Diplomacy Games

Gavin landed back in Australia just the day before recording, and he and Ken settle in for a full debrief on WDC 2026 in Athens. From the venues and the social activities to all four of Gavin's games and the top board, this one covers it all. Intro Ken sets up the episode – this one is going to be almost entirely about WDC 2026 Athens, because Gavin was there and has only just landed back in Australia (as at the time of recording) (15 secs) He notes the DBN coverage gave a strong account of the boards and Ed's player interviews, but plenty of the magic from Spyros Dovas and his organising team didn't make it to the stream (45 secs) Drinks are introduced: Ken is on one of his home-brew lagers with a kick, and Gavin is working through a leftover Sicilian Nero d'Avola that has turned a little sour – a fitting metaphor, he suggests, for how his first round went (1 min 45 secs) The tournament in aggregate Ken asks Gavin to give a broad overview – location, numbers, facilities, atmosphere (2 mins 45 secs) Around 106 players registered, though some didn't show due to last-minute issues. Approximately 5 Australian players couldn't attend because their original flights were routed through the Middle East (3 mins 30 secs) The geopolitical context: as of recording, the Middle East airspace situation was in week nine of its shutdown, forcing Australian travellers to reroute via Singapore, Hong Kong, or Malaysia. Some also baulked at the US transit option due to the documentation requirements (4 mins 30 secs) Despite the drop-outs, the turnout was excellent and genuinely representative – a heavy European component split between the UK and the rest of Europe, a strong French contingent, players from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland, and Norway, a good number of Americans and a couple of Canadians (including Chris Brand), around 10 Australians, and a couple of Kiwis (Dominick Stephens and Craig Purcell). The local Greek contingent, given the Athens club had only been running for about 18 months, was especially impressive (3 mins 30 secs) Tournament format: three regular rounds followed by a fourth round of tiered top boards. Rather than a single top board, the format featured seven simultaneous top boards – the top 7 players went to the premier board, players 8–14 played the second tier, 15–21 the third, and so on down through the field. Crucially, players who volunteered to sit out for round four to help with numbers kept their ranking position (7 mins) Ken and Gavin discuss how the tiered format means the fourth round is never a dead rubber – every board is still competing for something meaningful (8 mins 15 secs) Discussion of the central clock arrangement: effectively federation-based rather than a literal single clock, with the two main venues coordinating their start times by communication (9 mins 30 secs) The venues The main venue was the upstairs function space of a beachside restaurant operation – excellent location right on the waterfront, but somewhat cramped for negotiations once all the boards were in (9 mins 45 secs) As a result, boards were redistributed to the secondary venue: the Anchor bar, about 150–200 metres down the road. Gavin played two games in each location and considered the Anchor the better play space – more open, well ventilated, and with a large covered outdoor area next to a (drained) pool (11 mins) The colour-coded sash system made it easy to identify players by country but created the amusing challenge of locating your specific Italy in a room full of Italys from different boards (13 mins) The third venue – an outdoor shaded area – was reserved for the premier top board. Unlike Milan's car park, this one had good shade and plenty of room for spectators around the giant shadow board (13 mins 30 secs) Pre-tournament social activities Gavin outlines the structure: you could do as much or as little as you liked. He landed well due to a useful 5.5-hour Singapore layover that helped res

The guys catch up after a busy few months IRL and talk about aspects of their favourite game Intro The guys introduce the venue and their drinks (0 mins 15 secs) They explain why the recording schedule hasn't been so great this year (2 mins 30 secs) Diplomacy chat Ken shows Gavin the prototype trophy for the January 2025 Diplomacy tournament planned for Bangkok (3 mins 15 secs) The guys get some more drinks and discuss their upcoming attendance at the Asia Pacific Diplomacy Championship (13 mins) They talk about the "Toadiest Toad" award at the Cane Toad Classic (14 mins 30 secs) They come back to the Asia Pacific Championship and their aspirations for the tournament. Listeners - just so you know this episode is being released the day before the championship starts (16 mins 30 secs) They talk about the Canberra tournament being help 3 weeks later and the plan to have a top board (20 mins 20 secs) Gavin gives a couple of apologies due to the recording schedule being a bit lax (23 mins 20 secs) They discuss trying to get regular games going and what is the 'secret sauce' (25 mins) A small local football digression (27 mins 30 secs) Around the grounds Ken asks how Gavin's online games are going (31 mins 45 secs) They talk about what happens when someone blocks your growth corridor off on a large map (34 mins 15 secs) Ken talks about his gunboat Imperial game against the big boys (37 mins 30 secs) They talk about the value of holding a build back (42 mins 15 secs) The guys start wrapping things up and remind listeners around our Patreon feed (44 mins) Venue: Babblers, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Ken - Stone and Wood Pacific AleGavin - Paratheon Silver 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 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 Davide Cleopadre, the tournament organiser of the 2024 World Diplomacy Championship in Milan, Italy. Intro The 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 Milan They 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 chat Ken 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 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! Intro The 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 experiences The 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 Chris Brand about the upcoming 2024 DipCon/Cascadia Open in Vancouver. Plus we talk upcoming tournaments and our online games. Intro The 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 Brand The 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 chat The 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 grounds Gavin 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.

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. Intro The 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 secs Interview with Sascha Heylmann The 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 chat Brother 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.

Ken interviews Jamal Blakkarly, 2023 World Diplomacy Champion and co-host Gavin who also played the top board in Bangkok about the game and their similar styles and perspectices on Diplomacy. Plus, the podcast takes a new direction. Intro The guys introduce themselves in an entirely different way to the previous 120 episodes, with the cat out of the bag (0 mins 10 secs) They set up the interview today with Jamal, World Diplomacy Champ and Gavin who was also on the top board (2 mins 20 secs) They discuss the region and where they’re recording and flag because they’re recording on the River Kwai there may be occassional boat noise (which they try to prevent by pausing). They also discuss their drinks (4 mins) Gavin talks about the WDC tournament and the top board. Ken won best Russia and Gavin also picked up the Most Fun to Play With award (8 mins) They discuss the players on the top board and the Paris Method being used to decide who played which country (12 mins 5 secs) Ken gives his thanks to the organiser Lei Saarlainen and tournament director Andrew Goff, before throwing to the interview (16 mins 45 secs) Interview with Jamal and Gavin on the 2023 World Diplomacy Championships The interview begins with WDC winner Jamal Blakkarly and Diplomacy Games co-host Gavin (17 mins 30 secs) Ken asks about country choice with Jamal selecting Austria and Gavin choosing Turkey (20 mins 15 secs) He asks how Jamal was feeling when Peter (France) was being attacked from the beginning by Brandon (England), Edi (Germany) and Chris (Italy) (30 mins 20 secs) Ken asks about what negotiations were going on following Gavin’s Turkish army move into Sevestapol (33 mins 15 secs) The game enters 1904 with discussions on the alliance structure - apologies again for the stop-start nature of the recording due to the boats going past (39 mins 45 secs) Gavin discusses one of his misorders (47 mins 20 secs) They go onto discuss Jamal’s thoughts on where to take things with Peter’s demise (51 mins) They discuss the reason for the AT alliance moving out of Rome (54 mins) The discussion moves onto Spring 1907 and Jamal’s congo line (1 hr) Ken discusses the people in the room watching the build phase getting excited (1 hr 4 mins) The interview talks about Gavin’s strategy in the game as he was waiting for Jamal’s position to open up, which at last happened in spring 1908 (1 hr 7 mins) Jamal discusses what happened in spring 1908 and how the game radically changed. He discusses Edi (Germany) throwing SCs openly to Brandon (England) and how a different game began at that point. Gavin then discusses how he felt at that moment (1 hr 10 mins) Jamal discusses the last game year. Gavin touches on the intensity of the game at this stage (1 hr 21 mins 30 secs) He goes onto discuss his philosophy and how it relates to the game. They both discuss their spirituality and how it reflects how they view the game - listen to Jamal’s podcast he co-hosts at A Christian and Buddhist walk into a bar. (1 hr 24 mins) Jamal reflects on each player in the game (1 hr 30 secs 30 mins) He discusses Chris Brand’s final moves, which Jamal describes as beautiful poetry on the board (1 hr 34 mins 15 secs) Jamal still finds it hard to process hearing Andrew declare him the winner and what happened next in the room (1 hr 38 mins 30 secs) He touches on how he discovered Diplomacy and how the game continues to change him (1 hr 41 mins 45 secs) Ken begins wrapping up the interview. Gavin discusses how Diplomacy, Strategy and Tactics relate to each other. Jamal gives his final take (1 hr 43 mins 15 secs) Jamal mentioned in his interview how he learned about the game from his history teacher Andrew, he then goes onto calling him in Melbourne and discovers the Diplomacy Club established at the school by Jamal is still running (1 hr 47 mins) Sorry but due to new hosting character limits, for more show notes visit our website (DiplomacyGames.com)

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. Intro The 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 Saarlainen They 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 chat Kaner 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 grounds The 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.