Intel & Diplomacy

Intel and Diplomacy Actions both make use of Intel Points (IP), purchased and maintained from the use of Resource Points (RP). Once an IP is purchased, it can be kept unused indefinitely, as long as the maintenance cost is paid. When used defensively, it is not spent and may be kept (again, as long as it is maintained). Each system can use its IP throughout that system, regardless if there are intel assets identified on the smallest planet or not, as the primary intel office within that system has sufficient reach for the entire system. The maximum number of Intel Points per system is limited by the sum of the max IP of its planets (see the Max Planet Intel table below). Inhabited stations may also add to the system's overall IP (if purchased and maintained), at up to the levels indicated (see the Station Intel Points table below). Finally, embassies each generate 1 IP each month, limited to diplomatic use and may not be maintained ('use or lose').

Intel

Intel Points are pooled within systems, generated from each inhabited planet and, in some cases, inhabited stations. In order to use IP offensively, actions taken from that system must not cost more than what is pooled in that initiating system (though other systems may assist in paying the cost, as detailed later).

Table: Max Planet Intel

Table: Max Planet Intel

Planet Type	Max Intel Points
'Other' (inhabited)	1
Stage 1-3 Colony	2
Stage 4-6 Colony	3
Stage 7-9 Colony	5
Minor Industrial World	7
Major Industrial World	9
Sector Capital	+1
Nation Capital	+2

Table: Max Station Intel

Table: Station Intel Points

Station Size	Max Intel Points
Small (Regula, dry docks)	1
Medium (original DS9)	3
Large (new DS9)	4
Enormous (Spacedock)	6

Diplomatic States

Some diplomatic states have prerequisites. All treaties require the consent of the powers involved (all powers in question need to sign the treaty as a Diplomatic Action). Once all powers have signed the treaty, it will be in effect the next month (though 3 months or longer are not unheard of). Withdrawing from a treaty can be done either unilaterally or with the consent of the other powers involved. Other kinds of diplomatic actions, called declarations, can be made without the consent of other powers. But declarations sometimes have other costs and are not automatically successful.

Treaties are free to seek and sign; as long as all signatories agree, a treaty exists. However, withdrawing from a treaty, or breaking it, requires a level of consensus within the government of the one power taking the action. There is a base percent chance (as indicated with the number in parentheses following each treaty/declaration) this can be done for each attempt, only modified by a condition stated to have occurred or existed while the treaty was in effect (see Diplomatic Action Modifiers Table, below). (Some of the modifiers -identified with an asterisk- experience a reduction of 10% for each month passed since the event, until no longer effective.)

The following is a list of treaties that can be signed and declarations that can be made:

Non-Aggression Treaty (60%)

This treaty calls for the mutual agreement not to destroy the other government’s assets in acknowledgement that they won’t destroy yours. Neither side is allowed to move units through the systems of the other. Should your units end up in the system of a Non-Aggression Treaty (NAT) partner, they can be interned by that NAT partner or allowed to leave at the soonest possible time. If they are interned, the maintenance costs are covered by the interning nation. Should you encounter the units of a NAT partner in an uncontrolled, contested or third party controlled systems, you may not engage or invade/land in a system containing their units.

Peace Treaty (10%)

This is a step beyond a Non-Aggression Treaty and requires a non-aggression treaty. The Peace Treaty calls for non-aggression toward the other’s assets and an establishment of a mutual border. This recognizes the systems of that power and may or may not allow both powers to move non-military units through the other’s systems/borders. The most important feature of a Peace Treaty is that it is much harder to withdraw from without the consent of the other power than a Non-Aggression Treaty. Non-military units include trade & colony. Units of a power with which you have a Peace Treaty are considered “friendly” for all purposes.

Trade Treaty (50%)

This treaty makes it possible for Trade Routes to be established that originate in either signatory, visiting the new partner for the purpose of trade. This cannot normally be done without a trade treaty between the powers. The treaty is reciprocal, allowing all powers’ trade fleets to visit any other power’s systems in the treaty. A Non-Aggression Treaty must be in place for a trade treaty to be signed.

Mutual Defense Treaty (40%)

This is not only an agreement to acknowledge each other; it actually includes an agreement to go to the other’s defense if they are attacked. It requires that a Peace Treaty already be in place. The Mutual Defense Treaty also allows your military ships to travel in the systems of the other powers in the treaty, but does not allow you to move ground forces to systems of other powers in the treaty and vice versa.

Alliance Treaty (-20%)

The Alliance Treaty is the final step in cooperation between powers and requires a Mutual Defense Treaty with all other Alliance members. It accounts for peace, mutual defense, trade and the ability for the powers to work together in greater capacity. A declaration of war or hostilities against one power automatically results in a declaration of war or hostilities on all other alliance members. All allied powers must agree on any Armistice signed that normalizes relations with a power for those alliance members. To sign a separate Armistice, a power must first withdraw from or break the Alliance Treaty. All current members must unanimously agree to the inclusion of a new Alliance member. A power may only join one alliance at a time. A Declaration of War by a member of the alliance on another power does not, however, result in an automatic declaration of war by the rest of the alliance members. However, every alliance member is required to attempt a declaration of war each turn until they succeed or an armistice is signed that ends the conflict. Other members of the alliance can choose to spend Intel Points to increase the chance of a successful declaration of war by another alliance member. (Note: This can result in alliance members being dragged into a war they don’t want by their alliance partners...beware unwanted foreign entanglements). (Example: similar to the Klingon-Federation Alliance)

Declaration of Hostilities (20%)

This is a statement taking the gloves off of ships in your government, in regards to that power. The units of the power you have declared hostilities with and the units of a power that has declared hostilities on you are considered hostile. This means that your ships can cross the border, seize cargo and do all things hostile short of conquest of systems. A Declaration of Hostilities allows for the destruction of bases or the bombardment of colonies, but does not allow for the commitment of ground troops for the invasion of any system. This does permit a power to destroy a colony and then colonize the system. The power you declare hostilities against automatically gets the benefits of having declared hostilities on you as well. Signing an Armistice will restore normal relations.

Declaration of War (-20%)

This is a formal and clear declaration of war against another power. A state of war will exist until one such power is conquered or peace breaks out. The state of war includes all the effects of a Declaration of Hostilities, plus it allows you to commit ground troops. Powers you declared war against automatically get the benefits of having declared war on you as well. Signing an Armistice will restore Normal Relations.

Armistice Treaty (N/A)

This treaty requires that a Declaration of Hostilities or Declaration of War exists between the powers. Its only function is to end the Declarations of Hostilities or War between all powers involved in the Armistice. An Armistice must be approved and signed by all parties in an Alliance. By its very nature, an Armistice is not broken as it only serves to halt hostilities and doesn’t put into place any other treaty. It restores Normal Relations between the powers that have signed the Armistice. (Example: the nature of the relationship between the Federation and the Dominion, upon the conclusion of that war.)

Treaty of Co-Belligerence (20%)

A unique situation must exist in order for two or more parties to enter into this form of treaty. All signing powers must at the very least have a Non-Aggression Pact with all other involved powers. At the signing of the treaty, all parties must agree upon a mutual enemy or, in rare instances, enemies with whom all parties are at war. This allows the signers of the treaty to operate together as if they were members of an Alliance in enemy territory. This does not allow for the additional privileges of other treaties unless they are already in place. The treaty is nullified once the conflict is resolved. (Example: Romulan support in the Dominion War)

Normal Relations (N/A)

Once either player makes contact, relations are established at the normal diplomatic state. Normal relations do not recognize a power’s boundaries and you can freely move ships into or out of systems controlled by the other power. Your Forces may not, however, engage or invade systems controlled by the other power. There are two exceptions to this rule. If any of your Forces in a system are attacked by a power at normal relations with you, all of your Forces in that system may engage or attack that power’s Forces in that system for this month. If you previously controlled or currently control a system, your military actions against powers at normal relations in those systems are unrestricted (unless a system is or was part of another power’s recognized borders after the last time you owned it).

Non-Intercourse Treaty (-10%)

A Non-Intercourse Treaty is a unilateral agreement declared by a single power that states that the power refuses to establish Normal Relations with another power. A Non-Intercourse Treaty is adopted in situations where a power (typically a NPE) cannot bear the thoughts of establishing Normal Relations with another power, but they are not ready (or can ill afford) declaring hostilities or war against the irksome power. Once declared, a Non-Intercourse Treaty remains in effect until broken. During this period, the power that declared Non-Intercourse cannot have any dealings with the target empire or empires. This includes signing any treaty in which the target empire is also a signatory. Any treaty offers originating from the target of this Non-Intercourse Treaty will be automatically and categorically refused (this overrides even the abilities conferred by some custom race designs). (Example: Treaty of Armens with the Sheliak)

Tribute Treaty (80%)

A Tribute Treaty is an agreement between two powers that stipulates that one will pay the other a predetermined number of economic points (based either on a fixed sum or as a percentage of their total domestic product) each campaign turn. The signing of a Tribute Treaty signifies that one of the powers is adopting an obsequious posture, signing away economic advantage to a rival in return for continued peace. A Tribute Treaty must include the amount of economic points to be paid each turn. Once signed, this tribute takes precedence over all other spending for the power making the payments, including unit maintenance. Payment of tribute in accordance of the treaty is not optional, and the full amount must be paid each turn unless the empire simply does not have enough economic points available. In this instance, the paying empire must pay all available economic points towards the tribute. The remainder of unpaid tribute should be tracked and paid along with other tribute as soon as the empire is financially capable of doing so. As with normal tribute payments, the decision to bring to current all tribute payments is not optional and will occur as soon as the empire has the economic points to do so. (Example: 'client' relationship Bajor had with the Cardassian Empire)

Naval Appropriation Treaty (100%)

A Naval Appropriation Treaty is a decision to allow one of the signing parties to purchase naval equipment from the other. These hardware purchases can come in the form of cast-off ships and flights that have already been built, or can be extended to the plans to build certain classes of units. Empires must have signed a Peace Treaty before they can enter into a Naval Appropriation Treaty. Unlike traditional treaties, the Naval Appropriation Treaty requires a great deal of player intervention to draft. It is not in and of itself a “stock” treaty type. Players must decide which unit types their empire is willing to make available to the other signatories and what limitations they will place on the design’s purchase and/or construction.

Each ship, flight, base, or other design may be assigned one or more of the clauses listed above. For example, an empire has a Heavy Destroyer class that they wish to make available to another empire. The Heavy Destroyer costs 5 economic points to purchase and has a maintenance cost of 2/5. The empire opts to apply the Sale of Existing Hulls and Maintenance Contract clauses to this Heavy Destroyer under the terms of the Naval Appropriation Treaty. The cost of the Heavy Destroyer is set at 6 economic points, and the maintenance cost is increased by 1 economic point to 3/5. If the empire was to sell 8 of these Heavy Destroyers to another signatory of this particular Naval Appropriation Treaty, the selling empire would receive 48 economic points for the purchase of the hulls. They would also receive 2 economic points per turn from the maintenance contract placed on the design. This provides the selling empire a total immediate profit of 8 economic points from the sale of the destroyers, plus 2 economic points per turn so long as the opposing power continues to operate the ships and the Naval Appropriation Treaty remains in effect.

Each Naval Appropriation Treaty must stipulate which clauses are in effect, which unit types are be included in the treaty, and the treaty duration (if a limited duration is desired, otherwise it is assumed to be a persistent treaty). If changes are to be made to a Naval Appropriations Treaty the treaty must be redrafted to incorporate these changes, at which point the treaty must once again be offered and accepted by the involved parties.

The following treaty clauses are the most commonly applied to Naval Appropriation Treaties:

• Sale of Existing Hulls: With this clause, signing powers can sell existing or new construction vessels to one another. The most common use of this clause is to authorize the sale of mothballed or aging units to another power. However there are cases where a power may request the purchase of newer units for transfer. The sales cost of ships can be set at any level that the selling power wishes.

• Limited Schematic Access: This clause gives the powers rights to build new construction units of a specific type at their own worlds under the guarded attention of the opposing power. Access to the unit’s schematics is limited and a service contract with the originating empire is required to keep the unit operational. Should a Naval Appropriation Treaty of this type be dissolved, any unit(s) built under the treaty will receive technical support for the pre-agreed length of time or until refitted with native technologies.

• Full Schematic Access: This clause gives the powers rights to build new construction units of a specific type at their own worlds without the assistance of the opposing power (i.e., licensed to produce). Unlike Limited Schematic Access, Full Schematic Access cannot be revoked, even if the Naval Appropriation Treaty is canceled. However, dissolution of a Naval Appropriation Treaty of this type will still require the owning power to refit the ships in order to make them maintainable by their own forces. Until refitted, these units will receive technical support for the pre-agreed length of time or until refitted with native technologies. A power should be wary of to whom they give Full Schematic Access.

• Construction Surcharge: This clause adds an additional economic cost to the base construction cost of a unit. The amount of this surcharge is set by the selling empire and is the cost that the opposing power must pay in order to purchase the unit. The effects of a construction surcharge only apply to units for which an opposing power has either Limited or Full Schematic Access.

• Maintenance Contract: This clause adds an additional maintenance cost to the operation of designs belonging to a foreign power. If this term is invoked for one or more classes, increase their maintenance cost by 1 economic point per turn. For example, a Heavy Cruiser with a normal maintenance cost of 2/3 would cost the opposing power operating the ship 3/3 instead. This extra maintenance penalty is paid to the empire providing the unit and/or the plans for the unit. Demanding a maintenance contract clause is a good way for an empire to make residual income off of a Naval Appropriation Treaty. Maintenance contract payments end when the treaty is dissolved.

Research Treaty (60%)

A Research Treaty is an agreement that opens the doors to collaborative research efforts between the best and brightest of one or more empires. By pooling their resources, these scientists are able to work more efficiently, allowing them to achieve breakthroughs in less time than previously required. During the Tech Phase at the end of each campaign year (e.g., every 12 turns), an empire receives a bonus amount of tech investment equal to 10% of the total tech investment of each opposing power it has signed a Research Treaty with. Round all fractions up. In cases where two or more empires have entered into multiple Research Treaties together, each empire can provide only one 10% bonus, not one per treaty signed. This situation can occur if coalitions form research treaties and an empire is part of multiple coalitions.

Protectorate Treaty (-30%)

The Protectorate Treaty actually goes a step beyond a normal Alliance. Under a Protectorate Treaty, the power offering the treaty is actually seeking to become a protectorate of the target power. The equality of the Alliance treaty gives way to a political situation in which the new Protectorate begins divesting its sovereignty into the target power. Partnered empires operate under the same conditions as an Alliance, with a few modifications. Partners can purchase all space and ground unit designs belonging to their other Partnered empire(s). These designs are considered Alien Units (if that optional rule is in play). Partnered empires also treat all Defense Intel located in one another’s systems to be half that of normal (round down).

Unification Treaty (N/A)

Unification is the final step in diplomatic relations. The signing of a Unification Treaty is a demonstration that the two empires are ready to fully amalgamate into a single political union. Once a Unification Treaty has been signed, the empire that offered the treaty is effectively removed from play and has all of its assets (including systems, fleets, and ground units) are absorbed by the accepting power. All outstanding treaties signed by the offering power are likewise adopted by the accepting power, though their own treaty states take precedence in cases of declarations of hostilities/war. The Unified empire can purchase space and ground units of either player equally at no penalty, as they are no longer considered alien designs. (Example: The United Federation of Planets)

See VBAM Campaign Moderator's Companion, pp. 127-128, for additional rules regarding Unification.

Table: Diplomatic Action Modifiers

Table: Diplomatic Action Modifiers

Issue for Declaring Hostilities/War	Modifier	Issue for Breaking a Treaty	Modifier
Power implicated in successful sabotage/insurgency mission	+50%*	Power implicated in successful sabotage/insurgency (intel) mission	+100%
Power has engaged against your ships	+40%*	Power has declared hostilities/war on a mutual defense treaty member (Non-cumulative)	+90%
Power was caught running an insurgency mission on one of your systems	+35%*	Power was caught running an insurgency mission on one of your systems	+80%
Power has declared war on a mutual defense treaty member (Non-cumulative)	+30%	Power has engaged against one (or more) of your ships	+75%*
Power is currently under a Declaration of Hostilities (Non-cumulative)	+25%	Power was caught running a sabotage mission on one of your systems	+60%*
Power was caught running a sabotage mission on one of your systems	+25%*	Power has declared hostilities/war on a peace treaty member (Non-cumulative)	+50%
Power has broken a treaty with you (per treaty)	+10%*	Power was caught running an espionage mission on one of your systems	+25%*
Power was caught running an espionage mission on one of your systems	+10%*	Power has broken a treaty with you (per treaty)	+25%*
Power has declared hostilities/war on a peace treaty member (Non-cumulative)	+10%	Successfully withdrawn or broken a treaty with power	+10%*
Successfully withdrawn from an agreement or broken a treaty with power (per treaty)	+5%*	Per Intel Point spent	+5%
Per Intel Point spent	+5%	Last attempt to break a treaty with power failed	-10%
Power has a Trade Agreement with you (Non-cumulative)	-10%	Power has a Peace Treaty with you (Non-cumulative)	-20%
Power has a Non-Aggression Treaty with you (Non-cumulative)	-20%	Power is a Mutual Defense Treaty partner (Non-cumulative)	-30%
Last attempt to break a treaty with power or declare against a power failed	-25%	Power is an Alliance partner (Non-cumulative)	-50%
Power has a Peace Treaty with you (Non-cumulative)	-40%
Power has a Mutual Defense Treaty with you (Non-cumulative)	-60%
Power has an Alliance Treaty with you	Impossible

* These modifiers are used as listed if action occurred last turn and are reduced by 10% per each turn thereafter until they reach 0%.