Playing tournaments during Coronavirus: interview with Garry Sturley & Andy Harris

Like most of the world the guys are stuck at home thanks to the Coronavirus. They interview Garry Sturley and Andy Harris on attending the MaccCon tournament while effectively in lockdown. Plus a bit of a games and variant development update.

Intro

• The guys introduce the show from home due to pubs all being closed due to Coronavirus. They try to replicate the feel of being in a bar  (0 mins 10 secs)
• They talk the local government elections and Amby's vote for Kaner (7 mins 20 secs)
• Kaner sends Amby a text - a whiteboard version of Diplomacy (8 mins 45 secs)
• They talk about Amby's poncho antics and the special one-off release of a Patreon episode for everyone stuck at home (10 mins 40 secs)

Interview with Garry Sturley and Andy Harris on MaccCon and the Coronavirus

• They introduce the interview (12 mins 20 secs)
• They all discuss accents (13 mins 20 secs)
• They discuss Andy's location in Jersey in the Channel islands (16 mins)
• Amby asks about the MaccCon tournament and how Andy participated remotely with Facetime (18 mins)
• Andy talks about the logistics for how he participated. He also discusses the downsides (24 mins 15 sec)
• Garry discusses the challenges of being a tournament director and player and using Facetime (28 mins)
• Andy discusses CoronaCon being run by the London Diplomacy Club on the weekend 4-5 April (30 mins)
• Kaner gives his thoughts on using battle bots as a way of doing it before they discuss CoronaCon a bit more (34 mins 20 secs)
• Amby asks what lockdown is and isn't in the UK (39 mins 30 secs)
• They talk about drive through bottleshops, VB and Bundaberg rum (42 mins)
• Amby asks about where the Diplomacy Tour of Britain is at now with Coronavirus (48 mins 45 secs)
• Amby suggests the idea of a Diplomacy Tour of Britain based on the territories on the board. Andy has a suggestion for a tournament in Jersey (51 mins 15 secs)
• Amby asks how Andy and Garry how they placed in the game they played at MaccCon (56 mins)
• Kaner asks about the scoring system for the tournament (58 mins)
• Amby asks about how British gameplay is different to European gameplay (59 mins 30 secs)
• Amby asks what Andy means by "diploming" (1 hr 4 mins 30 secs)
• Garry discusses the use of counters on the board (1 hr 5 mins 45 secs)
• Amby asks Garry how his gameplay differs between face-to-face and online Diplomacy. Garry plays as Phlegmatic over at PlayDip and Diplomacc at webDip (1 hr 8 mins 30 secs)
• Garry recently signed up to be one of our Patreons. Amby asks what role he's interested in doing in the US Government once Kaner is elected president. Garry gives his answer for what role he'll be doing: Ambassador to Belgium (1 hr 13 mins 15 secs)
• Andy asks about what the Australian Diplomacy scene is like if he visits (1 hr 15 mins)
• The guys wrap up the interview (1 hr 19 mins)

Post interview chat

• They guys return with new drinks. Kaner talks about his robot idea in more detail (1 hr 19 mins 40 secs)
• Kaner asks Amby what he got out of the interview and they talk about Coronavirus and the game (1 hr 27 mins)

Around the grounds

• Kaner discusses him getting his ass kicked in EU IV (1 hr 32 mins 45 secs)
• Amby discusses a small break from alcohol after PoppyCon (1  hr 37 mins 30 secs)
• Kaner asks about Amby's games. He thinks his Cry God for Harry game is heading to a draw. His other game Fake NewsLeak Interference Democalypse is continuing ok. He says he's dead as England and Canada in the 1812 Overture game and about to start playing in Order of the Dragon. (1 hr 40 mins 45 secs)
• Amby discusses how Order of the Dragon works  (1 hr 44 mins)
• Kaner shares his screen and discusses new variants in development at vDip: Pits of Horror, Scottish Clan Wars, Tiglath-Pileser (1 hr 48 mins 30 secs)
• They talk about making new variants before wrapping up the show (1 hr 52 mins 30 secs)

Venue: At home

Drinks of choice:

Kaner - Cloudy Sommersby apple cider

Amby - Brand's Laira Barrelman cabernet sauvignon from the Coonawarra

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 improve 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.