Gobble-Earth (14 players)
Global World War I
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Variant Parameters (Version: 1 / Code: 1.2.3):

Special rules/information:

Based on the standard map of Diplomacy, Gobble-Earth adds the rest of the world to the fight for hegemony. According to the borders of 1914 and the map drawing principles of standard this variant has seven more powers starting out the competition at a local basis against the colonial empires of Europe. Can you gobble up the others?

A larger map, useful as a printed version that also contain all full names, can be found at http://www.malmobiketours.se/Bilder/GobbleEarth.jpg

IMPORTANT NOTE: vDiplomacy will NOT forbid you to do illegal builds. It is very important to keep track of the colonial build rule and remember yourself which of the builds vDiplomacy lists are actually possible.





Variant rules:

The main rule difference is that this variant has two kinds of builds. Home builds are standard builds, units instantly built in your home centers (your square centers). Colonial builds are delayed builds, built in any center (circle centers and other's home centers).

The victory condition is 37 SC (~35%)

Like Kiel in standard, Panama and Cairo also have canals.

Home centers are only the centers in a country's core area; other starting possessions are considered neutral for building purposes. On this map the home centers are marked as squares and the neutrals as circles. Home centers belong to one power so it is not possible to do instant builds anywhere else than your own home centers.

To raise units far from home any nation can do a colonial build instead of a usual one. Colonial builds can be ordered by any power in any center. For a colonial build to succeed the building power must have enough centers to order the build, as well as having waived (the order "Save for colonial build next year") one building capacity the winter one year prior for each colonial build.

It is very important to remember that, unlike in most variants, vDiplomacy will list builds among your options that you cannot really do if you do not have enough colonial builds. It will tell you how many colonial builds you have, and the builds in the list of options that are colonial will be indicated as such.

This is easy to get wrong, so it is worth repeating. You have to keep track of the colonial build rule yourself! vDiplomacy will give you the option of ordering illegal builds, but they WILL FAIL!


Some useful hints to remember:

DO NOT try to build in your colonies 1901. It is the first year, how could you possibly have saved build from last year? In fact, anytime it says you have 0 colonial builds, you should not build anywhere else than home.
DO NOT try to build in a colony as if it was home just because you happened to start with it. All countries except for Latin America and Austria start with colonies, and some are very close to home. Make sure that the center is not indicated as colonial when trying to do a home build.
DO NOT order two colonial builds if you only saved one build last year. You must save one build per unit.
DO NOT order a colonial build if you saved the build two years ago. If you do not use your saved build the year after you saved it you must start over with saving it again.
DO NOT order a colonial build if you ordered an illegal build that failed last year. Even though you didn't raise the unit, it does not count as a waive.

If you are still unsure about colonial builds, take a look at the examples below. You can also use this flowchart: http://www.malmobiketours.se/Bilder/Gobble%20build%20flowchart.jpg


Colonial build example 1:

Powers A, B and C all increase from 6 to 7 SC in year 1.

W 1901

A
Waive

B
Build at home

C
Waive


In year 2, A stays on 7 SC, B increase to 8 SC and C decrease to 6 SC.

W 1902

A
Can build at home or colonially

B
Can only build at home

C
Cannot build

So since A had waived last year she can build a colonial unit. A can also choose to build at home, but must then waive again if she wants to build colonially later. B did not waive last year and can only build at home (or waive for a build 1903). C did waive, but does not longer have the required SC to build anything.




Colonial build example 2:

Making a colonial build

W 1901. England increases from 13 to 15 SC.
+ F London
Waive

W 1902. England increases to 16 SC. England can do one colonial in any owned SC and one home build for the new SC. (May of course waive the new one to build colonially 1903 or England may build both at home as well).
+ F Vancouver
+ F Liverpool


Not making a colonial build.

W 1901. England increases from 13 to 15 SC.
+ F London
+ F Liverpool

W 1902. England increases to 16 SC. England cannot do a colonial build as there was no waive last year.
+ F London


Failing a colonial build.

W 1901. England increases from 13 to 15 SC.
+ F London
Waive

W 1902. England falls back to 14 SC. No build anywhere due to lack of SCs.
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