DP F2016M: World Diplomacy Championship 2016 Recap

Chris Martin, the 1998 world champion, recounts in detail and with ample video footage the events of the WDC 2016 top board that would crown the 2016 World Champion.

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The Paris Method

Blurb Video Suggestions Starting Map

In which each player chooses his country in orderly fashion.

Spoiler Warning! Reveals the winner in the first 20 seconds of the video.

Suggestions

Peter J McNamara Great video, Chris Martin. I'm loving the recap so far. Thank you so much.
Chris Martin My pleasure! I hope Chris Brand, Douglas Moore, Peter Yeargin, Nathan Barnes, Andrew Goff, Adam Silverman and Dave Maletksky feel the same way! :)

Spring 1901

In which players gauge their opponents for the first time and Peter Yeargin does some seed planting.

Suggestions

Jay Heumann Very cool! Are you planning one video per season or will it eventually get down to one per year?
Chris Martin I was recording for the full negotiation time each season, so probably one per? I think 16 minutes is on the long side for this, but even so I cut out some really juicy stuff!
Bryan Pravel Oh man, commentary along with the videos will be amazing!
Roland Cooke Fascinating stuff, your commentary is brilliant.
Chris Martin Glad you like it! Trying to help tell the story - I wonder if I am not giving enough background for an outsider, though they really aren't my intended audience.
Roland Cooke You could do a separate 'prequel' episode maybe. Explain the basics, and the personalities involved (brief bios).
Bryan Pravel Chris Martin: I think if you are enjoying it, others will pick up on that and enjoy it as well. One of the things that encouraged me to start online play was reading the showcase game "ghodstoo" on the Diplomatic Pouch. I didn't understand half of what I was reading at the time but I knew I liked it and it encouraged me to dig deeper into the hobby. I suspect this could have that same impact for face-to-face games.
Chris Martin Ugh was I in that game? :) I remember that - haha, I wasn't! Winning. But truly some masters there.
Jay Heumann I think that outsiders should be your intended audience, but I think you probably are giving enough background.
Chris Brand Good stuff!
Chowder Sergeant Rufus You are the best!
Chris Martin Captions applied to Spring 1901. Man, that's almost as much work as creating a new video.
Doug Massey: You did a great job correcting all my transcription mistakes. :-) I didn't know anything about the tie-breaker rules so I had a hard time making sense about what they were saying -- but now I get it!

Comments

Andrew Goff Want some thoughts shared?
Chris Martin Oh my stars and garters yes! But maybe no spoilers? :D
Andrew Goff Ok. Maybe a "consider as you watch..." approach :)
As you watch my negotiations, consider what I was trying to achieve in the west. It's almost the opposite of Yeargin! And yet we rapidly agreed on our collective orders and first target. I think this gives some great insight into the difference between strategy and tactics.
Douglas Moore Likewise to what Andrew said (no spoilers)... I spent my time in '01 working to set the stage. I'm playing Germany, which I love, but both Adam and Nathan will be leery (to be fair, we're all leery of each other). So, I want to talk to Andrew, because as former World Champs, we are targets. If we can work together, and we can be on the same page, that's critical for my position -- more so than anything that happens with EF. Otherwise: I like working with Nathan, will France go north, or is he conservative? What does Adam want to do with England? How fast? Can I get Chris to go west?

Fall 1901

In which Chris Brand has to explain the bounce on Trieste to Peter Yeargin and no one and everyone wants Belgium.

Suggestions

Steve Cooley All I can say is: MORE!
Would it even be better if you could have recorded every conversation and chosen which were key/critical? Sure, but given that you were one dude doing all that one dude could do (channeling Robert Downey Jr. from that movie about Vietnam I never saw), it's fantastic. I'm basing this on Spring 1901 only. Haven't watched this one yet. However, I'm confident I'll feel the same. You are a master, analyzing and drawing out other expert players.
Jay Heumann Very nice! Especially like the way (if memory serves) every clip featured one of the players from the previous clip.
Chris Martin I was definitely doing that this time. :D
Jay Heumann It worked really well, I thought.
Doug Massey This is good stuff -- it's the first time I've ever seen someone try to cover a game of Diplomacy this way. I tried watching with closed captions (automatically generated by Google) on, but it's a mess. Legit captions for the negotiations would be sooooo helpful.
Andrew Goff I think they're hilarious :)
James Burgess They really are great and there's not much else you can do about the background noise (which is the only difficult part). As Mr. Cooley notes, you are only one person, so you got what you got. I like the basic style of your commentary and BECAUSE the background noise is so bad, you might do better to tell us more of what they just said that we are having trouble hearing.
Chris Martin Ok, I have heard a lot about closed captioning - its a lot of work but maybe I can try something for the next one.
Doug Massey I might-could help with that (might-could = my new NC accent!). I could first-draft something for you if you have a way to add in the captions?
Chris Martin It would involve a re-edit, but a pretty simple one. If you want to take a crack at it, please be my guest!
Doug Massey If you have an advance copy of S1902 you want to send me, just email me a link.
Chris Martin Unfortunately, I just have raw footage. But if you want to take a run at S or F 01, I could re-edit them to incorporate CC.
Peter J McNamara These are great videos. Really well done and love the commentary. Your commentary is what makes it great.
Steve Cooley The only thing that stops them from being even better, well, two things: 1) Money; 2) Time.
I was talking to someone today about mobile microphones. Less than $400 for one that is "okay." So, putting one on each player ... $2700? Then you need a sound board, digital recorders, and, oh yeah, more cameras and camera people. So, until ESPN sees the light ...
And, if it's tough editing now, imagine what it would be like with MORE video/audio.
Anyway, with the limits you are working under, these are remarkable.
Chris Brand I *wish* I got two fleet builds in '01 :-)
Chris Martin Yeah, I caught that on this watch-through. :/
Jim O'Kelley I'm late on this, but I just started binging. Looks great, and the sound is good on my iPhone with ear buds. Chris, how do you not comment on the Colonial Dip board in the foreground during the negotiations with Doug and Adam? #Sloppy
Steve Cooley That . . . is the funniest thing I've read all day. Well done!
Chris Martin I don't see variants.
Steve Cooley ^That was also world-class. Thank you!

Comments

Doug Massey Nice to see Adam Silverman -- I haven't seen him since the Boston Massacres of the 1990s.
Chris Martin Yes, specially since he isn't on the facebooks!
Andrew Goff Fall 1901 was a highlight for me. That went perfectly.
Chuck Spiekerman Awesome videos. I just rewatched Spring 1902, and what I would like to hear from players (if possible) is why didn't Eng-Ger get together after Sp02. Nathan screwed Adam, and Goff screwed Doug. Was Adam still so scared of Doug that that didn't happen? Seems like the moves are there.
Chris Martin You get a little more insight into this in the Fall 1902 I think - but my sense is that they never got on the same page. To Nathan's advantage, of course. Douglas, we talked about that earlier, didn't we?
Douglas Moore Chris Martin: Yes, indeed. Adam isn't on facebook, so he can't reply. But, if you go back, you'll see that when those opportunities were there, we couldn't/wouldn't make it happen. Believe me, I made the case more than once.

Spring 1902

In which Nathan Barnes and Adam Silverman waffle over the Channel, while Andrew Goff plants a bomb.

Suggestions

Peter J McNamara Best one yet!
Laurence Peery Chris Martin: Please, please, please make sure that somewhere is a complete list of this series where we can find it easily. I dream the thought of months from now having to scroll through miles of messages to be able read them all in a coherent manner. I think this is going to be the hobby's Downton Abbey and once hooked, one stays hooked. I do have one assign comment on that opening photo above. It's the quintessential Adam Silverman (on the right) body english shot, but more on that later.
Douglas Moore I think it is fun and instructive to analyze a game, see some of the other diplomacy, and not be in a "post-game" mode, in which we are all tired, emotional, and sometimes defensive. Thanks again for undertaking this, Chris Martin! If we could figure out the logistics, I'd love to be in a game where all 7 players are mic'ed up / camera'd up.
Steve Cooley That would be ideal.
Nathan Barnes But do it soon before we forget everything!
Douglas Moore Nathan Barnes: What? Who are you again?
Nathan Barnes Oh! Excuse me! I am an actor looking for new projects. Would you mind reading my screenplay?
Nicholas DeLateur Pretty sure Nathan Barnes is just a guy who wants to go drink with his friends.
Roland Cooke Minor suggestion, if you are able to put graphics on top the videos. Put a country flag on the left and right of the screens, for each player in the negotiation. Ideally also include a list of each player's current units and their locations.
Chris Martin Good idea Roland! I've thought about that - Name, country. Will try for next time.

Comments

Steve Cooley Not gonna be a critic (since they all played better than I did), but Adam might have been well-served to build F Edi rather than F Lon. That would have ended the whole Channel discussion. Sure, Nathan could have gone to the Channel anyway, but Adam could have at least made a compelling anti-German case instead of the (rather weak) offer to put a fleet in Bel.
Excellent insights for beginners, intermediate, and even advanced players, Chris! The discussion of tempo is often overlooked. You highlighted it after the turn--Yeargin and Silverman accomplished nothing in a very pivotal turn. Well, they did pick up additional threats, but that's not in category "good."
Chris Martin I think Adam suffered from being rushed at the end in this particular turn; He might have been better off just saying "OK" when Nathan suggested putting the army into Berlin. Even if he loses the tempo from F London for a season, that would have cemented the alliance. Nathan could have moved his fleets to MAO/Spa(sc), and things proceed differently. But I don't think Nathan was ever really sold on English Army Belgium.
Steve Cooley Since I can critique you (gently): the one part of the negotiations I found really lacking between EF was that this was a spring move. You did say that they both were afraid to commit. I agree. I'd take it a step further: they both were afraid to offer ideas. Doug is a great player and it's going to take more than a lame Spring agreement on Belgium to take him down. So, why not start with "Do you think I could get into Helgoland?" If Adam even feigns a willingness to commit, he might well get something going.
The rushing at the end is all true. Memo to all players: write a set of orders early. You can change them. But, "drop dead" is what is sounds like: unforgiving, as in you don't get orders in on time, you can "drop dead."
Eh, I guess I did critique Adam. Then again, he's not on the Facebooks. :)
Douglas Moore The analysis on the SKA bounce is spot on. It was a critical move, and had repercussions throughout the rest of the game -- no spoilers, but I'll comment again on it after later posts. Andrew's (Russia) bounce there was a straight stab (a good one, too), since we'd discussed this move separately. Switching gears, Chris couldn't be everywhere at once and see every negotiation, but in reality, I never got anything pro-active or positive from Adam (England) in any Dip phase. I wasn't convinced he didn't want to work with me or that he wanted to attack me because of Peter, but rather his diplomacy and approach from the start. In S1901, for example, he talked to every other player before he spent a token amount of time talking to me (in all of '01, I think we spent less than a minute talking). Through this point, as a consequence of Adam's approach and the signals he gave (as I interpreted them), I've done virtually everything I could have done to get Nathan (France) on board with FG.
Nathan Barnes It's good to see these, Chris. It's nice know that even this early in the game Peter and Douglas have already commented on the "show" I may or may not be putting on for the board. Not every artist gets this kind of feedback. It's also really funny to see that I got to repay Maletsky's "Rando Barnes" comment by calling him wild card that might randomly throw dots to Chris. Touché.
Douglas Moore To be fair, my commentary was in discussion with you!
Nathan Barnes True! Very true. It was just the mentions made me laugh a little - there will undoubtedly be more from other players...
Nathan Barnes Oh, and in case viewers are wondering, despite my low key demeanor, I did have a coffee before the round started.
Steve Cooley I was thinking 5 espressos. Lots of hands, feet, and body movement.
Nathan Barnes Yea... it was a double.
Chris Brand With Adam's effective NMR, it's very hard to read Nathan's move here (unless you're party to his negotiations) - those moves could easily have been with Adam's agreement (e.g. with a move to Hel and Lon-Nth)
Steve Cooley Yes, but Adam knew (or should have known). I'm looking forward to seeing how Adam responds.
Chris Martin SO awesome to have so many players commenting on this. Wish Silverman and Maletsky were on.
Laurence Peery It's simple: Maletsky guards his words like he guards his dots. Silverman prefers to bury your dots under his words.

Fall 1902

In which Peter Yeargin creates enough confusion to weather out a botched attack from all three sides.

Suggestions

Steve Cooley Thank you very much for the captioning. However, I do think the captioning of the players names/countries is unnecessary. If someone has gotten this far into the game and can't sort that out, well . . . they need to work harder. ;)
Very nice analysis. If there was a pro league, you could do this for a living (but, I think you know that).
Doug Massey Keep the names and countries for people who have been out of the hobby for ten years!
Steve Cooley Oh, please don't misunderstand me. I think it's fine. However, if it adds to the workload substantially, I'm saying that by the end of '02 anyone who is working through the videos ought to be able to keep it straight by that time. Plus, Chris' commentary shows the players positions, so I am just offering the opinion that (after an hour of video between the four turns) it doesn't add that much.
On the other hand, the closed-captioning is invaluable.
Bryan Pravel Best episode yet. The captions and overlays really help and you have a very nice narrative that tells the story. This is great stuff!
Doug Massey Love love love the captions!
John Jamieson Did someone use a profanity, that appeared in the captions as 'mucked'?
Steve Cooley I thought that was rather well done. ;)
John Jamieson I can only agree, excellent work by Chris Martin.
Marc Peters The subtitles are key; too much is unheard otherwise. Thanks for the effort.
Chris Barfield This is awesome!
Laurence Peery CM: As my dear Norwegian grandmother told me, "Remember, the best ice cubes come from the bottom of the berg." It's the same with captions and such. We, at least some of us, may not need them today but in 50 years they'll be a big help to future hobbyists.
Chris Martin That's a good point, Laurence - and fair. if someone wants to do the transcriptions for the first 4 vids, I will go back and re-edit them to include captions.
Chris Martin Doug Massey!
Doug Massey Chris Martin: S1901 emailed to you.
Chris Brand The captions are awesome - thanks.
Steve Cooley Okay, crazy idea time (then again, it IS me!)
So, with all the tech that you can (masterfully) pull off, what about letting the players review the moves of every turn, watch the vids, then give you "what I was thinking" videos that you could also edit in? These would be recorded before you released the videos.
Am I making sense? I know, yes, great to have Yeargin's insights, but how much better to splice them in during your analysis of the turn?
Clearly, that would not work for this year. And, again, I think you should get some kind of award for this series. It is spectacular. I will be posting them--are they all at a singular youtube address?
Chris Martin Yep, you can get the playlist here - and that link will work for all the videos I add in the series.
Roland Cooke Captions are fantastic. Suggest try to use country colours for the text boxes where you can.
Chuck Spiekerman Closed captioning great. I was going to suggest some sort of help to understand the audio, but thought it would be a big ask, since so much work. It's fantastic. Thanks for these videos. They are great. Looking forward to next one.
Philipp Weissert Just watched now, awesome! Thank you so much for doing this!!!
And do keep the captions. Great stuff!
Laurence Peery I don't expect there to be many K-POP drama fans out there but I was just thinking that their system for handling prepping domestic series for foreign markets might work. In brief: each project has a team captain who puts together (from a list of volunteers) a team of timers, translators, caption writers, etc. who work together on a project from beginning to end. That way no one person has to try to do it all and the risk of burn out drops. Just an idea.
Marc Peters Did the recording end after F'02, or is there more to come? Inquiring minds want to know!!!
Jim O'Kelley He filmed right up through the end of the game, so I'm sure more will be coming as time permits.
Chris Martin More coming! Just have to do the commentary, and the transcriptions. :)
Jim O'Kelley I'm waiting till the whole thing is done. Then I'll binge-watch it.
Chris Martin Next one is up!

Comments

Chris Brand That turn makes me sad. Everyone else's moves were great for me, but I screwed it up. I remember very clearly thinking to myself "well, you blew it. No championship for you". Particularly frustrating because the order for Venice should have been set at least 10 minutes earlier.
Chris Martin I am already looking forward to setting up the quick conversation we had right after the turn. :)
Jay Heumann Chris, this game is such a throwback to some of our house games in Vancouver, where someone (usually John but I think you and I were guilty of this at times) would make moves that looked bad at the time but then it turned out they'd never come back to haunt the player. Watching the video, having not watched Spring 1903 yet, I can tell this will be the case here. Even though you lost "tempo" by that unordered support, not only are you OK going forward because of the other Eastern orders, but you also accidentally kept Germany out of Tyrolia, which has got to be good for you.
Chris Brand Keeping Doug out of Tyrolia was certainly not a bad thing, it's true. The main thing that kept my chances alive, though, is probably that Peter and Dave didn't manage to work together
Jay Heumann Agree, that's more important. But still, I looked at your orders not thinking "Wow, that was a bad misorder, he's going to collapse now" but instead "That's probably the least amount of damage possible from a misorder like that".
Andrew Goff Actually Chris, I think this was the turn that cost *me* the championship. Despite your protestations, I still rate it a 50/50 that your disorder was intentional!
I was trying to set up a horse race between me, you, and Nathan Barnes - and I would've got away with it too if it hadn't been for those meddling kids! Everything changes for me as a result of this turn. But... no spoilers :)
Chris Brand I don't see much point in continuing any deception past the end of a game myself :-) I can't say that I remember for certain what I was thinking when I wrote my orders but I can say for sure that I was very disappointed with myself when they were read, so I'm 99% certain that it was not deliberate. I suspect that I messed things up as a result of last-minute discussions with Dave - I have been known to make mistakes when changing my orders in the last few seconds before a deadline.
Chris Martin Seriously, can Peter Yeargin chime in here on what the heck he was thinking this turn? What is the reasoning behind promising Dave those supports, and then not giving them? In your mind, is there a secret tunnel from Tyrolia to Galicia? We want answers!
Andrew Goff Really? I think it was genius.
Steve Cooley I can't tell if you're serious. If so, it would only be genius if it gained something, right? It gained no dots and alienated (to some degree) all three neighbors.
I chuckled when I read your comment because I took it as sarcasm. I am guessing that Peter thought he *had* to do as he did and lied last second never thinking that Maletsky would go for it. I think he was maybe hoping to get an RT war going and build to stave off Italy. However, you (R) would believe Maletsky about the deception and would likely use Maletsky's trademark revenge mode to your benefit.
Andrew Goff Maletsky isn't the only player who sets things on fire when he gets stabbed. But no spoilers...
Joseph Wheeler Words...words...words...mild cursing...
Roland Cooke Adam NMRing, Peter inventing a land bridge between Tyrolia and Bohemia. Makes me feel better about my own self-induced disasters! :'D
Douglas Moore So... I will decline much comment here, waiting for the next one. Other than to say, sometimes when it is 2v1, the right move is to make it 3v1. Nathan Barnes was in the driver's seat in the west. I thought putting that army down was a strong move at the time, and I still think it. I wish he'd put a fleet down. :-)

Spring 1903

In which Andrew Goff tries to reestablish trust with Peter Yeargin by letting him dictate his orders.

Suggestions

Chris Martin Tried a few new things, feedback as always appreciated!
Bryan Pravel They keep getting better and better. Thanks Chris Martin!
Douglas Moore Showing the moves graphically as they are being read was a great addition!
Jay Heumann Completely agree! Very nice.
Nathan Barnes Still like your idea of somehow getting everyone together for some sort of EOG interview.
Andrew Goff Diplomacy Cast conference call? Cisco must have a product ;)
Douglas Moore I was gonna say -- that would make an awesome Diplomacy Cast.
Nathan Barnes Ok, I am into this. Gonna make it happen before Sept.
Douglas Moore Nathan Barnes: Count me in.
Andrew Goff I'll be in Vancouver for a few days after a work meet-up end of sept. We could just about do it in person.
Douglas Moore Andrew Goff: It's possible to wrangle up 4/7. What are your dates? Maybe we can get a game together.
Andrew Goff Who's missing? Dave? Peter?
Douglas Moore Also Adam, who is in the Bay area (and not on Facebook).
Andrew Goff Maybe remote then to get everyone. Plus I hear there are things to do in vancouver? Like... drink craft beer? Grow a beard? IDK :/
Chris Martin Andrew Goff: Vegan strip clubs, I'm told.
Roland Cooke Best episode yet, and one that I would definitely consider showing to a newbie. Thirty seconds explaining the core mechanics, then show this video which clearly demonstrates how the game is about building relationships, and re-building relationships, not so much about stabby-stabby all the time.

Comments

Douglas Moore Basically, not every exchange I'm in is on here, but I can't get Andrew Goff or Adam in the north, and Nathan Barnes is basically not picking a side at this point (and he will confirm that I tried everything and anything). My doom was sealed with the army build and Nathan not moving forward with fleets, combined with Russia taking sides with England instead of me.
Nathan Barnes Douglas really did try everything, I'll certainly vouch for that! There is a method to the madness here, and unfortunately for Doug, I knew I could rely on other players to nip at him rather than be an aggressor in the Spring.
Douglas Moore Yes, I know. It's why I knew I was in deep trouble in S02, and again when you put the army down. As I said in the F02 commentary though, joining and creating a 3v1 was a strong move for you. It becomes particularly strong given that it isn't you who initiated my struggles.
Nathan Barnes Oh, I know YOU know. Trying to fill in the gaps a little for viewers.
Jay Heumann Re: your comment at the end, I actually thought that Russian move Mos-Lvn was really good!
Andrew Goff So did I ;) Why did you think it was good though?
Jay Heumann The way I read the move was: you had just cut deals with Austria and England to target Turkey and Germany, but your agreement with Austria meant that your armies in Gal and Mos would not be moving south (because Rum wasn't moving). So the most obvious strategy in light of your negotiations was to use them in the north--and set yourself up to place those two armies in Sil and Pru in the fall, assuming all your negotiations worked out in the spring. So if I have that part right, then in my opinion Mos-Lvn is better than Mos-War, because you don't need to be next to Sil with both armies and this way you are next to StP in case something goes wrong with your England deal.
Douglas Moore He wants to stop me from convoying.

Fall 1903

In which Doug Moore tries to talk Adam Silverman out of Denmark by invoking the curse of the puppet master and a first misadjudication happens in the Balkans.

Suggestions

Steve Cooley May as well say this: my wife has been listening. She says Chris could make a living doing this--he puts so much excitement into the game. And, she doesn't even know what Chris is talking about! Great stuff, sir!
Will Black One feedback on dialogue, it is hard to read the cyan on white dialogue. Firstly Nathan, then Adam later.
Chris Martin Ok, I tried black text on the Cyan background in S03, and found that hard to read, but you're the second person to say so - I'll go back to black text for F/E
Will Black Dark background with white. So England could be dark blue with white. France could be dark cyan with white.
Chris Martin Ah, you're saying the _background_ should be darker for this to work. OK, will try.
Roland Cooke I loved the mini-interviews with Chris and Peter. A future match could maybe include one of those every season, pausing the clock if necessary. :)
Chris Martin Yeah, I wanted to get more of those, but those guys were on the clock, so I didn't want to interfere!

Comments

Nicholas DeLateur The World Champion level play is to not say anything if it benefits you :)
Chris Martin And AT LEAST one player noticed and said nothing. :)
Nathan Barnes And this isn't the last time this happens...
John Jamieson Didn't you all notice it!
Douglas Moore John Jamieson: Yes.
John Jamieson If this had happened in a game involving inexperienced players it would come very close to cheating.
Chris Martin Honest mistake, as you will see in the video for Spring 1904!
Douglas Moore John Jamieson: Wasn't my unit, or close to my part of the Board, and I'm not obligated to point everything out on the Board. Not sure how you think it would be close to cheating.
Chris Martin I could see how someone might object that it is the obligation of the players to see that the rules are followed correctly - but that's a fine line. I know several spectators, myself included, were like !?!?!!?!
Douglas Moore Chris Martin: I won't mention all the times that someone's put down a Dutchman, or misread orders, or misadjudicated on purpose.
Chris Martin Right, Douglas Moore - it certainly happens. Maybe the top board should have a GM to make sure such things don't happen?
Douglas Moore Chris Martin: The greatest impact on the game -- so much greater than the incorrect retreat -- was when someone turned the volume down on the master clock, leading to several turns of people not finishing orders or making mistakes. None of us could hear the clock outside the main room for several years.
Chris Martin Yeah, that's huge.
Douglas Moore Chris Martin: I'm pretty sure it had an impact on a turn by Chris Brand, Adam, and Peter Yeargin. It did for me in an upcoming turn.
Andrew Goff It did for me too. The retreat probably hurt me a lot and I didn't see it (I thought he'd just moved there?) but the quiet clock messed me up a few times.
Nathan Barnes The clock just really messed with the game in '05 and '06 (I think?). Orders were just all over the place because so many of us couldn't hear and were slapping orders together in 30 seconds.
Will Black I have had a board that the player that I was attacking has moved my piceces forward. Against him. I didn't notice until late in the turn and just went with it. Sometimes it happens!
Millis Leonard Miller Maybe I'd feel different if I ever played on a top table, but I'd certainly point out something like an illegal retreat, even if it benefitted me. Any game, whatever it is, always feels devalued to me if some illegal move has slipped through.
My wife also agrees about your commentary by the way Chris Martin! :)
Andrew Goff Millis Leonard Miller: I tend to agree with you, but I only really have issue if Peter made the retreat knowing it was illegal, and I am certain he didn't.
Peter Yeargin Yes. Correct statement. I wouldn't have taken a chance like that on purpose... Especially on a top board.
The clock had all of us frazzled I think, and definitely had a few turns where it impacted both quality and quantity of the orders.
Will Black I can see how that retreat happened. Easy mistake.
Chris Brand I wish I could remember the specifics of that game better. I think that Peter may have agreed to let me take Trieste at that point, with the goal that the two of us take Dave's dots. The original intent was that he'd take Bul and I'd take Gre, but there was no way to get me into Gre from that position without risking Bul. Of course he still should have supported Tri-Ser.
Chris Martin Well, I didn't show it, but I have one of your negotiations with Peter on tape, and he didn't _appear_ to agree to that. :) But if he did, that makes more sense? Though with East-> Aegean it really just looks like you're setting him up.
Chris Brand I know he agreed to it at one point. Eas-Aeg probably wasn't agreed with him, but that doesn't necessarily say anything about Tri...
Peter Yeargin Yeah. I don't remember any agreements on letting Chris have Trieste. :)
I think the only time I suggested we discuss it was when Douglas Moore mentioned Chris said I wasn't offering him anything.
Chris Brand Fair enough. It was definitely in the context of "well we can't get you Gre as we'd agreed, so...", but it's also entirely possible that I'm mis-remembering

Spring 1904

In which Peter Yeargin plays the AIR card and Nathan Barnes sells out Adam Silverman over Holland.

Suggestions

Jay Heumann Chris, watching this video my main thought was: "How did he get people to take time out on a drop dead clock to do interviews instead of negotiating?"
Chris Martin Peter I buttonholed, and Dave's negotiation options were limited. :)
Chris Brand There was one point in the game where I had to interrupt one of Chris' interviews to negotiate with the player. That was a strange experience :-)
Roland Cooke Great stuff, thanks Chris!

Comments

Melissa Call I just watched Fall 1903 this evening. I'll have to watch this episode at a later date. If I was Nathan I think I would have gone hard against England. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the game. Can't remember who came out on top... No spoilers!;-)
Chris Martin No spoilers here! Nathan had a good season, it must be said.
Jay Heumann The fact that this video is the longest yet points to one of my favorite things about Diplomacy--the game gets so much more complex after the opening, but negotiation time never increases.
Bernard Andrioli I've just now started to watch these, great job, Chris! When I heard Bel-Hol, I certainly expected MAO to Irish. Why do we think Nathan passed on that? Hopefully we'll find out next season.
Nathan Barnes There is a plan. Just wait!
Douglas Moore Wait 'til the Fall. There are things happening off camera.
Chris Brand Andrew Goff did a great job of anticipating Douglas Moore's moves here
Jay Heumann Either that or vice versa...
Douglas Moore I think it is actually both of us anticipating the other. I didn't want him getting into the action.
Andrew Goff At this point it was an inevitable conflict - my only growth path and Doug's only strategic card left to play. "Much harm. Much foul."
As an interesting side note, at this point in the game I was 100% committed to Italy and England as game-length allies. I thought they were both with me too.
Douglas Moore Yep. Our negotiations were off camera, I believe.
Andrew Goff Probably for the best. :/
Douglas Moore I thought it was all in all pretty reasonable on both sides, but yes, probably for the best.
Andrew Goff We're both realists; we were both direct and honest - but it wasn't exactly champagne Diplomacy. I think it's a great credit to you, actually, that despite the conflict and the pressure of a WDC top board, I still enjoyed playing against you. Kudos. :)
Douglas Moore Likewise. :-) Next time, maybe we can kick some butt together and sort it out at the end, a la c-diplo.

Fall 1904

In which what was planted in Spring gets reapt in Fall.

Suggestions

Nicholas DeLateur It's OK, you get one mulligan on uploading a late video each tournament.
Bryan Pravel Really enjoying these, Chris.
Roland Cooke Chris Martin: You could do an Appendix to each season / year, where you sum up the thinking of each of the players, at the least repeat what is being documented "live" on FaceBook. :)
Chris Martin Just wanted to drop by and say I brought some of the S05 videos with me to transcribe while on travel for work, and hoo boy there's some good stuff here. Aiming for Saturday!
Douglas Moore Thanks again, for taking this on.
Doug Massey Chris -- do I still owe you F1902M or did someone else come through?
Chris Martin You do.
Doug Massey Life is all about follow-through, and I will.

Comments

Andrew Goff Here we see just how HUGE that accidental illegal retreat was. Wow. Wow. Woah is me.
Jared Martin Hi Andrew, any comment on why you and Chris didn't just scoop three from Peter this turn? Tyr S Tri - Vie, Ven - Tri, Gal - Bud, Con S Rum - Bul, Ion - Gre? It's so clear that Peter believed you both. Is it because you were afraid of France getting too big?
I especially ask this because the chance of losing Sweden was pretty obviously high and picking up another dot or two would have been really helpful. Bud / Bul would allow you to build in Stp despite losing Sweden. Was Chris not willing? Or you? Or both?
Andrew Goff Some of it is stylistic: I don't like stabbing and that tends to make me more reactive than I should be. But there is a bigger picture here too: if Chris and I stab Peter, then I don't see how we finish with anything other than EF (with a co-operative German) v IR (with an angry Turk and Austrian). From that position, The West will finish with 20 centres to our 14, so the World Champion is not coming from the IR side of the board.
(That was my thinking, right or wrong)
Jared Martin Andrew Goff: That is a great point, though I'm not sure I follow the 20 vs 14 count. Chris will be able to hold Tunis easily, and you might lose StP but you're keeping War / Mos. 17/17, no? That said, the video doesn't make clear whether you knew Adam was going to take Sweden. Your logic makes a lot more sense if you expect to keep Sweden, but given that you finish the year down 1 as played I sort of think you need the centers; two from Austria allows a build in StP even losing Sweden. Your logic makes a lot of sense but it might be the best of a bad situation given that you got bounced out of Pru and Sil in the spring - as soon as that happens you're in a lot of trouble in the north regardless.
My thinking anyway. I've never been on the top board of a WDC before, hope my rambling makes sense :)
Chris Martin No, I see what you mean Jared, but I think the Nuance that you are missing is this - it isn't really IR vs FE - its IR vs FEGAT - and I think Andrew is arguing that if he took the time to start in on Peter, he'd be stuck there defending those dots against the remains of A/T, while G was pushing hard on Warsaw, and England takes Swe/StP any time they want. France could swing three fleets into the Med in S05, to the Italian two - which means that unless help gets there soon, Tunis falls. Yes?
John Jamieson To what extent did Peter know of Andrew's thinking?
Jared Martin Chris Martin: You can't put three on Tunis without Tys. The moves I describe has Venice bouncing in Trieste which means that Russia would have A Bud A Gal A Rum F Sev, Italy would have A Tyr A Vie A Ven F Nap (Vienna) F Ion; Austria would have "pick two" of A Gal A Ser F Gre (Bul is destroyed, Vie can only retreat to Gal, and I assume he'd lift Boh when his only centers are Ser and Gre), Turkey would have F Aeg / F Ank which can't even work together to retake Con without allowing a Con - Smy retreat (and even that lets Andrew into Bla). Anyway all this means is that the only thing Peter would have adjacent to Tri is Ser, which means Ven (or even Tyr) can probably move to Pie making Mar - GoL a lot riskier.
Also your logic assumes that Adam would not stab Nathan, which is a pretty huge assumption, especially if it looks like Peter and Dave are doing a good job being a nuisance and are hard to fully eliminate. Adam has no interest in letting France get deep into the Med, especially if France is fully committed to Naf / Wes / GoL. If I know Doug Moore, he's suiciding to Nathan RIGHT NOW but if Nathan takes his foot off Doug's neck, he's going to "stab" (is it really a stab if it's a home center?) back into relevance as soon as he can. Doug isn't any more eliminated than Peter would have been or Maletsky is.
Chris Martin Jared - No, I'm just trying to clear up your question about the decision making process Andrew describes. We could get into a sandbox over on Backstabbr and play out some scenarios if you want, (you take I/R, I'll take everyone else - might be interesting) - but the real issue is that under the time constraints, you have to make a snap call - and you see that Peter worked HARD to get Andrew on board, and even to get Chris back on board after he took Trieste. That kind of psychological momentum is difficult to just overturn. Chris is (as I read it) counting on getting Dave Maletsky's help to profit more from the coming attack on Peter than Andrew would - why divide a pie equally now, when you can get more of it later? Then I have the advantage of editing the S05 press right now so I know some stuff that isn't out there yet. It's a great question though! I think Andrew expected that Adam would stick with him for another year, since Nathan had positioned aggressively and Goff was the one who put him in Denmark. In fact, I BET that if Silverman had come to Goff and said "Look, I need to build another fleet to get tucked into Nathan, so I'm going to take Sweden - can you pick up a dot somewhere else?" Things might have gone very differently here indeed ...
Jared Martin What exactly were the timing rules? I know Chris had the misorder turn, IIRC Adam had one too so far? I know it's drop dead but I don't know the length of the clock. I agree if the clock is too short it's a lot easier to just go with the previous plan rather than considering a stab.
I really wish there had been some negotiation from Adam in this video, I don't think he's in the best position on the board but it's certainly a very interesting one. I think stabbing Nathan, finishing off Doug and stabbing Goff are all reasonable plays, and he certainly had the freedom to make his own decision: Nathan didn't have an effective stab and Doug was really mad at Andrew. Looking forward to some of England's perspective in 1905.
Re: sandbox on Backstabbr: I think it would be hard to do it justice, because Doug and Dave are too unpredictable in this situation, neither are playing to win anymore.
Man, I just saw something: Austria totally has the ability (in 1904) to stab for Rumania while simultaneously DESTROYING the fleet in Con, giving Dave 3 fleets and an Austrian build in Vienna (Vie - Bud, Gre - Aeg, Bul S Ser - Rum, Boh - Sil or even Boh S Germany - Mun)? That would probably be enough for Dave to forgive him for now because even though Andrew would be in Bla, he'd be down two and Dave would have two fleets on Bla in S05. He's still down Trieste but he'd have 6 Centers with Boh / Vie / Bud / Rum and a crippled Russia. Wouldn't that have been an exciting twist.
Andrew Goff No spoilers rules. But the short version is: I think StP/Mos/War are absolutely gone in this scenario. That's 15 to 19. The other way you take Tunis is if Aegean or Greece cuts Ionian. So that's 14-20. I can't imagine I or Chris would have got >10 of those 14, so it makes no sense to stab.
But again, style comes into it too. This is just not a stab I would ever make: I'm not over the line so I'm not stabbing. Perhaps that is a weakness in my game?
John Jamieson: What do you mean? Peter knows I would not naturally stab in this position.
Jared Martin Great point, Andrew. Thanks!
Chris Brand I don't remember to what extent (if at all) Andrew and I discussed attacking Peter, sorry. If I had to guess, I'd say "little, if any". I was *extremely* confident at this point that Dave's 2 fleets were effectively mine (that comes across to some extent in the video, I think), so I was thinking about how to get more than my fair share of Austria. To some extent there's an advantage to keeping Peter "off balance", too - if I just attack him continuously, he's going to defend against me. If I switch between attacking him and working with him, he has to guess correctly which turn I'm doing which - I'm not sure that that was a conscious thought at the time, but if it wasn't, it should have been :-)
Jared Martin Great answer, Chris Brand! Funnily, while you clearly think about dip the same way I do (savage cunning), you don't **come across** that way AT ALL - something I fail to accomplish when I play. People know I'm a pragmatic, manipulative mercenary. You, on the other hand, always have a big smile on your face seemingly happy to do what everyone else wants. You are clearly a very dangerous player and deserve the title :). Well done.
Chris Brand No, you've got it all wrong - I am actually always happy to do what everyone else wants and sometimes screw up in such a way that it *looks like* savage cunning from a dangerous player...
Jay Heumann Chris, Jared is my friend. You're not going to fool him with that. I have too much experience playing with you.
Rick Desper "If I switch between attacking him and working with him, he has to guess correctly which turn I'm doing which - I'm not sure that that was a conscious thought at the time, but if it wasn't, it should have been."
I love it!! :D
Douglas Moore Andrew Goff: I completely agree with what you are saying, and I think you are right not to stab. It's not close to the end of the game, and you still have opportunity to change the dynamic. Stabbing locks that dynamic in but doesn't put you in position to win.
Chris Martin Yep. Definitely changes things if Austria is in Albania instead of Serbia there, or even more so if they had to disband.
Steve Cooley What I find fascinating: Up until this turn, Nathan (F) has been pursuing a strategy which I've come to think of as "the python" because he's worked with neither E or G for long and was a direct threat (until Eng-MAO, MAO-Spa (sc) to choke them both out. Even after he took Munich, Doug (G) was determined to get revenge on Andrew and not on Nathan.
While I know the outcome, at this particular point I really like Nathan's position. I do wish he'd taken Doug's offer of support into Sil. It would have bounced, but that's better than having Russia in Sil.
Nathan, though, has played his way to a very strong position here. None of his neighbor's are upset with him and he's got the ability to go after either Italy or England.
Jared Martin Going to be a lot harder to go after Adam now. Note that I do not know the result other than the ultimate winner of the board, there's a lot of different ways to get to that result from this position though. Though I agree that stabbing Adam for zero centers on a turn where Adam was guaranteed to build at least one is extremely silly, so I'm not sure if Nathan had a chance. He missed his window to convoy Picardy to Wales a few turns back.
Chris Martin Oh, you've got some fun stuff to see! I hope to have the next one out this weekend.
Steve Cooley True enough, for now. But, as Adam continues east he's going to be tying up his units to hold dots. Meanwhile, Nathan is taking German dots and Germany is going to help him. Italy is focused (still) in the east.
Right now, the country no one wants to attack is France.
Jared Martin Chris Martin: Certainly doesn't mean I don't expect Nathan to stab Adam at some point! I just totally agree with the decision NOT to do it in fall 1904. Spring 1904, on the other hand (Pic - Eng - Wal, Mao - Iri...). And if you're not going to stab in Fall 1904, then there is no valid reason to stay in Eng now that Doug is crippled so his fleet movements are pretty much required. Can't wait for the next one!
Nathan Barnes Ideally (and in hindsight) I would have stabbed Adam in the spring rather than trying to sell the Eng-MAO misorder. Sadly in the spring I wasn't 100% sure Doug would be broken, so I hedged to avoid creating an EG. Because of that hedge, I had to shift out of the Channel to get Adam to head east and make sure his build would not be pointed in my direction. Also had the added benefit of showing Chris I was serious about the consequences of violating our non-aggression understanding in Mun.
As for stabbing Adam earlier, that wasn't an option while Doug was viable. I couldn't give him any room to breathe. The pressure is on him from S1901. I've been on the board with Doug's Germany 2 times before this game. One ended at 14 centers the other at 17. People know he's good at Germany, but I've seen it first hand and barely stopped him soloing. There was no question in my mind that Doug had to be taken out of the running if I was going to have any chance at winning.
Jared Martin Nathan Barnes: Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I've never managed (or tried, really!) to have an "EF" with a french fleet in Eng for so many game years, I'm super impressed that you managed to keep him happy for this long. I also definitely agree with not stabbing in Fall '04, or the turns before that... Spring '04 was the only true turn to do it, IMO.
Doug is a very scary player (I've played with him - and Peter and Dave) but Andrew has got to be equally as scared of Doug as you are and honestly I'm just not afraid of EG with a preoccupied Italy and a French army in Britain, no matter who controls the pieces.
Nathan Barnes Oh, sorry, I should have been more clear. The EG concern is about momentum and board dynamics, not an actual threat to my security. If my play in Germany doesn't pan out in Spring and I stab Adam and an EG forms, not only is my momentum shot, but eastward pressure is gone.
Those are bigger concerns here because it's a timed game. It's a race. If I get stymied for a season or two, I'm out. I have to not only get big, but I have to work to keep other powers clamped down - so it's important that there is pressure on Andrew so he doesn't just balloon up by plowing into Peter.
There's also a dynamic on top boards that Chris has already started to allude to - when people know they are out of the running, they start deciding who the winner will be. My entire strategy involves not allying with Doug or Adam because I can't have parity or near parity with another power in my theater. I need to take an early lead, do everything i can to keep powers in the east small, and convince the board that I'm the WDC Champ and they should just accept that EVEN THOUGH they could do things to stop it. It comes soul crushingly close to working.
Jared Martin I've never thought about it that way! Though France at 7 and England at 6 with a near lock on STP and Denmark easy to defend is basically parity... Capitalizing on Doug kingmaking you though is a play I never would have seen if I had been playing.
Nathan Barnes Ha. That IS close to parity, isn't it? Hm...
I don't want to ruin anything - when you watch my game going forward, you now know what I am aiming for.
Douglas Moore Nathan Barnes: It's always easier in hindsight -- the time pressure was real, and this is when we couldn't hear out in the hallway.
Jared Martin: If you've followed the game, it shouldn't be too tough to see why I'd support Nathan Barnes. While Nathan is certainly part of the reason I'm toast, I thought he was playing well -- I might disagree with what he's doing (attacking me), but his decisions make sense when I take my own interest out of it. I respect and understand that. Second, Goff's bounce of me in Ska and helping Adam take Den crushed my position, which is a poor reward for giving him Swe. I had to punish that, so all my dip was bent to getting Adam to attack Russia and help Nathan.
Jared Martin Douglas Moore: Makes sense - "Nathan and I never really worked together, he just tried to grow but at least he was consistent; whereas Andrew betrayed me". But why pick Nathan over Adam? Seems Adam never really claimed to be your friend either.
Douglas Moore Jared Martin: Three reasons: 1. I'm not saying anything he hasn't heard from me, but Adam is tough to work with. He tends to focus on a center or centers rather than position. 2. Adam took Denmark. 3. If you look at one of the previous videos, I also pushed him hard to make moves against Russia and work with me -- he declined.
Jared Martin 1. This makes the most sense to me. 2. Nathan took Munich. 3. Adam just took Sweden and is pretty obviously going to take StP next, which is more damage to Andrew than Nathan has done all game.
Still, I'd like to figure out what it is about my diplomacy game that is so different from all of you resuméd top players. I've soloed online more than once, I've won a small local tournament, but the few serious tournaments I've played in my results have been basically dreadful. Clearly the sentiment among players better than me is that stabbing Peter is wrong here but I can't quite put my finger on what I'm missing. It must be that leap from playing with inexperienced players to playing the best players in the world - I suppose I just need more practice with y'all.
Thanks again to all of you for answering all my questions!
Douglas Moore Jared Martin: My #1 objective is to see Russia not win. Also: If you look back, I didn't contest Munich. Nathan didn't do anything this season (or last season) that I didn't know about. This isn't the turn I made this decision -- I knew my game was shattered several seasons ago and adjusted my expectations accordingly.
Nathan Barnes Jared Martin: This is a great game to observe and learn about what the players are thinking and doing. There's a huge amount of good stuff here. But please, please keep in mind that at Top Board this is a very specific type of game and things that happen on a timed Top Board don't always work in a regular game.
A lot of the goals are different and player's assumptions have changed. For instance, there are ways of pacing your growth that can yield big results that are just not an option; no one is playing with an eye for 18; you have a much bigger stick of taking people out of the running to win the tournament than you do normally (it only takes a small knock to throw you off). The list goes on. Objectively speaking, it doesn't really matter how secure your position is at the finish line. Normally take a hit and recapture the next season or make bigger gains a year down the line, which is a tactic many of the best players will use. It doesn't work well on boards like this.
Nathan Barnes And I concur with Doug. I wasn't so much pulling the wool over his eyes as being in the right place to make gains off him after the Ska bounce. While my initial goal was to take Doug out of the running, I can also work with Doug, so if my high risk strategy doesn't pan out (and it was highly likely it wouldn't) I could switch gears pretty easily and smash into Adam.
I should note that my approach would be far less tolerated on a normal tournament board. Very likely EG would have gotten tired of my antics and forced me to pick a side before 1904.
Chris Brand Yeah, put the same players in the same powers in round 1 of the tournament and it's very unlikely that the game would have developed the same way.

Spring 1905

In which Chris Brand finally resolves to take up Dave Maletsky on his offer, incidentally breaking the Black Sea deadlock.

Suggestions

Jay Heumann Ohhhh, the twist at the end. I love it.
Chris Martin I originally had that at the top of the episode, but I thought - you know what? That belongs at the end. :D
Peter J McNamara GREAT Video!
Chris Brand I have a minor suggestion. Given the importance of the timed end to this game, it would be nice if you could mention where we are relative to that clock (I can probably figure it out, but I don't know that everyone watching it would be able to). Timing is such a huge factor in this game...
Nathan Barnes I think it gets really bad starting in 1907...? Maybe? There's only one or two more seasons that I can remember, after that it's kind of a blur.
Chris Martin Hmmm. I do have time stamps from the videos, but, I don't know exactly how I'd work that in, Chris.
Jay Heumann I don't think you need time stamps--I just think you'd need to, at some point in the video, remark on how far away we are from the cutoff where the game could have been called at any point. If memory serves that started at either 1pm or 2pm...
Chris Martin Ah, right, ok, I can definitely do that.
Steve Cooley You're like the Vin Scully of Dipcon.
Chris Martin Vin Diesel and Dana Scully had a child?
Steve Cooley Dude. That's just so sad.
Vin Scully? Really? Greatest announcer of all time. 67 seasons with the Dodgers, plus the awesome World Series call of Kirk Gibson's home run vs. Eckersley. He's even been trending on FB!
Yes, you're that good.
Chris Martin Does he call Hockey games?
Steve Cooley If he did, the NHL would be worth 10X more than it is. He's the best. He is to baseball announcing what Astaire was to dancing, Obama is to reading a teleprompter, and Bill Clinton is to feeling everyone's pain. He is a master of his craft.
Chris Martin Now you know I'm just trolling you, right? :D But, that being said - Baseball? The American Cricket?
Steve Cooley What's Cricket? Or, do you mean croquet?
Jared Martin Do you know when the clock was? You could have an annotation that says "<#> minutes to deadline"
Chris Martin Interesting idea - I have time stamps, and I could guess, but I don't _know_ how much negotiation was left. I also don't do them in the order they happened, fairly often. But highlighting that the game could end starting in 190X is definitely something I will do.

Comments

Nathan Barnes Aaaaaaannnnnnnddddddd the French Empire reaches its zenith.
Chris Martin Spoilers! And not QUITE yet anyway.
Bryan Pravel Best comment so far: "Have you seen the Revenant? Try and match that level of violence towards Silverman." Love it.
Douglas Moore Definitely an enjoyable watch. I was glad to see Chris Brand take Dave's offer of help. I thought he should have taken it earlier, but still a major move. And I can confirm that Dave should never be counted out -- he was there, and pushing 'til the end.
Chris Brand I definitely shouldn't have waited any longer before taking it, and I can certainly see the argument for doing so earlier. It was mostly a question of weighing up how Nathan, Andrew, and Peter would react.
Chuck Spiekerman "At the end of the day there's going to be name at the top and it's going to represent the hobby, this tournament, and what we do. Do you want that name to be Adam Silverman?"
"No."
That's some cold shit!
Nathan Barnes Not really. Without spoiling anything, I think I can say that when Andrew says "No" there, it's short for "I think it should be me" despite going through the motions of 'playing dead.' Andrew's subsequent moves are not the moves of a player that has given up or is allowing someone else to win.
His answer is just good diplomacy - he knows what I want to hear.
Chuck Spiekerman I wasn't referring to Andrew's reply!
Andrew Goff My reply was 100% honest. The question, perhaps, allowed the answer :)
(But also see comment below)
Nathan Barnes Oh, you thought the question was cold? It's hyperbolic, but I'm trying to get Andrew on board with thinking I should be the winner and I don't think I have the time to make it happen if people put up much resistance. How he responds to something like that is important for me to know.
This was the second board I've been on with Andrew. I'm gathering info here.
Chris Martin I also thought "Damn, that's really putting it out boldly." But at the end of the day, that really _IS_ the ask. BIG props from where I sitting to frame the question in terms that are likely to keep the focus on hurting Adam, who just stabbed Andrew.
Nathan Barnes And let's be honest, me framing things in provocative ways is kind of my thing.
Steve Cooley Fwiw, I thought it was bold--and the exact right play. I'd say that might work on 90% of players in the time-pressured situation you all were in.
And, I don't blame Goff. First, he's a great player. Second, Russia can grow rapidly. Maybe he can get Adam to spin around and work FOR him, or ... who knows? Here's what Goff does know: even a player as gifted as he is only gets so many direct chances at a WDC, so why not?
Andrew Goff Steve Cooley: No point leaving anything on the field on a top board at a WDC.
Chris Martin: So want to do spoilers. Not going to do spoilers.
Nathan Barnes: My play over this and the next few turns is so unorthodox that even if you'd been on fifty boards with me I'm not sure it would have helped. To comment on my mental state is always fraught (;)) but at the start of this turn I thought all was lost, and by halfway through my negotiations I'd stopped being on tilt and was very much focussed again.
To all: I think a trait of all the very best players is that they can go through the emotional upheaval (for good or bad) and then refocus on the new position very quickly. You can do a little victory dance or have a little tantrum, but if it defines you and your game it hurts you Diplomatically and psychologically.
Nathan Barnes Andrew - I'll believe your "it was true when I said it!" re: this exchange. I had assumed you were just being agreeable.
Andrew Goff It was true when I said it and it is true now. There was NO WAY I was going to let Silverman (specifically) win the WDC after he stabbed me. NO.
I thought you and Peter were the only two likely to win from this point (I was wrong). I would have been very happy for you to be the World Champion - I thought you'd played the better game (nothing against Peter :)). And I *NEVER* ruled myself out - I (from memory) always prefaced my statements with "assuming I can't".
Your mileage, of course, may vary :)
Chris Martin I think your exact words regarding your chances of winning were it won't happen "barring a complete catastraphuck" - and yes, I may have just transcribed that moment tonight. F05 should be up Friday or Saturday!
Chris Brand Definitely agree with Andrew about being able to move on from what happened last turn and play the board as it stands.
Andrew Goff So to answer your questions on "Why not Chris Brand?" - at this point there were two things I had assumed that turned out to both be wrong.
a) Chris would not accept any offer of help from Dave.
b) Nathan was going to hit Chris HARD this turn and that would end his tournament, as Adam hitting me had ended mine.
I thought that left Peter in a position to take 4 of my centres, one or two of Chris' and finish on 12. I thought Nathan and Adam would share 20 of the others and there would be spare change for Turkey, me, or Doug.
So my thinking was heading toward a showdown over War/Mos/Mun/Rom/Ven/Bel/Hol/Lon. No spoilers :)

Fall 1905

In which Nathan Barnes reaches super power status.

Suggestions

Jay Heumann So many things to say about this, but I'll just stick with this one: you know Diplomacy is a great game because the analysis video takes roughly twice as long as the actual turn and still doesn't feel long.
Chris Martin I worried about this going too long, glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Jim O'Kelley Agreed. I was surprised when the 26 minutes were up. Nearly flawless reporting. My only criticism, and it's minor--a nitpick, really--is that you didn't mention the tournament director by name at 8:49.
Chris Martin Who was the tournament director again? :D
Chuck Spiekerman Not that I don't know what happened, but what would happen if two (or more) powers ended up tied in centers after time called?
Jay Heumann That was covered in the Paris Method video that Chris put up before any of the turn videos. Tiebreaker is whoever picked their country latest in the order.
Chris Martin Warning! Gives away the final result in the first 30 seconds!
Joseph Wheeler Chris Martin: Perhaps a spoiler alert before that link?
Chris Martin Joseph Wheeler: Oh, damn, I haven't watched it since I recorded it.
Will Black Best video in the series yet!
Chris Martin Any feedback on what ought to be included in the last few would be greatly appreciated. I _almost_ cut Dave's tactical planning and the analysis of the plan in the Balkans, but I thought it was worth the time. I always have more footage than I use!
Jay Heumann I'm glad you didn't cut that. We got very little of Dave in the last few videos before this when he was just sitting in his position not doing much, so it's good to include him now.
Chris Martin Cool, that was my thinking. He definitely had a tough game.

Comments

Douglas Moore I appreciated Andrew Goff's thinking this turn -- he's not giving up, and he's making things happen, to the extent that he can.
Jared Martin Hey Douglas, I would have thought that you would prefer to have Nathan use your units as they exist to support his position, after all he can always take your dots later. Did you tell him to move into Hol and Kie? Plus him not taking your dots now gives you the option to maybe get a support into Munich later and build a second fleet to try to retake Denmark. Did this sort of thinking ever enter your mind in 1905, or was it all "I want to have Nathan get big as fast as possible because the game can end at any time."
Douglas Moore Sure, I would prefer that, because it gives me a chance to possibly get back in the game and have a chance to possibly win. And that's just one reason why Nathan Barnes had to take one or two from me. He also has to factor the possibility that Adam and I combine to drive him back and he needs to grow in order to be in position to win. It's a good play by him, and certainly didn't upset me.
Nathan Barnes Douglas Moore was not throwing his dots to me. He didn't come to me and say "I'm not defending these, go ahead and take them." I took them without telling him and Doug is right that I needed to take them for the reasons he stated. In addition, I'm building 3 this turn and it's purposeful - I want to appear inevitable and like the game is over. Chris already hinted at what my strategy will be at the end of his video: try and convince everyone to give up.
In another game I might not have taken two off Doug at this point.
Chris Martin I wanted to point out his support for Berlin to hold - that's some high level thinking that just ends up being glossed over because of time considerations, and Nathan moving in a different direction.
Douglas Moore Yep. Everyone should keep in mind that, as much as we love him, Chris is just one person and can't get every conversation. This is kind of a cool sequence -- '05-'06. Even though it doesn't look good for most players, everyone is really pushing hard to squeeze out every advantage and create opportunities to grow or get back in the game.
Andrew Goff Boy, this gets EPIC from here.
Steve Cooley Man, o man! Chris Brand is making a few errors in this game! Con-Bul (no coast specified)???
It really does look "over." It will be interesting to watch the next two.
Jared Martin Poll the room: (contains minor spoilers, please watch video first before reading this comment!)
.
.
.
What is the strongest move on this board in Fall '05: 1) Con - Bul/sc 2) Con - Bul/ec 3) Deliberate misorder (I can think of at least two reasons why this might be done purposely, but I won't say them now for cognitive bias reasons)
Jared Martin Another spoily comment:
.
.
.
I just realized that if Bul had supported Gre, it would not have been cut and Peter loses nothing. Though since Gre moved, Peter's moves would have had to be completely different.
Chris Martin My sense from Peter's negotiations following the Spring was that he thought DAVE was getting supported into the dots, which is why he had Greece down as a complete loss, no point in trying to support it to hold.
That being said, EC is much stronger than SC from this position. You already own Greece, and need to be able to influence Rumania/Black Sea.
Andrew Goff I think EC is stronger of the two coasts. But once again - a misorder that happens to leave Brand in the best position possible. He can make the move in fall, requiring Dave to use Bla to support it, and thus gives Dave no option of growing. If it was deliberate, it was genius.
Jared Martin Andrew Goff: Eh? This was a fall turn. next chance to fix the misorder is Spring '06. Am I missing something?
The reason EC is not super useful is that it can only be used to attack Rumania, a Russian Center. That would be pretty difficult to negotiate with Andrew the following turn, which is one of the reasons I think a misorder might make sense. Chris really doesn't want to be in Bul with anything but an Army; once he has a fleet in there, how does he get it out? Whereas south coast he can at least get it out (Aegean)... but while the misorder costs him a build, next turn he can support Greece in... meh, I'm not sure these reasons aren't worth the dot.
Andrew Goff Sorry - that should have been fall next year. He slows down Dave's ambitions by a year and keeps the door open to negotiating with me. Which could be important......
Jay Heumann My initial reaction was that I'd think SC is best and intentional misorder is worst, but I also want to see if I'm proved wrong by the next couple game-years.
Mario Huys A deliberate misorder is highly unlikely. Chris wanted those two builds, because he feared Nathan supporting himself into Tys. With only one build it becomes hard to defend the homeland, let alone beat back France.
Chris Brand I haven't watched the video yet, but I do remember that turn fairly well :-/ It wasn't a deliberate misorder. I *think* I was still deciding which coast to go to (there are pros and cons to each, for sure). Having said that, whereas my F02 misorder felt disastrous at the time (I was thinking "well, that's the turn you killed your world champion run"), this one didn't feel nearly as bad - I felt that I was still in with a chance.
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Wow. That was a huge turn. I did enjoy Andrew's "I want to shout at Chris for a moment". And yes, this is where I started to actually talk more rather than mostly listening, because rather than just picking which of other people's plans suit me best, I'm instead pushing them to accept (and support) my worldview. You do see some of the time aspect here, too. It was really difficult to keep track of time out in the hallway where most of the negotiations were happening.

Spring 1906

In which tactics take the upperhand over strategy in the player negotiations.

Suggestions

Chris Barfield Chris, the videos are awesome; thanks so much for putting in the time to put these together! More videos with those who are attending Tempest so I can analyze the players' tells, please.
Jim O'Kelley Now we're talking!
Chris Martin You're welcome. :)
Chris Martin Fall 1906 rendering now!
Doug Massey Am I wrong to think that the Facebook commentary on the game should somehow be saved with the YouTube videos? This feels like it's becoming one of the more important events in recent Diplomacy history . . .
Chris Martin The Diplomatic Pouch wants to do a feature on this, so yeah, I think collecting all of this commentary into some sort of narrative form would be an important part of this!
Mario Huys Correction, the Diplomatic Pouch would like to do so. Diplomacy World isn't into multimedia projects AFAIK (preferring a printable magazine), whereas we've been including videos in almost every issue for the past year.
Chris Martin Fixed!
Doug Massey You've done a terrific job, Chris. I have to ask, though: does your voice *really* sound like that in real life?
Chris Martin Ugh. J suggests I get a better microphone ASAP.
Doug Massey
Chris Martin
Doug Massey Image of a "Like" button. You exist on a meta-level that I cannot comprehend.
Chris Martin Hehehehehe. You need to get on my level!
Alex Amann

Comments

Jared Martin Dave's moves were excellent here.
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Either Chris keeps attacking Peter, in which case both Dave and Chris advance, or Chris stops, and totally crushing his own position. I wish we had seen whether there had been a second followup conversation between the two.
Chris Brand Dammit, Chris, you're giving away my secrets here! Your analysis feels spot-on. Moscow of course can cover Sev.
Jared Martin It seemed obvious to me that Moscow was not to be adjacent to StP but rather to cover Sev while putting pressure on Ank. Though I still don't really understand why everyone wants Dave dead so badly. Andrew Goff, your reasoning in the last game turn or two seems to be "we have to stop Nathan from winning, nothing else matters but stopping Nathan, except oh yeah we have to kill Dave too". Is the idea that Dave wouldn't respect a stop the leader alliance if he's left alive? Or that his dots are needed to fight Nathan?
Andrew Goff I made a number of overtures to Dave, all of which were quickly rebuffed.
Chris Brand Yeah, I don't know what it was between the two of you, but the two of you never even seemed to come close to considering the possibility of not fighting. Not bad for me, but still odd...
Andrew Goff The whole "we have to stop Nathan" thing was to get everyone's units moving away from me as well as cutting him back.
I'm walking a very fine line here... I want to pick up Nwy, StP, Ank and I'm on 8. Nathan loses two (Lpl and Mun) and Chris gains zero (+Bul, -Gre) and I am the world champion.
You're correct, Moscow was to cover Sev, not to stay adjacent to StP, which I had no intention of taking until the end-of-times.
Jared Martin If you can pick up Ank, you can end up with Con and Smy too without too much difficulty, especially if Peter would support an Andrew Goff bid for world champion. It's not like Italy has fleets to come from behind right now to win that race.
I certainly think that you (Andrew) have the third best bid for world champion on this board after the spring '06 moves, with Nathan #1 and Chris #2. Sitting on just 5 seems bad, but Nathan has a very committed Adam to stop him and Chris has a very committed Peter to stop him, but you have no one.
Andrew Goff I must admit, I thought I was back in it after these moves. No spoilers though!
Nathan Barnes I don't know as barging into a conversation between AIR is awkward so much as a necessary part of my bid. Trying to disrupt them from coordinating - especially since I am fairly confident that my moves with Peter are going to go - is in my best interest. All part of the game!
Chris Martin Oh, yes. Not awkward for YOU. :)
Bryan Pravel The mid-game is my favorite phase of most Diplomacy games. Balancing the tightrope of helping others while still giving yourself chances becomes *so* difficult. This is where understanding the motivations of other players becomes so important. I think the video captures all of this quite well. Thanks, Chris!

Fall 1906

In which the AIR is back on to stop Nathan Barnes.

Suggestions

Jared Martin Chris Martin: Is Peter on the Facebooks?
Chris Brand Peter Yeargin is.
Markus Zijlstra Thanks again for making these, Chris. Fascinating to watch.
Laurence Peery Does anybody have an idea of how long it will take to watch all of these so far? I'm thinking seriously about having a marathon session to watch them all at once. If I can do it with 54 45-min Korean historical dramas, I can sure do it for something important like this? Chris, any predictions on how long the whole series will run?
John Jamieson #NoSpoilersPleaseWeAreBritish
Chris Martin I guarantee the series will not run past 1909.
I'm going to try to put together a master edit, that could be shown at a film festival, maybe, once they are all in the bag.
John Jamieson #GoingToSundance?
Markus Zijlstra All the ones released so far amount to about 4h20.
Chris Barfield Each is around 30 min, so a bit less than 6 hours.
Chris Martin Early ones a bit shorter, and I really really try to keep them under 20 minutes.
Chris Barfield Probably the only weak point of the series so far...
Chris Martin Chris Barfield: What is?
Chris Barfield They're too short - take a look at what the NFL is doing with instant replay and ads, we could easily stretch each season to an hour!
Chris Martin My initial thought was that no one would watch them if they were longer than 15 minutes. You know I don't have a problem with talking more. :D I could definitely see Siobhan and I doing a Video Podcast where we broke things down in greater detail.
Siobhan Nolen Chris Martin: That sounds like fun! I'm game if you are!
Chris Martin Siobhan Nolen: Lets talk ... Soon! #ImpossibleAstronaut
Siobhan Nolen Chris Martin: Yes! It just so happens I might be in your 'hood soon. :)
Jared Martin I'd love to see that, Chris and Siobhan. I should do some Diplomacy commentary with Jay Heumann, either remotely or if we ever happen to be in the same city again.
Chris Martin Just posted on Reddit: TFW you hear someone promise an impossible support.
Jason Mastbaum I like how I was expecting something more sinister based on the single frame it was showing while it loaded.
Siobhan Nolen This is the reaction GIF I never knew I needed in my life. <3
Andrew Goff This is just too much. I can't even...
Jared Martin I actually thought Peter was going to stab Chris when he said it.
Andrew Goff If I analyse it, maybe to make Chris think he has an army in Serbia so his position is more defensible?
Jared Martin I think the time pressure was just crushing you all.
Laurence Peery Thanx.
Jared Martin Great episode as always. I really wish I knew what Dave was removing here, it would really color my thoughts about the moves in Spring 1907.
Jay Heumann One small point--Ruh supported Tyr-Mun, not Mun-Kie. (You said it wrong but looks like you got it right in the interface.) Either that, or all 7 players missed that there should be a French army in Kie but not Mun.
Chris Martin Yeah, that was my bad on the narration - caught it later but too much trouble to go back and fix. We'll get it in Post!
Jay Heumann Haha, I hope "we'll get it in post" is a reference to what I think it is...

Comments

John Jamieson I'd love to know why Adam didn't convoy to Denmark instead of putting the fleet in. It seems such an obvious move. #SideLineQuarterBack
Chris Martin He didn't own Liverpool yet?
John Jamieson Liverpool was French.
Chris Martin Yes - so, he's committed to taking Liverpool from Nathan - he can't do it without using the Army, right? Cant take Denmark AND Liverpool if he puts the army in Denmark.
John Jamieson I get that, but if the choice is between "Take Liverpool and give up the North Sea" or "Don't take Liverpool, bounce in the MAO and put an army in Denmark" I'm convoying to Denmark.
Chris Martin Sure - but then you have to convince Goffy of that plan, right? Might be a harder lift than saying you were going to put down two fleets? Adam isn't on the facebooks, unfortunately, but I'll ask him.
John Jamieson Goffy started the dialogue over Denmark, with "can I get Denmark?" That makes it harder to get from fleet into Denmark to army into Denmark.
Chris Martin John Jamieson: I was late with the camera, but I _think_ the original ask was from Adam, and Goff was like: "Yeah... No, why would I do that?" But you might be right. Army Denmark would definitely have been superior if he could have made it happen.
Jared Martin Adam had Nth S Eng - Bel, would have worked too, only possible cut was from Doug. I think Denmark is better though. Bel is really crappy to take with a Fleet if you're England.
Markus Zijlstra I can only imagine what's going through Yeargin's mind here.
"Okay, so I'm supporting Brand to Trieste with Serbia...
Hang on. I don't have an army in Serbia.
Never mind, I'll build there next turn."
As Chris mentioned in the video, that top board pressure must be insane!
Andrew Goff And this is where I blew it. Let me explain my thinking - I thought Chris was lying to me. I expected Bla - Sev and that Chris would crunch Austria this turn. I got it TOTALLY wrong.
If I had not let my paranoia get the better of me, Arm - Bla, take two centres in the north, tell Germany to take Kiel with the fleet and support it in with Berlin. And I win the game from there. I pride myself on poise and patience (even if the Diplomacy is fiery sometimes), but I failed on both this turn - the pressure was IMMENSE. (You can even tell from the swearing).
Chris Martin I did think you got a little potty-mouthed this year.
Andrew Goff I try to match the flavour of the game when it comes to saltiness. But here it was just frustration :(
Chris Martin But fascinating to hear that - it totally explains why you didn't take advantage of knowing Dave's moves.
Jared Martin That's a good plan, but I don't know if I'd trust Doug to do a plan where you gain an effective French center (Kiel to Germany, Denmark to England, Norway to you) when he can keep the center being Nathan's by just holding. We haven't seen Doug on camera in a while, I actually expected Doug to do Den s Ber - Kie so he could try to build in Berlin, but I strongly doubt Doug would do Den - Kie. If you thought he would, though, I suppose it's still good, but I don't expect Adam to continue his single minded crusade once you stab him.
Chris Martin FWIW, Doug DID do Den -> Kiel.
Jared Martin Chris Martin: I know, but without Berlin's support. I doubt he expected it to work. Or maybe he thought he might get Russian support into Munich, and he was trying to keep Kiel vacant once he had Mun / Ber / Den. Or maybe he thought Mun - Boh was happening and he could surprise Nathan.
Andrew Goff Kiel was French at this point. no point keeping it open.
Jared Martin Not keep Kiel vacant to build there, keep Kiel vacant to make it easier to attack if Ber - Mun did work.
Andrew Goff *shrug* Better to have France out of place in the centre than having options to support. But 6 of 1....
Douglas Moore Yes, Chris Martin, it was part of our conversations. Basically, if I recall correctly, it was 'we can determine who wins this board, it could still be anyone.' They were *very* interesting conversations.
Douglas Moore Also, in order to make that move worthwhile, I need to clear Berlin to build. I figured Nathan Barnes would move north, but he couldn't support both. I wasn't sure what he'd do, so I picked Ber-Mun, asking for the support from Sil (which was offered by Andrew Goff).
Chris Brand You thought I'd lie to you? Weird....
Jared Martin I think Andrew is not taking his winning chances here seriously; this is backed up by the way he talks to Peter about it. I totally support his play to give Denmark to Adam, but he's going to need StP if he wants to top this board, not with the intention of stabbing Adam, but just because he will need to build there once Nathan is stopped, so he needs it to be his AND he needs it to be vacant. Compounded with the fact that F Edi is just not going to be that useful, AND the fact that he knows exactly what Dave's moves are, I think the play here is to tell Adam he's going to take StP while also supporting him (Adam) into Den, and then offer to try to give Adam a dot the following season, either another build in London or a build in Liverpool if possible, both of which would be much more useful, and promise to build an army in Warsaw which would be a lot more useful for fighting Nathan than F Edi.
In a similar vein, as Peter I probably would have made some totally different play knowing all the moves like Vie S Bud - Tri, Gre - Ser, and then made a case about home centers and how it left the center counts the same but it restored a home center (and allowed a build in Budapest); it sounded like they were pretty sure he was backing out of Tyrolia but I don't know how sure that was.
*shrug* I always take home centers very seriously and a #1 priority, but it really seems like for all the actual players the count matters a lot more than home centers. Especially strategic home centers like the only place that Russia can build a northern fleet and the only place that Austria can build a fleet, at all. Thoughts?
Andrew Goff Hi Jared - I made mistakes this turn, but a northern Russian fleet does not help me get any centres at all in the timeframe for this game, so StP was not a priority - as explained elsewhere, I prioritised covering Sev over StP. Being told a person's orders is not the same as knowing them. I had no reason at all to trust Chris this turn, and it was on his word alone I knew Turkish moves.
Jared Martin I wish I knew more about the timing. Were you in the mode where the game could end at any moment? It seems to me like a second northern fleet helps you get Nwy (if England manages to get stronger it's no longer a lock), Den, Baltic for a support into Ber... if your plan is to grow past 7 centers (home, Nwy Swe Rum), what's the 8th going to be? If you say Ank, fine, but what's the 9th? A center from Peter? Con? If you can't attack Italy or Austria then you need another Northern fleet to have any chance to keep growing. Unless you expect to be able to stab Peter and then have the game called before Nathan punishes you for doing so. Maybe 8 would be enough for world champion, but I don't think so. Someone needs to own the German centers and its unlikely to be Doug. Will Peter or Chris just give them to you?
Chris Martin Jared Martin: Game can't possibly be called on time before 2pm, and its around 12:30 during these moves.
Andrew Goff (So thinking: 2 more years - StP, Ber, Nwy, Ank. Remember I win ties against Austria, France, and England - so trying to set up a magical 7-7-7-7-6 result is sufficient for me... Home, Rum, Swe, Ank... plus Berlin maybe? Plus Norway maybe? But if I start looking like I'm ahead Peter or Adam will gut me. It's not as simple as that, but I hope that is some insight into my thinking?)
Jared Martin But how does France get back down to 7 without Adam's full cooperation?
Andrew Goff Which is why I'm not taking StP and I'm giving him Denmark.
Jared Martin I meant in your "I decide not to be paranoid" scenario.
Andrew Goff Ah - but then I'm on 7 aiming for 10. Entirely different scenario - racing against Nathan and Chris. Which I should have been :(
Jared Martin Oh, I guess in that scenario you DO have StP and you can build another fleet :) Derp!
Andrew Goff Yes. Although even then there's some interesting thoughts as to whether a second A War is more critical (obviously, my builds if I took StP And Nwy, were A War and A Sev)
Jared Martin Andrew Goff: Piece of advice that has served me well in the past, which may or may not be relevant here, you tell me: If I am in a scenario where I have reason to be paranoid, but actually being paranoid will result in 100% chance to lose, and trusting will result in < 100% chance to lose if not stabbed, then I jump off the cliff and trust.
Seems to me that either going the whole hog here (Nwy and StP) or some shenanigans with "I want my home center back but I'm still supporting you into Denmark and Nwy is safe and I'll help you build in Lvp later" was needed here, thus my earlier comment that I guessed you were underestimating your chances to win. When in reality you just were being paranoid, same result... I think a 7-7-7-7 tie or an 8-8-8-8 tie is too unlikely, the goal needs to be 10-12. My arrmchair quarterbacking again.
Andrew Goff If I lose Sev, I'm cooked no matter what. and given I genuinely think F Bla - Sev, my moves make sense.
Nathan Barnes Unfortunately Andrew played this right by not hassling Adam. If he had taken StP and/or Nwy right now there is a decent chance that the outcome of the game could have been different.
Jared Martin If you genuinely think Bla - Sev, then just use Arm to cover, no? You could even do Rum - Sev, Arm - Sev; I don't think you care that much if Peter drops Bulgaria (which would require Chris to stab along with Dave, because Gre S Bul).
Jared Martin Nathan Barnes: Because Adam plays differently (mad at Andrew) or because Adam needed the Edi build?
Nathan Barnes Adam has a purpose right now and if Andrew just takes centers off him, it's going to do one of a few things. Adam is probably going to be reduced to threatening the board that he's no longer going to stop me from winning. Or he will actually help me. If nothing else it gives me something to work with diplomatically, which is much more than I have now.
Way better for Goff to just point Adam at me and focus on the East.
Jared Martin Nathan Barnes: That's why I think the play is to make the case for just StP and tell Adam he's doing it while giving him Denmark. Adam might not agree with the "Home Centers are sacrosanct" mentality but it's at least understandable. "I'll take StP now and use it to build A War and give you Kiel"
Nathan Barnes I really wish that would have happened. It would have made Adam pause and consider what to do about Andrew.
Jared Martin Nathan Barnes: While I 100% agree that it increases your chances of being world champion, it ALSO increases Andrew's. Your best chance to be world champion is to break Adam's single-mindedness, or beat the board tactically until time is called (very difficult in this position with only 9 centers - counting Lvp - arguably impossible). Andrew doing this really helps with the former, true, it creates a chink in the armor. But if you don't top, and Andrew doesn't take StP, it's going to be Chris or somehow maybe Adam. But some crazy 7-7-7-7 tie is not going to happen. So making the thread and needle play is Andrew's only one, increasing your chances and his own at the expense of (mostly) Adam and a little bit of Chris.
Nathan Barnes I'm not arguing - I was really relying on Andrew taking the approach you're suggesting.
Chris Brand Regarding Dave's moves, I was the only one he'd actually told them to, I believe, so everyone else is relying on Dave having been honest with me, me reading Dave correctly and me not lying to them. One thing I've noticed over the last few videos is that I was 100% confident that Dave was being straight with me, but I had to work hard to convince anybody else of that.
Roland Cooke Awesome stuff :)
Andrew Goff Missed are some interesting discussions between Doug and I. I stabbed him again this year. Again, it was the wrong call (based on my incorrect assessment of the south). Sorry Douglas Moore :(
Chris Barfield *Doug and me... unless of course you guys have different grammar down south.
Andrew Goff Depends on whether the subject is cut off as [interesting discussions] or the full [interesting discussions between Doug and I]. I'd probably argue it's a compound subject... but I'd probably argue more strongly that it doesn't matter. ;)
Jared Martin It's Yoda-speak anyway. "Missed are interesting discussions" vs "interesting discussions are missed". Anyway, relevant XKCD: Fashion Police and Grammar Police.
Chris Barfield Well played, I'll go back to to trolling my less competent friends.
Jared Martin Chris Barfield: Trolling competent friends are the most fun, you don't get witty comebacks otherwise. Similarly, the only reason it's fun (for me anyway) to comment on Andrew and Peter's play like I did this turn is because I respect them and am interested in their response. Wouldn't bother to take the time or think about the board if they were bad at the game.
Andrew Goff Shucks. FWIW I think you're offering some fine thoughts, Jared. And Chris... I'd stop and listen to what you're saying any day - it's been way too long!
Jared Martin Andrew Goff: I felt obligated to make that clear because otherwise it's just a nonstop flurry of criticism from a guy who's never been on a top board.
Jared Martin I was going to ask you in the other comment thread if he was expecting Sil S Ber - Mun. If that's the case he'd definitely prefer Mun to be in Bohemia and not Kiel.
Douglas Moore Yes, I was expecting Sil s Ber-Mun, and not expecting support for Adam into Den. I wanted to take a crack at what was a pretty chaotic situation to get back into the mix, and it would also have helped Andrew Goff as well.

Spring 1907

In which the clock surprises a lot of people.

Comments

Steve Cooley Nathan, you sly fox you!
Nathan Barnes Yea, wish I could say I was sly. Pretty sure that I actually believed that's what I wrote as Spa S MAO.
John Jamieson I'm hearing "I believed it was correct when I read it"
Steve Cooley As my kids say: "Allegedly."
(Then again, they *may* have picked that up from their father)
Steve Cooley It would have been *crazy* to look at your orders, right? It's okay. "Mistakes" happen from time to time--just another example of what I like about not having a UI to input orders: "mistakes" are part of the game. ;)
Nathan Barnes Well I absolutely agree with that. The mistakes are important in really high pressure games. This top board is just full of them and there's more to come!
Steve Cooley This ain't no party. It ain't no disco. And, it ain't no house game.
Nathan Barnes I just rewatched it. I crumple up my orders as soon as they are handed back to me. Maybe my subconscious is better at Diplomacy than I am...
Douglas Moore Steve Cooley: I think a UI would really change the game a lot. Mistakes are a huge part of the game -- for good or ill -- and introducing mistake-free orders... I just don't know if that would be a positive change, all in all.
Chuck Spiekerman I am interested in this comment. What would be the reasoning as to why allowing for misadjudications would be good for the game? I guess it would reward the player who is facile enough to catch misadjudications relative to the person who is not as good, who might not be able to catch the glitch that burned him/her. Should the ability to catch conflicts between the written and adjudicated moves be a skill that differentiates players' standings?
Steve Cooley For me, I think going to a UI would remove the "human element"--the foibles and errant play. I think being error-free and tracking movement on the board are skills that should be "rewarded."
Chuck Spiekerman OK, so if being able to catch mismoves is important, is the corollary that one should be able to intentionally mismove to test the other players' ability to catch him/her?
Is that fair play? Somewhat akin to taking what the ref will give you in soccer or baseball?
Steve Cooley Is it "fair play?" No.
Will Black I think Austria's non move was a master class of Diplomacy!
Douglas Moore I totally missed the mistaken adjudication. I thought at the time, and advised Nathan to pull back in the south: Pie-Mar, GoL-Spa (sc), Spa (sc)-MAO, MAO-Eng, Bre s MAO-Eng.
Douglas Moore Also, Chris really hammered this home, but whoever turned off the speakers needs to give every player on the top board Belgium. I blame Jim O'Kelley, just because.
Andrew Goff Yep. Though I don't recall who wouldn't let a quick set of orders be written... I think we should have allowed that and I remember being annoyed that I was told "no" this turn... though now seeing Peter's diplomacy maybe I got lucky.
Chris Martin That conversation starts the Fall 1907 video!
Nathan Barnes Guessing the speaker issue is at least partially behind my jumbled orders.
Douglas Moore I'm pretty sure it was.
Jared Martin Dees misorders, mang. Chris Brand why go for GoL before Pie? If you don't agree to the Bohemia gambit you can put two on Pie and two on GoL (and in this case would have gotten both, and would have destroyed one of Nathan's units (they can't both retreat to Mar). And then, if Nathan's orders had been adjucated correctly, you would have had Spain forced this season (so much for attacking Peter being faster).
Chris Brand Douglas described my reasoning perfectly. I was far more interested in the dots in the east than in the west. I may have been able to get away with not ordering Tyl as well as Tri, though, which seems like a better position. "How much can I get away with without scaring my ally too much?" is always a fun game...
Jared Martin Chris, if Goff were on board I totally agree with killing Peter first, but since he's not, and given that you're sending all those fleets west, you're not actually outnumbering Peter. You can't really use Venice precisely because Nathan is in Pie, which leaves Boh and Tri and a really far away Smy to fight Peter. Don't get me wrong, it's certainly possible, but it would require a perfect outguess / knowing Peter's orders in the fall.
*shrug*. With this many units committed West, and with Adam fully invested West, it seems like you could try to pick up three dots from Nathan and then head east with a position on the good side of a stalemate line.
Chris Brand I don't remember my private negotiations with Andrew at that time, so I can't say whether he was on board with the idea or not. Peter *is* his most likely source of dots, though, so at the very least it does sound like a plan I could convince him was wise...
Andrew Goff No spoilers. But at the end of S1907 I was not on board with it. Why? Because that's a horse race I lose.
Andrew Goff Also, remember my theory: 8 or 9 centres is plenty: 5+Ank+Ber+StP... Austria on 6; Italy on 7; France on 7; England on 6. That's my narrow path as I see it at this point.

Fall 1907

In which Dave Maletsky is the first to pack his bags.

Suggestions

Jared Martin Good video, though Austria + Bul / Rum / Gre is 6, Austria + all Balkans is 7 (you said in video it's 7 & 8, respectively)
Chris Martin Good catch, thanks.
Chris Martin A lot less conversation about this episode. On to 1908!
Jared Martin I forgot to mention, I really appreciate you including Winter in the fall turn this time, even though it was super straightforward.
Chris Martin Sure - I happened to record it this time. :)

Comments

Steve Cooley Interesting: if Silverman anticipated the French moves, he could have convoyed into Belgium (and held Den, or moved it to Swe).
Chris Martin SO many better ordersets this turn. Peter could have had an amazing turn.
Steve Cooley It surprised me that neither Adam nor Chris made the ask for MAO. Now, admittedly, it's a big ask, but . . . if you don't ask, you don't get.
Chris Martin I think it was a situation where neither was going to get there so no ask
Chris Brand I think I sounded Adam out about it and decided not to push it
Chris Brand Seeing that order set of mine now, it seems extremely risky. Not sure whether that's just because of Chris' commentary :-) I was obviously (correctly) very confident that I knew what Peter was ordering (despite my not having moved Trieste as we'd agreed last turn). Lots of hold orders with the fleets because (a) they weren't going to succeed in taking anything anyway and (b) to try to convince Nathan that Adam was the one he needed to worry about, not me.
Jared Martin Could have dropped a support of Nao - Mao, not sure if you want Adam going faster here, but it's something that had a chance of working. Also you never know, just because someone has an uncuttable support doesn't mean they won't misorder or forget to write an order down, especially in this game :D (obviously, Nathan can't both cut Wes and also guarantee keeping Spain).
Chris Brand My reasoning was that the diplomatic benefit of making Nathan feel like I'm not much of a threat in the Med far outweighs the long shot of taking a dot from him
Andrew Goff I really thought Peter wouldn't stab me. Because he's a very good liar, but also because every centre he takes Chris just takes one off him - to see the negotiations and him actually giving that away... oh well.
For those watching at home... stay tuned to this right here.
Jared Martin There is absolutely no reason, in my opinion, for Peter to say to Chris "I want to stab Andrew and also I'll give you a center". Italy has plenty of centers, and also a strong ally (for now anyway) with Adam. Why not just go Vie - Tyr, Bud - Rum, Bul - Ser, Gre S Bul - Ser, and plant both Armies? If he has any hope of taking the title for himself, he should be thinking about how he gets Trieste back, not about stopping Nathan. Nathan is already stopped.
Maybe it doesn't work in this group, but I have, in the past, seen great success with "I would love to ally with you but I can't abide you owning my home center. I am not talking about stabbing you, I am telling you to your face that I would love to work with you but the only way it can work for me is to return my home center." It doesn't work (and I wouldn't try it) if the person I'm talking to is well positioned to attack me, but it almost always works if the person I'm talking to would really rather be fighting someone else. "I'll put an army in Tyrolia and I'll help you take Pie and you can treat it as your unit, give it whatever orders you want, I'll support you into Munich, but I need my home center back." Perhaps better players wouldn't go along with this?
Chris Martin Jared Martin: That is an interesting line. I don't see it playing with this crowd, though - a dot's a dot, and if we're working together, heck, that's a dot I can't stab you for.
I can't speak to Peter's state of mind here, but he probably expected the game to go on longer, and was worried that if he didn't keep Chris on board, he'd just run in on him.
Chris Brand From what we saw of the negotiations, Peter never *offered* the dot, he agreed to my request for it. And of course every request is a veiled threat...
Chris Martin It was a tough spot for him! I tried to point that out in the videos, but I guess I could have been more clear.
Andrew Goff I think I've learned more about the other players on this board than they have about me from this series.
Nathan Barnes Peter was in a very tough spot. He's doing what he has to do to try to get some momentum which I'm sure felt really really close. You can see him trying to wiggle out of his earlier commitment to give a dot to Brand for Rum, and Brand very pointedly doesn't give him the out. He wants to know exactly which dot. It's good Diplomacy on his part.
My growth ended when Goff let Adam off the hook. All the East's talk of stopping me is just a foil for trying to figure out how their theater is going to shake out. They're well aware they don't need to come up the middle and Brand is moving fleets my direction halfheartedly because he doesn't really want to go in that direction. Dots come much faster in the East.
No one is playing for a solo or the optimal position to grow long term.
Will Black A couple of things that spring to mind. Top boards are not standard games, and time. Time is probably the main factor. As the players know that time will be called at some point, so having one more dot now is better as the time draw may occur and that one dot could cost you the title chance.
Nathan Barnes Andrew Goff: Don't let Nathan move his own pieces.
Andrew Goff Discount Rate = high at this point. Nathan, I think I needed to go into the middle, but I was alone. I tried to make the pitch to Peter and did think it was in his interest, but obviously he didn't.
Nathan Barnes What you needed to do was shortsightedly take the easy dots from Adam so I could win. But it's always Andrew Andrew Andrew with you.
Andrew Goff Spoilers!!!

Spring 1908

In which Nathan Barnes threatens to throw the game to Chris Brand if Adam Silverman doesn't back off.

Suggestions

Will J Abbott Seems an appropriate year.
Chris Martin I timed it that way on purpose.
Kevin O'Kelly Off by a season, but i like your thought process. #GoCubsGo
Steve Cooley Great commentary. You edited that turn very, very well. I was getting antsy just watching.
Andrew Goff This game might not be finished before Fall 1908 is up.
Jim O'Kelley Best captioning yet.
Andrew Goff In the movie, that's the Hitchcock walk on :)
Chuck Spiekerman Bump! Do we get to see the end of the story?
Chris Martin Soon. Been busy.

Comments

Steve Cooley Hate Adam's move. Love Brand's.
Andrew Goff Thoughts:
a) I'm surprised I didn't get an exclamation mark for not retreating to Rumania, or Serbia, or Portugal, or some cheese.
b) I gave Peter the chance. If he'd done what he said he would, my moves comply entirely with our deal and relations could have been normalised. But, sadly, it was also very obvious this year that he was lying to me.
c) Silverman... W. T. F. :'(
Chris Brand Yeah, Adam's moves are surprising. I've been playing gentle with Nathan the whole game (mostly because I didn't believe that was where the dots I needed were), but I don't see the rationale for Adam heading north at this point - how can that path possibly put him ahead of Nathan?
Nathan Barnes To be fair, we've been playing gentle all game because we play F/I the same way. Neither of us want to be in the Med. It's a waste of our time.
Chris Brand Absolutely!
Nathan Barnes Still regret that we wasted 4 seasons monkeying around in there. Wish we had stuck to the plan - outcome prob would have been the same in the end...
Chris Brand Speaking for myself, I sent fleets west almost entirely to help my diplomacy in the east. A secondary consideration was that doing so made it more likely that Adam could take something from you, and a distant third was the possibility of picking up a dot from you myself.
Andrew Goff I think Chris' non-action against Nathan was superb. He breaks down Nathan's position and Adam is a HUGE threat. He lets them duke it out and it's the perfect result for him.
Chris Brand There's a definite contrast between what we see of Adam's negotiations with Nathan and his moves. Of course there could be plenty we aren't seeing, but it certainly seemed that Nathan failed miserably to convince Adam to turn around.
Two fairly subtle things that I liked from that one:
1) Nathan getting the SC ownership wrong hurt his credibility with Adam. If he'd said "you have one easy dot in Sweden versus a chance to get one from me", Adam would have been much more receptive. Never suggest moves to someone and try to sell them with "you can take X" if they already own X :-)
2) Kind of similar with Peter and Andrew - if Peter had started with the plan that gets them both to 7, Andrew may have been more receptive. You definitely have to push to do better than your ally out of any deal you make, but you have to be very careful where you pick as your starting point.
Bonus #3 - you can see from Andrew's negotiations here why he's won WDC twice :-)
Steve Cooley And, Andrew was clearly being transparent with you. If I've learned one thing about Goff over the past few months it's this: he really likes good play, even if it's against him. However, he loathes bad play, particularly when it's against him. He made it pretty plain he was not a fan of Yeargin one-dotting him. Further, Peter's explanation--that he had to stab Goff for one to set up a really BIG stab of you doesn't hold water. He could have had you for a couple of dots, but went after Goff. No explanation was going to ameliorate that.
Nathan Barnes Adam and I talked a lot more than what's here. Mostly only talked to Brand and Silverman with a little talk from Doug this round. And remember, Doug also leaned on Silverman to turn around. He's hearing a lot of voices say move away, and I'm looking increasingly vulnerable with Italy positioned the way he is.
Gotta give me a little credit for navigating this one, guys. Yeesh.
Chris Brand No doubt! That's why I said "what we see of Adam's negotiations with Nathan" and "there could be plenty we aren't seeing".
Steve Cooley Nathan, total props to you for getting Adam to move contra his best interests! As Chris points out, if Adam wanted to win, the sc's that would make it happen are all yours: Bre, Bel, Hol, and Kie.
Douglas Moore Nathan Barnes: Yep.
Jared Martin I really think Adam's price for backing off needed to be something like Hol / Kie / Ber (otherwise I'll take Brest), with a Holland convoy in Spring of this year. I don't know what the negotiation was, but it certainly seems like the plan was to leave Nathan on his 9 (plus his 10th in Berlin that Andrew won't have time to prevent), which is going to be really hard for Adam to pass.
Steve Cooley Instead, Adam simply went away.

Fall 1908

In which Nathan Barnes feigns anger towards Adam Silverman, but gets held up for an interview when he should have been writing his orders.

Suggestions

Chris Martin Seeing people from all over the world watch these is pretty awesome.
Doug Massey I assume most of the highlighted views are Conrad Woodring.
Conrad Woodring Huh? I wasn't there.
Chris Martin Those views being the ones from the bottom half of the global list - you rascally world traveler you.
Conrad Woodring Ah. I see. I am grounded in the UK waiting for my new visa at the moment, but I'll give you a view from Sierra Leone next time I am there.
Joseph Wheeler You're really not very popular with the Irish.
Chris Martin I'm liked, but not well-liked.
Bernard Andrioli Also, more popular in Ethiopia than in France. Hmm...
Joseph Wheeler And surprisingly popular in Jersey.
Chris Barfield Bernard, we have a big online Diplomacy following in Ethiopia, when the internet isn't blocked...
Markus Zijlstra Fantastic episode - great to see these being made again :)

Comments

Jim O'Kelley Another good webisode. For you fans at home, synching your internal clock is sooooooo important.
Markus Zijlstra I think you're being too harsh on yourself over distracting Nathan. Potentially the most important move he could put in (the Tyrolian support) he got in, and it's hard to imagine he hadn't thought that through beforehand. As for other moves - from how I see the board, anyhow - he's locked into a position where he essentially has to hold, due to the English pressure from the north and the Italian pressure from the south.
What could he have done this phase? Taken Berlin maybe, but since Doug is fairly solidly aligned with him right now that just takes a friendly unit out of Germany and puts it into France - that only helps if he frees up Bre for a fleet build and doing so would be fairly risky. The unit in Mun is really the only one that could be justifiably doing something else - but what, exactly?
I don't think the number of hold orders is entirely down to the clock here. If I had that position, I'd be struggling to think of a decent moveset anyhow.
Steve Cooley Don't be too hard on yourself re Nathan. He could have said, "Not now, Chris. I have to write orders."
Chris Brand I think this is right. We were all well aware that helping you make these videos was a lower priority than actually playing the game, and I don't think any of us would have shied away from telling you to go away. Not even Nathan, reserved though he is.
Steve Cooley Btw, I loved that turn from Andrew! He did lose War, but it was a calculated gamble intended to keep him in the game. His analysis of the players and pieces is spot-on right now (in the game).
Andrew Goff At this point I'm just tactically fighting everyone next to me on the board. I'd say however good my turn was here, there has been a catastrophic failure of negotiation up to this point on my behalf.
Chris Martin Andrew Goff: I'm not convinced that the choice not to take at least one - StPete, Norway - from Adam was the deciding factor?
Steve Cooley Not to pile on, but I thought leaving both was *very* generous.
Even so, the way you are playing at this moment of the game is so good. If Yeargin had not matched your skill (in guessing Warsaw), you'd still have an outside chance.
Andrew Goff !!! I strongly disagree with Yeargin matching my skill this turn. Warsaw was a terrible move for him; one I was 100% happy for him to make and [spoiler alert].
Andrew Goff As for StP and Nwy... hindsight is what it is. If I'd taken one and he'd collapsed to Nathan then we'd be having the discussion in reverse... but given I now know how he plays I would have taken StP. My only regret in this game, other than [spoiler alert], was that I didn't get to [spoiler alert].
Chris Brand A War is definitely little use to Peter in the final position.
Steve Cooley Andrew Goff: I should have been more clear: I was referring to the guess. 90% of players would figure you would cover War with Sil.
Personally, I think going after you was a strategic mistake on his part. Chris was obviously the bigger threat and I think he had more to gain working with you than against you. So, my comment about "matching" was meant to be restricted only to the taking of Warsaw--whatever the disadvantages of it were, it was a dot.
I'd go so far as to say Peter burned his bridge with you almost completely this turn for very little to no gain. (Although you already weren't buying his diplomacy, this turn just showed there was no reason left to do so.)
Chris Brand Steve Cooley: Not convinced by your "90%" :-) Holding War isn't particularly useful for Andrew at this point.
Andrew Goff Spot on, Chris - I'm just thinking now and I think I actually prefer him in Warsaw to Galicia. I think his best move was to cover Vienna... but with that French support.... didn't matter.
Steve Cooley: Peter was a dead man walking the moment he attacked me, so burning bridges this turn was fairly not a consideration on his behalf. I actually think he realised that attacking me was no good as soon as he saw he couldn't hold Sevastopol (Although one interesting thing that hasn't been raised yet is that he could have been in Sev with a retreat to Armenia... which would have been an almighty mess to clean up). To his credit he made efforts to patch things up with me... but [spoiler alert again].
Chris Martin I was surprised that he walked back to Rumania, but if he had a hope, it was to get the build from War/Sev and Nathan helped him hold Vienna. In that world, he might have had a [spoiler alert].
Andrew Goff Chris Martin: Not with me coming for him [no spoiler at all].
Chris Brand He could have ended up owning Vie/Bud/Rum/Bul/Gre/War/Sev for 7, no? Or at least 6 of those, which is in the running.
Andrew Goff I question your math there, Chris. 7 with only four powers left is not enough to win.
Andrew Goff (Or Doug and I on 1 each.)
Chris Brand I stand by the idea that 7 at the end of 1908 is "in the running". From there he picks up Mos and/or Ser, maybe Tri...
Steve Cooley Chris Brand: Okay, not saying it was a "good" move. I am saying that most players wold not look at Warsaw with three Russian units next to it and think, "I'm taking Warsaw."
Jared Martin I'm sort of stunned that Adam thinks Peter is a bigger threat than Nathan or Chris here. Or maybe that was just a strategic line.
Steve Cooley It's interesting how different players can see the map differently. It's hard to see how Adam could have believed that--and maybe he didn't. But, sometimes you run into situations wherein a player gives you his/her assessment and you want to ask, "Are we still in the same game?"
Andrew Goff He didn't believe it.
Nathan Barnes Thanks for denying me the World Championship, Chris Martin. It was definitely your fault for talking to me for 30 seconds. Not Andrew Goff's perfectly-sound-but-exceedingly-inconvenient-for-me approach to dealing with England. And besides, what are the odds that I am just putting on a show because I've decided that injecting drama would help me next season? Seems slim.
Chris Martin Hey - not interfering with the game was a big concern of mine. I know you can haz drama!
Nathan Barnes It's a valid concern. I am just saying it had a minimal impact here. I would probably have been out there talking to someone at that point regardless. I clearly missed the 2 min and 1 min warnings already and thought I had more time.
Andrew Goff Nathan, I think we can both agree that we lost the championship because of Adam Silverman.
Nathan Barnes I 100% agree with that Andrew. It's all on video! It's demonstrably true. All I am saying is you COULD have decided to make me the belle of the ball rather than that poopy old Chris Brand. Instead I'm stuck with yet another Miss Congeniality not-even-a-real-tiara. Again.
Andrew Goff At least you got a tiara. All I got was [Insert Cards Against Humanity Card].
Nathan Barnes I guess that's true, Andrew. But even the biggest blackest tiara is a little disappointing.
Siobhan Nolen Andrew Goff: This might be the card you were looking for.
Andrew Goff At least I [spoiler alert] with all the blood from the [spoiler alert] and dismembered bodies.
Nathan Barnes You know the Cards Against Humanity people don't play Diplomacy when they write 6 instead of 16.
Siobhan Nolen It's from Wil Wheaton's Tabletop expansion. I reckon it's about all he could take. Rumor has it he is not a fan.
Nathan Barnes You can only sorta tell in this video...
Peter J McNamara I would love to know why Nathan supported Chris into Vienna vs tapping Trieste. Is this shown in the next episode? I can't wait - the drama is killing me!

Spring 1909

Blurb Video Spring Map Summer Map

In which technical problems temporarily obstruct recording, while the players continue off-screen, leaving us with nothing but the recorded orders for the next three seasons.

Fall 1909

Blurb Video Fall Map Winter Map

In which Peter Yeargin finds an ally in Nathan Barnes, but misses a chance to whack Andrew Goff out of Moscow.

Spring 1910

Blurb Video Spring Map Summer Map

In which Adam Silverman, still off-screen, messes up his convoy to Denmark by bouncing with his Swedish fleet.

Fall 1910

In which the video starts again, just in time to see Doug Moore and Peter Yeargin bow out, while Chris Brand braces himself to maintain his lead until Kingdom comes.

Suggestions

Siobhan Nolen I mean...I like that its been posted. But my ire is real. :P
Mario Huys Does anyone happen to know the moves for the missing three seasons? It looks like even Chris would have problems recalling them if they're not on film. This is for the Zine article update.
Chris Brand Somebody was entering them into some system live - Matt Shields or Eric Mead, perhaps?
Chris Brand Apparently L'australien Peter McNamara has those missing moves (as does Chris Martin now)

Comments

Jared Martin Chris Brand: Looks like you didn't do the "always stab on the last turn" move set. Can you speak to the probability of the game ending, whether you factored that in, or whether there were other reasons for not attacking in all directions like a Sharpian Hedgehog?
Chris Brand The key factor is that we didn't know the game was ending at this point (in fact it ended very early in the window when we were told it could end). I didn't think I needed more dots right then. Essentially, I was playing this turn to "stay ahead and have options for continuing to grow in the future as needed". Last thing I needed was to annoy everyone and then have to fight them all off for two years...
Jared Martin Oh, sure... that's something Chris didn't mention, was how early you were in the window. Anyway GG!

Wrap-up

Blurb Video Suggestions

In which all the players with the exception of Dave Maletsky sit together during the Diplomacy tournament Whipping 2017 in San Jose, to discuss the key points in the game and drink a refreshing glass of wine.

Suggestions

Chris Brand I haven't watched it yet, but I like the title!
Don Del Grande I know I'm bringing my video camera to Oxford.

That's it. Hope you enjoyed it and hope for more this year or the next.

Chris Martin
(dance.scholar@gmail.com)

WORLD DIPLOMACY CHAMPIONSHIP 2016 RECAP

On the Top Board of WDC 2016 at the Weasel Moot in Chicago

by "Dancing Queen" Chris Martin

The Paris Method

Spring 1901

Fall 1901

Spring 1902

Fall 1902

Spring 1903

Fall 1903

Spring 1904

Fall 1904

Spring 1905

Fall 1905

Spring 1906

Fall 1906

Spring 1907

Fall 1907

Spring 1908

Fall 1908

Spring 1909

Fall 1909

Spring 1910

Fall 1910

Wrap-up