Once within a fog so dreary, embark a group to test their theory
O’er many a quaint and curious set of foggy maps galore
Begins this game of warful scrapping, alliances, and clever stabbing
Of unfortunate souls that are caught napping, mapping at the very core.
Tis a neighbor you’ll discover – attacking, he will try to score
A victory, and nothing more.

Welcome Dip friends to this 5th game in the increasingly inaccurately named Fog of War Trilogy!

Fog of War IV
Once Within a Fog so Dreary

Inspired by the original trio of 4 games, I’ve pushed the limits here with the 5th game in the series, a 19-player variant. The map is completely drawn from scratch, toiled over for the last few months by myself, Jerry, Trent, and Felix… and it is far and away the best FOW map ever.

For those unfamiliar with the Fog of War, it is a variant that has run for 4 consecutive years now in diplomaticcorp – every year getting more challenging.

A brief history:
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Fog of War (www.diplomaticcorp.com?game_id=dc074) was run in 2005 with some great dc players. Standard map, but concealed movements. Dc74 ended in a 3-way draw between Steve, Derek, and Mikael.

FOW II: Return of the Fog (www.diplomaticcorp.com?game_id=dc096) was run in 2006. This time, the battles were taken to the shores of England, played on the Stonehenge IV map. Dc96 ended in a 4-way draw between Steve, Rob, Trent, and Mikael.

FOW III: Dark Side of the Fog was begun in 2007, and has not yet completed – going on 10 years of game time, 7 of the 10 starting players still remain. The game was played on my first ever home-drawn map, to be discovered as the players explored.

FOW III-I/II: Ancient Art of War in Fog was begun shortly after… There was so much interest in the 3rd FOW game that there were enough players to fill a 2nd board! So I tweaked a few problem spots on the map and a 2nd board was launched. Also still active (but down to 6 players), FOW III-I/II runs about 1 year behind FOW III.

Improvements:
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All the rules implemented for the FOW III games will be in place for this and future games:

- Rivers are in play. They operate just like canals but can span many provinces.
- Bridges were cool, but there are no bridges in this map.
- Vision will remain like it was in FOW III – Armies on a coast can see inland or adjacent sea zones, but Fleets on a coast cannot see inland.
- Fonts are very crisp and clear.
- Units do not cover the names, and fit in the spaces better.
- Movement around this map is MUCH more fluid than in the FOW III series.
- Every power has a special ability or feature – more on that at the game start!

This is DIPLOMACY at heart, so it will not be gunboat in any way – open diploming. You don’t know where the players are, but you will know who is what power, and have their email address to talk it up.

Information:
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General FOW info: www.dipwiki.com?title=Fog_of_War
FOW IV Icon set: www.diplomaticcorp.com/images/haven_icons.jpg

Surprises:
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There are many surprises to be discovered along the way in this map – but if I told you any more, they wouldn’t be surprises!

Enjoy,
-mike


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