WW2-1931

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A Diplomacy variant by Nick Higgins

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

WW2-1931 start.jpg

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