---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Alex Maslow <blueraider0(at)gmail.com ([email]blueraider0(at)gmail.com[/email])>
Date: Tue, Dec 8, 2009 at 11:23 PM
Subject: Welcome: Ancient Med!
To: Sam_Buck_Productions(at)mac.com ([email]Sam_Buck_Productions(at)mac.com[/email]), sgttodd(at)mainecav.org ([email]sgttodd(at)mainecav.org[/email]), smegdwarf(at)yahoo.com ([email]smegdwarf(at)yahoo.com[/email]), mrh(at)panix.com ([email]mrh(at)panix.com[/email]), MDemagogue(at)gmail.com ([email]MDemagogue(at)gmail.com[/email])


Hello gamers!  This e-mail is your official welcome to the game.  If you haven't, please add my e-mail to your address book so nothing important ends up in your spam folder.  Our game number is DC 285.  Please include it in the subject of every e-mail, otherwise I CANNOT gauruntee it will get to me.  I will try to confirm every order set sent to me within 24 hours.  If you don't hear from me within 36 hours, you might want to send it again.  I will use the latest orders.
 
I hold deadlines very strictly, and have zero tolerance for NMRs.  However, I do what I can to insure they never happen.  First, I encourage everyone to send in prelim-orders.  Uncoordinated orders are better than none.   Also, when it gets to 24 hours before the deadline, I will send everyone who hasn't sent me in any orders a reminder.  If any player NMRs twice, I will find a replacement, no exceptions.  If you need an extension on the deadline, please let me know.  I'll be more than happy to accomidate.  Just don't ask with only one or two days to go - ask as ahead of time as possible, please.
 
Below are an adapted set of rules of the Ancient Med variant.  Please read them carefully and keep them on record.  I promise, however, you will never recieve anything this long from me ever again.  But before we fall into the black hole of variant rules, Ashlee, tell them who are leaders are!
 
Ruling the high seas in Triremes and running the fields of North Africa on elephan, dating all the way back to Phoenicia herself, please welcome descendent to the doomed queen Dido, the newest king of Carthage, Gerald Todd!  SGTodd(at)Mainecav.org ([email]SGTodd(at)Mainecav.org[/email])
 
Need bread?  Need water that might turn into blood at a Deity's notice?  Want a monarchy that surpasses its level of greed with only its level of incest?  If you like looking for huge libraries and lighthouses that crumble, this woul be the perfect vacation spot, just hope the new King isn't looking for home for the afterlife, or you might be stuck building the Pyamid of King Adam Martin-Schwarze smegdwarf(at)yahoo.com ([email]smegdwarf(at)yahoo.com[/email]),
 
Sex, monstrous bureaucratic systems, aimless philosophy, hot sweaty men defending a small pass.  No, this isn't a rewriting of Kent State's history - welcome to the land of the flamboyant and the home of the petty, you guessed it, Greece!  And who is the man who managed to unite all the Greek city states together?  Why, king Sam Buck,  Sam_Buck_Productions(at)Mac.com ([email]Sam_Buck_Productions(at)Mac.com[/email])
 
And in the yellow corner, bringing all the fancy rugs and vases his servants can carry, his ancestors tried to use physical force, he's thinking of using culutral oppression (with a couple of thousand knives, I guess).  His arrows may blot out the sun, but that doesn't mean he can't party like its 399, emperor of the Persian empire,  Mike Hoffman, mrh(at)panix.com ([email]mrh(at)panix.com[/email])
 
Out of the darkness, a light shines.  Men panic before its mighty hand, and childen shiver in fear.  A star is rising in the east, and the soothsayers predict it will not be stopped.  No, this isn't some Divine comeuppance, nor the await Judgement Day - and sure the light is only coming from the bathhouses, and the men panic before the mighty taxes, and the chilren shiver in dread of a public schol system, and the soothsayers have been paid off, but that's what the Romans do!  Travin their roots to Aeneas, the Romans long for their Trojan home once again.  And they will crush anyone who stands in their way - pending approval through the senate and the signatures of the centaurions and the obedience of the legions and the will of a consul, and pesuming there isn't some conspiracy at home to take care of.  But they WILL get to it.  And who gets to lead this juggernaut of a committee?   Mark Utterback has siezed the reins of Rome! MDemagogue(at)gmail.com ([email]MDemagogue(at)gmail.com[/email])
 
(I am a big ancient history buff (My degree is in the Classics), so get used to the above jokes).
 
First deadline is in two weeks, on December 22nd at 23:30 EST (I think that's -5 GMT).  Every other deadline will be a week, with retreats/builds being 2-3 days.  The obvious exception will be the second deadline, which would fall on Dec 29th, but I have a feeling Christmas could complicate things, and maybe New Years, too.  We'll talk details then, but I won't set a deadline after the first moves are out, instead I'll ask what time frame seems to work for everyone.
 
 
 
Adapted from: http://www.variantbank.org/results/rules/a/ancient_mediterranean.htm
 
The normal rules of the game of Diplomacy apply, with the following additions, exceptions and clarifications. Note there is only one minor exception to the normal rules (Baleares). The rest of the following explanations involve either the expected things that must be defined in Diplomacy variants or geographical considerations which simply clarify where units may or may not move. If you are familiar with the normal rules of Diplomacy, you will be able to read through the following very quickly - it's not as long as it looks.

[u:02cf5c3747]Home Supply Centers and Starting Positions of the Powers[/u:02cf5c3747]
   Rome  (red)   fleet Neapolis  army Roma  army Ravenna  Carthage  (dark blue)  fleet Thapsus  army Cirta  army Carthage  Greece  (green)  fleet Sparta  army Athens  army Macedonia  Persia  (black)  fleet Sidon  army Antioch  army Damascus  Egypt  (yellow)  fleet Alexandria  army Memphis  army Thebes

Note that on the map, home supply centers are designated by a dot with a circle around it, whereas supply centers which start the game unowned, are designated by a plain dot. As in the normal rules, a power may build new units only in its home supply centers.
[u:02cf5c3747]Victory Criteria[/u:02cf5c3747]
18 supply centers. This is a simple majority (interestingly: Ancient Med has the same number of supply centers as the standard game). 
[u:02cf5c3747]Move Dates and Adjustments[/u:02cf5c3747]
Each turn alternates between Spring and Fall, starting the game on a Spring turn, with adjustments being made after a Fall turn. Each successive Spring the year increases by one. This is just like the standard game except the variant’s first year is 300 BC  instead of 1901 AD.  For those ancient history buffs, this seems to me like the only time when we could reasonably pretend these 5 civilizations were all around and equally powerful.  Years will therefore move in descending order, 300 BC, 299 BC, 298 BC, etc.
[u:02cf5c3747]Impassable Spaces[/u:02cf5c3747]
Any areas that are not named on the board are not passable. The Atlantic Ocean can not be occupied by any units.  
[u:02cf5c3747]Islands[/u:02cf5c3747]
Islands are distinct spaces. An island may be occupied by an army or a fleet. Each island has one continuous coast, therefore a fleet on an island may move to any space adjacent to it. For example, a fleet could move from the Egyptian Sea to Crete in one turn, and then move to the Aegean Sea in the next turn.  
[u:02cf5c3747]Movement Across Narrow Straits[/u:02cf5c3747]
Arrows on the board indicate two adjacent land (coastal) spaces. An army may move from one space to the other in one turn without being convoyed. Because they are adjacent, fleets may also move from one space to the other in one turn. Note also that the Tyrrhenean Sea is adjacent to the Ausonian Sea.  
[u:02cf5c3747]Byzantium[/u:02cf5c3747]
Byzantium is one space which straddles a waterway. The waterway allows movement of a fleet in Byzantium to any adjacent coastal space or sea space. The waterway does not impede the movement of an army through Byzantium. And it is a supply center. In other words, it works just like Constantinople in the standard game.  
[u:02cf5c3747]Baleares[/u:02cf5c3747]
Baleares is a single space (which consists of the islands and the water around them). Since it contains both land and water, it can be occupied by a fleet or an army. However, since it is a single space, it can only be occupied by one unit at a time. Although an army can occupy Baleares, it can not move there directly from the mainland spaces since the islands are too far from the coast. For an army to enter or leave Baleares, it would have to be convoyed by a fleet in the Berber Sea or the Ligurian Sea. Since Baleares consists mostly of water, it is considered a sea space for the purposes of convoys, therefore a fleet occupying Baleares may be used to convoy an army using the normal convoy rules.  Baleares IS a SUPPLY CENTER  
[u:02cf5c3747]Four-way Intersection in the High Seas[/u:02cf5c3747]
In the middle of the board there is an area where four sea spaces come together at one point. They are the Ausonian Sea, Messenian Sea, Gulf of Tacape and Libyan Sea. All four of these spaces are adjacent to each of the other three at that point. Therefore, a fleet in one of these spaces may move to any of the other three. In other words, a fleet in any of these spaces may move diagonally.
By virtue of the expanse of the open seas, fleets can pass each other in a criss-cross fashion without impeding each others' movement. For example, a Roman fleet could move from the Ausonian Sea to the Libyan Sea and a Greek fleet could move from the Messenian Sea to the Gulf of Tacape on the same turn and both of these moves would be allowed. Note that this criss-crossing is not the same as two units exchanging places. For example, if a Roman fleet tried to move from the Ausonian Sea to the Libyan Sea and an Egyptian fleet tried to move from the Libyan Sea to the Ausonian Sea on the same turn, these moves would not be allowed due to the normal rules.  
[u:02cf5c3747]The Diolkos[/u:02cf5c3747]
The border between Sparta and Athens effectively works like a canal. It cuts across the isthmus and allows fleets to move through. For example, a fleet in the Aegean Sea could move to Athens and then, on the following turn, to the Ionian Sea. Note that in game terms, this means Athens effectively has one continuous coast. Armies can freely move between Sparta and Athens.  It operates like the Kiel Canal in standard game.
The historical precedence for this is not an actual canal. The Diolkos was a roadway built by the Greeks for the purpose of moving ships across the isthmus on large wheeled carts. You can still see the ruts in the ground today. See Ancient Diolkos of Corinth and The Diolkos and the Corinth Canal.  
[u:02cf5c3747]The Nile River and Canal[/u:02cf5c3747]
The Nile River acts as the boundary between the spaces on its east and west banks. The river is not a space on the board. It can not be occupied by any units. However, it is considered to be navigable. Therefore, a fleet may move to and from spaces that are adjacent along the river. For example, Sinai to Thebes, Thebes to Memphis, Memphis to Alexandria would all be legal moves for a fleet. Memphis to Cyrene would not be a legal move for a fleet. Egypt can build fleets in any of its home supply centers.
There is also a canal that connects the Nile River Delta to the Reed Sea. It acts as the boundary between Sinai and Thebes. It is also navigable and therefore allows fleet movement between Sinai, Thebes and Reed Sea. Reed Sea is not adjacent to the Gulf of Pelusium or Alexandria. Notice that due to the various waterways and coastlines, Sinai and Thebes each have one continuous coast.
Armies can freely move across the Nile River and canal.
There actually is much precedence for a canal connecting the Nile River to Reed Sea in ancient history. It required constant dredging to keep it clear of sand and therefore was subject to long periods in history of not being navigable (although this spuratic availablitly is not reflected in the game). See Pharaonic Egypt: Canals and Ancient Economies (this second article is long and does not deal with the canal directly, so search for the word "canal" using your browser's find command).  
[u:02cf5c3747]The Nile River Delta[/u:02cf5c3747]
The Nile Delta is not a distinct space on the board. It can not be occupied by any units. There are four spaces which are in contact with the delta. They are Alexandria, Thebes, Sinai and the Gulf of Pelusium. All four of these spaces are considered to be adjacent to each of the other three, at all times, by virtue of the multiple water channels in the delta. This provides increased flexibility concerning the movement of fleets. A fleet in any of these four spaces may move to any of the other three. The delta does not impede the movement of armies. An army in any of the three land spaces in contact with the delta, may move to either of the other two.
The key to remember is that Thebes is always adjacent to the Gulf of Pelusium AND Alexandria is always adjacent to Sinai (in addition to the obvious adjacancies). For example, a fleet could move from Thebes to the Gulf of Pelusium and, on the same turn, an army or a fleet, could move from Alexandria to Sinai. It should be noted that this criss-crossing is not the same as two units exchanging places which is not allowed.
[u:02cf5c3747]Convoy Clarifications[/u:02cf5c3747]
As in the normal rules, no fleet in a land space can convoy armies. This includes any coastal space, island (except Baleares), Byzantium and land spaces adjacent to the Nile River or the delta.
[u:02cf5c3747]Abbreviations for Ancient Med Names[/u:02cf5c3747]
For almost every space on the board, the first three letters of the name are used for its abbreviation. This includes spaces which have two words in the name. So the Egyptian Sea is "Egy" and the Cilician Strait is "Cil". None of the letters in the words "sea" or "strait" are used. However, names that have three words in them use the first letter of each of the three words. So the Gulf of Pelusium is "GoP". There are only a few exceptions to these guidelines due to redundancies. The following is a complete list of the exceptions to the "use the first three letters" rule.
Gulf of Pelusium = GoP
Gulf of Syrtis = GoS
Gulf of Tacape = GoT
Sardinia = Sad
Sarmatia = Sam
Sinai = Sii
Sinope = Sip
Tyre = Tye
Tyrrhenean Sea = Tyn
--
"It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. and sometimes you didn't want to know the end because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing. The shadow, even the darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you - That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn't. They kept going because they were holding onto something."
"What are we holding onto, Sam?"
"That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it's worth fighting for."



--
"It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. and sometimes you didn't want to know the end because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing. The shadow, even the darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you - That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn't. They kept going because they were holding onto something."
"What are we holding onto, Sam?"
"That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it's worth fighting for."