Colonial

The Colonial Diplomacy variant of diplomacy follows the most of the rules as standard diplomacy with a modified map, and (someday) with 3 optional rules which can be set on or off at the GM's desire. The game is the first commercially published true simple Diplomacy variant.

Variant Rules:

1) Except as noted below, the standard rules of play for Diplomacy apply.

2) There are 7 great powers. The starting units are as follows:

B-BRITAIN

A Madras
A Delhi
F Bombay
F Hong Kong
F Singapore
F Aden

C-CHINA

A Peking
A Canton
A Sinkiang
A Shanghai
A Manchuria

F-FRANCE

A Tongking
F Annam
A Conchin

H-HOLLAND

F Java
A Borneo
F Sumatra

J-JAPAN

A Kyoto
F Kyushu
F Otaru
F Tokyo

R-RUSSIA

A Moscow
A Vladivostok
A Omsk
F Odessa
F Port Arthur

T-TURKEY

A Angora
F Baghdad
F Constantinople

3) There are three optional rules which cannot be listed here because the Hasbro copyright applies. Plus, they haven't been coded up yet! Trans Siberian Railroad and Rules Errata

4) CEBU looks like a body of water with islands inside of it, which is accurate. It is analogous to Kiel, Constantinople or Denmark in the standard diplomacy.

5) The Caspian Sea, Lake Baykal and any other unnamed space is not passable.

6) There are 58 supply centers. The victory criterion is possession of 30 supply centers at the end of any Fall retreat.

7) The game begins in 1870.

8) This version of Colonial is based on the Moulmein Convention, so land bridges have been added between Otaru and Akita, and Sakalin and Otaru. Note that this may not be implemented on your particular Judge, so that any moves generated by Realpolitik using these land bridges may not be accepted.

Province Abbreviations:

All land province are abbreviated by the first three letters of the province, except the following:

hk Hong Kong
kag Kashgar
kam Kashmir
mac Manchuria
may Mandalay
mna Manila
gui New Guinea
prs Persia
prm Perm
part Port Arthur
sig Singapore
sik Sinkiang
ubur Upper Burma

Sea Space abbreviations are less obvious, but there is a pattern.

All sea spaces which take the form Sea of #Something or Gulf of ##Something take the abbreviation so# or go#. For example, Gulf of Manaar is "gom" and Sea of Japan is "soj".

All sea spaces which take the form ###something Sea or ###something Gulf take the abbreviation ###s. For example, Persian Gulf is "perg" and Sulu Sea is "suls".

All sea spaces which end in Ocean or no water designation (such as Lower Pacific) are abbreviated by their initials. For example, Lower Pacific is "lp" and West Indian Ocean is "wio".

If there is no conflict, you may be able to use initials even if the sea rules say otherwise. For example, the Okhotsk Sea is "okhs" but "os" will also work.

Colonial Strategy Articles: CDD Lab Notes Colonial Diplomacy Review Colonial Diplomacy Part 1 The British Colonial Diplomacy Part 2 The Chinese Colonial Diplomacy Part 3 The Dutch Colonial Diplomacy Part 4 The French Colonial Diplomacy Part 5 The Japanese Colonial Diplomacy Part 6 The Russians Colonial Diplomacy Part 7 The Turks