The Philippines is US-controlled, so it should be a US SC
China is so politically fragmented that it can't be a major power. However, you can always let it have a bunch of standing units that have to be support-attacked in order to take certain SC's (Beijing, Shanghai, etc.)
Russia is too weak in this variant, so you should expand the map so that it includes all of India. That would allow you to put Britain in the game.

I like the map and concept. A few suggestions though.
A. Maybe make Russia purple? Just so it feels like classic.
B. Add some centers. It is difficult to sense playability errors if the map doesn't have any designated SC's.
C. I would recommend over-exaggerating the size of the Pacific Islands that are coastal spaces. That way, the owner of that place is very clear. Another way of going about this would be like what Oli did with the Imperial Diplomacy II map, with the flags that show ownership.

Thanks Ninja, the colours were just to demonstrate and SC's etc will be added

China is one of the 5 members sitting permanently in the United Nations Security Council.

I think that China definitely deserves a place in a Pacific Theatre variant. As probably would Britain (Singapore & India as suggested by ImperialDiplomat) if you intend to add the 6th player.

Thank you very much Synapse for another great idea and for your work !

About Ninjanrd's suggestion C. :

1° Yes : over-exaggerating the size of the Pacific Islands is certainly a great idea.

2° About those "flags" you are talking about on the Imperial Diplomacy II map, are you talking about those rectangles attached to some coastal spaces ? Those rectangles make the map in fact much more difficult to read ! While playing this variant, several players have written to me in order to ask me to explain them how that map should be read ! And many players have complained about how it is difficult to read.

-> Those rectangles are, in my opinion at least, a bad idea.

And yes : China - who was never conquered by Japan, by the way - certainly deserves a place in a Pacific Theatre variant.

I would suggest the players be USA, Japan, Britain, USSR, Nationalist China (Republic of China) and Communist China. The Philippines should be US control and contain at least 1 SC (maybe 2). I wouldn't have the US mainland be in the game - Alaskan islands as an SC would be fine I think but the mainland stretches it too much.

I would also stretch the map west a bit to include eastern India and Burma. For SCs:

USA: Honolulu, Philippines, Midway, Guam, Aleutian Islands
Japan: Tokyo, Kyoto, Korea, Iwajima, Taipei (Taiwan)
USSR: Vladivostok, 4 other eastern Russian cities
Britain: 2 in Australia (Sydney, Canberra?), 2 in India (Calcutta/Bombay?) and Singapore.
China: 4 SC

Neutral armies in: Indonesia (several, Dutch holdings... Sumatra, Java, maybe a neutral fleet supporting hold, Borneo)

Neutral armies in Communist China (northern/northwestern-ish, forget exact areas, should be 2+ armies)


Manchuria should be a Japanese-colored territory with a neutral SC - sort of like http://vdiplomacy.com/variants.php?variantID=12 with China.

Neutral SCs: Burma, Saigon, Malaya, Manchuria

Importantly I think less neutral SCs= better. The only true neutral SC I see are the Dutch holdings in Indonesia, French holdings in Indochina, Communist China, maybe Mongolia.

@Retillion
No, I was referring to the flags inside the island territories. i.e. Bahamas, Virgin Islands, Azores.

@Chaqa
Do you ever hear battle stories about the brave Dutch Indonesian fighters? I agree with the standing armies in French Indochina and Communist China, I disagree with your armies in Indonesia. Also, the US mainland should be included, albeit maybe a little farther away than it currently is. It didn't play a large battleground, but it was vital to the American response to Pearl Harbor.

@ Ninjanrd : thank you for the clarification :) Yes : those flags could be very useful !

@Ninjanrd: You should also consider the idea of expanding the game to include India and maybe Afghanistan as well.

However, at least 1 standing army in Indonesia is vital, or Australia will get steamrolled too quickly by Japanese forces.

"I wouldn't have the US mainland be in the game - Alaskan islands as an SC would be fine I think but the mainland stretches it too much."

I agree.

"Also, the US mainland should be included, albeit maybe a little farther away than it currently is. It didn't play a large battleground, but it was vital to the American response to Pearl Harbor."

By that reasoning, shouldn't mainland Britain be included?

It seems to me it wouldn't make sense historically (as it wasn't part of the battle field) or game play wise.

@Aeon: I couldn't agree more. I think that this variant which I am designing fixes some of the Pacific Variant's problems.

http://postimage.org/image/d3graivkx/

@Aeon
That makes sense. I guess it would just feel empty to me with just mainland Asia, and then the endless sea. Too many world games, I suppose.
@ImperialDiplomat
So long as Australia makes an aggressive northern first year, I think it could very easily defend against Japan, as the latter does not have access to Indonesia/ New Guinea in the first year. If they are all centers and Australia starts with two northern fleets, then you can stretch the map out any way you want, and Indonesia, New Guinea, and New Zealand are guaranteed builds.

US Supply Centers
San Fransisco
Anchorage
Pearl Harbor
The Philippines
Guam? Wake Island? Midway?

Japan Supply Centers
Tokyo
Manchuria
Seoul
Fukushima
Hiroshima? Iwo Jima? Nagasaki?

China Supply Centers
Beijing
Shanghai
Hong Kong
Tibet? Yunnan?

Australia Supply Centers
Perth? Darwin? Sydney? Melbourne? Brisbane?

USSR Supply Centers
Vladivostok
Irkutsk
Okhotsk? Kamchatskiy? Yakutsk?

Slightly updated preview: http://s24.postimage.org/yiscjig6t/smallmap.jpg

http://s24.postimage.org/z39hox851/smallmap.jpg

Synapse, thank you very much for your work !

I have 2 questions about the Arctic Ocean :

1° Maybe it should be (much) less than 4 Sea Zones because, in reality, it is MUCH SMALLER than it looks on your map.

2° Anyway, are you sure that you want that Fleets can move there ? I mean, by that time, it was not at all usable for military naval operations. I think that it should be impassable.

mark in the SC's with black circles or black squares and color in the powers (Japan = Red, Russia = Purple, America = Blue, etc.)

Yes, you are making excellent progress on this map. I enjoy watching the construction of variants!
And, about supply centers, I think...

US:
San Francisco
Anchorage
Pearl Harbor
*Manilla (in place of the name "Phillipines", same spot)
*Guam
*Midway

Japan:
Tokyo
*Shenyang (Same as with Phillipines)
Seol
Fukushima
*Nagasaki
*Hiroshima

China:
Beijing
Shanghai
*Guangzhou
*Tanjin

Australia:
*Sydney
*Brisbane
*Darwin
*Perth

USSR:
Vladivostok
*Kamchatsky
Irkutsk
*Okhotsk
*Moscow (maybe include an inset on inner Russia, adjacent to Dolgans and Irkutsk)

Once again, I like the progress you're making on the map.

Oops
*Seoul
My apologies.

Oh, and a neutral standing army in Hong Kong to represent the British stronghold.

Congratulations on the new map! I just realized that it was you!