ShouldnÂ’t it be possible to do diplomacy on Serbia?

[ulver1]

Shouldn’t it be possible to do diplomacy on Serbia?

The rules say it should be possible to do diplomacy on Serbia in the first turn but I don’ see that option in the game? Has that possibility been removed? If so the manual should be corrected.

[calvinus]

Theoretically it could be possible, at least in the very first Diplomacy pre-phase. I'll try some tweaking for the first patches.
This could make the diplomatic moves quite interesting, giving a few chances Serbia accepts ultimatum...

[ulver1]

It would also make the Austrian option”Serbia accepts ultimatum” even more interesting as it starts Serbia on steep lower.

[CSS]

I would questionthis because, Archduke Francis Fernand, was assinated on June 28th, and Austria declared war on July 28th, thus setting off the spark that was WWI.

Serbia did indeed accept all conditions of the Austrian ultimatum, except one. Which of course led to a prompt delclaration of war by an unprepared Austria.

What theoretical possibilities could you add here?

[Tamas]

Yeah I did not miss this much because of the extremely low probability.

But true, this was in the boardgame, so Calvinus is willing to experiment with including it, so be it.

Basically, the idea in the boardgame was that in a next-to-impossible situation, you could win the diplo phase in Serbia well enough to make the succumb to the ultimatum to the point where they become an Austrian "vassal"

[calvinus]

My only worry is that such diplomatic action + the corresponding warplan option are a waste of resources in 99,9% of cases... But it's inside the boardgame, so why not?

[calvinus]

Well, the tweak is done. You'll find this new feature in the next patch.

I did one test: Accept Ultimatum warplan option by AH, plus 2 good ambassadors... Answer of Serbia:

[Tamas]

Well, the tweak is done. You'll find this new feature in the next patch.

I did one test: Accept Ultimatum warplan option by AH, plus 2 good ambassadors... Answer of Serbia:

Yes, it was fantasy land in the boardgame as well

[ulver1]

Hey, I would have had a problem with it not being added. My only point is that if it wasn’t it shouldn’t be in the manual. Once the new patch is out I’ll just have to run the first diplomacy phase enough times to see it happen.

[calvinus]

Well, I tried again, Russia doesn't choose the "Prepare Serbia for war" option, I sent all my best diplomats to Serbia... again:

[enf91]

So it will be possible to send Serbia back into neutrality? Could it then become possible to do this with other countries?

[Tamas]

So it will be possible to send Serbia back into neutrality? Could it then become possible to do this with other countries?

You can never send countries back into neutrality.

This is about the chance during the very first diplomatic phase, to KEEP Serbia neutral.