Kard és Korona Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• I. Setup
• II. Basic Concepts
  • Counties
  • Castles
  • Regions
  • Military
  • Weapon Types
  • Cavalry
  • Infantry
  • Archers
  • Royal / Neutral Units
  • Natural Obstacles
  • Event Cards
  • Rounding
• III. Gameplay
  • Placing Units at the Start of the Game
    • Basic Version
    • Advanced Setup
  • Determining the Order of Play
  • Order of a Round
  • Collecting Tax Income and Recruitment
  • Movement
    • Suggestion
  • Movement into an Empty County
  • Stepping into Battle
  • Battle
• IV. Election of Officials
  • Judge Royal
  • Lord High Treasurer
  • Palatine
• V. Victory
• VI. Advanced Version
  • Weapon-Type Limit for Castle Defenders
  • Tie-Down (Lekötés)
  • Reverse Tie-Down
  • Retreat / Flight
  • Limit on Cavalry Units
  • Traditional Movement Method

I. Setup

Decide by a draw or by choice which player plays which warlord. With six players, every province lord enters the game.

With 5 players, Szlavónia (Slavonia) drops out. The part of the country bounded by the Dráva and the Száva cannot be entered at all, and of the areas marked in yellow only Baranya can be conquered, as a neutral territory.

With 4 players, two province lords each become direct neighbours, with one unused territory between them. For example, Erdély and Délvidék play, Szlavónia is neutral, and Pannónia and Felvidék play, with Tiszahát neutral. Or Felvidék and Tiszahát play, Erdély is neutral, and Délvidék and Szlavónia play, with Pannónia neutral.

With 3 players there are two options: Felvidék, Erdély and Szlavónia play and the other three regions are neutral, or the reverse. In the neutral provinces we place military units in the colours of the local province lord, not only in the castles but also in the ordinary counties, except in counties with natural obstacles (mountain, marsh).

With 2 players, the players may choose any province as their starting province. In the neutral provinces we set up military units in the same way as in the 3-player version.

The diplomacy plays an important role in the game. Whether any agreement, arrangement or contract is kept is naturally up to the parties. As a guarantee, "price" or pledge of an agreement, the players may hand each other garas or dénárs, which they may demand back if certain conditions are not met. However, keeping any agreement in the game depends only on the players, since treachery and intrigue are also part of politics.

II. Basic Concepts

Counties

The county is the basic territorial unit of the game. Some counties contain a castle, while others are mountainous or covered with marsh. Leaving a garrison in a conquered county is not compulsory; the army may move on, but at the start of a round only a county in which at least one unit is stationed yields income.

Castles

Fortifications surrounded by a wall, located in a county. Capturing a castle also means capturing the county; a castle is not a separate territory, so the castle makes the county easy to defend. Castles yield 3 garas per round to their owner.

An important restriction: no more than 7 units may be in a castle at one time, and a limit by weapon type also applies. In a castle at most half of the military stationed there – rounded up exceptionally in the case of a fraction – i.e. 4 units, may be of the same kind (archers, cavalry or infantry). Knights (!) in a castle take part in combat as infantry units, with the same characteristics. The province lord does not count toward the maximum of 7 soldiers, and his special ability also applies when the castle is attacked.

Regions

A region (országrész) is a province made up of counties. At the start of the game the players' province lords may start only from the counties of the region to which they belong. Possessing a whole region gives its owner an extra 4 garas of income when income is collected. The white royal territory in the middle, under royal (neutral) authority, also counts as a separate region; capturing it counts toward the victory conditions just like the other provinces.

Military

The basic military unit of the game is the unit (sereg), which belongs to one of three weapon types. In battles one unit means one die roll, which represents a blow against the opposing units facing it. The outcome is determined by the attacking value plus any modifiers. A successful attack (= roll) allows one of the opponent's units to be removed.

Weapon Types

The weapon types of the game:

Cavalry is the strongest weapon type of the Middle Ages, because of its mobility and the protection provided by armour; therefore it can move more than the other unit types, attacks more effectively and is harder to destroy. However, when besieging a castle, or when standing on a mountain or in a marsh, even knights act as simple infantry!

Infantry is the most numerous weapon type. Without them, sieges of castles are almost unimaginable in the game.

Archers can launch their deadly arrows before anyone else at the beginning of battles.

Cavalry

While the greatest distance any other weapon type may move per step is 2 counties, cavalry may move 4! The difficulty of crossing natural obstacles also applies to them: entering or crossing a mountain, a marsh or a river costs every unit 2 movement points.

• Attack value: they kill their opponents with 4, 5 or 6, but since enemy cavalry are heavily armoured, they too can only be removed with a 6!
• Because of their stronger armour, they can only be removed with a 6. In castles, on mountains and in marshes, however, cavalry become more vulnerable, because they must dismount and fight as infantry units; so they can be destroyed even with 4, 5 or 6! A cavalry unit supported by a warlord removes enemy knights with 5 or 6.
• They have 4 movement points.

Infantry

In the game, a siege of castles is not possible without them, except in the presence of a warlord. If the last infantry unit of the attacker falls during a siege, the attacking unit must withdraw. If, however, in the meantime all the castle defenders have also fallen, the remaining army may enter the empty castle.

• Attack value: 4 (in brackets), 5 or 6 kill their opponents, but cavalry only with 6, because of their heavy armour!
• They are removed with 5 or 6, but knights finish them off even with a 4!
• They have 2 movement points, i.e. when crossing mountainous terrain, marsh or a wide river they may move only one county.

Archers

At the beginning of battles there is a separate round, an encounter in which only they may use their weapons ahead of the other weapon types. This gives them a serious advantage.

• Attack value: (4), 5 or 6 kill their opponents!
• They are removed with 5 or 6, but cavalry finish them off even with a 4!
• In an open battle they have an extra round before close combat, in which only they may cause losses to the opponent. If, however, the opponent's unit consists only of cavalry, this extra round is skipped, because we assume that from such a distance their armour protects them from the arrows; in such a case close combat begins at once, in which the archers may still shoot!
• In a siege, in every round only the defending archers of the castle shoot, and in this case they hit with 4, 5 or 6, because they have enough time to aim! The losses suffered this way must be removed immediately by the attacker, and only after this do the further phases of the encounter take place. The reason for the rule is that it is much more effective to aim from cover at the enemy rushing at the walls. The attacking archers, who are besieging the castle, may not shoot first in this case; they attack together with the other close-combat units.
• They have 2 movement points, i.e. when crossing mountainous terrain, marsh or a river they may move only one county.

Royal / Neutral Units

At the start of the game, in every province the empty castles are defended by neutral units, on behalf of the local lord or the king, controlled by the non-active player. These neutral units consist of three units each (1 archer, 1 infantry and 1 cavalry). The royal troops are white, like the neutral territory under royal authority in the centre of the country. These units may not move. If they are attacked, they defend their post until death, but later they do not counterattack. The die for the defenders is rolled, in the name of the defenders, before the attacking player's turn, so that the next player in order can concentrate on his own battle. The losses caused by the neutrals are also removed – within reason – by the person who rolled in their name.

The royal units and the warlords' troops of a warlord not in play do not recruit. Their number can grow only through an event card. If one of the players for some reason stops playing, but the others would continue without him, his existing units become neutral units and take part in the game further in the manner described above.

Each player personifies one province lord/warlord, who leads his own clan. On the map, the province lord is represented by an individual figure, who may take part in combat, but if he loses the battle he dies, and his player is eliminated from further struggle, or he kneels before his conqueror. His role is decisive, so he should be moved very carefully during the game.

The warlord does not belong to any weapon type, but for the purposes of a siege he counts as infantry, i.e. no further infantry must be present alongside him in a siege! He moves as cavalry, even independently of his troops, but he may not be left without an escort, i.e. he may not arrive in an empty county or remain there alone. If he takes part in battle, at the start of the fight – before the first die roll – his controller may decide which weapon type he leads, but he has no separate die roll. His presence gives +1 to every roll of the chosen weapon type (for example, infantry then remove a cavalry unit with a 5 as well)!

If a province lord is defeated in a battle against the royal/neutral units, he is taken prisoner, must be removed from the board, and placed on the timescale three years after the current year! Until he is ransomed he stays there, and if this does not happen before the timescale reaches the year where the warlord stands, he pays with his life, and his player is eliminated from the game. The ransom is 2 gold forints, i.e. 20 garas, which the affected player may pay into the treasury at the earliest at the next recruitment; until he is ransomed he may not take part in elections for officials, and if he had any rank, he immediately loses it as well.

If the weapon type supported by the warlord runs out in a battle, then until the end of the battle the bonus he can give no longer applies, i.e. he may not switch to another weapon type afterwards!

If in a county all of a province lord's units are destroyed, he is defeated; under hard conditions he swears a vassal oath or is eliminated from the game, and his armies elsewhere swear allegiance to the victorious warlord; this is shown on the map by changing their colour.

Natural Obstacles

Mountains and marshes in some places cover entire counties. Passing through such an area costs a given unit not 1 but 2 movement points, so an infantry or archer unit cannot move any further in that round once it has entered such an area. Leaving the area, however, requires no extra movement points. Crossing the larger rivers – the Duna (Danube), Tisza, Dráva, Száva and Maros (marked with thick blue) – from one bank to the other, similarly to entering mountainous and marshy areas, costs one extra movement point. Where a river narrows and does not run along a county border, units can avoid it, so crossing there does not cost extra movement points.

Marshes and mountains also influence the fighting on the territory! The defending units can make much better use of the features of the terrain, so every unit can defend with a +1 modifier, which means that infantry and archers also remove enemy archers and infantry with 4, 5 or 6, and cavalry fight as infantry. It is therefore a particularly great risk to move a cavalry army into a marsh or onto a mountain, because there they can be lost even with 4, 5 or 6, while their attack value is only that of infantry.

Event Cards

At the very beginning of every year – thus also in 1301 – before the tax income is collected, one of the event cards must be turned over; their effect is immediate and applies to every player during the whole year, and where relevant to the neutral territories as well. Some events have an effect that lasts from then until the end of the game (Strengthening of the Guilds), and some events cannot be carried out. For example, the King Election, which requires an extraordinary election of officials if an election is already due at the end of the year, and any event concerning tax income in the first year, since there is no income yet at that point. If an event affects the royal/neutral units too: Peasant Revolt, Plague Epidemic or Bloody Sword, then an infantry unit must be removed from, or placed among, the neutral units.

Rounding

When an event requires an amount or units to be divided, the general rule is that we always round down. The exception is, in the advanced version, the maximum number of units of a weapon type defending or attacking a castle; in that case, of seven units four may be of the same kind, or of nine, five, and so on.

III. Gameplay

After the units of the players have been placed, into the castles that remain empty we place one squad each consisting of a cavalry, an infantry and an archer unit from the royal armies, or, if no player plays a region, the units of that province's colour in that region.

In the advanced version, in a 6-player game, the two missing royal knights are replaced by infantry!

In the 2–3 player game, into every empty province, in the 3 or 5 plain counties outside the castles (the number of counties differs on the two maps; no mountains or marshes!), the players, taking turns, place one unit each: 1 cavalry, and, in the advanced version, 2 archers and 2 infantry each.

In the game played by 2–4 players, at the start of every game, one cavalry from the royal troops is placed in Bihar, one archer in Kunság, and one infantry in Nógrád.

Placing Units at the Start of the Game

Basic Version

Every player starts from the home province of his clan. All the counties may be taken at the start, and here the province lord and his starting army are placed, which in total numbers 12 units: 5 infantry, 4 archers and 3 cavalry.

Advanced Setup

Each player, starting from his home province, chooses 6 counties freely within it, which must border each other at least at one place – a maximum of one castle may be chosen among them. The province lord and his starting army total 15 units: 6 infantry, 5 archers and 4 cavalry.

Determining the Order of Play

At the beginning of the first year/round the players decide by a die roll or by a draw who starts the game. The other players follow the starting player in clockwise order. This applies only to the first year! Afterwards, the starting player may change every year, depending on which player finishes the movement phase first in the previous round.

Order of a Round

1. Turning over event cards
2. Tax income and recruitment (skipped in the first year)
3. Movement
4. Battles and sieges
5. Every 3 years, or when an event card so requires, election of officials

The game is divided into years or rounds, and these are divided into phases and turns. The rounds are indicated on the map by year numbers on a timescale (1301–1308/12). At the start of every new round/year the starting player moves the marker on it one step forward, then turns over an event card, whose effect is immediate, applies to the whole round, and affects all players. A year always consists of three main phases in the following order: collection of tax income and recruitment; movement; battles.

Collecting Tax Income and Recruitment

The player collects tax from the territories under his rule – where his units are stationed at the start of the year. Every county yields 1 garas of income every year, but where there is a castle, 3 garas arrive for its owner each round. If a province lord unites a whole region, then his income rises by a further 4 garas each year, and if he manages to conquer several regions, he may collect even a multiple of this.

The contents of the own treasury are public to the other participants; the only exception to this is the election of officials, before bidding begins.

In the first round the players do not yet collect tax income, and at first their treasuries are empty!

At the start of every round the province lords may recruit units, directly after collecting income. This phase must now be carried out in turn order: first the starting player recruits, and the others follow in clockwise order. The entire income may be spent on setting up troops, but it is worth keeping a reserve for the election of officials that falls at fixed rounds. In recruiting, the cost of an archer and an infantry unit is 5 copper garas each, or 1 silver dénár, while cavalry cost 9 garas (one garas short of a gold forint).

New units must be placed on the game board immediately, but only in castle(s)! The 7-unit limit on castles, and in the advanced version its distribution by weapon type, must of course also be observed at this point. If there is not enough free space in the castles, the player may not recruit more units in that year.

A further – optional – restriction may also apply to cavalry units. In the basic version, where the map has fewer counties and castles, at most 2 knights may be recruited per castle each year, and no more than 4 in total may be recruited. In the advanced version the same limit is at most 3 knights per castle per year!

Movement

The movement phase is divided into turns. The players, after the starting player, move one step each in turn. One step always means a move into one county, possibly combining armies from different counties, for which every unit must of course have the movement points needed for the move. In each player's case the number of steps that may be taken in a round may vary: it is the number of castles owned + 2, so if he has two castles, he may take 4 steps in total in the round. A player may take at most 6 steps in a given round, even if he has more than four castles! If a player has finished his movement phase in a given round, when his turn comes he passes. The first player to pass gains the starting-player marker for the next round! The starting player may also win it again.

When all players have finished their own movement, the battles are carried out.

Suggestion

After the steps of the movement have been carried out, the units taking part in the movement should be turned over to their reverse side, making it clear that they have already moved in that round and are not entitled to a further step! A given unit may move only once in a round; for example, a cavalry unit that has moved only one county distance may not use its remaining movement points later. (The only exceptions are compulsory or freely chosen retreats.) The reverse sides of the units bear the coat of arms of the province lords, from which it can be seen, even when turned, which player is stationed in a given county. At the start of the battle phase we turn the units face up again!

Movement into an Empty County

Where the movement of troops meets no natural obstacle, a cavalry unit may move at most 4 counties, and all other weapon types at most 2 counties, in line with their movement points. At natural obstacles – mountain, marsh and river territory – entering or crossing costs 2 movement points. If one must cross a river to enter a mountain or a marsh, that costs 3 movement points in total, i.e. only cavalry may move in this way.

Stepping into Battle

If a unit runs into resistance, i.e. it moves into a county where an enemy unit is present, it must stop to fight the battle, and may not go further. The exception to this is the tie-down (lekötés) in the advanced version!

In a round any unit may take part in only one battle; even if it would have movement points left after the battle, the exception to this is the compulsory retreat.

Battle

Whoever wants to take a county from his opponent must fight a battle for it. This is the last phase of a given round; once all battles have been fought, the year ends, or the election of officials follows, if it is an election year.

Attack

During the attacking player's movement phase, the units taking part in the fight are placed in the attacked county. If in this step the attacker attacks the county from several sides, all the attacking units join into one unit in the battle. The attacked units may no longer move away in their own movement phase, evading the battle. Neither the attacker nor the defender may bring in further reinforcements during the battle, even if they would still have a step available! There is also no possibility for a third party to intervene in an existing battle with its units on either side.

Melee: A Series of Clashes

Once the units are ready for the fight, a series of die rolls follows, until one side is destroyed, i.e. has been completely used up. Every unit's roll is made according to the characteristics of its weapon type, so at most as many dice can be rolled at once as the player has units on the battlefield. The three weapon types must generally be distinguished (different coloured dice serve this purpose), since their attack values may differ, but in a siege, for example, every unit of the attacking army hits with 5 or 6 if the province lord is not with them, so they can be rolled with the same die.

Within one round, one clash, there is no time difference: whoever rolled earlier does not "remove" the enemy units he has killed before the others have rolled. The archers' extra round is of course a different case! So it sometimes happens that in the last clash of a battle all fighters fall down, and the contested county is left without a master.

The loss may always be taken by the side that achieved the hit, subject to the relevant rules! (For example, it may remove a cavalry unit with a 6, but it may decide instead to remove an archer or an infantry unit.)

Types of Combat

Whether the fight takes place on an open battlefield or is a siege of a fortification affects the basic rules of combat. A brief summary of the combat system can be read on the six tiles included with the game!

Open Battle

An open battle takes place in a county where there is no castle. The units of both sides line up in the field, in woods or on hills. There is no restriction on the number of participating units, unlike in the case of castle defenders. If archers take part in an open battle, this proceeds as follows: in round 1, i.e. in the very first clash, the archers of both sides shoot their arrows from a distance. Those who are hit are no longer part of the rest of the battle, but must be removed immediately as losses; however, archers may target only the enemy's infantry and archers, since cavalry are protected by their armour from that distance. If the enemy army consists only of knights, the archers' separate round is skipped, and only close combat takes place, since they too shoot their first arrows together with the other weapon types, and the archers of both sides shoot simultaneously!

In the next clash, the close combat, only cavalry and infantry actively take part; both sides roll for them. Since the two weapon types have different attack values, they must be rolled separately. (For example, with two black dice if we have two cavalry, which hit on 4, 5 or 6, and with three white dice if we have three infantry, who cause losses with 5 or 6.) They may attack each other and the archers as well, but of the infantry only those may strike who survived the first volley of arrows. The archers do not fight in this round, but they may suffer losses. With this the second, close-combat part of the clashes and the first complete round of the battle conclude. After that, further close-combat rounds follow one after another, until one player's army is completely used up. From then on every weapon type fights at the same time, and archers may not shoot first. Because of the different strengths of the weapon types, cavalry must be rolled separately.

Siege

In sieges of castles, the defending archers, shooting from the walls, enjoy a serious advantage: at the beginning of every full round they shoot first, and only then may everyone else who is still alive fight, including the attacking archers! The archers defending the fortress have this advantage in every clash of the siege, while the attacking archers may not use the advantage that every archer enjoys in the first clash of an open battle in any of the clashes. Moreover, because of the cover provided by the castle, the defending archers aim more accurately, and hit with a 4, 5 or 6!

To summarise the conduct of sieges: round 1, the defending archers shoot; round 2, everyone else strikes; round 3, the defending archers shoot again; round 4, everyone else strikes, and so on.

A requirement for a siege of castles is infantry prepared for close combat, so if the attacking army's infantry all fall to the last man during the siege, the attacker must abandon the siege! It must retreat at once, so much so that if its infantry fell from the first arrows of the defending archers, the 2nd round, i.e. the actual assault, is also skipped. If, however, the attacking infantry is destroyed in the round in which the defenders are also all destroyed, then the attacking side may take the castle with its remaining forces, because an ownerless castle may be taken with any unit!

If the province lord is among the attackers, then during the siege he counts as infantry, so no further infantry need be among the attackers. This offers an excellent opportunity for raids, when the warlord, leading knights, can strike at a castle from a distance, since all of them have 4 movement points! The cavalry may naturally suffer painful losses in such a siege, but if the opposing province lord is trapped in the castle, protected only by a smaller army, then the victory achieved may well compensate them!

In the siege, both sides' cavalry take part as infantry, since they must dismount, with the same combat values as infantry soldiers. The attacking units must still retreat if only knights fighting as infantry and possibly archers remain in their ranks!

During a siege, because of their danger, it is very worthwhile for attackers to silence the defending archers first, since in every round they can cause significant losses in the ranks! If someone attacks a neutral castle, he should still line up enough troops at the siege ring, otherwise an unpleasant surprise may easily come his way!

If the siege succeeds and the attacker takes the castle, the rule still applies that no one may keep more than seven units in a castle. The other besiegers must therefore retreat to the neighbouring territory from which the army or part of it came directly into the battle, i.e. one step from the castle! If that territory has been taken, the surplus army that must be moved out must step into any adjacent, own or empty territory, including mountains, marshes and territories across a river. If all the territories adjacent to the castles are in enemy hands, then this player must immediately start a battle with these units against one of them, and only if he wins may he place these units. This is a unique, special exception to the general rule that every unit may attack only once in a round. This situation may also arise because of the Rainy Autumn event card, the consequence of which is that an army has to retreat from a siege.

The Order of Battles: The Clash of Warlords

Of the battles, open battles must be carried out first, starting from the starting player in turn order. Then the outcome of the sieges is decided. If someone has undertaken several battles and/or sieges in a round, then at that point he may begin one of them of his own choice, and the next one only when his turn comes again. Exempt from this general rule are battles in which warlord(s) take part! Such encounters have priority over the others, and must always be started with, since they can influence the outcome of the other battles. If several such battles take place in a round, then one must start with the one that was entered first, even if this runs contrary to the turn order!

It may happen at any time that two armies led by province lords meet. The consequence may be a situation where in the last clash of the battle every unit dies alongside the warlords, because joint hits were achieved, so only the two warlords remain alone on the battlefield. In this case the two great lords decide the fate of their own and their clan's future in a personal duel. Both fight as knights, and they can win over the other only with a 6, and given the nature of the struggle, joint hits do not count. The effect of the Vintage event card does not apply (the attacking warlord therefore does not get +1), but during the duel the presiding judge may re-roll one of his dice once. The fight continues until one of them alone can roll a 6, with which he strikes his opponent's head, and with it takes all his territory and entire wealth!

After the battle, the victorious warlord is entitled to one extra step: he moves units from other counties to be beside the warlord, or moves him to other own units, within the maximum of 4 movement points available to him. He may not pass through enemy territory even then.

Elimination or Vassal Oath

A player is eliminated at once if his province lord's battle ends unfavourably for him. The defeated player may, at his option, at this point swear a vassal oath to his conqueror, or the defeated province lord may try to escape: if he has his own unit within one county's distance – including mountains, marshes and territories across a river – and manages to roll a 6 with a die (the presiding judge may re-roll!), then he may successfully escape to that territory! A further exception is when the warlord is captured by neutral units and can be ransomed within three years for a ransom payment!

The eliminated player must replace all his units with those of his conqueror; his personal property (his territories and money as well) goes to the conqueror, unless he undertakes the vassal oath.

The victor may place one unit from his own units in each newly won county; if there were several there earlier, he may place one of one type.

At the moment the province lord is defeated, there may still be battles not yet carried out. For these territories too, the victorious warlord must place one unit each from his units, and they bear the burden of the fight. (If a player runs out of figures he can place, he may use for this purpose the units of an opponent who has already been eliminated from the game. It is therefore not necessary to replace the defeated armies, only to reduce their number everywhere.) If the defeated province lord held an office, that returns to the crown until the next election. The victor does not automatically gain it from him.

If the province lord defeated in battle swears the vassal oath, he is not eliminated from the game. His figure must be removed from the board, he loses his offices, the money in his treasury becomes the victor's war booty, and from then on he may not take part in the election of officials, although he retains partial independence. He retains the right of command over his remaining armies, and may initiate battles. He naturally may not attack his overlord, and moreover the overlord has a veto over his initiating battles and over giving up his territories, so that the vassal cannot act expressly to the detriment or against the interests of the overlord. If the vassal has lost all his castles, it is not worth making him swear a vassal oath, since without a castle he will not be able to receive reinforcements, and could only take part in further battles with the units he has left.

The territories held by a vassal count for his overlord as if the overlord himself stood on them. Every castle held by a vassal counts toward the overlord's victory conditions. The overlord receives the tax income from the whole territory, while the vassal receives exactly half of what he would normally receive. They may not pass through each other's territories, and may not fight jointly against another army. If the vassal's overlord falls in a battle against another warlord, the vassal is freed. His province lord returns to the board in one of his own counties, with the same rights as he had before.

IV. Election of Officials

In the predetermined rounds of the game: at the end of year 3, year 6, and in the advanced version at the end of year 9 (marked by a double turn on the timescale), and when the King Election event card is drawn, officials are elected, in which the players bid from the money available to them for the offices of Judge Royal (országbíró), Lord High Treasurer (tárnokmester) and Palatine (nádor). Before the first bidding begins, everyone must state the contents of his treasury, but later it is no longer required and no recording of figures on paper or by other means is permitted; they must be kept in one's head!

Unlike the other parts of the game, in this phase handing money to one another is expressly forbidden, since through bidding there is a possibility of winning the game by political means!

The Judge Royal, Lord High Treasurer and Palatine offices are won by the player offering the most in the bidding, until the next election, which in the game is represented by the images of the coronation jewels. The bids are held separately: first the election of the Judge Royal, then the Lord High Treasurer, and finally the Palatine. In the bidding, each player takes the money he intends to spend on the office into his hand in such a way that the others cannot see it, then all reveal it simultaneously, which offers a good opportunity for tactics. The player who offered less for the office loses the coins he bid, which return to the royal treasury. If two players bid the same amount, but one of them currently holds the rank, then he remains in his position. If neither held this office, the winner is decided by a die roll, but in both cases the player who lost the tie gets back half of the money used in the bid, rounding down.

From the second election onward, the Palatine's importance rises even more: if two players bid the same amount, and neither of them currently held this office, then he may decide which of them obtains the rank, including himself! The loser of the tie is in this case also entitled to get back half of the money bid.

If no one bids on an office, i.e. everyone offers zero for it, then this office is not filled, or if someone already held it, it stays with him.

If a player wins all the offices in one election, he wins the game! Because in addition to brute force, victory can also be achieved by diplomatic cunning and political skill.

Judge Royal

• In every battle, once, he may re-roll the result of one clash for one weapon type; in such a case all the dice must be rolled again, not only those that did not hit.
• In every other case where a player has to roll, for example when the Rainy Autumn event card is drawn, or in a clash of warlords, he may re-roll it once!

Lord High Treasurer

• The castles he holds pay one silver dénár, instead of the usual 3 copper garas tax, i.e. two more. (The source states the amount as "one silver dénár, not the usual 3 copper garas tax, but two more"; the source does not restate the exchange rate between the two coins in this sentence.)

Palatine

The player who attains this title can recruit units more cheaply than his fellow players in the game.

• When recruiting, every unit costs one or two garas less for him: a cavalry unit costs 7 instead of 9 garas, and infantry and archers 4 instead of 5!
• Furthermore, if in a later election two players bid the same amount, he may decide – if neither of them currently held the office – which of them obtains the rank now.

The spirit of the game does not exclude putting the won offices up for sale to the other players, if the holder's treasury is currently empty and he badly needs income. In such a case, however, this must always be done at a public auction, in which the highest bidder obtains it, so it may even happen that someone, outside the auction, obtains all three ranks and wins the game!

V. Victory

The players win in the following four cases:

I. If a province lord remains alone, because the warlords of all the other players perish in battles, or become vassals.

II. In one election of officials he obtains all the mandates at once, thanks to skilful diplomatic and financial manoeuvres.

III. Including his starting province, he occupies at least 3 whole regions completely. In a 2–3 player game, victory requires occupying 4 whole regions. The middle royal territory also counts as a separate region.

IV. He occupies a number of castles determined by the number of players.

In the basic version: with 2 players, 9 castles; with 3 and 4 players, 7 castles; with 5 and 6 players, 6 castles. In the advanced version: with 2 players, 13 castles; with 3 and 4 players, 11 castles; with 5 and 6 players, 9 castles. Victory occurs at the moment the last castle is occupied; at that moment the current round need not be finished.

V. If no one has won the Holy Crown by the methods above, then (depending on the version played) a winner is declared at the end of the 8th or 12th round, in the year 1308 or 1312 at any rate. In this case the player who owns the most castles wins the game. If the number of castles is equal between two or more players, the one with more counties wins; if that is also equal, the one with more knights on the battlefield; and if even this is equal in an exceptional situation, the one who has more money left in his treasury.

VI. Advanced Version

The most striking difference between the basic and the advanced version is that the game is played on two different maps: in the basic version there are 7 counties per province, of which two have castles. In the advanced version there are 10 counties and 3 castles per province. The basic version lasts 8 years, while the advanced one lasts 12 rounds.

Weapon-Type Limit for Castle Defenders

In the case of a castle battle there is an important restriction: in an army of more than 4 units, no weapon type may exceed the other units of the army by more than one unit! For castle defenders, a four-unit army may consist only of infantry or only of archers, but a fifth unit must be of another kind. The attacking army besieging a castle has no maximum number of units, but they too must observe the half rule.

In the case of a successful siege, too, the rule applies that at most 7 units (of the composition described above) may remain in the castle; the others must retreat to the territory from which they came directly into the battle, i.e. to a neighbouring county.

Tie-Down (Lekötés)

If in a county the defenders are engaged by at least twice as many attacking units (with no weapon-type restriction), i.e. the attacker engages them in combat, then the attacker's other units – if they have enough movement points – may afterwards, during the movement phase, pass through that county without obstruction and attack the territories beyond it. In the county, during the battle phase, of course, a battle or siege takes place between the attackers and the tied-down defenders.

If a province lord is attacked, from then on his units may not move any more that year, because control has been temporarily lost! None of his other units may move either, even if they would otherwise be able to. So, if it is his turn again, he can only pass, so that he can become starting player in the next round.

Reverse Tie-Down

When a much smaller army attacks a larger one, precisely with the aim of preventing the opponent's move in a given round by sacrificing themselves like kamikazes! If, moreover, the opponent's leader is also involved in this struggle, then the affected player may not issue any movement order to his other units in that year. Here the tie-down works in reverse. In this version of the rules each unit can tie up at most double its own size; if the attack is on a larger army, the excess above that number may move freely (including the warlord and his right of command), and may undertake further battles!

Retreat / Flight

When an army is attacked, in the advanced version it has the option of retreating after the first or any complete round of the battle. This means that in an open battle the archers of both sides first shoot, then the first close-combat phase takes place, then either side may decide to retreat. This is done in the same way in a siege. In the game, the fleeing enemy units may be attacked once more by every unit of the other side, i.e. rolled with one die. Thus a retreat can easily end in a massacre. The fleeing army can no longer defend or return the blows, which it suffers from its pursuers. The only exception is when an army attacking a castle retreats; in that case only the castle's defending archers have the chance to shoot one more volley. The other defending units in the castle are not in direct contact with the retreating enemy.

The target territory of a retreat – similarly to a retreat from a siege – is a neighbouring county from which the attackers arrived. The defenders may flee to any neighbouring own or empty county, except a territory from which an attacking unit arrived. In a combined attack, the joined army, or what remains of it, may retreat to any bordering county from which one of its units arrived, but only together; it may not split up again. If these counties are no longer in its own hands, the fleeing army may also step into a neighbouring empty county, but it may not start a further battle – unlike the compulsory and organised retreat from a siege – and may not enter a county where an enemy unit stands. A further complication: if a natural obstacle also lies on their retreat route, i.e. they would have to cross a river, or enter a marsh or mountain, then the fleeing army loses half of its strength (rounded down). The defending player may determine which of the fighters are lost.

Limit on Cavalry Units

Each year at most 3 cavalry may be placed in each castle. In total too, the number of knights the players may recruit per round is limited. Every year, as many new cavalry may enter the game as the number of years that have passed since the start of the game. Thus in the 2nd round, in 1302, this number is two, in 1303 three, and so on. Recruitment proceeds in clockwise order starting from the starting player. However, if this quota has already been used up, the other players may still recruit one cavalry unit each in the given round in any case.

Traditional Movement Method

At the start of every round the starting player is drawn by dice, who receives the turn marker! It is worth rolling two dice, the player who rolls the higher total starts collecting income and recruiting from it, then the other players follow in clockwise order.

After recruitment is complete, the player who rolled the highest, i.e. the starting player, may decide whether he wants to move first in that round or, on the contrary, last. If he starts the movement, the others follow him in clockwise order. If he decides to be last, then the movement phase will be started by the player seated to the left of the starting player, after him. Thus the starting player will move and fight last, exactly.

After movement the battle phase follows here too, and if it is an election year, there is also a bidding at the very end of the round. When a player has finished all his battles, the whole round has ended for him; he may no longer carry out regrouping or other moves, and the player next in clockwise order begins his own move.

The starting player for the next round is again drawn by dice in the same way, after every round, once all players have moved. Otherwise the rules are exactly the same.