This comic appeared in issue #1 of the French gaming magazine, Casus Belli (April 1980), edited by François Marcela-Froideval. Casus Belli still exists today, but, at this time, its focus was on wargames, Diplomacy, and Dungeons & Dragons. From what I can tell, Didier Guiserix drew the comic.
The very top reads, "The true player of
Diplomacy ..." The speech balloon in the first panel says, "Let the real player of
Diplomacy stand up." At the bottom, it reads "... knows how to bide his time." If you've ever played
Diplomacy, it's quite funny. Sadly, I was generally the guy with the knife in his back, aided no doubt by my penchant for playing Austria-Hungary.
Newbies always get stuck with A-H or Turkey. They have the hardest strategic positions after the initial gobbling up of the vacant territories. But I've had a soft spot for the country in my heart ever since playing a Napoleonic miniatures scenario where I had a mile long line of A-H infantry standing shoulder to shoulder against the Guards.
ReplyDeleteI developed a weird fascination with Austria-Hungary in high school after I saw a 19th century photo of some Austrian soldiers in formation. So, when we started playing Diplomacy, it seemed natural to choose the country. Little did I know ...
DeleteI've never played diplomacy in my life, but I do remember that 38y ago my friend's big brother (my friend was the youngest of seven and clearly a happy mistake) did and he played lots of it.
ReplyDeleteI see that it's now online so I may have a go.