The Diplomatic Pouch Shortcuts

The Zine

Spring 1998 Retreat Issue

Your Publisher: About The Diplomatic Pouch
Don't worry, this one won't hurt much.

Paul Windsor: Caissa at the Diplomacy Table
Let the benevolent Caissa clue you in on some key aspects of positional play. Think you know what to look for and how to take advantage of different strengths and weaknesses on the board? See what Caissa can teach you.

Tim Miller: White-Partial Press
Tim continues his series on press by taking a look at the most popular of the press settings: the plain vanilla.

Dann Fuller: Openings Revisited
Dann lays out an ambitious plan to keep us all informed for years to come on the way each power is being played.

Brian Kieslich: A Cryptic Postcard
If Sherlock Holmes can solve Diplomacy mysteries, Brian figured other professionals should be given the chance. Sure enough, he didn't have to look far to find that Diplomacy can also be used to unravel espionage webs!

Blast From The Past: The Roots of Diplomacy
The Pouch is proud to have decided to blatantly reprint an earlier published work, just so that we can say that Allan Calhamer, the inventor of The Game, is now a contributor to The Zine. Read what "ABC" has to say about the origins of Diplomacy.

Brandon Clarke: Other Thoughts on No-Press Opening Strategy
Brandon read the article on no-press openings in the last Zine issue and realized he has a slightly different take. So he decided to share his own thoughts on opening with some of the powers in No-Press.

David Norman: Variable Length Tournament Diplomacy
Face-To-Face games can last all day and all night, and this has led to any number of artificial game termination conditions for tournament play. David thinks that none of these are perfect, and so he offers his own idea. And frankly, I think he's onto something here....

Vaughn Ohlman: True Blue
Are you a care-bear or a cut-throat player? Vaughn thinks you don't necessarily have to be one or the other. He defines and promotes a middle ground that he calls the "true blue" player.

Stimpson J. Cat: Tricks of the Trade
If you're a player of the popular Payola variant, here are some tricks of the trade from someone who's been around and used them to advantage. If you are not a player of Payola, what the heck are you waiting for??

Graeme Ackland: Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Diplomat
Dr. Watson unravels last issue's Disarmament Conundrum. Learn how Holmes took fifteen units off the board in the first two game-years.

Brahm Dorst: Psychology and Diplomacy: Using Integrative Complexity to Predict Stabs
A few years ago scientists wanted to see if they could predict the outbreak of war, by analysing the complexity of communication between real world governments. Brahm attempts to apply their findings to Diplomacy.

Various: World DipCon VIII Reports
Read all about the most recent World Championships, held in Chapel Hill, North Carolina at DixieCon. The Pouch has managed to badger a fair number of attendees into providing their recollections. [And if you are interested in the WDC results, they can be found here.]

Mark Nelson: An Interview With Fred C. Davis, Jr.
Ten years ago, a couple of the hobby's big names, Mark Nelson and Fred Davis, sat down for a talk. Read Mark's interview with Fred and learn a lot about the hobby we all love.

The Editor and the Readership: Pouch Deposits
Surprise, surprise. It's the latest scribblings by your fellow readers.

Tony Nichols: A Rating System for Diplomacy
It's the most contentious issue around these days. Manus decided to provide PBEM player ratings, and then ensued the debate over which rating system(s) to use. Here is the description of the chess-like system on which a consensus was reached and which will soon (whatever that means) appear in the E-Mail section.

Brandon Clarke: The New Zealand Diplomacy Championships
Kiwi players will be gathering this August for the national championships. Read Brandon's announcement of the event, especially if you will be anywhere nearby.

Thaddeus Black: Concerning Stabbing
What fun is Diplomacy without exercising your right to stab? Not much, if you ask Thad. So put that knife in your hand and take Thad's advice: use it.

Graeme Ackland: Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Diplomat
Holmes and Watson tackle "The Strange Case of the Confederation of Neutral States." Match wits with the Great Detective.

Tony Nichols: The Grid for Diplomatic Cryptic II
Tony's gridless cryptic crossword puzzle in the last issue had a lot of readers chewing their pencils. To help them along here is -- not the solution yet, but -- the grid to fill in.

David Norman: Scoring Draws
David's experience as a Brit playing for the first time with the American face-to-face scoring system led him to ponder how draws should be scored. Read what he proposes. [I (Manus) promised a counter-point article, but you'll have to wait for that, because I haven't gotten around to writing it.]

Larry Peery: Is It Time for a Chat Room?
A while back, Simon thought a chat room would be a nice addition to The Pouch. Turning to the hobbyist most associated with the word "chat," he approached Larry Peery, who is ready to lay out for us his plans for a DP CR. Help Larry strike while the iron's hot and let's get a Pouch chat room up and running.

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