by James Nelson
1. The standard rules of Diplomacy apply, save where varied below.
2. The major powers and there starting positions are:
AUSTRIA: F(Dalmatia); A(Vienna); A(Budapest); A(Transylvania)
ENGLAND: F(London); F(Scotland); A(Liverpool); F(Sardinia)
FRANCE: F(Brest); A(Paris); A(Bordeaux); F(Marseilles)
PRUSSIA: A(Berlin); A(Kolberg); A(Konigsburg); A(Bartenstein)
RUSSIA: A(StPetersburg); A(Moscow); A(Siberia); A(Azov)
Note that England starts with four units but with only three home centres.
3. There are also a number of Minor Powers which players try to control through the use of Influence Points (IPs) (see later). They are:
BAVARIA: A(Bavaria); DENMARK: F(Denmark);
HANOVER: A(Hanover); NAPLES: F(Naples);
PORTUGAL: A(Portugal); SWEDEN: F(Sweden); SPAIN: A(Madrid), F(Valencia);
TURKEY: A(Constantinople), A(Smyrna); WURZBURG: A(Wurzburg);
4. Minor Powers
Each winter season Major Powers gain a number of IPs. These are used in order to try and gain control of Minor Powers for the coming year after adjustments. Winter seasons, including adjustments and bids for Minor Powers are held separately to the Autumn season. Minor Powers are also awarded IPs each year which can be used by the Major Power currently controlling them.
After adjustments, each Major Power gains 3 IPs for each supply centre held, while each Minor Powers is awarded 2 IPs. IPs have no other use apart from bidding for Minor Powers and they cannot be saved and carried forward. IPs cannot be given to another Power, but they can be used to support a bid by another Power (eg. England can bid 2 IPs in support of an French bid for Denmark).
The sequence in a Winter season is as follows:
(a) Autumn retreats; (b) Winter adjustments; (c) allocation of new IPs; (d) bidding for Minor Powers; (e) change in control of Minor Powers.
A Minor Power will be controlled by the Major Power who bids the most for it. IPs cannot be spilt into fractions. Equal bids mean that neither bidder controls the Minor Power in question, sand control of the Minor Power will remain with whichever Power (if any) controlled it the previous year (whether that Power bid for it this year or not).
A Major Power is free to attack a Minor Power which it controls. However if either (a) a Major Power occupies a supply centre controlled by a friendly Minor Power in an Autumn season, or (b) has more than one unit within the Minor Powers home borders at any time, then the Major Power will lose control of the Minor Power permanently. In this case control of the Minor Power passes to whichever Major Power the GM judges in his unfettered discretion to have the most interest in preserving the integrity of the Minor Power in question – this will usually be any Major Power who in the opinion of the GM appears to be attacking the Major Power who has alienated the Minor Power by its action. The GM will similarly give control over unaligned Minor Powers in the event that they are attacked by a Major Power (or a Minor Power allied to a Major Power).
Every consecutive year that a Minor Power is controlled by the same Major Power, the Major Power in question gains an automatic +1 IP towards maintaining the control and additionally an automatic +2 IPs for each extra supply centre controlled by the Minor Power in question that year. Thus if England has controlled Sweden for 3 years and in that time Sweden has grown to three units, England will have an automatic +7 IPs in favour of English control over Sweden being maintained. However, all automatic IPs are lost if another Major Power takes control of the Minor Power.
The GM will make all unordered retreats and builds for Minor Powers in his unfettered and unchallengeable discretion.
5. Supply Points
Each supply centre provides 3 Supply Points (“SPs”). The cost to maintain an army or a fleet is 3 SPs. However, a Major Power may choose to bank SPs, loan them to other Powers for a year (at which point they will be repaid unless the loan is renewed), or convert them to IPs at a rate of 1SP = 2 IPs.
6. Special Fleet and A/F Rules
In addition to normal fleet movement at the normal time, all fleets may make a second move after all first moves (and retreats) have been adjudicated. They cannot make a second move: (a) if their first move failed, (b) conditional on any first moves, or (c) into a coastal space. The only legal second phase move is movement or support for second phase movement by another fleet. A fleet may not embark or disembark armies in a second phase move.
Full Abstraction A/F rules (by Fred Davis Jr.) are used (for which see here). Note that as armies may not embark or disembark on a second phase fleet move the following orders are illegal:
F(NWG)-NTH-ENG, A(Wal) E ENG, [which means that the embarkation fails because the fleet was in NTH at the time], or A(Tun) E F(BOT)-ION-AEG, A(AEG) D Con [thus the move ends with an A/F(AEG)]
However, the following moves are legal:
F(NTH)-ENG-MAO; A(Wal) E ENG [which results in an A/F(MAO)], and
A(Tun) E F(BOT)-ION, A(ION) D Bal.
7. Multiple Units
This variant uses Multiplicity II rules (for which see here) save that fleets merging on their second move only do so with the strength of the number of fleets participating in that merge. Note that Multiplicity rules allow A/Fs to exist in coastal spaces.
8. Blockades
Any fleet in a sea space adjacent to a coastal home supply centre of another Power at the beginning of an Autumn season may order a Blockade (“B”) instead of any other order, provided it is not carrying an army nor is embarking an army that season. A Blockade order lasts for the entire season, thus the fleet may not move in its second move.
If a fleet making a Blockade is attacked, unsuccessfully or not, the Blockade is cut. A fleet making a Blockade may be supported by an adjacent fleet but that will not prevent the Blockade from being cut. However, if a multiple fleet is making a
Blockade, the Blockade will only be cut if the fleet is attacked by fleets equivalent in strength to the number of fleets making the Blockade. A Blockade may never be cut by an attack from the home centre being Blockaded. For example if English 2F(MAO)
blockaded Brest, a French move of F(BoB)-MAO and F(Bre)-MAO would not cut the Blockade. Note also that an English A/3F(MAO) may Blockade Brest with a strength of 2F, while the remaining A/F stands or splits.
The effect of a successful Blockade is that no fleets may be built in the coastal home supply centre being Blockaded that winter.
9. Building Armies in Non-Home Centres
Any Power may build armies (not fleets) in any supply centre under its control (whether originally neutral or not).
10. Direct Passage
There are direct passages between Ireland-Scotland, Andalusia-Morocco, Sicily-Naples and Denmark-Sweden. Such moves do not interfere with any movement by fleets through the intervening passages of water (eg. A(Den)-Swe does not affect F(SKA)-BLT). However, a fleet in the sea space being crossed (IRI, WMS, TYS, SKA) may deny direct passage to a unit attempting to cross by ordering it to do so on its first move. Such a denial will always succeed unless the fleet is dislodged, irrespective of how much support he direct passage move has. A fleet denying a direct passage may move as normal for its second move. In order to indicate that a fleet is denying a direct passage the order “X” is used (eg. F(SKA) X Den-Swe). Fleets do not deny direct passage to their own units or units controlled by the same Power. Please note the following example:
ENGLAND: F(SKA) X Den-Swe; F(NTH) S A(Swe)-Den
RUSSIA: A(Fin) S A(Den)-Swe.
The result is that the Russian move fails as the Russian attempt to make a direct passage is denied by F(SKA), but the English move is allowed.
11. Miscellaneous
Arkangel is a Russian non-sc build centre. Only Russia and only fleets may be built there.
Sardinia is an English non-sc build centre. Only England can build there, though England may build both armies and fleets there. England starts the game with four units but only three centres and England thereafter will always remain with one more unit than it controls centres – however, if England loses all its centres than the additional unit is also removed.
The Canary Islands counts as a coastal space and thus an army may occupy it (if it can get there).
Two multi coastal spaces exist: Hanover (ec/wc) and Papal States (ec/wc). Note there is no “Kiel” canal.
12. Optional Rule
A player may at any time elect to make any Minor Power under his control his Major Power from thereafter and the original Major Power will therefore become a Minor Power, provided the Minor Power in question controls at least 4 centres. The 4 home centres of the new Major Power will be the former minor Power’s original home centre(s) plus the 2 or 3 additional centres which have been held by that Power for the longest (failing that alphabetical) to make up 4 home centres.
13. Calendar
The game starts in Winter 1800 with bids for Minor Powers.
14. Victory Criteria
Any Major Power will win if it controls 20 supply centres (including centres controlled by any Minor Powers which itself controls) after any Autumn adjustments, though England need only control 19 centres for victory (as it begins the game with only three centres). There are 50 supply centres on the board.
This variant first appeared in Variants & Uncles No.28 (December 1991) and was reprinted with minor clarifications (mainly to the special fleet rules) in Spring Offensive No.8 (January 1993).