Chaos! - 34 Player Diplomacy Variant

Welcome to Diplomacy Battle Royale! In the Chaos variant, 34 players each control one single supply center at the beginning of the game. CaptainMeme and Ezio commentate the Public Press game 'Chaos is a Ladder', which they both participated in on vDiplomacy in 2017.
You can find the full game here: www.vdiplomacy...
And the full messages archive: www.vdiplomacy...
Diplomacy is a negotiation-based board game set during World War One. 7 players each control one great power (England, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Russia, and Turkey) and fight for control of Europe, using their diplomatic skill to make covert deals with one another and to backstab their friends.
Diplomacy Variants are games which use rules similar to Diplomacy, but change things up a little with the map or the number of players or sometimes add a rule or two. There are thousands of Diplomacy variants out there, this is just one!

[@DiploStrats]

Happy to bring you what is probably my favourite Diplomacy variant! I played Trieste in this game, Ezio played Rumania - but we're commentating as though we didn't play because it was some time ago and hard to recall. If you want to check out the messages - all 2647 of them - the messages archive is here: www.vdiplomacy.com/board.php?gameID=31815&viewArchive=Messages&pagenum=1

[@easytiger6570]

F for Ezio dying turn one

[@A._Person]

Would you consider commentating a Zeus variant game of diplomacy?

[@DiploStrats]

@@A._Person I'd consider it, but the variant commentaries will probably be a lot less regular than the normal ones so my inclination is to go for variants that stand out (like Chaos). Zeus is a really interesting concept but the gameplay itself feels as though it wouldn't be substantially different to Classic.

[@Ethan-cz8xq]

"I, the player who is about to draw Tunis, do pledge to build an army on the first turn. If I go back on that promise I give permission for everyone else to gang up on me." - captainmeme

[@tns22x]

Can we please just appreciate the fact that Tunis stayed alive for like 6 years but never even left their home center

[@LlamasAtMidnight]

As the classic quote goes 'Tunis is the hardest tile to take in the game'

[@belgeroth9668]

AFK meta

[@c4ndl326]

watch out for imp dip 6woc where the same thing happens

[@Flow86767]

This is the most cursed game of diplomacy I’ve ever seen

[@zorkwhouse8125]

I think its interesting that in the early turns players are almost required to work together for someone to conquer another supply center (i.e. one player supporting in another player's attacking unit). The idea being presumably that the player aided first will then turn around the next turn and support the other player into an additional territory of their own. However that requires the trust that the player that is aided first doesn't employ the 2 units they then have after taking the supply center (once they get to build) to turn on the player that assisted them who still only has one unit. I suppose you could make sure that the arrangement begins on the spring turn so that the favor is returned in the fall while both players are still effectively equal, having yet to be able to build. The fact that everyone can see these alliances being made through the public nature of the messaging I'm sure complicates things quite a bit - unless the fact that so many people are trying to carry on conversations at once means that dealings can be accidentally overlooked by way of being lost in the flood of messages. (I'm writing this at the beginning of watching and so I apologize if any of it is overly redundant based on the upcoming commentary.)

[@DShakey]

This is beautiful. The starting map is a piece of art and it only gets better

[@AnglosArentHuman]

HoI4 mod man? What are you doing here?

[@DShakey]

@@AnglosArentHuman I came to pay my repects to the great game from which hoi was created. ;)

[@Vivi-yw1eu]

Came around after the Valefisk game video, took me a few days to watch fully but it's a really fun video, didn't feel as long as it is, listening to you guys is very pleasant. Also this video makes me appreciate all the improvements the modern version of the software you use has over the one here, there's significant difference in readability

[@tasnica2438]

I've never played Chaos before, but this was extremely entertaining to watch. For future variants, Fall of the American Empire IV and World Diplomacy IX are both quite fun, particularly due to how different their maps are from the Classic map (while still playing with essentially the same rules).

[@DiploStrats]

WIX is one we can't really do because it's not on any sandboxing software (we prefer not to use the webdip maps where we can avoid it, for clarity). FotAE is an option though! It would definitely be interesting to touch on a variant I've never played.

[@repmel]

i always find myself rewatching diplostrats on a lazy morning. i love how this one strings you along, introducing that both commentators were in the game to build interest at the start, then in the middle throwing out that ezio was rumania, which only serves to keep you guessing as to which nation cpt. meme is. finally, near the end of the match, it’s revealed that trieste, a nation which has consistently been ragged on for the previous four hours, was himself all along. it’s brilliant.

[@Aiden-og6ty]

Musical Chairs: The Board Game

[@TheGameKat]

You guys are nuts even to attempt this. Well done.

[@spoopymarmalade5529]

this is one of my favourite videos to come back to, consistently engaging and i have spent probably over a full day in total rewatching it over the past couple years. very fun variant and very fun commentary.

[@DiploStrats]

Thank you! This comment made my day :)

[@andriusgimbutas3723]

2:35:23 Funny how you are confused about your own moves as much as of others moves

[@DiploStrats]

It had been a long time since we played! Turns out the moves I really couldn't explain - mine at 4:21:00 - turned out to be because I wanted to colour in the territories before the game ended. I feel like I take the game much more seriously these days than I did then :D

[@BukhariGul]

2:47:42 Austria is fighting Russia and Turkey. Turkey is allied with Russian group. Russia is allied with Sweden. Sweden is allied with Germany. But Austria is supporting Germany against France.

[@LegendaryTactics]

What a crazy concept. But somehow it's pretty awesome.

[@oliviapg]

This was a lot of fun to watch, I would love to see more commentary of variant games, maybe some that result in slightly more sane games than Chaos. Edit: Fall of the American Empire is good.

[@DiploStrats]

I love variants, definitely will consider doing more (although the majority of the videos will still be Classic). Will probably do KW901 before FotAE just because I'm much more familiar with KW :D

[@oliviapg]

@@DiploStrats Sounds great! I'm not very familiar with KW but I'll watch whatever you upload tbh

[@sleepysnake544]

I really liked seeing a commentary on a chaos game.

[@ConradJD777]

Whew, what a crazy game, very entertaining to see the conclusion.

[@BukhariGul]

1:31:00 Berlin can't retreat to Vienna because it was contested by Budapest and Trieste.

[@foodwaste3638]

You have to give credit to Belgium for having the guts to enter a hold in the spring of 01.

[@jakavious1611]

Watching this makes me really wanna play this format despite never having played diplomacy... might take a peek at the site at this rate

[@DoubleTrouble-li5wi]

Someone needs to send this to Valefisk. He would love this

[@americannightmare425]

“Here in Russia we are seeing why communism doesn’t work” Best part 2:58:55

[@timothymclean]

Lots of fun chaos this game, but it peaked early. "Serbia simultaneously invades and supports Budapest" is a hard act to follow!

[@JamesSmith-cd6rf]

We are in a game where a 34 player free for all causes england, france, germany, ottomans (combining the two players) and russia (if you combined the two players) basically unified, but austria-hungary and italy could not even try to get off the ground, but instead we have a united iberia. Weird world.

[@ISplash22]

2:35:45 "I don't think I would do that" SIR YOU DID THAT. THAT WAS YOU

[@Patton1944]

I love how Portugal completely Uno reverse carded Spain

[@JamiesonLock]

If you're having trouble where Ezio can't see the graphic you're using, you can potentially stream your screen to him through something like Discord. I've been doing this a lot for my own multiple-person content. I guess the restrictions would be your internet and whatever whether the program you're using to talk together can do screen shareing/streaming.

[@DiploStrats]

We do use Discord - the extra graphics (power ranking stuff) are in OBS, and I've never really bothered to figure out how to plug the output of OBS back into Discord. I'll look into it for the next video though, seems like it could help a lot!

[@thumper8684]

Has anyone tried a Diplomacy succession game? eg Succession is random but happens only once per nation. New player does not know which nation they will inherit and does not their see precedecessors messages.

[@DiploStrats]

...I don't think so, but that is an amazing idea. I may steal this!

[@thumper8684]

@@DiploStrats That would not be theft. Let me know if you follow through.

[@AnglosArentHuman]

Demonym for Trieste: Triestino Demonym for Sevastopol: Sevastopolian Demonym for Constantinople: Constantinoupoleian? Constantinian?

[@americannightmare425]

Constantine

[@StrategicGamesEtc]

I believe they also missed "Londoner".

[@easytiger6570]

Istanbuli

[@emperorleroy6747]

Constantinopolitan

[@bmccarthy9]

Looking at the Liverpool death - something did break the england deadlock from the outside. the fleet in north sea. If they keep bouncing and the north sea fleet goes to London - London dies. I think Liverpool gambled that London would defend against this instead of just grabbing Liverpool and took action to escape the deadlock.

[@PeterErwin325]

american guy has got to get a mic that works, loved the video

[@DiploStrats]

He now has! We're just figuring out how best to do local recording now, our next video should have good audio from both of us :D

[@PeterErwin325]

@@DiploStrats fuck yeah, also lowkey fuck me for not seeing this is a couple years old lmao :)

[@ZKP314]

European Medieval Wars be like

[@xZxOxVx]

I registered but how to download it? I cant find any link or anything

[@gazeboist4535]

Is the Caspian a real space on this board? Seems like it might add to the fun if Moscow and Sev have a black sea equivalent to fight over, but it could also be stupid.

[@DiploStrats]

It isn't, although it might make for a fun variant! But I think Moscow would be super unlikely to build a fleet even so - there's just so much flexibility you'd give up by doing that.

[@CalebSu-pv1bj]

Rule variant idea. Chaos; build anywhere AS LONG AS you hold your home supply center: if you lose your home supply all builds are forbidden until you recapture it. Diplostrats, what do you think?

[@DiploStrats]

It's an interesting concept, and I like the idea that it'd make people fight like hell for their homelands, but I also suspect it makes the game more snowbally in favour of powers who get a good start and so can defend better. And Chaos is already quite snowbally, so doesn't really need that!

[@Ciurk]

why are games like these always public press? is there a reason or is it just usually like that

[@DiploStrats]

33 different other press channels is a lot to handle. Plus, public press adds to the chaos!

[@Ketnja]

I skip ahead and suddenly vienna is in russia😂

[@PattPlays]

So portugal spain paris brest and marseilles sandbagged and kiel (germany) got the win by default? Man turkey should have allied italy and becamw relevant in iberia... im an amateur tho

[@DiploStrats]

Chaos is an extremely snowbally variant, so if a power has a good start, it can be very easy for them to get rolling if their neighbours don't react quickly enough. Kiel definitely took advantage of that here!

[@catintheukulelecase1973]

btw Romania is spelled wrong

[@DiploStrats]

That's how it's written on the actual Diplomacy board; the country was called Rumania or Roumania back in the first world war. I'm not sure why the game creator made the decision to use the old spelling for that and not for other provinces, though!

[@catintheukulelecase1973]

@@DiploStrats i honestly thought that that was a spelling mistake

[@denpadolt9242]

@@DiploStrats"Rumania" is probably used because Romania and Rome could both be abbreviated as "ROM", so it removes ambiguity.

[@DiploStrats]

@@denpadolt9242 That sounds very likely tbh! Although clearly they didn't care when it came to Norway/North Sea/Norwegian Sea/North Atlantic Ocean/North Africa :D