all his thoughts it might very well spoil the game. It unfortunately has
happened to me before.
Bonjours, ici Paris.
We would like to welcome Europeans ambassadors in Paris for a most apetizing
working lunch. Although this could serve as a useful stopover to and from
Liverpool, we think you will certainly apreciate the quality of our food and
wine more, not to mention our own national football team with which you could of
course train. We would make a point though of asking the Germans leave their
pointed hat in the changing rooms.
Our diplomatic services quindly await you answer and will treat you as fellow
countrymen with liberte, egalite and fraternite.
Le President de la Republique Francaise.
I received the following question from one of the players:
>During retreat/build phases, if I do not have an order due, do I still
>have to send you a message?
Since there are no moves, you don't need to send a message explaining
your moves. The messages you are sending also describe your disposition
to other powers and as much of an analysis that you want to give.
If you don't have moves due for a retreat/build phase, I won't require
messages to be sent. If you want to send me a message even though
moves aren't due, I'll be happy to receive them. If you'd rather not
send one, I am still interested in the disposition/analysis, so take
that into account next time you do send a message. In other words, if
you submit Fall moves with a message, have no retreats, have no builds,
when you send me your message the next Spring, let me know what effect
(if any) the retreats/builds had on your disposition or analysis. That
way, if you are at peace with a neighbor in the Fall and attack in the
Spring, it will be clear to the reader what caused your change.
This was a good question; I'm glad it was asked. If there are any
other questions, just let me know.
- Simon
I don't remember whether or not I mentioned email as an alternative to
sending me messages via press to M, but as somebody just suggested, it
might be safest to send messages via email to avoid accidental broadcast.
Either way is fine with me.
- Simon
Fellow Leaders of Europe,
The Conference of Liverpool 1901, has begun without two
ambassadorial missions. We have not had any contact with representatives
from either Germany and Italy, and we fear that the Conference, on which
we have staked the peace of Europe, will come to naught should these two
powers not attend. We sincerely hope that their missions did not sink
into the Mid-Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, respectively.
On a brighter note, Tsar Nikolai and ourselves have agreed to exchange
the more unique spirits of our respective nations. We thought it rude if
the same offer of English hospitality were not made to the rest of Europe.
Therefore, we offer each of you a case of any of the following
beverages of the British Isles:
Spotted Grouse (scotch)
Torquay (gin)
Guinness
Harp
Bass
Fuller's
Whitbread's Ales
Newcastle Brown Ale
Courage Best
And for the Esteemable Oliphant of Constantinople, the Vizier of
the Eastern Lands, Sultan Ishtar: as we know that your religion forbids
the consumption of alcohol, we offer you a particular British delight.
And that would be fifteen pounds of Haggis and three pints of chocolate
milk. We are forwarding this to you immediately. Enjoy!
Lord Sheringham
Bonjours, ici Paris. We very much fear for the health of our estemed guests here in France. How unfortunate it is for their line that some other ambassadors -namely practically the whole of continental Europe- are not present at our table. Le President de la Republique Francaise.
Fellow Leaders of Europe, We are pleased that the German delegation has finally arrived in Liverpool, despite the heavy snowfall in the port of Kiel. Let the Conference begin! List of Discussions: Friday, 15 December (all times Greenwich Mean Time) 12 noon - Italy and the Free City of Tunis hold talks about the future of Tunisian independence 1 pm - Russia and Turkey discuss the distribution of fleets in the Black Sea 2 pm - Norway, a thoroughly disreputable nation, to hold a press conference in which they will whine about impending British imperialism 3 pm - France will tell the Iberian nations that they have no choice in the matter of their independence 4 pm - Austria will talk, proclaiming all of the Balkans to be Austrian possessions 5 pm - German representatives will bully the leaders of Denmark, Holland and Belgium into surrender 6 pm - Leaders of the seven powers, apparently still hungry, go out for dinner and drinks in the city of Liverpool. Whether Tsar Nikolai will return to his hotel room is unknown. Saturday, 16 December 3 pm - The leaders of England and Italy have agreed to hold a friendly football match at Anfield, a football ground in Liverpool. British newspapers will publish results of the match in their Monday edition. Lord Sheringham
Transcript of Austrian presentation at Liverpool conference
Greetings leaders of Europe. At the dawn of a new century, it has
become necessary for the seven leading powers of Europe to expand their
influence to ensure security and stability for all. Unfortunately, this
opens the possibility for conflicts of interest between the great powers.
This must be avoided. To that end, this delegation has been sent to the
Liverpool Conference.
The rumors that Austria will lay claim to all of the Balkans
during the Liverpool talks is an exaggeration. While Austria must
certainly make her presence felt in such a strategic region, we do not
seek dominion over all of it. The regions of the Balkans bordering the
Black Sea have close ties to Turkey and Russia. Austria respects the
rights of Russia and Turkey to establish a presence in those regions.
Austria's position as a central power puts us at a disadvantage
with respect to the peripheral Eurpean powers. Becuase of this, Austria
will not embark on early foolhardy campaigns of agression. But this does
not mean that Austria will remain passive in the international field. Any
attempt to violate Austria's regions of interest will be dealt with
firmly.
Hans
Greetings players, Based on the messages I have received, this game will be on hold from 12/21 to 1/3. If anyone needs an extension before or after that, please let me know as soon as possible. (If you already sent me a message but it is not reflected in the above extension, I may have overlooked it so please let me know again.) - Simon
To the peaceful powers: I will have great difficulty in spearing time for Diplomacy mail on the 18th and 19th. It does not mean that I will not read any message, just that I may not be able to. My moves have been sent and received, so no worries there. To the master: I will send a description as required on Wednesday at the latest. However, please rest assured that I will have written it before seeing the results of this round. Thank you.