Diplomacy Solo

[thedoctor]

Does anyone have any ideas for playing Diplomacy as a solo game? It might sound strang. But I like the period and I do belong to a large wargames club. But no-one plays Diplomacy. I don't like playing by e-mail ect. But a solo version would be fun to fill those long winter nights
Steve :confused:

[RuHurt]

Probably the best way would be to play it like a regular WWl game, without the diplomacy part of it. After all, it is hard to reason with yourself and dissagree!

[jadedaemon]

Originally posted by Steve:
Does anyone have any ideas for playing Diplomacy as a solo game? .... I don't like playing by e-mail ect.You should give playing by email a try. It adds to the feel of the period, having written communiques by long distance, all subject to misinterpretation. We played a leisurely game with a weekly cycle, and it was one of the most enjoyable one I've played in a long time. (It did take a couple of months to finish.....) It's a good idea in these sort of games to have a moderator to resolve the moves.

[Y2UAsk]

I messed around with some solo Diplomacy systems maybe 10 years ago. It was more of a mental exercise than an attempt to make a real solo wargame, sort of like playing chess solitaire.

The best system was to make a very small deck of cards, one for each country. Shuffle them up, then flip them one at a time. When a country's card comes up, it can make its move. Advances work as normal, but you can also give orders to units to hold in place or to support a unit that's holding. I used chits and unit position to mark orders (for example, a blue chit means a support order, and the army or fleet is bumped up against the border of the area it's supporting).

All moves are sequential, not simultaneous. If France goes before Germany, it might march into Picardy unopposed. If no support was allocated to Picardy, Germany on its turn might support an advance into Picardy which would dislodge the French unit there.

It's a very opportunistic game, with the sequencing of the cards having a huge effect on outcomes. As I said, it's more of a mental exercise or puzzle than a model of Diplomacy.

I also experimented with using two or three cards per country, which made it possible for France (for example) to move two or three times before Germany could respond.

You can either remove all support markers from the map at the end of each turn, or allow them to stay in place until the country's next card comes up. The first makes for a very free-wheeling game while the second is more static. I generally played that a unit that advanced with support had that same support to hold the area until the chits were removed; otherwise, you could never hold ground after taking it unless you got lucky with the turn order.

I never worked out any method for creating alliances between countries, allowing them to use each other's units for support. It wouldn't be hard to do randomly.

The game kept me amused for a while. If you try it, be sure to let me know what you think.

Steve

[Zombie]

You can visit Home of the Underdogs, download the game, and play a couple games against computer opponents. They're pretty dumb though.

[Edi Birsan]

The real issue is that you are in a wargames club and cannot roust up enough players for a game. May I suggest that you try getting just one player to play a game of Diplomacy using the Escalation variant rules for a good exercise one on one. I believe the rules for Escalation are posted in the article section on this board. If you have trouble write to me.

As a solo situation you might try Alliance Block exercises. Set up three countries or two in an advanced position or from the start. Then write a set of orders for one block and then with full knowledge of the orders see if you can stop them.

Try this position:

The West:
England F Nwg, F Nwy, F Den, F Nth, A Yor, F Kie, A Hol
France A Ruh, A Mun, A Bur, F Mar, F Lyo, F Wes,
F NAf

The East
Russia
F StPnc, F Swe, A Ber, A Sil, F Sev, A Rum, A Gal
Austria
F Ion, F Gre, A Ven, A Tri, A Ser, A Bud, F Adr

Neutral
Italy A Tunis, F Nap S A Rom, A Rome S F Nap
Turkey: F Black S A Bul, A Arm-Sev, F Aeg S Bul
F Bul S F Aeg

Edi Birsan
www.DiplomaticCorps.org (http://www.DiplomaticCorps.org)

[waldiddy]

Having played in several PBEM Diplomacy games, I think it's really the best way to experience this game. For whatever reason, getting 7 people together in one location for several hours just isn't feasible for a face to face game. But, via email, weekly turns by email gives you time for more deliberate and more careful analysis.

However, since I'm currently winning the game I'm in now, I'm probably a little biased. Go Germany!!!

[geo1970]

Steve your best bet for single player diplomacy is to pick up an old version of the PC game

[Carlo]

Does someone want to begin some e-mail game with me? My address is fabio.fiorelli@virgilio.it

[Y2UAsk]

Visit The Diplomatic Pouch (http://www.avalonhill.com/leaving.asp?url=http://devel.diplom.org/&origin=), a website where you can join online Diplomacy games. That's really the cream of the crop as far as online Dip is concerned.

Steve