First Game and Beleaguered Garrison and 1971

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I have noticed that the usual ten-minute intro to the rules we
give to new players doesn't quite cover everything that comes up
in play, and there have been a few recriminations about that.
But the problem rule there is the one about a dislodged unit
not influencing affairs in the territory from which its dislodger
came, and that's a hard rule to get across quickly. Beleagured
garrisons are also a weak point.

Mary Kuhner

======================================

Article Title:
First Game and Beleaguered Garrison and 1971

Hi,

The above is from an older post; I reproduce some of it above
in case I refer to it.

I'll be playing my first face-to-face game soon. No one has
played before, including me.

I'll be using a rather simple rule set with respect to the ability
of units to project a stand-off (theoretical rule set 2) so that
everyone (of different ages) can easily grasp the rules quickly
(at least I think they will, we'll see).

I'm also thinking, for simplicity during this first game, and
given the article quoted above, of dropping the beleaguered
garrison rule: that is, there will be no such thing as a
beleaguered garrison.

Of course, all this is fine, as no one cares how you play at home.

My question is this: in 1971 when the rule book finally addressed
the beleaguered garrison question, and decided that there would
be beleaguered garrisons:
1. How did the game creator play Diplomacy concerning this issue
in the middle of the 1960's.
2. Was the adoption of the beleaguered garrison in 1971 at the
request of the game creator? That is, did the committee do as the
game creator requested on this issue when writing the 1971 rule
book?

Thanks

 

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Archived from groups: rec.games.diplomacy (More info?)

Hi,

Sorry if you see this posted twice. The Google
system sometimes says that it has a server
error and to try again; but, apparently even
though it had a server error, it sometimes posts the
article anyway.

Thanks

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.diplomacy (More info?)

Hi,

I decided to withdraw this post. For if I decide to ignore the
beleaguered garrison rule, even if it is hard for everyone to
understand during the first game, I think it could potentially
make the game harder to understand.

For instance, what if England had a unit in province P
holding, and England attacked province P with a strength
of 2 and Russia attacked province P with a strength
of 2. Well, I don't want to think about. So, I think in my
first game I will use the standard beleaguered garrison
rule.

Thanks

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.diplomacy (More info?)

Hi Mary,

Thanks for your informative and detailed reply.

Cheers

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.diplomacy (More info?)

Hi Mary,

Thanks for the tip:

"The main problem rule was "you don't control a province
if you moved into it in Spring and out again in Fall.")"

So, I'll be sure to cover the following for a beginner's game:
1. The rule set for standing off in a province.
2. The beleaguered garrison.
3. Settling in Fall controls, Spring does not.

Thanks again.

 

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In article <1107393520.923109.310060@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>,
NewsGroupUser <Google2007@mailinator.com> wrote:

>For instance, what if England had a unit in province P
>holding, and England attacked province P with a strength
>of 2 and Russia attacked province P with a strength
>of 2. Well, I don't want to think about. So, I think in my
>first game I will use the standard beleaguered garrison
>rule.

I think this is wise, for two reasons:

(1) It's very hard to say in advance if the game will
still be balanced after a major rules change, and this
one (unlike the fleet paradoxes) comes up every game.

(2) If you learn to play under house rules, it is hard
to adapt when you want to play with other groups, or in
tournaments. The Dip tournament circuit is a *lot* of
fun and it would be a shame to cut yourself off.

I played in one regional tournament which turned out to have
club players from small, isolated groups with divergent
rules. They found the standard rules an unpleasant
surprise, and didn't have as much fun as they might have.
(The main problem rule was "you don't control a province
if you moved into it in Spring and out again in Fall.")

Mary Kuhner mkkuhner@eskimo.com

 

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Archived from groups: rec.games.diplomacy (More info?)

In article <1107399631.606648.27470@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>,
NewsGroupUser <Google2007@mailinator.com> wrote:

>So, I'll be sure to cover the following for a beginner's game:
>1. The rule set for standing off in a province.
>2. The beleaguered garrison.
>3. Settling in Fall controls, Spring does not.

I'd add one more:

4. You can only build in a home center.

I got burned by this several games in, when I really should
have known better.

Edi Birsan has a "how to teach Diplomacy quickly" web page which
you might find interesting. It should be reachable from the
Dip Pouch (www.diplom.org).

Mary Kuhner mkkuhner@eskimo.com

 

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Archived from groups: rec.games.diplomacy (More info?)

In message <cttrhe$unk$1@gnus01.u.washington.edu>, Mary K. Kuhner
<mkkuhner@kingman.gs.washington.edu> writes
>In article <1107399631.606648.27470@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>,
>NewsGroupUser <Google2007@mailinator.com> wrote:
>
>>So, I'll be sure to cover the following for a beginner's game:
>>1. The rule set for standing off in a province.
>>2. The beleaguered garrison.
>>3. Settling in Fall controls, Spring does not.
>
>I'd add one more:
>
>4. You can only build in a home center.
>
>I got burned by this several games in, when I really should
>have known better.
>
>Edi Birsan has a "how to teach Diplomacy quickly" web page which
>you might find interesting. It should be reachable from the
>Dip Pouch (www.diplom.org).

Other things that newbies often don't know:
A unit can't cut the support for an attack on itself
You can't disband and rebuild a unit at build time

Nick
--
Nick Wedd nick@maproom.co.uk

 

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mkkuhner@kingman.gs.washington.edu (Mary K. Kuhner) writes:

You can find Edi Birsan's teaching document, among other places,
in Diplomacy World #90, pages 23-25, which you can get at
www.diplomacyworld.org.

Jim-Bob

>In article <1107399631.606648.27470@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>,
>NewsGroupUser <Google2007@mailinator.com> wrote:

>>So, I'll be sure to cover the following for a beginner's game:
>>1. The rule set for standing off in a province.
>>2. The beleaguered garrison.
>>3. Settling in Fall controls, Spring does not.

>I'd add one more:

>4. You can only build in a home center.

>I got burned by this several games in, when I really should
>have known better.

>Edi Birsan has a "how to teach Diplomacy quickly" web page which
>you might find interesting. It should be reachable from the
>Dip Pouch (www.diplom.org).

>Mary Kuhner mkkuhner@eskimo.com