OT: The Big D Diplomacy thread

[regoarrarr]

So talks from Sullla and others about the Avalon Hill game Diplomacy early in this game led me to get back into that. I used to be very active in playing Dip several years ago, but have not played a game in probably at least 5 years.

So I signed up for a game back in February, and this morning pulled off the giant stab that will guarantee me the solo victory once the fall moves process.



http://www.floc.net/observer.py?judg...0007&page=game for a full history if you're interested. I am Austria (red on this map)

Anyone else in any games that they can share?

[Sullla]

I've never played a game of Diplomacy - just never had the stomach for it. Stabbing people isn't my forte, I like working with them much more. (In Civ terms, I like succession games and this Demogame more than competitive Multiplayer.) However, I love reading Diplomacy games and watching the moves unfold. I think it's so cool to have a strategy game with no dice rolling and no luck elements of any kind.

AR can be really powerful in Diplomacy, almost as good as the RT juggernaut. My question for this game is how in the world did Russia allow you to move to MAO? I mean, what's that Russian fleet going to achieve in NAO anyway? You must have been REALLY convincing to get the Russian to leave only one unit south and east of the Baltic! That map is just asking to be stabbed.

[sunrise089]

Can anyone link me to anything that will tell me what the heck the above two posts mean?

[regoarrarr]

@Sullla - we were going for a 2 way draw. He was moving to the North Atlantic to finish taking off England. He didn't know about most of my moves for this past turn

@sunrise - Think of Diplomacy as like the TV show Survivor on a gameboard. Or even really like multiplayer Civ. In each, there are the tactics of what to do - in Survivor it's the challenges and such, in MP Civ, it's what to tech, how to attack with your units, what wonders to chase, etc., and in Dip, it's moving your armies and fleets.

But the key to the game is the actual interaction between the players. The only way to win, for the most part, is to convince the other players to help you until you're so big that you don't need them (probably similar to MP Civ). That is what happened in my game - Russia (grey) and I were allied and took out most of the rest of the board (you don't see Germany, Italy and Turkey who are already eliminated). This past turn, I backstabbed him and will pick up my 18th supply center (18 is how many you need to win). It's all part of the game - in fact, Russia just told me that he's mostly angry with himself for thinking he had a bit more time before he had to start worrying about a stab.

If you (or anyone else out there) wants to get started in a game, I'm happy to tell you more or walk you through how to sign up for a game online.

One of the best places I've found to start is The Diplomatic Pouch website, which is at www.diplom.org

[Sullla]

Two-way draw, with 17 SCs each? Ha! I think I've seen that happen maybe one time ever. Your Russian player should be angry with himself. No matter how much you trust the other guy, you don't leave yourself THAT wide open for a stab.

[Dreylin]

I used to play fairly regularly with a group of friends, but haven't touched the game for hmmmm, is it really 15years!? I imagine that it's a very different experience playing over the internet than it is in person ... no need to hide in the closet so no-one can hear you plotting moves!

[regoarrarr]

I've done 2-way draws before, but it takes a lot of planning, and is definitely tricky to pull off.

@Dreylin - I've only played face to face a few times. A few years ago I tried to get a group going here but it never really materialized.

[T-hawk]

Sounds like an activity for the RB Eastern Atlantic Seaboard Meetup.

I've never played Diplomacy myself either, but read a fair bit about it, like Sullla.

[ruff_hi]

if you click on the history link above and then click on the 'total history' pdf, it contains 17 pages that you can scroll back and forth and see the moves in all their glory.

[Sullla]

Sounds like an activity for the RB Eastern Atlantic Seaboard Meetup.

At the risk of going even further off-topic, we really SHOULD set up something along these lines. I've met a couple of our folks who live in the DC area (dathon and his wife, sunrise, Atlas) and everyone has turned out to be just as kind and friendly in person. Maybe we put this on the wishlist for the future...