Diplomacy Games

The guys interview Legendary Tactics, receive a variant question from Brother Bored and continue their Juggernaut game. Intro The guys discuss their drinks, the big draw card for recording the show and venue.  (0 mins 10 secs) They discuss the upcoming interview with Legendary Tactics and question from Brother Bored (3 mins 15 secs) Interview with Legendary Tactics They guys welcome Legendary Tactics (LT) to the show  (4 mins 10 secs) Amby asks about what got Legendary Tactics into Diplomacy (4 mins 40 secs) He goes onto discuss the Legendary Tactics Youtube channel (6 mins 10 secs) Legendary Tactics flips the table on the interview and asks Kaner and Amby about what got them into the game and the podcast (7 mins 15 secs) Amby asks about who's behind the Legendary Tactics channel and discusses their involvement in Diplomacy (11 mins 40 secs) They discuss the Canadian Diplomacy scene and face to face (15 mins) Amby asks where LT finds the time (16 mins 45 secs) LT discusses what you need techwise to run a Youtube channel (18 mins) Amby asks what games have they covered on the channel that most resembles Diplomacy (20 mins 45 secs) Kaner asks about Twilight Struggle (23 mins 30 secs) Amby asks about which videos have proved most popular (25 mins 50 secs) LT asks aside from Diplomacy, what other games do Kaner & Amby play (27 mins 40 secs) They discuss having a Game of Thrones game before wrapping up the interview (32 mins) Post interview chat Kaner asks why Amby doesn't play many other board games (33 mins 30 secs) Amby asks Kaner about his games room (35 mins 45 secs) Amby reflects on the Legendary Tactics theme being three people. Kaner discusses being interviewed on their own podcast (38 mins 15 secs) Brother Bored's variant question The guys deliver the intro to Brother Bored's question he's received on his blog (39 mins) Brother Bored reads Ryan's question and throws to Kaner and Amby for a response (40 mins) Kaner gives his thought on which variants match the spirit of the original game. He discusses Chaos. Amby talks about Classic Fog of War and Europa Renovatio.  Kaner also discusses Modern and Fall of the American Empire. Amby touches on Ancient Mediterranean (41 mins 10 secs) Kaner casts scorn on Fubar, before giving a big thumbs up to Greek Diplomacy (45 mins 50 secs) Brother Bored wonders what is meant by the "spirit of Diplomacy" (47 mins 55 secs) Kaner gives his views on variant trends and rules. Amby discusses David E. Cohen's Dawn of the Enlightenment's high seas zones. Amby talks balance with Hundred and Treaty of Verdun. Kaner talks about the historical narrative (49 mins 30 secs) Brother Bored discusses Kaner's thoughts. Amby talks about Divided States and Kaner brings up Haven (56 mins 15 secs) Brother Bored talks about striking what is and isn't historically accurate to achieve balance (59 mins 20 secs) Amby asks Brother Bored which variants does he play. He discusses Fall of the American Empire and touches on World Diplomacy IX  (1 hr 0 mins 10 secs) They start wrapping up the discussion. Kaner flags if you're interested in variants to try vDip, webDip, playDip, Diplicity and Conspiracy (1 hr 4 mins) Kaner post interview talks about Brother Bored's costume and Halloween (1 hr 6 mins 20 secs) How good is the Juggernaut? The guys return to their game playing a Juggernaut against the bots at webDip, but quickly touch on eCarnage and playing a face to face game soon (1 hr 11 mins 45 secs) After some more drinks the guys come back to their game. Kaner gives his impressions of the game as they restart looking at the map in fall 1905. They remind listeners they can hear about a far more effective alliance played out in their Patreon feed. They go onto discuss their builds and upcoming strategy (1 hr 14 mins 40 secs) Fall 1905's map After builds they put in their Spring 1906 moves (1 hr 21 mins 20 secs) They give a brief update on Kaner's unsuccessful bid for the American presidency (1 hr 24 mins) Spring 1906 outcome After adjudication they discuss what happened for Spring 1906's moves (1  hr 29 mins 30 secs) They start planning their moves for Fall 1906 (1 hr 31 mins 40 secs) Fall 1906 outcome   The guys finalize their orders and check the adjudication for Fall 1906 (1 hr 39 mins 30 secs) They discuss the options for Kaner's build (1 hr 41 mins 20 secs) Some new drinks and new batteries later they guys return. Amby has dating questions for Kaner (1 hr 44 mins) They start planning their spring 1907 moves and reflect on the slog that is the Juggernaut (1 hr 49 mins 40 secs) Spring 1907 outcome The guys ready up and go through the adjudication of Spring 1907 before Kaner makes a retreat (1 hr 57 mins ) They move onto discussing their Fall 1907 moves. Amby has a Sean Connery moment (2 hrs 0 mins 15 secs) Fall 1907 outcome The guys finish up their orders and walk through the adjudication for Fall 1907 and discuss build thoughts (2 hrs 8 mins) Looking at the time, Kaner & Amby pause the game and start wrapping up the show (2 hrs 15 mins ) Venue: Bloodhound Corner Bar, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner:  Kenny porter Amby: Mother's Milk shiraz Just a reminder you can support the show by giving it 5 stars on iTunes or Stitcher. And don't forget if you want to help improve the audio equipment... or get the guys more drunk, you can also donate at Patreon, plus you get extra podcast episodes! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe so you get the latest Diplomacy Games episodes straight to your phone. Thanks as always to Dr Dan aka "The General" for his rockin' intro tune.  

The guys wrap-up the Media Wars game in an interview with Brother Bored, Legendary Tactics & CaptainMeme. They go onto talk about gender bias in the online game, broken websites and Kaner's final pitch to be elected President of the United States. Intro The guys discuss their drinks and venue. They talk about the amount of content being put out by the players, particularly Brother Bored, Legendary Tactics & CaptainMeme before kicking off an interview with them  (0 mins 10 secs) Media Wars: Interview with Brother Bored, Legendary Tactics & CaptainMeme Apologies from Amby, I thought my mike was muted at various stages, so if you hear cutlery on a plate, that was me... sorry! Amby welcomes Brother Bored, Legendary Tactics & CaptainMeme to the show. He mentions why he didn't include the other players due to how disorganised the interview would likely be (3 mins 30 secs) He reflects on whether the Media Wars game was meant to be winner take all, rather than allowing a draw (which Brother Bored, Legendary Tactics & CaptainMeme were part of), and asks them about their understanding (5 mins 10 secs) Amby asks what they felt the game was going to be about when approached by umbletheheep to be involved. Captain mentions how he suggested the idea initially to umble (8 mins) They discuss the media creation angle of the game before morphing into the game itself. They also mention Legendary Tactics' Archetypes video  (11 mins 30 secs) Brother Bored discusses the One True Style (17 mins) Amby reflects on Legendary Tactics' War Diary video (18 mins) He asks which content did they enjoy or learn the most from. LT mentions Village Idiot's advanced maneuvers post on Brother Bored's blog, CaptainMeme's 10 hour video and Zach Moore's videos rating players. LT also mentions Brother Bored's content (19 mins 15 secs) They discuss identifying who was who in the game. Amby asks using content to sway views of players (22 mins 50 secs) Amby reminds them how he was in it briefly. He discusses his plan and what could he have done better (24 mins 30 secs) He asks about trust and whether there was a chance of a stab between Austria and Russia (31 mins) CaptainMeme asks about Brother Bored's perspective (32 mins 45 secs) Lying is discussed, including CaptainMeme's trickery on Amby (34 mins) Amby asks about Brother Bored's efforts to break the Austria-Russia alliance (38 mins) He asks about their thoughts on key turning points in the game (39 mins 45 secs) LT gives CaptainMeme a hack to be able to go back and view press after a game has concluded (43 mins) He goes on to give a shout out to Village Idiot for his gameplay (44 mins 20 secs) Brother Bored discusses his thoughts on key turning points (45 mins) Amby asks if aside from Brother Bored, did LT or Captain think they had a real chance at winning the game (48 mins 20 secs) CaptainMeme asks a question about whether Austria had a chance for a solo. Brother Bored weighs in as they discuss soft power (51 mins) Amby asks for final thoughts, CaptainMeme asks Amby about what he planned to do if his janissary unit picked up an SC and whether he'd use the build to stab Russia back (1 hr 00 mins 30 secs) They discuss doing a Media Wars game again and who should be included next time around. The guys suggest Chris Martin, FloridaMan, Kaner & David Hood (1 hr 3 mins) The interview wraps up (1 hr 6 mins) The guys return and discuss their thoughts on the interview. Kaner suggests to find more Diplomacy media to go to the Reddit channel or the Nexus Discord (1 hr 7 mins) On media, Amby points out that Brother Bored has a podcast out now. Visit his site or search for Brother Bored wherever you get your podcasts: Brother Bored's Diplomacy Dojo (1 hr 8 mins 30 secs) Amby asks where you find the time at the moment to consume all this Diplomacy content out there (1 hr 10 mins 45 secs) Gender bias & Diplomacy They return to discussion previous episode on the use of the word "dude" and the assumption often made in the online Diplomacy community of using the male pronoun for players (1 hr 12 mins) They discuss their face to face games they often get two female players, and once this other local female player joins (when we start up again) we'll have three female players in a game which is pretty awesome (1 hr 15 mins) When they restart local games (probably next month) they discuss live streaming the face to face game (1 hr 16 mins 30 secs) WordPress callout / broken bit of the DiplomacyGames website Amby asks if anyone listening to the show has WordPress skills. The template the site uses is no longer supported and the latest podcast section on the homepage isn't changing anymore. So if someone can help the show fix it or help move the site to a new template please contact Amby by email or Twitter (1 hr 17 mins 30 secs) Around the grounds Kaner has signed up for a new Europa Renovatio game which he's waiting to properly get started (1 hr 20 mins 45 secs) He talks about a new big map viewer app available at vDip created by JonasGarrigueMasaryk (1 hr 22 mins 30 secs) After some new beers they move to a quieter section of the pub's beer garden (1 hr 24 mins) Amby talks about his Winning is for Losers game, a classic game that is tied to a forum thread game. Players in the board game who win on the thread can force another player to make a move of the winning player's choice. Amby's taking more time thinking about the game and is finding this is helping (1 hr 26 mins 30 secs) They discuss how the game is going. The guys discuss whether a player dead in the board game could still win the thread and decide the forced move of another player. Kaner gives his thoughts on Amby's upcoming moves (which has since happened by the time the podcast is released)  (1 hr 32 mins) Kaner's presidential campaign update Amby asks Kaner how his presidential campaign is going (1 hr 38 mins 30 secs) This is the last podcast before the US election so they try to get out the vote for Kaner (1 hr 40 mins) The guys can't get their heads around why Americans use so many systems when voting. They clash though when it comes to democracy sausages.  (1 hr 41 mins) They get distracted as a magpie attacks a drone in the sky. Kaner mentions a video where a magpie is attacking a kid on a bike  (1 hr 49 mins) They work out the plan for the next recording before wrapping up (1 hr 50 mins 30 secs) Venue: Pig & Whistle, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner:  Roger's by Little Creatures Amby: Newtowner Pale Ale by Young Henry's Just a reminder you can support the show by giving it 5 stars on iTunes or Stitcher. And don't forget if you want to help improve the audio equipment... or get the guys more drunk, you can also donate at Patreon, plus you get extra podcast episodes! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe so you get the latest Diplomacy Games episodes straight to your phone. Thanks as always to Dr Dan aka "The General" for his rockin' intro tune.

The guys catch up with Dave Maletsky about eCarnage and what's happening with the World Diplomacy Championship. Plus talk about Diplomacy news and discuss variant development. Intro The guys discuss their drinks and venue. Amby mentions how he met well known Diplomacy player, Peter McNamara at the Fox very early on in the podcast (0 mins 10 secs) Amby introduces an interview with Dave Maletsky about November's Carnage - now eCarnage - and the roadmap ahead for the World Diplomacy Championships (4 mins) Interview with Dave Maletsky about eCarnage and the WDC Amby asks about what's happening with this year's Carnage (6-8 November 2020) due to Covid (5 mins 20 secs) Dave discusses how this year's Carnage - being all online so called eCarnage - is running two rounds in the US and two rounds in the Asia-Pacific using different scoring systems, and how player' rankings determine a final ranking for the Top Board (6 mins 50 secs) Dave flags the need to formally register and the need for a small entrance fee (9 mins 10 secs) Amby clarifies the tournament play process (10 mins 50 secs) He asks what's happening with the World Diplomacy Championships (WDC) and Dave outlines (12 mins) Kaner asks about the logistics in the games (14 mins) He goes onto ask how the broader tournament organisers are managing Carnage (16 mins) Amby asks about the normal physical Carnage whether players walking around take an interest in Diplomacy. Amby asks about the relationship with Dungeons and Dragons (18 mins 30 secs) Amby asks about the round timings (22 mins 45 secs) Dave discussing the seeding aspects of the games (25 mins 20 secs) Amby asks about how participation in eCarnage is reflected in a broader rating system (27 mins) He goes on to ask about player numbers (29 mins 30 secs) Dave talks about the cross over being successfully achieved from online players being increasingly involved in F2F/virtual events (31 min) Amby asks about the cultural change happening in the game (32 mins 40 secs) He goes onto ask about the resolution process for adverse behavior (35 mins) Amby asks how many Carnages Dave has been director for (37 mins) Dave talks about some of the awards at Carnage (39 mins 50 secs) Amby asks about where players can find all the up to date info about eCarnage (44 mins) Dave talks about confidence and attitude in games (46 mins) The guys wrap up the interview (46 mins 30 secs) After the interview, Kaner mentions a Bourse is being run on the Top Board for eCarnage (47 mins 10 secs) Kaner & Amby quickly gives an overview about what a Bourse game is (48 mins 40 secs) They talk about the two different time zone competitions and what's happening with WDC (53 mins) Latest news & shit The guys talk about the article in Popular Mechanics about Diplomacy and Andrew Goff (56 mins) Kaner asks Amby if he's going to play in Carnage before discussing Gary Gygax (58 mins) Amby brings up Legendary Tactics post about Twilight Struggle (1 hr) They talk about Trump being in hospital at the time of recording (1 hr 2 mins) Amby discusses how the Brother Bored interview on the show has been remastered to be in the Brother Board robotic voice (1 hr 5 mins 15 secs) Kaner discusses GoHornsGo's recent post about his Diplomacy collection (1 hr 8 mins) Around the grounds Amby runs through the Media Wars game which has now drawn. Players in the Spring 1912 draw were: Brother Bored (Germany 14 SC's), Legendary Tactics (Austria 11 SC's), CaptainMeme/DiploStrats (Russia 8 SCs's) and Village Idiot (Italy 2 SC's) (1 hr 11 mins 20 secs) The guys talk about the Winning game that Amby's in. This is a cross over Classic game with a forum thread at vDip. If you win the forum thread that turn, as a Diplomacy player you get the GM to request another player to make a specific move that they must do. They discuss some of the duplicity in the game (1 hr 16 mins) Amby is also having a little opening joy in his Italian Stallions Machiavelli game. Kaner asks about the map (1 hr 25 mins) Last up is his Declaration of War Fall of the American Empire IV game (1 hr 28 mins) Kaner's Europa Renovatio game Lockdown Renovatio has just finished with him doing well, being part of the draw as Naples (1 hr 30 mins 30 secs) Amby reflects in the Winning game that another one of the players - Macca - is also based in Brisbane. They discuss about getting a face-to-face game happening (1 hr 36 mins) Variant development update After some more drinks, Kaner discusses a message we received from Amuzet about drawing maps (1 hr 38 mins) Amby gives an update from Flame about whether his Lab would be available for variant development (1 hr 41 mins) They discuss what you need to do to set up a server, or whether its better to just sit on it until Kaner's next lot of holidays. They go onto discuss getting Kaner prepared to play a virtual game: Tempest in a Teapot (1 hr 43 mins 20 secs) Amby get a message from David E. Cohen about a Classic variant but where some of the water is frozen. Kaner talks about it. Amby reflects on the Ice Age variant he started creating. He has the territory map and names/SCs maps done, but can't remember who the players are meant to be and whether there are any additional rules - pretty sure there aren't any beyond the additional impassable areas due to glaciers (1 hr 46 mins) Amby discusses Fake Al's Tiglath-Pileser variant set at the time of Solomon in the bible (1 hr 50 mins 40 secs) Kaner got a message from Major Mitchell at webDip and does a shout out before they wrap up the show  (1 h 56 mins 30 secs)   Venue: The Fox, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner:  Two Suns Pale Ale and Grappler lager by Green Beacon Amby: Marty's Block shiraz cabernet   Just a reminder you can support the show by giving it 5 stars on iTunes or Stitcher. And don't forget if you want to help improve the audio equipment... or get the guys more drunk, you can also donate at Patreon, plus you get extra podcast episodes! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe so you get the latest Diplomacy Games episodes straight to your phone. Thanks as always to Dr Dan aka "The General" for his rockin' intro tune.

The guys interview renown Diplomacy variant creator David E. Cohen before they test out an alliance for the ages: The Juggernaut. Intro The guys discuss their drinks and venue (0 mins 10 secs) They introduce the interview with David E. Cohen (3 mins 40 secs) Interview with David E. Cohen The interview starts badly with lots of technical issues - both in the initial connection and also the quality of the recording. Bear with us listeners, slightly normal service soon returns. That said there are chair squeaks and other background noise throughout the interview at our end (4 mins) Eventually their perseverance pays off as David explains his process for creating variants (7 mins 30 secs) Kaner asks where the idea for Known World 901 came from. David explains where it came from and how it fitted in with Western World 901  (8 mins 20 secs) Amby asks about the process of bringing together multiple maps into a single new game eg Maharaja coming together with Spice Islands to create an East Indies variant (9 mins 45 secs) Kaner brings up the Mandate of Heaven variant and how to port it across (11 mins) Kaner asks David about his first variant he created (16 mins 20 secs) He goes onto ask about his latest project, Dawn of the Enlightenment (17 mins 30 secs) David discusses his approach to breaking sea stalemate lines: High Seas provinces. They are similar to sealanes but allow multiple units in the same geographic space (19 mins) Amby asks about what feedback David has received during play testing (26 mins) David talks about the differing victory criteria for players and the timing of the variant (27 mins) Kaner asks about whether anyone is planning on porting Dawn of the Enlightenment to an online Diplomacy platform (29 mins 45 secs) He asks whether David has a rule of thumb for variant creators (30 mins 40 secs) David touches on his new variant he's started working on, Unconstitutional (33 mins 20 secs) Amby asks an Australia based question for Dawn of the Enlightenment (36 mins 50 secs) David covers off what variant developers need to avoid (38 mins 30 secs) Amby asks what pitch would David give to a classic player on why they should try playing a variant occasionally (40 mins 45 secs) Amby double checks about adjacency between the North and South Atlantic High Sea provinces (44 mins 20 secs) Kaner discusses how he'd approach porting the map across to vDiplomacy (46 mins) Amby asks about whether Kaner should put his effort into Dawn of the Enlightenment or Squirrel Wars (48 mins) Amby asks David who else's maps does he like when it comes to variants (49 mins 20 secs) They discuss the backing up of variants over at vDip (51 mins 30 secs) David discusses how much would be needed to buy the rights to Diplomacy (52 mins 30 secs) The guys start wrapping up the interview (53 mins 30 secs) After the interview they give their thoughts & Kaner announces he really has started working on Dawn of the Enlightenment. They discuss how maps are constructed and displayed in the online Diplomacy environment (54 mins 45 secs) They discuss trying to get access to the variant Lab with Flame. They talk about thoughts on the winning conditions, the High Seas provinces, the spread of SCs on the map and avoiding determined moves (58 mins 45 secs) Alliances that work: a Juggernaut case study The guys get some more beers while Kaner sets out the Diplomacy map on the table (1 hr 11 mins) They talk about a recent Patreon episode where they tested what happens when you have an unbreakable alliance and which are alliances that work. The guys are testing this by playing against the Bots at webDip (1 hr 12 mins) The discuss the random games they created and their thinking on why they chose to test the Juggernaut (1 hr 15 mins) They discuss Kaner wanting to do a slingshot, trying to trick the Bot players to thinking an RT is not happening (1 hr 18 mins) They discuss their potential moves (1 hr 21 mins 30 secs) Spring 1901   The guys discuss Spring 1901 (1 hr 25 mins) Next up they plan what to do in Fall 1901 (1 hr 28 mins) Kaner challenges Amby's thinking on a movement (1 hr 32 mins) Fall 1901 They finalise moves and discuss how the turn worked out - after Amby admits to a bit of a technical screw up (1 hr 36 mins 30 secs) The guys start planning their moves for Spring 1902 (1 hr 40 mins 40 secs) Spring 1902 They discuss the adjudication from Spring 1902 (1 hr 49 mins) Next up is their plans for Fall 1902 (1 hr 52 mins 20 secs) Fall 1902 They come back and discuss Fall (2 hrs 1 min) After talking builds, its time to discuss plans for Spring 1903 (2 hrs 4 mins) Spring 1903  After some more beers they breakdown the moves for spring 1903... including an embarrassing misorder by Amby (2 hrs 11 mins) The guys then start planning for Fall 1903 moves. Kaner teaches Amby another lesson on move logistics (2 hrs 16 mins 30 secs) Fall 1903 Amby discovers Kaner is right again as they examine Fall moves (2 hrs 24 mins) After some bitching from Kaner about his phone provider, its time for discussion about spring 1904 (2 hrs 30 mins) Spring 1904 The guys discuss the latest set of moves (2 hrs 33 mins) Onto planning for Fall 1904 (2 hrs 35 mins) Fall 1904 Time to unpack Fall 1904 and Amby's cheeky move pays off (2 hrs 41 mins 15 secs) After builds, the guys plan for Spring 1905 (2 hrs 45 mins) Spring 1905 The guys analyse the moves for Spring 1905 (2 hrs 50 mins) And before the guys wrap it up for the night, they plan for Fall 1905 (2 hrs 52 mins) Amby discusses a Virtual Diplomacy League game that Kaner might be interested in. Then its a little haircut talk (2 hrs 55 mins) Fall 1905 And in the last wrap up of the night, Kaner & Amby dissect Fall 1905 before wrapping the podcast up (3 hrs 1 min) Venue: Saccharomyces, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner:  Black Hops Hornet IPA and Grifter Oatmeal Stout Amby: Black Hops Hornet IPA Just a reminder you can support the show by giving it 5 stars on iTunes or Stitcher. And don't forget if you want to help improve the audio equipment... or get the guys more drunk, you can also donate at Patreon, plus you get extra podcast episodes! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe so you get the latest Diplomacy Games episodes straight to your phone. Thanks as always to Dr Dan aka "The General" for his rockin' intro tune.

Under the never-ending clickity-clack of the train line, the guys catch up in a brewery for a little Diplomacy chat... and the odd drink or two! Intro The guys introduce the show, the venue and their drinks (0 mins 10 secs) They talk about surfing, waterskiing and serenity (2 mins 45 secs) Around the grounds They flag there may be a bit of train noise in the background as they're near a rail line. Kaner asks Amby how his games are going. Amby talks about the Big Hitters game (5 mins 20 secs) Amby discusses his offer to GM a Winning game for players in the Winning thread (7 mins 15 secs) Amby goes onto discuss how badly he's doing in the Cloak and Dagger series, being played on a Modern Europe map (10 mins) He then discusses his (surprise surprise) elimination from the Media Wars game and how the other players are going (12 mins) Kaner in Quarantine Amby thinks he stuffed up the recording (he didn't) before giving a drinks update (16 mins) Kaner discusses the impact of his workplace being shutdown due to Covid-19 (18 mins 15 secs) Amby explains why the podcast was delayed a week due to the changes Kaner needed to accommodate into at work (25 mins) They talk about the Patreon episode they recorded while he was in quarantine. They discuss their alliance game against the bots at webDip (25 mins 45 secs) Around the grounds (part 2) and Diplomacy chat Kaner gives an update on his "Where's Kaner" Europa Renovation games and the troubles of internet loading issues when orders are due (30 mins 15 secs) Amby touches on his Atlantic Colonies game (32 mins 45 secs) He goes onto mention one of the games he's trying to get started: Italian Stallions using the Machiavelli map, the first Diplomacy map Amby ever played on (35 mins 15 secs) They talk about old military/political strategy books and whether that'd help gameplay eg Machiavelli's "The Prince", von Clausewitz's "On War", Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" and the Roman general Frontinus' "Strategemata" (37 mins 30 secs) Amby discusses Aristotle's "Modes of Persuasion" in the devices of rhetoric: ethos, pathos and logos (40 mins 15 secs) Kaner raises a Reddit post about strategy for multiple people playing together as a single country and how to approach things (44 mins 30 secs) Amby thinks a bonus WDC day of tournament players doing this group game would be awesome (55 mins) Kaner gives credit to the teacher/professor for creating such a game scenario. Amby touches on the playDip forum thread for teachers (56 mins 30 secs) They touch on their upcoming interview. The guys give an apology/clarification about their comments about the Conspiracy app and its recognition of variant creators (58 mins 45 secs) Amby brings up Kaner's United States of Panhandle t-shirt which was originally posted on Reddit. They go onto discuss the r/MapPorn thread including where in the United States you can own a kangaroo. They go onto more American/Australian crossovers with emus (1 hr 2 mins) They mention their next interviewee is David E. Cohen (1 hr 8 mins) The guys give another shout-out for their Patreon bonus episodes. Amby reflects on Kaner's value add to the podcast before they wrap up (1 hr 9 mins) Venue: Stone & Wood Brewery, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner:  Stone Rock porter and West Coast Extra IPA from Stone & Wood Amby:  Cloud Catcher Pale Ale, West Coast Extra IPA and Stone Rock porter from Stone & Wood Just a reminder you can support the show by giving it 5 stars on iTunes or Stitcher. And don't forget if you want to help improve the audio equipment... or get the guys more drunk, you can also donate at Patreon, plus you get extra podcast episodes! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe so you get the latest Diplomacy Games episodes straight to your phone. Thanks as always to Dr Dan aka "The General" for his rockin' intro tune.

The guys interview renown alternate history author Harry Turtledove about his love of the game Diplomacy, Amby laments his Liberty Cup gameplay, more Media Wars chat and a Declaration of War experiment. Interview with Harry Turtledove The guys introduce the show to new listeners as they may be Harry Turtledove fans. Harry is a renown alternate history author (0 mins 10 secs) Amby and Kaner give a super quick crash course on what the game Diplomacy is all about (1 min 45 secs) The interview starts with the guys welcoming Harry to the show and ask how he got into writing alternate history (3 mins) Kaner asks about one of the characters in Harry's Supervolcano trilogy playing Diplomacy with his friends, and what his experience is with the game Diplomacy (8 mins) Amby asks about Harry's thoughts on taking the role of different players. Harry discusses the perspectives you take in the game and how that compares in novel writing looking through the lens of other players (12 mins) Harry discusses how he still plays the game when he can. They discuss the different between D&D (Dungeons & Dragons) and Diplomacy (15 mins) Kaner asks if Harry has a favorite country to play on the Diplomacy board (17 mins 30 secs) Kaner enquires about whether Harry's played any Diplomacy tournaments (20 mins 45 secs) They touch on online and app play due to limitations caused by Covid-19 (23 mins) Amby asks what would happen if Harry took a manuscript to a publisher in 2014 where the storyline reflects the current 2020 situation, what would be his publisher's take (24 mins) Amby asks what happens next in such a story (25 mins) They ask about Harry's perspective on Diplomacy variants (26 mins 30 secs) Harry introduces a new book he's co-authored coming out in September 2020, "And the Last Trump Shall Sound" with James Morrow and Cat Rambo (28 mins 40 secs) He discusses a baseball card simulation game he also likes playing (31 mins 50 secs) Amby asks about the process Harry follows in producing novels and where he gets his story inspirations from (34 mins 20 secs) Harry provides his pitch to his readers about the game Diplomacy (40 mins) They guys wrap up the interview (42 mins) Other books by Harry that the guys recommend: WorldWar series (Kaner) and The Guns of the South (Amby) For Harry fans (post interview) Amby asks Kaner whether he thought he'd ever interview Harry. Kaner talks about his first book of Harry's that he read  (42 mins 30 secs) They let readers of Harry know where you can play the game Diplomacy if they're intrigued (43 mins 20 secs): PlayDiplomacy webDiplomacy vDiplomacy (for variants) Backstabbr Plus there are many face-to-face clubs which are now doing many games online Diplomacy chat The guys get onto the "normal" part of the show with where they are and their drinks (46 mins) They let Harry Turtledove fans know how the show format works. They celebrate the podcast now entering its 4th year and 75th episode (48 mins 30 secs) Once Bitten, Twice Die - Amby's Liberty Cup experience Kaner asks Amby about his game involvement in Philadelphia's Liberty Cup. Amby was just in Round 2 and gives a hat tip to Advait based just up the road in Singapore who was going hard core for the tournament (49 mins 30 secs) Amby explains he drew Germany and how two other players in his Boston Massacre game - MaxVax and Jason Mastbaum - were also in this game  (53 mins 20 secs) Amby discusses his opening and why things didn't work out as he'd planned (55 mins 20 secs) Amby explains why a happy balance is needed between being too Carebear and going full on (1 hr 1 mins) Robotorama Kaner has a bit of a robot moment, Amby has a helpful suggestion on whether any Diplomacy players are connected in the university space to make this happen (1 hr 2 mins 15 secs) Kaner says he'll look into it, but makes no promises [sounds like a Diplomacy player right folks?] (1 hr 5 mins 40 secs) Corona chat Amby reflects on Covid's impact to the waistline (1 hr 7 mins) He then talks about the uncomfortableness of shoes (1 hr 8 mins 20 secs) They gave a local Queensland update on the pandemic (1 hr 9 mins 20 secs) Media Wars game Kaner asks about Amby's Media Wars game against 6 other players involved in Diplomacy media channels (1 hr 12 mins 50 secs) Kaner discusses Legendary Tactics' video on the game and the nature of players (1 hr 15 mins 15 secs) Amby starts reflecting on his position in the game as Turkey (1 hr 17 mins) They discuss Umble's Diplomacy Briefing recruiting "journalists" for his newsletter (1 hr 20 mins 40 secs) Shout out Amby gives a shout out to Hal Schild who he's played against and has a cousin/family connection in Australia who runs a vineyard with Schild Estate. Amby gives it a big thumbs up (1 hr 21 mins 30 secs) Kaner's Renovatio games/Where's Kaner? Amby gives the feedback from listeners about which player Kaner is in Game 2 he discussed last episode (1 hr 23 mins 20 secs) Kaner gives some further updates on his games (1 hr 26 mins 30 secs) Amby reflects on the amazing shapes on this map (1 hr 27 mins 45 secs) He then talks about his other games and how he's going (1 hr 30 mins 15 secs) He's now been killed off as Lithuania in is Game 1 (1 hr 31 mins 15 secs) More Diplomacy chat Kaner tries to make Amby talk about his ranking plunge (1 hr 32 mins 20 secs) Kaner mentions Known World 901 is now available on the Conspiracy app, but then puts a bit of a rocket up them for a lack of attribution for variant developers like David E. Cohen who created the game (1 hr 34 mins 45 secs) Amby reflects on his penchant of listening to particular music when he plays his games - see the Very Superstitious episode of playing the 1812 Overture in his Divided States win (1 hr 42 mins 45 secs) He discusses how he's really got into on Spotify a Diplomacy playlist put together by barnaby_rowe which has the traditional music of the 7 players in a Classic Diplomacy game (1 hr 43 mins) Amby gives a shout out to Laurie Edwards for joining us on Patreon with over 6 hours of extra bonus content (1 hr 49 mins) They start wrapping up the show... kind of (1 hr 52 mins 30 secs) Declaration of War game After recording the normal show and then the Patreon show, there were two things Amby had forgotten to speak about (1 hr 52 mins 40 secs) Amby suggests having on vDip a "Declaration of War" game where you can only attack another player if you declare war on them a turn in advance. The idea is to more accurately represent the way WW1 really worked. Due to the complexities of some players not honoring the system the game would need a GM. Kaner points out some of the messiness potentially involved (1 hr 53 mins 15 secs) [The first game is now up and running with an expanded - and much clearer - rule set. You can also read if you're interested the run up conversations in the forum thread] Amby reflects on RUFFHAUS' Game of Thrones analogy about him being all excited at the start but can't be bothered ruling/following through (1 hr 57 mins) Latest Cloak and Dagger game Amby's in a new Modern Europe anonymous game in GMan's Cloak and Dagger series. Amby discusses the nature of some player's communication style pissing him off (1 hr 58 mins 45 secs) He reflects a little where some players follow through, others that haven't and then those who stab and then you make up (2 hrs 2 mins 45 secs) Kaner gives his views on the Modern Europe variant map (2 hr 3 mins 30 secs) The guys alcohol consumption is starting to show as Kaner discusses a thought experiment (2 hr 7 mins) They wrap up the show and give the game Diplomacy a shout out for any Harry Turtledove fans who made it all the way to the end of the podcast (2 hrs 11 mins 30 secs) Venue: Alfred & Constance, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner:  Alfie house lager and Hornets IPA from Black Hops Brewery Amby: Tatachilla shiraz from McLaren Vale, South Australia   Just a reminder you can support the show by giving it 5 stars on iTunes or Stitcher. And don't forget if you want to help improve the audio equipment... or get the guys more drunk, you can also donate at Patreon, plus you get extra podcast episodes! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe so you get the latest Diplomacy Games episodes straight to your phone. Thanks as always to Dr Dan aka "The General" for his rockin' intro tune.  

The guys grab some beers and discuss a bunch of Diplomacy stuff including the Diplomacy Broadcast Network, Amby's Media Wars game and losing streak. We play "Where's Kaner?" and get back to some good old Diplomacy chat. Diplomacy news The guys discuss their beers, the venue and playing some face-to-face Diplomacy there in the future. Amby suggests a game on 9 August [Note: due to a flare up in Corona again, we've put that plan on ice] (0 mins 10 secs) Kaner discusses being in stitches after watching the Diplomacy Broadcast Network's first Deadline monthly news. They talk about getting some of the people from DBN on the podcast (7 mins 40 secs)   They have a Covid update at their end before going back to discuss Deadline news again, with Kaner's idea of it having reporters (11 mins 15 secs) Media Wars After some new beers Amby starts discussing his Media Wars game (18 mins 45 secs) The players are all involved in producing online media content, and the players are (21 mins): Amby from the Diplomacy Games podcast Brother Bored from the Brother Board blog Zach Moore from the Diplomacy Broadcast Network CaptainMeme from DiploStrats Jeff Hayman, a regular contributor from the Diplomacy Briefing Gohornsgo from The Diplomats Legendary Tactics from Legendary Tactics Amby accidentally outs himself as playing Turkey before pointing players to the game on Backstabbr (23 mins) Amby's losing streak Kaner gives his advice to Amby on what he should be doing (26 mins 45 secs) Amby reflects on the "Kick Me" sign on his back, discussing his Another Herd Needs Culling game (28 mins 20 secs) Kaner gives Amby some helpful rankings advice before paradoxically having a rant about rankings, before going back to more advice for Amby (34 mins) Where's Kaner? Kaner can't understand why he's still alive in some games. He calls for a Where's Kaner? challenge for listeners to guess which country he is (43 mins 15 secs) In game one he's a land based power. He's gone from being small, to large and is back to small again. Who is he? (44 mins 30 secs) In game two he's being attacked by all sides, but somehow is still alive. Who is he? (46 mins 15 secs) Finally in game three after constant unending assault by players, Kaner has fought back and is doing well. He's relatively central but exposed. Who is he? (47 mins 30 secs) More Diplomacy chat Kaner tells a story before going on another robot tangent and how they help the future of Diplomacy gameplay. Amby brings him back to reality. But if you want to sponsor the show to buy robots let us know! (49 mins 30 secs) Amby tries to get Kaner to sign up for the Liberty Cup (56 mins 20 secs) They get more beers. Kaner starts discussing the podcast channel on Nexus (57 mins 30 secs) Kaner discusses how he got his arse kicked in the Vietnam War variant he played on Diplicity. Amby asks how Kaner's Twenty Twenty game on the app is going (1 hour 1 mins 45 secs) The guys start wrapping up and encourage listeners to let another player know about the show (1 hr 9 mins) They let listeners know instead of waiting two weeks for the show, you can here us weekly by signing up to their Patreon feed for just $2 a month (1 hr 10 mins) Venue: Netherworld, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner:  Fantastic IPA,  Karma Oatmeal stout and Liquid Amber Red Ale from Newstead Brewery Just a reminder you can support the show by giving it 5 stars on iTunes or Stitcher. And don't forget if you want to help improve the audio equipment... or get the guys more drunk, you can also donate at Patreon, plus you get extra podcast episodes! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe so you get the latest Diplomacy Games episodes straight to your phone. Thanks as always to Dr Dan aka "The General" for his rockin' intro tune.   Amby: Hop Sauce Pale ale and Fantastic IPA  

The guys interview Zach Moore for a play-by-play breakdown of his Boston Massacre game with Amby. They discuss some games they're in, Kaner's Squirrel Diplomacy variant idea and an unusual England-France alliance. Intro The guys discuss their beers, including an earlier cheeky pint by Kaner. Plus more boom box guy discussion and Australian money (0 mins 10 secs) Interview with Zach Moore Amby gives some context about the interview, which is a play by play discussion with Zach Moore about a Boston Massacre game they were both in (6 mins 30 secs) Amby welcomes Zach to the show. Amby played as France and Zach as Austria. They discuss the lack of collaboration between them (8 mins 20 secs) Amby talks about the Western Triple he got in (11 mins 20 secs) He asks Zach about his thoughts on Russia and Turkey's opening, Amby reflects on how this caused Italy and Austria to stick together and how the Western Triple solidified (13 mins)                                                     Zach reflects on the mistake he made with Russia in discussions with John Jameson (17 mins) Amby asks Zach whether the eastern side of the board had worked out the Western Triple. Zach discusses the moves in Fall 1902 (19 mins)                                                     They discuss how in Spring 1903 a counter alliance in the east at last starts kicking goals. Amby talks about his conversations with Turkey (Jason Mastbaum) and the difficulty of getting a hold of him (21 mins 15 secs) Amby talks about his first bit of paranoia in Spring 1903 about England with his commitment in the Med, they move onto Fall 1903 and possible confusion around the moves of England and Germany. They talk about the first counter attack from the east  (24 mins) Amby asks Zach about the Turkish move to Rumania (27 mins)                                                     Amby talks about his efforts to divide up Italy with Turkey. He asks Zach about his experience playing with Jason (29 mins 20 secs) Zach discusses an attempted stab with Turkey against Russia. They also discuss the Turkey-Austria plan against Italy (31 mins)                                                       They discuss Amby preventing Zach making ground against Germany by moving into Burgundy so he could support hold Munich while also planning for any English stab (34 mins 20 secs) Zach asks about why didn't Amby start coordinating with Italy against Turkey's Ionian fleet (36 mins 20 secs) Amby reflects on his paranoia when England built a fleet in London (38 mins 45 secs) They discuss Zach's efforts to sweet talk Amby in Fall 1905. Amby discusses where he saw the game going and why he considered stabbing England (40 mins 30 secs) They go onto talk about England's stab on Germany and his counter to Amby, while Zach hands Venice to Turkey. Amby asks whether anyone in the east knew in advance of the stab by England (42 mins 20 secs)                                                     Things move along further into 1906 with some builds from England that Amby thought were threatening although nothing came of it (44 mins 30 secs) And by Fall 1907 Italy was eliminated, England was kicked out of Moscow and Germany and France were behind Austria's lines (48 mins)                                                       Come spring 1907 everyone started reaching the point where the game could go in a very different way, or alternatively draw. Zach talks about whether there was time to continue playing with the hard ending time approaching. The game ended a draw at this stage (50 mins 30 secs)                                                       Amby explains one problem he was having was all his verbal Discord communication was being done on his iPhone and it was almost out of batteries, using this as a further lever to draw the game (52 mins 20 secs) Zach reflects on the game and playing on Discord (as opposed to GMing) (54 mins 30 secs) Amby asks about the frequency of similar format games from the Minnesota Diplomacy Club, the players and any technical challenges (57 mins 20 secs) Amby reflects on the Diplomacy Broadcast Network and livestreaming of games and asks Zach about it (1 hr 1 mins 30 secs) Kaner flags the times in the stream where the game was discussed (1 hr 4 mins) Amby asks Kaner when he'll start playing these types of online games through Backstabbr and Discord. Zach mentions the PTKS game (which has passed between the interview and the release of the show) and the Philadelphia Liberty Cup that players can sign up for on 1 August 2020 (1 hr 4 mins 45 secs) Amby starts wrapping up the interview (1 hr 6 mins 40 secs) Kaner reflects on the game and the tournament. Amby discusses it being fun having a turn by turn analysis of the game (1 hr 7 mins 20 secs) Kaner says he would've read the board differently.  (1 hr 8 mins 45 secs) Africa variant Amby is in a 8 player Africa game (variant created by Tristan) and discusses the variant. He likes the mix of neutrals that have standing armies and others without armies (1 hr 11 mins 15 secs) The game is named Here Kitty Kitty. He reflects on how a number of players are responding in the game, especially when Amby is throwing him love. Kaner can't understand why some players just pick fights for no good reason in gunboat games (1 hr 13 mins) Kaner discusses the geography of the map (1 hr 16 mins 45 secs) Variant development - Squirrel Wars They spot the Chris Martin look alike again. Kaner goes onto discuss a Squirrel variant idea where acorns are SCs. He talks about fat squirrels and fast squirrels and different branch types (1 hr 19 mins 45 secs) Kaner sees the map as visually being based around fractal views of a tree - canopy, branches, trunk and base. Amby suggests using something similar where you have different layered maps (1 hr 23 mins) Amby and Kaner discuss Australia's drop bear problem (1 hr 25 mins) New pub and Boston Massacre game update The guys move to a new pub: The Elephant and discuss their new drinks (1 hr 26 mins 20 secs) Amby remembers he got a message from MaxVax who played as Italy in the game. He gives Max's perspective. Max also discusses the game in The Diplomats Youtube channel (1 hr 28 mins) Western Quintuple game Kaner complains about Apple products. The guys discuss this five player anonymous game by shielding who is who, and doing a but of an Around the Grounds for how each player is going. Note: since recording this, the game has since ended in a three way draw between England, Castille and Burgundy. Kaner was England and Amby was France (1 hr 31 mins) They talk about the variant and map itself (1 hr 38 mins) Scottish Clan Wars game After a little light hearted banter, they return to their What's under your kilt game. At the point of recording two players were eliminated (1 hr 40 mins 30 secs) They do an around the grounds for this game too. This game has also since finished subsequent to recording in a 4 way draw, with Kaner (Dundee) and Amby (Edinburgh) both being part of the draw (1 hr 44 mins) England-France naval alliance? They go off on a tangent of England threatening Italy in classic in a very unusual England-France alliance. Kaner asks if its a doable scenario (1 hr 51 mins 50 secs) He then proposes an England-France-Russia alliance (1 hr 59 mins) The guys wrap up the show (2 hrs 0 mins)   Venue: The Sound Garden and also The Elephant, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Four Pines Pale ale and Newtowner Pale ale, both from Sydney, Australia Amby: Four Pines Pale ale from Sydney, Australia, and Wirra Wirra Woodhenge shiraz from the McLaren Vale, Australia   Just a reminder you can support the show by giving it 5 stars on iTunes or Stitcher. And don't forget if you want to help improve the audio equipment... or get the guys more drunk, you can also donate at Patreon, plus you get extra podcast episodes! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe so you get the latest Diplomacy Games episodes straight to your phone. Thanks as always to Dr Dan aka "The General" for his rockin' intro tune.    

Kaner & Amby interview Martin Bruse, creator of the Android Duplicity app. A bit of Diplomacy chat and an update on Amby's variant development plans. And who is that boom box guy? Intro The guys discuss their beers, the ban on dancing and everything else being totally open now there's practically no Coronavirus in Queensland (0 mins 10 secs) Kaner & Amby are recording two episodes back to back in different locations 3 15 Interview with Martin Bruse, creator of the Diplicity app They begin to introduce their interview guest, Martin Bruse, the Android app developer of Diplicity (3 mins 45 secs) The interview starts with Martin telling the backstory of creating Droidippy and how his plan evolved into Diplicity (5 mins) Kaner discusses how easy it was to download and use for his Android app. He asks Martin how  Diplicity can also be used for iOS, computers etc. However your push notifications are done as email if not using the Android app (9 mins 30 secs) Amby asks about the migration of players from Droidippy to Diplicity (12 mins 30 secs) They discuss why Martin developed the app and what he likes about Diplomacy. Martin, Amby and Kaner go onto discuss AI (16 mins) Kaner asks about the beautiful nature of the maps on Diplicity, he goes onto discuss where some of the variant maps came from eg Twenty Twenty and Vietnam War (22 mins 40 secs) Kaner asks about the games engine and its hard limit on two types of units (armies and fleets), he asks whether a 3rd type of unit could be created in Diplicity's code (27 mins 45 secs) Amby asks about Martin's plans to get the word out about the app. Martin gives a hat tip to Joren Bredman who helped Martin with the UX (32 mins 45 secs) Martin discusses investigation work into an iOS version of the app and the "funding model" for Diplicity (34 mins) Amby asks Martin about why he moved from Sweden to Switzerland, they talk about the Swedish Diplomacy community (37 mins 20 secs) Kaner asks about whether Diplicity has a similar sandbox function as Backstabbr (41 mins) Amby asks about Martin's views on how Diplicity is different to Conspiracy as an Android app. Martin also discusses the Tribute rating system used in Diplicity and scaring players off from the game if its not really for them (44 mins 30 secs) Amby asks where people need to go for Diplicity. Martin points to the Diplicity website or go to your favorite Android app store and search for Diplicity (51 mins 25 secs) The guys wrap up the interview (52 mins 20 secs) Amby asks Kaner about his experience so far with Diplicity. Kaner gives his one criticism of the game: a lack of shading in non-SC "owned" territories (52 mins 45 secs) Kaner is playing an anonymous gunboat Vietnam War game and is about to join a Chaos and a Twenty Twenty games that are forming (56 mins 30 secs) Kaner goes onto discuss the Diplicity Discord forum (1 hr 0 mins) Diplomacy chat The guys talk about all the extra creative Diplomacy channels and offerings (1 hr 3 mins) Amby discusses getting face to face games going again in Brisbane now Coronavirus restrictions are pretty much gone. Kaner talks about getting shit faced playing Diplomacy in a pub in Thailand (1 hr 5 mins) They talk about whether WDC 2020 is still going to happen. Kaner discusses Americans who can't understand him and flat whites (1 hr 8 mins 45 secs) Kaner taunts Amby about his competitive nature in the Winning thread at vDip (1 hr 12 mins 45 secs) Amby's variant development Amby mentions tobi has shown some interest (when time permits) to help with some of the coding aspects of his planned variants (1 hr 15 mins) Amby discusses what elements Kaner recommended for the Black Death may in fact be possible according to tobi (1 hr 16 mins 30 secs) The guys return to chat about Martin's inteview and the ability to have 3 or more unit types (more than armies and fleets) (1 hr 18 mins 30 secs) This prompts Amby to discuss his Nuclear Diplomacy variant concept (see episode 41 for Amby's earlier thoughts on his Nuclear Diplomacy variant) (1 hr 19 mins) Kaner gives his ideas on how to manage the transition of nuclear weapons from launch to detonation. They discuss whether current non nuclear powers could develop nuclear weapons (1 hr 24 mins 30 secs) Kaner asks about what happens if two nukes "bounce" (1 hr 29 mins 15 secs) Amby discusses the nature of the Standing Neutral variant on a classic board. The guys talk about how not to disadvantage players (1 hr 30 mins) Around the grounds Kaner asks Amby about his Scottish Clans game, ''What's under your kilt?", before Kaner gets distracted and talks about his Europa Renovatio game, Lockdown Renovatio (1 hr 35 mins) Kaner gives some side advice on leveraging the Europa map for variant development. This is a visual discussion which may not make a lot of sense in a podcast. Feel free to skip this bit if you have zero interest in the way variant maps are created. They talk about the North Atlantic, Red Sea and the Sahara (1 hr 39 mins 30 secs) The guys elude to the guy walking around with a boom box who looks like Chris Martin (Note: this is discussed in greater detail in the Patreon episode recorded after - which was actually released last week) (1 hr 46 mins 30 secs) Amby has a theory on why Denmark does so well in the Europa Renovation map (1 hr 48 mins 30 secs) The guys start wrapping up the show (1 hr 52 mins) Venue: Royal George, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner & Amby: James Squire 150 Lashes pale ale Just a reminder you can support the show by giving it 5 stars on iTunes or Stitcher. And don't forget if you want to help improve the audio equipment... or get the guys more drunk, you can also donate at Patreon, plus you get extra podcast episodes! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe so you get the latest Diplomacy Games episodes straight to your phone. Thanks as always to Dr Dan aka "The General" for his rockin' intro tune.  

The guys interview Oliver Lugg, a Diplomacy loving guy who has created an awesome Youtube video about the game. They also discuss stupid greedy vs smart gains, the Western Europe 1300 variant and Amby's Diplomacy variant development plans. Intro & news The guys are recording at Malt, a serious proper bar. Kaner quickly picks on Amby's handwriting. Then they get onto drinks. Amby laments a little Covid weight gain (0 mins 10 secs) Interview with Oliver Lugg: Diplomacy Youtuber extraordinaire The guys give a full disclosure that the interview with Oliver Lugg is being recorded after they actually catch up (4 mins) Kaner & Amby welcome Oliver to the show about the quality of his Youtube video on Diplomacy - for podcast listeners, press pause now and watch the video for context: (7 mins) Amby asks Oliver how he got into the game (7 mins 45 secs) Kaner asks about within the video whether Oliver was in a scene in the video playing the game (12 mins 15 secs) Amby brings up whether there was a mathematical thread running through the video (13 mins 35 secs) Amby asks about the nature of the game not being like chess (15 mins 40 secs) Being an Australian who has lived in the UK, Amby asks a little about the Britishness of the video (17 mins 50 secs) Amby asks about how much time was needed to pull the video together (20 mins 30 secs) Kaner asks about how Oliver came across the 2012 online championship - for podcast listeners, you can listen to our interview with some of the final players in episode 5 (22 mins 45 secs) Kaner asks about Oliver's 5 rules and what is his favorite rules when it comes to cognitive biases (25 mins 15 secs) Kaner asks about AI and manipulative behavior (28 mins 20 secs) Amby asks Oliver about famous individuals who played the game, and where he got his research from (31 mins 45 secs) Amby asks about Oliver's perspectives on real world events and the nature of Diplomacy skills being played out (36 mins) They talk about the nature of loss aversion (37 mins) Amby asks Oliver about his interests in psychology (38 mins 20 secs) Amby asks about Oliver's plans for playing the game in the future. Amby discusses the London Diplomacy Club and also previous interviewee Garry Sturley and his plans for a Diplomacy Tour of Britain (40 mins 45 secs) Kaner reflects on the use of Risk pieces in the video. Amby asks about Oliver's future creative endeavors. Oliver discusses his music and singing, listen on his Youtube channel (44 mins) The guys wrap up the interview with Oliver (47 mins 15 secs) The guys return and discuss what they enjoyed about Oliver's Diplomacy video (47 mins 45 secs) They talk about Risk (53 mins 30 secs) Presidential campaign update Amby asks Kaner how his election campaign is going. The guys also give a shout out to Hal Schild, Brother Bored and Bryan Pravel, all new Patreon supporters of the show (55 mins) Stupid greedy vs smart gains Amby admits he's in a Diplomacy slump with his gameplay (58 mins) He was riding high early in the year, but hasn't been following his own advice (1 hr) He got back in with his Fake NewsLeak Interference Democalypse game where he failed to appreciate what was going on in the board, and put too much trust in allies (1 hr 1 mins) Kaner then rubs Amby's nose in another game, A Humble Low Stakes Match where Amby had players piled onto him after being the first stabbing (1 hr 4 mins 45 secs) Amby acknowledges maybe he's not such a great player and just had a big win (1 hr 7 mins 30 secs) The guys then go onto to discuss that they've worked out they're in two of the same anonymous games, but don't know who is who (1 hr 8 mins 20 secs) Around the grounds In doing so Kaner & Amby transition to an Around the grounds segment, starting with the Western Europe 1300 game they're in Western Quintuple (1 hr 9 mins) They discuss the variant map itself first for Western Europe 1300, a 5 player game with England, France, Burgundy (same as the variant Hundred) but adding in Aragon and Castile. The map was developed by Matthew Medeiros and brought to online game play by Fake Al and Oliver Auth (1 hr 10 mins) The guys then start discussing how they're going, being mindful it is anonymous and they're both in it. To do so they examine each of the five players' positions (1 hr 13 mins 45 secs) They then move onto their Scottish Clan Wars game, What's Under your Kilt. They discuss how the gameplay in this variant map tends to be more fighting north-south, as opposed to east-west (1 hr 23 mins) They agree to talk about this game a little further on, as its still pretty early days in this game (1 hr 25 mins 45 secs) New Diplomacy app: Diplicity Kaner has discovered a new Android app for lovers of the game called Diplicity - search for it wherever you download your apps from (1 hr 26 mins 50 secs) Amby discusses the wonderful aesthetics of the app and particularly the maps (1 hr 28 mins 20 secs) They go onto discuss a bucketload of variants available, including two they've never seen: Twenty Twenty and a 5 player Vietnam War variant set in 1955 (1 hr 30 mins 45 secs) Kaner loves the autogenerator for the titles of games (1 hr 35 mins 30 secs) They discuss how it may be different to the Conspiracy app where many players would go into CD, impacting the gameplay for hardcore players (1 hr 37 mins) Amby's Diplomacy holiday plans Amby is heading off for a week's holiday. He discusses his plan to do some Diplomacy variant development (1 hr 38 mins) The first one he'll focus on is a Classic Standing Armies variant. But Amby will implement Kaner's suggestion for an initial build phase so Italy can build two fleets to take Tunis (1 hr 40 mins) His second variant idea is really dependent on the coding skills of a Diplomacy loving developer. Based on some ideas from Kaner, Amby is planning a Black Death variant. Basically a Europa Renovatio map modified back in time approximately 100 years to the starting period of the Black Death  (1 hr 43 mins 30 secs) Amby goes onto discuss how he plans to keep the board generally balanced, similar to Europa Renovatio (1 hr 48 mins) He goes onto discuss how the randomness of the hurricane in the Pirates variant (a non playing player who moves and spawns randomly) could be bumped up to multiple units as the Black Death (1 hr 50 mins 30 secs) Kaner gives his suggestion about plague spawning (1 hr 52 mins 35 secs) Kaner recommends Amby plug into tobi1's coding skills instead of pushing for Oli's time (2 hr 0 mins 50 secs) They discuss what the image should be for the Black Death. Kaner suggests you do a Google images search for Hieronymus Bosch to give an idea of what he has in mind (2 hr 2 mins 50 secs) The guys start wrapping up the show (2 hrs 5 mins 45 secs) Venue: Malt, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: House malt lager Amby - Hither and Yon shiraz from the McLaren Vale, and later the House malt lager Just a reminder you can support the show by giving it 5 stars on iTunes or Stitcher. And don't forget if you want to help improve the audio equipment... or get the guys more drunk, you can also donate at Patreon, plus you get extra podcast episodes! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe so you get the latest Diplomacy Games episodes straight to your phone. Thanks as always to Dr Dan aka "The General" for his rockin' intro tune.