The country assignments have been made and available by linking to DC175 in 'Open Games' as are: the DiplomaticCorp House Rules, the GM House Rules, the start of game positions and the GM and players' contact email addresses, plus the rest of the information you'll need. Note that the GM has a secondary email address that copy orders can be sent to at sforzapaolo - at - gmail - dot - com (written like this to confound email-harvesters. Please do everything you can to reduce spam). The latest Rules of Diplomacy can be found at http://www.wizards.com/avalonhill/rules/diplomacy_rulebook.pdf

The standard time for all deadlines is 1800 GMT/UTC. Deadlines will usually be 5-6 days apart, Mon-Sun inclusive. Adjudications will usually be out within 36 hours.

SPRING 1901 HAS 2 DEADLINES. YOU MUST GET PRELIMINARY ORDERS TO ME BY 1800 GMT/UTC, SUNDAY, APRIL 6TH 2008. THESE ORDERS CAN BE CHANGED, ANY NUMBER OF TIMES, UP TO THE FINAL DEADLINE WHICH WILL BE 1800 GMT/UTC WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9TH 2008.

IF ANY PLAYER FAILS TO MEET THE 6TH APRIL DEADLINE THEN I SHALL REPLACE THEM WITH A RESERVE PLAYER. I DO NOT ISSUE REMINDERS. EACH OF YOU MUST ACKNOWLEDGE THIS EMAIL BY RETURN.

IT IS THE TIME I RECEIVE THE ORDERS THAT IS IMPORTANT, SO MAKE SURE THEY ARE IN IN GOOD TIME.

We have at least one reserve player.

It's a standard game - so there won't be any retreat orders, disbandment or builds required in Spring 1901. The Dipwiki for 2-Season Dip has been put on the DiplomaticCorp website, but I think the formatting needs working on. The text has been reviewed and agreed. When reading it, bear in mind that we shall be using the [u:768ade910f]Preference List Order Method [/u:768ade910f](for both dislodgements and adjustments), NOT conditional orders. I am getting a web-site together (hope to have it working by end of today or tomorrow) that will bring the necessary information via links onto one site.

The game is named '7 Pedigree Rats'. The title comes from the late Richard Sharp's book 'The Game of Diplomacy'. Now difficult to get hold of, the book was on-line for a while, but now seems to have a broken link. Things have moved on considerably since it was first published in 1978, but it is still a good read, if you can get hold of it.

I very much hope that each of you enjoy the game. [u:768ade910f]Please - no NMRs - ever[/u:768ade910f].

Remember that there is no such thing as a dumb question - so if you are unsure of anything then please ask.

It is Spring 1901 and storm clouds are gathering over Europe...