All standard Diplomacy rules apply except as modified below
As well as ARMIES & FLEETS there is an additional type of unit – the DIRIGIBLE (D).
The one-to-one correspondence between supply centres and units owned no longer applies. Instead each SUPPLY CENTRE (SC) held yields 5 SUPPLY POINTS (SP) each game-year. Each year it costs the following to supply a unit: ARMY or FLEET 4SP, DIRIGIBLE 3SP. SP may not be accumulated or transferred to another player so extra SP are lost.
The game begins with a negotiation period followed by a Winter 1900 building phase. Using the SP of their home centres (15 for all except Russia who has 20) each player builds units of his choice in his home centres.
Exception Russia may not build F StP(nc).
Normal rules apply to build restrictions i.e. a fleet cannot be built in a landlocked centre. However a dirigible may be built in a centre which also contains an army or fleet.
Example England with 15 SP may choose to build F Lpl (4SP), F Lon (4SP), F Edi (4SP) & D Lon (3SP)
In all following game years the turn sequence is:-
- Spring (movement)
- Summer i) (retreats)
- ii) (devastation announcements)
- Fall (movement)
- Late Fall i) (retreats)
- ii) (devastation announcements)
- Winter (builds/removals)
Although there is more than one activity in Summer & Late Fall they are declared in the same phase but the second is conditional on the first.
Dirigible orders are treated as an additional set of conflicts taking place above armies and fleets. In respect of other Dirigibles, moves, supports & conflicts are as per the normal rules. However when working in conjunction with ground units they may only support an attack or support the defence in the space directly below i.e. the space the Dirigible occupies. Armies & fleets have no effect on Dirigibles. As with ground units when a Dirigible supports an army or fleet it may not move. An attack on a supporting Dirigible cuts the support.
Only 1 Dirigible may occupy a space although the space may also contain a ground unit – even one owned by another player.
Dislodged Dirigibles do not retreat – they are automatically disbanded. A space occupied by only a dirigible is a valid retreat space for a ground unit. For the purposes of rule XI retreats a stand-off between 2 Dirigibles does not make that space ineligible as a retreat space for a ground unit.
A devastated SC is an eligible retreat space if all other conditions for retreat are met.
Dirigibles cannot transport armies of fleets under any circumstances. Neither can they be convoyed by fleets.
A Dirigible may not capture a SC. However a Dirigible in an otherwise unoccupied SC at the end of a Spring or Fall turn may chose to devastate that SC. This occurs as part of the adjustment phase, therefore if a ground unit retreats to the space occupied by the Dirigible then a devastation may not be declared. For this reason devastation declarations are only conditional on retreats to the space occupied.
Example England has D Bel which is French controlled. France has A Hol to retreat. As part of the adjustment phase England may order D Bel devastate but this automatically fails if France orders A Hol retreats to Bel.
It is not allowed to make devastations announcements conditional on other retreats.
The effects of devastation are twofold
1) The devastated SC does not count towards the SP count of the controlling country in the following Winter adjustment phase only i.e devastation lasts only for the remainder of the current game-year
Example England controls Lon, Lpl, Edi, Bel & Bre. In Spring a German Dirigible moved to Bre which was unoccupied by English units and chose to devastate therefore England's SP count for that year is only 20 SP for Lon, Lpl, Edi & Bel.
2) If the devastated centre is the home centre of another player then the owning player cannot build in the devastated centre
A player may not devastate a SC that he himself controls
A Dirigible may not be built in a home SC that is occupied by another Dirigible (of any nationality), however a ground unit may be built if a) the country can build and b) the SC is not devastated
Example England holds Lon, Edi, Lpl, Nwy, Bel & Den and therefore has 30SP. Existing units are F NTH, A Nwy, F Den, F Bel & D NTH = 19 SP. 11SP are therefore available to build with. There is however a French D Lon. This prevents England from building D Lon in any circumstance and may prevent any English build in Lon if France has announced that D Lon is devastating Lon.
Victory is achieved by holding 19 undevastated SC after the Late Fall adjustment phase.