Friends,
For my money, there is no greater moment in gaming than revelation of the initial adjudication in a Diplomacy game. While the responses to the information are invariably mixed - with a blend of positive, negative and mixed emotions - the fulfillment of all the wonderful anticipation leading up to it is special for one and all. With the adjudication, our little version of history begins its trajectory forward.
In real-life, 1763 marked a period of relative peace across Europe. While there were certainly wars and conflicts - particularly the multi-generational struggle between English and French, as well as Russians and Turks - It would be 40 years before the Little Corporal himself - to quote the always entertaining Nigel Bruce - thrust the whole of Europe into its next continental conflict, the Napoleonic Wars.
The period under consideration in this variant is more notable for internal social upheavals as opposed to continental conflicts. A rising Prussia continues to march toward an eventually unified Germany. Great Britain is to lose from the nest some of her most important colonies - later to eclipse the mother and become, for a time, the dominant world power. And the bloody French Revolution - which our game will likely not be long enough to reach - would serve as a cautionary tale ever-after for what idealistic revolutions gone wrong look like.
Instead, Ambition & Empire plunges the continent into another infernal war. And what a war it appears it will be! Louis XV and George III are at it again. A coalition of little powers seem determined to tame Catherine the Great. Frederick the Great shows little appreciation for the vital Hanoverian help to survive the Seven Years' War. Meanwhile Louis XV and Maria Theresa find common ground - perhaps in their staunch Catholicism - seeming to move in strategic unison. The Scandinavian nations appear copacetic while Spain focuses on their historical addiction: federating the Iberian peninsula.
In a bit of administrative clarification, there was one misorder processed this turn. Let me be clear on my approach to misorders, as this may not be explicit in my house rules. For orders that are turned in by the prelim deadline - Friday of each week - as requested by rule of my games - I will guarantee the player that I will not adjudicate a misorder without clarifying for them if it was their intent. However, after the Friday prelim deadline, all bets are off. If I see it ahead of time, I will ask if it is intentional or a mistake. If I don't, I will adjudicate it as-is. As I think no one got in prelims the first week - which I allowed to not make negotiations feel rushed - the misorder submitted fell into that bucket of "maybe, maybe not". I will not again comment on misorders, only now to make my approach clear. Because I rarely look at orders after Friday before adjudication, know that it is very viable that I either did or did not check with the person who placed the order ahead of time.
Finally, for people who have been in my games before, in the past I've worked very hard to adjudicate right at or after the deadline. I do this because, as a player, I certainly look forward to adjudications. However, doing so has often been inconvenient, and at times even stressful. I think what I'm going to do is simply commit to getting the game out the night of adjudication, and see if that more relaxed approach enables me to put more time into chrome and commentary, which I do enjoy doing. My other GM'ed games, after a short while it became too much and I dropped it. Let's see how this new process works.
There are no retreats with two popped units, so we press on to the fall! Fall Prelims due Friday; Final Fall orders due next Tuesday, December 20, at the usual time and channel.
Happy Hunting!
Dirk
PLAYERS
Austria - Daniel Eichner, Knightofroma@hotmail.com
Denmark - Karel Verbrugge, diplodocus83@gmail.com
France - Robert Stein, smileyrob68@gmail.com
Great Britain - Nathan Deily, ndeily@yahoo.com
Ottoman - Michael Thompson, psychosis@sky.com
Poland/Saxony - Jim Atkins, savwa4@comcast.net
Prussia - Chris Morse, camorse22@yahoo.com
Russia - Suzanne Castagne, sucastag@wanadoo.fr
Spain - Warren Fleming, alwayshunted@hotmail.com
Sweden - Wladimir Mysonski, wmysonski@gmail.com
***
HEADLINES
Austrians head in every which direction, stumbling only in northern Germany
Smart tactics by Frederick V and his navy put Denmark-Norway in a comfortable initial position
Intrigue abounds for France, with seemingly belligerent Britain and friendly Austria and Spain
Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick renounces Frederick the Great after humiliating rout
Ottoman navy claims Black Sea, garrisons Constantinople
Augustus III boldly repels Russians in Lithuania, but fails to expand from his Saxon home
18th century Prussian expansion continues with bold conquest of Hanover
Catherine the Great assembles top advisors after defeats on sea and land
Charles III coyly stays out of the way, smartly advances close to home
Victory for the Swedish navy may portend trouble for House of Romanov
***
ORDERS
Austria:
A Austrian Netherlands - Hesse-Westphalia (*Fails*)
A Budapest - Wallachia
A Milan Supports A Vienna - Republic of Venice
A Vienna - Republic of Venice
Britain:
F Edinburgh - North Sea (*Bounce*)
F Gibraltar - Mid-Atlantic Ocean
A Hanover Hold (*Disbanded*)
F London - English Channel
Denmark:
F Christiania - North Sea (*Bounce*)
F Copenhagen - Holstein(wc)
France:
F Brest - Mid-Atlantic Ocean (*Fails*)
A Marseilles - Burgundy
A Paris - Picardy
Prussia:
A Berlin - Hanover
A Breslau - Lusatia
A Courland S Warsaw - Lithuania (*Invalid*)
Russia:
A Kiev - Lithuania (*Fails*)
A Moscow - Livonia
F St Petersburg - Gulf of Bothnia (*Fails*)
Saxony:
A Dresden - Baden-Wuerttemberg (*Fails*)
A Warsaw - Lithuania
Spain:
F Barcelona - Andalusia
A Madrid Supports F Barcelona - Andalusia
Sweden:
A Abo - Karelia
F Stockholm - Gulf of Bothnia
Turkey:
A Ankara - Constantinople
F Constantinople - Black Sea
Algiers:
F Algiers Hold
Baden-Wuerttemberg:
A Baden-Wuerttemberg Supports A Austrian Netherlands - Hesse-Westphalia (*Cut*)
Bavaria:
A Bavaria Hold
Courland:
F Courland Supports F Stockholm - Gulf of Bothnia
Crimea:
A Crimea Supports A Warsaw - Lithuania
Hesse-Westphalia:
A Hesse-Westphalia Supports A Dresden - Baden-Wuerttemberg (*Cut*)
Mecklenburg:
A Mecklenburg Supports A Berlin - Hanover
Morocco:
F Morocco Supports F Gibraltar - Mid-Atlantic Ocean
Papacy:
A Papal States Hold
Portugal:
F Portugal Supports F Gibraltar - Mid-Atlantic Ocean
Sardinia:
A Savoy Supports A Marseilles - Burgundy
Switzerland:
A Switzerland Hold
Tunis:
F Tunis Hold
Tuscany:
A Tuscany Supports A Vienna - Republic of Venice
TwoSicilies:
F Two Sicilies Hold
UnitedProvinces:
F United Provinces Hold
Venice:
F Republic of Venice Hold (*Disbanded*)
***
Upcoming Deadlines (all orders are due at 5 PM EST, GMT -5)
Summer 1763 Retreats, Thursday December 15
Fall 1763 Prelims, Friday December 16
Fall 1763 Orders, Tuesday December 20
Winter 1763 Retreats/Adjustments, Thursday December 22
Spring 1764 Prelims, Friday December 23
Spring 1764 Orders, Tuesday December 27
Summer 1764 Retreats, Thursday December 29 |
