by Mark Nelson
Introduction
Having played through several WOTR I games by post and looked at the game FTF I came across a large number of areas in which the variant was in need of improvement. For example the Scottish player has no real opportunity to diplome and is redundant. The French player has no chance of winning. The King piece is, to be blunt, very silly! There is no way that the White Rose can gain the King, and pence no way that he can win;;: The positioning of the other players has much to be desired as does the distribution of the supply maps and the province structure! So I’ve redrawn the map, altered the starting positions of the players as well as reducing the number of players and supply centers. To make the game a little more fluid I’ve added boxes so that all players have the potential to attack each other. Further playtesting will be required before I can decide if WOTR III is needed!
1. The normal rules of Diplomacy (1971 UK Edition) will be used apart from when stated below.
2. The initial set-up of Forces are as follows:
RED ROSE: A Lon, F Can, A Roc.
WHITE ROSE: A Yor, A Hal., F EaR
NEVILLES : A War, A Her, A Mid
COURTENAY : A Exe, A Do.r, F Ply
MOWBRAY : A Nor, A Nwy, F Yar.
3. Victory Criteria. Players must control a majority of on-board supply centers at the end of a year, ie 14 centers.
4. Gla is a special build center for the NEVILLES only (that is to say the Nevilles may build in Gla, except when it is occupied; it doesn’t count as a supply center for supporting units though).
5. There are three boxes on the board: The Caledonian, Irish and Atlantic.
Any number of fleets may be in one box and fleets may not be prevented from entering them. Fleets in a box may not be attacked and may support fleets into or out of the box.
6. No player may build more than one fleet a year. 7. The first move is Spring 1455.
Abbreviations
Abe Aberystwyth
Bed Bedford
Ber Berkshire
Bri Bristol
Buc Buckinghamshire
Cam Cambridge
Can Canterbury
Che Chester
Chi Chichester
Cor Cornwall
Den Denbigh.
Der Derby
Don Doncaster
Dor Dorchester
Dos Dorset
Dov Dover
Dur Durham
EaR East Riding
EMa East. Marches
Exe Exeter
Gla Glamorgan
Glo Gloucester
Hal Halifax
Ham Hampshire
Her Hereford
Ipw Ipswich
Lan Lanchester
Lee Leeds
Lin Lincoln
Lon London
Mid Midlands
Mil Middlesex
Nmy Normandy
Nor Norfolk
Not Nottingham
Nwh Norwhich
Oxf Oxford
Ply Plymouth
Roc Rochester
Rut Rutland
Sal Salisbury
Sca Scarbough
Ske Skegness
Sou South Lancshire
Suf Suf f olk
Sur Surrey
War Warwick
WeR West Riding
WMa West Marches
Yar Yarmouth
Yor York
ATL Atlantic Ocean
EEC East English Channel
GER German Sea
HOL Holy Isle
HUM Humbat
MER Mersey
NAZ The Naze
NCH North Channel
NNS North North Sea
POR Porchester
SCI Scillies
SEV Severn
SGC St Georges Channel
SNS South North Sea
SNT Solent
STR Straits
SWY Solway
TMS Thames
TYN Tyne
WAIT Walsh
WEG Western Channel
WIS West Irish Sea