JamesHackerMP Posted March 21, 2017 Report Posted March 21, 2017 a board game designed by Alan Calhamer in 1959. For most of its life, the US version was published by Avalon Hill Co. of Baltimore, until Hasbro bought them out. Any of you familiar with it? https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/483/diplomacy 1 Quote "We're not above nature, Mr Hacker, we're part of it. Men are animals, too!" "I know that, I've just come from the House of Commons!" [Yes, Minister]
DogOnPorch Posted March 21, 2017 Report Posted March 21, 2017 Oh goodness, yes. But it was replaced in our club by this classic for the favorite diplomacy parlor game...beer n' pretzels n' battleaxes. This one also was a fav for casual groups... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization_(1980_board_game) Quote Nothing cracks a turtle like Leon Uris.
JamesHackerMP Posted March 22, 2017 Author Report Posted March 22, 2017 My father was one of the playtesters of the original ed. of Kingmaker! Yeah I hate playing Austria. No offense to anyone who's from the former Lands Represented in the Imperial Council, or the Lands of the Holy Crown of St. Stephen, but I hate it with a passion. I've never won before, though I've always liked playing England. (though I don't get why Calhamer called it "England" instead of "Britain" or "UK" if he was going to be P.C. enough to say "Austria-Hungary" instead of just "Austria"?!) But I digress. I've actually got no fewer than three boards: the 1985 Avalon Hill ed., the 1999 Hasbro Ed., and the 1961 Games Research ed. Why? I don't know. I must like it even though I have never won. And i've only played in person games like, a few times. Then about a couple dozen online. Quote "We're not above nature, Mr Hacker, we're part of it. Men are animals, too!" "I know that, I've just come from the House of Commons!" [Yes, Minister]
DogOnPorch Posted March 22, 2017 Report Posted March 22, 2017 11 minutes ago, JamesHackerMP said: My father was one of the playtesters of the original ed. of Kingmaker! Yeah I hate playing Austria. No offense to anyone who's from the former Lands Represented in the Imperial Council, or the Lands of the Holy Crown of St. Stephen, but I hate it with a passion. I've never won before, though I've always liked playing England. (though I don't get why Calhamer called it "England" instead of "Britain" or "UK" if he was going to be P.C. enough to say "Austria-Hungary" instead of just "Austria"?!) But I digress. I've actually got no fewer than three boards: the 1985 Avalon Hill ed., the 1999 Hasbro Ed., and the 1961 Games Research ed. Why? I don't know. I must like it even though I have never won. And i've only played in person games like, a few times. Then about a couple dozen online. That's really cool. Great game. I had quite the collection...but the first wife knew their value...lol. Quote Nothing cracks a turtle like Leon Uris.
JamesHackerMP Posted March 22, 2017 Author Report Posted March 22, 2017 10 minutes ago, DogOnPorch said: That's really cool. Great game. I had quite the collection...but the first wife knew their value...lol. Awww....... 1 Quote "We're not above nature, Mr Hacker, we're part of it. Men are animals, too!" "I know that, I've just come from the House of Commons!" [Yes, Minister]
DogOnPorch Posted March 22, 2017 Report Posted March 22, 2017 1 hour ago, JamesHackerMP said: Awww....... I know, eh? I still have a few choice ones stored away...but...damn. This might be familiar... http://www.vftt.co.uk/Games/Avalon Hill/00 The General/The General Vol 11 No 6.pdf Quote Nothing cracks a turtle like Leon Uris.
JamesHackerMP Posted March 22, 2017 Author Report Posted March 22, 2017 My father had that! Who was your favorite/least favorite great power to play when you played Diplomacy? Quote "We're not above nature, Mr Hacker, we're part of it. Men are animals, too!" "I know that, I've just come from the House of Commons!" [Yes, Minister]
DogOnPorch Posted March 22, 2017 Report Posted March 22, 2017 Least? Ottoman. Favorite: Russia. Quote Nothing cracks a turtle like Leon Uris.
DogOnPorch Posted March 22, 2017 Report Posted March 22, 2017 (edited) If you change issue numbers/volume numbers on The General...there are more. Edited March 22, 2017 by DogOnPorch Quote Nothing cracks a turtle like Leon Uris.
JamesHackerMP Posted March 23, 2017 Author Report Posted March 23, 2017 Hmm. I just hate Austria. How many times have you played Austria? Quote "We're not above nature, Mr Hacker, we're part of it. Men are animals, too!" "I know that, I've just come from the House of Commons!" [Yes, Minister]
DogOnPorch Posted March 23, 2017 Report Posted March 23, 2017 (edited) 13 minutes ago, JamesHackerMP said: Hmm. I just hate Austria. How many times have you played Austria? We're talking a long time ago... I forget...truly. I did discover this platform a few years back...but opponents are very hard to find. Java based. http://www.vassalengine.org/ http://www.vassalengine.org/wiki/Module:Diplomacy I originally grabbed it to to try and replay this classic...which was quite the undertaking. http://www.vassalengine.org/wiki/Module:Vietnam_1965-1975 https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/5620/vietnam-1965-1975 I installed it and such on another rig...and it looked and felt like the real mccoy...I imagine Diplomacy would be the same. Free of course... Edited March 23, 2017 by DogOnPorch 1 Quote Nothing cracks a turtle like Leon Uris.
JamesHackerMP Posted March 23, 2017 Author Report Posted March 23, 2017 Huh, neat. Thnx!! Quote "We're not above nature, Mr Hacker, we're part of it. Men are animals, too!" "I know that, I've just come from the House of Commons!" [Yes, Minister]
DogOnPorch Posted March 23, 2017 Report Posted March 23, 2017 You're welcome. Quote Nothing cracks a turtle like Leon Uris.
JamesHackerMP Posted March 24, 2017 Author Report Posted March 24, 2017 btw if I may ask, why is Turkey your least favorite and Russia the most? Quote "We're not above nature, Mr Hacker, we're part of it. Men are animals, too!" "I know that, I've just come from the House of Commons!" [Yes, Minister]
DogOnPorch Posted March 24, 2017 Report Posted March 24, 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, JamesHackerMP said: btw if I may ask, why is Turkey your least favorite and Russia the most? I tended to play Russian in most war games when available. These were some favorites of that genre...Tannenberg: you REALLY had to like playing Russian. Spies was great beer n' pretzels level endeavor. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/801/crimean-war-battles https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/8071/tannenberg https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/8070/great-war-east https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1209/pax-britannica https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1633/spies Edited March 24, 2017 by DogOnPorch Quote Nothing cracks a turtle like Leon Uris.
DogOnPorch Posted March 25, 2017 Report Posted March 25, 2017 This one was pretty awesome, too...you played ALL sides at once...Red, White and Foreign interventionists. Best with 5-6 players... https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2665/russian-civil-war-1918-1922-first-edition WW2 in Russia was another ball o' wax...many good titles. Quote Nothing cracks a turtle like Leon Uris.
JamesHackerMP Posted March 27, 2017 Author Report Posted March 27, 2017 Wow. You just think Lenin's cute, huh? Quote "We're not above nature, Mr Hacker, we're part of it. Men are animals, too!" "I know that, I've just come from the House of Commons!" [Yes, Minister]
DogOnPorch Posted March 27, 2017 Report Posted March 27, 2017 5 hours ago, JamesHackerMP said: Wow. You just think Lenin's cute, huh? The US Civil War and Napoleonic subjects were also favorites. If you don't want to discuss this stuff...just say so. I'm sure there are other posters here who have tried all these things. Right? Quote Nothing cracks a turtle like Leon Uris.
JamesHackerMP Posted March 27, 2017 Author Report Posted March 27, 2017 (edited) Well, I wanted to discuss Diplomacy, but if you don't feel like that, it's fine. My favorite game, however is "Twilight Struggle" from GMT games. I own the 2009 deluxe ed. It's way cool. I was never into the typical "wargames" sort of games. Diplomacy is a bit different. Oh, I'm playing Republic of Rome online. I have the Canadian Valley Games version. As far as Diplomacy (if you feel like talking about it, again, I certainly do ) you know who I hate playing aside from Austria-Hungary? Italy. You're bottled up there and you only typically make 1 gain in the first year, typically Tunis, unless the person playing Austria or Turkey really isn't paying attention. England you have a while to think things through thanks to its insular position. (A-H requires an immediate decision of whom to screw over.) Germany, France, Russia....take your pick, they're all right there! That said, I have never won a game before, or even shared in a draw/stalemate, but I still love it. I think the hardest to play is probably Austria for that reason. You cannot dither. It's stab-or-die in 1901. I can see, however, why you hate playing Turkey: you're bottled up. I'm not sure which is harder to play: online (email) or in person. For a game I said I like, I've only played a couple dozen or so games online since I discovered Diplomacy in 1998-ish; and three or four in person. Edited March 27, 2017 by JamesHackerMP Quote "We're not above nature, Mr Hacker, we're part of it. Men are animals, too!" "I know that, I've just come from the House of Commons!" [Yes, Minister]
DogOnPorch Posted March 27, 2017 Report Posted March 27, 2017 (edited) As mentioned, the last game of Diplomacy I played was LONG ago. Some of these I list: less long ago. But still...long ago. Republic of Rome: This one? https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1513/republic-rome Yes...loved it. Nothing like sending your enemies to Corsica to make one's day. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12333/twilight-struggle Looks great...didn't have that one. But it reminds me of this, only more complex... https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/713/nuclear-war As for political intrigue...this one was also played to death. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1593/down-king And then there was all the role playing stuff that was popular for a time. D&D of course...but my favorite was Traveller. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveller_(role-playing_game) Now that all tends to be taken-up by various computer games like Morrowind/Oblivion/Skyrim and Fallout...which I still occasionally make mods for. Plus, I still tinker with Orbiter that I've published content for...mostly to do with the gas giants and their moons. Steep learning curve... As for Diplomacy, I see there are numerous online versions to tickle one's fancy...besides VASSL. Do you use those formats at all? Edited March 27, 2017 by DogOnPorch Quote Nothing cracks a turtle like Leon Uris.
JamesHackerMP Posted March 29, 2017 Author Report Posted March 29, 2017 Valley Games of Canada makes Republic of Rome. Originally it was Avalon Hill, but the VG ed. is way cool-lookin'. The coins all look like real Roman coins and are printed on both sides, even. It makes me want to wear a toga. I have Nuclear War (the recent 50th ann. ed.) and Nuclear Escalation, its first expansion set. It used to come with a glow-in-the-dark six-sided die. Hehe... I've used Vassal to play Twilight Struggle with someone live, using Skype to communicate. It was pretty cool. When I've played Diplomacy before we had a human gm we sent our moves in to. 1 Quote "We're not above nature, Mr Hacker, we're part of it. Men are animals, too!" "I know that, I've just come from the House of Commons!" [Yes, Minister]
DogOnPorch Posted March 30, 2017 Report Posted March 30, 2017 Did you ever do the Squad Leader stuff? We were hooked on that for a time. Quote Nothing cracks a turtle like Leon Uris.
JamesHackerMP Posted March 30, 2017 Author Report Posted March 30, 2017 (edited) Nah. Father did, tho. And because I couldn't resist: "I have a good fwiend in Wome named Biggus Dickus." <snicker> Edited March 30, 2017 by JamesHackerMP Quote "We're not above nature, Mr Hacker, we're part of it. Men are animals, too!" "I know that, I've just come from the House of Commons!" [Yes, Minister]
DogOnPorch Posted March 30, 2017 Report Posted March 30, 2017 2 minutes ago, JamesHackerMP said: Nah. Father did, tho. We met fairly often back in the day. We tended to have group favorites. Squad Leader was something everybody knew... You seem like you might have this stashed away somewhere... Had all the expansions...played to death. Quote Nothing cracks a turtle like Leon Uris.
JamesHackerMP Posted March 30, 2017 Author Report Posted March 30, 2017 Whoa...... !!! Quote "We're not above nature, Mr Hacker, we're part of it. Men are animals, too!" "I know that, I've just come from the House of Commons!" [Yes, Minister]
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