The World as We Know it, by The Montreal Informer

REVOLUTION SWEEPS TURKEY!!!- Mustafa Ataturk Deposed!, Flavius Justuinan Assumes Interim Leadership of Restored Byzantine Empire!, Flavius Belsarius Aided by Fauber Narses Leads Restoration!

 

Unconfirmed reports in the Montreal Informer state the Islamic Soviet People's Republic of Turkey has been overthrown in a popular revolt by a widespread uprising by freedom loving citizens.

An Informer reporter in Constantinople stated that approximately 2 days ago, after months of civil unrest, Flavius Belsarius and Fauber Narses led a popular revolt against the infidel Ottoman Turks that has seen the restoration of the Eastern Roman Empire.

In an exclusive interview  to CNN reporter, Maximus Gullibus, interim leader (soon to be emperer), Flavius Justinian has vowed to restore democratic government (as long as he is the emperor) to the long suffering citizens of the Republic of the Eastern Roman Empire.

With Constantinople ringing to chants of "SPQR, SPQR, SPQR" Justinian has announced he will restore democratic rights to all citizens (with an exception ot two) and to pursue a policy of truth, peace and reconciliation with all nations. It is expected he will be crowned emperor in the Haiga Sophia in the next few days.

Flavius Justinian is also reported has having vowed to restore the full the Roman Empire thru peaceful co-operation and negotiation. And all previous agreements will be adhered to in typical Byzantine fashion.

On another note Fox News is reporting that Comrade Chariman Mustafa Ataturk is in intensive care after having fallen down a set of stairs while being escorted to his residence to be placed under house arrest.

The Informer also reports that Narses will assume the role of foreign minister and Belsarius minister of war.

Long live the Eastern Roman Empire!

 Initial Set-up for 1871

In the other lead story from the Informer 

Italy may be in play before Sunday February 19th.

It is early 1871. Prussia has unified the Germany under the Emperor. Italy is still a miss-mash of squabbling states.  In 1866, Italy won Venice by helping Prussia against Austria in the Austro-Prussian War.  Likewise, Italian help in the Franco-Prussian War earned it Rome (except for the Vatican which remained an independent state inside of Rome). The question remains. Will Giuseppe Garibaldi lead his Red Shirts into the remaining independent city-states and unite Italy under Victor Emmanuel in time to take part in the game or not? 

Diplomacy 2012: The Game's afoot!!!

I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'

William Shakespeare's Henry V Act 3 Scene 1

Challenges have been issued. Invitations have been sent. The rules are defined. The board wakens. We await word from the players in this drama.

I hope that the Spring 1901 orders will be ready and posted before the end of January.   It has been almost 6 months since the end of the last game, and my time has been concentrated on my studies, which are coming to an end. I am in the final week of my accounting program at Dawson College in Montreal and I start a six week internship with Canadian Pacific Railway on the 16th. Then its once more unto the breach, as I return to the job market. For some reason I think I'll have more time for gaming. I may be mistaken....

Future Plans Blind Diplomacy

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