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European Variant
A Trial Run for Global Diplomacy
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Created & Designed by: Mike Zmolek
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OFFICIAL HOUSERULES, 3rd ed. 25-Jan-1998
Credit goes to Thundar (D. Lawler) for providing the
template for these rules by writing the rules to his African Dip.
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INDEX
Introduction: Why another variant?
7. VARIATIONS ON AVALON HILL'S RULES
8. PRESS, MAIL AND NEGOTIATIONS
9. AMENDMENTS and DRAW/CONCESSION VOTES
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Introduction: Why another variant?
You are about to play a variant on Standard European diplomacy
which is a test-run for a much larger project. This map has been created
as you see it to accommodate four additional European powers
(Nehtherlands, Belgium, Portugal, and Spain) in a global diplomacy game
for which several other maps will of course be required. As the latter
three are not suffiently strong enough in Europe to stand alone on the
European map, only Spain will be added in this game. The full game will
have sixteen powers in all: the original seven, the four mentioned above,
and China, Japan, United African Resistance, the Federation of Latin
American Nations, and the Union of Former British Colonies. In the
global variant, each power will have a capital city which will act as a
double supply centre, supporting two units. I sincerely hope that if you
enjoy this variant, you will consider playing the global game when it is
completed. Imagine beginning a game with a dozen pieces instead of just
three!
The map you see also reflects an attempt to integrate the
European, Colonial (Asian) and African (Thundar's) maps, with a few of my
own additions, such as the names of a lot of seas and straits, etc. which
do not appear on the Avalon Hill map but which I felt should appear there
ever since I first saw the map in 1976. A few ideas were also borrowed
from Danny Loeb's 8 player variant and the abstract variant. Please read
on, and for more on the map, see item 5 below.
1. RULES:
This is a standard Diplomacy Game played by electronic mail and
adhering to "Rules for Diplomacy", 1976 Avalon Hill Game Company, except as noted below.
2. GM JUDGEMENTS:
My role as GM is to remain scrupulously impartial in all matters and to
fairly and accurately adjudicate players' orders. From time to time the GM
may be called upon to make judgement calls. By accepting a position in
this game you thereby agree to abide by such decisions.
3. ORDERS:
A. PROVINCES MUST BE SPELLED OUT
No abbreviations for provinces are acceptable, and you must write out the
entire name, or enough of it, for each province, so that all players will
be able to understand the move quickly and easily. [I will be posting
your moves exactly as you send them to me, unless I detect errors which
need correction.]
B. ABBREVIATIONS WHICH ARE ACCEPTED
The following abbreviations are accepted, and their use is
encouraged:
A = Army, B = Build, C = Convoy, F = Fleet, S = Support.
Examples:
Movement order: A Piedmont to Milan
Support order: A Venice S A Piedmont to Milan
Convoy order: A Belearic Islands to Barcelona
F Belearic Sea C A Belearic Islands to Barcelona
Build Order: [Russia] B F St. Petersburg
D. CONFIRMATION OF ORDERS:
Orders will be comfirmed by the GM, and if you didn't receive a
comfirmation, then I likely didn't receive your orders.
FOR YOUR OWN PROTECTION, CC orders to yourself. Should I
lose your orders, this is the only guaranteed acceptable
proof that you sent them in.
4. DEADLINES:
A. WEEKLY CALENDAR:
This game will follow a weekly schedule of deadlines as follows:
Friday, midnight EST: Spring/Fall MOVE phase orders due.
Saturday, midnight EST: Move phase results posted.
Sunday, midnight EST: Sum/Win RETREAT/BUILD phase orders due.
Monday, midnight EST: Ret/build phase results posted.
And if necessary:
Tues., midnight EST: LATE WINTER build orders due
Weds., midnight EST: Late Winter results posted
We will try to follow this schedule like clockwork, but delays and
extensions will generally throw us off schedule. But we will always get
back to this format within 1-2 turns.
The GM will try to announce deadlines with each turn report.
Times for deadlines will be in Eastern Standard Time, so players must
be able to translate Eastern Standard Time into the appropriate time where
they live. If you don't know how to do this, please let me know before the
deadline as it will not be accepted as an excuse for late orders.
B. LATE ORDERS:
This is a no NMR game, and so when a player does not make the
deadline, the deadline is suspended for 48 hours or until the orders are
received. If no orders are received by the end of that time period, an
immediate search for a replacement player will begin. The player who
NMR'ed will be allowed to return to the game once should s/he be the first
to (re)claim the vacant position. Exception: when a player NMR's due to
lack of e-mail access or forces of nature (power outages, etc.), the above
rule will not apply, and special accommodations will be made by adjusting
the schedule, so long as a replacement has not already begun playing at
the 'vacant' position.
C. EXTENSIONS:
If you can't make a deadline, try to let me know before the
deadline even if you can't give me the full details at the time.
All players have two unconditional extensions, which must
be requested 24 hours prior to the deadline. Players may
also request an extension vote, which passes on majority of
active players; in case of entension by vote, the extension
is not counted against the player's total of two.
The GM reserves the right to extend deadlines at any time
and for any reason.
The GM will try to get results out within a few hours after the
deadline to give the players the greatest amount of time
for negotiation as I can. The GM will get the results out
no more than 24 hours after the deadline unless I experience
technical or personal difficulties.
5. MAP SPECIFICATIONS:
A. MULTI-COASTAL PROVINCES:
Three provinces on the map have more than one coast; players must
specify which coast they are occupying when moving a fleet into such a
province.
BULGARIA is a province and a supply centre, with a south coast
that opens to the Aegean Sea and an east coast that opens to the Black
Sea.
ANDALUSIA is a province and a supply centre, with a west coast
that opens to the Mid-Atlantic Ocean and an east coast that opens to the
Western Mediterranean and the Alboran Sea.
ST. PETERSBURG is a province and a supply centre, with a south
coast that opens to the Gulf of Finland and a north coast that opens to
Lake Onega.
B. CANALS AND 'POROUS' PROVINCES
Three provinces are marked with canals, two others are land
provinces which can be traversed from entered from a body of water on one side, and exited by way of a body of water on the other side. Note that canals do not permit a fleet to move from one side to the other without
first occupying the province (e.g. a fleet may not move Aegean Sea to
Black Sea in one turn, it must first occupy Constantinople). No coastal
specification is necessary as these provinces (save one, see Egypt below)
are 'porous'.
ARKHANGEL'SK is a province divided by the White Sea Canal. Note
that the western part of the province separates Murmansk from St.
Petersburg. A fleet may enter and occupy the province from the White Sea, and exit via Lake Onega, or vice-versa.
CONSTANTINOPLE is a province divided by the Marmara Denizi (not
marked), a lake which sits between two narrow channels, connecting on each side respectively to the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea. A fleet may enter and occupy the province from the Aegean Sea, and exit via the Black Sea, or vice-versa.
DENMARK is a province which combines a peninsula with islands,
these being divided by several channels. A fleet may enter and occupy
the province from the Baltic Sea in the East, and exit via the Kattegat,
Skaggerak, North Sea Central, or Helgoland Bight, or travel vice-versa.
EGYPT is a province divided by the Suez Canal. In this variant,
the canal does not lead to anywhere, so treat Egypt as you would any
normal province, and ignore the canal. [The canal will be used in the
global variant].
KIEL is a province divided by a canal. A fleet may enter and
occupy the province from Helgoland Bight, and exit via the Baltic Sea, or
vice-versa.
C. MOUNTAINOUS PROVINCES WITH MOVEMENT RESTRICTIONS:
Four provinces on the map are mountainous, and pose special
problems for armies. Each province has unique rules which apply as
follows:
KURDISTAN is a mountainous province. An army occupying Kurdistan
may not offer support to any unit.
NORSE COAST is a rugged province which is cold, mountainous
and riven with fjords from the Norwegian Sea. No army may enter or exit
this province on a Fall or Winter turn. One exception applies; during a
Fall turn, an army may enter or exit Norse Coast if successfully
supported by a fleet occupying the adjacent Norwegian Sea. Also, an army occupying the Norwegian Coast on a Fall term may not offer support to another army or fleet unless that fleet is attempting to enter the same
province that the army entered the Norwegian Coast from.
SWITZERLAND is a province with a supply center, and is mountainous
in its southern half. Unlike in standard Diplomacy, it is passable at
certain times. Switerland can be played like any other province on any
spring or winter moves. However, on Fall and Winter turns, the borders
between Switerland and its four neighbouring provinces to the south:
Marseilles, Piedmont, Milan, and Tyrolia, cannot be crossed by any army,
and no such orders will be allowed. Likewise, support cannot be offered
to any armies or fleets attempting to enter the said provinces on a Fall
turn.
TYROLIA is a mountainous province, with a line of mountains
running east-west through its center. If an army enters the province from
Munich on a spring move, it may not move to--or offer support to any unit
attempting to enter--Milan or Venice on the following Fall Move. The
opposite also holds true: if entered from Milan or Venice on a spring
move, on the next Fall move an army may not proceed to--or offer support
to any unit attempting to enter--Milan or Venice. Note that if the
province has been held by the same army for more than one turn, no
restrictions apply whatsoever.
D. RAILROADS:
There is one railroad line on the map stretching between
Moscow and Omsk via Perm. The railroad will transport one army from
Moscow to Omsk, or vice-versa, in one turn, so long as none of the spaces
moved through or into is attacked or occupied during that turn, in which
case the army bounces back to the last province it traversed or started
from.
[This is a vestigial element intended for common use in the global
game and borrowed from Colonial dip; the GM recognizes it is largely
useless in this game.]
E. UNMARKED SPACES:
Any unmarked spaces on the board are not playable. [Some may
become playable in the global variant.]
6. GRAY or OBSCURE AREAS:
A. In the event of a conflict between the FINAL UNIT POSITIONS
listing and the actual positions, the Move Results section
of the post will always take precedence.
B. If a position error is not corrected prior to the posting
of results for the next turn, the error cannot be corrected
and the affected unit will be allowed to move from the
erroneous position.
C. An "illegal" order is something like:
Army in Lapland launches probe to Jupiter
Per AH Rules, this order is treated as a hold order and thus
the unit may be supported in place. The following...
Army Lyon - Moscow
...is NOT an illegal order but an "impossible" order and thus
the unit CANNOT be supported in place.
D. EACH unit must be ordered; unordered units will be listed as
"holding." Therefore, blanket orders will not be accepted
and units cannot be "hidden."
E. Builds CAN be made conditional on retreats. Builds CANNOT be
made conditional on other players' builds. When a player submits a
conditional build (e.g., France orders: build A Par if German A Pic
retreats to Bel [and not to Paris], otherwise build A Marseilles).
At any player's request, due to multiple/complicated retreats
situation, the Winter turn will be divided into two parts: a retreats
and a builds phase (early and late Winter), and an extra deadline for the
late Winter moves will be set up (see 4, Deadlines, above).
7. VARIATIONS ON AVALON HILL'S RULES:
A. NO-NMR's and NO MISTAKES:
This is a no-NMR (see 4 B above), no-mistakes game. You will NOT
be allowed to misorder your forces. Mistakes in orders will
be pointed out as soon as possible and NO adjudication
will take place until correct orders are received.
NOTE: This does not mean that you can't make bad
moves; the GM will not advise on strategy or tactics.
B. STARTING YEAR:
[For reasons having to do with the status of the colonial
possessions of the European powers in the year in which this game begins:]
The starting year for this game will be 1890, and NOT 1900. The
game will proceed year by year, with two movement turns per year (Spring
and Fall) and two retreat/build turns per year (Summer and WInter).
The year 1900 will be considered the period for the first round of
negotiations before any moves have been made. The first movement phase
will be Spring 1891.
C. STARTING POSITIONS AND HOME SUPPLY CENTRES:
For this variant of Diplomacy, the seven original powers will
start with the same number of pieces and in the same positions as in
standard European Diplomacy:
Austria: F Trieste, A Vienna, A Budapest
France: A Marseilles, A Paris, F Brest
Germany: F Kiel, A Berlin, A Munich
Great Britain [England]: F London, A Liverpool, F Edinburgh
Italy: F Naples, A Rome, A Venice
Ottoman Empire [Turkey]: F Ankara, A Smyrna, A Constantinpole
Russia: F Sevastapol, F St. Petersburg, A Moscow, A Warsaw
The new power, Spain will start:
Spain: F Malaga, A Barcelona, A Madrid
All of the SC's where the units begin are home SC's and new units
may be built on these SC's by the home power throughout the game. In
addition, however, each power will have one additional SC which must first
be occupied like any vacant SC, after which it can be used to build on.
These new additions to the standard home SC's are:
Austria: Prague
France: Lyon
Germany: Frankfurt
Great Britain [England]: Belfast
Italy: Milan
Ottoman Empire [Turkey]: Iraq
Russia: Minsk
Spain: Tangier
Players will note that there are further new additions to SC's
WITHIN the territory of some countries. These SC's are NOT home SC's, however, and cannot be used for building armies throughout the game [for the simple reason that it would give some powers too great an advantage; in the global variant, however, these will become home SC's]. SC's located within the territory of certain powers which will not act as home SC's for building new units are:
Italy: Sicily
Russia: Khar'Kov, Odessa
Ottoman Empire [Turkey]: Tehran, Egypt
D. Thundar's Special Rule on Convoys Cutting Support:
Avalon Hill's Rule XII.5. states:
"If a convoyed army attacks a fleet which is supporting an
action in a body of water; and that body of water contains a
convoying fleet, that support is not cut." Thundar disagrees with
what appears to be the majority opinion of what this rule
means and thus uses the following interpretation which allows for at
least one paradox.
i. A convoyed attack will cut the support of a fleet
supporting an attack on a body of water IF the last leg
of the convoy route is not where the attack is occuring
or if the supporting unit is dislodged.
EXAMPLE 1:
FRANCE: (A Spa-Nap), F Lyo C A Spa-Nap, (F TyS C A Spa-Nap)
ITALY: F Ion-TyS, F Nap S F Ion-TyS
The FRA A Spa does not cut ITA F Nap support because
the last leg of the convoy route, TyS, is the target
of the Italian attack.
EXAMPLE 2:
FRANCE: (A Spa-Tus), F Lyo C A Spa-Tus, F TyS holds
ITALY: (F Ion-TyS), (F Tus S F Ion-TyS)
The FRA A Spa does cut ITA F Tus support because the
last leg of the convoy route, GoL, is NOT the target
of the Italian attack. Thus, the ITA attack fails.
EXAMPLE 3:
FRANCE: A Spa-Nap, F Lyo C A Spa-Nap, F TyS C A Spa-Nap, A Rom S A Spa-Nap
ITALY: (F Ion-TyS), (F Nap S F Ion-TyS)
The FRA A Spa cuts ITA F Nap support because F Nap
is dislodged by the supported French attack.
ITA F Ion bounces because it's support was cut.
Thundar's Rule is as follows and will be observed:
ii. If a successful convoy results in a situation in which
the convoying fleet would be dislodged and the convoy
disrupted, then the convoy will be considered disrupted
and the orders resolved as if the convoy had never occured.
EXAMPLE 1:
ENGLAND: (A Wal-Bre), (F ECh C A Wal-Bre),
A Pic S A Wal-Bre
FRANCE: (F NtS - ECh), F Bre S F NtS-ECh
ITALY: (F MAO - ECh), F Iri S F MAO-ECh
Without this rule, the convoy dislodges FRA F Bre,
allowing ITA F MAO to dislodge ENG F ECh, which
disrupts the convoy, which prevents FRA F Bre from
being dislodged, which results in a beleaguered
garrison of ENG F ECh, which starts the whole
paradoxical situation all over. With the rule,
the convoy is treated as if it never occured. Thus
the FRA F Bre support is not cut, and a beleaguered
garrison (ENG F ECh) occurs.
C. Foreign Power Supports & Convoys:
If you are supporting or convoying another nation's
army or fleet, you MUST include the nationality of the
supported unit.
EXAMPLE: FRANCE: A Belgium - Holland
ENGLAND: F North Sea supports FRE A Belgium - Holland
8. PRESS, MAIL AND NEGOTIATIONS:
Players are free to negotiate directly with other players by
electronic mail.
A. Black Press IS supported. E-Mail your message to me and I
will pass it on to whomever you wish. Any player who attempts
to send black press to another player other than through the GM
(i.e. who attempts to send a forged message which appears to the
receiver as a message from a third player unaware of that message being
sent in his or her name), will be subject to a penalty of
disqualification from the game.
B. ANY "Headlines" at the top of the Turn Results are neutral
comments on the game, selected quotes, or other phrases
that have ABSOLUTELY NO RELEVANCE to player motivations
or conduct. If ANY player objects, this will be
discontinued.
C. Players are encourage to post their own press, either to
the list or included in the Turn Results if so requested.
ANY player press or black press included in the turn
report will be clearly marked to separate it from the
GM Commentary.
D. CCing the GM is neither required nor discouraged.
9. AMENDMENTS and DRAW/CONCESSION VOTES:
A. Modifications to rules may be proposed by any active player
or by the GM at any time. All active players will be
notified of the proposed changes and a vote will be taken.
Simple majority of the active players carries the vote.
B. Draw or concession votes will be entertained after Fall 1905.
Each active player may vote, with one vote per player.
Abstentions will be counted as "nay" votes. Any proposal
passes ONLY if ALL active players vote "yea." The player
or players responsible for the proposal will be made public
at the time of the vote; the individual votes will be made
public at the time the results are posted.
10. CONCLUSION OF THE GAME:
The game will end when:
A. A unanimous vote for a draw is made by all players;
B. One player gains control of a majority of supply centres (28
of 54); or
C. After the 27th year or 54th turn ends (Winter 1917),
whichever of these three options comes first.
APPENDIX: COMAPRISON WITH STANDARD DIPLOMACY
STANDARD GLOBAL VARIANT
Supply Centres: 34 54
Home SC's at start: 22 25 [+3 for Spain]
Total Home SC's: 22 33 [+8; 1 ea. power]
Free SC's at start: 12 29
Land Provinces: 56 103
Water Provinces: 19 40
Total Provinces: 75 143
SC/Land Pronce Ratio: 34/56 = 61% 54/103 = 53%
# of SC's (free/free or occupied) within reach in first two moves for:
Austria: 4/9 7/10
France: 3/6 10/13
Germany: 4/10 8/12
Great Britain: 4/5 5/6
(England)
Italy: 3/8 7/11
Ottoman Empire: 4/5 7/8
(Turkey)
Russia: 4/9 7/13
Spain: n/a 4/8