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Diplomacy.

 

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En kort forklaing på hva Diplomacy går utpå:

 

 

Objective

 

Diplomacy is remarkably simple to learn, but underlying this simplicity is a wealth of complexity that can take a lifetime to master. Each of the game's seven players assumes control of one of the Great Power of Europe -- those that were considered the predominant nations just prior to the onset of World War I; namely Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia and Turkey. Beginning from relatively weak but equal starting positions, each nation plays with the objective of gaining supremacy over all others, a goal that can be achieved through astute diplomacy with the other players combined with careful strategic military planning.

 

 

Gameplay

 

Diplomacy is a highly abstracted turn-based strategy game that involves no element of chance whatsoever. A simplified map of Europe is divided into a relatively small number of provinces with distinctly-marked boundaries, and each province may only contain one military unit at any one time. Each nation fields a military comprised of the game's only two types of unit: the army and the fleet. A conflict occurs during a turn when two units attempt to occupy the same province. This is resolved by comparing the relative strengths of the two (or more) opposing units, however all units are considered to be of equal strength so any such conflicts would normally result in a stalemate. To tip the scales in one side's favour a unit may be additionally supported by one or more other units, each supporting unit's strength being added to the equation and increasing the side's effective strength. In any conflict, therefore, the unit with the greatest overall strength is the victor and the loser is forced to retreat.

 

 

Supply centers

 

A number of provinces have special significance and are designated as "supply centers". Supply centers serve two critical purposes:

 

 

The number of military units that a nation may have in play and use to achieve its goals is limited by the number of supply centers that the nation currently controls. A nation may only support as many units as it has supply centers; so if this number increases then new military units may be added to its forces, but if the number decreases then some units must be removed from play to reduce the nation's overall force to match the number of supply centers it controls.

 

 

The number of supply centers controlled by a nation is also the measure of that nation's overall success. If a nation gains control of a clear majority of the map's supply centers then that player is declared the outright winner of the game. If a nation controls no supply centers at all then the player is eliminated (since that nation will no longer have the ability to support any military units). Frequently, however, an outright victory is unachievable due to the nature of the game -- primarily the cooperative alliances that may be formed between players to prevent an individual's victory -- thus the game may also be concluded by an agreement between all remaining players to declare the contest a draw. In this case each player shares equally in the joint victory, regardless of any disparity in the number of supply centers each player controls.

 

 

Alliances

 

The parity of units, the limited number of provinces and supply centers, and the balanced starting positions of all Great Powers means that an overall stalemate between players is almost inevitable unless they enter into diplomatic agreements with one another and are able to gain the upper hand through an imbalance of overall force. One nation's units may support another's attack, thus allowing an opponent's forces to be defeated through a cooperative military venture. Nations might also seek to avoid conflict with each other by negotiating a division of territory that is mutually satisfactory and then by avoiding occupying provinces that have been agreed to as "belonging" to another nation.

 

 

Since each player's ultimate goal is to try to achieve supremacy over all others, alliances are unlikely to be long-lasting ones unless the players involved have agreed to share in the limited victory of a draw. In the course of trying to gain the upper hand, alliances will be formed and then later broken in favour of other, more advantageous ones. Players who find themselves in a position of weakness will tend to band together to thwart a stronger opponent who appears to be on the verge of winning, resulting in a diplomatic landscape that can change in a heartbeat.

 

 

Negotiations

 

Sometimes the dissolution of an agreement is communicated between the players involved, acknowledging that it is time to "part ways"; however in Diplomacy negotiations between players are not binding and there is no requirement to do something that you have promised to do. This leads to the inevitable moments in the game when a pact ceases to be strategically advantageous and one of the players secretly plots the betrayal of a former ally. Not only is this sort of backstabbing allowed, is it both accepted and expected to be part of Diplomacy. Indeed, much of the game's excitement is derived from trying to anticipate and strategically avoid these moments -- or to pre-emptively backstab the other player yourself to gain an insurmountable edge that can lead to outright victory.

 

 

Conclusion

 

At its heart, then, Diplomacy is a game of strategic cat and mouse between seven players, each of whom cannot be trusted and yet at least some of whom must be cooperated with -- at least for a time -- if a player is to achieve any measure of success…or even survive long enough to avoid early elimination. Ultimate mastery of the game tends to be achieved through becoming equally adept at military strategy and in the art of Machiavellian diplomacy.

 

Writer: Chris Stone “Mr T”

[MrLee]

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