As England in my game, I’ve been busily corresponding with France, Germany and Russia, and have also traded emails with Italy.
Just hadn’t had a chance to check in over here, is all.
Hey Jonathan - I’ve got a Russia who wants me to occupy Norway with a fleet, rather than convoying an army over. He seems to think (a) that that’s not an unusual request of Russian players to make of English players, and (b) my worries about not having supports for my F Norway in Spring 1902 are off-base, because Germany almost always does F Kie-Den-Swe in 1901, keeping Russia out of Sweden until 1902.
To me, both of these claims sound suspicious. (I’ve never observed or encountered (a), and in my limited experience, Germany rarely bounces Russia in Sweden in 1901.) What’s your experience/observations?
I’d be initially suspicious of it. Though you might want to agree and then stab depending on your agreements with Germany and France.
Sounds like he wants some sign of good faith (or foolishness) on your part. I’d hate having an unprotected new SC early in the game.
I can say that that has NEVER been a request to me or on any board I’ve run. I have seen Germany bounce Russia in Sweden. But it’s up for grabs if it might be Russia bouncing GERMANY in Sweden. I think Maeglin threatened to do that in 1040, didn’t he?
So I’d make freinds with Germany and see if you two could team up against France/Russia. Or team with France against Germany and hope you can hold some part of Scandinavia until you’re done.
RT, I made the request twice, and got laughed down both times. I don’t think it’s unreasonable, but it is unlikely.
I imagine I will threaten to bounce Russia in Sweden if he moves into Galicia. Gotta keep Austria alive for a while. I am not sure if I would actually do it, depending on what assurances Russia gave me.
The first round only goes through 1909. No worries there.
The length of the round is really a function of the stated ‘one turn per week’ thing. I find it overlong but with all the time zones it’s to be expected.
I like fast games. After the new year I’ll be starting up HYPERDIP IV.
JC: I’m using the RealPolitik nomenclature, where bounces are mutual: two units both moving to a third province or body of water, with equal strength. In this case, F Den-Swe and F Bot-Swe, with no supports for either, bounce each other in Sweden.
Abe - the reason I think requesting I occupy Norway via fleet (rather than convoying in an army) is unreasonable, is that unless I have somewhere else to convoy it to, it effectively sidelines my army, forcing me to play the game with one less unit than I have.
This problem is peculiar to England, I think - with England, early on, you can’t just use an army ‘somewhere else’; England is across the water from anywhere you can put an army to use. If it’s not convoyed somewhere, then it’s as if it’s been demoted to the National Guard.
I think I know how I’m going to play the situation, but I think I won’t discuss it here, just in case one of my fellow players finds their way here.
In the literature, 1901 bounces in Sweden seem to be treated as pretty run-of-the-mill. That’s pretty much all I can say about it.
Got the introductory email from the GM today. Exchanged emails with Italy and Turkey. No word from Russia (I’m Austria).
You know, if any of our enemies were to find this thread, it might make things somewhat awkward for us all.
Well, it would depend on what we put in here. I’ve been careful to only say things that I wouldn’t have a serious problem with my rivals reading.
I suppose we could all register on LiveJournal, limit access to our buddy lists (or whatever they call them there), and only have each other for buddies. But that seems a lot of work.
I think that, for ease of discussion, we discuss here whatever we feel comfortable with discussing here. Anything else, we can circulate by email.
FWIW, spring 1901 has been adjudicated in my game, and I’m doing fairly well. Anyone else adjudicate today?
Intriguing, intriguing. I liked the notes from Dave and Nate as GMs, but not sure that humor would be picked up by the participants, depending on the country of origin. I also wonder if it’s Dip inspired paranoia or a valid concern that another Dip tourney member might incidentally find this space. It’s not as if a Google search would turn it up; too dynamic. As a non-participant I’d love to have access to what you’re thinking. Could you post links to maps her? And if you I ask a question you don’t want to answer in public, I hope you would reply via private e-mail.
FWIW, I’m actually learning a lot of Dip nuance just by reading this thread. Please keep it up, it’s quite educational.
Just to stay in the loop, I’ll post a short update here. My game seems to be a little slow in getting underway, and my first Spring 1901 deadline isn’t until Dec 23rd and Fall 1901 on Jan 3rd. So far playing France I’ve done little more that make acquaintence with all my other players, but it seems that things will be interesting early between France-England-Germany. I’ll shoot an email to the other teamates in a couple days once I’ve gotten a good feel for the rest of the board in hopes you’ll be able to enlighten me on some of your wisdom. My board seems evenly split between experienced playes and those that are relatively new. I’ve so far been trying to feign the confidence and understanding of a experinced player (neglecting to reveal how many games I’ve played), so perhaps i’ll be able to more easily befriend a few allies.
IIRC from what was said the other night at Dave’s, there aren’t deadlines yet in Weirddave’s or Bluesman’s games. Very strange to have everybody on such different schedules! Our Fall 1901 deadline is tomorrow afternoon, although I’ve asked for an extension until Wednesday.
I’ve sent in move orders too, just to be safe. Deadline extension to Wednesday has been granted - I still have Dipping to do before I’ll be satisfied that my move orders are final.
Ah yes. Diplomacy. Pardon me whilst I wax reminiscent about the Pan-European Italo-German Asswhuppin’ League Pucette and I formed in the original SDMB Diplomacy games.
Such convoluted plans.
Such sincerity.
Such staunch alliances.
Such a brutal, well-conceived betrayal. Mwahahahahaha. Europe ran red with the blood of conquest that round.
Orders are supposedly due in my game tomorrow. The deadline was “Wednesday, December 17, 16:00 GMT”. You figure it out. I sent my orders in already just to make sure.
As Russia, I’m sort of waiting to see how things break. Supposedly, England and Germany are going to tag team France, while Turkey looks to recruit Italy against Austria.
Apparently Germany was going to work with France against England, but then France accidently “cced” England with this plan when France wrote to Italy. Don’t know. Sounds a little fishy, but presumably the point of a concocted story would be to convince me, Russia, to open to the south. However, knowing that England and Germany are working together, leads one to open to the north.
My fall deadline’s been pushed back to tomorrow, but I’m finally ready to go.
We haven’t played two moves yet, and already this is the most fascinating game I’ve ever played in. These guys think in terms of the whole board at once (which I’ve gotten to the point of doing in recent games, but it’s still kinda new to me) and peer well into the future in terms of anticipating the effect of various strategies and alliances. I feel like I’m running way behind, struggling to absorb half the stuff that’s going by - and having the time of my life, even if I wind up doing a big face-plant in the upcoming moves.
