by David Norman
One of the subjects that seems to come up repeatedly on rec.games.diplomacy, is whether there is a world variant available on the judges. There wasn’t, so I decided to put one together. This is the result.
In addition to the adjacencies displayed on the map, the following are also adjacent :
MBL – RIS, MBL – SPO, SEP – SPO, EPA – SPO, EPA – PIS, NEP – PIS, NEP – CPO, NPO – CPO, NPO – NWP, NPO – BRS, Ala – BRS, Ala – AOC, BFS – AOC, BAR – AOC.
In general, this means that it is possible to go from one side of the map to the other, and from any Northern edge province – AOC. This is due to the fact that the map should be drawn on a globe, with SOP and AOC at the two poles.
I do not expect this first attempt to be too playable. It will almost certainly not be balenced, and will need some serious fiddling with. Experience from watching previous variant developments tell me that if this is going to be a good variant then it will probably go through at least half a dozen iterations before it is finalised.
The variant is loosely based on the world as we know it. The shape of the land is the same, as are the countries. However, there is no intent to provide historical accuracy, so please don’t ask questions like why particular provinces are supply centres when others aren’t. The aim is playability, not accuracy.
Maps in PS format, and for Mapper and Mapit, are available from http://www.ellought.demon.co.uk
The starting positions are :
A-Argentina A Santa Cruz F Buenos Aires F Chile | B-Brazil A Brasilia A Rio de Janeiro F Recife | C-China A Beijing A Shanghai F Guangzhou |
E-Europe A Germany F France (north coast) F Italy | F-Frozen-Antarctica F Casey F Leningradskaya F Mawson | G-Ghana A Ghana A Mali F Guinea |
I-India A Calcutta A Delhi F Bombay | K-Kenya A Kenya A Uganda F Tanzania | L-Libya A Libya A Northern Sudan F Egypt |
N-Near-East A Iraq A Saudi Arabia A Syria | P-Pacific-Russia A Vladivostok A Yakutsk F Kamchatka | Q-Quebec A Ontario F Newfoundland F Quebec (north coast) |
R-Russia A Belorussia A Moscow A St Petersburg | S-South-Africa A Namibia F Sanae F South Africa | U-USA A Union F Florida F Texas |
W-Western-Canada A Alberta F British Columbia F Northwest Territories | Z-Oz F New South Wales F Victoria F Western Australia |
There are 84 supply centres, so you need 43 to win