Napoleonic Wars OnLine

Revolution and Reaction

Rule Book

Last modified March 31. 2008

This document provides the rules of Revolution and Reaction (RAR), the diplomatic module of the Napoleonic Wars OnLine (NWOL). A player who has read and understood these rules should be able to serve as a foreign minister or ambassador in RAR.

The rules are divided into five sections: Treaties, Alliances, Declarations of War and Peace, Transfers, and Ambassadors.

1. Treaties

1.1. The Foreign Minister of each state may agree to treaties with other nations. 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 the foreign ministers of all states signing the treaty must notify the game administrator of the signing of the treaty. Upon receiving notification from all ministers, the game administrator will cause the treaty to be published in the NWOL Diplomatic Record. The treaty will be published as soon as two of the relevant ministers have notified the game administrator that they have signed. If players wish, the treaty may contain a clause saying that it does not take effect until all signatories ratify the treaty. If they do so, then the treaty is not published until all relevant ministers notify the game administrator that they have signed. If the treaty is secret, then the foreign ministers do not not need notify the game administrator that they have signed the treaty. 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, but should clearly indicate that the treaty is to be kept secret. 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 published in the Diplomatic Record.
1.3. Treaties may include any other action allowed by the NWOL 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 NWOL and do not include actions taken outside the game.

2. Alliances

2.1. The Foreign Minister of each state may form alliances with other nations. 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 the foreign ministers of both states must notify the game administrator of the formation of the alliance. This may be done as part of agreeing to a treaty, or may be done without a formal treaty. Upon receiving notification from both ministers, the game administrator will cause the alliance to be published in the Diplomatic Record. If the alliance is secret, then the foreign ministers do not need to notify the game administrator of the formation 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 notifying the game administrator of the formation of a public multilateral alliance, each minister must name all other states party to the alliance. Two states do not become allied unless each minister names the other in the notification. For example, if France announces an alliance with Holland and Bavaria, and Holland announces an alliance with Bavaria but not France, and Bavaria announces an alliance with France but not Holland, then only France and Bavaria are allied. France and Holland are not allied because this has not been announced by Holland, and Holland and Bavaria are not allied because this has not been announced by the Bavarians.
2.3. When an alliance is formed among three or more nations, but not all of them have ratified it, the alliance goes into effect between those nations which have ratified the alliance but not those which have not. Example: France proposes an alliance between France, Prussia, and Denmark. Prussia and France agree to the alliance but Denmark does not. France and Prussia do become allied. If players wish, the alliance may contain a clause saying that it does not take effect untill all signatories ratify it. If they do so, then that clause supersedes this rule, and in the above example, France and Prussia would not become allied until and unless Denmark ratified the treaty.
2.4. When formed, alliances are inactive. While inactive, alliances do not have any effect on other modules of NWOL, and countries with an inactive alliance are treated exactly the same way as neutral nations 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 notify the game administrator that the alliance has been activated. This may be done in the same notice in which the alliance is formed, if desired. The activation of the alliance takes place immediately upon receipt of the second notice by the game administrator. The activation of the alliance will be published in the Diplomatic Record. 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, it 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 ratifying ministers refer to the same treaty, the treaty will be referenced in the notice 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, and to use one another's territory and logistics. See the GITM and PATE rules for further details. Conditions under which an alliance will be activated should normally be part of the alliance terms.
2.5. When two nations ratify a treaty with a clause that forms an active alliance between those nations, the ratification of the treaty will be taken as a request to activate the alliance unless one or both nations request otherwise in their note ratifying the treaty.
2.6. An active alliance may be inactivated by the foreign minister of either state by notifying the foreign minister of the other state of the inactivation of the alliance, with a copy of this email to the game administrator. (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 published in the Diplomatic Record. Similarly, an alliance may be broken by the foreign minister of either state. If the alliance is public, it may be broken publicly or secretly. To break an alliance publicly, the foreign minister notifies the game administration of the breaking of the alliance, and the break will be published in the Diplomatic Record. 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 deactivated or broken, it may not be reactivated or reformed unless the ministers of both states agree to the reactivation or reformation.
2.7. 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 NWOL. 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.

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 sends an email to the Foreign Minister of the state on whom war is being declared, with copies sent to the game administrator and to the Prime Minister of his own state. The Prime Minister must reply to this email endorsing the declaration, sending a copy to the game administrator and the Foreign Minister of the state on whom war is being declared. War takes effect immediately if the Prime Minister's notice is received more than 48 hours prior to a wartime turn, or more than 120 hours prior to a peace or truce 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. Otherwise it takes effect immediately after the turn. The declaration of war will be published in the Diplomatic Record. Once war is declared, either state may initiate a campaign. If a campaign is initiated, then further declarations of war and deactivations of alliances can take effect if they are received more than 48 hours prior to the first turn of the campaign. Example: Prussia and Austria are allied. Austria declares war on Russia more than 120 hours before the turn deadline and initiates a campaign. Prussia may declare war on Russia or deactivate its alliance with Austria, and these will take effect on T1 if received more than 48 hours before the turn deadline.
3.2. A nation may simultaneously declare war on two or more states, if it wishes to do so, by having the Foreign Minister send an email with the declaration to all affected Foreign Ministers, as well as to his own Prime Minister and the game administrator. All wars take effect simultaneously as determined in rule 2.1, above.
3.3. If one nation deactivates an alliance with a second nation, the second nation may declare war on the first nation if it wishes, but the first nation may not declare war on the second nation for three campaign turns or one peace or truce turn, whichever comes first, unless it has no units on the second nation's territory and no ships in its harbors at the time of the deactivation, in which case it must wait only during a campaign and then only for one turn. Example: Russia and Spain are actively allied at the start of a campaign. Prior to turn 3, Russia deactivates the alliance. On turn 3, Russia may not declare war on Spain no matter where its units are. On turns 4 and 5 of the campaign, Russia may declare war on Spain only if its units and ships were outside of Spanish territory at the start of turn 3. On turn 6 and later, Russia may declare war on Spain under any conditions. Spain may declare war on Russia at any time.
3.4. Two states at war may make peace. To do so, the Foreign Ministers of both states send an email to the game administrator, copies to the other Foreign Minister and both Prime Ministers, announcing the making of peace. Both Prime Ministers must reply to this email, sending copies to the game administrator, endorsing the peace. (One nation's ministers are required to declare a war, but two nations' 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, are announced in the Diplomatic Record.
3.5. If two states are allied, and one declares war or makes peace with a third nation, the declaration of war or peace is not binding upon the other ally. If three or more states wish to make peace simultaneously, the Foreign Minister of one notifies the game administrator with copies to the Foreign and Prime Ministers of all other states. As each state's Foreign and Prime Ministers confirm the peace, the state makes peace with all other nations that have already confirmed. Example: France and Holland are at war with Austria, Prussia, and Bavaria. Holland's Foreign Minister sends notice of a five-way peace. All other Foreign Ministers confirm the peace. France's Prime Minister endorses the peace, then Prussia's Prime Minister does so. France and Prussia thereupon make peace. Next, Austria's Prime Minister endorses the peace. France makes peace with Austria. Next, Holland's Prime Minister endorses the peace. Holland makes peace with Austria and Prussia. Last, Bavaria's Prime Minister endorses the peace, and Bavaria makes peace with France and Holland.
3.6. When three or more states make peace, and not all of them ratify it, peace is made by those who ratify 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 ratify it, which supersedes this rule if included.
3.7. When two nations ratify a treaty with a clause that makes peace between those nations, the ratification of the treaty will be taken as a request to make peace unless one or both nations request otherwise in their note ratifying the treaty.
3.8. 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. 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. Nations transferring victory points to other nations 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 nations 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. To take control of a 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. 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.
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 noted in the Diplomatic Record.
4.5. All transfers of cities, crowns, and victory points between nations 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 nation, even when they otherwise conform to these rules. Transfers of victory points are more likely to be blocked than transfers of crowns or cities. 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 nation. Transfers between nations 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 nations will be approved only when the transferring nation 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 nation 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.
4.6. States may transfer ships from one nation to another. To do so, the transferring ship must be in a port of the receiving state (either harbor or coastal waters), 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 quality of the ship will be adjusted by an amount equal to the difference in average quality ratings for that ship type.
4.7. When two nations ratify 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 nations, 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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