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Diplomacy (game)
Encyclopedia
Diplomacy is a strategic
board game
created by Allan B. Calhamer
in 1954 and released commercially in 1959
. Its main distinctions from most board wargames are its negotiation phases (players spend much of their time forming and betraying alliances with other players and forming beneficial strategies) and the absence of dice or other game elements that produce random effects. Set in Europe
just before the beginning of World War I
, Diplomacy is played by two to seven players, each controlling the armed forces of a major European Power (or, with few players, multiple powers). Each player aims to move his or her few starting units—and defeat those of others—to win possession of a majority of strategic cities and provinces marked as "supply centers" on the map; these supply centers allow players who control them to produce more units.
Diplomacy was the first commercially published game to be played by mail
(PBM); only chess
, which is in the public domain
, saw significant postal (long distance) play earlier. Diplomacy was also the first commercially published game to generate an active hobby with amateur fanzine
s; only science-fiction/fantasy and comics fandom saw fanzines earlier. Competitive face-to-face (FtF) Diplomacy tournaments have been held since the 1970s. Play of Diplomacy by e-mail (PBEM) has been widespread since the late 1980s.
Diplomacy has been published in the United States by Games Research, Avalon Hill
, and Hasbro
; the name is currently a registered trademark
of Hasbro's Avalon Hill division. Diplomacy has also been licensed to various companies for publication in other countries. Diplomacy is also played on the Internet
, adjudicated by computer and/or a human gamemaster.
In its catalog, Avalon Hill advertised Diplomacy as John F. Kennedy
's and Henry Kissinger
's favorite game. Kissinger described it as his favorite in an interview published in a games magazine. American broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite
was also reported to be a fan of the game.
(in 1976), by Hasbro
's Avalon Hill division (in 1999), and now by Wizards of the Coast
(in 2008) in the USA, and licensed to other boardgame publishers for versions sold in other countries. Among these are Parker Brothers, Waddingtons Games, Gibsons Games, Asmodée Editions, and several others.
and North Africa
. It is divided into fifty-six land regions and nineteen sea regions. Forty-two of the land regions are divided among the seven Great Powers of the game: Austria-Hungary
, England
, France
, Germany
, Italy
, Russia
, and Turkey
. The remaining fourteen land regions are neutral at the start of the game.
Thirty-four of the land regions contain supply centers, corresponding to major centers of government, industry or commerce (e.g. Vienna
, Rome
); twenty-two of these are located within the Great Powers, and are referred to as home supply centers. The remaining twelve are located in provinces which are neutral at the start of the game. The number of supply centers (SCs) a player controls determines the total number of armies and fleets a player may have on the board, and as players gain and lose control of different centers, they may build (raise), or must remove (disband) units accordingly.
The land provinces within the Great Powers which contain supply centres are generally named after a major city in the province (e.g. London
, Moscow
) while the other land provinces within the Great Powers are generally named after a region (e.g. Bohemia
, Apulia
). Neutral land provinces are generally named after countries (e.g. Serbia
, Belgium
). Finland
and Syria
are both parts of Great Powers as Finland was part of the Russian empire in 1914 and Syria was part of the Turkish empire in 1914. Tunis
is used rather than Tunisia
on most boards and North Africa is a single province covering parts of Algeria
and Morocco
. Although for game purposes, the game starts in 1901, the map generally reflects the political boundaries of Europe in 1914 just before the outbreak of WWI, with Bosnia already annexed to the Austrian empire, and the Balkans reflecting the results of the wars of 1912 and 1913 in that region. On the other hand, North Africa and Tunis start the game as neutral, despite these regions being part of the French colonial empire in 1914.
All players other than England and Russia begin the game with two armies and one naval fleet; England starts with two fleets and one army, and Russia starts with two armies and two fleets (making it the only player to start the game with more than three units). Only one unit at a time may occupy a given map region. Balancing units to supply center counts is done after each game-year (two seasons of play: Spring and Autumn). At the beginning of the game, the twelve neutral SCs are all typically captured within the first few moves. Further acquisition of supply centers becomes a zero sum dynamic with any gains in a player's resources coming at the expense of a rival.
in several ways:
During an attack, the greatest concentration of force is always victorious; if the forces are equal, a standoff results and the units remain in their original positions. If a supporting unit is attacked (except by the unit against which the support is directed), its support is nullified, which allows units to affect the outcome of conflicts in regions not directly adjacent.
Another approach to solving the problem of fewer than seven players is the use of the Escalation Variant Rules by Edi Birsan
:
This is done without negotiations and may result in two players declaring the same province. However in order to build there they still must own it and the province must be open. Players may choose any supply center as a HOME for example: EDI, DEN, ROM
It is suggested that for the number players the following starting pieces are used:
It is also suggested that for games with 2–3–4 players that the 'Gunboat' rule applies which means that there are no discussions.
For 4 or 5 players the 'Wilson' Rule applies which means that all discussions must take place in the open at the table with no whispers or secret signals.
For 5 or 6 players regular negotiation rules apply.
The following are the current official suggestions:
Six Players: Eliminate Italy. Italian units hold in position and defend themselves, but don’t support each other. Units belonging to any of the players can support them in their holding position. If Italian units are forced to retreat, they’re disbanded.
Five Players: Eliminate Italy and Germany (as described for Italy above).
Four Players: One player plays England, and the other three play the following pairs: Austria/France, Germany/Turkey, and Italy/Russia.
Three Players: One player controls England/Germany/Austria; the second, Russia/Italy; and the third, France/Turkey.
Two Players: This version can be played as a World War I simulation. One player controls England/France/Russia while the other plays Austria/Germany/Turkey. Italy is neutral and Italian territory can’t be entered. The game begins in 1914. Before the Autumn 1914 adjustments, flip a coin. Italy joins the winner of the toss in Spring 1915. The first player to control 24 supply centers wins. This is also a way for two new players to learn the rules.
In games for 2, 3, or 4 players, supply-center ownership is computed for each individual country, even though the same person plays more than one country. As with the regular rules, adjustments must be made by each country in accordance with its supply-center holdings.
Machiavelli was published by Battleline Publications
, later taken over by Avalon Hill
. Set in Renaissance Italy, the board is controlled by the Republic of Florence
, the Republic of Venice
, the Duchy of Milan
, the Kingdom of Naples
, the Papacy
, Valois France, Habsburg Austria, and the Ottoman Turks
. The game introduces many rules changes such as money, bribery, three seasons per year, garrisons, and random events such as plague and famine. It features scenarios tailored for as few as four and as many as eight players.
in the early 1980s. Its setting is feudal Japan.
in the late 19th century, much of the board is controlled by various colonial powers: England
, Russia
, Japan
, Holland
, Turkey
, China
, and France
. The game introduces three special features:
This map was used as the basis of the Imperial Asia expansion map.
created in 1996 and published by Stupendous Games in 2000.
). Some countries didn't have colonies in Asia, so they were given more home centers (e.g. Posen
, next to Berlin
). Also, three new Powers were added – India
, China
, and Japan
. Named after the city of Youngstown, Ohio
where the variant was invented.
, Rome
, Egypt
, Greece
, and Persia in this five player variant. Ancient Med is widely considered to be a very balanced variant, offering roughly equal chances for victory to any of the five powers on the map. It has been extensively play tested and revised, culminating in version 9 which was coded and included with the Realpolitik adjudicator program.
instead of an army
in Rome.
and alternate borders and starting units for the great powers. It begins at the dawn of the Renaissance in Europe: the year after the fall of Constantinople
(1454). Unlike standard diplomacy, conflict between the great powers tends to arise earlier rather than later, making for a very interesting opening few seasons.
). Some conventions are centered on the games and have a highly competitive atmosphere; others have more focus on meeting and socializing with other players from the postal or e-mail parts of the hobby.
The North American Diplomacy Convention (DipCon) is held annually in different places in North America, to determine the North American Champion of Diplomacy. DipCon was first held in 1966 in Youngstown, Ohio. DipCon's site rotates among West, Central, and East regions.
The European Diplomacy Convention (Euro DipCon) is held annually in different places in Europe, to determine the European Champion of Diplomacy.
Over a dozen other countries hold face-to-face national championship tournaments
, Gen Con
, Origins, ManorCon, TempleCon
, and Dragonflight
also host Diplomacy tournaments. On occasion, WDC or DipCon will be held in conjunction with one of these conventions.
In addition, many of the larger local and regional clubs host tournaments on an annual basis and always encourage visitors from the local area as well as any travelers from around the globe. For example, the Chicago area Diplomacy club, the Windy City Weasels, hosts two tournaments annually: one at the CODCon gaming convention at the College of DuPage
in Glen Ellyn, IL, and also, their annual club tournament called Weasel Moot, hosted in August/September of each year. To date they've had many visitors from both coasts and Europe in attendance.
The Potomac Tea & Knife Society, home of Diplomacy in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, hosts their annual Tempest in a Teapot tournament in October each year.
To overcome the difficulty of assembling enough players for a sufficiently large block of time together, a play-by-mail game
community has developed, either via Postal or Internet Diplomacy
, using either humans to adjudicate the turns or automatic adjudicators.
through fanzine
s. The play-by-mail hobby was created in 1963 in carbon-copied typed flyers by John Boardman
in New York, recruiting players through his science fiction fanzine Knowable. His flyers became an ongoing publication under the Graustark title, and led directly to the formation of other zines. By May 1965 there were eight Diplomacy zines. By the end of 1967 there were dozens of zines in the USA, and by 1970 their editors were holding gatherings. In 1969, Don Turnbull started the first UK-based Diplomacy zine, Albion. By 1972, both the USA and UK hobbies were forming organizations. In the 1980s, there were over sixty zines in the main list of the North American Zine Poll, peaking at 72 zines in 1989; and there were nearly as many in the major Zine Poll of the British part of the hobby. In the 1990s and 2000s, the number of postal Diplomacy zines has reduced as new players instead joined the part of the hobby that plays over the internet via e-mail or on websites. In April 2010, Graustark itself ceased publication.
As of 2011, there are only a few active postal zines published in the USA, one each in Canada and Australia, and several in the UK and elsewhere. In order to reduce postage and printing costs, as well as for environmental reasons, several zines (e.g. 'Western Front', 'Maniacs Paradise' ) are distributed to subscribers via emailed links to the zine's web page when a new issue appears, or are emailed out as pdf files, for subscribers to read on screen, or print out as they choose. Some zines maintain a dual existence as paper and digital publications.
on the Internet
since the 1983 debut of The Armchair Diplomat on Compuserve. From 1986–1990, Peter Szymonik started and moderated dozens of simulateneously running Online Diplomacy games on the GEnie Network with hundreds of players worldwide. This later included the first online Colonia variant games and later branched into and gave birth to Jim Dunngan's related Hundred Years War Online multiplayer wargame. Adjudication by computer started in 1988. A multitude of play-by-email (PBEM) communities and online tournaments were developed over the coming years, and recent online Diplomacy sites also allow entirely web-based games of Diplomacy. Online diplomacy is now also available on the popular social networking site Facebook
.
In addition to e-mail and web-adjudicated games, numerous variations – ranging from player numbers and slight differences (such as placing an extra Italian fleet in Rome) to entirely fictitious maps set in worlds from pop-culture exist, played with either messaging servers or forums, often hosted by the diplomacy sites themselves.
Avalon Hill released a computer game version of Diplomacy in 1984–1985 for the IBM PC
.
Hasbro released a computer game version of Diplomacy in 1999. A major fault was that the computer AI
was considered poor, one reviewer remarking "Gamers of any skill level will have no trouble whatsoever whaling on the computer at even the highest difficulty setting."http://uk.videogames.games.yahoo.com/pc/reviews/diplomacy--1999-9f4312.html.
Paradox Interactive
released a new computer version in 2005, which was given negative reviews. None of the computer games supported voice chat, which limited the possibilities for complicated alliances.
The Diplomacy Artificial Intelligence Development Environment (DAIDE) project is a hobby project to produce computer AIs capable of playing Diplomacy, and allow them to play against each other and against humans. The AIs being produced by this project are mostly only capable of playing games without negotiation, and are somewhat weaker than most human players, although several of the AIs are significantly stronger than the AIs in any of the commercially released Diplomacy games.
Adventure Hall of Fame in 1994.
Strategy game
A strategy game or strategic game is a game in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome...
board game
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
created by Allan B. Calhamer
Allan B. Calhamer
Allan B. Calhamer invented the board game Diplomacy.A friend of Calhamer's recounted how, when they were boys in La Grange Park, Illinois, he and Calhamer "discovered in the attic a geography book that showed a map of Europe before World War I with the ... old boundaries." Years later, Calhamer...
in 1954 and released commercially in 1959
1950s in games
-Significant games-related events in the 1950s:*Avalon Hill Game Company founded by Charles S. Roberts to publish the first board wargame, Tactics. For many years Avalon Hill was a dominant maker of wargames....
. Its main distinctions from most board wargames are its negotiation phases (players spend much of their time forming and betraying alliances with other players and forming beneficial strategies) and the absence of dice or other game elements that produce random effects. Set in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
just before the beginning of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Diplomacy is played by two to seven players, each controlling the armed forces of a major European Power (or, with few players, multiple powers). Each player aims to move his or her few starting units—and defeat those of others—to win possession of a majority of strategic cities and provinces marked as "supply centers" on the map; these supply centers allow players who control them to produce more units.
Diplomacy was the first commercially published game to be played by mail
Play-by-mail game
Play-by-mail games, sometimes known as "Play-by-post", are games, of any type, played through postal mail or e-mail. One example, chess, has been played by mail for centuries . Another example, Diplomacy, has been played by mail since the 1960s, starting with a printed newsletter written by John...
(PBM); only chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
, which is in the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
, saw significant postal (long distance) play earlier. Diplomacy was also the first commercially published game to generate an active hobby with amateur fanzine
Fanzine
A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
s; only science-fiction/fantasy and comics fandom saw fanzines earlier. Competitive face-to-face (FtF) Diplomacy tournaments have been held since the 1970s. Play of Diplomacy by e-mail (PBEM) has been widespread since the late 1980s.
Diplomacy has been published in the United States by Games Research, Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill was a game company that specialized in wargames and strategic board games. Its logo contained its initials "AH", and it was often referred to by this abbreviation. It also published the occasional miniature wargaming rules, role-playing game, and had a popular line of sports simulations...
, and Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
; the name is currently a registered trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
of Hasbro's Avalon Hill division. Diplomacy has also been licensed to various companies for publication in other countries. Diplomacy is also played on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, adjudicated by computer and/or a human gamemaster.
In its catalog, Avalon Hill advertised Diplomacy as John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
's and Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
's favorite game. Kissinger described it as his favorite in an interview published in a games magazine. American broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll...
was also reported to be a fan of the game.
History
The idea for Diplomacy arose from Allan B. Calhamer's study at Harvard of nineteenth-century European history under Sidney B. Fay inter alia, and from his study of political geography. The rough form of Diplomacy was created in 1954, and its details were developed through playtesting until the 1958 map and rules revisions. Calhamer paid for a 500-game print run of that version in 1959 after rejection by major companies. It has been published since then by Games Research (in 1961, then a 1971 edition with a revised Rulebook), Avalon HillAvalon Hill
Avalon Hill was a game company that specialized in wargames and strategic board games. Its logo contained its initials "AH", and it was often referred to by this abbreviation. It also published the occasional miniature wargaming rules, role-playing game, and had a popular line of sports simulations...
(in 1976), by Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
's Avalon Hill division (in 1999), and now by Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...
(in 2008) in the USA, and licensed to other boardgame publishers for versions sold in other countries. Among these are Parker Brothers, Waddingtons Games, Gibsons Games, Asmodée Editions, and several others.
Basic setting and overview
The board is a map of Europe plus portions of the Middle EastMiddle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and North Africa
Maghreb
The Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...
. It is divided into fifty-six land regions and nineteen sea regions. Forty-two of the land regions are divided among the seven Great Powers of the game: Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
, England
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
, France
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
, Germany
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
, Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
, Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, and Turkey
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. The remaining fourteen land regions are neutral at the start of the game.
Thirty-four of the land regions contain supply centers, corresponding to major centers of government, industry or commerce (e.g. Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
); twenty-two of these are located within the Great Powers, and are referred to as home supply centers. The remaining twelve are located in provinces which are neutral at the start of the game. The number of supply centers (SCs) a player controls determines the total number of armies and fleets a player may have on the board, and as players gain and lose control of different centers, they may build (raise), or must remove (disband) units accordingly.
The land provinces within the Great Powers which contain supply centres are generally named after a major city in the province (e.g. London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
) while the other land provinces within the Great Powers are generally named after a region (e.g. Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
, Apulia
Apulia
Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...
). Neutral land provinces are generally named after countries (e.g. Serbia
Kingdom of Serbia
The Kingdom of Serbia was created when Prince Milan Obrenović, ruler of the Principality of Serbia, was crowned King in 1882. The Principality of Serbia was ruled by the Karađorđevic dynasty from 1817 onwards . The Principality, suzerain to the Porte, had expelled all Ottoman troops by 1867, de...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
). Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
and Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
are both parts of Great Powers as Finland was part of the Russian empire in 1914 and Syria was part of the Turkish empire in 1914. Tunis
Tunis
Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....
is used rather than Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
on most boards and North Africa is a single province covering parts of Algeria
French Algeria
French Algeria lasted from 1830 to 1962, under a variety of governmental systems. From 1848 until independence, the whole Mediterranean region of Algeria was administered as an integral part of France, much like Corsica and Réunion are to this day. The vast arid interior of Algeria, like the rest...
and Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
. Although for game purposes, the game starts in 1901, the map generally reflects the political boundaries of Europe in 1914 just before the outbreak of WWI, with Bosnia already annexed to the Austrian empire, and the Balkans reflecting the results of the wars of 1912 and 1913 in that region. On the other hand, North Africa and Tunis start the game as neutral, despite these regions being part of the French colonial empire in 1914.
All players other than England and Russia begin the game with two armies and one naval fleet; England starts with two fleets and one army, and Russia starts with two armies and two fleets (making it the only player to start the game with more than three units). Only one unit at a time may occupy a given map region. Balancing units to supply center counts is done after each game-year (two seasons of play: Spring and Autumn). At the beginning of the game, the twelve neutral SCs are all typically captured within the first few moves. Further acquisition of supply centers becomes a zero sum dynamic with any gains in a player's resources coming at the expense of a rival.
Comparison with other war games
Diplomacy differs from the majority of war gamesWargaming
A wargame is a strategy game that deals with military operations of various types, real or fictional. Wargaming is the hobby dedicated to the play of such games, which can also be called conflict simulations, or consims for short. When used professionally to study warfare, it is generally known as...
in several ways:
- Unit movement is simultaneous, not turn-based — all players secretly write down their moves after a negotiation period, and then all moves are revealed and put into effect simultaneously.
- Social interaction and interpersonal skills make up an essential part of the game's play.
- The rules that simulate combat are strategic, abstract, and simple—not tactical, realistic, or complex—as this is a diplomatic simulation game, not a military one.
- Combat resolution contains no element of randomnessRandomnessRandomness has somewhat differing meanings as used in various fields. It also has common meanings which are connected to the notion of predictability of events....
— no dice are rolled, no cards are drawn. - The game is especially well suited to postal play, which led to an active hobby of amateur publishing.
- Internet DiplomacyInternet DiplomacyInternet Diplomacy refers to any of a number of online implementations of Diplomacy, a board game in which seven players, each controlling one of the major European powers of the early 20th century, fight for control over Europe....
shows that this is one of those few early board games that are now played on the web.
Game play
Diplomacy proceeds by seasons, beginning in the year 1901, with each year divided into two main seasons: the "Spring" and "Autumn/Fall" moves. Each season is further divided into negotiation and movement phases, followed by 'retreat' or 'disband' adjustments and an end-of-the-year Winter phase of new builds or removals following the Autumn adjustments.Negotiation phase
In the negotiation phase, players use any verbal means necessary amongst each other to form alliances, or some other form of arrangement, with one another. Such arrangements may be made public knowledge or kept secret. Since players are not bound to anything they say during this period, and thus no agreements of any sort are enforceable, communication and trust are unusually important for a strategy game; players must forge alliances with opponents and observe them to ensure their trustworthiness; at the same time, they must convince others of their own trustworthiness while making plans to turn on their allies when others least expect it. A well-timed stab can be just as profitable as a long and trustworthy alliance.Movement phase
After the negotiation period, players write secret orders for each unit; these orders are revealed and executed simultaneously. Units can move from their location to an adjacent space, support adjacent units in holding an area in the event of an attack, do nothing or assist in attacking an occupied area. In addition, fleets may transport armies from one coast space to another when in a chain called a "convoy". Armies may only occupy land regions, and fleets occupy sea regions and the land regions that border named seas. Only one unit may occupy a region; if multiple units are ordered to move to the same region, only the unit with the most support moves there (if two or more units have the same highest support, no units ordered to that region move). A unit giving support that is attacked has its support broken, except in the case the support is being given to an invasion of the region from which the attack it suffered comes.During an attack, the greatest concentration of force is always victorious; if the forces are equal, a standoff results and the units remain in their original positions. If a supporting unit is attacked (except by the unit against which the support is directed), its support is nullified, which allows units to affect the outcome of conflicts in regions not directly adjacent.
End-of-year and supply centers
After each Autumn move, newly-acquired supply centers become owned by the occupying player, and each power's supply center total is recalculated; players with fewer supply centers than units on the board must disband units, while players with more supply centers than units on the board are entitled to build units in their Home centers (supply centers controlled at the start of the game). Players controlling no supply centers are eliminated from the game, and if a player controls 18 or more (that is, more than half) of the 34 SCs, that person is declared the winner. Players may also agree to a draw; this also happens when (infrequent) stalemates occur.Variants
Several boardgames based on Diplomacy have been commercially published. Additionally, many fans of the game have created hundreds of variants of their own, using altered rules on the standard map, standard rules on a different map, or both. An index of over a thousand variants is available at the Diplomacy Variant Bank web site. Another notable source of variant maps and Realpolitik files is located at DipWiki (see External links, below).Rulebook provision for fewer than seven players
The rules allow for games with two to seven players, closing parts of the standard board, but these are used only in casual play, and are not considered standard Diplomacy in tournament, postal, or most forms of online play. For example, if there are six players, everyone plays one country and Italy is not used; for five players, Italy and Germany are not used. The original rules did not include additional guidelines, but the Avalon Hill set included suggestions, such as individual players using multiple countries, and additions.Another approach to solving the problem of fewer than seven players is the use of the Escalation Variant Rules by Edi Birsan
Edi Birsan
Edi Ersalesi Birsan is a game designer and an independent business owner in the Maritime Container Inspection industry, and one of the best-known American players of the game Diplomacy...
:
- Players start with no pieces on the board
- Players put one piece down on the board in any province one at a time (starting with the youngest player)
- After reaching the maximum number of pieces the players start the game with ownership of their starting provinces.
- At the end of Autumn 1901 with their adjustments players write down their three HOME centers for the rest of the game.
This is done without negotiations and may result in two players declaring the same province. However in order to build there they still must own it and the province must be open. Players may choose any supply center as a HOME for example: EDI, DEN, ROM
It is suggested that for the number players the following starting pieces are used:
- Two – 12 units
- Three- 8 units
- Four −6 units
- Five- 5 units
- Six – 4 units
It is also suggested that for games with 2–3–4 players that the 'Gunboat' rule applies which means that there are no discussions.
For 4 or 5 players the 'Wilson' Rule applies which means that all discussions must take place in the open at the table with no whispers or secret signals.
For 5 or 6 players regular negotiation rules apply.
The following are the current official suggestions:
Alternative way to play
The following is an alternative way to play the game of Diplomacy when fewer than seven players are present.Six Players: Eliminate Italy. Italian units hold in position and defend themselves, but don’t support each other. Units belonging to any of the players can support them in their holding position. If Italian units are forced to retreat, they’re disbanded.
Five Players: Eliminate Italy and Germany (as described for Italy above).
Four Players: One player plays England, and the other three play the following pairs: Austria/France, Germany/Turkey, and Italy/Russia.
Three Players: One player controls England/Germany/Austria; the second, Russia/Italy; and the third, France/Turkey.
Two Players: This version can be played as a World War I simulation. One player controls England/France/Russia while the other plays Austria/Germany/Turkey. Italy is neutral and Italian territory can’t be entered. The game begins in 1914. Before the Autumn 1914 adjustments, flip a coin. Italy joins the winner of the toss in Spring 1915. The first player to control 24 supply centers wins. This is also a way for two new players to learn the rules.
In games for 2, 3, or 4 players, supply-center ownership is computed for each individual country, even though the same person plays more than one country. As with the regular rules, adjustments must be made by each country in accordance with its supply-center holdings.
Commercially published Diplomacy variants
There have been six commercially released variants of Diplomacy — Machiavelli, Kamakura, Colonial Diplomacy, Hundred, Ard-Rí and Classical. Imperial is a boardgame with enough similarities to be described as a Diplomacy variant by some.Machiavelli
- Main article: Machiavelli (board game)Machiavelli (board game)Machiavelli is a strategic board game created by S. Craig Taylor and James B. Wood, and released commercialy in 1977 by Battleline Publications, later taken over by Avalon Hill...
Machiavelli was published by Battleline Publications
Battleline Publications
Battleline Publications was a board wargame company founded by Steven Peek in 1973. Output was relatively low at first, with each game being funded by sales of the one before, but their games were generally well-respected. Several were re-published by Avalon Hill, and their second game, Wooden...
, later taken over by Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill was a game company that specialized in wargames and strategic board games. Its logo contained its initials "AH", and it was often referred to by this abbreviation. It also published the occasional miniature wargaming rules, role-playing game, and had a popular line of sports simulations...
. Set in Renaissance Italy, the board is controlled by the Republic of Florence
Republic of Florence
The Republic of Florence , or the Florentine Republic, was a city-state that was centered on the city of Florence, located in modern Tuscany, Italy. The republic was founded in 1115, when the Florentine people rebelled against the Margraviate of Tuscany upon Margravine Matilda's death. The...
, the Republic of Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
, the Duchy of Milan
Duchy of Milan
The Duchy of Milan , was created on the 1st of may 1395, when Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Lord of Milan, purchased a diploma for 100,000 Florins from King Wenceslaus. It was this diploma that installed, Gian Galeazzo as Duke of Milan and Count of Pavia...
, the Kingdom of Naples
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
, the Papacy
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
, Valois France, Habsburg Austria, and the Ottoman Turks
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. The game introduces many rules changes such as money, bribery, three seasons per year, garrisons, and random events such as plague and famine. It features scenarios tailored for as few as four and as many as eight players.
Kamakura
Kamakura was published by West End GamesWest End Games
West End Games was a company that made board, role-playing, and war games. It was founded by Daniel Scott Palter in 1974 in New York, but later moved to Honesdale, Pennsylvania...
in the early 1980s. Its setting is feudal Japan.
Colonial Diplomacy
Set in AsiaAsia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
in the late 19th century, much of the board is controlled by various colonial powers: England
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
, Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
, Holland
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Turkey
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, China
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
, and France
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
. The game introduces three special features:
- The Trans-Siberian railroad extends across Russia from MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
to VladivostokVladivostokThe city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...
. The railroad can be used by Russia to move armies anywhere along the railroad. The TSR may only be used by Russia. Russian armies are allowed to move through other Russian armies, but foreign armies can block the passage of armies on the TSR. - The Suez CanalSuez CanalThe Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
is the only way to move between the Red SeaRed SeaThe Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
and Mediterranean SeaMediterranean SeaThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
. Use of the Suez Canal is controlled by whoever is in control of EgyptKhedivate of EgyptThe Khedivate of Egypt was an autonomous tributary state of the Ottoman Empire.- Rise of Muhammad Ali :The Egypt Eyalet was an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire. The eyalet was ruled locally by the Mamluk military caste and their various beys , who started to fight amongst themselves for control of...
. The use of the Suez Canal increases in importance later in the game as expansion becomes both more important and more difficult. - The ownership of Hong KongColonial Hong KongIn the 19th century the British, Dutch, French, Indians and Americans saw Imperial China as the world's largest untapped market. In 1840 the British Empire launched their first and one of the most aggressive expeditionary forces to claim the territory that would later be known as Hong Kong.In a few...
counts as a supply center for any country except China.
This map was used as the basis of the Imperial Asia expansion map.
Hundred
Hundred is a map by Andy D. Schwarz based on the Hundred Years' WarHundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...
created in 1996 and published by Stupendous Games in 2000.
Ard-Rí
Ard-Rí is a map by Stuart John Bernard based on medieval Ireland, created in 1998, and published by Stupendous Games in 2000.Classical
Classical is a map by Andy D. Schwarz and Vincent Mous based on the ancient world after the death of Alexander the Great, created in 1998, and published by Stupendous Games in 2000.Youngstown Diplomacy
An extension of the normal map, including Asia and colonies there. For example, in addition to the usual home centers, France starts with a fleet in Saigon (in CochinchinaCochinchina
Cochinchina is a region encompassing the southern third of Vietnam whose principal city is Saigon. It was a French colony from 1862 to 1954. The later state of South Vietnam was created in 1954 by combining Cochinchina with southern Annam. In Vietnamese, the region is called Nam Bộ...
). Some countries didn't have colonies in Asia, so they were given more home centers (e.g. Posen
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
, next to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
). Also, three new Powers were added – India
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
, and Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
. Named after the city of Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Mahoning County; it also extends into Trumbull County. The municipality is situated on the Mahoning River, approximately southeast of Cleveland and northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
where the variant was invented.
Ancient Med
A historical map transplant of the standard Diplomacy game and rules to the Mediterranean Sea region in classical times. Players assume control of CarthageCarthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
, Rome
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
, Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
, Greece
Macedon
Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....
, and Persia in this five player variant. Ancient Med is widely considered to be a very balanced variant, offering roughly equal chances for victory to any of the five powers on the map. It has been extensively play tested and revised, culminating in version 9 which was coded and included with the Realpolitik adjudicator program.
Fleet Rome
One of the most popular diplomacy variants is arguably also the simplest. "Fleet Rome" is a simple standard map variant in which Italy begins with a fleetNaval fleet
A fleet, or naval fleet, is a large formation of warships, and the largest formation in any navy. A fleet at sea is the direct equivalent of an army on land....
instead of an army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
in Rome.
Renaissance Diplomacy
A standard map variant that includes a passable SwitzerlandOld Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland....
and alternate borders and starting units for the great powers. It begins at the dawn of the Renaissance in Europe: the year after the fall of Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
(1454). Unlike standard diplomacy, conflict between the great powers tends to arise earlier rather than later, making for a very interesting opening few seasons.
Intimate Diplomacy
A variant for two players in which opponents bid for control of the other five mercenary countriesTournaments
Diplomacy is played at a number of formal tournaments in many nations. Most face-to-face Diplomacy tournaments longer than one day are associated with either a Diplomacy-centered convention (such as DipCon or Dixiecon) or a large multi-game convention (such as the Origins Game Fair or the World Boardgaming ChampionshipsWorld Boardgaming Championships
The World Boardgaming Championships is a convention held yearly since 1999 by the Boardgame Players Association. It is typically held in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It was last held August 2 to August 8, 2010. It is next scheduled for August 1 to August 7, 2011...
). Some conventions are centered on the games and have a highly competitive atmosphere; others have more focus on meeting and socializing with other players from the postal or e-mail parts of the hobby.
Tournament play
In some tournaments, each game ends after a specified number of game-years, to ensure that all players can play in all rounds without limiting the tournament structure to one round per day. At other events, a game continues until a winner is determined or a draw is voted. Tournaments in Europe are generally played with a specific end year whereas tournaments in North America more often are played until someone wins or a draw is agreed.Major championship tournaments
The World Diplomacy Convention (WDC or World DipCon) is held annually in different places in the world. The winner of WDC is considered to be the World Champion of Diplomacy. WDC was first held in 1988 in Birmingham, England, and was held at two-year intervals before becoming an annual event. WDC's site moves among four regions: North America, Europe, Australasia, and the rest of the world, with a requirement that successive WDC's are always held in different regions.The North American Diplomacy Convention (DipCon) is held annually in different places in North America, to determine the North American Champion of Diplomacy. DipCon was first held in 1966 in Youngstown, Ohio. DipCon's site rotates among West, Central, and East regions.
The European Diplomacy Convention (Euro DipCon) is held annually in different places in Europe, to determine the European Champion of Diplomacy.
Over a dozen other countries hold face-to-face national championship tournaments
Other major face-to-face tournaments
Many of the larger multi-game conventions, such as the World Boardgaming ChampionshipsWorld Boardgaming Championships
The World Boardgaming Championships is a convention held yearly since 1999 by the Boardgame Players Association. It is typically held in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It was last held August 2 to August 8, 2010. It is next scheduled for August 1 to August 7, 2011...
, Gen Con
Gen Con
Gen Con is one of the largest and most prominent annual gaming conventions in North America. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card-style games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, board games, live action role-playing games, collectible card games, non-collectible...
, Origins, ManorCon, TempleCon
TempleCon
-History:TempleCon is a multi-genre retro-futurism-themed gaming convention held annually in Warwick, Rhode Island. The first TempleCon occurred on January 27, 2006 at the Holiday Inn in Providence, Rhode Island. In May 2006, the staff relocated the venue of the 2007 event to the Westin Hotel in...
, and Dragonflight
Dragonflight
Dragonflight is a fantasy or science fiction novel by the American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey. It is the first book in the Dragonriders of Pern series. Dragonflight was first published by Ballantine Books in July 1968...
also host Diplomacy tournaments. On occasion, WDC or DipCon will be held in conjunction with one of these conventions.
In addition, many of the larger local and regional clubs host tournaments on an annual basis and always encourage visitors from the local area as well as any travelers from around the globe. For example, the Chicago area Diplomacy club, the Windy City Weasels, hosts two tournaments annually: one at the CODCon gaming convention at the College of DuPage
College of DuPage
College of DuPage, or COD, is a two-year community college in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. The college also owns and operates facilities in the Illinois communities of Addison, Bloomingdale, Carol Stream, Naperville, West Chicago, and Westmont...
in Glen Ellyn, IL, and also, their annual club tournament called Weasel Moot, hosted in August/September of each year. To date they've had many visitors from both coasts and Europe in attendance.
The Potomac Tea & Knife Society, home of Diplomacy in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, hosts their annual Tempest in a Teapot tournament in October each year.
Major play-by-email tournaments
The play-by-email field is constantly changing. There are numerous tournaments generally associated with different websites. As of 2008 there were no official events sanctioned by the manufacturer (Wizards/Avalon Hill). There have been and continue to be events with various sizes and self designated titles such as:- World Masters – every two years in the Worldmasters E-mail Tournament composed of both team and individual events
- Diplomacy World Cup – modeled after a Soccer World Cup (players are in teams competing by countries), started in 2007 and ended in 2009 (first edition) and is due to start in September 2010 (second edition).
- Winter Blitz – The 4th Annual Winter Blitzis became open to join in 2011.
Other ways to play
Despite the length of face-to-face Diplomacy games, there are people who organize ad-hoc games, and there are also various clubs that have annual tournaments and monthly club games.To overcome the difficulty of assembling enough players for a sufficiently large block of time together, a play-by-mail game
Play-by-mail game
Play-by-mail games, sometimes known as "Play-by-post", are games, of any type, played through postal mail or e-mail. One example, chess, has been played by mail for centuries . Another example, Diplomacy, has been played by mail since the 1960s, starting with a printed newsletter written by John...
community has developed, either via Postal or Internet Diplomacy
Internet Diplomacy
Internet Diplomacy refers to any of a number of online implementations of Diplomacy, a board game in which seven players, each controlling one of the major European powers of the early 20th century, fight for control over Europe....
, using either humans to adjudicate the turns or automatic adjudicators.
Postal play and postal hobby
Since the 1960s, Diplomacy has been played by mailPlay-by-mail game
Play-by-mail games, sometimes known as "Play-by-post", are games, of any type, played through postal mail or e-mail. One example, chess, has been played by mail for centuries . Another example, Diplomacy, has been played by mail since the 1960s, starting with a printed newsletter written by John...
through fanzine
Fanzine
A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
s. The play-by-mail hobby was created in 1963 in carbon-copied typed flyers by John Boardman
John Boardman
Jack Melton Boardman, commonly known as John Boardman, is an American former professor of physics at Brooklyn College.- Academic career :...
in New York, recruiting players through his science fiction fanzine Knowable. His flyers became an ongoing publication under the Graustark title, and led directly to the formation of other zines. By May 1965 there were eight Diplomacy zines. By the end of 1967 there were dozens of zines in the USA, and by 1970 their editors were holding gatherings. In 1969, Don Turnbull started the first UK-based Diplomacy zine, Albion. By 1972, both the USA and UK hobbies were forming organizations. In the 1980s, there were over sixty zines in the main list of the North American Zine Poll, peaking at 72 zines in 1989; and there were nearly as many in the major Zine Poll of the British part of the hobby. In the 1990s and 2000s, the number of postal Diplomacy zines has reduced as new players instead joined the part of the hobby that plays over the internet via e-mail or on websites. In April 2010, Graustark itself ceased publication.
As of 2011, there are only a few active postal zines published in the USA, one each in Canada and Australia, and several in the UK and elsewhere. In order to reduce postage and printing costs, as well as for environmental reasons, several zines (e.g. 'Western Front', 'Maniacs Paradise' ) are distributed to subscribers via emailed links to the zine's web page when a new issue appears, or are emailed out as pdf files, for subscribers to read on screen, or print out as they choose. Some zines maintain a dual existence as paper and digital publications.
Play online
Diplomacy has been played through e-mailE-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
since the 1983 debut of The Armchair Diplomat on Compuserve. From 1986–1990, Peter Szymonik started and moderated dozens of simulateneously running Online Diplomacy games on the GEnie Network with hundreds of players worldwide. This later included the first online Colonia variant games and later branched into and gave birth to Jim Dunngan's related Hundred Years War Online multiplayer wargame. Adjudication by computer started in 1988. A multitude of play-by-email (PBEM) communities and online tournaments were developed over the coming years, and recent online Diplomacy sites also allow entirely web-based games of Diplomacy. Online diplomacy is now also available on the popular social networking site Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
.
In addition to e-mail and web-adjudicated games, numerous variations – ranging from player numbers and slight differences (such as placing an extra Italian fleet in Rome) to entirely fictitious maps set in worlds from pop-culture exist, played with either messaging servers or forums, often hosted by the diplomacy sites themselves.
Diplomacy computer games
IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...
.
Hasbro released a computer game version of Diplomacy in 1999. A major fault was that the computer AI
Ai
AI, A.I., Ai, or ai may refer to:- Computers :* Artificial intelligence, a branch of computer science* Ad impression, in online advertising* .ai, the ISO Internet 2-letter country code for Anguilla...
was considered poor, one reviewer remarking "Gamers of any skill level will have no trouble whatsoever whaling on the computer at even the highest difficulty setting."http://uk.videogames.games.yahoo.com/pc/reviews/diplomacy--1999-9f4312.html.
Paradox Interactive
Paradox Interactive
-External links:*...
released a new computer version in 2005, which was given negative reviews. None of the computer games supported voice chat, which limited the possibilities for complicated alliances.
The Diplomacy Artificial Intelligence Development Environment (DAIDE) project is a hobby project to produce computer AIs capable of playing Diplomacy, and allow them to play against each other and against humans. The AIs being produced by this project are mostly only capable of playing games without negotiation, and are somewhat weaker than most human players, although several of the AIs are significantly stronger than the AIs in any of the commercially released Diplomacy games.
Awards
Diplomacy was inducted into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and DesignOrigins Award
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...
Adventure Hall of Fame in 1994.
Further reading
- Calhamer, Allan. "Diplomacy" chapter of The Games & Puzzles Book of Modern Board Games. Games & Puzzles Publications, London, UK, 1975. ISBN 0860020592. pp. 26–44.
External links
- Diplomatsgr – Greek Diplomacy Community
- DiplomaticCorp – Web/Email based Diplomacy community
- Diplomacy — official page on the Wizards of the Coast website
- Diplomatic Pouch — Leading online Diplomacy resource center, with regular online magazine
- DipWiki – Community-maintained database of Diplomacy strategy articles and variants
- Continental associations:
- Diplomacy Archive by Stephen Agar
- Diplomacy World — Official page of Diplomacy World, the flagship hobby publication since the 1970s, now available free
- "World Domination: the Game" — article in the Washington Post, November 14, 2004
- Diplomacy.Ca – Web/Forum based Diplomacy community for articles, strategies and game play. Operating since 1985