Smid's Diplomacy Game Thread #1

[The Mikado]

I'm looking forward to this.

[The Mikado]

I'd personally prefer the delayed-one-day option, but whatever works best for Erc.

[The Mikado]

Has Germany submitted orders? Ben's out for the week.

He told me he submitted them before he left.

[The Mikado]

Great.

Hey, imagine how I feel.  You have the best position in the game.

[The Mikado]

So...is Jas officially France now?

[The Mikado]

No. Wrong. I've taken the liberty of fixing it:

***BREAKING NEWS***
***BREAKING NEWS***
***BREAKING NEWS***

GOVERNMENT OF FRANCE FALLS IN COUP D'ÉTAT,
PROVISIONAL HEAD OF STATE JAS PROMISES TO
"PROSECUTE WAR TO FINAL VICTORY"

/ends
Remember, it is 1900.

I'll one-up you:

Anti-Dreyfusard Provisional Head of State Jas claimed today that the guilt of suspected traitor Captain Alfred Dreyfus, whose status has recently been in question over supposedly exonerating evidence, has been decisively proven by the actions of the French military this spring.  Jas claims that former Prime Minister Happywarrior and his cabinet had been in league with Dreyfus' accomplices and prevented any offensive action against Germany.  Jas, who shares ethnic ties to recent French President McMahon, vowed to stamp out the "Dreyfusard scum" in the French government and take aggressive action.

[The Mikado]

Good job, Mikado.

It'd have been easier if he'd taken over England: I'd just copy and paste "It's a Long Way to Tipperary."

[The Mikado]

I take it Ben's a pacifist.

I also take it that Gustaf didn't submit builds.

I also take it that Erc and Lewis are the frontrunners.

[The Mikado]

Hm. I Pmed Smid yesterday about my builds hoping he would allow them (I of course forgot about the provisional builds thing). If he doesn't I guess I'm screwed due to that silly mistake...

I take it Ben's a pacifist.

Funniest statement ever said about me.

Yes. How about you make some correct moves this time?

I have two questions: one, did Gustaf order his builds before Smid issued his maps?  If so, Gustaf's builds should be allowed, as Gustaf didn't have the unfair advantage of seeing everyone else's builds.

Secondly: Would Ben please submit orders next turn?  Any orders?

[The Mikado]

Press Release from the government of the Kingdom of Italy:

Prime Minister Mikado expresses his respects to the Heads of State of England, France, Germany, Austria, Turkey, and Russia.  He would like to remind them that their generals cannot function without orders, and that all nations should submit orders this spring.

All glory to the House of Savoy,

Prime Minister Mikado

[The Mikado]

Anyone know when Smid gets back?  I'm anxious to see how my move went.

[The Mikado]

I think if Gustaf is given his two builds, it is much preferable for me if they're around now, actually.

Meh. Use the "Gustaf has been building just like everybody else" scenario for my moves. Pretend this never happened.

That's only fair if both Gustaf and Erc also submitted two sets of orders.

PS: Welcome back, Smid.  If you can sort this mess out and get the game back on track, you have the wisdom of Solomon.

[The Mikado]

I'm glad to see everything will work out. 

Just out of curiosity, how many time zones is Australia from America?  (Any American time zone would do, I can figure it out from there).  I'm too lazy to look it up and count right now.

[The Mikado]

Rules question:  If two players both have units dislodged, and their retreat orders are to the same place, what happens?  Do they both need new retreat orders?

[The Mikado]

Are we expected to turn in the next move tomorrow, or next week?

I'm easy. If everyone has orders in by Friday, I'll resolve the orders then. If even one player hasn't submitted orders by then, I will extend the deadline by a week because I was slow in resolving the last set and I don't think it's going to be fair to process at the end of this week if not everyone's ready.

I assume that this was the situation?  If so, my orders stand.

[The Mikado]

Retreats are required for the Italian fleet in the Ionian and the French fleet in Belgium, although the retreat from Belgium isn't too hard to guess...

Surely you mean retreat orders for the Turkish fleet in the Ionian.

[The Mikado]

Can you move an army from Norway to St. Petersburg?

One of our assignments in a political science class is to defeat other groups at this game.  I typed overly-long messages to people as Germany and I think they attacked me because they were annoyed by my over-strategizing.  I read hundreds of pages of Diplomacy strategy and would write up pages to various countries.

Have to convince England to do this move to stop Russia.  I'm interested in the next round if there's a spot too here.

St Petersburg and Norway share a common border. An army can certainly march there, likewise a fleet can sail from Norway to St Petersburg (north coast).

I'd be happy to GM again in a future game, so long as the everyone's happy with my adjudication. I'm sure there'll be spots open in the next game - I won't start it up until this one's finished, or extremely close to being finished (on the approval of the players remaining in this game) unless there's enough support for a second game to have another one start up.

One game at a time, methinks.

Maybe players in the current game can automatically go to the back of the line for the next game, to let newcomers like Lunar (and I think PiT expressed interest in another thread) a chance to get in.

I shouldn't be surprised that Lunar likes this game.  It's sad to me how few people have heard of Diplomacy.

Hell, maybe if I get into the next game, I won't be Italy!   

[The Mikado]

I've refrained from weighing in on this conversation, but if you're not a player and you want to understand why I chose the opening I did, just PM me.

[The Mikado]

Question: Can a fleet on a coast, SUPPORT, but not attack, an inland province?

Not as I understand it.

[The Mikado]

The German Empire would like to notify the nations of the world that it does, indeed, play for draws!  Unless, of course, all countries would like to surrender immediately.

The Kingdom of Italy agrees with our northern former neighbours, and would also support a draw.

[The Mikado]

Turkey is so anomalous.  Will someone take Ankara and put Erc out of his misery?

At least my territories can defend each other for a while.

[The Mikado]

I've gone from King of Southern Italy to King of Northern Italy.

[The Mikado]

Look how militarized Italy is!

[The Mikado]

Now, how do I get my fleet from Livonia to the Med.?

Start digging: the Stettin-Trieste Canal won't take that long.

[The Mikado]

Rome-Tuscany.