Much of this stolen blatantly from JustPlainPavek's OP in CF!
Diplomacy!
Please read
all of this post if you would like to play. Diplomacy is a strategy game for seven players and a gamemaster. It is sometimes compared to Risk but has key differences — all players move simultaneously, only one unit can occupy a territory at once, no dice are rolled, and defenders always win ties. The conduct of back-channel negotiations, alliances, and the dreaded backstab are key elements of the game.
A good introduction to the rules of the game is
here; if you read nothing else, read this. Prosthetic Conscience has also run
two games on the forums already which you might want to read through. Hasbro's official rules are
here (pdf) and there is also
Wikipedia. See also the
Diplomacy Archive FAQ.
Added: Rules clarification about
coastal movement.
The
Diplomacy Archive and the
Diplomatic Pouch have a wealth of articles from the long history of the hobby. I highly recommend reading through them, not only to get some ideas for strategy for yourself but also to be aware of what your opponents might be up to!
Schedule
Each year will take a week.
Sunday: Game begins
Monday: Talktalktalk
Tuesday: Spring ends, orders resolved
Wednesday: Retreats resolved
Thursday: Talktalktalk
Friday: Fall ends, orders resolved
Saturday: Retreats resolved
Sunday: Build orders
Order must be sent in by 9pm PDT/10pm MDT/11pm CDT/Midnight EDT. This means that all Spring orders must be sent in by Tuesday at 9, all Spring retreat orders must be sent in by Wednesday at 9, Fall orders must be in by Friday at 9, Fall retreat orders must be in by Saturday at 9, and Build orders must be in by Sunday at 9. For the purposes of this thread, anytime you see a time not defined by PDT/EDT/etc, I am talking about PDT, because that's where I live.
This may not end up being an ironclad schedule, depending on the need for retreats and builds, but I will always post reminders in the thread and will do my best to keep seasons falling on the same days of the week, despite the odd number of days. Whenever possible I will post maps displaying the orders and their resolution later the same night; if this is for some reason not possible, I will endeavor to let you know.
Players should probably be aware that the game will likely run for at least a month, and can potentially last much longer.Sending Orders
I won't repeat all the rules of the game here — the links listed above do a far more thorough job than I could — but if anything is at any time unclear on how orders work please post a question in
bold orange or (if you don't wish to be publicly identified as the questioner) PM me. It is highly highly recommended that you familiarize yourself with the complete rules of the game before play begins — particularly how bounces and supports work, since these tend to cause the most confusion. My Diplomacy experience is not massive so I will appreciate any polite corrections and your patience in the event of an error on my part.
All orders should be sent to me, visiblehowl, via PM on this forum, with the subject line "[Game] [Country] Orders [Season] [Year]" (i.e. Eurasia Italy Orders Spring 1901). You may send your orders in either complete or abbreviated form:
Complete:
Army Munich moves to Burgundy
Army Ruhr supports Army Munich's move to Burgundy
Fleet North Sea convoys Army Denmark to Belgium
Army Denmark moves to Belgium through Fleet North Sea's convoy
Army Sweden holds
Abbreviated:
A Mun moves to Bur
A Ruh supports A Mun to Bur
F Nth convoys A Den to Bel
A Den moves to Bel via F Nth convoy
A Swe holds
The abbreviated form is, with a few exceptions (which are noted on the map below) the first three letters of the province name.
I will be lenient as to incorrect order writing, within reason. If it's obvious what you meant, I'll do it that way. However, if you don't specify a coast when moving to a region with two coasts, or there are two territories you could move to with slightly different names and you put one instead of the other, tough luck. (You will want to take particular note in specifying the coasts of St. Petersburg, Spain and Bulgaria when moving fleets through them.) "Forgetting" to write correct orders may sometimes work as a strategy, but it may make your allies suspicious.
You may send as many sets of orders as you like up until the deadline.
I actually recommend you send a placeholder set of orders first thing in the new season, just in case you aren't able to get back to the game before the next deadline. However, please note that
I will delete all but the last set of orders sent without reading any of the previous ones. Thus, if you decide you want to make changes to a previous order, you must write your
full set of orders in a new message if you wish for them to all take effect. If you fail to specify an order for a unit, it will Hold by default. Late orders will not be accepted.
If you fail to send any orders for two consecutive turns, your country will undergo bloody revolution and a new ruler will take your place from the reserve list. The game can be time-consuming and we all have lives outside this, but if you feel you cannot continue to play, don't leave your allies hanging and
don't screw over the person who will be taking your place; turn your position over to one of the reserves before you start missing turns. In the event that all players cannot make a deadline (for a holiday, for example) we can announce a temporary postponement.
Communications
This game is not called Diplomacy for nothing — most games involve a large amount of discussion behind the scenes. There are three principal modes of communication in the game (not counting the sending of orders to the GM detailed above):
- Person-to-Person PMs — You are welcome to PM (or IM, or e-mail) other players as much or as little as you like during the game. You may "cc" or "bcc" more than one participant in your message, however "ccing" your Orders to anyone other than the GM is forbidden. This is strictly to preserve an element of uncertainty in the game, and you are welcome to write other players separate messages describing what your orders were (or what you claim them to be). Similarly, using screenshots / image captures of other players' messages is forbidden, but forwarding a message to another player is allowed, since the text can conceivably be altered prior to sending.
You do not need to cc the GM on regular PMs between each other. If, however, you receive a message which violates these rules, it is your responsibility as a player to report it immediately — this is the only instance in which the use of screenshots (to document the offense) is acceptable. Players who violate these rules risk losing their position in the game to a replacement ruler.
- Posting to the Game Thread — Players are welcome to post as much or as little on the public game thread as they like. Just remember that orders are sent to the GM, not posted here. It's probably not a good idea to call out your enemies in public, but then again maybe it's all a ruse to confuse your real enemy?
All countries filled! Still taking reserves!
Signup requirements are below the spoiler. Please do this even if you're playing as a reserve.
Signing Up
I'm sort of expecting a fair number of people to sign up for this, so since there are only seven slots, I'm going to go by some better criteria than "who happens to be online when signups go up".
When you signup, please PM me the following information. PM, not a public post.
1. The % chance you'll be able to see the whole game through. What are the chances that you'll be able to keep playing this game for up to three months? Three months is probably too long to expect this game to last, but it could happen, so let me know what your availability is. If you think it's 90% likely you'll be able to play for 2 months, but only 60% likely you'll be able to play in the third month, feel free to say that.
2. How much you want to play, on a scale of 1-10. Please be honest with this; I don't want to see a bunch of tens just because people think that's the only way they'll be able to play. I'm expecting mostly scores between 7 and 9.
3. How many games (approximately) you've played before. Preference will be given to people who have played before, subject to the above criteria.
These are in order of importance. I'd rather have 7 newbies who only kind of want to play but will commit to the full time than 7 veterans who desperately want to play but will drop out within a few weeks. It probably won't come down to me choosing between newbies and veterans, but if I'm choosing between two people who have similar answers to 1 and 2, preference will go to the veterans since that tends to make the game more fun for other veterans.
All of these criteria are subject to change on my whim. Please remember not to post your answers publically, but send them to me via PM.
Games:
We have two games playing simultaneously: Eurasia and Eastasia. These are just names, there's nothing actually different between the two games. This is the Eastasia thread. The players and their countries are below:
Cauld - England
durax - Austria
[strike]hesthefastest - Russia[/strike]
James - Italy
[strike]Jason Todd- France[/strike]
[strike]JPants - Turkey[/strike]
[strike]Professor Phobos - Germany[/strike] - dropped out, not replacedReserves
amateurhour
Casual Eddy
Ethan Smith
thorgot
Current Map:
Posts
Clearly I should be going to war with Eastasia instead of Eurasia.
Inform the populace!
We Austrians are known to be trustworthy and kind, right? No Austrian has ever really caused any problems in the world, I believe. Why, we are one of the most peaceful countries in the world.
[/history grognard]
THIS! IS! DIPLOMACY!
I'm in several phallas in CF so my inbox is often near full, that's why i say email or chat is probably better. Not that I won't respond to PM's...
timezones make my brain hurt.
About 3 1/2 hours from now.
Chances are low that I will actually be here when the orders deadline passes. However, I'll resolve orders and everything when I get back.
Movement Map:
Resolution:
Orders:
No retreating units; retreat phase skipped.
Order Results:
Austria:
A bud Holds
F tri Holds
A vie Holds
England:
F edi -> nwg
A lvp -> yor
F lon -> nth
France:
F bre -> pic
A mar-> spa
A par -> bur
Germany:
A ber -> kie
F kie -> den
A mun -> ruh
Italy:
F nap -> ion
A rom -> ven
A ven -> pie
Russia:
A mos -> ukr
F sev -> rum
F stp/sc -> bot
A war Holds
Turkey:
F ank -> arm
A con -> bul
A smy -> con
GM's Notes:
[Game] [Country] Orders [Season] [Year]. For example: Eastasia Austria Orders Spring 1901
Yeah, though I don't know how much of that is due to Austria not taking their turn.
I think if Austria had taken their turn it would be even crazier.
I know, the tension!
EDIT: Wait, when is the deadline? Isn't it not for another half-hour?
24 minutes.
Oh, right. In that case I hope everyone remembers to get their orders in.
Results will go up shortly. I'm going to go ahead and post just the maps, and see if anybody is unhappy about me not posting the exact orders.
I might also list "Events" which will indicate bounces, captures, and retreats. We'll see.
The images are easy; I just export them, host them on photobucket, and post them.
Reformatting the order lists from jDip's shitty system is the real pain.
Sweet.
Then don't bother. Once we get further into the game you'll have to do that for even larger numbers of orders. It'll only get more painful.