Diplomacy A-Z: C Entries

IDA awards in categories such as Outstanding GM, variant, zine, publication, press release, press series, regular game, variant game, technical article, established zine, new zine, single contribution to the hobby and others. Now dormant. See Hobby Awards (KW).

CALHAMER POINT COUNT (1) [MB:Jun80]

A rating or scoring system named after the game's inventor, giving 1 point for a win, and 1/N points for a N-way draw. It reflects the "win-only" philosophy. In the "Averaged C.P.C", this score is divided by the total number of games, and in the "weighted version", corrections are made for the relative success of the 7 countries. Present custodian is Doug Hollingsworth. See Rating Systems (KW).

CALHAMER TOURNAMENT SCORING SYSTEM (1) [MB:Mar82]

A winner gets 30 points; losers nothing. In games not won each player gets 10 points plus his number of centres. If the leader has more than 8 all other scores are reduced by the amount the leader has in excess of 8. No one may score more than 3 times his number of centres. A sole leader gets 2 extra points. A very similar system was used at Dipcon XIII in Michigan in June, 1980. See Rating Systems (KW).

CALHAMERIAN (1) [MB:Mar82]

See Win Only. Example: ODD.

CANADIAN DIPLOMACY ORGANIZATION (CDO) (1) [MB:Jun80]

The most stable N.A. dip organization, it has sponsored The National, an Ombudsman and his advisory committee, and Orphan Games project, a Code of Ethics, and English and French novice zines. Now under the leadership of Francois Cuerrier and Randolph Smythe.

CANADIAN VARIANT BANK (1) [MB:Jun80]

See Variant Bank North.

CANALCON (1) [MN:Aug93]

A week on a boat on British canals with British Hobby members. Ran in the early 1980's.

CANALS

See WATERWAYS.

CANCON (1) [AoS:88]

Short for Canberra Games Convention. Held on the Australia Day weekend in January each year and venue for the hobby's major tournament, the Australian Diplomacy Championship.

CANCON (2) [MN:Nov93]

Canadian `national' diplomacy convention held in Toronto each Summer.
Year #Players Winner
1988 30 Marc Peters (USA)
1989 26 Fred Hyatt (USA)
1990 ?? Cal White (Canada).

CANCON (3) [CW:Jul95]

Please note the difference in spelling between OUR Cancon and the damned Aussie bastards CanCon... Their deference to us in this matter is all that prevented an international incident at DixieCon/DipCon/ World Dipcon a few years ago which WOULD have seen me forced to pummel Andrew England and John Cain about the eyes, ears, nose and throat. Hmmph.

CAPORETTA OPENING (1) [MB:Jun80]

See Illyrian Opening and Italian Openings (KW).

CARBON COPY ZINE (1) [MB:Jun80]

Literally, copies are made by using carbon paper, though nowadays Xerox will often be used. Circulation is naturally low. This is resorted to when a GM loses his reproduction facilities, and does not want to delay or relinquish his game. Usually this lasts for a short time only, but it can go on for a long time e.g._Narsil_ and _Dorsai_.

CARDINAL RULES OF POSTAL DIPLOMACY (1) [MB:Jun80]

1. Write plenty of letters.
2. Get your moves in on time. Absolutely nothing outranks these, and failure to follow them can nullify any other skills that you bring to bear on the game.

CAREBEAR (1) [MN:Sep93]

A derogatory reference to games which are not Cutthroat. Used in internetland. Term devised by Nick Fitzpatrick. A Carebear is a player who makes alliances for "life", and will not stab his/her ally even when given ample opportunity to do so.

CARUSO, KATHY (nee Byrne) (1) [MN+JB:Aug94/HR Aug02]

Kathy entered the Hobby, as Kathy Byrne, in the late 1970s/ early 1980's and quickly gained a reputation as being one of the top players in the hobby; she is one an elite band of players to win three games playing as Italy, she won the 1981 Nixon Award, won the Whitestonia Best Player Poll in 1982 and placed 4th out of 120 at GenCon East in 1982.

She is an avid player of standby positions, has outstanding record in postal play and has always been a prolific, and entertaining, press writer. In the early 1980s she had articles and letters published in scores of zines on a wide variety of subjects and ran two subzines, Kathy's Korner in Whitestonia and Kathy's Kode in Coats of Arms. For many years she ran Kathy's Korner, which started out as a subzine to Whitestonia, which was renowened for its distinctive letter column (based described as gossippy sillness) which is heavily based on Kathy's unique eye for wacky nicknames which all regular contributors were required to have or a contest would choose one for them.

It currently is running down to a fold after a decade of publication and 180 issues. In the mid 1980's she was actively involved in Hobby politics, in particular the Great Feud. No other female has made as big a contribution as Kathy has to the hobby. Passed away August 18, 2002, leaving behind a great number of Hobby members, sadder for her loss, but glad that they had had the opportunity to know and play with her. See Personalities (KW).

CARUSO (KATHY BYRNE) AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT [JB:Aug07]

Created in honour of the late Cathy Caruso. Winners are:
2001 - Fred Hyatt
2002 – Richard Sharp
2003 – None Awarded
2004 – Don Turnbull and Buz Eddy
See Hobby Awards (KW).

CASSETTE TAPE DIPLOMACY (1) [MB:Jun80]

An idea pushed by von Metzke and Pete Webber, it didn't get far.

CDO

See Canadian Diplomacy Organization

CENTRAL GAMESTART SERVICE (1) [MB/MN:Jun80+Mar82/Apr92]

The origins of the CGS stem from the early days of the NGC. At this time NGC zines did not operate separate waiting lists for games, instead there was one central NGC waiting list for whatever games potential GMs wanted to run. This ensured that waiting lists filled quicker than would otherwise been the case as the entire NGC membership were informed of openings, rather then them being restricted to readers of a particular zine. At some stage NGC zines started to operate their own waiting lists and the central waiting list ceased to exist. I (MN) believe that the central waiting list was never formally called a CGS.

After the demise of the NGC the CGS was `revived' by Richard Hucknall. Players, usually novices, would apply for a gamestart and when the organizer had seven names he would send this gamestart to any editor that wished to run a CGS game. The aim was to provide a quick, and easy, way for a novice to enter into a Diplomacy game without worrying as to which zines were good zines to play in since the organizer could filter out 'poor' zines by not sending them CGS games.

The line of custodians is: Richard Hucknall, Malcolm Brown, James O'Fee and finally Richard Hucknall again. At some time Tom Tweedy became custodian, who passed it onto Nick Kinzett. Kinzett abandoned the CGS circa 1986, by which time it had become impossible to run: Most people entering the hobby at this time had no qualms about deciding which zine they wanted to play in and didn't seem to mind playing against more experienced players. The demand for the CGS had dropped to such a small extent that in order to fill games at anything like a reasonable speed, experienced players were being drafted in to make up numbers --- defeating one of the main reasons for the existence of the CGS. The demise of the CGS resulted in the birth of _Springboard_, but that is another entry...

CENTURY CLUB (1) [MB:Jun80/Mar82 + MN: Sep93]

The honor roll of zines which have reached 100 issues. In North America it includes: A Droite A Gauche (174 issues, Hal Naus), The Abyssinian Prince (Jim Burgess, 130+), The Appalachian General (150+, Dave McCrumb), Big Brother (Charles Reinsel, 100), BOAST (335+, Herb Barents), Brobdingnag (155, Richard Shultz 1-24, John McCallum 25-90, Ed Halle 91-108, Rod Walker 109-115, Bob Ward 116-155), Brutus Bulletin (109, John Michalski), Bushwacker (234, Fred C. Davis Jnr), Cheesecake (136+, Andy Lischett), Claw and Fang (124, Don Horton), Costaguana (219+, Conrad von Metzke), Diplomacy Digest (130, Mark Berch), Diplomag (105+, Fred C. Davis Jnr 1-42, Ron Brown 43-51, Bruce Poppe 52-66, Fred C. Davis Jnr 67-), Diplophobia (114, Don Miller), Dippy (327+, Jim Benes), EFGIART (186, Doug Beyerlein), Erehwon (128, Rod Walker), Fol Si Fie (202, Randolph Smythe), The Gamer's Zine (166+, Eearl E. Whiskeyman Jnr), Graustark (604+, John Boardman), Hoosier Archives (332, Walt Buchanan 1-250, Eric Verheiden 251-316, Rod Walker 317-332), Kaissa (200, W.E.J. Hinton Jnr), Kathy's Korner (180+, Kathy Caruso, nee Byrne), Lemon Curry (122+, Don Del Grande), Liberterrean (232, Jim Bumpas 1-227, Kevin Kozlowski 228-232), Magus (100, Steve & Daphne Langley), Passchendaele (107, Francois Cuerrier), Perelandra (100+, Pete Gaughan), The Pouch (111, Nick Ulanov), The Prince (114+, Jim Meinel), Protozoan (107+, Scott Cameron), Retaliation (133, Dick & Julie Martin), Runestone (375, John Leeder), Saint George and the Dragon (100, Robert Sergeant), Shaaft! (138, Andy Philips), Stab (117, John Koning 1-67, Conrad von Metzke 69-117), Ter-ran (182+, Steve Heinowski), Vertigo (110+, Brad Wilson), Voice of Doom (100, Bruce Linsey), Whitestonia (129, John Caruso), Wild and Woolly (144, Charles Brannan) and Yggdrasil Chronicle (155, John Van De Graaf). A +indicates a zine that is still running.

These are all American zines except for: Runestone, Fol Si Fie, Passchendaele (Canadian) and Brobdingnag (started off as an American zine and then a Canadian took over). [Since all are zines, none have the _x_ format.]

CENTURY CLUB (2) [MN:Nov92]

At the time of writing 15 British Diplomacy Zine have produced 100+ issues. Eight of these have folded: Zeeby (100, Nick Kinzett), Chimaera (102, Clive Booth), 1901aat (104, Mick Bullock), Home of The Brave (116, Geoff Challinger), NMR! (127 (?), Ken Bain and Brian Creese), Mad Policy (160, Richard Walkerdine), BDC Journal (169, Don Turnbull) and Courier (about 240, Don Turnbull). The seven still in production are: C'Est Mag (131, Pete Sullivan), Dolchstoss (Richard Sharp), Gallimaufry (Steve Doubleday), Greatest Hits (Pete Birks), Hopscotch (Alan Parr), Ode (John Marsden) and Take That You Fiend (Kevin Warne and John Harrington).

CERTIFIABLY PLAYABLE (1) [MB:Jun80]

A label of approval for variants that was to have been bestowed by the Diplomacy Variant Commission. See variant Jargon (KW).

CGS (1) [MN:Apr92]

See Central Gamestart Service.

CHALKER RULE (1) [MB:Mar82]

An obsolete rule which said that a player could not save his own position by attacking it in order to establish a beleaguered garrison.

CHANGING OF THE GUARD (1) [MB:Jun80]

Procedure whereby exactly two units exchange places without benefit of convoy. Illegal under the 1971 Rulebook. The exchange can be done via convoy or by using the Merry-go-round. Permitted in some variants.

CHAOS (1) [MB:Jun80]

Don Miller's 1966 variant in which each player writes orders for all 7 countries. GM makes a random selection for each country to select orders to be used. Miller did reveal the names of those who wrote the selected orders, and, for a while, all orders submitted. See Variant (KW).

CHAPESS (1) [AoS:88]

Word used by some women players to describe themselves. See Humour.

CHAPTER TWO (1) [MN/DL:Nov92]

A Chapter to Electronic Protocol created by Danny Loeb when Eric Klien became overwhelmed by the number of games on the Judge. Danny published brief details on current Judge Games (obtained from the Judge using the Summary and History commands). Danny also ran articles (including some DPP articles, Version [2.0] of the AZ and details from his opening library), provided details on Judge waiting lists, end game statements for finished games, commentary on "interesting" games and news/discussion on the Judge. The first issue, cunningly called Issue One, appeared June 14 1991. With Issue Five, July 2nd 1991, Danny changed his numbering system to correspond with that used in Electronic Protocol, issue 5 was called issue 246.

The first 8 issues of Chapter Two were actually called Chapter Eight (at this time there were, in theory, seven other Chapters being pubbed), but then Danny was instructed to devalue the Chapter Number. Issue 290 (August 17th 1992) was the last one produced by Danny, issues 291 to 301 were produced by Nick Fitzpatrick. Nick passed on the editorship because of general overload.

Joshua Smith became publisher of Chapter Two with issue 302 (January 27th 1993) and instigated a new editorial policy for the running of Chapter Two.

"EPC2 is distributed in four separate sections. Section Zero will provide administrative information about EPC2. Section One will contain articles written about Diplomacy in general or electronic Diplomacy in particular. Section Two will chronicle some of the discussions about Diplomacy taking place on rec.games.diplomacy, the press channels of games on the various Judges, and via e-mail. Section Three will report on the status of the various Diplomacy Adjudicators, and will include end-of-game reports and other game-related information." (Chp2, January 1993.) See also Zine Names (KW).

Editor Issues.
Danny Loeb : 1 (June 14th 1991) to 290 (17th August 1992).
Nick Fitzpatrick: 291 (26th August 1992) to 301 (26th November 1992).
Josh Smith : 302 (January 27th 1993) to 303.4 (11th Febuary 1993).
Richard Shipley : 304 (June 3rd 1993)

CHAPTER EIGHT (1) [MN:Jan93]

The current name used by Eric Klien for his email zine Electronic Protocol. Over the years Electronic Protocol has used different Chapter numbers. The first eight issues of Chapter Two were called Chapter Eight. See also Zine Names (KW).

CHICKEN AND EGG CONVOY

An entry that needs to be written.

CHOICE SET-UPS

See VARIABLE PLACEMENT.

CHURCHILL OPENING (1) [MN:Mar92]

The English opening A(Lpl)-Edi, F(Lon)-NTH, F(Edi)-NWG. This is a little more risky than the Northern Opening as England can not guarantee securing a build in Autumn 1901 but it offers more flexibility, England can order F(NWG) CA(Edi)-Nwy & F(NTH)-SKA to exert pressure on Swe in Spring 02. Perhaps a sign that England is more interested in securing a presence in Scandinavia than resolving the E/F/G situation and hence an early hint of a triple alliance. See also English Openings (KW).

CIRCUS MAXIMUS (1) [TNP:87]

Game of chariot racing, Ben Hur style. Sometimes played postally.

CIVIL DISORDER [PB:1980]

A.k.a. anarchy and CD (or cd if you feel the capitals should refer to "Corps Diplomatique"--I'm not fussy). The state a country enters when no-one runs it anymore.

CLASSIC DIPOMACY (1) [MN:Nov95]

Sometimes used as a synonym for 1958 Diplomacy. See Variant (KW).

CLASSICAL LEPANTO (1) [MN:May93]

Richard Sharp's name for the opening F(Nap)-ION, A(Ven)H and A(Rom)-Apu. See also Italian Openings (KW), Lepanto.

CLEAN FOLD (1) [MB:Mar82]

A fold is clean if the remainder of the sub fees are returned and the GM (if there are games going to other GMs and/or publishers) cooperates in placing the games. The GM must do all this in a reasonable period of time so that the games are not unduly delayed, and traders don't send a lot of extra copies in exchange for a defunct zine. See Fold.

CLINE 9-MAN VARIANT (1) [MB:Jun80]

Robert Cline invented one of the first expanded board variants in 1966; the most recent version is in DW #17. Barbary States in North Africa and Persia in the southeast are added, along with six new neutrals, some additional sea spaces, and off-board movement around Africa; considered very playable. See Variant (KW).

CLOAKED ERROR (1) [MB:Jun80]

An error which is not detectable by a player (e.g. GM prints a build wrong).

COA [PB:1980]

Change of Address.

COASTAL CRAWL (1) [MB/AP/EB:Jun80/1986/Dec07]

A procedure whereby two units exchange places by virtue of the fact that their final coasts are different, e.g. F(Bul/ec)-Con, F(Con)-Bul(sc). Illegal under all rulebooks, but in some variants it is actually encouraged by the rules.

COCKRELL, Marie (1) [MN:Nov 92]

See BEYERLEIN, Marie.

CODE OF ETHICS OF THE CDO (1) [MB:Jun80]

This code for GMs obliges them to correct errors as quickly as possible, submit possible disputes to CDO Ombudsman, be punctual, inform prospective players of variances in GMing procedures, keep in contact with hobby institutions, use replacement players "whenever possible", avoid GMing practices which will make games irregular or unratable, behave in an honest and impartial manner, explain actions taken, try to keep good communications between GM and players, and, believe it or not, "give players the benefit of the doubt where differences of opinion arise."

CODEWORD (1) [MB:Jun80]

A player may submit several sets of orders, with the GM to make the selection of which to use according to which codeword is sent by another player. This is done to save correspondence time when coordination is essential. Many GMs do not permit this; most HRs are silent on the point. Extensive discussion appears in _Diplomacy Digest_ 32.

COMBINED ORDER (1) [MB:Mar82]

Players may combine orders without repeating certain elements. E.g. A Lon-Kie; F Nth & F Hel C A Lon-Kie combines the two convoy orders. For special cases, see Mutual Support and Unexpressed Move.

COMBINED ORDER (2) [EB:Dec07]

This is a shorthand for social games. In tournament games, combined orders are generally not allowed under the classic house rule that there must be a 'separate' order for each unit.

COMETZINE (1) [MB:Jun80]

Like the heavenly body, it appears suddenly, dazzling all with its brilliance and beauty. The zine receives plugs, cheques and games, but when it fades or even vanishes, it leaves memories, bad vibes, and, often, orphans. Good example is _The Fighter's Home_, Gorman's beautiful offset zine which could not keep up its standards, and folded. [HR:Aug02] See also The Bluesmobile.

COMMENTARY (1) [MB:Jun80]

Analysis of a game's tactics, strategy, diplomacy, prospects, etc while the game progresses. Usually written by the GM, sometimes by an outsider and rarely by a player. With an outsider, it is usually 1 season later (e.g. F01 moves with S01 commentary) but recently there has been a trend towards running the game on a flyer and then reprinting the moves in the main zine simultaneously with the commentary. Can be done on season-by-season, or yearly basis. Commentator's ability to accurately describe the game is severely limited by the fact that the commentator does not know the inner workings of the game.

COMPENDIUM (1) [MB:Mar82]

John Hopkins' compilation of all British zines available and the games they run. See Zine Names (KW).

COMPLETED GAMES (1) [MN:Jan93]

In 1985 Richard Walkerdine produced a survey of the 986 completed games run in the British Hobby (1968-1985).

        Wins  2-way  3-way  4-way  5-way  6-way  C. Points  %C. Points
Austria   80     29     25     43    10     ---    115.58     11.72   6
England   73     34     42     54     8     1      119.27     12.10   5
France   108     46     52     60    12     1      165.90     16.83  =1
Germany  119     35     55     41    11     1      167.45     16.98  =1
Italy     67     29     35     53     9     1      106.10     10.76   7
Russia   126     29     37     44    11     1      166.20     16.86  =1
Turkey    97     34     54     37     9     1      143.22     14.53   4
       ------------------------------------------------
Totals   670    118    100     83    14     1      986.00

See also Diplomacy Statistics (KW) and Dolchstoss Games.

COMPLETED GAMES (2) [MN:Oct95]

A summary of all games played in Continental Europe (1971-1995) appeared in _Omnibus_ 4 (April 1995).

        Wins  2-way  3-way  4-way  5-way  6-way  C. Points  %C. Points
Austria   36      9     14     15     4     2       50.050    10.93   6
England   47     12     27     18     3     1       67.267    14.69  =2
France    53     13     23     19     3     2       72.850    15.91  =2
Germany   47     15     16     14     3     2       64.267    14.03  =2
Italy     34      7     19     13     1     1       47.450    10.36   7
Russia    69     10     22     11     3     2       85.017    18.56   1
Turkey    51     14     23     18     3     2       71.100    15.52  =2
       ------------------------------------------------
Totals   337     40     48     27     4     2      458.000

See also Diplomacy Statistics (KW).

COMPLETED GAMES (3) [MN:Dec96]

Which of the seven countries on the Diplomacy is the strongest? In what order do the ohter six follow after? Thaddeus Black attempted to answer this question by compiling results from the following sources:
986 UK postal games in the 1960's, 70's and 80's;
802 North American postal games in the 1960's and 70's;
583 North American postal games in the 1980's and 90's;
458 Continental postal games in the 1970's, 80's and 90's;
565 Judge e-mail games, mostly in the 1990's;
91 hand-adjudicated e-mail games.

   avg          points wins   2    3    4    5    6    7  losses  win%
  --------------------------------------------------------------------
   -8.0 Austria -27840  269  112  169  150   50   13    4  2718   7.7%
   +1.7 England  +6054  287  161  258  182   51   15    4  2527   8.2%
   +8.9 France  +31086  341  156  269  188   64   17    4  2446   9.8%
   -0.1 Germany   -498  314  135  202  128   63   16    4  2623   9.0%
  -15.2 Italy   -53089  213  111  160  139   59   15    4  2784   6.1%
  +10.9 Russia  +38135  427  121  173  119   55   13    4  2573  12.3%
   +1.8 Turkey   +6152  310  138  251  146   53   13    4  2570   8.9%
  --------------------------------------------------------------------
  +-2.1   3485 games   2161  467  494  263   79   17    4        62.0%
  std dev

The rating system used was the Zero Sum Rating System.

COMPLIMENTARY SUB (1) [MB:Jun80]

A free sub given out of respect, a desire to inform or flatter, etc. Publishers have traditionally given them to Alan Calhamer, Avalon Hill, family members, etc.

(2) [MN:Apr92] SUB is short for subscription.

COMPUTER FORMATTED ZINE (1) [MB/MN:Mar82/Jul95]

The issue is typed into a computer, which then prints it out on a letter quality printer which makes copy suitable for photocopying. This permits easy editing of errors and, in many cases, right justification. By 1990 most zines in North America were written on computers. Early examples are Richard Kovalcik's _The Tetracuspid_ (1-58, June 1975-October 1981), Al Pearson's _Just Among Friends_ (1-28, October 1980-December 1982) and Allen Wells' _Dot Happy_ (1-24, February 1981-February 192). See also Computer Printed Zines.

COMPUTER PLAYED DIPLOMACY (1) [MB:Jun80]

The first attempt at this was made by Dave McDaniel, in 1963A, the very first postal dippy game. He was eliminated in 1903.

COMPUTER PRINTED ZINES (1) [MB/MN:Jun80/Sep94]

These have not generally been long lived; perhaps due to reliance on access to computers which can easily be withdrawn. The zine is literally a computer printout. the first was _High Liver_ (1-6, December 1966-March 1967). Early examples include the first issue of Andy Phillips Shaaft!! (January 29th 1970, printed on an IBM 407), Bob Van Andel's _Saeta_ (1-39, October 1970-August 1972), Paul Rubin's _Vulcan_ (1-3, April 1971- April 1972), Scott Rosenberg's _The Pocket Armenian_ (the first issues were printed out on a PDP-8 over the Summer of 1974), Harry Riley's _Binary_, (1-3, September -October 1974) and David Truman's _G*A*S*S*E*D_ (1-39, December 1974-April 1978, printed on an IBM 370 Model 155 at the University of Toronto, first Canadian computer printed zine). See also Computer Formatted Zine.

COMPUTERIZED GMing (1) [MB/MN:Jun80+Mar82/Jan96]

Although discussed frequently, Loomis' _Flying Buffalo_ was the first to use such a system, with a program written in BASIC for his North Star Horizon Computer. Other early computer adjudicators were written by David Kleiman in 1981 (originally in BASIC, sunsequently in pascal) and used in his zine _The Diplomat_ and in 1982 by Steve McLendon for GMing games in _D&L_ (running on an Apple).

In the 60's, Dan Alderson and Tony Pandin both started programs which were never completed (the latter led to the discovery of Pandin's Paradox).

The first game to be computer GMd in the British Hobby was ran in _Hopscotch_ (the game ran from 1984 to 1986), the only game of diplomacy to be run in that illustrious zine! The program was written by Nicholas Clifton and ran on a BBC micro.

CON [PB:1980]

Not necessarily Constantinople or a clever rip-off. Can also be an abbreviation for 'convention'. Eventually came to mean any meeting of games-players in large or small numbers over a reasonably organized weekend/day/fortnight (eg Polycon, Eurocon). Came from SF cons (Science Fiction Conventions).

CONCEDED DRAW (1) [MB:Jun80]

A Draw not including all survivors. Some HRs (Boardman, Lipton, Verheiden) ban them.

CONDITIONAL ORDERS (1) [PB/TNP/AOS:1980/87/88]

Orders whose execution are determined by events in the game. They are conditional because you can vary them according to the results of the moves. Legal for retreats, builds, disbands and press. An unfortunate necessity of postal games playing. In the Australian and British hobbies, retreats and builds are conditional upon moves. In the States, they do it the other way around. See International System.

CONFIRMATION OF RECEIPT OF ORDERS (1) [MB:Jun80]

Players can usually arrange this by enclosing a self addressed postcard along with their orders, for the GM to sign and mail. Often, if a GM receives two seasons' orders at once, he will say he has the advance orders in the zine.

CONFLICT-SIMULATION [PB:1980]

What Europeans call Board-Wargames as a result of still-existing prejudices against anything with 'war' in it.

CONQUEST (1) [MN:Nov92]

A convention organized by John Marsden and Nick Kinzett in the Autumn of 1985 in Hastings. Attended by 40-50 people, including games designers David Watts and Jack Jeffe.

CONQUEST OF THE NEW WORLD. (1) [MB:Mar82]

Lew Pulsipher's variant for 2-5 players set in the Western Hemisphere of 1500. See DW 25. See also Variant (KW).

CONTRADICTION (1) [MB/MN:Mar82/Nov92]

A rulebook problem where any possible adjudication violates one of the rules; i.e. there are NO correct adjudications. These arise when there are conflicting rules with no order of precedence given. These have been eliminated over time from the rules, although there are slight differences between rulebooks printed in different countries. See Berch's Ghastly Mess, Chicken and Egg Convoy, Finessed Cut, Pandin's Paradox and Unwanted Convoy.

CONTRADICTORY ORDER (1) [MB:Mar82]

If the order for one unit does not match a second unit's order to support or convoy, the orders are contradictory. E.g. A Por-Spa, F Mid S A Por. NSO (No such order) is often placed after the convoying or supporting unit.

CONTROL OF NEUTRALS (1) [MB:Mar82]

A category of variants which permit a player to control, at least temporarily, units not belonging to other players. Includes Active Neutrals, Intimate Diplomacy and Seven Years War. See also Variant Jargon (KW).

CONVOY PARADOX (1) [TNP:87]

Arises when a convoyed attack cuts the support for an attack dislodging the fleet. Usual ruling: the convoy stands.

COPY (1) [AoS:88]

Text, such as an article, intended for publication in a zine. As in "Copywriter": one who writes copy.

CORE ZINE (1) [MN:Jan92]

A zine which is considered `essential' reading by active hobbyists, often due to its extensive hobby, news coverage and discussion of *important* hobby matters. There are often only a couple of core zines at any one time and subbing to one of these is a good way to keep in touch with the what's happening in the hobby.

CORFLU (1) [MB:Jun80]

Correction fluid.

COSTAGUANA (1) [MN:Mar92]

The 11th Diplomacy zine to be published, issue one appeared on April 1th 1965, and continuing with many time-outs, stoppages and folds to this day. Conrad von Metzke's zine probably holds the record for the most times any one zine had gone under!

Costaguana has been one of the most influential dipzines the hobby has seen, not because it ran many games, not because the games it did run were well run and not because it contained stacks of articles on the game, but because of the masterly writing appearing in it.

Costaguana was probably the first `fannish' zine, almost certainly the first zine to be read because of the pleasure in reading it. Although by the early 1970's it was widely circulated and the mailing list was a Who's Who of the American Hobby, it exerted little influence on how American zines developed; it was more influential in the UK and it has been claimed (by Pete Birks) that it influenced the style and content of _Ethil The Frog_ and through Ethil Richard Sharp and Pete Birks, and through these individuals the whole of the British Hobby.

Relaunched in the 1980's to critical acclaim, winning the Runestone Poll in consecutive years and dominating the US Hobby of the time. Twenty years on little had changed in Conrad's approach to producing a zine but the American Hobby had changed sufficiently for Americans to appreciate the quality of the writing and the quality of the zine. For more information read Pete Birks' article "Costaguana" which appeared in Greatest Hits 142 (September 1988). See also Zine Names (KW).

COUNTER EUROCON (1) [TNP:87]

Hobby package tour to the Algarve organized by Pete Birks in 1982. A great success, since the local wine was both excellent and cheap.

COUNTRY VARIANT (1) [MB:Jun80/Mar82]

Variants based on one country or other very limited areas. Examples include Boyer's Scotice Scripti III and Mill's Bhearna Baoghail (both Ireland), Leeder's Gesta Danorum (British Isles) and Rosenburg's 1618 (Germany). See also Variant Jargon (KW).

COUP [PB:1980]

A result, I suspect, of the increased influence of Bridge and Poker on the hobby in the last five years. Also hard to define beyond snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, coming up with a successful result as a result of apparently bad (and deliberately so) play, and lulling the opposing player into a false sense of security, finally administering a coup.

COURIER (1) [MN:Mar92]

The second UK dip zine, launched by Don Turnbull in October 1969 to carry the games started in _Albion_. Many of the early British dip pioneers played in _Courier_ but it slowly slipped away from the mainstream of the UK hobby and by the mid 1970's it was a slow zine with a small, but dedicated, band of players. It continued until the end of the 1980's when Don moved to the States, having produced over 230 issues - the only UK zine to have produced more than 200 issues. Its hey-day was the early 1970's, from then onwards it existed in a hobby of its own with no contact with the hobby that Don had started. Strictly a warehouse zine. See also Zine Names (KW).

COURTESY COPY (1) [MB:Jun80]

When a publisher writes about someone, especially in a critical vein, and the person does not normally get the zine, it is traditional to send him a copy of the issue, or of that article. Applies sometimes to letters too. Hard feelings have sometimes resulted when people aren't informed about what others are writing about them.

CP COUNT STRIKE (1) [MN:Aug94]

The number of Calhamer Points you would expect to gain if you used a particular opening 100 times. Based on a survey of openings used in British Postal Games by Richard Sharp, who devised the term. See Winning With France, Italy and Turkey (in the UNIX sense!).

CRAYNE, Dian (1) [MN:Nov92]

The first women to play postal diplomacy as Austria in 1963B. Became Dian Pelz during the course of the game by marrying one of the players in the game. Marriage was a shrewd move within the context of the game! See also Personalities (KW).

CREDIT (1) [PB/TNP:1980/87]

The amount of money owned by you but in the possession of the GM. This maybe expressed in terms of issues or in an absolute money sense. The GM likes this figure to be positive.

CRIMEAN CRUSHER (1) [MB/MN:Jun80/Aug95]

Turkey opening to Bul, BLA and Arm is an aggressive opening that allows all three pieces to be used against Russia in the fall. Even if the fleet move succeeds, though, if Russia is in Rum, Ukr and Sev, Turkey must still second guess Russia for a second center if Austrian help is unavailable, and may lose BLA in the process. Called by Richard Sharp the Russian Attack. See also Turkish Openings (KW).

CROSS GAME ALLIANCE or REPRISAL (1) [MB/TNP:Jun80/87]

Certainly one of the most controversial practices is that of linking together postal games by e.g. retaliating against someone in Game B for his actions in Game A, or making a deal whereby favours in game A are repaid in Game B. These deals place players in only a few games at a considerable disadvantage, and reduce everyone's ability to conduct diplomacy. These deals often involve standby positions. Cross Game Alliances (Effects, Reprisals) are frowned upon as unethical. Few players however are immune from the desire to avenge past humiliations. See Trans-gaming.

CROSS GAME CONSIDERATIONS or EFFECT (1) [MB:Jun80]

One game can influence another even if there are no formal ties and even if the two games do not overlap in time: Information from one game can be carried over into another. If you have learned from one game that a given player is a very loyal ally, or is careless at writing orders or constantly passes letters around or will never ally with someone who has stabbed him, etc, you will allow that information to influence your play, even if you are opposed to Cross-Game deals. See Trans-gaming.

CROTTLED GREEPS (1) [MB/MN:Jun80/Nov92]

An SFism which was introduced into the diplomacy hobby by John Piggott in a press release in von Metzke's K-35. It hopped the Atlantic to become popular in England.

CROUCH'S MISTAKE (1) [MB:Jun80]

In England, the failure to include a deadline in the zine.

CRT [PB:1980]

The Combat Results Table, used in war games.

CRUD (1) [MB:Mar82]

Nickname for Dick Martin.

CUT THROAT (1) [MN:Sep93]

A style of play where your objective is to win or be in the minimum sized draw. The term was used by email players that objected to the style of play where others would form game-long alliances. At least one cutthroat game was run in were the players agreed to play in this style.

CUTTING A SUPPORT (1) [MB/HR/MN:Jun80/Apr92]

To render a support invalid. When a unit is attacked, that support is said to be cut. The exception is when the supporter is supporting an attack on the would-be cutter. Thus, support is only cut by an attack "from the side".

An example. France: F(Bre)-ECH, F(MAO) SF(Bre)-ECH; ENGLAND: F(IRI)-MAO, F(ECH) SF(IRI)-MAO. The French support from MAO is cut by the English unit attacking from IRI. The English support from F(ECH) is cut by the French fleet in BRE. Result: no unit moves.

If ENGLAND had ordered F(IRI) SF(ECH)-MAO, F(ECH)-MAO then the adjudication would have been different. England now has two units attacking MAO (no unit cuts the support from IRI) and so the French fleet is dislodged. France has one unit attacking ECH (remember that the French fleet in MAO has been dislodged so its support is cut) but since England had vacated ECH then the F(BRE) moves there unopposed.

CUTTING AN ATTACK (1) [MB:Jun80]

The only way an attack may be rendered void is when the attack is via convoy, and one of the convoying fleets is dislodged.

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