Colonial Diplomacy Rules

[The Adjudicator]

The rules for Colonial Diplomacy are, in all ways, exactly the same as Diplomacy with respect to Movement, Support, Convoying and Holding. The only differences are as follows:

1) There are 58 Production Centers total. The winner must control 30 of these at the end of a Fall Retreat. The game begins in 1870, and turns take a whole year, with odd years being Build Turns.

2) The Trans-Siberian Express Railroad may only be used by the Russian player. This will move units quickly (i.e. in one turn) across vast distances. There are important rules governing it's use, which are discussed in detail below. If you are the Russian player, or attacking a Russian opponent, familiarizing yourself with these rules should be a priority.

3) The following territories are considered adjacent and are both costal and land provinces (i.e. Fleets may land there and Armies could march from one province to another even though, graphically, the land masses are separated by water). These follow the same movement rules as Denmark and Constantinople in Diplomacy.

Constantinople - Angora (and vice versa)
Singapore - Malaya (and vice versa)
Hong Kong - Canton (and vice versa)
Davao - Cebu (and vice versa)
Cebu - Manilla (and vice versa)
Kyushu - Kyoto (and vice versa)
Otaru - Sakhalin (and vice versa)

4) The Suez Canal in Egypt opened in 1869. Therefore, Fleets may move from the Mediterranean to Egypt to the Red Sea or vice versa, but cannot move to or from either Sea without first travelling through Egypt. This follows the same rules as moving through Kiel to get to either the Helgoland Bight or the Barrents Sea in regular Diplomacy.

5) Some Powers begin the game with control of more Production Centers than Units at the start of the game. This is not an error. This is to make allowance for Powers with weak or isolated starting territories that they could easily lose at the beginning of the game. During the first Build/Disband phase of the game, Powers gain Production from these extra centers normally if they control them. In addition, these are not Home Supply Centers. Powers can only build new Units from yellow stars that they begin the game with. The coloured concentric circle around the yellow Home Production Centers indicates the power to which they belong; that is:

Britain: Aden, Bombay, Delhi, Madras, Hong Kong, Singapore
China: Canton, Peking, Manchuria, Sinkiang, Shanghai
France: Annam, Conchin, Tongking
Holland: Borneo, Java, Sumatra
Japan: Kyoto, Kyushu, Otaru, Tokyo
Russia: Moscow, Odessa, Omsk, Port Arthur, Vladivostok
Turkey: Angora, Baghdad, Constantinople

[The Adjudicator]

The Trans Siberian Express railroad is what has allowed Russia to expand across enormous distances and defend it's territory far from the capital. There are special rules governing it's use in Colonial Diplomacy. These are covered in detail here.


Basics

Only the Russian player may use the Trans Siberian Express Railroad, regardless of foreign control. The Railroad spans Moscow, Perm, Omsk, Krasnoyarsk, Irkustk and Vladivostok.

Only one unit may use the Railroad at a time. Other units must use conventional movement. (Two feet and a heartbeat, baby. Hup-to!) Movement using the railroad is denoted as 'TSR' (For example, Army Moscow TSR Omsk).

A Russian Army using the Railroad may move through territories containing other Russian units as long as the destination province would otherwise be empty at the end of the turn. Foreign units may interfere in the operation of the railroad, as described in detail below.

Fleets cannot use the Railroad. (I really hope I didn't have to include this last one).



Movement[/u][/size]

An Army can move from any point of departure along the railroad's length to any destination also along it's length in one turn. The moving Army uses 'TSR' to denote that it is using the rail line. The Army ends its turn in the destination province. For example, the following order is valid:

Russia
A Omsk TSR Vladivostok





Interruptions

As long as there are no interruptions or 'breaks' in the railroad, an army may move anywhere along it's length. A break is defined as a foreign Unit occupying or moving into a terrritory between the Army's point of departure and the destination OR foreign control of a Production Center between the point of departure and the destination.

The following move is illegal because the Chinese Army in Irkutsk is not moving. If Army Irkustsk had instead been ordered to Mongolia or Manchuria this turn (and had done so successfully), the move would then be legal.

Russia
A Omsk TSR Vladivostock
A Krasnoyarsk holds

China
A Irkutsk Holds




The following order is not valid, because the Chinese control Omsk, even though there are no other units between Moscow and Krasnoyarsk.

Russia
A Moscow TSR Krasnoyarsk




If there is a break in the line, an Army may still use it up to and including the point of the break. In the above example, Army Moscow TSR Omsk is still a legal move.

Movement is also interrupted if another Unit moves into a territory while an Army is 'en route' to another territory. In this case, the movement stops in the nearest available territory before the point of the conflict. In the following example, there would be a standoff situation in Krasnoyarsk, Army Vladivostok would halt it's westward movment in Irkutsk, and Army Mongolia would stay in Mongolia.

Russia
A Vladivostok TSR Omsk

China
A Mongolia - Krasnoyarsk




To be clear, a unit cannot support an Army using the TSR 'through' a province that is being attacked. The following order for Army Akmolinsk is completely illegal, and will in no way prevent the Chinese Army from Mongolia from interrupting the move.

Russia
A Vladivostok TSR Omsk
A Akmolinsk Supports A Vladivostok TSR Omsk

China
A Mongolia - Krasnoyarsk




If two foreign units are moving onto the TSR's route while it is being used, a standoff occurs in the territory nearest the point of departure. In the following example, the Turks succeed in taking Omsk, and Army Semipalatinsk and Army Irkutsk do not move. Since Army Irkutsk never arrives in Perm, Army Orenburg's support is rendered irrelevant.

Russia
A Irkutsk TSR Perm
A Orenburg Supports A Irkutsk TSR Perm

Turkey
A Semipalatinsk - Krasnoyarsk
A Akmolinsk - Omsk





Attack & Support[/u][/size]

An Army may use the railroad to attack. It does so as if it were attacking from an adjacent province into which it could have moved, just like any other attack. It may receive support into it's destination by any other Units legally able to provide it, including a(ny) Fleet(s) that are able land in Vladivostok. In the following example, the Russian attack from Moscow is successful.

Russia
A Moscow TSR Omsk
Army Orenburg Supports A Moscow TSR Omsk

China
A Omsk holds



An Army cannot convey support through the Railroad. (for example, Army Moscow Supports Chinese Army Omsk via TSR, or any other similar nonsense, is invalid.)


In the event that a foreign unit is attempting to interrupt the use of the Railroad through a province containing a defending unit, that Army's movement is not interrupted unless the defending unit is dislodged. This is the closest thing to support that a unit can give an Army using the TSR.

In the following example, the Turkish army prevents reinforcements from landing in Moscow, despite Russia having a defending unit in Omsk. The Russian Army Vladivostok ends it's turn in Krasnoyarsk.

Russia
A Omsk holds
A Vladivostock TSR Moscow

Turkey
Army Akmolinsk - Omsk
Army Orenburg Supports Army Akmolinsk - Omsk



In addition, as long as a standoff was not caused solely by the Army using the TSR, if said stand-off results in all interceding provinces being empty or controlled by Russia, the move is successful. In the above example, if A Orenburg had held and A Omsk and A Akmolinsk had both tried to move to Irkustsk, the resulting standoff in Irkustsk would not have prevented Vladivostok from moving to Moscow.

If there are any additional considerations, questions or clarifications needed, please contact me, especially before you write your orders.