Messages - vDiplomacy

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19 Oct 12 UTC	Spring, 1994: (Fortress Doerr): OK. Check the thread for details. NO FINALIZING MOVES! Finalizing retreats and builds are highly encouraged
19 Oct 12 UTC	Spring, 1994: (Fortress Doerr): I will be leaving the game now. Please check the thread for details
19 Oct 12 UTC	Spring, 1994: (Tyran): Nonevah has been missing turns in my other games for a few days we may need a replacement
19 Oct 12 UTC	Spring, 1994: (Tyran): Nevermind he entered moves.
19 Oct 12 UTC	Spring, 1994: (BigAssMofo): hey Dr.R, mfarb, tyran, imagonalose What up yall and others i havent met!! and all the TA and PROF.... this is gonna be fun!!
19 Oct 12 UTC	Spring, 1994: (achillies27): I'm assuming I was a student, so I'm in...
19 Oct 12 UTC	Spring, 1994: (Tyran): You are correct
19 Oct 12 UTC	Spring, 1994: (achillies27): Awesome.
19 Oct 12 UTC	Spring, 1994: (Tyran): Can't wait to see which country I get.
19 Oct 12 UTC	Spring, 1994: (Dr. Recommended ): Hey Mofo. Or BigAss. I'll just call you....BAM! Good crowd, I think I've been with and against most of you at one time or another. Looking forward to this!
19 Oct 12 UTC	Spring, 1994: (Spartan22): I'm excited :) I'm pretty sure I'm in current games with a lot of you :P
20 Oct 12 UTC	Spring, 1994: (BigAssMofo): call me BAM i like that
20 Oct 12 UTC	Spring, 1994: (Nonevah): Hey, guys. I've been on and off here since April 2011, hope to really learn from this one. Also happy for the 3 day waiting time, my memory and concetration have been slipping.
20 Oct 12 UTC	Spring, 1994: LET THE GAMES BEGAN!!! GL
20 Oct 12 UTC	Spring, 1994: FD wants me to remind everyone to PM their TA so you can start learning!
20 Oct 12 UTC	Spring, 1994: (The Ambassador): Now remember students, the bell has gone and class has begun. Please take the time to meet your teaching assistants. They've all done the same hard yards before you. Now I won't sugar coat this subject. Diplomacy is a tricky game. Look around you at all your fellow pupils. Statistically only 1 in 3 of your will pass this course. The rest will fail. But let me remind you from experience that even those failures can be incredibly valuable if you take onboard the lessons you learnt. And that's what this School of War is all about, giving you the experience of mentors to help you on your way. Now this isn't Diplomacy 101. I assume you've all done the prerequisite coursework of Classic Diplomacy. Maybe on WebDip, maybe even playing the boardgame. Either way I'm hopeful you know the core basics of how to enter commands, and the importance of negotiating with other players. Please refer to your TA's for further advice. Now in about 12 hours time I'll formally begin the class by dissecting how VDip is different to Classic, using Modern as the test case. Until then, good luck!
21 Oct 12 UTC	Spring, 1994: (The Ambassador): Right, welcome students to your first lesson in VDip. While the grand old game of Classic has been around for many years, in fact according to many the boardgame was a favourite of President John F Kennedy and his inner sanctum, the rise of variant Diplomacy, or vDiplomacy has been strong in recent years. That's not to say that variants are a new phenomenon. Officially sanctioned and unofficial variants significantly pre-date the internet through face to face and postal diplomacy. But the internet no doubt has significantly increased the reach of variant Diplomacy. Variants can be broad in nature. From the simple change in Classic of turning Rome's army to a fleet (Fleet Rome) to the most mind boggling maps and rule changes. But let's start with something still relatively simple, yet one of the most popular variants here at vDip, Modern Diplomacy. I won't paraphrase the rules. You're all hopefully smart enough to read them already. But I will for my first lecture go through some of the basic openings and how the games can sometimes progress. For simplicity's sake I'll approach things country by county going clockwise from Russia. That said, the intricate nature of diplomatic relationships may mean I can repeat myself a little from time to time. Now as we'll be familiar in Classic, Russia can often be a major power and frequent winner. In Modern that is not usually the case. The new threat of Ukraine often tempered with a Ukraine-Poland alliance, can quickly put Russia on the backfoot. Throw in an aggressive Britain and Russia can be the first player out of the game. A smart Russia often forges an alliance with Turkey to protect his southern flank, while proactively trying to push Poland away from Ukrainian friendship. That's pretty hard though. Another tact is writing off a Polish friendship and trying to get Germany to attack Poland to keep him busy there, while developing detante with Britain. It is possible and it can be pulled off but it is pretty hard. A Russian-Ukrainian friendship is even harder although not impossible as I've seen it last a number of times well into the mid-game, but inevitably fails long term. Ukraine - as outlined pretty much above, Ukraine's future is intrinsinctly tied one way or the other to Russia. Ukraine traditionally does very, very well in this variant often taking it all the way to a total win. Doing so requires peace with Poland initially, although again it is necessary to remove the red one from the game. Relations with Turkey are very important, both with how things are managed in the Black Sea but also in how to deal with the southern Russian territories and the Balkans. I have seen many a Ukrainian player walk a fine line in the start of Modern by keeping peace with all his neighbours and pushing west well into Hungary, Croatia and even Austria before mid game attacking Italy. It seems crazy but can work as none of Ukraine's neighbours are keen to attack him and disrupt the flow. But it can backfire and well organised neighbours can turn on Ukraine, sometimes successfully. Turkey - it can be a pretty stressful time for Turkey at the start. How to keep Ukraine on side and also convincing Russia you're on his side, whether you are or not. This is critical if Turkey is going to take places like Georgia and Iran. Equally important is the relationship with Egypt. When these two team up it can be dangerous to other players. From experience Turkey tends to do better in an alliance with Egypt. Egypt inevitably gets bottled up around the Straits of Gibraltar. Turkey has some good easy pick-ups too in Bulgaria and usually Greece. Turkey is a good country to be in Modern and often - but not always - stands the test of time. Egypt - as mentioned above Egypt often turns in friendship to Turkey cutting a deal on SCs in the first year that benefits them both. But this alliance often restricts Egyptian growth unless the friendship is strong and gets Egypt firmly established in Italian territory. The challenge as mentioned above is how to break out of the Med into Spain proper and seize control of the Atlantic mid-game - a very difficult thing to do as often Britain is coming down the opposite direction. But that's a long way off. Of course Egypt can make a deal with Turkey in year one, then stab shortly after. But this can be hard and becomes often a bit of a slugfest. Egypt tries at that point to bring Ukrainem Russia or even Italy in on the deal, but often these powers are too busy elsewhere. Egypt and Turkey end up bleeding everywhere with no-one getting the upperhand while other powers grow and inevitably crush both. Italy - as a middle power its often very hard to win. Personally I've always grappled with this although others better than me seem to master it. Call it my personal downfall. That said Italy can do reasonably well in Modern. As always deals with neighbours is paramount. Full control over the Med helps a lot but is problematic. Italian growth doesn't usually come from Africa due to the relative strength of Egypt, unless Italy strikes an early deal with Turkey to split up and destroy Egyptian ambition. Italy tends to push quickly into the Balkans and usually picks up one or two SCs straight up. The challenge is to the north and west with how Italy manages Germany and France. Usually Switzerland or Austria can be a sore point, but if managed well, with a friendship struck with either or both Germany and/or France, Italy can concentrate elsewhere. Italy’s saving grace is the fact that Germany and France rarely team up to threaten Italy. Spain – well Spain is in a pickle isn’t it? I’ve never seen a powerful Spain in Modern. Does he attack France while he’s on the ropes from Round 1? Does he try to take out that pesky British presence in Gibraltar knowing full well that soon the Royal Navy will be on his back door in the Atlantic. As much as it hurts Spanish pride the best bet is often cutting a deal with Britain allowing him to continue holding Gibraltar and throwing him Morocco. It seems counter intuitive and deprives Spain or any quick builds, but if Spain can build a good relationship with Britain then he may survive. He won’t thrive but that’s almost impossible. RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG Ok, class that’s the bell. We’ll continue our class on countries and openings after the break, in around 12 hours time. Next up, France, Britain, Germany and Poland. Class dismissed.
21 Oct 12 UTC	Spring, 1994: wow awesome... lesson thank u so much
21 Oct 12 UTC	Spring, 1994: Very helpful.
22 Oct 12 UTC	Spring, 1994: (The Ambassador): France - the French player has an interesting set of roads to take, similar in some ways to Classic but also different. The usual France-Germany-Britain paradigm applies. Does France attempt to make peace with Britain and gave the Englishman the control of the seas that he desires or does he tackle him head on? Britain's position is strong with easy pick ups in Norway and Ireland, so an aggressive France could put Britain off a bit. Only problem is France has only one fleet to threaten. Most French players as a result cosy up to Britain. But be warned I have never seen in modern successful Britain-France alliance going all the way (& if I did its so rare I've forgotten it). Britain inevitably gets stronger and stronger and usually cuts a deal with Germany to gobble France up mid-game. The challenge for France then is keep Britain sweet, make sure you get some good rapid wins while Britain is bogged down in Spain (as usually occurs) and strike at his throat while he's not suspecting while making sure Germany is a friend. Sound hard? It often is! But with modern it's possible for France, Britain and Germany to all be friends for a little while, especially if France and Germany work together early in Switzerland and Milan. So speaking of other players how does France usually go with them? Italy is an obvious area of expansion and one to eat quickly if France has peace with Britain and Germany. Spain is a harder nut to crack due to his SC positions and your opening units. Spain often can send an army early into Auv so watch for that. The secret with Spain is to try wishing him well and hope to God he and Britain get into the usual Gibraltar-morocco turf war. Support Britain as much as it gets you Barcelona, then when Britain is bogged down and sending fleet after fleet south launch the attack while Germany is being good. On Germany the other alternative if its obvious that for once Poland and Germany aren't friends, you can always take a few bites there to grow quicker and postpone the attack on Britain. A smart diplomat in Paris will also be quietly sending out positive messages to Russia in the hope that if he survives he can swing around Norway and help take out Britain. It's rare but it can happen if Russia is a shrewd player and has diplomatic rat cunning skills that helps him survive. Britain - well what can I say? If you drew Britain you're on easy street. That's not a license to be lazy though! Your challenge is to grow strong enough to solo and win the game. Like Ukraine Britain usually does very well in modern. That said he has to watch the other players like a hawk. If Germany is best mates with Poland he'll quickly move north and threaten British supremacy in Scandinavia. If Germany at the same time is cuddling up to France and tearing into northern Italy and the Balkans, Britain needs to be working rapidly in diplomatic channels to bring other players in against Germany as a strong Germany and a stonewalled Britain in Spain can be a real concern, particularly if a Sealion move starts up (Germany heading into the North Sea). But more often than not continental Europe doesn't unite like this and Britain can safely pick off players one by one while maintaining strong defences elsewhere as a deterrent. Britain often enters alliance with Ukraine in the mid game. As mentioned before the challenge at that point is to work together and sweep up as much of the board as you can, grabbing SCs like mad to beat Ukraine. But of course a smart Ukraine is probably doing the same! Germany - as mentioned a German-Poland alliance at the start is one to watch for. If done well they can seriously slow down Ukraine and occasionally threaten him. Germany needs to be mindful of his southern position and often works with France to carve up northern Italy after playing together as a team in Switzerland. Of course the same can happen in reverse with Berlin courting Rome to eat into France. It doesn't often happen that way but can be equally as effective, if not more so, than allying with France. It's vital for Germany early on to grab 3 SCs early on (holland, Denmark and Sweden). By getting 3 it gives Germany the flexibility to offer Switzerland to France or Italy in return for friendship and possible alliance. Good acts of with like this early on tend to pay off. Midgame its critical to control Scandinavia unless you've become best mates with Britain. Of course Germany has promised love and affection to Poland at the start and then taken him out a year or two in. But an immediate attack against Poland is very rare when there are so many SCs elsewhere. Poland - Poland starts the game well with opportunities in the Baltic states. Poland usually allies with Ukraine to bring down Russia quickly. To safeguard itself Poland at the same time makes friends with Germany, not that Germany is likely to attack him anyway (as mentioned above). Of course Poland may choose to side instead with Russia rather than Ukraine. The initial gains aren't quite as good, but has longer term possibilities. I'll explain why. Poland allying with Ukraine sees him pushing all the way up to St Petersburg. But then Poland is boxed in: a friend in the west and Scandinavia (Germany) and a friend to the south and east (Ukraine) leaving him nowhere to go. At this point Poland would need to choose whether to attack Germany or Ukraine. Unfortunately both players at that point are likely to be stronger than Poland and usually quickly - but not always - ally to take you out. So while it's not conventional, an alliance instead with Russia may have longer term opportunities in containing Ukraine. Plus by keeping Russia strong he can also usually assist against Germany in Scandinavia. If Poland gets in strong and early with Russia and is feeling up for it he can even more to Silesia and Prussia in spring, with an excellent chance of grabbing Berlin. Now I'm not saying this is the only way to go for Poland, but inevitably tension does rise between it and Germany in divvying up the SCs below each of them. And so we complete our summary of each country. There is of course a common theme running through all of these and a critical part of any Diplomacy game. Communication. I just don't understand players who don't talk. It's a critical part of the game in both developing trustworthy allies and in spreading misinformation. So make sure you're out there being nice to pretty much everyone while at the same time finding allies you feel comfortable with working in the short, medium and long term. And of course good luck! We'll have our next class after the first lot of spring moves are compete. Class dismissed.

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