A Nice Game of Forum Diplomacy?

So I've just had this idea: to get a game of Diplomacy (the board game) going in the forums. I just made this thread to see how much support there'll be for this sort of a thing.

1. What is this Diplomacy thing you are talking about?
If you don't know the game already, the game of Diplomacy is a simple game of war among seven great European powers (England, France, Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Russia) at the start of the 20th Century that ends when one of those powers control a large enough part of Europe and is declared the victor.
It's notable because it has no element of chance. No dice, card-drawing, RNG, nada. Everything happens because somebody made it happen.
The game is titled "Diplomacy," because diplomacy is a key part of this game. You can't win without making some alliances, but do keep in mind that a solo victory is more prestigious (also see section 3a of this post)...

2. All right. How is this game actually played?
The full rules are pretty complex, and are available on the internet. If you can't be bothered to google, here it is:
https://www.wizards.com/avalonhill/rules/diplomacy.pdf
Since this is a forum game I'm proposing, the diplomatic phases will have to be at least a few days long, and the order resolution phase about a day.
If there is demand for it, I'll put up a brief summary of the rules as well.

3. So what exactly are you proposing?
I'm proposing that we host a game of Diplomacy on the forums, with the following modifications:

a. Forbid shared victories
There are "ally end" rules in Diplomacy as well, that ends the game in a shared victory if everyone is in agreement. But since limiting the number of winners to one forces allies to be afraid of each other (which, for a game titled "Diplomacy," has to be a good thing) and prevents mass alliances (frequently a problem with AtWar players), this is probably a good thing to implement.

b. The 1900 Variant
The original Diplomacy map got a lot of criticism, mainly because of its lack of balance (Italy lost too many times, and Russia won too many times). So, I'm suggesting that we use the 1900 variant, by Baron Powell, which balances the game a bit more.
All the rule changes the 1900 variant introduces are here: http://www.diplom.org/Online/variants/1900.html
And the modified map is here: http://www.diplom.org/Online/maps/1900-large.gif

If there is enough support for this (7 players are necessary to start the game, and they all need to be reasonably active), I'll just game-master a game of Diplomacy right on this thread. Unless, of course, somebody else wants to be game-master. If there isn't enough support for this... just forget I said anything.

I'm for the 1900 variant. I played online Diplomacy before, nice game.
Wait what's the difference between a build site and a SC?

Eshkruar nga Guest, 03.12.2014 at 05:52

I'm for the 1900 variant. I played online Diplomacy before, nice game.
Wait what's the difference between a build site and a SC?

A build site is where you can build units. An SC is a center of industry that allows you to build units at the build sites.
For example, neutral SC's that you capture are SCs, but not build sites, since you can't build there.
In the 1900 variant, there is also the Russian Emergency Measures rule that allows Russia to use, under special circumstances, Siberia as a build site, even though it isn't a SC.

I send ally to everyone

gg

Eshkruar nga 4Chan, 03.12.2014 at 14:17

I send ally to everyone

gg

except there is no telling when backstab

Eshkruar nga Guest, 03.12.2014 at 14:35

Eshkruar nga 4Chan, 03.12.2014 at 14:17

I send ally to everyone

gg

except there is no telling when backstab

I will be the backstabber

Eshkruar nga 4Chan, 03.12.2014 at 15:08

Eshkruar nga Guest, 03.12.2014 at 14:35

Eshkruar nga 4Chan, 03.12.2014 at 14:17

I send ally to everyone

gg

except there is no telling when backstab

I will be the backstabber

Will ally then

Eshkruar nga Guest, 03.12.2014 at 15:22

Eshkruar nga 4Chan, 03.12.2014 at 15:08

Eshkruar nga Guest, 03.12.2014 at 14:35

Eshkruar nga 4Chan, 03.12.2014 at 14:17

I send ally to everyone

gg

except there is no telling when backstab

I will be the backstabber

Will ally then

Peace only k

Eshkruar nga 4Chan, 03.12.2014 at 15:27

Eshkruar nga Guest, 03.12.2014 at 15:22

Eshkruar nga 4Chan, 03.12.2014 at 15:08

Eshkruar nga Guest, 03.12.2014 at 14:35

Eshkruar nga 4Chan, 03.12.2014 at 14:17

I send ally to everyone

gg

except there is no telling when backstab

I will be the backstabber

Will ally then

Peace only k

ROGUE

Eshkruar nga Guest, 03.12.2014 at 15:32

Eshkruar nga 4Chan, 03.12.2014 at 15:27

Eshkruar nga Guest, 03.12.2014 at 15:22

Eshkruar nga 4Chan, 03.12.2014 at 15:08

Eshkruar nga Guest, 03.12.2014 at 14:35

Eshkruar nga 4Chan, 03.12.2014 at 14:17

I send ally to everyone

gg

except there is no telling when backstab

I will be the backstabber

Will ally then

Peace only k

ROGUE

Not

Please unwall

Eshkruar nga 4Chan, 03.12.2014 at 14:17

I send ally to everyone

gg

Sure... do keep in mind that you'll have to deal with six "allies" that are all drooling over your precious Supply Centers.
Should I count you in?

Eshkruar nga International, 03.12.2014 at 18:51

Eshkruar nga 4Chan, 03.12.2014 at 14:17

I send ally to everyone

gg

Sure... do keep in mind that you'll have to deal with six "allies" that are all drooling over your precious Supply Centers.
Should I count you in?

yes, everyone loves me.

I think il join..

...i just still dont understand the rules, pls post summary

Eshkruar nga OKELEUK, 04.12.2014 at 00:59

I think il join..

...i just still dont understand the rules, pls post summary

playdiplomacy.com
Well... you start with some armies and navies. First, you go and expand. Just like Afterwind really. after capping some neutrals maybe you go and attack somebody, conspire, idk do something diplomatic but not AWRP/UN style ok.

Eshkruar nga OKELEUK, 04.12.2014 at 00:59

3 people so far has shown interest, out of a total needed of 7. Hopefully we get some more people.

Here's a brief summary of the rules, as requested.

The map is divided into provinces: both sea and land.

There are two "turns" to a year: Spring and Autumn.
Each turn, players 1) negotiate, 2) write down their own orders (without showing anyone except the GM), 3) resolve the orders.
After Autumn, you'll get any provinces that you don't own but have an army or fleet on. Note that this doesn't happen after Spring: it only happens after Autumn.
Also, during the winter, if you have more SC provinces than units, you can build new units. If you have less SC provinces than units, you will have to disband your units.

Orders are written in this format:
First, write down whether the unit you are ordering is a fleet or an army.
Second, write down where the unit is right now (this will help the GM figure out which unit you're talking about)
Lastly, write down what you want the unit to do.

Some examples of orders are (I've wrote all of them in full form, without abbreviations):

1. Moving/Attacking
"Fleet Trieste to Venetia"
Cannot be easier. This will order the fleet you have in Trieste into the Adriatic Sea. Of course, fleets cannot move into inland provinces (but can dock at a coast), and armies cannot move into sea.

2. Defending
If your opponent has an army in Venetia, and he wants to defend Venetia from your move, he might write something like this:
"Army Venetia Holds"
This will order his army in Venetia to defend.

You do not win battles unless you out-power every other army that wants to move into that same province. Note that "every other army" may include your own armies and fleets. So for example, if you have a fleet in Trieste and the Adriatic, and you write,
"Fleet Triest to Venetia" and "Fleet Adriatic Sea to Venetia," then neither of these moves will succeed, since neither of your fleets can overpower the other.
In this case, you ordered Fleet Trieste to Venetia, but there's a unit holding in Venetia. So, your move will fail.

3. Supporting
Let's say you really want your attack into Venetia to succeed, and overpower the defense in Venetia. Then you can order any of your units that are in a province that border Venetia to support your movement.
"Fleet Adriatic Supports Fleet Trieste to Venetia" will order the fleet you have in the Adriatic (if you have one) to support your Fleet Trieste's move into Venetia. Since it's a 2v1 now, the order will succeed, and your opponent's Army Venetia will have to retreat.

Of course, your opponent may also decide to support his defense with other units.

4. Convoys
Let's say you have an army in Prussia, and a fleet in the Baltic, and you want to move your army in Prussia to Sweden. If you take an overland route, this will take several turns. But in this case, since the Baltic borders both the origin (Prussia) and the destination (Sweden), you can order that fleet to ship your army across. In this case, you might order,
"Army Prussia to Sweden"
"Fleet Baltic Sea Convoys Army Prussia to Sweden"
If your convoy passes across several sea provinces (for example, you need to cross more than one sea spaces to go from Belgium to St. Petersburg), then you will need a Fleet at every sea province from your origin to your destination.

That's a bit of an oversimplification of the rules, but that's all you need to know to start playing, I think.