Arms Merchant Diplomacy

 

1. Arms Merchant Diplomacy was inspired by the Fiascomacy and Vote variants.
2. Any number of players from 3 upwards can take part.  The game is played on a standard Diplomacy board, and all standard Diplomacy rules apply, except where amended below.
3. Each player starts the game with eight (8) Influence Factors (IFs) that she/he must allocate to any one or more of the seven major countries, in any combination he/she wishes (e.g., Russia 4, Turkey 2, England 1, France 1).  This initial allocation is submitted along with the first turn’s unit orders.
4. Once invested, IFs cannot be transferred between countries and the player’s investment in the country concerned remains (unless it is lost—see rule 8 below).
5. At the end of every Spring turn, each player receives two (2) IFs that he/she must allocate the following turn, along with that turn’s movement orders.
6. At the end of every Fall turn, each player receives two (2) IFs, plus a bonus of one (1) IF for each country in which they have the largest (or equal largest) allocation of IFs, unless hat country suffered a decrease in its supply center count that year.  These IFs must be allocated the following turn, along with that turn's movement orders.
7. IFs must be allocated the season after they are received; they cannot be retained for use later.
8. If a country has a unit disbanded because of a lost Supply Center, the player with the most IFs in that country loses one-quarter of their allocated IFs from that country, for each unit disbanded in that turn (rounded to the nearest whole number).  If two or more players have the most IFs in a country, each loses one-quarter of their allocated IFs (rounded to the nearest whole number).  A player’s IFs may never be reduced below 0 in any country.
9. Each player must submit orders for all countries in which she/he currently has one or more IFs allocated.  If orders are not submitted for each unit belonging to a country where a player has IFs allocated, the number of IFs in that country are halved for that player.  Drop any remaining fractional IFs.
10. The moves for each country’s units are determined by weighting each particular order by the number of IFs that the submitting player has allocated in that country. Each unit is then moved (or not moved) in accordance with the order with the greatest weight behind it.  If there are two or more exactly equal orders for a unit, the orders cancel each other out, and the next highest weighted order is followed.  If all orders for a unit have the same weight, or if there are no orders for the unit, the unit holds.

 

An example:

Country: Russia (Spring 1901)

 

 

The weighted orders for Russia that will be implemented in Spring 1901 are:

 

F StP(sc)-GOB; F Sev-H; A War-Gal; A Mos-StP.

 

11. Note that in this variant, there are no default Hold orders for the players.  If a country’s unit is not specifically ordered to Move, Convoy, or Support by any player, it will receive a default Hold order, but player orders do not assume default Holds for any purpose.  Only specifically written Hold orders will be valid for the players.  This is important for awarding Victory Points (see 14 below).
12. Default Builds will be at random, as will default Disbands.
13. The presence of allocated IFs also affects orders for retreats and unit adjustments as necessary.
14. Each player will receive one Victory Point (VP) for each unit that follows their orders (regardless of the outcome of that order). More than one player may receive a VP for an order that is followed.  In the above example, Dave would receive 2 VPs, Andy and Chuck 1 VP each, and Brian would receive 0 VPs.
15. The game continues until one country controls 18 centers. 
16. The Player with the most points at the end of the game will be declared the winner.