The rules for this variant are the same as for Classic Diplomacy, but with alterations as to which provinces border one another. The borders are changed in the following way:

• All sea provinces are connected to every other sea province, and every non-SC coastal province.
• All non-SC land provinces are connected to every other non-SC land province.
• All SC provinces are connected as they would be in the Classic variant - they are connected to the provinces that border them.

This means that armies on non-SC provinces can move to and give support to any other non-SC land province, and fleets on non-SC provinces (land or sea) can move or give support to any other non-inland, non-SC province.

Helpful Tips

• It can be tempting to try to move to the other side of the board as soon as possible to test the variant, but it is not generally a good idea to do so. In the first year, it is usually best to play as normal, due to the fact that no SC province can be reached in the first year that cannot be reached by the same country in normal Diplomacy.
• Communicate with everyone - remember, everyone is your neighbour in this variant. Your SCs are never more than 5 moves away from another unit (This maximum being acheived by an army in one of Denmark, Portugal or Bulgaria trying to reach to one of the other two) and are usually significantly less than that, so be wary of surprise attacks.
• Stalemate lines are impossible in Ankara Crescent, so your best defence against a strong leader is Rogue units. Being able to get a unit into a good position behind enemy lines is an essential skill if you want to do well in this variant.
• Remember that you can support across the board as well as move there!
• Don't underestimate convoys. Although they are made slightly redundant in that units can move between non-SC coastal territories without them, they're incredibly useful for moving armies out of and into coastal SCs. For instance, without a fleet in MAO Portugal can only move to Spain, but if a fleet is there it can be convoyed to any non-SC coastal province on the board.

Final Important Notes

While every effort has been made to error-check this variant, because of the sheer number of connections some errors may have gotten through. If you find yourself unable to move to a province you should be able to move to, or able to move to a province you shouldn't be able to, please contact the Mods immediately.

Lastly, a big thank you to Kaner406, Lukas Podolski, Lakersfan, Culkasi, JesusPetry and Mercy for helping playtest the variant.

Have fun!