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 2026 Narrative Report
Dixiecon 2026 Narrative Report
By Tournament Director David Hood
Let me tell you what happened in that other event in late May, the same weekend when Mikalis Kamaritis was winning the 2026 World Dipcon in Greece with an outstanding performance as Germany on a stacked top board. The 40th annual Dixiecon was taking place in Chapel Hill, North Carolina during that same time, featuring a total of eleven boards of Diplomacy, open gaming out the Wazoo, and a new addition to the tournament’s list of champions that we call the Order of the Knife.
But let’s start at the very beginning, as Julie Andrews would sing. Before the Diplomacy event begins on Friday night, there are activities on site as folk arrive Thursday afternoon all the way to 6pm Friday when Diplomacy commences. This year we had a lot of Thursday attendees actually, so gaming was hot and heavy both that night and during the day Friday. Games I saw Thursday included Concordia, Imperial Tide, Forest Shuffle, Love Letters, Railways of the Western US, Long Shot and two more that would compete for “Game of the Con” over the weekend, Space Base and One Hour WW II. During Friday gaming I saw boards played of Baltic Empires, Watergate, Ink, Terraforming Mars, Five Crowns, Bridge, Castles of Burgundy, Seven Wonders Architects, and more Space Base.
These non-Dip games are played just for fun, of course, but also in order to win points during our Iron Man competition. Game results are scored based on length and complexity of each board game, with the event run (quite well I might add) by first time GM Alex Ronke. The Iron Man provides a nice side event for Diplomacy players who have been eliminated from their games or who are skipping a round, as well as the main event for what usually amounts to around half of overall Dixiecon attendees - those who do not now or never really did play Dip on a tournament level. There are several past Dixiecon Diplomacy champs who now come just to socialize and Iron Man during the weekend, and it’s great to have them. Also they are usually willing to fill out a Dip board when I need another person, which is a major benefit to me as tournament director. I’ve never, ever, had to ask someone to play two boards to fill out a Diplomacy round, a luxury in today’s Dip tournament scene.
Friday afternoon saw the earlier trickle of attendance turn into a flood as the Diplomacy players crowded into the basement of Granville South to make the 6pm open ceremonies. This consists of awarding trophies from past years, providing logistical information, and as a special Dixiecon yearly event, all those who can wear some form of seeksucker clothing to honor the Southern tradition of changeover from spring fashion to summer. Then, it was time for the games!
This year, the Diplomacy games were all named for things invented in North Carolina. Naturally, the first game was called Pepsi-Cola and featured a very caffeinated EF two way between David Miller and Keith Worstell - which would catapult them each into contention from the word go. They were able to convince Jason Bennett in Turkey that, had he insisted on being in the draw, they could and would grind him out into a 17/17. Each of the other games that round ended in three-way draws, including results which would eventually lead to Best Country awards for Chris Barfield as a 12-center Italy and Doc Binder as an 11-center Germany. You want the game names? Of course you do: Barcodes, Overalls and Nascar, which are all NC inventions.
Friday night also saw the continuation of Iron Man gaming, including titles such as Railroad Tycoon, M’Lem Space Agency, Tichu, as well as an old-style Brittania game won by Steve Koehler. Steve parlayed that victory into a second-place showing overall in the Iron Man event.
The Saturday morning Dip round also doubles as the team tournament at Dixiecon. Each team of three players combines their scores from the round and the highest total is the winner. This year, the team of Smiling Nicely came out on top, on the strength of Keith Worstell’s solo as Russia in the Krispy Kreme game and a two-way by Randy Lawrence-Hurt also as Russia in the Lance Crackers game. Third team member Todd Craig survived his Vicks Vaporub game, weirdly also as Russia. They edged the second place Team Colorado, consisting of Manus Hand, Liam Bennett and Eber Condrell. Other important results from this second round included Randy’s draw partner Tim Richardson as Austria in Lance Crackers relying on that score to finish fourth in the tournament overall, and Andy Bartalone’s three-way allowing him to clinch seventh place overall in the Gatling Gun game.
Iron Man action continued all day on Saturday, with games being played (among others) of Splendor, Battle Sheep, Space Base, M’Lem, Magic: The Gathering, Princes of Florence, Ark Nova and Transamerica. After a break in the action for our traditional annual barbeque, the Iron Man gaming intensified that evening as Diplomacy players were mostly now free to participate. Games I saw that evening included Pillars of the Earth, St Petersburg, Watergate, TMars, Cascadia, Space Base, Ticket to Ride, So Clover, Just One, Magic, Outpost, Twilight Struggle, Captain Sonar, TMars and Flip Seven. There was also a rousing poker game lead by Vincent Agosta, Andy Bartalone, and others, as well as (in lieu of our usual Dip variant offering) a board of the new diplomatic game called Imperial Borders. Let’s just say that Granville was loud, crowded, and awesome all night long.
Going into the Sunday round of Diplomacy, everyone knew that Keith would be very difficult to catch given his previous results of a solo and two-way draw. Sunday solos are possible, though (see Karthik’s win in 2024 based on a Sunday solo) so three boards of hopefuls gathered to fight it out for spots on Dixiecon’s annual top board (best seven finishers.) The Putt Putt Golf game ended in a four-way, so its participants could not use that score to place high in the overall standings. Same was true in the M-1 Carbine game, ending in a five-way stalemate as the EGR powers were able to stymie the AT attempt at domination of the board by Jason Bennett as Austria and Sloth Wheeler as Turkey. In the third game, called Modern Shipping Container, a three-way draw result did cement David Miller’s third place overall and Andy Bartalone’s seven-place overall.
In the Iron Man competition, Sunday saw a number of games played as contestants tried to break into the top three positions for awards. Games included Dune Imperium, Space Base, Titan, Heat, Forest Shuffle, Remix and Terraforming Mars. Ultimately, Bruce Duewer added an Iron Man victory in 2026 to his decades long list of awards in the competition, with Steve Koehler taking second and Bill Morgan in the third position. In addition to the Best Country awards already mentioned above, other Besties included Ben Kellman as Turkey and Keith Worsell taking both Best France and Best Russia. Tim Crosby had quite the Diplomacy weekend, with two eliminations and a very llooonnnngggg small survival in his other game, winning I Got Hammered by a mile. Doc Binder won Golden Blade for his round one game as Germany, with Liam Bennett taking a very tight vote as Players Choice with Farrell Moskow a close second.
It also very much deserves mentioning that Keith Worstell pulled off a never-seen-before combo by winning not only the Diplomacy Tournament, but also the Brick award (for bone-headed play), as a result of the EXACT SAME GAME. He ordered F MAO to Spain without specifying a coast, meaning he was stuck at seventeen for that game year. He then, of course, proceeded to take three the next year to end at 20 centers, but he was clearly still a bonehead.
All in all, a great time was had. I was personally pleased to see the good turnout and loads of new friend connections made, even in a year when many of our normal attendees were in Greece. After awards and dinner, the open gaming continued into the night with the traditional Escape from Colditz game being played alongside boards of Railways of the Eastern US, Splendor, Magic, Cascadia, Transamerica and Space Base. Make plans now to attend the 41st annual event over Memorial Day weekend 2027!