Board Game Diplomacy - Any Way You Want It

UncleSam

UncleSam

Leading this village
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I will be hosting the next Diplomacy game, as I promised all of several hours ago here.

So here's a few options that I'm going to ask players who sign up to rank when they sign up. Feel free to discuss either here or in the Discord channel.

For those who do not know what Diplomacy is, Wikipedia has a decent guide on the basic rules and Richard Sharp's The Game of Diplomacy is a widely-lauded (though massively overrated imo) guide on how to play and the various tactics, strategies, and philosophies that go into playing.

I will now list options for the rules / variant(s) used for this game!

Option 1 - Vanilla
Explanation: For basic bitches
Extras: This would just be a standard game so 72h for 1901 then 48 after would probably be my chosen deadlines. I'd probably give 12 hours for Summer / Autumn (retreat phases) and then 36 (Fall) or 12 (Winter) for the following turn, however, as I really do not think that people should need that much time for these moves in general. I'm open to suggestions however.

Option 2 - Variants on Standard
Explanation: Any combination of Winter 1900 (i.e. the game starts in Winter 1900 and each country gets to build a unit type of its' choice to start, with the possible exception of F Stp (NC)), Milan (the map is adjusted slightly to allow easier attack along the Italian - French corridor and more difficult attack along the Italian - Austrian corridor), NaF Supply Center (literally just add a supply center in North Africa), or any other variants (Note: Agape how did you create a map with certain variants for the game before last?).

Option 3 - Non-Standard maps
Explanation: Ancient Mediterranean is the main variant, but there are plenty of options to choose from in this category. If this option gets significant votes then I'll require people vote on a particular variant but I really highly doubt it unless someone wants to campaign heavily for an alternate map.

Option 4 - Regicide
Explanation: I literally came up with like yesterday but hear me out. Each country gets to select one territory during a special pre-game phase (and it does not have to be a territory they occupy at the start of the game), and from that moment on that territory is deemed that country's 'Capital'. Countries may build units in their Capital but the Capital is not itself a supply center. Capitals grant one bonus combat strength to any unit holding or moving into it by the country to which it belongs, and if an enemy unit captures (i.e. moves into the Capital successfully or holds in it during a Fall turn), then the country that gained the Capital has 'conquered' the opposing country, and gains all units and supply centers held by the conquered country (still subject to typical supply center cap rules for the upcoming build phase, or course). Additionally, the country that has been conquered grants both the Capital AND its' home centers as additional 'home center' building site options to the conquerer. If two countries capture each others' Capitals during the same year, then I will break the tie via: which Capital was captured first (i.e. Spring given priority over Fall) > # of SCs held by the countries > Austria > Italy > Germany > Russia > Turkey > France > England (roughly the reverse order in which the countries are strongest under this variant, in my opinion). Frankly, I really would like to see people play this option but I would need help from Walrein and Agape on the technical side since I am not super familiar with Diplomacy editing software.

Option 5 - Risk Auction
Explanation: Countries choose three home centers each in an auction-style draft, picking from any SCs in the game. After that, the game starts on Winter 1900, and is played normally from there. A simple concept but I think it would lead to a lot of unique and fun interactions.

Ok so go ahead and sign up, feel free to only put up your favorite option if you like but if things look close or there is significant push for multiple options (or if you just want to veto 1 or more) if you don't feel like ranking everything.

Players:
Jalmont
Drawesome532
Whydon
Blazade
Aura Guardian
Agape
acidphoenix
Earlio
shubaka17
Hitmonleet

Subs:
Myzozoa
Hawkie
The Quasar
 
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in, as a beginner, i would like to continue playing vanilla.

variations where we pick the units we build to start would be fine.

i am also VERY interested in the 10 player modern diplomacy map:

http://www.variantbank.org/results/rules/m/modern.gif

if enough ppl are interested.

i will play what other ppl who sign up want, but i am strongly against vanilla gunboat- f that, please be willing to send more than a few lines each season to ppl (f blazade's gunboat russian victory in the last game)
 
also this 8 player variant

http://www.variantbank.org/results/rules/e/europeandip.gif

http://www.variantbank.org/results/rules/e/european.htm

idk why the link isnt working here the rules

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.

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.

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.

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.]

UNMARKED SPACES:

Any unmarked spaces on the board are not playable.

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.

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

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.
 
I would be down to host a gunboat but it would probably go better on a variant map - gunboat standard would be better played on another website imo

I think that a true gunboat forum game would be cool however, I've been saying for a while I'd love to do a live one if we can get enough people together
 
quick questions about 4:

could england make North Sea it's capital and build units there??

just not quite clear on if you just designate any territory and it becomes a place u can build units on once you take it. also i think ur overrating how strong turkey is in this variant.

also what if russia and turkey both claim bla as their capital?

4 looks cool to me.
 
Myzozoa said:
quick questions about 4:

could england make North Sea it's capital and build units there??

just not quite clear on if you just designate any territory and it becomes a place u can build units on once you take it. also i think ur overrating how strong turkey is in this variant.

also what if russia and turkey both claim bla as their capital?

4 looks cool to me.
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Well yes, England could make North Sea it's Capital and build units there but A. it would have to leave it vacant to build there and B. it would still need to gain a supply center to build there and C. North Sea borders practically everything so it would be incredibly vulnerable. I think England would probably want to make something like North Atlantic, Clyde, or Norwegian Sea it's Capital (though of course since the variant hasn't been played who knows what would be best!)

You basically just designate any territory on the map and can suddenly build units there. Obviously if it is an inland territory you can't build fleets there and if it is a landlocked territory then you can't build fleets there. Also you wouldn't have to 'capture' it (i.e. move a unit into it) to build units there, though you'd still have your same three starting units in your home centers as you typically would regardless (i.e. there wouldn't be a 'Winter 1900' phase wherein you could start with a unit in a Capital elsewhere rather than in your home centers).

Turkey feels very strong to me in this variant - Syria and any of its' home centers are almost unassailable from its' corner position, meaning that the Capital placement would present no defensive challenges to its' position. While it couldn't really make use of the extra build site that well (like I theorize France or England could), it takes a negligible defensive penalty for placing a Capital on the board. Austria and Germany are definitely worse off in this respect in my opinion, and Russia probably is as well. I think that Italy most likely on second though is stronger than Turkey due to being able to build in Apulia and basically just gaining another useful build site with little defensive penalty, but Italy is also a weak power regardless in comparison to Turkey so idk. We can discuss changing the tiebreaker order but frankly I doubt that the order will come into play even once, and even if it does then I think that the Spring > Fall capture and # of supply centers tiebreakers should break almost 100% of those (already negligible percentage) of ties.

If two countries claim a space then I'd give priority to whoever sent it in first. I'd probably tell the relevant powers (probably only Russia and Turkey in this case, since Black Sea is the only territory I can possibly imagine two countries wanting as a Capital) to send in two selections in case they are not first. Frankly however, Black Sea is a very risky choice due to the closeness to the other power, and the requirement to keep a unit in it could well backfire elsewhere.

I also think 4 looks cool!
 
In for sure, I'm good with any game mode/variant. Have a slight preference towards a non standard map since ive never played one before outside of gunboat Mediterranean.

If we go for the standard map, I'd prefer the Milan variant or maybe NaF. Your homebrew modes seem interesting.

It looks like I'll be seeing a lot of familiar faces this time around!
 
Blazade said:
i'd kind of prefer nonstandard maps that have been tested to nonstandard formats where people have to draft supply centers, one step at a time here.
Click to expand...

Whydon said:
in

up for anything although prefer vanilla since im new to it

btw Myzozoa I hear one of the modern maps is really unbalanced, idk if it's that one though

edit: nvm I don't think it's that one
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so looking through finished game logs: it doesnt look horribly unbalanced unless youre england, france or spain which is the only ones i saw that didnt have a good distribution of finishes.

also this variant is tested for auction starts
http://www.vdiplomacy.com/variants.php?variantID=19
im interested in 4 and 5
 
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on phone so quick thoughts

seriously people drawing the last game??? ok

gunboat can/should be a separate game, we can easily have a proper diplo and a gunboat alongside each other as they fill a different niche

re:variants I used GIMP and did updates by hand. I googled the variant map background and added the units/armies as their own layers. It was slow at first but got easier quite fast.

re: playing
my preferences are 1 > 2 > 5 > 4
I think 2 contains 5. 4 is cool as an idea but I dislike nonstandard maps. They are a different game each. If 4 is picked it should have an alliance win condition as well IMO.

12h deadlines are too short due to timezones and sleep. 24h is minimum.

Ty for hosting, US
 
Is there still room? I played quite a bit diplomacy with my friends, albeit terribly

I like the capital options or the drafting, but classic would still be nice.
 
Let's play a gunboat game tonight and discuss what to do with format after

Actually let's say 5 PM est for the foreigners, I'll link to the site in the discord chat in advance

PS winner gets triple vote for format y/y??
 
sounds good re: triple votes

I cannot do realtime rn but later this week definitely

What I meant with gunbot was smogon forums gunboat with 24h deadlines but I agree that external sites are easier and possibly more practical.
 
UncleSam said:
Let's play a gunboat game tonight and discuss what to do with format after

Actually let's say 5 PM est for the foreigners, I'll link to the site in the discord chat in advance

PS winner gets triple vote for format y/y??
Click to expand...

Wont be able to play gunboat tonight unless its much later, i would be able to make it tomorrow night after 8 PM CST though.
 
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