EDIT: I realize this looks like a mess, but I try to keep everything in laymans terms here. If you want the briefest sort of outline of how the game would go, it's this: You talk to each other for 24 hours, and PM your orders to the head of the game by the end. Within the hour after Diplomacy is finished (or sooner if it's possible) a list of the orders is posted, and a Map showing the results with it, so everyone can see what. The next 24 hours is the Regrouping phase. Rinse, wash, repeat.
Alright, let me give a very brief (but believe me, thorough) rundown of the rules.
The object of the game is to control 18 of the 34 Supply Centers on the board, considered as having gained the means to control Europe. Players can end it early, though, ending in an unsatisfying and craptacular Draw, or by unanimously declaring one of the seven Great Powers the winner.
There are obvious borders and boundaries here, between land and sea territories, and within each one. The key here is only places that are named can be moved into. There's three types: Inland, Coastal, and Water. Armies move on Inland and Coastal, Fleets move on Coastal and Water. Note: Some provinces have multiple coasts, and have to be made clear which you're on.
Supply Centers determine your number armies and/or fleets. Everyone starts with 3, except for Russia, who starts with 4, and the magnanimous duty of trying to manage a large area early game.
As noted, there are Armies and Fleets. Being a nice, simple game of gentlemanly fashion, all units have the same strength. This is a game of numbers and allied support. It takes a crafty player to make this work well. Furthermore, there can be only one unit in a province at a time. Sorry, this isn't risk, World War I didn't really "steamroll" to its conclusion.
To make a quick breakdown of who starts with what and where, A is an army, F is a fleet, and the name is the territory! Simple!
Austria-Hungary (red): Vienna (A), Budapest (A), Trieste (F)
England (dark blue): London (F), Edinburgh (F), Liverpool (A)
France (light blue): Paris (A), Marseilles (A), Brest (F)
Germany (black): Berlin (A), Munich (A), Kiel (F)
Italy (green): Rome (A), Venice (A), Naples (F)
Russia (white): Moscow (A), Sevastopol (F), Warsaw (A), St. Petersburg South (F)
Ottoman Turks (yellow): Ankara (F), Constantinople (A), Smyrna (A)
The game turn is designated by "season" of a year, either Spring or Fall, the latter of which is when the Great Powers resupply. Each season is broken up into the Diplomacy phase, the Orders phase, and the Regrouping phase.
Diplomacy is simply when everyone sits down, talks to each other, both openly and privately, and tries to vie for strategic alliances, negotiate moves and supports, and pretty much all the talking that happens in the game. You should all be pretty familiar with this from NationGame. This would realistically take 24 hours, the end of which you must have submitted your Orders.
The Orders phase is when what you decided to do is resolved. Everyone's actions happen at the same time. This means that armies can "bounce" in stalemate, chains of orders relying on moving your units can be stopped, and other fun complications that puts a turd in the punch bowl for anyone unfortunate enough to experience this. The four orders are simply Hold, Move, Support, and the odd man out, Convoy.
Hold is just what it sounds like: You sit there and do nothing.
Move is just that too: You move. Move however is synonymous with Attack, because, after all, these are military units we're talking about here.
Support is the fun one that makes the game work. One army adjacent to a province can sit still and support any other army capable of Moving into that province. As many units as are adjacent can Support, and Supports can be broken by the Supporting unit having a Move order issued against it, regardless of the Strength of that support. Simply put, if I have an army fight an army, it's one on one, but with one support order, it's 2 on 1, and I would win out. Support can also be used on Hold actions to reinforce a territory.
Convoy is like the retarded cousin of all the other orders. Where most of them are pretty straightforward with the exception of "chain" complications, Convoy requires an Army to have an order written to Moveto its destination, and all Fleets involved in the Move to write "Fleet X Convoys Army Y in Territory A to Territory B." However, there is no limit to the amount of Convoys can be done, so an Army can go essentially from Turkey to Sweden in a turn, should it have enough ships (nearly impossible) to Convoy it there. Convoy orders can be broken, like Supports by Move orders.
The Orders phase would be done as quickly as possible (posted within the hour after the 24 Hour Diplomacy phase), with a map and list of orders showing the results of all moves to the players, so they can do the Regrouping phase in the next 24 hours. If anyone does not submit orders, or orders are written in such a way that they cannot be done, it is assumed that the unit Holds. Long story short, to get a single season out of the way, it will take two days. That will make this game slow as molasses, but it might be necessary and will, I think, work out very well, considering how NationGame 2 is doing.
Whew! Finally, in the Regrouping phase, armies that have been dislodged by a move have to pick a province to Retreat to. Obviously, they can't retreat into provinces with enemy units, or into the provinces they got attacked from, but nothing stops them from going into empty enemy provinces, so long as it is a viable Retreat order. Retreat works exactly like a move. If a unit has nowhere to retreat to, it is disbanded, and can be built, if there is proper supply depots in this phase.
If it is Fall Regrouping, Resupply also happens! All supply centers of each nation are counted up, and units are either built or disbanded, depending on if you gained or lost supply centers. Just as you need to write your retreats, you need to write your builds and disbands. Disband means the unit of your choice goes POOF! However, builds must be done in the three (Four for Russia) original supply centers of your home provinces! If a territory gains more than three, they are effectively sitting on unbuilt manpower! Note: If a country has lost all of its home supply centers, it can continue to fight with what it has, but cannot build until it has recaptured a home supply center!
There is a whole list of official abbreviations for Provinces and Orders, to help both the speed of your writing, and the styles of your diplomatically convenient "mistakes". Should the game get off the ground, I'll post them.
That's it! It may seem like a lot, but it is really rather simple, and quite a lot of fun! There are a lot of variant maps out there, some good, some bad, and a lot of house rules too to make the game more interesting, but this game has had a legacy since its inception in 1954. This beast of a game was a favorite of JFK and Henry Kissinger, to name a few famous players. So old school is diplomacy that it has a long and illustrious career as the first game after Chess to really see Play By Mail, and later E-Mail.
Please, if any of you are interested, let me know, because I would love to run this, and help spread the joy of what is probably one of the most tactical and vicious games of all time.
Ninja Edit: Yeah, I know there are, but they have a lot of anonymity, or exclusivity, and I feel like this is a good crowd that might really love the game. If it's a problem to run it here, let me know kobo1d, but I thought I would give it a swing!
