Please help downvote old comments in this thread down to zero or so and upvote comments from the current turn so they don't get lost.
People realize comments can be sorted by how recent they are, right?
Since you are doing this by updating the original, I hope you are also saving the earlier versions someplace so that a complete narrative history with maps, headlines, and orders can be reconstructed after the game is finished.
Although Duke Carinthium was originally receptive to the offer, negotiations fell through after it was discovered that "Kevin" may have been a front-man for an organization of malevolent robots dedicated to transforming Italy's land and populace into paper-clips. An international committee is investigating the incident with a view to ensuring it does not happen again.
I'm glad I hadn't upvoted this post yet. I just had to reward you for this brilliant paragraph somehow.
The League of Nations cares so much about world peace it gets bored when we stop fighting for a turn?
The situation in Southern and Central Europe leads Austria to make this public declaration.
If German moves do not literally violate our treaty, Austria will still feel obliged to respect its terms, which includes not invading Warsaw. As a further concession, we do not consider German support to Italian attack as a violation of the treaty, if the attack does not aim to seize an Austrian home centre. We also do not object to direct German attack against Austrian units if the Austrian unit is stationed in Italian territory (Rom, Nap, Apu, Ven, Pie, Tus) or Ty...
A series of flashing lights seen from the moon have been discovered to be Morse code and translated into the following telegram:
...Several interrogated eyewitnesses in Berlin report that the huge explosion that the invaders witnessed from a distance was, in fact, the flame of a so-called "rocket" taking the Kajser to safety along with a hand-picked staff. Long the personal project of Herr Prof. Doktor Weltschmerz (Dr.phil, Dr.med, D.Sc, D.Occ Psych, Eng.D, etc.), it was completed at the last moment and sparing no expenses. The last remnants of the
Yvain, it's a little difficult to see what's going on in the East side of the map, since it's behind the LW sidebar. Would you mind scaling down the image a little?
As the former Duchy of Venice is now ascending to Great Power status, it is my pleasure to announce it's abolition. We are hereby taking up the title abandoned by the Austrian Emperors and henceforth declare the Holy Roman Empire!
The Duchy of Venice will continue to exist in Venetia, but as a subordinate title. Also, it is worth pointing out that the Duchy of Italy covers the area commonly known as "Rome" and not the entire state.
-Emperor Carinthium
Germany is glad to announce that even though the conflicts of the recent times have led to some unfortunate bloodbaths, this has also been a great time for Science. Under the lead of our brilliant Minister of Internal Security, Herr Prof. Doktor Weltschmerz (Dr.phil, Dr.med, D.Sc, D.Occ Psych, Eng.D, etc.), we conducted a number of experiments in the former French territories, leading to breakthroughs in the field of Occupation Science. As an example, we ran a number of randomized, double-blinded experiments on e.g. the comparative effectiveness of treatin...
England will be sending an expedition north to investigate rumors of Russian battle ships in Norwegian harbors. Lines of communication are unreliable and borders sometimes unclear. The Russian fleet may have mistaken Oslo for Gothenburg. As there has not been any serious damage to English interests we will not rush to war. But should we find any Russians when we arrive, the snows of St. Petersburg will be ash by 1905.
I predict an alliance between England and Turkey while they absorb their former mid-European partners; Austria will be the first to go.
While the British Empire understands the the Treaty of Hler could not last indefinitely we have the following complaints.
A) Germany failed to notify England and Russia of their decision to terminate the treaty, if that is their intention.
B) Germany's move destabilizes Russia, we believe a capable Russia is essential to English security.
C) While the treaty recognizes Sweden as Russia's domain, our Norwegian citizens long for the days of the Union. As such we believe that if Sweden is not to be held by Russia its right and proper place is under English domai...
Yeah, eight units against three. It was never going to go well. Even with perfect information about enemy moves I would still have gone down. :(
OK, thanks Yvain for moderating the game and all the amusing comments after each turn. If somebody deserves karma, it is the moderator, who, in contrast to the players, had no chance of resigning after being fed up.
I have started writing a detailed description of my moves and motivation, to provide a complete account of the Austrian part of the game, but will finish it soonest on Wednesday (latest on Friday, I hope, if akrasia steps in).
Edit: I forgot to thank my opponents, enemies, allies and whatever the other players may have been, for a fair and challenging game.
#$@!%!#$%!#!@!
As Austria recently pointed out, the last turn should have had Apulia moving to Rome, which means that it bounced with Italy and Italy did not move into Rome. That means Italy is still in Venice, which means it needs to issue a retreat order.
EDIT: Italians can't retreat into Rome. Italy, please send retreat order and revised move orders. Austria, please send revised move orders.
I know this turn is late. I didn't get Italy's orders until several hours after the deadline. Sorry.
Your speculation regarding English acquiescence in the Russian occupation of Norway is interesting. Perhaps even prescient.
However, I think that you are misinterpreting the treaty. German obligations do not require me to lose Scandinavia, St. Pete, and one other SC. Just Norway, Sweden, and a single additional SC. Germany is not required to continue destroying Russia beyond that point. St. Pete is not part of Scandinavia.
However, it remains correct that it may take years for Germany to accomplish this, if it can be done at all.
Prince Kropotkin for the Tsar.
I say either myself or Jack because Jack had the most supply centers and therefore deserves some karma which he could most easily get by posting the thread which the other two winners then comment on, or if you insist that three way tie means three way tie, I'll post the thread and the three winners can all comment and get up-voted. We'll talk about it in the comments.
DIAS draws are unordered.
Burgundy disbands.
Austria-Hungary unilaterally declares cessation of hostilities towards the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and expresses sincere desire to end the war in Europe as soon as possible. We should enjoy at least one year of peace before the world ends.
the new, technologically advanced British ships
Please tell me I get some kind of force multiplier.
I didn't get e-mail notification for this turn or the previous one. Did you stop sending them?
Paparazzi managed to take a rare photograph of the Grand Vizier and Emperor resting in between an afternoon frolic and tea party during which plush animals were pushed around a map of Europe to better plan their domination of the continent.
Silesia retreats to Prussia.
Also, the set of orders I submitted (just rechecked) had the fleet in Sweden moving to Bal, that doesn't seem to have happened?
Hm, I was going to let Kropotkin live (but still put the rest of the royal family to death), letting him try out his ideas in a Siberian commune. I guess I should have ordered that beforehand. (Also, it isn't called Istanbul yet.)
To promote better understanding of history, Austrian government has decided to declassify the documents describing the preparation of invasion to Italy (code name Operation Odoacer). The analysis of the situation can be accessed here.
The file compares several reasonable Italian and German strategies and it was used to select between seven variants of play. I have taken into account only the number of supply centres controlled after the last turn and have practically assigned the same probability to all possible Italian moves. Of course, any comments or criticisms of the strategy are welcome.
From here on, Germany guarantees the Holy Roman Empire's safety, conditional on the Holy Roman Empire assisting the German/English alliance against France. Presuming that the Holy Roman Empire assists the GE Alliance in the taking of Marseilles, Germany will consider any hostile actions against the Holy Roman Empire as declarations of war against Germany and will retaliate accordingly. As a further repayment for their help, the Holy Roman Empire will also be allowed to claim Marseilles as its own.
These guarantees will last until France has been eradicated from the whole continent of Europe, after which further agreements may be negotiated.
The following treaty is made between Germany and Austria:
Facing the possible invasion from the East, the leaders of the German Reich and Austrio-Hungarian Empire recognise that the sacred fates of the German nation, as well as the Hungarian nation and other nations of the Dual Monarchy, are at stake. To protect the rightful interests of both countries, this treaty of friendship and cooperation is signed:
The Holy Roman Empire is outraged that the League of Nations would try to warn anybody? We declare war on them!
First, the Turkish fleet in the Black Sea received orders to support an attack on landlocked Ukraine, puzzling more than one frustrated ship captain.
This is what I get for writing orders while sleep-deprived! But at least Russia didn't try to take back Sev.
came together to prepare a series of easy-to-understand pictorial guides on how to differentiate Scandinavian countries based on their food, ...
I am surprised they didn't mention lutefisk. And ammonium chloride.
For some reason I don't seem to be getting any emails- could people PM me anything they've sent lately?
Darn, I missed Spring 1902, and now the post is getting overwritten. Here's what I suggested in our other game thread:
Is there any way we can update the map without erasing what is here? That's what the other game is doing, and the problem is that there is no way for viewers to see the history; furthermore, the witty summaries by the GMs are getting destroyed. I missed Spring 1902's update in the other post, and I'm already confused. Even worse, when the players write their end-of-game summaries about what happened, readers won't have any record to refer...
I haven't mentioned my online archiving system, but it does exist. You can get to any file for any turn by going to:
www.raikoth.net/Game/rdiplo[$TURN-NAME][$SINGLE-LETTER-MARKING].[$FILE-EXTENSION]
where $TURN-NAME is the year plus the letter "s", "f", or "w" for spring, fall, or winter and $SINGLE-LETTER-MARKING is "m", "f", "t", or "p" for movement map, final map, text of orders, or posted headlines, and $FILE-EXTENSION is .jpg for the maps, .html for the order lists, and .txt for the posts. Note that the posted .txts are probably hard to read on some browsers.
For example, the movement map for fall 1901 would be at http://www.raikoth.net/Game/rdiplo1901fm.jpg
The other game of diplomacy is seeking another player for Italy, since the first person signed up appears to have dropped out. If you want to play, please respond in that thread to let others know that the slot is taken; please have your orders in Wednesday, 2200 GMT, to nojustnoperson@gmail.com.
Edit: We've got the last player- thanks Alexandros!
Ils ne passeront pas! With our backs to the wall, and believing in the justice of our cause, each man must fight to the last. You can always take one with you. Better the gun than the Hun!
Congratulations to Germany on a successful campaign, and I hope you don't begrudge me for using you as an example. But since this is supposed to be a form of rationality training, would anyone (player or otherwise) care to speculate on what bias might have prevented Germany from maximizing its gains this turn?
I'm thinking of a specific named bias, and unless the Kaiser is doing something very clever I can't understand, there was a move available to him that was better than the one he took (if he does have something very clever in mind, I certainly hope he'...
Death to the perfidious Saxons! Treaties have been broken, trusts betrayed. The international community will not stand for this outrage!
Incidentally, it's Andreassen, with an 'e'. :)
$20 to SIAI or Village Reach if a country other than Turkey or Austria drops out and lets me play.
Upon thought, I'd like to request the title Duke of Venice. This game is very ahistorical to begin with anyway, so I may as well choose titles for the hell of it.
Quick note: since the diplomacy map is actually ~1912 instead of ~1900, I'm going to place my Turkey after the Young Turk Revolution in 1908, and so I will play Grand Vizier Vanaturk, in charge of Parliament and speaking for the powerless Sultan Mehmed V.
Because, who wouldn't want to play secular liberals when they've got the chance?
The sun rises on the year 1901 AD. Since time immemorial, the European people have lived a nomadic life. Now, your people have vested absolute power in you, trusting you can build a civilization to stand the test of time!
Sorry I know this is wrong. But I simply had to up vote this for the Civilization reference :)
So, should we have a thread where we recount lessons and experiences? Should it be in Discussion or the main site? And should I post it, or should Jack?
It looks to me as though Turkey and Austria have a stalemate line running south of St Petersburg, which will keep England from the two centers it needs for victory. I don't think England can credibly commit to not taking those two centers if either of the eastern partners betrays the other. Consequently a DIAS or continued partnership is the optimal strategy for Austria and Turkey, and England cannot force a victory.
lyo retreats to spa
Note that the fleet in the Norwegian Sea did not participate in the attack on Norway because it was listed in the orders as A nwg instead of F nwg, and all players previously agreed I should be strict with mistakes.
Not that it matters but... when did this happen? You fixed mis-written orders in the past and I don't believe I ever agreed to anything.
In any case, the mis-communication was due to saboteurs loyal to King George.
Movement orders for the Fall 1911 turn are due 1800 GMT on Friday, 4/2/2011
Turkey and Austria... can we mak...
I don't have Turkey's build orders yet, so I am giving them a 24 hour grace period. If they don't have them in by the time I get home tomorrow, they waive the builds. Sorry for not being able to post the new turn tonight.
Because of the possibility of England and Turkey doing exactly that, I am asking them to email me their retreat orders instead of posting them publicly for the other to see.
That is impossible, as England cannot retreat to the province it was attacked from. Tun retreats to Ion.
Can we bump the deadline back to 1800 GMT? I get home at about 1650 GMT and would like to be able to go over things and send in my orders after that, rather than the night before.
(i.e. I plan to send them in late like last time but would feel better with a sanction :P )
...Turkish negotiations with the Western Alliance, in which the Ottomans would betray their Austrian allies in exchange for recognition of their dominance over Eastern Europe, proved an elaborate ruse as Turkey's plan to trick Austria itself proved a trick perpetrated on the English and Germans. But in fact, it appears the Westerners knew this all along, and in fact conned Turkey into thinking it was conning them into thinking it was conning Austria; the Germans did not even make the moves they told Turkey to support. It seemed the only on at all taken in by
England feels really bad about this :-/
Are there any games where I just get to be nice to everyone? Betrayal makes my tummy hurt.
Although a four-player draw is probably considered a failure by Diplomacy enthusiasts, I am surprised that nobody has yet initiated a discussion about this option.
forces moved an entire nine inches east ... further into Western territory
Looks like a contradiction.
Could we have longer turn deadlines for a while, after this one has been processed? Christmas and all that.
GERMANY may build TWO units, plus one more if it disbands A Venice instead of retreating
...except that I'd need three free home centers for that, and Munich is currently occupied?
I'm screwed anyway, and the idea of checking on my rival's moves is not appealing. Resigning.
The second map reports the actions of the previously turn, not the positions for the new turn as it usually does.
I received an order from Italy to support the German advance from Burgundy to Spain. Seeing as the Italians probably meant the German advance from Burgundy to Gascony and I wasn't able to contact Carinthium to confirm, I changed the order on my own initiative.
If you would like me to not do this sort of thing in the future, let me know.
I have noticed that the icons for armies on the map are not all identical, and the same hold for fleets. Does it have some reason?
Austria hereby declares that the move to Apulia was motivated by our desire to protect the rights of the Albanian and Greek minorities in the province. It certainly is not a hostile action against the Holy Roman Empire, even if our enemies will certainly try to interpret it as such. Austria expresses strong wish of maintaining peace with Germany, according to our Treaty of friendship and cooperation, which we signed before we have known about the German guarantees.
In the interests of mutual security, I propose a DMZ with Austria in the Adriatic, Ionian, and Tyrolia.
Is anyone else having trouble accessing the site? It seems to take an inordinately long time to load something from google, presumably the search bar. I also can't access my email at the moment.
F MAO retreats NAO.
Also, I won't consider Italy in breach of our treaty if his army retreats to PIE.
Early in the morn tomorrow, I go on vacation; inshallah, I will return on the 8th. I intend to check my email at least twice a day while on vacation, so I expect no slowdown in issuing orders, but I may be somewhat slower when it comes to returning emails.
The Turkish move to Serbia has caused upheaval in Austrian society. The Hungarian nobility is speaking about second battle of Mohács. In Prague a large public manifestation has expressed support to the throne of Habsburg; the crowd was lead by a fresh conscript Josef Švejk, who frenetically shouted "let's go to Belgrade!" and "long live the Kaiser". Gavrilo Princip was released from prison. The government in Vienna is now waiting for reaction of the international community in a desperate hope of defending the encircled monarchy.
Due to various information recieved from spies, we have reason to believe the security of Tunis is under threat. Therefore, Venice hereby is issuing a guarentee of the country's political security- anybody who invades will be at war with Italy.
Due to various information recieved from spies, we have reason to believe the security of Tunis is under threat. Therefore, Venice hereby is issuing a guarentee of the political security of Tunisia- anybody who invades will be at war with Italy.
There seems to be consensus that Germany's move to Munich was well founded, and I think I agree. But what of England's attempt on Brest? It seems to me that A WAL-PIC or A WAL-BEL would have been better moves, especially when you take into account that I had specifically assured England that I would defend Brest. Of course I might have been bluffing, but why take a chance when Belgium and Norway were practically guaranteed gains? Also note that having an army in Belgium is more useful than having a navy there, while having an army in Picardie threatens no less than two French centers and could not have been defended against.
The following treaty is announced to the whole world at the 1901 World Fair held in Vienna:
Both Austria and Germany declare that any third country attack onto either Vienna or Munich is considered an act of war against both signatories.
Such a war will be waged by both Austria and Germany together until the attacking armies leave the territories of these nations.
The treaty is valid indefinitely. Either Austria or Germany can withdraw from the contract, but they have to announce it one turn in advance.
The following has been agreed by Turkey and Austria-Hungary in the eyes of the international community:
Turkey and Austria will not take any action against each other during all of 1901, and both sides recognize that Serbia belongs to Austria and Bulgaria to Turkey. Turkey will not invade Greece and Austria will not invade Rumania, nor will they help any other country invade either Greece or Rumania.
Although I won't be doing a lot of role playing here, I think I would prefer to adopt the role of Prince Kropotkin - a real person with the fictitious office of diplomatic adviser to the Tsar. Since I have been giving Phil Goetz a difficult time about group selection, it seems only appropriate to honor the author of Mutual Aid in this way.
France and Italy have agreed that Piedmont (pie) shall be a demilitarised zone. Whoever breaks this agreement shall know much opprobrium from the international community!
(Italy to ratify before the agreement becomes valid.)
I'm very curious to see how this plays out. Keep me posted! I would prefer to be notified on thezvi at gmail.
I'm also available as an alternate, should another be necessary.
I confirm my presence.
Either use the LW private message, or email me to koroptew@seznam.cz . However I would prefer the mode of communication being decided before the game starts and then consistently used by all players.
I see it.
Less Wrong PM is preferred but isn't ideal for rapid back and forth. So my email/gchat, jack.noble AT gmail.com is acceptable also. Skype chat, if anyone else uses it, is Jcknbl and would be really convenient for me.
Thanks for doing this.
ETA: I'd like to remove this info once the game gets started, so players should store it elsewhere.
Post acknowledged. I prefer LessWrong PM, but if I am the only one in this category, I will provide an email address to the participants.
I have seen this post and am willing to participate. (Thanks for doing this, by the way!)
I prefer email at vaniver@gmail.com .
If you want to make it high-stakes, we could have the victory reward be a post on the main site by the victor, so the reward is ten times higher- ~20-100 karma points would only make a big difference for myself and Carinthium, but ~200-1000 karma would make a big difference for everyone playing. It should also contain a write-up so we're not diluting the value of the main site- but a karma point from 7 people plus spectators is on ...
For the good and wellbeing of the peoples of Scandinavia the leaders of Russia, Germany and England met this month, at a secret retreat on the Isle of Hlér to negotiate a regional peace agreement for all of Scandinavia. These three great powers agreed to the following.
1. Domains
1a. Sweden and St. Petersburg are hereby the domain of Russia.
1b. Denmark is hereby the domain of Germany.
1c. Norway is hereby the domain of England.
2. Demilitarization
2a. No armies are permitted in Sweden, Norway, Finland or St. Petersburg
2ai. Exceptions: Russia may build armies in...
If any new players need help with evaluating first turn (or later moves), feel free to PM or email me, my confidentiality assured.
For those playing to win (and you should be playing to win), I recommend looking at the common openings, especially for your country. http://www.diplom.org/Online/Openings/
Oh well, I was kinda expecting this. Not that I really could have done anything about it.
From this moment onwards, it will be Germany's main priority to do everything it can to take England down with it. We do not expect to survive, but at least we can make an attempt to ensure that betraying us will be as unprofitable as possible.
And so it came to pass that on Christmas Day 1911, the three Great Powers of Europe signed a treaty to divide the continent between them peacefully, ending what future historians would call the Great War.
The sun truly never sets on King Jack's British Empire, which stretches from Spain to Stockholm, from Casablanca to Copenhagen, from the fringes of the Sahara to the coast of the Arctic Ocean. They rule fourteen major world capitals, and innumerable smaller towns and cities, the greatest power of the age and the unquestioned master of Western Europe.
From the steppes of Siberia to the minarets of Istanbul, the Ottoman Empire is no longer the Sick Man of Europe but stands healthy and renewed, a colossus every bit the equal of the Christian powers to its west. Its Sultan calls himself the Caliph, for the entire Islamic world basks in his glory, and his Grand Vizier has been rewarded with a reputation as one of the most brilliant and devious politicians of the age. At his feet grovel representatives of twelve great cities, and even far-flung Tunis has not escaped his sway.
And in between, the Austro-Hungarian Empire straddles the Alps and ancient Italy. Its lack of natural borders presented no difficulty for its wily Emperor, who successfully staved off the surrounding powers and played his enemies off against one another while building alliances that stood the test of time. Eight great cities pay homage to his double-crown, and he is what his predecessors could only dream of being - a true Holy Roman Emperor.
And hidden beneath the tricolor map every student learns in grammar school are echoes of subtler hues. In Germany, people still talk of the mighty Kajser Sotala I, who conquered the ancient French enemy and extended German rule all the way to the Mediterranean, and they still seeth and curse at his dastardly betrayal by his English friends. In Russia, Princess Anastasia claims to be the daughter of Czar Perplexed, and recounts to everyone who will listen the story of her stoic father, who remained brave until the very end; at her side travels a strange bearded man who many say looks like Rasputin, the Czar's long-missing adviser. The French remember President Andreassen, who held off the combined armies of England and Germany for half a decade, and many still go on pilgrimage to Liverpool, the site of their last great victory. And in Italy, Duke Carinthium has gone down in history beside Tiberius and Cesare Borgia as one of their land's most colorful and fascinating leaders.
And the priests say that the same moment the peace treaty was signed, the blood changed back to water, and the famines ended, and rain fell in the lands parched by drought. Charles Taze Russell, who had been locked in his room awaiting the Apocalypse, suddenly ran forth into the midwinter sun, shouting "Our doom has been lifted! God has granted us a second chance!" And the mysterious rectangular wall of force separating Europe from the rest of the world blinked out of existence.
Pope Franz I, the new Austrian-supported Pontiff in Rome, declares a month of thanksgiving and celebration. For, he says, God has tested the Europeans for their warlike ways, isolating them from the rest of the earth lest their sprawling empires plunge the entire planet into a world war that might kill millions. Now, the nobility of Europe finally realizing the value of peace, the curse has been lifted, and the empires of Europe can once more interact upon the world stage.
Chastened by their brush with doom, yet humbled by the lesson they had been given, the powers of Europe send missionaries through the dimensional portal, to convince other worlds to abandon their warlike ways and seek universal brotherhood. And so history ends, with three great powers living together side by side and striving together for a better future and a positive singularity.
...
On to the more practical parts. If you think you've learned lessons this game worth telling the rest of Less Wrong, you should send them to either myself or Jack. I say either myself or Jack because Jack had the most supply centers and therefore deserves some karma which he could most easily get by posting the thread which the other two winners then comment on, or if you insist that three way tie means three way tie, I'll post the thread and the three winners can all comment and get up-voted. We'll talk about it in the comments.
Thanks to everyone who played in this game. I was very impressed - it's one of the rare games I have moderated that hasn't been ruined by people constantly forgetting to send orders, or people ragequitting when things don't go their way, or people being totally incompetent and throwing the game to the first person to declare war on them, or any of the other ways a Diplomacy game can go wrong. Everyone fought hard and well and honorably (for definitions of honor compatible with playing Diplomacy). It was a pleasure to serve as your General Secretary.