by Stephen Agar
0. The usual rules of Diplomacy (1971) apply.
1. There are seven players, as follows:
SERBIA: 3A(Bel); A(Pod) (Capital = Belgrade)
BOSNIAN SERBS: A(SaM); A(Tra); A(Pal); A(Bij) (Capital = Pale)
KRAJINA SERBS: A(Kni); A(Gli); A(Sis) (Capital = Knin)
CROATIA: A(Vuk); A(SlB); A(Zag); A(Gos); A(Spl); A(Dub) (Capital = Zagreb)
BOSNIAN CROATIANS: A(Liv); A(Mos); A(Kon) (Capital = Mostar)
BOSNIAN MOSLEMS: A(Sar); A(Tuz); A(Gor); A(Bih) (Capital = Sarajevo)
UNPROFOR / NATO: Seven units off-board.
There are no fleets in this game.
2. Calendar
This is a fixed duration variant – the game ends after 20 moves if no one has reached the victory criteria. The calendar used is Spring 1992, Summer 1992 (build season), Autumn 1992, Winter 1992 (build season), Spring 1993, Summer 1993 (build season), Autumn 1993, Winter 1993 (build season) etc. The final season is therefore Winter 1996.
3. Ethnic Alignment
Units belonging to the same ethnic background cannot dislodge each other directly, though they may validly support an attack by a different ethnic group. Thus Bosnian Croatians cannot dislodge Croatian units, but they could support Bosnian Serbs in dislodging a Croatian unit. There is no restriction on players of the same ethnic background taking supply centres off each other etc.
4. Builds
Builds may be made in any vacant controlled supply centre. Thus, a power can continue to build even if all its home supply centres are lost. The presence of UN units has no effect on the builds of the other powers.
5. Home Centres and Capitals
No Power may enter a home supply centre of any other power during the first two moves of the game (i.e. up to and including Summer 1992).
The capitals of each Power confer a +1 defensive benefit on units belonging to the Power for whom they are a home supply centre. In postal games the name of each capital is a reserved dateline for the power concerned.
6. Serbia
Serbia starts the game with a 3A(Bel). This must split into three separate armies on the first move of the game and thereafter acts as three separate armies for all purposes. Belgrade is a triple supply centre for Serbia only, it acts as an ordinary supply centre for other powers and victory criteria.
7. UN / NATO
The object of the game for the UN player is to bring peace (see victory criteria) without taking sides – hence UN ground troops have no offensive value. UN troops have no effect on the ownership of supply centres.
7.1 UNPROFOR Units
(a) As the game progresses, the UN player can place one or more UNPROFOR units on the board in any turn (up to a maximum of seven such units on the board at any one time), either in neutral supply centres (which are still neutral), in vacant non-supply centres, in occupied spaces (with the permission of the occupier) or in owned supply centres (with the permission of the owner). UNPROFOR units can co-exist with other UNPROFOR units and other ordinary units.
(b) Each season the UN can also remove from play any UNPROFOR units which are not co-existing with non-UNPROFOR units, while removal of UNPROFOR units which are so co-existing can only be made with the permission of the owner of any unit co-existing with the UNPROFOR unit in question (NMRs = approval given). These UNPROFOR deployments and removals take place after retreats (and after adjustments in build seasons). UNPROFOR units are abbreviated to “U” in game reports or “2U”, “3U” etc. for multiple UNPROFOR units. Multiple UNPROFOR units may be ordered independently, but any attack on a space occupied by UNPROFOR units cuts all UNPROFOR supports.
(c) UNPROFOR units can co-exist with other units (thus a space could, for example, contain a Bosnian Serb army and two UNPROFOR units). UNPROFOR units do not require supply centres to sustain them and they cannot “own” supply centres. UNPROFOR units are only lightly-armed and therefore they have a defence combat value of 1/2, but an attack combat value of 0 – which means they can only successfully move across the board if they are unopposed, if they are moving with a regular unit which has sufficient strength to move despite opposition, or if a unit occupying the space to which they are moving specifically allows them to enter. Unless the UN specifically orders otherwise, their defence value is added to the sum total of units sharing the same space as them (i.e. provided they are not hostages they protect the locals) for the purpose of avoiding dislodgement (but not moving into an adjacent space unless specifically so ordered).
(d) If a UNPROFOR unit is dislodged the UNPROFOR player may elect to not to retreat but to co-exist with the attacking unit instead, provided the attacker agrees – in this case the UNPROFOR unit may not be taken hostage that turn. If the UNPROFOR unit has to retreat and it has no possible retreat, the successful attacker has the option of taking the UNPROFOR unit hostage (which see) or sending the troops home. UNPROFOR units can only retreat to (a) a space to which a unit which was dislodged with them is retreating (b) empty spaces or (c) spaces already containing UNPROFOR units. UNPROFOR units do not have the option of disbanding when dislodged (we never give up on “our boys”). A retreating UNPROFOR unit has no affect on whether other regular units may retreat or not.
7.2 Air Attacks
In the event that a space which contains a free UNPROFOR unit is attacked (whether successfully or not), the UN player has the option of instigating a retaliatory Air Attack the following move (irrespective of whether the UNPROFOR unit was attempting to leave the space but failed). When an Air Attack is launched the UNPROFOR player must state the attack which has caused the retaliation. Two different types of Air Attack are possible:
(a) A Limited Attack: This freezes all units which took part in the attack on the UNPROFOR unit (including supporting) that following move (though such unit may receive support to stand).
(b) A Major Attack: This dislodges all units which took part in the attack on the UNPROFOR unit (including supporting) and freezes all other units belonging to the player (or players ) who were taking part in the attack across the whole board. Major Air attacks may not dislodge any units belonging to a Power who holds a UNPROFOR hostage (they are frozen instead) and Limited Attacks have no effect on spaces which contain UNPROFOR hostages.
Up to two different Limited Attacks may happen in different parts of the board during the same season. Only one Major Attack is possible per season.
Because launching a Major Attack on a Power holding UN hostages is very risky, the UN will only take that particular risk against units belonging to each Power once.
7.3 UN Hostages
Any unit sharing a space with a UNPROFOR unit can be ordered to take it hostage, even if the UNPROFOR unit is of a greater strength than the regular unit. UNPROFOR units can also be taken hostage by a unit which dislodges them, if no other retreat space is available. The purpose of taking UNPROFOR units hostage is to discourage air attacks (see above). UNPROFOR hostages have no combat value. A unit which has taken an UNPROFOR unit hostage, carries them with them when it moves or reteats.
A Power can, before movement, elect to free all its UNPROFOR hostages. This has the effect of preventing all Air Attacks on any of its units for the season in which the hostages are freed and the following season. Freed hostages are removed from the board. Note that this means that if hostages are taken in one season and freed at the beginning of the next season, it is possible to avoid a retaliatory air attack. If a unit holding hostages is removed from play during adjustments then the hostages are deemed to have been freed.
7.4 UN Safe Areas
At the end of any season the UN may declare any supply centre on the board to be a UN Safe Area for the protection of the Power then controlling it, save that no more than five such areas may be designated during the entire game. Once so designated, these
areas may not be undesignated.
7.5 Lifting the Arms Embargo
Whenever any UN Safe Area is been captured by another Power (i.e. occupied in any season), for the following two seasons the UN / NATO player has the option of abandoning the arms embargo, which will take effect at the beginning of the season concerned. The effect of abandoning the arms embargo is that the UN player can (that season or in subsequent season) award up to a total of five bonus off-board supply centres to any power or powers of his choice (other than a power who has captured a UN Safe Area at any time during the game or who presently holds UNPROFOR hostages), who may then use them to make builds that season after retreats, whether or not it is a build season. Once the arms embargo is lifted all UNPROFOR units are upgraded to full strength armies and their is nop restriction on their freedom to attack other units. For then on any UNPROFOR units removed from play may not be re-deployed (i.e. the UN presence will gradually decline).
8. Victory Criteria
Draws include all survivors (as well as UN).
A single Power wins the game if it controls 17 centres.
Two Powers may claim a joint victory provided they control 22 centres between them.
The UN / NATO player wins the game if no one else has won the game after 20 moves and the Bosnian Moslems still survive. If the Bosnian Moslems have been eliminated and no other victory criteria are met then no one has won, which just goes to show that wars in the Balkans are usually futile.
9. Summary of Events each Turn
All orders may be conditional on something which happens before it in the course of the same turn.
1. [Lifting of the Arms Embargo]
2. [UN hostages freed]
3. [Air Attacks]
4. Regular Movement.)
5. Retreats [and Hostage Taking]
6. [Adjustments in Summer/Winter]
[Award of Arms Embargo Bonus Centres – any season]
7. [UNPROFOR deployments and removals]
8. [Designation of Safe Areas]
Map Abbreviations
BaL = Banja Luka; Bih = Bihac; Bij = Bijeljina; BiP = Bijelo Polje; Bje = Bjelovar; BoD = Bos Dubica; Brc = Brcko; Bug = Bugojno; Cac = Cacak; Caz = Cazma; Der = Derventa; Dmi = Dmis; Dob = Doboj; Dub = Dubrovnik; Foc = Foca; Gac = Gacko; Gla = Glamoc; Gli = Glina; Gor = Gorazde; Gos = Gospic; Gra = Gradacac; Hra = Hrasnica; Jac = Jajce; Kar = Karlovak; Kla = Kladanj; Kni = Knin; Kon = Konjic; Kop = Koprivnica; KoV = Kotor Varos; Kri = Krizevci; Liv = Livno; Mak = Makarska; Moj = Mojkovac; Mos = Mostar; NGr = N. Gradiska; Nik = Niksic; NoP = Novi Pazar; NoS = Novi Sad; Ogu = Ogulin; Olo = Olovo; Osi = Osijek; Oto = Otocac; Pal = Pale; Pec = Pec; Pet = Petrinja; Pla = Plaski; Pod = Podgorica; Poz = Pozega; Pri = Prijedor; Pro = Prozor; Rij = Rijeka; Sab = Sabac; SaM = Sanski Most; Sar = Sarajevo; Sin = Sinj; Sis = Sisnak; Sje = Sjenica; SlB = Slav. Brod; Sok = Sokolac; Som = Somber; Spl = Split; Srb = Srbac; Sre = Srebrenica; TiD = Titov Drvar; TiK = Totova Korenica; Tra = Travnik; Tre = Trebinje; Tuz = Tuzla; Uzi = Uzice; Val = Valjevo; Val = Valpovo; Vgo = V. Gorica; Vin = Vinkovci; Vis = Visoko; Vkl = V. Kladusa; Vuk = Vukovar; Zad = Zadar; Zag = Zagreb; Zen = Zeica;
This variant is dedicated to Neil Duncan, without whose assurances that it was not in bad taste this variant would never have been completed or published.