Lewis Pulsipher

I give this one a half-star on credit because I think it might just be beyond me. I can just about handle four-unit tactical plans, but when you get into all this craziness of anticipating what the other guy (or guys!) might or might not do, and preparing multi-unit plans in either case, and then deciding what to do based on the greater room for movement it gives you next turn when you get it wrong--that's mathematician shit, man. I guess I'm just a Diplomacy romantic--or a guy who knows how to play to his nebulous strengths. But this might do you some good if you wanna up your game. Originally published in The General 18/3.… (altro)

The best of these three canonical articles on Diplomacy covers the hardest-to-intuit and yet most important aspect--laying your plans and laying them well. "Negotiations" is impossible to teach, let's face it, and "tactics" is useful, but without a plan, you'll get nowhere, nowhere. Dominate your sphere, keep the guys in the other sphere going at each other, hit that stalemate line, but make sure you know what to do after that, or you languish. And you want to win! Originally published in The General 18/2.… (altro)

Decent article, and the first article on my LibraryThing! I foresee this being a fulfilling relationship. Anyway, this is one of a triad dealing with Diplomacy strategy on the three canonical levels (negotiation, strategy, and tactics). This one has some good reminders, but it's a bit obvious some of this stuff--like, the diplomacy of Diplomacy probably cannot be systematized in any useful way. So I take this on the "pointers" level--recognize who are "drawers" and who are diehards, never lie unless necessary, identifying "classical" and "romantic" play styles, talk with everybody, be flexible, never give up, explain plans thoroughly, be unassuming, be positive! Originally appeared in The General 18/1.… (altro)