Welcome to the World of... Diplomacy
What is Diplomacy?
Diplomacy is a boardgame of strategy and intrigue for seven players, where random chance plays no role. Luck remains crucial (can I outguess my opponent?), but the game uses no dice, no cards, and no drawing of lots beyond the distribution of who is to play what power. From there on, it is you versus the other players, with tactics, strategy, cunning, negotiation and persuasion your primary tools for winning the game.
In Diplomacy, each player controls one of the seven major powers at the start of the twentieth century: Austria-Hungary, England, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, or Turkey. No one player has sufficient power to win alone, and yet cooperation is rife with risk, since nothing a player says during negotiations is binding. By negotiating alliances and treaties with the other players, each player seeks control over Europe, balancing trust and suspicion, loyalty and ruthless backstabs.
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How to Play
1. You can get a copy of the rules Here (go for the current .pdf file version for the USA).
2. Here are copies of the gameboard Map (I prefer the one on the top right).
I would suggest printing out a copy of the map and the rules (if possible) and taking time to read it through carefully.
Although, reading the rules will prepare you to play, understanding them well will make you a more cunning diplomat and tactician.
More reading on Diplomacy strategies is also available at Diplomacy-Archive.com
or The Diplomacy Pouch
Now let the intrigue and backstabbing begin!
Check out the following pages for basic diplomacy strategy tips. I highly recommend reading Sections 1-4.
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Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Some Guidelines
DEADLINES
The deadlines will be weekly as follows:
Orders - Due Fridays by 7:00PM
Retreats - Due Mondays by 7:00PM
Builds - Due Tuesday by 7:00PM
The deadlines will be followed, so be sure to have your orders in on time.
Remember you can always submit orders earlier than their deadline.
If no orders are received on time, your units will hold. More importantly though,
if you don't submit orders on time, you are missing the game.
People are depending on you to make the game fun and interesting.
SUBMITTING ORDERS
Submit orders to me by email with the subject titled orders, followed by the game year.
So for your first orders, please label the subject of your email: "Orders Spring 1901".
Then next week label them "Orders Fall 1901" and so on. The purpose of labeling your
emails is so that I can distinguish between you submitting orders and you communicating
with me. I will keep your order emails unopened until after the deadline. For other
orders, like retreats and builds, label them "Retreats Spring 19--" and "Builds Fall
19--".
WRITING ORDERS
Be sure to follow the rulebook for writing orders. Start with the type of unit,
then the space the unit is currently occupying, followed by its order. For example,
an army in Paris wishing to move to Burgundy would be written as "A Par-Bur".
Read over the rules to make sure you understand the basics of moving for armies
and fleets. Please note:
--An illegal order is not followed
--A mistaken order, if legal, must be followed
--An order with two meanings is not followed
UNUSUAL ORDERS
Three provinces on the gameboard have two coasts - Bulgaria, Spain, and St. Petersburg.
Therefore, sometimes it will be possible for a fleet to move to either coast of a province.
If it is possible for a fleet to move to either coast, the coast must be specified in the
order (North coast = NC, South coast = SC, East coast = EC) or the fleet does not move.
This only happens in a few situations. For example, if you have a fleet in the Mid Atlantic and
it's moving to Spain, you must indicate NC or SC. The order might look like, "F MAt-Spa NC".
GAME ON
The game is now officially underway so once you are ready, begin plotting, scheming, & negotiating.
If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know asap, so we can address it before the
game gets underway. Good luck Comrades, I look forward to seeing you on the battle front.
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