Schönbrunn Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents of the Box
• Notes for the Player
• Keyword Glossary
• Setup
  • Preparation of the Reparations by number of players
• How to Play
  • Phase 1: Hierarchy
  • Phase 2: Assignments
  • Phase 3: Plot
  • Phase 4: Chancellery
  • Phase 5: Congress
  • Phase 6: Recovery
• Reparation Cards
  • Indemnities
  • Allies
  • Aids
  • Treaties
• End of the Game
• Round Summary
• Variants
  • Optional rule for very experienced players: Auction to represent the Nations
  • Simplified rules

Contents of the Box

The box contains:

• this rulebook;
• the board;
• 6 player screens in six different colours (red, white, green, black, blue and yellow);
• 55 cards: 6 Roles, 6 Nations, 6 Delegation Heads, 36 Reparations (8 Indemnities, 8 Allies, 8 Aids and 12 Treaties) and 1 Political Favour.

A set of wooden components:

• 43 elegant Delegate markers, in six colours (red, white, green, black, blue and yellow), printed;
• 12 exclusive pawns: 6 Foreign Ministers and 6 Delegation Heads, in six colours (red, white, green, black, blue and yellow);
• 6 score markers, in six colours (red, white, green, black, blue and yellow);
• 5 grey wooden Political Favour tokens, printed.

A die-cut cardboard sheet from which to punch out:

• 49 oval Reception tokens;
• 11 round Ally markers;
• the round Master of Ceremonies token;
• 6 round Threshold markers, in six colours (red, white, green, black, blue and yellow).

Notes for the Player

This game uses four symbols to identify, at a glance, the components and effects according to the number of players in the game. Each symbol is a triangle, square, pentagon or hexagon, showing the number 3, 4, 5 or 6:

• triangle with 3: 3 players or more;
• square with 4: 4 players or more;
• pentagon with 5: 5 players or more;
• hexagon with 6: 6 players.

The components perform a fundamental function, and their exclusive shapes allow immediate identification. The component icons are: Delegation Head (pawn), Foreign Minister (pawn), Delegate (marker), Reception (oval token) and Prestige (score track).

Keyword Glossary

In the text of this rulebook and of the card effects, a precise formatting is used to create a clear reading method for players: particular attention should be paid to the keywords, written in bold italics. Keywords imply particular meanings. Let us look at them in detail (in alphabetical order):

• Activate: means to reveal 1 Aid (showing the card to opponents), or to assign the Foreign Minister (placing the pawn on the Treaty to be activated) in order to trigger (in the phase indicated on the card) the effect of 1 Treaty that was previously signed.
• Commit: means to assign 1 Delegate face down (in the Hierarchy phase), using its Influence value X, in order to contest a position in the Hierarchy order against opponents.
• Assign: means to deploy your representatives to exploit their abilities:
  • Delegates assigned to Objectives (in phase 2, Assignments), using their Influence values X, to try to win Reparations;
  • the Delegation Head assigned to an Objective, or against a Nation, to exercise its power (indicated on its card);
  • the Foreign Minister assigned for:
    • increasing by +2 the Influence value of the group of Delegates in an Objective (in phase 4, Chancellery), to try to win Reparations; or
    • activating 1 signed Treaty instead of revealing 1 Aid.
• Keep: means to discard 1 Aid in order to place again behind your screen 1 signed Treaty (whether it was activated or not), to use it again in a later turn.

Setup

1. Place the board in the centre of the playing area. It shows, on the plan of the Schönbrunn palace, 5 main areas called Objectives, marked with colours and Roman numerals, and 1 secondary area called the Principle of Balance, marked with a scale. The Objectives are: Indemnities (I), Allies (II), Aids (III), Treaties (IIII) and Legitimacy (V), each with its own colour. Each area has its own space (the invitation) to place the related Reparation cards adjacent to it.

   • The Hierarchy table shows the turn order of the current round and resolves certain ties.
   • The Prestige track (score track): the player who has the highest count at the end of the game is declared the winner. A player places their Threshold marker on the '+' space to keep counting their points if they exceed 30 points.

2. Depending on the number of players, take the corresponding Role cards (any excess must be returned to the box, as they will not be needed in this game):

   • In a 3-player game, Great Britain (red), Austria (white) and Russia (green) take part.
   • In a 4-player game, Prussia (black) is added to Great Britain, Austria and Russia.
   • In a 5-player game, France (blue) is also added.
   • In a 6-player game, Spain (yellow) is added as well.

   The Role cards in play are shuffled face down and distributed at random, one to each player, so that each player is matched with a different nation (and its colour). Very experienced players may agree between themselves to choose their nation without chance.

3. Each player receives the full equipment of their nation/colour (any unused equipment must be returned to the box, as it will not be needed in this game):

Preparation of the Reparations by number of players

The Reparation cards are prepared as follows, depending on the number of players. Set the cards in their piles, face down, beside the Objectives.

In a 3- or 4-player game

• Remove from the game (return them to the box, as they will not be needed in this game): the Allies, Indemnities and Aids marked on their front with the 5 (pentagon) or 6 (hexagon) symbol, and 2 Treaties drawn at random. (Very experienced players may choose to show all players the Treaties that are removed.)
• Shuffle the remaining cards separately (one pile for each type) and place them face down, stacked beside their Objectives.
• From the top of each of the four piles I to IIII, move, without revealing them, 4 cards (1 from each pile) to form the Principle of Balance: these cards are stacked in descending order (Treaty IIII on top of the pile and Indemnity I at the bottom).

Now, beside the board there must be 5 piles of 4 cards each.

Attention: in a 3- or 4-player game Objective V is completely ignored.

In a 5-player game

• Remove from the game (return them to the box, as they will not be needed in this game): the Allies, Indemnities and Aids marked with the 6 (hexagon) symbol, and 1 Treaty drawn at random. (Very experienced players may choose to show all players the Treaty that is removed.)
• Place the Ally Poland (◆) face down at Objective V, Legitimacy.
• Shuffle the remaining cards separately by type and place them, always face down, stacked on Objectives I to IIII, ignoring V where the Ally Poland is already placed.
• Take from the top of the piles I (Indemnities), III (Aids) and IIII (Treaties), 1 card each (for a total of 3 cards), shuffle them and stack them face down on Objective V, on top of the Ally Poland.
• From the top of the four piles I to IIII, excluding V, move, without revealing them, 4 cards (1 from each pile) to form the Principle of Balance: these cards are stacked in descending order (Treaty IIII on top and Indemnity I at the bottom).

Now, beside the board there must be 6 piles of 4 cards each.

In a 6-player game

• Place the Ally Poland (◆) face down at Objective V.
• Shuffle the remaining cards separately by type and place them, always face down, stacked on Objectives I to IIII, ignoring V where the Ally Poland is already placed.
• Take from the top of piles I to IIII 1 card each (for a total of 4 cards), shuffle them and stack them face down on Objective V, on top of the Ally Poland.
• From the top of the four piles I to IIII, excluding V, following a precise order, move, without revealing them, 5 cards to form the Principle of Balance:
  • the first 2 from the Indemnity pile I;
  • then, on top, 1 from the Ally pile II;
  • then, on top, 1 from the Aid pile III; and
  • finally, on top, 1 from the Treaty pile IIII.

Now, beside the board there must be 6 piles of 5 cards each.

How to Play

A game is made up of a fixed series of rounds, depending on the number of players, at the end of which the Prestige points are compared to determine the winner:

• 4 rounds with 3, 4 or 5 players;
• 5 rounds with 6 players.

Each round is divided into 6 phases, to be played in sequence:

1. Hierarchy: the first card of each Reparation pile is revealed; then each player must commit 1 Delegate to win a position in the Hierarchy table, which sets the turn order of the current round and assigns the Master of Ceremonies. Players who wish may sign Treaties and spend Receptions to gain Prestige points.
2. Assignments: the Political Favours are shuffled face down and placed, still face down, 1 at each Objective in its grey slot. Then each player, in Hierarchy order, must assign all their remaining Delegates to the Objectives and, possibly, their Delegation Head, in order to win as many Reparations as possible.
3. Plot: each player may choose to spend Receptions to try to remove 1 face-down opposing Delegate from an Objective.
4. Chancellery: each player may choose to assign their Foreign Minister to an Objective where they have assigned at least 1 Delegate.
5. Congress: all Objectives are resolved in ascending order, and then the Principle of Balance.
6. Recovery: each player recovers their assigned and committed components still in play (except the score marker).

The examples (such as this one) that will accompany the following pages, step by step, in learning the rules refer to a game played with six players: the red player of Great Britain, the white player of Austria, the green player of Russia, the black player of Prussia, the blue player of France and, finally, the yellow player of Spain. These examples, in addition to clarifying the important steps of the rules, have been designed to also address the special cases that may occur during the game, showing how to resolve them. Do not underestimate the usefulness of reading the examples to gain a complete knowledge of the rules!

Phase 1: Hierarchy

• Reveal the first card of each Reparation pile.
• All players must commit 1 Delegate: each player chooses one of their markers and plays it face down in front of their screen. When all players have made their play, all these Delegates are revealed.
• The player who reveals the lowest Influence value occupies, with their Delegate, the first position in the Hierarchy table; the other players occupy the following positions in ascending order of Influence value. (The source sentence in parentheses reads "acting last is an advantage"; in the example below the lowest value takes position 1, and the Hierarchy order is the order in which players act in the phase.)
• If two or more players have committed the same Influence value, the Master of Ceremonies (the player holding the token) resolves the tie, according to their own preference.
• The Master of Ceremonies token is now handed to the player who occupies the first position in the Hierarchy table (the crown above position 1 of the table reminds players of this).
• Each player, in Hierarchy order, may now choose to sign any number of Treaties (if they have them) by displaying the relevant card in front of their screen and reading its effect aloud.
• Each player, in Hierarchy order, may now choose to spend Receptions: each player may spend a number of tokens between zero and a maximum equal to the Influence value of their Delegate committed in the Hierarchy, to gain an equal number of Prestige points (by advancing their score marker).

Example: the six players commit their Delegates. Great Britain plays 0, Austria 1, Russia 2, Prussia 0, France 3 and Spain 1. If two or more players have committed the same Influence value, the Master of Ceremonies (the holder of the token) resolves the tie in their preference. In this game two ties must be resolved for the Hierarchy positions: Great Britain and Prussia both committed 0; Austria, the Master of Ceremonies, decides that the red player occupies position 1, and the black player position 2. In the second tie, Austria must choose between itself and Spain for position 3: the white player, obviously, gives position 3 to Spain in order to keep for itself position 4, which is better. Had Austria not been the Master of Ceremonies, it could still have applied its Nation's ability to win the tie during the Hierarchy. The Hierarchy order for this round is: Great Britain, Prussia, Spain, Austria, Russia and France.

Each player now has 6 Delegates left in their supply (7 for Great Britain), since the one committed in the Hierarchy is no longer available. The Master of Ceremonies token is now handed to the player in the first position of the Hierarchy table: in this example Austria must hand the token to Great Britain, which occupies the first position. Players then, in Hierarchy order, may choose to sign any number of Treaties, displaying each card in front of their screen and reading its effect aloud. In order: Spain chooses to sign the Treaty Free City of Kraków and displays it in front of its screen; Russia also displays a Treaty, Union of Genoa with Sardinia; under pressure, France also chooses to sign and displays Restoration of the Swiss Confederation.

Then, in Hierarchy order, players may now choose to spend Receptions: each may spend a number of tokens between zero and a maximum equal to the Influence value of their committed Delegate, to gain an equal number of Prestige points. Austria spends 1 Reception and advances its score marker by 1 space. France spends 2 Receptions and advances its score marker by 2 spaces (of the 3 it could have spent given its Delegate value of 3). Russia could also have spent (up to a maximum of 2) but prefers to keep them for other purposes. Score markers that occupy the same space must be stacked on top of each other, the order they assume being in any case irrelevant.

Phase 2: Assignments

• Shuffle the Political Favours face down and place them, always face down, 1 at each Objective in its grey slot. Based on the number of cards present in each pile, the token of the Objective with the same number must be revealed, then the Master of Ceremonies reveals one other token of their own choice.
  • In a 6-player example, the piles each contain five cards, so the grey token of Objective V (Legitimacy), with value '0', is revealed. Great Britain, as Master of Ceremonies, then chooses to reveal the Political Favour of Objective II (Allies): it shows an Influence value of '1'.
• Each player, in turn, in Hierarchy order:
  • must assign 2 face-down Delegates of their choice (Great Britain must assign 3) from those still in their supply, both to one Objective of their choice or each to a different Objective. Each player must place their markers inside the area marked with the emblem of their own nation.
  • Important: there is no limit to the number of Delegates that a player may assign to a single Objective. Also, no player may touch or look at Delegates already assigned to Objectives, not even their own (except for effects that allow them to interact with Delegates).
  • may choose to assign their Delegation Head in any Objective, spending 1 Reception, or in front of an opponent's screen (to alter that player's tactical manoeuvre), giving 1 Reception to that player.
    • Important: the Delegation Head cannot be assigned where another Delegation Head has already been assigned. Only 1 Delegation Head can be assigned to a given position (Objective or player).
  • must assign 3 more face-up Delegates, distributed as they choose among the Objectives;
  • must assign the last face-down Delegate, in 1 Objective.

Example: in Hierarchy order, the six players assign their Delegates. Great Britain assigns three face-down: two to Objective II (Allies) and one to V (Legitimacy). Prussia places one in Objective I (Indemnities) and the other in IIII (Treaties). Spain reveals the Aid Popular Uprising to activate its signed Treaty Free City of Kraków, then assigns both of its markers to Indemnities (I). Austria divides its own between III (Aids) and V (Legitimacy). Russia assigns them to Objectives I and II (Indemnities and Allies). France places its two markers in Objective III (Aids).

Example (Delegation Head): Great Britain assigns its Delegation Head, spending 1 Reception. Austria assigns its white pawn in front of Great Britain's screen; thanks to the effect of its Delegation Head (Klemens Wenzel) it does not spend a Reception, so the red player receives no oval tokens. Russia assigns its Delegation Head to the Objective I area, spending 1 Reception, which ends up in the common reserve. Spain and France chose not to assign their Delegation Heads in this round; they did not feel the need and preferred to keep them for other purposes.

Phase 3: Plot

Each player, in Hierarchy order, may choose to spend up to 4 Receptions and choose 1 opposing face-down assigned Delegate in any Objective, to reveal and remove it from that Objective (returning it behind its owner's screen), if they have received:

• 1 or more Receptions and the Delegate has Influence 1 or less;
• 2 or more Receptions and the Delegate has Influence 3 or less;
• 3 or more Receptions and the Delegate has Influence 5 or less;
• 4 Receptions and the Delegate has Influence 7 or less.

Important: a Delegate with Influence 0 always adds the Influence value that may be provided by the Ally markers the player owns.

Receptions spent for a Plot go to the common reserve.

Example: in Hierarchy order, Prussia plots against Spain, spending 1 Reception (which goes to the common reserve). It reveals the 7 of Spain: the 1 Reception spent by the black player is not enough to remove the "powerful" yellow. Prussia did not know that Spain had assigned it to collect the Reparation Border Restoration 1792 (the Reparation of Objective IIII in this round). On its turn, the yellow player wants to plot against a green Delegate assigned to Objective I (Indemnities), but cannot, because the Russian Delegation Head prevents it from removing the Russian Delegates from the Objective where it is assigned. Austria spends 3 against France, reveals the blue 2 and removes it; the blue player takes its own marker back from Objective III to place it behind its screen. France reacts by spending 2 against a white Delegate in Objective III, hoping to "uncover" the Austrian 3 still hidden on the board: target hit! The French delegation can still compete to win Border Fortification (the Aid of Objective III in this round).

Phase 4: Chancellery

• In Hierarchy order, the players who assigned their Delegation Head in front of an opponent's screen must move 1 face-up Delegate of that player to another Objective in which that opponent has assigned other Delegates; if this is not possible, the chosen face-up Delegate must be removed from the Objective (returned behind its player's screen).
• Each player, in Hierarchy order, may now choose to assign the Foreign Minister to any Objective in which they still have at least 1 assigned Delegate.
  • Important: an assigned Foreign Minister adds +2 to the total Influence value of the player's Delegates in that Objective.

Example: in Hierarchy order, thanks to its Delegation Head, Austria moves the British Delegate, and Prussia moves the Spanish Delegate. Prussia chooses to move the Spanish 7 (now face-up thanks to its previous Plot) to Objective I, the only other Objective in which the yellow player has assigned other Delegates. Austria, on the other hand, moves the red 1 from Objective V to Objective II.

Example (Foreign Minister): Prussia assigns its Foreign Minister to increase the total Influence value of its Delegates in Objective IIII by +2; it adds the Foreign Minister to its group of Delegates assigned there, to try to win the Reparation.

Practical tip (Secrets and memory): when the Delegate markers have been assigned to Objectives, no player, not even the one who played them, may look at them while face-down. It is therefore necessary to have a trained memory to remember how one's face-down markers were arranged. Experienced players will not have this kind of difficulty, while others, especially during the first games, may find it hard to manage a certain number of secret pieces of information at the same time. We suggest small stratagems tied to the elements printed on the board, identifying personal visual references that opponents cannot know. In general, do not underestimate the impact of secrecy on the information you handle regarding your opponents' strategies. The values of undisclosed Delegates, the number of Receptions you possess and the nature of the cards you have collected during the game must be carefully hidden behind the screen.

Phase 5: Congress

• All Delegates assigned in all Objectives must be revealed, and all Political Favours still face down must be revealed.

• After all markers have been revealed, the Treaties signed by the players may be activated, following the priority order printed on the cards. (See the example below.)

• The Objectives are resolved in sequence:

  • from I to IIII in 3- or 4-player games;
  • from I to V in 5- or 6-player games.

  The player with the highest Influence value in an Objective collects the relevant Reparation. Ties are resolved in reverse Hierarchy order.

  • The Delegates and the Foreign Minister of the player who has collected a Reparation are removed immediately from that Objective.
  • Important: if a player collects a Reparation in an Objective where they had also assigned the Delegation Head, they gain 1 Prestige point (advancing their score marker) and also receive 1 Reception from the common reserve.
  • Attention: if all players have a total Influence value of zero in an Objective (for example, nobody assigned Delegates or Foreign Ministers there), the Reparation is collected by the first player in reverse Hierarchy order.

• After all Objectives have been resolved and their Reparations collected, the Principle of Balance is awarded to the player with the highest total Influence in a single Objective where they did not collect a Reparation.

  • Attention: the highest total Influence in a single Objective is counted considering only the Delegates still assigned and not removed during the previous collection of Reparations.

Example: in the Congress, Spain has a total Influence of 14 in Objective I, without collecting the Reparation that was at stake. This is the highest value of all those left on the board in a single Objective, so the yellow player collects the Treaty Holy Alliance from the top of the Principle of Balance pile (without removing its markers from the board). Spain's 14 and Prussia's 7 both exceed the value of the Political Favour of Objective I, which is 3, so Spain and Prussia each receive 1 Reception; because Spain's value prevails over Prussia's, only Spain gains 3 Prestige points (the value printed on the token). In Objective II no player received the bonus, since only Russia still had markers there, with an Influence value of 1 that does not exceed the Political Favour of 1. In Objective V, although three players received the bonus, none of them gains Prestige points, since the value printed on the grey token is zero.

Example (Congress, Treaties and Reparations): once all markers are revealed, Treaties may be activated in the order of priority indicated on the cards. Russia activates its Treaty Union of Genoa with Sardinia (priority 7), which allows it to assign the Genoa marker to Objective I without an Aid. France activates Restoration of the Swiss Confederation (priority 8), distributing two '-1' markers to the Austrian delegation in Objective III and one '-1' marker to the Prussian delegation in Objective IIII. Russia then collects Annexation of Territories in Objective I with a total Influence of 14, against Spain, which, despite the tie in Influence, loses the tie-break because of its position in the Hierarchy. Russia gains the 5 of the Indemnity it collected, to which it adds 1 and 1 thanks to its Delegate in Objective I. The Great Britain player, with Influence 7, collects the Ally Naples in Objective II; France, with Influence 3, collects the Aid Border Fortification in Objective III; Prussia, with Influence 6, collects the Treaty Border Restoration 1792 in Objective IIII; Austria, with Influence 7, collects the Aid Naval Blockade in Objective V.

Phase 6: Recovery

Note: if this is the last round of the game, this phase is skipped.

• All players recover their assigned and committed components still in play (do not remove the score marker).
• Each player, in Hierarchy order, may choose to keep their Treaties by discarding 1 Aid for each Treaty they wish to keep. Treaties that are not kept must be removed from the game (stacked under the player's Nation card). The Foreign Minister cannot be assigned in order to keep a Treaty.
  • Important: a Treaty that is kept is returned behind the player's screen for later rounds; an Aid discarded to keep a Treaty is stacked under the player's Nation card.
• Allies collected during the round are generally removed from the game in this phase, in order to receive from the common reserve the corresponding Ally marker, which gives its Influence value to the player's Delegates marked with a red 0. The Ally cards are stacked under the player's Nation card.
  • Important: the Ally marker gives its value to the player's Delegates with a value of 0 in later rounds; in a 5- or 6-player game, these cards also affect the final scoring through the Ally Poland.

The round then ends, and, if the game is not over, another round begins following all the rules above.

• In a 3-, 4- or 5-player game, in the fourth and last round, Phase 6 Recovery is skipped and the End of the Game rules are applied.
• In a 6-player game, in the fifth and last round, Phase 6 Recovery is skipped and the End of the Game rules are applied.

Important: the Reparation piles of each Objective also serve as a round counter. When these piles are exhausted, because all Reparations have been collected, it is clear that the game ends at the end of that round.

Example: Russia and Spain choose not to keep their Treaty and discard it, stacking it under their Nation card. France, instead, chooses to discard the Aid Border Fortification, which it collected in the previous phase, in order to keep the Treaty Restoration of the Swiss Confederation, which it had signed; the blue player returns the Treaty behind its screen for the following rounds. Meanwhile, the effect of the Ally Naples, which Great Britain collected in the previous phase, is applied: the card is discarded to receive the relevant marker and 1 (since it has no Aid to reveal that would earn 2 additional).

Reparation Cards

(Reparation cards are collected during the Congress phase and kept behind the player's screen until they are used, as described on each card. The cards are of four types, recognisable by the Roman numeral on their back: I, Indemnities; II, Allies; III, Aids; IIII, Treaties.)

Indemnities

Indemnities are collected mainly at Objective I. They generally have effects that earn Prestige points when collected.

Allies

Allies are collected mainly at Objective II. Their effects are described on the cards; see Phase 6 for their use (the Ally marker) and End of the Game for the effects of the Allies Portugal and Poland.

Aids

Aids are collected mainly at Objective III. Aids can be used to activate Treaties (by revealing them) or to keep Treaties (by discarding them). Aids kept behind the player's screen may add Prestige points at the end of the game. Aids are of three types: Commercial, Military and Naval, shown on the cards and in some effects.

Important: when an Aid is discarded to keep a Treaty, the card must be stacked under the player's Nation card.

Treaties

Treaties are collected mainly at Objective IIII. To apply the effects of Treaties, they must first be signed, then activated (with Aids or the Foreign Minister), and finally they may be kept (by discarding Aids) to avoid discarding them.

• Signing Treaties: to be signed, during the Hierarchy phase, a Treaty must be displayed in front of the player's screen.
• Activating Treaties: to activate a signed Treaty, its player, in their turn, in the phase described on the card, must either:
  • reveal 1 Aid (1 for each Treaty they want to activate); or
  • assign the Foreign Minister (forgoing assigning it to an Objective).
• During the phase described on the card, players choose which Treaties to activate according to the priority order indicated on the cards, if several Treaties activate at the same moment (for example, "after all markers are revealed"). There is no limit to the number of Treaties that a player may sign and activate in a round.
• Keeping Treaties: every signed Treaty must be removed from the game in phase 6, Recovery (even if it was not activated), unless it is kept. In Hierarchy order, the players choose whether and how to keep their Treaties, discarding 1 Aid for each Treaty they wish to keep; in this case the kept Treaty must be returned behind the player's screen.
  • Important: when a Treaty is removed from the game, the card must be stacked under the player's Nation card.

End of the Game

In the last round of play, Phase 6 Recovery is skipped and, at the conclusion, each player reveals the components kept behind their screen in order to count their Prestige points (advancing their score marker accordingly):

• the effects of the Indemnities apply: Restitution of Works of Art, Payment of War Indemnities and Annexation of Territories;
• the effect of the Ally Portugal applies; in a 5- or 6-player game, the effect of the Ally Poland also applies;
• the effect of the Treaty Free Navigation of the Seas applies;
• having 3 Aids with different symbols earns 7 Prestige points (Aids that were discarded and stacked under the Nation card do not count);
• having Aids with matching symbols earns 4 Prestige points for each Aid beyond the first (Aids that were discarded and stacked under the Nation card do not count).

The player whose score marker indicates the highest score is declared the winner.

Tie-break: in case of a tie, the tie is resolved in reverse Hierarchy order of the last turn played.

Example: Great Britain and Prussia each have 23 Prestige points, ahead of Russia and Austria with 22, France with 21 and Spain with only 19. Great Britain is declared the winner because in the last round it occupied position 6 in the Hierarchy, while Prussia occupied only position 3. For the full ranking, Austria takes third place over Russia thanks to its position 5 against Russia's position 2.

Example (Aids): at the end of the game Austria has the Aid Naval Blockade, the Aid Financial Loan and, collected in the last round, the Treaty Free Navigation of the Seas (which it counts as an Aid thanks to its particular effect). This gives it 7 points, which it adds to its score, advancing its score marker to space 22. Austria regrets not having collected another Aid, since with the combination that earned it 7 it could have added 4 more for a "pair" of matching symbols. Spain has the Aids Donation and Corruption (both of the same symbol), which earn it 4 Prestige points, advancing its score marker to space 19.

Thank you for playing with us! As you become more expert at this game, you may adopt the optional rule described in the side column of page 10 to extend your experience further (see Variants below).

Round Summary

The game consists of 4 rounds with 3, 4 or 5 players, or 5 rounds with 6 players. Each round is divided into 6 phases.

1. Hierarchy: the first card of each Reparation pile must be revealed. Each player must commit 1 Delegate to win a position in the Hierarchy. Players who wish may sign Treaties and spend Receptions to gain Prestige points.
2. Assignments: shuffle the Political Favours face down and place them, always face down, 1 at each Objective. Each player, in Hierarchy order, must assign all their remaining Delegates to the Objectives and, possibly, their Delegation Head.
3. Plot: each player may spend Receptions to remove 1 opposing face-down Delegate from an Objective.
4. Chancellery: each player may assign the Foreign Minister to an Objective where they have assigned at least 1 Delegate.
5. Congress: resolve all Objectives in ascending order, then the Principle of Balance.
6. Recovery: each player recovers their assigned and committed components still in play (except the score marker).

Variants

Optional rule for very experienced players: Auction to represent the Nations

Modify step 2 of the Preparation: instead of distributing the Roles, randomly select a player and hand them the Master of Ceremonies token.

Each player receives a number of Reception tokens equal to those indicated in step 5 of the Preparation plus 1.

All players now take part in a secret auction to win a Role and control of the Nations (among those available for the number of players). Each player hides in hand any number of Receptions (minimum 1) and, when all players declare that they have completed the operation, they reveal them simultaneously.

In descending order of the number of tokens revealed, the players choose their Nation.

Any ties are resolved by considering the "distance" of the players from the Master of Ceremonies, counting anticlockwise (towards the right): the nearest one chooses.

When a player acquires their Role, they must lose a number of Receptions equal to the amount bid by the player who chooses after them.

Players keep the Receptions left over from the secret auction.

Then continue normally with steps 2, 3, 5 and 6 of the Preparation, ignoring step 4 (since the Receptions have already been assigned).

Simplified rules

(Simplified rules: this variant is recommended for groups of no more than 4 players, perhaps less experienced. Only the modified parts are indicated in this section: rules and examples are taken from the full rulebook.)

Preparation: ignore the Reception tokens, the Political Favour tokens and the Delegation Head pawns.

How to play: the number of rounds does not change, but each round is practically divided into 5 phases (instead of six).

• Phase 1, Hierarchy: all the parts of this phase remain unchanged except the part in which players may choose to spend Receptions to gain Prestige points: this part CANNOT be carried out because in this variant the players have no Reception tokens; therefore all the related rules are ignored.
• Phase 2, Assignments: ignore the whole first part of this phase relating to the use of the grey Political Favour tokens, since in this variant they are unused, as are all the rules relating to the assignment of Delegation Heads.
• Phase 3, Plots: this phase is completely removed and is not played.
• Phase 4, Chancellery: the first part of this phase relating to the assignment of Delegation Heads must be ignored.
• Phase 5, Congress: when a player collects a Reparation, all effects that target Receptions and Delegation Heads must be ignored. The part of this phase in which Political Favours are revealed is to be ignored completely.
• Phase 6, Recovery: all parts of this phase remain unchanged compared to the full rulebook. The turn ends and another turn begins.