Maria Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• 1. Basic Concept
• 2. The Players
• 3. The Game Components
  • 3.1 The playing pieces
  • 3.2 The game board and the political display
• 4. How to Start
• 5. Sequence of Play
• 6. Stacks and Troops
• 7. Hussars
• 8. Tactical Cards Phase
• 9. Supply Phase
• 10. Movement Phase
  • 10.1 Movement
  • 10.2 Re-entering supply trains
  • 10.3 Conquering fortresses
• 11. Combat Phase
  • 11.1 Combat
  • 11.2 Retreat
• 12. Retroactive Conquest Phase
• 13. Winter
• 14. The Introductory Game
• The Advanced Game
• 15. General Rules
• 16. The Victory Boxes
• 17. Politics
  • 17.1 Reveal 2 Political Cards
  • 17.2 Determine the political trump suit
  • 17.3 Place TCs on the political display
  • 17.4 Determine order of influence
  • 17.5 Select Political Cards
• 18. Imperial Election
• 19. Political Changes
  • 19.1 Prussia annexes Silesia
  • 19.2 France reduces military objectives
  • 19.3 Saxony's defection
  • 19.4 Neutrality
• 20. Subsidy Contracts
• 21. Negotiations
• 22. Arenberg
• 23. Victory Conditions
• 24. The 2-Player Game
• 25. Optional Political Rule
  • 25.1 Return face-down TCs to the players
  • 25.2 Reveal 2 Political Cards
  • 25.3 Determine the political trump suit
  • 25.4 Place TCs on the political display
  • 25.5 Determine order of influence
  • 25.6 Select Political Cards
• Design Notes
• Credits

1. Basic Concept

MARIA is a game for 2 or 3 players based on the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). The game can be played in 2 variants: the introductory game (9 turns to play, about 90 min., with simplified rules) or the advanced game (12 turns, 3 to 5 hours, with the full set of rules).

Sections 1 to 13 give the 3-player rules that are valid for both variants. Sections 15 to 23 give rules that are only for the advanced game. Additional rules that are advanced-game-only are included in sections 1 to 13, highlighted by grey boxes. The additional rules for 2 players are to be found in section 24.

The introductory game victory conditions are in section 14. The advanced game victory conditions are in section 23.

The game MARIA includes:

• 1 game board
• 1 political display
• 22 stickers for generals & hussars
• 1 die-cut sheet with 130 markers
• 192 cards, in detail:
  • 4 Tactical Cards decks, 38 cards each
  • 25 Political Cards
  • 2×6 National Cards (English, German)
  • 3 playing aids
• 1 compendium-sheet for the Political Cards
• this rules booklet (incl. 4 army sheets in the middle of this booklet), and:
  • 20 generals, 10 supply trains, in 6 colours each
  • 2 hussars (white)

2. The Players

The 3 players take the roles of Maria Theresa, Frederick, and Louis XV. They control the following powers:

• Maria Theresa: Austria (white)
• Frederick: Prussia (blue), Saxony (green), Pragmatic Army (grey)
• Louis XV: France (red), Bavaria (orange)

Comment: The Pragmatic Army was comprised of soldiers from Great Britain, the Netherlands and the Electorate of Hanover.

Austria, Prussia, France, and the Pragmatic Army are major powers, while Bavaria and Saxony are minor powers.

The following powers are allied to each other:

• France, Bavaria, Prussia, and Saxony.
• Austria and the Pragmatic Army.

Powers that are not allied to each other are enemies.

Some allied powers co-operate:

• France and Bavaria.
• Prussia and Saxony.
• Austria and the Pragmatic Army.

Comment: As can be seen, Frederick's role in the game is schizophrenic. When he plays Prussia and Saxony, he is Austria's enemy, but when he plays the Pragmatic Army he is Austria's ally. But don't worry! It all works.

3. The Game Components

3.1 The playing pieces

Every power has generals and supply trains, hereafter referred to as pieces. Austria also has 2 hussars. Hussars are never called pieces.

Every general has a name and a rank number. Before playing the game for the first time, stickers must be applied to the generals for each power (blue on blue, red on red, etc.) The 2 hussar stickers go on the white hussar disks.

Comment: For technical reasons, the sticker sheet has 2 blank stickers.

The die-cut markers are of the following types: Victory marker, Elector marker, Turn marker, Political marker, Change of income, Subsidy marker.

3.2 The game board and the political display

The game board includes 2 maps: The Flanders map and the Bohemia map.

A rectangular grid divides the maps into 44 sectors. Each sector is assigned one suit: hearts, diamonds, clubs, or spades. These suits affect the play of Tactical Cards in resolving combat.

Home country. The home country of a power includes all the territories in its colour. Note that the Flanders map includes white territories that are part of Austria's home country. Silesia (Schlesien) is not home country for any power at the beginning of the game, but during the advanced game it can become Prussian home country.

The maps show cities connected by roads. The thick roads are main roads. Cities connected by a road are adjacent.

Note that there are roads that connect the Flanders map and the Bohemia map. Some cities are special: these include minor fortresses, major fortresses, and set-up cities (Major fortress, Minor fortress, Set-up city).

Control of fortresses: During the game, a power controls all of the fortresses inside its home country not marked with a victory marker, and all the fortresses outside its home country marked with one of the power's victory or elector markers.

There are 9 special fortresses that give the controlling power one elector's vote each (for instance, Berlin). Elector's votes decide the imperial election, for which the Electoral College (see the bottom edge of the board) is used, too.

In the top-left corner of the board, there is a victory box display: 8 boxes for battle victories (2 for each of the 4 major powers), and 4 other victory boxes.

Near the edge of the board, each major power has an off-map box and a box for its pool of victory markers. The political display is explained in section 17.

COMMENT: Off-map boxes are used for generals sent to distant theatres of operations (e.g., Italy). As long as a general is in an off-map box he is completely out of the game.

4. How to Start

Players can decide randomly or by mutual agreement who is playing which role.

Put the turn marker on the "1" space on the time track (see the top-right corner of the board).

In the middle of this booklet are the army sheets. Divide one army sheet into four and give each player his respective quarter. Set aside the quarter "Winter Scoring" for later use.

Set up all pieces as indicated on the game board. (The army sheets provide map coordinates.) Generals go on set-up cities marked with their rank number in their colour. Supply trains go on set-up cities marked with a "T" in their colour. The 2 Austrian hussars go beside the board.

NOTES: 1.) One Prussian general starts in the "Ostpreussen" off-map box and one Prussian supply train starts in the "Silesia" victory box. Both pieces are out of the game at game start. 2.) After setup, set-up cities are treated like regular cities.

Put the following number of victory markers for each major power in its corresponding pool: Prussia 13, France 11, Pragmatic Army 8, Austria 8.

Shuffle one of the four Tactical Card decks for immediate use as the draw deck (Tactical Card, Political Card, National Card). Set aside the other 3 decks for later.

Prussia puts 1 victory marker each on its fortresses in Silesia (Liegnitz and Glogau). Austria puts victory markers on the other 5 Silesian fortresses. IMPORTANT: In the advanced game, these markers come out of the pool.

Each power draws its initial hand of Tactical Cards. France receives 2, Bavaria 5, Prussia 9, Saxony 3, Pragmatic Army 3, Austria 5.

The army sheets indicate the numbers of troops each power has at the start of the game. Each player secretly assigns all of a power's troops to its generals by writing numbers in the boxes next to the names of the generals. Each general must receive a minimum of 1 troop, but cannot receive more than 8 troops. Some generals, however, have higher minimums for initial setup; these are indicated on the army sheets.

Example: Prussia has 22 troops. In compliance with the minimum set-up values, Friedrich receives 8 troops, Schwerin 4, Erbprinz Leopold 4, der Alte Dessauer 6.

Mark the fortresses Köln and Mannheim with French elector markers, and the fortresses Mainz and Trier with Austrian-Pragmatic elector markers.

In the Electoral College, put 1 elector marker of the corresponding colour in each of the 9 boxes. (For instance, put a Prussian elector marker in the "Berlin" box.)

Sort the Political Cards into four decks, one for each year from 1741 to 1744. Shuffle each deck. Then stack the decks one on top of the other in chronological order (1741 on top, 1744 at the bottom) to create one combined deck.

On the political display, put 1 political marker onto each of the 3 tracks. The marker goes in the box with a star.

5. Sequence of Play

The game is played in turns. Each turn consists of 5 stages, which are carried out in strict order:

1. Major Powers conduct politics (advanced game only).
2. Austria places its hussars.
3. Action stage of France and Bavaria.
4. Action stage of Prussia and Saxony.
5. Action stage of Austria and Pragmatic Army.

The action stages are the core of the game. Every action stage is divided into 5 phases. The powers that share an action stage are the active powers and they act in each phase simultaneously. This is true even for Austria and the Pragmatic Army, although they are played by different players. The 5 phases are carried out in the following strict order:

1. Tactical Cards. The active powers draw new Tactical Cards.
2. Supply of every active general is checked.
3. Movement. All active pieces may move. This includes conquest of objectives and re-entry of supply trains.
4. Combat. Active generals must attack adjacent enemy generals.
5. Retroactive conquests are checked for.

After all stages are completed, the turn track marker is advanced by one space, and the next turn starts.

Winter. After every 3 turns, the normal flow of the game is interrupted by winter. Winter is not a game turn: it does not consist of any of the above stages. During winter, generals who were formerly removed from the board may re-enter and troops can be recruited. The powers conduct these activities in the same order used for action stages. After winter, normal game turns resume.

The advanced game includes winter scoring.

6. Stacks and Troops

Before presenting the detailed rules for the different phases, it is helpful to introduce the basic rules for stacks and troops.

Only 1 piece may ever be placed on each city. EXCEPTION: Two generals may occupy one city to form a stack, but only if they belong to the same power or to co-operating powers. A stack of generals from co-operating powers is called a mixed stack. In both cases, the general with the lower rank number is the supreme commander and is placed on top of the stack. If two generals have the same rank number (for instance, Prussia No. 1 and Saxony No. 1), the player must decide at the moment he creates the stack which will be the supreme commander.

Diagram: three example stacks illustrating the stacking rule — "Wrong!!" shows two generals of different, non-co-operating powers (rank 1 with 2 troops, rank 2 with 4 troops) stacked together, which is illegal; "One power" shows two generals of the same power (rank 1 with 1 troop, rank 1 with 4 troops) stacked legally; "Co-operating powers" shows a legal mixed stack of two generals (rank 1, each with troops) from co-operating powers.

Every general has to command at least 1 troop. No general may ever command more than 8 troops.

In a (mixed) stack, generals must command at least 2 troops in total, and can never command more than 16 troops in total.

The allocation of the troops among a power's generals is written on the power's army sheet and kept secret. If during the game, the number of troops assigned to a general changes, the sheet is updated with the new number. A player has to state the current troop-total of a power if asked to do so. However, the troop strength assigned to a particular general is made public only during combat.

As long as generals of one power are stacked, a player can transfer troops between them whenever he desires. He can do it even during the action stage of another player. Troops can never be transferred between generals which are not stacked or which belong to different powers.

A general who loses his last troop is removed from the board, unless the general is in a stack and it is possible to transfer at least one troop to him. In such a case transfer is mandatory: a general never is removed from the board as long as he has one troop or as long as one troop can be transferred to him.

Example: Friedrich and Schwerin are in a stack. They have 4 and 5 troops, respectively, for a total of 9 troops. The Prussian player decides to transfer troops in this stack. Friedrich receives 7 troops, and Schwerin 2. He writes down the new allocation of troops on his army sheet.

Example: Friedrich and Schwerin like above. In combat they lose 8 troops. The last surviving troop goes to Friedrich, and the troopless Schwerin leaves the map. As a variant, suppose they lost only 7 troops. In this case both generals would stay on the map with 1 troop each.

7. Hussars

Austria has 2 hussars, which it places on cities to complicate enemy supply (see section 9).

Hussars are placed in the hussars stage. A hussar can be placed on any city, within the following restrictions:

• The city must be on the Bohemia map, and
• it may not be more than 4 cities distant from an Austrian general, and
• it is currently not occupied by any piece.

If a hussar is still on the board (from a previous turn), Austria may leave him where he is or place him anew.

Hussars do not block pieces' movement, re-entrance or retreat. If a piece moves, re-enters or retreats into or through a hussar's city the hussar is removed from the board, but can be placed again next turn.

8. Tactical Cards Phase

At the beginning of its action stage, every active power draws a certain number of Tactical Cards (TCs) from the draw deck:

• France 4 (5) TCs; Bavaria 2 (1) TCs
• Prussia 3 TCs; Saxony 1 TC
• Pragm. Army 3 TCs; Austria 5 TCs

NOTE: In the first 3 turns, France draws 4 TCs per turn, and Bavaria 2 TCs due to a subsidy. Starting in turn 4, the subsidy is optional. In any turn that France chooses not to give Bavaria the subsidy, France draws 5 TCs and Bavaria 1 TC.

A minor power does not receive TCs (not even subsidies) if its major fortress is enemy controlled.

Powers may never mix nor exchange their TCs. A power accumulates its TCs until they are played. There is no maximum hand size. TCs may not be shown to other players unless they are played. Every TC has a suit () and a value from 2 to 10. There is a special wild card type called "Reserve". When a player plays a Reserve card, he declares it as being any suit and any value from 1 to 8. NOTE: The variable value is of great use in minimizing battle losses.

Hint: Keep each power's National Card on top of its TC hand, so that you don't get confused about which hand belongs to which power.

Whenever TCs are played, they are set aside and sorted according to their deck of origin. When the first deck of TCs has been used up, use the second deck as draw deck, and so on. If the fourth deck is used up, form the new draw deck by shuffling together the two decks which have accumulated most discards.

In some situations, players have to pay for costs with TCs (for instance supply, see section 9). For this, you pay with TCs of any suit or combination of suits; only the values matter. If you overpay, you do not get change. For recruitment, a Reserve card always counts as 8 points.

9. Supply Phase

Generals need supply. The supply status of generals is checked exclusively in the supply phase of the power's action stage.

Inside his home country a general is always in supply. REMINDER: At the beginning of the game, Silesia is not home country for anyone (see 3.2).

Outside his home country, to be in supply a general needs a supply path to a supply train of his own colour. This path may not be longer than 6 cities. The path cannot be traced through enemy pieces (generals and supply trains).

If a general cannot be supplied in his supply phase, he is flipped face-down and suffers an immediate loss of one troop. If he is already face-down, he stays face-down and loses 2 troops. If he is face-down, but back in supply, he is turned face-up again.

Face-down generals cannot conquer fortresses.

Diagram: "Out of supply" — flip face-down and each general loses 1 troop.

Hussars. Every general hostile to Austria who is tracing a supply path through a hussar must pay with TCs to be in supply. The cost is equal to the length of the supply path, 1 point of TC per city. (There is no additional penalty for tracing through two hussars.) A power must pay if it can. If it cannot pay the full amount, it must pay all its TCs and, in addition, any general (owner's choice) whose path has still not been completely paid for is out of supply with the usual consequences (loss of troops, flipped face-down etc.).

Example: a supply path of 4 cities passing through 2 generals costs 8 points of TC to pay for.

10. Movement Phase

10.1 Movement

In their movement phase, the active powers move their pieces. A power may move as many or as few of its pieces as it wishes, but one piece must finish its move before another can start. A piece can be moved only once. Movement is from city to city along roads.

A general may move up to 3 cities, even back and forth.

If the entire move is along a main road, the general may move an additional city, up to a total of 4. (Main road +1!)

A supply train moves like a general, but one city less, i.e. 2 cities (and 3 on main roads).

Only one piece may ever be placed on each city (EXCEPTION: Stacks). Under no circumstances may a piece jump over another piece. When one general stacks with another, movement is finished for both immediately. When a face-up and a face-down general stack, both keep their facing.

A general can enter a city containing an enemy supply train. In this case, the supply train is eliminated (remove it from the board), and the general can continue moving.

Force march. Under certain conditions a general may force march. (Supply trains cannot force march.) On a force march, a general may move up to 8 cities. A force march:

• must be entirely along a main road,
• may never enter or pass through an enemy-controlled fortress. If a force march starts on an enemy-controlled fortress, this fortress is never conquered.
• may never enter or pass through a city adjacent to an enemy piece (either a general or a supply train).

Do not forget that enemy fortresses and enemy pieces block a force march. (Force March = 8; friendly fortresses do not block; an enemy fortress "BLOCK!!"s the march, as does a city adjacent to an enemy piece.)

Only French and Austrian pieces may move from the Flanders map to the Bohemia map, and vice versa.

Austrian and Pragmatic Army generals may stack only if both players agree to do so.

If a dispute arises between the Pragmatic Army and Austria about the order in which they will move on the Flanders map, they alternate moves on the Flanders map for the rest of the turn, starting with the Pragmatic Army.

10.2 Re-entering supply trains

During its movement phase, a power may:

• bring an eliminated supply train back into play;
• eliminate a supply train voluntarily and immediately bring it back into play again. EXCEPTION: The supply train in the Silesia box cannot leave the box by this method.

In both cases:

• The re-entering supply train costs 4 TC-points.
• The supply train can re-enter on a major fortress inside its home country, but is not allowed to move in the current movement phase. A major power can also choose a major fortress of a co-operating minor power for re-entering its supply train.
• The chosen fortress must be empty and must be friendly controlled. If such a fortress does not exist, the supply train cannot re-enter. NOTE: A fortress with a hussar is considered to be empty.

Example: A French supply train re-enters in München. This is possible, since Bavaria is a minor power co-operating with France. The re-entry costs 4 TC-points. France pays with a 5 (and does not get any change).

10.3 Conquering fortresses

Control of fortresses changes due to conquest. Only a face-up general may conquer fortresses. Only enemy-controlled fortresses can be conquered. (Prussia, for instance, cannot conquer a French-controlled fortress.) An enemy-controlled fortress is conquered when:

• a face-up general moves out of the fortress (either by moving through it, or by starting its move on it and moving away); and
• the fortress is not protected at that moment.

A fortress is protected, if a general of the power currently in control of the fortress is positioned 1, 2, or 3 cities away. (It is protected even if there are pieces between the protecting general and the fortress.) Also, generals of co-operating allies protect each others' fortresses in the same way. For instance, a general of the Pragmatic Army protects an Austrian fortress and vice versa.

A general cannot conquer fortresses when force marching (see section 10.1). A general may conquer more than one fortress in a single move. After conquest, a conquered fortress may still be entered by other pieces.

Retroactive Conquest. If a general moves through (or away from) a protected fortress, put a marker with a question mark on the fortress. In the retroactive conquest phase of that same stage, check each fortress with a question mark. If the fortress is not protected anymore (due to retreats after combat), it is retroactively conquered. If the fortress is still protected, it is not conquered and the question mark is removed. Note that the general who moved through the fortress does not have to be the general that forced the enemy retreat. It is only important that both the move and retreat occurred in the same action stage.

In the advanced game, when you take a question mark out of the pool, return it to the pool if the fortress is not retroactively conquered.

Example: A French general moves through Tournai and Brüssel. The unprotected Tournai is conquered ("Conquered!"). The Austrian-controlled Brüssel is protected by the Pragmatic Army general (3 cities away — "Protected!"); it is not conquered.

Example (continued): Brüssel was marked with a question mark in the French movement phase. During the combat phase of the same action stage, the protecting general has to retreat thus leaving Brüssel now unprotected. Therefore it is retroactively conquered ("Retroactively conquered!").

After conquest, change of control is indicated:

If the previous controlling power has a victory marker on the fortress, remove the marker. (In the advanced game, return the marker to the pool.)

If the conquered fortress is Trier, Mainz, Köln, or Mannheim, flip the elector marker to its other side. NOTE: These 4 fortresses are special in two ways: 1.) They are never marked with victory markers; 2.) If the Pragmatic Army or Austria conquers one of them, they control it jointly.

For the other fortresses, the conquering power marks the fortress with its own victory marker if:

• it is inside an enemy home country; or
• it is inside a friendly minor power home country. (This is possible if the conquest is actually a re-conquest.); or
• it is in Silesia (Schlesien). (Fortresses in Silesia are ALWAYS marked with victory markers!)

In all other cases the fortress is NOT marked with a victory marker. (The conquest is a re-conquest of a friendly major power home country fortress. Such a fortress, if not controlled by an enemy, is controlled by the major power that owns the territory, and the territory's colour indicates control. Silesian fortresses, however, are exempt from this rule, see above.)

A fortress conquered by a minor power is marked with a victory marker of the co-operating major power following the above rules.

Comment: Players should note that the re-conquest of a minor power fortress is rewarded with a victory marker, while the re-conquest of a major power fortress is not. This subtle difference is for reasons of game balance.

Examples: a) Austria conquers a fortress in Bavaria. An Austrian victory marker is placed, since the fortress is in enemy home country. b) Bavaria re-conquers this Austrian-controlled fortress. The Austrian victory marker is removed. Since Bavaria is a minor power, the fortress is marked with a victory marker. A French marker is used, since France is Bavaria's co-operating major power. c) The Pragmatic Army conquers a French-controlled fortress in the Austrian Netherlands. Since this is friendly major power home country, no victory marker is placed; the French marker is simply removed.

11. Combat Phase

11.1 Combat

Every general who is adjacent to an enemy general at the beginning of his power's combat phase must attack. This is true even if the generals are located on different maps. If more than one attack must be made, the attacking player chooses the order of resolution.

An attack is resolved as a card game using Tactical Cards (TCs). A player may play only those TCs which are of the same suit as the sector in which his general is positioned.

First, the opposing players state how many troops their participating generals command. The difference between these two numbers is called the initial score. This score is negative for the player with fewer troops, and positive for the other one.

Next, the player with the negative score has the right to play a single TC of his suit. He adds the TC value to the initial score. This results in the new score which he states aloud. The score is always the same for both players, except that it is negative for one and positive for the other. As long as his score is negative, a player has the right to play another TC.

Whenever a score becomes zero or positive, the right to play TCs switches to the other player (whose score is negative now). Now he may play a TC using the same procedure. The right to play TCs keeps switching until the player with the right to play is unable or unwilling to do so. At that point his general is defeated.

The defeated general loses as many troops as the final negative score (but not more than he commanded) and is retreated the same number of cities.

The winner loses no troops and remains in place.

A tie. If a player receives the right to play a TC on a score of zero, he must play a card if he has any of the correct suit (he is not obligated to play a Reserve). If he has none (and if he is not willing to play an existing Reserve), combat ends as a tie. In a tie, neither side loses troops nor has to retreat.

Special cases:

• If the attack starts with a score of zero, the attacking player plays TCs first (following the above rule).
• Austria makes its attacks before the Pragmatic Army makes its.
• Stacked generals always fight together.
• If the stack is a mixed stack, only the TCs of the power in supreme command may be used. However, any troop losses are taken by the other power. If its troops are not enough to fulfill the required loss, the power in supreme command takes the remaining losses.
• If a general/stack starts the combat phase adjacent to more than one opponent, he has to fight them one after the other. If more than one general/stack are adjacent to one opponent, they have to attack one after the other.
• A general who had to retreat may not attack or be attacked again in that combat phase.

Example: Neipperg (Austria A, 2 troops) has moved adjacent to the stack Friedrich and Schwerin (Prussia P, 4 troops). He has to attack in his upcoming combat phase.

Initial score = difference of armies = 2 – 4 = –2. Austria is behind by 2 troops and has the right to play TCs. (Neipperg could also opt to retreat immediately, thus losing all his troops, but saving the Austrian Tactical Cards for another use.)

Neipperg is in a diamonds sector. Friedrich is in a spades sector. A has: 10, 9, 7, Reserve. P has: 5, 4, 4, 3.

A is –2 and plays: 10. New score: –2 + 10 = +8. Now the score is positive for Austria (and therefore negative for Prussia). The right to play TCs switches.

P is –8 and plays: 5. –8 + 5 = –3. P is –3 and plays: 3. –3 + 3 = 0. The right to play TCs switches again. On a score of zero Austria may only break off combat if it has no diamonds. If it had only the Reserve, then it could opt to continue the combat or to break off (the combat would then result in a tie). Since Austria still has diamonds, it must play:

A is 0 and plays: 7. 0 + 7 = +7. P is –7 and plays: 4. –7 + 4 = –3.

Prussia is now running out of spades and decides to accept defeat with a final score of –3. Friedrich/Schwerin lose 3 troops and have to retreat 3 cities. Only one troop is left, therefore the lower ranked Schwerin is removed from the board.

11.2 Retreat

A defeated general has to retreat before the next attack is resolved. The length of the retreat is the same as the number of troops lost. During a retreat a stack may never split up.

The winning player chooses the retreat path, according to the following conditions:

• The general must retreat the full distance and has to finish his retreat as far away as possible from the winning general (only the winning general matters).
• A retreating general may never enter a city a second time.
• A retreating general may not enter or move through a city containing any other piece (enemy or friendly); not even to eliminate a supply train nor to stack with a friendly general. A general can retreat through a fortress, but cannot conquer it.

If a general cannot retreat the full distance, he loses all his troops and is removed from the map.

NOTE: Only French and Austrian generals may retreat from the Bohemia map to the Flanders map, and vice versa. If the only retreat option for a mixed stack is on the other map, a general who may not retreat to this map loses all his troops, while the other will retreat.

Diagram: a defeated "Black" general has lost 3 troops and has to retreat 3 cities. One diagram shows possible retreat cities available; another shows a case where no retreat of 3 cities is possible, since the paths are blocked.

12. Retroactive Conquest Phase

Retroactive conquests are checked for after all combat is executed. The rules have already been explained in section 10.3.

13. Winter

After every 3 turns, Winter occurs. During winter new troops can be recruited and generals formerly removed from the board may re-enter.

Every troop costs 4 TC-points.

Generals re-enter for free, but each general must receive at least one new troop.

New troops can be used to reinforce a general already on map, or they can be given to a re-entering general, or any combination thereof. A player must declare how many troops he is recruiting when he pays the TCs for them, but he keeps secret which general(s) will receive them.

A general can re-enter on a major fortress inside its home country, provided the major fortress is friendly controlled and the result would not be an illegal stack. If such a fortress does not exist, a general cannot re-enter. NOTE: Unlike supply trains, a major power general is not allowed to re-enter on a co-operating minor power's major fortress. EXCEPTION: In the introductory game, French generals may re-enter in München if it is friendly controlled.

On the Flanders map, Austrian and Pragmatic Army generals alternate in re-entering, starting with the Pragmatic Army; a mixed stack can be created even if the other player would not agree.

A hussar or an enemy supply train does not prevent a general from re-entering. If there is a hussar or an enemy supply train on the major fortress where a general re-enters, it is taken off the board.

Winter scoring: In the advanced game, each major power scores one point for each victory marker still in its pool (the lower the better). The scores are written down on the "Winter Scoring" sheet. After that, the sheet is folded in such a way that no-one can read the numbers; they will not be revealed before game end.

14. The Introductory Game

The introductory game does not use the Flanders map. Pieces on this map do not move; those pieces and their assigned troops do not participate in the game. The same is true for the Prussian pieces starting in the "Silesia" victory box and in the "Ostpreussen" off-map box.

Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, and Austria, receive their normal TC-income. The income of France, however, is reduced by 2 TCs. (France receives only 2 TCs on turns when it makes a subsidy payment to Bavaria, and 3 TCs when it doesn't a subsidy payment). The Pragmatic Army does not participate in the game and does not have any TC-income.

The game ends immediately when a player fulfills his victory conditions. The victory conditions for each player are:

• Louis XV: Control of 9 fortresses in Austria.
• Frederick: Control of 12 fortresses in Austria and/or Silesia (NOTE: 2 fortresses in Silesia are already Prussian controlled at game start).
• Maria Theresa: It is the end of turn 9, and no other player has won.

The Advanced Game

During the War of the Austrian Succession, the political situation was very complex. Separate peace treaties, betrayals, and changes of alliance were common in the war. Further, Italy was an important theatre of operations, and Russia was an important factor. The advanced game rules integrate all of these factors into the game.

15. General Rules

For the advanced game, both maps are used.

Basic goal of the game: A major power wins as soon as it has emptied its pool of victory markers.

When a power marks a conquered fortress with a victory marker, always use a marker from the pool. If a fortress marked with a victory marker changes control, always return the marker to the pool of origin. NOTE: this is true even for the victory markers that start the game in Silesia.

16. The Victory Boxes

Victory markers may also be placed in victory boxes:

Battle victory. a) A victory in combat is worth 1 victory point for every 3 troops eliminated. If less than 3 troops were eliminated, but at least 1 general was removed from the board, the combat is worth exactly 1 victory point. (NOT 1 per general!) The winner of the combat wins that many victory points, and the loser loses that many victory points.

b) For every general a power has to remove from the board due to lack of supply, it loses one victory point.

In both cases: For each victory point won, a major power moves one victory marker from its pool to one of its battle boxes (until its battle boxes are full). For each point lost, it moves one victory marker in the opposite direction (unless its battle boxes are empty). NOTE: Victory points won (or lost) by minor powers count for (against) its co-operating major power; victory points won (or lost) by a mixed stack count for (against) the power in supreme command.

Example: Bavaria defeats Austria in combat with a final score of +1. In this example, Austria cannot retreat and loses all 10 of its troops involved. The eliminated troops are worth 3 points. France (as Bavaria's co-operating major power) gets to move 3 victory markers to its battle boxes, but France has only 2 boxes, so the third victory point is ignored. Prior to combat, Austria had 1 victory marker in a battle box; it must return it to its pool.

3 Electors. On taking control of 3 of the 4 fortresses of Mainz, Trier, Köln, Mannheim, France moves 1 victory marker from its pool to this box. Similarly, on the Pragmatic Army/Austria taking control of 3 of these fortresses, the Pragmatic Army (and only the Pragmatic Army) moves 1 victory marker to this box. As soon as a side controls less than 3 of these fortresses, it returns its victory marker from this box to the pool.

Emperor. Depending on the result of the imperial election, Austria or France move 1 victory marker from its pool to this box (see section 18).

Italy. When the track "Italy" on the political display calls for it, Austria or France move 1 victory marker from its pool to this box (see section 17.5).

Silesia. When Prussia annexes Silesia, it moves 1 victory marker from its pool to this box and receives its second supply train, see section 19.1).

17. Politics

At the beginning of every turn, the political stage takes place. Only major powers may engage in politics. To do so, each turn they may place 1 TC on the political display.

According to the values of the placed cards, the order of influence is determined. In this order the major powers are allowed to select a political card. The political stage is divided into 5 phases:

1. Reveal 2 Political Cards.
2. Determine the political trump suit.
3. Major powers place TCs on the political display.
4. Determine order of influence.
5. Select Political Cards.

17.1 Reveal 2 Political Cards

The 2 top cards of the deck of Political Cards are turned face-up.

17.2 Determine the political trump suit

The player who most recently had a combat win (even one in which no victory points were awarded), decides which suit will be political trump. He announces his choice.

If nobody has won a combat yet, reveal the top card of the TC draw deck. The suit of this card is political trump. (If a Reserve card is drawn, draw another card until you draw a non-Reserve card.) Discard any revealed TCs.

17.3 Place TCs on the political display

Every major power may choose to place 1 TC face-down on the corresponding space on the political display. The placement is executed in the order of the spaces from left to right (Prussia goes first). Players may place a trump TC, a non-trump TC (i.e. a bluff), or no TC at all.

17.4 Determine order of influence

After all powers have placed their TC, turn them face-up. A card not of the political trump suit is returned to the hand of the power that played it. NOTE: Do not return cards left on the display from previous turns (called "saved TCs"), even if they do not match this turn's trump suit.

On the political display, a Reserve TC always counts as 16 points in trumps.

Now, sum up for each major power all its TCs lying on the political display (incl. all saved TCs). The power with the highest sum has the greatest influence, followed by the second-ranked major power, and so on. Ties are resolved in favour of the power whose space is further to the right on the display.

17.5 Select Political Cards

The major power with the greatest influence, is the first to decide whether it:

• saves its TC,
• or selects one of the 2 face-up Political Cards.

A major power may only select a Political Card on which its coat of arms is depicted. If there is no such Political Card, a power must save its TC. A major power may not select a political card, if it currently has no TCs on the political display.

If a major power decides to save its TC, all its TCs on the political display stay there. On the other hand, if it decides to select a Political Card, all its TCs on the display go to the discard pile; the power may then execute the selected Political Card or discard it without effect (see below).

This process of selecting/saving is repeated by the major power with the second greatest influence, then the third, and so on. However, as soon as both Political Cards are selected, all major powers whose turn is still to come take all their TCs (including saved TCs) from the political display back to their hands.

Once all major powers have had their chance to select a card, any unselected face-up Political Cards are discarded without effect.

Example: Prussia has 9 TC-points on the political display, Austria and France have 3 points each, while the Pragmatic Army has 2 points. Therefore, Prussia has greatest influence, followed by Austria, then France, and lastly the Pragmatic Army. Prussia has first choice, and decides to select a Political Card. Since this card is of negative effect for Prussia, Prussia discards it. Austria follows: Since the remaining Political Card does not show the Austrian coat of arms, Austria has to save its TC (which remain on the political display for future turns). Now, France chooses to select the remaining Political Card for execution. Since all Political Card have now been selected, the Pragmatic Army has to take back its TC into its hand, despite the fact that it was a saved TC from a previous turn.

Example (variant): Like above, but France decides to save its TC as well, and so does the Pragmatic Army. The unselected face-up Political Card is discarded without effect.

Execution of Political Cards

When not discarded, a political card may be executed completely or partially. The executing power may:

• follow the instruction on it; and/or
• shift the marker on the Italy, Russia, and/or Saxony track according to the depicted arrows.

Some cards allow the shifting of the political marker to the left or to the right; in this case the player may choose in which direction the marker is shifted. Some cards allow a shift of more than 1 box; in such cases, if the marker is shifted at all, it must be shifted the full distance. Some cards allow shifting of markers on two tracks; in such cases, a player can shift the marker on none, one, or both of the tracks.

Marker shifts are announced on selecting a card, but not executed until after both cards have been selected. Each marker is then shifted by the sum of the announcements for that marker (2 to the right plus 1 to the left results in 1 to the right).

When a political marker reaches a box with an icon, a penalty or a bonus is in effect. The colour of the icon refers to the power being affected. The icons mean:

TC-penalty. The TC-income of the affected power is decreased by 1 as long as the marker is in this box.

TC-bonus. The TC-income of the affected power is increased by 1 as long as the marker is in this box.

Expeditionary corps. The affected power has to choose 1 of its generals to put into its off-map box. If the power chooses a general not on the board, it must immediately recruit 2 troops for him at a price of 8 TC-points.

Victory point. The benefiting power puts 1 victory marker in the victory box "Italy". The victory marker is returned to the pool only when the political marker is shifted back to the box marked with the star!

When a power's TC-income changes, use the income markers "+1" or "-1" as a reminder; put them in front of the affected player.

Some Political Cards give powers new troops. The power immediately assigns these troops to its generals as desired. It can even assign them to generals currently not on the board; any such generals re-enter immediately, as per section 13, although it is not winter.

A general in an off-map box leaves the off-map box as soon as the penalty "expeditionary corps" is no longer in effect. He is immediately placed on the city to which the off-map box's arrow is pointing. If this city is occupied by another piece, the blocking piece is moved by its owner to an adjacent city.

The Prussian General starting the game in the "Ostpreussen" off-map box leaves the off-map box in the same way. If, later in the game, Prussia suffers the "expeditionary corps" penalty again, it has to put any one general back into the off-map box.

18. Imperial Election

The Political Cards for the year 1742 include 1 additional Card, the "Imperial Election", which is not a real Political Card. When this card is revealed, proceed like this:

1. Reveal one more Political Card (so that altogether 2 real Political Cards are revealed).
2. Put the "Imperial Election" card face-up on top of the deck of Political Cards (as a reminder).
3. Elect the Emperor at the end of the current turn.

Note: The imperial election will be at the end of turn 4 at the earliest and at the end of turn 7 at the latest.

Candidates for Emperor are Charles Albert of Bavaria and Francis Stephen of Lorraine (Maria Theresa's husband). There are 9 elector votes. Whoever gets at least 5 votes is Emperor.

A power has 1 vote for each fortress it controls marked with the "Elector's vote" symbol. Which power controls which vote is tracked on the Electoral College display. Whenever control of one of these fortresses changes, update the Electoral College display accordingly.

Voting is conducted clockwise, starting with Austria. All votes of Austria and the Pragmatic Army must be for Francis. The other votes can be given to either candidate. A power cannot abstain from voting. NOTE: When Saxony controls Dresden, the player currently playing Saxony decides for whom the Dresden vote is.

If Francis becomes Emperor, Austria moves 1 victory marker to the box "Emperor". If Charles becomes Emperor, France moves 1 victory marker to the box "Emperor".

After the election, discard the "Imperial Election" card and proceed with the normal game.

19. Political Changes

19.1 Prussia annexes Silesia

At the end of each Prussian action stage in which Prussia controls all fortresses in Silesia (Schlesien), it may offer a temporary peace to Austria. Peace may be offered more than once, but can be accepted only once in the game. If Austria accepts the offer:

1. Silesia is now Prussian home country. (NOTE: Breslau becomes a re-entry site for Prussian pieces.)
2. If Saxony is a Prussian ally, the Saxony-marker is moved to the box marked "S". This makes Saxony neutral (proceed according to section 19.3).
3. All Austrian victory markers in Prussia are returned to the Austrian pool. Half (round up) of the Prussian victory markers in Austria are set aside, the rest are returned to the pool.
4. All non-Prussian pieces in Prussia or Poland are transferred to the nearest city (owner's choice) in their home country where they may legally stack. French pieces may also be placed in Bavaria. Prussian pieces outside Prussia are transferred to the nearest city (owner's choice) in Prussia (including Silesia) where they may legally stack.
5. Prussia puts 1 victory marker in the victory box "Silesia" and receives its second supply train which it immediately places at no cost on any Prussian major fortress (incl. Breslau).
6. Prussia is now neutral. It remains so until Prussia's action stage after next; the rules in 19.4 apply.
7. As soon as a Prussian piece leaves Prussia, the victory markers set aside in step 3 are returned to the Prussian pool.

NOTE: The annexion of Silesia is the only way for Prussia to bring its second supply train into the game.

Example: Prussia and Austria make peace at the end of the Prussian action stage of turn 5. The above steps 1 to 7 are executed. Now Prussia is neutral. Until the beginning of Prussia's action stage of turn 7, neither Austria nor any other foreign power may enter Prussian territory. During that timespan no combat with Prussian generals is possible (see section 19.4).

19.2 France reduces military objectives

At the end of any French action stage, when there are no French generals inside Core-Austria (the part of Austria on the Bohemia map), France may take all its victory markers in Core-Austria from the board. Half of them (round up) are not returned to the pool, but set aside.

After that, as soon as Bavaria or France conquers/re-conquers a fortress on the Bohemia map (this can even be a fortress in Saxony or Bavaria), the formerly set aside victory markers are returned to the French pool. A second reduction of military objectives is not possible.

19.3 Saxony's defection

As well as through the execution of Political Cards, the Saxony marker can also be shifted:

• if Prussia annexes Silesia (see section 19.1).
• 1 to the right for each victory marker Prussia has to remove from a victory box, either due to defeat in battle or due to lack of supply. This applies even if no marker is actually removed because the victory box is empty. Austria can choose not to apply this shift (for instance, if a shift is not in her interests).

NOTE: 1.) The Saxony political marker can be shifted more than 2 boxes by a single combat. Thus, it is possible that Saxony switches directly from the status Prussian ally to the status Austrian ally. 2.) The shifting of the Saxony marker is performed after possible retreats.

When the Saxony marker stops in a "neutral" box, then:

• Saxony becomes neutral (the rules in 19.4 apply). Any on-map Saxon pieces are immediately returned to their set-up cities.
• Foreign pieces in Saxony are moved to the nearest city (owner's choice) in their home country where they may legally stack. French pieces may also be placed in Bavaria.
• Any victory markers on Saxon fortresses are returned to their pools.

Diagram: the Saxony marker track runs between a "Prussian ally" box and an "Austrian ally" box, with neutral boxes between.

When the Saxony marker stops in the "Austrian ally" box, Austria and Saxony become co-operating allies:

• Saxon pieces stay where they are. (EXCEPTION: If the Saxon general is in a stack, player Maria Theresa moves the general to the closest empty city.) If Saxony's general is not on the board, he may re-enter immediately with newly recruited troops, as per the recruitment rules (see section 13).
• Any victory markers on Saxon fortresses stay where they are.
• Austria and Saxony co-operate. Austrian supply trains may re-enter in Dresden. Victory points earned (or lost) by Saxony count for (or against) Austria. Saxony receives 2 TCs per turn from now on, as per the Political Display.

From the moment Saxony leaves the alliance with Prussia, it is played by Maria Theresa. From now on it takes its actions in the Austrian action stage. Note that it might be possible that Saxony has two action stages on the turn it leaves the Prussian alliance (first Prussia's, then Austria's); nevertheless, it only draws TCs once per turn.

19.4 Neutrality

Prussia and Saxony can become neutral. A neutral power participates normally in the game: It still receives its TC-income, it may recruit troops, its generals and supply trains may re-enter, and so on. The only restrictions are:

• Neutral pieces may never leave their home country.
• Neutral generals never participate in combat.
• Neutral territory may not be entered by foreign pieces, nor can foreign pieces trace supply paths through it.

20. Subsidy Contracts

Subsidies are TC-payments to allied powers. Only major powers may give subsidies, and they can give subsidies only to allied powers (minor or major).

In order to give/receive subsidies, a subsidy contract must be made. The contract must be made for a fixed duration (for instance, 2 rounds). There may be not more than one subsidy contract between a pair of powers at the same time. Subsidy contracts may be cancelled at any time provided both powers agree. EXCEPTION: The initial subsidy contract between Bavaria and France cannot be cancelled.

As long as there is a subsidy contract, the giver hands out exactly 1 TC of his TC-income to the recipient. This is done before the giver looks at the drawn TCs. Use the subsidy markers "S" as a reminder: Put as many S-markers in front of the recipient as the contract lasts. For each received subsidy, the recipient discards 1 S-marker.

Example: France cannot make a subsidy contract with Austria, since they are enemies. But it can make one with Prussia. So it does, and both powers agree on a contract for 3 turns. In each of the next 3 turns, France hands over 1 TC of its income to Prussia (before looking at the TCs).

21. Negotiations

All powers, even enemies, may negotiate in order to achieve agreements on their behaviour. Agreements can be made on a coordinated strategy, an armistice, the votes for Imperial Election, a subsidy contract, etc. Powers are allowed to make deals with each other in which each promises to perform certain actions. All agreements are binding; promises must be kept. To avoid slowing down the game, players should try to keep negotiations brief and to the point. Secret negotiations are not allowed.

Negotiations cannot result in exchanges or donations of TCs. The only way to include TCs in negotiations is a subsidy contract.

Agreements can never change an alliance, a game rule, or any inherent game mechanic. (For instance, you cannot agree that a general loses his ability to protect a fortress.) Powers cannot agree on a peace treaty (except the "Annexion of Silesia").

Examples: a) The Pragmatic Army offers Austria a Subsidy Contract for 2 turns. The offer, however, requires that all Austrian generals leave Silesia as fast as possible. b) Prussia offers Austria that it won't attack it for 2 turns, but demands that Austria keeps its generals out of protecting distance from the fortresses Neisse and Cosel.

22. Arenberg

The Austrian general Arenberg has the following special abilities (which are in addition to his normal abilities as an Austrian general):

• He is always in supply in the Netherlands and can also be supplied by the supply train of the Pragmatic Army.
• He may also re-enter on a Dutch major fortress.

23. Victory Conditions

A major power wins immediately, ending the game, if its pool of victory markers is empty a) at the end of any action stage (its own or that of another power), or b) at the end of any political stage, or c) after the imperial election.

If more than one power has an empty victory pool, award victory to the power with an empty pool that could have played the most additional markers from its pool if it had them to play. If still tied, among the tied powers, Maria Theresa wins all ties, while Louis XV loses all ties.

If no player has emptied its victory pool after the fourth winter, the game ends by default. Every major power totals its four winter scores. The winner is the power with the lowest total score. If tied, among the tied powers, Maria Theresa wins all ties, while Louis XV loses all ties.

24. The 2-Player Game

MARIA is designed to be a 3-player game. However, it can be played as a 2-player game with the following rules modifications. However, the game does not have its full Machiavellian flavour with only 2 players.

For the introductory game with 2 players, all rules are valid, except:

• Player A plays France, Prussia, Saxony and Bavaria. Player B plays Austria.
• The victory conditions are modified: Player A wins, as soon as both major powers fulfil their 3-player-game victory conditions (i.e. Prussia controls at least 12 fortresses in Silesia/Austria, and France controls at least 9 fortresses in Austria).
• Player B wins if neither Prussia nor France fulfill their individual victory conditions at game end (turn 9).
• In all other cases it is a tie.

For the advanced game with 2-players, all rules are valid, except:

• Player A plays France, Prussia, Saxony and Bavaria. Player B plays Austria and the Pragmatic Army.
• Subsidies may be given only to minor powers.
• If a player selects 2 Political Cards in one turn, he may execute only one of them. The other one has to be discarded.
• The Saxony political marker is moved one to the right whenever France (as well as Prussia) loses a victory point, but only due to a defeat in battle on the Bohemia map or lack of supply on the Bohemia map.
• In the combat phase, the Pragmatic Army is not restricted to making its attacks after Austria. Player B has free choice of the order of all his attacks.
• The victory conditions are unchanged, except that all ties are won by player B.

25. Optional Political Rule

With this optional rule for politics, bluffing will no longer be completely cost free, since a TC used to bluff will be out of the player's hand for one whole turn. It is recommended to play with this option.

Some rules of section 17 are modified. The political stage is expanded by 1 phase:

1. From the political display, return face-down TCs to the players.
2. Reveal 2 Political Cards.
3. Determine the political trump suit.
4. Major powers place TCs on the political display.
5. Determine order of influence.
6. Select Political Cards.

25.1 Return face-down TCs to the players

In this phase, players return to their hands any face-down TCs on the political display left over from the previous turn.

25.2 Reveal 2 Political Cards

This phase is unmodified.

25.3 Determine the political trump suit

This phase is unmodified.

25.4 Place TCs on the political display

This phase is unmodified.

25.5 Determine order of influence

In this phase the following rule is changed:

• A TC not of the political trump suit is not returned to the hand of the power that played it. Instead, place it face-down on the political display. Only face-up TCs count for determining political influence. NOTE: These face-down »bluff-cards« are returned to the players during phase 1 of the politics stage on the next turn.

25.6 Select Political Cards

In this phase the following 2 rules are changed:

• A major power may only select a Political Card, when she has at least one face-up TC on the political display.
• If a major power selects a Political Card, only its face-up TCs go to the discard pile.
• As soon as both Political Cards have been selected, all major powers whose turn is still to come do not take their TCs from the display back to their hand. Instead, they flip these TCs, so that they are now lying face-down on the political display. NOTE: These face-down cards are returned to the players during phase 1 of the politics stage on the next turn.

Design Notes

Everything has two sides; but only if you conceive of something as having three sides can you really capture the subject. (Heimito von Doderer) — After the release of FRIEDRICH, an obvious idea for a second game was the War of the Austrian Succession. Nothing could be easier, was my thinking back in 2004, since I could use the same core systems of movement, supply, and combat. The only changes needed would be for the different strategic situation.

While the basic character of the Seven Years War could be reduced to two facets – one being Prussia's desperate struggle for survival and the other the wondrous death of the Tsarina – the War of the Austrian Succession was a much more multifaceted and convoluted affair. There was a lot of diplomacy, shifts of alliances, rapid movement of armies between distant theatres of operations, rapid changes in the overall strategic situation, and – most importantly – at different times different powers were on the strategic defensive. For instance, in 1743 the Austrians drove the French from Prague, back across Germany, and then beyond the Rhine in less than 12 months, only to be driven back to Prague in 1744 after a few weeks of force marching. A game not being able to portray these rapid changes of fortune, these dramatic ups and downs, would not capture its theme. I also wanted a shorter game than FRIEDRICH – despite the fact that the conflict lasted a year longer and that much more happened on the political and strategic front! I think what I wanted may have been the squaring of the circle. And, indeed, within a few weeks I realized that the "Nothing could be easier" was pure blindness. Before I could find the missing third side in the design, years had gone by.

The first problem was the map: How could I unite all these theatres of the war (Flanders, Italy, Bohemia, Silesia) on one map? Quickly I decided to cut Italy out of the game – and with such a razor I got rid of the powers fighting there (Spain, Sardinia-Piedmont, Naples) and of all the design-problems they brought with them as well. The war in Italy didn't really start to roll until 1743 anyway, and so I thought this decision was acceptable.

The next problem came immediately afterwards: The first prototype map was a contiguous map of Europe. Due to the awkward spread of the countries, 60% of the map consisted of territories that were seldom entered by anybody. To make things even worse, these territories were in the centre of the map, and this was really horrible! You maneuvered with your pieces along the edges and wondered all the time: Why the heck is there such a vacuum in the centre? – Thus I split the map in two parts, scaled them both differently and rotated them against each other (that's the reason why you can switch the maps only in the South), and voila! That played much better. — Two additional comments: 1.) At the back of the board you will find a normal map of Europe with the two maps depicted in their normal position. 2.) Many Prussian exclaves, especially on the Flanders map, are not shown in order to simplify the game and avoid the exceptions that their inclusion would have entailed.

Initially I was aiming at 3 to 4 hours as maximum duration for the game. (Now it is 5 hours.) The question was: How to make the fast pace of strategic changes possible in this time frame? First, I shortened the time frame to 5 years (that is, the game should end with Prussia dropping out in 1745), and later, with a heavy heart, I cut it by one more year. Most importantly, however, it was necessary to speed up the rhythm of the game. For that, force marches and battle victories were introduced (the latter are catalysists for winning the game), and – for the same reason – everything belonging to the category of delaying tactics was thrown out of the system (for instance, in MARIA a general does not have to stop moving when eliminating a supply train). Dealing initial hands of TCs is based on the same motivation. (By the way: These initial TCs simulate Prussia's great preparedness for the war.) In addition, the supply rules were toughened: Supply is checked now before you move your pieces, and you cannot conquer fortresses with a face-down general. These are real thumbscrews! Due to the introduction of force marches campaigns like the one in 1743/1744 are now possible in the game. But, you cannot abuse a force march to attack with lightning speed and you cannot eliminate supply trains by coming from out of nowhere. All in all, a force march corresponds to interior line movement, and – as a side-effect – fortresses now have an important blocking function. (By the way: Do not underestimate the 4 elector fortresses on the Flanders map, since they are an important flank protection for Bavaria!) — With all these changes, MARIA plays very differently than FRIEDRICH. Play has a nervous quality, the situation can turn on even small events, and rarely are any mistakes forgiven.

I also wanted to integrate:

a) Hussars (which could have been named Pandurs, Grenzer, or Bohemian peasants as well). Hussars existed since the first prototype, but for a very long time they rarely appeared physically on the board. Many playtesters found fault with that, and they were right. With the current rules, hussars are now just perfect: Annoying plagues, which make a campaign in Austria very expensive. I am sure that players will soon love or hate the hussars – depending on whether or not they are playing Austria!

b) Imperial election: A game about the War of the Austrian Succession, where Bavaria cannot steal the imperial crown from the Hapsburgs? Unthinkable!

c) Political shifts in the form of disloyal allies, the annexation of Silesia, negotiations, Saxony's defection, and Prussia's exit and re-entry into the war, etc. These all were big parts of the conflict, and needed to be possible in the game.

Initially intended as a 4 player game, MARIA quickly became a 3-player game, in which one player controlled Austria and the Pragmatic Army. However, there were some severe problems with that: a) The two powers played too much like a single power; they did not have the tension between them that they did historically. b) The Prussian player was not at all interested in the action on the Flanders map. c) Prussia would never make peace. Doing so meant that the player was reduced to watching the game for one hour. Even if it led to victory Prussia would not do it. – If I remember correctly, it was Sven Grünwitzky who came up with the idea of the schizophrenic player after the first playtest. And this idea works perfect! It solves all the aforementioned problems at one sweep, and from a historical point of view it is even justifiable, since Prussia and Great Britain – although nominally enemies – were not at war, except in 1745, when they were pro-forma at war for a few months. And regarding Austria, both powers tried to push Maria Theresa to the same decision: Let Prussia walk away with Silesia, and fight France and only France.

Up to this point, 4 months of design had passed by, and the game was shaping up quite well. However, there was one basic question which I had not answered, and to find the answer to this basic question I needed 4 more years, and I found it only by a circuitous route. This basic question was: How does a power win the game?

As mentioned before, it should be possible that every power goes on the strategic defensive. Of course, a power should still be able to win the game while on defense. I had developed ten to fifteen different sets of victory conditions. I tested them all, and I had to reject them all. There were rules for war-fatigue, for aborting an offensive, for collapse, There were separate victory marker pools for both maps, victory points for provinces, linked requirements, and on and on. Either a set of victory conditions did not work at all, or it worked technically but resulted in a synthetic and soulless construct of rules, or it worked wonderfully in that it produced the desired actions, but also a game that was boring to death, or it had some other fatal defect. — This process of testing and rejecting took many years, and was interrupted by times when I just stuffed MARIA in a broom closet, as well as by other projects that just needed my time.

Sometimes it is amazing what happens to problems if you do not think about them. For MARIA, it was the fermenting of a dim feeling that – although the game rules were already quite complex – it was simply lacking the third side. That is, it needed the political system in order to integrate Italy and the important role of Russia. For many months I shied away from doing this since I did not want to load the boat with even more rules. But, once I introduced the political system (into which I was able to integrate Saxony's defection, which previously had its own clumsy special case rules), I was stunned! Suddenly all problems with the victory conditions were gone! But why? Due to the simple reason that Prussia now has to play very differently than in the game without the political system. Of course, Prussia still can try to play without ever making peace with Austria. But, if Saxony defects, and Silesia is not Prussian home country, and the 2nd supply train is missing, and even the Old Dessauer is not available, then: Goodnight, my dear Brandenburg house of cards. Only now did MARIA make the invasion of Silesia what it was for Prussia: A high-risk tightrope walk, which could have ended very differently. Another aspect of the political system is that negotiations are now very common, and even subsidy contracts are common in the game (before, they were almost never made), and the game now became much more exciting and unpredictable.

Although it was never planned, the rules for MARIA are now very different from the rules for FRIEDRICH. Unfortunately they are also more complex. Both facts are due to the very different character of the War of the Austrian Succession. What worked for FRIEDRICH, did not work for MARIA (and vice-versa). To help beginners learn the game, the introductory game was developed, which is a sort-of FRIEDRICH-light with clear roles of attacker/defender. But it is the advanced game where MARIA really shines, with all its entanglements of politics, negotiations and strategic campaigns. I hope that players will agree with me, and that MARIA will give them many hours of tense gaming full of Macchiavellian flavour.

Richard Sivél, Juli 2009 translated by Bowen Simmons

Credits

GAME DESIGN: Richard Sivél GRAPHICS COVER: Andreas Töpfer GRAPHICS TACTICAL CARDS: Andreas Töpfer, Hans Baltzer OTHER GRAPHICS: Richard Shako HISTORICAL RESEARCH: Richard Sivél LAYOUT, TEXTS, TRANSLATION: Richard Shako ENGLISH PROOFREADING: Bowen Simmons, Guy Atkinson PLAYTESTING: Anton Telle, Steffen Schröder, Thorsten Hennig, Alexander Hofmann, Manfred Wichmann, Josef Gundel, Birte Wolmeyer, Sven Grünwitzky, Franziska Gilbert, Andrea Homberg, Stefan Stubenvoll, Tatyana Shako, Louise Gilbert, Ralf Viereck, Bowen Simmons, Michael Benkendorf, Bernd Eisenstein, and others. – Many thanks to all of you! LITERATURE: Christopher Duffy, Friedrich der Große, Ein Soldatenleben, Benziger 1986. Wolfgang Handrick, Die Pragmatische Armee 1741–1743, R. Oldenburg Verlag 1991. Ludwig Reiners, Friedrich, Das Leben des Preußenkönigs, dtv, 1980. Wolfgang Venohr, Fridericus Rex, Friedrich der Große – Porträt einer Doppelnatur, Gustav Lübbe Verlag, 1988. J.B. Weiss, Maria Theresia und der österreichische Erbfolgekrieg, Prandel & Ewald, Wien 1863.

The background of the cover shows the glorious attack of the Bayreuth Dragoons in the battle of Hohenfriedberg. Pencil sketch of Andreas Töpfer based on an lithography of von Rössler.

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