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Diplomacy FAQ

PostPosted: 24 Nov 2008, 23:16
by Diplomat
By popular request:

AAR - After Action Report - a summary written by a player or observer about the game usually in a discussion with the other players of that game.

ABANDONED - When a player and country are in Civil Disorder (see below) for 2+ turns the judge will vacate their position and the power will be abandoned and eligible to be taken over if another player wants to do so.

ACTION - The activity that your units can be made to perform through and ORDER. These include MOVE, HOLD, CONVOY and SUPPORT. RETREAT is a form of MOVE order. A unit not ordered or ordered to perform an illegal Action (ie A Mar - The Moon) will hold in place as if ordered to HOLD.

ADJUDICATE - the process where by the computerized judge (on this site) or the GM (on other sites) review the orders and determine what actions actually occurred in any given phase of a game. Also referred to as a Judge in some contexts.

ALA - Anti Leader Alliance - An alliance of most or all remaining powers in a game to hold the current center leader off from gaining 18 centers and winning the game by either forcing a draw or perhaps actually start pushing the leader down in center count totals.

AOE - A variant based on an Age of Empires start where all 7 powers start the game with 1 territory and 1 unit and expand from there.

BLUE WATER LEPANTO - see also Lepanto. A move where Austria (typically) moves his fleet from Trieste into the Ionian in the face of an Italian fleet build in Naples and an Italian fleet in either Tunis or Tyr. In the spring 02 move phase the fleet holds while Italy, with support, moves into Ionian forcing an Austrian retreat. Turkey, if they have a fleet in Smyrna, typically takes either East Med or Aegean and the forced retreat allows the Austrian fleet to move into the unoccupied space with no danger of a bounce. The next turn the multi country convoy takes place like a normal Lepanto.

BUILD ANYWHERE - A variant that allows a player to build new units in any owned center, not just home centers. AOE is a build anywhere variant.

CD - Civil Disorder - the state a country falls into with no orders are recieved for any given turn when they would be due. Units in Civil Disorder remain stationary and actionless.

CHAOS - 1) A variant whereby every supply centre is a different country occupied by a different player, totaling 34 players with one centre each; 2) A house variant on this site, where each of the seven original countries start with three centres each, but each centre is randomly distributed across the board. This variant is both Winter 1900 and Build Anywhere.

CROWDED DIP - a Variant where all centers on the board are occupied at the start of the game and which adds a center to the board and adds 4 new powers to the original 7.

DIAS - Draw Includes All Survivors - standard rules for draws in Diplomacy which indicate any draw must include all players that have units equally regardless of SC count at the point of the Draw.

DMZ - Demilitarized Zone - where 2 or more players agree not to move units into or through the territory.

DRAW - when a game ends with more than 1 player in the 'winning' faction. A draw is offered by 1 player to some or all of the other players as a way to end the game without 1 of those players having to continue play to a solo victory. Note that, at this time, a draw offer always includes the player that offers the draw in the winning faction. Also, see 'DIAS'. A draw offers equal points to all members who participate in the draw. A draw can be offered for a variety of reasons, due to a stalemate between players where none can advance to victory, due to 2 players wanting to share the victory rather than 1 or the other stabbing their partner for the win, to players just being tired of playing in that game. Points earned for draws depend on the number of players in the draw, and are documented in the Site Rules. For a draw offer to be enacted, all players still in the game (having at least one unit or one supply centre) must accept the draw before the offer expires. Any vote rejecting the draw, or any failure to vote before expiry, means the Draw does not occur. Also the country you get when countries are selected Randomly is also often referred to as the Draw.

EOG - End Of Game - Should be EOGS for EOG Summary - a lame version of an AAR usually written by Radishes. ;)

FADING ECHOS - A mechanism of the Ranking system where older games start to lose value as more games are played, up to 50 games. The system works as follows (Games/% of full value added to your Rank score), 1-10/100%, 11-20/80%, 21-30/60%, 31-40/40%, 41-50/20%, 50+/0%.

FTF - Face to Face - playing the game in person rather than over the internet or on a computer

GUNBOAT - a game variation that allows either No Press between players or only Public Press through the shoutbox

INVITATIONAL - An Invite and Passworded game where the Creator is typically the Host and sends private invitations to other members of his/her choosing to populate the game. See also Open.

JEDI - A nik commonly associated with Bitwise and more commonly Master Radishes. A term that came into use on the site through Bitwise's Invitational. Generally a player capable of performing the Jedi Mind Trick. In other words a player that through bluffs, double bluffs, reverse psychology or pure guesswork, gets a target player to do exactly what the 'Jedi' wants him to do and takes advantage of that predicted move. Also associated with SITH in opposition to Jedi when used in relation to Spitfire who has set himself up in opposition of the Jedi.

JUDGE - See Adjudicate above.

JUGGERNAUT - An 'old school' alliance of Russia and Turkey which is very potent when successfully performed and not countered by the other powers on the board. One of the most feared and best known alliance options.

LEADERBOARD - The listing of the 10 players with the highest rank currently

LEPANTO - Actually named after a historic battle. A move where Italy opens with Turkey as his primary target, moving a fleet into the Ion and convoying an army into Tunis in 1901, and in 1902 he moves that fleet to Eastern Med in the spring, a new fleet into Ion in the spring, and in the fall they convoy the Army in Tunis into Smyrna or, more commonly, Syria. Easily defeated by a Turkish fleet build to occupy East Med but, if you can make it work, it generally spells disaster for Turkey. There are several articles about this strategy that would make very educational reading. Common variations are the Key Lepanto and the Blue Water Lepanto.

MIND TRICK - See Jedi above.

NAP - Non Aggression Pact - something less than an alliance where 2 or more powers agree not to attack each other but likely also don't share any common targets.

NMR - No Moves Recieved - a player submits no moves for 1 or more turns is said to have been NMR.

NOOB - If you need to ask....

OPEN - A typically Passworded game where the Creator posts the game info in the forum and extends open invitations to other forum members to populate the game. See also Invitational.

PUBLIC PRESS - A gunboat variation that allows shoutbox communication that all players can see

RANK - A site specific measurement of success in games over time based on the site's scoring system for your 50 most recent games.

SITH - See Jedi above.

SOLO - when a game ends as a result of 1 player winning the game by controlling 18 centers on the board during any build phase.

SUPPORT - An order written for 1 or more units to support a specific units Action. The Action that is supported can be either a MOVE, CONVOY or a HOLD order. For purposes of the CONVOY order the unit that is ordered to conduct the CONVOY (fleet only of course) can be SUPPORTED against the MOVE and potential Dislodging of that unit by another unit. You do not actually SUPPORT the CONVOY action, but rather you SUPPORT the named unit to stay in place. RETREAT, BUILD, or Illegal orders cannot be supported per se. Any unit that can MOVE from it's current location, into a province regardless of coastal distinctions for fleets, can SUPPORT a Unit to HOLD (or CONVOY) in that province, or can SUPPORT a MOVE into that province by another unit. 3 provinces on the board generate common questions regarding supports with fleets, St Petersburg (STP), Spain (SPA), and Bulgaria (BUL). Those provinces have coasts, STP nc and STP sc, SPA nc and SPA sc, and BUL ec and BUL sc, with nc and sc and ec standing for North, South or East coasts respectivly. If your fleet unit can reach any coast of that province (1, or the other, or both), it can both SUPPORT a MOVE into the province in its entirety, and SUPPORT a unit in that province to HOLD against another unit's order to MOVE there. SUPPORT into a province, either to HOLD there or to MOVE there are not specific to a Coast. This means my fleet in Barents Sea, near STP nc, can support the MOVE of a fleet in Livonia into STP sc (the only coast it can reach), and the order is valid. Please note, this can be confusing to new players. If your unit is in the province itself, and is a Fleet on a coast, it can only support Actions in provinces that it can MOVE to itself. This means that the unit in STP sc that attacked from Livonia cannot SUPPORT my unit in Barents Sea to MOVE to Norway on the next turn. This is because it cannot MOVE there itself. For quick reference I have included the following list broken out with the Province and Coastal Designation, and the places that units in that Province/Coast can SUPPORT Actions in. STP nc - Barents Sea, Norway. STP sc - Livonia, Gulf of Bothnia, Finland. SPA nc - Gascony, Mid-Atlantic Ocean, Portugal. SPA sc - Mid-Atlantic Ocean, Portugal, Western Mediterranean, Gulf of Lyons, Marseilles. BUL sc - Greece, Aegean Sea, Constantinople. BUL ec - Rumania, Black Sea, Constantinople.

THE SWISS OBSERVER - A Nuetral(ish) publication that was first written by Bitwise in his now famous Bitwise Invitational and spoofed in that game by other players with posts in the SWISS SLOBSERVER and other competing 'papers'. The 'publication' of the paper occurred through the shoutbox and brought to light many interesting and helpful rumors and observations about the game board in general. The publication has appeared in other games, but not very often given the time intensive nature of doing the paper justice.

VC - Victory Conditions - the set of conditions under which a victory in a game is reached, ie Solo, or Draw for most typical games.

WESTERN TRIPLE - A triple alliance of England, Germany and Frace where all 3 western powers combine forces and strike east, over the stalemate line, assisting one another along the way, usually starting in 1902-1903. This alliance usually considers Italy part of the Eastern powers. The alliance usually pits England v Russia, with some German help, Germany against Austria, and France v Italy, at least at the beginning states. WTs are typically very effective at getting the Western powers into the late stages of the game.

WINNER(S) - There are 2 ways to 'win' on the site, Solo Victories and Draw Victories. More information available under the headings Solo and Draw.

WINTER 1900 - A variant in which each country selects their own starting units before the game begins.

WORLD DIP - World Diplomacy or Diplomacy which is played on a map of the entire world.

Players of the Game:

Ava - Avalanche, Site Administrator, owner and primary source of development funds! AKA Mr. Jan DeVolo who resides in Europe.

Bats - Batsman

Bit - Bitwise

Dip - Diplomat, don't every listen to this guy (This statement approved by the MR Ministry of Propaganda)

DK - Dar Krum

Edi - Edi Birsan (and yes, his real name btw)

Ifni - Infinity8ball, and a common phrase in many David Brin novels

MD - Mdmuff (don't ask)

MR - Master Radishes, this guy is your friend and loyal ally (This statement also approved by the MR Ministry of Propaganda)

Spit - Spitfire

I threw some fast ones out there for both the players and the terms. Please add more with your definitions and we will flush out the list. Feel free to include terms (ie Jedi) that are site specific, as well as strategy descriptions (ie Lepanto, Bohemian Crusher, etc). To save time you can refer to strategy resources for longer explanations of these topics.

Re: Diplomacy Terms FAQ

PostPosted: 24 Dec 2008, 00:39
by Master Radishes
Okay, I've cleared out all the unnecessary spammy stuff into a separate topic. Let's keep this one to contributing to the FAQ here.

Re: Diplomacy Terms FAQ

PostPosted: 24 Dec 2008, 06:21
by khan1234
Some people might want to know what a convoy is:
Convoy-using fleet(s) to move an army from one territory to another.
Convoys can only be disrupted if a convoying fleet is forced to retreat and there is no alternative path to the target location.

Example of a convoy:
A Wales move Brest
F English Channel convoy Wales to Brest
In this example the army in Wales would move to Brest. This convoy would fail if the fleet in the English Channel was forced to retreat.

Re: Diplomacy Terms FAQ

PostPosted: 24 Dec 2008, 18:25
by Diplomat
I will actually get to all the moves eventually. The support order, for fleets especially, draws a ton of questions.

Re: Diplomacy Terms FAQ

PostPosted: 07 Jan 2009, 20:57
by infinity8ball
What? No "backstab" or "stab" up there? Bah!

Oh wait, Dip wrote the post, nvrmnd then, it all makes sense.

Re: Diplomacy Terms FAQ

PostPosted: 08 Jan 2009, 03:11
by Redbird
u forgot to add Red- means the member Redbird, lol

very nice write up diplomat

Re: Diplomacy Terms FAQ

PostPosted: 08 Jan 2009, 04:56
by Master Radishes
Added Chaos and Winter 1900, because I felt like it.

Re: Diplomacy Terms FAQ

PostPosted: 16 Jan 2009, 00:50
by Diplomat
You rebel you MR.

More precise definition of "Draw?"

PostPosted: 16 Jan 2009, 20:20
by SirMaru
Right now the FAQ says: DRAW - when a game ends with more than 1 player in the 'winning' faction.

What defines the "winning" faction? Is it those with a combination of 18 or more supply centers or must it include all players still possessing one supply center or more? I'm new here so I have never seen that defined more precisely yet.

Re: Diplomacy Terms FAQ

PostPosted: 16 Jan 2009, 20:43
by Diplomat
See if that clears it up for you.