| Diplomacy Index | G.A.M.E. Index | email me |
| Issue 3 | September 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Diplomacy Index | G.A.M.E. Index | email me |
| Issue 3 | September 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Welcome to issue three of The Gentle Art of Making Enemies. This issue sees the introduction of some non Diplomacy games.
This has been a rushed issue because for most of the month I have been
very busy: still I have managed to include some reviews of boardgames, another free game, and fill up 18 pages! My only regret was not having the time to write
a review of my experiences at the Reading (Music) Festival.
The contents for this issue are:
Once more into the mental block.... Actually this is the first time that I have done the editorial after the rest of the zine has been completed. This last month has been extremely busy, so much so, that I had not started the zine a week before the deadline date. Now I know some zine editors do not start until after the deadline has fallen (which is why their turnarounds are weeks instead of days), but my aim is to have most of the zine completed so that I can limit the turnaround to a few days. Issue 2 had an exceptionally fast turnaround - in case you had not noticed. The deadline fell at 3pm on the Friday, and by 8pm the same day I had completed, printed, and photocopied it ready to be posted out, with most people's copy in the post by Saturday morning. A more normal situation will be to get it into the printers on Monday, and into the post on Tuesday morning. The printing tends to take about fifteen minutes, but I need to do around 60 copies to qualify, so I really need some more subscribers. If you know of anyone, then pass on the good word.
Those who may remember as far back as last issue will remember that I was looking for a car with some urgency. The reason was that I was aiming to drive down to the Reading Festival that takes place over August Bank Holiday weekend, and to accomplish this feat you really do need a motor vehicle of some form. The big question was do I go for new or second hand? At the time I was looking for a second hand car of about three or four years of age, but thought and discussions with people changed this to I may as well go for new. Why? Well I only passed my driving test a couple of months ago (the week prior to the new test coming in), and most insurance companies tend to quote you somewhere between 600- 800 for fully comprehensive if you have been driving for less than one year, irrespective of age. Many new cars include 1 years free insurance with 60% no claims bonus at the end, and so taking the insurance element into count reduced the price differences. So most of the first couple of weeks in August were spent going round showrooms and having test drives. There were two cars I really liked the Vauxhall Corsa and the Nissan Micra. The first is the car that I learnt to drive in, and many people opt for the same car they learnt to drive in, and the latter one is very nice. One showroom in Leeds offers discounts to new drivers (they have links with the Association of Driving Instructors), and offered to knock off 750 off of the price of the Micra Vibe. This was wonderful, but I still had to go around and see other cars. On the Sunday I went to another Nissan dealer, and through years of practice of playing Diplomacy, and the fact it was a quiet day, I managed to get an 800 discount and finance at under 7%. So I am now the owner of a new 'P' reg. car. I was going to do the joke about 'P155 OFF', but it seems that Neil Duncan bet me too it. A pity really as I had altered a promotional picture of my car to read the new number plate, and intended to present it to you in bliss ignorance.
Next I shall concentrate on some zine news to fill up the rest of this page. I am only on issue 3 and yet its the second time I almost had an NMR. If I get an NMR in the first couple of game years I will try to get in contact with the person during deadline weekend, but if I can't get through then the NMR stands - so watch those deadlines.
As well as the games of Diplomacy on offer you will also see two other games: Breaking Away and By Almost Popular Demand. BA is a cycling game for six people, for which the list is now open (the rules are on page 6). This will probably be one of the few non Diplomacy games GM'd by me; although I very interested in other games, I do not think I would have the time to GM them.
By Almost Popular Demand is an all reader game open to everyone, so read the rules and send me in your answers. This change should mean the game is not dominated by the same BPD guru's as in other zines, or at the very least it means a change.
You will notice that there are two deadlines on the cover. The main deadline is for my stuff and is standard (the best way to remember it is the Friday closest to the 1st of the month), the second is for outside GM's - at present this is just for Intimate Diplomacy, which is a week earlier so that I can maintain the quick turnarounds.
Well here ends another editorial.
Cheers
Nic Chilton
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Wayne Read, Ongar.
As you can see I've thrown myself into playing Turkey for Bletchely Gamestart, in fact I am so keen that I've included my orders for Spring 1901. Anyway as well as my orders I've also included a map that I've been working on a while. You are very welcome to use it if you wish, I know it's not the right sort of map to show adjudication's and its too big, but it might be useful for an article or something. So do what you will, I promise I wont be offended if you don't use it.
NC: If I have space I will include it. I may send it out with gamestarts instead (Maybe I should wait until I have finished the zine and answer this then, but that's not how it works - or should I say how I work. I sometimes have completed the editorial well before the zines finished - something I gather others do not do?).
Pete Duxon, Harlow
As you so want a letter on houserules.... Actually I agree with Stretchy & Dave Horton - nothing wrong with F(StP)-Nwy (if the fleet is n.c.) or in fact F(Nwy)-StP. The move only has one meaning, this came up at the London Con last year and was accepted (correctly).
NC: I have no qualms with this (see Issue 2).
Dave is right over convoys. If England were to order
F(NTH) C A(Edi)-Nwy
F(NWG) C A(Edi)-Nwy
A(Edi)-Nwy
then only 1 of the convoying fleets has to be dislodged. I think this is in Richard's book.
NC: Yes, but Richard's book is old, and there have been rule changes since then.
You're right about every zine having different rules but if you write out the order in full they'll be accepted by everyone i.e. specify nationality, coast unit, etc. Watch Duxon cock it up now!! I've always assumed the unwanted convoy was like the unwanted support i.e. just tough.
NC: This convoy scenario is covered in the rules because of the Army's ambiguous order (which ever version of the rules), and so if you specify the full path then the convoy succeeds (providing you have gone via the correct route!). I don't think all zines would agree and just enter the default route, even if then the convoy fails due to one dislodgement. As a strange sideline Steward Cross' adjudication program counts multiple convoys as misorders! So if you know of zines using it - beware!
Sorry about all this rules stuff, oh hang on you don't care if it fills up the letters column etc. I wouldn't worry about the TIM comparisons, content is what's important. I'll be worried when I see you print an article on Diplomacy, Catholicism, and politics!!
NC: I don't worry about the TIM comparisons, I just like to rant and rave, and so write "disgusted" letters to the zine editors concerned. Some people think I write far too serious letters to zines. As to the article, well I could but I just fall down on being a Tory! How about one on "using Satanism to improve your position in a game" or "selling your soul for a win"? Bang goes half of the Springboard readership.
ManorCon? Yeah well the Austrian really impressed me as well, do you reckon we could hire him to do lectures on the Gentle Art of Making Enemies?
NC: In the team Dip game he went out a lot earlier, and I think that the scratch team did quite well considering.
Oh yeah loved the Dolchstross typo!!
NC: It was out of frustration of my laser printer not accepting the Beta character - my bubble jet does, but the laser doesn't! It was just by lack of mischievous that it wasn't Dolchdross, but I do not think Richard Sharp would have seen the funny side! Do you know there is a Richard Sharpe who writes for a US zine? Speaking of which...
Richard Sharp, Amersham.
The Boardman number for 'Abwehr' is 96-DG. The game rating is exactly 1110, assuming that 'Richard Scolefield' is a typing error for 'Scholefield' and that all the others are the players who previously played under those names!
NC: It was a typo - I was just giving the zine a bit of character, instead of all this clinical box disinfected style you see. I have a virus in my spell checker (it got it when I left my computer in a damp blanket after transferring it between houses in the rain!), which deliberately misspells words when I am not looking.
In your comment on 'House Rules' you say 'all zines I have seen that play Diplomacy allow placed draws'. Um. Well, I have seen every zine that's ever run Diplomacy in the UK, and I have never seen one that allowed such monsters! If some uninformed GM did so, I as the present statician and all my predecessors would ignore it and report the game as a normal draw, but I can't recall it happening. I can assure you that the 2000-odd results that have appeared in TFT since 1972 don't include any, and I have never heard of the idea until Stephen Agar mentioned it. I dismissed it as just another Spring Offensive lunacy, but it seems to be catching (like voting Labour).
NC: Stephen actually proposed moving to DIAS, which is what you say all games use. I could list the standard games that have ended with an ordered draw (such as 94BT COCHISE I/F 1st, R 3rd.), and the zines where they are used (such as ALOS, TCP, SO, & TIM), but I guess you just classify them as draws. If you think that they still don't exist have a look at the GEP's in these zines.
John Harrington (on Breaking Away)
As inventor of this game I suppose you could call these the official postal rules, but if you want to make slight changes, that's fine by me. I play a turn one overcrowding rule, which basically means that on turn 1 only, any cyclist on a square occupied by 3 or more other cyclists replenishes with a 3. Furthermore, the cyclists behind the overcrowded square treat it as if it were empty - i.e. it breaks the slipstream. The idea is to discourage people from hanging back on square 1 on the first turn.
You might also want to mention that version II of the board game will be available "real soon now", price at about 19 plus p&p. For further details write to me at 30 Poynter Road, Bush Hill Park, Enfield, Middlesex, EN1 1DL.
NC: I think I will use the rule, and your advert has been so mentioned. I have also put it on my GAME home page, so you may get some email responses. The web version of this zine is subtitled "the only corner stapled e-dipzine" since each issue is now corner stapled (not easy to do with electrons!!).
Richard Scholefield, Bletchley.
Love the idea of Code Breaking & B.P. its only 500 yards up the road from me here. I'll write an article for you when my printer is back from the menders. Did you know 12,000 people worked in B.P. and Churchill had a room/flat in the complex. By the way Bletchley can be spelt many ways
NC: I have been fascinated by encryption for years, and one of my final year courses in my degree was Cryptography. An article would be most welcome as my knowledge is limited. If you could supply text on a computer disk, it would save retyping. Many place names and surnames have different spellings, often due to peoples accents and dating to when the majority couldn't write. People studying their family history sometimes find that their surnames should be completely different as some event in the past their name was put on a marriage/birth certificate incorrectly.
Martin Burroughs, Oldham.
Can I sub to GAME please? I have no interest in playing Diplomacy by the way (are you going to run any proper games?), I'm here because the free games sound interesting! John Harrington is right about too many games incidentally, ask Frank Blades.
NC: I am running Breaking Away and some all reader stuff. 'Proper games' will eventually creep into the zine, but I mainly aim to do Diplomacy. If I can get a couple of computer literate, reliable GM's who want to do some non Dip stuff, then fine.
Haven't tried the game yet, but it seems nicely put together. As is the zine. Have you considered going A3, like a 'proper' magazine? Solves the staple problem and looks far better, indeed Lies, probably the best designed zine in the hobby uses this approach.
Oh, and the games you played at Stabcon were "Road to the White House" and "Its Show Time". The former has just been re-released incidentally.
NC: If I went A3, I would have to start charging "proper zine" prices, since printing on A3 is more expensive. I have thought about converting to the Muslim method of Stapling and putting them down the right hand side, but between you and me, I think it would be far too baffling for some people.
Mark Stretch, Kidlington.
If I didn't know better, I'd swear you were doing this on purpose to avoid me reviewing an up to date issue.
NC: What, do you mean the way I send out my zines a week or so after your deadline, but before you have sent out your zine? It's this Ami Pro word processor - you have to have a short turnaround otherwise the text evaporates off of the hard disk!
Houserules. Rule 3: Of course it'll be abused. These are dip players we are talking about.
NC: Oh, I don't know. In email diplomacy most Gunboat games you can send press to individuals (the equivalent in postal play would be for players to send me letters to other powers with the country and game marked on the cover - I would then just redirect it to the correct person) and it works. People said it wouldn't because players would just reveal who they were - but they don't!
Disbands - under your rules, all units not in sc's are disbanded first. Hence, any unit in a centre will be supported by that centre, and will never have to be disbanded in a winter.
NC: True. If you think about it, in an anarchic system the units would look after themselves, thus one in a supply centre would not just give up its supply. I always thought that disbanding units due to their relative distance from 'home' seemed silly, since it meant supply centres would be vacated without a struggle. If the units of a power in anarchy supported each other then disbanding due to their distance would be okay.
What is an ordered draw, other than a contradiction in terms? I have never seen one in the dip hobby, certainly, so what are you on about?
NC: Well, I have not been in this hobby long enough to see many actually end that way, but I have seen a fair few Game End Proposals that fit the bill, which is almost as good
Any GM (FTF or postal) who mis-orders F(Nwy)-StP say would be shot - ask Shaun Derrick for a similar ruling at Eurodipcon. It is not ambiguous, so it is not a misorder. Where do you get your dip rules from? I concur with Dave about convoys.
NC: Our, errr...., differences over convoys are because of the ambiguity in the army's order (e.g. A(Edi)-Nwy), so if you state the full path then this rule does not come into effect, so long as GM's accept A(Edi)-NWG-Nwy does not mean A(Edi)-NWG (misorder).
Mark Sherratt, Romford.
Sorry about the paper, it's all I could find at work. Just a quick note to say how much I enjoyed G.A.M.E. 2. I'm glad you are down to once a month - it's nice getting post that's not a bill. Keep up the free games - "The Way" was a bit of fun, even the wife played it so it must be good.
NC: I was not happy with bimonthly, and monthly chatty zines seems far better an idea. I like getting letters too, especially in deadline week when I get five or six a day. As far as games go, I have about half a dozen including a couple of big ones (The rules for one game is 20 pages in length!), and after that there are other games that use standard equipment, such as playing cards or counters, which I will do.
Neil Duncan, Hants-in-his-pants.
Thanks for the latest G.A.M.E. which seems to be showing great promise. Now that you are switching to monthly production and since you have an honest face, (piercing aside) perhaps you would care to trade? I have taken my 1.80 outstanding subs to GAME from your TCP subs and enclosed a cheque for the balance, (assuming I remember). If you have no wish to trade I'm sure we can sort out re-subs asap.
NC: So, when I was bimonthly with a games-only zine in between (90p+40p-ish) you preferred us to sub to each others zine. Now that it is 90p a month, you don't mind a trade with TCP(80p). Hmm, okay. It is strange how all these stereotype descriptions of zine editors just prove themselves.
You should also find a copy of a little DIY game which is produced by my brother and me. (NC: Strangle, looks like another arrow style game to me.) I shrieked when TRAX reared it's head in the hobby some months back and when you included THE WAY with GAME#2, I nearly gnawed my own leg off. My brother originally developed ARROWS in 1983, but a couple of years later I got involved and together we produced the simple product I have enclosed. Several dozen copies have been given to family, friends and hobby folk, but for some reason we never tried to get it in a sellable state. (Stupid I guess). Anyway, have a go sometime and let me know what you think.
NC: You may not be aware, but there are many games that have an arrows or lines on tiles basis. Most never really come out from obscurity, because they do not have anything different from those that already exist. TRAX has the 'forced move' strategy element that means you have to think a few turns in the future, that makes it different.
Oh no Nic, I would never, ever ask anyone about piercing, but I just like to know whether myself or another party will need to wear bags on our heads in order to be comfortable when we interact. You might consider my attitude strange, but that's fair enough. If I took to wearing a dog-turd on my head, you might at least like to be aware of this fact, so you could decide what sort of stance you wished to take.
NC: What I find strange is comparing body piercing to the wearing of a dog-turd! Body piercing is an art form, and indulged by the Victorians. I am uncomfortable around people with a Joe-90 fascination (its the spec.'s you see).
Anyway, I think I was way ahead in the body piercing fashion (NC: you're not that old, are you?) since when I was 8, I wore a garden fork right through my right foot. I had to remove it when the blood filled up my welly and I think the teachers were concerned that it might start some kind of fad at school.
NC: Ah, you see that is what you get for doing it yourself - you should have gone to a professional piercer.
Later on, in my adult life, I briefly wore a Viking axe in my left elbow, which again I was forced to remove, partly because I was bleeding all over one of London Transport's underground train's and partly because it was difficult to function with a broken arm.
NC: After one failed DIY attempt you tried it again!!
Thus far, my face has escaped serious mutilation, (note set up line for smart-arse one line retort) probably because my infamous specs have done such a marvellous job in absorbing the blows of many sharp (and blunt) instruments which have headed my way over the years. Whilst spanking new specs afford some protection, it is a little known fact that a couple of layers of sellotape can withstand the blast of a 20 megaton thermonuclear device.
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Its time to introduce an All Reader game into the zine that everyone can play. I initially was going to use Sea of Despair, but instead have decided on a variation to BPD (I read about this variation somewhere - but have forgotten where!)
The game will last ten turns, each turn I will give you a character and six categories. You then submit an item for each category beginning with the given letter.
You then gain one point for everybody else who picks the same item as you in the various categories. All easy enough, but the big difference (and experienced BPD players should take note) is that all those that pick the most popular item in a category score zero.
Example: The Letter P and category 'Cartoon Character' produces 15 answers of Popeye; 8 answers of Pluto; 4 answers of Pinocchio; and 1 each of Pocahontas and Paddington. The points allocated are 8pnts for Pluto; 4pnts for Pinocchio; 1pnt for Pcoahontas or Paddington; and Zero points for Popeye.
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Avalon Hill Game Company in 1978, Rod Walker has this to say about the convoy:
"The convoy is the most powerful move in DIPLOMACY. Even the threat of it is likely to send an enemy into fits. Depending on circumstances the convoyed attack's power is derived from one or more of four factors:
He then goes on to describe each of these four factors in greater.
However, in his review of "The Gamer's Guide to Diplomacy" in his magazine "Diplomacy Digest" (issue 15/16, 1980), Mark Berch has this to say about Rod's view of the convoy:
"Unfortunately, Rod's bias has gotten the better of him again. As he considers it 'the most powerful move in Diplomacy', he certainly isn't going to tell you any of the drawbacks, is he? He won't, but I will:
I happen to agree with Mark Berch: The convoy is not as powerful as it would seem. However, let us look at some examples of the convoy first:
England A Edi - Nwy F Nwg C A Edi - Nwy
This, of course, is the use of a convoy to move an army from one land area to another via the seas. The convoy is vital to both England (who cannot truly invade the continent without it) and Italy (who cannot obtain Tun without either a convoy or the garrisoning of a fleet there).
France A Mar - Smy F Lyo C A Mar - Smy
F Tyr C A Mar - Smy F Ion C A Mar - Smy
France is at war with Russia, and has occupied Turkey. This is an example of using the convoy to move newly-built armies to the front. If the army moved overland (via Italy and Austria), this move would take 3-4 years (or more if actively opposed), as opposed to a single season with the convoy.
France A Spa - Bre F Mid C A Spa - Bre
Germany F Eng - Mid A Bur - Pic
In this example, Germany has tried to cover both bases. If French F Mid moves to Bre (the obvious move), then German F Eng takes Mid (and supports A Pic into Bre the next season). If French F Mid holds to keep German F Eng in place, then Ger A Bur - Pic means that Bre will more than likely fall the next season. But, by using the convoy, an army is placed into Bre that otherwise would have to have been built there, and the German moves fail to operate as planned.
As I see it, these are the only 3 situations where the use of a convoy is vital:
However, there are other situations where a convoy can be useful:
a) The "Accidental" Convoy - used when your fleets are in just the right position for a convoy where one was not originally planned. If the enemy does not notice, great surprise can be achieved.
b) The "Keep-Em-Guessing" Convoy - used simply as a lark to keep the enemy (and possibly your allies, as well) from guessing your true intentions. If done often enough, opponents may come to expect a convoy, and you may be able to get around their defences. However, overuse of this can cause you more trouble than you cause others.
ROD VS. MARK
Both Rod Walker and Mark Berch make some interesting comments about the convoy. Let's take Rod's views first:
Now, let's look at Mark Berch's views:
Too many people attempt to use a convoy at the wrong time for the wrong reason. There are several "never's" that should be kept in mind when you are attempting to convoy:
Avoiding these things can help in making a convoy succeed. Alternatively (for the defence), keep an eye out for any possible convoy by the enemy, especially if there are one or more of the following:
A multinational convoy is always possible in a game, especially where one of the nations convoying is an "ally" setting you up for a stab. There is little one can do about this except for keeping your eye open to treachery.
I hope that this article helps you to accurately weigh the pros and cons of convoying, and hopefully you'll never again fall prey to the "surprise" convoy!
Convoys, without the element of surprise, have usually been tactical flops. Everybody knew D-Day was coming, the Germans most of all. And yet, because of the weather, Eisenhower achieved tactical surprise; and the rest was history.
The famous PQ convoys to Murmansk during World War II were tactical disasters; and yet their strategic importance was unmeasureable. Some historians say that one convoy, even though it lost half its ships, kept Russia in the war; and the rest was history.
I remember, during the fall of 1962, watching the Marines move from Camp Pendleton to the Amphibious Base in Coronado and the Naval Station in San Diego, as they prepared to board their transports; and become a part of the American invasion fleet headed for Cuba. Who would have thought then that twenty-seven years later that same Marine division would be staging a landing demonstration for Soviet Defence Minister Dimitri Yazov? Fortunately, the rest wasn't history.
For a picture of what the significance of convoys in World War III might be like, I suggest you read RED STORM RISING by Tom Clancy. The tactical success of convoys in support of Iceland and Norway, or the strategic importance of the convoys to supply NATO forces in Europe, will match the significance of any of the World War I or II convoys. And that will be history.
Many of these lessons from history apply to Diplomacy as well. Tactical surprise is a key ingredient in any successful convoy; otherwise they are too easily blocked. But a convoy for the sake of convoying, is worthless. The successful convoy must have a larger strategic purpose. The mere threat of a convoy, or the potential to carry one out, may be enough to bring matters to a successful end.
Some convoys are almost SOP in a Diplomacy game: The Italians into Tunis, the British into Norway, or Belgium; etc., but creative convoys have fallen by the wayside. We still see an occasional French convoy into England, or a German end-run into Livonia to break a stalemate with the Russians; or somebody trying to sneak into Greece across the Ionian or Aegean. We may even see, rarely, a real attempt at a long-range convoy designed to upset the strategic balance of power in a major way. England into St. Petersburg, the Italians into Spain, the French into Tuscany, etc. It is ironic, I suppose, that today the only Powers that really appreciate convoys are those that are not historically noted as great naval powers. Britain had to press into service commercial ships, including the QE II, for service in the Falklands. The US Navy's escort fleet is a joke. But the Russians learned, in a little known operation on the Sea of Azov, the possibilities of a convoy. And a Russian never forgets.
That is something we shouldn't forget.
Eric Klien.
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This is a new section to the zine featuring reviews of some of the better board games around the world. The reviews are taken from The Games Cabinet. Some of the games you may have played.
Published by Hans im Gluck. Designed by Kramer & Ulrich. Reviewed by Mike Siggins
38 2-5 Players about 60-90 minutes
With the odd notable exception, I have never been too impressed with Wolfgang Kramer's output. Considering he has designed hundreds of games, and is accordingly feted as a top name in Germany, it seems I have never really seen the appeal. Anyway, this hopefully goes some way towards explaining my surprise after playing El Grande at Essen, when I was told afterwards that it was a Kramer game. It certainly doesn't feel like one, and I am left to wonder just how big a contribution came from Herr Ulrich. All this however is largely irrelevant because El Grande is a fine game. Original, quick, entertaining and with plenty of tactical options. I think you are going to like everything about it except the price and the cards.
The game is played on a map of medieval Spain, which is divided into nine regions. Each of these regions has a different victory point value, in most cases with awards for first, second and third place. Each player aims to place his markers (caballeros) into these regions and be in the majority when, at varying times throughout the game, the areas are scored. Your points are recorded on a cumulative track around the board and the furthest round at the end of six rounds, or nine for a longer game, wins. In theme, I think we are looking at baronial factions or similar, headed by a grandee, struggling for power while not actually offending the king in the process.
Play takes the form of a series of short and punchy rounds, helping playlength no end, taken in strict player order. The round is opened with the play of number cards which determine who will move first in the round. This is significant, for reasons to be explained in just a moment. Each player, in order, then takes one of the available action cards from the five piles, having already assessed their relevance to his plan. These cards vary from marginally useful to extremely powerful, and some are likely to score you lots of points. This is exactly why turn order is important, as you want to grab the good ones and thus play a high value number card.
The action cards are the heart of the game. As there are 45 of these, all different, all I can really do is to explain broadly what they achieve. The card that is always available each turn (until used once) is the one that moves the king. Always a powerful option, it redeploys the king anywhere on the map. Another set of cards, and the most numerous, are also to do with movement. They allow a specified number of caballeros to be switched around, on or off the map, hopefully altering the balance of power in your favour. Another two cards give you a veto of one opponent's action, one gives you the chance to clear your opponents' castles of troops (painful, this), and another the chance to retrieve used number cards from the discard pile. A common type will allow you to score a region of your choice, and another will move extra reinforcements around from or to the provinces. And all of the cards, as you've already guessed, are in German. For my sins, I have been translating these on the fly and as long as you know the word for 'choice' then Rusty O Level will suffice, principally because each card has a graphic that helps a lot. Otherwise, you'll have to get some sticky labels prepared.
Each player has the same number of caballeros overall but they will not always be exactly where you want them. This is because, being a baronial sort, you have to balance your forces between your provinces, your castle, and the map - contesting control politically, or perhaps on campaign. This sounds boring and unimportant, but is in fact one of the neatest mechanisms in the game. Each number card played at the start of the round enables you to call caballeros in from the provinces to your castle (the better the card, the less troops you get, forcing a balanced strategy), and only from there can you deploy onto the map. The action cards each have a deployment rating that when taken enables you to place from one to five caballeros, and again the power of the card is, broadly speaking, inversely related to the numbers of troops you can move.
Importantly, the king card allows you to deploy five caballeros and it is also his highness who determines where your troops can be laid. The general rule, not often overridden, is that troops can only be placed in regions adjacent to the king's present location. The region in which the king actually sits is verboten, as he freezes both deployment and movement from that area - he is seen as bringing stability, albeit temporarily. This is useful in many ways, especially if the king is in residence in an area you control when it comes to awarding points. Not only does he stop your rivals moving in to top you, he also adds bonus points to your score if you win the majority. This attribute is also enjoyed by your big cube, designating your home base, but which has no other use that we have yet identified.
A typical turn then will see you weighing up whether to recruit heavily from the provinces or try for a high turn order (this will depend on the action cards and your overall troop position), then taking the most useful card for your purposes, and either using the card and then deploying, or vice versa. The latter sequencing can be important, especially when moving the king as you can lay troops and then 'lock' them in with the king, knowing he probably won't move again that turn. As play ticks towards the third, sixth and ninth turns you will be trying to maximise your holdings, by deploying caballeros, in readiness for the scoring rounds.
Scoring is all important. Each region is checked in turn and the majority player in each will score the highest points. Most regions also offer much reduced scores for second and third place, but not all. Ties are resolved quite painfully, with both parties dropping a place before scores are assigned - so if a region is worth 7,4,2, two players with six armies would score 4 each. In addition, two of the action cards change the values of a region, either up or down which can cause tears if it wrecks a long term plan.
As well as scoring all the regions every three turns, there are also a number of action cards that allow for an instant score of a region. Sometimes this will be your choice, at others it will be all those worth 5, or those with the most caballeros present. Obviously if you choose the card it should benefit you, but sometimes you get a free ride on someone else's play. And in our limited experience, it is these one off scoring opportunities that can make all the difference come game end, since they are usually unique to you, whereas the mass scoring rounds tend to balance out.
One interesting side-show is the tower. This represents a crusade or similar and players are allowed to deploy caballeros inside at any time - equivalent to sending them overseas. These build up, gradually and secretly (yes, you can try to remember who has put what in), until scoring is resolved. The tower is not only a region in its own right with its own points available, but also allows any troops inside to be redeployed onto the map, and they can score again as they 'return home'. The net effect of this, as they can arrive absolutely anywhere, is that of medieval paratroops and should not be ignored as a very useful strategy.
And that's it really - a rapid cycle of short but influential turns that builds steadily through intermittent scoring and deployment to an exciting, and often very close, finale. By the last game we played, we had started to optimise every single play, as each point is vital, and we were rewarded with a draw for first (there seems to be no tie breaker in the German rules) and the other three players no more than five points behind. Incredible. In play, you have to make the best of the action cards available and always keep a workable balance of troops in reserve and on map. Beyond that, it is all down to placement and deciding which areas to contest, and how hard. As I said in the Essen report, the placing play is very reminiscent of Hexagames' Vendetta but wipes the floor with that game as far as options and tactics are concerned. Yes, I liked it.
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Game by Reiner Knizia. Review by Bob Rossney.
Modern Art is an art-auction game. It is for 3 to 5 players, and takes about an hour to play. This is a truly great game, and in the wake of Res Publica and Quo Vadis it firmly establishes Knizia as one of the best boardgame designers currently practising.
The game revolves around a deck of cards, each of which represents a painting by each of five artists. Each turn, a player lays a card from his hand face up and it is auctioned off. Essentially, he can either sell it to the other players or buy it himself, paying the bank for the card.
As soon as the fifth card by one artist is laid down, the round ends (the fifth card is discarded) and paintings are valued; the artist who has sold the most is worth 30,000, with the second- and third-place artists' paintings being worth 20,000 and 10,000. There are four rounds in the game, and the values of an artist's painting accumulates from round to round, although in any given round only the three artists whose paintings placed in the top three are of any value.
The other dimension in the game is that each card has a symbol on it that determines which of four different kinds of auction are to be used in selling it. There are open auctions, secret bids, single-bid auctions, and fixed price auctions (the seller names a price, and if nobody else will buy the painting he must buy it himself). There is a fifth type of card, (the "=" card) whose effect is difficult to describe and whose impact is considerable.
The game continually confronts the player with difficult choices. You make more money by selling paintings than by buying them (and selling them at the end of the round). However, if you can buy a painting at a low enough price, you can make more money off of the painting than the person who's selling it. If you sell a painting to another player, then that player has an incentive to sell more paintings by that artist, which will drive up the price of the artist's paintings.
Any transaction can be evaluated as a zero sum situation between the buyer and the seller -- one of them is going to come out ahead -- but the transaction's real impact is on the uninvolved players. Even if only three people are playing, it is often worthwhile to make a deal that isn't directly to your advantage that improves your position relative to the third player.
This would be a great game to play for money.
In addition to being a great game, this is a beautiful one. Each of the 70 oversized cards has an original painting on it. Each of the artists has a distinctive style (even if two of them are clearly just Photoshop effects).
I recommend this game very highly.
Here are the two Diplomacy games running in the zine:
Abwehr (Autumn 1901), and Bletchley (Spring 1901).
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