# Diplomacy - Sophomore **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 27, 2003, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomacy-sophomore/184693 "2003-06-27T03:31:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomacy-sophomore/184693/1 "2003-06-27T03:31:45Z")
Hi all! ``` Just wanted to start a thread to house the "other" Diplomacy game. **Omni**'s going to help me get it started up, and unless there's a better suggestion we'll probably call it "Sophomore". As I mentioned in the [other thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=191709&pagenumber=2), the participants are: ``` \*\* Omniscient Steve Lockz Scuba\_Ben Royal Nonesuch Trigonal Planar Lemur866 \*\* Please email me your preferences by next Friday. **Scuba\_Ben** (at least I think it was him) can’t start until then, but if you get these in early, then I can assign countries and you can commence to scheming against each other. You should all have at least a little experience, but if you’re unsure on anything, send me a note. If I feel it would be inappropriate for me to answer I’ll forward it to one of the Diplomacy gurus on the board. A couple of ground rules: 1. We’ll start a bit slow but try to go to the popular 1 year/ week pacing. If that’s too fast for you, or if you for any reason can’t meet the timing, then email me ASAP and we’ll push it back. It is summer vacation season, and we don’t want this to stress you out. 2. Someone will get their nose bloody early, that’s just the way these things go. Don’t take it personal and be a good sport and stay in the game unless you have some earth-shattering crisis in your personal life. I’d prefer this game not get bogged down by people just dropping out when things don’t go there way. This game, like life, has winners and losers. If you start to lose, learn from it and get in another game once this one is over. It’s often beyond your control if a couple of players just gang up on you. It happens; move on. 3. Another game this past year was marred when someone sent out fake emails pretending to be someone that they weren’t. DON’T DO THAT. Press will be white and should be here or sent to me to post to the website. Email each other as much as you like, but don’t misrepresent who you are. It will keep you from ever getting included in another game. 4. If you are unclear on how to order something, then write it out longhand and make abundantly clear what you intend. Or just ask me and I’ll help you with your orders if required. Otherwise I’ll just interpret what you’ve sent. My judgements are final. 5. Get your orders in early. It’s highly advisable to send in a set of orders prior to deadline. Just mark them “provisional”. The last orders I get will be the ones I use. You can also mark your final orders as “final”. That’s all I can think of for now. Watch this space for updates. And I encourage heckling, baiting, taunting, etc. Let’s here some chatter. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomacy-sophomore/184693/2 "2003-06-27T09:30:37Z")
I know I’m in the other game, but by the looks of things I won’t be in it long. I’ll volunteer to be an alternate if someone has to drop out, if that’s ok… ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomacy-sophomore/184693/3 "2003-06-27T12:40:09Z")
Thanks, **Garfield** , you never know how those things are going to turn out. But I’ll keep your resume first on file just in case. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomacy-sophomore/184693/4 "2003-06-27T13:34:36Z")
As Shibb noted (and I noted in the other thread), I’m out of town all of next week. I’ve already sent in my country pref list. I look forward to forging some good alliances with my neighbors, and anybody else willing to team up. I am really looking forward to this game! I’ve followed the past few Doper Dip games, and I’ve seen some really good interplay and some good game play. So let’s have at it! ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomacy-sophomore/184693/5 "2003-06-27T13:35:37Z")
On country preferences, I have input from everyone EXCEPT for **Omni** and **Lemur** , the first of whom gets up late because of his avocation, the second is on the far west coast (USA) if memory serves correctly. Anyway, if you can both get them in today I can have country assignments out tonight. This will be useful for those who need to do extra research, planning etc. See the links I posted in the original thread for more background info on strategies, rules, etc. - Shibb ---
**Author:** ![Abe\_Babe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3ab097/32.png) [@Abe\_Babe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abe_Babe)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomacy-sophomore/184693/6 "2003-06-27T14:53:52Z")
Give them Austria and Italy. That’ll show them. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomacy-sophomore/184693/7 "2003-06-27T15:37:23Z")
Actually, at least one of those two countries was requested as a first preference… ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomacy-sophomore/184693/8 "2003-06-27T16:10:33Z")
D’oh! Well, Austria CAN do pretty well IF they get in a strong alliance and get good chunks of the Balkans. But Italy is really on their own…they get their 4th center and then have to wait for someone else to make a mistake. Anyway, I sent in my country preferences. Remember you all, it’s not to early to begin the surrender process. I promise special deals for everyone who surrenders before play begins. Get in on the ground floor people! ---
**Author:** ![Abe\_Babe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3ab097/32.png) [@Abe\_Babe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abe_Babe)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomacy-sophomore/184693/9 "2003-06-27T17:11:22Z")
Austria is tied with Russia as my second favorite country. You need to work a lot at diplomacy, and it’s common, despite good efforts, to be wiped out early. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomacy-sophomore/184693/10 "2003-06-27T18:16:58Z")
So now I just need **Omni** ’s preferences and I can assign countries for you. So far it looks like everyone who expressed a preference would get no worse than their second choice, and that’s only in one case. And it’s good to see **Abe Babe** in here heckling already. I hope some of the other usual suspects will be inclined to provide a running commentary. \*\*Jonathan Chance, White Lightning, Wikkit, Weirddave, McG… \*\* dare I hope for **GoAlien**? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomacy-sophomore/184693/11 "2003-06-27T19:25:27Z")
Anybody want to go over to **Omni** ’s house and give his bed a few kicks? ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomacy-sophomore/184693/12 "2003-06-27T21:25:52Z")
**Omni** ’s awake, pot’s right, country assignments are in. The envelope, please: **Steve** - Italy **Scuba Ben** - Austria **Royal Nonesuch** - Turkey **Lockz** - England **Omniscient** - Germany **Trigonal Planar** - Russia **Lemur866** - France Note that Steve is not an SDMB member (yet?), so notes and digs to him in this thread will have very little effect. You can start plotting and scheming now. An email with this same information has already been sent. I’m thinking an initial Spring, 1901 deadline of July 10th (noon US Eastern time) might work for everyone, please respond if this is NOT okay for you, and we’ll work around it. This assumes that I get a website and all other stuff set up before then, which Igor assures me shall be no problem. BTW, I thought **Mastema** did a very good job of disabusing his potential foes in the Newbie thread. I’ll expect similar mudslinging in here (as long as it stays in fun). ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomacy-sophomore/184693/13 "2003-06-28T01:24:53Z")
Excellent. Let the negotiations begin! ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomacy-sophomore/184693/14 "2003-06-28T01:46:11Z")
Oh, one kind of important inquiry: I’ve never played email diplo before…so how in the world do I keep track of the board?? ---
**Author:** ![Mastema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@Mastema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mastema)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomacy-sophomore/184693/15 "2003-06-28T01:50:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ShibbOleth \* > BTW, I thought **Mastema** did a very good job of disabusing his potential foes in the Newbie thread. I’ll expect similar mudslinging in here (as long as it stays in fun). Wow, I got mentioned in the big kids thread. I am honored. Maybe one day I can come play in your sand box. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomacy-sophomore/184693/16 "2003-06-28T04:58:01Z")
There was a request by one of our participants to for “any good online diplo maps”. Ask and ye shall receive. Actually [here is a link](http://fff.fathom.org/pages/Walcher/Bobble.html) to **Weirddave** ’s starting postions and province abbreviations maps. You will likely have to scroll down somewhat to see both. Note that in a standard game (that’s what this is) the starting positions are always like this. Of course you all knew this already, no one would be attempting to get into this course without taking all of the proper prerequisites first. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Trigonal Planar \* > \*\*Oh, one kind of important inquiry: I’ve never played email diplo before…so how in the world do I keep track of the board?? \*\* Now, again I’ll reference you to **WD** ’s site above. He has embedded on that page links to all of the seasons results for each year, plus a tracking of each player name with email link, number of SCs, etc. This is how you’ll keep track. Some people will also track the board along at home, if they have a nice Dip map there. The more astute of you will notice that I am playing England in the linked game I’ve provided. Feel free to follow along, comment or heckle in the [appropriate thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=188432&perpage=50&pagenumber=2). For example, my fleet in Brest was just dislodged. You could point out the ridiculous tactical blunders involved. But the comments are probably best kept to that thread. Just for clarity’s sake, I am not a _vengeful_ GM. ---
**Author:** ![Lockz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Lockz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lockz)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomacy-sophomore/184693/17 "2003-06-28T14:02:40Z")
Just to let everyone know, my school told us that their network’s going down todya, therefore I won’t be able to respond to or read anything today. Hopefully nothing gets bounced!! :o I’ll read everything and respond tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomacy-sophomore/184693/18 "2003-06-28T16:47:48Z")
And just so everyone knows, I will be driving south to Florida (from Cincinnati) tonight or tomorrow. It will be a 2-3 day journey, as we have small children and will need to stop a lot. So you may not hear too much from me between now and Monday/Tuesday. Don’t take it personally; I’m not ignoring you. - Shibb ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomacy-sophomore/184693/19 "2003-07-02T06:00:08Z")
FYI, I’ve gotten the other Newbie game rolling finally. I started a new thread [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=194813). For everyone in this game, I’ve been a little preoccupied with life and getting the newbie game underway so i haven’t been in touch with you yet. Worry not, I will be in touch so that you will have a very intimate understanding of just how you will come to be pinned under my thumb. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomacy-sophomore/184693/20 "2003-07-03T02:09:59Z")
Well, just so you know in this thread, I’ve gotten some form of access here from my condo overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. The constant pounding of the surf reminds me of the futile pounding of the forces on the Maginot line (okay, it actually reminds me of something else, but I’m going with the military metaphor tonight), and the swooping pelicans are like reconnaisance planes droning through the skies choked with the smoke of battle. I don’t know what the scent of tanning oil reminds me of, but give me a minute. Anyway, we hope to have this baby fully cranked up soon… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomacy-sophomore/184693.md?page=2)