A web version of the classic Diplomacy board game
These next few lectures are about PlayDip a bit more than Diplomacy. Today I will start by pointing out a few features of the game interface. 1) PlayDip has a house rule that there cannot be draws in the first four years of a game. However, recently the site has begun a trial allowing draws […]
Continue Reading“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one that is most responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin A common mistake, applicable throughout the game, is worth emphasizing in the mid-game: * Don’t be inflexible. Too often players get to the mid-game with one ally (or less!) and […]
Continue ReadingToday we continue with mid-game strategy, now from the perspective of the laggards – the 2 to 4 smallest powers coming out of the opening. Since in Diplomacy all surviving powers share equally in a draw, smaller powers are always still fully in the game. Further, in a dynamic game, large swings in fortunes of […]
Continue ReadingThe next lectures look at the effect on strategy of transitioning from the opening to the mid-game, first from the perspective of the leaders – the 3 or 4 largest powers. Before going too far, we need to answer: what is the mid-game? Hobby authors have offered many alternatives, but I am going to use […]
Continue ReadingToday we return to the topic of the effect of geography on strategy, introducing what is the single most important strategic element of the game: the stalemate line. What is a stalemate line? In the hobby literature it is defined as any position controlling 17 or fewer SCs that can hold indefinitely against any attack. […]
Continue ReadingDo you play chess? Have you heard of the concept of tempi? It is the plural of tempo, and refers to the speed and efficiency of movement of your pieces. Diplomacy players should think in terms of tempi as well. We often refer to winning a game of Diplomacy as the “race to 18 SCs.” […]
Continue ReadingThe learning curve for tactics in Diplomacy is steep, but (thankfully) short. New players make mistakes when ordering their units. One thing that many people aren’t used to is all of the pieces moving at once. Thinking about how to adjudicate simultaneous moves takes a different intuition, but you will all get it with a […]
Continue ReadingThis is about the time of the game where you see the most alliance shifts. Obviously, powers can switch sides at any time and not every alliance will break, but it seems the highest occurrence of stabs is the F02-1903 time frame. There are a few reasons for this. Around this time, the winners and […]
Continue ReadingCommunicating and negotiating, the core of Diplomacy, is hard to teach or learn from a book. Some players are naturals, some make big improvement with practice, and some never seem to try or learn. Players that have certain educational and professional backgrounds may have a leg-up in Diplomacy, but interestingly, different backgrounds tend to bring […]
Continue ReadingLet’s review: Diplomacy is a numbers game where greater numbers win, and it is a game of cooperation where it is common to see an alliance of two powers form against one. So, what do you do if you find yourself the one against two in the opening, the odd power out? In most cases, […]
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