Re: Imperial Diplomacy - Just under half-full

I was on the other side of a similar situation when I was still studying at Cambridge and tried to bully Mercia in a Geoff Bache game of Heptarchy (my first ever e-mail game).  It turned out he was a retired British army major.  He promptly organised a four-strong coalition to take me out from my lofty perch of board leader and into oblivion.

That wasn't a cat23 game, of course, but then again, I'm pretty much a newbie - my first game was 755 as a replacement (a rather peculiar 3-centre Italy that I resurrected to solo against all logic and justice).  My most memorable game was 928, which honed my pig-headedness in playing till the bitter end.  It was a gunboat game that lasted 28 years until Steve Ray put us out of our misery.  The game was so long that no one found out who played Italy 1, Italy 2 or Austria 1... any claimants?

Perhaps there can be a Quite Old Blood showdown for us middle-numbered types.  Or another dipknight extra credits game?

regards,
Stephen

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: William Highfield 
  To: Former Trout 
  Cc: [email protected] 
  Sent: Saturday, June 09, 2007 2:26 PM
  Subject: Re: [CAT23-Ngame] Imperial Diplomacy - Just under half-full


  My favorite one was a game early on with GEnie's original Cat23 (low 
  20s, maybe?) where Porter Wightman got into a game with me ... now, I 
  was the only one who knew that Porter was NOT a beginner, but actually 
  an old master from the postal hobby (myself the publisher of THE MODERN 
  PATRIOT 'zine and Porter a contributer to HOOF N MOUTH Dip zine). So, 
  when someone tried to give Porter advice in Spring 1901 assuming he was 
  a newbie playing Russia, he got the idea to align with the only person 
  who knew better - me playing Italy - and fool the entire board.

  He opened in Spring 1901 with Fleet St Pete (sc) to Finland. Stupid 
  move, right? A newbie mistake for sure. It locked into the other five 
  players minds that Porter was a new player, and from then on the two of 
  us played them like a fiddle.

  It came down to the end with Porter and I trying to hustle the lesser 
  powers into turning on the other, but Porter was a little more 
  persuasive, and many still thought he was a newbie taking orders from 
  me, so they turned on me while Porter screwed them royal for the win.

  Porter and I have been friends now for roughly 27 years, and we still 
  stay in touch even though he doesn't play Diplomacy any more ... I keep 
  trying to get him online, but he's got so many other things to do, he 
  just doesn't have the time to play (which is my situation currently)

  Absolutely one of the more enjoyable games I've ever played, and all 
  because ONE PLAYER (the German in this case) assumed that because a guy 
  was new to us then he must be new to Diplomacy. One of my little 
  sayings at Diplomacy (which never made the official list, I might add) 
  was "Always assume that each of your opponents is a Grand Master 
  Strategist, and the best player you've ever met. "



   

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