As promised, the basic rules for my Thirty Years War campaign:

a)     The campaign lasts for 30 turns, each one representing a year of four seasons, beginning with 1618.

b)     Each year has four seasons – Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Each power can move their ARMY or ARMIES during the first three seasons, but not in Winter; the latter is a “consolidation” phase.

c)     Each POWER starts with either one ARMY or two ARMIES. Some “powers” begin the campaign from outside the Holy Roman Empire and others start inside it.

d)     France, the United Provinces, Austria, Spain, Denmark and Sweden all start the campaign from their TERRITORIAL AREAS outside the Holy Roman Empire.

e)     The Elector Palatine, Saxony, Brandenburg and Bavaria all start the campaign from their PROVINCES inside the Holy Roman Empire.

f)      The map is divided into PROVINCES which ARMIES move between by the arrows linking separate PROVINCES. No movement is possible between PROVINCES that are not linked by an arrow. All arrows are bi-directional (<->), except those (=>) from TERRITORIAL AREAS to a neighbouring PROVINCE; in the latter case, an ARMY of the owning POWER can enter and leave a PROVINCE along such an arrow, but no other POWER’s army can enter a TERRITORIAL AREA by such an arrow. An ARMY leaving a TERRITORIAL AREA may choose any one of the available arrows.

g)     At the start of Spring, Turn 1 (1618) the ARMIES of the different POWERS are distributed as follows

                  Spain = One ARMY in the Spanish Netherlands; One ARMY in Spain.

                  Austria = One ARMY in Austria.

                  Bavaria = One ARMY in Bavaria.

                  United Provinces = One ARMY in the United Provinces.

                  Elector Palatine = One ARMY in either of the Bohemia provinces.

h)     At the start of Spring, Turn 8 (1625) Denmark enters the campaign with One ARMY.

i)      At the start of Spring, Turn 12 (1629) France enters the campaign with Two ARMIES.

j)      At the start of Spring, Turn 13 (1630) Sweden enters the campaign with One ARMY; Saxony enters the campaign with One ARMY; Brandenburg enters the campaign with One ARMY.

k)     Any POWER whose ARMY enters the PROVINCE of a non-active POWER, i.e. one that has not yet entered the campaign, automatically activates that POWER early.

l)      For each season (except Winter), a POWER can move its ARMY or ARMIES from one PROVINCE to any neighbouring PROVINCE. If the latter contains a hostile ARMY, then a tabletop battle is fought; if not, then the moving POWER occupies the PROVINCE. Its ARMY must remain there until the Winter season if the moving POWER wishes to “secure” that PROVINCE, otherwise it can move on to another PROVINCE in the next season.

m)   After a tabletop battle, the winning ARMY remains in the PROVINCE, the losing ARMY retreats to the PROVINCE it came from. If the tabletop battle is a draw, each ARMY retreats to the province it came from. However, if one ARMY was already in the PROVINCE where the battle was fought, it remains there and the other ARMY retreats. Each ARMY must then rest for a season, whether it is the winner or loser, before it can move again. However, it can fight a battle if attacked by another ARMY.

n)     A tabletop battle lasts 12 game turns, but if it occurs in the Summer season, add 3 turns to the battle’s duration to represent longer daylight hours.

o)     A PROVINCE that has been “secured” becomes part of that POWER’s territory and can have an ARMY or ARMIES deployed into it at the start of the Spring season.

p)     Each POWER has basic Victory Conditions it must meet as indicated below:

                  UNITED PROVINCES – “secure” all neighbouring PROVINCES and prevent them falling to hostile POWERS,

                  SPAIN – establish the “Spanish Road” (see below for definition) and prevent the United Provinces securing all neighbouring PROVINCES to its TERRITORIAL AREA.

                  FRANCE – prevent Spain from establishing the “Spanish Road” and “secure” all neighbouring PROVINCES to France.

                  AUSTRIA – “secure” Bohemia (both PROVINCES) and as many other PROVINCES as possible which were held by the Elector Palatine or neutral at the start of the campaign.

                  ELECTOR PALATINE – keep control of all PROVINCES held at the start of the campaign.

                  BAVARIA – “secure” as many other PROVINCES as possible which were neutral or held by the Elector Palatine at the start of the campaign.

                  SAXONY – “secure” as many other PROVINCES as possible which were neutral at the start of the campaign.

                  BRANDENBURG – “secure” as many other PROVINCES as possible which were neutral at the start of the campaign.

                  DENMARK – “secure” as many other PROVINCES as possible which were neutral at the start of the campaign.

                  SWEDEN – “secure” as many other PROVINCES as possible in the Holy Roman Empire.

q)     Victory Points: Tabletop Battle Won/Lost +5/-5 VP; Tabletop Battle Drawn + 2 VP; Province “secured” or lost +5/-5 VP. Victory Points are cumulative through the course of the campaign, so each POWER will have a running total.

r)      In addition, individual POWERS have the following Victory Point bonuses:

                  Spain + 10 VP if the “Spanish Road” (a continues line of PROVINCES connecting Spain and Spanish Netherlands) is complete at the Winter season of that turn.

                  France + 10 VP if the “Spanish Road” is not complete at the Winter Season of that turn (this only applies once France has entered the campaign.

                  Elector Palatine + 10 VP if all original PROVINCES still controlled at the Winter season of that turn.

                  Brandenburg + 10 VP if all neighbouring PROVINCES to Brandenburg are neutral or have been “secured” at the Winter season of that turn.

                  Saxony + 10 VP if three or more PROVINCES have been “secured” at the Winter season of that turn.

s)      At the start of Spring, Turn 1 (1618), Spain, Austria and Bavaria are allied. An ally’s ARMY may enter an ally’s PROVINCES, but they cannot remain there to “secure” them at the Winter season of that turn. At the start of Spring, Turn 13 (1630), the United Provinces, France and Sweden are allied and the same rule applies to those POWERS.

t)      Each ARMY has a basic strength of:

                        One Cuirassier Squadron

                        Eight Horse Squadrons

                        One Dragoon Squadron

                        Four Foot Regiments

                        One Medium Gun Battery

                        Four Generals (Two Mounted, Two Foot)

            In addition, each POWER is entitled to bonus units for a tabletop battle:

                        1) roll 1d6 for units: odds mean no reinforcements; evens mean reinforcements – roll 1d6 or 1d8 twice as appropriate according to the list below of the relevant POWER.

                        2) roll 1d6 for generals: evens mean no additional general; odds mean add an extra general to the army – re-roll 1d6, with evens meaning an infantry general, odds meaning a cavalry general.

            UNITED PROVINCES          1 = One Cuirassier Squadron

                                                            2 = One Foot Regiment

                                                            3 = One Foot Regiment

                                                            4 = One Heavy Gun Battery

                                                            5 = One Commanded Shot Battalion

                                                            6 = Fieldworks

                                                                (any Gun Batteries and any Two Foot Units)

            FRANCE                     1 = One Horse Squadron

                                                2 = One Horse Squadron

                                                3 = One Horse Squadron

                                                4 = One Horse Squadron

                                                5 = One Heavy Gun Battery

                                                6 = One Heavy Gun Battery

            SPAIN                         1 = One Lancer Squadron

                                                2 = One Foot Regiment

                                                3 = One Foot Regiment

                                                4 = One Light Battery

                                                5 = One Lancer Squadron

                                                6 = One Light Battery

            ELECTOR PALATINE          Automatic = One Commanded Shot Battalion

            SWEDEN                    1 = One Horse Squadron

                                                2 = One Horse Squadron

                                                3 = One Horse Squadron

                                                4 = One Horse Squadron

                                                5 = One Foot Regiment

                                                6 = One Foot Regiment

                                                7 = One Heavy Gun Battery

                                                8 = One Light Battery

            AUSTRIA                   1 = One Cuirassier Squadron

                                                2 = One Lancer Squadron

                                                3 = One Foot Regiment

                                                4 = One Foot Regiment

                                                5 = One Heavy Battery

                                                6 = One Heavy Battery

            SAXONY                    1 = One Cuirassier Squadron

                                                2 = One Commanded Shot Battalion

                                                3 = One Foot Regiment

                                                4 = One Foot Regiment

                                                5 = One Heavy Battery

                                                6 = One Heavy Battery

            BRANDENBURG, BAVARIA, DENMARK are all as for SAXONY