SPEED EUROPA (EUROPE 1901)

a Diplomacy variant (original Diplomacy is Copyright Hasbro)

All of Speed Europa's new designs, maps, icons, documentations, and codings by JW Copyright 2005 All Rights Reserved

Visit http://www.speeddiplomacy.com
Communicate in the forum, The Whispering Gallery.

Updated 3/15/06

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

0. IMPORTANT: Read these release notes

1. SPEED DIPLOMACY

2. EUROPA (EUROPE 1901)

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0. IMPORTANT: Read these release notes:

0.1. BUGS AND WORK-AROUNDS FOR REALPOLITIK (RP):

0.11. This release is fully functional with point-and-click orders and flood-fillable supply centers. REASON: RP's Region Tool (RT) did not work so I first manually wrote the RGN file code to provide a version that is fully playable by loading text orders. I since devised a semi-automated system to add the hot zones and flood fills so the current version (9/04/05) is full-featured. NB: The Schleswig-Holstein hot zone is oversized for convenience so make sure that you click the correct province.

0.12. UPDATE: Spartan (Whispering Gallery forum ID) found an extra "hol" under Schleswig-Holstein so I removed that and "hol" for Holland should work fine now. Still, use "net" (for "Netherlands") as a backup if RP does not recognize "hol." REASON: When I first created the MAP file, RP generated errors for almost every instance of "hol" in the MAP file so as a quick-fix I assigned "net" as an alias which works both in the MAP adjacencies and in orders during play.

0.13 Save the game history and text orders as you play. REASON: If you find a bug, I might be able to revise a file for you to insert to resume or restore the game.

0.2 PLAYER OPTIONS FOR REALPOLITIK:

0.21. The "Deluxe" (DX) version provides a new look to computer Diplomacy that evokes the physical map of Avalon Hill's 1976 version and that evokes the classic wooden blocks of the original version (squares for armies, rectangles for fleets) -- yet the units display all the heraldic color of fluttering war banners. The version with the "RP" suffix provides a standard Realpolitik look.

0.22. For reference and study of the new map, the folders also include several B&W maps, of which *BW.bmp is best for a clean look at the new borders and provinces. These maps use dotted lines to indicate bi-coastal provinces. The *X2.bmp will print 2 conference maps per page and the *X12.bmp will print 12 wallet-size conference maps per page (don't let the wife find out that you removed her picture to make room for these).

0.23 Toggle the RP menu's Maps/Names for a quick look at all the provinces and note the several playable isles.

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1. Speed Diplomacy is potentially a SYSTEM applicable to any variant idea. Speed Diplomacy variants provide frequent and widespread player interaction, mobility, and fluidity, all of which make diplomacy rather important:

1.1. Low density and small supply center (SC) clusters provide maneuver room yet with fast board movement and continuous player interaction.

1.2. "Distant" neutrals (no one can reach a neutral SC in the first turn) provide a greater variety of openings yet with fast player interaction derived from home center distribution.

1.3. Two versions of Speed Diplomacy exist as of July 2005; Speed Europa (Europe 1901), and Speed Treaty Ports (China 1900).

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2. NAME = Speed Europa (Europe 1901)

2.1. START = spring 1901 (Standard), unless you choose a Winter 1900 start to customize your forces.

2.2. PLAYERS = 7, Standard's Austria, England, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, and Turkey.

2.3 VICTORY CONDITIONS = 18 of 35 SCs (Standard i.e. a majority of total SCs).

2.4. SPECIAL RULES = No, 100% Standard unless you choose to add a rule variant.

2.5. MOVEMENT NOTES = Armies can move between Ireland and Liverpool, and between Sicily and Naples (in effect, Liverpool and Naples are canals like Kiel). St. Petersburg, Spain, Schleswig-Holstein, Finland, Thrace, Gascony, and North Africa are bicoastal (indicated by dotted lines on the printable conference maps). Standard's province names were retained as much as possible but note the adjacency changes; e.g., Mid-Atlantic Ocean no longer abuts Brest (the "Mid" is now a longitudinal rather than latitudinal reference).

2.6. DESIGN NOTES = Some of the more exciting theoretical results for fall 1901 feature an Italian army in Spain (no more French monopoly on the Iberian goldmine), a French army in Liverpool, a Russian army in Kiel, a German army in Switzerland (a 35th Supply Center), an Austrian army in Smyrna, a Turkish army in Venice, and an English army in Tunis (the latter two require multinational convoys or a winter 1900 start). Italy might hold the most intriguing set of new possibilities.

Whereas most variants of Diplomacy's Standard map tend to add provinces that tend to increase the time it takes to traverse the board (a valid choice), Speed Europa operates on the opposite premise by overall removing obstacles to cross-board player interaction. Speed Europa substantially unravels the comfortable openings/stalemate lines/alliances/strategies so a fresh, bottom-up appraisal is necessary.

2.7. PROVINCES = 90, with 35 SCs Europa is slightly less dense than Standard Diplomacy: Only ONE SC (3% of total) touches three or more SCs (compared to 24% of SCs that touch 3+ SCs in Standard.

New Province List:

(Continental):
Switzerland (35th SC, equally-spaced 4-way F-G-I-A contest)
Baden-Wurttemberg (separates Mun from Swi)
Schleswig-Holstein (separates Kie from Den)
Thrace (separates Con from Bul)
Bessarabia (separates Sev from Rum)
Walachia (separates Bud from Rum)
Transylvania (separates Bud from Rum)
Bosnia (separates Bud & Tri from Ser)

(Isles):
Ireland (land-bridged)
Sicily (land-bridged)
Faroe Isles
Corsica
Crete
Cyprus
Gotland
Iceland
Majorca (Balearic Isles)
Sardinia
Shetland Isles

Other redrawn provinces separate:
Ven-Tri
StP-Nwy
Kie-Net (Hol)
Mar-Swi
Mar-Spa

Province Alphabetical List with Authorized Abbreviations:
w=water, l=non-SC land, x=neutral SC land, capital letter=Home SC of power with that initial.

Adriatic Sea, w adr adriatic
Aegean Sea, w aeg aegean
Albania, l alb
Ankara, T ank
Archangel, l arc
Armenia, l arm
Baden-Wurttemberg, l bad baden baw bwu
Baltic Sea, w bal baltic
Barents Sea, w bar barents
Bay of Biscay, w bay bob bbis biscay bbi bab
Belgium, x bel
Berlin, G ber
Bessarabia, l bes
Black Sea, w bla black
Bohemia, l boh
Bosnia, l bos
Brest, F bre
Budapest, A bud
Bulgaria, x bul
Burgundy, l bur
Constantinople, T con
Corsica, l cor
Crete, l cre
Cyprus, l cyp
Denmark, x den
Eastern Mediterranean, w eas emed east eastern eastmed ems eme
Edinburgh, E edi
English Channel, w eng english channel ech
Faroe Islands, l far fai fis faroe
Finland, l fin
Galicia, l gal
Gascony, l gas
Gotland, l got
Greece, x gre
Gulf of Antalya, w goa gua gan gulfofa ant antalya
Gulf of Bothnia, w bot gob both gulfofb bothnia
Gulf of Lyon, w lyo gol gulfofl lyon
Helgoland Bight, w hel helgoland
Holland, x net hol
Iceland, l ice
Ionian Sea, w ion ionian
Ireland, l ire
Kiel, G kie
Liverpool, E lvp livp lpl
London, E lon
Majorca, l maj
Marseilles, F mar mars
Mid-Atlantic Ocean, w mao midatlanticocean midatlantic mid mat
Moscow, R mos
Munich, G mun
Naples, I nap
North Atlantic Ocean, w nao nat
North Africa, l naf nora
North Sea, w nth norsea nts
Norway, x nwy nor norw
Norwegian Sea, w nwg norwsea nrg norwegian
Paris, F par
Picardy, l pic
Piedmont, l pie
Portugal, x por
Prussia, l pru
Rome, I rom
Ruhr, l ruh
Rumania, x rum
Sardinia, l sar
Schleswig-Holstein, l sch sho schleswig
Sea of Azov, w soa sea saz azov azo
Serbia, x ser
Sevastopol, R sev sevastapol
Shetland Islands, l she shet shi sis shetland
Sicily, l sic
Silesia, l sil
Smyrna, T smy
Spain, x spa
St Petersburg, R stp
Sweden, x swe
Switzerland, x swi
Syria, l syr
Thrace, l thr
Transylvania, l tra
Trieste, A tri
Tunis, x tun
Tyrolia, l trl tyr tyl tyro
Tyrrhenian Sea, w tys tyrr tyrrhenian tyn tyh tyr
Venice, I ven
Vienna, A vie
Volga, l vol
Walachia, l wal
Warsaw, R war
Western Mediterranean, w wes wmed west western westmed wms wme

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End

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