1084 GM EOG statement

Thanks for the EOG statements so far - I hope we'll get a few more, but I thought I'd add my thoughts while I have the leisure of the weekend.

The origins of this variant can be found in my involvement in the playtest of Randall Shane's Setup Diplomacy (initial placements stage, then chaos builds allowed in any owned region).  I realised then how much fun can be had if you give the game some more flexibility and allow for some odd situations to arise.

As it happens, the amphibious unit was only part of the design for my next variant, TransEurope, which requires players to travel round Europe, racing each other to visit target centres.  I needed to make everyone's travel easier, so came up with the amphibious idea.  I'd play-tested Geoff Bache's Bretwalda variant a long while ago, but his idea of 'boat bunches' that could take a season to convert between army and fleet seemed a little cumbersome to me.  Why wait at all?  While hammering out the details, I realised that here was a variant in itself.

So, on to the question of whether it works.  Jim makes a very good point, that some countries had limitations for a reason.  But of course, England is also limited in Standard by the trickiness of penetrating the continent with fleets, so this should have favoured him too.  And look at Youngstown - Russia starts off with twice the number of units as any other, but the playing field is levelled by everyone else recognising the threat.  Perhaps Turkey's potential will be clearer the next time Amphibious is played and the balance of power will be regained through diplomacy.

Perhaps the next appearance of the Amphibious unit will be in TransEurope, while I give some more thought to perfecting this variant.  There was a real pleasure in seeing Austria's admittedly suicidal attack on everyone at once and eventual emergence in the Baltic.  It's nice to change the shape of the game with a simple alteration, and that is my aim.  I must thank Geoff, who had to bow out as Austria with RL concerns, for making the most of the variant, although perhaps choosing just one opponent might have avoided Turkey dominating so easily!

A 6-way draw is hardly ideal as a first run, but I welcome all comments to make Amphibious a fully playable and fun variant.  Jim's comments have been welcome throughout the game, as has his and Suzanne's interventions when we lost players.  Thanks to everyone who played,  apart from Simon, of course, who is still out there advertising his dip 0 game without explaining why he disappeared from mine.

I've notified Dipknights for those of you who're interested, and I'm promised that there will actually be an update of DK points in the near future after deafening silence.  See you in a game coming up, and do let me know if there's a particular variant that you'd like me run next.

Regards,
Stephen

http://www.geocities.com/stephen_worthy/Finished/1084.html

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> 
Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page
http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/xTHqlB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 

 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Cat23-1000/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    [email protected]

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/