Study Group - Fall 2017

New players can go here for helpful advice and to sign up for our mentor program, or if you're a veteran help answer questions.
Forum rules
This is an area for new members or members looking for help with the site or Diplomacy. Off topic threads and replies will be moved to the appropriate category.
Post Reply
Message
Author
Peregrine Falcon
Site Contributor
Site Contributor
Posts: 245
Joined: Tue Mar 14, 2017 8:44 pm
Karma: 310
Contact:

Study Group - Fall 2017

#1 Post by Peregrine Falcon » Tue Jan 02, 2018 10:15 pm

Since we have a new forum now, we'll migrate the Study Group discussion to this thread.

Study Group Game - Fall 2017 Game
Old Forum Thread

Here's the introduction to the Study Group from the old forum thread:

The School of War Study Group is an exciting opportunity for everyone to learn from the best and to improve their diplomacy skills. Seven experienced players wanting to bring their play to the next level have been chosen to play as students in a classic, high-quality, full press game. Several expert professors will provide running public commentary and lessons to the entire board, posted in this thread.
This session will be taught by Professors Tom Bombadil and StackelbergFollower.

Formulated in Spring 2014, but with unofficial antecessors before, the Study Group game consists of players who are more experienced than the students in a traditional SOW class. Rather than receiving one-on-one instruction by a TA, they play independently, as they would in a normal game. This game is an opportunity for them to hone their skills and grow into some of the site's best players with the help of commentary and advice from the professors and gallery, and from playing in a high-quality game.The Study Group is a great opportunity for those who have perhaps been SoW students in the past and want to step up the challenge level a little, or perhaps for those interested in being a TA for a future SoW game, or just for someone who feels experienced, but still wants feedback on their play.

Before we begin, here are some ground rules to ensure the smooth running of the program:
1. Be respectful of the Professors, and any reasonable request they make.
2. Students are not to post in this thread until the game’s conclusion, with the exception of bumping the thread.
3. If you are unsure if you should be posting something in this thread, PM me or a professor to make sure.
4. There should be no communication about this game between Students and other users outside of the game, to prevent undue influence in the game.
5. Anyone not participating in the game may post in this thread to ask questions.
6. End of Game (EoG) statements from the students are highly encouraged, as they help everyone understand the game more fully.

Many people work hard to provide insightful commentary, for the students. If you become worried that you do not have the time to participate, please let me know so that we can arrange a replacement. Civil Disorders in a high-quality game such as this is highly discouraged and disrespectful. Players may request a pause of up to one week during gameplay, which should be arranged as far in advance as possible. Emergency pauses should be requested by emailing the Moderators at [email protected] and will be allocated on a case by case basis.

The School of War and Study Group are designed to provide a learning environment for everyone, including those not participating in the games themselves. Anyone who is not a student in the Study Group game is encouraged to watch the game, read the lectures from the professors and ask questions about the game in this thread while it is ongoing. This is contrary to normal site practice, for the express purpose of encouraging teaching and learning for those who could not participate as a student. This way, we use the SoW to its fullest potential. To be clear, players and TAs from the regular SoW game are welcome to post and ask questions here. Likewise, students in the Study Group game are encouraged to watch the regular SoW game and ask questions in its thread.

Where can one find the previous School of War and Study Group classes?
I recently went searching for all the games and threads. It’s somewhat incomplete, but all the games I could find have been placed in this spreadsheet. If you know of any missing from the list, please send me a PM so I can add them. Reading lectures on previous SoWs is also an excellent way to improve, so going back and looking them over is encouraged.
List of SoW games and threads

Who’s involved in this game?
Professors:
1. Tom Bombadil
2. StackelbergFollower

Players:
E: Claesar
F: MoscowFleet
I: Powow
G: chipo
A: Kench
T: Sevyas
R: CommanderByron

chipo
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Dec 31, 2017 11:49 am
Karma: 5
Contact:

Re: Study Group - Fall 2017

#2 Post by chipo » Thu Jan 04, 2018 12:31 am

bump :P

Peregrine Falcon
Site Contributor
Site Contributor
Posts: 245
Joined: Tue Mar 14, 2017 8:44 pm
Karma: 310
Contact:

Re: Study Group - Fall 2017

#3 Post by Peregrine Falcon » Thu Jan 04, 2018 4:09 am

Fancily enough, the SoW threads are stickied on the new forum. No bumping required anymore!

Peregrine Falcon
Site Contributor
Site Contributor
Posts: 245
Joined: Tue Mar 14, 2017 8:44 pm
Karma: 310
Contact:

Re: Study Group - Fall 2017

#4 Post by Peregrine Falcon » Fri Jan 05, 2018 5:42 am

We're unpaused and off to the races... or something like that.

Kench
Posts: 114
Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2017 3:09 pm
Location: Exeter, UK
Karma: 16
Contact:

Re: Study Group - Fall 2017

#5 Post by Kench » Tue Jan 09, 2018 9:51 pm

This isn't appearing on on my home screen anymore, so in case it helps, here's a bump!

Sevyas
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Dec 31, 2017 9:15 pm
Location: Luxembourg, Europe
Karma: 4
Contact:

Re: Study Group - Fall 2017

#6 Post by Sevyas » Thu Jan 11, 2018 3:54 pm

Bump for commentary and prof insights please.
Eager to soak up wisdom :-D

Tom Bombadil
Gold Donator
Gold Donator
Posts: 2927
Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2017 1:52 pm
Location: Detroit, MI
Karma: 2524
Contact:

Re: Study Group - Fall 2017

#7 Post by Tom Bombadil » Tue Jan 23, 2018 4:12 pm

I'm going to work on a post before this phase ends. It won't have scoring involved, but will talk about each powers solo prospects and late game strategy.
1

Sevyas
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Dec 31, 2017 9:15 pm
Location: Luxembourg, Europe
Karma: 4
Contact:

Re: Study Group - Fall 2017

#8 Post by Sevyas » Mon Jan 29, 2018 11:35 am

bump?

chipo
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Dec 31, 2017 11:49 am
Karma: 5
Contact:

Re: Study Group - Fall 2017

#9 Post by chipo » Fri Feb 23, 2018 1:38 pm

need no more bumps :P

Claesar
Posts: 1965
Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2017 10:34 am
Karma: 1490
Contact:

Re: Study Group - Fall 2017

#10 Post by Claesar » Fri Feb 23, 2018 2:10 pm

Needs EoGs!

Claesar
Posts: 1965
Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2017 10:34 am
Karma: 1490
Contact:

Re: Study Group - Fall 2017

#11 Post by Claesar » Thu Apr 19, 2018 12:11 pm

The EoG of England (Claesar). One month late, but here it is. I’ll keep it short since I expect only Chipo (Germany) to read this.

Right after country assignment, something had me worried. I was England and MoscowFleet was France. Last SoW, I was Germany and he was still France. Our communication went very poorly. In fact, I would argue he didn’t send more than a sentence “I’m supporting myself to Burgundy” and then went silent with all players. But of course that’s a hyperbole.
I eliminated him back then and I was afraid he might be holding a grudge.

Much to my surprise, France (MoscowFleet) immediately suggested he would DMZ-stab Germany (Chipo) in Burgundy and then move to Ruhr. He requested nothing of me but to join in later.

Germany was reluctant to talk about any plans and just wanted to wait and see, even though I pushed for discussion. Suggested a Western Triple, but without any plan. Wouldn’t even commit to boucing Russia out of Sweden (which I consider mandatory in a WT). He seemed scared and overwhelmed. My decision here was easy.

Italy (Powow) suggests I move to Channel if he moves to Piedmont (neglecting to mention he arranged a bounce there; sneaky!), but I decline. It might work if G stays defensive and indecisive, but F is offering a better deal.

Russia (CommanderByron) was quite friendly and suggested to swap Sweden and Norway at some point. I liked the plan. In fact, I copied it and tried it later as Russia in a League game (but was stabbed by England).
At the time I also said I complimented him on his atypical opening move, but I’ve changed my mind after thinking about it some more. While I see the many advantages of opening to Livonia, in practice I believe no sane Germany will let you convoy to Sweden so you’ll always be bounced.

In 1902, my decision was still as easy as it seemed after initial diplomacy. France had indeed invaded Burgundy and built only armies. I attacked Germany and took Denmark.
All was well, except that France had gone almost silent since the first few messages.. He logged in about once every 36 hours to send a few lines that allowed us to barely coordinate. Germany on the other hand, was talking my ear off. We had very friendly chats even though I just invaded him. He seemed like the sort of guy that could be a good partner if I gave him some help with his moves. He agreed to be a junior ally and I decided to stab France, whom had failed to send a message at all in the previous phase.

Unfortunately talks with Russia were going less well. He was really pushing the swap of Norway and Sweden, but with a moveset that was highly unfavourable to me. It would make it very easy for him to take both and lock me out of Scandinavia. I felt forced to stab him as well, though I detest making two enemies simultaneously.
Fortunately, it all worked out quite well. Germany indeed flipped and my position was great.

In 1904 Germany and I decided I would cede Belgium and gain St.Peters. I liked this trade as the position was much better. Belgium was a liability anyhow and I had Moscow pegged as my 18th centre for a solo.
I worked out a deal with Italy and Germany about the split of France, but focused on making sure Italy would get the short end. He didn’t seem happy about the deal, but I didn’t want to get locked out of Iberia. I thought he’d go for it anyhow, which was
However, as I saw the results of autumn 1904 I thought my solo chances were gone. While the swap worked, Italy had masterfully outplayed me! Instead of attacking France he enters Mid-Atlantic, effectively shutting me out of Iberia. To make matters worse, Russia outguesses me and occupies North Sea to wreck my defenses. I entered some orders to corner the Russian fleet with all my units and logged off.

Later that phase however, I spent a lot of time agonising over my 1905 Spring orders. Russia was threatening to ‘retreat to Edinburgh’ but didn’t seem very engaged in the game otherwise. I realised that I still had a chance to fight him with minimal units, if he did not move to Yorkshire. That was the only flaw in my plan, and one I decided to accept. It worked!
I was unable to convince Russia to stop harassing me with his fleet, but at least he never found anyone willing to help him against me. In the mean time, I went out of my way to make sure he was reduced to 0 centres.

Italy became a victim of his own success and I was able to reclaim Mid-Atlantic. I traded Denmark for Moscow and suddenly I was back in position for a solo victory! Over the stalemate line, so I just had to conquer all of France and Germany…
Unfortunately, in the past four years Germany had worked me over quite brilliantly with his diplomacy. I was still stuck on 7 centres while he had grown significantly. I traded for better centres, but I never grew. In hindsight, I should have been gaining in these years but Germany always made a good case why a centre should go to him.
In the next few years I managed to grow while eliminating France. I also tried to induce a fight between Turkey (Sevyas) and Italy, but never really succeeded. Turkey outright told me he would not attack Italy before I ceded Moscow. I tried to stall, but in Autumn 1911 he even told me there was no circumstance under which he would attack Italy. I needed that though, because without it I would never keep Moscow (or take Tunis).

I briefly considered stabbing Germany just for the show, but didn’t see how that would lead to my solo. My mentor even advised against it, even though he denies it now. I caved in and voted to draw.

In the end I think my diplomacy and tactics were good, but my strategy wasn’t focused enough. I had fun though, and I learned a lot!

chipo
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Dec 31, 2017 11:49 am
Karma: 5
Contact:

Re: Study Group - Fall 2017

#12 Post by chipo » Thu Apr 19, 2018 11:43 pm

learned a lot from you, thanks! ;)

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 51 guests