Sad to see that Allan B. Calhamer, the inventor of the classic board game Diplomacy, has recently passed away.
Diplomacy was the first board game I bought, and it left quite an impression.
My first playing memory of it is a two-player affair in the back of a station wagon with my cousin on a road trip. We were about thirteen; it was all very seedy. Some years later the cousin got arrested for stealing assault rifles (or so the rumour goes). I'm sure it was more than just coincidence.
I also remember that at high school a group of schoolmates got together for a game. I was Turkey, and I remember being publicly vituperative to my Russian ally when he stabbed me. Of course, I could afford to be high-and-mighty: a Turkey allied with Russia doesn't need to do any stabbing! But I must've laid it on a bit thick, because next turn we found a couple of players had jumped out a window during a 'secret meeting' and run off!
I'm sure that everyone who has played the game has got similar tales to tell.
So here's to Mr Calhammer: thank you for a magnificent game and some great memories.
Never played Diplomacy but I did have an incident during a game of Civilization where I yelled at my girlfriend at the time for trading something I had desperately needed with my ex-roomate after I had pointedly asked her for it. It wasn't the end of our relationship, but we never played the game again.
ReplyDeleteSounds very similar to Diplomacy ;-)
Deletewe used to play it when I was a lad. Memorable for the backstabbing and nefarious stuff. You could only win by entering treaties then hitting the treatee at the best moment. Great stuff.
ReplyDeleteYes, a classic. Good way to ruin a friendship though!
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