WW2-1931 - Revision history

NickHiggins at 16:53, 29 June 2010

2010-06-29T16:53:11Z

NickHiggins at 16:52, 29 June 2010

2010-06-29T16:52:36Z

NickHiggins: bring in new map

2010-03-01T16:02:30Z

bring in new map

NickHiggins: Major Revision for v2 of the variant; the map still needs to be updated

2010-03-01T05:38:51Z

Major Revision for v2 of the variant; the map still needs to be updated

Show changes

Nickhiggins: Major update to page by variant creator.

2009-09-11T01:29:33Z

Major update to page by variant creator.

Show changes

Poobaloo at 19:18, 9 September 2009

2009-09-09T19:18:06Z

Poobaloo at 14:53, 9 September 2009

2009-09-09T14:53:02Z

Poobaloo at 14:51, 9 September 2009

2009-09-09T14:51:29Z

Poobaloo: New page: category:variant A Diplomacy variant by Nick Higgins Variant website: [http://ww2-1931.tripod.com/index.html http://ww2-1931.tripod.com/index.html] thumb...

2009-09-09T14:47:21Z

New page: category:variant A Diplomacy variant by Nick Higgins Variant website: [http://ww2-1931.tripod.com/index.html http://ww2-1931.tripod.com/index.html] 800px|thumb...

New page

[[category:variant]]

A Diplomacy variant by Nick Higgins

Variant website: [http://ww2-1931.tripod.com/index.html http://ww2-1931.tripod.com/index.html]

[[image:Ae50xl.gif|800px|thumb]]

==BACKGROUND==

My goal is to create a global World War II variant for Diplomacy that attains the elusive perfect balance between history and gameplay. The variant is set in 1931 because this is a starting point for World War II with the Japanese annexation of Manchuria. The unit composition of each power is often unrealistic, such as China having significant naval and aerial power, and having the ability to build aircraft carriers at all. Also, chaos builds leads to some odd situations, for example the French could build an aircraft carrier in Vietnam. However, I believe that these concessions to gameplay are necessary in order to make the game more playable.

My hope is that the variant will play "smaller" than its size. Every player on the board has reason to interact with virtually every other player. While there are more SCs than Standard, there is a similar ratio (~2/3) of starting player-owned SCs to total SCs, meaning that players are forced to clash early. Offensive play is encouraged in many ways. First, there are no corner positions, which limits the effectiveness of defensive tactics. Chokepoints are kept to a minimum. "Chaos builds" ensures that players are not waiting for years to move units to the front lines. Aerial units are far more useful in attack than defense, and should be helpful in breaking any potential stalemate lines. Finally, a relatively short victory line (1/3 instead of 1/2 of the total SCs) should encourage players to go for the solo victory, instead of the alterative where players decide that victory is impossible on such a large map, and then play for the draw.

Conceptually, the variant is built around numerous diplomatic triangles, as triangles are generally the most dynamic configuration in Diplomacy. These triangles are: Africa & Med (B/F/I), Atlantic (B/F/A), North Sea (B/F/G), Scandinavia (B/G/S), Western Europe (F/G/I), Balkans (G/S/I), Central Asia (S/C/B), SE Asia land (B/F/C), SE Asia sea (B/J/A), and East Asia (C/J/S). The one area that couldn't be "triangulated" was the Pacific, where America and Japan are the only two significant powers.

There are some key relationships that will go a long way in determining the shape of the game. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, America and Japan is one, because an alliance leaves each with a free hand to go all-out in the opposite direction. To a lesser extent, the Soviets and Germans have a similar relationship. Because they are the strongest powers on the board and they are entangled everywhere, the British-French relationship is probably most important. If they work together, they own 1/4 of the SCs on the board to start, and are a juggernaut to be feared. If they fight each other, then a frantic wooing of allies (particularly Italy) will ensue by both parties.

I welcome any feedback on the variant. Please contact me at congressofvienna1814@yahoo.com.

==RULES==

* There are 8 players: Britain (B, 13), France (F, 11), Germany (G, 6), Italy (I, 6), USSR (S, 9), Japan (J, 8), Republic of China (C, 7), and USA (A, 6). Britain and France start with more supply centers because of their colonial empires.
* There are 96 supply centers, with 39 in Europe, 38 in Asia, 10 in the Americas, and 9 in Africa.
* The victory condition is 32 SCs (one-third of the total).
* There are chaos builds, meaning that units can be built in any open supply center.
* There are two new types of units: planes and aircraft carriers. These units do everything with a strength of 0.5, including movement, support, and defense. To compensate for this weakness, they can support actions that are two spaces away. Example: Plane Gorky can support A Moscow to Poland, and this attack would now have a strength of 1.5.
* For a plane unit, use the abbreviation P (e.g. P Gor S A Mos - Pol). For an aircraft carrier unit, use the abbreviation Q (e.g. Q Liv S F Lon - Eng).
* Denmark, Gibraltar, Turkey, Suez, and Panama are all canal provinces. This means that both an army and a fleet can move through these spaces.
* Any unit can move across the "red arrows". However, a unit cannot retreat across a "red arrow". "Red arrows" connect the following pairs: Scotland and Ireland, Taranto and Sicily, Abyssinia and Yemen, Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Kyoto and Hokkaido, Hokkaido and Sakhalin, Sakhalin and Vladivostak, and Kamchatka and Alaska.
* Denmark borders Oslo, and an army can move from Denmark to Oslo. Essentially, Denmark comprises both Denmark and Skagerrak from Standard Dip.
* Gibraltar is a much larger space than just the British colony of Gibraltar, extending from the Bay of Biscay and East Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Lyon and Tyrrhenian Sea, while bordering both Iberia and Casablanca as well.

==PROVINCES==

Abyssinia: Aby
Adriatic Sea: Adr
Afghanistan: Afg
Alaska: Ala
Alberta: Alb
Alsace-Lorraine: Als
Amazon: Ama
Angola: Ang
Aquitaine: Aqu
Argentina: Arg
Arabian Sea: ArS
Atlantic Southern Ocean: ASO
Austria: Aus
Azerbaijan: Aze
Azores: Azo
Baltic Sea: Bal
Barents Sea: BaS
Bavaria: Bav
Bay of Bengal: BBg
British East Africa: BEA
Beijing: Bei
Berlin: Ber
Bering Sea: BeS
Birmingham: Bir
Bismarck Sea: BiS
Black Sea: Bla
British New Guinea: BNG
Benelux: BNL
Bay of Biscay: BoB
Bolivia: Bol
Brazil: Bra
Burma: Brm
Beirut: Brt
Bulgaria: Bul
Burgundy: Bur
British West Africa: BWA
Cameroon: Cam
Caribbean: Car
Casablanca: Cas
Ceylon: Cey
Chad: Cha
Chicago: Chi
Columbia: Col
Belgian Congo: Con
Corsica: Cor
Coral Sea: CoS
Cape Horn: CpH
Caspian Sea: Csp
Dakar: Dak
Denmark: Den
Dutch New Guinea: DNG
Dunkirk: Dun
Dutch West Indies: DWI
Danzig: Dzg
East Atlantic Ocean: EAO
East China Sea: ECS
El Alamein: ElA
Eastern Mediterranean: Eme
English Channel: ENG
East Pacific Ocean: EPO
East Prussia: Epr
East Sea of Japan: ESJ
East Turkestan: ETu
Finland: Fin
Gansu: Gan
Guadalcanal: Gdc
Gibraltar: Gib
Gulf of Alaska: GoA
Gulf of Bothnia: GoB
Gulf of Guinea: GoG
Gulf of Lyon: GoL
Gulf of Mexico: GoM
Gorky: Gor
Gulf of Siam: GoS
Gulf of Tonkin: GoT
Greece: Gre
Greenland: Grn
Guangdong: Gua
Hamburg: Ham
Hanoi: Han
Hawaii: Haw
Hefei: Hef
Hiroshima: Hir
Hungary: Hng
Hokkaido: Hok
Houston: Hou
Hunan: Hun
Iberia: Ibe
Iceland: Ice
India: Ind
Inner Mongolia: Img
Indian Ocean: InO
Inland Sea: InS
Ionian Sea: Ion
Iran: Ira
Ireland: Ire
Irish Sea: IRI
Indian Southern Ocean: ISO
Iwo Jima: Iwo
Jubaland: Jub
Kamchatka: Kam
Kiel: Kie
Korea: Kor
Kyoto: Kyo
Labrador Sea: LaS
Leningrad: Len
Libya: Lib
Lithuania: Lit
Liverpool: Liv
London: Lon
Madagascar: Mad
Mali: Mal
Manchuria: Man
Mesopotamia: Mes
Mexico: Mex
Malaya: Mly
Mongolia: Mon
Moscow: Mos
Mozambique: Moz
Murmansk: Mur
Mozambique Channel: MzC
Nagasaki: Nag
Nanjing: Nan
North Atlantic Ocean: NAO
Novosibirsk: Nov
North Pacific Ocean: NPO
Normandy: Nrm
North Sea: Nth
Norwegian Sea: NwS
New York City: NYC
New Zealand: Nze
Okinawa: Oki
Okhostk Sea: OkS
Oman: Oma
Ontario: Ont
Oslo: Osl
Ottawa: Ott
Panama: Pan
Pacific Ocean: PaO
Paris: Par
Peru: Per
Philippines: Phi
Philippine Sea: PhS
Piedmont: Pie
Poland: Pol
Pomerania: Pom
Persian Gulf: Prg
Pacific Southern Ocean: PSO
Red Sea: Red
Rhineland: Rhi
Rhodesia: Rho
Rome: Rom
Rumania: Rum
South Africa: Saf
Saigon: Sai
Sakhalin: Sak
South Atlantic Ocean: SAO
Sardinia: Sar
Saudi Arabia: Sau
Sichuan: Sch
Scotland: Sco
South China Sea: SCS
Sudan: Sdn
Seattle: Sea
San Francisco: Sfo
Shanghai: Sha
Siam: Sia
Sicily: Sic
Silesia: Sil
Somalia: Som
Solomon Sea: SoS
South Pacific Ocean: SPO
Spratly Islands: Spr
Stalingrad: Sta
Sudentenland: Sud
Suez: Sue
Sweden: Swe
Switzerland: Swi
Sydney: Syd
Taiwan: Tai
Taranto: Tar
Tashkent: Tas
Tibet: Tib
Timor Sea: TiS
Tokyo: Tok
Toulouse: Tou
Transjordan: Tra
Turkmenistan: Trk
Trondheim: Tro
Truk Lagoon: Tru
Tsushima Straits: Tsu
Turkey: Tur
Tuscany: Tus
Tyrrhenian Sea: TyS
Urals: Ura
Venice: Ven
Vladivostok: Vla
West Atlantic Ocean: WAO
Western Australia: Wau
Washington DC: WDC
West Indies: Win
West Pacific Ocean: WPO
West Sea of Japan: WSJ
Yakutsk: Yak
Yalta: Yal
Yemen: Yem
Yellow Sea: YeS
Yorkshire: Yor
Yugoslavia: Yug
Yukon Territory: Yuk
Yunnan: Yun

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 A Diplomacy variant by Nick Higgins
-[[image:WW2_large_map_half.gif|800px]]
+[[image:WW2_Large_Map_half.gif|800px]]
 ==BACKGROUND==

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 A Diplomacy variant by Nick Higgins
-[[image:WW2_GameEngine_Map_Legend5.gif|800px]]
+[[image:WW2_large_map_half.gif|800px]]
 ==BACKGROUND==

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 A Diplomacy variant by Nick Higgins
-[[image:WW2-1931_start.jpg|800px]]
+[[image:WW2_GameEngine_Map_Legend5.gif|800px]]
 ==BACKGROUND==

@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 * There are 8 players:
 ** Britain (B, 13)
 ** France (F, 11)
 ** Germany (G, 6)
 ** Italy (I, 6)
 ** Japan (J, 8)
 ** USA (A, 6)
 * Britain and France start with more supply centers because of their colonial empires.
 * There are 96 supply centers, with 39 in Europe, 38 in Asia, 10 in the Americas, and 9 in Africa.

@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 ==RULES==
-* There are 8 players: Britain (B, 13), France (F, 11), Germany (G, 6), Italy (I, 6), USSR (S, 9), Japan (J, 8), Republic of China (C, 7), and USA (A, 6).  Britain and France start with more supply centers because of their colonial empires.
+* There are 8 players:
 * There are 96 supply centers, with 39 in Europe, 38 in Asia, 10 in the Americas, and 9 in Africa.
 * The victory condition is 32 SCs (one-third of the total).

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 Variant website:  [http://ww2-1931.tripod.com/index.html http://ww2-1931.tripod.com/index.html]
-[[image:Ae50xl.gif|800px|thumb]]
+[[image:WW2-1931_start.jpg|800px]]
 ==BACKGROUND==
@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
 * Denmark borders Oslo, and an army can move from Denmark to Oslo.  Essentially, Denmark comprises both Denmark and Skagerrak from Standard Dip.
 * Gibraltar is a much larger space than just the British colony of Gibraltar, extending from the Bay of Biscay and East Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Lyon and Tyrrhenian Sea, while bordering both Iberia and Casablanca as well.
 ==PROVINCES==