Messages - vDiplomacy

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05 Jul 17 UTC	Spring, 2000: So the goal of this game is to get 13 supply centers in order to win. Supply centers are the provinces marked by the circles. There are two move phases: Spring and Autumn. The number of supply centers that each country has is recalculated after every Autumn phase (and is the number of supply centers you already control + any supply centers you're currently occupying with a unit - any supply centers you've lost). After that is a build phase, during which the number of units your country has is changed to be equal to the number of supply centers your country controls. If you've gained supply centers, you can built units in your home supply centers (the ones you start out with), and if you've lost supply centers, you have to disband units. You can capture others' unoccupied provinces by simply moving into them. If they are occupied, you must support with another unit bordering the province you wish to take. If you think you are going to be attacked, you can defend by having a bordering unit support the unit in the attacked province. Supporting units "hold" (do not move), and supported units must hold as well. Basically, more support beats less support, and when support is tied, the current owner of the province wins out. If the attacker has more support, then the occupying unit is dislodged. The attacking unit moves in, and the occupying unit must retreat to any adjacent unit except where the attacker came from. If there is nowhere to retreat to, the unit must be disbanded. If two units try to move into the same province either unsupported or with the same amount of support, the result is a standoff, more commonly called a "bounce": neither unit moves in. This includes your own units; in Diplomacy, only one unit can occupy one territory. I think that pretty much covers the basics. You should also read the "Intro to Diplomacy" page on this website, which I'll link below: it goes over some other things, such as convoys. The other references can also be helpful; if you're having trouble with the UI, refer to the FAQs. The only things that don't apply to our game are the map/countries and number of supply centers. You'll pick up the rest by playing. Much of the stuff I wrote above I didn't figure out until later. Intro to Diplomacy: http://vdiplomacy.net/intro.php Official rulebook: http://www.wizards.com/avalonhill/rules/diplomacy.pdf Updated official rulebook (basically the same as above with a few wording changes, but larger file size, colored, and ctrl+F-able): http://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/ah/diplomacy_rules.pdf webDiplomacy FAQ: http://vdiplomacy.net/faq.php vDiplomacy FAQ: http://vdiplomacy.net/features.php
07 Jul 17 UTC	Autumn, 2000: I'm a little confused about the phases. So let's say I want to control Ecuador. Do I need to leave a unit there for the Autumn phase? If I move it to Montana right now, do I lose control of Ecuador?
07 Jul 17 UTC	Autumn, 2000: Yes, you'll need to keep a unit there in the Fall. Control of supply centers only changes after the Autumn phase, so leaving it would mean that you never actually took control.
07 Jul 17 UTC	Autumn, 2000: I'm a little confused about the phases. So let's say I want to control Ecuador. Do I need to leave a unit there for the Autumn phase? If I move it to Montana right now, do I lose control of Ecuador?
07 Jul 17 UTC	Autumn, 2000: Double post because I refreshed. Poor user experience
07 Jul 17 UTC	Autumn, 2000: Yeah, as you can probably tell, this website is rather buggy (not to mention outdated). :D
09 Jul 17 UTC	Autumn, 2000: What are the conditions in order to build more army/fleet?
09 Jul 17 UTC	Autumn, 2000: Your total amount of army/fleet depends on the amount of supply centers (dots) that you have.
09 Jul 17 UTC	Autumn, 2000: Which means that if you lose a supply center (a net loss during the year), you will have to disband a unit during the builds phase.
15 Jul 17 UTC	Spring, 2002: I'm confused again. How come I can't move this turn?
15 Jul 17 UTC	Autumn, 2002: It was the Spring retreats phase. The two dislodged units (mine and Chile's) were the only ones that had to move.
16 Jul 17 UTC	Autumn, 2002: What's a dislodged unit?
16 Jul 17 UTC	Autumn, 2002: Ok, I think I understand. You don't destroy a unit you defeat, it just retreats if it can.
16 Jul 17 UTC	Autumn, 2002: Yep, a dislodged unit can retreat to any unoccupied adjacent unit except the one where the attacker came from or ones that were bounced (standoff). You can also choose to disband instead of retreating.
22 Jul 17 UTC	Autumn, 2003: How come I can't build in Ecuador?
23 Jul 17 UTC	Autumn, 2003: You can only build in home supply centers, ie, the ones you started with.
24 Jul 17 UTC	Autumn, 2003: Am I supposed to just remember what everyone's starting centers were?
24 Jul 17 UTC	Autumn, 2003: The buttons on the bottom let you see past turns. Also, the bold lines help denote where the initial borders were.
26 Jul 17 UTC	Uhhh, why did my army at Maracaibo not move to Belem?
26 Jul 17 UTC	You don't have a fleet in Mid-Atlantic Ocean to complete the convoy.