Background
Having gone through two devastating wars in its recent past, Europe has remained largely at peace for the last 75 years. But with a new wave of nationalism sweeping across the continent, Britain once again distancing themselves from the mainland, and renewed tensions between Russia and Ukraine, who knows how long this peace will last?
All SC locations in this variant are based on modern population figures, and every country's units start in its most populous cities (with a few exceptions if the cities were too close together).
Rules
- Build Anywhere:
Players may build in any vacant Supply Center they own.
- Custom Start:
The game starts with a build phase for every power. If a player does not check in during the first build phase his status is immediately set to "Left" and the country gets a "default build" so another player can take over without a weak start.
- Colored Neutral Centers:
Some countries start with neutral Supply Centers within their modern boundaries. These Supply Centers are colored, but have a neutral box around the Supply Center icon. They do not count towards a player's build phase until they are occupied at the end of a fall, at which point the neutral box will disappear.
- Transform Option:
Players may transform an army into a fleet or vice versa at a coastal Supply Center during the diplomacy phase. The unit is considered to be holding and may be support-held, though the transformation will fail if the unit is attacked.
- Coasts:
The following territories do not have coasts due to straits or canals: HAM, CP, SCN, ATH, IST, KHR and KSN.
- Black Sea:
The Sea of Azov counts as part of the Northeast sealane of the Black Sea (Sealanes explained below). You can also move directly between the Black and Aegean seas without moving through Istanbul (IST).
- Danish Belts:
The Danish Belts (DBL) sea province also includes the water in and around Copenhagen (CP), meaning it is connected to Hamburg (HAM) and Mecklenburg (MEC).
- Greece:
Athens (ATH) has no coasts due to the Corinth Canal. Fleets in Athens can move to Epirus (EPR), however you may not move directly from Athens to the Central Mediterranean Sea (CMS) as the sea is not considered to extend that far inland. Also, there is no connection between Patras (PTR) and Epirus (EPR).
- Territory Connections:
Some territory borders are quite short and can be easily overlooked, such as Strasbourg (STR) to Wallonie (WLN) and Kaunas (KAU) to Navahrudak (NVR). Be aware of these so you don't get any unpleasant surprises from your opponents.
- Lakes and Caspian:
Inland lakes and the Caspian Sea are colored a darker blue and cannot be traveled on. Think of them like Switzerland in the original.
- Impassable Territories:
Any blacked out territory is impassable, again like Switzerland in Classic. This includes Luxembourg, a few islands, and most land outside Europe.
- Islands:
Some island territories also control some water around the island (Madiera (MDR) and Faroe Islands (FAR)). These islands can house armies, but they must be convoyed there or built there. Fleets on islands cannot convoy.
Sealanes
Sealanes are a relatively new concept developed by kaner406 meant to prevent stalemate lines and make sea combat more dynamic.
1. Oceans and Seas are divided into Sea Regions, which are further subdivided into Overseer Zones (OZs) and Sealanes (SLs). Sea Regions are represented by a bold line around multiple sea territories that share the same 3-letter abbreviation surrounding a bolded box.
2. OZs are designated with a bold box around their abbreviations. OZs are adjacent to all SLs in their own Sea Region, all territories bordered by at least one of those SLs, and all OZs of adjacent Sea Regions.
For example, ENG is adjacent to:
OZs: WAP, BIS, NTH, ENS
Internal SLs: ENG nw, ENG ne, ENG se, ENG sw
External SLs: WAP se, BIS nw, ENS sw, NTH se, NTH sw
Coastal Territories: BRT, NRM, PIC, LIL, BRS, EH, AMS, EAN, LON, SUS, PLY
3. Sealanes are adjacent to any bordering territories, their OZ, all other SLs in their Sea Region, and OZs of directly adjacent Sea Regions.
For example, ENG ne is adjacent to:
ENG, ENG se, ENG sw, ENG nw, NTH, NTH sw, NTH se, EAN, LON, SUS
4. All territories within a Sea Region are separate and each may be occupied by a fleet, regardless of its nationality. Keep in mind that new routes for convoys and retreats now exist.
5. The following territories are regular sea provinces and do not have sea lanes: Danish Belts (DBL), Adriatic Sea (ADR), and Aegean Sea (AEG).
