Welcome to the first Diplomatic Pouch issue of 2008. It looks like this is going to be a great year for Diplomacy and its fans!
To begin with, after a few years of the game being out of print, Hasbro has just released a new set to celebrate the upcoming fiftieth anniversary of the game's commercial release:
Although it (unfortunately) doesn't come with the sword, it does contain everything else you see there: a 30-inch by 20-inch game board; army, navy, and control markers; and several maps for reference during negotiations. The unit counters have an artillery piece (army) or battleship (fleet) on one side, and the country's colour on the other: since the armies are square and the fleets long and rectangular, you can even flip them over to look like the wooden pieces from the first Avalon Hill set so many years ago. (Ah, the memories!)
All of this material fits into a small square box, more compact and portable than any other set I've seen. And best of all, it's inexpensive; less than half of what the previous set cost!
If you'd like a more complete look at the new set, be sure to check out Douglas Kent's preview in the 100th issue of Diplomacy World. And be sure to look out for DW #101, since he's promised a full review once he has the product in hand…
Speaking of Diplomacy World… you may recall that last issue, we celebrated DW's 100th issue.
That got me to thinking about the Pouch, and I counted up the number of issues that we have put out so far. Much to my surprise, this Spring 2008 Movement Issue is number 49. The next one, Spring 2008 Retreat, will be issue #50! While that's only half of what Diplomacy World has managed, it's still a significant milestone.
I'm hoping very much that we'll have something worthy of the occasion, and have already started canvassing for articles from some of our contributors of longest standing. Be sure to look for the issue at the end of May!
As we've been advertising for a while, this year's World Dipcon will be held in Vienna in mid-August, from the 14th to the 17th — in a real castle! In this issue we have another installment of Sebastian Beer's helpful series on Austria, Diplomacy in Austria, and getting to WDC 08. Be sure to check it out; and remember, there are still spaces if you register quickly…
(And did I mention that it's being held in a real CASTLE?!???)
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Charles Roburn The Editor (editor@diplom.org) |
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