ABERRATION III (Rod Walker) ???/09
(1) GORDON McDONALD in AC-MONG 45 (April 1992).
A popular variant a few years back. This game is a 9 player: Burgundy,
Byzantine Empire, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Poland, Sicily, Spain
and Ukraine.
The map goes east into Iran and south as far as the Sahara with
54 supply centres and the victory criterion being 28 units on
the board at any one time. Builds may be on any owned supply centre,
providing you controls at least one home centre. There are also
special spaces similar to off-board boxes found in some other
variants and also a number of canals.
Each of the Great Powers is a nation which might have become a
Great Power in history if things had turned out a little differently.
This variant gives one the chance to play in a large variant without
going as far as a giant such as Mercator and this design was voted
higher in the 1988 Variant of the Year Poll.
ABERRATION IV (Rod Walker)
Review: Mark Nelson, Beowulf 18 (September 1989).
A normal game of Diplomacy with a few extra rules similar to Vain
Rats. Supply centres entered in a Spring turn become neutral,
the Key Rule is used, there are three movement seasons before
builds, variable strength units and a few other changes. Some
nice ideas, but there are better variants around which use similar
ideas.
ABSTRACTION II (Fred C. Davis Jnr)
(1) STEVE AGAR & JON LOVIBOND in ??? (circa 1979)
This variant is a modified form of regular Diplomacy, the difference
being that the various powers start off with one unit more than
in regular Diplomacy -- the number of provinces on the board is
increased by about 30%. The expansion of the board includes the
complete North African coastline. In this variant a new form of
convoy is introduced, the A/F. A/F's make for a faster and more
fluid game -- the dreaded stalemate lines of regular Dip can be
avoided. The game is played in moves of one month, the first being
July 1914.
(2) Pete Sullivan in C'Est Magnifique 55, July 1988.
Quite possibly the best-designed variant of all time. The basic
scenario is the same --- World War One Europe, seven Great Powers
---- but the redesigned map and the Davis Army/Fleet rules (which
allow fleets to carry armies `piggy-back', for several turns if
required) mean that you have a much more `open' game, and a better
balanced one than with Regular Diplomacy. The winter Frozen Regions
rule is a right bind when you forget about it (as I did), and
as for the exchange of provinces rule, has anyone ever used this
in an actual game?
(3) JAMES NELSON in SPRINGY 45 (February 1991)
This is one of the best Diplomacy variants and is based on a slightly
altered map. New provinces and new supply centres are added to
make movement more fluid, remove stalemate lines and improve the
positions of the weaker powers. The convoy rules are axed in favour
of the revolutionary Army/Fleet rules which enable armies to ride
piggy-back on fleets at sea.
This variant also produces a good, if not the best, two-player
game based on the First World War. This idea is something I'm
currently working on -six playtests have shown that there are
some faults which I'm aiming to correct for an even better two-player
game. However the current game is superior to that in the rule-book.
ACTIVE NEUTRALS (Robert Sacks) rb01/07
(1) MIGUEL LAMBOTTE in SOL 2 (October 1990)
At the beginning of the game every neutral centre is garrisoned
by an army which is controlled by a major player.
AFRICA (Richard Egan)
(1) Mark Nelson in Beowulf 18, September 1989.
One of the best new variants in recent years. Basically a simple
variant which recreates superpower politics on the African continent
in the 1960's. The five powers use their influence to control
different States and it's possible to change which States you
play by investing Influence Points. A game where a devious nature
is required and where tactical skill and diplomacy are also required.
ALIEN'S DIPLOMACY (Lewis Pulsipher)
(1) ANDREW ENGLAND in Affairs of State (1988)
The world of the 21st century is the topic of this variant. The
European map is used but the game is based upon various alien
powers which invade Earth via "transmatters" which are
used to "jump" units around the board and to bring on
new units. This should provide for some weird possibilities.
ANARCHIST DIPLOMACY
(1) ANDREW ENGLAND in Affairs of State (1988)
The rules are the same as regular diplomacy except that at the
beginning the players are assigned three centres at random. What
this means is that negotiations are hectic and of paramount importance;
"the ultimate in messy negotiations" as players struggle
to create a little knot from which to expand. Good fun. There
are currently two games in progress in The Envoy.
ANARCHY V (Jeremy Tullett)
(1) Mark Nelson in Beowulf 18, September 1989.
A game played on the regular Dip map with between 2 and 34 players.
Each player receives 34/n supply centres at the start of the game
which are determined randomly such that none of his starting centres
are within three moves of another one. For instance, a player
might be given Con, StP and Lpl! Thus the starting units are mixed
up, an attempt to encourage diplomacy between all players in the
game.
ANCIENT EMPIRES I (John Boyer)
(1) Robert Sacks in Lord of Hosts 5, June 1975.
Rules originally published in Impassable 3rd Anniversary
issue.
John Boyer has done a beautiful job of cutting up and flattening
a sphere. A game for five or seven players, each player begins
with a fleet in a fortified center; which has an intrinsic defence
of one unit. One may build fleets in any center, but armies may
only be built in fortified centers. There is also a name box between
spaces 2,3,10,11,12 and 14 which I suppose is impassable, but
I suggest that it should be omitted and boundaries extended to
fill it in, by absorbing it into space 12. Good and solid.
(2) STEVE AGAR in V&U 4 (September 1980)
This is a small world variant (units can move off one side of
the map and reappear on the other side) set in an invented geographical
scenario, the only familiar aspect of which is that the name of
ancient empires (Rome, Carthage, Athens etc) are used for home
centres. It's a small game as there are only 17 centers, 9 of
which are required for victory. As it only takes five players
it could prove to be okay for small FTF meetings.
ANCIENT EMPIRES III (John Lipscomb) ac/07
(1) GORDON McDONALD in AC-MONG 41 (December 1991)
Originally designed by John Lipscomb with map supplied by Fred
C. Davis Jnr. The game starts in 300BC although it is stated that
for historical accuracy the start date should be 246BC, the beginning
of the First Punic War. One can see some similarities in the map
with `The Conquerors' (qv), although map quality isn't as good.
Some historical licence has been used in creating the seven powers
that play a part in the game; Carthage, New Carthage, Rome, Macedonia,
Ptolemy (Egypt), Antigonus and Seleucus (Persia).
There are differences in some of the basic moves such as a unit
being dislodged if attacked when it is attempting to move and
the ability of friendly forces to exchange provinces by moving
through each other etc.
Optional rules are also available, bringing Barbarians into play
in Gaul, Danubia and Scythia (running from Brittany to the Crimea)
and/or a Winter 301BC season so that players can alter their initial
unit deployment. Again, Rome is on a par with the rest.
APPOSITION (Paul Willey) sg08/05
(1) Mark Nelson in Beowulf 18, September 1989.
A neat five-player space variant. As the planets move around the
sun their relative positions change and so the location of one's
home supply centres move relative to the other players'.
A D This set-up changes to B D and there are four different set-ups.
B C A C
The fifth player is an alien who enters the top of the board and
tries to sweep all before him; it isn't able to communicate with
the other players except through the press.
(2) Steve Agar and James Nelson in Spring Offensive 19,
January 1994.
This is not only a very simple variant but it is also a very elegant
one as well. Four of the players represent each of the four life
supporting planets in our solar system (Earth, Mars, Venus &
Mercury) and the fifth player represents an invading alien force
whose units have a strength of 1X ((2X? or 1.5X? MN)). The four
planetary powers do not know the identity of the alien player
and vice versa, effectively limiting the alien to press releases
as a means of diploming. What makes this variant so beautiful
is that the four planetary systems (which comprise of three home
centers and two noncentres on the home planet, a neutral centre
and six `space' provinces) rotate around the solar system, effectively
changing places with each other. This adds an extra dimension
to the tactics of the game as an astute player will be able to
slip units behind enemy lines.
ATLANTICA III (Fred Davis Jnr)
(1) Pete Sullivan in C'Est Magnifique 55, July 1988.
Map centered on the Atlantic Ocean, which means that Army/Fleet
rules are a must. Noticeable for its assumptions that the South
won the Civil War, with both the United States and the Confederate
States as Great Powers. But what makes the game for me are the
rules for `discovering' Atlantis (an additional neutral supply
centre) in one of the six possible locations in the middle of
the Atlantic. A game I'd like to see tried again in the British
postal hobby.
(2) Bill O'Neil in Moonlighting 9, June 1980.
This is primarily a map change variant. Allan Calhamer has said
that Diplomacy itself was inspired by a thesis on the importance
of `strategic zones', which could best be dominated by *either*
sea or land forces.
The game's aim was that the `importance' of the two zones should
be roughly equal and that powers relying on only one zone would
find it difficult to win. In Diplomacy there is a central land
mass with sea areas around the edge. In Atlantica there is a `central'
ocean with land at the edges. Both games have problems with the
`real-world' maps they have to use.
Atlantica has Canada, USA and the Confederacy in the west, all
of which are coastal; and England, France, Germany and Italy in
the east. The problem here is that Germany and Italy are cut off
from the Atlantic by England and France. The map tries to alleviate
this by using wrap-around boxes joined to a few areas on each
edge, (Suez, Siberia, Panama and Alaska). I feel these are too
slow for opening moves. By the time you have gotten to the other
side of the board, you will be left behind in the grab for neutrals.
This restricts east-west relations in Europe. If the western power
refuses to let an eastern power out into the Atlantic then the
eastern power *must* attack it, (each power gets a fresh `high
seas fleet' mortgaged to one of the neutrals, and through placement
of this is restricted, it can help with a break-out). If the western
power *does* allow a corridor, it becomes highly vulnerable to
a stab from the east.
To balance the enhanced sea-zone, Abstraction (A/F) convoys are
used instead of the normal `multiple fast ferry'. The chrome includes
`frozen polar regions' and `the lost centre of Atlantis'. All
together a good and fun variant!
(3) STEVE AGAR in Spring Offensive 8 (January 1993)
A transatlantic variant with the various powers on each side of
the Atlantic fighting each other for dominance. Atlantica III
is a seven player variant with England, France, Germany, Italy,
Canada, USA and Confederates, while Atlantic IV adds an eighth
player --- Mexico. Atlantica also uses Fred's A/F rules to allow
players to cross the oceans quickly.
(4) Nicholas Whyte on rec.games.diplomacy 13th January 1994.
Bill O'Neill has established some of the reasons why this is not
as good a variant as it looks. I think he is actually wrong about
Italy, which can break out with some difficulty through Africa,
but he is right about Germany; the same problem affects Canada,
which has no real route to the Atlantic except through the US.
The US and Canada are horribly mixed up with each other anyway,
loads of home centres bordering on each other, and the American
side of the map is generally a mess. The worst of all is the horrendous
interaction between the "Bay of Fundy" and "Gaspe"
spaces, which imprison about five others, mostly supply centres,
between them; the smaller sea spaces along the American sea-board,
apart from the Bay of Fundy, are completely useless for almost
any purpose, as are several of the new ones bordering Europe and
Africa; and the Atlantis rule is just plain silly (not that that's
a great disadvantage!). It doesn't suffer as badly from stalemate
lines as Youngstown, but that is the main point in its favour.
(1) Robert Sacks in Lord of Hosts 10, July 1976.
Rules originally published in Asmodeus! 2.
A seven-player farce among the mini-powers who gave us WWI, not
quite ready for play as it lacks rules regarding landlocked powers,
the various canals and straits. There are 19 land provinces and
19 of them are supply centers; victory criteria is to control
seven of them for two consecutive turns.
BALKAN WARS R (David Schwartz)
(1) Robert Sacks in Lord of Hosts 11, November 1976.
Rules originally published in Asmodeus! 4.
This version *is* playable. Serbia is still land-locked (perhaps
no problem) and there are two four-points. There are five players
with three centers each, two minor centers on land, and one island
center; victory criterion is nine centers. Fleet transit through
the Sea of Marmora is by permission of the power controlling the
entrance.
BARBARIA (unknown)
(1) Andrew Poole in Outposts 6, October 1981.
Rules originally published in Thangorodrim in 1969.
8 players represent the major powers in the middle ages (Anglo-Saxons,
Avars, Byzantine Empire, Franks, Lombards, Ostrogoths, Vandals
and Visigoths) making it look like a very interesting variant.
BAWTINHIMER (Bob Bawtinhimer)
Rules originally published in Runestone 71.
(1) Robert Sacks in Lord of Hosts 5, June 1975.
Add Spain (actually Iberia), Warsaw is neutral, Russia starts
with an army StP, four additional supply centers, sixteen new
or substitute provinces and Syria connects to Sevastopol. It appears
to have one four-point.
BETWEEN GALAXIES I (Lew Pulsipher) sg01/05-07
(1) Steve Agar and James Nelson in Spring Offensive 19,
January 1994.
This variant is played on a hex map which represents a cluster
of 24 galaxies of various types --- regular and barred spirals,
elliptical and irregular. Fleets may move in a straight line up
to three empty hexes in length. There are no supply centres as
such, hexes with galaxies in them have an economic value between
1 and 7, a fleet requiring five economic points to build or maintain.
Fleets of the same power may co-exist in the same hex.
BHEARNA BAOGHAIL (Michael Mills)
Published in Emhain Macha 2 (?? 1979)
(1) STEVE AGAR ??? circa September 1980
The game covers Strongbow's invasion of Ireland in 1171, the English
player having to cope with six Irish Clans. The only significant
rule change is the introduction of three move seasons between
builds (presumably because of the relatively small size of the
board).
BIG BROTHER'S EXPANDED WW III GAME FOR EIGHT PLAYERS (Charles
Reinsel)
(1) Robert Sacks in Lord of Hosts 9, March 1976.
Originally published in Command 1.
Many additional spaces including North America; some half centers;
Bermuda, Cuba and Puerto Rico are spaces controlled by England,
Russia and the US. Each major power starts with two atomic bombs
and one anti-missile, and Switzerland and Canada each have a bomb
for the first occupier. Several good features.
BIOPLOMACY (Al and Tom Buracki)
Rules originally published in Ragweed 12.
(1) Robert Sacks in Lord of Hosts 4, March 1975.
Without doubt one of the most complicated variants published,
it actually resembles more of a wargame. Nine or ten players;
five baboons, reptiles, insects, canines, felines and birds. 3-D
movement. Separate types of unit for each species; economics,
and units have multiple and half values. Optional rules include
Monsoons and Hidden Movement Underground. There are Mountains,
Rivers and a Swamp with special rules for each. I somehow do not
think that it will serve as a diplomatic simulation of ecological
competition.
BRITAIN (Danny Loeb and Bruce McIntyre [independently]) ??/07
(1) (review taken from the rec.games.diplomacy.FAQ file on 28/1/93)
In the Great Britain variant each English province is a supply
center and England starts with six armies. Thus, England is the
"strongest" country, but can't do anything until another
player agrees to convoy one of his armies (or he is forced to
debuild one of his units and then builds a fleet after retaking
the supply center).
The victory conditions are 19 centers. This variant has been run over internet, although why anyone would want to play in it...
Back to the Introduction
On to the next file variants C-D
or jump to a specific letter
[ A | B | C |
D | E | F |
G | H | I |
J | K | L | M |
N | O | P | Q |
R | S | T |
U | V | W |
X | Y | Z | 1]