Hugh’s Engineered Diplomacy Variant (rn45)

by Hugh Polley

These rules are the property of Hugh A. Polley. Anyone may publish them without permission unless they are receiving money for doing so. Anyone using these rules to run a prize game may do so if he gives one free Player Position to Hugh Polley. Hugh may then sell, give away, decline, or use that Player Position.

Contents:

(A) Overview

(B) Definitions

(C) Additional Diplomacy Unit Rules
1 Start up [Simple]
2 E Unit Powers [Simple]
3 E P Unit Creation [Simple]
4 P unit properties [Simple]
5 E P Unit Movement [Simple]
6 E P Unit Disbandment [Simple]
7 Fighter Field Unit [Complex]
8 The Decoy Unit [Complex and Optional]

(D) Madman Rule
1 Neutral Country [Complex]
2 A Player Madman [Complex]
3 Bidding for a Madman’s Order [Complex]

(E) Face to Face Play and Map Unit Symbols

(F) Survival Game [Advanced and Optional]
1 Weakest Link
2 Player Communication
3 Game Commentary
4 Prize Game

(G) Acknowledgements

[A] Overview:

Like in the 1971 Rule Book, Hugh’s Engineer rules look quite intimidating. However, these rules have more to do with the adjudication of the game, than the playing of it! To get started all the Player needs to understand is what the various units can do, and what their possible unit orders mean. Playing the game will teach the Player the various strategies and tactics!

Hugh’s Engineered Variant is an Abstract Diplomacy Variant because no matter the Diplomacy Map the rules will work. There are Home Unit Build Centers or Build Centers (BC) just as in Standard Diplomacy. However each country is allowed to use its Engineered units to create temporary Build Centers in addition to its Home BCs. The idea here is to give a country the ability to project power more rapidly to a front were he is on the attack.

The rules are marked simple, complex, and advanced. The simple game excludes the complex and advanced rules. The complex game includes the simple rules, the advanced all three. For advanced players a truly challenging game may have some version of the Vain Star rules applied to it!

[B] Definitions:

1. A Supply Center (SC) is a area on the Diplomacy map which can maintain one military unit for the country owning it.

2. A Build Center (BC) is a SC Diplomacy map area owned by a country were military units can be built in the winter turn in accordance with the number of SCs the country owns.

3. A Military Unit is a standard diplomacy unit or a Fighter Field unit as described in A6.

4. A Engineered Unit (E) is a unit which can turn any SC it is on in the Winter turn into a temporary BC.

5. A Prison unit (P) is a (E) unit captured by another country in the Fall or Spring season.

6. A Fighter Field is a Diplomacy military Air unit which can be ordered to Move, Hold, Support or Damage.

7. Abbreviations: Navy or Fleet (N); Army (A); Fighter (F); Engineer (E); Prison (P); Support (S); Move (M or -); Damage (D); Hold (H)

[C] Additional Diplomacy Rules

0. The “Rules for Diplomacy” Copyright 1971 will apply, except where stated otherwise.

C1. Start Up:

1a. Each country will start the game with that county’s units, and SCs associated with that game map. With his 1901 spring orders a player will locate a (E) unit with one of his units.

1b. On the standard map Russia will have 3 BCs and one StP SC with her usual start up 4 units. Russia will have Fighter Field Moscow instead of A Moscow.

1c. Instead of Navy Naples Italy starts the game with Fighter Field Naples.

1d. Austria starts the game with A Trieste or Navy Trieste.

C2. E Unit Powers:

2a. On the Winter turn an (E) unit located on a SC can build a military unit on an empty SC; or when on a coastal SC can convert an occupying Navy to an Army, or an Army to a Navy; or on any land or coastal SC convert a (A,N) to a Fighter Field.

2b. [Optional] On a Home or Start BC with a E Unit and a military unit, a player can create an identical decoy unit.

C3. E P Unit Creation:

3a. Every 3 SCs a country has supports or creates one E unit in the Winter season, except in the case were a E unit is captured and turned into a P unit. see 4

3b. The country losing the (E) unit can not recreate it until after the resultant (P) unit is disbanded.

3c. On the winter turn a E unit may be created on any of the countries Home or start up BCs at the same time as a military unit; or with, or without a military unit occupying that BC.

3d. Each player will always be entitled to have one (E) unit. After that he may have one E unit for every 4 SCs he owns. [The number of SCs to one E is the only rule which the GM may have to adjust during the test game play of a new map game.]

C4. P unit properties:

4a. An enemy unit in the same area as the E unit at the end of a spring or fall season, captures the E unit turning it into his P unit.

4b. A captured E unit becomes a P unit till the spring season following its capture.

4c. A P unit must stay with the capturing unit or be disbanded.

4d. A Player’s P unit when on a SC can on the winter turn convert its capturing unit into a Navy, Army or Fighter .

C5. E P Unit Movement:

5a. An E unit may move in one of two ways: (1) Attached to a military unit sharing its area in the Spring or Fall season. (2) By a transport order.

5b. A dislodged military unit can not move the P or E unit attached to it.

5c. A dislodged Army, Navy or Fighter’s P unit is disbanded.

5d. Any military unit may order one of its country’s (E) units to be transported to its location, provided it does not make any other order, Support, Damage, Hold or Move. The military unit ordering the move can be anywhere on the map. If the unit ordering the transport is not attacked by another countries unit and the E unit exists the transport succeeds otherwise it fails. A StP T E Rum not attacked succeeds, if A Liv-StP it fails.

5e. A Bugout occurs when an (E) unit successfully is ordered out of an area another countries military unit occupies in the Fall or Spring season, thus avoiding capture.

C6. E P Unit Disbandment:

6a. E and P units can not co-exist at the end of a Fall or Spring season. If by some occurrence they end up in the same area, the P units are disbanded. If more than one E unit is in the same area, they are both disbanded.

6b. & 6c. See (4c, 5c)

C7. Fighter Field Unit:

Unit Power Chart:

UnitTransportMoveSupportHoldDamage
Fighter0010Cuts all support
Army or Navy0111Cuts all support

7a. A Fighter Field unit may be built instead of a Army or Navy. It can Move, Support or Damage on a fall or spring season up to two areas from its location. Movement by another military unit into its base location has no affect upon its execution of Support, or Damage orders!

7b. Holding – A Fighter Field can not hold against a moving A or N unit unless supported by at least one other A,N,F unit.

7c. Moving: (1) A Fighter Field may move to any land area adjacent to its position. (2) A Fighter Field can not move to a land area two areas away unless it is one of that countries SCs, or the SC is owned by the games neutral country. It can not move two adjacent areas away to a non-SC area.

7d. Moving Power – A Fighter Field has zero moving power and can only successfully move when unopposed or by receiving more additive support power than opposing units. see Chart.

7e. Support – A Fighter may support an action in an area it can reach in the same way as the standard diplomacy support move. However a Fighter’s support can not be cut by an attack on its Field [area location]. see 7g for stopping or cutting the Fighter support order.

7f. Damage- A Fighter may Damage support orders in one of two ways: (1) By damaging a specific move order who’s destination area the fighter can reach. (2) By damaging a supporting or holding unit located at a specific area the Fighter can reach. In case (1) of the move order all supports for that order are cut. In the case (2) of the unit ordering support both the unit’s support order and all supports of the unit are cut. see 7g. for stopping the Fighter damage order.

7g. One or more Fighter Support orders for a unit is defeated by a Fighter damage order directed at that unit, but the Damage order no longer affects non Fighter (A,N) units.

ie. F Rum S A Ser-Bud, F Sev S A Ser-Bud, F War D A Ser-Bud, A Bud H, here A Bud hold succeeds; add A Gal S A Ser-Bud and A Bud is dislodged, take away the two Fighter support moves and A Ser-Bud fails.

C8. The Decoy Unit see (C2b)

8a. This unit can move and carry a E or P unit but has zero power, and can not receive support.

8b. It must be by itself by the end of the spring turn or be disbanded.

8c. Any turn which exposes the Decoy unit due to its or an opponents order causes the unit to be disbanded.

[D] Madman Rules

D1. The Neutral Country:

1a. A non playing Madman Neutral country is considered to control all SC’s not owned by the playing countries.

1b. This country can not build units but its SC’s can maintain units already in existence.

1c. A Country which has no Home Centers left is out of the game, and his remaining SCs and units become the non player Neutral country’s madman units.

1d. The GM may order a two time NMR country’s units and SC’s to become possessions of the non player Neutral country.

D2. A Player Madman:

2. If a player has not sent in orders 24 hrs before the deadline then his position is madmaned for that season, and other players can bid for his madman orders.

D3. Bidding for a Madman’s Order:

3a. A player bids for each NMR’d country’s individual unit in Civil Disorder by offering up one or more of his ordered units for Civil Disorder in the spring or fall season. For this purpose we consider each individual unit as being unordered and therefore in Civil Disorder. See “Rules for Diplomacy” XIV3.

3b. A player can bid to have one or more of his units go into Civil Disorder (CD) in exchange for being able to order one Mad Man unit. His bid, plus like bids from other players are added together and compared to opposing bids. If the outcome is greater than a tie by one bid, the winning bids are CD’ed and the Madman unit so ordered.

3c Example – If on a Sp or Fall season Russia bids F StP, A Mos for Madman Turkey F Bla-Ank and Austria Bid A vie for F Bla-Ank; and Italy bids F Ion, A Napl for F Bla-Sev, then F Bla-Ank would happen and F StP, A Mos, A Vie would be declared as being in Civil Disorder by the GM.

[E] Face to Face Play and Map Unit Symbols

Army – Colored Wooden Square. Navy – Colored Wooden Rectangle. Fighter Field – Two Colored same Number Cardboard Triangles, one with a Byzantium cross like symbol or different in size. Engineer Unit – Numbered Colored Cardboard Circle. Prison Unit – Numbered reverse side of Engineer unit with line through center

These symbols with a country identifier, can also be printed on maps to represent visually a game in progress .

[F] Survival Game

F1. Weakest Link:

A Diplomacy E-Mail Zine could host a survival game of Engineered Diplomacy were the subscribing audience could after 1902, in a 10 or more player variant, vote off the weakest or most underachieving player. His units would become madman units see [D].

F2. Player Communications:

All players in the game would communicate with one another through the game host site. They would not know the names or E-Mail of the other players, nor would they get to view the game commentary in the host Zine.

F3. Game Commentary:

Someone in the host zine would get to see all correspondence and would run a game column. Commenting on the ebb and flow of the game, alliances, deceptions, tactics, strategy, and prospects. Also polling of the subscription audience on things such as most deceitful player, best tactician, worst moves made by a player etc.

F4. Prize Game:

A game fee of $10 to $20 could be charged to enter the game. The Host zine would get 1/7 of these fees, the GM 1/7 of these fees and the winning player the balance. That’s right no draws allowed and unless a player reaches the winning number of SCs before being voted off the last player left in the game would be the winner.

[G] Acknowledgements

ZINES: François Cuerrier’s Passchendaele, John Leeders Runestone, Randolph Smyth’s Fol Si Fie, Robert Acheson’s Canadian Diplomat, Dave Grabar’s NHWW3 IDEAS: The Game of Diplomacy – Allan B. Calhamer Idea of Fighter Air Units – Douglas J. Burgoyne, Dave Grabar Unit Display on map board – Stephen Agar Build Centers outside of Home Centers – Libby McAfee Survival Rules – TV & François Cuerrier