DipWiki - User contributions [en]

Catspaw

2008-01-09T22:46:24Z

207.229.32.66:

By Ron Melton, Mike Ritter and Kevin Rowland

The basic idea of this variant was to produce a three player version using standard board and most of the standard rules. Balance and fun were major considerations and strategy of play was to be preserved. Most three player variants are lacking in one or more of the above.

The game developed because we had only three people available on Sunday afternoon, wanted to play Diplomacy and were dissatisfied with all other three-player systems with which we were acquainted.

In all other three player variants, a player has command of more than one country or some countries are vacant. In either case, interaction between players is usually limited to smash and grab tactics with little real diplomacy. It is the nature of a three player game that alliances are well nigh impossible to form or maintain. Therefore a substitute for diplomatic interaction might be found to put the fun back into the game.

Hereafter, then, are the rules of Catspaw Diplomacy.

1. All rules of the 1971 Rulebook apply with the following changes and additions.

2. There are only three players in active full command of one country each.

3. A player may write orders in the normal manner for his own pieces and may write EXTRA orders for pieces not owned by himself or the other two players.

4. The number of such extra orders he is allowed to write is determined by subtracting the number of supply centers he owns from 18, dividing the difference by three and rounding down.

5. Thus, he may write 5 orders, if he has 1-3 SC's, 4 if 4-6 SC's, etc. Obviously if he has no SC's he may write 6 EXTRA orders.

6. These EXTRA orders may be applied only to unowned units.

He may write the same order to the same unit several times within his limit of extra orders.

7. Conflicting orders to the same unit are resolved by plurality rule. That is, if a unit receives 2 orders to one province, and 3 orders to another province, then it would move as the three orders commanded. In equal conflicts, the unit ordered holds.

8. A player may write any order for a unit that the unit could legally perform. An invalid order has no effect on the resolution of conflicting orders.

9. A unit may not be ordered to dislodge or support the dislodgement of a piece belonging to its own country as this would be invalid according to the 1971 Rulebook.

10. Builds are handled differently than moves, each player being allowed to write one and only one EXTRA build for an unowned country. Conflicting builds are handled similarly to conflicting orders. Removals and retreats for unowned units are handled as for countries NMRing.

11. Variations on this theme are endless; two, four, five, six, and even seven player variants are possible. Variants based on Youngstown or other variants; variants where you can order units that actually belong to other players. Combination novelty variants, such as Catspaw Black Hole, popular around here because of the quickness of it. It's quick because the board disappears around you.

Catspaw

2008-01-09T22:44:29Z

207.229.32.66:

By Ron Melton, Mike Ritter and Kevin Rowland

The basic idea of this variant was to produce a three player version using standard board and most of the standard rules. Balance and fun were major considerations and strategy of play was to be preserved. Most three player variants are lacking in one or more of the above.

The game developed because we had only three people available on Sunday afternoon, wanted to play Diplomacy and were dissatisfied with all other three-player systems with which we were acquainted.

In all other three player variants, a player has command of more than one country or some countries are vacant. In either case, interaction between players is usually limited to smash and grab tactics with little real diplomacy. It is the nature of a three player game that alliances are well nigh impossible to form or maintain. Therefore a substitute for diplomatic interaction might be found to put the fun back into the game.

Hereafter, then, are the rules of Catspaw Diplomacy.

All rules of the 1971 Rulebook apply with the following changes and additions.

There are only three players in active full command of one country each.

A player may write orders in the normal manner for his own pieces and may write EXTRA orders for pieces not owned by himself or the other two players.

The number of such extra orders he is allowed to write is determined by subtracting the number of supply centers he owns from 18, dividing the difference by three and rounding down.

Thus, he may write 5 orders, if he has 1-3 SC's, 4 if 4-6 SC's, etc. Obviously if he has no SC's he may write 6 EXTRA orders.

These EXTRA orders may be applied only to unowned units.

He may write the same order to the same unit several times within his limit of extra orders.

Conflicting orders to the same unit are resolved by plurality rule. That is, if a unit receives 2 orders to one province, and 3 orders to another province, then it would move as the three orders commanded. In equal conflicts, the unit ordered holds.

A player may write any order for a unit that the unit could legally perform. An invalid order has no effect on the resolution of conflicting orders.

A unit may not be ordered to dislodge or support the dislodgement of a piece belonging to its own country as this would be invalid according to the 1971 Rulebook.

Builds are handled differently than moves, each player being allowed to write one and only one EXTRA build for an unowned country. Conflicting builds are handled similarly to conflicting orders. Removals and retreats for unowned units are handled as for countries NMRing.

Variations on this theme are endless; two, four, five, six, and even seven player variants are possible. Variants based on Youngstown or other variants; variants where you can order units that actually belong to other players. Combination novelty variants, such as Catspaw Black Hole, popular around here because of the quickness of it. It's quick because the board disappears around you.

Catspaw

2008-01-09T22:43:41Z

207.229.32.66: New page: By Ron Melton, Mike Ritter and Kevin Rowland The basic idea of this variant was to produce a three player version using standard board and most of the standard rules. Balance and fun wer...

By Ron Melton, Mike Ritter and Kevin Rowland

The basic idea of this variant was to produce a three player version using standard board and most of the standard rules. Balance and fun were major considerations and strategy of play was to be preserved. Most three player variants are lacking in one or more of the above.

The game developed because we had only three people available on Sunday afternoon, wanted to play Diplomacy and were dissatisfied with all other three-player systems with which we were acquainted.

In all other three player variants, a player has command of more than one country or some countries are vacant. In either case, interaction between players is usually limited to smash and grab tactics with little real diplomacy. It is the nature of a three player game that alliances are well nigh impossible to form or maintain. Therefore a substitute for diplomatic interaction might be found to put the fun back into the game.

Hereafter, then, are the rules of Catspaw Diplomacy.

All rules of the 1971 Rulebook apply with the following changes and additions.

There are only three players in active full command of one country each.

A player may write orders in the normal manner for his own pieces and may write EXTRA orders for pieces not owned by himself or the other two players.

The number of such extra orders he is allowed to write is determined by subtracting the number of supply centers he owns from 18, dividing the difference by three and rounding down.

Thus, he may write 5 orders, if he has 1-3 SC's, 4 if 4-6 SC's, etc. Obviously if he has no SC's he may write 6 EXTRA orders.

These EXTRA orders may be applied only to unowned units.

He may write the same order to the same unit several times within his limit of extra orders.

Conflicting orders to the same unit are resolved by plurality rule. That is, if a unit receives 2 orders to one province, and 3 orders to another province, then it would move as the three orders commanded. In equal conflicts, the unit ordered holds.

A player may write any order for a unit that the unit could legally perform. An invalid order has no effect on the resolution of conflicting orders.

A unit may not be ordered to dislodge or support the dislodgement of a piece belonging to its own country as this would be invalid according to the 1971 Rulebook.

Builds are handled differently than moves, each player being allowed to write one and only one EXTRA build for an unowned country. Conflicting builds are handled similarly to conflicting orders. Removals and retreats for unowned units are handled as for countries NMRing.

Variations on this theme are endless; two, four, five, six, and even seven player variants are possible. Variants based on Youngstown or other variants; variants where you can order units that actually belong to other players. Combination novelty variants, such as Catspaw Black Hole, popular around here because of the quickness of it. It's quick because the board disappears around you.

0 to D Variant Names

2008-01-09T22:43:05Z

207.229.32.66:

* [[1600]]
* [[1720]]
* [[1847]]
* [[1885]]
* [[1898]]
* [[1900]]
* [[1913]]
* [[1939]]
* [[7 Island]]
* [[Aberration]]
* [[Abstraction2]]
* [[Aegean]]
* [[Anarchy]]
* [[Ancient Mediterranean]]
* [[Ancient World]]
* [[Arab]]
* [[Balkan]]
* [[Baltic]]
* [[Black Hole]] (3 variations)
* [[Britain]]
* [[Catspaw]]
* [[Chaos]]
* [[Chromatic]]
* [[Classical]]
* [[Cold War]]
* [[Colonia VIIb]]
* [[Colonial]]
* [[Conquest Of The Americas]]
* [[Crowded]]
* [[Crystal Ball]]
* [[Deluge]]
* [[Double Diplomacy]]

'''Other Variants:'''
* [[Build Variations]]
* [[E to L Variant Names]]
* [[M to S Variant Names]]
* [[T to Z Variant Names]]

Multiplicity

2008-01-09T00:07:23Z

207.229.32.66: New page: by Richard Walkerdine<br> Revised by Keith Black ''Stephen Agar: I don't believe that this variant enjoys the popularity that it deserves. Richard Walkerdine came up with the basic idea ...

by Richard Walkerdine<br>
Revised by Keith Black

''Stephen Agar: I don't believe that this variant enjoys the popularity that it deserves. Richard Walkerdine came up with the basic idea for multiple units in the early 70's and I remember a game running in the original Mad Policy in 1975-76. Keith Black revised the rules to make them comprehensive and the resulting Multiplicity II was published in Pigmy #16 August 1978. I re-phrased the rules yet again for Whatever Would Allan Have Said? and refined the examples used.''

=== Variant Rules ===

0. The regular rules of Diplomacy apply, save where varied below.

1. Initial Placement. Players may choose whether the units originally starting on their home supply centres are armies or fleets, and Russia is free to build on either coast of StP provided it is specified

2. Multiple Units. The essence of Multiplicity is the multiple unit, thus multiple units may exist subject to the rules below (Eg. 2A, 3A, A/F, 2A/F etc). Each component part of a multiple unit requires a supply centre to support it.

A multiple unit may distribute its supports into different spaces and need not support with its full strength.

3. Merging. A multiple unit is formed by merging two or more existing units of the same nationality. Merging takes place by ordering the units concerned to merge in the same space (Eg. A(Mar) & A(Pic) MERGE 2A(Bur). All forces attempting to merge are deemed to be supporting each other (except for A/F's - see below), thus if in the above example Germany ordered A(Mun)-Bur the merge would still succeed. Support for a merge in a given space may also be given by a non-participating force (Eg. A(Par) S MERGE (Bur)). If part of a merge fails due to one of the component units failing to reach the space in which the merge is to take place, then any other units ordered to merge will follow their movement orders unaffected (even if this results in a normal move as opposed to a move).

Multiple units may also be formed by a player building on a home supply centre which is already occupied.

4. Combat. A multiple unit stands, moves and fights with a strength equal to the number of units present in the merged unit. Thus a 2A will displace an unsupported army.

Support given by a multiple unit is cut up to the strength of the strongest attack on that multiple unit (not the total of the attacks on the multiple unit). Where a multiple unit is supporting units in different spaces the order in which the support orders are written will be taken to indicate priority, so the last written support order is cut first etc.

Any support from a force in province A for an attack from province B into province C is not counted for the purpose of cutting support from a force in C supporting an attack from D against A. For example, FRANCE: 2A(Par) S A(Bur)-Pic. ENGLAND: 3A(Pic) S A(Bre)-Par. The French 2A(Par) cannot cut supports for an attack on itself, therefore only one of the three supports offered by the English A(Pic) is cut, thus A(Bre) attacks the 2A(Par) with two valid supports, thus the move A(Bre)-Par succeeds and the 2A(Par) is dislodged.

A merging unit does not cut support for an attack from the space in which the merge is to take place against the spaces initially occupied by one of the merging unit. Eg. GERMANY: A(Mun) & A(Bur) MERGE 2A(Ruh). FRANCE: 2A(Ruh) S A(Pic)-Bur. Only one of the supports from A(Ruh) is cut, thus A(Bur) is displaced.

5. A/F Combinations. The usual Abstraction A/F rules are not used in Multiplicity. However, A/F combinations are permitted along the same lines of other multiple units and an A/F may move into a sea space (as opposed to a coastal space) provided it is seaworthy (the number of fleets is the same or exceeds the number of armies). Thus a 2A/F could not move into the MAO, but an A/2F could. An A/F combination in a multiple coast space occupies a specific coast. A seaworthy A/F can be created in a sea space (Eg. A(Lon) & F(MAO) MERGE A/F(ENG)), but in this event the army cannot support the merge.

6. Convoys. A/F units can also convoy armies according to the usual Diplomacy rules, provided that the sum of the A/F and the unit(s) being convoyed is seaworthy. Thus an A/3F in ENG could convoy a 2A(Lon)-Pic. Only armies or all army multiple units may be convoyed.

7. Splitting. During a movement season a player may SPLIT a multiple unit into two or more component parts (Eg. 4A(Par) SPLIT A(Pic), 2A(Bur), A(Gas)). If two component parts from the same multiple unit are ordered to the same space they do not stand each other off, but instead they will attempt to merge. The movement of each unit splitting follows the usual rules and a unit may split and merge in the same move. If a component of a multiple unit fails to split it will remain part of the multiple unit and is considered never to have split for the purpose of adjudicating any attacks on that multiple unit.

A seaworthy A/F at sea may split by ordering an unseaworthy unit or units into a coastal space(s). If the failure of any component of the A/F to split means that the resulting A/F at sea would be unseaworthy, then all units attempting to split from the multiple A/F will fail. There is no exception to the rule that an A/F at sea must be seaworthy.

8. Retreats. Merges and Splits are not allowed during retreats. If two or more forces are ordered to retreat to the same space, the stronger unit will succeed.

9. Seasons. For postal play it may be easier if Multiplicity is played to a 3 season year: Spring; Spring retreats and Autumn; Autumn retreats and adjustments.

M to S Variant Names

2008-01-09T00:05:32Z

207.229.32.66:

* [[Mandate Of Heavan]]
* [[Maharajah]]
* [[Medieval]]
* [[Middle Earth]]
* [[Migrane]]
* [[Milan]]
* [[Modern]]
* [[Multiplicity]]
* [[Nessie]]
* [[Nuclear]]
* [[Pandemonium]]
* [[Payola]]
* [[Payola Classic]]
* [[Pericles]]
* [[Pleasantview]]
* [[Post Modern Africa]]
* [[Post Modern Europe]]
* [[Pure]]
* [[Rather Silly]]
* [[Renaissance]]
* [[Reverse Gunboat]]
* [[Sahara]]
* [[Sail Ho]]
* [[SAS]]
* [[Schizodiplomacy]]
* [[Seismic]]
* [[Sengoku]]
* [[Shadow Era]]
* [[Shadow Worlds]]
* [[ShiftLeft]]
* [[ShiftRight]]
* [[Speed Europa]]
* [[Standard]]
* [[Standard 5P]]
* [[Standard 6P]]
* [[Stonehenge]]

'''Other Variants:'''
* [[Build Variations]]
* [[0 to D Variant Names]]
* [[E to L Variant Names]]
* [[T to Z Variant Names]]

Heptarchy IV

2008-01-08T21:06:47Z

207.229.32.66: New page: By Geoff Bache center Heptarchy is a Diplomacy map variant, with all rules the same in Standard Diplomacy. The game starts in Spring 651, and 19 centres are ...

By Geoff Bache

[[Image:Heptarchy_IV.gif|center]]

Heptarchy is a Diplomacy map variant, with all rules the same in Standard Diplomacy. The game starts in Spring 651, and 19 centres are required to win, there being 37 supply centres on the board.

=== Starting Positions ===

[[Image:Heptarchy_IV.gif|center]]

E to L Variant Names

2008-01-08T21:04:43Z

207.229.32.66:

* [[Engineer]]
* [[Excalibur]]
* [[Fall Of The American Empire]]
* [[Fleet Rome]]
* [[Fog of War]]
* [[Game Of The Clans III]]
* [[Gunboat]]
* [[Hardbop Downfall]]
* [[Heptarchy IV]]
* [[Hundred]]
* [[Imperial]]
* [[Imperial1840]]
* [[Imperium]]
* [[Indians Of The Great Lakes]]
* [[Intimate Diplomacy]]
* [[Jihad]]
* [[Karibik]]
* [[Layered]]
* [[Live]]
* [[Loeb9]]

'''Other Variants:'''
* [[Build Variations]]
* [[0 to D Variant Names]]
* [[M to S Variant Names]]
* [[T to Z Variant Names]]