Game Type: Milan variant

Players: 7. Not that I'm cynical, but standby players are welcome!

Deadlines:
Orders - Mondays, 9 PM Central Time (as in Chicago). That is, GMT -5:00.
Retreats - Tuesdays, 9 PM Central Time (as in Chicago). That is, GMT -5:00.
Builds/Disbands - Wednesdays, 9 PM Central Time (as in Chicago). That is, GMT -5:00.

Victory conditions: The usual 18 centers.

Alternate ending: Draw Includes All Survivors, after 5 years.

Power assignments: Random

Maps: Yes! I will use JDip and hope to publish the maps and resolutions in the game
forum. However, I will also email results, map and gamefile to each player.

Communications: E-mail and Redscape forum.

INTRODUCTION
"Si vis pacem" is the beginning of that oft-repeated Roman maxim "If you want peace, prepare for war." Diplomats must prepare for active and ongoing discussions, hustles, admissions, and all manner of imaginative communication. For is it not the supreme diplomat who can convince the other party to believe that his own actions were self-realized, rather than influenced by seeds carefully placed and nurtured by the crafty diplomat?

I have chosen the Milan variant, which is an otherwise Standard game, save for the revised geographical distribution in Northern Italy. Frankly, while some players here find "Milan" a useless variant, I think it offers some new ways of thinking and acting, especially for those who are not playing the green blocks.

About the Deadlines
I am going with a 5 day season because that has been a standard duration for forum games here. If you want a faster game (1-2 days), then trot over to Otto (when he wakes up).With 2 additional days given to retreats and adjustments, we have nice week-long seasons. Of course, I will close any season earlier, should all players mark their orders FINAL.

NOTES ON RULES
Standard Diplomacy rules are in effect, those being the 4th Edition (2000) rules, freely available from: http://www.diplom.org/~diparch/diplomacy_rules.htm

Redscape House Rules are also in effect. The House rules pertain mostly to procedural issues regarding game management. I will post the House Rules in a separate message in this forum. It is the most recent set that I have, but they are several years old. If somebody has a more recent copy, let me know and we'll all be happy to have it!

As the GM, I have the final say-so in any arbitration. I will act as fairly and objectively as possible. If you uncover an error in adjudication, notify me right away before the next deadline so I can correct it.

NMRs (No Moves Received) - There will be no NMRs in the first year. Any player who misses Spring 01 or Fall 01 will be immediately dropped and replaced. The season will restart once a new player is brought on.

ORDERS
Standard abbreviations are accepted, though complete spellings minimize misunderstandings. Any ambiguous order will result in a unit holding. If you order a unit twice, the second order will take precedence, even if it is an illegal order. In the subject line of your email, include the following information: Game Name, Country, Season. Include "Final" if you hope for a speedier season.

In the subject line of your orders, include the game name (si vis pacem), your country, and the season (e.g. si vis pacem, Germany, Fall 01 Retreats). Orders received after the deadline (9:00 PM Central) may be accepted if I have not yet started adjudication. No promises, though. My recommendation: Submit orders early and often.

Adjudication
I am using JDip and include a map and game file with the emailed results. Hint: If you install JDip,you can load the game files to make following and writing orders much easier. You can get jDip at: http://jdip.sourceforge.net/

PRESS
Please use the forum (once we get it up) for any public press you care to dream up in that crafty head of yours! Humorous, thoughtful, provocative, and historical notes make the game so much more interesting. However, I will not tolerate personal attacks against another player; the player's mother; or the player's dog. This is a just a game! Go have a beer or run a few miles if you are put off. I will terminate a player from the game for continued personal attacks, either through the forum or email. So beware, all you hatchet-faced, onion-sniffing spawns of Hades!

DELAYS
There is that ugly word we all hate. I understand that you are all Real People and have Real Life situations to deal with. And this is only a game. Nevertheless, just because you need to go on vacation, take your Doctoral prelims, or fly to Cancun to participate in a conference on feeding the poor, that doesn't mean time stands still here. Submit orders early! However, if there is a real emergency, try to let me know ahead of time to avoid an NMR or game delay. If you simply have to quit, please let me know immediately, rather than simply stop playing. That will give me time to get a replacement player and possibly avoid a protracted delay.

WHAT I WANT FROM YOU:
If you are still reading this (sorry for all of the legalese) and want to play, post a reply. Include your name and email address. You can ask for a position, but I'll just ignore it, anyway and randomly distribute the positions. I have not GM'd a game for quite awhile, so I'll do my best. Anyway, that's about it for now.


You can stop reading now, or sit back and enjoy Chapter XLIV in the unexpurgated autobiography of my life, as written by Charles Dikkens, the well-known Dutch author:


XLIV. It was on one memorable Thursday in the 5th grade, that I first amazingly gazed upon Jennifer's lovely

pencil case?

Ach. Just remembered I'm going on vacation soon - it would mess this up so count me out. Sorry.

I can probably play, although in a few weeks I'm also going away for a bit and won't have any internet access. As such if you want to give the slot to somebody else I'm cool with that, I can just go on the standby list or something.

I'm up for it.

diplomacy AT danivon DOT com

Gotcha, Danivon.
You, too, Sassenach. We'll see how it develops.

We be cruising.

My game just concluded. So, I'd like to toss my hat in the ring.

Okay, Ambassador Geezer, that's 2 1/2 so far!

To our esteemed GM-to-be;

Do you have your avatars on a Roladex ????????

The only thing harder to hit than a moving target is a moving target that also changes!

My last Forum Game, "Embassy Sweets", took almost 6 months to set up
Discouraging really, when you look back 2 or 3 years ago.
Maybe the 2 1/2 of us already signed should do our best to recruit the rest of the roster.
I will contact some old faithfuls and see what I can do.
Summer is tough, but surely some dipping once a week can squeeze into anyone's schedule. Say what ??

I agree.

Well, I think the entire Redscape site needs some big-time advertising, postings on other DIP sites, for example. A new manifesto or statement of purpose could go a long way to bringing back more of us old-timers and new players, as well.

I'd go so far as to say we should even try to adopt a new look and a new nickname, such as "Redscape Revile" or "Redscape: The Next Generation", or something clever. And while a "steampunkt" look in general is fine, I think a winged skull does not really say what this site is about. So: new color, new imagery, new brand name and lots of advertising, much of which we, as players, can accomplish through our own contacts.

Heck there are several thousand names on the member list. While many have probably passed out of the hobby as generally happens, it's still a fabulous resource for a mass mailing by Brad, I think. He just has to convince the members (old and new) that the site is back up, it will continue, and it will be actively supported.

I will get on this tomorrow. Good idea!

I'm sorry if I stepped on your toes by not writing you first, Brad. I didn't want to give the impression that I was criticizing your efforts. For all I know, you probably have all of this in the works, already. I sometimes write-first-and-think-afterwards. Afterr all, you and Neal have already done a lot to just keep the site going! Anyway, if you do have anything in the planning, I will volunteer to help out where I can.

No worries whatsoever. no offense taken.