(Approved by Earthworm)
(The rest was mostly copied/pasted from last game's sign-up thread, as I think Outlaw has the right idea! However, there are a few changes. In particular, take note of the "The following are not rules but are heavily discouraged" section.)
Diplomacy -
The art and practice of conducting international relations by negotiating alliances, treaties, agreements etc.
Until you make your mad dash for power and stab them in the back!
About The Game:
Diplomacy is game about making alliances, breaking alliances, and reforming old alliances to better your number of supply centers in the game. Playing the deaf mute will only get you so far before another country decides you are not worth the spaces you comprise of and crushes you for your land. You have to negotiate with other nations if you want to win. You must tell the whole truth and nothing but it while lying through your teeth to succeed in this game. Feelings will be hurt and grudges will be formed. Friends can be enemies, and enemies can be friends. Make your stab and pray it doesn't backfire.
A player is eliminated from the game when they no longer control any supply centers. Alternatively, a player can choose to forfeit (But that is lame and sissy and I will make sure you are made fun of for it!). This will leave his/her pieces on the board where they will hold or idle during every turn. Victory is achieved by a single player controlling 18 of the 34 supply centers OR if all of the remaining players agree to a tie. Diplomacy has 3 phases. Since this is online, you can talk to other nations any time you wish. The game begins in Spring of the year 1901 where you issue your first orders. After that turn is Fall 1901 and you issue your second round of orders. And finally the year ends in Winter 1901 where you either add or subtract to your total number of supply centers and in turn your army depending on how many you captured or lossed in Fall. Then the year begins anew with Spring 1902.
Even though this is a game of Diplomacy, you are never required to honor any promises you made to any nation. You are always out for yourself.
Rules (these are not all the rules please check the rulebook for further reading):
- All units have the same strength
- No two units may occupy the same space at the same time
- An Army can be ordered to move into an adjacent inland or coastal province
- A Fleet can be ordered to move to an adjacent water province or coastal province
- Winter is a very short phase where players may only build or disband
- You can only build in your Home Supply Centers
- You cannot pass through Switzerland.
- Forfeiting. When someone forfeits early, the game quickly loses momentum. In order to ensure that things remain interesting, please try not to give up if something doesn't go your way!
- Ties. The previous two games were won by agreed two-way and three-way ties, respectively. I know that it's nice to not worry about being stabbed at the very end, but the point of Diplomacy is to STAB STAB STAB! This game, I am hoping that there is only one winner. I hope you guys agree that this would be a more interesting outcome.
Just as with the previous game, every player is encouraged (but not required) to post a newscast during the Spring and Fall movement phases alongside with their orders. These may be used for any purpose. You may post them during the Winter adjustment phases as well, but in my opinion, it's really not necessary as it is a pretty short phase anyway. I will also not be supplying any images myself as I don't have a nice repertoire of them like Outlaw does, so when you submit your newscast, submit a fitting image as well!
This is the map we will be using for this game.
Here are some standard orders showing the 4 different orders of the game, Move, Support, Convoy, and Hold:
In this example move, the Italian Army in Tyr is moving into Mun with support from the Austrian Army in Boh. The Austrian Fleet in Tri is holding its position as well as receiving support to hold the position from the Austrian Army in Bud. Finally, the Italian Army in Apu is being convoyed via the Italian Fleet in ION to Gre with support from the Turkish Army in Bul. So as you can see the support move can be used in conjunction with the 3 other possible moves. This is important because all units have the same strength therefore they need support to succeed at moving or holding hostile territory.
Helpful Links:
Wikipedia Article
Diplomacy - a Five Minute Guide
The Diplomacy Rulebook
Diplomacy Archive - an archive of Strategy and Tactics articles
Clearer Version of the Map with the abbreviations listed in full
The first Diplomacy game, hosted by Earthworm.
[thread=59208]The second Diplomacy game, hosted by Outlaw[/thread]
Diptool
Special emphasis on the bolded links. The Diplomacy Archive is an incredibly helpful resource if you are new and wish to understand the game better. Diptool is the program that I will be using to generate the maps for this game. It's always helpful to have your strategies visualized, so I highly recommend using it as well. Note that to use Diptool, you will need the latest version of Java installed on your machine. Refer to the link for download and installation instructions.
This is a Signups thread. Please post here indicating that you wish to play if you want to play. In this game, I am hoping some newer players sign up, but ultimately, I will want to select players who have proven that they can put in the effort (based on previous games). Everyone is welcome to sign up and say "in", but I will select the players myself (total of 7), regardless of order.
crabnebula
Dogfish44
Accent
Outlaw
Solstice
Agaki
Kannon
porygon3
Fangren
lanterminator
Sidd
askaninjask
Mekkah
Earthworm
Good luck! Signups end Friday the 16th at 12 A.M. Central Time (-6 GMT) OR earlier depending upon if sign ups start to dwindle. If you have questions, ask them here!
