Diplomacy 1911 Set-up!

In hopes of a full, seven Power game, I'm going to leave open a set-up thread! For this first game, I think standard out-of-the-box style WWI Diplomacy makes sense, but I am open to suggestion! Moreover, this game will have a 24-hour Diplomacy Phase, and a 24-hour Regrouping Phase. Orders are due by the end of Diplomacy. In effect, it will take two days for a single game move, and four for a complete "year" turn. This may sound slow, but I think it is essential to keeping the game going strong without going too fast for anyone.
EDIT!: Important note I forgot to mention! The official Diplomacy Phase is when open talks are allowed (that is, debates in the thread itself), but personal correspondence is open during the Regrouping grace period! In essence, the Diplomacy Phase is like a summit of nations to meet and talk, but nothing stops you from personally contacting nations during the rest of the year! Use this time wisely, you're putting on your international face here!

To those of you who missed it, just what the hell is Diplomacy? I will post a comprehensive rules list and the list of official abbreviations in the OP of the Game Thread itself. For those of you who want to learn, though, there is my post in the thread above, and many, many internet resources.

Down to business! I would like to actually be a player in this game, but have no problem being an impartial judge. It is generally a good thing if the group can at least trust each other enough on a personal level to allow a player to be judge, because if you thought Risk was the Sunderer of Friendships, you haven't even begun to grasp the underhandedness that happens in Diplomacy. If there are more than seven people interested, I can take a dive, though, or allow for co-rulership of a Power!

Roster of Nations: (First come first serve!)
Austria-Hungary:
England:
France:
Germany:
Italy:
Russia: Premier Cherdenko
Ottoman Empire:

P.S.
For those of you wishing some of the popular house rules out there, I am open to any suggestions too! The key of this game is fun. Remember that!

England please!

Just waving my dong in this thread like Syrnn told me to.

Dibs on Russia.

Austria/Hungary. for me.

I'm in. Guess I'll take that sad sack Italy.

Ottoman Empire for me...

ps can you post the map?

Currently short on one person, but should it seem in the next two days there is no takers, it is possible (and viable) to play the game with Italy absent, if minotaur doesn't mind taking up the mantle of Germany or France.

In the mean time, does anyone have any questions as to the rules of the game, or how things are going to go down?

As requested:
The map with names.
The map to be used for keeping everyone up to date.

Sorry that there isn't a map that is easy to edit that has names, too, but it will make it easiest and quickest for me to maintain the status of the game, and upload it quickly for all to see.

I would love to try this too

Khajut, are you taking up Germany, then?

Sure! I always wanted to play angry Krauts with the spike helmets!

Wilhelm II!

Alright, the game is full up! I am going to give everyone one more grace period for any questions that might need to be asked, etc., and on March 28th at Midnight, CST (GMT -6), I will fire up the game. I will have the map up as early as I can though for everyone to get a visual idea of what we're up on here. If this time needs to be pushed back a little, I'm fine with that, but let me know ASAP.

Look forward to putting this together, and may the best Power win!

The only real questions I would like to ask is for a list of abbreviations and samples of how orders should be written, as it's been at least 15 years for me since I've played this. Also, how would you like orders submitted?

Orders submitted by PM is the only method I am going to accept right now, because it will keep everything consistent and it keeps everything on one site for me.

A sample order:

Italy Spring 1911:
Venezia (A) moves to Trieste
Roma (A) holds
Napoli (F) moves to Tyrhennian Sea

If there is no one in Trieste, or the unit leaves that province, Venezia will enter, if someone is there with any amount of support (or none), Venezia will bounce because he is only Unit Strength 1, what with the no support. Lets assume he managed to get in.
Unit in Roma would stay put.
Unit in Napoli would go to sea.

Italy Fall 1911:
Trieste (A) holds (with support from Tyrolia)*
Roma (A) moves to Tunisia
Tyrhennian Sea (F) convoys Roma to Tunisia

*Germany Fall 1911:
Tyrolia supports Serbia to Trieste.

Trieste might have successfully gotten in, but that doesn't mean they're staying in. So, if Germany had moved into Tyrolia, he might have asked for support. A person can write down an allies support in their orders but if they themselves did not write it, they do not support you. In this case, Germany might have "messed up" his order and Supported the Austro-Hungarians back into Trieste! Betrayal hurts!
Edit Note: It is usually standard protocol to write in supports with your move orders to keep things clear, and keep your allies in check! If you have it written down too, and they don't back you up, it's easier to call shenanigans on an international level!

What about the army in Roma? What's going on here? He can't move across the sea! Well, the next order is what matters. Much like writing supports in a move order, convoys do not matter for squat if the unit actually supporting or convoying did not issue the order. In this case, it did (hopefully because the player wasn't so downs that he forgot to write it himself), and it specifies which unit it is convoying to where. Without that information, or only half of it, the order is considered incomplete.

A quick note on the German order: Notice how he's in Tyrolia, nowhere near adjacent to Serbia! How can he support? Well, he only has to be adjacent to the territory their ally is moving into, not the ally themselves. This represents attack from multiple angles, not always a single, concentrated force. Supports are essentially artillery barrages, but can be whatever the fluff you write up pulls out! Be creative! Enjoy it!

With that, hopefully everyone understands the basics of Move, Support, Convoy, and Hold.

As for the list of abbreviations... Oh shit, brace for impact:
Austria:
Bohemia - Boh
Budapest - Bud
Galicia - Gal
Trieste - Tri
Tyrolia - Tyr
Vienna - Vie

England:
Clyde - Cly
Edinburgh - Edi
Liverpool - Lvp
London - Lon
Wales - Wal
Yorkshire - Yor

France:
Brest - Bre
Burgundy - Bur
Gascony - Gas
Marseilles - Mar
Paris - Par
Picardy - Pic

Germany:
Berlin - Ber
Kiel - Kie
Munich - Mun
Prussia - Pru
Ruhr - Ruh
Silesia - Sil

Italy:
Apulia - Apu
Naples - Nap
Piedmont - Pie
Rome - Rom
Tuscany - Tus
Venice - Ven

Russia:
Livonia - Lvn
Moscow - Mos
Sevastopol - Sev
St. Petersburg - StP
Ukraine - Ukr
Warsaw - War

Turkey:
Ankara - Ank
Armenia - Arm
Constantinople - Con
Smyrna - Smy
Syria - Syr

Neutrals:
Albania - Alb
Belgium - Bel
Bulgaria - Bul
Finland - Fin
Greece - Gre
Holland - Hol
Norway - Nwy
North Africa - NAf
Portugal - Por
Rumania - Rum
Serbia - Ser
Spain - Spa
Sweden - Swe
Tunisia - Tun

Bodies of Water:
Adriatic Sea - Adr
Aegean Sea - Aeg
Baltic Sea - Bal
Barents Sea - Bar
Black Sea - Bla
Eastern Mediterranean - Eas
English Channel - Eng
Gulf of Bothnia - Bot
Gulf of Lyon - GoL
Helgoland Bight - Hel
Ionian Sea - Ion
Irish Sea - Iri
Mid-Atlantic Ocean - Mid
North Atlantic Ocean - NAt
North Sea - Nth
Norwegian Sea - Nrg
Skagerrak - Ska
Tyrrhenian Sea - Tyn
Western Mediterranean - Wes

i won't be able to start the game today, can we move it to midnight on sun.. so 00:00 on mon?

That's fine. The game is already to be postponed thanks to personal issues at work keeping me from getting started. Last call for any questions, comments, or suggestions however!

EDIT: Post here for any questions and the like for rules, setting up, or pretty much anything! Let me know if you're dropping out too! I have every intention of seeing this through, but I want to clarify as best I can this game so everyone can participate fully. If the current speed is too fast or slow for you, feel free to make suggestions. I may organize this, but it is a group effort! Looking forward to seeing this thing get into proper gear soon!

Since I guess we're supposed to talk here now, I'd like to say I'm still up for this any time we get enough people together.

I'd also like to ask how we're supposed to expand our army. I think I've figured it out, but just to be clear, we can build 1 unit for every supply center we control in the Fall, but it doesn't count units we already control?
So if I have all 4 units on 4 different supply centers, I can build 4 new units, for a total of 8?
I just want to be absolutely clear on how this works.

Supply Centers=Units. Straight up. If you have five supply centers at the end of fall, with only three units on the board (by capturing 2 new ones), you can build two new units. Consequently, you can disband a unit far from home to build it in that same regrouping, if you want a fast reposition to home.

Example: Russia has 4 supply centers! With their four starting units, they move out, and capture Sweden and Rumania. However, with Hungarian support, the Germans push Russia out of Warsaw in the fall!

Four starting, two gained, one lost, the end result is five supply depots, or a net gain of one. You can build one army or fleet in one of your original starting locations.

The point is, the more supplies you have, the more armies you have, the more might you have. Who needs to garner allied support when they have fifteen units, and everyone else has five or six? You should always be looking to take the upper hand. Of course, some people (myself included) can content themselves to play 2nd fiddle, but it certainly is not the goal of the game.

Syrnn wrote:Supply Centers=Units. Straight up. If you have five supply centers at the end of fall, with only three units on the board (by capturing 2 new ones), you can build two new units. Consequently, you can disband a unit far from home to build it in that same regrouping, if you want a fast reposition to home.

Example: Russia has 4 supply centers! With their four starting units, they move out, and capture Sweden and Rumania. However, with Hungarian support, the Germans push Russia out of Warsaw in the fall!

Four starting, two gained, one lost, the end result is five supply depots, or a net gain of one. You can build one army or fleet in one of your original starting locations.

The point is, the more supplies you have, the more armies you have, the more might you have. Who needs to garner allied support when they have fifteen units, and everyone else has five or six? You should always be looking to take the upper hand. Of course, some people (myself included) can content themselves to play 2nd fiddle, but it certainly is not the goal of the game.

Oh I get it. So occupying in the Fall "claims" them, but the supply centers you had last year continue to be yours, even if there aren't any units on them?

Correct! You have them even if you do not occupy them directly. Just remember, if someone else occupies them, you lose them!

Bumping this to remind everyone that I still have plans to run this. Step one is this: I have cleared all the slots, so if you want in, make sure you have no doubts about the rules, or ask me all you need to know to get acquainted, and sign up.

This is a long term game, so if you do not think you'll be able to play consistently, then please do not offer to sign up. I really look forward to seeing this get in motion, and I hope you lot will too, otherwise I might have to find fresh blood to inject here! Giving this two weeks to at least get moderate interest before I shelf the project.

I still have dibs on Russia, and I'm fairly certain I understand all the rules.

One movement per unit per turn, and supply depots = units. Get more units in Fall. Two phases to a turn, two turns to a year. Touching a supply depot claims it until someone else touches it.

Is that everything?

One unit per province, as well, and new supply depots are only added to your nation if you are on them in the Fall. There is the confusion of convoys, but otherwise everything is straight up, and you have it correct. Glad to have you on board!

I'm still interested in this, prefer italy but i'll play any position

It's first come first serve, so Italy is yours! I'm staying out for now until it becomes evident that we need a 7th (or even just 6th)

Im interested aswell, but there is not a minor shit nation to take as training

Maybe I go with Germany again and screw that up