16 or so games is not a good statistical sample.  This excellent variant of Baron's hasn't been around long enough to get a good feel for country strength.  25-30 trials is  a fairly well recognized minimum statistical sample.  I'm sure England will do better by then.
 
I'm also curious as to 2 other things.  (1) Has the skill level of the various players been about the same in all trials or have some of the players been much more experienced in Dip variants than others?  (2) Has the same player played the same country more than once?
 
 
 
 


--- On Sun, 6/7/09, jeffrey kase <jeffreykase(at)yahoo.com ([email]jeffreykase(at)yahoo.com[/email])> wrote:

[quote:769f808071]
From: jeffrey kase <jeffreykase(at)yahoo.com ([email]jeffreykase(at)yahoo.com[/email])>
Subject: Re: A&E 090205 / DC240: Game Over - Congratulation to Frank Martin, our British winner
To: "Nathan Albright" <nathanbalbright(at)yahoo.com ([email]nathanbalbright(at)yahoo.com[/email])>, "David Gould" <davidchegould(at)bigpond.com ([email]davidchegould(at)bigpond.com[/email])>, "David Gould2" <David.Gould(at)aph.gov.au ([email]David.Gould(at)aph.gov.au[/email])>, "Matt Kelly" <kelly058(at)verizon.net ([email]kelly058(at)verizon.net[/email])>, "Frank Martin" <frankmartin(at)surewest.net ([email]frankmartin(at)surewest.net[/email])>, "Mike Norton" <mjn82(at)yahoo.com ([email]mjn82(at)yahoo.com[/email])>, "Jorge Saralegui" <jmsaralegui(at)gmail.com ([email]jmsaralegui(at)gmail.com[/email])>, "Robert Stein" <smileyrob68(at)gmail.com ([email]smileyrob68(at)gmail.com[/email])>, "Mark Utterback" <MDemagogue(at)gmail.com ([email]MDemagogue(at)gmail.com[/email])>, "Isaac Zinner" <isaac.zinner(at)gmail.com ([email]isaac.zinner(at)gmail.com[/email])>, "Nick Higgins" <congressofvienna1814(at)yahoo.com ([email]congressofvienna1814(at)yahoo.com[/email])>
Cc: "toos auto" <toosauto(at)gmail.com ([email]toosauto(at)gmail.com[/email])>, "Warren Ball" <warren_k_ball(at)yahoo.com ([email]warren_k_ball(at)yahoo.com[/email])>, dc240(at)diplomaticcorp.com ([email]dc240(at)diplomaticcorp.com[/email]), "Chris Dziedzic" <dipping_chris(at)yahoo.com ([email]dipping_chris(at)yahoo.com[/email])>, "Jeff Hall" <hall.jeff(at)gmail.com ([email]hall.jeff(at)gmail.com[/email])>, "Stephen Lytton" <stevelytton(at)hotmail.com ([email]stevelytton(at)hotmail.com[/email])>, "Chris McInerney" <c.p.mcinerney(at)gmail.com ([email]c.p.mcinerney(at)gmail.com[/email])>, "Karsten Nitsch" <karsten.nitsch(at)gmx.de ([email]karsten.nitsch(at)gmx.de[/email])>, "Former Trout" <former.trout(at)gmail.com ([email]former.trout(at)gmail.com[/email])>, "Baron Von Powell" <vonpowell(at)aol.com ([email]vonpowell(at)aol.com[/email])>, "Kurt Weihs" <Sturmkraehe(at)comcast.net ([email]Sturmkraehe(at)comcast.net[/email])>
Date: Sunday, June 7, 2009, 2:04 PM


This was a great game to watch and I wanted to say thanks to all the participants and especially, to Nick for GM'ing this game and providing the opportunity for players to take a stab at A&E (pun intended).
 
I also wanted to reitterate Nick's kudos to Frank, in the sense that somebody has FINALLY done something with Britain. Way to go Frank!  (who incidentally is a character that I have known, along with Baron, Wayne Bailey, and Chris Dziedzic, on the PBEM Diplomacy circuit going all the way back to the mid `90s)  As Nick mentioned, Britain's performanc in A&E in its overall history has been pitiful - as Baron and I want this game to have playbalance, we've always hoped that's been due to the individual circumstances of each game, rather than design.  And hopefully with this game, that's the case.
 
Just to clarify one thing, that I'm sure is a typo, the article Nick mentions was written by Chris and Jeff Hall - not me - but it IS an excellent read.
 
Jeff

--- On Fri, 6/5/09, Nick Higgins <congressofvienna1814(at)yahoo.com ([email]congressofvienna1814(at)yahoo.com[/email])> wrote:

[quote:769f808071]
From: Nick Higgins <congressofvienna1814(at)yahoo.com ([email]congressofvienna1814(at)yahoo.com[/email])>
Subject: A&E 090205 / DC240: Game Over - Congratulation to Frank Martin, our British winner
To: "Nathan Albright" <nathanbalbright(at)yahoo.com ([email]nathanbalbright(at)yahoo.com[/email])>, "David Gould" <davidchegould(at)bigpond.com ([email]davidchegould(at)bigpond.com[/email])>, "David Gould2" <David.Gould(at)aph.gov.au ([email]David.Gould(at)aph.gov.au[/email])>, "Matt Kelly" <kelly058(at)verizon.net ([email]kelly058(at)verizon.net[/email])>, "Frank Martin" <frankmartin(at)surewest.net ([email]frankmartin(at)surewest.net[/email])>, "Mike Norton" <mjn82(at)yahoo.com ([email]mjn82(at)yahoo.com[/email])>, "Jorge Saralegui" <jmsaralegui(at)gmail.com ([email]jmsaralegui(at)gmail.com[/email])>, "Robert Stein" <smileyrob68(at)gmail.com ([email]smileyrob68(at)gmail.com[/email])>, "Mark Utterback" <MDemagogue(at)gmail.com ([email]MDemagogue(at)gmail.com[/email])>, "Isaac Zinner" <isaac.zinner(at)gmail.com ([email]isaac.zinner(at)gmail.com[/email])>
Cc: "toos auto" <toosauto(at)gmail.com ([email]toosauto(at)gmail.com[/email])>, "Warren Ball" <warren_k_ball(at)yahoo.com ([email]warren_k_ball(at)yahoo.com[/email])>, dc240(at)diplomaticcorp.com ([email]dc240(at)diplomaticcorp.com[/email]), "Chris Dziedzic" <dipping_chris(at)yahoo.com ([email]dipping_chris(at)yahoo.com[/email])>, "Jeff Hall" <hall.jeff(at)gmail.com ([email]hall.jeff(at)gmail.com[/email])>, "Jeffrey Kase" <jeffreykase(at)yahoo.com ([email]jeffreykase(at)yahoo.com[/email])>, "Stephen Lytton" <stevelytton(at)hotmail.com ([email]stevelytton(at)hotmail.com[/email])>, "Chris McInerney" <c.p.mcinerney(at)gmail.com ([email]c.p.mcinerney(at)gmail.com[/email])>, "Karsten Nitsch" <karsten.nitsch(at)gmx.de ([email]karsten.nitsch(at)gmx.de[/email])>, "Former Trout" <former.trout(at)gmail.com ([email]former.trout(at)gmail.com[/email])>, "Baron Von Powell" <vonpowell(at)aol.com ([email]vonpowell(at)aol.com[/email])>, "Kurt Weihs" <Sturmkraehe(at)comcast.net ([email]Sturmkraehe(at)comcast.net[/email])>
Date: Friday, June 5, 2009, 9:18 PM

A&E 090205 / DC240: It was a weird ending to a game that reached peaks with Diplomacy being played at the highest level, and then other moments that were decidedly less lofty.  By the way, the ambiguous order could have prevented victory, and so I wanted to make sure to get that right.  I am not entirely comfortable with the nature of the solo, with Austria assisting Britain over the finish line.  Still, Frank's victory was wholly deserved, and seemed to be the likely outcome regardless of Austria's help.  Congratulations to Frank on playing an outstanding game.  I also would like to give special thanks to Jorge Saralegui and David Gould, both of whom I had extended conversations with regarding their strategy in the game (without crossing any lines of propriety for a GM).

From a historical perspective for this variant, this is quite significant, as Britain had the worst record of any power in the game (including Poland-Saxony, Denmark, and Sweden!), with only one 5-way draw to their credit in 16 games.  I could never understand this, as I view Britain as probably the strongest power to start the game.  Frank has done his part to rectify this situation, and it is a major accomplishment.  Personally, I was interested to see that Denmark-Norway and Turkey both performed well, following the publication of my two strategy articles  Please be sure to check out the new strategy article that was just published this week, with strategy for Poland-Saxony.  This article was written by Chris Dziedzic and variant co-creator Jeffrey Kase, and it's a great read.  Here is the link:

http://www.diplom.org/Zine/S2009R/Dziedzic/ps.htm


Also, I will be writing an article on Austrian strategy that will likely be published later this summer.  I will have more to say about this game later, but I figure I'll wait a bit until after the explosions from the promised fireworks in the EoG statements and the smoke has cleared a bit.

I plan to start another A&E game in the near future, although I will give preference to players that were not in this game, in order to get some new blood.  Still, if you are interested, please let me know.  I also will start up the first gametest for my World War II variant, which is finally ready for primetime, after years of development.  Recruitment will start in the next couple weeks.  If you are interested, please let me know.  The website is still under construction, but you can see it here:

http://ww2-1931.tripod.com/

Before the adjudication, we have some press.  I think you can guess which player is sure to have press this week...

Press #1: British
AP London: Yahtzee! (I hope)

Press #2: Danish
Three diplomacy points for papal states to support anyone who is working
to stop Frank ....

Press #3: Anonymous
So, Frank wins. Those damn danes. Novograd, Novograd, Novograd. Always
Novograd. Sigh.


Fall Adjudications
Austrian A Bav S A Vie 
Austrian A Boh S A Lus - Brl 
Austrian A Dre - Lus 
Austrian A Sav - Tus 
Austrian A Tyr S A Vie 
Austrian A Ven S A Pap *Cut* 
Austrian A Vie S A Boh 
British A Ane - Hew 
British A Bur - Mar *Bounce* 
British A Han H 
British A Hew - Baw 
British A Lus - Brl 
British A Par H 
British F And - Brc 
British F Eng - Bre 
British F Hel S A Han 
British F Mid - Gib 
British F Mor S F Wes - Alg 
British F Nth - Ska *Bounce* 
Danish A Ber S A Mec 
Danish A Brl - Pos 
Danish A Kon - Lit *Bounce* 
Danish A Liv - Mos *Bounce* 
Danish A Mec S A Ber 
Danish A Mos - Lit *Bounce* 
Danish A Nov S A Liv - Mos 
Danish F Bal S A Ber 
Danish F Sca - Ska *Bounce* 
French A Gas - Brc *Bounce* 
French A Lan - Mar *Bounce* 
Neutral A Pap H *Dislodged* *Disbanded*
Polish A Bud S A Pos - Gal 
Polish A Pos - Gal 
Russian A Kie - Mos *Bounce* 
Spanish F Gly S F And - Brc 
Spanish F Wes - Alg 
Turkish A Cro S A Bud 
Turkish A Lit S A Kie - Mos *Cut* 
Turkish F Adr - Ven *Bounce* 
Turkish F Tun - Alg *Bounce* 
Turkish F Tws S F Tys - Pap (wc) 
Turkish F Tys - Pap (wc) 

Retreat Possibilities
Neutral A Pap is destroyed (neutral)

Position Power Abb 1769 1770 Change SCs changing possession
1 Britain B 12 15 +3 +Baw, -Ber, +Brc, +Brl, +Mor
2 Denmark D 10 10 0 +Ber, -Brl
3 Austria A 8 7 -1 -Baw, +Tus, -Tws
4 Turkey T 6 6 0 -Alg, -Mor, +Pap, +Tws
5 Poland X 2 2 0

6 Spain S 2 2 0 +Alg, -Tus
7 France F 2 1 -1 -Brc
8 Russia R 1 1 0

9 Prussia P 0 0 0

10 Sweden W 0 0 0


Power Abb 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770
TOTAL
44 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 44
Austria A 4 7 8 7 8 7 8 8 7
Britain B 4 6 6 7 8 8 11 12 15
Denmark D 2 2 2 3 5 7 8 10 10
France F 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 2 1
Poland X 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Prussia P 3 4 3 3 3 3 1 0 0
Russia R 3 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 1
Spain S 2 3 4 4 3 3 2 2 2
Sweden W 2 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
Turkey T 2 3 4 5 5 8 6 6 6
Neutral C,M,V 17 10 7 5 4 2 2 1 0



---------------------------------------
Nick Higgins
Congress of Vienna variant website:
http://1814congressofvienna.tripod.com