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American-Mexican Wars OnLine
Revolution and Reaction
AMWOL Variant
Rule Book
Last modified June 19,
2017
This document provides the rules of Revolution and
Reaction (RAR), the diplomatic module of the
American-Mexican War OnLine (AMWOL). A player who has read
and understood these rules should be able to serve as a
foreign minister or ambassador in RAR.
Note - these rules have not been fully converted from
NWOL yet. Main difference - the United States must always
remain at war with all Mexican factions - changing of
allied/neutral/hostile status is possible only between the
Mexican factions. The US may make treaties with Mexican
factions as long as these do not involving making peace,
and the US may make transfers to Mexican factions or
receive them.
The rules are divided into five sections: Treaties, Alliances,
Declarations of War and Peace, Transfers, and Ambassadors.
1.
Treaties
1.1. The Secretary of State of each
state may agree to treaties with other states. These
treaties may deal with alliances or declarations of peace;
rules for such treaties are described below.
1.2. A treaty may either be secret or
public, and whether the treaty is public or secret should be
determined by the ministers of the states signing the treaty
as part of the negotiations. If a treaty is public, then one
of the foreign ministers of the states signing the treaty
must post the treaty to the Diplomatic Record forum on the HOLF Guild
website, and all other foreign ministers must post
(preferably by reply to the original posting) indicating
their signature. By default, the treaty will take effect as
soon as two of the relevant ministers have signed. If
players wish, the treaty may contain a clause saying that it
does not take effect until all signatories sign the treaty.
If they do so, then the treaty does not take effect until
all relevant ministers post that they have signed. If the
treaty is secret, then the foreign ministers do not not need
post the treaty or their signatures. However, if they wish
to notify the game administrator that a secret treaty exists
(they may wish to do this to establish a basis for a
transfer: see rules on transfers below) they may do so by
email to the GA, and should clearly indicate that the treaty
is to be kept secret. The game administrator will not at any
time make any comment on the existence or non-existence of
secret treaties, nor their contents. A public treaty may
have secret clauses of which the game administrator is not
informed, or of which the game administrator is informed but
are not posted in the Diplomatic Record forum.
1.3. Treaties may include any other
action allowed by the AMWOL game system. Some historical
examples include the payment of cash to one partner, the
agreement not to make a separate peace with a mutual enemy,
an agreement to respect the neutrality of a third state, or
not to ally with a third state. Any terms the players wish
to include in an alliance may be included so long as those
terms do not involve violation of the rules of AMWOL and do
not include actions taken outside the game.
1.4. A state may renounce a
treaty to which it has agreed. To do so, it posts a message
to the Diplomatic Record
forum announcing that it is renouncing the treaty. There is
no penalty for doing so.
1.5. States are not bound to
carry out the terms of treaties to which they have agreed,
except as noted in rule 2.5 and rule 3.4 below (see also
rule 4.7 below).
2.
Alliances
2.1. The Secretary of State of each
state may form alliances with other states, except as
prohibited in rule 2.9 below. An alliance may either be
secret or public, and whether the alliance is public or
secret should be determined by the ministers of the two
states as part of the negotiations forming the alliance. If
an alliance is public, then one of the foreign ministers of
both states must post the signing of the alliance to the
Diplomatic Record forum, and other foreign ministers must
post their signatures. This may be done as part of signing a
treaty, or may be done without a formal treaty. When all
signatures are posted, the GA will confirm the treaty on the
forum. If the alliance is secret, then the foreign ministers
do not need to notify the game administrator of the signing
of the alliance. A public treaty of alliance may have secret
clauses of which the game administrator is not informed.
2.2. Three or more states may form
multilateral alliances. When posting the formation of a
public multilateral alliance, the ministers must name all
other states party to the alliance in their signatures on
the treaty. Two states do not become allied unless each
minister names the other in the post. For example, if
Faction A announces an alliance with Faction B and Faction
C, and Faction B announces an alliance with Faction C but
not Faction A, and Faction C announces an alliance with
Faction A but not Faction B, then only Faction A and Faction
C are allied. Faction A and Faction B are not allied because
this has not been announced by Faction B, and Faction B and
Faction C are not allied because this has not been announced
by Faction C.
2.3. When an alliance is
formed among three or more states, but not all of them have
signed it, the alliance goes into effect between those
states which have signed the alliance but not those which
have not. Example: Faction A proposes an alliance between
Factions A, B, and C. Factions A and B sign the alliance but
Faction C does not. Faction A and Faction B do become
allied. If players wish, the alliance may contain a clause
saying that it does not take effect until all signatories
sign it. If they do so, then that clause supersedes this
rule, and in the above example, Faction A and Faction B
would not become allied until and unless Faction C signed
the treaty.
2.4. When formed, alliances are
inactive. While inactive, alliances do not have any effect
on other modules of AMWOL, and countries with an inactive
alliance are treated exactly the same way as neutral states
in other modules. In order to take effect in other modules,
alliances must be activated. To activate an alliance, the
foreign ministers of each state must post in the Diplomatic
Record forum that the alliance has been activated. This may
be done in the same post in which the alliance is signed, if
desired. The activation of the alliance takes place
immediately upon receipt of the second posting. The
activation of the alliance will be confirmed by the GA on
the forum.) A secret alliance must be made public in order
to be activated, though some of its clauses may remain
secret; because the activation of an alliance is published
in the Diplomatic Record, the alliance must be
public to be activated. A Foreign Minister may notify the
game administrator of the formation of a public alliance and
its activation in the same message, thus those two events
may happen simultaneously. Ministers activating alliances
may, but need not, refer to existing treaties in the
ratification. If both signing ministers refer to the same
treaty, the treaty will be referenced by the GA in the
confirmation of activation in the Diplomatic Record.
Activation of an alliance permits the armies and fleets of
the allied states to undertake joint operations in GITM and
PATE by drawing supplies and communications from one
another's AQ and CQ units. See the GITM and PATE rules for
further details. If there are conditions under which an
alliance will be activated, those should normally be part of
the alliance terms.
2.5. When two states sign a
treaty with a clause that forms an active alliance between
those states, the signing of the treaty will be taken as a
request to activate the alliance unless one or both states
request otherwise in their post signing the treaty.
2.6. An active alliance may be
inactivated by the foreign minister of either state by
posting the inactivation of the alliance to the Diplomatic
Record forum. (Two ministers are required to activate an
alliance between two states, but only one is required to
inactivate it.) Inactivation takes place immediately if
notice is received more than 48 hours prior to a campaign
turn, or more than 120 hours prior to a peace or truce turn.
Otherwise it takes place immediately following the turn.
Inactivation of alliances is confirmed by the GA on the
forum. When an alliance is deactivated, it may not be
reactivated unless the ministers of both states agree to the
reactivation.
2.7. An alliance that has
been deactivated may be broken by the foreign minister of
either state. An active alliance must be deactivated before,
or as, it is broken; both acts can be done in one post on
the DR Forum. If the alliance is public, it may be broken
publicly or secretly (though if it must be deactivated in
order to break it, the deactivation must be public). To
break an alliance publicly, the foreign minister posts the
breaking of the alliance in the forum. If the alliance is
broken secretly, the game administration need not be
informed. If one state breaks an alliance secretly the other
state may subsequently break it publicly. When an alliance
is broken, it may not be reformed unless the ministers of
both states agree to the reformation.
2.8. The terms of the alliance are
negotiated between the two states and can be anything to
which the two states agree that is permissible within the
rules of AMWOL. Alliances may be offensive, agreeing to
attack another state immediately or under certain
conditions. They may be defensive, agreeing to mutually
defend against the attack of any other country, or the
attack of one or more specific countries but not the attack
of others. Alliances may contain both offensive and
defensive terms.
2.9. The United States may never be
allied with any Mexican faction.
3.
Declarations of War and Peace
3.1. A state may declare war on another
state with which is is not already at war. To do so, the
Foreign Minister posts the declaration to the Diplomatic
Record forum. The Prime Minister must reply to this post
endorsing the declaration. The GA will confirm the
declaration once the Prime Minister's endorsement is made.
War takes effect immediately if the Prime Minister's post is
received more than 48 hours prior to a turn, or if the state
on whom war is declared has a unit in the territory of the
declaring state or a ship in the harbor of one of its ports,
or if the state on whom war is declared is a Revolutionary
state that was created on the same turn as the declaration.
Otherwise it takes effect immediately after the turn.
3.2. A state may simultaneously declare
war on two or more states, if it wishes to do so, by having
the Foreign Minister make one post with all the
declarations, and having the Prime Minister endorse the
declarations. All wars take effect as determined in rule
3.1, above.
3.3. If one state deactivates an
alliance with a second state, the second state may declare
war on the first state if it wishes, but the first state may
not declare war on the second state for three turns, unless
it has no units on the second state's territory and no ships
in its harbors at the time of the deactivation, in which
case it must wait only for one turn. Example: Faction A and
Faction B are actively allied at the start of a campaign.
Prior to turn 3, Faction A deactivates the alliance. On turn
3, Faction A may not declare war on Faction B no matter
where its units are. On turns 4 and 5, Faction A may declare
war on Faction B only if its units and ships were outside of
Spanish territory at the start of turn 3. On turn 6 and
later, Faction A may declare war on Faction B under any
conditions. Faction B may declare war on Faction A at any
time.
3.4. Two states at war may make peace,
except as prohibited below in rule 3.9. To do so, the
Foreign Ministers of both states make a post to the
Diplomatic Record forum announcing the making of peace. Both
Prime Ministers must reply to this post endorsing the peace.
(One state's ministers are required to declare a war, but
two states' ministers are required to make peace.) Peace
takes effect immediately upon receive of the second Prime
Minister's endorsement. Peace agreements may be included in
treaties or may be made without a formal treaty. Peace
agreements, with or without formal treaties, will be
confirmed by the GA on the forum. When two states sign a
treaty with a clause that makes peace between those states,
the signing of the treaty will be taken as a request to make
peace unless one or both states request otherwise in their
post signing the treaty.
3.5. If two states are allied, and one
declares war or makes peace with a third state, the
declaration of war or peace is not binding upon the other
ally.
3.6. If three or more
states wish to make peace simultaneously, the Foreign
Minister of one posts the peace agreement on the DR forum,
and the Prime Minister endorses the peace. As each state's
Foreign and Prime Ministers endorse the peace, the state
makes peace with all other states that have already
endorsed.
3.7. When three or more
states make a peace agreement, and not all of them sign it,
peace is made by those who sign and endorse but not by those
who do not. A peace agreement may contain a clause stating
that it does not go into effect until all signatories sign
and endorse it, which supersedes this rule if included.
3.8. When two states sign a
treaty with a clause that makes peace between those states,
the ratification of the treaty will be taken as a request to
make peace unless one or both states request otherwise in
their note signing the treaty. This must still be endorsed
by the Prime Minister to take effect.
3.9. The United States may never make
peace with any Mexican faction.
3.10. Truces may be declared by any
combinations of land and naval commanders, and do not
require approval of the Foreign Ministers or Prime
Ministers. However, truces have no effect except insofar as
players choose to honor them themselves, and do not affect
the making of war or peace in RAR.
4.
Transfers
4.1. As part of their diplomatic
negotiations, states may transfer cities, crowns, victory
points, and ships and TR groups among themselves. Transfer
requests are made by the Foreign Minister of the
transferring state, or by the Prime Minister or monarch
acting on his behalf, except that the Naval Minister can
also request the transfer of ships and TR groups. Requests
for transfers are made by emailing the game administrator.
They take place prior to the running of the turn before
which they are made.
4.2. States
transferring victory points to other states may not, during
any one campaign, transfer more victory points than half of
the number it has earned during that campaign, or 2% of its
game starting score, whichever is greater. Victory points
transferred between two states at war as part of a peace
agreement between them are exempt from this restriction.
4.3. A state
may transfer a city or off-map port that it controls to the
control of another state. The state receiving control of the
city or port must be able to take possession. For a state
which already controls one city to take control of another
city, it must have a land unit in the city tactical square,
or a land unit in the strategic square if no combat unit
hostile to the receiving state is in the strategic square,
or a land unit in an adjacent strategic square if no combat
unit hostile to the receiving state is in the same or an
adjacent strategic square. A state which does not control
any city (either because it is newly created, lost all
cities it had at game start, or had no cities at game start)
may take control of a city in its home nation if it has
permanent control of the city. A state which does not
control any city can take control of a city outside its home
nation, or in its home nation of which it is permanent
owner, only under the same conditions as a state which does
control a city may do so. To take control of an off-map
port, the receiving state must place a unit into the
garrison, or have a warship in the port if there is no unit
in the garrison, or only units allied to the receiving state
in the garrison, at the time of the transfer. A state which
controls only one city may not transfer control of that city
to another state.
4.4. A state may transfer
crowns from its treasury to the treasury of another state at
any time, and may transfer victory points to another state
at any time. Transfers of victory points (but not crowns)
will be posted in the Diplomatic Record forum by the GA.
4.5. States
may transfer ships from one state to another. To do so, the
transferring ship must be in a port (either harbor or
coastal waters) that is controlled by the receiving state
and is part of the receiving state's nation, and no ship
hostile to either the transferring state or receiving state
may be present in the port. The crew manpower will be
removed from the manpower of the receiving ship and added to
the manpower of the transferring state (these happen
immediately). The Bourbons may receive ships in the ports of
the nation that controls them. The quality of the ship will
be adjusted by an amount equal to the difference in average
quality ratings for that ship type.
4.6. All
transfers of cities, crowns, ships, and victory points
between states are subject to the approval of the game
administrator. The game administrator may block
transfers that are deemed to not be in the best interest of
the transferring state, even when they otherwise conform to
these rules. Transfers of victory points are more likely to
be blocked than transfers of crowns, cities, or ships. This
will particularly apply when the transfer will move the
recipient to a higher position in the score rankings and
will not affect the position of the transferring state.
Transfers between states in different size categories are
more likely to be blocked than those that are within
size category. In general, transfers of VPs, or large
numbers of crowns, to other states will be approved only
when the transferring state has been defeated in war and is
conceding that it would lose as many VPs or more if it
continued to fight, or when the transferring state gain
equivalent value in other ways from the agreement
(diplomatic position, territory, and so forth). If two
states have previously signed a treaty, either a public
treaty or a secret treaty of which the game administrator
was informed, arranging for a future transfer of VPs, this
will be taken into account by the game administrator when
deciding whether or not to permit the transfers, but does
not guarantee that the transfer will be permitted. The game
administrator will ask a state for an explanation of how a
transfer is in its best interests before blocking the
transfer.
4.7. When two states sign a
treaty with a clause that transfers VPs, Crs, ships or TR
groups, or a city from one to another, this does not
constitute a request to actually transfer the
VPs/Crs/city/ship/TR. Transfers must be requested separately
from the treaty ratification.
5.
Ambassadors
5.1. The Foreign Minister of a state may
appoint other players to serve as ambassadors to other
states, or as deputy ministers to assist him, as he sees
fit. However, neither ambassadors nor deputy ministers nor
other assistants have the power to submit treaties, form
alliances, or make declarations of war and peace to the game
administrator. They may prepare such documents but the
submission must come from the Foreign Minister.
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