Friedrich: Anniversary Edition Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Contents
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Map and Sequence of Play
• 3. The Tactical Cards (TC)
• 4. Movement
• 5. Conquest of Objectives
• 6. The Armies
• 7. Combat
• 8. Retreat
• 9. Supply
• 10. Recruitment
• 11. The Clock of Fate
• 12. Game End
• 13. The Expert Game
• Credits
• Designer's Notes

Game Contents

• 24 Generals & 24 named Labels in 7 colours
• 1 Game Turn Marker
• 4 Sets of Tactical Cards, 50 cards each
• 1 Map of Old Europe
• 5 Army-Sheets
• 1 Postcard
• 11 Supply Trains in 7 colours
• 18 Cards of Fate
• 2 Playing Aid Cards
• 1 Sheet of Fate
• 1 Set of rules

The playing pieces are unequally distributed for the seven colours.

1. Introduction

The strategic boardgame FRIEDRICH is inspired by the wondrous turning point of the Seven Years War. The seven committed nations are allocated to the four players (in a three player game »Elisabeth« and »Pompadour« is one player) like this:

Player	Colour	Nation	Nation
Frederick	(light-)blue	Prussia	Hanover
Elisabeth	(light-)green	Russia	Sweden
Maria Theresa	white/yellow	Austria	Imperial Army
Pompadour	red	France

• ONE AGAINST ALL. Frederick is playing against the attackers Elisabeth, Maria Theresa and Pompadour. The attackers are allied and cannot fight each other.

(Icon: Objective city of 1st and of 2nd order.)

• An attacker wins, if ONE of his nations has conquered all objective cities of her colour (grey in Austria's case). Under some circumstances objectives of 2nd order can be exempted, see rule 11.
• The Player Frederick wins, if the Clock of Fate has run out (before an attacker has won). The Clock of Fate runs out as soon as three attacking nations have quitted the game due to historical reasons (e.g. death of the Tsarina). NOTE: The Prussian objective cities are used in the expert game only.

2. Map and Sequence of Play

The map shows Middle Europe in the year of 1756. The nations are raffled to players using the Tactical Cards spades-13, clubs-13, hearts-13, diamonds-13. Then, the playing pieces are set up according to the sheet "Start" in the middle of this booklet, which can be taken out.

All dark-blue areas (including all exclaves) are the HOME COUNTRY of Prussia; all light blue areas are the home country of Hanover etc. NOTE: Russia and France do not possess any home country; the home country of the Imperial Army are ALL yellow territories, especially Saxony ("Sachsen").

The game is played in turns. A turn consists of the moves of the seven nations, which are conducted in strict order:

1. Prussia
2. Hanover
3. Russia
4. Sweden
5. Austria
6. Imperial Army
7. France

A nation, which is moving, is called active. Every nation's move is divided into 5 phases. A nation can conduct activities only in the given order:

1. Tactical Cards are drawn.
2. Movement: All active units may be moved. Simultaneously one may conquer objectives, recruit new armies and let units re-enter the game.
3. Combat: All active generals have to attack opponents they are adjacent to.
4. Subsequent conquests are possible.
5. Supply is checked for all active generals.

• End of turn. If all nations have taken their turn, move the game turn marker to the next box. At the end of the 6th turn you will reach the Clock of Fate: From now on (and immediately) pick the top Card of Fate and execute its effects, at every turn end. If the picked card is written only in German, read the SPADES-VERSION from the »Sheet of Fate« (a number on the card corresponds to a box on the sheet). After reading it, put the card at the bottom of the Clock of Fate pack. The effect is that players will never know when you have run once through the complete Clock of Fate.

3. The Tactical Cards (TC)

At the beginning of her move every nation receives a given number of Tactical Cards (TC):

Nation	TC	Nation	TC
Prussia	4+3	Hanover	1+1
Russia	4	Sweden	1
Austria	4+1	Imperial Army	1
France	4−1

Note:

1. Initially Prussia receives 7 TC, Hanover 2 and Austria 5. Due to certain Cards of Fate these values can be reduced to 4, 1, 4 (respectively).
2. Initially France receives 4 TC; but has to discard one of THESE immediately (simulating the French engagement overseas against England). Later France receives – caused by a Card of Fate – only 3, but does not have to discard anyone of them.

• TCs are collected as desired until they are needed for combat or recruitment. TCs of different nations may never be mixed or exchanged. Even allied players are not allowed to show each other their TC. Every TC shows a symbol (spades, clubs, hearts, diamonds) and a value from 2 to 13. A RESERVE can be any symbol and any value from 1 to 10. Both symbol and value are fixed at the moment a RESERVE is played.
• Played TC are set aside and sorted according to their pattern. If the first set of TC has been used up, use the second set; then the third; and if the fourth set is used up, use the two sets which have accumulated most.

4. Movement

Units are moved from city to city along the roads. You can move all units once in the nation's movement phase. You must finish moving a unit before starting to move another unit. Under no circumstances may a unit jump over any other unit.

• A general may move up to 3 cities, even back and forth.
• If the movement is executed completely on a main road, the general may move an additional city, to a sum of 4. (Main road +1!)
• A supply train always moves one less city, i.e. 2 cities (and 3 on main roads).
• Only one unit may be placed on each city. EXCEPTION: Up to 3 generals of one nation may be stacked on one city. This stack is moved as one "unit" until a player decides to detach a general. The general with the lowest number is the supreme commander; he is placed on top of the stack. Underneath is the second highest ranked, and so on.
• If you move a general as part of a stack, you may not move him individually in the same turn. When generals are uniting to a stack, movement is immediately finished for ALL.

5. Conquest of Objectives

Only generals are able to conquer objective cities. They may only conquer objectives of their own colour (grey in Austria's case).

• Conquest happens if:
  • a general moves OVER an objective; or he starts his move on it and moves away; AND
  • the objective is NOT PROTECTED at that moment. It is protected if a general of the DEFENDING nation is positioned 1, 2 or 3 cities away.
• All nations are defending their home country, including all exclaves. Furthermore, Prussia is defending occupied Saxony (Sachsen). NOTE: Hanover DOES NOT defend any objectives in Prussia! Prussia DOES NOT defend any objectives in Hanover!
• A general may conquer more than one objective during a single move. A general may protect any number of objectives, which are 3 cities away, regardless of other units. It is highly recommended to write down conquered objectives, or to mark them, e.g. with the coat of arms. Conquered cities do not affect any movement.
• Reconquest. Conquered objectives may be reconquered. Only the original defending nation may reconquer them, with the roles for »moving over« and »protecting« being reversed now; e.g.: Only Hanover can reconquer objectives in Hanover and only the French generals are able to protect them.
• Subsequent Conquest. If a general moves over a PROTECTED objective (or away from it), the objective is not conquered, but can be conquered subsequently (only) in the following combat phase: If you manage to force all protecting generals to retreat far away enough (see rule 8), so that this objective is not protected anymore, it is subsequently conquered. It doesn't matter which general enforces the retreat, as long as the retreat(s) occurs(s) in the same move.
• No unfair conduct. You are not allowed to occupy the objective of an ally by simply sitting on it (or to block the way intentionally to interfere with a winning move).
• Supply trains may not conquer and may not protect objectives. EXCEPTION: The supply train of the Imperial Army may protect objectives like a general (protection radius of 3 cities).

6. The Armies

Every Nation starts the game with a given number of armies, see the army sheets or the playing aid card for details. At the start of the game, allocate your armies to your generals by writing down the number on your army sheet secretly. Changes are marked there as well. A player has to tell the current sum of his armies if asked for. Armies may not exist on the map without a general; a general may not exist on the map without armies.

• Every general has to command at least 1 army.
• No general may ever command more than 8 armies.
• The 2 (or 3) generals of a stack treat the sum of their armies as a common pool. They have to command at least 2 (or 3) armies, and may not command more than 16 (24) armies.
• If the number of armies drops below the minimum (due to combat or supply problems), you have to remove the surplus generals; if necessary all of them. Removal is executed from bottom to top. The removed generals may re-enter the game.
• As long as generals are stacked together, you can change the army allocation between them as you desire. That's the only possibility to reorganize armies between generals.
• IMPORTANT: No nation may ever command more armies than the number she started with, see rule 10.

7. Combat

At the beginning of the combat phase, if a general is adjacent to a hostile general, he has to attack. Adjacent means: The generals are positioned on two cities which are directly connected by a road. If more than one combat is to be resolved, the active player chooses order of combats.

• Each combat is started by telling your opponent the number of armies your general command. The difference between these two numbers is called INITIAL SCORE. This score is NEGATIVE for the player inferior in armies; and POSITIVE for the other one.
• Now, the inferior player has the chance to win the battle by playing ONE TC. This TC must show the same symbol as the sector his general is located. Adding the value to the initial score results in the CURRENT SCORE, which is spoken out loud. As long as the current score is negative a player has the right to play another TC.
• As soon as the current score is at least ZERO (or even positive), the right to play TC switches to the other player. Now he is considered the inferior one, and he can try to win the battle using the same procedure. The right to play TC will then switch again, and so on. The combat will stop as soon as a player has the right to play a TC, but is not able or not willing to use it. His general will suffer a defeat then.
• The defeated general loses as many armies as the negative final score (but not more than he commanded) and is retreated the same number of cities.
• The winner loses no armies and keeps his position.
• You can only stop the combat, if the right to play TC is yours. If you receive this right of play, however, on a score of Zero, you must play a card, if you have a TC of the symbol in question; if you have Reserves, but not the symbol, you can choose to stop the combat or to play the Reserve. If you stop the combat, it will be a draw: Nobody will lose armies, both generals keep their position.
• SPECIAL CASES
  • The attacker plays TC first, if combat starts with a score of Zero.
  • Every player will use its own TC-Symbol, if combat is across a sector's borderline.
  • A stack of generals always fights as one unit.
  • If a general/stack starts the combat phase adjacent to more than one opponents, he has to fight them one after the other. If more than one generals/stacks are adjacent to one opponent, they have to attack one after the other.
  • A general who suffered a retreat may not attack and may not be attacked in the current combat phase again.

Example

Prinz Heinrich (Prussia P, 2 armies) has moved adjacent to the stack Richelieu and Soubise (France F, 4 armies). He has to attack in the upcoming combat phase.

Initial score = difference of armies = 2 − 4 = −2

P is inferior by 2 and may start playing TC now. (Heinrich could also retreat with a loss of 2 armies immediately.)

Heinrich is positioned in diamonds. P possesses: diamonds-10, diamonds-9, diamonds-7, Reserve Richelieu is positioned in spades, F has gathered: spades-5, spades-4, spades-4, spades-3

P is −2 and plays: diamonds-10. New score: −2 + 10 = +8

Now P is superior and F is the inferior one. The right of playing TC switches.

F is −8 and plays: spades-5 → −8 + 5 = −3 F is −3 and plays: spades-3 → −3 + 3 = 0

SCORE OF ZERO! The right of playing TC switches again!

On a even score Prussia may only abort from combat, if she possesses no diamonds. If she had only the Reserve, then she could continue the combat or abort (the combat would result in a tie then). Since P has still diamonds, it must play:

P is ±0 and plays: diamonds-7 → 0 + 7 = +7 F is −7 and plays: spades-4 → −7 + 4 = −3

F is running out of spades now and decides to stop the combat with a final score of −3. Result: Richelieu loses 3 armies and has to retreat 3 cities. Only one army is left, therefore the lower ranked Soubise is removed from the map.

8. Retreat

A defeated general has to retreat before the next combat is resolved. The length of the retreat is identical to the number of armies lost. During retreat a stack may never be split up. (Loss of 3 armies, retreat of 3 cities!)

• The winner of the combat chooses the path of retreat according to:
  • The retreated general has to finish his retreat as far away as possible from the VICTORIOUS general (only the victorious general is of relevance).
  • On a retreat you may never enter a city a second time.
  • On a retreat you may not overrun a supply train; you may not jump over any units; you may not stack with a general of your own; you may not conquer objectives.
• A general will lose all his armies, if he cannot retreat the full length. (No retreat of 3 cities possible!)

9. Supply

Generals need supply, otherwise their armies will desert. The Supply status of your generals is checked exclusively in the supply phase of your move.

• Inside his home country a general is always in supply. Russia and France have no home country, but will be supplied on their depot cities.
• Outside his home country a general will be supplied by a supply train of his own colour, if a supply path can be traced to it. This path may have a maximum length of 6 cities. The path can be traced over friendly units, but not over hostile generals or hostile supply trains. A supply train may supply an unlimited number of generals of only its own colour. (Out of supply!)
• If a general is out of supply in his supply phase, he is flipped face-down. If the general is in supply in his next supply phase, he is flipped face-up again; but if he is still out of supply, he will lose all armies.
• Whenever a face-up and a face-down general are uniting to a stack, both are automatically and immediately considered face-down (i.e. both need supply in the supply phase of the current move, otherwise all their armies will be lost).

RULE OF THUMB: If a genereal is set out of supply during your move (including retreat), you have one turn to establish supply. If a general is set »out of supply« because of enemy action, you will turn him face down at the end of your next move (and not earlier); effectively you have two turns to establish supply.

• Face-down generals can move and fight without any restriction.
• A supply train cannot fight. A general can overrun an hostile supply train simply by entering its city. The supply train is removed from the map; but the general has to stop moving immediately. Supply trains which are hostile to each other cannot do any harm. (Stop!)

10. Recruitment

During movement lost armies may be replaced; units formerly removed from the map may re-enter the game. The costs for these actions are paid with TC of any symbol. You will get no change.

• Each ARMY costs 6 points of TC.
• Each SUPPLY TRAIN costs 6 points of TC.
• Each GENERAL is for free, but has to receive at least one new army (6 points of TC).
• New armies can be used to reinforce a general already on map; or they can be given to a new general; or any combination thereof. A player just says how many armies he is recruiting, but not which general(s) will receive them. The player writes down the new allocation on his army sheet, secretly.
• No nation may ever have more armies than the number she started with (e.g. France may never have more than 20 armies).
• Units re-enter on their corresponding DEPOT CITIES. Units may not move in the turn they re-enter.

In the rare case, that all depot cities are occupied by HOSTILE units, you may use a substitution re-enter site, which is for:

• Prussia any city in the spades sector around Berlin;
• Hanover any city the diamonds sector around Stade;
• Russia any city in the spades sector around Warszawa;
• Sweden any city in Sweden (Sverige), incl. exclaves;
• Austria any city in the diamond sector around Brünn in Austrian territory;
• Imperial Army any city in the spades sector south of Hildburghausen;
• France any city in the clubs sector south of Koblenz.

Each nation may only use one city for substitution. The costs for every returned supply train and for every recruited army increases from 6 to 8 points of TC, if the depot cities are occupied by hostile units.

11. The Clock of Fate

The Clock of Fate consists of 18 cards. Beginning with the 6th game turn, the last action of every turn is to read and execute the top card. After that, put the card underneath the COMPLETE deck, so that no one ever knows when the last card will be picked.

• 6 Cards are historical Strokes of Fate:

Title	History	Result
ELISABETH	Death of the Tsarina	Russia quits the game! Lehwaldt is permanently retired.
INDIA	France loses India.	First: Austria receives only 4 TC & France only 3 TC from now on.
AMERICA	France loses Canada	Then: France quits the game! Cumberland is permanently retired. Hanover gets only 1 TC from now on
SWEDEN	Sweden makes peace	Sweden quits the game! Anyone Prussian general is permanently retired.
LORD BUTE POEMS	England reduces subsidies	First, Prussia receives only 5 TC; then only 4 TC from now on.

• The other 12 cards refer to the »Sheet of Fate« with a number in the lower right corner. In the standard game, always read the spades version. Whenever a general receives a special bonus or a restriction, use the game turn marker as a reminder (shift it underneath the affected unit).
• The allocation of nations may change:
  • If Russia AND Sweden have dropped out, player Elisabeth takes over the Imperial Army.
  • If France has dropped out, then player Pompadour takes over the Imperial Army.

NOTE: 1.) By the above method all players will participate till the end. 2.) The Imperial Army still moves after Austria.

• Eased victory conditions. For victory, control of 1st order objectives will be sufficient for:
  • Sweden, if Russia has dropped out.
  • Austria and/or Imperial Army, if the Imperial Army has switched players.
• In a 3 player game the Imperial Army will switch players in the same way. Eased victory conditions are also not changed.

12. Game End

• The game will end only at the end of a turn.
• If a nation controls all her objectives before the Card of Fate is picked, this nation has won. Do not pick the card. If a nation controls all necessary objectives after the pick (due to eased victory conditions) the nation has won, too. In both cases the game ends with a victory of the player currently playing this nation. If two or more nations fulfill their victory conditions simultaneously both will win. All other players – allies and opponents – have lost.
• If Russia, Sweden and France have quitted the game, then the game ends with the victory of Prussia/Hanover (player Frederick).

13. The Expert Game

• If the picked Card of Fate shows 4 versions, read out the one with the symbol corresponding to the sector where the latest victorious general is positioned.
• When Russia controls all objectives in East Prussia (Ostpreußen), at least one Russian general has to stay in that territory. If at the end of a Russian move there is no general in East Prussia, any two objectives are automatically reconquered by Prussia (her choice which).
• Prussia may win the game using the Offensive Option (OO) as follows:
  • In turn 3 Prussia has to decide (before moving any unit) for or against the OO. Prussia shows that she goes for the OO by setting aside a TC with a value of at least 10 and of any symbol.
  • Austria picks up this TC as soon as Prussia has lost a combat against Austria with at least −3; or if a Prussian general was removed from the map due to lack of supply south of the coordinate line »5«.
  • To win with the OO Prussia has to control the 14 objectives in Bohemia (»Böhmen«). Without the OO conquests of objectives are NOT possible after turn 3.
  • When the first subsidy reduction has occured AND Austria has picked up the open TC the OO has failed. Prussia is not allowed to conquer objectives in Bohemia anymore. Victory is possible only by defense.
  • If Prussia decides to go for the OO, Austria is allowed to claim the conquest of any 4 objectives at any time (normally this claim is executed by Austria just immediately before winning). At least one objective in Saxony (Sachsen), however, has to be a real conquest always.
  • All other nations are winning as usual.

Credits

AUTHOR: Richard Sivél GRAPHICS PORTRAITS & COVER: Andreas Töpfer OTHER GRAPHICS: Richard Stubenvoll HISTORICAL RECHERCHE: Richard Sivél LAYOUT, TEXTS, TRANSLATION: Richard Stubenvoll HINTS & CONSTANT MOTIVATION: Josef Gundel, Birte Wolmeyer, Carmen Berger, Thomas Vömel, Sven Koch u.a. ENGLISH PROOFREADING: Wendell Albright, Jeff Hartke, Alan & Evrim March, Jessica Mock, Trevor Ott. Thank you! GERMAN PROOFREADING: Birte Wolmeyer, Julia Kaschenz, Alexandra Richter-Rethwisch ART ADVISORS: Andreas Töpfer, Birte Wolmeyer PLAY TESTING: Josef Gundel, Bernd Witzany, Birte Wolmeyer, Thomas Vömel, Sven Koch, Andreas Knoth, Peter Tonini, Holger Jank, Stefan Stubenvoll, Hartmut Wziontek, Aureli Soria Frisch, Sandra Kröger, Oli Meier, Frank Reisert, Franz Josef Heiss, Christian Krokowski, Christiane Krellner, Christa Cocciole, Ralf Dieter Schroers, Thomas Theil, Susanne Zanetti, Florian Hülsey, Bernhard Schimpf, Jasmin Röcker, Florian Sautter, Florence Konkel, Gerhard Kuhlmann, Daniela Grünwitzky, Herbert Braun, Björn Kuhligk, Stephan Egey, and others. Thanks a lot! LITERATURE: Christopher Duffy, Friedrich der Große, Ein Soldatenleben, Benziger 1986. Ludwig Reiners, Friedrich, Das Leben des Preußenkönigs, dtv, 1980. Wolfgang Venohr, Fridericus Rex, Friedrich der Große – Porträt einer Doppelnatur, Gustav Lübbe Verlag, 1988.

©2004 histogame – spielverlag richard stubenvoll – D 10405 berlin All rights by histogame and the author. If you have any rules question, ideas or hints, then contact, please: http://www.histogame.de

Designer's Notes

When the idea for FRIEDRICH was born, there were two German states and computers had no hard disk memory yet. About Prussia I knew nothing, or even more than nothing. Then, one evening, I watched the TV series »Saxony's glamour and Prussia's glory« – a GDR production to be seen in Bavarian Broadcast – and suddenly the game arose inside my head. From the first moment it stood there, so accurate and clear, that FRIEDRICH has not changed in its basic concept, and only little in details since the first prototype. Why then this extraordinary long time of development? Because I wanted that players (not nations) have all the same chances on victory, without performing an artificial and ahistoric levelling. A task which could only be solved with long test series and detailed statistics.

Basic concept. Life is writing the best stories. Therefore it was clear right from the start, that the principle Everybody-against-Frederick and the sudden death of the Tsarina should be the inner engine of the game. The Cards of Fate were born in the first minute – and with them the possibility to spotlight en passant the fascinating figure of Frederick the Great and of the whole era. From this thought the second one can be easily deduced: Draw a historical accurate picture; but never stop being a game; have slim rules and avoid mechanical nightmares; but always offer the players a great depth and a lot of decisions to be made; and finally base everything on a novel concept. The novel concept is the unification of board and classical card game.

The map only seems to be a map. The borderlines are extremely simplified. In earlier versions the dozens of German Minor States had been given an individual colour each; now they are all one territory in yellow colour for the sake of clarity (although the existence of states like Waldeck or Anhalt had a lot of taste). Some cities were shifted significantly to preserve a minimum distance. And, I am ashamed to admit, some territories had to move as a complete block some hundred kilometers, just because of production constraints. The roads reproduce topography: Big meshes can be found at mountains (Harz, Erzgebirge), rivers (Oder, Bober) or marshes (the Warthebruch; swamps at Hanover). Notable crosspoints are located at major cities (Breslau, Prag, Dresden) or at important fortresses (Minden, Glatz). The main roads represent the interior line, which was used by Frederick the Great in masterful perfection. All in all it is the complex and irregular topology which gives FRIEDRICH its attraction: After playing the game now for more than a hundred times, one should think that I know the roads inside out now. – But no way! It will happen every game, that, suddenly, Leopold of Daun or another bastard shows up in front of me, because I couldn't count to three!

The Tactical Cards were part of the game right from the start. Remarkable are:

1. Only the precious »Reserve« can be used as a »1«.
2. The influence of the arrangement of sectors on the game balance is extreme; the strange skip of the three central rows is only for game balance.
3. It took a long time to decide, whether I should use the traditional French symbols or whether I should introduce new ones (e.g. tricorn, sabre, boots, horseshoe). I decided for tradition. Reasons were: a) the French symbols started to establish themselves in the 18th century; b) French was the language of the era and especially of Frederick; c) Sentences like »I will enter horseshoe now« or »You tricorn; me boots« just sound ridiculous. d) Why should I invent the wheel anew and create unnecessary terminology and confusion? — By the way, traditionally spades were a symbol for the sword, clubs were the power, hearts the church and diamonds the money.

The units are based on history. The number of armies are identical in its proportions to the time averaged real army force levels. The number of generals and supply trains is to be seen as a compromise between history and game balance. A lot of thoughts were spent on the decision whether France should receive 3 or 4 generals. She received 3, because France chances on victory would be extraordinary high with 4 generals; and because only 3 generals allow the elegant and roomy campaigns in Northern Germany, which were so typical for Ferdinand of Brunswick.

The chosen generals were the outstanding leaders of the period – or at least the ones with the most influence. One or the other name is missing in the set of generals for sure (e.g. Zieten, Hadik, Rumjanzew, Finck); and in the case of France and Sweden one could have easily made another choice (For France, d'Estrées, Clermont, Contades, Broglie had been alternatives. In Sweden the supreme command changed every year.) — By the way, do not muddle up Richelieu with his namesake, the Cardinal.

The nations all have a specific taste. FRIEDRICH is here a little bit like roleplaying. Playing France is totally different to playing Prussia, totally different to playing Austria; and it is not less a challenge because France has so few units to move. In chess, the endgame is not easier than the opening, too. There will be days where you feel fit to play the role of Frederick with all its mental stress; on other days you like to conduct a campaign with the French, which can be compared to a fleet-footed foil fencer; and there will be even days when you love to feel the sword of Damocles hanging as a sudden death over your head, then you will long for Russia . . .

In contrast to history one should never smile at the minor countries! Of course, Sweden and the Imperial Army are no militarical factor (during the first ten game turns they should avoid combat consequently!), but they can become a great danger in the long run, if they perform a clever tactic of »look-and-run«. This is especially true for the eased victory conditions: If they control all their 1st order objectives at the moment victory conditions are eased, they will win immediately – without giving Prussia the chance for a countermove. – The additional perfidy is in the case of the Imperial Army, that she switches players then! Maria Theresa has done the job, but Pompadour earns the glory and the crown. – Is there a better way to represent the German sectionalism?

Simulation? Without being a strict simulation, FRIEDRICH recreates the nature of the Seven Years War quite excellent. During the first four turns Prussia outmatches each of her opponents significantly. The temptation is quite high to fight them all at once in a wild batting – this, however, is a perfect plan for a fast Prussian defeat. Instead, the key for a Prussian victory is the well targeted use of her primary superiority. Remember what Frederick wrote to d´Argens early 1759: »Until now my enemies had never coordinated their activities. This year they want to attack concerted. If they succeed, you can start to prepare my epitaph.« – Translated into game terms the Prussian dictum is: »Never fight a nation with more than one TC-symbol!« Doing that needs a lot of discipline (just casually this cliché of Prussian virtues shows up here). On the other hand: If the attackers manage to unite their generals in one sector, Prussia is really doomed! But who will be the winner then? Well, this is a complete different issue! – The dissension of the coalition saved Frederick 250 years ago; it will be to Frederick's advantage in the game also (depending on character of players). Furthermore the necessity of maintaining supply will be the main problem for the realisation of the easy Unite-in-one-Sector-strategy. Saltikov and Kunersdorf are saluting here!

On a first view the TC system looks very abstract and arbitrary. But, in its simple mechanics you can find: The shortness of Prussian resources and population (the Prussian stack will constantly decrease, while the Austrians will finish the game with a full hand usually); the strangling of Prussian movement patterns beginning around game turn 12 (approximately the 4th year of the war), situations of siege (although no fortresses exist); motionless entrenchments (Bunzelwitz), threatening the supply lines (Henry's move to Görlitz in 1759); the breakdown of supply (Laudon's coup at Domstädtl); encirclement to enforce a decisive battle (Liegnitz, Torgau, Hochkirch).

The fate. Based on the knowledge of their own Tactical Cards, players make their plans. Maybe they will succeed, maybe not. A sudden end, however, is set to all effort by the Tsarina's death or by France's bankruptcy; by something which cannot be influenced, because it lies outside the game. This is frightening. This is a radical and violent game mechanic. It will irritate for sure, and maybe one will think that the Cards of Fate are nothing else than purest luck . . . But they work! They are playtested over and over. And, most importantly, they make FRIEDRICH like the life itself: Today I feel so alive and I have pretty wonderful ideas how to build my house, and tomorrow a brick will fall on my head . . .

Now, the German state is united and computers have gigantic hard disk memory. After a period of ripening which lasted more than double the time the picked theme did, FRIEDRICH is released to the world now. If your fun playing the game is only half my fun designing it, then you will love the game and its elegance, I am sure. And maybe, you will be touched by the thought, that the world is quite okay as long as states can be outlived by game-ideas.

Richard Sivél Kunowice (Kunersdorf) July 2004