The star trek diplomacy game that I GM'd in 2009/2010 had it's rules, adaped from variant bank st02 online on it's google group. Unfortunately, google has decided to take down pages and files. So I'm putting the rules here in case someone else wants to use our tweaks:

The purpose of this variant is to provide variety to the standard game of Diplomacy by making each player a leader of one of the seven major Star Trek civilizations and giving each civilization a special power related to its portrayal in the television show. The regular Diplomacy map is used and all rules are the same as in normal Diplomacy, except for those specifically noted below.

Borg

Can assimilate defeated enemy units

1. Any unit which loses a battle to a Borg unit and normally would be dislodged is instead assimilated by the Borg.

2. The defeated enemy unit does not retreat or disband during the retreat phase, but remains in place and becomes a Borg unit at the end of the retreat phase.

3. The actual attacking unit must be a Borg unit for this to happen. It is not enough for a Borg unit to support the attack of another race.

4. The attacking Borg unit also stays in its original province or body of water and does not move into the space of the newly assimilated Borg unit as normally happens with a successful attack.

5. If the unit of another power attacks the space the attacking Borg unit is in, the results are determined by treating the Borg unit as if it moved to its ordered space to assimilate the target unit and now is "bouncing" back into its original space as it would if its ordered movement was stood-off. The Borg unit can then be dislodged from its originating space, like any bouncing unit, but that does not undo the success of the assimilation. Any Borg attack in which the normal result would be the dislodgement of the targeted unit results in its assimilation by the Borg, even if the attacking Borg unit is in turn dislodged.

6. A helpful way of understanding the mechanics of Borg attacks laid out above is to realize that all attacks by the Borg, whether they succeed or fail, result in the bouncing back of the attacking unit. The Borg are not interested in destroying their enemy and taking his place, they try to assimilate him, then fall back to their original position. What happens to the original attacking unit after it falls back from its assimilation attempt is irrelevant to the success of the assimilation attempt. Here are two examples of combat involving the Borg:

a. Borg armies in Bulgaria and Serbia, Dominion armies in Constantinople and Rumania and a Dominion fleet in the Aegean Sea. The Borg player orders A Bul m Rum and A Ser S Bul m Rum. The Dominion player orders A Con m Bul and has Rum and Aeg support that move. Under normal Diplomacy rules, the result would be that the army in Bulgaria moves to Rumania, dislodging the army in Rumania, and the army in Constantinople moves to the now vacant Bulgaria. In this case involving the Borg, however, the result is: the Dominion army in Rumania which would have been dislodged is instead assimilated and remains in place, becoming a Borg unit at the end of the retreat phase. The Borg army in Bulgaria is dislodged by the Dominion army moving to Bulgaria with support from the Aegean Sea.

b. All units and orders the same as above, except there is no Dominion fleet in the Aegean Sea. The Dominion army in Rumania is assimilated as before, but this time the Dominion army in Constantinople does not occupy Bulgaria since it is stood-off by the Borg unit originally in Bulgaria which remains there. The support of the Dominion army in Rumania for A Con m Bul is cut because a successful assimilation cuts a support order just as a dislodgement result does.

7. Assimilated units do not officially become Borg units till the end of the movement phase, so the rule against self-dislodgement of these units by the non-Borg player applies in the movement phase, even though they they will cease to be his units at the end of this phase.

8. During the year in which a Borg has assimilated a unit, the Borg player does not have to capture an additional supply center in the usual way to support his newly assimilated new unit. Instead, for the build phase of that year, the Borg player's supply centers can support an extra unit for each unit assimilated. (Clarification: this ability to supply extra units requires only that units have been assimilated that year, not that they are still around come winter. Units assimilated in the spring and destroyed in the fall would still be counted just as if they had not been destroyed.) This supply bonus applies only during the build phase of the year during which the assimilations took place and not to succeeding years. Thus a Borg player who assimilates two enemy units in the year 2374 and controls enough supply centers to support five units can actually support seven units in the build phase of 2374. If he has not captured additional supply centers by the winter of 2375, however, he would have to disband two units in that season.

9. The player losing a unit to Borg assimilation loses the ability to support one unit in the same way the Borg player gains it. A power which has lost 1 unit assimilated to the Borg and normally could support 6 units can now only support 5 during the build phase of the year he lost the unit to assimilation. He regains his normal supply capacity the following year. No territory or supply centers physically change ownership, the game master merely makes the necessary adjustments during the build phase.

10. Newly assimilated Borg units lose any special abilities, such as cloaking etc., that their original owning race possess.

Federation

Uses the Enterprise to win impossible victories against overwhelming odds and attracts neutrals with friendly diplomacy.

1. The Federation player can mark one unit as being the task force containing the U.S.S. Enterprise and crew. He does this by writing a capital "E" in parenthesis directly after that unit's designation in his orders (example: A Berlin (E) moves Munich). This unit representing the Enterprise always emerges victorious no matter what the odds. An attacking unit will always successfully occupy the space it is ordered to move to, no matter the strength of the defense. A defending unit (holding, supporting, or convoying) will never be dislodged no matter the strength of the attack against it. This bonus applies only to the unit itself and not to its supports. In other words, if the unit named as the Enterprise is ordered to support another unit's attack, it will always successfully defend itself if attacked, but the effect of its support is only equal to a normal unit's support, including its support being cut if attacked.

2. If the Federation controls less than 8 supply centers, then the Enterprise can only be used one season (either Spring or Fall) within each year and not in a unit staying in or moving to a supply center province that turn. Once the Federation controls 8 supply centers, the Enterprise unit can be used in supply center provinces, but still may only be used one season out of the year. Upon the Federation capturing 13 supply centers, the Federation player can designate a unit as being the Enterprise in both the Spring and Fall seasons of the same year. Subject to the above restrictions, the Federation player is free to name any of his units as being the Enterprise, and can freely change which unit is the Enterprise, even between the Spring and Fall of the same year when he controls 13 or more supply centers. (Clarification: while I previously read this section not as allowing an Enterprise move into a supply center, even when the federation has 13 or more supply centers, I've been convinced that I was wrong. On reaching 8 supply centers the only remaining restriction on when the enterprise may be used is only once per year.)

3. Because of its recognition and protection of the rights of independent worlds, neutrals desire to join the Federation much more than the other Empires. Any province which starts the game containing a neutral supply center makes a diplomatic decision to join the Federation after any Fall turn in which it is adjacent to a Federation unit that could legally move there next turn and it is not garrisoned by another power. Thus fleets next to an inland province the fleet could not enter do not influence that province nor do fleets that could not get to the province because they are on the wrong coast. Example: a Federation fleet in St. Petersburg (south coast) does not influence Norway, but a Federation fleet in St. Pete (north coast) would gain Norway for the Federation if it was in St. Pete (nc) at the end of a Fall turn and there was no enemy unit occupying Norway. It does not matter if such a province is still neutral or is currently owned by another player; it still becomes a Federation supply center exactly as if it had been occupied by the Federation. There is no limit to the number of supply centers one unit can gain for the Federation this way. One fleet in the Mid-Atlantic could gain both Portugal and Spain for the Federation in a single turn. Of course, the Federation can still occupy neutral supply centers in the normal way. This is non optional; the federation cannot choose to waive an SC capture.

4. The above rule does not apply to the home supply centers of the other civilizations. Whether the supply centers that start the game belonging to other civilizations are still owned by the original civilization or have been conquered by another race, these still have to be physically occupied by Federation units before they become Federation supply centers. A Federation fleet in the Mid-Atlantic, then, could never gain Brest for the Federation merely by being adjacent to it.

Dominion

The power to infiltrate and control other races' forces.

1. At the end of each Spring and Fall season, the shapeshifters of the Dominion infiltrate one unit of the opposing players. The GM chooses this infiltration at random from the units that are eligible to be infiltrated. Borg units can not be infiltrated, and as long as there are at least 3 non-Borg players in existence, the same player's units can not be infiltrated twice in a row. Units that are already infiltrated are also ineligible for further infiltration. Cloaked Romulan units can be infiltrated. Each unit that is eligible to be infiltrated has an equal chance of being chosen, so a player with four units eligible for infiltration is twice as likely to be the one infiltrated as a player with two units eligible. The infiltration is determined by the GM after the retreat phase of the Spring and Fall seasons and the result is sent to the Dominion player (and only the Dominion player) at the same time as the retreat results. Until the Dominion player chooses to take advantage of this infiltration to give orders to this unit, it continues to function as a normal unit of the original owning power, moving as he orders it.

2. The Dominion player may chose at the beginning of any movement phase to replace the original owning player's orders of an infiltrated unit with his own. The Dominion player does this by writing a capital "D" in parenthesis after the unit's designation on his movement orders for that season (example: F Klingon (D) North Sea moves London). This order supersedes the original owner's orders and the unit follows the Dominion's orders for that season exactly as if the player who owns that unit had submitted them. The exception to this is that the dominion may not order a Federation unit to Enterprise. (This is needed to avoid a paradox.)

3. The Dominion player may wait any length of time he chooses before asserting this control. The Dominion can not assert control of an infiltrated unit before or during a retreat or build phase. It can only do so with orders submitted for a season's movement phase. The game master must make sure that any units ordered by the Dominion player were actually infiltrated earlier. There is no limit to the number of infiltrations stored up that the Dominion player may activate in any one turn.

4. The Dominion player's control of an infiltrated unit he orders lasts for one season, including both the movement phase and the retreat phase. At the end of the retreat phase, subordinate officers in the unit realize their command structure has been infiltrated and retake control of the unit for its original government.

5. When the Dominion gives orders to units it has infiltrated, nothing in the posting of the orders for that turn will indicate that the orders the unit is following were not given by that unit's actual owning player. Both the actual owner and the Dominion player are free to make whatever statements they wish to the other players about who is actually responsible for orders to that unit. The actual owning player will be sent notification from the GM that the Dominion player moved his unit so he will know it is not a mistake.

6. All normal rules prohibiting self-dislodgment and the cutting of the support of a unit by the attack of another unit owned by the same player are still in effect. The guiding principle is that everything operates exactly the same as if the original owning player had given the orders which were in fact entered by the Dominion player. The same principle determines that supply centers captured by Dominion infiltrated and ordered units still belong to the unit's original owning player.

7. If the Dominion player tries to give orders to a previously infiltrated Federation unit that turns out to be the Enterprise during the turn this is attempted, the attempt fails and the infiltration of that unit is lost. The Federation player, but no other players, is informed of this failed Dominion attempt to control his unit.

8. At the start of the game, the GM will randomly pick one unit which has been infiltrated by the Dominion during the transport to the planet and so is infiltrated at the start of the game. The Dominion player will be informed of the location of this unit when the game starts. This information is kept secret from all the other players, as any Dominion infiltration would be. The unit chosen for the Dominion's first in-game infiltration following the Spring 2371 turn can not be from the same civilization as this pregame infiltration. If the random unit that is infiltrated at the start of the game turns out to be a hidden Cardassian unit, the Dominion player is not informed of its position in Spring 2371 (since it doesn't have one until the movement orders are in), so he can not give it orders in the first turn. He is told at the beginning of the game he has infiltrated a Cardassian unit in an unknown location and told which unit it is after the first Spring move is concluded.

9. If an infiltrated unit is dislodged and destroyed, the infiltration passes to the dislodging unit. If the infiltrated unit is dislodged and retreats, then the infiltration remains in this dislodged unit. Exception: when an infiltrated unit is assimilated by the Borg, the infiltration is lost, as the Borg can not be infiltrated. When an infiltrated unit is disbanded during the Winter build/disband phase, the infiltration is passed to another unit on the board, chosen randomly. For these Winter disband caused infiltrations, all uninfiltrated units on the board (except Borg units but including units built this Winter) are equally likely to be chosen for the infiltration. These Winter infiltrations do not follow the Spring/Fall infiltration rule of one player being immune from suffering 2 infiltrations in a row, and are not considered at all in determining a player's vulnerability to Spring/Fall infiltrations.

10. In any case where there are no eligible uninfiltrated units to be infiltrated when an infiltration is to be done, the infiltration is lost.

11. Dominion ordered units keep any special abilities, such as cloaking etc., that their original owning race possess. The Dominion player receives reports on the locations of any cloaked Romulan units he has infiltrated each turn.

12. Once every game, the Dominion player may "find" a wormhole offering instantaneous access to a distant part of the board. He does this by ordering one of his units to move to a space on the board to which it is not adjacent, even when considering valid convoy orders as a kind of adjacency. That is, a standard successful convoy from A to B does not create an A-B wormhole. A convoy that fails through misorder or dislogement, however, would create such a wormhole. The unit is considered to have found a permanent wormhole linking these two nonadjacent spaces and successfully makes the move. For the rest of this game, movement between these two spaces is allowed in either direction by all the players. A fleet can not establish a wormhole to a noncoastal land province nor can an army establish a wormhole to a body of water. The wormhole can not start or end in a province containing a home supply center of one of the seven major civilizations, but it can start or end in a province which contains a supply center that started the game neutral, even if that supply center is currently controlled by a major race.

13. Units traverse the wormhole by starting on the province containing one end of the wormhole and ordering a movement to the other end. Example: A Por to Swe if the worm hole exists between Portugal and Sweden. A unit can also order support to the space on the other side of the wormhole just as if it was adjacent to that space. Units moving through the wormhole can receive support from units adjacent to its exit province, but not from those adjacent to its entrance province. An army can not move or support through the wormhole if its exit space is water nor can a fleet move or support through the wormhole if its exit space is noncoastal land. A unit sitting on one end of the wormhole will stand-off and bounce back any unit trying to get through from the other side unless the attacking unit has support for its movement (or is a 1.5 strength Klingon unit). Of course the blocking unit can be supported in remaining in place. The guiding principle for wormhole movement and supports is that the two linked provinces are treated as if they are adjacent provinces.

14. There can only be one wormhole created in a game. Once created, it can never be destroyed. If the Dominion player never creates one or is eliminated before doing so, then there will be no wormhole in the game.

Romulan

Romulan units can cloak and become invisible.

1. The Romulan player may order his units to cloak and become invisible to the other civilizations. He does this by writing an "I" (for invisible) in parenthesis after the Spring or Fall movement orders for that unit. Example: F English Channel - North Sea (I). Cloaking a unit is always voluntary on his part and he is free to cloak or uncloak any unit each season as he wishes. Uncloaked units' movements and orders are broadcast to all players as usual. Cloaked units are not placed on the board and their movements and orders only become known to the other players through the rules laid out below.

2. A cloaked Romulan unit is only revealed to the another player when the Romulan unit:

a. Is ordered to move to a province or body of water a non-Romulan unit is occupying, moving to, or supporting into itself.

b. Supports into a space a non-Romulan unit is occupying, moving to, or supporting into itself.

3. Example of when cloaked Romulan units would be detected by another player: One cloaked Romulan unit is holding in Warsaw and is supported by another cloaked Romulan in the Ukraine. A Federation unit in Prussia would not "see" either, but if the Federation player attempted to move Pru-War, both Romulan units would be revealed to the Federation player.

4. Supports which are void because the supported unit did not make the move that was being supported will still reveal cloaked Romulan units moving or supporting (even if these are void supports also) into the space into which the support was given. Supports which are voided as illegal because the supporting unit could not move into the space itself for distance or geography reasons do not uncloak Romulan units. Supports which are cut do not reveal cloaked Romulan units.

5. The location and orders of any cloaked Romulan unit which is detected is revealed only to the player whose unit personally detected those particular Romulan units. Other players are not informed of their existence. If the unit which detects a Romulan unit is infiltrated by the Dominion, then both the actual owner of that unit and the Dominion player are informed of the Romulan units location and orders. This is true whether the non-Romulan unit was being ordered by the actual owner or the Dominion player.

6. To allow non-Romulan units to check if there is a Romulan presence in an adjacent province or body of water, players may order a unit to "scan" one adjacent space to which that unit could legally move. For purposes of detecting cloaked Romulan units, this has the same effect as a support order into that space and any Romulan units in or supporting into that space are revealed. (A romulan unit successfully moving out of the space would not be detected by the scan) The scanning order has no other effect and a unit ordered to scan can do no other activity that turn. A scanning order is cut when the scanning unit is attacked, just as a support order is. Any attack upon the scanning unit, whether successful or not, causes the unit to not scan and instead act as if it was ordered to hold.

7. All cloaked Romulan moves and supports into provinces containing supply centers owned by non-Romulan players are revealed to the owner of those supply centers as long as the supply centers remain controlled by the non-Romulan player. As soon as the Romulan player takes control of the supply center by occupying it in a Fall turn, it ceases to report on Romulan activity following that Fall turn. Neutral supply centers do not report Romulan movements into them in the Spring or Fall, but if such a center is taken and controlled by the Romulans at the end of the Fall season, the other players are informed it is now a Romulan center as a result of the Fall moves. They will then know a cloaked Romulan unit is there, although they are not told if it is an army or fleet. They are informed of this capture only after any retreats from the Fall have been concluded.

7. When a cloaked Romulan unit retreats, the space it retreats to is revealed to any players that detected that unit during the movement phase of the turn. They are also told if it disbands instead of retreating. Detection by movement, support, or scanning carries over from the move phase of a turn into the retreat phase, so if a Romulan unit retreats into a space in which it would have been detected if it had moved there directly, its retreat is also detected by those players. No other players are told of the location of the Romulan retreat or even the information that a Romulan unit did have to retreat.

8. If a non-Romulan player orders a dislodged unit to retreat into a space that appears vacant but is actually occupied by a cloaked Romulan ship or is secretly off limits because of a bounce between cloaked ships, the retreating unit is bounced just like any other retreat to any other occupied or off limits province and the GM notes that this is due to "romulan activity", since the players will know only the presence of a cloaked Romulan unit could account for the non-Romulan's bounce. The Romulan player does not have a choice to not bounce this unit retreating to his space. The only way he can prevent this is by informing the other player of the existence of his unit so the player will not retreat there. If two or more non-Romulan units retreat to the same space, they are considered to bounce each other and the Romulan units presence is not revealed to any players, including the ones that controlled the retreating units.

9. Information on Romulan builds or disbands during the build phase can also be kept cloaked from the other players. The Romulan leader may chose to build units cloaked by writing an "I" after the unit's build orders, and if he does so, the location and type of that build is not revealed to the other players unless they independently detect it. If the unit is built or disbanded in a space in which it would have been detected by another player in the Fall turn, then that player is informed of the location and type of that Romulan build. In other words, detection by scanning, support, or bounced movement orders from the Fall carries over into the Winter build phase, so units doing any of these into a Romulan supply center province in the Fall will report the exact type and location of any Romulan units built there in the Winter to their owning players. While players will not know the specifics of Romulan builds, they will always know how many units the Romulan player is entitled to have overall, since they will always know how many supply centers he owns at the end of each Fall turn.

10. Players who have not detected a Romulan unit may still be able to deduce its presence by its effect on the visible units of other players. For example, when a player's unit is dislodged or bounced by a unit not visible on the board, that must indicate the presence of a Romulan unit doing the dislodging or bouncing. The GM should call attention of this fact to the other players by listing these dislodgments or bounces as being due to Romulan activity so that the players do not have to search through the posted orders/results checking for unmatched up bounces, etc.

11. A Dominion player who has infiltrated a cloaked fleet or army is informed of its location and orders every turn until he "uses up" his infiltration of that unit.

Klingon

Aggressive fighters.

1. A Klingon unit moving alone attacks with a strength of one-and-a-half units. (Clarification: a retreat is not an attack.) A one-half unit advantage is enough to win a battle so one Klingon unit can always dislodge one unsupported enemy unit. Klingons do not cooperate well with others, even other Klingons, as shown by their frequent civil wars and strong emphasis on individual honor and achievement, so this bonus is lost if the attack is made in cooperation with other supporting units. A Klingon unit attacking with the support of one other unit attacks with the normal strength of two, etc, whether the supporting units are Klingon or not.

2. Only lone Klingon units moving/attacking receive this bonus, not Klingon units defending or supporting.

Ferengi

As good traders, they have the ability to coexist in the same province with other races' forces.

1. At his choice, the Ferengi player can order his units to be trade units rather than military units. He does this in submitting his movement orders by writing an "M" for military or a "T" for trader after each unit's designation to signify its status. Example: F Spa in (T) move Portugal. A Ferengi unit can not change status in the retreat or build phases. In these phases they always keep the status given them in the preceding movement order.

2. Any non-Ferengi unit ordered into a province or body of water with a Ferengi trader always succeeds in doing so (unless bounced out by units of another power or Ferengi military units), but the Ferengi trader is not dislodged and remains in the space also, with the attacker. The same rule holds for the retreat phase, so that a unit may retreat into a Ferengi trader occupied space if it is otherwise eligible. Non-Ferengi players may also build units in supply centers they own which are occupied by Ferengi trading units in the build phase.

3. Likewise, Ferengi traders ordered to move always move successfully, but never dislodge other units, merely move in with them.

4. The sole exception to trading units always moving successfully is that only one Ferengi unit may occupy any given space (be it a military or trade unit). Any Ferengi unit ordered to a space occupied by another Ferengi unit that season fails in its movement attempt, no matter its support, because of the usual rule against self-dislodgement. Multiple Ferengi units ordered to the same territory will bounce each other unless one has more support than the others (this would have to be a military unit since trade units are ineligible for support) and no self-dislodgement is involved. In other words, all the usual Diplomacy rules about units from the same power moving to the same space apply and no distinction is made (at least among the Ferengi) between trade and military units. If a Ferengi trader and military unit are ordered to the same space and the military unit is bounced out by the unit of another power, the Ferengi trader may then enter the space.

5. Trading Ferengi units have no military effect and can not be used to support other units or take control of non-Ferengi supply centers (although after getting to a supply center, a trader could convert back to a military unit and capture it).

6. A Ferengi unit can only convert from a trade unit to a military unit if it begins that turn in a space unoccupied by the unit of another player. When it is in an unoccupied space and turns to a military unit at the beginning of that movement phase, that space is considered its home space so if its movement is unsuccessful and it is bounced back into the originating space while at the same time a unit from another player moves to that space, the Ferengi unit gets to keep the space and bounces out the other player's unit.

7. All Ferengi builds are placed as military units, and can not be placed in occupied Ferengi supply centers (which if occupied by another power in the build phase, could not still be Ferengi supply centers anyway).

8. Trade units can not scan for Romulans, but they do see Romulans that move or support into the same space they are in.

9. Ferengi trade units can move two spaces in the Fall turn. This simulates the lighter, faster movement a trade unit is capable of since it is not weighed down by the bulky military equipment necessary to conquer and occupy an enemy supply center. A trade unit moving two spaces can pass through any non-Ferengi units in the first space to get to the second space. For purposes of checking for possible Ferengi self-bounces, it is considered that all Ferengi units simultaneously make their first ordered movement and self-bounces are checked for, then any second space movement orders are followed, and again self-bounces are checked for. Any unit that can not complete its first ordered movement because it is bounced out of the space it is moving to has its second movement order cancelled. A trade unit can hold as its first move to allow another Ferengi trading unit to pass through the space first, then move to the ordered space as its second move.

10. The Ferengi two space move described above can only be taken by Ferengi trade units in the Fall. Ferengi trade units in the Spring can only move one space and Ferengi military units can never move more than one space in a turn.

11. A Ferengi trade unit does not detect cloaked Romulan units in spaces it merely passes through. A Romulan unit is only detected when it moves into or supports into a space occupied by the Ferengi trading unit in its terminal location for that turn.

12. Ferengi fleets operating as traders can not convoy Ferengi armies operating as military units nor can they convoy the armies of any other race. They can convoy Ferengi armies acting as traders. In the Fall turn, when Ferengi traders get two moves, to successfully convoy an army both the trading fleet and the trading army must attempt the convoy as either the first move for both of them or the second move for both of them. Ferengi military fleets or the fleets of other powers can convoy either military or trade armies. Just as in checking for Ferengi self-bounces, it is considered that military units take their move simultaneously with the first move of trading units, so a military fleet, either Ferengi or belonging to another player, can only convoy a Ferengi trading army during that army's first move of the turn.

13. Because of their economic skills, the Ferengi avoid the economic penalty described later in the rules wherein each civilization, starting with the build phase at the end of the second year, has to devote one supply center to providing necessities for the civilian population. Instead, the Ferengi pay for this out of the profits of their trade deals and can use all their supply centers to support units.

14. Just like any other bounce, a bounce between ferengi makes a province off limits for retreats.

Cardassian

A military experienced in fighting guerilla warfare which has taught it how to overcome normal logistical and geographical limitations.

1. The Cardassian player can build units in any supply centers he controls, not just his home supply centers.

2. The Cardassian player does not have to place his units in the starting positions given by the rule book at the beginning of the game. Instead he gets to place them in any 3 provinces of his choosing within his home country (4 provinces if his home country is Russia). Country is the region bounded by solid black lines and water, so water is never part of a country. Ask the GM if you are unsure about whether a province is within a specific country. In addition, as a special rule applying only to this starting placement of his units, the effectiveness of his intelligence service (the Obsidian Order) allows the Cardassian player to place these units undetected by the other players. The Cardassian player sets their location on his first turn movement orders, on which he writes both the starting locations and movement orders for his units. The Cardassian is allowed to conduct first turn diplomacy before deciding where to put them and does not have to make a decision about their location until he submits his final movement orders for the first turn. The other players do not see the starting locations he has chosen until the public posting of the first turn orders/results so they will not know his choices until after submitting their first turn orders also. Cardassian units placed on the board during build phases are always visible.

3. Cardassian experience in fighting guerilla warfare on all kinds of occupied worlds has taught its military units to fight in all types of environmental conditions. Its units are completely amphibious, its armies can move on bodies of water and its fleets may move on land. In other words, each Cardassian unit has the capabilities of both an army and a fleet, so any Cardassian unit may move from the Barents Sea to St. Petersburg, walk across Russia to the south, and finally enter the Black Sea from Sevastopol if so ordered over a series of turns. All Cardassian units may convoy or be convoyed, subject to normal convoy rules. Cardassian units are not restricted by any north-south coast restrictions since a Cardasssian unit on land is considered to occupy the whole province due to its army capabilities. Example: a Cardassian unit may move from the Barents Sea to St. Petersburg (north coast) and then directly to the Gulf of Bothnia on its next turn.

4. The Cardassian player may chose to voluntarily retreat (i.e. move in the retreat phase) any units which were ordered to hold in the previous movement phase. (This includes units that were given no order or an illegal order, as both of these are treated as holds. It does not include units who did something legally that didn't work, such as supporting or scanning while being cut by an attack) All usual retreat rules apply: no moves to occupied spaces or spaces in which a stand-off occurred, units which move to spaces other retreating spaces also move to are destroyed, and a unit which retreats to a space occupied by a cloaked Romulan unit is destroyed in ambush. The Cardassian player may also choose to voluntarily retreat such units off the board (perhaps for rebuilding in a coming Winter turn). Cardassian units which were ordered to move, support, or convoy can not voluntarily retreat, only units ordered to hold have this option. All Cardassian units retreat as usual when dislodged. For the purpose of determining if a retreat is legal, a space successfully vacated by a voluntarily retreating cardassian unit shall not be considered 'occupied'. If there was any failed order by any power for any unit into said space, where the failure was due only to the said being occupied, it is considered off limits for retreats just as if it had been bounced over.

5. When a Cardassian amphibious unit is taken over by the Borg, it is replaced by the usual army or fleet. Units on the water are replaced by a fleet, units in noncoastal provinces are replaced by armies. If the unit is in a coastal province, the Borg player would enter his choice of army or fleet with orders submitted for the retreat phase.

Additional Rules

1. The first turn of the game is considered to be Spring 2371. Otherwise, all time elements (number of seasons, order of phases within a turn, etc.) are the same as in regular Diplomacy.

2. To simulate the emptiness of space and the economic strain of supplying forces across it, starting in the build phase of the year 2372, each race must devote one supply center to providing the necessities for its civilian population on the planet and that supply center is not available to support a unit. In other words, starting in the build phase at the end of the second year, a power is only entitled to a number of units one less than the number of supply centers it controls. This rule does not apply to the Ferengi. For the build phase of the first year, each power is considered to have stockpiled supplies for the war which allow it to support as many units as it has supply centers. A race with 5 supply centers during the Winter of 2371 can build to get up to 5 units to use in 2372, but if it still controls only 5 supply centers at the end of that year, it must disband, if necessary, to get down to 4 units, subject to other effects, such as Borg assimilations.

3. Players reduced to one supply center will in most cases (not the economically superior ferengi) have no units but are not considered eliminated until they are reduced to no centers. The Dominion player can still infiltrate other players' forces as along as he controls one supply center, even if he has no units on the board. Once a player is eliminated (no supply centers controlled), he does not affect the game anymore. The Dominion player can not infiltrate and the Borg does not affect the supply situation of other races. The only exception to this is that the Borg keeps any supply advantages gained from eliminated players for the year in which he is entitled to them. The Borg player is still eliminated when he controls no supply centers, even if he has units still on the board. Any such units are removed immediately upon completion of the Fall turn in which he is eliminated.

4. When using abbreviations, the only acceptable ones are the ones from the official map.

5. No player is to impersonate any other player or lie to the GM.

6. Orders will be submitted by email to the GM

7. Realpolitik's solutions to paradoxes, autodisbands, adjacencies, or anything else have no bearing on the game. If in doubt, ask the GM

8. If any non-player would like to observe, they may. They will then receive all information that is public to all and be subscribed to startrek-diplomacy. If they would like to receive private information as well, then:
a) they request this of the GM, agreeing to keep such information in the strictest confidence.
b) the gm asks the players if they approve of this observer.
c) if no player objects, they will receive the information
d) a player may object at any time, in which case the observer reverts to public-information status

** as of 10/13/2009, there is a standing objection by a player to any non-player receiving private information.

Any player may, of course, forward their view of the world to any other party.

9. Unless the GM sets another time or date for a particular turn, spring and fall orders will be due on Thursdays at 9pm, retreats Fridays at 9pm, and builds Saturdays at 9pm. Times all boston time. The GM shall publish resolutions in a timely fashion. If for whatever reason resolutions come out late (less than 48 hours of negotiation time for move orders or less than 12 hours for other orders), the default action if the GM says nothing to the contrary will be to delay future orders indefinitely.

10. If no orders are received for a power by the deadline, then either there will be an extension, an NMR, or a replacement. For build and retreat orders, there will always be an NMR. For move orders, the GM will notify the group which power is missing orders. If no orders are still received 12 hours after the deadline, the power will NMR, unless the GM decides that both

a) The power is large enough to be pretty important (roughly: at least 1/4 the size of the largest power)

b) An NMR this turn would be very bad for this power, making it difficult to find a replacement, in which case there will be no NMR and instead the game will be on hold until a replacement can be found.

11. As in standard diplomacy, invalid or ambuguous orders are ignored. The GM may, time permitting, confirm with a player that something really is what they intend to order, but if the player does not respond or does not respond in time, the order will be resolved as is. The GM makes no promises to check any aspects of orders for sanity in advance, players should not count on GM proofreading, and the amount of GM advance review of orders is likely to be both minimal and capricious.

12. Orders may be marked 'final' or 'nonfinal'. For unmarked orders, move orders will be assumed to be nonfinal while retreat and build orders will be assumed to be final. If all orders are in and final before the deadline, the GM may resolve early.