Updating:
- Scuba_Ben
- AClockworkMelon
- fubbleskag
- garygnu
- grimpixie
Potentially:
6. etv78
7. John DiFool
8. Omniscient
Lookin’ good so far…
Yeah, that had it’s good and bad side. The good was that thread lurkers could follow all the discussions and strategy (and as such it had entertainment as well as heuristic value). The bad was that you were often on the thorns of various dilemmas-you had to communicate to your allies in some way, but you couldn’t spill your exact plans out in the open like that, and this led to various misunderstandings going every which way when you did something that your allies didn’t expect (much less your enemies).
Thus I assume private press for this one? As in, at the risk of further insomnia, you can count me in (as long as it’s not Standard like I said). The Modern map makes for a bit of a more freewheeling game, tho the large distances often mean offensives are telegraphed way ahead of time.
And a pleasing number of n00bs - **AClockworkMelon **& fubbleskag, all you need to remember is never to trust garygnu, especially if he is playing France.
Actually, never trust anyone playing France - that’s shorter and easier to remember.
Grim
(Your friend and trusted future ally)
Oh, don’t forget retreat phases-perhaps those can be shorter.
Good idea. When we get to Saturday and have a full roster of players, I’ll post:
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Variants that work with the number of people we have - my preference is for Modern, but we’ll see what we can get.
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Due date for turns schedule (e.g. maybe we’ll have turns due on Sunday and Thursday nights)
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Due date for retreat/build orders after a turn comes due
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Communication methods - how people would prefer to be contacted
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Where I’ll post the maps
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Advance schedule for any out-of-town pauses (we’ll need to know who all the players are before we know when they’ll be out-of-town)
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Policies to avoid NMRs (No Move Received) and dropouts
7 things I should have laid out for us on Saturday… anything else I’m forgetting?
I would love to play.
Theres a kickass 1600’s europe varient that looks awesome. It allows us to 9 players too I think.
ETA: In fact, screw it, if no one else wants too I’ll host this version.
I think we’ve got a good crew of people so far 
- Scuba_Ben
- AClockworkMelon
- fubbleskag
- garygnu
- grimpixie
- Sitnam
Potentially:
7. etv78
8. John DiFool
9. Omniscient
I’ll leave sign-ups open for additional players until 5 PM Pacific time today, then we’ll set to work on the 7 housekeeping issues.
Sitnam, I like the 1600 variant, but unfortunately it’s not one of the variants supported by jDip. If we were to play a game of 1600 after this one, I’d be happy to be a player.
Correction - sorry, John - I missed that you had said you’re in.
- Scuba_Ben
- AClockworkMelon
- fubbleskag
- garygnu
- grimpixie
- John DiFool
- Sitnam
Potentially:
8. etv78
9. Omniscient
I’ll be out going to roller derby tonight just before 5, so instead I’ll post after I get back (late, Pacific Time.)
Got wrecked my first game. I need revenge! Count me in please.
2 more! Come one come all (sharpens knives)…
I’ll give it a try.
^ Don’t trust that guy.
Yeah, Dip…what is it? Diplomacy? I think heard about that somewhere. How hard can it be?
^ And don’t trust that guy either.
v This guy you can trust.
Our players:
- Scuba_Ben
- AClockworkMelon
- fubbleskag
- garygnu
- grimpixie
- John DiFool
- Sitnam
- Mosier
- Hawkeyeop
- I’ve PM’d Omniscient and etv78 since they were our maybes… if I hear from one of them in the affirmative, I’ll draw countries
Some stuff I’d like to suggest. If something seems like a bad idea, let me know so we can fix it and get the game started soon - I’d like to have our first turn due Wednesday, May 4th.
Due Dates:
Turns will be due by 10 PM Pacific Time on Sundays and Wednesdays (that should help Scuba_Ben who is not available Friday and Saturday)
Retreat/Build Orders:
Retreat orders will be due 16 hours after the main phase (e.g. Monday 2 PM PST and Thursday 2 PM PST)
Build orders will be due 10 hours after that (26 hrs after the main phase… I’m aiming for Fall turns on Mondays, so 12 midnight PST Mondays)
Feel free to turn these orders in early also, if possible
Communication:
PMs through the board will be default; if you would rather receive emails, let us know, and we can make a contact list that includes peoples’ emails. It might be a good idea to clear your PM folder if you have a lot saved (I think it only keeps 50)
Maps:
Maps will be posted as Google Docs: check to see if this link works. I will link each map with an update in the game/public press thread
Advance schedule for out of town pauses:
I will be out of town without internet access from July 9-24, so we should pause the game during that time (if it lasts that long)
Anyone else who will be without internet access should let us all know as soon as possible so we can schedule any other pauses in advance.
Avoiding NMR (No Move Received, also called CD or Civil Disorder):
For those of you who are new to the game, NMRs are really, really annoying to all the other players 
. Make sure you get your orders in by the deadline. Worse than a sudden yet inevitable betrayal is not sending in orders on time.
I would recommend sending in a set of orders early, with what you think you’ll do before even negotiating (that can also serve as an ideal set of orders on which to start your negotiations.) I will accept orders submitted early, and I will replace those orders with the most recent set of orders I have received from you. I strongly, strongly recommend you submit an early set of orders, so that if something in life comes up, at least your units won’t sit there doing nothing. It’s better to have your units do something you didn’t agree on with your allies than to have your units do nothing.
I will also be pestering people who don’t have their orders in a few hours before the deadline. Don’t take it personally, I just want the game to run smoothly.
As a last resort, if you have 2 turns where you have not sent in orders, I will start looking for a replacement player. Please, please don’t do this. It makes the game a lot less fun.
Any questions before we start? 
I’d prefer to do my negotiations via email - I’ll send it via PM to wevets for distribution to the group.
I’d also prefer to start the game next week rather than this, being a variant I’ve never played, I’d prefer a longer first round of negotiations if that’s OK with everyone else?
Grim
I think the minor phases need to be at no less than 24 hours long each. 10 hours could have me going to bed right before the build phase is due, and waking up late and getting no builds.
I’d also like to express country preferences, but if you don’t want to do that it’s no biggie. Like Spain/France/Italy/etc., roll a die if there’s a tie.
I’d also prefer email, as that PM folder can fill up pretty quick.
Too bad about your down time wevets, as I’ll be out from the 25th to Aug. 4th. 
Perhaps a junior mod can volunteer & run the game in your absence?
There was an article on some rules allowing a NMR country in (as they call it) “civil disorder” to at least get self-supports in place where possible (randomly rolling if there’s two or more possibilities). I’ll try to find it…
grimpixie and John DiFool bring up some excellent points.
Modifications to what I said above:
Start
Let’s aim for a first turn due at 10 PM PST Sunday, May 8th.
Turn timing
24 hours between phases will mean that retreats from the May 8th turn will be due 10 PM PST Monday May 9th. Sounds like a good idea to me. Scuba_Ben, if we have a Wednesday turn with both retreat and build phases, you may want to send in your build orders with your retreat orders (if any) - if that might be a problem - PM me, I think it’s a resolvable problem.
Country Preferences
Feel free to send me your preferences (3 maximum, in order of preference) for the countries you would like to play. I’ll resolve preference conflicts with random selection between the preferring players, then proceed to random assignment of non-preferred countries.
I’ve already started to receive info for a contact list, and I’ll compile that list as it comes in.
For those making country preferences, the powers in Modern variant are:
A. Britain
B. Egypt
C. France
D. Germany
E. Italy
F. Poland
G. Russia
H. Spain
I. Turkey
K. Ukraine