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Hooray — the Deposits are back!
This time, we receive extensive feedback on the last issue…
A few responses/thoughts/comments on articles on the new Pouch.
Heath is asking whether we should go for the solo, or take the draw to keep the other players happy. However, I don't think that is the right question to ask.
The players who get beat up on every time, usually are hit from the start of the game. By 1904, they're eliminated - long before anyone has a chance of soloing. The players you stab to solo are the ones who have had an initially successful game. If you're on 12, and they're your ally, then they're probably on about 12 too. If you then stab them, they should still have enjoyed quite a bit of the game, and should have the desire to get to that position again, and make sure they're the one doing the stabbing next time.
The ones you need to help, the ones who are going out early every time, you do so by post-game discussions. Talk to them about why you went for them. Why they are making themselves the initial target. Try to make them better players, so that they are both able to look after themselves, and able to work with an ally early on. You never know, next time you might be their neighbour alongside someone you really can't work with - at which point, you'll want them to know what they're doing…
The author of this article should check out the following, from 25 years ago! — Somewhat Demiurgic Diplomacy by Nick Kinzett
And this is also a very old idea. When I learned to play, if Russia opened North, this was the standard F1901M move.
Just a quick typo here. The bullet which just says "development" needs tabbing out a level. [Editor's Note: Fixed. Thanks!]
Two things on this one.
Firstly, betting strategy. I think there is a flaw in this system, in that if you solo, the amount you win is unrelated to the amount you ante. Hence if it was me, I would figure that you can't win the tournament without a solo, so would bet 1 on the powers I felt I could solo with, and lots on the countries I felt I could draw with, but am unlikely to solo with.
Maybe the players realise this, and that is why Turkey got the most money anted on it? It's a power that will often do well, but will rarely solo.
Martin also talked about normalising the bets. If you wanted to do this, then I don't think the way to go is to normalise each game after doing the draw, but to draw the players into the games taking the bets into consideration. The reason Game 1 was so valuable was because it included the biggest bet on Austria, the second highest on France, the highest on Italy, the highest on Russia and the highest on Turkey. Whereas the TD could have looked at which players made high bets with which powers, and placed them on different boards.
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