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The
Carolina Amateur Diplomats began as a local Charlotte-area Diplomacy club in 1984. A group of friends at Independence High
School played Risk on a regular basis, but tired of the luck element of the game. One of the original CADs, Frank Tate (now
a Brigadier General believe it or not), remembered some game his father had taught him called Diplomacy. After ransacking
the Tate house to look for it, to no avail, David Hood and Michael Lowrey went in half-and-half on a stars and anchors set
of Diplomacy from a local game store.
For more than two years after that, a group of about 40 gamers in all played
Diplomacy in Charlotte and at UNC-Chapel Hill on about a weekly basis. CAD stats cat Michael Lowrey devised a scoring system
and kept records of over 100 games played during that time. CADs gained tremendous experience and face-to-face acumen during
this period, and in 1986 discovered the wider hobby.
After attending Dipcon 1986 at Marycon in Fredricksburg, VA,
the CADs began Dixiecon and focused much of their efforts in preparing for and putting on this tournament. CADs also won
Dipcon in 1987 (Madison, WI) and in 1988 (San Antonio, TX) to begin to make themselves known on the national scene.
With the hosting of Dipcon/World Dipcon in its first North American appearance in 1990, the CADs became well-known throughout
the Diplomacy world. Several CADs published their own play-by-mail zines, and participated in both PBM and tournament games
in large numbers. CADs won other tournaments in the east, from Baltimore to Charlottesville to Columbus. Although most of
the original CADs have moved away from either gaming or the state, Dixiecon stands as a seemingly-permanent testiment to the
early days of FTF focus for Diplomacy in North Carolina.
If you play Diplomacy and you live in the Carolinas somewhere,
you too can be a Carolina Amateur Diplomat! There is no form, fee or frippery in becoming a CAD. You should just email David
Hood at gamerhood@charter.net to get hooked in for announcements and pickup game formation.
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