by Theo Kermanidis
The Starting Units
Each power starts the game in Spring 2260 with the following units:
| Power | Units | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earth Alliances | Earth (Fleet) | Mars (Army) | Io (Fleet) | Babylon 5 (Army) |
| Minbari Federation | Minbari (Fleet) | Chudomo (Army) | Norsai (Fleet) | |
| Centauri Republic | Centauri Prime (Fleet) | Brakesh 9 (Army) | Davo (Fleet) | |
| Narn Regime | Narn Home World (Fleet) | D Grn (Army) | Dross (Fleet) | |
| Shadow Realm | Z Ha Dum (Fleet) | Outer Rim (Army) | Kepti (Fleet) | |
| Drazi Freehold | Drazi Home World (Fleet) | Draxis (Army) | Zagro 7 (Fleet) | |
| Vorlon Empire | Vorlon Home World (Fleet) | Berdina (Army) | Virana (Fleet) |
The listed worlds are the respective locations where new units are built in the build phase.
The Rules
The standard rules of Diplomacy® apply with regards to the following:
- Movement
- Attacks
- Supports
- Retreats
- Convoys
- Beleagured Units
- Builds
The Phases
Like in standard Diplomacy® the game year is broken up into its various phases beginning with the movement phase in Spring 2260. The phases are as follows:
- Spring Movement
- Spring Retreat
- Fall Movement
- Fall Retreat
- Fall Build
Note: All games years and seasons are in accordance with Earth Standard Time.
The Map
The total number of supply worlds is 74.
Some worlds permit armies to move between them without the need of a fleet convoy. These worlds are adjacent on the map.
There is only one no-go zones where units are not permitted to move. This area is called the Galactic Bulge.
Victory Condition
The victory condition is to capture 38 supply worlds.
Optional Rules
The above rules permit the variant to be easily adaptable to electronic judges and thus readily permit Play By Email (PBEM) diplomacy. Here are some optional rules that could just as easily be adapted to be used in Face To Face (FtF) diplomacy.
- Any power that is in control of Babylon 5 may use it for builds.
- All declared draws must include the power that controls Babylon 5.
- The victory condition must include control of Babylon 5.
Any or all of the optional rules may be used for game play.
Regions
Below is an alphabetical list of all the regions on the map and their respective three lettered name.
| Abbai 4 | Abb |
| Akdor | Akd |
| Antares Sector | Ant |
| Aris Colony | ACo |
| Arisia Colony | Ari |
| Babylon 5 | B5 |
| Berdina | Ber |
| Beta Durani | Bet |
| Brakesh 9 | Bra |
| Brakiri | Bri |
| Caliban Sector | Cal |
| Centauri Prime | Cen |
| Centauri Triangle | CTR |
| Ceti 4 | Cet |
| Chudomo | Chu |
| Coriana 6 | Cor |
| Daltron 7 | Dal |
| Davo | Dav |
| Deneb 4 | Den |
| D Grn | Grn |
| Dilgar | Dil |
| Drakh | Dkh |
| Draxis | Drx |
| Drazi Home World | Dra |
| Dross | Dro |
| D Tira | Tir |
| Dura 7 | Dur |
| Earth | Ear |
| Enfili | Enf |
| Gaim | Gai |
| Galactic Bulge | Gal |
| Gorash 7 | Gor |
| Grid Epsilon | GEp |
| Hilak 7 | Hil |
| Ikarra 7 | Ika |
| Inner Centauri Space | ICS |
| Inner Drazu | IDz |
| Inner Sol | ISo |
| Io | Io |
| Ipsha | Ips |
| Janos 7 | Jan |
| Kazami III | Kaz |
| Kepti | Kep |
| Latig 4 | Lat |
| L Gidor | Gid |
| L Gn Daort | Dao |
| Lorka 7 | Lor |
| Lukantha | Luk |
| Malax | Mal |
| Markab | Mab |
| Mars | Mar |
| Minbar Inner Realm | MIR |
| Minbar | Min |
| Minbar Outer Realm | MOR |
| Mirata 7 | Mit |
| Narn Home World | Nar |
| Narn Inner Space | NIS |
| Narn Outer Space | NOS |
| Nether Rim | Net |
| Norsai | Nor |
| Omega 7 | Omg |
| Orion | Ori |
| Outer Centauri Space | OCS |
| Outer Drazu | ODz |
| Outer Rim | OuR |
| Outer Sol | OSo |
| Pakmara | Pak |
| Praxis 9 | Pra |
| Proxima 3 | Pro |
| Quadrant 14 | Q14 |
| Quadrant 20 | Q20 |
| Quadrant 46 | Q46 |
| Quadrant 48 | Q48 |
| Quadrant 54 | Q54 |
| Quadrant 55 | Q55 |
| Quadrant 73 | Q73 |
| Qudran 90 | Q90 |
| Qudran 91 | Q91 |
| Qudrant 13 | Q13 |
| Qudrant 31 | Q31 |
| Qudrant 32 | Q32 |
| Qudrant 45 | Q45 |
| Qudrant 68 | Q68 |
| Qudrant 72 | Q72 |
| Ragesh 3 | Rag |
| Ralga | Ral |
| Regula 4 | Reg |
| Rim Space | Rim |
| Sector 11 | S11 |
| Sector 14 | S14 |
| Sector 17 | S17 |
| Sector 18 | S18 |
| Sector 1 | S1 |
| Sector 20 | S20 |
| Sector 21 | S21 |
| Sector 27 | S27 |
| Sector 2 | S2 |
| Sector 35 | S35 |
| Sector 38 | S38 |
| Sector 3 | S3 |
| Sector 4 | S4 |
| Sector 51 | S51 |
| Sector 58 | S58 |
| Sector 59 | S59 |
| Sector 67 | S67 |
| Sector 70 | S70 |
| Sector 71 | S71 |
| Sector 81 | S81 |
| Sector 84 | S84 |
| Sector 86 | S86 |
| Sector 88 | S88 |
| Sector 8 | S8 |
| Sector 92 | S92 |
| Sector 9 | S9 |
| Shi | Shi |
| Sigma 957 | Sig |
| Thalitene | Tha |
| Theta 49 | The |
| Tikar Home World | Tik |
| Tizino Prime | TPr |
| Tokati | Tok |
| Tripani 7 | Tri |
| Vega | Veg |
| Ventari 3 | Ven |
| Virana | Vir |
| Volron Outer Space | VOS |
| Vorlon Home World | Vor |
| Vorlon Inner Space | VIS |
| Vree | Vre |
| Yolu | Yol |
| Zafran 7 | Zaf |
| Zagro 7 | Zag |
| Zander Prime | Zan |
| Z Ha Dum | ZhD |
Design Notes
In a word, this variant was designed to capture the rich tapestry of the Babylon 5 series. Yes I am a fan of the TV show that had spanned for 5 series each with around 22 well crafted episodes.
In an attempt to capture the spirit of the Babylon 5 universe, I designed this variant to include the myriad of worlds and general place names mentioned in the series. It is anyone’s guess as to what the intended Babylon 5 universe was ment to look like, but knowing the series and something about the sequence of events I placed my best foot forward in designing the map.
For example, it is known that the Shadow Realm did use Narn as a base for their expansion so that I could only conclude that the Narn Home World is strategically located close to Z’Ha Dum and the domain of the Shadows. The Vorlons and the Minbari once worked together to stop Shadow aggression, and it was concluded that they were co-located on the map. The Drazi Freehold and other members of the League of Non-Aligned worlds were once cannon fodder for the Centauri Republic hence most of those worlds would share a corner of the map. And so on.
It was tough going to get a map that looks playable with a general balance. It remains to be seen how successful those decisions were.
There will always be an argument against the use of armies in a fleet dominated game, so why do the powers begin with one useless army? A good question. The answer is that there are an abundance of connected worlds where armies may roam between without the use of fleets. It adds a dimension to the tactical question that requires consideration for the would be Napoleons amongst you. How can you use that army unit to a great effect? Naturally the winners would have an answer to that question.
There are many worlds, and probably there will be many a stalemate line. In time those will be discovered and an assessment will be made to the general playability of the variant. Hopefully it will not require too many revisions to get the overall balance right between offensive and defensive play.
Time is infinite, but we are finite. So get playing!