Is this close enough?
http://vdiplomacy.net/variants.php?variantID=69

I personally think the warring states period in China needs a variant

I'd love to see someone take the concepts of either of the Revolution or Versailles variants and apply them (perhaps merge them both into one of the larger maps in play presently. Both variants involved minor powers (intentionally imbalanced starting positions) which presented a challenging taks to play them *and* and geeneral annoyance to the the larger (regular powers). Minor power in this context means one or two supply centers to start the game compared to say three or four or more on some maps. Typically there would be one minor power per major power, but this need not necessarily be the case depending upon the variant modified.

Revolution Diplomacy allows for minor nations that might be easily conquered, but the base supply centers must be occupied by a unit or they revolt over a period of time and the original player comes back into the game with a new unit (partisans/rebels/etc). This makes for an incredibly wild ride, and can be a lot of fun.

Versailles Diplomacy has no special rules other than the imbalance of the minor power. However you could run variations of the variant where the minor powers were:

* Assigned to a major power player as an non-adjacent ally
* Assigned to a separate player as an non-adjacent partner to a major power
* Alliances of minor to major nations might be hidden or fully disclosed
* Seperate sovreign nations simply playing as underdogs and free to ally with whomever they wish
* Various ramifications of gunboat style games to the above parameters

Suggestion for minor powers might be the Zulus, Basques, Red Brigade, Nazis, Shining Path, Michigan Militia, IRA, Souix, Apache, Huron, The Whiskey Rebellion, Cossacks, Palestinians, Israelis, Contras/Sandinistas, Tibetan Monks, the Taliban, or dozens or other historically oppressed/underdogs thoughout history and depending on the variant chosen.



in a scripted alliance

I'm thinking the initial expansion of the Roman Republic. When they were fighting the other tribes/nations of the Italian Penisula

Peninsula*

@Tyran, isn't that basic what Rasciamento or however the heck you spell it is? Its all on Italy...

Well that's in the renaissance I'm talking the roman empire the greatest empire in history and it's start

How would you make it different in terms of gameplay? What you are suggesting is bascially redrawing the map to suit your subject.

(I'm not trying to be offensive here, just playing devil's advocate)

I would love to see Asia circa 1200 AD right before the Mongols came on the scene. Basically this map:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Asia_1200ad.jpg

Isn't Airborne working on a known world 1200 (or silk road) variant?

I agree with Tyran. Either the Italian Peninsula, or all of Europe would be cool for that time period.

I was helping with it but, started making some groundwork for making 1900 for vdip...crap, I forgot I was helping :( I better get back on track with the Europe part of the Silk Road variant

I'm waiting for airborne's input regarding the names of the territories in Europe circa. 1200. No rush though airborne!

I've said it before and I'll say it again. The Vietnam War needs a variant. Factions like the US, USSR, Cambodia, Laos, NVA, Viet Cong, South Vietnamese Army. You can play with the geography (mountains, jungles, rivers). You could implement some sort of mechanic to take into account the tunnel system or guerrilla style warfare, helicopters, napalm. It's a goldmine of options

I'd like a Roman Republic variant as well. I mean, there's Ancient Med, but there's only the five powers and it feels small sometimes. It'd be nice to have the Etruscans, Sabines, Romans, Greeks, and Gauls dueling it out over Italy.

Korea is far more deserving of a variant then 'Nam

English Civil War?

I agree the US Colonial period would be INTERESTING, but I fear the problem in such a variant is the map does not lend itself to well to the game. Someone mentioned China and they too face a similar problem, the map does not have enough water to bring fleets into play very effectively. Take the colonial aspect but concentrate on the Caribbean and Central America (with parts of the US gulf coast as well as northern South America of course) and you may have a better idea, sort of a golden age of discovery time-frame could work well? Spanish, English, Dutch, French, maybe throw in Portugal add the Taino and Carib tribes (those Carib's were real bad asses) then you have a nice working concept on a decent and interesting map. To make it more interesting, you could even blow up the islands in size to reflect their relative importance while maintaining the same basic map theme and making the game flow better, island hopping via "land bridges" (much like Constantinople and Denmark?) would also be required but that could be pretty sweet!?

I would like to see a US Civil War during the Articles of Confederation and the battle over the Constitution leads to the end of the USA and several smaller states. With former US states, the Cherokee Nation, British and maybe Spanish. There would be rivers to add to the mix of water and land

I like the idea of the English Civil War/War of the Three Kingdoms as well, but we should knock it together with the Thirty Years War so that the whole protestant/catholic and absolutist/constitutional issue could be fought out. I'd include Scots, English Parliament, Irish, Royal England, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Bohemia, Austria, Croats, France, Dutch, Spanish and Anabaptists as players.

@Alcuin, No Great Elector? I wish there were a way for a map to have a Holy Roman Emperor, who was voted on once every two years or so, one vote per "Elector SC" held, and the winner got an extra SC. Only players who held certain territory could get votes, and in the event of a tie, whoever held it last would hold it again. I assume it'd be annoying to code in, but who wouldn't love elections in their Diplomacy?

I would also like to see a Colonial America variant, but agree with Tomahaha regarding the difficulties of the American map generally. However, I think a unique map could actually be put together using about 2/3 of north America, the Caribbean and Central America, and 2/3 of south America. With some creative design, use of a non-standard portion of the map, and careful attention to the placement of oceans and rivers, you could create a more playable European style map. And the nature of the mix and location of European and Indian powers, like England, France, Spain, Portugal, Aztecs, Incans, Iroquois, Seminole, Comanche (I'd like to see 10-12 powers)... would enable a lot of freedom with the design of each power's sphere of influence, their relation to each other, and the individual territories themselves. This is also a great opportunity to make the greatest river Diplomacy play yet.

@mertvaya Ruka... yeah. That would be good and you;re right, I forgot all of the internal German powers, and the Empire itself.

I'd also like to see a version in which the bloodlines of kings and queens are also recorded as part of the game... negotiating the marriages of sons and daughters was an important part of strategy.

While I do like the celtic britain variant, I'd like to see a larger map of scotland only with a war between 11 or 12 clans.

@Alcuin, if there were a 30 Years War variant, it'd be useful, I think, to inflate the size of England and Germany to allow for more viable players, even though you'd end up with situations like a United Kingdom being a giant powerhouse.

That's not a problem. The United Kingdom didn't exist until 1701 (although for a while Cromwell ended up in charge of England (including Wales), Scotland and Ireland). And it's not a powerhouse if it's in Civil War. I actually think two English factions and three German factions (Lutherans, Anabaptists and Catholics - or call them Prussia, Bavaria and Muenster even though that's not historically accurate?) would be enough with the other powers I mentioned making a total of 16 players.

If it's during the 30 years War, shouldn't the Lutherans be Saxony? I know the Great Elector, at least, was a Calvinist, while Saxony was home of Luther.

Also very much looking forward to Airborne's Known World variants, which I know he's got on the back burner (hoping for 1201, which could also incorporate the Holy Roman Empire, Scotland, Leon and Castille, and Hungary).

Napoleonic anyone?

Mayan city states.