``I want it now.... I want it now, not the promises of what
tomorrow brings, I need to live in dreams today; I'm tired
of the song that sorrow sings.''
From ``Nothing Lasts Forever'' off of the most recent
Echo and the Bunnymen record Evergreen.
I'll spare you the details and just say welcome to yet another
``post super issue'' fling of the best little szine in Rhode
Island.
Deadlines will stay on track and I'll try not to forget Mike
Barno or hold the subber and trader issues so long this time.
The postal sub price is a flat $1.00 per issue in the US and Canada, a bargain at twice the price.... but you can double that for other foreign subbers (or $2.00 per issue sent airmail). Players in current games and standbys will continue to get the issues for free, and new game starts (except for Nuclear Yuppie Evil Empire Diplomacy, which is free) cost $15.00 ($10.00 for a life of the game subscription and $5 for the NMR Insurance). Remember that music comments and reviews are scattered through the game press at times.
Check out the connections in the Diplomatic Pouch with all of the information you need to play Diplomacy on the Internet at: http://devel.diplom.org/DipPouch
Through Jamie McQuinn's Postal portion of the Pouch:
http://devel.diplom.org/DipPouch/Postal/Zines/TAP/index.html
the szine resides in html format. Presently, issues from #190 to the current issue are there, and I will be updating the back issues gradually in the near future.
By electronic mail, through the Internet, subs are free and can be obtained automatically by sending the message: subscribe tap
to majordomo of diplom.org and messages can be sent to the entire electronic mailing list by mailing them to tap of diplom.org which will forward your message to all of the people currently on the list. The message:
unsubscribe tap
sent to majordomo of diplom.org gets you off the list. Please make careful note of that as well since you generally can get yourself off the list a lot easier than I can, and NOBODY likes to see unsubscribe messages sent to the entire list. A big, big thank you for David Kovar for setting this all up!! The Cal Tech ftp site is being mirrored on the devel.diplom.org machine as well. Issues of The Abyssinian Prince #131 to #186 are available via anonymous FTP from ftp.ugcs.caltech.edu in the pub/diplomacy/Zines/TAP directory in compressed postscript format. I will be putting all of these issues up in html format at the aforementioned site and more. We'll get all that straightened out soon. The gracious assistance of Kevin Roust is most appreciated in keeping up this site. The files begin ap131.ps.Z and go sequentially from there. The Caltech site is at:
ftp://ftp.ugcs.caltech.edu/pub/diplomacy/WWW/
I've been hunting around for Dan Stafford sayings and have been having a bit of trouble. Dan was not the biggest ``hobbyist'' in the world in the sense of being an active writer. He mostly wrote in games to negotiate. While doing that hunting around, by the way, I did find that Bruce Linsey's ``big'' issue was 170 pages, beating out my puny #200 by pages and pages - yet a good chunk of it was just his houserules. Some of Larry Peery's efforts were larger as well. Still, my recollection of both of those large efforts is that they had lots of filler. Although I reprinted some choice material, it was all carefully chosen and I don't think there was a bit of filler. Everyone's entitled to their opinions of course, but #200 didn't set any official records.
So, Dan Stafford.... what better quote than from his Fall 1905 orders from 1982 HS, the Hotshit, as Germany. These garnered him a build in London as part of a plan with France and Russia to put Paul Rauterberg's England OUT OF THE GAME! Worse yet, the plan worked. How could he be so mean and nasty? That's Dan.... f nth-LON, a SIL S a mun, a MUN h, a vie-GAL, a bel-RUH, f den-BAL, a nwy-SWE, F NWG S RUSSIAN f edi.... shoots to nine centers, build one. Paul, I'll bet you could have done without being reminded of that game.
This is now going to be a regular continuing feature of the szine and I will be introducing a new ``search for'' every five issues. Moreover, you can win a $25 prize for finding some previous target who went unfound in the original $50 period. That means that if Kevin Tighe or Garret Schenck or Jerry Lucas is ``found'' from now on it is worth $25. Plus, Steve Emmert will throw in another ten spot for Garret Schenck if you can get Garret to write to him.
Winners will receive credit for Dip hobby activities that I will pay out as requested by the winner. Bid on PDORA items, subscribe to szines here or abroad, run your own contests, publish a szine, or whatever. Spend it all right away or use me as a bank to cover hobby activities for years. What must you do to win? Get me a letter to the editor for TAP from the person we're searching for. This is very important, just finding them doesn't do it. They have to write me a letter. The final judge as to the winner of any contest will be the target himself and I reserve the right to investigate the winning entry. When you find someone I'm looking for, you should ask him to send me a letter for print that includes a verification of who ``found'' him.
The British representative is the editor of Mission From God, John Harrington. John may be contacted at 30 Poynter Road, Bush Hill Park, Enfield, Middlesex EN1 1DL, UK (johnh of fiendishgames.demon.co.uk). The representives in Australia (John Cain, PO Box 4317, Melbourne University 3052, AUSTRALIA) or Belgium and some other European countries (Jef Bryant, Rue Jean Pauly, 121, B-4430 ANS, BELGIUM) also will forward your subscription on to the editor in either Australian dollars or continental European currencies respectively. Please include the full name and address of the foreign publisher with your order, if possible, as well as the szine title. Make your check in US dollars out to me personally. I will conduct business for Canadians as well, if I can, but prefer to deal in US dollars with them if possible, or Canadian dollars cash. To subscribe to American szines, the system works in reverse.
Obviously, I'm not anywhere close to getting back around to doing international szine reviews, but who knows, I might pick it up again at any time. I still actively am searching for more international traders. In the meantime, there is a newly independent szine from the infamous Tony Dickinson. I have the honor of being the VERY first trader for The Asylum Zone! If any Americans want to play, Tony has a Gunboat game open and you Brits better get on the stick and trade with poor Tony, left adrift by Kim Head's folding of Life's Rich Pageant. Tony may be found at 78 Pontefract Road, Purston, Featherstone, West Yorkshire, UK WF7 5AP. Tony has my kinda attitude toward subs, szines, and especially Chumbawamba! Check him out!! Remind me to talk about Keith Thomasson's szine a little bit next time....
Obscure and not-so-obscure ramblings on the state of the hobby and its publications, custodians, events, and individuals with no guarantee of relevance from the fertile keyboard of Jim-Bob, the E-Mail Dip world, and the rest of the postal hobby. My comments are in italics and ((double quotation marks)) like this. Bold face is used to set off each individual speaker. I should also make a note that I do edit for syntax and spelling on occasion.
Paul Rauterberg (Fri, 10 Apr 1998 21:58:31 -0500)
Jim: I have to hand it to Modern Diplomacy. There is more negotiating going on here than in the rest of my current Dip games combined! Perhaps the email element, and the number of players with email addresses, has something to do with it. Remember, I started looking for variants because I was dissatisfied with the amount of communications being undertaken in the regDip games. I'm happy to have found an outlet for my scheming mind.... In Doug Kent's variant zine Grand Hyatt, I'm currently involved in the worldwide Seven Years' War variant Colonia VII. Out of the nine players in that game, only half are writing (or emailing, or phoning) others, and that half is winning the game! I hope that people can take this lesson to heart.... ((Indeed. I can't stand playing in games where people won't communicate. I try my best to foster the ``right'' kind of game here.))
Eric Brosius (Tue, 21 Apr 1998 17:48:03 -0400)
Jim, I'm looking for some advice. I recently got the music for Beethoven's piano sonatas (in three volumes by the Associated Branch of the Royal School of Music-an expensive edition but an extremely readable one, which is important if one plans to spend a lot of time playing it.) I have been pleased to find that I can almost play some of them, including a recognizable attempt at almost all of Opus 26 in A flat, which is one of my favorite pieces of music.
I realize that it would be a big help to have this music in recorded form by someone who can actually play it. I looked in a local music store, and I'm not sure what version of this I should purchase. I would prefer to get all of the piano sonatas together, rather than a compilation of ``favorites,'' especially since the ones I can play are not likely to match the favorites. (In particular, the ``Moonlight'' is accessible in the first two movements but formidable in the third, and the ``Pathetique'' and ``Appassionata'' are also too hard for me.) I would also prefer an edition in which the music is played in a straightforward fashion, and one in which I can hear what is being played.
I suspect you or your readers may be able to make suggestions. I realize that I can listen to some of this music in the store, but on the whole it's a lot of listening and I'd like some direction before I start out. I'd appreciate any comments.
((I've noticed a tendency that when I answer a question in the szine it tends to shut off further answers. I DEMAND that some of YOU send me some answers to this question. Then, I will offer my opinions. The gauntlet is dropped. If I don't hear from anyone at all, I'm folding.))
Steve Emmert (Mon, 20 Apr 1998 10:27:12 -0500)
Yikes! NPR! No!
Jim-Bob, are you saying that the deadline was Saturday? ((Yes.)) If so, then I think I've NMRed, too. But no, now that I look at the zine again, I see that it's just for builds, and (sob!) I don't get none o' them. So press it is.
((Heh, heh, heh, do you think I got anyone's attention with my note above? You might have a comment or two on Mr. Beethoven. And thanks for the press.... and this letter.))
And I still haven't given you my desert island disc list. ((No, you haven't.))
1. Vince Guaraldi, A Charlie Brown Christmas. Some nice jazz throughout, but mostly for the versions of ``Greensleeves" and, of course, ``Linus and Lucy."
2. Pat Metheny Group, Letter From Home. The best jazz recording in my collection, better even than Miles Davis's Seven Steps to Heaven.
3. Rigoletto, with Cesare Siepi as Sparafucil. Now THAT man is a bass. This opera has one of the most famous arias in all of classical music, ``La Donna e Mobile," and Act I, scene 2 is an unparallelled bass-baritone/bass duet.
4. The Deutsche Grammophon release of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. (Gee, that makes two ostensibly Christmas pieces.) So many memorable tunes are in this ballet. It breaks my heart to leave out Wagner's Die Walkure, but something's gotta give, and I ain't leaving for no damn island without some Pëtr Ilich.
5. and 6. Two live rock recordings, The Allman Brothers Band Live at Fillmore East, and Deep Purple's Made in Japan. The Allmans did some wonderful jazz/blues fusion, and ``In Memory of Elizabeth Reed'' is, in my view, the best instrumental in this genre. Made in Japan does NOT include ``Woman from Tokyo," but has just seven tunes on four album sides. Do the math; there's some serious jamming. Twenty minutes of the best Purple tune, ``Space Truckin'." I almost included another live recording, Raunch 'n' Roll by Black Oak Arkansas, for two reasons: A fabulous guitar duet in ``When Electricity came to Arkansas," and since I bet no one ever submitted a single Black Oak recording since you started this thing. ((You are absolutely correct, sir!)) But alas! there's no room for Jim Dandy and the boys.
7. Regatta de Blanc by the Police is my favorite Cop album. It doesn't have my favorite of their tunes (``When the World Is Running Down . . ." from Zenyatta Mondatta) and isn't as raw as their first album, but it's an hour of consistently good music. 8. (Sigh.) I can't have any more? Then give me Blind Faith. This wins narrowly over two Traffic albums, John Barleycorn Must Die and The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys. The title track to the last one is probably my favorite rock tune, but with the exception of ``Hidden Treasure," there just isn't enough else on the album. Blind Faith, by comparison, is comprised entirely of keepers. This list assumes that I'll be able to take my wife with me to the island. If not, I'll substitute the recording (Arabesque) of Mendelssohn's Die Erste Walpurgisnacht on which she appears. The others are just music, but there is no substitute for the sound of my wife's voice.
And now I have to mourn at what I leave behind: There's no English Beat, so I'll just have to keep humming ``Dream Home in New Zealand" to myself. No Chuck Berry, no Muddy Waters, no ``Magnificent Seven" by the Clash, no ``Fingerprint File" or ``Monkey Man" by the Stones. Seal's ``Crazy" and the New Bohemians' ``What I Am" will be dim memories. No ZZTop? What was I thinking??? I have to go back and rewrite this whole list now. How 'bout if I just take eight DOZEN discs with me? Huh?
I didn't realize how hard it would be to compile that desert island disc list. Driving to work this morning, I realized that I also left out Mozart, Monk, Debussy, Brubeck, Led Zeppelin - AAARRRRGH! Eight dozen. That's about the minimum.
Thanks again for the dreaded NPR warning. Best wishes.
John Harrington (Thu, 02 Apr 1998 11:33)
Jim, Finally finished TAP over the week-end. Made me feel rich to think of all the money I had saved not being as keen on music as you are. Then again, think of all the musical experiences I have missed out on. ((As I type this, I look at the wall full of vinyl, estimated about 3000 records.... then downstairs are most of the CD's - at least 500 of those.))
There seem to be a lot of Anglophiles - at least in terms of music - among your readership. Who'd have thought the Beat would still be referred to so often well over a decade past their hey-day? In Britain although they were a successful band they always ranked behind the big 2: Madness and the Specials. I wouldn't say they are forgotten but if they are remembered at all it is largely because they gave birth to the Fine Young Cannibals and one of the most irritating vocalists the world of pop has ever endured, namely Roland Gift. He sings like his gums have been anaesthetised. ((You got it exactly right. Madness and the Specials [the latter has a great new album out!] are quite remarkable bands too, but the Beat had Sax.))
Anyway, Dave Wakeling (guitarist/singer) with the Beat has got a new band called BANG! which is supposed to be more in the vein of the Beat than was his other band, General Public.
My most memorable ska moment was being downstairs at a party when they played ``Night Train to Cairo" by Madness. A room full of about 40 people stomping away simultaneously upstairs don't half put the fear of god in you; I'm amazed the floorboards held out.
Pete Duxon (19/3/98)
[CDs playing - Equation: Hazy Daze; Sundays: Blind; Karen Matheson: The Dreaming Place]
Dear Boob, Well, the smallish issue of TAP arrived today. Congrats on making 200.
So where does one start? Fun S01 adjudication for Arsenic and Old Farts. I would love to have seen the diplomacy for that. ((It was a bit wild.)) Will the Boob fail to build as France!! ((Yes.)) Why do Yanks always open to the channel as England?! ((We don't.)) I'm pleased you're printing the reports as I'm sure it's going to be amusing.
I'm sure it wasn't me who put you on to Ferrick. Surely Mark Wightman? ((I believe that is correct. Sorry about the brain fart. You Brits all look alike.... hyork, hyork, hyork!)) Who will be wetting himself with jealousy if you haven't sent him a copy of Ferrick's new album. ((I presume he found it himself. He hasn't mentioned it to me.))
If you were so desperate to know about the Brooke song you should have emailed me. ((I listen to cassettes mostly in the car. I haven't wired myself into the Internet from my car and am unlikely to do so in the future. It kept slipping my mind to E-Mail you about it.)) It is a great song, isn't it? I got it from a tribute album to Laura Nyro. Lots of girls (Vega, Brooke, Siberry, one of the Roches, etc. etc.) recording Nyro songs. I first came across Brooke as part of the story and for some reason I've got none of her solo stuff (HMV here I come!). Anyway I should have emailed you by the time you get this. ((The email appeared last issue, of course.))
The British hobby is in a bit of turmoil at the moment with some major folds. Life's Rich Pageant was the one that really surprised me. ((Not me, although I had hopes I was wrong.))
The latest from the US front in Western Front is one Dennis Cain complaining that America pays too much heed to world opinion. ((What??!!)) He was referring to the Tokyo pollution summit. Strikes me as odd really how the US can complain when it has 5% of the population and 20-25% of the pollution. ((Oh, but if you count on the Invisible Hand to control such equilibria and value personal choice over societal benefit it is really easy for many individuals to end up there. Your use of the term ``the US'' doesn't make any sense to me in this context. You don't hear that opinion from the President or Vice President, nor is it universally held in the population. People in the US DO optimistically count on technology to solve the pollution problem before it kills us all. In general, pollution is much lower in the US than it was 30 years ago.)) I have the feeling that Mr. Cain is of the ``nuke the bastards'' philosophy. Oddly one W.F. subber was prepared to indulge in a bit of anti-American Rhetoric. Guess who? Anyway, Brad Martin is next on my list!
As you know (?) I don't have access to email direct and one of my colleagues sends it out for me (I send it to him via the mainframe). ((Actually, no, I didn't know that.)) When I sent you the email asking for info on US voting rights I got the response from him ``Pete after living in the US for 3 years, I found few Americans who had interest in the rest of the world.'' ((This generally is true, but there are pockets of interest and New England tends to be one of them. Lately, I haven't been listening to the BBC World Service as much as I used to, but I still try to catch at least the headlines every day.))
The Erin McKeown sounds interesting but no way for me to get a copy (uh hum). ((Oh, stop that, when I get a chance, I do intend to get a few extra copies of her tape and you are on the list of people to which I want to pop them off.)) Sarah McLachlan, like Jonatha Brooke, is someone I like but haven't bought recently. How about shoving the McKeown/Ferrick on a tape for me and Wightman. Actually I've got a couple of McLachlan albums upstairs....
Who is this Mr. Duxon character John Schultz is on about? Oh me! C'mon, John, I'm meant to be the stuffy formal one. I'm well aware of my country's history. There are many things I'm not proud of. My beef against the US is not that it has flaws but that some of your countrymen believe that America is the most perfect country in the world and that God made it so. ((Hang on a second there, I think you're twisting the VERY common result that if you ask Americans if there is any place in the world they'd rather live than here, they say no. Even I say no to that question. That is NOT the same thing as saying this is the most perfect country (polls would show we DON'T think that). As for the God part? I'd have to think about that more, but don't think you have a point there either. You also have to remember how diverse this country is. I believe that there is more diversity in the US than in the EU. This most emphatically does not make us perfect, but it does mean you can find many, many, many things here.)) I think I made the point to Brent McKee once that the US reminds me of Britain at the height of Empire (Look at what the British did in India for goodness sake). I have great fun tweaking some American noses but mostly it's good natured. ((I know.)) I'm aware that there are a lot of race attacks especially in British cities. I suppose I was making the old people in glass houses comment. However, I've been chatting to a guy at work who is Hong Kong Chinese by descent and some of what happened with passports sounds out of order to me. ((Do you now agree with what Brad Wilson and I were saying last year?))
Rich Goranson's recommendation for Capercaillie reminded me to ask you if I stuck a Karen Matheson track on the tape? It's a cracker. ((No, you didn't!))
The irritating thing of reading this TAP was all the music I'm going to have to put in the car or bring downstairs. I really need to win the lottery so I can move to the New Forest or the Wye Valley and spend a year with my hifi and a stack of books. I'll be in the car for 3 hours or so Saturday so I'll load some tapes into the car. ((I think those locations were lost on us over here, but great! Good to put pressure on your wallet. Any time...))
Bloody hell, the teletubbies getting a mention in TAP!! ((Why not? It's a little bit surrealistic and trippy and so are we here.)) Apparently it's unsuitable for American kids as everyone is nice to everyone in Teletubby Land and the real world is nasty. Weird. Maybe I should send you a copy of the Tubbies single. Better lyrics than Chumbawamba for one. Tony Dickinson is now foaming at the mouth. ((Me too! Tubbies talk is silly baby talk, as you know. I kinda like the Chums lyrics. Teletubbies have been sweeping the country in certain circles here. Strangely, as far as I understand, it has not generated that much protest except among the ``ultraliberal'' set since it is appearing on our ``public television''.))
Well, we've had our first full Labour budget for 20 years! Well it wasn't socialist! This for the benefit of most of your US leaders is the British use of socialist. The American use is communist, I believe. Given I work for a company that sells stock market investments I could sense palpable relief. Hard to know what to call it really, there was a risk I'd get hit on one or two things but I can still afford to sub. Hell, I did vote for them, actually they could have been a bit more radical. Really.
Well, time to get a cup of tea and take a train Journey through Mexico with Mr. Theroux. When is ish 300 planned?
((Basically, I publish 16 or 17 issues a year pretty consistently. Thus, it will take about six years, or early 2004, should do it.))
Mike Barno (3/18/98)
Hi Jim! I have to disagree with you: George Washington was very important, maybe even ``saved democracy'', albeit not through the military campaigns he led. I refer to two occasions. The first came when his troops, owed back pay, wanted to march on the government, seize its assets, ((What assets!!!???)) and install Washington as king; he dissuaded them. The second occasion was at the war end, when he set up the order of the Cincinnati and encouraged military leaders to return to their civilian lives, leading by example. Had he allowed himself to be swept by the tide in either case, had he set himself up as another Napoleon, the democratic experiment probably would never have gotten off the ground, and might have been written off worldwide as being infeasible. ((Absolutely correct. I was certainly aware of those events, and should have given them the weight which you did. The debate, if you recall, though was about the quality of military leaders and I was taking a ``standard'' approach to evaluating their performance in war. You properly were taking account of the bigger military picture.))
77 Dusty Springfield songs? I'll skip the issue where you do that review, but I did enjoy ``Son of a Preacher Man'' when it was reissued on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, one of the more diverse collections out there. ((I won't debate you at length, but I think you'd be surprised at the breadth and depth of those 77 songs. It even surprised me and I was prepared for a good chunk of it.))
I'm amazed that you called some classical-crossover music ``disgusting'' for being ``pretty, but vapid''. Doesn't that characterize a lot of the music on your lists? ((Of course it does, but I would make two points. (1) Put any classical-crossover record of your choice up against any pretty pop record of my choice. Play them for a third party, I'll bet the pop record sounds better, touches emotions cleaner, and probably even is less vapid. I'd probably choose the Sundays record from last year. I'd judge it myself as well, openly, using my ears. But, in general, I know who would win. (2) The training of classical musicians tends to be VERY exacting. I know about this first hand from being an undergraduate at Rochester and hanging out at the Eastman School of Music. Pop music that is played TOO precisely, without enough loose flexibility is, of course, too tight. I listen to classical music to hear classical music and pop music to hear pop music. I'm willing to be flexible. I, as an example, like Wynton Marsalis' interpretations of classical horn works. Finally, what I was really thinking about was opera singers. They are trained to sing in a particular way that I think generally does not illuminate most pop music.))
Hey, there's my name in print (Tom Nash's letter). Got a bit of that Captain Beefheart album (just the title cut) on a compilation tape a friend put together.
((Thanks, Mike! That's it for this issue....))
``I have never learned ... to play the lyre, but I know how to make a small and obscure city rich and great." (Themistocles, in Plutarch's Lives.)
If you want to submit orders, press, or letters by E-Mail, you can find me through the Internet system at ``burgess of world.std.com''. If anyone has an interest in having an E-Mail address listed so people can negotiate with you by computer, just let me know. FAX orders to (401) 277-9904.
Standby lists: Mike Barno, John Breakwell, Dick Martin, Brad Wilson, Jack McHugh, Glenn Petroski, Steve Emmert, Mark Kinney, Vince Lutterbie, Eric Brosius, Doug Kent, Paul Rauterberg, Doug Essinger-Hileman, Stan Johnson, Harry Andruschak, Dave Partridge, Andy York, Michael Pustilnik, and John Schultz stand by for regular Diplomacy. Mike Barno and Andy York stand by for the Colonial Diplomacy game. Let me know if you want on or off the list. Standbies get the szine for free and receive my personal thanks. I'd really appreciate it if anyone wanted to be added to the list.
Conrad von Metzke recently finished GMing a black hole game where you can freely jump over black holes instead of having them render spaces impassible. I played in this game and like the tactics of jumping over the black holes a great deal. Now there the black holes were random, but what would happen if you could plan them? The next NYEED game will feature this rule change and will be a 7x7 tourney format unless I am convinced otherwise. I am itching to get this game started, so it will start as soon as it is filled! You get a life of game sub, and the game itself is FREE!! Sandy Kenny, Mike Barno, and John Schultz are signed up. Off an offhanded suggestion in the NYEED press, we'll call it Nelson Mandela. Just four more and we'll get started! Come on, this one will be REALLY exciting!!
I also would really like to open a game of Breaking Away. Is there any interest at all?? Well, John Schultz and the game's designer John Harrington are interested. Others?? You don't need to own the game to play, I'm going to use Keith Thomasson's house rules that include the ``how to play the game.'' I printed Keith's rules a few issues back, but some of the shaded parts didn't reproduce properly. I'll print the rules properly if I get a bit more interest in the game. I thank John Harrington for encouraging me in this.
Otherwise Conrad von Metzke is the editor and publisher of Pontevedria, the game openings listing, if you're interested in other game openings. Send Conrad a SASE for the latest issue to: Conrad von Metzke, 4374 Donald Avenue, San Diego, CA 92117.
WATCH THE GAME NOTES, GUYS, THEY'RE THERE FOR YOU!
THE DUE DATE FOR WINTER 1994 IS MAY 9TH, 1998
THE DUE DATE FOR SPRING 1995 IS MAY 30TH, 1998
Autumn 1994
BRITAIN (Johnson): starts with f EDI, f GIB, f LIV, f LON.
EGYPT (J. O'Donnell): starts with f ALE, a ASW, f CAI.
FRANCE (Andruschak): starts with f BOR, a LYO, a MAR, a PAR.
GERMANY (Rauterberg): starts with f BER, a FRA, f HAM, a MUN.
ITALY (Ozog): starts with a MIL, f NAP, a ROM, f VEN.
POLAND (Sasseville): starts with f GDA, a KRA, a WAR.
RUSSIA (Goranson): starts with a GOR, a MOS, a MUR, f ROS, f STP.
SPAIN (S. O'Donnell): starts with f BAR, a MAD, a SVE.
TURKEY (Pollard): starts with a ADA, f ANK, f IZM, a IST.
UKRAINE (Partridge): starts with a KHA, a KIE, a ODE, f SEV.
Addresses of the Participants
BRITAIN: Jonas Johnson, 3649 SE 33rd Ave., Portland, OR 97202, (503) 238-4430 ($5)
EcidLor of aol.com
EGYPT: Jeff O'Donnell, 402 Middle Ave., Elyria, OH 44035-5728, (440) 322-2920 ($5)
FRANCE: Harry Andruschak, PO Box 5309, Torrance, CA 90510-5309, (310) 835-9202 ($5)
GERMANY: Paul Rauterberg, 3116 W. American Dr., Greenfield, WI 53221, (414) 281-2339 (E-Mail)
prosit of execpc.com
ITALY: Eric Ozog, PO Box 1138, Granite Falls, WA 98252-1138, (360) 691-4264 ($5)
elferic of lycosmail.com
POLAND: Roland Sasseville, Jr., 38 Bucklin Street, Pawtucket, RI 02861, (401) 722-4029 ($5)
Djrolandb of aol.com
RUSSIA: Rich Goranson, 10 Hertel Avenue #208, Buffalo, NY 14207-2532, (716) 876-9374 ($5)
ForlornH of aol.com
SPAIN: Sean O'Donnell, 126 S. Park, Oberlin, OH 44074, (440) 774-2928 ($5)
sean_o_donnell of hotmail.com
TURKEY: Kent Pollard, Box 491, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190, ($5)
UKRAINE: Dave Partridge, 15 Elmer Drive, Nashua, NH 03062-1722, (603) 882-3523 ($5)
rebhuhn of rocketmail.com
Game Notes:
1) As is traditional in getting games started in this szine, you get three deadlines to get acquainted. Both of those Autumn and Winter deadlines will accept press. The first moves are due with Spring on Memorial Day weekend. Note that puts the deadline on World DipCon weekend. I will probably be there and not work on the szine until I return. I last printed the house rules a few issues ago when I started Show Me the Money. I can E-Mail or Mail them to anyone who needs to see them.
2) The above game note is repeated from last time. Note the May 30th deadline is when the first actual ORDERS are due. This gave you two months to get acquainted. I find that giving that time to get started is crucial in getting a game off on the right foot. I've heard that lots of negotiating took off right from the start. Keep up the good work!
3) Standbys for this game are the three who didn't get into the game: Brad Wilson, Jack McHugh, and Paul Kenny; plus John Schultz.
4) To just the players, I have tried to blow up the map and give you a better map, but this is the best I have and the best I can do. I will take input on getting higher quality maps from somewhere.
Press:
(THE MEKONS QUOTE OF THE MONTH): ``Late at night sitting at the bar revulsion shuddering thru your body as you try to recall who it was and what you said - knowing you've talked too much once again...'' from the album quote on Slightly South of the Border.
(KREMLIN-BOOB): In order to preserve musical integrity and also to prevent you from throwing me out of the game, I shall decline to provide the Greg Lake quotes that I was planning on doing for this game. ((Forgive me if I don't plead on my hands and knees for you to reconsider... how about Anthony Phillips quotes such as the lyrics from ``Regrets''... ``Regrets, our secret cemeteries, where loves and loss are silently lain. The dream is fading faster now, and soon you'll slip beyond my recall....'')) Thank you. ((You're welcome.))
(RUSSIA-UKRAINE): And don't you start with the musical quotes either.
(SPAIN to BRITAIN): I must be a disgrace to my Irish ancestors. I hope I get tarred and feathered cause it sounds like fun.
(RUSSIA-POLAND): Now behave...
(SPAIN to FRANCE): Snake for Poles but they don't Bite with a snakish graham, the difference is that we need it down or we all go eat the snake and all without much at stake. It is quick, good and hard to see but if he gets past me we all shall be punished by thee.
(ANDRUSCHAK-GM): The map in Diplomacy World #83 was only a half page and very hard to read. The full page map in TAP #201 (which I received on 6 April 1998) is better, but still a hard squint for me. OK, so I have failing eyesight and all that. ((Sorry, I'm giving it another shot this time, but I don't have a great source, so reproduction never is perfect.)) So, what I would like to know is if SOMEBODY in your great TAP readership, either the hard copy or the internet version, might be able to print up a large size version of the map, sort of 11x17 inches or something like that and send it to me. I'd be quite happy to pay some sort of fee for this service, and it would be a big help. ((How's this one? It is an 11x17 blow up of my original off the Internet, I can do no better with what I have.)) Having said that, I did re-read the article on Modern Diplomacy, peered at the map, and started plotting strategies. Since you were assigning the countries at random, I could not ask for France, Germany, or Ukraine, the three weaklings of this variant, (I DO like challenges) yet ``Andruschak'' is a Ukrainian name, after all, and it would have been fun to represent it in this TAP game. (And being half Scots, I am very pleased to see ``England'' renamed ``Britain'', as it should have been in the original version.) ((I am also half Ukrainian, but the half NOT represented by my name, as should be rather obvious. My mother's family came from the Austrian part of Ukraine... which is known, of course, as all Diplomacy players know, as Galicia. The ``Burgess'' part might be part Scots, although I'm not entirely sure about the genealogy of that part of the family.)) But France is what I have actually been assigned. Now... what can I do for you in the way of thanks? How about some good old GM ABUSE!!! ((Why not, get your points in... but why? What did I do now??)) Reason? We need a reason? Since when did we need a reason? OK, here is a reason; you spelled it ``whiskey'', which implies that wimpy american stuff like bourbon, as opposed to REAL ``whisky'' like Scotch. ((I assure you that the Mekons are ALL Brit. It's their spelling I'm using. As should have been obvious from my previous comments on the subject, the Mekons are using whiskey impressionistically in its original sense as the ``water of life'', not at all implying a specific distilled spirit. I always forget the Gaelic word from which it was derived, but I remember what it means.)) So I give you that King of the French Salutes... ``le bras d'honneur''... (literally, gesture of esteem, respect, homage)... followed by a Bronx Cheer for not knowing how to count. ((Huh, count? Count what??)) I mean, I understand that today's kids are graduating from High School unable to read, write, or do arithmatic, ((sic, or spell...)) but really now, can't you kids even count up to three? In the game ``Arsenic and Old Farts'' you have three SCs; Portugal, Brest, and Marseilles. You have three units on the board. You do NOT have Paris as a SC. No builds for you. And Terry is just as bad for not realizing that the Army in Paris entitles Germany to THREE builds. ``What do they teach kids in school these days?'' ((What???!!! Yeah, so what? Germany is indeed doubling up on me in the first year. All the mathematics are correct.)) Now some questions. We start this variant with 38 Home Supply Centers. How many Neutral Supply Centers are there, and how many Supply Centers are required for a win? I keep trying to count them but the small size of the map makes it confusing. ((True, there are about 64 centers in total and more than half are required for the win. If I counted right, then 33 centers would be required for the win. I'm not sure I did count right though.... boy, that is difficult. Whatever, we'll worry about how many centers someone needs to win later.)) Next, Modern Diplomacy is supposed to have a large following in the PBEM hobby. Has anyone been keeping statistics as to how the games end? If so, what are the win percentages for the ten countries? The draw percentages? What is the average length of games in terms of game years? Curious minds want to know. ((Someone want to answer that? The data is out there in cyberspace, but lately stats have been hard to come by as Nick Fitzpatrick has scaled down his hobby involvement.)) Moving on to uour ``Vocabulary Time'', the ``bitter end'' is the end of the rope or cable that is wound around a bitt. A ``bitt'' is a vertical post set on the deck of a ship and used to secure ropes and cables. ``15 men on the Dead Men's Chest, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.'' Avast, ye landlubber... when I was sailing on the MANDALAY, the Captain asked us to hoist the fishermen. What did we do to follow these orders? ((Huh? I'm going to hang onto that inboard end of the anchor rope that's wrapped around the bitt and scream for all I'm worth!!)) Finally, a sad request. I wish to be taken off the waiting list for the next NYEED game. I know you are anxious to get it started, but I think it would be best if it started without me. I need to devote my Copious Spare Time to the Modern Diplomacy game. There is no way I could give the NYEED the proper attention it deserves. ((Done. I do understand. It'll start when it starts.))
(RUSSIA-ELECTRONICALLY CHALLENGED TURKEY/EGYPT/FRANCE): I'm sending letters sometime during the week. I promise not to ignore you three. You know, I work at the post office and they STILL won't give me free stamps. And after all the suffering I do for them!
(ANDRUSCHAK-ALL OTHER PLAYERS): Welcome, and I hope we have a fun game with plenty of GM abuse, entertaining press, lots of GM abuse, the joy of Diplomacy, and (of course) heaps of GM abuse. However, be warned that I am not often at home if you want to phone me. I rarely use the phone since I'm too cheap. I do have an answering machine, and I do screen all calls. (A legacy from problems with the local sci-fi club.) I am usually home tuesday and thursday nights, 7-9 PM PDT. Other nights are likely to see me at AA meetings or out socializing. (One of the results of not having a TV set for over a dozen years is an active social life.) Never call after 9PM Pacific Daylight Savings Time, the phone is always turned off at 9PM.
(RUSSIA-BRITAIN): Haven't I seen you somewhere before?
(SPAIN to BOARD): I am waiting to see who is my first likely kill next year right now I want to build so better make way for the king of all the teenagers in this variant. (This is the smallest kingdom that I have ever known.) (RUSSIA-SPAIN): Guantanamera?
(RUSSIA-THE REST [AKA THE PROFESSOR AND MARY ANN]): Sorry, I've run out of my cleverness quotient for this month. Stick pins next time...
(SPAIN to UKRAINE): Jack be cunning jack be quick otherwise the ginger will catch up quick.
(ANDRUSCHAK-BURGESS): Returning to an old topic, it is DEUTERONOMY 19:15 that insists on 2 or 3 eyewitnesses. I have a hunch that 100% of those who want to quote the Bible as the source for killing homosexuals will try to ignore this inconvenient lay. Well, yes, to find 2 or 3 independent eyewitnesses to an actual act of homosexuality is quite a task. And DEUTERONOMY 19:16-21 make it quite clear what the punishment for bearing false witness is to be.
(GREG LAKE QUOTE OF THE MONTH): ``Confusion shall be my epitaph..." from ``Epitaph'' (with King Crimson, 1969)
(RUSSIA-BOOB): SO I LIED!!!!!!! It's Diplomacy. It's required...
(BOOB to RUSSIA): Who's Greg Lake?
(ANDRUSCHAK-BURGESS): I should mention that the two classical music radio stations in Los Angeles seem to be doing well enough in spite of occasional stabs at each other. KKGO-FM, the commercial station, began to announce itself as ``your classical music station without all the talk'', a snide comment on KUSC-FM's programming. This included the one hour every evening when KUSC simulcasted the LEHRER NEWS HOUR. Why rebroadcast something that is on TV? ((Isn't it obvious? To catch those commuters who want to hear it in their cars. Radio is organized primarily to capture car listeners.... he writes before reading the next sentence...)) The argument was that it was needed for those who might want to hear the newshour 6:30pm to 7:30pm but were driving home in the LA freeway traffic. Duh, like video recorders couldn't tape it for those who wanted it? So KUSC reluctantly axed the newshour. It now programs music all evening except for a half hour of news starting at 7PM. ((Hmmm, OK.)) KUSC also had 4 hours of programs, 10AM-2PM, that featured lots of talk. Interviews, comment, patter, all designed on the belief that you needed lots of chatter to bring new listeners to classical music. It didn't work and only annoyed the dedicated listeners, as well as giving KKGO some excuses for snide comments. So that got axed. ((The speed of changes, amazes.)) And yet... there is still the matter of trying to expand the audience for classical music. How? Dumbing down the product doesn't work, ``crossover'' stuff doesn't last, talky talky shows fail. Commercial KKGO just plugs away with nothing but classical music and hopes for the best. It has enough of a sophisticated audience to keep the advertisers happy. Poor Listener Supported KUSC has cut back on the talk but still feels the need for some programming other than straight classical music, especially on weekends. Fund drives are frequent. ((Yup.)) NOW, just to show that I can and do go slumming on occasion, I am happy to announce the return of THE DOCTOR DEMENTO SHOW to the Los Angeles radio scene after a silence lasting over one year. By the time you read this, he will be broadcasting LIVE on KLSX-FM (97.1), Sunday 8-10PM. I hope it works out. I do appreciate good novelty songs. I also agree with the bumper sticker I once saw that read ``Rap is to music as etch-a-sketch is to Art.''
THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1902 IS MAY 9TH, 1998
Summer 1902
BRITAIN (Johnson): has a PUN, a HYD, f GOM, f HK, f SIN,
a KAM, f KAR, f CEY, a BEN, f SCS, f MAL.
CHINA (Goranson): has a SHA, f NAN, a TIB, a URU, a MAY, a ASS, a CHU, a MAC.
FRANCE (Sasseville): has a TON, a CAN, a RAN, f FOR.
HOLLAND (Desper): has f SIO, f BOR, a SUM, f JS, f CS.
JAPAN (Dwyer): has a KYO, f OS, f YS, f SOJ, a VLA.
RUSSIA (Williams): has a BAKU, a AKM, a KRA, a AFG, a FUS, f P.ART, a tas-KAG, f BS.
TURKEY (Tallman): has f PG, f MED, a EGY, f RS, f SHI.
Addresses of the Participants
BRITAIN: Jonas Johnson, 3649 SE 33rd Ave., Portland, OR 97202, (503) 238-4430 ($5)
EcidLor of aol.com
CHINA: Rich Goranson, 10 Hertel Avenue #208, Buffalo, NY 14207-2532, (716) 876-9374 ($5)
ForlornH of aol.com
FRANCE: Roland Sasseville, Jr., 38 Bucklin Street, Pawtucket, RI 02861, (401) 722-4029 ($5)
Djrolandb of aol.com
HOLLAND: Rick Desper, 34 Woodbridge Avenue, Highland Park, NJ 08904, (908) 985-0654. (E-Mail)
desper of math.rutgers.edu
JAPAN: Luke Dwyer, 49 Middlesex Drive, Slingerlands, NY 12159, (518) 439-5796 ($4)
RUSSIA: Don Williams, 27505 Artine Drive, Saugus, CA 91350, (805) 297-3947 ($4)
wllmsfmly of earthlink.net
TURKEY: Terry Tallman, 3805 SW Lake Flora Road, Port Orchard, WA 98367, (360) 874-0386 ($0)
ttallman of linknet.kitsap.lib.wa.us
GM: Jim-Bob Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327, (401) 351-0287
Game Notes:
1) What??
Press:
(CHINA-BRITAIN [AKA THE TIM RICE QUOTE OF THE MONTH]): ``Whip up your hate in some tottering state, but not here dear. Is that clear, dear?" - ``Waltz for Eva and Che'' from Evita
(CHINA-HOLLAND): Good luck on the job hunt. I have an opening for you in Singapore.
(JAPAN - RUSSIA AND CHINA): I plan to stop somewhere, your actions will determine where and when.
(CHINA-JAPAN): Hey! I haven't attacked you. I've just helped prevent you from crawling all over my centres. You had your chance to move in the cheap dots in the south. Now the gruesome twosome have them. Don't blame me.
(CHINA-FRANCE): Apparently you are right and I am dead. But the chicken is still good!!!
(CHINA-RUSSIA): Die roll 4: Mud. All units in Russian territory have their movement halved for this turn. That must be the problem.
(CHINA-TURKEY): 'Bout time you got here...
THE DUE DATE FOR SPRING 1909 IS MAY 9TH, 1998
Autumn and Winter 1908
AUSTRIA (Ellis): has a TYO, a SER, a BOH, a TRI, f ION.
ENGLAND (Pollard): has f TUN.
FRANCE (Dwyer): bld a par; has a PAR, f NTH, a HOL, f TYH,
f NWG, f LON, a EDI, f BAR, a RUH, a BUR.
GERMANY (Emmert): has a VIE.
RUSSIA (Sherwood): R f edi otb, f hol-HEL; bld f stp(nc), a war; has f STP(NC), a WAR,
a MOS, a NWY, a SIL, a GAL, f SMY, a BUD, f SWE, a MUN, a RUM, f GRE, a KIE, f HEL,
a BUL, a BER, f AEG.
Addresses of the Participants
AUSTRIA: Randy Ellis, #1 Flamingo Lodge Highway, Flamingo, FL 33034-6798 ($10)
Effective 5/1/98: Randy Ellis, General Delivery, Lake, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190
ENGLAND: Kent Pollard, Box 491, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190, ($5)
FRANCE: Luke Dwyer, 49 Middlesex Drive, Slingerlands, NY 12159, (518) 439-5796 ($4)
GERMANY: Steve Emmert, 1752 Grey Friars Chase, Virginia Beach, VA 23456, (757) 471-1842
SEMMERT of city.virginia-beach.va.us ITALY: Mark Kinney, 3613 Coronado Drive, Louisville, KY 40241, (502) 426-8165
alberich of iglou.com
RUSSIA: Keith Sherwood, 8873 Pipestone Way, San Diego, CA 92129, (619) 484-8367 ($4)
ksher of cts.com or Keith_Sherwood of Intuit.com TURKEY: Roland Sasseville, Jr., 38 Bucklin Street, Pawtucket, RI 02861, (401) 722-4029 ($3) GM: Jim-Bob Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327, (401) 351-0287
Game Notes:
1) Note Randy Ellis' approaching address change.... gee, haven't we seen one like that before??
2) The DIAS FAGER draw is proposed for Spring votes. If you fail to vote, the draw is vetoed.
Press:
(TRIESTE): Capitalizing on the power vacuum since Von Steuben's departure, militant Marxist-Leninists seized power in the current capital of Austria-Hungary. A smiling Bolshevik identifying himself only as ``V. Lenin'', his face eerily lighted by the mound of burning banker's bodies to his right, quipped ``there just might be a few changes around here.'' The remnants of the Austro-Hungarian army has reportedly pledged support to the new regime.
(CZAR to HIMSELF): All that I deserved for getting conservative.
(TRIESTE to PARIS): Latest letter received... you will be hearing from me in early May/late April.
(CZAR to FORMER BUTLER): To the contrary, when I noticed I was no longer interested in communicating, that's when I stabbed everyone, so I would have no allies. Really, with whom do you suggest I try to gain ``prestige" by writing? What would I say? Isn't being arrogant and taunting in the press enough?
(SKYWALKER - SHERWOOD): Well, I did not take two of yours but I prevented you from winning by taking two SC's you had. I challenge you to be a real man and take a SC in the north! It is even at 17 apiece, but I feel the tide will switch in the alliance's favor. By the way, I never NMR.
(CZAR to FORMER BUTLER): By the way, you're fired. Again.
(ELLIS to WORLD): I thought I'd get in one more COA before this game ends. Indeed, I expect to get in one more after this one.... it's good to be headed back to the mountains.
(SD to VB): Glad to hear you bought my product. How did you like it? Did you try electronic filing (really my product)?
(ELLIS to BARNO): So how is it to be back in Endwell/Endicott?? I am, of course, headed back north. I might even have convinced this pale, rather gothic brunette who likes taking photographs of roadkills to go up there with me. ((Lots of roadkills on the way, and I would think lots more interesting ones and larger ones in the mountain climes. Don't see no hoary marmots down there in the swamp.)) Even if she returns to Virginia instead, we're having lots of fun right now.
(SD to VOCAB BUILDER): It is well known that the term ``bitter end" came about in 18th century England to describe sodomy, as in ``He prefers blokes and the bitter end." Keep this in mind, opponents of Russia, when you vow how far you will fight.
(BOOB to SKYWALKER): You got that one straight now???
(JIM-BOB to BOOB): Boo, hiss, boo, hiss!!! I'm with Harry in Fear and Whiskey!!!
THE DUE DATE FOR WINTER 1909 IS MAY 9TH, 1998
THE DUE DATE FOR SPRING 1910 IS MAY 30TH, 1998
Fall 1909
ENGLAND (Lowrey): a HOL S FRENCH a ruh-kie, f IRI-mid, f BAR S a stp, f nth-DEN,
f SWE S f nth-den, a STP h.
FRANCE (Rauterberg): a bur-BEL, a ruh-KIE, f SPA(SC) h, f WES-mid,
a TYO-mun, a VEN-tyo.
GERMANY (Kent): a BOH-mun, a ukr S a lvn-mos (d ann), a lvn-MOS,
a SIL S a boh-mun, a WAR S a lvn-mos, f den-HEL, a MUN-kie.
RUSSIA (Williams): a SEV-ukr. TURKEY (Sherwood): a bul-SER, a con-BUL, a RUM S a gal-ukr, a gal-UKR,
f BLA S RUSSIAN a sev (otm), a bud-GAL, f ADR S a tri, f ROM h, a VIE S a bud-gal,
f TUN-tyh, a TRI S a vie, f ION-tyh.
Supply Center Chart
| ENGLAND (Lowrey): | edi,lvp,lon,swe,nwy,stp,den,hol | (has 6, bld 2) |
| FRANCE (Rauterberg): | bre,par,mar,spa,por,ven,bel,kie | (has 6, bld 2) |
| GERMANY (Kent): | mun,ber,war,mos | (has 6, rem 2) |
| RUSSIA (Williams): | sev | (has 1, even) |
| TURKEY (Sherwood): | ank,con,smy,gre,bul,tri,ser, | (has 12, bld 1) |
| bud,tun,rum,rom,nap,vie |
| Neutral: | none | (Total=34) |
Addresses of the Participants
AUSTRIA: Terry Tallman, 3805 SW Lake Flora Road, Port Orchard, WA 98367, (360) 874-0386 ($8)
ttallman of linknet.kitsap.lib.wa.us
ENGLAND: Michael Lowrey, 4322 Water Oak Road, Charlotte, NC 28211
mlowrey of charlotte.infi.net
ENGLAND EMERITUS: Tom Nash, 202 Settlers Road, St. Simons Island, GA 31522, (912) 634-1753 ($4)
75763.707 of CompuServe.COM
FRANCE: Paul Rauterberg, 3116 W. American Dr., Greenfield, WI 53221, (414) 281-2339 ($10)
prosit of execpc.com
GERMANY: Doug Kent, 10214 Black Hickory Rd., Dallas, TX 75243 (214) 234-8386 ($5)
73567.1414 of CompuServe.COM ITALY: Simon Billenness, 452 Park Drive, Apt. 7, Boston, MA 02215, (617) 423-6655 ($5)
sbillenness of frdc.com RUSSIA: Don Williams, 27505 Artine Drive, Saugus, CA 91350, (805) 297-3947
wllmsfmly of earthlink.net
RUSSIA EMERITUS: Ken Peel, 12041 Eaglewood Court, Silver Spring, MD 20902, (301) 949-4055 ($5)
KEN_PEEL of hagel.senate.gov
TURKEY: Keith Sherwood, 8873 Pipestone Way, San Diego, CA 92129, (619) 484-8367
ksher of cts.com or Keith_Sherwood of Intuit.com
TURKEY EMERITUS: Pete Gaughan, 1236 Detroit Av. #7, Concord, CA 94520-3651, (510) 825-2165 ($4)
gaughan of ix.netcom.com
GM: Jim-Bob Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327, (401) 351-0287
Game Notes (back from the tropopause):
1) The game specific standby list for this game includes
Garret Schenck, Cathy Cunning Ozog, Mike Mills, Dick Martin,
Vince Lutterbie, and Eric Brosius
in reverse alphabetical order (note that Garret is presently
missing...).
Guest press from potential standbys would be a ``good thing''
if they wanted to be chosen.
2) Anyone failing to submit press for two consecutive turns will be dropped from the game! Although press in this szine is generally black, I will make the exception here that I will say who has NPRed and is ``at risk'' for being dropped. Williams and Sherwood are in the doghouse and have been tied up together to within an inch of their lives!
Press:
(GERMANY - GM): and if things ever calm down maybe I'll get a chance to read issue #200....
(ENGLAND-GM): Congratulations on 200 issues. May you publish at least 200 more (assuming that's what you want to do.)
(GERMANY - FRANCE): I do give a shit, but finding a job and struggling to make sure my wife didn't get stuck with a pre-existing conditions clause on insurance which would basically drive us into the poor house had to take priority this month.
(PARIS to BERLIN): Well, look at it this way: our invasion can be seen to be a DISTRACTION from your real world troubles (or maybe a REFLECTION of them?).
I'm holding my write-up on Ghods too until I have more space and time. The game history AND all of the negotiating letters may be found in the Diplomatic Pouch showcase:
http://devel.diplom.org/DipPouch/Showcase/ghodstoo/
This is FASCINATING reading. I've not heard any comments on it yet, but I'm sure I will. I apologize for some of the formatting difficulties in the way the program edited the press.
AUSTRIA: Edi Birsan (edi of mgames.com);
ENGLAND: Jamie Dreier (James_Dreier of brown.edu);
FRANCE: John Barkdull (uejon of ttacs1.ttu.edu);
GERMANY: Pitt Crandlemire (pittc of syncon.com);
ITALY: Cal White (diplomat of idirect.com);
RUSSIA: Mark Fassio (jm2365 of exmail.usma.army.mil, fazfam of juno.com);
TURKEY: Hohn Cho (hohncho of kaiwan.com).
GM: Jim Burgess (burgess of world.std.com)
USIN judge: judge of kleiman.indianapolis.in.us
((The main point of this game was to take some successful E-Mail players, some successful FTF tournament players, and some successful PBM players, put them in a game together using the Judge E-Mail technology and see what happens. The game ended in a France/England/Turkey DIAS draw.))
AND THIS IS IT, THANKS TO EVERYONE!
Addresses of the Participants
AUSTRIA: Jonas Johnson, 3649 SE 33rd Ave., Portland, OR 97202, (503) 238-4430 ($3) EcidLor of aol.com ENGLAND: John Schultz, #19390, Marion County Jail II, 730 East Washington Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202.
FRANCE: Michael Pustilnik, 140 Cadman Plaza West, #13J, Brooklyn, NY 11201, (718) 625-0651 ($8)
GERMANY: Hank Alme, 5157 Norma Way #217, Livermore, CA 94550, (510) 606-7265 ($3)
almehj of kristen.llnl.gov
ITALY: Don Williams, 27505 Artine Drive, Saugus, CA 91350, (805) 297-3947 ($3)
dwilliams of csiway.com
RUSSIA: Ed Rothenheber, 11757 Lone Tree Court, Columbia, MD 21044, (410) 740-7269 ($1)
Rothenheber_Ed of bah.com
TURKEY: David Partridge, 15 Elmer Drive, Nashua, NH 03062-1722, (603) 882-3523 ($4)
rebhuhn of juno.com
GM: Jim-Bob Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327, (401) 351-0287
Game Notes:
1) Hank and Ed are the only ones here not in other games. Those of you in other games will automatically have your balances transferred there. The default for Hank and Ed is that your balances go toward sub fees until they run out, starting with this issue, so we say goodbye to Ed here.
Endgame and Other Assorted Comments
This is where you will hear the long and sordid tale of an Austrian-ArchDuke and how not to open as the Austrian player. This pathetic parable need not be told beyond the opening plays of F-N, for the end occured in the beginning.
My opening play was simple in concept, simple in planning, and poor in execution. Some time ago in a zine Been There Done That by one Tom Nash, I played my very first P-B-M game, where as Austria I did very well by gaining allies in both Russia and Turkey. By the end of 1901 I was sitting pretty with three builds and complete mastery over the Balkans. By promising to support both Russia and Turkey into Rum neither would have supported the other there and I could pick it up. I have tried to duplicate that maneuver numerous times since then. This attempt could not be called a success.
I allied with Don as quick as I could. Don turned out to be very solid player and we always got along well in our letters and in our phone calls. I thought I had a real shot at getting a Lepanto out of him. He wanted to move to Tyrolia in 01, as ``Italy can often sneak into Mun in 01 and gain an extra build," he said. I worried about the stab when he mentioned it to me, but I was focused of getting three in 01. I wanted Rum, and Don could do what he liked just so long as it was not take any of my home centers. That is what I was thinking at the time anyway. Don warned me again and again to move to Gal, but I was so sure Ed would move due south, into the Ukr in order to get at the Rum I was going to support him into.
I wrote Ed many times in the opening seasons and every letter said nearly the same thing. I hated the witches, hated playing them and playing against them, and wanted our neighborhood witch to begin melting. Others have called Ed, ``the man to beat" or ``solid player," but I have to admit, I did not get that vibe from his letters. Of course the other two were right, and I got Russian army Gal for my lack of intuition. I really thought I had him moving to Ukraine and The Black. I promised Ed that I would support him into Bul if he left Gal alone and moved to the Black. I am sure that here again, I was focused on gaining Rum. It clouded my judgement.
I never told Dave, Turkey, the truth. Not even one time. I told him that I would be happy to support him into Rum if he would join my attack on Russia. Dave was always more tacturn in his talks with me. I think he could sense I was lying to him. It really didn't matter to the possible success of my first year plan if Turkey was with me or not. As long as Russia was with me, I could take Rum. Sure, Turkey could bounce me in Gre, but with units in Rum and Ser, Bul and Gre would be mine in due course. While my focusing on the completion of my plan did not hurt me as much in my talks with Dave, they could not have helped. By lying to him so early I damaged the relationship for the rest of the game.
So, I think everything is set. Russia is with me. He will he get 0 builds from his southern front, maybe only one up north, he will be attacking Turkey, Italy is with me, and Turkey will be back to three by 02. My plan is set, the hell with what Italy has to tell me about Gal.
Spring results told me a much different story. Russia sat in Galacia, threatening two home supply centers, and the R-T was obvious. That was the end of my plan. It should have been the end of my blindness, but it was not.
Don and I now had to get down to the business of containing the R-T. His plan to keep Russia at no builds in the first year and prevent Turkey from gaining the Aeg in Fall 01 sounded like a good one. Italy would skip the build in Tunis and keep Turkey out of the Aeg, I would give up Vienna so that Italy would get a build in 1901, we would both gain one, and Russia would be stuck with zero 01 builds. In fact, I think it is the primary reason for my long slow decline in this game.
I thought long and hard about bouncing Italy in Vienna. With that one move, I would portect all of my centers from all possible units. I would gain two builds and be safe for another season or two. I didn't make this move. I thought that a strong Italian ally was better than a weak one, Don promised Vie back to me, I did not want to antagonize my only friend with a bounce, and I thought it would send the message to Don that I was a faithful and loyal ally. An ally so loyal and committed to the I-A that I would give up one of my home ceters for the good of the alliance. So, Italy took Vienna and that was the end of it.
From that moment on the game was dominated by Don. Italy called the shots and there was really nothing I could do about it. This unit Italian unit in my home center threatened every move I make. It hung over me, a gallows shadow on dungeon wall. Don's right when he says we had our differences. Each season we both seemed to have our own ideas about where to attack and what to move. As we had to work so closely, these differences always became bigger than they probably actually were. Season after dragging season we attacked at the R-T. When I thought I would have the chance to take back Vie, the Italian needed to retreat back into it. Again, as the loyal ally, I let him in.
Finally, I took Bulgaria. I thought we had cracked the line. We were making progress in the north as well, slow as it was, but I think we could have done it. Then Italy stabbed me the first time. He was in perfect position for it, as he always had an army amongst mine. I never could get rid of that damn army that took Vie back in 01. It cost me a unit, year after weary year, and kept my options limited as to how I could move. Now, it was like a sickly green dagger aimed at Austria's unarmored heart.
Luckily, Don's strike was just as sickly. It was a silly stab. I had been getting the feeling that something was up between Russia and Italy for a couple of seasons, but what could I do? Italy called the shots. When Don understood that the stab was not all it was cracked up to be, back we were, happy little A-I again. Well, maybe not all that happy. I became even weaker and was little more than a toadie to someone for the rest of the game. Don wanted to include Dave in our little anti-Russian coalition. He even set up a three way call one night between us. This was a mistake, and I knew it, and I said it, and it was. Again, what was I going to do about it? Don was calling the shots, now after his first stab than ever. For a few seasons at this stage, I would only talk to Don to get my orders, and then to Jim to make the orders Don gave me official. Sure enough, Dave went back to Ed a few seasons later and all the A-I received for its troubles was wasted time that could have gone to finishing Turkey off once and for all.
A few seasons later, Don did it again. Attacked his poor, sad, loyal ally. It was like beating a dog Don. Ed called and the next season and I became a his toad. Just changing who was giving the orders really. At least I got to get back at Don some at the end.
I really did not appreciate being denied my survival by Ed. That was all I was playing for there at the end. I was voting yes to every draw there was. Turns out Don was the one voting no, and, in a way, getting in one last stab.
I do thank Jim for an excellent job GMing, and all of the other players in the game. I never had the chance to take with some of them but a letter or two. Ed was the player to beat, I just didn't know it before it was to late. Dave fought very well and never stopped going at the game with 100%.
Lastly, I have no hard feelings to anyone, Don. I may have done the same thing if I were you. In fact, I probably would have done it sooner.
When this game started, I had not yet recovered from some brutal mistreatment by Eric Brosius' England in 1989Z, so I definitely was in an anti-English state of mind. I therefore allied with Hank's Germany against John Schultz' England. From Don Williams' Italy I asked for, and received a nonaggression pact. I did not realize until much later, how close Don had been to a 1902 attack on me. My good fortune that he did not, since I antagonized England by moving to the Channel in Spring '01, and a GI 1902 attack would have crushed me. The attack on England was slow going, due to determined and valiant defense by John. But it was clear that the FG would win eventually. My next big diplomatic break was the acrimony between Hank and Ed Rothenheber (Russia). Hank had been making anti-Russian moves in the early game, but without really launching an all-out attack on Ed. So, I knew that once England was gone, I could count on a Russian alliance against Germany. My other option was to attack Don, but my fleets were in no position to do that, and any naval move south would have given Don plenty of advance warning. So I stabbed Germany. Of course, the turn of my stab, Don moved against me. I had a long talk with Don, where he asked me to give him a center (Mar, I think?), and I refused. Eventually, Don and I agreed that it was in both of our interests for us to reforge our nonaggression pact, which we did. In the midgame, while I made gradual but steady progress against Hank, Ed and Don emerged as the dominant players in the east. It was clear that the game would come down to FIR, and probably some sort of two-on-one. Again I had to chose my ally-Don or Ed. In the end, the same reasons that led me to chose Don over Hank led me to chose Don over Ed; my units were simply much closer to Russian centers than to Italian ones. Furthermore, Ed clearly had a stronger position than Don, and a slow French attack on Italy was likely to lead to a Russian win (losing never did have much appeal for me). So in fall 1906 I attacked Ed, but he was ready for me. That turn Ed also stabbed Don, cheating him out of three (!) centers. Meanwhile, to complete the treacherous triangle, Don stabbed me, by moving a fleet to Wes. I had another long talk with Don, and he yet again had the nerve to ask me to give him one of my centers. This time, to his surprise, I agreed. It was clear that he needed the center more than me, and clearer still that unless we allied, Ed would win. So Don took Spain and that gave him the build he needed to keep the Russians out of Venice. Meanwhile Ed, who is as adept tactically as he is diplomatically, had allied with the remains of Germany and Austria, and was giving Don and me a run for our money. I believe that the game came down to a single German order, when Hank retreated an army otb rather than to Sil. This allowed a French army into Sil. That army ended up in Galicia (I went there at Don's suggestion), and single- handedly crushed the entire Russian war effort by repeated judicious cuts of Russian support in Austria. Even before it became clear that FI was winning against R, Ed made a very strong effort to break up the FI. But Don and I both feared a Russian comeback, and stayed allied. Contrary to the belief of the other commentators of this game, I feel that I never had a reasonable opportunity to stab Don for the win, and the game ended in a FI draw before such an opportunity developed. I don't know if I would have taken such an opportunity, anyway, since I tend to be a softie towards my ally in the endgame.
So, thanks to Don and Hank for being great allies, to everyone else (especially Ed) for playing well, and to Jim , GM extraordinaire :-)
((And that was that. I hope everyone/anyone enjoyed the Friedrich Nietzsche quotes. I noticed no one commented on their pivotal role in the endgame statements :-( Well, I enjoyed writing them in any case. It was a great game to GM and I did follow the game very closely behind the scenes, even though there was very little other press for the rest of you to follow. I hope these endgame statements gave a sense for the rich environment under which it was played. Ciao.))
THE DUE DATE FOR SPRING 1916 IS MAY 9TH, 1998
Winter 1915
FRANCE (Rauterberg): bld f bre; has f BRE, f SPA(SC), f NTH, f DEN, a BEL, a BUR,
a RUH, f SWE, a HOL, a PIE, a EDI, f ADR, a VEN, f ION, f APU, f NWY, f TYH. GERMANY (Zarr): R f den-BAL; rem a sil; has a MUN, a TYO, a BER, a KIE,
a VIE, a STP, f BAL.
TURKEY (Johnson): has f AEG, a TRI, a LVN, f EAS, a BUD, a BOH, a SER, a RUM,
f ALB, f GRE.
Addresses of the Participants
FRANCE: Paul Rauterberg, 3116 W. American Drive, Greenfield, WI 53221, (414) 281-2339
prosit of execpc.com
GERMANY: Harold Zarr, 215 Glen Drive, Iowa Falls, IA 50126-1957, (515) 648-2821
RUSSIA: Eric Brosius, 53 Bird Street, Needham MA 02192 ($5)
72060.1540 of CompuServe.COM
TURKEY: Stan Johnson, 1254 East Broadway Road #56, Mesa, AZ 85204, (602) 668-1105
GM: Jim-Bob Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327, (401) 351-0287
Game Notes:
1) A three way GTF draw is proposed, please vote with your Spring orders.
Press:
(TURKEY - FRANCE): I admire you for wanting to fight it out; but I don't see much hope of you getting anywhere.
THE DUE DATE FOR SUMMER 1918 IS MAY 9TH, 1998
THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1918 IS MAY 30TH, 1998
Spring 1918
AUSTRIA (Davis): a BUD h.
FRANCE (Zarr): a BUR S a mar, a GAS S a mar, f BRE S f mid, a MAR S f spa(nc),
a POR S f spa(nc), f SPA(NC) S f mid, f MID S f spa(nc), f ENG S f mid.
GERMANY (Jones): a ber-KIE, a GAL-bud, a MOS-sev, a VIE S a gal-bud, a war-SIL,
a sil-MUN, a TYO S a vie, a bel-YOR, a mun-RUH, a UKR-rum, f NTH C a bel-yor, f nwy-NWG.
TURKEY (Weiss): a BUL S a rum, f ALB S a tri, f BLA S a sev, a RUM S AUSTRIAN a bud, a VEN S a tri,
a TRI S AUSTRIAN a bud, a SER S AUSTRIAN a bud, f GOL S f pie, a SEV S GERMAN a ukr-mos (nso),
f WES S f naf-mid, f NAF-mid, f PIE S GERMAN a mun-bur (nso), f ADR S a tri.
Addresses of the Participants
AUSTRIA: Rick Davis, 2009 Bodega Avenue, Petaluma, CA 94952, (707) 773-1044
redavis914 of aol.com FRANCE: Harold Zarr, 215 Glen Drive, Iowa Falls, IA 50126-1957, (515) 648-2821
GERMANY: Charles Jones, 1722 Quail Circle, Corona, CA 91720-4155, (909) 735-8981
RUSSIA: Eric Schlegel, 314 Fords Lane, Aberdeen, MD 21001, (410) 272-3314
TURKEY: Richard Weiss, 195A Estralita Street, Tumon Heights, Guam 96911, (671) 647-3478
rcw of netpci.com
GM: Jim-Bob Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327, (401) 351-0287
Game Notes:
1) The GT, FG, FGT, and the DIAS FGAT all are rejected. All are reproposed, please vote with your Summer orders. As usual, it must be unanimous and abstentions count as vetoes.
Press:
(GERMANY >> > TURKEY): I know that this may sound silly to you, but can I get you to kill, or allow me to kill, Austria? The French player has made it clear that he will hold you in the MED while I eat him. So I guess you will have to vote for a draw sooner or later, or risk a loss? We'll have to see. ((We will, won't we!!! Heh, heh, heh....)) Who will blink first, you or France? My bet is you, I've played with Harold before and I believe that he will do exactly what he says. Time will tell?
(GERMANY >> > FRANCE): I can't get Turkey to do, or vote, for anything. (That goes for the Austrian too, he came around at the end, but it was after he couldn't help us.) I suspect that the Turk is keeping the Austrian alive so no one will know who is voting against the draws. I know what you are voting for and I vote for the same things, except I decided to quit voting for the Austrian to take part in any of the draws. He did not earn it. If he turns around and does something to earn it, he can have a part. I can't remember if you have said in your press twice or thrice that you were not going to try to move into the MED. I will try to slowly move West and eat your centers, so that you can keep the Turk from getting them. If I do this he will get nervous and vote for the draw, giving you what you want, an end to the game; and me what I want, a three player draw. So if you'll hold the Turkish fleet in the MED, I think that I can force this issue. Let me take the English Centers first. Let me know if you like this plan, it's the best that I can come up with, without Austrian help. And, he's been no help so far.
THE DUE DATE FOR SPRING 1912 IS MAY 9TH, 1998
Winter 1911
AUSTRIA (Pustilnik): has a SER.
ENGLAND (Hoffman): has a STP, a LVN, f LON, f SWE, f NAO.
FRANCE (James): bld a par, a mar, a bre, PLAYS TWO SHORT; has a PAR, a MAR, a BRE,
f ENG, a RUH, f MID, f IRI, a LVP, a TRI, f BUL(SC), f SMY, f ROM, a BUD, a VIE, f CON. GERMANY (Emmert): has f HOL, a MUN, f BEL, f BAL, a PIC, a WAR, a UKR, a GAL, a SEV, a RUM.
RUSSIA (Schultz): rem a arm; has a ANK.
Addresses of the Participants
AUSTRIA: Michael Pustilnik, 140 Cadman Plaza West, #13J, Brooklyn, NY 11201, (718) 625-0651
ENGLAND: Karl Hoffman, 395 Imperial Way #220, Daly City, CA 94015, (415) 991-2394
KarlHoffmn of aol.com
FRANCE: Drew James, 8356 Radian Path, Baldwinsville, NY 13027-9357, (315) 652-1956
dkbn of msn.com
GERMANY: Steve Emmert, 1752 Grey Friars Chase, Virginia Beach, VA 23456, (757) 471-1842
SEMMERT of city.virginia-beach.va.us ITALY: Dan Gorham, PO Box 279, Belmopan, Belize, CENTRAL AMERICA
Danielg of btl.net RUSSIA: John Schultz, #19390, Marion County Jail II, 730 East Washington Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202 TURKEY: Harry Andruschak, PO Box 5309, Torrance, CA 90510-5309, (310) 835-9202
GM: Jim-Bob Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327, (401) 351-0287
GM EMERITUS: Garret Schenck, now lost, HELP!
GSchenck39 of aol.com - CANCELLED!
Game Notes:
1) The game continues.
Press:
(LIL' RED RIDING HOOD to BIG BAD WOLF): Keep your big, hairy mitts off my
basket of goodies, Herr Wolf.
(STATE FARM INSURANCE COMPANY to GERMANY): If you have a burning house to report, you have to fill out these forms in quadruplicate. Any fighting you do therein is your own business, but injuries suffered as a result of voluntarily engaging in fisticuffs are not covered under your health insurance policy.
(A GUESS FROM STEVIE): James didn't NBR this turn, did he?
(BOOB to STEVIE): But he did NPR!
(SCHULTZ to JAMES): Well... okey.... I'm not so much rooting for Germany as rooting for the continued drama. Plus... I'd love to survive this game without having had to toady to anyone in order to do it. I've much enjoyed my role as barb here.
(VIRGINIA BEACH to BOARD): Any bets on whether McGwire catches Maris this year? Or whether Gwynn hits .400? (Notice that nobody's talking about breaking any pitching records right now.) ((I'd give about even money on SOMEONE catching Maris, it might be McGuire and it might be someone else. I do NOT think Gwynn or anyone else will hit .400 this year, although someone probably will flirt with it. Gwynn has gotten off to an earthbound start so far, though his team has been phenomenal.))
(VIRGINIA BEACH to PROVIDENCE): By the time the next deadline rolls around, my wife will have returned home, after five weeks on the road. (Sigh.) Then she's home for two months before leaving for six weeks to go teach up in Schroon Lake again. This is sort of like being a Navy spouse, although I can at least go visit. ((Yeah, I understand.))
Personal Note to You: