Tournament Descriptions and Rules
Diplomacy events vary widely in format and structure. Strong Diplomacy players know how to adapt to their surroundings, and succeed regardless of venue.
DIXIECON SCORING SYSTEM (for Diplomacy and Team Dip events)
Win: 270 points
2nd: 70
3rd: 50
4th: 34
5th: 20
6th: 10
7th: 0
Also, each player receives 4 points per center held at the end of the game.
Places are determined by the number of supply centers at the end of the game. Ties split the points for the tied places involved. Eliminations are scored by order of elimination, with the first eliminated being 7th place.
Participants in a draw split the total points for the places involved in that size of a draw. For example, a 2-way draw is worth 170 points each, plus the supply center points. Other common draw values are 130 for a 3-way and 106 for a 4-way.
Note that a 2-way draw is worth 10 "centers" more than a 3-way, and a 3-way is worth 6 "centers" more than a 4-way. Take that into account as you determine your position on draw votes during the game.
Draws are voted by secret ballot. You need David Hood or his representative to conduct any such votes. Draws need NOT include all survivors, but the vote for draws or concessions must be unanimous. No draw or concession can be proposed until after the Fall 1905 adjudication. A game cannot be conceded to a player who does not have at least 12 centers AND has centers greater than or equal to the number of any other current power on the board.
There are no overall time limits on the Friday and Saturday rounds. There is a limit of 15 minutes per negotiation phase, 5 minutes per order -writing phase unless different limits are imposed by unanimous vote during the game. The Sunday round ends at a time between 7 and 9 hours after the game begins. During the Sunday round, draw/concession votes will be conducted quickly while the time continues to run in any given phase. Should the GM believe that proposals are being made solely for delay purposes such proposals may be summarily dismissed. A player can publicly veto any proposal, in order to speed up play.
A player’s score is best two out of the three rounds.
LET'S TALK SCORING SYSTEMS - DIXIECON IS UNIQUE
Well actually, Dixiecon used to be just one of many tournaments in North America that used what is called "draw-based" scoring. Why do we still do this, when other tournaments have either moved to "topping the board" type systems, or the European systems that end games after particular game years? At Dixiecon we have always believed that Diplomacy is about control of the stalemate line, not possession of a certain number of centers at an arbitrary time. A Diplomacy board is under control when a player or group of players have the ability to force through the stalemate line from one direction or the other - or at least can convince the other players such a situation exists. So, for those not used to a draw-based system, the point is to establish such dominance of board position that the members of the draw have controlled the board. Of course, all the other surviving players must also vote to end a game in any particular draw. The game only ends with a win, a concession, a draw, or a demonstrated stalemate where no centers change hands for 4 game turns. We at Dixiecon believe that a skilled Diplomat can succeed under varying scoring systems - and that each system should be seen as emphasizing and rewarding different skills, similar to how golf events can be scored under match play, stroke play, skins, etc. and how tennis is played on different surfaces.
IRON MAN COMPETITION
Many other games are played at Dixiecon throughout the weekend. In the early years, separate tournaments in such games at 1830 and Titan were mainstays of the event. Now that the gaming world has so heavily diversified in game choices, the non-Dip gaming at Dixiecon is judged by wins in multiples games of multiple types. Games are divided by type into Schedule A, B, C, D, or E games, with wins in the longer, more difficult games counting for more than those of the lighter, frothier variety. Michael Lowrey is the GM for this event. Throughout the weekend, you'll get points for the number of players you finish ahead of, extra points for winning the game, and your score is then modified based on the length and complexity of the game as reflected in its Schedule A, B, C, D or E status.
Here are a few games of each type so you can get the idea:
A: 6 Nimmts!, Can’t Sop, Coloretto, Mint Works, Sushi Go
B: 7 Wonders, Azul, Carcassonne, Lost Cities, Splendor, Stone Age, Takenoko, Ticket to Ride
C: Alhambra, Castles of Burgundy, Catan, Innovation, Quacks of Quedlinburg, Race/Galaxy, Roll/Galaxy, St. Petersburg, Small World, Targi, Vinci, Wingspan
D: Agricola, Altiplano, Concordia, Nations, Navegador, Orléans, Power Grid, Puerto Rico, Terraforming Mars, Titan, Twilight Struggle
E: 18xx, Age of Renaissance, Here I Stand, Terra Mystica, Through the Ages
Battlestar Galactica: Human or Cylon?
They've Got a Ticket to Ride
Steve Koehler and Ed Rothenheber tangle over a Nations game
2021 Iron Man Champ Rick Desper Ponders
Hugo Max Fairbanks Sports Yankees Jersey
Ronke, Hood and Morgan Show Seersucker
Bruce Duewer and Eric Erikson compete in Ark Nova
Dixiecon 2024 Narrative Report
For the 38th time (whew) I hosted a bunch of Diplomacy players and other board gamers for a weekend of fun in Chapel Hill, North Carolina over Memorial Day weekend 2024. For I believe the first time in those 38 years, we shared the venue with a martial arts competition. Which was pretty awesome, although elevators shared between folk who figuratively stab each other in the back and those with ACTUAL swords and spears slung over their backs was quite an experience.
We had a large number of Thursday arrivals this year, which meant a lot of non-Dip gaming both that night and all day on Friday. Chris Barfield and Alex Ronke helped me with airport runs those two days, which I appreciate very much. Games I saw played on Thursday night included Space Base, Terraforming Mars, Here I Stand, Sushi Go, and that perennial Dixiecon favorite Outpost. (Seriously, I think Outpost has been played at least twice at every Dixiecon since the early 90s. And in the old days when our group used to travel to Cons in my conversion van, Outpost was the game of choice to play during VanCon because I could play it while driving.)
I have to pause here and talk a little about Keith Worstell, known online as Stitches, who has become an integral part of the Dixiecon experience in just his third appearance. Keith is a Diplomacy variant enthusiast, among other things, so Thursday night he ran a game of his two-player Civil War game for two interested Dippers. He also created the Diplomacy sets we used for Dixiecon this year, featuring large mats and pieces along with color-coordinated order pads and pens for each of the seven Great Powers. Those of you who caught the DBN coverage already saw how awesome these sets were, and of course those you attended got to experience Keith’s sets first-hand. Many thanks to Keith!
Friday during-the-day was for socializing, eating, and me picking up more folk from train stations and airports. There was also a great deal of gaming throughout Friday right up to shortly before the first Dip Round was to start at 6pm. Titles played included Dune Imperium (which would see more play throughout the weekend) as well as Chess, Dominion, Crisis 1914, Puerto Rico, Clans of Caledonia, and Castles of Burgundy.
As the official start of the Diplomacy round approached it was time for me to don my seeksucker suit for the traditional opening festivities. Oddly this year we had no awards from past years to announce, so after some introductory comments and a photo of all those who had chosen to wear the correct attire for Seersucker Round, it was time for the main event to begin with four boards of eager Dippers ready to go. The games at Dixiecon this year were all named for regions of North Carolina, so let’s focus for Round 1 on the game called Outer Banks. This one went late into the next morning at the Russia of Randy Lawrence-Hurt eventually pushed for the solo against Tim Crosby’s England, Liam’s Stokes’ Germany and Jack Craig’s Italy. Due to EG conflict towards the end and some misorders, Randy almost took 18 but fell just short - and then after Dave Maletsky took over the 1-center Italian position as a replacement player, the players finally decided to end on a 2-way for Tim and Randy because Liam had (according to Tim) promised such a result if Tim would cooperate on stopping the Russian solo. Quite a start to the tournament, and that 17-center two-way result being out there likely changed the trajectory of several other games throughout the weekend as sharp players knew they would be chasing Randy’s score in order to win the tourney.
The Iron Man tournament is for all the games we play other than Dip throughout the weekend, and it was also in full swing on Friday night. Games included Cascadia, Outpost, Pan Am, Puerto Rico, Broom Service, Thurn and Taxis, and a mammoth game of Railways of the World using both Americas maps and four physical tables pushed together to make enough room for the six players involved. It was…a lot.
Saturday morning saw four more Diplomacy games, which also doubled at the Team Tournament. Taking center stage during this round is the game called The Triangle, which featured David Miller’s Russia and Todd Craig’s Italy taking their Wintergreen alliance all the way to the very rare 17-17 two way draw. While we have seen this old-school result in several virtual games during the pandemic period, I could not tell you the last time I saw one in a face to face event. Obviously the spectre of Randy’s 17-center finish the night before was looming large here. Also of note was the Unifour game, in which the players really could not get anything going towards a legitimate finish under Dixiecon scoring and had to settle for the awful 6-way draw result. Rony Mordvinov’s 10-center Austria in this game just could not get him a score to keep him in contention after two rounds of place, much to his chagrin after a nice Round 1 performance.
Iron Man action during the day on Saturday saw some new games played, including Lords of Baseball, Ark Nova, and Princes of Florence along with more Dune Imperium. After the traditional BBQ dinner in the late afternoon, it was time on Saturday night for more open gaming along with play of one of Alex Ronke’s Diplomacy variants. Some new names to the list of games played included Robo Rally, Magic the Gathering, Ticchu and Splendor - with old Dixiecon standard Here I Stand also seeing a second play.
Iron Man gaming continued on Sunday morning, with games of Power Grid, Titan and Twilight Struggle adding to the games played, along with additional boards of games like Ark Nova which had already seen a lot of play. For the Iron Man event in general, 39 boards of 27 different games were played over the weekend, which was fun for all concerned. Longtime Dixiecon attendee Bruce Duewer took the prize again this year, with former Iron Man GM Dan Mathias taking second.
Going into Round Three of the Diplomacy tournament, there were several players in contention with two-way draws in the bag from previous rounds. Which of these contenders would take the 2024 championship? Answer: none-of-em. Instead Karthik Konath achieved the very rare timed-round solo as Austria in the Crystal Coast game, beating out David Miller who achieved his second two-way of the tournament in game Blue Ridge as Germany. Peter Yeargin and Jason Bennett rounded out the action with their own two-way draw in the Great Smokies game, parlaying that into third and fourth finishes overall in the Dip tournament. A very dynamic end to an amazing event on the Diplomacy side.
After congratulating Karthik for his second Dixiecon win and bidding farewell to those players leaving after the awards ceremony, it was off to eat for all those players staying for more gaming Sunday night. And yes, there was a LOT of that. I counted games of TransEuropa, Campaign Trail, Push, Distilled, Ark Nova, Welcome To, and another Dixiecon standard of old, the train game 1830. But the highlight of Sunday night gaming has really become the board of Escape from Colditz, as various allied POWs tried to get past Nazi guard David Miller much to the delight of everyone involved. I think Tom Kobrin hiding many of David’s best cards in his pocket may have helped the Allied cause, possibly.
Thanks to all for attending this year’s Dixiecon! I had a blast, hope everyone else did also. I was particularly happy to see nine faces new to the event, and look forward to seeing everyone back in Chapel Hill next May!