Hello, everybody! The name's myLAAN and I proudly present you the newest addition to the already numerous family of vdip variants - Hussite Wars! If the word Hussite doesn't ring a bell, here's a brief summary of their badassness:

They thought Catholic Church was too rich and corrupt and therefore lost it's cool and hip nature. It was also led by an Antichrist.
Favourite pastime includes pillaging churches, singing battle hymns and throwing Catholics out of windows. Few thousand silver coins of ransom might convince them to enjoy these activities somewhere else than in your hometown.
Showed late Medieval Europe that a bunch of underfed peasants and yeomans can easily defeat elite mounted knights several times in a row.

Now that we all know with whom we have the pleasure, we can focus on the actual variant. It's a 9 player variant starting in Spring 1421, each country starts with 3 SCs except for one that starts with 4. It's build anywhere and as in other variants, there are neutral SCs on colored territories to reflect the history better.

The remaining difference from standard Diplomacy rules is the most profound one - fleet mechanic. Fleets can move only between SC provinces whose SC dots are situated on a river (which are all except of Grünberg - did I mentioned the names are in German?). Fleets cross this distance in one move so while an army gets from Frankfurt to Breslau in 3 moves, a fleet needs only 1. Supports may also be provided at this distance. There are no convoys. And yes, I'm well aware of the fact that this river warfare is a science-fiction :)

Regarding gameplay, I would appreciate the feedback on the Brandenburg/Saxony dynamics, possibly overpowered Brandenburg's position, whether Bavaria isn't too isolated and fun factor of the fleet mechanic for which I don't have a good alternative as of now.

There's also a spot-the-difference Easter Egg (it's not a bug, it's a feature!) hidden somewhere in the largemap. Go find it ;)

Special thanks to Oliver, without whom I would get nowhere, and Tadar whose unit icons this variant uses.

Let the Hussite Wars begin!

P.S.: Yet another variant goes live next week, this time for 3 players... so stay tuned.