- MAD DIPLOMACY (1) [TNP:87]
- An up-to-date variant which allows you to
nuke your opponents, to the general detriment of everyone. See
Variant (KW).
- MADMAN (1) [MB:Jun80/Mar82]
- A variant style sometimes used when fewer
than 7 players show up. One country, generally Italy, is ruled by a Madman:
After the moves are submitted, but before they are exposed, a randomly selected
player writes moves for the country without diplomacy. This is repeated each
season until elimination.
In postal play, all players submit orders, one set is chosen at random so
that no one knows whose orders were used. Invented by Blair Casak, named by
John Leeder. See Variant (KW).
- MAGINOT OPENING (1) [MB/RE/MN:Jun80/89-90/Aug95]
- Richard Sharp's name for the strong French opening
F(Bre)-MAO, A(Mar) SA(Par)-Bur. It assumes an understanding with England over
the English Channel, and though it must be regarded as anti-German, the opening
still allows France the opportunity to take three neutral centres in Autumn
(with A(Bur)-Bel, A(Mar)-Spa and F(MAO)-Por) and allows France to defend Mar
against the presence of IA(Pie). Naming it after the Maginot Line has
emphasized its defensive qualities, but there can be no doubt that the opening
poses a direct threat to Munich, and may signal a frontal assault on Germany by
an Anglo-French alliance with the possibility of A(Bur)-Ruh in Autumn 1901.
This is both a strength and a failing, as it exposes France to a stab from
England and is likely to cause maximum offense to a neighbour who is not usually
an initial threat to France. However, it does assure the French player of a say
in Belgium's future (a useful bargaining chip even if France cannot take the
centre himself) without leaving Burgundy unguarded - and still allows him to
take both the Iberian centres in 1901.
The opening F(Par)-Pic, A(Mar) SA(Par)-Bur is the Maginot Opening,
Picardy Variation. See
English Maginot and
French Openings (KW).
- MAJORITY OF UNITS ON THE BOARD (1) [MB:Jun80]
- The victory criterion prior to 1971. Under it a player could win with only
17 units by annihilating an enemy unit (1965I) or could be forced in a draw
with 18 by being unable to build a 17th unit (1966AA).
- MAN (1) [AoS:88]
- Alternative term for "unit", regarded by many as sexist.
- MANORCON (1) [TNP/MN:87/Sep93]
- Summer convention held at Birmingham University each July. Provides the
opportunity for outdoor games such as soccer, American football and croquet, as
well as the more usual board games.
In theory runs the Universities Dipomacy Tournament, although there
aren't many University teams these days. The team tournament has become
a valued prize and several editors try to organise as strong a team as
possible in order to claim victory. See Team Tournament.
Year Team Winner (Nu uni teams/Nu teams) Individual Winner
1982 Liverpool Gary Piper
1983 Birmingham University Guy Thomas
1984 Birmingham Univeristy (7/13) Edward Richards
1991 ??? (?/14) Toby Harris
1995 The Also-Rans Jim Mills
- MAP ERRORS (1) [MB/MN:Jun80+Mar82/Mar93]
- The Diplomacy map should not be taken too literally. Belgium has been given
a chunk of France, including Calais, Dunkirk and Boulogne. This was presumably
done to make sure that Bel bordered ENG. More mysterious is the fact that Hol
has been given part of Belgium (Antwerp area). Clyde should be extended further
south to include the river Clyde. The northern portion of the Ruhr (north of
the Ruhr River) is missing. For consistency's sake, Tunis should be Tunisia.
The Russo-Finnish border should be moved a bit east to include the western most
part of Lake Ladoga (just north of the "StP(sc)"). The dot for Trieste is
actually placed on the city of Fiume (now Rijeka). "Kiel" is placed on Hamburg,
and "Lyo" should be "Gulf of Lions". Finally the border between Sweden and
Norway should be a territory line as Sweden and Norway were a union until 1905.
- MAPIT (1) [MN:Nov93]
- A Unix program, written by George Boyce in 1992, consisting of C source
code and postscript text and data files. You give it a
"judge style report" and it tries to
give you back the PostScript which will draw a map (regular or Youngstown) with
units labeled and arrows drawn indicating moves etc. Macintosh binaries written
by Kent Irwin in October 1993. DOS version written by Larry Richardson in
November 1993. The different versions of this program are available from the
ftp site nda.com in the dir /pub/diplomacy (.)
The source code for mapit is currently being maintained by
David Kovar.
Internet players do not need to have a copy of this program in order to
generate the PostScript map file. The adjudication
produced by the Judge can be redirected to judge@shrike.und.ac.za or
judge@morrolan.eff.org (ensuring that there are no comment ("]") characters
inserted by your mailer) with the line map * [n] added at the top of the file
(n is optional for receiving the map in .ps format, rather than uuencoded format).
- MARCO POLL (1) [MN/PG:Nov93/Dec93]
- A North American Hobby Poll begun by Mark
Larzilere in 1981. After falling dormant, it was revived in 1989 by Pete
Gaughan. In 1994 it will be run by Bob Acheson. Its methodology is designed to
avoid 'grudge' voting. Over the years it has run different categories. The main
rival to the Runestone Poll.
(1) BEST ZINE
Year Voters Winner Runner-Up 3rd
1. 1981 32 Brutus Bulletin Voice of Doom
2. 1982 61 Europa Express Just Among Friends
3. 1983 73 Europa Express Voice of Doom
4. 1989 41 Fiat Bellum = (tied)
House of Lords =
5. 1990 31 Northern Flame Been There Done That Kathy's Korner
6. 1991 48 Upstart Moire Kathy's Korner
7. 1992 38 Maniac's Paradise Upstart Kathy's Korner
8. 1993 25 Maniac's Paradise Upstart Well, Martha....
Note. In the period 1989-1993 you could not vote for the Pollsters
zine _Perelandra_.
(2) BEST GM
1. 1982 Gary Coughlan
2. 1983 Gary Coughlan
3. 1990 Andy Lischett Cal White Melinda Holley
(3) BEST FRESHMAN ZINE (award for best zine begun in the previous year.
This was originally a seperate Poll)
Winner 2nd 3rd
1. 1981 Europa Express Sleepless Knights The Schemer
1. 1983 Magus
2. 1984 House of Lords
3. 1985 Flick of the Wrist
4. 1993 Zero Sum Aren't you the Guy... Foolhardy
(4) BEST PLAYER Winner 2nd 3rd 4th
1. 1991 Gary Behnen Kathy Caruso Steve Cooley
2. 1992 Gary Behnen Mike Gonsalves Kathy Caruso
3. 1993 Fred Hyatt Stven Carlberg Eric Vood John Schulz
In 1993 voters were not allowed to vote for Behnen.
(5) BEST SUBZINE
1. 1983 Mos Eisely Spaceport
2. 1990 High Inertia Extremism in the defence of Liberty
See Hobby Awards (KW).
- MARK BERCH DEPARTMENT (1) [MB/PG:Mar82/Nov93]
- The utterly in appropriate label all too often given to boring and totally
dated reports on the weather. Not a slam at Berch for being boring but was, in
fact, a response to Mark's *request* --- he *was* interested in the weather in
various areas just as some people are interested in what music is playing while
an editor works!
- MARK BERCH REPORT, THE (1) [MN:Sep93]
- When ever North American zine editors have to fill up a space they produce
The Mark Berch Report (sometimes called the Mark Berch Department): a report of
the local weather at the time of writing. Was in widespread use at one time.
- MAROTTA RATING SYSTEM (1) [MN:Jan96]
- David Marotta's method for rating players who only play part of a game,
posted to RGD in January 1995.
The ith player of n players sharing in the resulting points gain
a - z + 1
p(i) = ---------
7 + f + n
Where,
a = the number of players in the game when ith player took over,
z = the number of players in the game when ith player abandoned,
f = the number of players who finally shared in the draw, and
n = the number of players who played ith's power throughout the game
This offers no incentive to prolong the game to gain more points.
Lots of incentive to eliminate people from the draw (which increases
your share of the win). And no incentive to CD because every new player
gets at least 1 share, even if no one is eliminated during their
time in power. Consider this carefully. Here are some examples:
A power played by 3 players shares in a 3 way draw:
Player Powers at start end Share of 3-way
1 7 6 2/7
2 6 4 3/7
3 4 3 2/7
In the next example the original player grows to 17 and is
threatened with a 6 way which the next player whittles down to a 3 way:
Player start end share
1 7 6 2/6
2 6 3 4/6
Here is a player who goes CD after Spring moves, whose replacement wins
solo very quickly in brillent play
Player Start End Share
1 7 7 1/8
2 7 1 7/8
Perhaps generous to the 1st player, but less generous than time-based systems.
(Examples taken from a RGD post by David Marrotta.)
See also Rating System (KW) and
Rating System For Standby Players.
- MARTIAL LAW (1) [Doug Stewart:Aug03]
- Martial Law is variation to Civil Disorder with "defensive only support" for
its units. The reader of the orders (prior to reading all orders including his
own) will announce the supports of the countries in Civil Disorder. The reader
chooses what the supports will be, which can provide him with an advantage if
the CD'd country is his neighbour. That country's units may NOT move, nor offer
support to any other country's units. The intent is to reduce the ease with
which a 'Civil Disordered' country can be over-run. [Rule variation created in
2003 by Doug Stewart for the DCOC (Diplomacy Club Of Canberra).]
- MASTER POINTS SYSTEM (1) [MN:Apr93]
- A system designed by Ken Sproat to grade tournament players based upon all
games that they have played in Australian Diplomacy tournaments.
There are a succession of ranking grades (just as in Bridge and Chess):
Novice Class, Intermediate Class, Senior Class, Veteran Class and, finally,
Champion of Diplomacy. Movement from a lower class to the next is based upon
the accumulation of points. In all classes a rule-book victory gains the
winner 34 points and the winner of a tournament scores a bounty of 20 points.
Players in the Novice or Intermediate Class score half their final supply
centre count in games in which they lose.
NOVICE CLASS: 10 points for survival + Final Supply Centre Count.
Eliminatees score 1 per game year survived, to a maximum of 10.
50 points are required to reach INTERMEDIATE CLASS.
INTERMEDIATE CLASS: Players score their supply centre count, but only
if they have 5, or more, centres. 100 points required
to enter SENIOR CLASS
SENIOR CLASS: Players score their supply centre count, but only if they
have 10, or more, centres. 150 points required to
enter VETERAN CLASS.
VETERAN CLASS: Players score their supply centre count, but only if they
have 13, or more, centres. 200 points required to become
a 'Champion of Diplomacy'.
CHAMPION OF DIPLOMACY: Nobody has entered this class yet.
NOTE: A player who moves into a new CLASS keeps all his old scores where
appropriate. For instance a player moving from INTERMEDIATE CLASS to SENIOR
CLASS will lose all games in which they lost and all games in which they had
fewer than 10 centres. See Rating Systems (KW).
- MATHOM (1) [MB:Jun80]
- A supply centre which you keep, but don't actually need - you just don't
want someone else to have it. From Tolkien fandom.
- McCALLUM, John (1) [Douglas Beyerlein in Washington Reports #4 (1973)]
- I would like to think that it is not true, but from all indications it
appears that John McCallum has left the postal Diplomacy Hobby.
This is not only a severe loss from the field of rating systems
but also to the whole hobby in general. John was regarded by everyone as always
maintaining a sense of fair play, honesty, and non-partisanship in an era of
the game when these qualities were almost unheard of. This fact was duly
recorded for history when John was given the task of monitoring and checking
the vote counts for the first IDA elections last year.
John McCallum has done far too much for the hobby for me to pretend that I
can mention all of his accomplishments in this brief article. Therefore I am
going to concentrate on his enormous contribution to the subject of ratings
systems.
John entered postal Diplomacy in the Spring of 1964 and a year and a half
later took over the publication of _Brobdingnag_ from Dick Schultz, the
original editor. When I entered the hobby in the late summer of 1966 I
immediately began correspondence with John and subscribed to his zine. In
September John published BROB #43 and the BROB rating system was born. The
first rating list had the results of only eight games, but John Smythe was
firmly in first place with 12 points with John Koning in second
with nine. This was the beginning of an association with rating systems that
has led to many great things.
The second BROB listing appeared in #45 and included games in progress which
made it a more accurate rating system (time-wise at least) than any other
rating system since invented. Once again, Smyth headed the listings. From
1966 to 1969 (when McCallum transferred ownership of _Brobdingnag_ to Ed Halle)
his zine was THE PLACE to discuss rating systems. I find, in fact, that these
old editions are still good reading today.
In BROB #88 (September 1968) in reply to a letter from
Allan Calhamer John invented the Calhamer Point
Count Listing (CPCL). Walt Buchanan now runs that
listing in _Hoosier Archives_. ((It is now run by Canadian fan Randolph Smyth -
MN Dec/92))
John's greatest contribution to the subject of ratings systems was the
Organizatin de Diplomatie (ODD) rating system. It was first
published in PFENNIG-HALBPFENNIG #4 in January of 1972. This is *the* advanced
system to date, and it is my belief that it will some day be the official
listing for all of organized Postal Diplomacy.
Thus, I hope that one thing will never be forgotten: above all, John A.
McCallum has always been a friend to all who knew him --- this is his greatest
contribution of all. See Personalities (KW).
- McCALLUM MERITORIOUS SERVICE AWARD (1) [MB:Jun80]
- Now defunct, named after John McCallum, publisher of
_Brobdingnag_, _Lauritania_, and other fine zines of the 60's
and early 70's. See Hobby Awards (KW).
- McGIVERN'S OPENING (1) [MN:May93]
- Richard Sharp's name for the opening:
A(Rom)-Ven, A(Ven)-Tri and F(Nap)-TYS. F(Nap)-ION (the
Tyrolian Attack) is more common. See
Italian Openings (KW).
- McKEJO OPENING (1) [MB/MN:Jun80/May90]
- An unorthodox Western Triple alliance, which sends German armies to Bel and
Hol, plus F(BAL)-Swe, even as England convoys into Den --- thus, the Western
fleet is in BAL rather than BAR. Used by McLendon, Kendter, Sr and Jones in
1979AK, it gives England a strong hand. The Western fleet is in BAL because it
is expected that the Russians will be stood out of Swe in the Fall. See
English Openings (KW),
French Openings (KW) and
German Openings (KW).
- MEDALS OF DIPLOMACY (1) [MN:Jan96]
- Suggested by Jeff Goslin in a post to RGD in January 1995.
The Three Medals of Diplomacy are:
GOLD: Stab first
SILVER: Cover your ass
BRONZE: Smile at your neighbours
- MEGADIP (1) [PG:Nov93]
- The "game" of Hobby politics. Diplomacy is the game that most of us play,
but some are more concerned withh who has power in the hobby, who is allied
with whom in zines and organizations, and how feuds are shaping up. MegaDipping
is a campaign game, having no clear end and, obviously no winners.
- MEINEL'S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF POSTAL DIPLOMACY ZINES (1) [HR:Feb07]
- A comprehensive list of postal Diplomacy zines, up to July 1992. Well worth
the reading for those interested in the history of the Hobby. Available in PDF
format from the Diplomatic Pouch at:
http://devel.diplom.org/Postal/Zines/TAP/Encyclo.pdf.
- MENSA DIPLOMACY CLUB (1) [MB:Jun80]
- Mensa is the organization for those whose IQ exceeds 130. In Britain, the
M.D.C spawned _1901 And All That_. When its editor could not continue to open
just Mensa games, the membership requirement was dropped. Associated in the US
with _Claw and Fang_ and _Bushwacker_. The US version is called the
Mensa Diplomacy SIG.
- MENSA DIPLOMACY SIG (1) [MB/PG/MN/AY:Mar82/Nov93/Aug95/Jul95]
- A "special interest group" devoted to those interested in Diplomacy.
Founded by Fred Davis and Don Horton in November
1974. The first ten mensa dip games were all run in _Claw Fang_ (although the
3rd was started in _K'DOO- through F01). Other zines to have run Mensa games
include _Big Hits_ (Scott Hanson), _No Fixed Address_ (Steve Hutton), _Rambling
Way_ (Andrew York), _Snafu!_ (Ron Brown) and _War Fair_ (Stephen Glasgow). The
high tide of membership was 70 in 1981, since the mid 1980s membership has been
static in the mid 50s. By mid-1995 48 regular Mensan games and six variant
games (variant games all played in _Bushwacker_ and later in _Diplomag_) had
been started. So far no Mensan game has ever been abandoned. The
service zine is _Diplomag_.
Chairman Period In Office
Fred C. Davis Jnr November 1974- October 1981
Glenn Overby October 1981-May 1982
Ed Bapple May 1982-October 1983
Bruce Poope November 1983-November 1985
Fred C. Davis Jnr November 1985-July 1995
Andrew York July 1995-Present
Editor of Diplomag (*)
Fred C. Davis Jnr November 1974-October 1981
Ronald Brown October 1981-October 1982
Bruce Poppe October 1982-January 1986
Fred C. Davis Jnr January 1986-June 1995
Andrew York June 1995-Present.
(*) called _Diplomensa_ for the first 11 issues.
- MELINDA ANN HOLLEY AWARD, THE
- See Hobby Awards and
Holley Award.
- MERCATOR [PB:1980]
- A 13-player variant which has gone through four stages of evolution.
Designed by Doug Wakefield and introduced at
ScotDipCon 74, it uses the Abstraction convoy
rule [i.e. a fleet can convoy AND move in the same turn--HR], timescales, and
variable 'joint win' criteria, which actually make a result possible (unlike in
Youngstown, on which Mercator is based).
Popular in the UK. See Variant (KW).
- MERRY-GO-ROUND (1) [MB:Jun80]
- The rotation of three or more units. Thus, F(Hol)-Bel, A(Ruh)-Hol,
A(Bel)-Ruh all succeed. This sometimes happens accidentally if nationalities
are not the same.
- MESSY FOLD (1) [PB:1980]
- A 'messy' fold (more probable in historical terms) is when the editor keeps
promising 'one more issue', never gets around to it, players lose interest and
are lost to the hobby, and games 'die'. See
Fold.
- METAGAMING (1) [MB:Jun80]
- (1) In tournament play "playing" the scoring system, presumably to do thing
you might not ordinarily do. (2) In postal play, linking play in several games
to maximize overall performance. See Cross
Game Alliance and Seven Player Tournament.
- METZKE, Conrad von (1) [MN:Jan92]
- Six-foot-seven American hobbyist active in the postal hobby on and off
since the mid 1960's. Part of an active San Diego crowd that discovered
FTF Diplomacy at the beginning of the decade, many of
whom would publish zines before the decade was out.
Conrad's _Costaguana_ was one of the first
Diplomacy zines and has been published (with many interruptions and folds)
since the mid 1960's. Conrad is a renowned writer (Pete Birks has called him
the Hunter S. Thompson of Diplomacy editing), an excellent press-writer,
renowned as a prolific faker, and responsible for importing RAILWAY RIVALS to
the American hobby. Once played in 112 postal Diplomacy games simultaneously.
Has produced many diplomacy zines including _Saguenay_, _K-35_, and for a short
time, _Diplomacy World_. See
Fakes, Gamefee,
Personalities (KW).
- MICHICON (1) [MB:Jun80]
- A Wargaming convention held near/in Detroit, the first was around 1971. It
hosted Origins in 1978, and DipCon in 1980. Associated with Detroit Metro Wargames.
- MICROGAME [PB:1980]
- The most famous being 'OGRE', where one player has only one unit (the Ogre,
rather like a Berserker in the Fred Saberhagen SF series of the same name, if
that makes any sense) and the other player about 10. Several others have been
produced and are, I'm sure, illicitly played in many a school lunch hour.
Perhaps where the wargame is heading?
- MIDCON (1) [PB/TNP:1980/87]
- Con run by Dave Allen in Digbeth Town Hall in
1977. One of the first 'big' cons (see also
GeordieCon, PolyCon,
Cons). Name now used for convention held every
November in Birmingham and featuring the National Diplomacy Championships.
- MIDGAME (1) [MB:Mar82]
- Definitions vary greatly: 1) When the Barren
Zone is crossed in force (traditional, but this is too dependent on the
German alliance structure); 2) First spring after a major power is down to 2 or
fewer pieces (Lakofka); 3) When the "opening game" alliances start to obstruct
the progress of one of those successful in the opening game (Smythe). See
_Fol Si Fie_ #138.
- MILITARISM IV (1) [MB:Mar82]
- Lew Pulsipher's variant which has a W00 build season, one "Double Unit" per
country, units in neutral centres which players can order, and "loans" of
supply centres. Details in _DW_ 28. See Variant (KW).
- MILLER AWARD, The (1) [FCD/MN/BL:March 1989/Dec92/Feb07]
- This is awarded annually to the person who has performed the most valuable
service to the hobby, normally for hobby service
over the past year. Because of the prestige related to this award, no winner
may be renominated during the following two years. This is the only North
American Hobby Award for which write-in votes are not allowed. It is considered
to be the highest award which can be granted by the North American Hobby.
The full name of the award is The Don Miller Hobby Service Award, but it's
a bit of a mouthful, hence the abbreviation. This is equivalent to the British
Pimley Award. A list of winners which also
gives the reason for winning the award (where known).
Year, Winner
1983 Rod Walker: For multiple services as MNC,
BNC, the IDA, and various aspects of editing and publishing over the period
1968-1982. (For this first year, a person's entire contribution to the Postal
Hobby was considered. Thereafter, consideration was limited to what a nominee
had done in the preceding year.)
1984 Lee Kendter, Snr: For taking over the Miller Number Custodianship in
late 1982, at a time when there had been no official publication of the MNC
Journal for nearly a year. He published the first issue of the new MNC Journal,
Alpha and Omega, in May 1983. By the time the next issue came out, he had
caught up on the backlog of games to report, and all known games in North
America had been issued Miller Numbers.
1985 Bob Olsen: His "win" was related to the Great Feud.
1986 Bill Quinn: For his services as Boardman Number Custodian in 1985.
1987 Bruce Linsey: For services in running the Runestone Poll, and for
publication of the report of the same in the book, The Cream Shall Rise.
1988 Simon Billenness and John Caruso (PDO work): Awarded jointly for their
services in running the Peoples Diplomacy Organization Relief
Auction PDORA, which raises funds for the support
of several hobby services.
1989 Doug Acheson: For his work in running the Canadian Diplomacy Organization
1990 Fred C. Davis Jnr: For his work as North American Variant Bank custodian,
heading up the Mensa Diplomacy SIG, and for eighteen years
of publishing the leading variant zine _Bushwacker_.
1991 David Hood: For editing and publishing
_Diplomacy World_ since 1990, and for
hosting the 1990 DipCon and World DipCon II in
Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
1992 John Boardman
1993 Cal White: For leading the task of writing a new box flyer and Gamer's Guide.
1994 Doug Kent. For running the PDORA Auction, the 1993 Census, the
hobby discussion zine _Foolhardy_ and his own zine _Maniac's Paradise_.
1995 - Andrew York
1996 - Manus Hand
1997 - Doug Kent
1998 - Michael Lowrey
1999 - Michael Lowrey
2000 - Edi Birsan
2001 - Stephen Agar
2002 - Chad Schroeder
2003 – Chad Schroeder
2004 – Christian Shelton
See Hobby Awards (KW).
- MILLER NUMBER CUSTODIAN (1) [MB/MN:Jun80+Mar82/Sep93]
- The person who assigns Miller numbers for
variant game starts, named after Don Miller who pioneered variant postal play
and started a variant numbering system in 1965 to catalog games played. In this
system two lower case letters were tacked on to indicate the specific game,
e.g. gy for US Diplomacy III. In 1981 the numbering system was recodified into
the format used today (ARDA system).
Occassionnally associates for Europe like Steve Doubleday and Michel Feron
have been used.
Don Miller Jan 1965--Dec 1971
Lewis Pulsipher Dec 1971--Jul 1973
({Conrad von Metzke} Jul 1973--Aug 1973 interim)
Burt Labelle Aug 1973--Oct 1974
Robert Sacks Oct 1974--Dec 1977 LoH 1-12
Michael Smolin Dec 1977--Jun 1979 LoH 13
Greg Costikyan Jun 1979--Jun 1981 LoH 14-16
({Rod Walker} Jun 1981--Aug 1981, interim)
John Leeder Aug 1981--Dec 1982 (first Canadian to be MNC) LoH 17
Lee Kendter, Sr Dec 1982--Aug 1986 A&O 1-10
Fred Hyatt Aug 1986--Mar 1989 A&O 11-17
Randy Grigsby Mar 1989--Dec 1990 (second Canadian to be MNC) A&O 18-20
Lee Kendter, Sr Dec 1990--present. A&O 21-25+
There have been two different MNC zines. _Lord of Hosts_ and
_Alpha Omega_. See VariantJargon (KW).
- MILLER NUMBERS (1) [TNP:87]
- Like Boardman numbers, but relating to variant games. See
Miller Number Custodian and
Variant Jargon (KW).
- MIMEO (1) [MB:Jun80/Mar82]
- In this, one types on a stencil, which is mounted on a machine, and ink is
pressed through it. Advantages: Good print even after 100 copies, easily
corrected, can sometimes use material typed on ordinary paper by others
(pseudoxerox), high legibility. Colours only possible by changing drums
(example _Albion_). Examples in 1980 were _Why Me?_
and _Toronto Telegram_.
- MINISTAB (1) [MB:Jun80]
- An exception to the "rule" that the stab should always be a disabling blow,
a ministab is usually the seizure of just one centre, or the placement of one
unit in a demilitarized zone. The
stabber hopes that the stabbee will be either unable to retaliate, or unwilling
to terminate the alliance for a relatively small offense. The ministabber must
judge whether the one centre (or whatever) is worth the loss of trust that will
occur even if no retaliation is forthcoming. The insidious thing about
ministabs is, like potato chips, if the first one is good, its hard to resist a
second. Countries have been nibbled to death.
- MINIATURES [PB:1980]
- Wargames using miniature soldiers, rulers, lines of fire, and immensely
complicated and personalized rules for their battles. Obviously limited in
scale to an extent board wargames are not (wargamers may perjoratively refer to
them as 'tabletoppers') but provide a greater aesthetic pleasure, especially if
you have an allied hobby in military uniforms and airfix model painting.
- MISADJUDICATION [PB:1980]
- When the GM of a game makes a cock-up, do not assume he will
notice it, but tell him in a letter (or phone him if you're genuinely
perplexed). Usually, mistakes must be spotted before the next season, or they
have to be allowed to stand. Not telling the GM of a mistake because it is
beneficial to you is both ungentlemanly and unfair on him. As far as I'm
concerned, it constitutes deception of the GM.
- MISDIRECTION (1) [MB:Jun80]
- The act of giving the wrong impression without actually lying. This has the
advantage that (1) You can avoid the visceral response usually invoked in those
who have been lied to (2) Your credibility is not completely destroyed, and may
not even be seriously damaged (3) The victim may not be completely sure he was
deceived, feeling that it was partly or entirely his own fault for drawing an
incorrect inference.
- MISTAKE (1) [TNP/MN:87/Jan95]
- Especially miswritten order. In Diplomacy, these are sometimes deliberate
to spread confusion or disguise intentions. You probably won't fool anyone, but
they can't be sure. Email fan Robert Rehbold has classified mistakes into
types: the
dumb mistake,
long term strategic mistake,
short term strategic mistake and
tactical mistake.
See also Laurence's Law.
- MISWRITTEN ORDER (1) [MB:Jun80]
- A player who does not wish to make a move that he is obliged to make may
deliberately miswrite the order. While the others may realize that the error is
probably deliberate, there may still be some doubt. Care must be taken that the
error is not correctable under the "badly written order" sentence of the
Rulebook. On a rare occasion one may induce this error in another, by asking a
careless enemy *not* to make a certain (miswritten) order, in the hope that
he'll copy the order directly from your letter. There is a risk that when a
genuine error occurs, it may be thought deliberate.
- MIX POINTS (1) [MB:Jun80]
- The number of different ways that an attack can proceeds, often, the number
of pieces adjacent to the target. A common tactical problem is whether to use
the spring season to increase the mix for a fall attack, or to go with the
lower mix in the Spring, hoping to get two attacking seasons rather than one.
- MNC (1) [MB:Jun80]
- Miller Number Custodian. See
Variant Jargon (KW).
- MOOSE FACTORY (1) [MB:Mar82]
- John Leeder's press byline in _Runestone_. [Possibly named after a small
community in far northern Ontario on James Bay -- HR]
- MOST WINS (1) [DTM:Nov95]
- Here is a complete (1993!) list of PbEM players who have won at least three
games, provided that they are somewhat standard (have as powers the main seven
countries), and are start-to-finish 6 point HoF wins:
Conrad Minshall 8 AEEFFGGT
Alan Bick 6 AAFGIR
Amotz Bar-Noy 5 AFGRR
Dan Shoham 4 ARRR
Josh Smith 4 AFFI
James Dreier 4 AFRT
Dave Cebula 4 AAGT
Michael Frigge 3 ART
Ken Samuel 3 FFR
Robert Rehbold 3 ETT
Kendrick Lo 3 EGG
Jonathan Tan 3 AAE
Eric Luczaj 3 EGR
Jorge Llambias 3 ITT
Ken Lofgren 3 AIR
- MOVES [PB:1980]
- The theory part of SPI.
S&T consisted of historical articles and
games; _Moves_ consisted of theories of how to play them. Rival to
_The General_.
- MS [PB:1980]
- Mutually Supports. [HR:Aug02] As in: A Kie MS F Den, instead of writing the
two orders A Kie S F Den, F Den S A Kie.
- MULTIEDITOR ZINE (1) [MB:Jun80]
- A zine with two or more editors of roughly equal
status. Examples include: Arrakis, Lonely Mountain, NMR! and Paroxysm. Husband
and wife combos include Down Alien Skies and Flying Dutchman. [Note: _zine_ not used here.]
- MULTIGAME ZINE (1) [MB:Mar82]
- The earliest gamezines only carried one game each, a second zine was
started for a second game. First one was Brannon's _Wild 'n Wooly_.
- MULTIPLE SUPPLY CENTRES (1) [AP:1986]
- In the regular game, each supply centre provides the necessary 'resources'
to build and maintain one unit. Multiple centres are able to support two or
more units, depending on whether they are double or triple centres etc. Usually
this advantage is only available to the original owner, if captured by another
power they are only able to support one unit. Multiple centres have no effect
on conflict and are mostly found in Historical,
Fantasy or Science
Fiction variants. See Fortresses and
Variant Jargon (KW).
- MULTIPLE UNIT (1) [MB/AP/MN:Jun80/1986/Jul94]
- In regular diplomacy all units (both armies and fleets) are considered to
be of equal strength. In some variants there are also multiple units with the
strength equal to two, three or more single units. Often powers control these
at the start of the game and are not allowed to build any new or replacement
multiple units. Rules vary on whether an attack on one cuts them all, how they
may be built and disbanded, etc.
A different type of multiple unit is allowed in Multiplicity.
This variant allows multiple units to be easily formed and disbanded by single
units merging together or dividing. Multiple Units tend to prevent stalemate
lines from forming and usually occur in Historical and
Fantasy Variants. See also
Special Unit Types and
Variant Jargon (KW).
- MULTIPLICITY (1) [PB/MB:1980/Jun80]
- Richard Walkerdine's variant which uses a
regular board, but allows units to merge to multiple strength and later
resplit. Merits--relatively simple idea, complex results, and all possible rule
arguments worked out in advance. Highly thought of, but rarely seen in US. See
Variant (KW).
- MUNICH GAMBIT (1) [MB:Jun80]
- An English-German-Italian alliance which permits Italy to take Mun in F01.
In S02, he is supported by GA(Bel) into Bur, permitting Germany to retake Mun
in F02, even as Italy compensates by taking Mar. See
English Opening (KW),
German Openings (KW) and
Italian Openings (KW).
- MUTUAL PUPPET (1) [MB:Jun80]
- A relationship in which players "exchange" control of certain units. For
example, Russia may agree to do whatever Turkey wishes with his southern fleet,
having it join Turkey's Medit armada. In exchange, Turkey loans the spare army
to Russia. See Puppet.
- MUTUAL SUB (1) [MB/TNP:Jun80/1987]
- An alternative to trading, popular in the States, in which each editor
subs to the other's zine. There may not even be any
money changing hands, just an exchange of credits on each sub account. Handy if
there is a wide difference in publishing schedules or rates, or if the
GM doesn't want to stick his subbers with the costs of
zines he's getting.
- MUTUAL SUPPORT (1) [MN:Mar92]
- When one unit supports another which in turn is supporting that unit the
two units are said to be in mutual support. Mutual supports are commonly found
along stalemate lines. Instead of writing A(abc) SA (def) and A(def) SA (abc)
some GMs allow players to abbreviate these orders to A(abc) MS
A(def). Some GMs do not allow this, so it's a good idea to check the
House Rules. This is a special case of a
combined order.