Diplomacy

 

DIPLOMACY

Company: Avalon Hill; Type: Ameristyle; Players: up to 7; Time: 5+ hours; Genre: Geopolitical, Treachery; Rating: 💥💥💥💥💥 I love it!

This was the second-ever game I learned at STC in high school. Again, it is WWI -themed. It is best described as a game of geopolitical chess set on a pre-WWI map. An ideal game has between 6-7 players and typically runs 5+ hours. Typically ending in a "draw" of sorts, usually with a clear sense of who is "winning" though.

The gameboard has a large number of provinces on it, some with "dots" and many without. The dots are supply centers. There are 35 supply centers total on the board. Each country starts with 3 supply centers, or in the case of Russia, 4. The goal is to win, claim and hold the majority of those supply centers -- for a total of 18 supply centers. Achieving this is a solo win. 

The rules to the game are simple. In its shortest version: the players write moves for their on-board units, the orders are read, and they are resolved. But the slightly longer version is this:

👉 Each turn is a season in a calendar year, Spring or Fall. Typically starting out in Spring 1901. Each turn has a negotiation phase and a movement / resolution phase.

👉 No space can have more than one unit in it. Units can move, hold or support. (In the case of fleets at sea, they can also convoy an army from one coastal province to another.)

👉 Adjacent units to a target space can support a move into it. Whoever has more effective strength for moving into a space wins. Supports can be cut by attacks on the supporting unit, thereby reducing the effective strength of the target move.

👉 Powers gain ownership by occupying a space during the Fall phase. They can then build units up in vacant home supply centers up to a total number of units equal to the total number of supply centers owned. If someone owns 18+ supply centers at the end of Fall, they win!

👉 Negotiation is critical. You need help to win, but only one player can win! Lying and backstabbing are a necessary feature of the game.

A brutal game, but it can also be exhilarating! Most games, however, don't end in a solo win. Sometimes, this is because the game achieves a stalemate. But more usually, it is because the players have reached a time limit, either planned or by the limit of their collective endurance to play on. At that point, the "win" is usually given to the power that owns the most supply centers at the agreed-upon end of game.

There are three challenges to scheduling / arranging gameplay:

1. Number of players needed: The optimal number of players is seven. You can get by at six, but with a neutral Italy. After that, the fewer players involved negatively impacts balance and playability of the game.

2. Time Commitment: Five hours of gameplay is typical and generally considered the minimum time for a Diplomacy game. Albeit what's usually considered to be a "short game."

3. Emotional Stress: Because of the competitive-cooperative nature of the game, and the fact that lying and backstabbing are part of the game, it can be the game that damages / destroys friendships if expectations aren't carefully managed. (My mantra for this: Remember it's just a game. And whatever happens in Diplomacy, stays in Diplomacy.)

If you are bold, with a metaphorically thick skin, and a love for interpersonal conflict and resolution, this is the game for you! If not, you should probably stay away from it for the sake of your mental health. Caveat emptor!

Trivia Fact: Reportedly, Diplomacy was played in the White House during the Nixon administration by Henry Kissinger!

--LM