Retrofit

Retrofit is a map variant of the classic Diplomacy game, which has been designed to make the game more balanced for all nations while still playing as closely as possible to the original game.

Why make this variant?

As amazing as the base Diplomacy game is, it is not ideal when it comes to game balance:

1. France and Russia perform heads and shoulders above the rest.
2. Italy and Austria under-perform by a huge margin compared to the rest.

Detailed information on this imbalance can be found in the following articles:

• The Statistician: What are the best powers to play? – Josh Burton
• IN DEFENSE OF 1900'S FRANCE (Part II of III) – Baron Von Powell

While many great variants have been created in order to fix this imbalance in the game (Fleet Rome, Milan, 1900, etc.), all of those variants still suffer from other balancing issues of their own. Retrofit attempts to consolidate the best ideas from all these aforementioned variants, and compile them into a single map with minimal changes made to the base Diplomacy game.

My Goal: Create a balanced version of the classic Diplomacy game, which plays true to the original.

How I achieved it: Strengthen Italy and Austria just enough in order to weaken France and Russia, without affecting the overall feel of the game.

Changes:

1. Adopted a modified version the 1900 variant map layout for Italy (which is similar in nature to the Milan variant). This map introduces Milan (as a Supply Center) and Liguria, while altering Venice (removed as a Supply Center) and Piedmont in order to increase Italy's diplomatic options.
2. Opened up land connections among Piedmont, Burgundy, and Marseilles; and a connection between Liguria and Marseilles. This gives Italy the ability to attack France instead of Austria as a viable opening strategy.
3. Added Macedonia region in the Balkans to give players more attacking options and make Turkey less impregnable by land.
4. Made a direct connection between Paris and Marseilles in order to give France better defensive capabilities.

Featured Highlights:

1. Makes Italy and Austria significantly more powerful; makes Germany moderately more powerful and England slightly more powerful.
2. Makes France significantly weaker; Russia and Turkey slightly weaker.
3. Creates a viable strategy for Italy to move westward towards France initially, rather than Austria.
4. Allows Turkey to be invaded by land through its western borders of Istanbul but they are less vulnerable by sea. This forces Turkey to play more aggressively.
5. Creates better balance in the Balkans. The intention is to put Austria, Russia and Turkey on equal footing, so that no one power can best another using brute force alone. Rather, all three Balkan nations would have to secure cooperation with another in order to win over the Balkans.
6. Makes Italy arguably the most crucial player in the game during the initial stages of the game due to its important central role. This allows players to have a lot more fun playing as Italy than in other versions.
7. Gives Germany a realistic opportunity to make peace with France and initially expand eastward (Russia) or southward (Austria) if it chooses to.

Primary Effects:

Italy: Making Italy stronger using the 1900/Milan map was a primary objective. Doing so would not only make Italy stronger, but also help reduce France’s power. Italy was made stronger primarily by increasing its Diplomatic leverage over its neighbors, and secondarily by increasing the number of viable expansion strategies available to it. Therefore Italy’s strength was increased intangibly instead of directly, and this increased strength will manifest in later stages of the game. This was achieved by making it easier for Italy to attack France at the start of the game while making it slightly more difficult to invade Austria. These are the major effects that the changes will have:

• Increased incentive to attack France: Italy can now directly assault Marseilles in the first year by land. Italy can viably use up to three to four units by the second year, to launch an assault on France’s Southeastern front. EFFECT: It vastly increases the chance Italy would expand Westward instead of Eastward at the start of the game.
• Italy will start as the most crucial player in the game: The direction of Italy’s expansion might become the most crucial decision at the start of most games. Being a central power with increased mobility and expansion strategies, all other powers will be vying for Italy's support, which would indirectly allow Italy to influence the geopolitics of the game.
• Vastly increase in diplomatic options: Italy will have much greater diplomatic leverage over France, Austria, Germany, Turkey and England, as they will all be desperate for Italy's cooperation. The fact that every nation will face is that it is much more beneficial to have Italy as an ally than as an enemy. As Josh Burton put it: "Austria and France will both be furiously negotiating with Italy to push him toward each other and away from themselves."
• Combined EFFECT: Increases Italy's strategic options and diplomatic power; makes Italy a more fun nation to play with.
• Venice is no longer a Supply Center (SC):   In contrast to the base game, in Retrofit, Italy loses the ability to launch an immediate attack on Trieste in their first turn as the Venice SC was replaced with a Milan SC.  However, this loss in opportunity is more than made up for due to Italy’s increased expansion options (France, Austria, Turkey, Germany) and vastly increased diplomatic leverage over all of its neighbors (please refer to Question 1 in the FAQ section). EFFECT: Italy will probably see slower growth in the initial stage compared to the base game, but will likely see much more success in later stages.
• The Liguria/Piedmont factor: Italy’s increased chance of conflict with France will help open up huge possibilities of mutual cooperation with Germany, especially surrounding Burgundy. It also potentially makes Italy more vulnerable from a French attack, however, that threat is vastly outweighed by the increase in attacking options Italy gains. EFFECT: Increases Italy’s ability to attack France and opens up a strong diplomatic avenue with Germany.

Austria Making Austria more powerful was also a priority and this was largely achieved because of the changes made to Italy. Because Italy now has an increased chance of expanding westward, Austria will have increased freedom to fully push eastward and this freedom increases Austria’s power in the game. Overview of the changes and effects:

• Lower chances of conflict between Austria and Italy: The map changes for Italy increases the likelihood that Italy will expand westward, consequently in lowers the chance of conflict with Austria. Furthermore, unlike the base map, Italy and Austria no longer have connected Supply Centers and therefore that would also make it more difficult for either nation to launch an attack on the other (hence reducing the chance of conflict further). EFFECT: Makes Austria less vulnerable and increases its chances of survival.
• More attacking options for Austria: Because of the decreased chances of conflict with Italy, Austria now has much more freedom to attack Turkey, Russia or Germany. It is important to note, chances of conflict with Italy has simply been reduced but that chance is still significant. However, unlike the base game, Austria no longer has its hands tied because of the constant threat of a backstab by Italy. Whichever nation Austria chooses to attack, it can attack with more teeth by being able to fully commit most or all of its forces.  EFFECT: Austria has more freedom to attack and therefore is more powerful.
• The Macedonia factor for Austria: In the base game Austria often struggles to invade Turkey by land, which often grants Russia the upper hand, or Italy the opportunity to backstab Austria. With the addition of Macedonia, it is much more viable for Austria to invade Turkey by land as a result of having more options for attack (Macedonia) and having more troops to attack with (reduced threat from Italy). However, while Austria’s effectiveness to attack Turkey by sea has been reduced (not eliminated) as a result, that is still outweighed by their ability to attack Turkey more effectively by land. EFFECT: Austria can attack Turkey more effectively by land but slightly less effectively by sea.

France France has been significantly weakened as a result of the map changes made to Italy. This is because of how Italy can expand westward more easily, compounded with Italy’s increased ability to coordinate joint attacks against the French. A tempered France is desirable for the purposes of this variant, given that France is by far the strongest power in the classic game. In order to avoid under-powering the French too much however, the French heartland has been made much more defensible by connecting Paris to Marseilles. Overview of changes and effects:

• Increased chance of conflict with Italy: France has a significantly increased chance of attack from Italy because of the map changes.
• Lower chance of capturing Belgium: Because France is more likely to have its hands full with Italy, it may have to forgo contesting Belgium in many of its games.
• Combined EFFECT: Weaker France.
• More defensible France: France now has a direct connection between Paris and Marseilles. This makes it much easier for France to defend is territories. EFFECT: This increases defensive capabilities for France in order to protect against increased chances of aggression from Italy (or its other neighbors).

Turkey: Since Austria became significantly stronger in this map, it was important to ensure that Turkey was given measures to be able to cope with the increased threat. This objective was obtained with the addition of Macedonia as Turkey would have more attacking options against Austria and a reduced naval threat from the south as well. However, Macedonia also makes Turkey more vulnerable when being attack by land. Overview:

• More options to attack Austria: Unlike the base game, Turkey can now place two units at the border with Austria by the end of the first year, for a certainty if it chooses to do so. EFFECT: Turkey has more options to attack Austria because of a lower chance of being bogged down in land.
• Turkey is overall more vulnerable: Retrofit makes Turkey more vulnerable to an attack from the west. Because Austria has a lower chance of being attacked by Italy, it may make it more difficult for the Turks to secure Greece from Austria’s grasp. EFFECT: Acceptable decrease in power for Turkey as they tend to perform above average in the base game.
• A more aggressive Turkey: Due to Turkey’s increased attacking options as well as increased vulnerability, Turkey can no longer play very defensively. EFFECT: Turkey will be forced to play more aggressively.

Russia: While Russia’s power has not been directly altered, it will now face tougher competition in the Balkans as a result of a stronger Austria and arguably a more aggressive Turkey. Overview:

• Russia faces tougher competition in the Balkans: Austria will have more troops to attack in the Balkans because of a lower chance of conflict with Italy. Furthermore, the presence of Macedonia will force Turkey to play with a more aggressive style in the Balkans as well.
• Tougher competition against Germany: Germany will be slightly more powerful and will have more freedom to expand eastward in Retrofit if they choose. As a result, Russia will be forced to deal with a stronger opponent to the west as well, especially in Scandinavia. EFFECT: Potentially a weaker Russia because of increased competition in the Balkans and with Germany.

Germany: Germany will benefit from the changes made in Retrofit. The combination of a weaker France and increased possibility of cooperation with Italy, helps give Germany a desirable increase in strength (since they perform below average in the base game). Most interestingly, it opens up a possibility of a French-German peace, providing Germany the option to attack Russia at the beginning of the game. Overview:

• A weaker France means a stronger Germany: Since France has a higher chance of conflict with Italy, Germany will have less competition in its western borders.
• Stronger bond with Italy: Germany also has the option to coordinate joint attacks with Italy on the French front-lines, and this will increase the chances of Germany and Italy being able to work together if they choose to do so.
• Germany’s success depends on Italy: However, if Italy chooses to work with France instead or move against Austria, this would mean a near death sentence for Germany. Not only will Germany’s natural ally (Austria) become neutralized, France will have a bigger advantage fighting against Germany, because of France’s increased defensive capabilities.
• Combined EFFECT: Germany will likely be a more powerful nation in Retrofit, compared to the base game, all contingent upon Italy’s cooperation.
• Alliance opportunity with France: In base Diplomacy, early conflict between France and Germany was almost inevitable. In Retrofit, France has a new legitimate opponent in the south, which eases the chance of conflict between France and Germany during the early stages. This could open up a possibility of peace between France and Germany and this could mean Germany could expand east as a viable strategy in the game. EFFECT: A more realistic possibility of peace between France and Germany, which could allow Germany to expand eastward more easily.

England: England will also benefit from the changes made in Retrofit. While on the one hand they will have an easier time dealing with a more preoccupied France, they will also be faced with the threat of a slightly stronger Germany. England will be faced with the decision to either go after the weaker power in the north or move against the stronger one. Overview:

• Lower chance of being attacked by France: Since France will have a higher chance of conflict with Italy, if that happens, then France will likely be too occupied to mount an offensive against England at the same time. EFFECT: An increase in England’s survivability due to a lower chance of being attacked by France.

Conclusion:

With Retrofit, I hope to have created the standard variant which finally allows every nation to start out with sufficiently similar odds of winning the game.

This would be extremely useful in tournament settings or when players are playing for money, because no one would have to cross their fingers anymore, hoping to get France on the random draw and avoid getting Italy. This would also make the game more balanced for beginners who do not know how to effectively wield the Diplomatic pen for tricky nations like Italy and Austria.

Acknowledgements:

This project was developed with the help and feedback of Josh Burton and Mario Huys, both of whom have mentored and guided me on the variant from start to finish. This variant would not exist without their help, advice, and direct contribution to almost every major aspect of this variant. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to Adam Silverman and Alex Hartl for their amazing contributions and suggestions that has helped shape how this variant turned out. I am extremely thankful of D Murphy for his awe-inspiring work in the artistic design of the Retrofit map which has made the map playable and printable. I also want to thank /u/CaptainMeme and /u/EconDetective (prominent members of the Reddit Diplomacy hobby) for their crucial suggestions and insights which has had a huge impact on how this variant turned out. Finally, I would also like to thank Baron Von (B. M.) Powell, as he provided the ideas and suggestions that helped get me started on this variant. Retrofit was completely inspired by Baron’s work on the 1900 variant and all the insightful articles he has written about it over the years. They are all respected members of the Diplomacy hobby, who are brilliant minds of the game. Many of them have also created successful variants of their own. I am grateful to every one of them for their hand in the creation of Retrofit.

FAQ:

Question: Isn’t Italy now weaker, not stronger?

Answer: While the argument can be made that Italy has been made weaker, by removing its direct access to Trieste, I still hold that Retrofit helps increase Italy’s power intangibly by a significant amount. I think the original map of Italy is one of the most criticized part of the base game map, because the Italian player had such limited options. I believe that's the reason why almost every single prominent 'classic style' variants (Fleet Rome, Milan, 1900) featured map changes or unit changes to Italy in order to address that issue. Italy’s weakness has been a major issue in Diplomacy and that is precisely the reason why there are so many variants out there for the sole purpose of strengthening Italy.

Retrofit’s map of Italy is very similar to 1900 and Milan’s map of Italy. 2015 Diplomacy World Champion, Toby Harris, said this about the Milan map variant: "(I) hope to see this as the standard map at f-5-f Dipcon!" He goes on to say "It opens up strategy and Diplomacy for all Great Powers and starts the game in a more balanced fashion for all seven players."

http://www.diplomatic-pouch.org/Zine/F2015R/Harris/milan.htm

Like Milan, my version does not directly increase Italy's power (perhaps even hurts it even), but what it does do is give Italy more Diplomatic leverage and makes Italy more fun to play with. And that intangibly / indirectly makes Italy more powerful. This is because Italy's hand in alliance is perhaps the most crucial alliance in this whole game due to its central position. That is because:

• It is now a viable option for Italy to attack France directly through land (without being subject to Germany's whims unlike in previous versions)
• Italy can still just as easily invade Austria.
• Italy can even launch an invasion of Turkey or Germany.

Italy will be approached by almost every power in their surrounding regions for their cooperation. And holding this much diplomatic power carries a lot of weight. I believe Italy has been indirectly strengthened by the changes.

Question: Diplomacy is already balanced because of the ability to negotiate, or the general strategy to not let any one nation grow too large. So what’s the point of creating this variant?

Answer: The game of Diplomacy inherently balances itself out because of the factor of negotiation (diplomacy!). Moreover, advanced to expert players quickly strategize (or can be convinced), for example, that France is a bigger threat than Italy at the moment. This allows for powers such as Italy and Austria to still compete adequately against the more successful powers when being played by an expert player. However, the average Diplomacy player is not an expert of the game and therefore cannot usually overcome the disadvantages associated with nations such as Italy and Austria. I am creating this variant to help the average player specifically and I hope this variant would make the game more enjoyable for experts as well.

Question: Experts win tournaments all the time with Italy / Austria. So is there really a problem in balancing?

Answer: A true standard of balance can be attributed to a game where if 7 new players of equal skill level (with no prior knowledge of the game) sat down to play a game, then all 7 of them would have an equal chance of winning the game. As it stands, does Classic Diplomacy give all 7 players an equal chance at winning the game? The answer is absolutely not.

The statistics on this issue is clear-cut, Italy and Austria struggle at this game more than any other nation by a significant margin. It is abundantly clear that beginner to intermediate level players (who make up the bulk of the player base) struggle to find success when using those two nations. So clearly, these two nations are at a disadvantage from an objective game design point of view.

Yes, experts at Tournaments win a lot of games using Italy and Austria, but upon further consideration, their success is mostly attributable to the fact that Italy and Austria are often underestimated in tournament settings compared to nations like France or Russia. The experts bring their years of knowledge and experience to the game, and this external factor helps make the playing field more equal. While I understand that many people are happy with the game as it stands, I imagine many others want to play a game of Diplomacy with their friends, knowing that they have an equal chance at winning the game as the rest of them. While Retrofit does not provide an equal chance of winning to every nation by any means, it simply attempts to make the chances of winning comparatively more equal compared to the classic game.

Question: Is there a vector / blank map of Retrofit?

Answer: Yes, right here.