In Other Words

Drunken Diplomacy

Last night I was in Fez bar, on Boat Quay, meeting up with a couple of guys from the band Pug Jelly (who have a record coming out upcoming Tuesday, I might add) and just as we were leaving I walked up to the owner of the place, Matt to say bye. In the cupboard, next to the bar I saw the game ‘Axis & Allies’, which I hadn’t seen in a long while. I blurt out ‘oh you guys have axis and allies! Great game, not as good as Diplomacy though’ he says ‘Diplomacy? You play diplomacy?’ ‘Yeah’, I shout enthusiastically (he might have been standing right in front of me, but it was late and I had had a couple of drinks). He says ‘Well I’m proud to say, well actually I’m not proud to say, I’m a bit embarrassed to say, but we have a diplomacy get together here once a month’ and thus I found a diplomacy group. What is even better, they were one player short of a full team (the game can optimally be played by seven) so they could use another player.

Now what most of you are probably wondering ‘yeah, that’s nice, but what the hell are you talking about?’ Diplomacy is the predecessor of Risk. It is also far better then Risk. Imagine Risk without the luck factor (no dice), without as many armies (you can only really have one per country), with slightly more difficult moves (you have to support armies with other armies, you have navies, etc.) and simultaneous moves.

The game is called Diplomacy for a good reason, that’s because you sure as hell never know what anybody else is going to do except by talking to them and reading the subconscious clues. People can agree to everything, but sure as sin don’t have to keep to their agreements. The simultaneous moves (done with pieces of paper) make everything highly unpredictable and the no luck factor makes you truly dependent on your gut instincts (cause luck can’t come save you).

It is, by far, the best board game I’ve ever played and one of the best ways to lose friends (screaming matches often result as somebody steadily marching towards victory suddenly gets backstabbed by their closest ally (I played it with both my ex girlfriends and they both betrayed me brutally(no that’s not why their exes, or is it?))).

Though I doubt most of you go for this kind of thing, its still something I have to try and pitch, as it is an experience in itself. (Diplomacy guide supplied via Diplomatic Pouch)

Interesting Fact: Guatemalan women work the hardest of any woman group, with 11.5 hours a day, while South African men work the least hard of all men, with only 4.5 hours.

posted by Symbol @ 17.9.04