JWW
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The diplomatic crisis game

Tue Jul 25, 2017 7:56 pm

Is there a good description somewhere of how to play a diplomatic crisis? I just had one with Mexico as the US and once again came out on the short end. It still doesn't really make sense to me. So I'm wondering if there is a diplomatic crisis game for idiots guide anywhere. Thanks.

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loki100
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Re: The diplomatic crisis game

Tue Jul 25, 2017 9:08 pm

Not really.

Basically, you have 2 options. One is to automate your response - if you look on the rhs of the card board you'll see a series of options - each is fairly well described. Click on one of these and the cards will be chosen to support that goal.

Crudely there are two dimensions - passive:aggressive; gain prestige:lose prestige

if we use this from my game as an eg:

Image

The numbers that really matter are the first and third under each card. The first is the prestige stash (think of it as the pot for a gambling game) and the third is the crisis intensity. Closer this goes to 100 the chances of a war.

Across the top you can see the opening situation (you know this before choosing your cards), so this a relatively low prestige dispute (182) but quite high intensity (62)

In that I really did not want a war, so consistently picked cards that would defuse the crisis and - since I was prepared to lose to avoid a war - also wanted to keep the pot down. As it was I won the crisis by painting the beastly Prussians as aggressors to the rest of the world.

So in the end we got to:

Image

Note that the first round pushed up the intensity as the Prussians played a very aggressive opening (it became 72), my more passive approach then calmed it down to 49 by the end - but at the cost of adding prestige (penalty for being a whimp).

So if you look over the card set, basically some will try to shift international support to you, some will add to the prestige pot and some will affect the crisis. If I don't mind a war, I'll be agressive but try to keep international opinion on my side, if I want a war - well insulting your opponent and mobilising will all increase tensions. If you really do not want a war, then being ultra-passive - indeed a bit of a whimp in the eyes of the other great powers is the way to go.

Get it wrong or right and you can see some massive prestige transfers. Or end up in a war you really never wanted.

What you can also do is to automate the basic card layout and then manually adjust according to your particular analysis.

JWW
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Re: The diplomatic crisis game

Tue Jul 25, 2017 9:18 pm

My problem is just trying to figure out how to play a winning hand. I lost a high prestige but low intensity encounter with Mexico after they insulted one of my diplomats. Should have save a screen shot but didn't. But my real problem is I don't know how to analyze things to pick my best course of action. The Mexicans got most of the stash. But I didn't really want a war. So I got the end result of no war but lost most of the stash. I'm going to read up more on the automated courses of action.

vaalen
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Re: The diplomatic crisis game

Tue Jul 25, 2017 9:48 pm

JWW wrote:My problem is just trying to figure out how to play a winning hand. I lost a high prestige but low intensity encounter with Mexico after they insulted one of my diplomats. Should have save a screen shot but didn't. But my real problem is I don't know how to analyze things to pick my best course of action. The Mexicans got most of the stash. But I didn't really want a war. So I got the end result of no war but lost most of the stash. I'm going to read up more on the automated courses of action.


I think I have a handle on it, but it is difficult to describe. Basically, you win the crisis and most of the prestige if you reach a high enough dominance score, but the cards that increase your dominance are also the ones that will increase the intensity of the crisis, which brings you closer to war. Yet it is quite possible to play some very aggressive cards without going to war, especially if you are militarily stronger than the AI, and if the AI is at war with someone else.

I spent some time studying the cards so I could get an idea of what they would do if I played them. What makes this complex is that the cards the enemy plays also have an effect. The cards can be quite varied. My basic strategy is to be agressive and go for dominance unless I truly do not want war with the other nation. In that case, i will just concentrate on playing cards that lower intensity, even if I lose prestige. But, most of the time, i am willing to go to war, because most nations are usually not in a position to hurt me, and those few who border me that have a strong military would usually be fun to fight. I almost always get most of the prestige stash, though sometimes I am told that I have lost the crisis, yet I wind up with most of the prestige. Some kind of bug, but they may have fixed it as I have not seen it the last two times I had a crisis.

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James D Burns
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Re: The diplomatic crisis game

Tue Jul 25, 2017 10:04 pm

I generally play an aggressive card or two early to try and grab or hold on to just cause, then I focus on playing cards to protect just cause and reduce tensions. Playing aggressive late in the hand will more than likely cause war. Doesn't always work but I win more often than not. I completely ignore prestige, I find keeping tensions down and holding just cause if I managed to grab it is more important than trying to push up the prestige stash and risking war.

Of course if you are playing a powerful nation and will win a war go for broke. It's smaller nations that need to worry as war can cost you even more prestige later when you lose.

Edit: I should mention, if you get to the last slot and find you do not have another card to reduce tensions or protect just cause, do not simply play another card. Go back and play that card in the opening string of cards so the last string of cards are always trying to drive tensions down. I can't tell you how many hands I lost before I stopped being lazy by simply plopping any card in the last slot when I couldn't find a calming card for it.

Jim

JWW
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Re: The diplomatic crisis game

Tue Jul 25, 2017 10:48 pm

Thanks for all the replies. I imagine I played too passively. I'm much stronger than Mexico. My Civil War armies are still constituted minus a few corps that were automatically disbanded after the war ended. But I have a lot of them on the East coast because I am planning an invasion of Cuba. I really didn't want to get entangled with Mexico in the middle of that, but based on the advice from the three of you I still should have played a more aggressive hand.

As for Cuba, Cuban rebels control one province right now. I have a very positive relationship with them. And Spain and I are going to war eventually. I figured that after eight years of peace following the Civil War, going to war with Spain and invading Cuba in the middle of a Cuban rebellion, would be a messy and interesting thing to do. :dada: If you think that's a bad idea, don't tell me. Let me find out on my own. :gardavou:

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