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  • The guys interview Davide Cleopadre, the tournament organiser of the 2024 World Diplomacy Championship in Milan, Italy.

    IntroThe 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 MilanThey 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 chatKen 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.

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  • 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!

    IntroThe 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 experiencesThe 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.

    IntroThe 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 NADFThe 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 groundsThey 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.

    IntroThe 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 BrandThe 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 chatThe 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 groundsGavin 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.

    IntroThe 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 UmbletheheapThe 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 chatThey 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 SaharaThe 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 DiplomacyThe 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 updateThe freaky Henry Kissinger moment (1 hr 47 mins)Bronze Age Diplomacy play testingGavin 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 CeremoniesGavin: 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.

    IntroThe 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 secsInterview with Sascha HeylmannThe 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 chatBrother 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 IPAGavin: 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.

    IntroThe 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 GraceThey 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 groundsKen 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 aleGavin: 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.

    IntroThe 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 BrisbaneThe 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 talkThey 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 groundsThey 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 aleAmby: 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.

    IntroThe 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 SaarlainenThey 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 chatKaner 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 groundsThe 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 aleAmby: 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.

    IntroThe guys introduce their drinks and tonight’s venue (0 mins 5 secs)New board game rules & face to faceThey 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 groundsKaner 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 aleAmby: 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.

    IntroThe 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 aleAmby: 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.

    IntroThe 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 MetaThe 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 ChatAmby 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.

    IntroThe 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 chatBeing 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 groundsKaner 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.

    IntroThe guys introduce the show, venue and drinks. They grab some lunch and then return (0 mins 10 secs)Interview with Stephen AgarThe 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 groundsKaner 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.

    IntroThe guys introduce the show, venue and drinks (0 mins 10 secs)Interview with Kestas on vDip and webDipKestas 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 chatThe 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.

    IntroThe 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 BlueDogThe 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 talkAmby 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 groundsThe 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.

    IntroThe 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 BrownThe 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 newsThe 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 awesomenessThe 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 mapsThey 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 talkKaner 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.