1936 v3.6

Introduction

1936 is a seven-player Diplomacy variant set in the mid-thirties – at a time when the precarious order established after the Great War was increasingly undermined and finally destroyed.

Next to the seven great powers vying for influence, the two main factions in the Spanish Civil War – the Nationalists and Republicans are playable. Nationalist Spain is controlled by its main sponsor – Italy, whereas the Soviet Union champions the cause of Republican Spain.

1936's rules are based upon those of Ambition & Empire, a variant designed by Jeff Kase and Baron Powell. As its most striking departure from Standard Diplomacy, the latter first featured armed neutrals whose actions players may secretly influence by bidding Diplomacy Points (DPs).

Should you be interested in joining or observing a future game, contact me.

Maps

1936 v3.6

File:1936 36 4.gif

1936 v3.6 initial setup

Inital Setup

BRITAIN: F Edinburgh, F Gibraltar, F London, F Suez

FRANCE: A Algiers, F Brest, A Lebanon, A Marseille, A Paris

GERMANY: A Berlin, F Hamburg, A Munich

ITALY: F Libya, A Milan, F Naples, A Rome

POLAND: A Cracow, F Gdynia, A Warsaw

SOVIET UNION: F Leningrad (sc), A Moscow, A Stalingrad

TURKEY: A Ankara, A Istanbul, F Izmir

NATIONALIST SPAIN: A Burgos

REPUBLICAN SPAIN: A Valencia

Rules

All the rules of standard Diplomacy apply save those noted below.

Minor Powers

In addition to the seven Great Powers (and the Spanish factions), there also are a host of "minor powers" that represent the smaller states of Europe.

Each minor power controls one unit (two in the case of Yugoslavia) and the SCs they occupy. All minor powers start with an army except for the following minors that start with a fleet: Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Sweden.

Minor power units prevent a Great Power from simply moving into an empty space and gaining control of the SC. To occupy a minor power SC, a Great Power will need to move in with support. A minor power unit that is forced to retreat is disbanded. If a Great Power does not occupy the minor power SC at the end of a Fall turn, the minor power’s unit is automatically rebuilt in the Winter.

As in standard Diplomacy, a Great Power controls a minor power SC when one of its units occupies the space after a Fall turn has been played and completed. Once a Great Power gains control of a minor power SC, it can leave the SC vacant and still keep control of it as long as that SC is not occupied by another Great Power at the close of a Fall turn.

Minor power units do nothing but hold in place, unless the unit has been ordered by a Great Power using its Diplomacy Points.

Diplomacy Points

Each Great Power receives a set number of Diplomacy Points (DPs) every Spring and Fall turn.

• France receives 5 DPs.

• The other Great Powers are allocated 3 DPs each.

• Deduct 1 DP from a Great Power's DP budget for each SC it originally owned, yet is controlled by another power. Exception: French ownership of any SC within two spaces of Lebanon (i.e. Ankara, Iraq, Suez) cancels any penalty for losing Lebanon.

• Deduct 1 DP from sponsor's DP budget if its corresponding faction controls fewer Spanish SCs than the opposing faction or no longer controls any Spanish SC.

A patron receives a DP bonus when allocating DPs to a client (see further below).

During each Spring and Fall turn, each Great Power may allocate DPs to minor powers that still have units on the map. A Great Power may only allocate one DP to a given power except for one minor power where an additional DP might be allocated (i.e. two).

A Major Power may not allocate any DPs to a minor power SC it intends to attack (or support an attack against) during the current game turn.

For each DP allocated, the allocating Great Power submits an order for that particular minor power’s unit. A Great Power may order a minor power to move, hold or support. A minor power's unit given a move order (also known as a "sortie") will not actually move. However, the move action may cut support and bounce other units.

If a minor power unit is given a move order that under Standard rules would result in it moving, the order will result in the unit remaining in its starting territory, but no other unit may retreat or move into the territory the minor successfully attacked. A unit already in the target territory at turn start will not be dislodged.

Unused DPs may not be carried over into the next turn. They are simply lost.

Players are not required to tell each other how they allocated their DPs. Just as with negotiations, players may honour their agreements with other players or not, as they see fit. Only the GM will know how Great Powers have allocated their DPs. DP allocation is not published in the adjudication; only the end results are published.

The GM determines how DPs have been allocated. In the event of a conflict, an order for a particular minor power’s unit is followed if it is supported by more DPs than any conflicting order. See the following examples:

Example 1. In Spring ‘36, Germany allocates one DP to Austria to get it to support a German attack on Czechia. No other major Power allocates a DP to Austria so the Austrian unit supports the German attack on Czechia.

Example 2. In Spring ‘36, Germany allocates one DP to Austria to get it to support a German attack on Czechia. Italy also allocates one DP to Austria to get it to support an Italian attack on Switzerland. Since Germany and Italy each allocated one DP to Austria, neither controls Austria and the Austrian army simply holds in place.

Example 3. In Spring ‘36, Germany allocates two DPs to Austria to get it to support a German attack on Czechia. Italy allocates only one DP to Austria to get it to support an Italian attack on Switzerland. Since Germany allocated one more DP to Austria than Italy did, the Austrian support the German attack on Czechia.

Example 4. In Spring ‘36, Germany allocates one DP to Austria to get it to support a German attack on Czechia. Italy allocates one DP to Austria to get it to support an Italian attack on Switzerland. In support of Germany, Turkey allocates one DP to Austria to get it to support the German attack on Czechia. Although Germany, Italy and Turkey each allocated one DP to Austria, the Germans get the Austrian support because the Turks supported the German diplomatic efforts with the Austrians.

Client States

Should a Great Power (patron) invest any DPs in a minor power designated as a client (i.e. lesser ally, junior partner, protectorate, state within a power's sphere of influence), those DPs are increased in value. Initially by one. After every two years, the DP bonus further increases by one. This means that the DP bonus rises to +2 during the Spring 1938 season, to +3 in Spring 1940 and so on.

A surviving client's SCs count towards its patron's SC total for victory purposes.

These are the various Great Powers' clients:

BRITAIN: Egypt, Iraq

FRANCE: Belgium, Czechoslovakia (i.e. Bohemia), Greece, Morocco, Rumania, Yugoslavia (i.e. Croatia, Serbia)

GERMANY: Austria (also a potential German build site), Bulgaria, Finland,
Hungary, Iran, Rumania

ITALY: Bulgaria, Hungary

POLAND: Rumania

SOVIET UNION: Czechoslovakia (i.e. Bohemia), Lithuania

TURKEY: Egypt

As a visual cue, minor power SC dots are partially coloured in their patron's colours. Austria's SC is fully coloured grey to account for it being also a potential German build site.

Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia is a minor power initially consisting of two units/SCs (i.e. A Croatia and A Serbia). As such, the Yugoslav A Croatia may not attack, help cut or dislodge its fellow Yugoslav unit in Serbia (and vice-versa). DPs are allocated to A Croatia or A Serbia rather than to Yugoslavia as a whole.

Spain

The Nationalists and Republicans are considered factions. Italy and the Soviet Union are their respective sponsoring Great Powers.

The Italian player submits orders for Nationalist Spain, while the Soviet player does the same for Republican Spain. However, the two powers under the control of the same player are treated for all purposes other than victory as separate powers.

Burgos, Madrid and Valencia are home supply centres for both the Nationalists and Republicans. Initially the Nationalists control Burgos, the Republicans Valencia (their respective provisional capitals), whereas Madrid is neutral and controlled by neither. There is no neutral garrison in vacant Madrid – unlike all other neutral SCs at game-start.

Deduct 1 DP from sponsor's DP budget if its corresponding faction controls fewer Spanish SCs (i.e. Burgos, Madrid, Valencia) than the opposing faction or no longer controls any Spanish SCs.

Factions do not receive any DPs.

Should a faction's sponsoring Great Power (Italy for the Nationalists, the Soviet Union for the Republicans) be eliminated, its faction is immediately put into civil disorder (see the below rules section). Therefore the controlling player is entirely eliminated from the game. Such a newly arising minor power becomes a major power's client if already so designated at game-start.

Victory Conditions

As soon as one player controls 18 SCs, the game ends immediately and the player representing that Great Power is the winner. If two players each gain 18 or more SCs at the same time, the player with the most SCs is considered the winner. If the two players each control the same number of SCs, the game continues until one player has 18 or more SCs and that player has more SCs than any other player.

For the purposes of this rule Italy & Nationalist Spain are considered one Great Power. The same applies to the Soviet Union & Republican Spain.

Civil Disorder

If a player is lost during the game, the GM is strongly encouraged to find a replacement player for the affected Great Power rather than have it lapse into civil disorder. In the event no replacement player is found and the GM declares the Great Power to be in permanent civil disorder, the following rules apply:

• All units of the Great Power in civil disorder (GPCD) are immediately disbanded.

• All SCs controlled by the GPCD that are unoccupied are immediately considered newly independent minor powers. Minor power army units are built in those minor power spaces.

• All SCs controlled by the GPCD that are occupied by a unit belonging to another Great Power are unaffected. If the occupying Great Power moves its unit out of the GPCD’s SC so that the SC is unoccupied at the conclusion of a Fall turn, a minor power army unit is built there and that SC is considered a newly independent minor power.

• For the remainder of the game, all newly independent minor powers are subject to the provisions of the Minor Powers rules. In particular, this means the new minor power can be influenced using Diplomacy Points.

• Once a Great Power is declared to be in permanent civil disorder, it may not be played by an active player again.

Special Rules

• The first turn of the game begins in Spring 1936.

• France may not build units in Lebanon, nor may Italy do so in Libya (as a visual cue these SCs are filled with white colour).

• Austria serves as an additional German build-site.

• Britain starts the game with a fleet located in Gibraltar, whereas there’s no unit in Liverpool.

Map Clarifications

• Gibraltar and the Dodecanese are sea spaces that contain land. This means that a fleet stationed in Gibraltar or in the Dodecanese can convoy an army. Equally, army movement between Gibraltar and Madrid, Grenada or Morocco is allowed. Much as between the Dodecanese and Izmir.

• Hamburg, Suez, Denmark and Istanbul are canal provinces. Hence, they have merely one coast.

• The Persian Gulf and the Atlantic Ocean are adjacent and are divided by a line in what we generally consider Red Sea. Blue bands along the map edges indicate that these portions of the Red Sea respectively belong to the Persian Gulf and the Atlantic Ocean.

Four-way Intersections:

• Sicily and Naples are adjacent as shown by the landbridge arrow. Both fleet and army movement across the Straits of Messina is possible.

• Edinburgh, Northern Ireland, the North-Western Approaches and the Irish Sea all border each other.

• Gibraltar, Morocco, the Atlantic Ocean and the South-Western Approaches all border each other.

• Sweden, the Gulf of Bothnia, the Gulf of Danzig and Baltic Sea all border each other.

• Stalingrad, Western Caucasia, the Eastern Ukraine and the Black Sea all border each other.

• Greece, the Aegean Sea, Eastern Mediterranean Sea and Ionian Sea all border each other.

Version Changelog

• Asterisk = SC province
• @ = adjacent to
• > = renamed

0.3

• Space Additions: Azov Sea
• Altered Adjacencies: Stalingrad @ Azov Sea

1.0

• Space Additions: Ligurian Sea, Konya, Georgia, Trentino, Transylvania, Slovenia, Bosnia, Thrace, Dobruja, Abruzzi, Lorraine
• Space Removals: Armenia, Adana, Sevastopol, Cologne, Venetia
• Name Change: African Coastal Waters > Atlantic Ocean, Mid-Atlantic Ocean > South-Western Approaches, North-Atlantic Ocean > Northwestern Approaches, Saxony > Thuringia, Kiel > Hamburg
• Altered Adjacencies: Ankara @ Levantine Coastal Waters, Atlantic Ocean @ Ireland, Northwestern Approaches, Madrid @ Navarra, Berlin @ Czechia
• Rule Change:

1.1

• Space Additions: Gulf of Sidra
• Name Change: Thuringia > Saxony, Eastern Mediterranean > Libyan Sea
• Altered Adjacencies: Saxony @ Silesia, Pomerania

1.2

• Space Additions: Western Ukraine, Eastern Ukraine
• Space Removals: Ukraine
• Altered Adjacencies: Greater Poland @ Berlin, Saxony

1.3

• Name Change: Trentino > South Tyrol
• Altered Adjacencies: Rome @ Austria

1.6

• Space Additions: Tuscany, Northern Tyrrhenian Sea, Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Bavaria
• Space Removals: Abruzzi
• Name Change: Munich > Frankfurt
• Altered Adjacencies: Bosnia @ Adriatic Sea
• Rule Change: Minor powers may be ordered to move.

1.7

• Space Additions: Lodz
• Altered Adjacencies: Silesia @ Berlin, Pomerania

1.8

• Space Additions: Venetia
• Rule Change: Suez becomes a British Home-SC.

1.9

• Space Additions: Northern Ireland
• Rule Change: The great powers are given minor powers as clients.

2.0

• Space Removals: Gulf of Sidra, Venetia
• Name Change: Saxony > Central Germany, Bavaria > Bavarian Ostmark
• Altered Adjacencies: Libyan Sea no longer adjacent to Greece, Central Germany @ Rhineland

2.1

• Rule Change: Finland, Latvia no longer Polish clients, Greece no longer French client, Lithuania Soviet client

2.2

• Space Additions: Venetia
• Altered Adjacencies: Rome no longer @ Milan.

2.3

• Space Removals: Heligoland Bight
• Altered Adjacencies: Paris @ Marseille, Belgium, English Channel @ Netherlands

2.4

• Name Change: Bavarian Ostmark > Franconia

2.5

• Rule Change: Iran is no longer a Turkish client.

2.6

• Space Additions: Northern North Sea, Southern North Sea
• Space Removals: North Sea

2.7

• Space Additions: Extremadura, Leon
• Space Removals: Galicia, Lodz
• Altered Adjacencies: Warsaw @ Czechia, Cracow no longer adjacent to Rumania.

2.8

• Altered Adjacencies: Cracow @ Rumania, Cracow @ Silesia

2.9

• Name Change: Georgia > Western Caucasia, Arabian Sea > Persian Gulf, Czechia > Bohemia
• Altered Adjacencies: Cracow not @ Rumania
• Rule Change: Client SCs count towards their patron's SC count for victory purposes.
• Rule Change: Minus 1 DP for each originally controlled SC under enemy control. If the Nationalists (or the Republicans) no longer control a single Spanish SC, Italy (or the Soviet Union) loses 1 DP.
• Rule Change: A victorious Spain only receives 1 DP instead of 3.
• Rule Change: The DP bonus for clients increases each year after 1937 by one extra DP.

3.0

• Altered Adjacencies: Libyan Sea @ Greece
• Rule Change: Greece becomes a French client.

3.1

• Name Change: Central Germany > Saxony, Thrace > Macedonia
• Altered Adjacencies: Munich @ Hamburg
• Rule Change: Finland and Iran become German clients.

3.2

• Rule Change: Rumania becomes also a German client (next to being a French and Polish one).

3.3

• Space Addition: Maltese Sea
• Rule Change: No more DPs for a victorious Spain. Instead a faction's sponsoring power gets one DP less if its faction has zero Spanish SCs or controls fewer of these than the opposing faction.
• Rule Change: Deduct 1 DP from a Great Power's DP budget for each SC it originally owned, yet now is controlled by another power. Exception: French ownership of any SC within two spaces of Beirut (i.e. Ankara, Iraq, Suez) cancels any penalty for losing Beirut.

3.4

• Altered Adjacencies: Saudi Arabia @ Suez (i.e. a new crossroads involving Suez, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf is created).
• Rule Change: The DP bonus for clients increases each year after every three move turns by one extra DP. This means that the DP bonus rises to +2 during the Fall 1937 season, to +3 in Spring 1939 and so on.
• Rule Change/Clarification: A Major Power may not allocate any DPs to a minor power SC it intends to support an attack against during the current game turn.

3.5

• Space Addition: Bukovina
• Rule Change: France can only spend 2 DPs in one particular minor.
• Rule Change: The DP bonus increases only after every two years.
• Rule Change: A surviving client's SCs no longer count towards its patron's SC total for victory purposes.
• Rule Change/Clarification: Minor powers created by a faction collapsing become the clients of those powers that were their patrons in 1936.
• Name Changes: Beirut > Lebanon, Tripoli > Libya, Libyan Sea > Eastern Mediterranean Sea

3.6

• Altered Adjacencies: Dobruja @ Eastern Ukraine

Space Names and Abbreviations

All spaces on the 1936 map, along with their abbreviations, are listed below. SCs are annotated with an asterisk (*).

Albania		     	Alb
Alexandretta		Ale
Algiers* 		Alg
Ankara*			Ank
Archangel	        Agl

Austria* 		Aus
Belgium* 		Bel
Berlin*			Ber
Bohemia                 Boh
Bosnia                  Bos 

Brest*		        Bre
Bukovina                Buk
Bulgaria* 		Bul
Burgos*                 Brg  
Burgundy		Bur

Byelorussia		Bye
Catalonia               Cat
Cracow*			Cra
Croatia*                Cro
Denmark*		Den

Dobruja                 Dob
Dodecanese              Dod
Eastern Anatolia        EAn
East Prussia 		EPr
Eastern Ukraine         EUk

Edinburgh*		Edi
Egypt*			Egy
Estonia			Est
Extremadura             Ext
Finland*		Fin

Franconia               Fra
Gascony			Gas
Gdynia*			Gdy
Gibraltar		Gib
Granada                 Gra

Greater Poland		GPo
Greece*			Gre
Hamburg*		Ham
Hungary*		Hun
Iceland			Ice

Iran*			Irn
Iraq*			Irq
Ireland			Ire
Istanbul*		Ist 
Izmir*			Izm

Kazakhstan		Kaz
Konya			Kon
Kurdistan		Kur
Kuweit			Kuw 
Latvia*			Lat 

Lebanon* 		Leb
Leningrad*		Len
Leon                    Leo
Libya*                 Lib
Lithuania*		Lit

Liverpool*		Liv
London*			Lon
Lorraine                Lor
Madrid*                 Mad
Marseille*		Mar

Milan*			Mil
Morocco*		Mor
Moscow*			Mos
Munich*                 Mun
Naples*			Nap

Navarra                 Nav
Netherlands*		Net
Norway*			Nwy
Palestine		Pal
Paris*			Par

Picardy			Pic
Piedmont		Pie
Pomerania		Pom
Portugal*		Por
Rhineland		Rhi

Rome*			Rom
Rumania*		Rum 
Sardinia                Sdn
Saudi Arabia		SAr
Saxony                 Sax

Serbia*                 Ser
Siberia			Sib
Sicily			Sic
Silesia			Sil
Slovakia		Svk

Slovenia                Svn
Southern Algeria	SAl
South Tyrol             STy
Stalingrad*		Sta
Suez			Sue

Sweden*			Swe
Switzerland*		Swi
Syria			Syr
Thrace                  Thr
Transylvania            Tra

Tunisia			Tun
Tuscany                 Tus
Valencia*               Val
Venetia                 Ven
Volhynia		Vol

Wales			Wal
Warsaw*			War
Western Caucasia        WCa
Western Ukraine		WUk
Yorkshire		Yor

Adriatic Sea		ADR
Aegean Sea		AEG
Arctic Ocean,           ARC
Atlantic Ocean          ATL
Baltic Sea		BAL

Bay of Biscay           BOB
Black Sea		BLA
Caspian Sea		CAS
Eastern Mediterranean Sea EAS
English Channel		ENG

Gulf of Bothnia		GOB
Gulf of Danzig		GOD
Gulf of Lion		GOL
Ionian Sea		ION
Irish Sea		IRI

Levantine Sea           LEV
Maltese Sea             MAL
Northern North Sea      NNS
Northern Tyrrhenian Sea NTS
North-Western Approaches NWA

Norwegian Sea		NRG
Persian Gulf		PGU
Skaggerak		SKA
Southern North Sea     SNS
Southern Tyrrhenian Sea STS

South-Western Approaches SWA
Western Mediterranean Sea	WES