From the Second Edition Introduction
With the publication of this booklet, the Colonial War Games "Trinity" of The Sword and the Flame, The Sword and the Flame: The Sun Never Sets. and Gunboat Diplomacy is now complete.
From the Introduction
Originally developed by Mr. Bob Duncan in 1991 and demonstrated by him at various conventions around the country, Gunboat Diplomacy is a charming combination of wargame simplicity and, atmosphere, and utility. Mr. Duncan generously provided his game gratis to players while happily engaged in building his own model gunboats and conducting games we can only envy--or emulate.
The original rules were designed for battles between 25mm gunboats, mostly scratchbuilt. Specific rules for determining the full game details such as crew size, turning capacities, speed, when to make "Special Hit" checks, etc., have been added to the original rules.
Gunboat Diplomacy is a game played with ship models, either commercially produced or scratchbuilt by the players themselves. The game has been specifically designed to link with The Sword and the Flame: The Sun Never Sets and/or The Sword and the Flame. However, this is a "stand alone" wargame system requiring only the rules and components included or described in order to play.