Gentlemen, the game has started. Here are the country assignments, randomly chosen by the DPJudge:
England- King SOB
France- President Tarmac
Germany- Kaiser Sandman
Russia- Tsar fd-ski
Italy- King Schadenfreude
Austria- Archduke Sikboy
Turkey- Sultan Crabofix
While not a neccessity, it does make the game more fun if you talk to each other as heads of state, keeping in the spirit of your country.
Please remember that the game of Diplomacy is all about making, and breaking, alliances and pacts. You can't win by going it alone, so eventually you're going to have to work together with other countries.
If I could hand out one piece of advice, it would be to talk to everyone, all the time. Even keep talking to your enemies. "Today's enemy could be tomorrow's ally" and vise-versa.
Here's where you login to to give your orders, send press, and look at the map:
http://www.floc.net/dpjudge/?game=oclubOnce logged in, you'll see the screen where you can give orders and send press. Up at the top, you'll also see when the deadline is for the current phase. Please keep this in mind and do not forget to get your orders in before the deadline!
Here are the phases in a full year's turn of Diplomacy, and how many days you'll have as a player to get your orders in:
Spring Movement Phase- 3 days
Spring Retreat Phase- 1 day
Fall Movement Phase- 3 days
Fall Retreats Phase- 1 day
Winter Adjustments Phase(build or remove units)- 1 day
If you forget and don't get your orders in on time, the following consequences will happen, per the rule Civil_Disorder:
The DPJudge will take your turn for you, in this form:
-If you miss a movement phase, all of your units will "Hold".
-If you miss a retreat phase, a random unit will retreat, preferably to a friendly supply center.
-If you miss a build phase, the judge will waive your rights to build a unit if you were due to build....and it will remove a random unit if you were scheduled to choose a unit to remove.That being said, however, I'm going to add in a one-day grace period, just to be fair.
If someone needs me to pause the game because they will be out of town, or their computer crashes, etc., I'll be happy to do so. Just send press to the Master(me).
Once again, some handy links for your reading enjoyment:
Here's a good spot to start reading about Diplomacy:
http://www.diplom.org/ You can ignore anything said about using the "Ken Lowe" system. We use the "DPJudge" system.
Here are the official Diplomacy rules(in pdf format):
http://www.avalonhill.com/rules/diplomacy.pdf Here's a great spot for reading up on strategy.
http://www.diplomacy-archive.com/resources/strategy.htm Good luck, gentlemen, and let the diplomacy begin!
