Smid's Diplomacy Game Thread #3

[Smid]

Build an army in London.

To go with this, we're also having a French Fleet in Marseilles and an Austrian disband in Tuscany.

[Smid]

Following the Builds in Winter 1904, the map now appears thus:



For reference, England built an Army in London, France built a Fleet in Marseilles, Austria-Hungary disbanded an Army in Tuscany and Turkey opted to not build.

[Smid]

Turkey seems to be just defending its little plot of land, even though it could take Austria-Hungary pretty quickly.

     I find that rapid growth & Turkey go together like water & oil, personally.

Yes, Turkey is very defendable... but the bottleneck through the Bosporus that slows any attack on Turkey also has the same effect of slowing Turkish expansion.

[Smid]

     So what's happening since the forum had a database error at the regularly scheduled update time?

The site was down during Smid's usual hours. We may have to wait until he's up on Monday.

It was back up when I logged on yesterday afternoon, but I'd seen a few comments about it being down and I was waiting on two sets of orders, so I decided to extend the deadline since it may have been down when those two players were online. I'll update it tonight after I get home from work. I'm seeing a friend in hospital on my way home, so it will be after most US residents are asleep.

[Smid]

Sorry, was quite late home last night and didn't put the orders up.
The Moves for Spring 1905 were:

 

France
F Liverpool - Clyde
F Marseilles - Spain (sc) (*Bounce*)
F Tunis - Tyrrhenian Sea
F Brest Holds
A Ruhr - Belgium (*Fails*)
A Burgundy Supports A Ruhr - Belgium
A Munich Holds

Russia
A Galicia - Budapest (*Fails*)
A Sevastopol Supports A Rumania Hold
A Warsaw - Silesia
A Moscow - St Petersburg
F Berlin - Baltic

Italy
F Venice - Apulia
A Rome - Venice (*Bounce*)
F Adriatic Sea - Ionian Sea

Germany
A Tyrolia - Vienna
A Kiel Supports F Holland Hold
F Holland Supports A Kiel Hold

Austria-Hungary
A Ukraine - Rumania (*Fails*)
A Budapest Supports A Ukraine - Rumania (*Cut*)
A Serbia Supports A Ukraine - Rumania (*Cut*)
F Trieste - Venice (*Bounce*)

Turkey
F Aegean Sea Holds
A Bulgaria - Serbia (*Fails*)
A Constantinople - Bulgaria (*Fails*)
F Greece Supports F Adriatic Sea - Ionian Sea
A Rumania Supports A Bulgaria - Serbia (*Cut*)

England
F Portugal - Spain (sc) (*Bounce*)
F Sweden Holds
F English Channel Convoys A London - Picardy
A London - Picardy
F North Sea Supports A Belgium Hold
A Belgium Holds

Following moves, the map appears thus:

[Smid]

Until Smid gets the official maps, here's my backup for the position:

Thanks mate, most appreciated. Things have been a bit hectic with my mate.

[Smid]

Gustaf mentioned last weekend that he's travelling and may have reduced access to the internet. I'm presently just waiting on his set of orders. As he is quite a major player, I'm loathe to NMR him and will check again in the morning, at which point I'll publish orders whether or not I've heard from him.

[Smid]

Didn't want to NMR Gustaf because it's a Fall turn and from what I can see of everyone's orders, he's about to lose half his supply centres and will probably dramatically change the direction of the game, but I've extended the deadline and I can't hold off any longer. Sorry everyone for the delay.



France
F Brest NMR
A Ruhr NMR
A Munich NMR
A Burgundy NMR
F Marseilles NMR
F Tyrrhenian Sea NMR

Russia
F Baltic Sea - Berlin
A Galicia - Budapest (*Fails*)
A Sevastopol Supports A Rumania Hold
A Silesia - Warsaw (*Bounce*)
A St Petersburg - Moscow

Italy
F Apulia - Naples
A Rome - Venice (*Bounce*)
F Ionian Sea - Tunis

Germany
F Holland Supports A Belgium
A Kiel - Denmark
A Vienna Holds

Austria-Hungary
F Trieste - Venice (*Bounce*)
A Ukraine - Warsaw (*Bounce*)
A Serbia Supports A Budapest
A Budapest Supports A Serbia (*Cut*)

Turkey
F Aegean Sea Supports A Bulgaria - Greece
A Bulgaria - Greece
A Constantinople - Bulgaria
F Greece - Albania
A Rumania Supports A Constantinople - Bulgaria

England
F Portugal - Spain (South Coast)
F English Channel Supports A Picardy - Brest
A Picardy - Brest
F North Sea - Edinburgh
F Sweden - Norway
A Belgium Holds



Retreats are required for the French fleet in Brest, but that won't change the status of Builds.

F Disbands three.
R No Change.
I Builds one.
G Builds one.
A Disbands one.
T Builds one.
E Builds two, but has only one unoccupied Home Centre.

I'll get the maps up tonight (and hopefully that will include maps showing builds and retreats, if everyone is online today).

[Smid]

The French position qualifies for Civil Disorder. Under a strict interpretation of the rules, the French disbands are forced on the player. Here's the passage from the rules:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Strict interpretation would require France to follow the civil disorder rules for their retreat phase as well as for the disbands due to loss of centers. Either Gustav or any other replacement could continue normally in the Spring 1906 turn. The harsh nature of this reading is why I encourage players to submit provisional orders early in a turn then replace those with final orders before the deadline.

With that interpretation, France would be required to disband the dislodged F Brest, then disband the F Clyde and F Tyrrhenian Sea during the build phase.

     I would guess that Smid has instituted a house rule that is more lenient on NMRing players, since his response to my offer to upload the maps (which I suppose he deleted afterwards) proved that he is aware that an NMRing unit that is dislodged is automatically disbanded.

Yeah - I'll keep it open until I've heard everyone's builds and if I haven't heard from Gustaf at that time, I'll disband those three. It really does demonstrate the importance of provisional orders.

I deleted the post accepting your earlier offer, PiT, mainly just because it was housekeeping.

[Smid]

I have received everyone's build orders, except for Gustaf's, so I'm going with the forced disbands for France.

Builds were:

F Disband F Brest, F Clyde, F Tyrrhenian Sea
R No Change
I Build F Venice
G Build A Kiel
A Disband A Ukraine
T Build A Constantinople
E Build F London

[Smid]

Moves for Spring 1906 were:



France
A Burgundy Supports F Holland - Belgium (*Void*)
F Marseilles - Spain (sc) (*Fails*)
A Munich Supports A Kiel (*Ordered to Move*)
A Ruhr Supports F Holland - Belgium (*Void*)

Russia
F Berlin Supports A Kiel (*Ordered to Move*)
A Galicia Holds
A Moscow - Warsaw
A Sevastopol Supports A Rumania
A Silesia - Bohemia (*Bounce*)

Italy
F Naples - Tyrrhenian Sea
A Rome - Tuscany
F Tunis - Western Mediterranean
F Venice - Trieste (*Fails*)

Germany
A Denmark - Kiel (*Fails*)
F Holland Supports A Denmark - Kiel (*Fails*)
A Kiel - Ruhr (*Fails*)
A Vienna - Bohemia (*Bounce*)

Austria-Hungary
A Budapest - Vienna (*Fails*)
A Serbia Supports F Trieste (*Dislodged*)
F Trieste - Venice (*Fails*)

Turkey
F Aegean Sea Convoys A Constantinople - Greece
F Albania - Adriatic Sea
A Bulgaria Supports A Greece - Serbia
A Constantinople - Greece
A Greece - Serbia
A Rumania Supports A Greece - Serbia

England
A Belgium Holds
A Brest - Paris
F Edinburgh - Clyde
F English Channel - Mid-Atlantic Ocean
F London - English Channel
F Norway - Sweden
F Spain (sc) - Marseilles (*Fails*)

Therfore, after moves, the map appears thus:



Only one retreat is required - the Austrian Army in Serbia.

[Smid]

With the Austrian Army in Serbia retreating to Albania, the map now appears thus:

[Smid]

I think Lunar's stab on Gustaf early last game was the textbook example.

[Smid]

Moves for Fall 1906 were:



France
A Burgundy - Gascony
F Marseilles Supports F Western Mediterranean - Spain (sc)
A Munich Supports A Ruhr - Kiel
A Ruhr - Kiel

Russia
F Berlin - Baltic Sea
A Galicia - Vienna (*Bounce*)
A Sevastopol Holds
A Silesia - Berlin
A Warsaw - Livonia

Italy
A Tuscany - Venice
F Tyrrhenian Sea - Western Mediterranean
F Venice - Trieste
F Western Mediterranean - Spain (sc)

Germany
A Denmark - Kiel (*Fails*)
F Holland - Helgoland Bight
A Kiel - Holland
A Vienna Supports A Budapest (*Ordered to Move*)

Austria-Hungary
A Albania - Serbia (*Fails*)
A Budapest - Vienna (*Disbanded*)
F Trieste Holds (*Disbanded*)

Turkey
F Adriatic Sea Supports F Venice - Trieste
F Aegean Sea Holds
A Bulgaria - Serbia
A Greece Supports A Bulgaria - Serbia
A Rumania Supports A Serbia - Budapest
A Serbia - Budapest

England
A Belgium Holds
F Clyde - Liverpool
F English Channel - Mid-Atlantic Ocean
F Mid-Atlantic Ocean - North Africa
A Paris Holds
F Spain (sc) Holds (*Dislodged*)
F Sweden Holds

Therefore, after moves, the map appears thus:



One unit needs to retreat: The English Fleet in Spain (sc).

I'm going to be away from the interneet for a couple of days, starting in a few hours. It may be that someone else may need to post a map, although I will be back online before the next set of orders are due (I'll be back online Tuesday evening my time - late Monday night in the US).

[Smid]

I've got the map covered. As soon as England posts the retreat I'll take builds. You can PM me or post them directly if you aren't worried about the publicity.

Cheers mate - I knew my flight wasn't until Tuesday, but wasn't thinking about how I was spending Sunday night through to Tuesday afternoon at a mate's place (who lives near the airport).

I won't be online much because I'm catching up with family and friends, but I won't have a problem maintaining the game - it doesn't take too long to upload maps.

[Smid]

I'm missing move orders from half the players, so I think the concensus is a delay for Christmas... kind of like that movie, Joyeux Noel...

If it isn't too late, fleets on Edinburgh and London.  If it is too late...it's not a huge deal, my forces in play are enough for now.

I'm going to refer to the precedent I set in the first game, in which Gustaf failed to submit orders in I think Winter 1901. In that instance, I allowed him to build six months later so he wasn't fully disadvantaged, but this still punishes players for submitting late build orders.

[Smid]

     Did you receive my orders?

Yes, indeed I did. I have also received another set as well. Once I've received the final two sets, I'll adjudicate - but with Christmas and all, I figure people will be spending time with their families and everything, so I'll just do it once I've received them all for the next couple of weeks and get stricter once everything's progressing back to normal.

[Smid]

Teddy's PM'd me saying he's lost interest in Diplomacy. I'm also waiting on Britain's orders. I PM'd them both a couple of days ago saying that I'd relaxed the deadline but would appreciate some orders shortly but haven't received any since then. Since we've had a couple of weeks since the last adjudication, I'll adjudicate this weekend as per normal.

If anyone's interested in taking over Russia, please comment here.

[Smid]

I'll take over if it's okay with everybody.

Seeing as we're this close to a deadline, I'll probably send in some provisional orders now and then attempt to analyze Teddy's alliances more closely, pm all my neighbors, etc.

Excellent! I was hoping someone would step up to the plate quickly.

[Smid]

Moves for Spring 1907 were:



France
A Gascony - Paris (*Fails*)
F Marseilles Supports F Spain (sc) (*Cut*)
A Munich - Burgundy (*Bounce*)

Russia
F Baltic Sea - Kiel (*Bounce*)
A Berlin Supports F Baltic Sea - Kiel
A Galicia - Vienna
A Livonia - Prussia
A Sevastopol Holds

Italy
F Naples - Tyrrhenian Sea
F Rome Supports F Naples - Tyrrhenian Sea
F Spain (sc) Supports F Western Mediterranean - Mid-Atlantic Ocean
F Trieste - Adriatic Sea
A Venice - Trieste
F Western Mediterranean - Mid-Atlantic Ocean

Germany
A Denmark - Kiel (*Bounce*)
A Holland Supports A Denmark - Kiel
A Vienna Supports F Trieste (*Dislodged*)

Austria-Hungary
N/A

Turkey
F Adriatic Sea - Albania
F Aegean Sea - Ionian Sea
A Budapest Supports A Galicia - Vienna
A Constantinople - Bulgaria (*Bounce*)
A Greece - Bulgaria (*Bounce*)
A Rumania - Bulgaria (*Bounce*)
A Serbia - Bulgaria (*Bounce*)
F Smyrna - Syria

England
A Belgium - Burgundy (*Bounce*)
F Gulf of Lyon - Marseilles (*Fails*)
F Liverpool - Irish Sea
F Mid-Atlantic Ocean - Portugal
F North Africa - Western Mediterranean
A Paris - Burgundy (*Bounce*)
F Sweden Holds

After the moves, the map appears thus:



A retreat is required for the German Army in Vienna.

As per the discussion following Winter 1906, I'm allowing England to build now. Mikado advises he wishes his builds to be as he previously requested, ie:

Fleets in Edinburgh and London. I'll update the map with those builds once I've received Germany's retreat.

[Smid]

So what's wit' dat retreat?

I was logging on to say that as I haven't heard from Erc, I'm going to retreat it back towards Germany, to Bohemia. I'm uploading the map now.

[Smid]

I'm still waiting on a few orders and Germany's retreat was pretty late in the week, so I'll grant an extension until next weekend. At that point my holiday will be over and I'll be very strict in requiring orders to be in on time.

[Smid]

The moves for Fall 1907 were:



France
A Gascony - Brest (*Bounce*)
F Marseilles Supports F Spain (sc)
A Munich - Ruhr

Russia
F Baltic Sea - Denmark (*Fails*)
A Berlin Supports A Prussia - Silesia
A Prussia - Silesia
A Sevastopol Supports A Budapest - Rumania
A Vienna Holds

Italy
F Adriatic Sea - Ionian Sea
F Mid-Atlantic Ocean - Portugal (*Fails*)
F Rome - Tuscany
F Spain (sc) Supports F Mid-Atlantic Ocean - Portugal (*Cut*)
A Trieste - Serbia
F Tyrrhenian Sea - Western Mediterranean (*Fails*)

Germany
A Bohemia NMR
A Denmark NMR
A Holland NMR

Austria-Hungary
N/A

Turkey
F Albania Holds
A Budapest - Rumania
A Constantinople - Bulgaria
A Greece Supports F Albania
F Ionian Sea - Tunis
A Rumania - Galicia
A Serbia - Budapest
F Syria Holds

England
A Belgium Holds
F Edinburgh - North Sea
F Gulf of Lyon Supports F Western Mediterranean - Spain (sc)
F Irish Sea - Mid-Atlantic Ocean (*Fails*)
F London - English Channel
A Paris - Brest (*Bounce*)
F Portugal Supports F Western Mediterranean - Spain (sc) (*Cut*)
F Sweden NMR
F Western Mediterranean - Spain (sc) (*Fails*)

Following these moves, the map appears thus:



Builds required are:

F 0
R Build 1
I 0
G Remove 1
A 0
T 0
E 0

[Smid]

I have heard from Russia: to build an Army in Warsaw, however I still have not heard from Erc. The Rulebook reads:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Germany has three units: Belgium, Denmark and Bohemia. All three units are equidistant from German home supply centres - Belgium and Denmark border on Kiel, Bohemia borders on Munich. All three units are Armies. As Belgium is the first province when listed alphabetically, the German Army in Belgium should be disbanded, however... since I should have disbanded the Army in Bohemia last turn when it was forced to retreat from Vienna (as pointed out by Muon), I shall disband it instead (since had it been disbanded at the time, Germany would not currently have to disband any units).

[Smid]

Besides, that German army is not in Belgium at all, but in the Netherlands (or are they called Holland in Dip?), so you're all good.

Ah, yes... now I feel foolish!