Robert Oppenhiemer Diplomacy

This game is over. The Deadline for endgame statements is on the main page.

End Game Statement for England (WIN).

GAME ENDS IN ENGLISH VICTORY!!! ENGLAND STEAMROLLS THE BOARD.

FALL 1911:

England: Sara Reichert

Fleet BALTIC SEA CONVOY Army Denmark-Berlin; Fleet ENGLISH CHANNEL CONVOY Army London-Spain; Fleet MID-ATLANTIC OCEAN CONVOY Army London-Spain; Fleet NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN SUPPORT Fleet Mid-Atlantic Ocean; Fleet NORTH SEA HOLDS! and fires a 21 gun salute to~Queen Sara; Army BURGUNDY SUPPORT Army Marseilles; Army Denmark-BERLIN; Army Galicia-BUDAPEST; Army GASCONY SUPPORT Army London-Spain; Army London-SPAIN; Army MARSEILLES SUPPORT Army London-Spain; Army PORTUGAL SUPPORT Army London-Spain; Army Ruhr-MUNICH; Army RUMANIA SUPPORT Army Galicia-Budapest; Army Sevastopol- ARMANIA; Army TYROLIA-Vienna; Army UKRAINE SUPPORT Army Rumania.

France:. Bob Altland

Summer 1911: A Mar ret to Spain. FALL 1911: A spain hold, (displaced, no place to retreat, must disband); F NAF - Tun; F WEST MED - S- Naf - Tun.

Russia: Stan Johnson

A VIENNA - Trieste; A bud -S- Vienna - Trieste, (displaced, no place to retreat, must disband).

Turkey:. Jody Maple

Fleet TYRRHENIAN SEA to Western Mediterranean; Fleet GULF OF LYON support Fleet Tyrrhenian (NSO, it moved); Fleet TUNIS hold; Fleet IONIAN SEA support Fleet Tunis; Fleet NAPLES To Tyrrhenian Sea; Fleet Constantinople to BULGARIA (SC); Army Ankara to CONSTANTINOPLE; Army SERBIA to Budapest; Army TRIESTE support Army Serbia; Army Tuscany to VENICE; Army PIEDMONT support Army Tuscany(NSO, it moved too).

Unit positions in CAPITAL LETTERS Underlined moves fail. OTB = Off The Board.

Robert Oppenheimer Black PRESS:

Bob Altland - Sarah Reichard: It is a known peril of playing as a standby that there is often little chance of winning - and often not more for surviving! - still one never really knows till the game is over. In a game such as this, one may hope that greed and backstabbing will open up a way to survival or victory even where it's unlikey.

GM - Bob Altland: I am greatful that there are people such as yourself that would fill in like this. You, John Shultz, Dwight McMahon, Steve Cameron and Steve Courtemanche have been very helpfull.

Stan Johnson - Sara Reichert: There's nothing wrong with a two way draw. Just like there's nothing wrong with kissing your sister, ((There is if the kiss lasts longer than five seconds :-) )) but the experience is not all it could be. I don't believe stalemate lines were deliberately inserted. The creator believed no one would be able to win game, but that proved not to be the case.

I don't know if Ms. ((Kathy)) Caruso has mellowed since she went into the Grandma business, but when I knew her in her prime she would cut out anyone's heart to win. Her name was Byrne in those days and there were expressions like having been Byrned or Byrne Syndrome to describe what happened to players who went up against her. ((Kathy Byrne Caruso was one of the best female Diplomacy players the hobby has ever seen. The only other woman who even can stand in the same crowd is Melinda Holley. Kathy is retired now but she is the record holder of the most wins as Italy...18!)) If you played to draw rather than win, you may be playing something, but it isn't Diplomacy. If you really want to be fascinated by something ask Don Williams something concerning regulations regarding parking lots. The man is a font of knowledge. ((Gee. I'll have to ask him all about it the next time I see him and I have a year to spare.))

Paul to World: I wonder if 22 centers in a regular dip game is some type of record.

The Players:

AUSTRIA: Dan Broom (elim '05)

ENGLAND: Sara Reichert (WIN)

FRANCE: Wayne Melnik (Res F'05), Steve Dean (drop F'10), Bob Altland (elim'11)

GERMANY: Brad Wilson (elim '05)

ITALY: Mike Scartoli (Res W'02), Dwight B. McMahon (elim '09)

RUSSIA: Dan Gorham (Drop S'09), Stan Johnson (survive)

TURKEY: Jody Maple (survive)

Game Supply Centers:

YEAR:	1901	1902	1903	1904	1905	1906	1907	1908	1909	1910	1911
Austria	5	6	4	2	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
England	4	4	4	6	7	9	10	11	14	17	22
France	5	7	8	8	10	8	9	9	6	3	0
Germany	4	4	3	2	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
Italy	4	4	5	5	4	3	2	2	0	-	-
Russia	6	6	6	5	6	6	5	4	4	2	1
Turkey	4	3	4	6	7	8	8	8	10	12	11
Issue No.:	37	40	43	48	50	55	57	60	64	66	68

Along the way I had a most obnoxious phone call from Italy, or rather my Mother did. She was very upset at what happened, and so was I. That is why I currently have an unlisted phone number that is going to stay that way. We also had huge delays in the zine, with gaps of 3 months and 6 months between issues. France made it clear he was not going to even up the SC count, since I, being female, was supposed to be the junior member of the alliance. I had been persuaded by Andy Lischett to start two games in his zine CHEESECAKE. My interest in ABSOLUTE! was dropping fast.

Then came the turning point. France was at 10 SCs, entitled to build 2. Instead, France NMRed. France would play 2 short the next game year. Belgium and Holland were wide open and just begging to be grabbed. I promptly wrote to the standby explaining that I was only balancing the SC count to 9 for me and 8 for him, and proposing that we continue the alliance on a more equal basis. With Germany eliminated, I would continue to attack Russia and he would attack Italy and Turkey. France did not write back, but seemed to go along with my ideas. Turn after turn I wrote France, with no reply. I finally did receive one letter, mostly creebing about Belgium. That was the only letter I received from him the entire game. Some alliance. But I made good progress against Russia as he NMRed a couple more times.

Eventually, Don Williams came into my life and told me that I should play more like Kathy Caruso. He felt that my current style of alliance play was a weakness. Although France was fighting Turkey with help from Italy, it was clear to me that Turkey was starting to grow to a size that I had to pay attention to, and I was very worried that sooner or later Italy would go under, France would follow, and I would have to deal with Turkish fleets trying to enter the Atlantic. After the game was changed over to bi-monthly deadlines, I decided to stab France. Not just because Don Williams wanted me to, but also because I didn't want this game to drag on for another two or three real years. I wanted it over, one way or another.

In the Spring of 1909, I commenced the campaign against France by first attacking his German SCs, followed by his home SCs, all this while still attacking Russia. I was able to get away with it all thanks to NMRs from France and Russia. I also had to tell some fibs to Turkey to prevent an F/T/R from forming to stop me at 17. Very naughty of me, I know, but I still think England could have been stopped with superb cooperation from the other three powers. Hence the deception of Turkey. My apologies to Jody Maple, but it was all Don Williams's fault. A final NMR from France allowed me to grab Marseilles, Portugal and Spain.

And that was how a beginner won her very first game of Postal Diplomacy. You don't have to be a whiz-kid when everyone else NMRs and you don't.
--Sara Reichert