File:WesterosV1.gif

2012-02-21T04:07:40Z

Unitedfan1389:

File:Westeros.gif

2012-02-21T04:06:46Z

Unitedfan1389: uploaded a new version of "Image:Westeros.gif"

Game of Thrones blank map.

File:Westeros.gif

2012-02-21T04:04:19Z

Unitedfan1389: uploaded a new version of "Image:Westeros.gif"

Game of Thrones blank map.

Game of Thrones

2012-02-16T07:58:30Z

Unitedfan1389:

[[Category:Variant]]

==Introduction==

''A Song of Ice and Fire'' is a fantasy series written by George R.R. Martin. The series is often referred to as ''Game of Thrones'' in reference to the first book, entitled ''A Game of Thrones,'' or the television series of the same name. I will not go into detail about the series here, but suggest instead you read the novels and watch the television series, as both are quite excellent.

This Diplomacy variant is based on the houses, people, places, and happenings of the series. Each player plays as one of the 7 Great Houses that are featured most prominently in the novels.

[[Image:WesterosStart.gif]]

==Variant Rules==

#The regular rules of Diplomacy apply, except where amended below.
#The game begins in Spring 298 AL (Aegon's Landing). The terms Spring, Summer, Fall, Autumn, and Winter will continue to be used to avoid confusion despite the fact that in this universe seasons are actually longer than years. And so the player of House Stark can frequently remind everyone that Winter Is Coming.
#There are 30 supply centers, so the victory criterion is 16 supply centers at the end of any Autumn retreat season.
#A House's armies are represented by its emblems, its fleets by its boats with sails marked with its emblem, and its supply center ownership by its sigils.

==The 7 Great Houses==

===House Baratheon (Stag)===
The youngest of the Great Houses, born during the Wars of Conquest. Its founder Orys Baratheon, was rumored to be Aegon the Dragon's bastard brother. Orys rose through the ranks to beomce one of Aegon's firecest commanders. When he defeated and slew Argilac the Arrogant, the last Storm King, Aegon rewarded him with Argilac's castle, lands, and daughter. Orys took the girl to bride, and adopted the banner, honors, and words of her line. The Baratheon sigil is a crowned stage, black, on a golden field. Their words are ''Ours is the Fury''.
House Baratheon starts with a fleet in Griffin's Roost and armies in the Kingswood and Storm's End.
===House Greyjoy (Kraken)===
The Greyjoys of Pyke claim descent from the Grey King of the Age of Heroes. Legend says the Grey King ruled not only the western isles but the sea itself, and took a mermaid to wife. For thousands of years, raiders from the Iron Islands - called "ironmen" by those they plundered - were the terrors of the seas, sailing as far as the Port of Ibben and the Summer Isles. They prided themselves on their fierceness in battle and their sacred freedoms. Each island had its own "salt king" and "rock king". The High King of the Isles was chosen from among their number, until King Urron made the throne hereditary by murdering the other kings when they assembled for a choosing. Urron's own line was extinguished a thousand years later when the Andals swept over the islands. The Greyjoys, like other island lords, intermarried with the conquerors. The Iron Kings extended their rule far beyond the isles themselves, carving kingdoms out of the mainland with fire and sword. King Qhored could truthfully boast that his writ ran "wherever men can smell salt water or hear the crash of waves". In later centuries, Qhored's descendents lost the Arbor, Oldtown, Bear Island, and much of the western shore. Still, come the Wars of Conquest, King Harren the Black ruled all the lands between the moutains, from the Neck to the Blackwater Rush. When Harren and his sons perished in the fall of Harrenhal, Aegon Targaryen granted the riverlands to House Tully, and allowed the surviving lords of the Iron Islands to revive their ancient custom and chose who should have the primacy among them. They chose Lord Vickon Greyjoy of Pyke. The Greyjoy sigil is a golden kraken upon a black field. Their words are ''We Do Not Sow''.
House Greyjoy starts with an army on Harlaw and fleets on Great Wyk and Pyke.
===House Lannister (Lion)===
Fair-haired, tall, and handsome, the Lannisters are the blood of Andal adventureres who carved out a mighty kingdom in the western hills and valleys. Through the female line they boast of descent from Lann the Clever, the legendary trickster of the Age of Heroes. The gold of Casterly Rock and the Golden Tooth has made them the wealthiest of the Great Houses. Their sigil is a golden lion upon a crimson field. The Lannister words are ''Hear Me Roar!''
House Lannister starts with a fleet in Lannisport and armies in the Crownlands and Casterly Rock.
===House Martell (Sun)===
Nymeria, the warrior queen of the Rhoyne, brought her ten thousand ships to land in Dorne, the southernmost of the Seven Kingdoms, and took Lord Mors Martell to husband. With her help, he vanquished his rivals to rule all Dorne. The Rhoynar influence remains strong. Thus Dornish rulers style themselves "Prince" rather than "King". Under Dornish law, lands and titles pass to the eldest child, not the eldest male. Dorne, alone of the Seven Kingdoms, was never conquered by Aegon the Dragon. It was not permanently joined to the realm until two hundred years later, and then by marriage and treaty, not the sword. Peaceable King Daeron II succeeded where the warriors had failed by wedding the Dornish princess Myriah and giving his own sister in marriage to the reigning Prince of Dorne. The Martell banner is a red sun pierced by a golden spear. Their words are ''Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken''.
House Martell begins with a fleet in Sunspear and armies in Godsgrace and Yronwood.
===House Stark (Direwolf)===
The Starks trace their descent from Brandon the Builder and the ancient Kings of Winter. For thousands of years, they ruled from Winterfell as Kings of the North, until Torrhen Stark, the King Who Knelt, chose to swear fealty to Aegon the Dragon rather than give battle. Their blazon is a grey direwolf on an ice-white field. The Stark words are ''Winter Is Coming''.
House Stark begins with a fleet in White Harbor and armies in Karhold and Winterfell.
===House Targaryen (Dragon)===
The Targaryens are the blood of the dragon, descended from the high lords of the ancient freehold of Valyria, their heritage proclaimed in a striking (some say inhuman) beauty, with lilac or indigo or violet eyes and hair of silver-gold or platinum white. Aegon the Dragon's ancestors escaped the Doom of Valyria and the chaos and slaughter that followed to settle on Dragonstone, a rocky island in the narrow sea. It was from there that Aegon and his sisters Visenya and Rhaenys sailed to conquer the Seven Kingdoms. To preserve the blood royal and keep it pure, House Targaryen has often followed the Valyrian custom of wedding brother to sister. Aegon himself took both his sisters to wife, and fathered sons on each. The Targaryen banner is a three-headed dragon, red on black, the three heads representing Aegon and his sisters. The Targaryen words are ''Fire and Blood''.
House Targaryen begins with a fleet on Dragonstone and an army in Pentos.
===House Tyrell (Flower/Green)===
The Tyrells rose to power as stewards to the Kings of the Reach, whose domain included the fertile plains Dornish marches and Blackwater Rush to the shores of the Sunset Sea. Through the female line, they claim descent from Garth Greenhand, gardener king of the First Men, who wore a crown of vines and flowers and made the land bloom. When King Mern, last of the old line, perished on the Field of Fire, his steward Harlen Tyrell surrendered Highgarden to Aegon Targaryen, pledging fealty. Aegon granted him the castle and dominion over the Reach. The Tyrell sigil is a golden rose on a grass-green field. Their words are ''Growing Strong''.
House Tyrell begins with a fleet in The Arbor and armies in Highgarden and Oldtown.

==Map Notes and Rules==

[[Image:Westeros.gif]]

===General Clarifications===
*All game territories are marked by their name. Any territory or island that is not marked with a name (such as Tarth and Skagos) is not a playable territory in the game.
*All coastal territories have one coast except Beyond the Wall, Castle Black, and Braavosi Coastlands, which each have a west coast and an east coast.
*Empty supply centers are signified by a large black dot; owned supply centers are signified by the owning House's sigil covering the black dot.

===Rivers===
*Rivers act as the border / part of the border between territories if the appropriate section of the river traverses the entire span between two drawn borders (black lines) or ends into a drawn border.
*The only two exceptions to the above are Oldtown and Starfall, which both straddle rivers just at their respective mouths.
*Rivers may always be crossed by armies as if they were normal land borders, with the one exception of the fork of The Trident. The fork of The Trident is impassable, meaning that the Riverlands do not border Harrenhal and Riverrun does not border the Kingsroad.

===Island Supply Centers===
*There are 6 island supply centers: Dragonstone, Great Wyk, Harlaw, Pyke, Shield Islands, and Tyrosh.
*Island supply centers may be occupied by armies or fleets. An army or a fleet may be built in a home island supply center, provided other build rules are followed.
*Armies may move between any of Great Wyk, Harlaw, and Pyke without assistance from fleets. Any army wishing to move elsewhere, or to move at all from Dragonstone, Shield Islands, or Tyrosh, must use a convoy.
*Fleets occupying island supply centers may convoy an army through them, but the army may not land in the island supply center.

===Mountains===
*The mountains on the border between Blackmont and Sandstone mean that movement between these two territories is not possible.

===King's Landing===
*As the seat of the Iron Throne and capital of the Seven Kingdoms, King's Landing is more important than a normal supply center. Therefore, it can supply two units, and is counted as two supply centers when determining if the victory criterion has been fulfilled.
*At the beginning of the game, the power in King's Landing is split, and it supplies the Baratheon army in the Kingswood and the Lannister army in the Crownlands.
*No House may build in King's Landing. House Baratheon and House Lannister may instead build, for the rest of the game, in the first neutral supply center they capture. If they first capture more than one at the same time, they must specify during the winter of assimilation which they will be choosing as a future build site.
*The supplies of King's Landing must be assimilated one at a time. Therefore, if a House that has no ownership of King's Landing occupies it at the end of an Autumn, it assimilates only one supply center. If the House wants to assimilate the other, it must ensure that it has a unit in King's Landing at the end of the following Autumn.
*If a House which controls neither of King's Landing's supplies occupies it at the end of an Autumn, and King's Landing's supplies are split between two houses, the occupying house must specify from which House they are taking supply in King's Landing.

===List of Territories and Abbreviations===

*Land Supply Centers
**Braavos: Bra
**Casterly Rock: Cas
**Castle Black: Bla
**Dornish Marches: Mar
**Flint's Finger: Fli
**Godsgrace: God
**Griffin's Roost: Roo
**Highgarden: Hig
**Harrenhal: Hhl
**King's Landing: Kin
**Lannisport: Lan
**Moat Cailin: Cai
**Myr: Myr
**Oldtown: Old
**Pentos: Pen
**Riverrun: Run
**Sandstone: San
**Starfall: Sta
**Storm's End: End
**Sunspear: Sun
**The Arbor: Arb
**The Eyrie: Eyr
**The Twins: Twi
**White Harbor: Whi
**Winterfell: Win
**Yronwood: Yro

*Island Supply Centers
**Dragonstone: Dra
**Great Wyk: Wyk
**Harlaw: Har
**Pyke: Pyk
**Shield Islands: Shi
**Tyrosh: Tyr

*Other Land Territories
**Barrowlands: Bar
**Beyond the Wall: BtW
**Blackmont: Bmt
**Braavosi Coastlands: Coa
**Crownlands: Cro
**Deepwood Motte: Mot
**Horn Hill: Hor
**Karhold: Kar
**Kingsroad: Krd
**Kingswood: Kwd
**Mountains of the Moon: Moo
**Prince's Pass: Pas
**Riverlands: Riv
**Salt Shore: Sal
**Searoad: Srd
**Stoney Sept: Sep
**Stony Shore: Sto
**Stormlands: Str
**The Dreadfort: Dre
**The Fingers: Fin
**The Neck: Nec
**The Reach: Rea
**Westerlands: Wes

*Other Sea Territories
**Blackwater Bay: BwB
**Blazewater Bay: BlB
**Bay of Crabs: BoC
**Bay of Ice: BoI
**Bay of Seals: BoS
**East Summer Sea: ESS
**Ironman's Bay: IrB
**North Narrow Sea: NNS
**North Sunset Sea: NSS
**Redwyne Straits
**Sea of Dorne: SoD
**Sea of Myrth: SoM
**Shipbreaker Bay: ShB
**South Narrow Sea: SNS
**South Sunset Sea: SSS
**The Bite: Bit
**The Golden Sound: TGS
**The Narrow Sea: TNS
**The Shivering Sea: TSS
**The Stepstones: Ste
**West Summer Sea: WSS

File:Westeros.gif

2012-02-16T07:57:42Z

Unitedfan1389: uploaded a new version of "Image:Westeros.gif"

Game of Thrones blank map.

File:WesterosStart.gif

2012-02-16T07:56:47Z

Unitedfan1389:

Game of Thrones

2012-02-16T07:55:46Z

Unitedfan1389:

[[Category:Variant]]

[[Image:WesterosStart.gif]]

==Introduction==

''A Song of Ice and Fire'' is a fantasy series written by George R.R. Martin. The series is often referred to as ''Game of Thrones'' in reference to the first book, entitled ''A Game of Thrones,'' or the television series of the same name. I will not go into detail about the series here, but suggest instead you read the novels and watch the television series, as both are quite excellent.

This Diplomacy variant is based on the houses, people, places, and happenings of the series. Each player plays as one of the 7 Great Houses that are featured most prominently in the novels.

==Variant Rules==

#The regular rules of Diplomacy apply, except where amended below.
#The game begins in Spring 298 AL (Aegon's Landing). The terms Spring, Summer, Fall, Autumn, and Winter will continue to be used to avoid confusion despite the fact that in this universe seasons are actually longer than years. And so the player of House Stark can frequently remind everyone that Winter Is Coming.
#There are 30 supply centers, so the victory criterion is 16 supply centers at the end of any Autumn retreat season.
#A House's armies are represented by its emblems, its fleets by its boats with sails marked with its emblem, and its supply center ownership by its sigils.

==The 7 Great Houses==

===House Baratheon (Stag)===
The youngest of the Great Houses, born during the Wars of Conquest. Its founder Orys Baratheon, was rumored to be Aegon the Dragon's bastard brother. Orys rose through the ranks to beomce one of Aegon's firecest commanders. When he defeated and slew Argilac the Arrogant, the last Storm King, Aegon rewarded him with Argilac's castle, lands, and daughter. Orys took the girl to bride, and adopted the banner, honors, and words of her line. The Baratheon sigil is a crowned stage, black, on a golden field. Their words are ''Ours is the Fury''.
House Baratheon starts with a fleet in Griffin's Roost and armies in the Kingswood and Storm's End.
===House Greyjoy (Kraken)===
The Greyjoys of Pyke claim descent from the Grey King of the Age of Heroes. Legend says the Grey King ruled not only the western isles but the sea itself, and took a mermaid to wife. For thousands of years, raiders from the Iron Islands - called "ironmen" by those they plundered - were the terrors of the seas, sailing as far as the Port of Ibben and the Summer Isles. They prided themselves on their fierceness in battle and their sacred freedoms. Each island had its own "salt king" and "rock king". The High King of the Isles was chosen from among their number, until King Urron made the throne hereditary by murdering the other kings when they assembled for a choosing. Urron's own line was extinguished a thousand years later when the Andals swept over the islands. The Greyjoys, like other island lords, intermarried with the conquerors. The Iron Kings extended their rule far beyond the isles themselves, carving kingdoms out of the mainland with fire and sword. King Qhored could truthfully boast that his writ ran "wherever men can smell salt water or hear the crash of waves". In later centuries, Qhored's descendents lost the Arbor, Oldtown, Bear Island, and much of the western shore. Still, come the Wars of Conquest, King Harren the Black ruled all the lands between the moutains, from the Neck to the Blackwater Rush. When Harren and his sons perished in the fall of Harrenhal, Aegon Targaryen granted the riverlands to House Tully, and allowed the surviving lords of the Iron Islands to revive their ancient custom and chose who should have the primacy among them. They chose Lord Vickon Greyjoy of Pyke. The Greyjoy sigil is a golden kraken upon a black field. Their words are ''We Do Not Sow''.
House Greyjoy starts with an army on Harlaw and fleets on Great Wyk and Pyke.
===House Lannister (Lion)===
Fair-haired, tall, and handsome, the Lannisters are the blood of Andal adventureres who carved out a mighty kingdom in the western hills and valleys. Through the female line they boast of descent from Lann the Clever, the legendary trickster of the Age of Heroes. The gold of Casterly Rock and the Golden Tooth has made them the wealthiest of the Great Houses. Their sigil is a golden lion upon a crimson field. The Lannister words are ''Hear Me Roar!''
House Lannister starts with a fleet in Lannisport and armies in the Crownlands and Casterly Rock.
===House Martell (Sun)===
Nymeria, the warrior queen of the Rhoyne, brought her ten thousand ships to land in Dorne, the southernmost of the Seven Kingdoms, and took Lord Mors Martell to husband. With her help, he vanquished his rivals to rule all Dorne. The Rhoynar influence remains strong. Thus Dornish rulers style themselves "Prince" rather than "King". Under Dornish law, lands and titles pass to the eldest child, not the eldest male. Dorne, alone of the Seven Kingdoms, was never conquered by Aegon the Dragon. It was not permanently joined to the realm until two hundred years later, and then by marriage and treaty, not the sword. Peaceable King Daeron II succeeded where the warriors had failed by wedding the Dornish princess Myriah and giving his own sister in marriage to the reigning Prince of Dorne. The Martell banner is a red sun pierced by a golden spear. Their words are ''Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken''.
House Martell begins with a fleet in Sunspear and armies in Godsgrace and Yronwood.
===House Stark (Direwolf)===
The Starks trace their descent from Brandon the Builder and the ancient Kings of Winter. For thousands of years, they ruled from Winterfell as Kings of the North, until Torrhen Stark, the King Who Knelt, chose to swear fealty to Aegon the Dragon rather than give battle. Their blazon is a grey direwolf on an ice-white field. The Stark words are ''Winter Is Coming''.
House Stark begins with a fleet in White Harbor and armies in Karhold and Winterfell.
===House Targaryen (Dragon)===
The Targaryens are the blood of the dragon, descended from the high lords of the ancient freehold of Valyria, their heritage proclaimed in a striking (some say inhuman) beauty, with lilac or indigo or violet eyes and hair of silver-gold or platinum white. Aegon the Dragon's ancestors escaped the Doom of Valyria and the chaos and slaughter that followed to settle on Dragonstone, a rocky island in the narrow sea. It was from there that Aegon and his sisters Visenya and Rhaenys sailed to conquer the Seven Kingdoms. To preserve the blood royal and keep it pure, House Targaryen has often followed the Valyrian custom of wedding brother to sister. Aegon himself took both his sisters to wife, and fathered sons on each. The Targaryen banner is a three-headed dragon, red on black, the three heads representing Aegon and his sisters. The Targaryen words are ''Fire and Blood''.
House Targaryen begins with a fleet on Dragonstone and an army in Pentos.
===House Tyrell (Flower/Green)===
The Tyrells rose to power as stewards to the Kings of the Reach, whose domain included the fertile plains Dornish marches and Blackwater Rush to the shores of the Sunset Sea. Through the female line, they claim descent from Garth Greenhand, gardener king of the First Men, who wore a crown of vines and flowers and made the land bloom. When King Mern, last of the old line, perished on the Field of Fire, his steward Harlen Tyrell surrendered Highgarden to Aegon Targaryen, pledging fealty. Aegon granted him the castle and dominion over the Reach. The Tyrell sigil is a golden rose on a grass-green field. Their words are ''Growing Strong''.
House Tyrell begins with a fleet in The Arbor and armies in Highgarden and Oldtown.

==Map Notes and Rules==

[[Image:Westeros.gif]]

===General Clarifications===
*All game territories are marked by their name. Any territory or island that is not marked with a name (such as Tarth and Skagos) is not a playable territory in the game.
*All coastal territories have one coast except Beyond the Wall, Castle Black, and Braavosi Coastlands, which each have a west coast and an east coast.
*Empty supply centers are signified by a large black dot; owned supply centers are signified by the owning House's sigil covering the black dot.

===Rivers===
*Rivers act as the border / part of the border between territories if the appropriate section of the river traverses the entire span between two drawn borders (black lines) or ends into a drawn border.
*The only two exceptions to the above are Oldtown and Starfall, which both straddle rivers just at their respective mouths.
*Rivers may always be crossed by armies as if they were normal land borders, with the one exception of the fork of The Trident. The fork of The Trident is impassable, meaning that the Riverlands do not border Harrenhal and Riverrun does not border the Kingsroad.

===Island Supply Centers===
*There are 6 island supply centers: Dragonstone, Great Wyk, Harlaw, Pyke, Shield Islands, and Tyrosh.
*Island supply centers may be occupied by armies or fleets. An army or a fleet may be built in a home island supply center, provided other build rules are followed.
*Armies may move between any of Great Wyk, Harlaw, and Pyke without assistance from fleets. Any army wishing to move elsewhere, or to move at all from Dragonstone, Shield Islands, or Tyrosh, must use a convoy.
*Fleets occupying island supply centers may convoy an army through them, but the army may not land in the island supply center.

===Mountains===
*The mountains on the border between Blackmont and Sandstone mean that movement between these two territories is not possible.

===King's Landing===
*As the seat of the Iron Throne and capital of the Seven Kingdoms, King's Landing is more important than a normal supply center. Therefore, it can supply two units, and is counted as two supply centers when determining if the victory criterion has been fulfilled.
*At the beginning of the game, the power in King's Landing is split, and it supplies the Baratheon army in the Kingswood and the Lannister army in the Crownlands.
*No House may build in King's Landing. House Baratheon and House Lannister may instead build, for the rest of the game, in the first neutral supply center they capture. If they first capture more than one at the same time, they must specify during the winter of assimilation which they will be choosing as a future build site.
*The supplies of King's Landing must be assimilated one at a time. Therefore, if a House that has no ownership of King's Landing occupies it at the end of an Autumn, it assimilates only one supply center. If the House wants to assimilate the other, it must ensure that it has a unit in King's Landing at the end of the following Autumn.
*If a House which controls neither of King's Landing's supplies occupies it at the end of an Autumn, and King's Landing's supplies are split between two houses, the occupying house must specify from which House they are taking supply in King's Landing.

===List of Territories and Abbreviations===

*Land Supply Centers
**Braavos: Bra
**Casterly Rock: Cas
**Castle Black: Bla
**Dornish Marches: Mar
**Flint's Finger: Fli
**Godsgrace: God
**Griffin's Roost: Roo
**Highgarden: Hig
**Harrenhal: Hhl
**King's Landing: Kin
**Lannisport: Lan
**Moat Cailin: Cai
**Myr: Myr
**Oldtown: Old
**Pentos: Pen
**Riverrun: Run
**Sandstone: San
**Starfall: Sta
**Storm's End: End
**Sunspear: Sun
**The Arbor: Arb
**The Eyrie: Eyr
**The Twins: Twi
**White Harbor: Whi
**Winterfell: Win
**Yronwood: Yro

*Island Supply Centers
**Dragonstone: Dra
**Great Wyk: Wyk
**Harlaw: Har
**Pyke: Pyk
**Shield Islands: Shi
**Tyrosh: Tyr

*Other Land Territories
**Barrowlands: Bar
**Beyond the Wall: BtW
**Blackmont: Bmt
**Braavosi Coastlands: Coa
**Crownlands: Cro
**Deepwood Motte: Mot
**Horn Hill: Hor
**Karhold: Kar
**Kingsroad: Krd
**Kingswood: Kwd
**Mountains of the Moon: Moo
**Prince's Pass: Pas
**Riverlands: Riv
**Salt Shore: Sal
**Searoad: Srd
**Stoney Sept: Sep
**Stony Shore: Sto
**Stormlands: Str
**The Dreadfort: Dre
**The Fingers: Fin
**The Neck: Nec
**The Reach: Rea
**Westerlands: Wes

*Other Sea Territories
**Blackwater Bay: BwB
**Blazewater Bay: BlB
**Bay of Crabs: BoC
**Bay of Ice: BoI
**Bay of Seals: BoS
**East Summer Sea: ESS
**Ironman's Bay: IrB
**North Narrow Sea: NNS
**North Sunset Sea: NSS
**Redwyne Straits
**Sea of Dorne: SoD
**Sea of Myrth: SoM
**Shipbreaker Bay: ShB
**South Narrow Sea: SNS
**South Sunset Sea: SSS
**The Bite: Bit
**The Golden Sound: TGS
**The Narrow Sea: TNS
**The Shivering Sea: TSS
**The Stepstones: Ste
**West Summer Sea: WSS

File:Westeros.gif

2012-02-16T07:08:59Z

Unitedfan1389: Game of Thrones blank map.

Game of Thrones blank map.

File:WesterosStart.GIF

2012-02-16T07:07:33Z

Unitedfan1389: Game of Thrones starting map.

Game of Thrones starting map.

Game of Thrones

2012-01-25T07:35:38Z

Unitedfan1389: /* Map Notes */

Game of Thrones

2012-01-25T07:34:05Z

Unitedfan1389: /* Variant Rules */

Game of Thrones

2012-01-25T07:33:38Z

Unitedfan1389: /* Variant Rules */

2009-07-13T23:18:50Z

Unitedfan1389:

File:Arctic dip start.gif

2009-07-13T23:17:27Z

Unitedfan1389: uploaded a new version of "Image:Arctic dip start.gif"

File:Arctic dip start.gif

2009-07-13T23:15:50Z

Unitedfan1389: uploaded a new version of "Image:Arctic dip start.gif"

Arctic

2009-07-13T23:13:46Z

Unitedfan1389:

[[Category:Variant]]
==Introduction==

The Arctic Ocean has received much press recently due to two major issues: global warming and the resultant melting of the polar ice cap, and the potential for harvesting oil in the area, much it offshore (represented by offshore supply centers). This variant is based on the premise that the five Arctic nations may soon be competing for this oil, and of course will have to deal with each other and the environment in the process.

[[Image:arctic_dip_start.gif]]

==Variant Rules==

#The regular rules of Diplomacy apply, except where amended below.
#Progression of time: Instead of two movement and retreat seasons and one adjustment season per year, everything is doubled, so there are four movement seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter), four retreat seasons (Spring Retreats, Summer Retreats, Fall Retreats, and Winter Retreats), and two adjustment seasons (Summer Adjustments and Winter Adjustments). In practice, there is no change to the flow of gameplay; the reason this change is included is to accomodate the rules regarding ice territories (see below).
#The game starts in Fall 2010 (yes the "middle" of the year).
#There are 26 supply centers, so the victory criterion is control of 14 supply centers at the end of any Summer or Winter retreat season.
===Ice territories===
*The landscape of the Arctic changes drastically over the course of every year due to the melting and formation of large areas of ice over the sea, and this variant takes this into account. Thus, over the course of every game year, certain territories will transform from sea territories to ice territories, and vice versa.
*Ice territories are the equivalent of ''non-coastal'' land territories in that that armies may occupy them and fleets may not, even if the territory is bordering a sea (the idea being that fleets cannot traverse the coast because the coast is ever changing). However, fleets may support armies occupying a bordering ice territory, support armies to a bordering ice territory, or convoy armies to bordering ice territories.
*There are three types of ice territories: those that are ice only in winter (W), those that are sea only in summer (S), and those that are permanently ice (P).
*List of ice territories:
**Alpha Ridge (P)
**Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge (P)
**Arctic Wasteland (P)
**Baffin Bay (W)
**Beauford Sea (S)
**Chukchi Abyssal Plain (S)
**Chukchi Sea (W)
**East Siberian Sea (W)
**Franz Joseph Land (S)
**Kara Sea (W)
**Laptev Sea (S)
**McKenzie Delta (W)
**Mendeleyev Ridge (P)
**North Pole (P)
**Northwest Passage (W)
**Severnaya Zemlya (S)
**Yermak Plateau (S)
*Transformations between ice and sea happen in the middle of the movement phase as the units move. Thus orders should be submitted as if the territories are whatever type of territory they are listed as for the season one is submitting orders for. For example, say that one is submitting orders for Winter 2010 and has an army in Yukon. One can order A Yukon - McKenzie Delta and, provided nothing stops it, the order will succeed.
*If a unit is ordered to a territory to which it cannot be ordered at that time, the order is void and the unit holds. For example, say one is submitting orders for Fall 2011 and has a fleet in Novaya Zemlya. An order of F Novaya Zemlya - Franz Joseph Land is void because in the fall Franz Joseph land is ice, and thus a fleet cannot move there.
*If a unit remains in a territory which has transformed, the unit is disbanded during the following retreat phase. For example, say one is submitting orders for Summer 2011 and has an army in Chukchi Abyssal Plain. If the army does not successfully exit Chukchi Abyssal Plain that season for any reason (it is not ordered to move, it bounces, ect.) the army is disbanded during the retreat phase. However, such a unit may be given a non-move order and that order will succeed before the unit is disbanded. The one exception to this rule concerns the islands of Franz Joseph Land and Severnaya Zemlya: if an army is on one of these when the ice melts, the army may survive on the island; however, it cannot move to any adjacent territory without a convoy until the ice returns (except an army in Severnaya Zemlya may move to Yakutsk via the land bridge, see below).
*Coastal territories bordering only ice are not considered coastal at that time. For example, if one has fleet in Yukon at the end of winter, that fleet is disbanded as McKenzie Delta is ice and that fleet is without any water on which to float.

==The Five Arctic Nations==

===Russia (Grey)===
Russia is the current frontrunner in the Arctic, having already established drilling sites on and off shore and famously having planted a flag on the sea bed at the North Pole, but the Motherland may have trouble controlling all the oil along its vast Arctic coastline from other nations. Russia starts with an army in Archangel and an army in Pevek. Russia's third home supply center is Magadan, but Russia's third starting unit is a fleet in the Sea of Okhtosk. If it is under Russian control, Russia may build in Western Siberia.
===Norway (Red)===
Norway's long coastline should definitely prove fruitful for Arctic expansion, especially into the oil-rich Barents Sea. But the key to Norway's success in the Great White North may well be Svalbard, Norway's even more northernly holding. Norway starts with a fleet in Oslo, a fleet in Tromso, and an army in Longyearbyen.
===Canada (Pink)===
With the recent opening of the Northwest Passage due to global warming, Canada has been part of an ongoing debate about whether that soon-viable traderoute is international or Canadien-internal waters. Canada claims a great amount of land in the Arctic, but will need to actually expand there in order to be successful. Canada starts with a fleet in Nain, an army in Churchill, and an army in Yellowknife. While not a supply center, Canada is also permitted to build fleets, but not armies, in Western Canada.
===Denmark (Purple)===
While Denmark itself does not border the Arctic, Denmark possesses Greenland, the worlds' largest island, and from there must start its quest for success in the Arctic. Denmark also contols the Faeroe Islands, a small territory in the Atlantic that could serve as a useful port. Denmark starts with a fleet in Torshavn, a fleet in Nuuk, and an army in Station Nord.
===United States (Blue)===
Because of its possession of Alaska, the United States will be sure to have its say in the fate of the Arctic and already has the infrastructure, such as the Great Alaska Pipeline, to take advantage of whatever oil it can get its hands on. But the energy-hoarding Americans can never get enough oil, and thus will be looking to expand beyond their relatively small Arctice enclave. The USA starts with an fleet in Juneau, an army in Anchorage, and and an army in Barrow.

==Map Notes==

===Clarifications===
*Banks Island, the island just to the northeast of Victoria Island, is considered part of one territory with Victoria Island, which thus borders McKenzie Delta.
*Victoria Island never has two coasts.
*The strait between mainland Canada (Churchill) and Baffin Island is considered part of the Northwest Passage territory, and thus Northwest Passage and Hudson Bay border each other.
*The straits between mainland Canada (Churchill/Yellowknife) and Victoria Island, Victoria Island and Banks Island, and Ellesmere Island (Queen Elizabeth Islands) and Greenland are impassable; thus Northwest Passage does not border McKenzie Delta and Baffin Bay does not border Arctic Mid-Ocean Range.
*Both Barents Sea and White Sea border Kara Sea. White Sea does not border Novaya Zemlya and Barents Sea does not border Ural Mountains.
*The Queen Elizabeth Islands are considered one coastal land territory (fleets may move there, though note the islands do not always border a sea).
*The Baltic Sea/Gulf of Bothnia is not a territory and cannot be entered; Lapland therefore only has one coast.
*Northeast Greenland has two coasts, east and west; however, note that the west coast can only be accessed in the summer, when the Yermak Plateau is sea.
*The Alleutian Islands are not part of Anchorage, and thus Anchorage does not border North Pacific Ocean.

===Land Bridges===
The following Land Bridges exist, connecting the two named territories:
*Ural Mountains and Novaya Zemlya
*Yellowknife and Victoria Island
*Churchill and Victoria Island
*Churchill and Baffin Island
*Baffin Island and Queen Elizabeth Islands
*Queen Elizabeth Islands and Northeast Greenland
*Severnaya Zemlya and Yakutsk

===The Bering Strait===
The Bering Strait, represented by a small, unmarked circle, is not itself a space, but marks a point at which all five territories that border it (Seward Peninsula, West Bering Sea, East Bering Sea, Kamchatka, and Chukchi Sea) meet. All five of these territories are considered adjacent, and therefore direct movement between them is possible.

===List of Territories===
Note: <nowiki>*</nowiki>=home supply center, <nowiki>**</nowiki>=neutral supply center
*Alpha Ridge: Alp
*Anchorage: Anc*
*Archangel: Arc*
*Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge: AMR
*Arctic Wasteland: AWL
*Baffin Bay: BfB*
*Baffin Island: BfI**
*Barents Sea: Bar**
*Barrow: Brw*
*Beauford Sea: Bea**
*Chukchi Abyssal Plain: CAP
*Chukchi Sea: Chk**
*Churchill: Chu*
*Denmark Strait: DMS
*East Bering Sea: EBS
*East Siberian Sea: ESS
*Europe: Eur
*Finland: Fin
*Franz Joseph Land: FJL
*Greenland Sea: GrS
*Gulf of Alaska: GoA
*Hudson Bay: Hud
*Iceland: Ice**
*Juneau: Jun*
*Kara Sea: Kar
*Labrador Sea: Lab
*Laptev Sea: Lap**
*Longyearbyen: Lyb*
*Magadan: Mag*
*McKenzie Delta: McK**
*Nain: Nai*
*North Atlantic Ocean: NAO
*North Pacific Ocean: NPO
*North Pole: NP
*Northwest Greenland: NWG
*Northwest Passage: NWP
*Norwegian Sea: Nwg
*Novaya Zemlya: Nov
*Nuuk: Nuu*
*Oslo: Osl
*Pevek: Pev*
*Queen Elizabeth Islands: QEI**
*Sea of Okhtosk: Okh
*Severnaya Zemlya: Sev
*Seward Peninsula: Sew
*Station Nord: Nrd*
*Trans-Siberian Railroad: TSR
*Tromso: Tro*
*Torshavn: Tor*
*Ural Mountains: Ura
*Victoria Island: Vic
*West Bering Sea: WBS
*Western Canada: WCa
*Western Siberia: WSi**
*Yakutsk: Yak
*Yellowknife: Yel*
*Yermak Plateau: Yer
*Yukon: Yuk

Arctic

2009-07-13T23:11:39Z

Unitedfan1389:

[[Category:Variant]]
==Introduction==

The Arctic Ocean has received much press recently due to two major issues: global warming and the resultant melting of the polar ice cap, and the potential for harvesting oil in the area, much it offshore (represented by offshore supply centers). This variant is based on the premise that the five Arctic nations may soon be competing for this oil, and of course will have to deal with each other and the environment in the process.

[[Image:arctic_dip_start.gif]]

==Variant Rules==

#The regular rules of Diplomacy apply, except where amended below.
#Progression of time: Instead of two movement and retreat seasons and one adjustment season per year, everything is doubled, so there are four movement seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter), four retreat seasons (Spring Retreats, Summer Retreats, Fall Retreats, and Winter Retreats), and two adjustment seasons (Summer Adjustments and Winter Adjustments). In practice, there is no change to the flow of gameplay; the reason this change is included is to accomodate the rules regarding ice territories (see below).
#The game starts in Fall 2010 (yes the "middle" of the year).
#There are 26 supply centers, so the victory criterion is control of 14 supply centers at the end of any Summer or Winter retreat season.
===Ice territories===
*The landscape of the Arctic changes drastically over the course of every year due to the melting and formation of large areas of ice over the sea, and this variant takes this into account. Thus, over the course of every game year, certain territories will transform from sea territories to ice territories, and vice versa.
*Ice territories are the equivalent of ''non-coastal'' land territories in that that armies may occupy them and fleets may not, even if the territory is bordering a sea (the idea being that fleets cannot traverse the coast because the coast is ever changing). However, fleets may support armies occupying a bordering ice territory, support armies to a bordering ice territory, or convoy armies to bordering ice territories.
*There are three types of ice territories: those that are ice only in winter (W), those that are sea only in summer (S), and those that are permanently ice (P).
*List of ice territories:
**Alpha Ridge (P)
**Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge (P)
**Arctic Wasteland (P)
**Baffin Bay (W)
**Beauford Sea (S)
**Chukchi Abyssal Plain (S)
**Chukchi Sea (W)
**East Siberian Sea (W)
**Franz Joseph Land (S)
**Kara Sea (W)
**Laptev Sea (S)
**McKenzie Delta (W)
**Mendeleyev Ridge (P)
**North Pole (P)
**Northwest Passage (W)
**Severnaya Zemlya (S)
**Yermak Plateau (S)
*Transformations between ice and sea happen in the middle of the movement phase as the units move. Thus orders should be submitted as if the territories are whatever type of territory they are listed as for the season one is submitting orders for. For example, say that one is submitting orders for Winter 2010 and has an army in Yukon. One can order A Yukon - McKenzie Delta and, provided nothing stops it, the order will succeed.
*If a unit is ordered to a territory to which it cannot be ordered at that time, the order is void and the unit holds. For example, say one is submitting orders for Fall 2011 and has a fleet in Novaya Zemlya. An order of F Novaya Zemlya - Franz Joseph Land is void because in the fall Franz Joseph land is ice, and thus a fleet cannot move there.
*If a unit remains in a territory which has transformed, the unit is disbanded during the following retreat phase. For example, say one is submitting orders for Summer 2011 and has an army in Chukchi Abyssal Plain. If the army does not successfully exit Chukchi Abyssal Plain that season for any reason (it is not ordered to move, it bounces, ect.) the army is disbanded during the retreat phase. However, such a unit may be given a non-move order and that order will succeed before the unit is disbanded. The one exception to this rule concerns the islands of Franz Joseph Land and Severnaya Zemlya: if an army is on one of these when the ice melts, the army may survive on the island; however, it cannot move to any adjacent territory without a convoy until the ice returns (except an army in Severnaya Zemlya may move to Yakutsk via the land bridge, see below).
*Coastal territories bordering only ice are not considered coastal at that time. For example, if one has fleet in Yukon at the end of winter, that fleet is disbanded as McKenzie Delta is ice and that fleet is without any water on which to float.

==The Five Arctic Nations==

===Russia (Grey)===
Russia is the current frontrunner in the Arctic, having already established drilling sites on and off shore and famously having planted a flag on the sea bed at the North Pole, but the Motherland may have trouble controlling all the oil along its vast Arctic coastline from other nations. Russia starts with an army in Archangel and an army in Pevek. Russia's third home supply center is Magadan, but Russia's third starting unit is a fleet in the Sea of Okhtosk. If it is under Russian control, Russia may build in Western Siberia.
===Norway (Red)===
Norway's long coastline should definitely prove fruitful for Arctic expansion, especially into the oil-rich Barents Sea. But the key to Norway's success in the Great White North may well be Svalbard, Norway's even more northernly holding. Norway starts with a fleet in Oslo, a fleet in Tromso, and an army in Longyearbyen.
===Canada (Pink)===
With the recent opening of the Northwest Passage due to global warming, Canada has been part of an ongoing debate about whether that soon-viable traderoute is international or Canadien-internal waters. Canada claims a great amount of land in the Arctic, but will need to actually expand there in order to be successful. Canada starts with a fleet in Nain, an army in Churchill, and an army in Yellowknife. While not a supply center, Canada is also permitted to build fleets, but not armies, in Western Canada.
===Denmark (Purple)===
While Denmark itself does not border the Arctic, Denmark possesses Greenland, the worlds' largest island, and from there must start its quest for success in the Arctic. Denmark also contols the Faeroe Islands, a small territory in the Atlantic that could serve as a useful port. Denmark starts with a fleet in Torshavn, a fleet in Nuuk, and an army in Station Nord.
===United States (Blue)===
Because of its possession of Alaska, the United States will be sure to have its say in the fate of the Arctic and already has the infrastructure, such as the Great Alaska Pipeline, to take advantage of whatever oil it can get its hands on. But the energy-hoarding Americans can never get enough oil, and thus will be looking to expand beyond their relatively small Arctice enclave. The USA starts with an fleet in Juneau, an army in Anchorage, and and an army in Barrow.

==Map Notes==

===Clarifications===
*Banks Island, the island just to the northeast of Victoria Island, is considered part of one territory with Victoria Island, which thus borders McKenzie Delta.
*The strait between mainland Canada (Churchill) and Baffin Island is considered part of the Northwest Passage territory, and thus Northwest Passage and Hudson Bay border each other.
*The straits between mainland Canada (Churchill/Yellowknife) and Victoria Island, Victoria Island and Banks Island, and Ellesmere Island (Queen Elizabeth Islands) and Greenland are impassable; thus Northwest Passage does not border McKenzie Delta and Baffin Bay does not border Arctic Mid-Ocean Range.
*Both Barents Sea and White Sea border Kara Sea. White Sea does not border Novaya Zemlya and Barents Sea does not border Ural Mountains.
*The Queen Elizabeth Islands are considered one coastal land territory (fleets may move there, though note the islands do not always border a sea).
*The Baltic Sea/Gulf of Bothnia is not a territory and cannot be entered; Lapland therefore only has one coast.
*Northeast Greenland has two coasts, east and west; however, note that the west coast can only be accessed in the summer, when the Yermak Plateau is sea.
*The Alleutian Islands are not part of Anchorage, and thus Anchorage does not border North Pacific Ocean.

===Land Bridges===
The following Land Bridges exist, connecting the two named territories:
*Ural Mountains and Novaya Zemlya
*Yellowknife and Victoria Island
*Churchill and Victoria Island
*Churchill and Baffin Island
*Baffin Island and Queen Elizabeth Islands
*Queen Elizabeth Islands and Northeast Greenland
*Severnaya Zemlya and Yakutsk

===The Bering Strait===
The Bering Strait, represented by a small, unmarked circle, is not itself a space, but marks a point at which all five territories that border it (Seward Peninsula, West Bering Sea, East Bering Sea, Kamchatka, and Chukchi Sea) meet. All five of these territories are considered adjacent, and therefore direct movement between them is possible.

===List of Territories===
Note: <nowiki>*</nowiki>=home supply center, <nowiki>**</nowiki>=neutral supply center
*Alpha Ridge: Alp
*Anchorage: Anc*
*Archangel: Arc*
*Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge: AMR
*Arctic Wasteland: AWL
*Baffin Bay: BfB*
*Baffin Island: BfI**
*Barents Sea: Bar**
*Barrow: Brw*
*Beauford Sea: Bea**
*Chukchi Abyssal Plain: CAP
*Chukchi Sea: Chk**
*Churchill: Chu*
*Denmark Strait: DMS
*East Bering Sea: EBS
*East Siberian Sea: ESS
*Europe: Eur
*Finland: Fin
*Franz Joseph Land: FJL
*Greenland Sea: GrS
*Gulf of Alaska: GoA
*Hudson Bay: Hud
*Iceland: Ice**
*Juneau: Jun*
*Kara Sea: Kar
*Labrador Sea: Lab
*Laptev Sea: Lap**
*Longyearbyen: Lyb*
*Magadan: Mag*
*McKenzie Delta: McK**
*Nain: Nai*
*North Atlantic Ocean: NAO
*North Pacific Ocean: NPO
*North Pole: NP
*Northwest Greenland: NWG
*Northwest Passage: NWP
*Norwegian Sea: Nwg
*Novaya Zemlya: Nov
*Nuuk: Nuu*
*Oslo: Osl
*Pevek: Pev*
*Queen Elizabeth Islands: QEI**
*Sea of Okhtosk: Okh
*Severnaya Zemlya: Sev
*Seward Peninsula: Sew
*Station Nord: Nrd*
*Trans-Siberian Railroad: TSR
*Tromso: Tro*
*Torshavn: Tor*
*Ural Mountains: Ura
*Victoria Island: Vic
*West Bering Sea: WBS
*Western Canada: WCa
*Western Siberia: WSi**
*Yakutsk: Yak
*Yellowknife: Yel*
*Yermak Plateau: Yer
*Yukon: Yuk

Arctic

2009-06-26T20:32:42Z

Unitedfan1389:

==Introduction==

The Arctic Ocean has received much press recently due to two major issues: global warming and the resultant melting of the polar ice cap, and the potential for harvesting oil in the area, much it offshore (represented by offshore supply centers). This variant is based on the premise that the five Arctic nations may soon be competing for this oil, and of course will have to deal with each other and the environment in the process.

[[Image:arctic_dip_start.gif]]

==Variant Rules==

#The regular rules of Diplomacy apply, except where amended below.
#Progression of time: Instead of two movement and retreat seasons and one adjustment season per year, everything is doubled, so there are four movement seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter), four retreat seasons (Spring Retreats, Summer Retreats, Fall Retreats, and Winter Retreats), and two adjustment seasons (Summer Adjustments and Winter Adjustments). In practice, there is no change to the flow of gameplay; the reason this change is included is to accomodate the rules regarding ice territories (see below).
#The game starts in Fall 2010 (yes the "middle" of the year).
#There are 25 supply centers, so the victory criterion is control of 13 supply centers at the end of any Summer or Winter retreat season.
===Ice territories===
*The landscape of the Arctic changes drastically over the course of every year due to the melting and formation of large areas of ice over the sea, and this variant takes this into account. Thus, over the course of every game year, certain territories will transform from sea territories to ice territories, and vice versa.
*Ice territories are the equivalent of ''non-coastal'' land territories in that that armies may occupy them and fleets may not, even if the territory is bordering a sea (the idea being that fleets cannot traverse the coast because the coast is ever changing). However, fleets may support armies occupying a bordering ice territory, support armies to a bordering ice territory, or convoy armies to bordering ice territories.
*There are three types of ice territories: those that are ice only in winter (W), those that are sea only in summer (S), and those that are permanently ice (P).
*List of ice territories:
**Alpha Ridge (P)
**Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge (P)
**Arctic Wasteland (P)
**Baffin Bay (W)
**Beauford Sea (S)
**Chukchi Abyssal Plain (S)
**Chukchi Sea (W)
**East Siberian Sea (W)
**Franz Joseph Land (S)
**Kara Sea (W)
**Laptev Sea (S)
**McKenzie Delta (W)
**Mendeleyev Ridge (P)
**North Pole (P)
**Northwest Passage (S)
**Severnaya Zemlya (S)
**Yermak Plateau (S)
*Transformations between ice and sea happen in the middle of the movement phase as the units move. Thus orders should be submitted as if the territories are whatever type of territory they are listed as for the season one is submitting orders for. For example, say that one is submitting orders for Winter 2010 and has an army in Yukon. One can order A Yukon - McKenzie Delta and, provided nothing stops it, the order will succeed.
*If a unit is ordered to a territory to which it cannot be ordered at that time, the order is void and the unit holds. For example, say one is submitting orders for Fall 2011 and has a fleet in Novaya Zemlya. An order of F Novaya Zemlya - Franz Joseph Land is void because in the fall Franz Joseph land is ice, and thus a fleet cannot move there.
*If a unit remains in a territory which has transformed, the unit is disbanded during the following retreat phase. For example, say one is submitting orders for Summer 2011 and has an army in Chukchi Abyssal Plain. If the army does not successfully exit Chukchi Abyssal Plain that season for any reason (it is not ordered to move, it bounces, ect.) the army is disbanded during the retreat phase. However, such a unit may be given a non-move order and that order will succeed before the unit is disbanded. The one exception to this rule concerns the islands of Franz Joseph Land and Severnaya Zemlya: if an army is on one of these when the ice melts, the army may survive on the island; however, it cannot move to any adjacent territory without a convoy until the ice returns (except an army in Severnaya Zemlya may move to Yakutsk via the land bridge, see below).
*Coastal territories bordering only ice are not considered coastal at that time. For example, if one has fleet in Yukon at the end of winter, that fleet is disbanded as McKenzie Delta is ice and that fleet is without any water on which to float.

==The Five Arctic Nations==

===Russia (Grey)===
Russia is the current frontrunner in the Arctic, having already established drilling sites on and off shore and famously having planted a flag on the sea bed at the North Pole, but the Motherland may have trouble controlling all the oil along its vast Arctic coastline from other nations. Russia starts with an army in Archangel and an army in Pevek. Russia's third home supply center is Magadan, but Russia's third starting unit is a fleet in the Sea of Okhtosk. If it is under Russian control, Russia may build in Western Siberia.
===Norway (Red)===
Norway's long coastline should definitely prove fruitful for Arctic expansion, especially into the oil-rich Barents Sea. But the key to Norway's success in the Great White North may well be Svalbard, Norway's even more northernly holding. Norway starts with a fleet in Oslo, a fleet in Tromso, and an army in Longyearbyen.
===Canada (Pink)===
With the recent opening of the Northwest Passage due to global warming, Canada has been part of an ongoing debate about whether that soon-viable traderoute is international or Canadien-internal waters. Canada claims a great amount of land in the Arctic, but will need to actually expand there in order to be successful. Canada starts with a fleet in Nain, an army in Churchill, and an army in Yellowknife. While not a supply center, Canada is also permitted to build fleets, but not armies, in Western Canada.
===Denmark (Purple)===
While Denmark itself does not border the Arctic, Denmark possesses Greenland, the worlds' largest island, and from there must start its quest for success in the Arctic. Denmark also contols the Faeroe Islands, a small territory in the Atlantic that could serve as a useful port. Denmark starts with a fleet in Torshavn, a fleet in Nuuk, and an army in Station Nord.
===United States (Blue)===
Because of its possession of Alaska, the United States will be sure to have its say in the fate of the Arctic and already has the infrastructure, such as the Great Alaska Pipeline, to take advantage of whatever oil it can get its hands on. But the energy-hoarding Americans can never get enough oil, and thus will be looking to expand beyond their relatively small Arctice enclave. The USA starts with an fleet in Juneau, an army in Anchorage, and and an army in Barrow.

==Map Notes==

===Clarifications===
*Banks Island, the island just to the northeast of Victoria Island, is considered part of one territory with Victoria Island, which thus borders McKenzie Delta.
*The strait between mainland Canada (Churchill) and Baffin Island is considered part of the Northwest Passage territory, and thus Northwest Passage and Hudson Bay border each other.
*The straits between mainland Canada (Churchill/Yellowknife) and Victoria Island, Victoria Island and Banks Island, and Ellesmere Island (Queen Elizabeth Islands) and Greenland are impassable; thus Northwest Passage does not border McKenzie Delta and Baffin Bay does not border Arctic Mid-Ocean Range.
*Both Barents Sea and White Sea border Kara Sea. White Sea does not border Novaya Zemlya and Barents Sea does not border Ural Mountains.
*The Queen Elizabeth Islands are considered one coastal land territory (fleets may move there, though note the islands do not always border a sea).
*The Baltic Sea/Gulf of Bothnia is not a territory and cannot be entered; Lapland therefore only has one coast.
*Northeast Greenland has two coasts, east and west; however, note that the west coast can only be accessed in the summer, when the Yermak Plateau is sea.
*The Alleutian Islands are not part of Anchorage, and thus Anchorage does not border North Pacific Ocean.

===Land Bridges===
The following Land Bridges exist, connecting the two named territories:
*Ural Mountains and Novaya Zemlya
*Yellowknife and Victoria Island
*Churchill and Victoria Island
*Churchill and Baffin Island
*Baffin Island and Queen Elizabeth Islands
*Queen Elizabeth Islands and Northeast Greenland
*Severnaya Zemlya and Yakutsk

===The Bering Strait===
The Bering Strait, represented by a small, unmarked circle, is not itself a space, but marks a point at which all five territories that border it (Seward Peninsula, West Bering Sea, East Bering Sea, Kamchatka, and Chukchi Sea) meet. All five of these territories are considered adjacent, and therefore direct movement between them is possible.

===List of Territories===
Note: <nowiki>*</nowiki>=home supply center, <nowiki>**</nowiki>=neutral supply center
*Alpha Ridge: Alp
*Anchorage: Anc*
*Archangel: Arc*
*Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge: AMR
*Arctic Wasteland: AWL
*Baffin Bay: BfB*
*Baffin Island: BfI
*Barents Sea: Bar**
*Barrow: Brw*
*Beauford Sea: Bea**
*Chukchi Abyssal Plain: CAP
*Chukchi Sea: Chk**
*Churchill: Chu*
*Denmark Strait: DMS
*East Bering Sea: EBS
*East Siberian Sea: ESS
*Europe: Eur
*Finland: Fin
*Franz Joseph Land: FJL
*Greenland Sea: GrS
*Gulf of Alaska: GoA
*Hudson Bay: Hud
*Iceland: Ice**
*Juneau: Jun*
*Kara Sea: Kar
*Labrador Sea: Lab
*Laptev Sea: Lap**
*Longyearbyen: Lyb*
*Magadan: Mag*
*McKenzie Delta: McK**
*Nain: Nai*
*North Atlantic Ocean: NAO
*North Pacific Ocean: NPO
*North Pole: NP
*Northwest Greenland: NWG
*Northwest Passage: NWP
*Norwegian Sea: Nwg
*Novaya Zemlya: Nov
*Nuuk: Nuu*
*Oslo: Osl
*Pevek: Pev*
*Queen Elizabeth Islands: QEI**
*Sea of Okhtosk: Okh
*Severnaya Zemlya: Sev
*Seward Peninsula: Sew
*Station Nord: Nrd*
*Trans-Siberian Railroad: TSR
*Tromso: Tro*
*Torshavn: Tor*
*Ural Mountains: Ura
*Victoria Island: Vic
*West Bering Sea: WBS
*Western Canada: WCa
*Western Siberia: WSi**
*Yakutsk: Yak
*Yellowknife: Yel*
*Yermak Plateau: Yer
*Yukon: Yuk

2009-06-26T16:45:14Z

Unitedfan1389: New page: Arctic Diplomacy by Matt Kremer I. Introduction The Arctic Ocean has received much press recently due to two major issues: global warming and the resultant melting of the polar ice cap...

Arctic Diplomacy
by Matt Kremer

I. Introduction

The Arctic Ocean has received much press recently due to two major issues: global warming and the resultant melting of the polar ice cap, and the potential for harvesting oil in the area, much it offshore (represented by offshore supply centers). This variant is based on the premise that the five Arctic nations may soon be competing for this oil, and of course will have to deal with each other and the environment in the process.

II. Variant Rules

a. The regular rules of Diplomacy apply, except where amended below.

b. Progression of time: Instead of two movement and retreat seasons and one adjustment season per year, everything is doubled, so there are four movement seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter), four retreat seasons (Spring Retreats, Summer Retreats, Fall Retreats, and Winter Retreats), and two adjustment seasons (Summer Adjustments and Winter Adjustments). In practice, there is no change to the flow of gameplay; the reason this change is included is to accomodate the rules regarding ice territories (see below).

c. The game starts in Fall 2010 (yes the "middle" of the year).

d. There are 25 supply center, so the victory criterion is control of 13 supply centers at the end of any Summer or Winter retreat season.

e. Ice territories: The landscape of the Arctic changes drastically over the course of every year due to the melting and formation of large areas of ice over the sea, and this variant takes this into account. Thus, over the course of every game year, certain territories will transform from sea territories to ice territories, and vice versa.
-Ice territories are the equivalent of 'non-coastal' land territories in that that armies may occupy them and fleets may not, even if the territory is bordering a sea (the idea being that fleets cannot traverse the coast because the coast is ever changing). However, fleets may support armies occupying a bordering ice territory, support armies to a bordering ice territory, or convoy armies to bordering ice territories.
-There are three types of ice territories: those that are ice only in winter (W), those that are sea only in summer (S), and those that are permanently ice (P).
-List of ice territories: Alpha Ridge (A), Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge (P), Arctic Wasteland (P), Baffin Bay (W), Beauford Sea (S), Chukchi Abyssal Plain (S), Chukchi Sea (W), East Siberian Sea (W), Franz Joseph Land (S), Kara Sea (W), Laptev Sea (S), McKenzie Delta (W), Mendeleyev Ridge (P), North Pole (P), Northwest Passage (S), Severnaya Zemlya (S), Yermak Plateau (S)
-Transformations between ice and sea happen in the middle of the movement phase as the units move. Thus orders should be submitted as if the territories are whatever type of territory they are listed as for the season one is submitting orders for. For example, say that one is submitting orders for Winter 2010 and has an army in Yukon. One can order A Yukon - McKenzie Delta and, provided nothing stops it, the order will succeed.
If a unit is ordered to a territory to which it cannot be ordered at that time, the order is void and the unit holds. For example, say one is submitting orders for Fall 2011 and has a fleet in Novaya Zemlya. An order of F Novaya Zemlya - Franz Joseph Land is void because in the fall Franz Joseph land is ice, and thus a fleet cannot move there.
If a unit remains in a territory which has transformed, the unit is disbanded during the following retreat phase. For example, say one is submitting orders for Summer 2011 and has an army in Chukchi Abyssal Plain. If the army does not successfully exit Chukchi Abyssal Plain that season for any reason (it is not ordered to move, it bounces, ect.) the army is disbanded during the retreat phase. However, such a unit may be given a non-move order and that order will succeed before the unit is disbanded. The one exception to this rule concerns the islands of Franz Joseph Land and Severnaya Zemlya: if an army is on one of these when the ice melts, the army may survive on the island; however, it cannot move to any adjacent territory without a convoy until the ice returns (except an army in Severnaya Zemlya may move to Yakutsk via the land bridge, see below).
Coastal territories bordering only ice are not considered coastal at that time. For example, if one has fleet in Yukon at the end of winter, that fleet is disbanded as McKenzie Delta is ice and that fleet is without any water on which to float.

III. The Five Arctic Nations

a. Russia (Grey)
Russia is the current frontrunner in the Arctic, having already established drilling sites on and off shore and famously having planted a flag on the sea bed at the North Pole, but the Motherland may have trouble controlling all the oil along its vast Arctic coastline from other nations. Russia starts with an army in Archangel and an army in Pevek. Russia's third home supply center is Magadan, but Russia's third starting unit is a fleet in the Sea of Okhtosk. If it is under Russian control, Russia may build in Western Siberia.

b. Norway (Red)
Norway's long coastline should definitely prove fruitful for Arctic expansion, especially into the oil-rich Barents Sea. But the key to Norway's success in the Great White North may well be Svalbard, Norway's even more northernly holding. Norway starts with a fleet in Oslo, a fleet in Tromso, and an army in Longyearbyen.

c. Canada (Pink)
With the recent opening of the Northwest Passage due to global warming, Canada has been part of an ongoing debate about whether that soon-viable traderoute is international or Canadien-internal waters. Canada claims a great amount of land in the Arctic, but will need to actually expand there in order to be successful. Canada starts with a fleet in Nain, an army in Churchill, and an army in Yellowknife. While not a supply center, Canada is also permitted to build fleets, but not armies, in Western Canada.

d. Denmark (Purple)
While Denmark itself does not border the Arctic, Denmark possesses Greenland, the worlds' largest island, and from there must start its quest for success in the Arctic. Denmark also contols the Faeroe Islands, a small territory in the Atlantic that could serve as a useful port. Denmark starts with a fleet in Torshavn, a fleet in Nuuk, and an army in Station Nord.

e. United States (Blue)
Because of its possession of Alaska, the United States will be sure to have its say in the fate of the Arctic and already has the infrastructure, such as the Great Alaska Pipeline, to take advantage of whatever oil it can get its hands on. But the energy-hoarding Americans can never get enough oil, and thus will be looking to expand beyond their relatively small Arctice enclave. The USA starts with an fleet in Juneau, an army in Anchorage, and and an army in Barrow.

IV. Map Notes

a. Clarifications:
-Banks Island, the island just to the northeast of Victoria Island, is considered part of one territory with Victoria Island, which thus borders McKenzie Delta.
-The strait between mainland Canada (Churchill) and Baffin Island is considered part of the Northwest Passage territory, and thus Northwest Passage and Hudson Bay border each other.
-The straits between mainland Canada (Churchill/Yellowknife) and Victoria Island, Victoria Island and Banks Island, and Ellesmere Island (Queen Elizabeth Islands) and Greenland are impassable; thus Northwest Passage does not border McKenzie Delta and Baffin Bay does not border Arctic Mid-Ocean Range.
-Both Barents Sea and White Sea border Kara Sea. White Sea does not border Novaya Zemlya and Barents Sea does not border Ural Mountains.
-The Queen Elizabeth Islands are considered one coastal land territory (fleets may move there, though note the islands do not always border a sea).
-The Baltic Sea/Gulf of Bothnia is not a territory and cannot be entered; Lapland therefore only has one coast.
-Northeast Greenland has two coasts, east and west; however, note that the west coast can only be accessed in the summer, when the Yermak Plateau is sea.
-The Alleutian Islands are not part of Anchorage, and thus Anchorage does not border North Pacific Ocean.

b. Land Bridges:
-The following Land Bridges exist, connecting the two named territories: Ural Mountains and Novaya Zemlya, Yellowknife and Victoria Island, Churchill and Victoria Island, Churchill and Baffin Island, Baffin Island and Queen Elizabeth Islands, Queen Elizabeth Islands and Northeast Greenland, and Severnaya Zemlya and Yakutsk.

c. The Bering Strait:
-The Bering Strait, represented by a small, unmarked circle, is not itself a space, but marks a point at which all five territories that border it (Seward Peninsula, West Bering Sea, East Bering Sea, Kamchatka, and Chukchi Sea) meet. All five of these territories are considered adjacent, and therefore direct movement between them is possible.

d. List of territories and abrreviations (* = home supply center, ** = neutral supply center):
-Alpha Ridge: Alp
-Anchorage: Anc*
-Archangel: Arc*
-Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge: AMR
-Arctic Wasteland: AWL
-Baffin Bay: BfB*
-Baffin Island: BfI
-Barents Sea: Bar**
-Barrow: Brw*
-Beauford Sea: Bea**
-Chukchi Abyssal Plain: CAP
-Chukchi Sea: Chk**
-Churchill: Chu*
-Denmark Strait: DMS
-East Bering Sea: EBS
-East Siberian Sea: ESS
-Europe: Eur
-Finland: Fin
-Franz Joseph Land: FJL
-Greenland Sea: GrS
-Gulf of Alaska: GoA
-Hudson Bay: Hud
-Iceland: Ice**
-Juneau: Jun*
-Kara Sea: Kar
-Labrador Sea: Lab
-Laptev Sea: Lap**
-Longyearbyen: Lyb*
-Magadan: Mag*
-McKenzie Delta: McK**
-Nain: Nai*
-North Atlantic Ocean: NAO
-North Pacific Ocean: NPO
-North Pole: NP
-Northwest Greenland: NWG
-Northwest Passage: NWP
-Norwegian Sea: Nwg
-Novaya Zemlya: Nov
-Nuuk: Nuu*
-Oslo: Osl
-Pevek: Pev*
-Queen Elizabeth Islands: QEI**
-Sea of Okhtosk: Okh
-Severnaya Zemlya: Sev
-Seward Peninsula: Sew
-Station Nord: Nrd*
-Trans-Siberian Railroad: TSR
-Tromso: Tro*
-Torshavn: Tor*
-Ural Mountains: Ura
-Victoria Island: Vic
-West Bering Sea: WBS
-Western Canada: WCa
-Western Siberia: WSi**
-Yakutsk: Yak
-Yellowknife: Yel*
-Yermak Plateau: Yer
-Yukon: Yuk