Podcasts about diplomacy games

After three episodes recorded online, the guys at last get the tech working offsite at the bar again. They discuss WDC 2025, their upcoming tournament plans and their latest online games. Intro and Diplomacy chat The guys introduce the venue and their drinks (0 mins 10 secs) They talk about the 2025 World Diplomacy Championship and congratulate Noam Brown (who we interviewed about Cicero) (2 mins) We talk about the upcoming WDC's planned for 2026 (Athens) and 2027 (Chicago) and whether there will be another Asia-Pacific WDC in 2028 (7 mins) They get back to how their beers would be as Diplomacy openings (9 mins 30 secs) A little admin update on the podcast (15 mins) They talk about the challenge of getting 7 players for a local game (16 mins 30 secs) Gavin discusses trying to *maybe* get a family game of Diplomacy happening in Christmas-New Years (19 mins) Gavin gives an update on the Cane Toad Classic for 2025 - that said, since recording we have finalised details. The tournment will be run Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 August, with social activities starting Friday night. Check out the details at the Cane Toad Classic web page  (21 mins) Ken talks about visiting webDiplomacy and saw they had a new forum. They talk about vDiplomacy being spam-bombed with Ken dropping the ball on his Mod responsibilities (32 mins) Around the grounds Gavin is in just one game, with Ken joining some new games (36 mins) Gavin goes on to talk about the Magic Hour at vDip and how he's smashing Ken in the Best vDip player rankings (38 mins) He discussed drawing in a 6 way Imperial game as Holland (42 mins) Ken is playing another Zeus game (43 mins) The guys then wrap up the show (46 mins) Venue: Caxton Street Brewing Company, Brisbane Drinks for the interview: Gavin: Caxton Street Brewing IPA Ken: Caxton Street Brewing 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 pay off the audio equipment... or buy the guys a drink, 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 discuss one of them winning their first Diplomacy tournament and their latest games. Intro and Diplomacy chat The guys start rolling the show early before introducing the episode (after Ken encourages keeping in some pre-show discussion) (0 mins 10 secs) They talk about their drinks (4 mins) The Bangkok New Year's Tournament 2025 Ken won his first tournament! And also scored two best country trophies (6 mins 45 secs) He talks about his game that got him best Russia (12 mins) Ken discusses his final game playing as France (14 mins 30 secs) Ken talks about Kratom (17 mins 30 secs) Gavin talks about catching up with Stuart Barton and Max Roe Banks around his DBNI game (20 mins 10 secs) Gavin mentions he's going to the Melbourne Open {Post recording update - this didn't happen due to Tropical Cyclone Alfred closing Brisbane Airport and cancelling all flights}  (21 mins) He also talks about planning for the Cane Toad Classic in August this year (21 mins 30 secs) Ken asks Gavin around his favourite country preferences (26 mins) Around the grounds Gavin discusses a Colonial 1885 game he's in as France before they move onto the challenges of variants where sea territories get stalemated (27 mins 35 secs) Ken talks about taking advantage of a player's repeated orders (35 mins) They move onto a Europa Renovatio game where there's now only four players left (38 mins 20 secs) Ken discusses the Zeus variant he's playing (45 mins) The tech starts giving out with Gavin not hearing Ken (48 mins) Part 2 The guys are back about a week and a half later. We both went through a cyclone which cancelled Gavin's plans to get to the Melbourne Open - airport closed and flights all cancelled (50 mins) Ken provides an update on game he was hoping to solo in (52 mins 30 secs) Gavin points out in vDip a winner take all game results in vDip rankings all going backward except for being buying in (no change) with the winner getting all vDip points (58 mins) Because of the recording delay, Gavin runs through the Top 3 placed winners at the Melbourne Open - big congrats to Tianyu Sun! (1 hr 1 min) Gavin gives his next interstate tournament plans (1 hr 2 min 15 secs) They start wrapping up the show and flag they're about to record a Patreon episode Venue: At home, Brisbane Drinks for the interview: Gavin: D'Arenberg The Stump Jump Grenache Shiraz Mourvèdre from the Barossa, South Australia Ken: Kaner's dark ale home brew 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 pay off the audio equipment... or buy the guys a drink, 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.

Following on from last episode we discuss with Peter McNamara and Bradley Grace the fastest Diplomacy solo possible, all the math and all the reality of how to make it possible! Intro The guys introduce the episode and explain the latest comedy of errors plagueing the show. This includes recording at home again (another dumb reason why) and why Gavin is recording on his iPhone's speaker (0 mins 15 secs) Interview with Peter McNamara and Bradley Grace on soloing fast We begin setting the scenes for this episode's discussion with Peter McNamara and Bradley Grace about how to theoretically solo the board as quickly as possible and how to best practically achieve this (2 mins 25 secs) They discuss their drinks in the interview and the reason for the discussion (3 mins 30 secs) Peter talks about the theory behind how to solo as quickly as possible on the board in 1903 (7 mins 30 secs) Theoretically most players can get to 21 SCs in 1903 (9 mins 30 secs) Brad talks about the theory of reaching 21 SC in 1903 as England (11 mins 15 secs) Peter talks about a Backstabbr sandbox with Italy in 1903 with 21 SC (12 mins 30 secs) They discuss the mathematical equation to solo in 1903. Peter doesn't have it at hand, so Gavin finds it on ChatGPT with lots of other useful elements for this strategy (14 mins 30 secs) They all move onto the practical dynamics of being able to solo as quickly as possible, with Brad discussing soloing in 1904 (22 mins) Peter gives his perspective on why he could never solo that fast (26 mins) Ken asks about being able to make 18 with your own units, without other countries convoying (30 mins 45 secs) They talk about the practical aspects for how to convince players to allow you to solo so fast (37 mins 40 secs) Peter blows away the myth of The Return of the Mack (42 mins) Peter manages to find the sand box for the game at the 2020 Poppycon (45 mins) Ken and Gavin pay tribute to both Peter and Bradley as players and ask about their upcoming tournaments - apologies if they talk about tournaments that happened. Remember, things are pretty busy for the guys now so sometimes the podcast episodes come out much later then when they were recorded (50 mins 30 secs) The interview wraps up (55 mins) The guys give their perspectives on the interview and an update on the math sent post-interview by Peter - apologies for the bad audio from the breeze. They ask if anyone is aware of a solo by 1903 (56 mins) Ken talks about heading over to the Southeast Asian New Years Tournament, with Gavin asking if he's going to try a fastest solo ever effort (1 hr 2 mins) They also discuss busting (unfortunately) the Return of the Mack myth (1 hr 5 mins) Around the grounds Gavin discusses buying into a game he didn't remember buying in to (1 hr 6 mins 30 sec) The theory about dogs and their owners and picking up a great position that with some fast talk is doing very well (1 hr 8 mins) Ken discusses his Imperial game (1 hr 10 mins 45 secs) Despite talking about the vDip for podcast listeners, the game is no longer available - sorry folks with all the busy real life stuff tihs episode was recorded about a month before it came out (1 hr 15 mins 45 secs) They touch on the last time they were in Thailand when they came up the idea of Big Stick Diplomacy. They talk about whether to add to the variant the ability to move from one theatre to another, but allowing for a delay getting there eg using David E Cohen's ocean stacking or similar for naval travel (1 hr 19 mins) The guys start wrapping up the show (1 hr 25 mins) Venue: At home, Brisbane Drinks for the interview: Gavin:- Hempranillo Australian shiraz-tempranillo Ken: Kaner's dark ale home brew Bradley: Coors beer Peter: Penfolds 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 pay off the audio equipment... or buy the guys a drink, 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 suffer from user error while catching up for our Christmas episode. Seasons greetings everyone! Intro and Diplomacy chat The guys introduce the episode and why this is the second recording of it (0 mins 15 secs) Ken describes his own homebrewed ale before it gets their creative juices going on the most incredible Russian opening ever (2 mins 30 secs) The greatest Diplomacy solo challenge (8 mins 50  secs) Ken talks about the "Return of the Mac" game (15 mins 15 secs) He goes onto discuss the December 2024 God Save the Zine edition (apologies Ken accidentally says it was in Diplomacy World) on page 23 by Ian Bond - a Tetris like way of looking at the Classic board (16 mins 40 secs)   Ken discusses how Ian's design reminds him of what's achieved in the variant Alacavre, which looks like a fantasy map but has exactly the same connections as a Classic board. That said Ken then points out the stats for this variant are totally different to Classic statistics, which shows how habitual we are when we approach the Classic Diplomacy board (21 mins 20 secs) They go onto creating a new game of Alacavre for Diplomacy Games podcast listeners - just pop over to vDiplomacy, create an account if you haven't got one already and join the game at DiplomacyGames plays (password/invite code is just the word podcast) (33 mins 50 secs) They discuss geographic linguistic differences across Australia and Gavin's old casual job he had at the Regatta Hotel. He goes onto mention this was around the time he played Diplomacy for the very first time - through the variant Machiavelli. You can find out all about this in our Patreon feed in a week or so from now (38 mins 50 secs) The guys give a proper status update about the show and the likely release schedule/quality over the next 6-12 months (43 mins 30 secs) They advertise many "development opportunities" available for listeners who'd like to help the show. If you're able to help let us know on the podcast contact form (47 mins 20 secs) Ken also suggests if there are interview guests you'd like to hear on the show to let us know (50 mins 20 secs) Ken reflects back on Diplomacy and 2024  (51 mins 45 secs) He then discusses his upcoming attendence at the South East Asian New Years tournament being run by Sascha Heylmann on 24-26 January and their recording plans for early 2025 (53 mins 40 secs) Ken presents the "Better vDiplomacy player" plaque to Gavin for getting a higher score and ranking than Ken this year (56 mins 20 secs) The guys start wrapping up the show (1 hr 1 min) Venue: At home, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Ken - Kaner's own dark ale Gavin - Casillero del Diablo shiraz from Chile 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 pay off the audio equipment... or buy the guys a drink, 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 talk about the 2024 Asia Pacific Diplomacy Championship and the creation of the Asia Pacific Diplomacy Association. And of course have a few drinks! Intro The guys introduce their drinks (0 mins 15 secs) The 2024 Asia Pacific Diplomacy Championship They begin talking about their attendance at the Asia Pacific Diplomacy Championship and Ken winning the Shane Cubis Award (1 min 30 secs) Gavin corrects the audio levels and talks about their venue (3 mins 45 secs) They get back to talking about the tournament and their games (5 mins 30 secs) Gavin shares some Diplomacy advice he got earlier (15 mins 30 secs) They talk about the Australian scene currently and how it is growing in quality and quantity (17 mins 30 secs) Catch up with Max Row Banks, Asia Pacific Diplomacy Champion The guys set the scene for the chat, recorded immediately after Max found out he was the 2024 Champion (18 mins 30 secs) The interview begins with Max talking through his game (19 mins) Max talks about playing as Russia, Germany and France (20 mins 15 secs) They talk about Max winning the championship by one SC (22 mins) Ken asks about Max's favourite moment in the event (22 mins 45 secs) They talk about the competiting players (23 mins 30 secs) Ken asks where to next (24 mins 20 secs) Max also won Best Strategist in the tournament (25 mins 10 secs) They begin wrapping up the chat (26 mins 30 secs) Gavin hadn't relistened to the interview when he and Ken caught up and incorrectly says he hasn't played against Max, even though Max touched on it at the Cane Toad Classic when Gavin had to make numbers for a board (27 mins 45 secs) Round table discussion on the new Asia Pacific Diplomacy Association They move onto a post-championship discussion around the earlier agreement to establish the Asia Pacific Diplomacy Association, a regional equivalent to what North America and Europe already has (28 mins 30 secs) Andrew Goff gives a brief overview of what's happening (31 mins 15 secs) Jamal Blakkarly provides his input into the discussion (33 mins 15 secs) Dominick Stephens reflects on how the New Zealand hobby could build from the association's approach (35 mins 15 secs) Shane Armstrong talks about where the hobby is at in Sydney and how the association can help (36 mins 50 secs) Andrew gives a hat tip to Lei Saarlainin in setting an original vision (38 mins) Ken suggests moving to a quiter location (39 mins) Diplomacy chat The guys have moved to Gather for a quieter atmosphere. Gavin reflects on regular feedback - positive and negative - from listeners about recording in a bar. And other related reflections (39 mins 30 secs) They discuss some of his thoughts on the association and some of the benefits from it (43 mins 20 secs) Ken talks about the new Renegade Studios variant, "Era of Empire" (49 mins 30 secs) Gavin reflects on his repeated efforts to reach out to Renegade's media team about an interview on how they're taking the game forward - but unfortunately with no response (56 min) The guys ask if anyone has a connection into the people from Renegade Studios, please get in touch as we'd love to know the strategy they're taking the game (58 mins 45 secs) FYI - don't message us on X, as we don't go there anymore (1 hr 1 mins) Gavin is now on a Tscharke Shiraz from the Barossa and Ken is on a Balter XPA. Gavin gives his limited insights of the Russian language (1 hr 2mins) Around the grounds Gavin's joined an unranked Divided States game and has actively encouraged the one guy who didn't stab him to walk into his SC's (1 hr 3 mins 30 secs) Ken moves onto his Imperial Diplomacy game where he's doing pretty good as Prussia (1 hr 5mins) They move onto Gavin's anonymous World War IV game where he's still doing well (1 hr 7 mins) Gavin asks Ken on tactics when it comes to convoys and movements to keep it legal (1 hr 11 mins) They start wrapping up (1 hr 16 mins) Venue: Little Miss Sunshine and Gather, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Ken - Young Henry's Cloudy Cider and Balter XPA Gavin - Little Miss Sunshine Breezy Pale Ale and Tscharke 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 pay off the audio equipment... or buy the guys a drink, 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 after a busy few months IRL and talk about aspects of their favourite game Intro The guys introduce the venue and their drinks (0 mins 15 secs) They explain why the recording schedule hasn't been so great this year (2 mins 30 secs) Diplomacy chat Ken shows Gavin the prototype trophy for the January 2025 Diplomacy tournament planned for Bangkok (3 mins 15 secs) The guys get some more drinks and discuss their upcoming attendance at the Asia Pacific Diplomacy Championship (13 mins) They talk about the "Toadiest Toad" award at the Cane Toad Classic (14 mins 30 secs) They come back to the Asia Pacific Championship and their aspirations for the tournament. Listeners - just so you know this episode is being released the day before the championship starts (16 mins 30 secs) They talk about the Canberra tournament being help 3 weeks later and the plan to have a top board (20 mins 20 secs) Gavin gives a couple of apologies due to the recording schedule being a bit lax (23 mins 20 secs) They discuss trying to get regular games going and what is the 'secret sauce' (25 mins) A small local football digression (27 mins 30 secs) Around the grounds Ken asks how Gavin's online games are going (31 mins 45 secs) They talk about what happens when someone blocks your growth corridor off on a large map (34 mins 15 secs) Ken talks about his gunboat Imperial game against the big boys (37 mins 30 secs) They talk about the value of holding a build back (42 mins 15 secs) The guys start wrapping things up and remind listeners around our Patreon feed (44 mins) Venue: Babblers, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Ken - Stone and Wood Pacific Ale Gavin - Paratheon Silver Shiraz from the Barossa Valley   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 pay off the audio equipment... or buy the guys a drink, 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 Jacob and Jamal from the A Christian and Buddhist Walk into a Bar podcast as a cross over episode. Plus Gavin discusses WDC in Milan and more. Intro The guys open the show and introduce their drinks and venue (0 mins 10 secs) Gavin has a cough but goes into his experience playing at the 2024 WDC in Milan (2 mins 40 secs) Interview with Jamal Blakkarly and Jacob Traeger from the podcast A Buddhist and a Christian Walk into a Bar about Diplomacy and faith The guys start introducing the interview with Jamal and Jacob, co-hosts of the podcast A Buddhist and a Christian Walk into a Bar for a cross-over episode about Diplomacy and faith (9 mins) The interview begins as the four of them set up the nature of the episode for each of the podcasts' audiences (11 mins) Ken explains the game for the other podcast's audience (16 mins) They discuss the link between each of their religious and spiritual perspectives and Diplomacy (17 mins 30 secs) Gavin discusses Jamal's double stab on him during the Melbourne Open (22 mins 45 secs) They discuss the evolving nature of Diplomacy, its connection with your life and learning moments (25 mins) Gavin talks about inadvertantly injecting Diplomacy into the game of Monopolyn (41 mins) Jamal asks whether God likes Diplomacy (43 mins) The nature of the discussion turns towards Buddism and Diplomacy, and Jamal reflects on Catholicism in Italy (49 mins) Jacob asks about whether there's any place in the game of Diplomacy for some of the key aspects of the major religions (57 mins) Gavin reflects on the face to face nature of the game as a way of meeting great people and traveling to amazing locations (1 hr 5 mins) Just search Christian Buddhist bar on Google to find Jamal and  Jacob's podcast if you want to hear more of A Christian and a Buddhist Walk into a Bar (1 hr 11 mins) The guys reflect on the discussion with Jamal and Jacob (1 hr 12 mins) Gavin talks about how he enjoyed spending time travelling and visiting Diplomacy players during his trip, including Jamal, Bradley Grace, Chris Brand and John Avena (1 hr 16 mins 45 secs) He goes onto talk about WDC 2025 in San Francisco and WDC 2026 in Athens, with a shout out to Spyros, podcast listener and TD for WDC in Athens (1 hr 22 mins) Gavin discusses officially holding the Cane Toad Classic tournament in Brisbane the weekend of 24-25 August 2024. Register your interest at the Australian Diplomacy tournament form (1 hr 26 mins) They talk about a pre-game for the first weekend in August but since recording we've fallen short and won't be happening (1 hr 30 mins) The guys begin wrapping up the show, and Gavin does an extra Bradely Grace shout out on 3 words (1 hr 35 mins 15 secs)   Venue: Longwang, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Ken: Balter XPA from the Gold Coast, XXXX Bitter from Brisbane (during the interview) Gavin: Balter XPA from the Gold Coast 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 pay off the audio equipment... or buy the guys a drink, 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 Davide Cleopadre, the tournament organiser of the 2024 World Diplomacy Championship in Milan, Italy. Intro The guys open the show being recorded on Skype and introduce their drinks with a couple of stories along the way (0 mins 10 secs) Interview with Davide Cleopadre, TD for the 2024 WDC in Milan They start introducing the interview with Davide Cleopadre, the tournament organiser (11 mins 50 secs) The interview begins and Gavin asks Davide why he nominated Milan as the host for the 2024 WDC (14 mins) Gavin talks about the culture in Italy and Australia and how they've very similar (16 mins 15 secs) Davide talks a little around the venue and eating too much (19 mins) Gavin asks what will people walk away remembering about this particular WDC. Ken bowls a curve ball  (21 mins 20 secs) He goes onto ask about the structure of the tournament... with a little lasagne and gnocci talk... and not to put any sauce on anything in Australia (24 mins 15 secs) They talk about the rounds in the tournament, the scoring system and gameplay (29 mins) Davide goes into how the top board is determined and Gavin asks about the Lingua Franca in the tournament (41 mins 40 secs) Ken asks about using new technologies to improve communication in other languages in tournaments (45 mins 10 secs) Gavin draws on his previous visit to Milan many years ago and asks about Davide's expeditations on travelling before or after the tournament (49 mins) They talk about the WhatsApp group for the tournament (50 mins 50 secs) Davide talks about the idea of betting and bottles of wine before a brief discussion on Spaghetti Bolognese (55 mins 30 secs) The guys discuss the interview (59 mins 30 secs) Gavin mentions the Team game concept being considered for WDC Milan (1 hr 6 mins) Diplomacy chat Ken asks what Gavin's doing with his online games while he's away (1 hr 11 mins) They discuss some of Gavin's vDip games (1 hr 15 mins) Ken asks about buying into games (1 hr 20 mins) The guys wrap up the show (1 hr 28 mins) Venue: Skype because Ken has buggered up his hand, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Ken: XXXX Bitter from Brisbane Gavin: De Bortelli Sacred Hill Shiraz, "Wine of 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 pay off the audio equipment... or buy the guys a drink, 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 open the show and introduce the venue, Maniax, an axe throwing bar (0 mins 10 secs) Gavin mentions a Bizarre Map originally published on X, which explains what bits of Australia are like if they were American (6 mins 15 secs) They also discuss the old pronunciation issue for “Arkansas” (8 mins 20 secs) The guys flag there's no interview this episode, and an update where they stuffed up an interview (9 mins 30 secs) Gavin talks about setting a regularly scheduled day each month so people can put it in their calendar eg second Sunday or the month (16 mins 45 secs) They get invited to throw axes and receive a safety briefing and before having a throw - apologies if it gets a little quieter at this point but there's understandable a bit of space between the recorder and where we throw the axes (19 mins 45 secs) The guys give a wrap up of their axe throwing games (41 mins) They move onto a new bar and discuss the venue and their drinks (45 mins) Gavin talks about not acting his age. Read more about Australian school yard Hand Ball - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handball_(schoolyard_game) - he also discusses swearing (50 mins 30 secs) Ken delivers some big news from Sweden (55 mins 15 secs) He asks Gavin about his thoughts on networking the board vs the strategy of the board - you can hear about this for less than $2 a month in our Patreon feed (55 mins 50 secs) Gavin cracks some news about his plans for May and June this year (57 mins 50 secs) They discuss the What the Dr Recommended segment (1 hr 6 mins) The guys kick off an Around the Grounds segment and start talking about some of their online games (1 hr 7 mins 50 secs) They start wrapping up the show (1 hr 20 mins)  Venue: Maniax and then Brew, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Ken: Maniax Mead and Stone and Wood Pacific Ale Gavin: Two to the Valley pale ale by Newstead Brewery and a Don Ramon tempranillo 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 pay off the audio equipment... or buy the guys a drink, 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 discuss their latest face to face tournament, the Melbourne Open and have an around the card table discussion with many great players. Plus Ken's shoe story. Enjoy! Intro The guys open the show discussing their drinks, Gavin's incredible rustiness and a little about the tournament (0 mins 15 secs) They mention DBN is having a chat also coming up blow by blow about the tournament  (9 mins secs) Card table chat around Melbourne Open and player experiences The guys introduce the card table chat with various players from the Melbourne Open and Ken teases the tale of two shoes. Bear in mind that occassionally with so many people speaking it can be confusing briefly (9 mins 30 secs) The chat begins with Karthik Konath (USA), Craig Percell (New Zealand), Ken, Steve (Melboune), Peter (Melbourne), Jamal (Canberra), Goffy (Melbourne) and Robert (Melbourne via London), meanwhile Gavin discusses a skit in Aunty Donna and his poor consistent games at the end of day one (10 mins) They begin a debrief on their round 1 and 2 games and observations from the first day (14 mins) Sascha (Thailand via Germany) joins the chat and they discuss the international player's views on why they came to an Australian tournament and what they like about Australia from their visit so far (19 mins) They talk about the prospects of a WDC in Australia is a few years (26 mins 30 secs) Australian stereotypes (32 mins 35 secs) They eventually move on to each discuss their first day at the tournament (38 mins 45 secs) They move onto how things will change in their gameplay for day two and the additional role to the TD in supporting wellbeing (1 hr 23 mins 45 secs) The discussion wraps up (1 hr 53 mins) Airport Tournament wrap-up (BONUS shoe story) The guys give their recollections of the chat (1 hr 53 mins 30 secs) They discuss their trip back from Andrew Goff's to their apartment and Ken's Ned the "Shoe Man" Kelly story (1 hr 57 mins) Ken announces he came third in the tournament (2 hrs 3 mins) Ken flags to watch his second round Turkey game when it airs on DBN (2 hrs 7 mins 30 secs) Gavin talks about his first round Italy getting an Italian army in Sevastapol in fall 1902 (2 hrs 9 mins) They discuss upcoming tournaments including the Hung Parliament Handicap in Canberra, getting a Canetoad Classic in Brisbane happening in August and another Melbourne tournament in October (2 hrs 14 mins) Gavin flags that our scheduling has been thrown out a bit before wrapping up (2 hours 16 mins) Venue: The Taphouse (Melbourne Airport) and Andrew Goff's place, Melbourne Drinks of choice: Ken:  Stomping Ground red ale by the Taphouse and so, so many Gavin: Stomping Ground pale ale zero alcohol and many, many more 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 pay off the audio equipment... or buy the guys a drink, 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 Zach Moore about all things NADF. Plus we talk our online games. Intro The guys open the show talking about some recent off topic discussions (0 mins 15 secs) They discuss their drinks and initial venue  (1 mins 30 secs) Loser's round stuff (3 mins 30 secs) Interview with Zach Moore about NADF The guys start introducing their interview with Zach, current NADF President who gives us a tour of his car (6 mins 30 secs) Zach explains how he took over the presidency of NADF from Siobhan Nolen, and his purpose in the role and the Code of Conduct (9 mins) He discusses the more proactive measures he'd like to see to get ahead of behaviours that cause problems and how the NADF Board is assisting (13 mins) They discuss improving diversity in the game (16 mins) Zach talks about this year's DipCon in Vancouver and his experience, including his game with Jamal Blakkarly (20 mins 30 secs) Gavin asks about why non North Americans didn't perform as well at DipCon (28 mins) They discuss how play style changes in a tournament where there is no top board (34 mins 30 secs) Zach talks about how Covid killed the local Minnesota club (37 mins 30 secs) Zach asks about the Australian "Snake Pit" virtual league on Discord (39 mins 15 secs) They talk about the concept of an International Diplomacy Federation (41 mins) Zach puts on the record about him winning his DBNI first round and top board, and how it'll happen (46 mins) They wrap up the interview (48 mins 20 secs) Around the grounds They move bars to the Dark Red Wine Bar and discuss their new drinks as a mid-game (55 mins) The guys talk about a "Big Hitters" game staring to form at vDiplomacy, currently planned on a Haven map (1 hr 1 mins) They talk about heading off to the Melbourne Open this weekend (1 hr 5 mins) They wrap up the show (1 hr 9 mins) Venue: The Prince Regent & the Dark Red Wine Bar, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Ken:  Young Henry's XPA and Moretti Lager (from Italy) Gavin: Balter XPA and a Primitovo from Apulgia, Italy 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 pay off the audio equipment... or buy the guys a drink, 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 Chris Brand about the upcoming 2024 DipCon/Cascadia Open in Vancouver. Plus we talk upcoming tournaments and our online games. Intro The guys open the show about Gavin's wife's recent interest in Ticket to Ride and talk about a number of other board games (0 mins 15 secs) They discuss their drinks and initial venue which they last visited in episode 2 (4 mins 20 secs) Ken's been brewing beer (6 mins 20 secs) Interview with Chris Brand The guys start introducing their interview with Chris Brand, WDC winner and tournament organiser for this year's DipCon/Cascadia Open in Vancouver (10 mins 15 secs) Gavin asks about the tournament from 3rd to 4th February 2024 and how it'll be different being run as a DipCon (12 mins 30 secs) They talk about the scoring system and player's from different locations' playing style versus the West Coast style (15 mins 30 secs) They go onto discuss responsibilities in organising the tournament (20 mins 40 secs) Chris talks about the rounds and the impact of online players increasingly attending face to face tournaments (23 mins) Gavin asks about Chris' drink (26 mins) Ken asks about how did the idea of combining DipCon and Cascadia come about (27 mins 40 secs) He then asks about the logistics of getting to the tournament (30 mins 30 secs) They talk about the social aspect of the tournament (32 mins 15 secs) Gavin asks Chris about whether he'll attend WDC in Milan (34 mins) Ken asks about how to register and get advice on getting to the tournament (35 mins 40 secs) They start wrapping up the interview before moving onto discussing the interview (38 mins) Ken gets up to some maple syrup smuggling (47 mins 30 secs) Diplomacy chat The guys discuss the two upcoming tournaments in Australia: the Melbourne Open hosted by Andrew Goff in the first weekend of March and the Hung Parliament Handicap in Canberra hosted by Jamal Blakkarly on 12-14 April (48 mins 30 secs) The guys give their take on Renaissance Italy (57 mins) They discuss having a tournament in Brisbane during August called the "Canetoad Classic" and get into the trophy (1 hr 1 min) The guys move onto a new venue, moving to Rothwells and discuss their mid-game drinks (1 hr 7 mins) Around the grounds Gavin talks about the last episode where the guys agreed to play the new South of Sahara variant, but Ken then CD'ed and left the game (1 hr 14 mins) They move onto Gavin's Europa Renovatio game as Portugal (1 hr 18 mins) Ken flags he hasn't got around to any Big Stick Diplomacy variant updates. They then talk about a few games broadly (1 hr 26 mins) Ken talks about how to flag in a gunboat how to flag to get on with it and draw (1 hr 29 mins 30 secs) The guys start wrapping up the episode (1 hr 32 mins 45 secs) Venue: The Gresham & Rothwell's, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Ken:  Cooper's Sparkling Ale from South Australia and Wilder gluten free pale ale Gavin: Capa Sigle Tempranillo from Castilla la Mancha in Spain and a 2018 Bordeaux 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 pay off the audio equipment... or buy the guys a drink, 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.

After almost 4 years the guys bring back creator and publisher of the Diplomacy Briefing, Umbletheheap, to see where the weekly email newsletter is at and where it's going. Plus we award the end of year Best Player award between each other, the new South of Sahara variant and progress on the Big Stick Diplomacy variant. Intro The guys open the show and discuss their drinks and initial venue which they last visited in episode 14. They discuss why Russia doesn't open Warsaw to Silesia more often. (0 mins 15 secs) Interview with Umbletheheap The guys start introducing their interview with Umbletheheap, creator and publisher of the Diplomacy Briefing (6 mins 15 secs) Umble gives a quick overview about what the Diplomacy Briefing is and its initial beginning (8 mins) He discusses the increasing role of many other great people contributing to the Briefing (10 mins 15 secs) Gavin asks about the professionalisation of the newsletter (14 mins 10 secs) Umble discusses his role in Ministry as a pastor yet being someone who loves the game Diplomacy which has a certain reputation (17 mins 45 secs) They discuss the role of AI when assisting the Briefing (26 mins) Gavin gives a shout out for anyone listening to the show who wants to step up, give back to the community and be recognised for their work re-using podcast conten in other areas eg Youtube (31 mins) Umble shares two secrets, one on starting the Briefing and getting Captainmeme back into the game (32 mins) He discusses winding things back a bit, while still ensuring the Briefing will keep on going (39 mins) Umble discusses old Diplomacy zines and how in the past it impacted on relationships (44 mins) He finishes up by discussing their Diplomacy awards coming up (47 mins) The guys return - this time in a new venue - and discuss the interview (52 mins) Diplomacy chat They discuss the new venue - an 80's rock bar called Alice - and their drinks (57 mins 30 secs) Some 80's pop culture banter (59 mins) Ken awards the trophy between the two of them on who is The Better vDip player, with Ken still beating Gavin (1 hr 0 mins 40 secs) New variant - South of Sahara The guys discuss the latest new variant on vDip "South of Sahara", created by David E Cohen and brought to vDip by Enriador and Tobias Florin (1 hr 3 mins 30 secs) They discuss this new 5 player variant. Gavin shares a conversation with David about the variant and some of his new upcoming variants (1 hr 5 mins) Ken shares a story about transforming units in Known World 901 and they agree to playing a South of Sahara game together (1 hr 12 mins 30 secs) Due to the very dark lighting they decide to switch drinking venues (1 hr 15 mins) Variant development update: Big Stick Diplomacy The guys have moved to Red Queen Gin and begin planning further their Big Stick Diplomacy variant (1 hr 15 mins 45 secs) Ken gives Gavin a geographic history lesson (1 hr 41 mins) Henry Kissinger update The freaky Henry Kissinger moment (1 hr 47 mins) Bronze Age Diplomacy play testing Gavin bought into this variant being play tested. You can view the game at vDiplomacy with the opening positions viewed on the variant page (1 hr 54 mins 30 secs) He goes on to discuss what he felt coming towards the end game and why as a variant creator he felt the need to stab his long term ally (1 hr 57 mins 15 secs) The guys start wrappin up the show, but have a mea culpa for our Patreon supporters. Gavin's slightly misplaced the recording from last episode and is looking for it. It'll come out soon (2 hrs 7 mins) Venue: Embassy Hotel, Alice and Red Queen Gin, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Ken:  Black Haze stout infused with egg nog, Sundance Surprise, Ritual and Ceremonies Gavin: Black Hops Goat hazy IPA, Buffalo Trace on the rocks, barrel aged Negroni 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 pay off the audio equipment... or buy the guys a drink, 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 Sascha Heylmann who they met and played at WDC. Plus we address the myth of Diplomacy being the favorite game of Henry Kissinger... unfortunately surprisingly timely. Intro The guys open the show and discuss the venue and their drinks before they introduce their interview with Sascha Heylmann, one of the behind the scenes organisers at WDC in Bangkok (0 mins 15 secs Interview with Sascha Heylmann The interview with Sascha begins (2 mins 45 secs) How Sascha got into Diplomacy: both in Europe and in Bangkok. He discusses recent organising of games in Bangkok (4 mins 30 secs) They talk about the challenge of getting local players instead of ex-pats and more women involved into the game (9 mins) The guys talk about the challenge of playing a pre-dominantly a game communicating in English vs Thai, culture in the ex-pat and Thai communities and improving diversity in the game (15 mins) Sascha talks about upcoming steps in Diplomacy coming up for Bangkok and more broadly for southeast Asia (26 mins 45 secs) Ken asks about Sascha's takeaway thoughts on what went well and what could've been done differently for future tournaments (31 mins 30 secs) They talk about long term thinking for a tournament circuit concept. Sascha reflects on this in the southeast Asian context with the idea of it being somewhere like Denang in Vietnam in August 2024 (36 mins 30 secs) If you want to find out more and join Sascha's Whatsapp group for the New Years or Southeast Asian championship, use our contact us link and we'll hook you up! Or private message Vaultboy on vDiplomacy (45 mins 30 secs) The guys wrap up the interview (52 mins) The guys return and give their thoughts on the interview (52 mins 50 secs) Ken and Gavin move bars to the Press Club (54 mins 50 secs) Diplomacy news and chat Brother Bored's Diplomacy Dojo podcast is back after a bit of a hiatus (56 mins) They discuss PlayDip recently being hacked and give their thoughts about the massive amount of gambling advertising on the site (58 mins) Ken announces that we're going to be part of trying to get a face to face scene happening on the Gold Coast (about an hour south of Brisbane) (1 hr 2 mins) Gavin announces a small development in the urban legend about Diplomacy being the favourite game of Henry Kissinger. Note: this was recorded prior to the announcement of Henry Kissinger's death (1 hr 6 mins 30 secs) The guys turn to their new proposed variant across multiple theaters of war at the end of the 19th Century and have an update for listeners (1 hr 20 mins 15 secs) Gavin resets expectations on a Christmas extravaganza for the next episode (1 hr 37 mins) He goes onto discuss a suggested title for this variant (1 hr 39 mins 15 secs) They talk about a name for the variant and coalesce on "Big Stick Diplomacy" (1 hr 47 mins 30 secs) The guys begin wrapping up the episode (1 hr 49 mins) Venue: Press Club, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Ken:  Valley Hops hazy IPA Gavin: The house cabernet sauvignon. 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 pay off the audio equipment... or buy the guys a drink, 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 Bradley Grace about his love of Diplomacy. Plus they discuss a great new variant devised on a mini bus in rural Thailand and their online games. Intro The guys introduce themselves, the bar and their drinks for the evening (0 mins 10 secs) They discuss what life's like now back in Australia, instead of their super chill selves in Thailand. Ken talks about some of the places he visited in Thailand after Kanchanaburi (4 mins 30 secs) Interview with Bradley Grace They start introducting the interview for today's episode with Bradley Grace. Gavin flags they had tech issues recording the interview, so apologies there's a small break and then another 30 mins of the interview didn't record for some reason (8 mins 45 secs) Ken begins the interview and asks Bradley about how did he come to WDC. Bradley also discusses how he first got into Diplomacy (11 mins 30 secs) For some reason Zoom crapped itself so soon in the interview, but then we come back (14 mins 15 secs) Bradley talks about his virtual Diplomacy championship top board experience and his stories on gameplay (16 mins 45 secs) He talks about his main lesson: be 10% less aggressive (21 mins 30 secs) Bradley and Ken talk about their discussions from watching the WDC shadow top board. They discuss Diplomacy as a spectator sport (23 mins 30 secs) Bradley talks about the repechage round which determined whether he or Edi Birsan made the top board. He then gives his views on how he would've done on the top board as Germany (26 mins) He asks Gavin why he built an army as Turkey in winter 1901 rather than a fleet (29 mins) Ken asks if Bradley had a favorite game he played at WDC (30 mins) As flagged the 2nd part of the interview wasn't recorded (sorry - you just missed half an hour of gold). Gavin flags our next Patreon episode has a great WDC discussion recorded involving Chris Brand, Jamal and Bradley (37 mins) A great new variant? On the way back from Erawan Falls in Thailand on a mini bus, Gavin and Ken came up with the idea for a fantastic new variant, an alternate history variant set during the Spanish-American War, where a broader war occurs including Britain, France, Holland and Portugal. The variant involves conflict across 4 diffent theaters of war and different power dynamics across the quadrants to create balance across the board (43 mins 15 secs) Around the grounds Ken discusses a couple of the few games he's in at the moment (1 hr 4 mins) Gavin talks about two games he drew in - an Ancient Mediterranean game and an Imperial game (1 hr 6 mins) He then discusses an American Conflict game he was eliminated in (1 hr 12 mins 30 secs) They talk about trying to get a face to face game happening locally. Ken discusses the new 6 player Greek city states map he purchased at WDC (1 hr 13 mins 30 secs) They begin wrapping up the show (1 hr 15 mins) Venue: Antico, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Ken:  Stone & Wood pale ale Gavin: A glass of Italian montepulciano (missed the name of the vineyard when ordering) 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 pay off the audio equipment... or buy the guys a drink, 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.

With the guys about to head off to WDC in Bangkok, they play a face to face game & discuss their learnings to apply. Plus updates on their podcast listener game and new variants in development at vDip. Intro The guys introduce their drinks and tonight's initial venue (0 mins 10 secs) They talk a little around their plans for Bangkok's WDC before a bit of an intro on their recent face to face game in Brisbane (3 mins) Chat with Reily Chapman on their face to face game in Brisbane The guys set up the context of their chat with Reily (previously on the show as Macca) about their recent face to face game in Brisbane (5 mins) The discussion starts as Kaner and Amby get into the Guiness  (6 mins)  Reily talks about his board topping game as Austria, and Amby's poorly executed game as Italy (8 mins) Kaner discusses his game as Russia (12 mins) Amby's psychological warfare against France (15 mins 20 secs) They discuss gameplay (19 mins) Kaner and Reily with different recollections of the same thing (22 mins 30 secs) Amby's stab (24 mins 30 secs) Turkey starts threatening Turkey (27 mins) Amby discusses his misorder and how it all unraveled (31 mins) They discuss their top learnings from this game and the end game (38 mins) They start wrapping things up with some final thoughts to help for WDC (52 mins) Kaner & Amby return and give their thoughts on the discussion with Reily before moving onto a strategy talk (54 mins 30 secs) Diplomacy talk They talk about timings for next episodes following the guys going to Thailand (1 hr 2 mins) The guys have moved from their starter bar (Prince Consort) to the Gatsby Lounge in Fortitude Valley and their new drinks (1 hr 4 mins) Around the grounds They kick off their current games discussions with their podcast listener game based on Nine Dash Line (1 hr 6 mins 30 mins)  They discuss a proposed new variant at vDip set in New Zealand amongst Maori tribes by Porter Zach (1 hr 18 mins)  They review some of the other new maps in development (1 hr 23 mins 30 secs) They move onto a couple of Amby's game including an American Conflict game and an Imperial Diplomacy game where he's Britain (1 hr 30 mins) Amby gets block sizes mixed up before they discuss getting some variant maps printed for games without 7 players (1 hr 41 mins) The guys wrap up the show (1 hr 45 mins) Venue: Prince Consort, Finn McCools & the Gatsby Lounge, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Balter XPA, Guiness and 150 Lashes pale ale Amby: Torbruk Woodcutter's shiraz, Guiness and St Hallet's Faith 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 pay off 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.

With just a month until the first World Diplomacy Championship in Asia we catchup with organisers Andrew Goff and Lei Saarlainen about WDC Bangkok 2023, plus lots more. Intro The guys introduce their drinks and tonight's venue (0 mins 10 secs) They discuss why Italy doesn't open more often to the west and some crazy openings (5 mins 35 secs) Interview about WDC Bangkok with Andrew Goff and Lei Saarlainen They introduce the interview today with Lei Saarlainen and Andrew Goff about WDC 2023 in Bangkok (14 mins) We discuss what's planned (16 mins 40 sec) They discuss how language is approached at the tournament (20 mins) Andrew and Lei discusses what makes this WDC different to previous tournaments (25 mins 10 secs) Kaner asks about what Bangkok is like for visitors flying in and what to do. Andrew gives some tricks to remember for visitors (29 mins 45 secs) Lei also mentions there is a side tournament being held a week later in Siem Reap in Cambodia including visits to the Angkor Wat temple complex. Andrew also gives context for scheduling during the tournament and a WhatsApp group (33 mins 50 secs) They discuss time limit plans for the games (38 mins 20 secs) Kaner asks about the tournament scoring system (41 mins 20 secs) Amby goes onto discuss which official version of the rules will be used - the new board or rules played for many years (44 mins 10 secs) Amby asks about the cultural style of the tournament gameplay (48 mins 20 secs) He goes onto ask about the local climate and how should people be packing (52 mins 30 secs) They discuss some of the challenges maintaining momentum for the tournament during the pandemic (56 mins) They begin wrapping up the interview (1 hr 1 min) They goes give their thoughts on the interview (1 hr 2 mins 30 secs) Amby incorrectly says the Siem Reap tournament will be in a temple - he misheard Lei - ignore this bit folks! (1 hr 7 mins) Diplomacy chat Kaner asks about getting a face to face game in Brisbane (1 hr 13 mins) Amby discusses the Curious Western Triple  (1 hr 14 mins) The guys talk houses and the Kaner & Amby Gardening Show (1 hr 28 mins)  Around the grounds The guys discuss their Nine Dash Line game (https://www.vdiplomacy.com/board.php?gameID=55953) which they're playing with podcast listeners (1 hr 33 mins 40 secs) vDip has new variants again thanks to tobi1 and Enriador. Kaner talks about his anonymous East Indies game where he's getting screwed over (https://www.vdiplomacy.com/board.php?gameID=55953) (1 hr 41 mins 50 secs) Amby touches on some of his games. First up is an email only game run by David E Cohen for the Mandate of Heaven variant. He discusses his interesting gameplay strategy - big shout out to his ally Rob (1 hr 46 mins 20 secs) Amby talks about his American Conflict game - a Civil War variant with the European powers joining in at the same time (https://www.vdiplomacy.com/board.php?gameID=56035#gamePanel) (1 hr 51 mins 15 secs) Next is his Imperial game as Britain (https://www.vdiplomacy.com/board.php?gameID=55996) (1 hr 54 mins 30 secs) The guys wrap up the show (2 hrs 2 mins 30 secs) Venue: Babylon, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: 150 Lashes pale ale Amby: Kaesler shiraz from the Barossa Valley 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 pay off 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 catch up to discuss the upcoming new official board game rules, their game with podcast listeners and much more. Intro The guys introduce their drinks and tonight's venue (0 mins 5 secs) New board game rules & face to face They talk about the proposed board updates and rule changes from Renegade, the new publisher (7 mins) Amby discusses the beer taps before they move onto the last 2 rule changes (25 mins 40 secs) They discuss whether any of the upcoming tournaments from August on, including WDC, will be playing against the rules (33 mins) The guys talk about their plans for WDC in Bangkok (43 mins 40 secs) Amby discusses timing for their next face to face game in Brisbane (45 mins 10 secs) Around the grounds Kaner and Amby in the last episode talked about playing the Nine Dash variant with podcast listeners. This has now happened and can be found at vDip. The guys give a shout out to all listeners/players in the game  (47 mins 20 secs) They talk about the interesting aspects of this variant's board before they talk about how the game is going for them and other players (49 mins 30 secs) Amby talks about the Aberration V anonymous game he's in and then discusses his World War IV game (1 hr 3 mins 30 secs) The guys start wrapping up (1 hr 8 mins 40 secs) Venue: Miss Demeanor, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Black Hops pale ale Amby: Tscharke's Shiraz, Shiraz, Shiraz from the Barossa Valley 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 pay off 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.

Lots of stuff been happening in the guys' lives, so they catch up to discuss the game. Intro The guys give some context for the delay in podcast episodes (0 mins 10 secs) Kaner gives Amby his belated Christmas gift (1 mins 50 secs) They discuss their face to face game in January, their first game since Covid. They discuss having another game in mid-April (5 mins 20 secs) The guys move onto discussing ChatGPT and using it for a Diplomacy game. Kaner discusses the jail breaked version (10 mins 30 secs) They realise they'd forgette to introduce the bar and their drinks (13 mins 45 secs) Amby talks some more about ChatGPT and what it knows about our podcast (16 mins) Amby asks Kaner about circular movements in Diplomacy. Kaner uses as an example a Classic Britain game. They go onto discuss the dynamics of how England got off Great Britain (25 mins 30 secs) They discuss the two new variants at vDip: Cold War Redux (a 4 player version) and Nine-Dash Line. They discuss creating a password protected game for our listeners and give away the password when you listen (35 mins) Kaner discusses a northern California variant map, a New York City variant and David E Cohen's South of the Sahara variant (48 mins) In discussing the Russian civil war, Amby discusses the Czechoslovak legion creating havoc in central Russia (54 mins) The guys move to a new bar Black Hops session ale and Lato Wild West red blend. Kaner talks chilli vodka (56 mins) Kaner discusses his Mistletoe Grinding Shoepolish Mudcake game (1 hr 1 min) Kaner's games he stole from Amby and bottom feeders (1 hr 6 mins 30 secs) Why they can't play Bot games at the moment against each other (1 hr 14 mins) Amby talks a little about his games (1 hr 16 mins 40 secs) Amby goes back to the January face to face Brisbane game and how he did not lie to players (channeling his inner Cicero) (1 hr 18 mins 50 secs) The guys wrap the show up (1 hr 20 mins) Venue: Criterion Hotel and Before + After, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Great Northern lager and Black Hops session ale Amby: Balter XPA, Pepperjack Shiraz from the Barossa Valley and Lato Wild West red blend   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 pay off 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 Noam Brown from Meta about all the things you don't know about Cicero. Plus a good old Diplomacy chat. Intro The guys introduce the show and venue. Amby explains his screw up pre-recording (0 mins 10 secs) Amby asks for listener's feedback on the Christmas show and they discuss their drinks (6 mins) Interview with Noam Brown from Meta The guys start introducing today's interview with Noam Brown from Meta about the work they've done teaching their artificial intelligence (AI) agent Cicero into playing a very strong communicative game of Diplomacy (10 mins 30 secs) Amby mentions where you can learn more in other videos about Cicero: DBN, Meta's own videos and CaptainMeme's Diplostrats first and second videos (12 mins 30 secs) The guys begin the interview with Noam and discuss his early days experience with the game (14 mins) They discuss why Diplomacy was chosen to explore with AI (17 mins) Noam talks a little more about his pitch as a Meta employee and what benefits he put forward to the organisation (20 mins 40 secs) They discuss awareness of Diplomacy among team members (23 mins 55 secs) Noam talks about prior AI research and how it related to the research project (25 mins 30 secs) Kaner asks about what type of computing power is needed to run Cicero. Amby asks whether people could play against Cicero (28 mins) Kaner asks whether Cicero learns from games it plays and asks about Novel techniques used with Cicero (31 mins 45 secs) Amby asks what happens when humans play randomly against the bot and how it interrupts that (46 mins) Amby asks about when in the research process did the project team identify not lying works better (47 mins 30 secs) Amby goes onto query if someone could take off the "training wheels" to make Cicero lie (55 mins) They discuss why Cicero puts an emphasis on some locations on the board that some players ignore. He goes onto asking about Cicero's understanding of stalemate lines and other learnings from Cicero (56 mins) They go onto discussing the conversation style of Cicero and how players interact with it (1 hr 1 min) Amby asks about how Cicero responds to the reactions of human players. They discuss what Cicero would do if everyone wanted to be its ally (1 hr 3 mins 30 secs) They discuss why the named Cicero was chosen (1 hr 6 mins) Amby asks about the peer review process of publishing the paper to Science.org and Noam's thoughts on the media's reporting of the story (1 hr 7 mins) Amby asks about whether there are any plans to have Cicero publicly play in a leading tournament (1 hr 10 mins 50 secs) He asks if there's anything Noam would approach differently if he was starting the project now (1 hr 12 mins 20 secs) To find out more Noam encourages people to visit Meta's page on the project and again, CaptainMeme's video (1 hr 15 mins) The guys return and give their thoughts on the interview, plus Kaner's awesome question he didn't ask (1 hr 17 mins 30 secs) They talk about the idea of how Cicero could play and win the World Diplomacy Championship (1 hr 20 mins) Kaner discusses playing the meta game, how Cicero needed to learn to play differently against humans and playing the game with "the truth" (1 hr 24 mins) Diplomacy Chat Amby wants to explore the idea of playing a face to face game by being as open and honest as possible (1 hr 28 mins) The guys move to Newstead Social and order some new drinks and how they compare in a mid game. Kaner describes a wine he's recently had (1 hr 32 mins) Amby talks again about getting a face to face game on - spoiler alert... it actually happened! (1 hr 41 mins) The guys talk more about their plans when attending WDC 2023. Find out more at the WDC Bangkok website (1 hr 45 mins 30 secs) The guys start wrapping up the show (1 hr 55 mins) Venue: Green Beacon Brewery and Newstead Social, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Apple cider by Green Beacon Brewery and Your Mum's Fav lager by Young Henry's Amby: Windjammer IPA by Green Beacon Brewery and West Cape Howe tempranillo from Margaret River in Western 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 pay off the audio equipment... or get the guys more drunk, you can also donate at Patreon, plus you get extra podcast episodes! *** Remember if you know something about how WordPress works and can help the guys, get in touch!!! *** 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 celebrate the festive season with Round 2 of Diplomacy Trivia, some Christmas gift giving and much, much more. Intro The guys introduce the show, venue and drinks. They throw in a bit of weather talk (0 mins 10 secs)   The guys introduce the 2022 Christmas Diplomacy Trivia game and contestants: reigning champ Markus Zijlstra/CaptainMeme, 3rd place 2022 WDC player Peter McNamara, variant extraordinaire David E. Cohen and podcast Patreon supporter and well known player Hal Schild (7 mins 30 secs) The trivia contest kicks off (8 mins 45 secs) The first question starts (11 mins) The visual for which country was not altered in the very last prototype of Realpolitik before it became Diplomacy is: (20 mins 30 secs)   The next visual question relates to this board (23 mins) The contest round up with the winner declared (1 hr 5 mins) The guys return and give their thoughts on the contest (1 hr 7 mins) Christmas gifts and Diplomacy chat Being Christmas the guys exchange gifts (kind of) (1 hr 12 mins) They talk about their plans for WDC 2023 in Thailand (1 hr 20 mins 30 secs) Amby shares his dream about the winner of WDC 2023 (1 hr 24 mins 15 secs) Amby asks Kaner if he plans to do a fact finding tour for his Southeast Asian variant of the Khmer kingdoms (1 hr 27 mins) The guys get some more drinks and describe them as mid-games (1 hr 29 mins 30 secs) Around the grounds Kaner discusses briefly one of his new Europa Renovatio games (1 hr 32 mins 30 secs) Amby talks about the David E. Cohen Mandate of Heaven email game he's in where he's playing as Shu (Orange) (1 hr 33 mins 30 secs) Amby has been playing with ChatGPT to see how it can improve his Diplomacy game (1 hr 40 mins) The guys start wrapping up the show (1 hr 46 mins 30 secs) Venue: Brewdog, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Hazy Jane Pale Ale and Gateway to Helles Pilsner from Brewdog Amby: Brewdog IPA from Brewdog and Willie Smith's Organic Apple Cider   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 pay off the audio equipment... or get the guys more drunk, you can also donate at Patreon, plus you get extra podcast episodes! *** Remember if you know something about how WordPress works and can help the guys, get in touch!!! *** 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 Stephen Agar, creator of the Diplomacy Archive for zines and the Variant Bank, on getting back into the hobby. Plus the guys talk cheese and languages. Oh and their games too. Intro The guys introduce the show, venue and drinks. They grab some lunch and then return (0 mins 10 secs) Interview with Stephen Agar The guys start setting the scene for their interview with Stephen Agar, creator of the Variant Bank and collector of Diplomacy zines around returning to the hobby (4 mins 15 secs) The interview begins with Stephen talking about running postal Diplomacy back in 1976 and his progression initially with the hobby (4 mins 30 secs) He starts talking about creating in 1999 Diplomacy Archive and Variant Bank. He goes onto discussing how he received 1000's of UK Diplomacy zines and how he's looking at providing them to the British Library (11 mins) He discusses rediscovering  aspects of the game from rereading and cataloging zines and how only about 10% of all zines are online (15 mins) Stephen goes onto discuss how he's inherited about 1,600 variants from the North American Variant Bank which aren't online (17 mins 30 secs) They discuss why interest in variants have reduced in the Diplomacy community compared to the 1960's and 70's (22 mins) He talks about the ingenuity and fun in variants like Abstraction, Multiplicity and light hearted variants like Vain Rats, Deluge and Geophysical Diplomacy (27 mins 30 secs) Amby asks what you'd typically find in a zine edition before progressing to a general discussion around views around how the community has evolved (33 mins 45 secs) Stephen talks around the passing of veterans in the community (44 mins 45 secs) Amby asks about what things were like in the postal Diplomacy scene (47 mins 30 secs) They talk a little around Richard Sharp and his book on the game (50 mins 15 secs) The conversation moves onto the physical nature of zines, Diplomacy folklore and the challenge of dealing with old web tech (53 mins) They discuss how people can contribute to Stephen's project (59 mins 30 secs) Stephen talks about stalemate lines and correspondence with Allan Calhamer and Stephen's 1959 edition of Diplomacy (1 hr 8 mins) Stephen asks if anyone is interested in a postal Diplomacy zine to reach out to him by email (1 hr 16 mins) The guys return to give their thoughts on the interview (1 hr 18 mins) Amby reflects on the difficulty of getting sufficient players for an email game, talking about the David E. Cohen game he's in and gives a thanks to David for creating the connection with Stephen (1 hr 30 mins 45 secs) Around the grounds Kaner announces he's about to win a Germany 1648 game which he thinks will be over by the time this episode goes out (1 hr 37 mins 50 secs) They talk cheese and languages (1 hr 44 mins) Amby discusses one of the games he's in and the guys can't remember which variant they both previously agreed to play (1 hr 54 mins) The guys talk about Daniel Lester winning the 2022 Web Diplomacy Championship and touch on the announced plans for 2023 WDC in Bangkok, Thailand (1 hr 59 mins) They start to wrap up the show (2 hrs 3 mins) Venue: Greenglass, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Pipsqueak cider from Little Creatures, Freemantle Amby: Château La Reyne Malbec from Cahors , France 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 pay off the audio equipment... or get the guys more drunk, you can also donate at Patreon, plus you get extra podcast episodes! *** Remember if you know something about how WordPress works and can help the guys, get in touch!!! *** 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 Kestas about his suggested options for how vDip and webDip could better work together or possibly merge. Plus how their games are going. Intro The guys introduce the show, venue and drinks (0 mins 10 secs) Interview with Kestas on vDip and webDip Kestas is welcomed back to the show and starts by discussing his thoughts on how vDip and webDip could possibly work better together (4 mins 30 secs) He outlines some of the challenges for vDip and how webDip may be able to assist (9 mins) Kestas describes how he's testing the water with the community for their thoughts and feedback (15 mins) Amby gives a clarification on "vDip is dying", which was mentioned on the site in the context of its forum (17 mins) Kaner asks about if vDip and webDip were closer, could rapid variant development start again (24 mins 30 secs) Amby asks how would variants be brought across. Kestas discusses the options available (34 mins) They discuss if merges happened what needs consideration for vDip players who for one reason or another don't want to be part of webDip and former webDip players who may have been banned and subsequently moved to vDip (49 mins) Kaner asks about what the function of vDip is now and what the vDip community wants for the future (55 mins) Amby asks what opportunities there may be in the future for webDip which may be an incentive for vDip players when considering the proposal (59 mins) Amby asks about timeframes (1 hr 3 mins) After Amby had to wrap the interview up, the guys return to discuss their thoughts on the conversation (1 hr 7 mins 40 secs) Kaner summarises the four options on the table (1 hr 9 mins 15 secs) They discuss the gin menu (1 hr 22 mins) Kaner returns to discussing how functionality between vDip and webDip could be shared and their final thoughts on the topic (1 hr 25 mins) Kaner touches on what he and Kestas discussed after Amby had to leave and wrap up the interview. Amby asks what webDip people thoughts on the proposal also would be (1 hr 36 mins 40 secs) Diplomacy chat The guys discuss David E. Cohen's Mandate of Heaven play test which Amby will be joining (1 hr 39 mins) Amby gives another shout out to the listener community for anyone with WordPress skills who can help either fix the DiplomacyGames.com template or help us migrate from the existing old template to a new one (1 hr 40 mins) Amby mentions they spent about 10 minutes talking about Mandate of Heaven back in podcast episode 105 (1 hr 44 mins) Amby mentions he's been playing with AI image creation using Diplomacy related themes and posts some quick ones created on the spot with Kaner, one Diplomacy & JFK themed and the other Harry Potter characters playing Diplomacy (based on Kaner's requested prompt). He'll do some better versions posted to our Twitter account (1 hr 44 mins 30 secs)     They move onto Amby's drawn Zeus 5 game where he played as Italy. While he initially didn't like the variant map, he really started appreciating it after playing it (1 hr 51 mins) Next is Amby's A Modern Europe game where he's playing a position anonymously (1 hr 57 mins 30 secs) Kaner touches on his Rinasciemento game (2 hrs 1 min) They begin wrapping up the show, flagging what's coming up in the Patreon episode that will be out in a week (2 hrs 3 mins) Venue: Dutch Courage Officers' Mess, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Stone & Wood Pacific Ale Amby: Zilzie shiraz from the Barossa Valley, 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 pay off the audio equipment... or get the guys more drunk, you can also donate at Patreon, plus you get extra podcast episodes! *** Remember if you know something about how WordPress works and can help the guys, get in touch!!! *** 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 BlueDog, an old school Diplomacy player who got back into the game after many decades. Plus Diplomacy chat, entering the Australian Podcast Awards and more drinking. Intro The guys introduce the show and an ongoing apology for the break in episodes. Before they go onto discuss what Kaner's reading, the venue and their drinks (0 mins 15 secs) Interview with BlueDog The start discussing the interview today with BlueDog, an ally of Amby's in a WWIV sealanes game. Amby talks a little about Rulebook press (9 mins 30 secs) BlueDog discusses how he got started playing Diplomacy in the 1970's and only got back into it this year (2022 at time of recording) (14 mins 30 secs) They discuss having the parent-child dynamic changed (17 mins 30 secs) BlueDog discuss how his father, a World War 2 veteran and uncle got into the game (19 mins 30 secs) He goes onto discuss his experience with the online Diplomacy sites and his thoughts pre-internet about the game opportunities he envisaged (22 mins) BlueDog discusses how he got back into the game listening to the When Diplomacy Fails interview with Zack Twamley (this is also on Zack's feed.) He goes onto discuss how he'd forgotten some of the basics when coming back into the game (25 mins) They discuss playing against the bots at webDip (28 mins) BlueDog talks about playing large variant games (Divided States, Europa Renovatio) and liking players even though they eat up your SC's (31 mins) BlueDog and Amby discuss their game (BlueDog as Australia, Amby as South Africa). BlueDog gives lots of good advice for players (38 mins) They start discussing the end game (49 mins) BlueDog travels a lot internationally for his job. Amby asks how that impacts on his ability to play the game (52 mins) Amby asks about whether BlueDog would get back into playing face to face Diplomacy (55 mins) BlueDog asks about the demographics for who plays the game and the type of people they are (56 mins) They guys wrap up the interview and return to discuss their thoughts on the game (1 hr  0 mins 45 secs) Diplomacy talk Amby gives a shout out to the first WDC for the first time since COVID at Carnage in Vermont. Amby gives an update on WDC 2023 in Thailand and that's still looking good (1 hr 4 mins 45 secs) Amby presents a Thailand Diplomacy challenge to Kaner (1 hr 11 mins 30 secs) Because Amby has been sick for a while he hasn't organised a face to face game in Brisbane. They discuss plugging into university board game clubs to get some Diplomacy games going (1 hr 13 mins) Amby is looking at putting in an entry to the 2022 Australian Podcast Awards. Kaner asks what category they should enter (1 hr 15 mins 30 secs) The guys grab some more drinks, Amby changes to wine and they order some Peruvian loaded fries (1 hr 22 mins) Amby has been playing with AI image generators like Craiyon, and starts talking about some of the AI generated images can be created based on Diplomacy game themes (1 hr 23 mins 45 secs) Around the grounds The guys move onto discuss one of the Europa Renovatio games he's signed up for, and accuses Amby of being a CD stalker. They go onto discuss how different countries tend to go on this map (1 hr 34 mins 30 secs) They talk about favourite variants on vDip. Amby mentions Baron von Powell's College of Cardinals variant. They also discuss favourite variant rule changes (1 hr 41 mins) The guys wrap up the show (1 hr 51 mins) Venue: Mongrel, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Rad Ale, Seeker Brewery in Wooloongong in New South Wales Amby:  Hop, Skip & Jump Indian Pale Ale, Aether Brewery in Brisbane and Tscharke Shiraz from the Barossa Valley in 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 pay off 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 Traci Brown, leading expert in detecting deception using body language. Plus two new variant maps are making the rounds. Kaner keeps on winning. And Amby screws up the tech. Intro The guys introduce the show and an apology for the break in episodes. Before they go onto the venue and their drinks (0 mins 15 secs) Interview with Traci Brown The start discussing the interview today with leading deception detection expert Traci Brown (2 mins 30 secs) The interview begins with Amby framing the context of today's discussion on body language and detecting fraud and lying (5 mins 30 secs) Amby asks Traci how she got into being a body language expert with Traci discussing her earlier cycling career (7 mins 45 secs) He goes onto ask what are the basic things someone should be looking for (12 mins 20 secs) Traci dispels some of Amby's thoughts on body language. Traci discusses the importance of establishing a person's baseline (15 mins 45 secs) Kaner asks how do you establish the baseline of someone's body language (18 mins 45 secs) Traci discusses the importance of maintaining a journal of your competitor's behaviors and the importance of paying attention to what people do (24 mins 15 secs) Amby asks about when players respond to you when they think you're up to no good. Traci also discusses mirroring (35 mins 30 secs) Amby asks about what behaviors you should follow to build trust (39 mins 15 secs) They discuss practicing regularly (42 mins) Traci discusses her 21 Day Body Language Makeover series of Youtube videos, fraud spotting and her book How to Detect Lies, Fraud and Identity Theft. Amby also mentions Traci's podcast, Truth, Lies and Coverups  (44 mins 30 secs) Amby asks if there's much variation between people's behavior online versus face to face (51 mins) They wrap up the interview. You can learn more at Traci's website, BodyLanguageTrainer.com (52 mins) The guys return and give their thoughts on the interview (52 mins 45 secs) Diplomacy chat and news The guys discuss trying to get a local game happening (1 hr 4 mins 20 secs) Amby will soon be on holidays to Broome in Western Australia and then outback all the way back to Brisbane. This will slow down podcast episodes in October. Kaner suggests some game options while he's away (1 hr 6 mins 45 secs) The guys discuss the two new variants that Flame has created: Cold War Redux (a 4 player game) and Speed Europa (7 players on an updated Classic map) (1 hr 14 mins) They discuss firstly the Cold War Redux variant (1 hr 16 mins) The guys screwed up the pausing and lost a bit of their chat (1 hr 23 mins) They find where they were last up to and start that section again, this time going into more detail on their thoughts about Speed Europa (1 hr 24 mins) Kaner discusses how some visual improvements could make the map even better (1 hr 38 mins 45 secs) Kaner has soloed another game: Germany 1648, a Thirty Years War variant (1 hr 39 mins 45 secs) He discusses how having a this variant now as an interactive map makes it so much better. Amby talks about how he hacked the code in 1648 to do the two types of fleets in the Pirates variant (1 hr 43 mins) Amby discusses how Zach Twamley is currently doing a Thirty Years War podcast series. They go onto discussing a game against each other. Note: Amby won't create this until he's back from his outback trip (1 hr 45 mins) They discuss how Kaner is going in the rankings (1 hr 50 mins) Kaner starts discussing a new Europa Renovatio game he's in (1 hr 51 mins) Amby screwed up and failed to clear the SD card of the recorder, so they start closing out the show on his iPhone (1 hr 52 mins 40 secs) 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 pay off 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 Joren, one of the Diplicity app's incredible map creators. They talk all things Diplomacy maps. Plus all the cool updates over at webDiplomacy will blow your mind. And Kaner picks on Amby's 1066 variant. Intro & webDiplomacy awesomeness The guys introduce the show, the venue and their drinks. They then go through how the show will run this episode (0 mins 15 secs) Kaner introduces a new games engine introduced to webDiplomacy: a great new click interface, against bots and no account needed! You'll find it at play.webdiplomacy.net Thanks Andrew Goff for the hot tip (8 mins) Amby talks about his experience giving it a go (10 mins 45 secs) They discuss why vDip has interactive interface options but webDip didn't (18 mins 15 secs) They talk dumbed down bots before the batteries dies (20 mins secs) Interview with Joren on Diplomacy maps They start introducing their interview with Joren from Diplicity, one of their incredible cartographers (22 mins 20 secs) The interview starts with Amby asks Joren how he got interested in maps (24 mins 35 secs) Kaner gives his perspective on Joren's maps and give thanks to trampolinebears Classic map. He goes onto explaining how he got involved in helping Martin Bruse with Diplicity (30 mins) They discuss the aesthetics of the Cold War map (36 mins)   Joren walks through the creative process in developing a map using examples that support David E. Cohen's Unconstitutional (39 mins)       They discuss the meditative process of drawing maps and what software is used to develop (47 mins 30 secs) Joren discusses steps being taken for Diplicity to be available as an iOS app (50 mins 30 secs) If you want to support Diplicity in covering some of their costs for this project, go to Diplicity, click on the top left "hamburger" menu, then at the very bottom right click the "$" symbol (53 mins) Amby asks Joren what he looks for when deciding to embark on a new map. He discusses Unconstitional, Three Kingdoms and South America variants (58 mins) Amby then brings up when Kaner first shared Diplicity with him and the Vietnam War variant before discussing map cultural context (1 hr 0 mins)   Joren talks about collaborating with variant creators and getting work in progress input on maps (1 hr 3 mins 45 secs) He touches on a Diplomacy variant community (1 hr 6 mins 30 secs) Joren gives his recommendations on how to make a variant and map in the Diplicity community. They talk about the learning curve (1 hr 8 mins 15 secs) Kaner asks about where people can find out more about participating in the Diplicity Discord community (1 hr 12 mins 50 secs) Kaner goes onto discuss some .SVG issues he's had in the past with graphical editing (1 hr 14 mins) The guys return and have moved to Exhibition, they give a drinks update (1 hr 15 mins 30 secs) They give their thoughts on the interview with Joren and what they got out of it (1 hr 19 mins 15 secs)  Kaner reflects on maps as a cultural lens (1 hr 27 mins 45 secs) Kaner geeks out on ceramic sake bowls (1 hr 32 mins 30 secs) 1066 variant talk Kaner has an issue with standing armies in the 1066 variant that Amby co-developed. Amby doesn't understand why there isn't a Classic variant with standing neutrals. They go onto discuss the different versions and tweaking them based on game results (1 hr 33 mins 45 secs) The guys begin wrapping up the show, with Amby reminding folks we're still looking for someone to give us a hand with our WordPress instance. Reach out of you can give us a hand (1 hr 48 mins 45 secs) Venue: The Charles & Exhibition, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: 3 Bolt Pale Ale from Brisbane and Dreaming of Sunshine Californian IPA by Ranger Brewery Amby:  Lino Ramble Vinaly Shiraz from the McLaren Vale in South Australia and Dreaming of Sunshine Californian IPA by Ranger 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 pay off 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 Tejas Patel, who is DARPA's the project lead for SHADE: an AI research initiative using Diplomacy to better understand the nuance of communication intent behind actions. Plus the guys games and how does a famous UK Diplomacy player get himself a novice rank in Australia's Diplomacy association. Intro The guys introduce the show, the venue and their drinks (0 mins 15 secs) They discuss getting how to get a French fleet into Tunis. Hint hint, they're wrong! (Spring 1901 MAR-GOL, PAR-MAR, NAP-TYR; Fall 1901 Convoy MAR-TUN (2 hrs 45 mins) Interview with Tejas Patel from DARPA The guys introduce their thoughts on the interview with Tejas Patel from DARPA - Defense Advanced Research Project Agency - and why our podcast wanted to talk to him (5 mins 35 secs) The interview begins with Amby asking Tejas why DARPA chose Diplomacy for the SHADE project and what the project is about (9 mins 10 secs) Amby asks how Tejas first discovered Diplomacy and when he realised Diplomacy could be used for what DARPA wanted to research (13 mins 30 secs) Kaner asks how communication takes place in the game and how AI is used (17 mins 45 secs) Amby reflects on the way communication is done and what he initially thought the research project was doing with communication and action taking. He asks why structured data communication rather than natural language communication was chosen for the research (20 mins 15 secs) Amby asks about the project management methodology approach being used in the research project (24 mins) Amby enquires whether the Diplomacy community may be engaged to help the project (26 mins) He goes onto ask about how the project team's experience with Diplomacy (28 mins) They discuss whether the Potomac Tea and Knife Society have had any engagement with the project (30 mins) They go onto talking about the desired project goals (31 mins) Amby asks how the project could inform policy making and its potential future use from a military perspective. Tejas responds about transparency and the opensource nature of the project  (34 mins 30 secs) Kaner asks what does SHADE stand for. They go onto discuss other DARPA acronym project names (40 mins 15 secs) Tejas asks how the guys found out about SHADE, Amby mentions the Diplomacy/Shade article in Military + Aerospace Electronics magazine (42 mins) Amby asks how Tejas got employed by DARPA (44 mins 15 secs) Amby asks what are Tejas' favorite countries to play (45 mins 50 secs) Kaner enquires about the timelines for the project and the robot AI (46 mins 45 secs) Tejas says if you want to know more about DARPA to visit their website before the interview wraps up (49 mins 30 secs) The guys return and give their thoughts on the interview with Tejas (50 mins) Around the grounds Kaner asks Amby about his current games, spending his some talking about a standard Classic game he's bought into as Turkey (1 hr 4 mins 30 secs) They move onto a Known World 901 game of Kaner's that just finished where he was part of the draw, despite not being a strong power. He explains he got to that point (1 hr 15 mins 30 secs) Amby lets Kaner know the DAANZ (Diplomacy Association of Australia and New Zealand) master points have just been updated (1 hr 17 mins 30 secs) They discuss how Markus Zijlstra/CaptainMeme/DiploStrats managed to get in the DAANZ rankings as a novice player. Kaner goes onto discuss how Markus is interested in the next Bourse game, explaining how the Bourse game got unexpectedly wrapped up, with Amby being declared the Bourse winner (1 hr 23 mins) As a large group moved into where the guys were sitting, with all the extra noise they wrap up the show (1 hr 28 mins 30 secs) Venue: Leonard's, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Ballistic IPA in Brisbane Amby:  Parker Estate Cabernet Sauvignon from the Coonawarra in Victoria 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 pay off 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 get into the new Bourse game, talk Amby's happy little accident, games and much much more. Intro & Diplomacy talk The guys introduce the show, the venue and their drinks (0 mins 15 secs) Bourse 2022 Kaner kicks off discussions on the new Bourse game he's adjudicating and Amby is playing. Kaner reminds listeners if they missed previous shows what a Bourse game is (5 mins 45 secs) They discuss pumping up the value of currencies (9 mins) Amby discusses how he's previously approached the start of earlier Bourse games and how his opening strategy has changed (11 mins) Kaner reflects on Amby having a commanding position in the Bourse game (21 mins 30 secs) After ordering some more drinks, Kaner shares with Amby about the adjudication and checking who bought what (22 mins 30 secs) Around the grounds & more Diplomacy talk Amby discusses the outcome of his Youngstown World War II game as Japan where he didn't expect at all to win, but somehow did (31 mins 45 secs) He goes onto reflect his strategy to try to win, but how he was constantly thwarted by England and Germany (36 mins) They discuss that it had an End of Game time limit and what happens when that is reached (38 mins 15 secs) The guys move onto Kaner's games focusing initially on his Known World 901 game which is coming to the tail end (44 mins 30 secs) They move onto his Europe Renovatio Winterkorn Bloodbath game (49 mins) Kaner discusses how borders are occupied or unoccupied in games (53 mins 15 secs) Amby advises he hasn't been able to get enough people to fill a board for a face to face game in Brisbane (56 mins) They talk about July as an option until they realise they're both away for big chunks of July, and discuss road trips (58 mins) Amby suggests Kaner playing a social game when he's in Victoria with his dad. Kaner talks stabbing his brother and his Dad playing Diplomacy in the navy (1 hr 4 mins 15 secs) They flag why there was no interview this episode (1 hr 8 mins 30 secs) They start wrapping up the show (1 hr 10 mins) Venue: Dr Gimlette's, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Stone & Wood IPA Amby:  An unknown McLaren Vale shiraz from  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 pay off 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 discuss Amby's attendance at PoppyCon in Melbourne with round the table interviews, tournament results and a live Wilsonian game of Diplomacy. Intro & Diplomacy talk The guys introduce the show, the venue and their drinks (0 mins 15 secs) They give a quick run down of how today's episode is going to work this episode, and Kaner provides a pronunciation correction for the Mayans. Amby shares a partial Arkansas update, with the Twitter pic he shares from @TerribleMaps with Kaner  (4 mins 30 secs) They start to introduce Amby's experience at PoppyCon this year (10 mins) PoppyCon The round table begins, with a brief discussion on scoring systems and Jamal Blakkarly's board solo (14 mins) They talk about playing on multiple boards at once (18 mins 30 secs) Allan discusses what's changed in the way players approach the game compared to 30 years ago and a discussion on draws (22 mins) Amby asks about people's thoughts on the new players to the game (27 mins 30 secs) The conversation merges into a general conversation around games on Day 1 (30 mins) Amby asks about the overall tournament metagame after Jamal's solo and Shane weighs in on his first game (35 mins) Amby asks Melissa about PoppyCon and venue hosting for a tournament. The round table discusses the challenges for tournament directors and SC based tournament scoring systems (39 mins) They discuss how players approach tournaments now (45 mins) The round table discusses the anonymous gunboat game played in the evening (not part of the formal tournament) where the scoring was how many SCs you ended with when the pizzas arrived and correctly identifying which player was which country (48 mins) Amby wraps up the round table discussion (52 mins) The guys get some more drinks and talk about the round table discussions (52 mins 30 secs) They throw to Andrew Goff as tournament director giving the final results for the weekend (59 mins) As part of local tradition, after the tournament results, Goffy awards the Best Shane Cubis Award (1 hr 4 mins 30 secs) He goes onto discuss the next tournament in Melbourne for November/December (1 hr 6 mins) The guys come back and Amby gives a further update on his games in the tournament. Here's the maps from towards the end of his games: (1 hr 7 mins) Amby as Germany in game 1   Amby's second game as France   The guys go onto discuss attending the next Melbourne tournament and trying to get some face to face games happening in Brisbane (1 hr 18 mins) Next up they introduce the final part of the PoppyCon recordings, a live Wilsonian/United Nations game where players competed over the table in an open forum for all negotiations on a very tight phase turn (1 hr 19 mins) Kaner gives a forewarning that with a heap of people talking all at once it can be a little difficult to follow what's being suggested around the board. Amby says he'll add some Backstabbr maps to show each turn's orders (1 hr 22 mins 45 secs) The game begins in Spring 1901 with: Melissa - Italy Casey - Turkey Shane (Peter writing orders) - Germany Goffy - England Jamal - Austria Rob - France Allan - Russia (1 hr 25 mins) Negotiations begin for Fall 1901 (1 hr 32 mins 40 secs) Winter 1901 builds are added (1 hr 38 mins 30 secs) Spring 1902 negotiations begin (1 hr 39 mins 40 secs) Fall 1902 kicks off (1 hr  45 mins) Winter 1902 builds (1 hr 50 mins 40 secs) Spring 1903 opens to negotiations (1 hr  51 mins 45  secs) Fall 1903 rolls around (1 hr  57 mins 20 secs) And with Shane Cubis/Peter McNamara as Germany are eliminated a draw is proposed, followed by build orders (2 hrs  4 mins) With the draw not proceeding Spring 1904 begins (2 hrs  mins  secs) Fall 1904 rocks around (2 hrs 9 mins 40 secs) Winter 1904's centre adjustments occur (2 hrs 15 mins 30 secs) Spring 1905 begins before a 5 way draw is proposed and passed (2 hrs 17 mins) They discuss the game from the players' perspective (2 hrs 19 mins) The game ends and Kaner & Amby return with some further observations on the bar (2 hrs 22 mins 45 secs) They get onto talking about the Wilsonian game and their thoughts about recording people playing Diplomacy (2 hrs 25 mins 40 secs) The guys start wrapping up the show (2 hrs 30 mins 40 secs) Venue: Frog's Hollow Saloon, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Gage Road Atomic hazy pale ale and Kosciuszko pale ale Amby: Coriole Sparta shiraz from the Barossa, 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 pay off 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 face to face Macca, a local vDiplomacy player over a drink about all things Diplomacy. Intro & Diplomacy talk The guys introduce the show, the venue and their drinks (0 mins 15 secs) They discuss being involved in the most recent DBN Deadline News as guests in a panel discussion about Diplomacy variants (3 mins) Amby recently got Covid and talks briefly on that (4 mins 40 secs) He goes onto discuss his excitement about attending PoppyCon this weekend (10 mins 50 secs) The guys clarify that they have a guest joining them at some stage during the show (11 mins 30 secs) Kaner asks Amby if there's a country he'd like to play at PoppyCon (12 mins 15 secs) Interview with Macca Kaner & Amby welcome Macca to the show, and bring him into the conversation around alliance combinations (14 mins 50 secs) Kaner asks Macca how he got into Diplomacy (18 mins 50 secs) Kaner then asks Macca about his favorite variant at vDip (22 mins) They discuss stalemate lines (23 mins 30 secs) Kaner asks Amby about whether Kestas got back to him about webDip's bots and whether they could be made less challenging (25 mins) Kaner asks Macca about their favorite and worst country to play (27 mins 40 secs) Kaner taunts Amby around some of his less successful alliances (29 mins) Kaner asks Macca which of Amby's variants at vDip he's played before they also discuss one of Kaner's variants: Mars (38 mins) Amby asks Macca what needs to change to be able to add new variants to vDip (43 mins 50 secs) Amby asks Macca if they've played any games together, only to discover Macca's strategy over Amby in the Winning thread game. They then go onto discuss strategies for winning the Winning thread (48 mins) Amby goes onto ask why some Diplomacy players go off and play Winning, Mafia or something else within the sites. They discuss Ankara Crescent (56 mins) They go onto discuss having a Bourse game (59 mins 30 secs) After some more drinks they discuss what happened to the Venus variant. Kaner goes onto explain the broader Solar System match concept (1 hr 10 mins 30 secs) Macca goes onto discuss the Around the World tournament they're organising (1 hr 17 mins 30 secs) They start wrapping up the show (1 hr 22 mins 30 secs) Venue: Beach House Bar & Grill, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Fat Yak pale ale Amby: D'Arenburg Footbolt shiraz from the Barossa, 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 pay off 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 invite Kestas back onto the show to discuss webDip's partnering with Facebook. Plus lots of Diplomacy chat, including variants and Kaner's great game result. Intro & Diplomacy talk The guys introduce the show, the venue and their drinks (0 mins 15 secs) They reflect on last episode where they misheard what was happening in Ukraine at the time (4 mins) Interview with Kestas Amby welcomes Kestas back to the show after an absence for 4 years on the podcast. He asks about some of the latest developments at webDip and the artificial intelligence collaboration with academia and Facebook (5 mins) Kaner asks about the system and approach to redacting personal identifiable information (12 mins 45 secs) Amby asks about the technical aspects of how the data is used and what will a player experience as a result (17 mins 30 secs) They touch on the bot games briefly ceasing a year ago before Amby asks about covering costs for the hardware upgrades (21 mins 30 secs) Amby reflects on some discussions he and Kaner had on their Patreon feed about Facebook getting involved in Diplomacy. He goes onto ask about webDip's admin conversations with Facebook about the intellectual property of the data they had and the nature of commercial considerations (26 mins 20 secs) Amby asks whether Kestas and webDip would've taken a different approach if partnering with a military organisation as opposed to a commercial business (34 mins) Amby mentions how he got back into Diplomacy around 2007 thanks to Facebook (43 mins 45 secs) Kestas asks the guys whether they'd prefer for a bot player to take over from a civil disorder position (44 mins 45 secs) Amby talks about how he and Kaner a year ago were testing alliance combinations against webDip's bots. They discuss how good the bots were. He asks whether there's been any thinking around different levels of bot competency (49 mins) Kaner asks about whether this has made things too busy for the Mods. Kestas mentions some of the SVG map changes happening as a result of the Facebook partnership (53 mins 15 secs) After putting his foot in his mouth, Amby asks Kestas whether he's played much since their last interview (56 mins) Kestas mentions his last face to face game back in 2003, and how it gave him the idea of bringing Diplomacy online, and what his family thinks about what Kestas has done (58 mins) Amby tries pitching PoppyCon to Kestas' dad. Kestas reflects on how Dip has helped players get into coding (1 hr 2 mins) The guys discuss their thoughts on the interview and artificial intelligence. By the way, the Canadian institute in Montreal developing the AI can visit their site at Mila (1 hr 4 mins) They do a "What the Dr Recommended" for the top 25 active players at webDip (1 hr 15 mins 30 secs) Diplomacy chat & Kaner's great game They grab some mid-game drinks (1 hr 19 mins) Amby will be attending PoppyCon on 23-24 April, but Kaner can't make it (1 hr 23 mins) They talk petrol/gas prices (1 hr 25 mins 30 secs) Its only a month or so until the next Australian federal election, which means its almost Democracy Sausage time! (1 hr 29 mins) The guys give a shout out about DixieCon coming up before discussing sausages again (1 hr 31 mins 45 secs) They turn to some variant talk discussing David E. Cohen's Mandate of Heaven variant that he's currently refining (1 hr 38 mins 45 secs) Ryan Treanor emailed us about out Baron von Powell interview and asked if his College of Cardinals variant ever made it to an online platform. Amby gives an update from Baron (1 hr 48 mins 30 secs) Kaner asks a question around where can you play Diplomacy currently by email (1 hr 51 mins) They discuss one of Kaner's game, 36-4-All, has finished in a three way draw with Kaner as the Livonian Order (mauve on the map). Kaner discusses his thinking when deciding not to stab his ally Sweden. Kaner is now officially higher placed in vDip's Hall of Fame, way above Amby (1 hr 53 mins)   The guys start wrapping up the show and acknowledge the need to get back to a more predictable  release schedule (2 hrs 2 mins) Venue: Banc, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: The Heads lager from Noosa, Queensland and Two Birds pale ale from Victoria Amby: 2017 Oxhardy Upper Tintara shiraz from the McLaren Vale, South Australia and a GSM from Rhone, France   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 pay off 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.

With flooding forecasted and too long between episodes, the guys catchup online to talk PoppyCon, Ukraine, What the Dr Recommended and lots of Diplomacy talk. Intro & Diplomacy talk The guys introduce the show, their drinks and their situation for the evening. They talk about concerns about flooding and pooh-pooh it, only for a couple of days later (after recording) for the rain to start bucketing down and flooding locally (0 mins 15 secs) They touch on interviews that were planned and haven't yet happened (3 mins 15 secs) Amby says he plans to go to the PoppyCon tournament, with Kaner shortly later saying he'd like to go too (4 mins) They then go to onto discussing about attending WDC 2023 in Bangkok (8 mins 45 secs) Around the grounds Kaner asks how Amby's games are going. Amby begins talking about a Modern Diplomacy game he bought into and won. But there's disappointment in Amby's voice when he discovers its unrated so doesn't count (10 mins) Kaner does share there is a positive aspect of the game, still counting as a win. Amby outlines his win/draw/survive/eliminated percentages (11 mins 45 secs) After the shock to the system, Kaner asks on Amby's view of how he approached previous turns to apply to his gameplay (14 mins 30 sec) Amby talks about continuing to get hammer in his Imperial game before turning to a Modern Europe game where he stuffed up an attack that allowed his opponent to retreat to a more favorable position (17 mins 30 secs) He goes onto discuss his Divided States game, which started with 50 players and is now down to 14 players (22 mins) Last up is his Europa Renovatio game where Amby is hanging in as a middle power (24 mins 45 secs) Audio warning: Amby's mute function wasn't working properly so apologies for things he thought he was silencing: eating chips, dogs barking, bins being moved etc The guys move onto Kaner's games starting with his Europa Renovato game, which both guys feel is starting to head toward the end game (26 mins) They then discuss an early game Europa game with an awesome title: Four Heralds Winterkorn Bloodbath (30 mins) Kaner discusses the challenges of a forward retreating unit (34 mins 30 secs) They move onto a listener's request to do an update for What the Dr Recommended - the top players on a Diplomacy server (39 mins 30 secs) After not finding the player's name in the Top 100, they move from vDip to PlayDiplomacy (43 mins 30 secs) Amby picks up some news in the background about Russia invading Ukraine. Kaner gives an update that was actually old news, not knowing that the full scale invasion of Ukraine was on (45 mins) Amby asks how he views Putin as a Diplomacy player. Amby gives a shout out to The Rest is History podcast for their overview of Russian-Ukrainian history. They then go onto discuss their thoughts (46 mins 45 secs) They return to What the Dr Recommended after Amby logs into PlayDip to read (in their Australian accents) the top 25 players. Kaner gives a hint to the 406 in his user name (59 mins 30 secs) Amby asks why PlayDip has added a heap of online casino and crypto links to its footer (1 hr 4 mins 30 secs) They touch on David E Cohen's latest version of Mandate of Heaven and talk vDip Winning thread (1 hr 6 mins 30 secs) The guys start wrapping up the show (1 hr 13 mins) Venue: At home Drinks of choice: Kaner: Kilkenny Irish cream ale Amby: The Colonel and the Merchant shiraz cabernet from Langhorne Creek, 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 pay off 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.

We interview Mrs Kaner and Mrs Amby about being Diplomacy wives. Plus we talk current games. Intro The guys introduce the show, their drinks and tonight's venue (0 mins 15 secs) Interview with Mrs Kaner & Mrs Amby The guys introduce today's interview: their partners (6 mins 50 secs) The interview starts with Kaner starting to talk detail about a game which quickly turns to him asking Mrs Kaner what she thinks when he talks about his games, before they ask Mrs Amby the same question (7 mins 30 secs) Mrs Amby talks about when Amby has to record an interview and her understanding of the game (11 mins 10 secs) They talk about Mrs Amby's mother's theory about Kaner (13 mins 40 secs) They talk about the bars the guys visit (17 mins) Kaner asks the ladies about their thoughts about players travelling to play the game (18 mins 30 secs) They talk about the guy's personalities and how it leads them to Diplomacy (22 mins 30 secs) They wrap up the interview before the guys discuss their thoughts afterwards. Kaner asks listeners what their partners think about the game (25 mins 45 secs) Diplomacy chat and Around the grounds The guys discuss their thoughts on attending PoppyCon in Melbourne during April (32 mins 50 secs) Kaner asks Amby about how badly he's doing in his games (35 mins 50 secs) Amby acknowledges Kaner was correct that when buying into a game in a CD'ed position on vDip/webDip, if you get eliminated, when the game ends you don't get penalised. Amby discusses his 1800: Empires and Coalitions game and his game play now that he's lost (40 mins 20 secs) They get some more drinks and describe how they taste now as a mid game (51 mins 40 secs) They move onto discuss some of Kaner's games (56 mins) The guys discuss slowly eating up an ally in a non-threatening way (1 hr 8 mins) They wrap up the show (1 hr 14 mins) Venue: Valley Hops Brewery, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: The Interloper IPA by Valley Hops Amby: 21 Pubs pale ale by Valley Hops and The Other Wine Company shiraz from the Adelaide Hills   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 pay off 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.  

We interview tobi, who saved vDiplomacy. Plus we celebrate Christmas and discuss our games. Intro The guys introduce the show, their drinks and tonight's venue (0 mins 15 secs) Interview with tobi The guys introduce today's interview. Tobi is a developer who saved the day when vDiplomacy ground to a halt. Even if you're not on vDip, there's still some lessons here for other Diplomacy sites (3 mins 50 secs) The interview starts although Kaner didn't turn up. They begin by looking at what went wrong with vDip and how it relates to other Dip sites (5 mins) Tobi talks about his skillset developing and applying it to Diplomacy websites. They talk about going live into production without full user acceptance testing (12 mins 45 secs) Amby asks about with the upgrade to vDip using webDip code, whether any webDip functionality is in, or will be added to vDip soon. They also discuss tobi getting in touch with Oli and what came out of discussions (19 mins 45 secs) They move on from the tech talk to discuss how tobi first got into Diplomacy before talking about the German hobby (27 mins) Amby channels his inner Kaner and asks tobi which country he likes to play and why (33 mins 30 secs) Amby goes onto to ask why tobi tends to play at vDip and what variants he likes to play. They discuss 1066, his thoughts on big variants and different features (35 mins) They begin wrapping things up by talking about the community at vDip (41 mins 20 secs) Kaner and Amby are back at the bar and discuss their thoughts about the interview (43 mins 30 secs) Amby talks about the wind muffler added to the Zoom recorder (48 mins) Kaner discusses what would be needed for a variant to run a Bourse game automatically on a Diplomacy site (50 mins 30 secs) Diplomacy chat and Around the grounds They get some more drinks before giving our listeners an update on how things have recently changed here with Covid (58 mins) Amby discusses losing in the Mongolian cloak and dagger game (playing as the Caliphate) before they turn to Christmas and presents (1 hr 4 mins 20 secs) Kaner asks if Amby is doing well in any games (1 hr 7 mins) They talk about one of Amby's Europa Renovatio games, High Renovatio Jackpot and Yellowstone Honey (1 hr 11 mins) Next up is his Divided States game, No name-11 (1 hr 14 mins) He wraps up with Dawn of the Enlightenment and the need for another black eye (1 hr 18 mins) Amby asks about Kaner's games and they discuss playing out an alliance vs stabbing (1 hr 22 mins 40 secs) They grab more drinks and decide to start wrapping things up, with a brief chat about PoppyCon (1 hr 24 mins) Venue: Maya Mexican, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Estrella lager from Spain Amby: Gage Roads Sidetrack XPA and Rusden Driftsand GSM from the Barossa Valley, 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 pay off 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 game designer, World Boardgaming Champion and CEO Matt Calkins about his love of Diplomacy. Intro The guys introduce the show, their drinks and tonight's venue (0 mins 15 secs) Interview with Matt Calkins The guys introduce today's interview (6 mins 30 secs) Amby asks when Matt first got into Diplomacy and which aspects of the game's design he likes (7 mins) They discuss some of the board games Matt has commercially published and their relationship with the game. Matt's games include the award winning Sekigahara (the most similar to Diplomacy), Tin Goose and Magnet (10 mins) Matt talks about the World Boardgaming Championships (12 mins) Amby asks about the cross-overs between gaming and the business world (15 mins) Photo credit: Forbes Magazine Kaner asks about creating board games and Matt's favorite country to play in Diplomacy (16 mins) Amby asks about Matt's favorite board games in his library in the photo taken in Forbes magazine (23 mins) Amby asks how Matt uses board gaming in his life before discussing how others connect with him now though games (25 mins) They discuss board games and skills before wrapping up the interview (30 mins) The guys are back at the bar chatting about their thoughts on the interview with Matt. Kaner talks Power Grid and Tigris & Euphrates (32 mins) Diplomacy news The guys discuss trying unsuccessfully to get a face to face game going in Brisbane and what to do from here (42 mins 20 secs) They talk about vDip being back up and running again (44 mins 20 secs) Kaner discusses AI and Diplomacy (45 mins 20 secs) After some new drinks they talk about a cool new board promoted in the Diplomacy Briefing just in time for Christmas made by Matt Crill (51 mins 30 secs) Around the grounds Kaner has bowed out of the Dawn of the Enlightenment game and Amby has been stabbed again (1 hr) Amby discusses his Cloak and Dagger Mongolian empire game as he moves towards being removed before talking about his Europa Renovatio game before they get to 1800 Empires and Coalitions which Amby bought into and end on his last anonymous Europa Renovatio game (1 hr 4 mins 15 secs) They then get to Kaner's 36-4-All Europa Renovatio game (1 hr 15 mins) Next is his other Europa Renovation game, This is Madness II (1 hr 18 mins 50 secs) The guys start wrapping up the show (1 hr 26 mins 30 secs) Venues: The Scratch Bar, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Willie Smith cider (although Kaner calls it a Willie Nelson's cider) from Tasmania and Helios Cyclops Indian pale ale from Brisbane Amby: Helios Poseidon West Coast pale ale from Brisbane and Trop Big Red syrah from 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 pay off 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 celebrate their 100th podcast by inviting Andrew Goff, Brandon Fogel, Brother Board and CaptainMeme on to play their Diplomacy Trivia Extravaganza. Intro The guys introduce their 100th show, their drinks and tonight's venue, including a story or two (0 mins 15 secs) They start introducing the Diplomacy Trivia Extravaganza with Andrew Goff, Brandon Fogel, Brother Bored and CaptainMeme as contestants. They also mention if you join the Patreon feed, next week's bonus episode is the guys coming up with the questions (6 mins 40 secs) The Diplomacy Trivia Extravaganza Amby is acting as the game show host and begins by introducing the players and some of their Diplomacy background. Kaner is the adjudicator (7 mins 50 secs) They begin the questions (11 mins 50 secs) After a score update, the game moves onto the lightening round (34 mins 15 secs) The lightening round concludes and we move back onto the normal set of questions, followed by another score update (47 mins 45 secs) Goffy does a promo for PoppyCon in Melbourne in April 2022 before questions continue (1 hr 3 mins 15 secs) The trivia contest starts wrapping up with the results (1 hr 8 mins) Diplomacy chat The guys announce a new Patreon supporter of the show, thanks Dr Recommended! (1 hr 13 mins 30 secs) They discuss vDiplomacy currently being down (1 hr 17 mins 20 secs) Kaner & Amby grab another drink before coming back to discuss their Dawn of the Enlightenment game organised by David E. Cohen. Surprise surprise, Amby's been stabbed already (1 hr 19 mins 45 secs) Kaner describes his first game year for this variant (1 hr 35 mins) Amby suggests a face to face game in Brisbane for the weekend of 10 or 11 December and give a Covid update(1 hr 41 mins 45 secs) They discuss some of the duplicitous conversations a little more in Dawn of the Enlightenment (1 hr 49 mins) Kaner talks about why he likes big maps and how it breaks common thinking on a normal Diplomacy board (1 hr 53 mins) The guys wrap up the 100th show (2 hrs 0 mins) Venues: The Down Under bar & grill, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Four Pines draught and Four Pines milk stout Amby: Four Pines pale ale and a cabernet sauvignon from somewhere 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 pay off 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 discuss their games and Amby reflects on the similarities between the hit Netflix series Squid Game and Diplomacy. Intro & Around the grounds The guys introduce the show, their drinks and tonight's venue (0 mins 15 secs) Amby admits he's hit his limit in how many games he's joined up. They discuss the Dawn of the Enlightenment game they're both in  (5 mins 15 secs) Amby is playing France and discusses the challenges of playing colonial positions in addition to Europe (13 mins) They discuss spectating a game with the view to taking over a civil disorder position in High Renovatio Jackpot (18 mins) Kaner asks if any of Amby's games where he's takes over civil disorder positions he's going well in (22 mins) Amby discusses his Divided States anonymous game, No Name 11, where New Hampshire (red) has lost its homeland and re-established itself in Alaska (23 mins 15 secs) Amby goes onto discuss getting shafted in the Mongolian Empire game Screaming Jugular Bloodaxe Gusher (28 mins 45 secs) Amby gets a new drink (Cabernet Sauvignon from Langhorne Creek) where a turn has just happened in his anonymous Europa Renovatio game Yellowstone Honey (34 mins 15 secs) Amby discusses his World War IV Primacy game amongst the non-zombie players (41 mins 45 secs) Kaner gives a shout out to the latest sign up round for Nexus (45 mins) Squid Game Amby gives an overview of Squid Game to Kaner and his thoughts on the similarities of the hit Netflix series and the game dynamics of Diplomacy. No spoilers. (47 mins) The guys wrap things up with a reminder about the upcoming 100th episode (53 mins) Venues: Hop & Pickle, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Hop Hog pale ale from Feral Brewing Amby: Geezer Pleaser bitter by Little Bang 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 pay off 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 catch up with Diplomacy novelist R. Jamie Langa, talk about the new recorder & lots of Diplomacy stuff. Intro The guys introduce the show and discuss the new audio recorder they've had to buy thanks to our Patreon supporters (0 mins 15 secs) You can provide a one-off contribution of $5 towards buying the new recorder at our Diplomacy Games Patreon feed (5 mins) Amby talks about how he's gotten into Aussie Peppa Pig ** language warning! ** (6 mins) Interview with R. Jamie Langa, Diplomacy novelist The guys start introducing this show's interview guest R. Jamie Langa, author of Diplomacy novel "Art of the Stab." (8 mins 30 secs) The interview starts with Amby asking why Jamie decided to write a novel based around the game (10 mins 30 secs) They discuss why Diplomacy isn't more a part of popular culture (14 mins) Amby asks what drew Jamie to writing the book. He outlines what he was trying to achieve in the story (22 mins) Kaner asks about Jamie's process for writing the book (27 mins 45 secs) Kaner discusses his own thought processes when playing a game and asks Jamie who's his favourite country. They also talk about role playing their country (34 mins 30 secs) Amby asks what Jamie did to test whether someone who doesn't know the game, could comprehend the book (45 mins 30 secs) Amby asks how Jamie approached things differently in writing Art of the Stab compared to his first novel (48 mins 45 secs) Amby asks about the self publishing experience (53 mins 30 secs) You can buy the book at Amazon and Barnes & Noble (57 mins 45 secs) They guys return and are still geeking out on the new recorder (1 hr) Amby asks Kaner what he thought about the interview. Again, you can order the book from Amazon (1 hr 1 mins 30 secs) Kaner asks Amby what is his favorite country to play (1 hr 6 mins 15 secs) Diplomacy chat The guys have received a suggestion from Siegmar Bruggen on how to address our anonymous games: editing together various segments of the show where we danced around who we were and how the game turned out (1 hr 10 mins 30 secs) Amby also discusses Brian McKay's email about playing a face to face game now that he's returned to Brisbane. Amby flags having a game early-mid December (1 hr 14 mins) After ordering some more drinks they discuss an email from David E. Cohen about playing his Dawn of the Enlightenment variant (1 hr 18 mins 30 secs) They talk again about the High Seas territory approach (1 hr 24 mins) Around the grounds Kaner starts discussing two of his anonymous Europa Renovatio games (1 hr 29 mins 45 secs) Kaner asks Amby why he's in so many games. Amby starts giving a run down on his various games. He touches on being elimitaed in the Spice Islands game before quickly moving to an anonymous Divided States game he bought into (1 hr 40 mins) Amby goes onto discuss an anonymous Europa Renovatio game he bought into (1 hr 46 mins 45 secs) He's getting smashed in an anonymous 1885 Colonial game (1 hr 50 mins) Kaner asks about Amby's cloak and dagger Mongolian game (1 hr 53 mins 30 secs) Amby briefly discusses his Primacy app games, discussing a Middle Earth game and a World War IV game (1 hr 56 mins 30 secs) The guys start wrapping up the show (2 hrs 3 mins 30 secs) Venues: Pig & Whistle Eagle Pier, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Something Haze something black lager that isn't black Amby: Something Eden something shiraz Barossa something   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 for some drinks to discuss their games, with Kaner sharing his Diplomacy theory of crab shells and faultlines. Plus the Middle Earth variant. Intro & Around the grounds The guys kickoff and Kaner outlines why he dislikes playing England  (0 mins 10 secs) They discuss the venue and their drinks (3 mins 50 secs) They talk about the lockdown that never happened and a general Australian COVID update (6 mins 15 secs) Amby discusses an Australian MP who has wild theories about COVID. Amby shows his website domain that didn't get reregistered (8 mins 30 secs) Kaner shares a joke or two with Amby and chats about measuring systems (11 mins 30 secs) They grab some more drinks and Amby looks into abandoned games (17 mins 30 secs) Kaner wants to out Amby and himself when in anonymous games (23 mins) Kaner asks Amby about fleet builds on rivers in Divided States games & ideas for better gameplay (25 mins 45 secs) Amby talks about his Spice Islands game and rulebook press (32 mins 45 secs) He goes onto discuss his cloak and dagger game, Screaming Jugular Bloodaxe Gusher (36 mins) Kaner gives some advice around looking at why an ally made a certain set of moves (39 mins) They get into some of Kaner's anonymous Europa Renovatio games (40 mins 30 secs) Kaner talks about the gameplay of a player he's stabbed, only for them to double down fighting their original enemy and let Kaner get up to mischief (43 mins 45 secs) Amby pivots to talk about his classic game on Primacy where he was trying spitefully to create a stalemate line to force the draw as his goal (47 mins) After some more drinks, they discuss gameplay in another one of Kaner's games (52 mins 15 secs) Kaner shares his theory about Diplomacy faultlines, which act as a wedge into a region and how you approach your position as a crab shell (55 mins 30 secs) He then goes onto discuss a "boring game" and his current crab shell (1 hr 1 mins 15 secs) Amby discusses two Primacy games, Legends of Ferranor where he won (pretty much as everyone CDed) but has started playing a Middle Earth variant, inspired by JRR Tolkien (1 hr 9 mins) They discuss skills they learnt at 12 years of age and why Amby has never seen a Lord of the Rings film (1 hr 12 mins) Venues: Hellcat Maggie, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Fixation IPA Amby: St Hallett's Garden of Eden from 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 interview Bryan Pravel and Zach Moore from DBN about Diplomacy at the Olympics and where the game is going. Intro The guys are in pre-lockdown. They expect the government will do a lockdown when they planned to record so catch up on Skype instead.   (0 mins 10 secs) Interview with Bryan Pravel & Zach Moore from DBN The guys welcome Bryan and Zach to the show, before jumping into the 2032 Olympics and DBN's plan to partner with 2032 Olympics broadcaster NBC (5 mins) Amby asks what steps DBN needs to take to be ready by 2032 (8 mins 20 secs) They discuss how people interested in interning at DBN can apply and what skills they need (10 mins) Amby asks what's going on in the background of a live broadcast game (13 mins) Amby discusses the professional broadcast feel of the show, and asks how that could improve in the future (16 mins 15 secs) Kaner asks Bryan and Zack on how an Olympic Diplomacy competition should be held and which nations are most likely to take gold, silver & bronze  (19 mins) They discuss the need for an International Diplomacy Federation to advocate for the game (24 mins) Amby asks what scoring system lends itself to better television (29 mins) Amby queries how a world record system would work for Diplomacy at the Olympics (33 mins 45 secs) He asks about following the conversations of players in a game and how that could work in a live environment (36 mins) They discuss Ed Sullivan's info about Olympic events not necessarily always being traditional sports. Amby discusses the Wikipedia page that needs updating to raise the awareness of Diplomacy as a potential new event (41 mins 45 secs) They start wrapping up the interview (45 mins) Kaner & Amby give their thoughts on the interview (47 mins) They flag the show has been going now for 5 years (52 mins) Around the grounds Amby asks Kaner about how his games are going - both are anonymous Europa Renovatio gunboat games (55 mins) Amby outlines his really stuff ups where he CD'ed in his Divided States game and in Spice Islands (1 hr 8 mins) They do a reminder about the upcoming 100th episode, before returning to the Spice Islands game and how surprisingly complex it is (1 hr 15 mins) Then its a brief overview of Amby's Mongolian game (1 hrs 22 mins) Amby goes into his Primacy app game and discusses his goal of creating a stalemate line for a 4 way draw (1 hr 24 mins 30 secs) Kaner shares a link from the Diplomatic Pouch and discusses position 7 (1 hr 28 mins 30 secs) Amby then discusses a Feraror map also on Primacy (1 hr 34 mins) Kaner gives a run through the Classic Chaos game at vDip (1 hr 40 mins) The guys wrap up the show (1 hr 47 mins) Venues: At home: Pre-lockdown, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Somersby cloudy cider Amby: Riparosso Italian red wine 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 Osbert, a high school student on a younger player's perspective on the game Diplomacy. Plus podcast drinking game ideas, Diplomacy chat & Kaner's games. Intro The guys are at X-Cargo. They flag the first half of the show will be PG rated and discuss their drinks  (0 mins 10 secs) They set the stage for today's interview with Osbert, a younger person who plays Diplomacy (3 mins 30 secs) Interview with Osbert: a young player's perspective on Diplomacy Amby asks Osbert - a high school student - about how he got introduced to Diplomacy (4 mins 30 secs) They explore why Osbert returns to the game (7 mins 30 secs) Amby asks how Osbert have approached things where people don't know his age (9 mins 30 secs) Amby asks about Osbert's approach to communication in the game and what other skills he's got from the game (11 mins 30 secs) They explore what is an ideal game for Osbert (15 mins) They discuss using gunboat to improve tactics (17 mins 15 secs) Amby asks where Osbert learns about improving his gameplay and gives shout outs to DBN, Legendary Tactics and Brother Bored,  (18 mins 45 secs) They discuss getting friends together to play a face to face game (21 mins 30 secs) They talk about Osbert representing the British team for Diplomacy at the 2032 Olympics (26 mins 45 secs) Osbert's mum joins the interview to give a parent's perspective about her son playing the game (27 mins 45 secs) They wrap up the interview (33 mins) The guys give their thoughts on the interview (33 mins 45 secs) Diplomacy chat The PG bit of the show now ends, and returns to its usual swearing and drinking (37 mins 45 secs) They suggest a Diplomacy Games drinking game that listeners can also play (38 mins 15 secs) The discuss the ownership of the rights to the game (39 mins 15 secs) They discuss the board map. Apologies to Rob Schone - the drinks prevented Amby remembering his name, sorry Rob!  (40 mins 45 secs) Amby discusses the Calhammer estate auction and puts out there whether anyone bought a good amount of Calhammer swag, let us know as we'd be keen for a chat. They also discuss some upcoming interviews planned (44 mins 15 secs) Amby flags this is episode 95 and we're fast approaching ep 100. Let us know your thoughts on what you'd like us to do in our 100th show (48 mins 45 secs) After some more drinks, Amby suggests there may be some phrases or things we do, that if we do it, the listeners need to take a drink (50 mins 45 secs) Around the grounds Kaner talks about trying to join a Primacy game. Amby discusses his Primacy game (53 mins 50 secs) Kaner discusses his games - a Colonial 1885 game, a Classic Chaos game he's spectating and a new Europa Renovatio game (1 hr 8 mins)     Amby has some deja vu (1 hr 18 mins 30 secs) Amby is holding off on committing to new games until he has the time to play (1 hr 20 mins) They grab another drink before starting to wrap things up to record the Patreon episode (1 hr 21 mins) Venues: X-Cargo, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: 150 Lashes pale ale Amby: Sister's Run shiraz from Brisbane   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 Matt and David, creators of the Primacy app which is playable on Apple and Android platforms. Plus 2032 Olympics talk, around the grounds and Amby's Summer Classic experience. Intro and Diplomacy news The guys are at the Guilty Rogue and discuss Brisbane officially hosting the 2032 Olympics. So its time to make Diplomacy an Olympic sport (0 mins 10 secs) Amby asks if Diplomacy was an Olympic sport right now, who'd be representing their players and which countries would have a team (2 mins) They talk specialist players for each country and what would be the scoring system for Diplomacy at the Olympics (5 mins 30 secs) Amby talks about the need for an International Diplomacy Federation to advocate for the game to be in the Olympics (8 mins) Interview with Matt and David from the Primacy App Kaner & Amby start setting up the interview (10 mins 30 secs) The interview starts. NOTE for listeners, Amby had some recording troubles so his audio isn't as good as normal (11 mins 15 secs) Amby asks David about the Primacy App and why they created it (12 mins) They discuss how the App is available on Apple and Google Play stores (14 mins 45 secs) Kaner asks about variants and Realpolitik (17 mins 45 secs) Amby asks about copyright (19 mins 30 secs) Amby asks about the forward program of work for the app (22 mins 45 secs) They talk about what you get when you sign up and the premium version of the app (26 mins) They discuss rule sets, number of players and feedback (29 mins) Kaner asks about creating variants and the app (32 mins 15 secs) Amby asks about whether Matt and David have created apps before (37 mins) Amby asks what success would look like for the app (40 mins 15 secs) Kaner asks Matt and David about how they got into Diplomacy (43 mins) Amby asks about how to counter new players who NMR/civil disorder. They talk about mobile notifications (44 mins 30 secs) During the interview Kaner downloads the app and signs up for a game and discusses his experience (50 mins 30 secs) They talk about using their Discord server as a way for players to communicate in a forum style (52 mins 30 secs) Amby talks about the game he's currently in at Primacy (53 mins 45 secs) They discuss visual design of maps (55 mins 30 secs) The guys wrap up the interview before returning to give their thoughts on the discussion (57 mins 15 secs) Kaner talks about some of his Realpolitik experience. He gives an update on his variant creation work with David E Cohen (59 mins 30 secs) Amby discusses his observations on getting the word out about Primacy and suggestions for improvements (1 hr 3 mins 15 secs) Around the grounds Kaner starts talking about when he created a variant that simulated the Black Death during the time of the Mongolian Empire. He talks a little about this Mongolian Empire variant (1 hr 8 mins) After some more drinks, they talk about Amby in the Cloak and Dagger series game that has started using the Mongolian Empire. But Amby first gives a quick recap of his three way draw in the just competed Cloak and Dagger game using the Who Controls America map: Dystopian Post-Truth Knockdown-Dragout (1 hr 12 mins) The new game is called Screaming Jugular Bloodaxe Gusher. They give an overview of the variant. For more info about the variant have a listen to our chat about it back in Episode 63 (1 hr 14 mins) They have a chat about having a Bourse game. Kaner gives a quick rundown of what a bourse game is if you're not familiar with it (1 hr 22 mins 40 secs) They talk about a couple of other games including Amby's Undivided States game (1 hr 30 mins 30 secs) David E. Cohen has got in touch with some more info about pronunciation of the word "Arkansas" (1 hr 33 mins 20 secs) Amby gives an update of which states are still in the game (1 hr 36 mins) They start talking virtual games, turning to the Summer Classic. Kaner said he was going to play but didn't. Amby played in two rounds (although the first game he handed over midway to Jamal Blakkarly). Here's Amby's game 1 as England  and his second game as Germany (1 hr 38 mins) The guys then wrap up the show (1 hr 45 mins 40 secs) Venues: Guilty Rogue, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Green Beacon Windjammer IPA from Brisbane Amby: Green Beacon Windjammer IPA from Brisbane 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 unpack Amby's draw in Media Wars 2 and get the take of the board topping Ed Sullivan/GoHornsGo and Village Idiot/Ewok in an interview. Plus much more. Intro and Diplomacy news The guys begin at Bar Brutus and do a mea culpa (0 mins 10 secs) With some clever editing we've removed all the fucking train noises. They talk about their recent holidays that have partly delayed episodes (2 mins 10 secs) Kaner talks about a board game he bought: Imperial Struggle (5 mins 50 secs) Amby asks how a Diplomacy game would work if you couldn't eliminate a player in the first 3 game years (7 mins 50 secs) Amby flags the upcoming decision on the hosting of the 2032 Olympics on 21 July 2021, where the guys are trying to make Diplomacy an Olympic sport (10 mins 50 secs) He then goes to talk about a new Diplomacy app - Primacy. It is on iPhone and Android, but Kaner couldn't find it in the Google Play store. You can find Primacy in GooglePlay and Primacy on iPhone (12 mins 20 secs) Media Wars 2 interview with Ed Sullivan/GoHornsGo and Village Idiot/Ewok They start introducing the interview with Ed Sullivan/GoHornsGo from The Diplomats and Village Idiot/Ewok who both topped the board in Media Wars 2 (13 mins 45 secs) The interview starts with some audio issues at the start for Amby, sorry folks we're aiming to upgrade some of our tech soon to improve things (16 mins) Village Idiot/Ewok discusses his subbing in (18 mins 50 secs) Amby asks about the coms when Village Idiot (Russia) started taking SCs from Ed (Germany)  (20 mins) Amby tries to understand how Ed worked with Ezio (France) in 1901 (22 mins 30 secs) Ed talks about player pressure points (25 mins) They discuss Amby's 1901 moves (26 mins) Amby asks about their gameplay, building trust and reputation (27 mins 50 secs) Ed reflects on Legendary Tactics approach (Austria) at the time (34 mins 15 secs) Amby discusses the transition from Lady Razor to Village Idiot before they discuss the north-south split (36 mins 30 secs) They discuss the Commowealth vs Non-Commonwealth (40 mins 50 secs) They discuss the fallout between Germany (Ed) and France (Ezio) over Belgium and France going quiet (43 mins 20 secs) Amby discusses the southern alliance's plans to encourage Ed's growth and why his spidey senses told him to draw (45 mins 40 secs) Amby asks them both about their positive takeaways from the game and what they'd like to do again in the future (51 mins) He then asks about what they learnt from the game (52 mins 20 secs) Amby gets greedy and asks for their advice about is gameplay (54 mins 55 secs) They discuss Media Wars 3 (57 mins 20 secs) They guys return and discuss their thoughts on the interview and Kaner playing for the podcast next time (58 mins 30 mins) Media Wars 2 wrap-up Following the interview Kaner asks Amby about his take on the game as Italy. Amby starts by discussing his spring 1901 move of Venice to Tyrolia (1 hr 2 mins) Amby discusses goals and Ed's goals at the start of the Diplomats (1 hr 4 mins) They discuss building relationships, putting yourselves in the shoes of others and knowing how people have previously played the game (1 hr 10 mins) Amby talks about rebuilding trust with players, particularly Legendary Tactics as Austria. Kaner asks about Amby's relationship with Oliver Lugg as Turkey (1 hr 15 mins 20 secs) Kaner asks why France (Ezio) kept attacking Amby (1 hr 18 mins) They talk the end game (1 hr 20 mins) They discuss Kaner's thoughts on playing in Media Wars 3 (1 hr 23 mins) Around the grounds Kaner talks about how he went in You Ratty Bastard where he was part of a three way draw in Italy. This was a 1898 game so you start with one unit only and its played under fog of war conditions (1 hr 24 mins 20 secs) They discuss the interfaces to view previous maps from earlier turns (1 hr 27 mins) Amby talks about his game as England, establishing his homeland in Scandinavia (1 hr 31 mins) They return to Kaner's game (1 hr 32 mins 30 secs) Kaner talks about being surprised when Austria starts sending fleets into the Med, after building fleets in Rumania! (1 hr 37 mins 30 secs) They do a points update (1 hr 41 mins) Amby discusses his Who Controls America variant that he's playing in G-Man's Cloak and Dagger series. The game is called Dystopian Post-Truth Knockdown-Dragout. Kaner talks about the players and the SC and territory names (1 hr 41 mins 50 secs) Amby touches on his anonymous Divided States game (1 hr 47 mins) Kaner discusses spectating other people's games (1 hr 48 mins 30 secs) Other stuff/wrapup They discuss the Summer Classic game (1 hr 51 mins 30 secs) Amby does a shout out to Mad Monarch for an Apple Podcast review. You can rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts (1 hr 52 mins) Amby does a quick correction about Primacy, which we have since found out was wrong too. You can find Primacy in GooglePlay and Primacy on iPhone (1 hr 53 mins 40 secs) The guys conclude the show (1 hr 56 mins 30 secs) Venues: Bar Brutus, Saccharomyces and Maeve Wine Bar, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Balter Lager Amby: Balter 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.

The guys interview Isabella Vladoiu from US Institute of Diplomacy and Human Rights about how the game relates to real life Diplomacy. Plus they discuss their games and a public service announcement from all Mods. Intro and Diplomacy news The guys are still at the Empire Hotel.  Amby disses Google.  They do a drinks update (0 mins 10 secs) They give a Diplomacy face to face update and ideas to get more people into the game (3 mins 30 secs) Interview with Isabelle Vladoiu from US Institute of Diplomacy and Human Rights The guys set the scene for their interview with Isabelle Vladoiu, founder of US Institute of Diplomacy and Human Rights, a not for profit organization (6 mins 30 secs) Kaner and Amby welcome Isabelle to the show. Kaner asks about the sort of work she does (7 mins 30 secs) Kaner reflects on reputation and asks how a diplomatic negotiation takes place (12 mins 30 secs) Amby asks about soft skills in breaking through an impasse and re-establishing trust (17 mins) Amby asks Isabelle about her understanding of the game Diplomacy (19 mins 30 secs) Kaner touches on Isabelle's point about linguistic barriers, and throws to Amby to discuss his previous experience with Google Translate Diplomacy (24 mins 45 secs) Kaner asks about backdoor diplomacy, they go onto discuss deliberate false statements (30 mins) They start wrapping up the interview reflecting on the role of etiquette and where listeners can learn more about US Institute of Diplomacy and Human Rights (38 mins) The guys reflect back on the interview and their thoughts on its application to the game Diplomacy (40 mins 45 secs) Ar-Kansas chat Amby gives Kaner an update on the pronunciation of Arkansas (45 mins 30 secs) Around the grounds Kaner asks Amby about how he's going in their joint game "Ratty Bastards 2" (49 mins 30 secs) Amby reflects on the fog of war nature of the game (52 mins 15 secs) Amby talks about his other anonymous game, "DSA" a Divided States game (56 mins 15 secs) Public service announcement As a Mod at vDip, Kaner gives an example of what NOT to do when dealing with mods at webDip, playDip, Backstabbr etc (1 hr 0 mins) The guys wrap up the show (1 hr 8 mins) Venues: Empire Hotel, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Mahogany American Brown Ale by Brendale Brewing Company Amby: Maxwell's Silver Hammer shiraz from the McLaren Vale 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 takes on Brother Bored in a live France vs Austria game and learns a few lessons. Amby is also "learning lessons" in his Media Wars 2 game. Intro and Diplomacy news The guys discuss the venue, drinks and set the scene for today's episode (0 mins 10 secs) Kaner discusses the Summer Classic virtual tournament being held 23-25 July (2 mins 35 secs) They discuss work and life commitments have been getting in the way of their Diplomacy interests (5 mins 20 secs) Kaner vs Brother Bored live game: France vs Austria Amby sets the scene in the Kaner vs Brother Bored game of France vs Austria. Brother Bored also has the game on his Youtube channel (6 mins 30 secs) They discuss the Spring 1901 openings (8 mins 15 secs)   Amby goes through the Fall 1901 orders (11 mins) Brother Bored gives a fun fact about Trieste (11 mins 30 secs) Next up is the builds (12 mins 15 secs) Spring 1902 moves are then discussed (14 mins 30 secs) Brother Bored explains some of his thinking as they enter Fall 1902 moves (16 mins 20 secs) After builds they start on their spring 1903 moves (18 mins 20 secs) After reviewing spring 1903 moves they move on. Amby gives his thoughts on the likely outcome (21 mins 20 secs) They discuss the fall 1903 outcome. Brother Bored gives his views on Kaner's moves. The guys then do builds and prepare their spring 1904 moves (25 mins 30 secs) The orders are in for spring 1904. The guys dissect it all before clicking away for fall 1904 moves (31 mins 30 secs) The fall outcome is in! After builds and discussion they start preparing for spring 1905 (36 mins 15 secs) Spring 1905 blossoms throughout Brother Bored's side of the board with all those vacant neutrals. They dissect where the game is at and start clicking away for fall 1905's moves. Brother Bored gives some perspectives on playing as Austria compared to France (42 mins 30 secs) The game is done with Brother Bored proudly at the winner's podium! They discuss creating content in this format. They talk about doing this again in the future and decide on the highly balanced 843: Treaty of Verdun variant (48 mins) Kaner and Amby are back and discuss their thoughts on the game with Brother Bored. Don't forget you can also watch this in Brother Bored's Youtube channel (56 mins 40 secs) After discussing Treaty of Verdun again, they discuss deliberately balanced variants and find their not as balanced as you think (1 hr 2 min 45 secs) Media Wars 2 Kaner asks Amby how his Media Wars 2 game is going. The game is up to spring 1908 with only England (Floridaman) eliminated (1 hr 5 mins 30 secs) Amby gives an update on what's been happening with hat tips to Oliver Lugg and Ed Sullivan (GoHornsGo)  (1 hr 6 mins 50 secs) Venues: Empire Hotel, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Mahogany American Brown Ale by Brendale Brewing Company Amby: High Country Hops Hazy Harvest Fresh Hop 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.   The guys start wrapping up the show with a bit of a tease about the next episode (1 hr 15 mins)

The guys have had a small break and come back re-energised for the game. They discuss an upcoming face to face game, Media Wars 2 and test unbreakable alliances. Intro and Diplomacy news The guys discuss the venue and throwing stones (0 mins 10 secs) They discuss they're out of lockdown and Kaner explains how he'd taken a break from the game for a little while. He talks about his decision making process for choosing a game to join (2 mins 50 secs) Amby's had a lot going on in real life too and has reduced the number of his games (4 mins 55 secs) Amby discusses the volume of Diplomacy content coming from the DBN and Legendary Tactics (7 mins) Kaner asks what is Amby's worst country to play (7 mins 55 secs) Amby discusses some of the recent Diplomacy Briefing releases (11 mins 20 secs) The guys discuss the u/trampolinebears Diplomacy map and what Kaner did to create his board, as asked by Dan Bahler (12 mins) They've also got an email from Daniel McNamara about playing a face to face game in Brisbane. The guys land on Saturday 29 May as a tentative date (15 mins 50 secs) Amby discusses getting the timing right to also get a game happening at one of the local university's board games club (19 mins) The guys give a shout out to the Minnesota Diplomacy Club for their recent COVID safe face to face game (20 mins 40 secs) Kaner and Amby move downstairs to the La Costa bar. ** Audio quality warning ** We have no idea what happened but this part of the show sounds like it was recorded inside a tin can. Sorry folks! (21 mins 40 secs) They discuss their drinks (22 mins 20 secs) Around the grounds While Kaner isn't in any games, Amby gives an update on his online Diplomacy games (23 mins 15 secs) Amby's Europa Renovatio team game has ended in a draw, despite Amby feeling the game should've played out a lot longer. They talk about proposed future team games, before Amby outlines his team members: Naples, Livonian Order and Morocco (Amby was Austria) (23 mins 45 secs) He's also in an anonymous gunboat Divided States game and is doing reasonable at the moment (31 mins 45 secs) Kaner asks about how Amby is going in the Media Wars 2 game. Amby gives an update and his thinking on recent moves (33 mins 45 secs) Podcast survey Amby flags they're going to be running a survey soon to help improve the podcast. Hopefully this will be ready by the next episode (41 mins 30 secs) Unbreakable alliances: the German-Austrian Anschluss The guys set the scene about their original moves in 1901 and where they were up to (44 mins 15 secs) They discuss what Kaner should be building (47 mins) The guys get peckish and order some chips (fries) that creates all sorts of confusion in the kitchen... you'll understand why soon (51 mins 20 secs) They start their planning for spring 1902's moves (52 mins) Then there's more confusion with the orders not being processed (56 mins 15 secs) They try another game where their alliance is France-Germany and start planning a Sealion (1 hr 0 mins) Their spring 1901 game orders went through only for Amby to misorder. They decide to cancel the game  (1 hr 2 mins 45 secs) So NEXT, they start an unbreakable alliance as Italy and Turkey (1 hr 4 mins) They plan Fall 1901's moves and discuss getting an AI update from the folks at webDip. BUT they can't adjudicate orders again. They check the forums and find out its broken at webDip (1 hr 7 mins 30 secs) The guys wrap up the show (1 hr 10 mins) Venues: Cielo Rooftop bar and La Costa bar, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Young Henry's Pale Ale Amby: Alpha Box and Dice grenache from 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 interview Jamal Blakkarly, winner of PoppyCon 2021, the first face to face Diplomacy tournament since Covid (excluding that 7 player European championship.) Plus they chat about Media Wars 2 and much, much more. Lockdown intro and Diplomacy news The guys set the scene about the most recent lockdown in Brisbane and their drinks  (0 mins 10 secs) They're going to do their first live interview on the show. They set the scenes for the interview (4 mins 20 secs) Amby discusses briefly the guys' France v Austria 1 on 1 game on their Patreon feed and give a shout out to our latest Patreon supporter (7 mins) Amby flags that their $3 Patreon supporter level which used to get you a position in Kaner's presidential cabinet if he won (9 mins 15 secs) He goes onto discuss how Brisbane now has the sole negotiating rights with the International Olympics Committee for the 2032 summer olympics. Amby proposes that we need to get Diplomacy as an offcicial olympic sport and set up a lobbying campaign (10 mins 30 secs) Kaner outlines his decision to take a break from playing games at the moment (16 mins 40 secs) Interview with Jamal Blakkarly Kaner & Amby bring Jamal into the interview. He quickly grabs a beverage (20 mins 30 secs) The guys congratulate Jamal on his win, beating Shane Cubis by one-eighth of an SC. Kaner asks which was the best game/country he played (23 mins 45 secs) Amby asks Jamal what it was like to be at last playing face-to-face tournaments since Covid (23 mins 45 secs) They talk about the vibe of the tournament and the players. Kaner asks about how aware Jamal was about the points (28 mins) Jamal discuses the mistakes he learnt in the tournament (31 mins 30 secs) Amby asks if Jamal's brother Jarni played (34 mins 50 secs) They discuss Jamal's game style and how its developed over time (36 mins 20 secs) They talk stabbing (39 mins) Amby asks about the social aspect of the tournament outside the games (46 mins 45 secs) He asks about what interaction he had with Shane as they headed toward the end of the tournament (49 mins 45 secs) Kaner asks if Jamal has a favorite country to play (51 mins 30 secs) Amby does a couple of shout outs for the other main tournament players (54 mins 40 secs) They start wrapping up the interview (57 mins) Post interview Kaner discusses how he sucks as England (58 mins) Media Wars 2 Amby announces the Media Wars 2 game (a game of Diplomacy content creators) has now started. He gives an outline of the players and the moves at the end of 1901 (59 mins) Kaner asks Amby why he thinks Austria tried moving into Venice (1 hr 6 mins 20 secs) Amby reflects on the number of units in fall 1901 that just held (1 hr 10 mins 50 secs) Amby mentions his plans for why he moved to Tyrolia will be discussed in the Patreon episode before they wrap up (1 hr 15 mins 45 secs)   Venues: Locked down at home, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Somersby cloudy apple cider Amby: Wynns Coonwarra estate cabinet shiraz merlot   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 winner of the DBI Invitational, Peter McNamara about his gameplay. Plus Bronze Age Diplomacy, variant ideas from the guys and much more. Intro and Diplomacy news The guys talk about their drinks and venue (0 mins 10 secs) Interview with Peter McNamara Kaner & Amby begin to introduce the interview with Peter McNamara and what's coming up (2 mins 30 secs) The interview starts with setting the scene after Peter's win at the DBN Invitational.  Amby asks how people were invited to attend the tournament (5 mins) Amby asks about the earlier rounds and seeding (8 mins 20 secs) They discuss why Peter went for Italy. You can read his article in the Diplomacy Briefing (10 mins 20 secs) Amby asks about where Peter planned to take things in the mid-game (13 mins) Kaner asks about the geography of the board (14 mins) Amby asks Peter about stabbing allies (15 mins 20 secs) They discuss reading the board (17 mins) Amby asks about how Peter got into the game, before asking about how tournaments extend you as a player (18 mins 15 secs) Amby asks what Peter has learnt recently in games, before discussing Peter's game play (20 mins) They discuss intuition vs computational approaches to the game, before discussing reputations (23 mins 20 secs) Kaner asks Peter how he finds the virtual environment (27 mins) They discuss tournaments of the future (28 mins 30 secs) Amby asks what Peter was looking for in an ally in the final DBN Invitational game. Peter discusses goals (32 mins 45 secs) They discuss the length of the games in the DBN Invitational (36 mins 45 secs) Amby asks if there was a tournament trophy before asking about whether Peter would play Italy again next time or whether he'd go for another country (40 mins 50 secs) Kaner asks about his thinking process during the game and scope for innovation in openings (52 mins 30 secs) Peter asks the guys when they'll have a face to face game in Brisbane again (44 mins 45 secs) Amby asks Peter if he thinks there's different Diplomacy scenes in Australia. They talk about the upcoming PoppyCon tournament (46 mins 30 secs) Peter discusses his plans for the upcoming WDC's (49 mins 30 secs) The guys wrap up the interview (51 mins) Kaner and Amby return, with Amby trying to advocate attacking Russia from the start (52 mins 15 secs) Amby asks Kaner what else he got out of the interview (55 mins 15 secs) Amby discusses Peter's strategy of picking Italy in the final game and patience (58 mins) Around the grounds Amby brings up his Europa Renovatio team game as Austria and how he went from doing well to being stabbed all round (59 mins 45 secs) Amby discusses the concentric circles on the board (1 hr 6 mins 15 secs) The guys move bars to O'Skulligans and discuss drinks (1 hr 9 mins 30 secs) Amby starts discussing a new variant in development he's testing. He talks about the way variant developers are doing this while Oli is unavailable on vDip (1 hr 11 mins 15 secs) He talks about the work Fake Al has been doing on Bronze Age Diplomacy where Amby is playing as Syria (1 hr 13 mins 30 secs) Amby discusses his decision to stab Babylonia and discusses the dynamics of the map (1 hr 20 mins) He reads some info from Fake Al about how limited variant development can still happen at vDip (1 hr 25 mins) They discuss possible options for which variant to develop, with a particular focus around flooding/raised water levels (1 hr 29 mins) The disagree on what to do: a flooded planet, continent or city. Try FloodMap to have your own play with flooding maps (1 hr 33 mins) They move again to a new bar, Greaser, but have a recording dilemma with about 15 minutes talking about Fake Al and Bronze Age Diplomacy disappearing (1 hr 37 mins) Amby and Kaner discuss who from the podcast will be in the upcoming Media Wars 2 game and other players (1 hr 38 mins) Amby has won a ranked game with the 1066 variant  (1 hr 43 mins 15 secs) But lost and was eliminated in his Imperial Diplomacy game where he played as Holland (1 hr 46 mins 45 secs) The guys do a What the Dr Recommended update for vDip (1 hr 48 mins) And then wrap up the show (1 hr 51 mins 30 secs) Venues: Royal George Hotel, O'Skulligans and Greaser, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Five Seeds cider, O'Skulligan's house lager Amby: Little Creatures IPA, an unknown Barossa 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 catch up for some drinks and a chat around their current Diplomacy endeavors and games. Intro and Diplomacy news The guys talk about their drinks and venue (0 mins 10 secs) They were hoping to play a face to face game on Sunday but have failed to get the numbers again (3 mins 45 secs) They also provide an update about their now non-attendance at PoppyCon in Melbourne, the first post-Covid face to face tournament in the world (4 mins 40 secs) Amby discusses ideas on how to drum up more people to come along to a game (9 mins 50 secs) Kaner gives a shout out to Peter McNamara on his victory at the DBN Invitational (14 mins) He discusses some of the upcoming virtual tournaments (16 mins 50 secs) Around the grounds Amby gives an update about his online games - a Mate Against Mate game called Happy Australia Day and his Imperial Diplomacy II game Pointy Pointy Stabby Stabby. Kaner discusses unit icons (18 mins 30 secs) He discusses his Europa Renovation team game where he's playing as Austria (24 mins 30 secs) They move onto an anonymous Divided States game they're both in, avoiding discussing who is who, but doing a breakdown of everyone's openings. And in the process probably getting a few bits of geography wrong (29 mins 20 secs) Kaner moves onto his games, starting with his webDip World Cup gunboat game where he was part of a three way draw as Austria. You can follow their discussion around key phases by going to the map history page (53 mins) They grab some more drinks and its onto another win by Kaner as Turkey on a Classic 1897 map. They discusses the random fun bonkers of Italy in the game, paying attention to Fall 1905  (1 hr 7 mins 5 secs) Amby asks Kaner what he's getting out of playing gunboat at the moment (1 hr 18 mins 20 secs) The guys wrap up the show (1 hr 20 mins) Venue: Indooroopilly Hotel, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Orchrd Crush cider by James Squire Amby: Balter XPA and Ridoch 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 interview Australian Defense Force chaplain John Dansie on using Diplomacy in professional military education of officers. Plus they talk about upcoming face to face games, their online games and Kaner makes a helluva mess. Intro The guys restart talking about other podcasts and Amby gives a big thumbs up to Brother Bored's Diplomacy Dojo (0 mins 10 secs) They talk about their drinks (1 min 45 secs) Amby talks about Bin Chicken Paradise. More here. (2 mins 45 secs) Interview with John Dansie Amby starts setting the scene for our interview with Australian Defense Force chaplain John Dansie (5 mins 30 secs) The guys welcome John to the show (6 mins 30 secs) Amby asks John how got introduced to the game (7 mins) He asks about how John brought Diplomacy into the professional military education of Australian officers and want he wanted to get out of it. You can read his article on The Cove (8 mins 30 secs) Kaner asks about the feedback from players after the game (11 mins 45 secs) Amby asks about deception and lack of trust and how officers would apply that experience in a real world scenario (13 mins 30 secs) He goes onto ask about players who didn't do well and how they related to it (16 mins 40 secs) Kaner discusses the soft skills Diplomacy teaches when it comes to leadership (18 mins 45 secs) They discuss playing without deception (22 mins 45 secs) Amby asks about the format of the games. John talks about the creative strategies used by players (24 mins 30 secs) Amby asks what feedback John has received from the higher ups (26 mins 45 secs) They discuss the use of wargaming in the military (28 mins) Amby asks what feedback John got on the paper published in The Cove (29 mins 15 secs) They discuss what John hopes to get out of the experience (31 mins) They go onto ask what John would like to see in two years time (32 mins 30 secs) Amby asks about whether any players after the game maintained an interest in Diplomacy (34 mins 20 secs) Kaner discusses about  his father playing Diplomacy in the Australian Navy (39 mins) They wrap up the interview (41 mins 30 secs) Post interview the guys give their thoughts. Amby would like to know if other militaries use the game in a similar way (43 mins 30 secs) The guys talk about the use of Diplomacy as a teaching tool in schools and universities (47 mins 45 secs) Diplomacy chat Kaner and Amby have moved to Blute's Bar. They talk about their new drinks (49 mins 40 secs) The guys talk about the first post-Covid face to face tournament - PoppyCon in Melbourne at the end of March - and whether they'll attend. They discuss the positives and negatives (52 mins 10 secs) Amby says they have five players who can make a 7 March face to face game in Brisbane. So they just need to get another two folk for a game (58 mins 15 secs) Kaner flags how the virtual Diplomacy League has created a map of where players are so you can organise face to face games once Covid calms down a bit. Sign up on their Google form (1 hr 1 mins 40 secs) Kaner and Amby are hosting their own virtual game for Patreon supporters of the show. If you're interested why not sign up as a Patreon friend of the show (1 hr 3 mins 20 secs) Around the grounds Amby starts with the Winning is for Losers game which is now over. It ended in a draw (Amby as England on 2 SCs) with gopher pulling a strong Austrian position of 14 SC's (1 hr 4 mins 20 secs) His declaration of war game is now over in a draw, with Amby being the last knocked out (1 hr 9 mins) He's just alive in an Imperial II game (1 hr 11 mins 50 secs) They move onto their webDip World Cup games. Amby's game has just finished in a 4 way draw. Amby was England and ended on 9 SCs (1 hr 13 mins) Amby discusses the liberating feeling of having 100% control of the Baltic/Gulf of Bothnia (1 hr 15 mins) Kaner talks abut his games, but being gunboat he doesn't want to provide game links/maps (1 hr 19 mins) Amby returns to his webDip game and reflects on a recent episode of Brother Bored's Diplomacy Dojo on how to play England (1 hr 23 mins 20 secs) They grab some more drinks. Kaner starts talking about a Classic 1897 game and how it works as a variant (1 hr 28 mins) Kaner gets overly excited and starts gesticulating his arms around causing a helluva mess! (1 hr  33 mins 30 secs) They come back post beer incident (1 hr 34 mins) Amby touches briefly on his Europa Renovatio team game (1 hr 35 mins 30 secs) He's also started a Mate Against Mate Australian variant game, where Amby is playing as Indonesia (1 hr 37 mins 20 secs) Venue: Blute's Bar, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: Coopers Pale Ale and Young Henry's Pale Ale Amby: Little Creatures IPA and Angove organic 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 then wrap up the show (1 hr 40 mins)