Now then everybody,
Thanks for bearing with me whilst I went and took that pesky exam (I passed - woot!)
OK so here's your proper game start and welcome email, detailing how I'll be running your Blitz Round 2 game.
I'm Jerome, your friendly GM for your second round of the Blitz. For those of you that haven't met me before, I've been on the DC website for around a year now (where I'm one of the site mods), and an active Dip player for years before that, so I'm excited to see so many faces I don't recognize. I'm 34 years old, live in Peterborough UK, and spend most of each day thinking about Dip (that is, when I'm not teaching adults at a London college...!)
I'm sure we have a fun time ahead of us, and I'll do my best to keep us moving toward the finish line. This is your tournament, held every year at the world's greatest website - diplomaticcorp.com - and I really hope you enjoy it. To those of you that I've not met before, then welcome. To those I have, sorry about the stabs! (Not really).
I did email out your Power assignments and details of your opponents earlier, but here they are again for completeness:
ID
Country
Name
Email
Location
bunwarpgazoo
France
John Robillard
john.robillard(at)telia.com
Härnösand, SE
chaosonejoe
Italy
Joe Babinsack
chaosonejoe(at)yahoo.com
Butler, PA, US
Nigs
Austria
Nigel Phillips
nephilli99(at)hotmail.com
Leeds, UK
offdisc
Turkey
Mike Hoffman
mrh(at)panix.com
Denver, CO, US
Pete
Russia
Pete Marinaro
PMarinaro(at)KOMAutomation.com
Lancaster, NY, US
tfletch33
England
Thomas Fletcher
tfletch33(at)yahoo.com
TheFinalCountdown
Germany
Matt Barnes
matthew_barnes(at)brown.edu
Boston, MA, US
OK, so now for some admin-type stuff about how your game will run.
Deadlines - Spring deadlines on Mondays, Summer retreats on Tuesdays, Autumn (Fall) deadline on Thursdays, and Retreats/Winter COMBINED on Fridays. Unless I specifically say otherwise, all deadlines are at
20:00GMT . We've got a multinational group of players, so I strongly advise you to figure out what time 20:00GMT is in your own neck of the woods. Also, although I will do my best to try to remember to send out deadline reminders to you guys, it is ultimately YOUR responsibility to turn in moves regardless of whether a reminder is set out.
Orders(at)diplomaticcorp.com - This little email address is your best friend. ANY time you send
moves/builds/retreats/revisions/etc to me, you should also be sending it to that address as well. The reason being, if I am unable to adjucate after being attacked by rabid were-hamsters, one of the tournament directors will adjucate using the orders you sent to this address. Also, if I have no record of your moves for some reason, and you just *know* you sent them in, this address will be your last and best defence to avoid the dreaded NMR.
Retreats - In situations where there is only one province to which a unit might legally retreat, I will auto-retreat to that space. The relevant player will, however, still have the opportunity to order a disband for that unit instead (i.e. 'retreat off-the-board or OTB'
. In situations where there is only one retreat to be made, and that retreat is an auto-retreat, then I will skip the retreat deadline for that turn (I have a life too you know! [OY! Stop sniggering at the back!!!]). Notwithstanding this, the relevant player still will have 24 hours from the adjudication to inform me of his intention to retreat OTB in preference to my auto-retreat. In addition, for summer retreats in situations where two or more players must retreat, once I receive a full set of retreat orders from all affected players then I shall reserve the right to adjudicate the retreats early (i.e. before the stated deadline). Please bear in mind
that autumn retreats and winter adjustments have the same (Friday) deadline. It is possible to make builds/disbands conditional upon other players' retreats - but not vice versa.
Subject bar - Since I'm GM'ing several games at once (4 at present, though it will be 5 if Sims can sneak another one onto me (arsechips)), you
MUST include the dc game code, the season, your Power name and the version number of your moves in the subject bar of your emails to me.
For instance:
'dc422 Spring 02 England moves v1'
If you fail to put this information into the subject bar then it is quite possible that I will miss your email - and this risks readjudications etc, much to everybody's annoyance! Also remember the 24hour cutoff rule (below).
Prelims - Prelims are your second best friends. I'd suggest turning them in immediately after receiving the adjucation. You can always change them, but you never know when something will come up and you will be unable to turn in moves. I even accept Contingency plans (especially for retreats and builds). So feel to even send those in advance too, just in case!
Rule questions - I have no particular rules to use with my games, therefore we'll be following the dc house rules found at the dc site:
http://www.diplomaticcorp.com/info.php?type=houserules
When unclear, or when deemed necessary in my sole opinion, my judgement supercedes the rulebook. During Blitz games, DC houserules generally take precedence as well, and blitz rules trump everything. For example, there are NO replacements in the Blitz. If you drop out, your country will NMR every turn, but you can start playing again at any time until your last piece/center is eliminated/captured. If you have any questions about how I will treat any specific issue, just ask. This is also a good time to repeat the 24 hour cutoff. If you have a complaint or issue with an adjucation, you have 24 hours to report it to me. If you don't, the "wrong" adjucation stands.
Press and proper play - This game is black press, which means you can submit comments for inclusion in the adjucation from you, purporting to be from another player or country, or
anonymously. However, no one may at any time, in press, private communication with other players, or for any other reason, impersonate me or the tournament directors. Doing so is grounds for immediate explusion from the game.
Ok, enough will all the rules. Let's get this show on the road! Our first deadline is
MONDAY, 9 APRIL at 20:00 GMT
Feel free to share you strategy and goals with me. I can't comment on them for obvious reasons, but it helps me feel a bit more a part of the game to see things from a player's perspective in addition to the bird's eye view GM's are often left with. I'd love to know what's happening as the game progresses.
OK so over to you!
Jerome
