Diplomacy - Grey Labyrinth [3/7 (or 5)]

[Amb]

You will need a login for this site:

http://www.webdiplomacy.net/board.php?gameID=53924

The game is automated, and will update every 2 days or when all players are marked as saved and ready.

In List
Amb
Zag
Undercover Monk
groza528
LordKinbote

Attempt 2
Amb
Zag
MatthewV



You will need to PM me for the joining password (which is "zealotry").

[Amb]

Actually, I will just share the password: Its 'zealotry'

[Zag]

/in

[Undercover Monk]

/in
_________________
The Classic Blunders:
1. never get involved in a land war in Asia
2.Never go in against a Sicilian when DEATH is on the line
3. Never release Peyton Manning

[Undercover Monk]

btw i still need one more person for survivor amb :hint hint nudge nudge:
_________________
The Classic Blunders:
1. never get involved in a land war in Asia
2.Never go in against a Sicilian when DEATH is on the line
3. Never release Peyton Manning

[Amb*]

I already said In for survivor?

[Amb]

In the event that the game start date passes before we get 7 players, I'll simply start another one with the same password.

[groza528]

I'm in! GL Dip on webdiplomacy? Totally. I have recently realized that email Dip is not for me, but I really like the webdip format.

[Amb]

Three more players. If you know someone who would play, feel free to PM them an invite.

[dethwing]

As an aside, would anyone be interested in Imperial or Imperial 2030?

[groza528]

Looks like we might not get 7... In the event that we only find 5, would you rather a) play Ancient Med variant, b) invite a couple non-GLers or c) try again or d) scrap the game?

[Zag]

What is the ancient Med variant?

Meanwhile, I'll email Zahariel and see if he wants to play. Don't think that because he's my son that either of us will go easy on the other. It's quite the opposite, in fact.

[groza528]

Ancient Med is on a different map, for five players. I personally don't think it's as balanced (tends to favor Carthage and screw Egypt a little) and imho it's a little heavy on neutrals, but it's a pretty good five-player map. Here's a sample game, won by Rome. You can step through the seasons using the icons below the map.
For what it's worth, my vote would be for c) or b). Definitely invite Zahariel; if we get up to six maybe we can coerce one more, and I for one am not worried about familial bonds influencing the game. If we do get six, there's a fellow on webdip that I've played with a few times; VERY nice but not a pushover either. I actually ended up apologizing to him in a game the same season he stabbed me (though to be fair I was attacked from four sides, only one of which I truly expected, so it was kind of hard not to shrug off.) I'd love to say he went on to win but I don't know that yet because the game is still ongoing. I would definitely love to extend an invite to him if we go route b).

[3iff]

I would join in but I'm still catching up with holidays...and I'm offline over the weekends...but if a future game comes up I'd like the chance to humiliate myself.

Haven't played since I ran a couple of games here at work...some years back.

[Zag]

[Amb]

The game expired, but no worries, we can create another as needed. The ancient med theme is fine by me if we can't get 7.

[Zag]

Well, it doesn't look as if we're going to get any more. I'm happy going ahead with the Ancient Med game. Is there a RealPolitick map for it somewhere?

[Amb]

http://www.webdiplomacy.net/board.php?gameID=53924

Thats the ancient med game. Password is Zealotry.

[groza528]

[Undercover Monk]

the passwrod is not working for me =(
_________________
The Classic Blunders:
1. never get involved in a land war in Asia
2.Never go in against a Sicilian when DEATH is on the line
3. Never release Peyton Manning

[Zag]

Me, either, including a copy/paste attempt.

[groza528]

That's because it's not supposed to be capitalized. Try all lowercase.

[groza528]

Just wanted to make sure everyone knew the game had begun!

[Zag]

I posted this in the global messages in the game, too, but in case you missed it: http://www.variantbank.org/results/rules/a/ancient_med.htm

I found it to be quite helpful. The connections in a number of places are not clear from just the map: around the Sinai peninsula, for instance.

[Zag]

I have to admit that now that we are into it, I totally agree. Egypt is in a very tough spot. After the first 3 gains, there is nothing else easy, and 2 of the first three are going to be hard to hold on to. (Sorry, LK.)

[Zag]

~Pokes LK.~

Sigh. He'd be picking up both Crete and Sparta this year, if he had taken my advice, and UMonk would be crumbling. He could also have taken Jerusalem (as I mentioned to him), but I don't think I'm that good an enemy to have.

[Undercover Monk]

Or your just too dangerous to keep around
_________________
The Classic Blunders:
1. never get involved in a land war in Asia
2.Never go in against a Sicilian when DEATH is on the line
3. Never release Peyton Manning

[Zag]

... as you're about to find out.

[Zag]

(Read the note on the diplomacy game's general board.)

Well, LK wants to bow out. Do you want to just call it a draw and start over? His leaving helps groza and me more than really makes sense -- groza probably a little bit more because of his inadvertent retreat to the wrong choice. We could start over on a 4-player map, if there is one, or maybe find a 5th.

[groza528]

Pah, what's wrong with my retreat? I still have the units to cover myself.
And actually it probably helps you more because now you don't lose Jericho Jerusalem But personally I think since the game is still in the early stages we should probably just cancel; losing a player is quite unbalancing, especially when there are only five to start.
vdiplomacy.com is another site that uses the same code (and therefore format) as webdip, but has a lot of variant maps. If there's a four-player map that's probably the first place to look, though four-player maps are probably hard to come by. I've seen a fair number of 3s and 5s, but not too many 4s.

[Zag]

Cancel is fine with me, too. With no one gone, yet, I suspect that the effect would be the same.

I imagine that there are fewer 4 person maps only because there is not a ton of variation available -- each person is on one side or in one corner, and you want it reasonably symmetrical. It is the other maps which are difficult to make balanced, so many people who was frustrated by the imbalance of the ones already there think that they can do a better job.

Edit: OK. I take it back. There are only two, and it doesn't look like either of them are symmetrical. I suspect, though, that the South American one is effectively so, even if it doesn't look it.

[Undercover Monk]

yeah Im cool with a cancel. I suggest we look for a fifth and restart. surely someone knows someone who wants to play I could ask a buddy of mine. hes got a GL account that he doesnt use.
_________________
The Classic Blunders:
1. never get involved in a land war in Asia
2.Never go in against a Sicilian when DEATH is on the line
3. Never release Peyton Manning

[groza528]

It isn't quite the same because win/lose/draw records are tracked on the site. A draw is recorded as a draw. A cancel is not recorded. So for you it may not make a difference, but Amb and I play on this site with fair regularity and while a draw isn't a horrible thing to have on record, it's not quite representative.
If we look for a fifth I'd really like to find a seventh Zag, any chance you mentioned the game to Zahariel?

[Zahariel]

He did, but I'm really too busy right now to give a round of Diplomacy the attention it deserves. Too much Attack Vector: Tactical every week, plus I guess I'm supposed to do some work occasionally or something? Good luck finding someone though!

[Zag]

groza has voted cancel and Amb has voted draw. You guys need to get on the same page. It turns out that you can vote for both, which I've done.

[Undercover Monk]

done
_________________
The Classic Blunders:
1. never get involved in a land war in Asia
2.Never go in against a Sicilian when DEATH is on the line
3. Never release Peyton Manning

[Amb]

I'd still like a GL game if we can get 5 or 7 players.

[MatthewV]

I'll play if there is going to be more than one game with similar people. Sometimes sweet sweet revenge has to happen in the following game :-)

[Zag]

I'm still in.

[Undercover Monk]

Im a little busy right now running survivor and with rl stuff sorry =(
_________________
The Classic Blunders:
1. never get involved in a land war in Asia
2.Never go in against a Sicilian when DEATH is on the line
3. Never release Peyton Manning