1714: The Case of the Catalans Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• 2. Game Components
  • 2.1 The Powers
  • 2.2 The Map
• 3. Setting Up the Game
• 4. Sequence of Play
  • a) Card's placement
  • b) Choice of cards
  • c) Players actions
  • d) Actions Banned
  • e) Bourbon reinforcements (only when there is a blue turn marker on the French reserve)
  • f) Concessions
• 5. Cards
  • 5.1. Cards' Text or Value in Points
  • 5.2. Card Types
  • 5.3. Card Symbols
  • 5.4. Concessions Pile
• 6. Player Actions
  • 6.1. General Rules
  • 6.2. Attack (Warfare action)
  • 6.3. Recruit (Warfare action)
  • 6.4. Move (Warfare action)
  • 6.5. Resources
  • 6.6. Will to Fight
• 7. Negotiations
• 8. Ending the Game and Victory Conditions
  • 8.1. Fall of Barcelona
  • 8.2. Bourbon Defeat
• 9. Game with 2, 3 or 4 Players
• Credits
• Playing Aids
  • Sequence of Play
  • Card Symbols
  • Rules of Bourbon Recruitment
  • Distribution of Concessions

2. Game Components

As well as this rules booklet you should have:

• playing board with the map of Europe,
• 110 cards (40 Goal Cards, 15 Concession Cards and 55 Tactical Cards),
• booklet of historical notes and
• wooden pieces:
  • Great Britain, red: 12 cubes, 2 action markers and 1 turn marker.
  • Dutch Republic, orange: 12 cubes, 2 action markers and 1 turn marker.
  • Austria, white: 17 cubes, 2 action markers and 1 turn marker.
  • Portugal, green: 9 cubes, 2 action markers and 1 turn marker.
  • Duchy of Savoy, purple: 9 cubes, 2 action markers and 1 turn marker.
  • Holy Roman Empire, black: 15 cubes.
  • Crown of Aragon: 3 yellow cubes and 13 grey octagonal prisms (rampart segments from the wall of Barcelona).
  • France, blue: 42 cubes, 1 turn marker.
  • Crown of Castile, brown: 8 cubes.
  • Bavaria, grey: 6 cubes.

The colours identify the troops and the Home Spaces.

2.1 The Powers

The Allies

The Allies are Great Britain, the Dutch Republic, Austria, the Duchy of Savoy, Portugal, the Holy Roman Empire and the Crown of Aragon. Any reference to the Allies in the cards or rules will affect these seven nations.

Allied troops eliminated must be placed in their respective Reserves and can be recruited again.

The Bourbon powers

The Bourbon powers are France, the Crown of Castile and Bavaria. Any reference to the Bourbon powers in the cards or rules will affect these three nations.

Bourbon troops eliminated must be placed out of the game and can only be recruited again through the use of some cards' text.

2.2 The Map

The map depicts the areas of Europe that witnessed the War of Succession. The overprinted hexagonal grid facilitates the troops' movement and battles. On the board, various tracks register available resources, actions carried out and the countries' level of WF, the player turn sequence and the Reserves, which include those troops not yet recruited.

Note: we have kept the original place names in the map, whereas the cards contain the English equivalent. For instance, the map shows Mantova, whereas the Concession shows Mantua. With the Goal Cards the spaces in the map can be accurately identified.

• The spaces (hexagons) with the name written in red and encircled by a red line are victory spaces. They represent key war locations and earn VP to the players that occupy them at the end of the game.
• Each space can accommodate a maximum of 3 troops (wooden cubes).
• Allied and Bourbon troops cannot coincide in the same space.
• There are two maritime areas defined by the colour of the anchors (see section 6.4). Dark blue anchors signal Atlantic ports, whereas light blue anchors signal Mediterranean ports (note that Gibraltar has both anchors). This distinction affects the seaborne manoeuvring of the troops.
• Ports in the same area are considered adjacent.
• Some spaces are marked with the initial deployments of the troops (see examples below).
• The three spaces in the Alps (indicated by mountain symbols) cannot be occupied by troops and cannot be crossed.

Examples from the map

• Breisgau is a victory space and an Imperial recruitment space and starts the game with 1 troop from the Holy Roman Empire and 2 from Austria.
• Munich (München) is a victory space and a recruitment space for Bavaria and starts the game with 2 troops from Bavaria.
• Cremona is a recruitment space for Castile and starts the game with 2 troops from France and 1 from Castile.
• Turin (Torino) is a recruitment space for Savoy and starts the game with 3 troops from Savoy.
• Mantua (Mantova) is a victory space and a recruitment space for Castile and starts the game with 3 troops from Austria.
• Toulon is a victory space and a recruitment space for France, a Mediterranean port (and thus adjacent to the other Mediterranean ports) and starts the game with 1 troop from France.

3. Setting Up the Game

These rules apply to a game of 5 players. For games of 2, 3 or 4 players read firstly section 9.

• After choosing sides, deploy your initial troops and the Imperial troops as indicated on the board. The troops that do not start the game should be placed on the Reserve of each country identified by their coat of arms.
• Deploy the Bourbon troops as indicated on the board. The Bourbon troops that do not start the game must be situated on their Reserve boxes. The French troops have three big Reserve boxes, one for each period of the war. Each box must contain seven troops, one for each blue box.
• Position the 13 rampart segments of the wall around the map of Barcelona and the troops of the Crown of Aragon on their Reserve box.
• Each player places one of his/her cubes on box '10' of the Resources marker and another on the 'Initial' WF level.
• A player turn sequence must be chosen randomly just for the first round of the game. The turn markers must be placed according to this sequence.
• From his/her 8 available cards, each player must draw 3 Goal Cards randomly. These are the goals of the players that will modify the VP at the end of the game. They must be kept in secret and cannot be exchanged amongst players by means of negotiations.
• Shuffle the 15 Concessions to create the Concessions Pile.
• Shuffle the cards of the Early-War and create the Draw Pile.

If this is your first game, stop reading now and follow the game explained in the historical notes booklet.

4. Sequence of Play

a) Card's placement

From top to bottom, put on the board as many cards from the Draw Pile as players.

If there is any treaty, the blue turn marker should be placed on the first French Reserve box with troops. This round will have a phase e.

b) Choice of cards

Following the player turn sequence, each player places his/her turn marker over his/her chosen card as long as this card does not have the turn marker of any other player.

c) Players actions

In turns and following the sequence of cards from top to bottom, the players decide how to play the card they have chosen (see section 5). When a player finishes, he/she must put his/her turn marker in the available box with the highest value in the Turn Sequence Track.

d) Actions Banned

Take the markers from the previous round from the Actions Banned column (there will not be any in the first round) and move the action markers of the current round to the boxes of the Actions Banned column.

e) Bourbon reinforcements (only when there is a blue turn marker on the French reserve)

• Recruit as many Bourbon troops as the highest value of WF. If all players are not at war, no recruitment takes place.
• The troops are recruited one by one following the player turn sequence.
• No French troop from a specific period can be recruited until all troops from the previous period (Reserve box) have been recruited. From each French Reserve box, the troop highlighted in red must be recruited firstly, activating phase f of Concessions' distribution.

Rules of Bourbon Recruitment

• Bavarian troops can only be recruited in their Home Spaces (grey).
• Castilian troops can only be recruited in their Home Spaces (brown) or in the spaces of the Crown of Aragon.
• French troops can be recruited in any Bourbon space (grey, blue and brown) and in the spaces of the Crown of Aragon.
• The space must have a Bourbon troop or be adjacent to a Bourbon or Allied troop.

f) Concessions

If the first troop from a French Reserve box (the one highlighted in red) has been recruited, either at phase e of the round or following the text of a card:

• If the first troop of the Mid- and Late-War has been recruited, add the cards of this same war period to the Draw Pile and shuffle them together with the discarded cards to produce a new Draw Deck.
• Deal 5 Concessions from the Concessions Pile, as indicated in section 5.4.

5. Cards

In each turn, the player must decide how to play the card. The different types of cards and their function are described next.

5.1. Cards' Text or Value in Points

Cards with a value from 1 to 4 can be played:

As per card's text

• Deduct the value of the card from your Resources and execute the card's text. Place the card on the Discard Pile or eliminate it from the game if so indicated in the card's text.
• You cannot play the card as per card's text if after paying the value of the card your Resources fall below –10.
• When the card contains countries' coats of arms on their left-hand side, only the players of these countries can play as per card's text.

As per card's value

• Add the value of the card to your Resources. Next, you can carry out one of the Actions described in section 6.
• The text and icons of the card are without effect. Place the card on the Discard Pile.

Cards of value 0 (mandatory)

• The text of the card must always be executed; the player determines the troops or affected players and the sequence of execution of all actions and effects.
• The player can carry out one Action (see section 6) prior, during or after executing the text of the card.
• EXCEPTION: see Battles below.

5.2. Card Types

Events

The historical facts can affect one or more players. If the value of the card is 0, the player can execute one Action (see section 6) prior, during or after carrying out the text of the card.

Characters

The characters represent significant Allied figures. If playing as per card's text, the player places the card face up in front of him/her; his/her turn is now over. The player will be able to play it as per card's text from the next round. Once played, the player discards or eliminates the card.

Battles

Battles represent the most significant confrontations of the War of Succession. The game comprises two types of Battle: Allied Victories and Bourbon Victories. When the player puts into action the text of the Battle, he/she determines the sequence in which the different effects are executed and the card is eliminated from the game.

Bourbon Victories: the player must execute every command in the card and can only carry out an Action if all the Allied losses indicated by the symbols are his/her own troops.

Allied Victories: can NOT be played as per card's text by the players that are NOT at war.

Concessions

Concessions represent the terms that the Bourbon powers were willing to concede to the Allies during the peace talks in exchange for ending the war. There are 15 Concessions in the Concession Deck and 3 in the Game Deck.

The value of the card is shown over the symbol of a coat of arms as a reminder that the concession is obtained paying the cost with WF and not with Resources.

The cards in the Concessions Pile are distributed as explained in 5.4.

When a player wants to play one of the three Concessions of the deck as per card's text, he/she must subtract as many WF levels as indicated by the value of the card and must place the card by his/her side. If the card value is 0, the player must keep the Concession and is allowed to execute one Action (see section 6).

Treaties

Represent the main negotiations between members of the Grand Alliance and the Bourbon forces throughout the war. They are played like Events, but activate a Phase of Bourbon Reinforcements (4.e) when the current round is finished.

5.3. Card Symbols

• The player must eliminate 1 Allied troop adjacent to a Bourbon troop.
• The player must eliminate 1 Bourbon troop adjacent to an Allied troop.
• The player must eliminate 2 Allied troops from a single space adjacent to a Bourbon troop, except when only one troop exists in the chosen space.
• The player must eliminate 2 Bourbon troops from a single space adjacent to an Allied troop, except when only one troop exists in the chosen space.
• The player must eliminate 1 Bourbon troop and 1 Allied troop in adjacent spaces.
• The player is allowed to relocate 2 Bourbon troops following Bourbon recruitment rules (4.e).
• The player reveals the first card on the Draw Pile and adds as many rampart segments to the wall of Barcelona as its value indicates. The card shown is discarded without further effect.
• The player reveals the first card on the Draw Pile and eliminates as many rampart segments from the wall of Barcelona and/or Crown of Aragon troops from the map as its value indicates. The card shown is discarded without further effect.
• This card belongs to the Concessions Pile.
• The blue turn marker should be placed on the first French Reserve box with troops. This round will have a phase e.

5.4. Concessions Pile

The Concessions Pile comprises 15 Concessions that are dealt when the first French troop (highlighted in red) is recruited from each Reserve box, corresponding to the Early-War, Mid-War and Late-War.

The distribution is as follows:

• After shuffling the Concessions Pile, the first 5 should be placed on the board designated spaces.
• In decreasing order of WF, each player chooses a Concession over which he/she places his/her turn marker.
• When two or more players with the same level of WF do not reach an agreement, priority goes to the player with more occupied Bourbon spaces.
• If the tie persists, priority goes to the player with more Resources.
• If the tie still persists, follow the turn sequence.
• The card 'Eugene of Savoy' cannot be used to change the order of Concessions.
• The players can at this point negotiate a change of position of the markers using as currency the text in the Concessions and their own Resources.
• Following the sequence of Concessions on the board, each player places the Concession face up by his/her side, executes the card's text and decreases the WF as many levels as the value of VP of the Concession.
• When the players draw the Concessions, they place the turn markers on the last available box, thus creating a new player turn sequence, as explained in section 4.c.
• Games with 2, 3 or 4 players: when all Concessions have been handed out, 1 or 2 will be left and must be auctioned according to the following rules:
  1. Players with –10 Resources are excluded from the auction.
  2. The player with the highest position in the player turn sequence starts the bidding for a concession of his/her choice and is required to place a minimum bid of 1 Resource.
  3. The other players, in player turn sequence, can improve the bidding or forego. If a player forgoes, he/she remains excluded from the auction for that Concession.
  4. When all players but one forgo, the Concession is won by the highest bidder, who executes the Concession's text and decreases his/her WF as previously explained and his/her Resources by the amount of the highest bid.
  5. This procedure must be repeated for each Concession that has not been dealt.
  6. If all the players have -10 Resources, the remaining Concessions to be auctioned must be eliminated from the game.

6. Player Actions

6.1. General Rules

• When a player executes an action, he/she places the action marker of his/her colour on the box of that particular action as a reminder that nobody else can carry out the same action during the current round.
• When the round finishes, the action markers move to the boxes of the Actions Banned column as a reminder that a player cannot repeat the same action in two consecutive rounds (see section 4.d).
• When not at war, the player cannot carry out Warfare actions, i.e., he/she cannot Attack, Recruit or Move and is not allowed to play the battle cards of Allied Victories as per card's text.

6.2. Attack (Warfare action)

• Effect: eliminates a Bourbon troop adjacent to one of your troops, to an Imperial troop (before 'Death of Joseph I' has been played) or to a Crown of Aragon troop. You can only eliminate a maximum of 2 troops per space in a maximum of 2 spaces, i.e., one Attack action cannot eliminate more than 4 Bourbon troops.
• Cost: based on the WF of the player, between 1 and 3 resources per eliminated Bourbon troop.

6.3. Recruit (Warfare action)

• Effect: recruit a troop from your country in a Home Space or in a space that contains your troops.
• Great Britain uses Dutch Republic spaces as Home Spaces to recruit.
• Until 'Death of Joseph I' is played, everybody can recruit Imperial troops in the Imperial Home Spaces or in the spaces that contain Imperial troops.
• Cost: based on the WF of the player, between 1 and 3 resources per recruited troop.

6.4. Move (Warfare action)

• Effect:
  • Terrestrial: move one of your troops or a troop of the Crown of Aragon to an adjacent space without enemies.
  • Maritime: move one of your troops or a troop of the Crown of Aragon from the current port to a port without enemies.
• Terrestrial and maritime movements can be combined for the same troop.
• Everybody is allowed to move Imperial troops until 'Death of Joseph I' is played.
• During the Early-War, maritime movement can only take place between any two Atlantic ports from Amsterdam to Gibraltar, both included.
• Cost of terrestrial movement: 1 resource per space and troop moved.
• Cost of maritime movement:
  • 2 resources per troop moved between ports in the same zone (same anchor colour).
  • 3 resources per troop moved between ports of different zones (different anchor colour).

6.5. Resources

• Effect: you win 5 Resources and 2 additional Resources for each Bourbon space occupied by your troops.

6.6. Will to Fight

• Effect: increase your WF.
• Cost: you pay a number of Resources equal to the value of each level risen.
• Limitation: you can pay the cost of several levels at once as long as your debt does not exceed –10 Resources.

7. Negotiations

The players can always negotiate the use of the cards, such as the sequence of execution of the card's text, which player is affected, or play the card as per card's text or for the card's value. The negotiation includes the exchange and sale of Concessions, Characters, the transfer of Resources amongst players and agreements in relation to future rounds. The Goal Cards are secret and cannot be exchanged. During the distribution of Concessions (5.4), their text can be used for negotiations. The agreements that refer to the current round must be satisfied; the agreements that refer to future rounds are never binding.

8. Ending the Game and Victory Conditions

The game ends when one of the following events takes place:

8.1. Fall of Barcelona

When the last rampart segment of the wall of Barcelona is eliminated.

In this case, the game ends immediately without finishing the turn and the active player cannot carry out any other action. The VP of each player are counted as follows:

• 1 VP for each victory space occupied. Double the VP if the space is a secret goal for the player.
• As many VP as the Value of each Concession. Double the VP if the concession is a secret goal for the player.
• Crown of Aragon: 2 VP for occupying Alacant, 2 VP for Valencia, 2 VP for Tortosa and 3 VP for Barcelona.
• 5 VP for occupying Madrid.
• 10 VP for occupying Paris.
• Negative VP if 'XIII Clause in the Treaty of Utrecht' has been played.
• As many negative VP as the value of negative Resources.

In case of tie, the player with more Resources wins. If still tied, the victory is shared among the tied powers.

8.2. Bourbon Defeat

When 20 Bourbon troops or less remain in the map in the Late-War.

The game finishes at the end of the current round. Each player's VP are counted as follows:

• 1 VP for each victory space occupied.
• As many VP as the Value of each Concession.
• 5 VP for occupying Madrid.
• 10 VP for occupying Paris.
• 5 VP for the Concession of the Pact of Genoa.
• 7 VP for Austria if 'Death of Joseph I' has been played.
• As many negative VP as the value of negative Resources.

In case of tie, the player with more Resources wins. If still tied, the victory is shared among the tied powers.

9. Game with 2, 3 or 4 Players

4 Players:

• No player controls Portugal.
• The initial troops and reserve of Portugal are deployed but Portugal's Resources and Will to Fight are not calculated.

3 Players:

• No player controls Austria or Savoy.
• The initial troops of Austria and Savoy and their reserves are deployed but their Resources and Will to Fight are not calculated.

2 Players:

• One player controls Great Britain and the Dutch Republic and the other player controls Austria and Savoy.
• The initial troops and reserve of Portugal are deployed but Portugal's Resources and Will to Fight are not calculated.
• At the end of the game, the players count the VP of each country separately and compare the two countries with less VP. The player with the country with more VP wins.

Credits

Game designer: Ivan Prat Graphic design: Isabel Fernández Game developer: Jordi Prieto Translation: Eulàlia Farré Proofreaders: Marc Figueras and Marià Pitarque Production: Xavi Garriga Edition: Joaquim Dorca

Published by Devir Iberia, S.L., C/ Rosselló 184, 6è 1a, 08038 Barcelona — www.devir.es

® 2014 - Devir Iberia, S.L. • Game designed by Ivan Prat • All rights reserved.

Playing Aids

Sequence of Play

a) Cards' placement

If there is a treaty, put the blue turn marker in the French Reserve.

b) Choice of cards

c) Player actions

The cards must be played sequentially (sections 5 and 6).

d) Actions Banned

e) Bourbon reinforcements (only when there is a blue turn marker)

• Recruit as many Bourbon troops as the highest WF.
• If the first troop of a French Reserve box (in red) is recruited, phase f is activated.

f) Concessions

If the first troop from a French Reserve box has been recruited, either at phase e of the round or following the text of a card:

• Add the cards of the next war period to the Draw Pile.
• Deal Concessions as in section 5.4.

Card Symbols

• Eliminates 1 Allied troop adjacent to a Bourbon troop.
• Eliminates 1 Bourbon troop adjacent to an Allied troop.
• Eliminates 2 Allied troops from a single space adjacent to a Bourbon troop, except when only one troop exists in the chosen space.
• Eliminates 2 Bourbon troops from a single space adjacent to an Allied troop, except when only one troop exists in the chosen space.
• The player must eliminate 1 Bourbon troop and 1 Allied troop from adjacent spaces.
• Allows you to relocate 2 Bourbon troops following Bourbon recruitment rules.
• Discards the first card of the Draw Pile and adds as many rampart segments of the Wall as its value indicates.
• Discards the first card of the Draw Pile and eliminates as many rampart segments of the Wall and/or Crown of Aragon troops as its value indicates.
• This card belongs to the Concessions Pile.
• The blue turn marker should be placed on the first French Reserve box with troops. This round will have a phase e.

Rules of Bourbon Recruitment

• Bavarian troops can only be recruited in their Home Spaces (grey).
• Castilian troops can only be recruited in their Home Spaces (brown) or spaces from the Crown of Aragon.
• French troops can only be recruited in any Bourbon space (grey, blue or brown) or spaces from the Crown of Aragon.
• The space must have a Bourbon troop or be adjacent to a Bourbon or Allied troop.

Distribution of Concessions

• 5 cards are placed from the Concession Pile.
• In descending order of WF, each player chooses a concession and places his/her turn marker over it.
• If two or more players with the same level of WF do not reach an agreement, priority goes to the player with more Bourbon spaces.
• If the tie persists, priority goes to the player with more Resources.
• The card 'Eugene of Savoy' cannot be used to change the order of the Concessions.
• The players can negotiate the change of location of the markers.
• Following the sequence of the Concessions on the board, each player takes his/her Concession, executes its text and decreases his/her WF as many levels as the value of the VP of the Concession.
• The players place the turn markers in the last space available when they take the Concessions.
• Games with 2, 3 or 4 players: the remaining Concessions must be auctioned under the following conditions:
  • The players with –10 Resources are excluded from the auction.
  • The player with the highest position in the player turn sequence starts the bidding for the concession of his/her choice and is required to place a minimum bid of 1 Resource.
  • In turn, the other players can improve the offer or forgo the bidding. If a player forgoes, he/she is excluded from the auction for that Concession.
  • When all players but one forgo, the Concession is won by the highest bidder, who will execute what the text dictates and decrease his/her WF as previously explained.
  • This procedure must be followed for each remaining Concession.