DAA Rag #1Newsletter of the Diplomacy Association of Australia Issue #1 August 1996 Contents
The "DAA Rag" is bornThis newsletter has been created to keep DAA members up to date with information relevant to Diplomacy in Australia.It is being produced primarily to provide advance notice of forthcoming tournaments and a forum for members views on matters of relevance to the DAA (especially tournament rules and playing conditions). The DAA Rag is not intended to be a Zine! It will neither provide hints on strategy nor run postal games. There are a number of Zines in Australia that already cater to these needs. Some of these are noted within this newsletter. Please contact me if you have any additional information that is appropriate for inclusion in this newsletter, especially articles for the Forum (see inside) and information on other Diplomacy clubs or Zines that may have been omitted from this issue. The deadline for issue #2 is the end of October.
Editor: Ian van der Werff (Secretary) GPO Box 170B Melbourne VIC 3001 Phone/Fax: (03) 9663 8572 email: ivdw@acslink.net.au ThanksMany thanks are due to the editors of FIST, 17 Centres and Western Front, who have kindly offered to include a copy of this newsletter in their first issue after mid-August. Details of each of these Zines are provided elsewhere in this issue.This does mean that those people who subscribe to more than one of these Zines will receive more than one copy of this newsletter. My thanks also to those people who have encouraged the production of this newsletter, and those who have contributed information. ForumThe views expressed in Forum articles are not necessarily those held by the DAA. However, the DAA will provide advance notice of changes being considered to provide its members with the opportunity to comment on them before they are finalised.Tournament Scoring SystemsIt is my opinion that all DAA sanctioned tournaments should use either the CRASS (Centre Result And Survival Scores) or the KISS (Ken's Ingenious Scoring System). In particular, I am not in favour of systems that take into account the a countries average number of supply centres over the course of the game (or similar methods). The DAA is considering a complete overhaul of the official tournament rules.
One of the changes being considered is the adoption of 2 or 3 approved
scoring systems, one of which must be used for the tournament to be
eligible for the Bismark Cup and Master Points. Variant Diplomacy TournamentsThere are now a large number of Diplomacy variant games available (especially Colonial Diplomacy). If the level of interest in these variants increases to the stage where tournaments are held for them, should the results be eligible for the Bismark Cup and Master Points? Another option to consider is the creation of a new scoring system (Variant
Master Points?) for Colonial Diplomacy and other variants. Tournament Option for AustraliaI have been involved with the hobby for almost two years now, and with one exception, all tournaments have been held in ACT, NSW or VIC. After discussions with a number of people, I would like to suggestion the following DAA-sanctioned tournament timetable:Australian Championship end Jan VIC Championship Easter ACT Championship May NSW Championship June NT Championship August WA Championship Oct Don Challenge Cup Nov / Dec This would obviously be dependent upon someone within each of the states
being prepared to organise each tournament. This person would then have
to formally advise the DAA of their intention to hold the tournament. Australian ClubsAt the time of writing, I only knew of 3 Diplomacy Clubs in Australia where face-to-face games are played on a regular basis. Please provide me with the appropriate details of any other clubs (or regular meetings) within Australia.The Diplomacy Club of Canberra (DCOC).Meets 1st Friday of every month at the Slovenian Australian Association. Nominal starting time 7pm.The Perth Diplomacy Club.Meets 3rd Sunday of every month at the loft (above the tavern) at the University of Western Australia. Nominal starting time 11am.Victorian Diplomacy Club (VDC).Meets 3rd Saturday of every month at the Student Union Building, Melbourne University (2nd floor). Nominal starting time 12pm. A number of different board games are played at this meeting.Diplomacy on the InternetFor those of you with access to the internet, there are a number of home pages of interest to the international Diplomacy community. Diplomacy games can also be played over the internet, either by correspondence directly with the other players and the game master, or through the Judge (a computer program that tracks the progress of games and interprets the results of moves). Home Pages: The Diplomatic Pouch Envoy Games over the Internet: Diplomacy News Group: Subscribe to this news group to read and/or partake in Diplomacy discussions. Tournaments in various parts of the world are often advertised herein. DAA Tournament Results1996 NSW Diplomacy ChampionshipThis 3 round, 4 board, 30 player tournament was played over the weekend of 8-10 June in Sydney. The results are summarised below:Points 1st place: Andrew Goff 50 2nd place: Bill Brown 41 3rd place: Geoff Kerr 39 4th place: Mark Pollinger 36 5th place: Harry Kolotas 34 6th place: Craig Sedgwick 32 7th place: Rob Stephenson 32 Best Countries: Austria: Andrew Goff 16 England: Phil Orme 16 France: Mark Pollinger 18 Germany: Tristan Lee 11 Italy: Bill Brown 15 Russia: Harry Kolotas 16 Turkey: Rob Stephenson 11 Best Novice: Choong Yeung Best Intermediate: Stephen Muzzatti Best Senior: Andrew Goff Forthcoming TournamentsThe following list of tournaments have been approved by the DAA. The results of these tournaments will count for inclusion in the Bismark Cup and Master Points. Details of the later tournaments will be updated in subsequent issues of this newsletter.ACT Diplomacy ChampionshipsLocation: Slovenian Australian Association Date: 5/6 Oct, 1996 Organiser/GM: Andrew Geraghty 16 Bateman Street Kambah ACT 2902 Ph: 06 231 2686 Format: 3 rounds over 2 days Colonial Dip on 7 Oct Scoring System: Cost: $15 NB: Colonial Diplomacy will be played on 7 Oct (Labour Day in NSW, ACT and SA). Don Challenge Cup, VictoriaLocation: to be confirmed Date: , 1996 Organiser: Rob Stephenson 18 Grevillea Rd East Doncaster 3109 Ph: 03 9842 7134 GM: John Cain Format: 3 rounds over 2 days Scoring System: not yet determined Cost: $15 Australian Diplomacy ChampionshipsLocation: with CanCon (venue not finalised) Date: , 1997 Organiser: Andrew Goff 123 Duffy Street Ainslie ACT 2602 Ph: 06 247 0703 GM: Ken Sproat Format: 3 rounds over 3 days Scoring System: CRASS Cost: $28 Victorian Diplomacy ChampionshipsLocation: University High School part of Conquest '97 Date: Easter, 1997 Organiser: John Cain GM: Ian van der Werff Format: 3 rounds over 3 days Scoring System: CRASS Cost: not yet determined Dip-ZinesThe following three Zines are produced in Australia. A short description of the contents of each Zine is shown where this has been provided by the Editor.17 CentresAndrew Goff, 123 Duffy St, Ainslie, ACT, 2602. Concentrates on Diplomacy.FISTAustralia's Premier Diplomacy MagazineFeatures Snail Mail Postal Diplomacy games and Email Diplomacy games (Normal and Gunboat). Current Diplomacy news, (National and International), Tournament Info, Reports and Results, Diplomacy Gossip. Also includes Chess Articles, A War Quiz, Crossword, Postal Scrabble, a little nudity (sometimes), Stories and Cartoons. FIST costs $2-50 an issue, comes out approx every 5 weeks and is edited and published by: Andy Turner, 18 Margaret St, Stuart Park, NT 0820. Tel: (08)8941- 8620. Email: turne44@ibm.net Western FrontA 24-page PBM games zine published every 6 weeks. The games offered are mainly strategy boardgames adapted for postal play, and include titles such as Empires in Arms, Warlords, Pax Britannica and of course Diplomacy. Railroad games are becoming more popular, with games of 1830 and Railway Rivals having recently started. The most popular game is En Garde! which is a roleplaying game set in the France of the Three Musketeers. As well as games, each issue includes a number of history articles and comment on current events (with a focus on Asia). Cost is $2.00 an issue. Write to: Brad Martin, 15 Turo Close, Willetton 6155, Western Australia.Annual General MeetingThe AGM was held on 8 June 1996 at the Sydney tournament. The following people were elected officers of the DAA.
President: Andrew Goff (ACT) Secretary: Ian van der Werff (VIC) Returning Officer: Steven Muzzatti (NSW) A vote was put to the meeting to raise the annual subscription rate to $5 (from January 1997) in order to fund a quarterly newsletter to all DAA members. The first issue of the newsletter (you're reading it) was to be more widely distributed among Diplomacy gamers generally, to encourage them to join the DAA (so let's hear from you!). DAA MembershipTo become a member of the DAA, please forward your annual subscription, along with appropriate contact details, to:Andrew Goff, 123 Duffy St, Ainslie, ACT, 2602 The annual subscription for 1997 has been set at $5. For new members, the $5 will cover the remainder of this year and 1997. Bismark CupThe Bismark Cup is awarded to the player who performs the most consistently at tournaments over a calendar year. The number of points received varies according to a number of factors, including:
Where a player participates in more than 4 tournaments, only the best 4 count for Bismark Cup points. The following list has been summarised from information supplied by Bill Brown. Three tournaments have been played this year:
Placing State Total 1 NSW Craig Sedgwick 162 2 VIC Bill Brown 121 3 ACT Andrew Goff 111 4 NSW Mark Pollinger 96 5 VIC Rob Stephenson 72 6 ACT David Gould 70 7 VIC Gary Bekker 67 NSW Geoff Kerr 67 9 VIC Richard Orme 65 10 NSW Harry Kolotas 58 11 VIC Tristan Lee 55 NSW Steve Muzzatti 55 13 ACT Reg Philp 53 14 VIC Ian van der Werff 49 15 VIC Frank Meerbach 46 16 VIC Ken Sproat 44 17 NT Rohan Keene 38 18 ACT Chris Goff 37 19 VIC Andrew Bushby 36 20 VIC Phil Orme 25 21 VIC David Currell 20 VIC Rodney Noble 20 NSW Choong Yeung 20 24 ACT Chris Nairn 15 VIC Michael Ruschena 15 ACT Tri Vo 1510 points: Chris Allen, Tim Anderson, Andrew Cheevers, Gary Donovan, Russell Dovey, Jorge Garcia, Matt Hastings, David Murnane, Marcus Schtenko, Adam Stewart, Doug Stewart, Craig Thomson, Dugal Ure, Min Vui Voon, Nick Wheatstone, Jason Whitby, Ian Whitchurch 5 points: Master PointsWe apologise for this brief interruption in transmission. Due to problems with Australia Post, the current Master Points list did not reach me in time for this issue. Normal viewing will be resumed as soon as possible.Diplomacy
Association of Australia and New Zealand, Incorp. Assoc. (Vic) no.
A0029615P.
Last modified:
9 September, 2009
|
