June 1998

Volume VII, #1

Whole # 136

SIG Info:
Chairperson: Kate R Slaminko, 14708 56th Ave S, Tukwila WA, 98168 206-242-7633 (e-mail changing soon)
Editor: Eric C Young, 4784 Stepney Rd, RR#2 C#2, Armstrong BC, V0E 1B0 250-546-6943
Committeeman: Fred C Davis, 3210-K Wheaton Way, Ellicott City MD, 21043 410-461-1885
Ombudsman: Mike McCabe, 520 Sugarland Run, Sterling VA, 20164-1176 703-444-6190

The first order of business the fact that this is the first Diplomag in quite a while. The change of leadership has come at a time when the new editor was very busy. A work situation without any preparation time, the complete remodeling of his home and his son's graduation have left him with little time to sleep much less start up a new zine. Kate and I have discussed some items and we feel that with the decline in the hobby as a whole, a quarterly newsletter is reasonable. My personal zine comes out every five weeks, so potential conflict should be minimized.

Game Openings

Mensa #E1 - Was slated to be GM'ed by Berry Renken. confirmed: J Wilke, C Hanson, S Shacter, P Palumbo, S Hutton, S Pfitzinger; possibles: none needed: one This information was as of December 1997. I have not been paying close enough attention to Berry's zine to know if the game is running already, or, perhaps, has already finished.

Mensa #E2 - Slated to be GM'ed by Jason Wilke.

Editorial Comment: I stepped in to take on this newsletter because I believed that it was not time for the SIG to die. I still believe that there is a place for the printed word to communicate ideas between human beings.

I am a teacher and I have watched as the ability to communicate has changed in our young people. In school the only two things that really count are ability with words and ability with numbers. Those students that have a good grasp of language {I teach in the French Immersion program, hence I teach Science in French} can organize their thoughts and communicate them to others (namely me). The subject matter is really immaterial. I use science as a vehicle, but I am really teaching young people to think and communicate. I am a language teacher in all senses of the word. I have also seen how the computer revolution has changed how people communicate. It has opened up vast avenues for increased communication {I now send stuff to my sister in Portland four times as often as I used to phone her}. But that load of messages is causing us some distress. We feel obliged to respond to a message. I have had to teach myself to analyze whether a response is truly needed. They have also opened up a whole new forum of trash. Chat lines seem to be populated by a huge hoard of semi-literate foul-mouthed thugs. My conclusion is that we still NEED to take the time to put real words, on real pages, and really read them. My son was told that the University calendar was on the net. So we looked it up, there it was. We tried to dig out the info we needed. It consumed a vast amount of time. Finally I dropped into the local campus and got a hard copy. Bingo. We moved through it quickly, found the info, figured out a suitable timetable, all in one evening. The human mind is capable of grasping things on a tremendous scale. Computers/the net are like looking at something with a magnifying glass. Your only see one screen at a time. So Diplomag will live on for a while!

I have decided not to change the look of Diplomag too much from the previous volumes. The format is serviceable, in that it relates the information that is relevant to the SIG membership in a fairly concise way. Secondly, it is easier for me to do this type of format in the Microsoft Works program which Kate and I think has the greatest chance of successfully transferring from me to her electronically. If it works then I will start looking into the possibility of getting a bit fancier with some other program. ClarisWorks, for instance, would make a nice little booklet format possible. MSWorks is a fairly basic program, but it is easily translatable. MSWord is another possibility, but my program is 6.0 which is newer that Kate’s, so it could not be read.

Game Reports I receive Batyville Gazette, Rambling WAY flyers, Fintlewoodlewix, and publish The Tactful Assassin. So I should be able to keep a handle on the games that I know are running. These are: #42 BG, concluded; #46 RW, I'll need this flyer #47 TTA, active; #48 RW, active; #49 TTA, concluded; #50 BG, active; #51 FW, active.

If there is anything else going on please let me know. Either send me an issue so that I can keep track, or let me know who the person is that is supposed to be responsible and I'll chase after them.

Mensa #42: Mike McCabe winner (Turkey); This one was a strong early alliance between Aus (Eric Young), Itl (Julian Beasley), and Tur (McCabe). Peter Palumbo took over Italy and continued in the alliance until '06, when it was up to 6-7-8 at the expense of Fra (Jim Grose). Eng (Jason Wilke) had stabbed Ger (Paul McCarty) who then switched sides and as a one unit power held down Mun. Rus (Scott Somerville and Marc Hight) never really got untracked and was reduced over time to a buffer between the two great alliances E/I and A/T. By 1911 the latter had absorbed Mun and had 18 dots (8-10). Since neither side would give-in, A/T decided to try to transfer all their dots to one power without losing any to the other side. It took until 1915 to do so, but they did it. Aus counted itself as the tactical winner, with no dots. Mensa #46: Andy is still in a state of flux and has not sent anything in three months. Again, Andy, please start sending me a copy of this one, too.

Mensa #47: Presently in Spring 1917, Fra (Frank Burns) has 17 units and is closing in on 18 & 19. Fra was in a strong early alliance with Ger (Charles Byrne) but they had a falling out and France has progressively gotten the upper hand. Rus (Ray Grib) was the maverick, first stabbing Aus, just about being wiped out and then cementing an alliance with Ger, Ita (Roger Belfay) and the stand-in Tur (Bob Acheson). They have fought a valiant holding action but the disarray of the German forces facing the French attack was their downfall.

Mensa #48: Spring 1909; A strong Eng (Ray Grib)/Fra (Jim Lewis) alliance seems to have developed early (presently 7-8). An Everybody-against-the-leader coalition resulted, though Aus was an early casualty. Ger (Jim Grose) having taken the brunt of the E/F attack is down to one dot. Ita (stand-in Eric Young, 4 dots) was caught in the middle but sided with Tur (Peter Kohnke, 7 dots) and Rus (Tom Walsh, 7 dots). The north has bogged down, but there has been some tactical trading of spaces in the Med.

Mensa #49: 2-way win for Berry Renken (Fra) and Ray Grib (Eng). Their early alliance never saw any organized opposition and just steam-rollered across the board. This one ended so quickly that I do not even remember who all the other players were. The final ultimatum was, vote for the draw or we will completely wipe you out.

Mensa #50: Spring 1905; There seem to be three alliances in this one. Rus (Bob Addison, 8) and Tur (Linc Beaumont, 5) have moved west into the Balkans and Scandinavia. But Eng (John Parr, 3) has taken StP and seems to be getting along with Fra (stand-in Tony Dousette, 7) who has Lpl. Fra has just moved against Ita (Jim Lewis, 6) who was busy holding off the R/T with Ger (Paul McCarty, 5) who had gotten into Gal and Pru. Things seem very fluid, with the stand-in acting as a bit of a wild- card. The units are intertwined all up and down the board. Good one to watch.

Mensa #51: I do not have my copies Fintlewoodlewix on hand, so I do not know the status of this game. More on it in the next issue. {Spring 1905, Aus (Cummings) is down to one unit, Fra (Street) has 6 and Tur (Schirripa) has the most with 7. K.S.}

Other Items For the next issue I would like to have a complete membership report. I assume that this should not be too difficult. (No problem! K.S.) In one sense this will be most valuable for the 5 or 6 GM's, as they will then know who they can call on in the event that they need a stand-in. It will also be useful for everyone else to have a complete list of the addresses of all the Mensans who enjoy the Diplomacy hobby. I do believe that there is still the ability to find new people who will be interested in the hobby, particularly in the college population. It is the age old problem of getting the information to the unknown person who would want it. I also would like to print small articles about the hobby. Andy printed a piece on House Rules and the Press in his last issue of Diplomag. It seems that this kind of article has a place in the zine, particularly because Diplomag may be the intro to the hobby for a number of novices. It takes a while before one gets into the big time of Diplomacy World.

I know that you all are as busy as I am, but I will need a bit of help on this one. I will not have the time to come up with this kind of material for every issue. If anyone can write down a short ditty on any topic, just get it to me. I love e-mail because I can transfer it straight over into the zine, but hard copy is just fine. It takes less time to transcribe something, than it does to think it up, so I'll gladly accept anything. I want to be responsive to the membership. If there is anything that anyone feels should be happening in/with Diplomag (other than get published more often) let me know. I will certainly try to oblige.

SIG Business and Related Items, cont. The rules of American Mensa, Ltd state that the funds for a SIG must be handled in the USA. Thus Kate is the Chairperson, has the money, has the member list, and runs the affairs of the SIG. Eric is the Editor of the Newsletter, only. So he makes up the drivel and sends it to Kate, who takes care of the photocopying and mailing.

KATE’S SECTION
A Message from the new Coordinator
I am not going to write much for Diplomag, that’s Eric Young’s job, he’s the editor. But I want everyone to know that things will run about the same as they always have. The only real change you will need to be aware of is addresses (see masthead). With the split in duties, there may be some confusion about whom to send things to. Anything having to do with SIG business comes to me; address changes, money, problems, etc. Anything that just needs to be published; articles, game results, long rambling discourses on the nature of the universe, these get sent to Eric. Don’t forget that extra Canadian postage!

Membership info removed in on-line copy

ELECTIONS
With Andy stepping down, I am technically acting Chairman (even though no one else volunteered I think it is still "acting") Fred Davis was Jr. Committeeman, and is now Sr. Committeeman. We need to formalize the change in chairmanship and fill the Jr. Committeeman vacancy. I am now soliciting nominations/volunteers for the post of Jr. Committeeman. Mail these directly to Kate Slaminko, address above. I have no problem with people nominating/volunteering themselves - but in any case will not reveal who put forth a name. In the next issue we will list the nominees, and ask for your votes.

FINANCIAL REPORT: None. I don’t mean there is no report, only that we have no money. The last of the treasury has been used to move the SIG to my care. Not to worry. I’m financing for a while, and am pretty sure it will be in the black by the end of the year. I will give a more formal, detailed report when the news is positive. To those of you who have sent contributions, my sincere thanks - you paid for this newsletter!

JUST FOR FUN (from Kate)
I just heard that the 1999 gathering to review newly produced games will be held in Seattle. I’ve already contacted the coordinator to be sure I can get on the mailing list. Sounds like fun. No details yet, they are just starting to get organized.

A Message from the old previous Coordinator
To All DipSIGgers - we have good news and that's why those who've asked for a refund haven't received one. Namely, people have stepped up to the plate and saved the SIG from death and dishonor. Kate Slaminko, one of the folks who've helped run the SIG for the past few years on the Committee is going to handle the coordination end of things. Eric Young, esteemed publisher of THE TACTFUL ASSASSIN, will handle the newsletter. Of course, they can't do this themselves. They need writers for the newsletter, players and GMs for the games and encouragement for all that they do. Without your support, the SIG is only one's person's (well, in this case two folk!) effort. To succeed - every SIG needs the support and participation of their members. Oh, and for those of you sending your game reports to me, they need to head to Eric. I've enjoyed reading them over the years, and will miss them (but, if I'm playing in a game, I'm certainly going to finish it!!). Best wishes to Kate and Eric for a successful run with the Diplomacy SIG; and thanks to two friends for saving something that I feel is an asset to American Mensa.

Diplomag is the quarterly newsletter of the Diplomacy SIG, a Special Interest Group of American Mensa, bringing hobby and SIG news to Mensans interested in the game of Diplomacy. The SIG arranges games for its members, including Play By Mail and e-mail games. For SIG game openings, contact the Chairperson. Each player game will be hosted by a Mensa GM in their zine/flyer. Membership dues are $5/yr or $9/2yr. Diplomacy is a board game copyrighted by The Avalon Hill Game Company of Baltimore MD. Any opinions expressed herein are those of the author. The Mensa Diplomacy SIG and American Mensa, Ltd have no opinions.

Master Diplomacy SIG Page