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
