Today is the last day of July and it is time to think about my next move. I hope to have the next game in motion by the middle of August. It will have a new mix of players, but in a twist, I will introduce a requirement that the identity of the heads of state be kept secret. For this experiment in blind diplomacy I will be returning to the classical game, commencing with the Spring 1901 move.
I will randomly draw the player's name and the country from two separate hats. Each player will be asked to create a gmail account in the form of England_Diplomacy, Turkey_Diplomacy, etc. Players will be expected to carry on all correspondence, using these accounts and keeping their identities hidden. As always I expect to be cc'ed on all diplomatic activities. I want to see if it is possible to have a game void of personalities and run on the principle that nations have no friends, only interests.
As per the last couple of turns of my previous game, as per rule XIV-3, if orders are not submitted on time, the country will be in said to be in Civil Disorder for that turn and all units will have Hold Orders only. This reflects the indecision, failure to communicate or failure to reach consensus within the various ministries of your government, the death of a monarch, etc, etc, etc. In the last two games that I ran, I was overly generous with the the submission of orders. I want to encourage orders to be submitted earlier rather than at the last moment.
I was interested if anyone has any experience in Blind Diplomacy? This is not a game that will to be played by 7 complete strangers. In that case it would not matter if identities were hidden or not, but it will be played by players from two distinct gaming groups with myself being the common factor.
I want to avoid alliances based upon friendships, or worst, the us versus them factors. Please enter your comments, or contact me through this blog. I am interested in your comments or insights.
Good gaming!
Robert
