Smid's Diplomacy Game Thread #1

[Smid]

I will do the adjudication on Sundays (my time) so that wherever you are in the world, so long as you send your orders to me by midnight on a Friday evening, I will receive them in time.  Each season can be one week in length, so I'll adjudicate every weekend.

The thread will be used to post orders/maps each week, and also any comments anyone wants to make publicly. Orders can be PM'd to me. In the event that I receive more than one set of orders in the week from the one player, I will use the last set sent. If no orders are received, all units belonging to that nation will stand to (no move/no support/no convoy). If there are two sets of orders and latest set only provides orders for some units (but not all), the units not given orders in the latest set will stand to, even if the earlier set provided orders for them, as it will be assumed that you now want that unit to not carry out the earlier provided orders.

I think that's all pretty self-explanatory and nothing out of the ordinary, but I'm just laying that out to ensure it's clear.

I'll now draw the countries for the players:

[Smid]

Sorry to keep you waiting.

I've just drawn names and countries out of my pocket...

Xahar - Austria-Hungary

Ben - Germany

Gustaf - Russia

Lewis - England

Erc - Turkey

Mikado - Italy (sorry mate)

Happy Warrior - France.

Three days is probably too short for negotiations, so this first turn will be one-and-a-half weeks - orders in by midnight, Friday 25 July. I won't be entirely strict on the midnight thing, but I won't be waiting for anyone to submit orders. If they're not in when I log on sometime on Sunday, I won't wait.

[Smid]

Each season can be one week in length, so I'll adjudicate every weekend.

Is that two seasons a year, with conditional orders for withdrawals and builds given along with the move orders? Or are these separate?

Very good question. Perhaps give conditional orders, but once I put the results in the thread, you can have 24 hours to change them if you wish. Give me the conditional orders, though, so that if you don't get a chance to log on in that 24 hour period, I can still go ahead with withdrawls and builds without slowing down the game.

[Smid]

Attention!

Erc advises that he will be most likely unable to access the internet for the space of a week or thereabouts from the roughly the 25th to the 31st of July. Unfortunately this corresponds fairly closely from revealing the Spring 1901 moves, to the lodging Fall 1901 orders. He requested that I push back the deadline for these orders by 24 hours or thereabouts - indeed, with timezones, it would probably end up being less than that, and I was initially planning on agreeing with that and advising as such here.

I have subsequently given it more thought however.

If Diplomacy were like chess, and strategy based solely on the ability to plan moves and predict opposing moves, than extending the deadline by 24 hours or so would disadvantage him by reducing the time for him to consider his moves, while still giving him the opportunity to lodge orders. As Diplomacy is not like chess, however, and negotiations form a substantial portion of the game, I realised that extending the deadline would affect other players to a large degree also - creating a disadvantage to people negotiating with Erc, and this disadvantage being offset by an advantage to any players against whom he may be conspiring with those he negotiates with.

I therefore have decided that it is probably fairest to push back the deadline for Fall 1901 orders by not 24 hours, but by one week and have these orders due on Friday, 8 August. Before making this my ruling, however, I would like to hear any dissenting opinions. There are conceivably three options:

1. Strictness in relation to the deadline - orders are due by Friday the first and there shall be no flexibility with this;
2. A slight degree of flexibility - extend the deadline by 24 hours to allow Erc to submit orders hurriedly;
3. Extend the deadline by a week to allow for negotiations with Erc to proceed for Fall 1901.

As I said, I think option 3 provides the most fairness and balance to everyone, but I'm happy to hear counter-arguments.

[Smid]

Right-o, option 3 it is.

Realpolitik provides the option of "Save as BMP" - so maps are not a problem.

[Smid]

Has anyone seen Happy Warrior around? I haven't seen him since we started and I'm a little worried he's not been on and France won't submit orders or something. Anyway, we'll see what happens.

[Smid]

Yeah, if he's not around, he's not around and we can cross that bridge when we come to it. I just haven't seen him on here in a bit.

[Smid]

Muon - thanks for the support.

Gustaf - yeah, that link Lewis provided is probably the best, check that out. If you've got Realpolitik, you might like to use it to test your orders against hypothetical orders from neighbouring nations.

[Smid]

Here are the move orders from Spring 1901:



The orders received were as follows:

France
A Paris: NMR
A Marseilles: NMR
F Brest: NMR

Russia
F St Petersburg (sc) - Gulf of Bothnia
F Sevastopol - Rumania (*Bounce*)
A Moscow - Ukraine
A Warsaw - Galacia

Italy
F Naples - Ionian Sea
A Rome - Venice (*Fails*)
A Venice - Trieste (*Fails*)

Germany
A - Berlin - Kiel (*Fails*)
F Kiel Hold
A Munich Hold

Austria
A Budapest - Rumania (*Bounce*)
F Trieste Hold
A Vienna Hold

Turkey
F Ankara - Black Sea
A Constantinople - Bulgaria
A Smyrna - Constantinople

England
F Edinburgh - Norwegian Sea
A Liberpool - Edinburgh
F London - North Sea

Resulting in the following placement of armies and fleets:



There are no necessary retreat orders. Fall 1901 orders are due in two weeks.

[Smid]

Jas - if I don't hear from Happy Warrior within the week (same time frame as lodging of orders) I'll let you know and you can take over France, as per Muon and Gustaf's suggestion.

[Smid]

Jas - if I don't hear from Happy Warrior within the week (same time frame as lodging of orders) I'll let you know and you can take over France, as per Muon and Gustaf's suggestion.

Are you gonna allow Jas to negotiate and turn in orders for the current turn? Because I think allowing France to miss 2 turns would be too much of a drawback. I would suggest that in a game this complex where your participation matters so much to the other players, you don't get that many chances. At the very least, if Jas is up to it, he should be able to conditionally negotiate and give orders during this week.

Sorry, poor choice of words. Since we extended the period to allow for Erc's unavoidable absence, the week is up halfway through the orders period. When I said same time frame as lodging orders - I meant Friday midnight wherever anyone is (ie Sunday, whatever time I log on). It's probably fair for Jas to negotiate from now if he so desires.

[Smid]

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

GOVERNMENT OF FRANCE FALLS IN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS,
PRESIDENT JAS PROMISES TO "PROSECUTE WAR TO FINAL VICTORY"

/ends

[Smid]

Just a reminder that provisional retreats and build orders would be appreciated. I am travelling back home (interstate) for a week and want to make sure this week's orders are finalised and I'm not waiting on builds before I go. There won't be a problem finalising this week's orders before I leave, so long as everyone puts in provisional orders if necessary. I should be able to go to the local internet cafe up there to let everyone know next week's resolved orders, although maps may be delayed.

[Smid]

Fall 1901

France: F Brest - Picardy
            A Paris - Burgundy
            A Marseilles - Spain
Russia: F Sevastapol - Black Sea
            F Gulf of Bothnia - Sweden
            A Ukraine - Rumania
            A Galacia S A Ukr - Rum
Italy: A Venice - Piedemont
         A Rome - Venice
         F Ionian Sea - Tunis
Germany: NMR
Austria-Hungary: A Viena - Tyrolia
                            A Budapest - Serbia
                            F Trieste Holds
Turkey: F Black Sea - Constantinople
             A Constantinople - Bulgaria
             A Bulgaria - Greece
England: F Norwegian Sea Convoy A Edinburgh - Norway
               A Edinburgh - Norway
               F North Sea - Belgium

Build orders were received:
France: A Paris
Russia: No build orders yet received.
Italy: F Naples
Germany: No builds eligible
Austria-Hungary: A Vienna
Turkey: A Ankara
             F Smyrna
England: F Edinburgh
               F London

[Smid]

[Smid]

[Smid]

I'm going to be away interstate this week. I should be able to visit a local internet cafe to assess orders, but maps will probably be delayed. If I am a little late in updating orders, we may need to slightly push back the deadline for the following week's orders.

[Smid]

Hello all,

Sorry I've been unreachable - things were a fair bit busier than I'd anticipated. I'll do the spring orders tonight, and if necessary, we can push Fall's orders back a week if you'd prefer.

On the flight up, I gave quite a bit of thought to Gustaf's position re: builds. I believe the fairest thing to do would be to allow him his Winter 1901 builds immediately following Spring 1902. This prevents him from gaining any real advantage of seeing other nations' builds, while at the same time not penalising him too harshly. Effectivley it means he is disadvantaged for one turn, rather than two.

I just got back this evening (and just logged on to 11 new PMs...). I'll sort out the orders after dinner and upload the new maps then.

[Smid]

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.

Lewis's two sets of orders were based on my ruling as to whether or not Gustaf would be allowed to build. Basically, a "if you allow him his builds, then this is how I will move. If you don't allow him his builds, then these will be my build orders," so his moves were based entirely upon my ruling rather than Gustaf's orders.

I'm sorry I've been away when this has all happened. If I'd been around, I'm sure we could have resolved it all.

I was unable to put up the current status after dinner last night (as initially planned) because Gustaf was waiting on my ruling to determine his moves. I've now received his move orders, however I don't have Realpolitik on my work computer, so I'll have to do that this evening.

[Smid]

On the east coast of Australia, we're two hours behind New Zealand. It is presently 1.19 in the afternoon where I am now.

[Smid]

Sorry this has taken so long.

Xahar, I need retreats for your armies in Serbia and Tyrolia. Tyrolia only has one place to go, but Serbia has Albania or Budapest, so I need to hear from you ASAP. 

The moves were:



France
A Burgundy – Ruhr
A Paris – Burgundy
F Picardy Hold
A Spain Hold

Russia
F Black Sea Hold
A Galicia Supports A Rumania
A Rumania Supports A Galicia
F Sweden Hold

Italy
F Naples – Ionian Sea
A Piedmont – Tyrolia
F Tunis – Western Mediterranean
A Venice Supports A Piedmont – Tyrolia

Germany
A Berlin – Kiel
F Kiel – Denmark
A Munich Supports A Piedmont – Tyrolia

Austria
A Serbia Hold (*Dislodged*)
F Trieste Hold
A Vienna Hold
A Tyrolia Hold (*Dislodged*)

Turkey
A Ankara – Smyrna
A Bulgaria – Serbia
F Constantinople – Aegean Sea
A Greece Supports A Bulgaria – Serbia
F Smyrna – Eastern Mediterranean

England
F Belgium – Holland
F Edinburgh – North Sea
F London Hold
A Norway Hold
F Norwegian Sea Supports A Norway

The map (pre-Austrian retreats appears thus)

[Smid]

Oh and Gustaf, I'll need your "Summer of 1902 Builds"...

[Smid]

I have received retreats from Xahar and Builds from Gustaf. I will update the map tonight, but I'll put them here for people planning their moves...

Xahar's units are both retreating north - to Bohemia and Budapest...

Gustaf's Builds are a Fleet on the South Coast of St Petersburg and an Army in Warsaw.

[Smid]

This is the map incorporating the Austrian retreats and the Russian builds:

[Smid]

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.

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?

I'll look into this to make certain I know the correct answer to this, but my understanding (without looking it up in the rules) is that in this instance, both units would be disbanded, in the same manner as if they both had no territory in which to retreat. I've got a PDF of the rulebook here and will look into this today and get back to you.