Rules:
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1. Regular rules of Diplomacy apply except as below.

2. The winner is the player that at the end of a Fall move/retreat owns over half of the non-black holed SCs. This game could end with everyone eliminated which will be considered a 7-way tie.

3. During each Spring and Fall move two spaces will be randomly selected from the 75 provinces on the board plus Switzerland. These two spaces will become or return from a BLACK HOLE. The provinces selected include both land and sea spaces.

4. A space which becomes a black hole will cease to exist immediately, and any unit attempting to enter or ending in that province during the move disappears with the province. If the province is a supply center, it will reduce the total number of supply centers by one. All provinces which are adjacent to the Black Hole now are adjacent to each other i.e. movement, support, retreats and convoys can pass through them as though they weren't there. A province which returns from a black hole comes back with all units and supply center that disappeared with it when it became a black hole. If more than one unit disappered with the black hole then all units will need to retreat when it returns. Supply centers return as neutral centers and increase the total number of supply centers by one.

Clarification: This may mean the loss or creation of coastlines, so that provinces may have more than one coastline for the first time, may have coastlines where they didn't have them before, or lose coastlines which they did have. Fleets on a coastline which is suddenly divided into two must choose which coastline to be placed on during the retreat phase; fleets in a coastal province which gets a new coastline not part of the original one stay on the coast they were already on. Fleets on coastlines which become marooned in a landlocked province will be destroyed during the retreat phase.

Clarification: If a second black hole is created touching an existing one, then the logic of the rule applies: all provinces touching the first black hole were touching the new black hole, so they are all touching those adjacent to the second black hole.

Clarification: Archipelagos that allow fleets to move through them (Denmark) will continue to do so to any sea space regardless of the number of adjacent sea spaces. They also do not stop coastal crawl through them and will continue to not disrrupt coastal crawl. These spaces will also cause adjacent spaces to be considered coastal even if the space has no other adjacent sea space.

5. If you have one or fewer home centers not black holed you may build from any owned supply center.

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Game Logistics

Now Recruiting:
http://www.diplomaticcorp.com/game_page.php?game_id=Re003


I would like to run with the following deadlines:
7 days for year 1 moves
5 days for all other moves
2 days for retreats
2 days for adjustments

I will adjudicate at 9:00PM Central (US) (Currently 2:00am GMT the following day)