21 SC variant of 1900

Hello everyone,

I am writing to this mailing list in the hopes of being able to try a variant on 1900. But before I explain my request, I want to provide some context.

First, let me make a remark about standard diplomacy, and its win condition.

In standard diplomacy, there are 34 centers. The victory condition for a solo win is 18 centers. I'd like to remark that in standard diplomacy, it is possible for two players to draw: Two powers can each have 17 centers, and split the board. I will also note that the reason this is possible is that the victory condition is GREATER THAN HALF of the number of centers on the board. I will call this is a "pure" two way draw. A "pure" two way draw is a two way draw when there are ONLY TWO players remaining on the board.

I would also like to comment on another fact. In standard diplomacy, one possible way to achieve a solo is to find a partner, propose a two way (whereby each power gets 17 centers), and then stab for the win. This is a common enough scenario that I will name this a "duo->solo win". In other words, a power can achieve a solo via the POSSIBILITY of a duo.

Now, let us turn our attention to the excellent 1900 variant, written by Baron Powell. In 1900, note that there are 39 centers, instead of the usual 34. However, the victory condition count is still 18. 

This leads us to the following conclusions: It is not mathematically possible to divide the 39 centers amongst two players without one player achieving the victory condition. Thus I will note that a "pure two way draw" in 1900 is impossible. If there are only two players on the board, one of them must have at least 18 centers, and thus must have won.

This brings me to my point:

I recently finished a game of 1900 (apis2 on the dpjudge), where I played Russia. In this game, there were three major powers: France, Russia, and Britain. 

All three of these powers were powers that shared the same value system. A solo victory is the best. If this cannot be achieved, then a duo is best. And finally, if this cannot be achieved, a three way is best. All three players dislike draws, and prefer to achieve solo victory.

As Russia, I used the following logic: I would like to achieve a solo. How can I do this? I cannot fight Britain and France together. My best bet would be to pick one as an ally, promise him a two way draw, and then stab for the win. In other words, my best shot at a solo is a "duo->solo win".

But wait! Something is wrong here. I *cannot* promise my ally a two way draw. If we eliminate one of the powers, then one of us MUST win. We cannot draw. So I cannot propose a duo. My ally would prefer a duo over a trio, but a duo is impossible! 

This reasoning was shared across all three players. All three of us concluded that we could not ally against a third, because a draw is not possible. Thus, three players that did not want to draw, found it in their best interest to draw.

I spoke to Baron Powell about this situation, and he told me that the 18 center victory count was intended to make solo victories easier.

I posit that this rule has the opposite effect. Baron's heart is in the right place, but I believe this rule actually ironically makes solo victories harder! Since the "duo->solo win" is eliminated, I claim that one of the main routes to a solo has been eliminated. This is especially clear in the situation where there are three powers left in the game.

I spoke to Baron Powell about the possibility of trying to remove this. Note that Alan Calhamer, in his original rules, has the victory SC count GREATER THAN HALF of the total SCs in the game. I believe this is a very ingenious rule by Mr. Calhamer, that makes a draw possible between two players. I would like to try 1900 with the same rule. In 1900, there are 39 centers. 

How many centers are needed for a victory condition such that a two way is possible? 18? No, with 18 it is not. Neither is it with 19. Nor with 20. With a 20 center victory count, it is still not possible to split 39 centers without one player winning. But with 21, it is possible. With 21 as the victory condition, one power can have 20, the other can have 19, and they can draw the game.

I asked Baron if we could try the 1900 variant with a 21 center victory count, to see if that made solo victories easier. I have the same group of players as the first game, that wish to try this. Baron said that he was fine with the experiment, but that I would need to ask the maintainers of the judge to do this.

So this brings me to my request. I would like to ask the maintainers of the judge if they will create a temporary variant -- the variant would be very simple. The game of 1900 as it is now, but with a 21 center victory count instead of 18.

I believe the 1900 variant is a wonderful variant that fixes many of the problems in standard. It is also my belief that 1900 lends itself to draws more than standard diplomacy. I would like to try a 21 center victory condition to see if this remedies the problem.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration. If this is not the appropriate forum to make such a request, could you please direct me to the appropriate place?

Thank you,

Julien Beasley


      


------------------------------------