Rules

If the rules here are unclear, refer to https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Diplomacy/Rules.

Diplomacy is a strategy-based board game, in a similar vein as Risk. Those who enjoy strategy board games, chess especially, or strategy video games like Total War or any Paradox Studios games, will find this game to be both familiar and enjoyable. The game combines strategical and tactical thought with political intrigue. The rules may seem overwhelming at first, but in reality they are very straightforward.

The Map

There are two types of spaces on the board: sea zones and land provinces. Land provinces may have a ‘supply point’ in them, which means that one unit may be built if that space is controlled. The two types of units are restricted in their movement based on the map.

Units & Movement

There are two types of units in the game: armies and fleets. Units may only move one space per turn, and only one unit may occupy a space at one time. Armies may move about on any land space, and navies may move about on any sea space as well as on coastal provinces; this includes movement from one coastal province to another.

Unit Movement & Support

Because only one unit may occupy a given space, when two units are ordered to move into the same space, both remain where they were; this is called ‘bouncing out’ since it’s rather humorous to imagine two tanks or large ships ramming each other and bouncing back to where they were. As such, units may ‘support’ each other in their moves, which is where the complexities of the game begin. Imagine that unit A in province A and unit B in province B attempt to move into the same province, province D. Normally they would bounce, but if unit A is supported by unit C in province C, units B and C remain stationary while unit A is moved to province D. Unit C must be adjacent to province D (but not necessarily province B) for this move to be carried through.

Furthermore, units may be supported in a ‘hold’ order (the default order if none is given; no movement). Say that Unit A, supported by Unit B, is attempting to move into province C, occupied by unit C. Normally, unit C would be forced to ‘retreat’ to a random province (the person running the game will ask you to submit a retreat order after putting all the moves in) and unit A would occupy the province while unit B would not move. Note that if there is nowhere to retreat, the unit is deleted. However, if unit C is supported in its hold by unit D, no units move. Unit D must be adjacent to unit C, but need not be adjacent to units A or B.

More support beats less support. This is to say that the unit that is supported by more units is the one that ends up putting its move through.

If a unit supporting and is ‘attacked’ (i.e. a unit tries to move into its location) its support is ‘broken,’ meaning that the support order is not carried through.

Units giving support may be supported in a holding position, meaning that if one expects their support to be broken, they may be supported to allow them to remain. Double supporting is legal, meaning that two units supporting each other is allowed.

Essentially, the supporting unit must border the destination of the supported unit; a hold is counted as the destination being the same province.

Finally, armies may be ‘convoyed’ across a sea zone by any willing ship. One fleet may only move one army at a time, and the fleet may not support another unit or move while convoying. This can be chained, and this chain of convoys can be executed in one move. Fleets must be directly adjacent to each other and to the start and end provinces; only fleets may convoy, but they may convoy along coastal provinces. Note that for a convoy order to fail, a convoying fleet must be dislodged, not just attacked like would normally break support.

One players units may support or convoy another’s; be careful whom you trust, since you do not see others’ orders before they are put in.

Writing Orders

The most important thing in writing orders is clarity. Don’t write ‘unit in briten support hold’ and expect any sort of move to be done. That said, there are rules for writing orders in order to assure absolute clarity.

First, specify whether the unit is an army or fleet, then its location. This may be written out in full, like “Army in Rome” or “Army Rome,” or the shorthands A and F along with an abbreviated province name may be used, like “ARome.” If you do not specify which unit is being moved, nothing will happen.

Next, specify the order being given, like “Army in Rome holds;” orders also have shorthands. Usually ‘hold’ (unit does not move) is written H, movement is indicated by an arrow (->) or by ‘to’ and with the name of the province being moved into. For example, ordering an army moving from Rome to Campania could be written as “Army Rome (move) to Campania” or as “ARome->Cam.” Support orders are written with ‘support’ plus the location and type of unit being supported, along with its movement order. So if Army in Rome is moving to Campania, and Army in Samnium wants to support this move, it would be written “Army in Samnium support Army in Rome to Campania” or as “ASam S ARome ->Cam.” If the order is a hold or a convoy, write that. Convoys are written like a support order, only that “support” or “S” is replaced with “convoy” or “C.” Therefore, a convoy from Rome to Sardinia with a fleet in Gulf of Taranto would be written as “FGTar C ARome->Sard.” Note that for both support and convoy orders the base order must be written separately from the support order; this means that the base order is written twice, once by itself and once within another order.

Gameplay

Turns alternate between spring and fall. Before spring turns, the number of units on the board is adjusted by the players to the number of supply points occupied. This means that occupying a new province will allow a new unit to be built (can be built anywhere occupied), but losing a supply point means a unit must be deleted. For obvious reasons, fleets can only be built in coastal provinces. In addition, players may not disband below the number of supply points owned, meaning be careful about what units you build since you can’t delete them.

After a fall turn, provinces are occupied. In terms of occupying a province, all that matters is where the units end up after the fall move phase. Thus, merely being in a province for a turn does not guarantee that the province will be captured.

May the best man win!