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  • SCORING DIPLOMACY 2: Discussing Various Scoring Systems

    In the first post in this series, I discussed how scoring Diplomacy was introduced. In this post, I’m going to look at various scoring systems by looking at their strengths and weaknesses. Draw Based Scoring Systems DBS scoring systems usually have a game which ends in a victory – a player that achieves ownership of…

  • SCORING DIPLOMACY 1: The Introduction of Scoring Systems to Diplomacy

    Allan B Calhamer designed Diplomacy to be played as a one-off game. As with all board games, it was designed to be played by friends and family. I’m not sure how great an idea adding the motto that used published on a Dip box was: “Destroying friendships since 1959.” (Well, OK, I am pretty sure…

  • The Reboot

    So I’ve been thinking about whether I am pleased with this blog… and I decided it was time to look at it again. Why? Because there’s a lot of posts that I feel like I’ve replicated and, well, I wanted a different look. So I’m going to start going through all my posts, removing some,…

  • The Norwegian Gambit

    I don’t usually like the way the word ‘gambit’ is used in openings. It’s borrowed from Chess and involves a risky move. Often, in Diplomacy terminology, it’s not used in this way, the single exception being the Balkan Gambit, a Turkish opening in which Turkey doesn’t take Bulgaria in 1901. With this E/R opening, though,…

  • The Arkangel Opening

    Hang on. What? The target SCs are Norway and St Petersburg – how can this opening not be aggressive towards Russia!?! Good question. Look at the map above. It looks a real mess. What’s England doing? Have they started with an E/G alliance against Russia, and then stabbed Germany? Not the way to play the…