New Variant: Comments Wanted for Unconstitutional

[David E. Cohen]

I am looking for comments and criticism for Unconstitutional, a variant in development. This is a much smaller variant than my last few, at 5 Powers and 29 Supply Centers in total. It is also more dense, being almost exactly as dense as Standard Diplomacy, so, unlike Dawn of the Enlightenment, there are likely to be some stalemate lines, though I have not looked for them, Simple rules, with navigable rivers, neutral holding armies and the ability to build in any owned Supply Center being the notable deviations.

By way of background, play starts in the Spring of 1805 and the scenario is that the United States Constitution was not ratified (which very nearly happened) so the nation continued to operate under the weak Articles of Confederation. The states did not drop their conflicting land claims, border disputes flared into armed conflicts, and western expansion is stunted. The Louisiana Purchase still occurs and Haiti is thrown in, but it takes two years before the payment is made, so French troops do not leave until the end of 1804. Many of the state governments have ceased to effectively function and the Western Confederacy of Native American tribes has formed to oppose American settlement.

Unconstitutional-Proposed Map.png (110.15 KiB) Viewed 4056 times

[AKFD]

I like the map and the setting so far. Nothing much to say, except for maybe giving Pennsylvania a bit more space because their position looks a bit precarious?

[David E. Cohen]

It would not be a bad thing for the Pennsylvanian position to be improved. I have some thoughts on that. Do you have any suggestions?

[AKFD]

It would not be a bad thing for the Pennsylvanian position to be improved. I have some thoughts on that. Do you have any suggestions?

Looking at the position, Pennsylvania has no free neutrals unless they negotiate well. I suggest giving them a free neutral? Or extending Ohio to block the border between Wapakoneta and Western Reserve, so Western Reserve could be a free Pennsylvanian SC?

Anyways, I really find this variant interesting and I am willing to be part of a trial run for this variant.

[David E. Cohen]

Thank you for your interest. That is a change I am considering.

[SixteenFortyEight]

This might just be a small detail but Columbia, SC was not incorporated until 1805. There were probably less than 1,000 inhabitants there at that time. Fort Congeree or Ninety-Six may be more appropriate for that time. But really, Charleston was the alpha and omega of SC economics and politics at that time. I'm just nitpicking, though. Looks fun! Good job.

[David E. Cohen]

Well, the start date is 1805. LOL

Alternate history scenario anyway, so consider Columbia made the capitol a couple of years earlier.

[David E. Cohen]

Here is a revised draft, based upon comments received in various forums.

[David E. Cohen]

The map has been further revised and I believe is close to being ready for a playtest. In addition to various cosmetic changes, Pennsylvania and Virginia have each been given a 4th Supply Center and unit, and the unit in New York City has been switched from an army to a fleet. Further comments are of course welcome.

Unconstitutional-Proposed Map 3.png (111.89 KiB) Viewed 3818 times

[David E. Cohen]

The first two playtests have concluded and I have been collecting comments. After having reviewed the playtests and gone through the comments, I have come up with proposed revisions. The biggest change by far is is adding La Republica de la Florida, or just plain Florida for short, as a Power replacing what was an impassable area with three Supply Centers and four other provinces, along with adding the navigable Apalachicola-Chattahoochee River. I feel this addition should really open things up diplomatically for several of the other Powers, which is important since a degree of diplomatic inflexibility due to the size of the variant and the placement of the existing Powers was noted by several commentators. The historical rationale behind this is that at the time, France had asked for Florida to be included with Louisiana when it was negotiating with Spain, but was turned down. Here, the French successfully negotiated for Florida's inclusion, and it was sold to the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase. The American delay in actually closing the deal gave the Floridians the opportunity to declare independence. Excluding purely cosmetic alterations, there are a few other changes to note. Alleghany borders Ohio (Pittsburgh no longer borders Western Reserve), Wapakoneta borders Westsylvania (Kentucky no longer borders Ohio), Choctaw borders Saint Louis (Chickasaw no longer borders Quapaw) and the province of Port au Prince has been split, with the northern portion becoming the non Supply Center province of Artibonite. Comments will be eagerly received and reviewed; nothing is set in stone at this point.