Carolingi
Carolingi Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
Content
- 1 game board (double-sided)
- 3 event tiles
- 36 country cards
- 1 hunger card
- 1 draw bag "Wheel of fortune"
- 8 forest tiles
- 40 development counters
- 50 rebel gangs (gray cubes)
- 5 different turn-of-the-year markers
- Brother Hartmut (counter showing a writing monk) and the sundial counter
For each Carolingian: 1 player board, 1 palace, 24 followers (cubes in the player colors), 5 action tiles (without dots), 5 action tiles with dots, 2 no-action tiles.
In the box you will find other game components which will be used for later variants: Additional advanced material (p. 17), the hourglass (p. 18) and the Anarchy & Rebellion module (p. 18): 4 more hunger cards, 18 problem tiles, 3 blockades, 1 rebellion card, 1 anarchy card, the sequence marker, the Skuld marker, the problem bar and the favor bar. Additional material for the challenging, semi-cooperative variant (Instructions for Scenario 814): 6 co-regent tiles in the colours of the Carolingians.
Attention! Don't throw these away: 3 blockades for the Favor bar.
2. Game components and setup
2.1 The material and its meaning
2.1.1 Personal game materials
The player board is the control center of the Carolingian. Here they have an overview of their action options (action tiles) and followers (cubes in the player colors). The player board has: (a) a Glory track, (b) Active action tiles, (c) Palace space, (d) Inactive action tiles, (e) Swap tile space.
Followers: Missi, Leudes, Nobiles. These followers have different functions depending on where they appear in the game:
At court, the Carolingian is constantly surrounded by their followers, so here they represent their companions, known in Franconian as Leudes, on the space of the same name. Only when they equip these companions with the appropriate means do they become their ambassadors, Missi in Latin (singular: Missus). And only as Missi can they be used to achieve their goals.
Finally, on the Nobiles space, the followers represent the nobles who are still away from court on their estates. From there they can be called to court by the Carolingian.
Followers on the country cards represent emissaries who initially spread the influence of the Carolingians there in secret. Followers on the countries of the game board represent their Counts. They organize local administration, be it civil or military.
The action tiles represent the Carolingian's options for action. During a round, tiles of all Carolingians will be drawn out of the bag in a random order and will then be carried out immediately. The five action tiles without dots are available to the Carolingian at the beginning of the game (b). There are also two no-action tiles. The five other action tiles with dots start the game face down and inactive on the player board (d). The Carolingian must first activate them during the game before they can use them. Among them is the peace tile, with the help of which peace can be restored to the kingdom and the game can be ended victoriously.
Finally, the palace is the ancestral seat of the Carolingian (c). It marks their homeland. On the country it stands on, they will never have to fear their opponents, and it is from here that they begin their triumphal march.
2.1.2 Game board
The game board shows the following elements:
A. On the circle showing the four seasons, the deeds of the Carolingians are revealed in the form of their action tiles.
B. In the annals, Brother Hartmut (the counter showing a writing monk) notes the most important events in the Empire year after year. He also ensures that the Carolingians make all the necessary arrangements at the end of the year to be able to start a new year (turn-of-the-year markers). Hartmut also keeps track of time (sundial).
C. The Archivium houses documents in the form of country cards. They show in which countries there is unrest.
D. In the Scriptorium, the writing room, the literate monks receive news from the Empire and write down the orders of the Carolingians. In the game, this space is used to store the gray event tiles. Here the Carolingians also place two of their action tiles face down per season before they go into the draw bag, and the wheel of fortune takes care of the rest.
E. 36 countries occupy the largest part of the game board. They form the eight regions of the Frankish kingdom. The ten countries highlighted in brown on the fringes of the Empire depended on Charlemagne but were not part of his dominion (Obodriten, Liutizen, Sorben, Böhmen, Venezia, Benevento, Marca Hispanica, Navarre and Bretagne). Like the Patrimonium Petri (Latium and Exarchiate), they do not take part in the game.
Note: Dashed lines on the water represent sea connections. Countries connected in this way are considered contiguous.
F. Space for the card discard pile.
G. Regional card slots. Country cards are inserted here during the game.
2.1.3 Cards
There is a card for each of the 36 participating countries, the coloring of which indicates their regional affiliation. The same coloring can also be found on the slots that run around the edge of the game board. This is where the country cards will be inserted later (G on the image on the game board, p. 2). Each region has two fewer slots than it has countries.
Five hunger cards are included in the game. Only one of these is used in the base game.
2.1.4 Rebel gangs
Each of the 50 gray cubes represents a rebellious gang of people in turmoil. These times of inheritance disputes, unrest, hunger and need have uprooted them, and now they roam the land, plundering and murdering.
2.1.5 Other general markers
Development counters: In the course of the game you place these on countries to mark the stage of development there.
Event tiles: The three gray tiles with the symbol of the messenger bring news from the countries to the Scriptorium and are placed there several times during the course of the game.
Forests: Some countries feature difficult, confusing terrain. Depending on the climate zone, these are, for example, the moors of the North German lowlands, the dense forests of the low mountain ranges or the malaria swamps of Italy. Forests are indicated by the markers with the forest symbol. They are particularly inaccessible and dangerous areas, for here there are no major settlements, there is no permanent rule, and from here the turmoil spreads to neighboring countries.
2.2 Setup
Place the game board face up on the table within easy reach of everyone. The annals on the front of the board show the years 830-839. Now do the following:
2.2.1 Regions
Depending on the number of Carolingians, the following regions are used in the game:
- With 2 Carolingians: (La) Neustrie, Lotharingien and Sachsen,
- With 3: also add Bourgogne and Alamannien,
- With 4: also add L'Aquitaine,
- With 5: also add Bayern and
- With 6: also add the Regno dei Longobardi.
The countries of the Patrimonium Petri with a white background as well as the countries outside of the realm with a brown background do not take part in the game.
Materials may not be placed on countries in non-participating regions during the game.
2.2.2 Country and hunger cards
Look for the country cards of the participating regions. Remove cards from non-participating regions from the game.
Insert the following country cards into their respective regional card slots:
- With 2-3 Carolingians those from Champagne, Oberlothringen and Westfalen,
- With 4: also add the Perigord,
- With 5: also add Nordgau and
- With 6: also add Longobardia Orientale.
Remove the following country cards from the game as homelands of the Carolingians. Because of the strong presence of the Carolingians during the game, there can no longer be unrest in them:
- With 2 Carolingians: remove Normandie and Ostfalen,
- With 3: additionally remove Comté de Bourgogne,
- With 4: additionally remove Toulouse,
- With 5: additionally remove Karantanien,
- With 6: additionally remove Tuscia.
Shuffle the remaining country cards and place them in a face-down stack on the Archivium.
Place a hunger card near the playing area. This only comes into play at the beginning of the second year. Remove the remaining Hunger cards from the game.
2.2.3 Forests
Place forest tiles on the following countries:
- With 2 Carolingians: on the countries of Berry, Flandre and Nordalbingien,
- With 3: additionally place 1 each on Chur-Rätien and (Haute) Provence,
- With 4: additionally place 1 on the Gascogne,
- With 5: additionally place 1 on the Ostmark and
- With 6: additionally place 1 on Corse.
Countries with forests are considered woodlands. Countries without forests are considered unforested.
2.2.4 Annals
Place the following counters on the annals:
- Hartmut on the year 830.
- All turn-of-the-year markers on the year 831.
- The sundial counter on the last year to be fully played. We recommend the year 834.
2.2.5 Event tiles
Place one event tile on the year 831 of the annals. With 2-4 Carolingians place one more, or with 5-6 place two more event tiles on the Scriptorium. Remove the other event tiles, if any, from the game.
2.2.6 Player board and action tiles
Preparing the player board: Remove all cutouts, including those on the bottom of the board. If desired, apply the enclosed adhesive dots to the underside of the board, as shown. The illustrations of Missi, Leudes and Nobiles are on this lower inner page. Then fold the deck along the long edge so that the cutouts are over the illustrations.
Choose a color and take the corresponding player board. Fold the player board so that the cutouts are on top of the illustrations. Remove the cutouts. Insert the seven action tiles without a dot into the groove (b, p. 3). Tilt them slightly backwards so that they can only be viewed by the respective Carolingian himself. Place the tiles with dots face down in the inactive action tile tray at the bottom of the player board (d, p. 3).
2.2.7 Followers
Eight followers of your own color act as Leudes for the Carolingian. Place them in the Leudes space on your player board. Eight followers also stand ready for you as Nobiles on their estates; place them in the Nobiles space of your board. As Missi, the Carolingians have three followers with the necessary means to carry their orders out into the realm. Place these on the Missi space.
2.2.8 Palace and homeland
Put all player's palaces in the bag and randomly decide their homelands as follows:
The first Carolingian whose palace is drawn from the bag places it in Normandie on the game board. The Carolingian also places their five remaining followers there. Normandie is now regarded as their homeland, on which, apart from their own followers, those of other Carolingians are never allowed to stand. Also rebellions (in the form of gangs) cannot arise here. In short: no game components other than their followers and the palace of this Carolingian may be present in a homeland during the course of the game.
The second Carolingian does the same in Ostfalen.
If there are three or more Carolingians, the Comté de Bourgogne, Toulouse, Karantanien and Tuscia follow in sequence.
2.2.9 Rebels in unforested countries
All the remaining unforested countries in the participating regions are not under Carolingian rule and are therefore in turmoil. Place a rebel gang in each of them.
2.2.10 Draw bag and supply
Place the remaining rebel gangs ready next to the game board, as well as the draw bag and the development counters.
Example: Setup for 3 Carolingians. This setup can be adopted for a three-player game. Bear in mind that the country cards of regions that don't participate will be removed and not shuffled into the Archivium deck. The country cards Normandie, Ostfalen and Comté de Bourgogne are removed from the game.
3. Play
The length of the game is equal to the number of years from left to right on the annals, up to and including the year marked by the sundial counter. Each year is played in four seasons, beginning in winter.
3.1 Placing action tiles
Each season, a Carolingian must place two of their active action tiles face down on the Scriptorium. The tiles may include one or both of their no-action tiles.
Example: placing Action tiles. Red places two of their action tiles face down on the Scriptorium.
The last Carolingian to play gathers all the tiles from the Scriptorium into the draw bag, including one - or with five to six players both - of the event tiles.
3.2 Draw tiles from the draw bag
They then shake the bag thoroughly and pull out one tile after the other:
- If an action tile is drawn, the Carolingian who owns the tile may, but does not have to, carry out the action. In any case, the tile itself is placed face up on the current season space; so for example in the first season, it is placed on winter. How the actions are carried out in detail is described below in section 5. Actions (p. 10).
- When a no-action tile is drawn, it is directly returned to the Carolingian's player board without anything happening.
- When a gray event tile is drawn, it is immediately placed on the Scriptorium. A card is then drawn from the Archivium and the associated process is carried out (see 4. Event tiles, below, p. 8).
The season finishes when there are no more tiles in the draw bag. Spring, summer and autumn follow winter, and the same process should be used each season. The action tiles drawn remain on the season spaces until the turn of the year.
3.3 Changing the seasons and swapping tiles
Once a year, during a change of season, the Carolingians can swap tiles. To do this, one of the action tiles that are active in the court (b, p. 3) is placed face down on the swap tile space of the player board (e, p. 3). The no-action tiles may not be swapped in this way. In return, the Carolingian takes one of the action tiles that they have already used back from the season spaces of the game board to their active tiles on their player board. The exchanged tile is now active again and can be used again immediately by the Carolingian.
Such a swap must be announced before the other Carolingians choose and lay down their tiles for the coming season. However, the Carolingian does not have to reveal which action tile they placed on the swap tile space. Once a swap has taken place and the swap tile space is occupied, the Carolingian cannot swap tiles again in the current year.
3.4 Turn of the year
After all the tiles have been drawn from the draw bag in the autumn round, the year is over. Before the new year can begin, there are some arrangements to be made on the annals.
- First, Hartmut opens a new chapter in the annals, moving one year forward.
- Then, at the end of the first round, the event tile on the year 831 is brought into play by adding it to the event tile(s) already on the Scriptorium.
All golden tiles are carried out at the turn of the year and then advanced by one year, as follows:
- Country cards: Over the course of a year, country cards may have been removed from the slots and placed next to the Archivium (F, p. 3). These cards are now thoroughly shuffled back into the card deck on the Archivium.
- Hunger cards: As long as the supply of hunger cards next to the playing area lasts, one additional hunger card is shuffled into the card deck on the Archivium before each new year. In the basic game, only one hunger card comes into play in this way, namely when changing from 830 to 831.
- Action tiles: All action tiles that were used over the past year and were placed on the season spaces or in the swap tile spaces of the player board are now returned to the groove in each Carolingian's Court.
- Court day: All Carolingians check together which victory conditions they have already achieved. (See section 3.5.)
- Rebel gangs: If there are more than three gangs on a country at the end of the year, only three of them remain on that country. The surplus gangs are placed on top of the country card stack on the Archivium. Subsequently, when a card is drawn, place one rebel gang on it once it is inserted into the region slot, until the surplus gangs placed on the country card deck are exhausted.
3.5 End of game and victory conditions
After the end of a year comes a new year. The game ends either with a peace declaration (see Declare peace, p. 16) or at the end of the fall season of the year marked by the sundial counter. The achievements of the Carolingians are evaluated and the following points awarded to each Carolingian for fulfilled victory conditions:
- Expansion (1 point): The Carolingian controls at least six countries. This is the case when they have an absolute majority there, i.e. more followers on each of those countries than the combination of all their siblings' followers and any rebel gangs present. Woodlands cannot be controlled, and are therefore not counted among the required six countries, even if the Carolingians have an absolute majority there.
- Development (1 point): A total of at least six development advances have taken place on the countries controlled by the Carolingian, i.e. there are at least six development counters on their countries.
- Large following (1 point): There are at least twelve followers of the Carolingian on the countries of the game board. All followers count, including those on woodland and countries where the Carolingians do not have the majority. Followers on country cards do not count.
- Glory (1 point): The Carolingian has proven themself as a skilled strategist more than all others or, the maximum of four times, and accordingly has the most trophies or four trophies on their player board's glory track. (See 5.5 Battle and gain glory, p. 14.)
- Regions controlled (1 point per region): Each region that a Carolingian has united under their control counts as one additional point. They have achieved this when they control every unforested country in a region, (i.e. they have the absolute majority there), and at least one of their followers is on the forest country of the region. It doesn't matter whether there are rebel gangs or followers of other Carolingians in the woodland.
Whoever has the most points at the end of the year on which the sundial is located wins. If several Carolingians are tied, the winner is the tied Carolingian with the most followers on the board. If there is still a tie, the number of controlled countries decides which of the tied Carolingians is the winner.
However, there is a possibility to win the game earlier. To do this, the player must use the peace tile. The rules for this are described under the declare peace action (see p. 16).
Note: The further to the right the sundial counter is moved before the start of the game, i.e. the longer the game, the more likely it is that the peace tile will be used. Conversely, the game can also be made shorter by moving the sundial counter to the left. Then the game is geared towards fulfilling more victory point conditions than the competitors.
Example: Points for victory conditions.
Red scores 2 points: 1) They have unified the Neustrie region because they have more followers on each country than all other Carolingians and rebel gangs combined. It doesn't matter that in Berry Red doesn't have the absolute majority of followers, since it's a woodland. Red only needs one follower there. 2) They have 13 followers on the countries of the game board, which is one more than necessary. It doesn't matter on which countries the followers are located. However, the follower on the Berry card does not count. 3) The extent condition is only just missed. In Niederlothringen, two followers are missing, who could have moved from Normandie if there had been an opportunity. 4) Red and Yellow are tied for most trophies, with 3 trophies each, so no one gets the victory point for glory.
Yellow gets no points, but it was close: 1) With another move to Haute Provence, Yellow could have united Bourgogne. 2) The development requirement is missed by 2. 3) Yellow could have met the large fellowship requirement if they had succeeded in transferring their followers from the country cards to Schwaben and the Duché de Bourgogne.
Blue wins with 4 points at the end of the fifth year: 1) They control 6 countries (not counting the woodlands). 2) They have united Saxony. 3) They have 8 development counters on their countries, 2 more than necessary. 4) They have 12 followers on the regions.
4. Event tiles
The messengers hurriedly return from the countries, reporting unrest.
When an event tile is drawn from the draw bag, it is immediately placed on the Scriptorium and then the top card from the Archivium deck is revealed. This card can either be a country card or - from the year 831 onward - a hunger card. If you must reveal a card from the Archivium deck and it is empty, shuffle the entire discard pile and place it as a new face-down draw pile on Archivium and then reveal its top card.
4.1 Country card
There are rumours spreading amongst the population of a country.
If a country card is drawn, a check is made to see whether there is still a free space in the corresponding card slot (i.e. the slot matching the region color). The following steps are carried out:
A. If at least one space is still free in the corresponding regional card slot, the country card is slid into a free space there.
Example: Free space. An event tile is drawn from the draw bag and placed on the Scriptorium. The top card is drawn: Nordalbingien is placed in the Sachsen regional card slot.
B. If there are no free spaces left in the corresponding regional slot, the following steps are carried out:
- A rebel gang is placed on each country card in the region on which no follower has yet been placed, because the neglected people rebel.
- After that, followers and rebel gangs are transferred from all country cards that are in the slots of this region to the corresponding countries on the game board. It can happen that a rebel gang is placed on a forest. In this case, not only is that rebel gang placed on the forest country, but the riot spreads to all adjacent countries, no matter what region they belong to. So another gang shall be added to each neighboring country. However, there is no additional impact if there is another woodland among the neighboring countries.
- After all followers and rebel gangs have been transferred from the affected region's cards to the countries on the game board, all cards are drawn from that region's slots and placed face up on the discard pile.
- Finally, the last country card drawn, i.e. the one that triggered the whole process, is inserted into one of the now free slots in this region.
Example: No free space in regional card slot. The event tile is drawn from the draw bag. The top card is drawn: it is Hessen, which should be placed in the Sachsen regional card slot but it is already full. Step 1: A rebel gang is placed from the supply on Nordalbingien, because there is no follower on that card. Step 2: All followers and rebel gangs that are on the cards in Sachsen are moved onto the corresponding countries. In Step 2 a special case now arises: since there is a forest in Nordalbingien, the riot spreads to neighboring countries. In this example, a rebel gang is placed from the supply into Friesland (Nordalbingien and Friesland are connected by sea with one another). Under other circumstances, a rebel gang would also have to be placed in Ostfalen. But since the palace of the Blue Carolingian is there, this country is protected from rebel gangs. Step 3 and 4: The country cards Westfalen, Thüringen and Nordalbingien are discarded face up on the discard pile and Hessen is placed in a Sachsen regional card slot space.
4.2 Hunger card
A famine afflicts the kingdom: the peasants can only pay taxes to a small number of noble lords. The other Nobiles can no longer fulfill their mission without the farmer's support. They leave the country and return as Leudes to their master's court.
If a hunger card is drawn, the following steps are carried out:
-
The hunger card is discarded face up on the discard pile.
-
All countries are now checked to see if they are developed enough to support the number of followers:
- Normally, each country can only carry one follower;
- Each development counter increases the feeding capacity of the country and thus makes it possible to maintain one additional follower on that country;
- Homelands can always carry three followers.
If there are more followers on a country than it can feed, the excess followers must be removed and returned to the affected Carolingian's Leudes space.
If there are followers from different Carolingians on a country, the Carolingian with the most followers decides whose followers must leave the country. If there is a tie, an equal number of followers are removed from all represented Carolingians until the carrying capacity of that country is no longer exceeded. This can lead to all Carolingian followers being removed.
-
On every country from which followers had to be removed, the people rebel: a rebel gang is placed. The number of followers removed is irrelevant. Exception: rebels are never placed on each Carolingian's homeland where their palace is situated.
Note: Having too many followers on a country is very risky. From 831, hunger comes faster than you think. It is advisable to balance the carrying capacity of the countries and the number of followers.
Example: Hunger. An event tile has been drawn from the draw bag, and the card subsequently drawn from the Archivium deck is a hunger card. Discard it to the discard pile. All participating countries in the game must now be checked one by one for their development status. This example only explains the section shown:
A. Up to three followers can remain in Normandie, as it is the homeland of Red. The red palace is there. However, since Red has four followers there, one of them must return to the Leudes space.
B. There are three blue followers in Hessen. That is a high number that the country could not support if it were not so well developed. Two development counters are placed there. Since the country can support one follower and each development counter another, hunger has no effect in Hessen.
C. In Champagne, two red and two blue followers face each other in a tie. Since there is no development counter there, the carrying capacity is 1. Followers of each color are now removed evenly until the carrying capacity of 1 is reached - since one red and one blue follower must always be removed evenly, none remain in the end.
D. There is a development counter in the Duché de Bourgogne, which means that a total of 2 followers may remain there. Because Yellow, with 2 followers, has the majority, Yellow can choose which follower to remove: the red follower is removed.
E and F. In the Île-de-France and Schwaben there are two followers each and the carrying capacity is only 1. 1 follower is removed in each case. The rebel gang in Schwaben is not affected by hunger.
Furthermore, hunger has no effect in the following countries, since there are not more followers there than the carrying capacity of the country: Anjou, Berry, Flandre, Niederlothringen, Oberlothringen, Comté de Bourgogne, (Haute) Provence, Chur-Rätien, Franken and Thüringen.
A rebel gang from the supply is now placed on each country from which at least one follower was removed (C, D and E). The only exception to this is the homeland with the palace - a rebel gang can never be placed there (A).
5. Actions
If an action tile is drawn, the Carolingian to whom it belongs may carry out the action - but is not obliged to. The only exception to this rule is the peace tile, which must always be carried out.
Each individual action is described in more detail below. Action tiles with a dot are used in exactly the same way as those without a dot.
5.1 Influence
Depending on the wishes of their masters, the followers of the Carolingians can be sent to different countries in different ways. Some initially work in secret and develop their influence at the right moment, while others head straight to the palace.
When the influence action tile is drawn, the Carolingian may choose to perform exactly one of these three actions:
a. Send three Missi to the homeland
The Carolingian takes up to 3 followers from the Missi space of his player board and places them next to his palace on his home country.
Example: Send three Missi to a homeland. Red places the maximum of 3 Missi from their player board directly into Normandie, where they have their palace.
OR:
b. Dispatch Missi to countries
These Missi are sent out to slowly build up influence in secret. Therefore, these followers are not placed directly on the countries, but first on the country cards.
The Carolingian takes any number of their followers from the Missi field and places them on any number of country cards in the regional card slot. However, the corresponding countries of these country cards may not be controlled by other Carolingians: no other Carolingians may have an absolute majority of followers on the country on the game board. Note: The number of followers or rebel gangs on cards is irrelevant. There are no restrictions on cards of woodlands where there is no other Carolingian majority.
Example: Place Missi on country cards. Yellow and Red may not place Missi on the Île-de-France country card, because Blue has the majority of followers there.
OR:
c. Develop influence in countries
To do this, the Carolingian transfers followers from country cards onto the corresponding countries.
They may however only transfer followers from cards on which they have at least one follower of their own.
In addition, all followers on the card, including those of other Carolingians and any rebel gangs, must be transferred to the corresponding country.
Finally, these country cards are removed from their slots and placed face up on the discard pile.
Note: In rare cases, it is possible that there are rebel gangs on these country cards, if so, these are also moved to the country, according to the rules for country cards (4.1 B.2).
Example: Develop influence in countries. Blue can only move followers from Hessen and Westfalen into those countries, because Blue only has followers on those cards. In Westfalen Blue must also move across the followers from Yellow and Blue. The Hessen and Westfalen country cards are then discarded onto the discard pile.
5.2 Develop
In order to survive against their siblings, the Carolingians had to expand and develop the countries under their rule economically, legally and culturally.
When the develop action tile is drawn, the Carolingian carries out one of these two options:
Either
a. Activate an inactive action tile
The Carolingian moves two followers from the Missi to the Leudes space and may then activate one of their inactive action tiles with a dot by placing it next to their active action tiles.
Note: If there are no followers in the Missi space, this action cannot be performed. The Carolingian does not have to indicate which action tile will be activated. The newly activated tile is usable at the start of the next season; then again at the turn of the year (see p. 6; only the peace tile can become inactive again under special circumstances, see p. 16). An action tile on the swap tile space is not considered inactive (p. 6).
Example: Activate an action tile with a dot. Two Missi become Leudes, in order to activate an action tile with a dot.
OR:
b. Place three development counters
The Carolingian places up to 3 development counters on countries it controls. The following applies:
- For each development counter placed, the Carolingian must transfer one of their Missi to become Leudes.
- A Carolingian can only place development counters on countries that they control, i.e. on which they have more followers than the combined total of all other Carolingian's followers plus rebel gangs.
- A maximum of 3 development counters can be placed in a single turn.
- There can be a maximum of 2 development counters on each country.
- No development counters can be placed on the homelands of the Carolingians (countries with a palace) or on forest countries. Homelands are considered to be fully developed and on woodlands no development is possible because of the unfavorable landscape.
Example: Majorities and Control. In two examples no-one has a majority. In two examples Yellow has a simple majority. Yellow has absolute majority and has control (more followers than all other followers and rebel gangs combined).
Example: Development tile. Yellow has played the develop action tile and wants to further develop their countries by placing development counters. In countries with a palace (Comté de Bourgogne, Normandie) and woodlands (Berry, Haute Provence) this is not possible, however. Yellow also cannot place any development counters on countries that they do not control, e.g. on the Île-de-France. Nor are they able to develop Champagne further, because no country may have more than two development counters. Only Oberlothringen, where Yellow places one development counter, and the Comté de Bourgogne, on which Yellow lays two development counters, remain. They deploy a missi for each development counter, who initiates the development and then returns to the court (move one follower from Missi to Leudes for each development counter placed). Yellow would also like to have developed Swabia further, but can only place up to three development counters in one move. Yellow would also not have had any Missi left to pay for the development counter.
5.3 Equip Missi
The ruler's income, which they collected as levies from their estates, was for the most part redistributed to their trusted supporters, who then acted as envoys of their masters, "Missi" in Latin, to carry out their orders. The parchment with the order ("breve") is visible on the action tiles.
If the equip Missi action tile is drawn, the Carolingian may turn Leudes into Missi and Nobiles into Leudes. This is paid for with levies from their countries. The total levies depend on the number of countries and their development stage.
Calculation of levies:
- A Carolingian can only use countries that they control, i.e. on which they have more followers than the combined total of all the other Carolingian's followers plus rebel gangs.
- The total levies from countries is equal to the sum of the number of the Carolingian's controlled countries plus the number of development counters on those countries.
- Forests do not produce anything.
- The homeland always produces 1 levy. Even though the palace is placed on a fully developed homeland, this very fact limits its possible levy, beyond the numbers needed for supporting the palace.
- The minimum levy can never fall below three.
Equipping Missi:
- One follower on the player board may be moved one space from right to left, i.e. from Leudes to Missi or from Nobiles to Leudes, for each levy paid.
- It is also possible to turn Nobiles directly into Missi, but at the corresponding cost, i.e. for two levies per follower.
- If the Carolingian receives more production than Leudes or Nobiles available to be equipped, the excess levies cannot be spent.
Example: Equipping Missi. Yellow plays equip Missi and receives the following levies:
- Comté de Bourgogne: 1 levy, because of the palace;
- Duché de Bourgogne: 3 levies, because Yellow controls the country and there are 2 development counters there;
- Champagne: no dues, since Yellow does not control this country (tied with Red);
- Oberlothringen: 2 levies, since Yellow controls the country and 1 development counter is present;
- Franken: 1 levy, since Yellow controls the country;
- Schwaben: 2 levies, since Yellow controls the country and there is 1 development counter;
- (Haute) Provence: No levy due to the forest.
Yellow receives a total of 9 levies, which Yellow uses as follows:
- Yellow moves four followers from Leudes to Missi at a cost of 4 levies;
- Yellow moves two Nobiles directly onto Missi, for 4 more levies;
- Yellow moves a Nobiles onto Leudes, spending the last remaining levy.
5.4 Move troops
The followers of the Carolingians, who rule as counts in the countries, can call upon the army of their ruler and raise troops to go to war in order to extend the rule of the Carolingians. The Missi take the orders to the counts and return to the court of the Leudes after a successful mission.
If the move troops action tile is drawn, the Carolingian may move their followers on the game board. Each follower may move from a country controlled by their Carolingian to a directly adjacent country. Several followers can be moved as a group. Each movement of a follower or a group of followers costs one Missi.
The Carolingian must observe the following rules:
Conditions
- A Carolingian can only move from countries where their followers are in an absolute majority, i.e. where they outnumber the combined total of all the other Carolingian's followers plus rebel gangs. This majority is checked only at the beginning of the turn. How it changes during the execution of the action is not relevant.
- A Carolingian may always move followers from woodlands - regardless of the majority situation.
- A Carolingian may not move onto homelands of their siblings (countries with palaces of a different color).
Range
Each follower can only move a total of one neighboring country per Move troops action tile.
Costs
For each follower or for each group of followers that the Carolingian moves, they must use a Missus, i.e. move it from Missi to Leudes. Any number of followers are considered to be a group of followers when moving together from one country to the same adjacent land.
Remember: If there are no Missi available, followers cannot be moved!
Example: Move troops. A. Red has played the move troops tile and may now move their own followers on the game board. Red feels threatened by Yellow and Blue and sends followers out of their palace into Normandie: 1 follower moves to neighboring Anjou, which costs a Missus; a group of followers moves to the Île-de-France, which also costs a Missus; and finally a last follower is moved to Champagne, which also costs a Missus. The three Missi are moved from the Missi to the Leudes space.
B. Blue played the move troops tile and can now move their followers: Blue cannot pull followers out of Westfalen however, because they do not have the absolute majority there. They would prefer to move their follower from Thüringen and one of their two followers from Hessen to Franken. But since Blue only has one Missus left on their Missi space, they can only move one group or one follower, and so decide to move the two followers from Hessen to Franken, because they don't trust Yellow's intentions.
5.5 Battle and gain glory
A Carolingian wins glory by leading their troops into battle against other Carolingians or against rebel gangs.
When the battle action tile is drawn, the Carolingian may employ their followers to remove opposing followers or rebel gangs from the game board.
The Carolingian who performs the battle action can choose how many and on which countries they want to battle at the same time. The following applies:
Conditions
- The Carolingian must have a simple majority of followers in the country in which they battle, i.e. they must have more followers there than any other single Carolingian, and more followers than the number of rebel gangs there too. A tie is not enough. Note: When battling, it is not necessary for a Carolingian to have control of the country by having more followers there than all other factions combined.
- Battling may also take place on woodlands if the Carolingian has a simple majority there.
Battle
When battling in a country, proceed as follows:
- Remove one of each colour of Carolingian followers and one rebel gang. Repeat this until there are only followers of one Carolingian left on the country.
- The removed followers return to the court of their respective Carolingian as Leudes.
- Rebel gangs are considered to be destroyed in battle and are returned to the supply.
Glory and trophies
A Carolingian can claim a trophy if only they have followers remaining in a country after they carried out a battle there. They can only claim one trophy per battle action tile no matter how many victories have been won.
They claim the trophy by taking a follower from Leudes and placing it on their player board's glory track. If they already have four trophies, no more can be added.
Note: The number of countries, battles and enemies defeated are not relevant to the trophy award.
Example: Battle. Red drew the battle tile. They can battle in Champagne and Anjou, where they have the simple(!) majority of followers. They also control Anjou, and in Champagne there is only one gang or one follower each from the rebels and from Blue, while Red has two followers. Red can choose to battle in just one country or in multiple countries. They choose the latter. Battling means removing the same number of followers and rebel gangs of the existing colors in a country until only one color is left. A. In Anjou, therefore, a red follower is returned to the Leudes space of the red court and a yellow follower to the Leudes space of the yellow court. Red has thus achieved a victory, because their followers are left alone on the land. Red may therefore place a follower from their Leudes space on the glory track as a trophy. B. In the same turn, Red also fights in Champagne. Again, the same number of followers or rebel gangs are removed from each color (red, blue, gray), i.e. one from each. The followers are put back on the Leudes spaces of the respective courts, and the rebel gang goes into the supply. However, Red may not place any further trophies on their glory track, because a Carolingian can acquire a maximum of one trophy per use of the battle tile.
5.6 No-action
In each season a Carolingian must play two tiles. In the initial phase, however, the siblings only have five action tiles. So they don't have enough to perform two actions in each of the four seasons. Therefore, sooner or later it will be necessary to use one or even two no-action tiles.
As a result, the Carolingian also has the opportunity to leave their siblings in the dark about when they will be more or less active in a season.
If the no-action tile is removed from the draw bag, nothing further happens. The tile itself is immediately placed back on the corresponding Carolingian's action track.
The no-action tiles take on a special meaning in connection with the peace tile. See the rules for the declare peace action, p. 16.
5.7 Soothe riot
People who believe they can only find their salvation in riots, violence and destruction are themselves uprooted, robbed and expelled. It is possible to make an offer to such people and in this way bring peace to the rebel gangs. New farms are then handed over to the disenfranchised and they become loyal followers.
If the soothe riot action tile is drawn, the Carolingian may replace rebel gangs in a single country with their own followers according to the following rules:
The Carolingian can appease riots in a country (including woodland) if they have at least one follower either:
- in the country, OR
- in an adjacent country.
Note: Majorities play no role in this action.
The Carolingian may remove up to three rebel gangs from the chosen country and replace them with the same number of followers, taken from their Missi. The removed rebel gangs are returned to the supply.
Example: Soothe a riot. Yellow's soothe riot action tile has been drawn and Yellow may now exchange up to three rebel gangs for Missi of their own in a country of their choice. However, only countries that have at least one yellow follower on them, or in a country bordering them, are eligible. In this example, Yellow can choose one of the following countries: Oberlothringen, Franken, Schwaben, (Haute) Provence, Duché de Bourgogne or Champagne. (Anjou, Thüringen and Niederlothringen are not eligible). Yellow chooses Franken, because there they can replace two rebel gangs with their own followers and thus will have almost the entire region of Alamannien under control. Yellow puts the two rebel gangs back into the supply and places two followers from the Missi space on Franken.
5.8 Declare peace
The Carolingians have been commissioned to bring peace back to the Empire. A Carolingian can do that when their position of power is so firmly established that their siblings cannot challenge their claim to the imperial throne.
Whoever places the peace tile on the Scriptorium asserts this power claim and can end the game victoriously. This is possible even before the end of the last year, agreed by the Carolingians, that is indicated by the sundial counter on the annals. Carried by the force of the sublime moment, the certainty of victory can even mobilize extraordinary powers. They may play a tile from their player board at the same moment their peace tile is drawn. To do this, however, they must have placed a no-action tile in the bag together with the peace tile. At the end of their action, they must prove that they are a worthy successor to Charlemagne in at least three ways, i.e. that they have fulfilled at least three victory conditions.
When placing a peace tile on the Scriptorium, the Carolingian's second tile must be a no-action tile.
When a peace tile is drawn, it interrupts normal gameplay and you carry out the following steps:
- The Carolingian whose peace tile was drawn from the draw bag may immediately play and carry out an active action tile from their player board, as if that action tile had just been drawn from the draw bag. The corresponding tile is taken from the active action tiles and placed on the current season space, and the action is carried out.
- It is then checked whether the Carolingian now fulfills at least three of the possible victory conditions (see p. 7, 3.5 End of the game and victory conditions). Depending on the result, proceed as follows:
- If the Carolingian meets fewer than three victory conditions, the victory fails and their peace tile is forfeited. It is returned to their inactive action tiles. Then continue playing as usual.
- If, on the other hand, the Carolingian meets at least three victory conditions after performing the additional action, the entire contents of the draw bag are laid out openly:
- If it turns out that the Carolingian placed a tile other than the no-action tile on Scriptorium, they must undo their additional action from step 1 entirely and their peace tile is returned to their inactive action tiles.
- If it turns out that there are more peace tiles in the bag, each accompanied by a no-action tile, the active Carolingian hasn't won yet. In this case, put the existing peace tiles - but not the one that has already been carried out - back into the bag, setting aside all other action tiles and event tiles. Then draw all the peace tiles one at a time from the bag in random order. Any Carolingian whose peace tile is drawn immediately performs the additional allowed action as described above. Draw all peace tiles from the bag in this way and, after all additional actions have been carried out, check for victory:
- Of the Carolingians who placed a peace tile, one wins if they are the only one to fulfill at least three victory conditions.
- However, if several Carolingians - or none - have fulfilled at least the necessary victory conditions, return all tiles that have been carried out to their inactive action tiles pools. Then continue the game. To do this, put the tiles you set aside back into the bag and continue to draw tiles according to the usual rules.
Diagram: Declaring peace. The peace tile must always be placed on the scriptorium with a no-action tile if victory is to be achieved. The peace tile allows the Carolingian to immediately use one of their action tiles from the court and place it on the current season. If the victory conditions are not met, the peace tile is returned to their inactive action tiles. It must then be activated again before it can be used.
6. Variant for advanced players
For a varied structure and a higher degree of difficulty, we recommend the following variant, in which the followers must first be placed on different countries and the palaces must be built.
6.1 Advanced game setup
First, follow these basic game setup steps on page 4, unchanged:
- 2.2.1 Participating regions
- 2.2.4 Annals
- 2.2.5 Event tiles
- 2.2.6. Player board and action tiles
Then perform the following modified steps:
6.1.1 Hunger cards, palace, Leudes and Nobiles
Set aside the appropriate number of hunger cards - one fewer than the number of participants. At the turn of that year, one of these hunger cards will come into play via the golden hunger tile, until there are none left (see p. 6, 3.4).
The palace is placed ready on the Carolingian's player board.
On each player board place eight followers on Leudes and eight followers on Nobiles. The remaining eight followers are placed in two piles of four in front of the player board. In the first setup-round, the Carolingians place the first four followers into the draw bag.
6.1.2 Country cards, woodlands, and followers
All participating country cards are shuffled thoroughly and placed face down on the Archivium.
Then the top country card is drawn from the Archivium:
- If there is no forest in that country's region, that country now becomes woodland. Put a forest on this land. The country card is placed face up next to the Archivium and the next card is drawn.
- If there is already a woodland in that country's region, a follower is drawn from the draw bag. The Carolingian who owns the follower chooses how to use it:
- a. They may place the follower directly on the country whose card was just drawn and discard the country card on the face-up discard pile next to the Archivium. However, the Carolingian only has this option if they do not already have followers in any of the neighboring countries.
- b. The Carolingian may use the follower as a Missus, i.e. place it on the Missi space of their player board. The country card is then inserted into the regional card slot.
- c. They may add their follower to any other country on which they already have followers. The country card is inserted into the regional card slot.
- d. They may also place the follower on any country card that is in a region slot. The country card you just drew is then inserted into its regional card slot. Important: The follower may not be placed on the country card that has just been drawn.
- If a card has to be placed in its regional card slot, but there is no space left there, the process is triggered, in the course of which country cards are removed from the slot and the followers or rebel gangs lying on the cards are placed on the countries (see p. 8, 4.1 Country cards).
After the Carolingian places their follower, the next country card is drawn from the Archivium. Keep drawing cards until the bag is empty of followers.
An identical setup-round then follows with the second contingent of 4 followers that the Carolingians still have in front of their player board.
If there are no more country cards on the Archivium, but there are still followers in the bag, the Carolingian only has options for action b, c, d available.
After the last follower has been placed, all country cards for the game are thoroughly shuffled again and placed face down on the Archivium.
6.1.3 Riot
Now, every country that has no followers on it falls victim to rioting and receives a rebel gang. In order not to lose track of things, all countries that already have a rebel gang on them receive another rebel gang, then all countries on which there is neither a follower nor a gang receive one rebel gang.
Afterwards, place all the remaining rebel gangs and the development counters in a supply next to the game board.
6.2 Advanced game rules adjustments
6.2.1 Palace and the adjusted develop action tile
In the base game, players receive a palace right from the start. This is not the case in the advanced game. Here the palace can only be built during the course of the game.
The develop action tile (p. 11, 5.2) is supplemented with the following option, which may only be used once during the game:
c. Claim homeland (one time)
The Carolingian appoints a fully developed country they control as their homeland, in which they now establish their palace. The following applies:
Conditions
- The Carolingian controls the chosen country.
- There can only be one palace in each region.
- There must be two development counters on the country on which the palace is to be built. Note: It follows that it cannot be built on a woodland either, as these cannot have development counters placed on them.
Costs
- To build the palace, three Missi must be moved to become Leudes.
If the above conditions and costs are met, the Carolingian now carries out the following steps:
- Replace the two development counters by the palace of the Carolingian. Return the two counters to the supply and place the palace on the chosen country. Returning the developments symbolises the efforts made by the entire population to establish a palace in this country.
- Followers and rebel gangs are displaced: If followers of other Carolingians or rebel gangs are still on the country on which the palace is built, these must now leave. Rebel gangs are expelled by the palace to neighboring countries of the player's choice (there is no further effect, even if it is a woodland). Followers of other Carolingians return to their court as Leudes.
- Remove the homeland's country card: The country card on which the palace was built is removed from the game. It is removed from the Archivium, discard pile, or regional card slot, as appropriate. If there are still followers on the card, these are placed on the country with the palace if they are followers of the Carolingian who owns the palace; or returned to become Leudes if they are followers of other Carolingians. Rebel gangs are returned to the supply.
Homelands act according to these rules:
- The homeland always carries the palace of the Carolingian that claimed it as their homeland. Once placed, the palace can never move or be removed.
- The homeland is unassailable. No followers of other Carolingians or rebel gangs can be moved or placed on it.
- No further developments can be made on a country with a palace.
- It can carry 3 followers during a famine.
- It pays 1 levy during the equip Missi action.
Note: In the base game, every Carolingian had a homeland with a palace from the start, on which they could not be attacked. In the advanced game, this safe place does not initially exist. So it can happen that a Carolingian loses all their countries. Although you can find your way back into the game via the country cards, you should be careful to secure your own power base.
6.2.2 Victory conditions and adjusted peace tile
Add the following to the base game victory conditions:
- Palace (1 point): Building a palace and claiming a homeland counts as another achievement. The Carolingian scores 1 point, if they claimed a homeland in the course of the game (as described in 6.2.1).
The peace tile now has higher requirements:
- The Carolingian must have claimed a homeland.
- They must have met at least 3 further victory conditions (not including the 1 gained from the palace).
If the Carolingian has not fulfilled these requirements - after the additional action tile is used when the peace tile is drawn - they do not win. In this case, the peace tile they drew expires and is placed on their player board with the inactive action tiles.
Note: The advanced game requires longer, more sustained planning.
7. Module: Anarchy & Rebellion
For an even higher level of difficulty, we recommend the expansion anarchy and rebellion. For this purpose, the two cards of the same name are shuffled into the stack of country cards together with the first hunger card before the second year of the game.
7.1 Anarchy
If the anarchy card is drawn, the population cannot bear the lawless conditions and rebels. A rebel gang is added on all countries where no Carolingian has control, i.e. where none of them have more followers than all other Carolingians and rebel gangs combined. This also includes countries in which there are no Carolingian followers at all, as well as those in which only gangs are present. However, woodlands are exempt.
7.2 Rebellion
A more developed society has a more complex structure. This can lead to social tensions, which the ruler of this country must counter with a sufficient number of followers. Therefore, if the Rebellion card is drawn, a rebel gang is added wherever the number of followers has fallen below the country's carrying capacity, i.e. where there is:
- a single development counter, but only one Carolingian follower present
- two development counters but fewer than three Carolingian followers present.
All followers count, no matter which Carolingian they belong to. Rebel gangs don't count.
8. Optional: Hourglass
The hourglass stands for the rushing of events, the scarce time that sometimes leads to rash actions. It can be used when the Carolingians want an additional dynamic element: the first Carolingian to lay down their tiles turns over the hourglass. When the time is up, the tiles are placed in the bag from the Scriptorium. Tiles that are not on the Scriptorium when the hourglass runs out are not put in the bag.
Game overview
Round overview
- All Carolingians place 2 action tiles on the Scriptorium. (3.1, p. 6)
- Shuffle all the tiles from the Scriptorium into the draw bag.
- Draw, carry out and discard 1 tile at a time, until bag is empty; then next season, start with step 1 again (3.2, p. 6):
- Action tiles go on the current season,
- No-action tiles go back on the player board,
- Event tiles go on the Scriptorium.
- 1x per year: tile swapping possible. (3.3, p. 6)
- After autumn: the turn of the year.
Turn of the year (3.4, p. 6)
Advance Hartmut, event tile on Scriptorium.
Country and hunger card: Shuffle discarded country cards again and, if possible, shuffle 1 new hunger card into the Archivium.
Action tiles: All played and swapped action tiles back into the slot on the player board.
Court day: Check points for fulfilled victory conditions.
Rebel gangs: If there are more than 3 rebel gangs in a country, place the surplus on the Archivium. Then place 1 rebel gang on each drawn country card when the card is inserted into the slot.
Event tile
Draw 1 card from the Archivium:
Country card (4.1, p. 8)
- Insert the country card into a slot of the appropriate region,
- or, if no slot is free:
- Place a rebel gang on country cards in that region with no followers.
- Transfer all followers and rebel gangs on country cards of this region to the countries; spread through woodlands!
- Put all country cards in this region on the discard pile.
- Put the drawn card into a slot of the region.
Hunger card (4.2, p. 9)
Check if each country can feed the followers there:
- Feeding capacity: 1 + number of development counters in the country.
- Homeland has a feeding capacity of 3.
- Surplus followers are placed back as Leudes.
- If followers were removed, 1 rebel gang is placed on the country, except on homeland with palace.
- If there are several Carolingians, the one who had the most followers decides which ones to remove.
- In the event of a tie, followers are removed evenly until their number equals or falls below the feeding capacity.
Victory conditions (3.5, p. 7-8)
- 1 point for expansion (6 or more countries)
- 1 point for development (6 or more development counters)
- 1 point for large following (12 or more followers)
- 1 point for glory (most or 4 trophies on glory track)
- 1 point per region controlled
- Only in the advanced game: 1 point for the palace
Number of points needed with the peace tile:
- Basic game: 3.
- Advanced game: 3 + palace.
Action tiles
Influence (5.1, p. 10)
- a. Either 3 followers from Missi to palace;
- b. Or any number of Missi followers on country cards. But not on countries controlled by others;
- c. Or followers from country cards to countries.
Develop (5.2, p. 11)
- a. Either activate 1 action tile with a point (Cost: 2 Missi become Leudes),
- b. Or up to 3 development levels on countries (Cost: 1 Missi become Leudes per level; Maximum 2 levels per country).
- c. Variant for advanced players, once: Build the palace. Only possible on country with 2 development counters and only in regions in which there is no palace yet. (Cost: remove 2 development counters, 3 Missi become Leudes.)
Equip Missi (5.3, p. 12)
Calculate levies (minimum 3). Move followers from right to left on the player board. 1 step to the left per levy.
Move troops (5.4, p. 13)
Can only move from controlled land: Each follower or group that moves 1 country costs 1 Missi becoming Leudes.
Battle (5.5, p. 14)
In a country with at least a simple majority: Remove 1 from each color until only one color remains. Rebel gangs go back to supply, followers back to Leudes. Battle on any number of countries per action, but only one trophy on the fame track.
Soothe riot (5.7, p. 15)
On a country with at least 1 of your followers in or in a neighboring country: Replace up to 3 rebel gangs with your own Missi.
No action (5.6, p. 14)
No-action tiles immediately returned to player board.
Declare peace (5.8, p. 16)