Abstract After a brief Introduction , Peter Paul Koch discusses his study of opening moves of Turkey’s A Smyrna in a regular game of Allan Calhamer’s game Diplomacy in an article that appeared in TDP not so long ago. One result, that only in 1 of 256 DP Judge adjudicated games did A Smyrna move to Syria, caught Larry Peery’s eye. A link to the relevant Judge site for the game is provided. Peery had recently completed play of 2013A in Eternal Sunshine and recalled that as Turkey he had also opened A Smyrna – Syria. An exchange of emails confirmed that these two rare instances of a Turkey player opening with A Smyrna – Syria and were worth further study. The original, unedited end of game statement for Turkey in 2013A follows, including a variety of errors. That is followed by the complete moves for 2013A as reprinted from Doug Kent’s Eternal Sunshine. The next section focuses just on the moves of the original Army Smyrna and two armies subsequently built in Smyrna; and traces their moves until the end of the game in 1908and includes commentary on those moves by the player (Peery). A revised end of game statement for 2013A by the player follows. Peter Paul Koch provides his own comments on the 2013A play by Turkey focusing on the opening game moves. A conclusion discusses how the two games ended. Table of Contents Introduction In Defense of A Smy H by Peter Paul Koch DP Judge Web Site Information (Provided by Peter Paul Koch) Email from Larry Peery to Peter Paul Koch End of Game Statement for Turkey, 2013A by Larry Peery Complete Moves for 2013A (from Eternal Sunshine, GM Doug Kent) 2013A Moves for Turkey’s Three Armies Originating in Smyrna with Commentary Revised End of Game Statement for 2013A by Larry Peery Conclusion 1. Introduction We don’t often get real life examples of what I’ve called “dip&Dip” for years but this time we have one. For the “dip” part you just have to look at the last few months, few years, or as long as you like in history at the area that today we call Turkey and Syria, but the point is that throughout history this area has been a hot spot more often in conflict than not. For the “Dip” part you first need to start by reading or rereading Peter Paul’s article, but keep in mind that, for the most part, Smyrna and Syria don’t come into play much unless there’s some kind of Lepanto going on. And the idea of Turkey’s Army Smyrna moving to Syria in Spring 1901 is, well, almost unthinkable. In fact, we’ve only been able to come up with two cases of that happening in the last five years. If you know of others, please let us know. 2. IN DEFENSE OF A SMY H by Peter-Paul Koch I recently drew Turkey for the third time in a row, and that did not appeal to me at all. I like a bit of variety in my Powers, but more importantly my Turkish games are very stressful. In the first game I was brought down to 2 centers and managed to crawl back to 9 centers until I was part of a three-way draw. That sounds cool, until you have to do exactly the same in your very next game (except that I got 11 centers, not 9). I had no particular wish to go through the process a third time. Still, it was clear that the Universe ordered me to improve my Turkish play. So here we go again. But let’s use our brains this time. As usual, initial press was vague, and despite their courteous replies I trusted neither Russia nor Austria. So I went into the Spring 1901 moves without a clear alliance — or even a clear tactical goal beyond picking up BUL. What I did have was distrust of Austria and Russia. Especially of Russia, since he’s closer. And bigger. That’s when I decided to play: A CON - BUL F ANK - BLA A SMY H It’s that last order I’d like to discuss in this article. As far as I know it has never been treated systematically, even though I think that, in certain situations, it is preferable to the more common A SMY - CON. I analyzed 252 games from the DP Judge “owls_” series that ran from 2005 to 2012, noting Turkey’s opening with A SMY, and especially the A SMY - CON - BUL sequence. I found that in only 19 of those games (8%) the Sultan orders A SMY H in Spring 1901. Moreover, in 16 of those games it was combined with F ANK - CON, obviously as part of some Russo-Turkish deal. Only three out of 252 games used A SMY H in combination with F ANK - BLA, as I did. So either I’m a Dip genius who’s invented a new Turkish opening, or I’m a silly newbie with no knowledge of opening literature and not enough wits to see the obvious deficiencies of his idea. This article tends toward the former point of view, but the truth will, boringly, lie somewhere in the middle. A SMY openings What is A SMY’s best opening move? That’s clear: A SMY - ARM. It deploys the army satisfactorily and brings it in direct contact with a pickup possibility, SEV. Combined with a successful F ANK - BLA it is the most powerful Spring 1901 move Turkey can make. There’s but one tiny problem: it plunges you into an irrevocable death struggle with the Tsar. If that’s what you want, go to ARM. If that’s not what you want, do something else. So. Which orders do Sultans give A SMY? Spring 1901 moves of A SMY Move Absolute Percentage A SMY - CON 133 53% A SMY - ARM 61 24% A SMY - ANK 38 15% A SMY H 19 8% A SMY - SYR 1 0% Total 252 100% Nothing too surprising here. The most popular order is A SMY - CON. Over half of Sultans opt for it. This article will argue that that popularity is somewhat undeserved. One out of four Sultans go to war with Russia immediately by moving A SMY - ARM. I laud their courage, but so far I declined to follow their example. Next comes A SMY - ANK, in 31 out of 38 cases combined with a pro-Russian F ANK - CON. There is nothing the army can do in ANK what it cannot do in SMY, so this move is useless. These Sultans give A SMY something to do because all units should do something in Spring 1901. 19 Sultans play A SMY H, but 16 of them combined it with the pro-Russian F ANK - CON. This is the more honest version of the moves in the previous bullet point. Then there’s the lone soul that played A SMY - SYR. Let’s take a moment to appreciate his capacity for confusion. We’re left with three exact copies of my move, and seven cases where A SMY - ANK is combined with F ANK - BLA, which sets up nearly the same tactical and diplomatic situation, though I will argue later that the hold order is slightly preferable. Ten out of 252. 4%. Not a lot. A SMY - CON — and on Why do half of the Sultans play A SMY - CON? The commonly stated reason is that in Fall it could move on to BUL in case A BUL picks up one of the other Balkan centers. Does the data bear this out? Let’s define “success” as the picking up of an extra Balkan center, and see where that leads us. Spring 1901: A SMY - CON Fall 1901: move of A CON Move Absolute Percentage Success Failure A CON - BUL 96 72% 32 64 A CON S A BUL 8 6% - 8 A CON - SMY 8 6% - 8 A CON - ANK 7 5% - 7 A CON H 7 5% - 7 A CON - RUM 6 4% 3 3 A CON - SEV 1 0% - 1 Absolute 133 - 35 98 Percentages - 100% 26% 74% A 75% failure rate is not very good. But maybe we’re being unfair here. Maybe some of the options that don’t bring in a second Balkan center have other merits. A CON S A BUL sounds useful in case the Balkan is wilder than expected. However, A BUL was attacked 0 out of 8 times (0%). Four times Austrian A SER and Russian F RUM were present but did not attack A BUL and the other four times only one of them was present, so the support order was unnecessary. Supporting A BUL turns out to be useless. A CON - SMY, back to where we came from. Why? In 7 out of 8 cases Turkey wanted to build F CON in Winter. That’s an excellent reason for keeping CON empty, and kudos to these seven players for seeing it. Still, if they saw the truth why did they send A SMY - CON in the first place? A CON - ANK. Sounds like trouble with Russia — and that, in turn, means that the army should never have been sent to CON. Five out of seven cases are related to Russian incursions, the sixth was to help destroy the Russian southern fleet with the Tsar’s permission, and I have no idea why the seventh Sultan chose to go to ANK. I’m afraid the Sultan himself didn’t, either. A CON H was the favorite pastime of seven Sultans. The most likely explanation is that they ordered a nice parade to impress their latest concubine. Finally, seven attempts were made to convoy the army elsewhere. That’s the best thing you can do when not going to BUL, and three convoys were even successful. All orders that do not attempt to move the army to a supply center are either pointless, or show that the army should not have been sent to CON in the first place. Thus it is proven that the sole reason for A SMY - CON in Spring is to conquer a second Balkan center in Fall. The risk of A SMY - CON How risky is moving to CON in Spring? Worst case scenario: bounce in BUL while the Tsar invades ARM. The Spring move to CON did not yield any results and invited an incursion. How often does this happen? Spring 1901: A SMY - CON   Russian incursions in ARM Fall 1901 move move of A CON Fall 1901 move Absolute Percentage Russian incursion in ARM Spring 1901 Fall 1901 Spring 1902 A CON - BUL bounce 6 out of 64 9% - 2 4 A CON - ANK 5 out of 7 71% 5 - - A CON - BUL succeed 3 out of 32 9% - 1 2 A CON - RUM bounce 2 out of 3 66% - - 2 A CON S A BUL 1 out of 8 13% - 1 - A CON - SMY 0 out of 8 0% - - - A CON H 0 out of 7 0% - - - A CON - RUM succeed 0 out of 3 0% - - - A CON - SEV 0 out of 1 0% - - - Absolute 17 out of 133 - 5 4 8 Percentages - 13% 4% 3% 6% In about 1 out of 8 cases, a Sultan moving A SMY - CON is subjected to a Russian invasion in ARM in Spring 1901, Fall 1901, or Spring 1902. That’s not too huge a risk to run. In five cases the Tsar invaded immediately in Spring, and the Sultan was forced to reply with A CON - ANK. These Sultans misjudged their diplomatic position. 9% of Sultans playing A CON - BUL suffer an invasion of ARM — likely because ARM is indefensible and the Sultan, again, misread his diplomatic position. Still, a chance of less than 1 in 10 means the move is pretty safe. It seems that attempting and failing to convoy A CON - RUM is a good indicator of an invasion of ARM in the next turn. Russia and Turkey are seriously at war, and Turkey fails to harm Russia in RUM. Hence the Tsar is in a mood and a position to extract revenge. (Still, there are only three failed attacks on RUM, so we may see a statistical artifact here. The theory sure sounds nice, though.) While I had expected to find that many Sultans moving to CON would be invaded in ARM, the data does not bear that out. Moving A SMY - CON is relatively safe — probably because it’s combined with F ANK - BLA, which almost forces the Tsar to play F SEV - BLA (bounce) and thus keeps ARM safe from incursions. Moving A SMY - CON may be fairly safe, but that doesn’t make it useful. Or successful. A CON - BUL How can a Sultan know if A SMY - CON in Spring is a good idea? Which factors make a grab for a second Balkan center successful? Reasons for success of Fall 1901: A CON - BUL / RUM Reason Absolute Percentage BUL RUM A/T vs R 8 23% 8 - R-G or R-E war 7 20% 5 2 A-R war 5 14% 5 - A-I war 5 14% 5 - NMR 3 8% 3 - Austro-Russian support 2 6% 2 - Russian tactical errors 2 6% 1 1 A/T vs I 1 3% 1 - I/T vs A 1 3% 1 - R/T vs A 1 3% 1 - Total 35 100% 32 3 In about half the cases Austria or Russia or both are distracted by wars elsewhere. They may fight each other, or Austria may become embroiled with Italy, or Russia may opt for a northern strategy. All these occurrences lead to a profoundly happy Sultan and Balkan pickup opportunities. In about a quarter of the cases Turkey concluded an alliance with Austria against Russia. This, too, is a clear advantage for a Sultan seeking happiness and the picking up of a second Balkan center. The rest is a mixed bag of other alliances, NMRs, and stupidity, though I would like to take a moment to praise the diplomatic brilliance of the two Sultans who were supported into RUM by Austrian and Russia. Summary so far So we’ve seen the following: Out of four Sultans, two send A SMY to CON, one to ARM, and one does something else — usually a pointless move to ANK. Out of eight Sultans who move A SMY - CON, one is invaded in ARM over the course of the first three turns. Out of four Sultans who move A SMY - CON, two subsequently order A CON - BUL but bounce, one orders the same and succeeds, and one does something that proves the army should never have been sent to CON. Out of four Sultans who conquer a second Balkan center, two succeed because Austria and/or Russia fight elsewhere, one thanks to Austrian support against Russia, and one for other reasons. So the A SMY - CON move is a fairly safe one, but it’s only useful in certain specific diplomatic circumstances: Austria or Russia fighting elsewhere, or an Austrian alliance against Russia. We can go even further: A SMY - CON only makes sense if the Sultan knows about these diplomatic circumstances in Spring. If he doesn’t he’s just guessing when he sends off A SMY - CON. The useless army Why do so many Sultans resort to guesswork? I think they don’t know what to do with A SMY. Let’s face it: if you don’t want to go to ARM straight away, A SMY is a rather useless army. Who hasn’t wished for F SMY instead? Still, Sultans think they are required to make it do something because all units should do something in Spring 1901. That’s mostly true, but not entirely. A VEN H is fully accepted as part of Italian openings. I believe that the same should go for A SMY H. I believe that, if it cannot play a well-defined role in ARM or the Balkan, A SMY should be a garrison unit, aimed at defense rather than offense. A SMY has one use that A CON does not have. It can guard your frontiers against treacherous Tsars. By threatening A SMY - ARM in Fall you have a lot more leverage in your negotiations. Even better, you haven’t actually declared war on him — you just hover there menacingly. Turkey is strong in defense. If you’re unsure of your alliances, unclear on what the rest of the board is going to do, and generally groping around, you should consider keeping A SMY right where it is in order to strengthen your defense even more. Using a unit defensively is not ideal in the early game, but these are the sub-optimal cards Calhamer has dealt the Sultan, so we should play them as well as we can. If 75% of the attempts to deploy into the Balkan fail, it’s time to look for other options. The useful center There’s a second fact that’s overlooked too often: CON is Turkey’s prime building center. Winter 1901. The Sultan has one build, and that means a fleet. But where to build it? SMY and ANK are so dreadfully final: you proclaim to the world at large that you’re either going after Italy or Austria, or after Russia. Sometimes you want that, but at other times you want to hedge your bets. Solution: build F CON. This offers you maximum flexibility and leverage in negotiating with both sides — unless a by now 100% useless army sits in CON for the Sultan’s concubines to admire. The other use for CON is as a destination for F BLA in case you strike a deal with the Tsar between the Spring and Fall moves. If it were occupied by a 75% useless army you’d have to either play it safe and send your fleet back to ANK (a tactically ridiculous move if there ever was one), or move A CON back to SMY (proving A SMY - CON should never have been ordered in the first place). I believe that, because they play A SMY - CON too often, Sultans are generally not making enough effort to keep CON open in Fall and Winter. A SMY’s role Concluding, we can see that A SMY has three distinct roles it can play: Attack the Tsar. Tactically, this is the best option. Diplomatically, it may not be wise. Grab a second Balkan center. This works only if you have a good Austrian alliance, or if Austria and/or Russia are waging war elsewhere. And you have to be sure of all that in Spring. Defend against Russia while keeping CON open for a build. Right now the second option is overrated at the expense of the third. I would argue that, in the absence of A SMY - ARM, A SMY H should be the default order, to be used unless the diplomatic circumstances I described apply in Spring. A SMY - ANK? There remains one more point to argue: A SMY - ANK. It offers the same benefits as A SMY H: it covers ARM and keeps CON empty. I believe A SMY H is superior to A SMY - ANK in case Russia plays F SEV - ARM — a stupid move, but that doesn’t stop some Tsars. With an army in ANK you must hold, but with an army in SMY you can try to set up a bounce that leaves ANK free for a build. Still, that scenario is an edge case, and my real reason for preferring A SMY H is psychological. If A SMY is a defensive unit, let it behave as one. A SMY - ANK is a non-move, so be consistent and don’t move A SMY at all. By underscoring them with a Spring 1901 HOLD order that’s bound to raise eyebrows, you can make A SMY’s strong defensive capabilities clear for all to see — especially the Tsar. Conclusion Thus I argue that, in the absence of a move to ARM, the default order for A SMY should become a hold instead of a move to CON. This offers extra security against the Tsar without declaring war on him, and it keeps CON free for a build. Conversely, three out of four times the A SMY - CON move is useless. If necessary you should not hesitate to send A SMY to CON, but you should first evaluate your diplomatic position for any signs of a second Balkan pickup, and not order A SMY - CON just to give the unit something to do. A SMY H allows you to negotiate with Russia from a position of strength. That’s a lot better than ordering a 75% useless army to occupy your prime building center in order to ogle concubines. — Peter-Paul Koch   (pp.koch@gmail.com) Did you notice that first graph on page 2? So. Which orders do Sultans give A SMY? Spring 1901 moves of A SMY Move Absolute Percentage A SMY - CON 133 53% A SMY - ARM 61 24% A SMY - ANK 38 15% A SMY H 19 8% A SMY - SYR 1 0% Total 252 100% And Peter Paul’s comment? Then there’s the lone soul that played A SMY - SYR. Let’s take a moment to appreciate his capacity for confusion. 3. DP JUDGE WEB SITE INFORMATION ON 2013A Here is the web site information on the game under discussion. http://www.floc.net/dpjudge/?game=owls_245 game owls_245 Game Status Game Information Maps: Final Map/Last Moves (GIF) By Season (PDF) By Season (PS) Results: Broadcasts: Analysis: Log in as: Password: Description: A standard Diplomacy game. Owls Rated. Origin of Name: Lesson 245: Embrace Vulnerability. Inspiration from Frank Rivers book, 'The Way of the Owl'. Practical wisdom for succeeding with integrity in a conflicted world. (5th cycle) GameMaster: Thorin Munro Variant: Standard. Press: White, Face-to-Face Restrictions, Private. Rules: SMART_CD, LIST_UNORDERED,LIST_WAITERS, FTF_PRESS,NO_MINOR_WAIT. Timing: WARN 12H,3H MOVE 2D DAYS -MTWTF- NEXT 1D Game Started: 11 November 2010 Game Ended: 25 February 2011 Result: 2-way draw (Germany, Russia) in W1915A The DPjudge is copyright © 1995-2014 by Manus Hand. All rights reserved. Now you need to move to “that other Diplomacy ‘zine, ETERNAL SUNSHNE” to check out the results of 2013A “Sweet Spot.” I’ll tell you how to do that in just a moment. In the meantime thank your lucky stars that I’m not reprinting the entire game and press, although it was a temptation I found hard to resist. Still, I was afraid if I did it Charles’ computer would crash and so would he (?) 4. Email from Larry Peery to Peter Paul Koch And now this from a slightly edited email I sent Peter Paul not long ago: Here's a bit of background on Diplomacy "Sweet Spot" 2013A which was published in Doug Kent's zine ETERNAL SUNSHINE. The Winter 1900 announcement went out on 1/5/2013 by email. The Spring 1901 orders appeared in ES issue 74, March 2013, page 41. Spring 1901 results are here: http://www.whiningkentpigs.com/DW/es74.pdf You have to scroll down to page This link should take you to ES home page and index for all the past issues: http://www.whiningkentpigs.com/DW/ The game was declared a 5 way draw by players vote effective Winter 1908 (even though Russia was in CD he was included in the draw). That was announced in ES issue 93 in October 2014. Statements and such are pending. Your article on A SMY appeared in Dec 2013. Question: Had you seen my Spring 1901 orders before you wrote the article? I'm just curious. I'll be curious to see your thoughts on the way that first order played out. In my opinion it was Turkey's most important order in the game and, perhaps, the most important order in the game period. I did it for two reasons: 1) To show Russia I was serious about a non-aggression pact, even though we had agreed on a stand-off in the Black, and 2) To confuse Austria and, more particularly Italy, who I was trying to recruit as an ally against Austria. That also worked. I pretty much stayed with those two ideas right to the end of the game, although I almost waivered when the original Italian player dropped out and I didn’t know what to expect from his replacement; and again when Russia NMR’d twice and went into Civil Disorder leaving a ten center Russia player less; and ripe for the taking. Another factor was the fact that during that time in the real world Turkey was involved in a near civil war between the progressives and the conservatives. I wrote a huge amount of press about what was going on in Turkey, Syria, Egypt, et al. which probably bored most of the players but at least a few found informative. 5.END OF GAME STATEMENT FOR TURKEY, 2013A, Winter 1908 Here’s my original end of game statement written before I read Peter Paul’s article. IT WAS A TOUGH TIME FOR TURKEY by Larry Peery Intro: 2013 – 2014 was a rough time to be in Turkey or be a Turkey. In Turkey a country was torn by internal dissent. In 2013A, a Sweet Spot became a bad after taste as the game wore on. Background As long as I live I’ll never forget that summer day in 2009 when I pulled my trusty old Diplomacy board that I’d gotten in 1965 and hadn’t used in years to look up something on a map I thought I knew by heart. As I looked down at the board I realized that I couldn’t see it. No blue seas or green or brown land spaces. No black lines. No black dots. No nothing. All I could see was a white fog that obscured everything. This lasted for several minutes. I finally stood up, shock my head, and looked out the front door on what should have been a bright, sunny afternoon. Instead I saw a sort of hazy mist filled with obscure shapes. Just a few weeks before, feeling fine, I had found a doctor named Hai Le, originally from Vietnam, down at Scripps and for my 62nd birthday I decided to give myself a complete physical exam although I hadn’t been to a doctor since I was in my forties. On the appointed day I drove down to the Clinic, parked the car, and walked in. After a good hour of poking and prodding and asking questions Dr. Le, who’d had a smiling cheerful look on his face when I walked in looked at me seriously and said, “Mr. Peery, you’re a walking time bomb.” He walked out of the exam room for a few minutes and then returned. He asked if I had anyone with me and I said no. He asked how I’d gotten there and I told him I’d driven myself. He wanted to know if there was someone who could come and get my car. I thought he meant to drive me home and I said I could do that myself. He looked at me again. “No, you’re not going home. You’re going to Scripps Hospital in Encinitas. Now. The ambulance is on the way.” I spent the next week in Scripps Encinitas while they did a multitude of tests and various doctors came in and did more poking and prodding. Nobody was telling me much but they all had that serious look on their face that tells you that all those cheap hamburgers and rotgut have finally caught up with you. What nobody had told me was that the reason I was in Scripps Encinitas was because 1) They were afraid something really serious might happen at any moment; and 2) They were waiting for a team of doctors and an OR to become available at Scripps Hospital in La Jolla, their main facility. After a week in Scripps Encinitas, the chief doctor that had been keep track of me came in and gave me my first idea of what was wrong and what to expect. He seemed concerned that I hadn’t had any visitors and my admission records showed no family or emergency contacts. I explained to him that I had no family and my emergency contact was on the other side of San Diego. He said OK and not to worry about it, he’d take care of things for the moment. By then the ambulance was there, complete with a ride along RN. They wasted no time in loading me up and down the freeway we went. It seemed almost surrealistic to be on the inside of one of those ambulances that I’d passed so many times on that same freeway without even thinking about who might be inside or why. Scripps La Jolla is a major regional medical center and one of the best heart hospitals in the country. As I lay in my private room on the 7th floor I looked out at the view that, under other circumstances, would have been pleasurable. I could see the UCSD Library building across the freeway, and the Torrey pines at the Golf Course where I’d watched Tiger Woods win the local event in January. I realized that almost everything I could see had been built in my adult lifetime, including the building I was in. Soon the procession of doctors started coming in one by one, like supernunneries in an opera by Bartok. I began to learn that there was a definite pecking order to their appearances each day. The first one to appear was the anesthesiologist and, as I learned later, he was one of the most important members of the OR team and usually the biggest cause of problems in a surgery. Most anesthesiologists don’t really want to be one but it’s the fastest, cheapest way to becoming a doctor. They also tend to be over-worked and over-stressed which leads to alcohol and other drug issues. They often fail to show up on time, especially if you have an early morning Monday surgery scheduled. Mine happened to be on Tuesday, but sure enough the anesthesiologist was 1.5 hours late showing up and the entire OR team stood around waiting for him. Eventually, after a string of other specialists came in and introduced themselves and briefly explained their role in what was to happen, the chief cardiologist who would actually do the important work came in. He introduced himself, told me that while it was a difficult procedure and I wasn’t in the best of shape to go through it he had done that procedure some 400 times during his career and he had confidence in his skills and his OR team. It wasn’t until he told me that they were combining two procedures into one trip to the OR and it would require a total of 14 staff and take somewhere between 12 and 15 hours (Actually it took 17.) that I began to realize this wasn’t just another “Don’t worry, Mommy will kiss it and make it better” situation. Finally, he paused and looked at me and asked if I had any questions. I just looked at him, wanly smiled, sand said. “I trust you. Let’s do it.” 17 hours in the OR. 24 hours one on one with a pre-ICU nurse, then another 24 hours in the ICU, and then back to a private room. The next morning the LVN walks in and smiles at me and says, “Mr. Peery, you’re doing well. Do you feel like a walk?” I said sure. She disappeared and not knowing what else to do, I proceeded to get out of the bed, wrapped a robe around myself, and started off down the hall toward the other wing of the floor. By the time the nurse, in a state of near panic, found me 15 minutes later I was cheerfully telling some visitors what all the buildings they could see from the view window were. My nurse walked up and said, “You weren’t supposed to go this far and not without a walker and me. “Oh.” I said, and turned around and walked back to my bed. Three days later I was home. It wasn’t an easy recovery from the quad bypass and carotid artery surgeries. There were missteps along the way: another week in Scripps Encinitas with congestive heart failure. Then there was a week in Tri City Hospital, just down the street from where I live, due to a car accident that led to pneumonia. A false alarm heart attack. And then there was the tongue problem. It seems funny now but the doctors were concerned that I might have had a minor stroke during the operation or, horror of horrors, they might have touched a raw nerve in my throat which caused my tongue not to work properly. They did all kinds of tests but came to no conclusion, telling me that if all went well it should go away in four to six weeks. Well, eventually it did, but in the interim my diet and eating habits changed radically and probably for the better. I could track the consequences each day as I weighed. Going into the hospital for the surgery I weighed just under 250. At my lowest during the tongue malfunctioning period I had dropped to 187. I was still technically over-weighted for my size but I hadn’t weighed that little since I was in high school. The doctors were happy. All my signs were good. The 12 different meds I was taking were working, etc. etc. By then almost two years had gone by. I discovered the reason for the white out vision I had just before the surgery was because my brain was only getting 30% of the oxygen it needed and consequently my brain was shutting down non-essential services to conserve energy. Apparently being able to read a Diplomacy board is not considered an essential service to a brain struggling to survive. Slowly I began to come back. I was up and about doing things I hadn’t done in years. I resumed my writing and other work, travelled a bit and felt better than I had in years. It was time to open up that old Diplomacy board and take another look, and so I did. From writing about the game and hobby the jump to playing again wasn’t that difficult although I kept telling myself I hadn’t played a game of Diplomacy in close to twenty years. But when Doug Kent asks most people find it easier to say yes and give in then to say no and then deal with his abuse ? So when he asked me to join what became 2013A, I agreed, partially because of his prodding and partially because of Chris Babcock’s cajoling. I had met Chris while writing for TDP and he suggested that he, I, and Heath Gardener, who I didn’t know, could make a good alliance. And so it happened. You may be wondering why I went to such length to tell this story about my hospital experience since everybody knows the last thing anybody wants to read about it somebody else’s hospital experiences. I did it simply to make a point, perhaps the most important point I can make about this or any other Dip game: Watch for the Warning Signs. I didn’t at the time and it almost cost me my life. That’s the real world we live in. In Dip it’s not quite a matter of life and death although it might seem like it at the time, but the effect of making the same mistake, not watching for the warning signs around you, can be just as devastating. Sweet Spot was filled with many of these moments and I’m sure. There are two kinds of warning signs you need to be watching for: the kind you receive and the kind you send. Warning signs are usually given by one of the senses. We all have those: Sight, Taste, Touch, Hearing, Smelling, the mysterious Sixth sense, and for Dippers, the Dip sense. In the Beginning The original players in Sweet Spot were: Austria – Fred Wiedemeyer: Didn’t know him at all and that can be good or bad. In Fred’s case, although he tried valiantly to change the tide he couldn’t do much to save himself when Italy, Russia and Turkey decided to go after him. England – Harold Zarr: I didn’t know him at all and had little to do with him during the game. Had things gone according to our plan he would have been the next player eliminated. However, his determined defense impressed all of us enough that we decided to include him in the final five way draw. France – Melinda Holley: Melinda played in some games I GM’d back in the 1980s. Frankly what I remember wasn’t too good: Terrible orders badly written with bizarre colored papers and ink. Still, she was a nice person and I hope she’d keep England and Germany while Italy and Russia got into position. Germany – Jack McHugh: I knew only reputation as a ferocious fighter, so I hoped Russia and France would take him down with England’s help if possible. Italy – Heath Gardener: Didn’t know him prior to the game but he seemed like a very nice guy and we hit off well in the beginning, but he proved a high maintenance ally and I spent more time reassuring him then doing anything else. Russia – Chris Babcock: I knew Chris from TDP but I’d never played in a game with him (Not that that was that big a deal since I’d never played a game with any of these folks.) Chris was the kind of ally you dream about having but then… Turkey – Larry Peery: I like playing Turkey and when I do, all other things being equal I usually try to get a strong non-aggression pact with Russia, take out Austria with Italy and then see what’s going on with France as a potential ally against Italy or as a target for Italy, thus keeping him (Italy) out of my hair while I await developments in Germany. At the Peak Things went pretty much according to plan in the early years and Italy, Russia and I worked well together. I basically proposed to both of them that: 1) I would not attack them; 2) I would not ally with either of them if they participated in an attack on each other; 3) I would patiently wait in my corner watching what happened and mind my own business while they expanded westward. It took some doing but I think I convinced Russia of my sincerity early on. Italy was a bit more difficult. He was always testing me and telling me not to do things I’d already told him I wasn’t going to do. France surprised me with her aggressive play against England and Germany and she made better head way against Germany than Russia did. Russia seemed to have problems dealing with England, who fought tenaciously to defend himself, but he finally got moving. By the end of 1902 Austria was down to one new center and had a new player, Paul Milewski who was an old timer that I barely remembered. England had four. France had six. Italy was up to seven! Russia was at five, as was Turkey. Holland remained unoccupied. By then I was more interested in the real world events going on in Turkey than I was in the game and my press showed it. What was going on In Istanbul reminded me so much of what I’d seen in Prague in 1968. It was like watching history all over. With Austria gone, Germany going fast, and England about to be pounded, I decided on a slight chance of my long term plan. As I was more impressed by Russia’s play, which was excellence well into the Mid Game, I begin to wonder if perhaps he could actually pull off a solo win. I told him privately that if he wanted to go for it I would maintain my neutrality and stay out of the battle between him and France and Italy, hoping that the two of them would be at each other’s throats before they realized he was coming after them. I could tell he was intrigued with the idea of pulling it off but that he didn’t have the lust for the dots to make it happen. By the end of 1903 Austria was gone, England was down to two, France gained three to go to nine, Germany was even at four, Italy was up to eight, Russia was still at five, and I had gone to six. Over the Hill The big change in 1904 was Russia suddenly coming to life and picking up most of Scandinavia and occupying two German spaces. France and Italy were facing off in the Western Med area. Things looked interesting. The multiple draw proposals were flying fast and furious which irritated me as I saw no reason for it. 1906 saw England pick up a center to three. France was still at seven. Germany was gone! Italy was at eight, Russia had gone to nine and Turkey stayed at seven. By this time most of my orders involving any movement involved an Army wandering between Syria and Armenia as I tracked the progress of the real world fighting going on in Syria and Kurdistan. Not With a Bang But With a Whimper By 1907 Heath had dropped out as Italy and been replaced by Hank Alme, who quickly signed off on the French, Russian and Turkish plan for a four way draw as soon as England was eliminated. By the end of the year England was at two, France even at seven, Italy at eight, Russia at ten, having taken Denmark and Berlin. Turkey continued at seven. Russia NMRed in the Winter 1907 and Spring 1908, another sign that interest was fading in the game when the biggest player on the board NMRs. England continued his defensive moves and tried to cause trouble where he could. France, Italy and Turkey pretty much just stood and supported themselves. Because of a change in the House Rules a ten center Russia having two NMRs was put into Civil Disorder after the Spring 1907 turn without a stand by being called. The remaining players less England, decided it was pointless to continue and informed the GM that they would vote for a five way in the Winter that would include England, France, Italy, Russia and Turkey. We included England because of his strong effort to defend himself anyway possible and we included Russia, even though in Civil Disorder, as an acknowledgment of his fine play. Once we told England we were going to include him in the Draw he stopped voting against them. ? End of Game Players A – Eliminated E – Harold Zarr: Liverpool, London = 2, Even F – Melinda Holley: Belgium, Brest, Holland, Kiel, Marseilles, Munich, Paris = 7, Even G – Eliminated I – Hank Alme: Naples, Portugal, Rome, Spain, Trieste, Tunis, Venice, Vienna =8, Even R – Civil Disorder: Berlin, Denmark, Edinburgh, Moscow, Norway, Rumania, Sevastopol, St.Petersburg, Sweden, Warsaw = 10, 1 short T – Larry Peery: Ankara, Budapest, Bulgaria, Constantinople, Greece, Serbia, Smyrna = 7, Even What If? If the Draw Proposal in Winter 1908 had failed I was prepared to take action. Obviously the race would be for Russia’s supply centers and it seemed to me from his final positions that the board set-up favored me in that contest. I would have taken Rumania and Sevastopol the following year and perhaps even Warsaw or Moscow. The challenge would be to keep France and Italy from allying against me before I could build some fleets in the Mediterranean (I had only one fleet at this point.). And there was always the question of what would England do? The Might Have Been? I mentioned at the beginning of my comments about Warning Signs. As you may have noticed I didn’t use a lot of examples of this game. I’m sure you, as you read the various statements and go back and look at the game reports, can find many moments that were, in effect, Warning Signs of things to be looked for. But there was one in this game that no one could have anticipated because it all took place inside my head. It all happened on a Fall turn late in the game. Everything between myself and my ally Russia had gone well. The deadline was two hours away and I suddenly realized I hadn’t heard from him since the Spring results had been published. My peerinoia went into over-time. Within 20 minutes I’d convinced myself that he was planning a stab of me with Italy, who’d been making various threatening and contradictory remarks for several seasons. I quickly decided I had to respond to that perceived attack and wrote up an email with orders that would send my Army in Syria into Armenia (or Armenia into Sevastopol, whichever was possible), take Rumania and even make a grab for Galicia. In a single, brilliant turn I figured southern Russia would be at my mercy. My finger was, literally, inches, from the SEND button, when I suddenly realized that the Warning Signs I had seen were all inside my head and that nothing in reality justified that kind of thinking. So I backed up, rethought the situation and decided that while such an action might be the best move for me in the short run it would definitely be a disaster in the long run, especially if I’d guessed wrong and Russia and Italy weren’t attacking. Now that would have been embarrassing. So, my orders remain unchanged, Russia remained my ally, and Italy went off to fight the battles going on inside his head. Finally my thanx to Doug for running the game and patiently putting up with us all and, in particular, answering my almost endless and sometimes stupid questions. Oh yes, and publishing all that Peeriblah with only a few complaints. 6.Complete Moves for 2013A Thanx to Doug Kent, publisher and editor of ETERNAL SUNSHINE for permission to reprint these moves from issues 74-93 and be sure to check out the next issue in November for the players’ end of game statements for 2013A. http://www.whiningkentpigs.com/DW/ Spring 1901: Turkey (Larry Peery – peery “of” ix.netcom.com;): F Ankara – Constantinople, A Constantinople – Bulgaria, A Smyrna - Syria. Fall 1901: Turkey (Larry Peery – peery “of” ix.netcom.com;): A Bulgaria Supports F Sevastopol – Rumania, F Constantinople - Aegean Sea, A Syria Hold. 3/4, Gain Bulgaria. Winter 1901: Build A Con. Spring 1902: Turkey (Larry Peery – peery “of” ix.netcom.com): F Aegean Sea Supports A Bulgaria – Greece, A Bulgaria – Greece, A Constantinople – Bulgaria, and A Syria - Armenia. Fall 1902: Turkey (Larry Peery – peery “of” ix.netcom.com): F Aegean Sea Supports A Bulgaria, A Armenia – Syria, A Bulgaria Supports F Sevastopol – Rumania, A Greece Supports A Albania - Serbia. Austria: Budapest=1, Remove 1 or Even England: Edinburgh, Liverpool, London, Norway=4, Even France: Belgium, Brest, Marseilles, Paris, Portugal, Spain=6, Build 1 Germany: Berlin, Denmark, Kiel, Sweden, Vienna=5, Build 2 Italy: Munich, Naples, Rome, Serbia, Trieste, Tunis, Venice=7, Build 2 Russia: Moscow, Rumania, Sevastopol, St Petersburg, Warsaw=5, Build 1 Turkey: Ankara, Bulgaria, Constantinople, Greece, Smyrna=5, Build 1 Unowned: Holland. Winter 1902 and Spring 1903: Austria (paul.milewski “of” hotmail.com): Retreat A Rumania - Ukraine.. Remove A Budapest. A Ukraine - Moscow (*Fails*). England (Harold Zarr - skip1955 “of” hotmail.com):. F Helgoland Bight - Holland (*Bounce*), A London Hold, F North Sea Supports F Helgoland Bight - Holland (*Dislodged*, retreat to Skagerrak or Norwegian Sea or Edinburgh or Yorkshire or OTB), F Norway Supports F North Sea (*Cut*). France (Melinda Holley – genea5613 “of” aol.com): Build A Paris.. F Belgium - North Sea, F English Channel Supports F Belgium - North Sea, A Paris – Picardy, A Portugal – Spain, A Ruhr - Holland (*Bounce*), A Wales - Liverpool. Germany (Jack McHugh – jwmchughjr “of” gmail.com): Build A Kiel, A Berlin.. A Berlin – Munich, A Denmark Supports A Kiel, A Kiel Supports A Berlin – Munich, F Sweden Supports A Denmark, A Vienna Supports A Budapest (*Dislodged*, retreat to Budapest or Galicia or Bohemia or OTB). Italy (Heath Gardner - heath.gardner “of” gmail.com): Build A Venice, F Naples.. F Adriatic Sea Supports A Trieste, F Ionian Sea - Greece (*Fails*), F Naples - Tyrrhenian Sea, A Serbia Supports F Ionian Sea - Greece (*Cut*), A Trieste Supports A Tyrolia – Vienna, A Tyrolia – Vienna, A Venice - Piedmont. Russia (Chris Babcock – cbabcock “of” asciiking.com ): Build A Moscow.. A Galicia – Warsaw, F Gulf of Bothnia - St Petersburg(sc) (*Fails*), A Moscow - Sevastopol (*Bounce*), F Rumania - Sevastopol (*Bounce*), A St Petersburg - Norway (*Fails*). Turkey (Larry Peery – peery “of” ix.netcom.com): Build A Constantinople.. F Aegean Sea Supports A Constantinople - Bulgaria (*Fails*), A Bulgaria - Serbia (*Fails*), A Constantinople - Bulgaria (*Fails*), A Greece Supports A Bulgaria - Serbia (*Cut*), A Syria - Smyrna. Summer 1903: Austria (paul.milewski “of” hotmail.com): Has A Ukraine. England (Harold Zarr - skip1955 “of” hotmail.com): Retreat F North Sea-OTB.. Has F Helgoland Bight, A London, F Norway. France (Melinda Holley – genea5613 “of” aol.com): Has F English Channel, A Liverpool, F North Sea, A Picardy, A Ruhr, A Spain. Germany (Jack McHugh – jwmchughjr “of” gmail.com): Retreat A Vienna-OTB.. Has A Denmark, A Kiel, A Munich, F Sweden. Italy (Heath Gardner - heath.gardner “of” gmail.com): Has F Adriatic Sea, F Ionian Sea, A Piedmont, A Serbia, A Trieste, F Tyrrhenian Sea, A Vienna. Russia (Chris Babcock – cbabcock “of” asciiking.com ): Has F Gulf of Bothnia, A Moscow, F Rumania, A St Petersburg, A Warsaw. Turkey (Larry Peery – peery “of” ix.netcom.com): Has F Aegean Sea, A Bulgaria, A Constantinople, A Greece, A Smyrna. Fall 1903: Austria (paul.milewski “of” hotmail.com): A Ukraine - Sevastopol (*Bounce*). England (Harold Zarr - skip1955 “of” hotmail.com):.F Helgoland Bight - North Sea, A London – Wales, F Norway Supports F Helgoland Bight - North Sea. France (Melinda Holley – genea5613 “of” aol.com): F English Channel Supports F North Sea – London, A Liverpool – Edinburgh, F North Sea – London, A Picardy – Burgundy, A Ruhr – Holland, A Spain - Marseilles. Germany (Jack McHugh – jwmchughjr “of” gmail.com): A Denmark Supports F Sweden, A Kiel Supports A Munich – Ruhr, A Munich – Ruhr, F Sweden Supports A Denmark. Italy (Heath Gardner - heath.gardner “of” gmail.com): F Adriatic Sea - Ionian Sea, F Ionian Sea – Tunis, A Piedmont Supports A Spain – Marseilles, A Serbia – Budapest, A Trieste Supports A Serbia – Budapest, F Tyrrhenian Sea - Gulf of Lyon, A Vienna Supports A Serbia - Budapest. Russia (Chris Babcock – cbabcock “of” asciiking.com ): F Gulf of Bothnia Hold, A Moscow - Sevastopol (*Bounce*), F Rumania - Sevastopol (*Bounce*), A St Petersburg Supports F Sweden - Norway (*Void*), A Warsaw Hold. Turkey (Larry Peery – peery “of” ix.netcom.com): F Aegean Sea Supports A Greece, A Bulgaria – Serbia, A Constantinople – Bulgaria, A Greece Supports A Bulgaria – Serbia, A Smyrna - Constantinople. Deadline for W 03/S 04 Will Be October 29th at 7am My Time Supply Center Chart: Austria: None=0, OUT! England: Liverpool, Norway=2, Remove 1 France: Belgium, Brest, Edinburgh, Holland, London, Marseilles, Paris, Portugal, Spain=9, Build 3 (Room for 2) Germany: Berlin, Denmark, Kiel, Sweden=4, Even Italy: Budapest, Munich, Naples, Rome, Trieste, Tunis, Venice, Vienna=8, Build 1 Russia: Moscow, Rumania, Sevastopol, St Petersburg, Warsaw=5, Even Turkey: Ankara, Bulgaria, Constantinople, Greece, Serbia, Smyrna=6, Build 1 Winter 1903 and Spring 1904 England (Harold Zarr - skip1955 “of” hotmail.com): Remove F Norway.. F North Sea – Edinburgh (*Dislodged*, retreat to Helgoland Bight or Skagerrak or Norwegian Sea or Yorkshire or OTB), A Wales - London. France (Melinda Holley – genea5613 “of” aol.com): Build A Paris, F Brest.. F Brest - Mid-Atlantic Ocean, A Burgundy – Ruhr, A Edinburgh Hold, F English Channel Supports F London - North Sea, A Holland Supports A Burgundy - Ruhr (*Cut*), F London - North Sea, A Marseilles Hold, A Paris - Gascony. Germany (Jack McHugh – jwmchughjr “of” gmail.com): A Denmark Supports F Sweden, A Kiel - Holland (*Fails*), A Ruhr – Belgium, F Sweden Supports A Denmark. Italy (Heath Gardner - heath.gardner “of” gmail.com): Build F Naples.. A Budapest – Trieste, F Gulf of Lyon Convoys A Piedmont – Spain, F Ionian Sea Hold, F Naples - Tyrrhenian Sea, A Piedmont – Spain, A Trieste – Tyrolia, F Tunis - North Africa, A Vienna - Bohemia. Russia (Chris Babcock – cbabcock “of” asciiking.com ): F Gulf of Bothnia - Baltic Sea, A Moscow – Warsaw, F Rumania Hold (*Dislodged*, retreat to Black Sea or Sevastopol or OTB), A St Petersburg – Norway, A Warsaw - Silesia. Turkey (Larry Peery – peery “of” ix.netcom.com): Build A Smyrna.. F Aegean Sea Supports A Greece, A Bulgaria – Rumania, A Constantinople – Bulgaria, A Greece Hold, A Serbia Supports A Bulgaria – Rumania, A Smyrna - Constantinople. Fall 1904: England (Harold Zarr - skip1955 “of” hotmail.com): NMR! Disband F North Sea.. A London Hold. France (Melinda Holley – genea5613 “of” aol.com): A Edinburgh – Yorkshire, F English Channel – Belgium, A Gascony - Spain (*Fails*), A Holland – Kiel, A Marseilles Supports A Gascony – Spain, F Mid-Atlantic Ocean Supports A Gascony - Spain (*Cut*), F North Sea - Denmark (*Fails*), A Ruhr Supports A Holland - Kiel. Germany (Jack McHugh – jwmchughjr “of” gmail.com): A Belgium – Holland, A Denmark Supports F Sweden (*Cut*), A Kiel Supports A Belgium - Holland (*Dislodged*, retreat to Berlin or OTB), F Sweden Supports A Denmark (*Dislodged*, retreat to Skagerrak or Gulf of Bothnia or Finland or OTB). Italy (Heath Gardner - heath.gardner “of” gmail.com): A Bohemia – Munich, F Gulf of Lyon Supports A Spain, F Ionian Sea Hold, F North Africa - Mid-Atlantic Ocean (*Fails*), A Spain Hold, A Trieste – Budapest, A Tyrolia Supports A Bohemia – Munich, F Tyrrhenian Sea - Western Mediterranean. Russia (Chris Babcock – cbabcock “of” asciiking.com ): Disband F Rumania.. F Baltic Sea – Sweden, A Norway Supports F Baltic Sea – Sweden, A Silesia Supports A Bohemia – Munich, A Warsaw - Prussia. Turkey (Larry Peery – peery “of” ix.netcom.com): F Aegean Sea - Ionian Sea (*Fails*), A Bulgaria Hold, A Constantinople Hold, A Greece Hold, A Rumania – Galicia, A Serbia Hold. England: Liverpool, London=2, Build 1 France: Belgium, Brest, Edinburgh, Kiel, Marseilles, Paris, Portugal=7, Remove 1 Germany: Berlin, Denmark, Holland=3, Build 1 or Even or Remove 1 Italy: Budapest, Munich, Naples, Rome, Spain, Trieste, Tunis, Venice, Vienna=9, Build 1 Russia: Moscow, Norway, Rumania, Sevastopol, St Petersburg, Sweden, Warsaw=7, Build 3 Turkey: Ankara, Bulgaria, Constantinople, Greece, Serbia, Smyrna=6, Even Winter 1904 and Spring 1905: England (Harold Zarr - skip1955 “of” hotmail.com): Build A Liverpool.. A Liverpool Supports A London – Yorkshire, A London - Yorkshire. France (Melinda Holley – genea5613 “of” aol.com): Remove A Yorkshire.. F Belgium Supports A Ruhr – Holland, A Gascony - Spain (*Bounce*), A Kiel Supports F North Sea - Denmark (*Cut*), A Marseilles Supports A Gascony – Spain, F Mid-Atlantic Ocean Supports A Gascony - Spain (*Cut*), F North Sea - Denmark (*Fails*), A Ruhr - Holland. Germany (Jack McHugh – jwmchughjr “of” gmail.com): Retreat A Kiel – Berlin, F Sweden - Skagerrak.. Remove F Skagerrak.. A Berlin Supports A Holland - Kiel (*Disbanded*), A Denmark Supports A Holland - Kiel (*Cut*), A Holland - Kiel (*Disbanded*). Italy (Heath Gardner - heath.gardner “of” gmail.com): Build A Venice.. A Budapest – Vienna, F Gulf of Lyon - Spain(sc) (*Bounce*), F Ionian Sea Hold, A Munich Supports A Prussia – Berlin, F North Africa - Mid-Atlantic Ocean (*Fails*), A Spain – Portugal, A Tyrolia Supports A Munich, A Venice – Piedmont, F Western Mediterranean Supports F Gulf of Lyon - Spain(sc). Russia (Chris Babcock – cbabcock “of” asciiking.com ): Build A Warsaw, F St Petersburg(nc), plays 1 short.. A Norway – Sweden, A Prussia – Berlin, A Silesia Supports A Prussia – Berlin, F St Petersburg(nc) – Norway, F Sweden – Skagerrak, A Warsaw - Prussia. Turkey (Larry Peery – peery “of” ix.netcom.com): F Aegean Sea Convoys A Constantinople – Greece, A Bulgaria – Rumania, A Constantinople – Greece, A Galicia Supports A Serbia – Budapest, A Greece – Serbia, A Serbia - Budapest. Fall 1905: England (Harold Zarr - skip1955 “of” hotmail.com): A Liverpool - Edinburgh (*Bounce*), A Yorkshire - London. France (Melinda Holley – genea5613 “of” aol.com): F Belgium - English Channel, A Gascony - Burgundy (*Bounce*), A Holland – Kiel, A Kiel – Munich, A Marseilles Supports F Mid-Atlantic Ocean - Spain(sc) (*Disbanded*), F Mid-Atlantic Ocean - Spain(sc) (*Fails*), F North Sea - Edinburgh (*Dislodged*, retreat to Belgium or Holland or Helgoland Bight or Norwegian Sea or Yorkshire or OTB). Germany (Jack McHugh – jwmchughjr “of” gmail.com): A Denmark Hold. Italy (Heath Gardner - heath.gardner “of” gmail.com): F Gulf of Lyon Supports A Piedmont – Marseilles, F Ionian Sea Hold, A Munich - Burgundy (*Dislodged*, retreat to Ruhr or OTB), F North Africa - Mid-Atlantic Ocean (*Fails*), A Piedmont – Marseilles, A Portugal Supports F Western Mediterranean - Spain(sc), A Tyrolia - Munich (*Fails*), A Vienna - Bohemia (*Bounce*), F Western Mediterranean - Spain(sc). Russia (Chris Babcock – cbabcock “of” asciiking.com ): A Berlin Supports A Kiel – Munich, F Norway - North Sea, A Prussia – Warsaw, A Silesia Supports A Kiel – Munich, F Skagerrak Supports F Norway - North Sea, A Sweden - Denmark (*Fails*). Turkey (Larry Peery – peery “of” ix.netcom.com): F Aegean Sea Hold, A Budapest - Galicia (*Fails*), A Galicia - Bohemia (*Bounce*), A Greece Supports A Rumania – Bulgaria, A Rumania – Bulgaria, A Serbia Hold. England: Liverpool, London=2, Even France: Belgium, Brest, Edinburgh, Kiel, Munich, Paris, Holland?=6 or 7, Build 1 Germany: Denmark, Holland?=1 or 2, Even (No Room to Build) Italy: Marseilles, Naples, Portugal, Rome, Spain, Trieste, Tunis, Venice, Vienna=9, Even or Build 1 Russia: Berlin, Moscow, Norway, Rumania, Sevastopol, St Petersburg, Sweden, Warsaw=8, Build 2 Turkey: Ankara, Budapest, Bulgaria, Constantinople, Greece, Serbia, Smyrna=7, Build 1 Autumn and Winter 1905: England (Harold Zarr - skip1955 “of” hotmail.com): Has A Liverpool, A London. France (Melinda Holley – genea5613 “of” aol.com): Retreat F North Sea - Holland.. Build A Paris. Has F English Channel, A Gascony, F Holland, A Kiel, F Mid-Atlantic Ocean, A Munich, A Paris. Germany (Jack McHugh – jwmchughjr “of” gmail.com): Has A Denmark. Italy (Heath Gardner - heath.gardner “of” gmail.com): Disband A Munich. Build A Venice. Has F Gulf of Lyon, F Ionian Sea, A Marseilles, F North Africa, A Portugal, F Spain(sc), A Tyrolia, A Venice, A Vienna. Russia (Chris Babcock – cbabcock “of” asciiking.com ): Build F St Petersburg(nc), plays 1 short. Has A Berlin, F North Sea, A Silesia, F Skagerrak, F St Petersburg(nc), A Sweden, A Warsaw. Turkey (Larry Peery – peery “of” ix.netcom.com): Build A Ankara. Has F Aegean Sea, A Ankara, A Budapest, A Bulgaria, A Galicia, A Greece, A Serbia. Spring 1906: England (Harold Zarr - skip1955 “of” hotmail.com): A Liverpool - Edinburgh (*Bounce*), A London Hold. France (Melinda Holley – genea5613 “of” aol.com): F English Channel Supports F Mid-Atlantic Ocean, A Gascony Supports A Paris – Burgundy, F Holland Supports A Kiel, A Kiel Supports A Munich, F Mid-Atlantic Ocean Supports A Gascony, A Munich Supports A Silesia - Bohemia (*Void*), A Paris - Burgundy. Germany (Jack McHugh – jwmchughjr “of” gmail.com): A Denmark Hold (*Disbanded*). Italy (Heath Gardner - heath.gardner “of” gmail.com): F Gulf of Lyon Unordered, F Ionian Sea Unordered, A Marseilles Supports F Spain(sc), F North Africa Unordered, A Portugal Supports F Spain(sc), F Spain(sc) Supports A Marseilles, A Tyrolia Supports A Venice – Trieste, A Venice – Trieste, A Vienna Supports A Venice - Trieste. Russia (Chris Babcock – cbabcock “of” asciiking.com ): A Berlin Hold, F North Sea - Edinburgh (*Bounce*), A Silesia Supports A Berlin, F Skagerrak Supports A Sweden – Denmark, F St Petersburg(nc) – Norway, A Sweden – Denmark, A Warsaw Hold. Turkey (Larry Peery – peery “of” ix.netcom.com): F Aegean Sea Supports A Bulgaria – Greece, A Ankara Hold, A Budapest Supports A Galicia, A Bulgaria – Greece, A Galicia Supports A Budapest, A Greece – Albania, A Serbia Supports A Greece - Albania. Fall 1906: England (Harold Zarr - skip1955 “of” hotmail.com): A Liverpool – Edinburgh, A London - Yorkshire (*Bounce*). France (Melinda Holley – genea5613 “of” aol.com): A Burgundy Supports A Gascony – Marseilles, F English Channel - London (*Fails*), A Gascony – Marseilles, F Holland Supports A Kiel, A Kiel Supports A Munich, F Mid-Atlantic Ocean - Spain(sc) (*Fails*), A Munich Supports A Kiel. Germany (Jack McHugh – jwmchughjr “of” gmail.com): No units. Italy (Heath Gardner - heath.gardner “of” gmail.com): NMR! F Gulf of Lyon Hold, F Ionian Sea Hold, A Marseilles Hold (*Dislodged*, retreat to Piedmont or OTB), F North Africa Hold, A Portugal Hold, F Spain(sc) Hold, A Trieste Hold, A Tyrolia Hold, A Vienna Hold. Russia (Chris Babcock – cbabcock “of” asciiking.com ): A Berlin Hold, A Denmark - Yorkshire (*Bounce*), F North Sea Convoys A Denmark – Yorkshire, F Norway - Norwegian Sea, A Silesia Supports A Berlin, F Skagerrak - Denmark (*Fails*), A Warsaw Hold. Turkey (Larry Peery – peery “of” ix.netcom.com): F Aegean Sea Supports A Greece, A Albania Supports A Greece, A Ankara – Armenia, A Budapest Supports A Galicia, A Galicia Supports A Budapest, A Greece Supports A Albania, A Serbia Supports A Budapest. England: Edinburgh, Liverpool, London=3, Build 1 France: Belgium, Brest, Holland, Kiel, Marseilles, Munich, Paris=7, Even Germany: None=0, OUT!! Italy: Naples, Portugal, Rome, Spain, Trieste, Tunis, Venice, Vienna=8, Even or Remove 1 Russia: Berlin, Denmark, Moscow, Norway, Rumania, Sevastopol, St Petersburg, Sweden, Warsaw=9, Build 2 Turkey: Ankara, Budapest, Bulgaria, Constantinople, Greece, Serbia, Smyrna=7, Even Winter 1906 and Spring 1907: England (Harold Zarr - skip1955 “of” hotmail.com): Build F Liverpool.. A Edinburgh - Yorkshire (*Bounce*), F Liverpool - North Atlantic Ocean (*Bounce*), A London - Yorkshire (*Bounce*). France (Melinda Holley – genea5613 “of” aol.com): A Burgundy Supports A Marseilles, F English Channel Supports A Denmark - London (*Void*), F Holland Supports A Kiel, A Kiel Supports A Munich, A Marseilles Hold, F Mid-Atlantic Ocean Hold, A Munich Supports A Kiel. Italy (Hank Alme - almehj “of” alumni.rice.edu): Disband A Marseilles.. F Gulf of Lyon - Western Mediterranean, F Ionian Sea - Tyrrhenian Sea, F North Africa Supports F Gulf of Lyon - Western Mediterranean, A Portugal Supports F Spain(sc), F Spain(sc) Supports A Portugal, A Trieste Supports A Tyrolia, A Tyrolia Supports A Vienna, A Vienna Supports A Tyrolia. Russia (Chris Babcock – cbabcock “of” asciiking.com ): Build A Moscow, F St Petersburg(nc).. A Berlin Hold, A Denmark Hold, A Moscow - St Petersburg, F North Sea - Norwegian Sea (*Fails*), F Norwegian Sea - North Atlantic Ocean (*Bounce*), A Silesia Supports A Berlin, F Skagerrak - North Sea (*Fails*), F St Petersburg(nc) – Norway, A Warsaw Hold. Turkey (Larry Peery – peery “of” ix.netcom.com): F Aegean Sea Supports A Greece, A Albania Supports A Serbia, A Armenia – Syria, A Budapest Supports A Galicia, A Galicia Supports A Budapest, A Greece Supports A Albania, A Serbia Supports A Budapest. Fall 1907: England (Harold Zarr - skip1955 “of” hotmail.com): A Edinburgh - Yorkshire (*Dislodged*, retreat to Clyde or Liverpool), F Liverpool - North Atlantic Ocean, A London - Yorkshire (*Bounce*). France (Melinda Holley – genea5613 “of” aol.com): A Burgundy - Belgium (*Bounce*), F English Channel Supports A Denmark - London (*Void*), F Holland - Belgium (*Bounce*), A Kiel Supports A Munich, A Marseilles Hold, F Mid-Atlantic Ocean Supports F Norwegian Sea - North Atlantic Ocean (*Void*), A Munich Supports A Kiel. Italy (Hank Alme - almehj “of” alumni.rice.edu): F North Africa - Western Mediterranean, A Portugal Supports F Spain(sc), F Spain(sc) Supports A Portugal, A Trieste Supports A Vienna, A Tyrolia Supports A Trieste, F Tyrrhenian Sea Supports F Western Mediterranean - Gulf of Lyon, A Vienna Supports A Trieste, F Western Mediterranean - Gulf of Lyon. Russia (Chris Babcock – cbabcock “of” asciiking.com ): A Berlin Hold, A Denmark – Edinburgh, F North Sea Convoys A Denmark – Edinburgh, F Norway – Skagerrak, F Norwegian Sea Supports A Denmark – Edinburgh, A Silesia Supports A Berlin, F Skagerrak – Denmark, A St Petersburg – Norway, A Warsaw Supports A Silesia. Turkey (Larry Peery – peery “of” ix.netcom.com): F Aegean Sea Supports A Greece, A Albania Supports A Serbia, A Budapest Supports A Galicia, A Galicia Supports A Budapest, A Greece Supports A Albania, A Serbia Supports A Budapest, A Syria Hold. England: Liverpool, London=2, Even of Remove 1 France: Belgium, Brest, Holland, Kiel, Marseilles, Munich, Paris=7, Even Italy: Naples, Portugal, Rome, Spain, Trieste, Tunis, Venice, Vienna=8, Even Russia: Berlin, Denmark, Edinburgh, Moscow, Norway, Rumania, Sevastopol, St Petersburg, Sweden, Warsaw=10, Build 1 Turkey: Ankara, Budapest, Bulgaria, Constantinople, Greece, Serbia, Smyrna=7, Even Winter 1907 and Spring 1908: England (Harold Zarr - skip1955 “of” hotmail.com): Disband A Edinburgh.. A London Hold, F North Atlantic Ocean Supports F Western Mediterranean - Mid-Atlantic Ocean (*Void*). France (Melinda Holley – genea5613 “of” aol.com): A Burgundy Supports A Marseilles, F English Channel – Belgium, F Holland Supports F English Channel – Belgium, A Kiel Supports A Munich, A Marseilles Hold, F Mid-Atlantic Ocean Hold, A Munich Supports A Kiel. Italy (Hank Alme - almehj “of” alumni.rice.edu): F Gulf of Lyon Supports A Marseilles, A Portugal Supports F Spain(sc), F Spain(sc) Supports A Portugal, A Trieste Supports A Vienna, A Tyrolia Supports A Trieste, F Tyrrhenian Sea Supports F Gulf of Lyon, A Vienna Supports A Trieste, F Western Mediterranean Supports F Spain(sc). Russia (Chris Babcock – cbabcock “of” asciiking.com ): NMR, plays 1 short.. A Berlin Hold, F Denmark Hold, A Edinburgh Hold, F North Sea Hold, A Norway Hold, F Norwegian Sea Hold, A Silesia Hold, F Skagerrak Hold, A Warsaw Hold. Turkey (Larry Peery – peery “of” ix.netcom.com): F Aegean Sea Supports A Greece, A Albania Supports A Serbia, A Budapest Supports A Galicia, A Galicia Supports A Budapest, A Greece Supports A Albania, A Serbia Supports A Budapest, A Syria Hold. Fall 1908: England (Harold Zarr - skip1955 “of” hotmail.com): A London Hold, F North Atlantic Ocean Supports F Western Mediterranean - Mid-Atlantic Ocean (*Void*). France (Melinda Holley – genea5613 “of” aol.com): F Belgium Supports F Holland A Burgundy Supports A Marseilles, F Holland Supports A Kiel, A Kiel Supports A Munich, A Marseilles Supports F Spain(sc), F Mid-Atlantic Ocean Hold, A Munich Supports A Kiel. Italy (Hank Alme - almehj “of” alumni.rice.edu): F Gulf of Lyon Supports A Marseilles, A Portugal Supports F Spain(sc), F Spain(sc) Supports A Portugal, A Trieste Supports A Vienna, A Tyrolia Supports A Trieste, F Tyrrhenian Sea Supports F Gulf of Lyon, A Vienna Supports A Trieste, F Western Mediterranean Supports F Spain(sc). Russia (Civil Disorder): A Berlin U, F Denmark U, A Edinburgh U, F North Sea U, A Norway U, 7. 2013A Moves for Turkey’s Three Armies Originating in Smyrna with Commentary by Larry Peery I can’t recall seeing this done before in the hobby press but I thought it would be interesting to focus on the moves of just the units that originated in Smyrna. It turned out there were threem all armies and you can follow their wanderings with these moves and the commentary below. Spring 1901: A Smyrna – Syria!! 1 Fall 1901: A Syria Hold!!2 Spring 1902 A Syria –Armenia!!3 Fall 1902: A Armenia – Syria!!4 Spring 1903: A Syria – Smyrna!!5 Fall 1903: A Smyrna – Constaninople!6 Winter 1903: Build A Smyrna!!7 Spring 1904: 1st Army Constantinople – Bulgaria Spring 1904: 2nd Army Smyrna – Constantinople Fall 1904: 1st Army Bulgaria – Hold Fall 1904: 2nd Army Constantinople – Hold Spring 1905: 1st Army Bulgaria – Rumania!8 Spring 1905: 2nd Army Constantinople – Greece (via convoy) Fall 1905: 1st Army Rumania – Bulgaria!9 Fall 1905: 2nd Army Greece – S Rumania – Bulgaria Winter 1905: Build A Ankara!10 Spring 1906: 1st Army Bulgaria – Greece Spring 1906: 2nd Army Greece – Albania!11 Spring 1906: 3rd Army Ankara – Hold Fall 1906: 1st Army – Greece S Albania Fall 1906: 2nd Army Albania S Greece Fall 1906: 3rd Army Ankara – Armenia!!12 Spring 1907: 1st Army Greece S Albania Spring 1907: 2nd Army Albania S Greece Spring 1907: 3rd Army Armenia – Syria!!13 Fall 1907: 1st Army Greece S Albania Fall 1907: 2nd Army Albania S Serbia Fall 1907: 3rd Army Syria Holds Spring 1908: 1st Army Greece S Albania Spring 1908: 2nd Army Albania S Serbia Spring 1908: 3rd Army Syria Holds Fall 1908: 1st Army Greece S Albania Fall 1908: 2nd Army Albania S Greece Fall 1908: 3rd Army Syria Holds Comments: Spring 1901: A Smyrna – Syria: You could hear the jaws drop when this move was published. I even got emails from people not in the game asking why I did it? To me it seemed a bit unorthodox but it fit perfectly in with my game plan. Remember my priorities? First, a solid pact with Russia based on the fact that I knew Chris Babcock pretty well. Second, eliminating Austria ASAP. Nothing personal, I just needed a target. Third, getting Italy, Heath Gardener, as my ally in the attack on Austria which would help there and also keep him out of my backyard. Fourth, encourage France, Melinda Holley, who I had known for decades, to cause Heath as much trouble as possible. Finally, to encourage a general mess in the North and Center of the board to keep them in a state of flux. Fall 1901: A Syria Holds. A follow up move to show everyone that I was doing what I said I would, thus keeping Russia and Italy off my back; and Austria on edge. Spring 1902: A Syria – Armenia. With Russia’s OK I made this move to show both Austria and Italy that I was serious about attacking Russia; and to further confuse things in the North. Fall 1902: A Armenia – Syria. What? So the attack on Russia was a ruse, so to speak, but why? The primary objective was to establish a working trust with Russia; and again keep Italy and Austria off guard. Spring 1903: A Syria – Smyrna. Partially in response to what was going on in the press, but mostly to make sure Italy got the message that I wasn’t going be a push-over even if I wasn’t building fleets. Fall 1903: A Smyrna – Constantinople. A bitter battle with Austria was winding down and I needed to get in position for the next phase. I was perfectly happy to let Italy and Russia reap the benefits of the Austria collapse as long as I could prevent the two of them allying against me. By now I think I had convinced them both that I had no hostile intentions against either of them and I was offering my services as a guarantor of a three way alliance (e.g. if either of them attacked the other I would go to the aid of the one attacked and, second, I would not be part of a two-way attack on either of them). Eventually, after a bit of testing, they accepted my plan. Winter 1903: Build Army Smyrna! Wow! And again, no fleet — a sure sign of trust in Italy since Austria was no longer a factor in the game. The Army posed no threat to Russia. Spring 1904: 1st Army Constantinople – Bulgaria, 2nd Army Smyrna – Constantinople. The Turkish steamroller into the Balkans was gearing up. Fall 1904: 1st Army Bulgaria Holds, 2nd Army Constantinople Holds. Again, very conservative moves that threaten none of my allies. Spring 1905: 1st Army Bulgaria – Rumania, 2nd Army Constantinople – Greece (by convoy from my one fleet that has been sitting in the Aegean since the beginning of time (I think). Again, slowly expanding into the Balkans, space by space, without threatening anyone. Fall 1905: 1st Army Rumania – Bulgaria although I could have held it. It wasn’t worth the center to disrupt my good relations with Russia. 2nd Army Greece S Rumania – Bulgaria just to make sure there were no last minute surprises. Also it demonstrated to Russia that I was serious about vacating Rumania on a fall turn and thus not costing him a center. Winter 1905: Build 3rd Army Ankara. No reason to do it but just a bit of a head’s up to Russia that I couldn’t be taken for granted. Spring 1906: 1st Army Bulgaria – Greece, 2nd Army Greece – Albania. Army Ankara – Holds. Signs from Italy were ominous and I had to be prepared for an attack by or on him. Occupying Albania was a major tactical and strategic decision since it gave me the option of a dual attack on two Italian centers in Austria that could not be stopped. It also reassured Russia of my good intentions. Fall 1906: 1st Army Greece – S Albania, 2nd Army Albania S Greece, 3rd Army Ankara-Armenia. By now we were moving into a period of endless proposals for various draws and concessions, players were losing interest and the possibility of NMRs and CDs was rampant. I told Russia I was going to Armenia so it wouldn’t be a surprise, just another trek to Syria. Spring 1907: 1st A Greece S Albania, 2nd Army Albania S Serbia, 3rd Army Armenia – Syria. Once again, holding the fort and waiting to see what happened in the west. Back at home in Syria and no threat to Russia, who I had been encouraging to push on for the solo win and promising to stay out of his way if he went for it. In the west I continued to encourage France against England Germany, and also Italy. Melinda was a busy girl and I was very proud of her play. A new Italian player seemed happy with our long term neutrality pact and things pretty much settled down. The term “Sitzkreig” came to mind frequently. Fall 1907: 1st Army Greece –S Albania, 2nd Army Albania S Serbia, and 3rd Army Syria Holds. The Sitzkreig was a reality. By now all the players, save one, knew it was going to be a four way draw as soon as England was eliminated (Austria and Germany were already gone). Only England, strong bulldog that he was, held on and wouldn’t give up. Spring 1908: Russia had sent a shock wave through the board by NMRing in the Winter of 1908 and then doing it again in the Spring. Suddenly we (the survivors, who had all agreed on the four way draw) were left with a ten center Russia in Civil Disorder and no new player on the way. It was a whole new ball game. 1st Army Greece S Albania, 2nd Army Albania S Serbia, 3rd Army Syria Holds. At this point the key players had agreed we wanted an end to the game and to achieve that after a long series of NO to various draw proposals we agreed among ourselves that it would be a five way draw including the Russia in Civil Disorder, because of his good play early on, and England, because of his stubborn defense. Now we just had to make it happen. Fall 1908: 1st Army Greece S Albania, 2nd Army Albania S Serbia, 3rd Army Syria Holds. Nine of my last ten orders had been holds or supports. Not very exciting, right? I ended the game with my original game plan intact. I achieved my goals, although it took a lot of prodding to keep Italy and Russia on track, and I admit I was tempted once or twice to each of them, but in both cases common sense won out and I took the gentler path. Winter 1908: The game ends in a 5 way draw and every one still on their feet breathed a sigh of relief. As I looked around the table I realized that only Melinda and I had survived until the end. Russia, Chris, was in CD, and all the other players were replacements. Our thanks to them. And a special tip of the hat to Melinda who played a really good game. It was an interesting game for me and, I think, one of the better games I’ve played in terms of diplomacy. My opening moves those first few years were very unorthodox but they served me well. I hope Peter Paul takes note and pity on an Old Fart seeking to do his best, confused and all. After all, with age comes dementia and Alzheimer’s. 8. Revised End of Game Statement for 2013A by Larry Peery For reasons of length (Hah! When did I ever worry about that?) I’m going to focus my comments on the area of interest here (e.g. Armies from Smyrna.) The big shock came when I actually looked at the results of the game moves recently. When I wrote my original end of game statement I did it off the top of my head without looking at the moves, supply center charts, commentaries or press. As a result it was full of errors. Oh well, that’s what history is for. The specific case that surprised me was that of Army Smyrna –Syria in Spring 1901, By the end of the game in 1908, a year and a half later, I have morphed the game results into a pleasing memory of that Army going down to Syria to do battle with…, well, somebody and then sitting there until the end of the game. I had totally forgotten that the original Army had come back to Turkey and then gone on to take part in the Balkan Wars as had the second Army built in Smyrna in 1903. It was the 3rd Army built in Smyrna in 1905 that ended up in Syria at the end of the game. And it’s no secret that had the game continued into 1909 I would have moved on Rumania from the Balkans and Syria would have gone to Armenia in the Spring and then on to Sevastapol in the Fall since Russia was in CD. 9. Conclusion These were two very different games with very different results. Owls 245, a standard Diplomacy game Game 2013A Sweet Spot, a standard Diplomacy game Owls 245: Adjudicated by DP Judge, GM’d by Thorin Munro Game 2013A, Published in Eternal Sunshine, GM’d by Doug Kent Owls 245: Turkey: Martin Reimer to Spring 1903, Andy Adams Fall 1903 to end. Game 2013: Turkey: Larry Peery Owls 245 started 11 November 2010m Game ended 25 February 2011 Game 2013A started March 2013, issue 74, ended October 2014, issue 93. Owls 245 resulted in a 2-way draw (Germany, Russia) in W1915A, each with 17 centers. Turkey dropped from 5 centers in 1913 to 1 in 1914 and then was eliminated. Game 2013A resulted in a 5-way draw (England, France, Italy, Russia (in CD) and Turkey in Winter 1908. Turkey ended the game with seven centers: Ankara, Budapest, Bulgaria, Constantinople, Greece, Serbia and Smyrna ; and a F Aegean, A Greece, A Albania, A Serbia, A Budapest, A Galicia and A Syria I would like to thank Peter Paul Koch, Doug Kent, Charles Roburn and everyone else who contributed to this project. I know it was long but I think there’s a lot to be learned now and in the future about the potential of something as simple as a move Army Smyrna – Syria vs. Army Smyrna – Hold. Larry Peery (peery@ix.netcom.com) If you wish to e-mail feedback on this article to the author, and clicking on the envelope above does not work for you, feel free to use the "Dear DP..." mail interface.