The guys suffer from user error while catching up for our Christmas episode. Seasons greetings everyone! Intro and Diplomacy chat The guys introduce the episode and why this is the second recording of it (0 mins 15 secs) Ken describes his own homebrewed ale before it gets their creative juices going on the most incredible Russian opening ever (2 mins 30 secs) The greatest Diplomacy solo challenge (8 mins 50  secs) Ken talks about the "Return of the Mac" game (15 mins 15 secs) He goes onto discuss the December 2024 God Save the Zine edition (apologies Ken accidentally says it was in Diplomacy World) on page 23 by Ian Bond - a Tetris like way of looking at the Classic board (16 mins 40 secs)   Ken discusses how Ian's design reminds him of what's achieved in the variant Alacavre, which looks like a fantasy map but has exactly the same connections as a Classic board. That said Ken then points out the stats for this variant are totally different to Classic statistics, which shows how habitual we are when we approach the Classic Diplomacy board (21 mins 20 secs) They go onto creating a new game of Alacavre for Diplomacy Games podcast listeners - just pop over to vDiplomacy, create an account if you haven't got one already and join the game at DiplomacyGames plays (password/invite code is just the word podcast) (33 mins 50 secs) They discuss geographic linguistic differences across Australia and Gavin's old casual job he had at the Regatta Hotel. He goes onto mention this was around the time he played Diplomacy for the very first time - through the variant Machiavelli. You can find out all about this in our Patreon feed in a week or so from now (38 mins 50 secs) The guys give a proper status update about the show and the likely release schedule/quality over the next 6-12 months (43 mins 30 secs) They advertise many "development opportunities" available for listeners who'd like to help the show. If you're able to help let us know on the podcast contact form (47 mins 20 secs) Ken also suggests if there are interview guests you'd like to hear on the show to let us know (50 mins 20 secs) Ken reflects back on Diplomacy and 2024  (51 mins 45 secs) He then discusses his upcoming attendence at the South East Asian New Years tournament being run by Sascha Heylmann on 24-26 January and their recording plans for early 2025 (53 mins 40 secs) Ken presents the "Better vDiplomacy player" plaque to Gavin for getting a higher score and ranking than Ken this year (56 mins 20 secs) The guys start wrapping up the show (1 hr 1 min) Venue: At home, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Ken - Kaner's own dark aleGavin - Casillero del Diablo shiraz from Chile 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.