PRESS (1) [MB/RE/MN:Jun80/89-90/JAN92]
A phenomenon of the postal game (though not entirely unknown in
face-to-face play, courtesy of blackboards and the
like), press consists of "open letter" statements, usually no more than a line
or two from one player to another, which are included in the game report. Press
may be used to influence or discuss the game, tell jokes or stories, start
arguments ("Press Wars") and generally entertain if the game itself gets boring.
Contributions may also come from the GM and outsiders.
The limits and style of press permitted may depend on the Games Master, who
has to type it up, but there are traditionally four types of press. The first,
"White Press", is the sort to be seen on almost any game report. The
second, "Grey Press" involves one player issuing fake press supposedly
originating from someone else (for example, Turkey issues this item:
"Germany-England: Attack Russia next turn as planned"). However in games using
Grey press there will be a reserved dateline for each country which no-on else
may use. Often the suffix "(Govt)", short for "Government", is reserved so that
press labeled "France(Govt)-England" *must* have been written by France.
"Black Press" involves impersonation of the GM, including fake deadlines,
and (usually) fake changes of address for other players. There are no reserved
datelines in Black Press games! Finally, there is the "Press Saga", which
may have little or nothing to do with the game or its players, which may consist
of very, very long submissions, and usually tells a story (of sorts) in episodes
with each game report. Whether or not the GM publishes the entire saga unedited
will invariably depend on his house rules...and how
much time he/she has.
A press game is one where the players are selected for their press writing
skills. Restrictions on the amount of room available for press in a zine and on
the time that the GM has to retype it do not apply to email games! See
Black Press, Grey
Press and Joke Orders.
PRESS CHARACTERS (1) [MB:Mar82]
Fictional characters which appear repeatedly in press releases, often in
more than one game. They're generally humourous. Famous ones have included Pope
Joan II (Walker), The Great Plattypus (ver Ploeg), and Kaiser Max (John
Boardman).
PRINTTHRU (1) [MB:Jun80]
In mimeo publishing, when material on one side appears (backwards) on the
other side. Arises primarily from printing side two before giving side one at
least twelve hours to dry, from letting the fluid level get too high, or from
using too light a grade of paper. A fairly common problem.
PROFESSIONALISM (1) [MB:Jun80]
A vague term, generally denoting a non-amateur or non-hobbylike philosophy,
product or financial state. Generally, but not always, used perjoratively by
New Yorkers, often complimentarily by others. Uses include: GMing for profit
(Rick Loomis, e.g.) use of offset printing, and sale of materials outside the
usual postal channels (e.g. DW in game stores).
PROMOTIONAL MAILING (1) [MB:Jun80]
A mass mailing of unsolicited samples of a zine, with the goal of boosting
circulation. Often done with one's first or second issue.
PROPHETIC BUILDS (OR RETREATS, ETC) (1) [MB:Jun80]
A system whereby a player submits his builds, removals and retreats along
with his Fall moves (similarly, Summer retreats with Spring moves). Almost
unheard of in North America, it is the norm in England. Also known as the
International System.
PROPZINE (1) [MB:Jun80]
A zine designed for propaganda, generally with
regard to hobby politics or personal feuding. It may
take the form of an "open letter". Example: _Vincit Veritas_.
PROSNITZ MANEUVER (1) [MB:Jun80]
Or, "pulling a Prosnitz", this is a type of revenge in which an attacker
throws all his forces against some of his enemies, leaving his
SCs open to his least treacherous enemy. Supposedly,
this arose from Eugene Prosnitz's capitulation to Edi
Birsan, and stonewalling against Jeff Key and John
Smythe. The irony was, the betrayal of Prosnitz was actually Birsan's idea.
Prosnitz's stonewalling gave Birsan an important boost towards his victory in
1971BC, the first AH demo game. See Suicide
against.
PROSPECTS (1) [MB:Jun80]
The ratio of a player's SCs to the number of
additional centres he needs to win. Thus, a 15 centre player's prospects would
be 15/3=5.0 In a tournament scoring system suggested by
Allan Calhamer, the points for each player would
be allocated according to what proportion of the total prospects were his (see
_DW_ 2).
PROVINCE ABBREVIATIONS (1) [MN:Feb92]
In FTF games it is not practical to use full province names when writing
orders and so players abbreviate the province names. In theory there is little
excuse for doing so when playing postally but the practice is widespread. This
leads to GM defining standard abbreviations and woe betide anyone not using a
GM's particular favourite abbreviation. There are differences between nations:
Americans tend to use Tyo for Tyrolia whilst the rest of the world more
commonly use Tyr, ENG is sometimes seen instead of ENC [including here in the
AZ!]. Other American abbreviations are WES (for WMS), TYN (for TYS) and LYO
(for GoL).
PROVISIONAL ORDERS [PB:1980]
See conditional orders. The main semantic
difference (although the two words are occasionally used synonymously) is that
conditional orders depend on something which will take place (although you don't
know in what way) while provisional orders are for something which might happen,
but probably won't. Thus you may be asked to submit 'provisional' orders for F01
with your S01 orders, in case you NMR.
PROXY ORDERS (1) [PB/MB:1980/Jun80]
Orders submitted for Player A by Player B, done with A's consent, normally
revokable. Like the related Joint Orders,
their propriety and legality varies greatly. Players may seek to avoid
responsibility for a given unit's orders by claiming (even falsely) that the
orders were proxied. This latter case can be a more informal proxy, technically
submitted by Player A, but by treaty done as A requests. There are two main
types: (a) you wish to go on holiday and hand control temporarily over to
another player (who is not in the game) or you have to 'go away' for eighteen
months or whatever. (b) you wish to hand over control to another player in the
game. For another approach, see Temporary
Substitute Orders. See Escher.
PROXY PLOMACY (1) [MB:Jun80]
Mick Bullock's variant which has a player ordering his own units in Fall
and Winter, but another player orders them in Spring. Thus in S01, England
orders Germany, Germany orders Russia, Russia orders Turkey etc. In Spring
1902, England orders Russia, Germany orders Turkey, going around the board
somewhat clockwise. Rules in _DD_ 17. See
Variant (KW).
PRUSSIAN OPENING (1) [MN:May93]
Richard Sharp's name for any unnamed German
opening which used the move A(Ber)-Pru. See German
Openings (KW).
PSEUDO-CLASSICAL DIPLOMACY (1) [MB:Jun80]
Janta-Polczynski's variant was voted best designed variant in 1977. Austria
and Germany are bolstered to 4 home centers, Switz is passable, the
Abstraction convoy is used and some sea
spaces can hold multiple fleets. See Variant (KW).
PSEUDO STALEMATE LINE (1) [MB:Mar82]
A line that while not impregnable will take so much time and effort to crack
that 1) chances of error or NMR increase, 2) players may not want to bother or
take the risk that alliances may fall apart in the process, 3) players may not
realize that the line is only pseudo--particularly if defenders label it as a
real line. See functional stalemate line.
PSEUDOFOLD (1) [MB:Jun80]
An announced fold that is to take place in the
future, or a drastic change in form, which doesn't quite come about. Examples
are: _Brutus Bulletin_, _Fol Si Fie_ and _St George and the Dragon_.
PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR (1) [MN:Jan94]
One of Larry Peery's less successful ideas. An attempt at forming a set of
awards that recognised positive achievement within the International Hobby.
Nominees, nomators and voters were to have been anyone, anywhere except in the
first year when Larry picked the winner. See also
Event of the Year,
Game of the Year,
Hobby Awards (KW) and
Personality of the Year.
1991 Winner
1991 _Zine Register 19_ 19
PUBLISHER (1) [MB:Jun80]
The person who prints, collates, staples, addresses, stamps and mails the
zine (though some of these functions he may arrange
for others to do). This is usually the editor, but not always.
_DW_ was for a while published by
Walt Buchanan, but edited by
Conrad von Metzke, and John Weswig published
_Everything_ for a while, whilst Doug Beyerlein edited.
PUPPET (1) [MB/TNP:Jun80/87]
A player who agrees to order his units as instructed by the puppeteer, in
return for some favour (usually survival), often forming the cutting edge of
the puppeteer's attack. Were the puppet's units to be eliminated, the master
would have to waste time bringing fresh units to the front. Further, he can
dislodge the puppet's units, allowing them to take a strategic retreat.
Sometimes the puppet's units form part of a stalemate line. The relationship
may be short lived or insincere. The puppet may just be buying time until the
opposition is more organized. The master may be seeking a way to finish off the
puppet quicker than straight war. Puppets should be handled with care, because
they can cut their own strings...
See Mutual Puppet.
PURN (1) [MB:Jun80]
A verb of unknown meaning. Long ago, Charles Reinsel threatened to come to
NYC and "purn" John Boardman --- but never said what it meant. The word appears
sometimes.
PUREST DIPLOMACY (1) [MB:Jun80]
Roland Prevot's variant which removes all tactical considerations. Each of
the 7 players has 1 unit in their home supply center. All 7 centers are
mutually connected, and there are no retreats or draws. See
Variant (KW).