Thirty Years War: Europe in Agony, 1618-1648 Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• 1.0 Introduction
  • 1.1 Historical Overview
  • 1.2 The Game
  • 1.3 Scale
• 2.0 Components
  • 2.1 Combat Units
  • 2.2 Leaders
  • 2.3 Strategy Cards
  • 2.4 The Map
  • 2.5 The Die
• 3.0 Key Terms
  • 3.1 Control
  • 3.2 Other Key Terms
• 4.0 Campaign Game Setup
  • 4.1 Protestant Setup
  • 4.2 Catholic Setup
  • 4.3 Miscellaneous Setup
• 5.0 Determine Victory
  • 5.1 Tracking VPs
  • 5.2 Winning the Game
  • 5.3 Peace Negotiations
• 6.0 Sequence of Play
• 7.0 Wallenstein
  • 7.1 Wallenstein's Influence
  • 7.2 Use of Wallenstein
• 8.0 Strategy Cards
  • 8.1 Deck Preparation
  • 8.2 Strategy Card Use
  • 8.3 Activations
  • 8.4 Recruitment
  • 8.5 Foreign Aid
  • 8.6 Events
• 9.0 Special Event Cards
  • 9.1 War Entry Events
  • 9.2 New Leader Cards
  • 9.3 Dutch War Track Cards
  • 9.4 Peasant Revolt Cards
  • 9.5 Combat Cards
• 10.0 Leaders and Unit Stacking
  • 10.1 Leaders
  • 10.2 Unit Stacking
• 11.0 Movement
  • 11.1 Procedure
  • 11.2 Enemy Spaces
  • 11.3 France
  • 11.4 United Provinces
• 12.0 Combat
  • 12.1 Procedure
  • 12.2 Combat Resolution
  • 12.3 Taking Losses
  • 12.4 Leader Loss
  • 12.5 Retreats
  • 12.6 Overrun Combat
• 13.0 Siege Combat
  • 13.1 Establishing the Siege
  • 13.2 Siege Combat
• 14.0 Foreign Aid
  • 14.3 Protestant Aid Sources
  • 14.4 Catholic Aid Sources
• 15.0 Paying Units
  • 15.1 Aid Points
  • 15.2 Looting
• 16.0 The Dutch War
  • 16.1 The Dutch War Track
  • 16.2 Armies in the UP

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Historical Overview

Germany in 1618 was nothing like we know today. A strong, united nation-state would not exist until created by Otto von Bismarck in the late 19th Century. At the time of the Thirty Years War, Germany was a jigsaw puzzle of independent Electorates, Bishoprics, Dukedoms and Imperial Free Cities under the theoretical control of the Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna. The Holy Roman Emperor was chosen by the votes of the seven Electors—the Electors of Bohemia, Saxony, Brandenburg and The Palatinate, and the Archbishops of Mainz, Trier and Köln. However, the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century had greatly diminished the Roman Catholic Emperor's authority over many parts of Germany and by the early 1600s the Protestant princes of the Empire were clamoring for even more freedom.

The specific event that touched off the Thirty Years War was the rebellion of Bohemia in 1619. The Bohemian estates deposed Ferdinand II as King of Bohemia (the events leading up to this included the famed "Defenestration of Prague" when Bohemian Protestants threw two Catholic delegates out of a window). They crowned Elector Palatine Frederick V as King of Bohemia, and raised an army to invade Ferdinand's lands in Austria. Ferdinand II, heir to the Habsburg throne, was crowned Holy Roman Emperor barely two weeks later. He responded by allying with Bavaria and Spain (ruled by another branch of the Habsburg family) and raising armies to not only take back Bohemia but also re-establish firm Imperial control over all of Germany, rolling back the Protestant Reformation and confirming Catholic church authority in the process. The game begins in 1620, with these early politic maneuverings finished and the opposing armies about to begin operations. For simplicity's sake, we have named the players Protestant and Catholic; other terms like Habsburg and anti-Habsburg would have been just as appropriate (and players should feel free to argue the merits of our decision).

The Thirty Years War soon grew far beyond its narrow origins. Hungary rebelled against Imperial Habsburg control and proved to be a great distraction to Emperor Ferdinand. Spain continued in its attempt to regain the lost United Provinces (modern-day Netherlands) while the Dutch found it useful to support the German Protestants with arms and money. Denmark and Sweden both brought armies into the war to aid the Protestants and to assert their influence over the Baltic shores. Sweden's army was initially led by King Gustavus II Adolphus, one of the great commanders of history. France, under the leadership of Cardinal Richelieu, supported the German Protestants with money at first but was later forced to commit armies to the Protestant cause under the noted generals Turenne and Condé (the Duke d'Enghien). The decision by staunchly Catholic France to support German Protestants against the Catholic Emperor demonstrates the war's political and dynastic as well as religious roots.

As wars always do, the Thirty Years War brought great misery to the common people forced to support it. Towns and cities throughout Germany were pillaged by ravenous mercenary armies; starving peasants in Austria, Bavaria and France rebelled against the crippling taxes they were paying to maintain the war effort; formerly prosperous free cities were bankrupted by the "contributions" levied on them by occupying troops. Neither Emperor Ferdinand II, Cardinal Richelieu, nor Gustavus Adolphus lived to see the war's end, but other leaders and generals were ready to take their place—Emperor Ferdinand III, Cardinal Mazarin and Lennart Torstennson carried on with grim determination.

The war finally staggered to a conclusion with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The chief results of the War and the Peace were significant for the future of Europe. The Holy Roman Emperor's authority over Germany ceased, ensuring that Germany would not be united under the leadership of the Catholic Habsburg Emperor. German unification was put off for over two centuries. Neither Denmark nor Sweden would again intervene decisively in German affairs. A strong, unified French nation appeared under the dynamic leadership of the youthful Louis XIV. The first seeds were sown for the rise of Brandenburg-Prussia—Frederick William I, father of Frederick the Great, began building the Prussian army after the humiliation of watching militarily feeble Brandenburg bullied into submission by every army that crossed its borders. Finally, the war engendered pessimism concerning organized religion, laying foundations for intellectual and literary changes that would later become known as the Age of Reason.

1.2 The Game

In THIRTY YEARS WAR, one player takes the role of the Catholic (Imperial) side, while his opponent is, for lack of a better word, the Protestant player (though the nature of each side's alliances will constantly change, regardless of religious persuasions). Players manipulate historical leaders, combat units and events through the use of strategy cards in an effort to win control of territory, thereby swinging the Catholic Victory Point total in a direction that will bring them victory. Rules herein provide for a Campaign Game and three shorter scenarios corresponding to the three phases of the war (the early Bohemian phase, the Danish and Swedish interventions, and the final phase of Franco-Spanish intervention).

1.3 Scale

Each unit represents roughly 3,000 to 5,000 men. Leader counters represent the leader and his staff. Turns are two years, with one card activation representing roughly one or two months of campaigning by an army.

2.0 Components

A game of THIRTY YEARS WAR consists of:

• 1 mapsheet
• 2 sheets of die-cut counters
• 2 decks of cards (55 cards each)
• 1 ten-sided die
• 1 playing aid card
• 1 scenario setup card
• This rulebook

2.1 Combat Units

This game portrays three types of units—Veteran, Mercenary and Militia. Units represent military formations of varying size. They are capable of combat, may pillage, and can gain control of a City. The unit counter mix is an absolute limit.

Each unit counter shows a front (full-strength) side and a back (reduced-strength) side, printed with the unit Type, an I.D., and its Combat Factor, Loss Factor and Movement Factor.

Note: The "Protestant Army" and "Catholic Army" markers may be used to mark the place of large stacks of combat units, with the stacks placed in army boxes on the map.

2.2 Leaders

These represent the various military/political leaders of the war. Leaders begin the game on the map or are brought into the game by playing New Leader and War Entry Event cards.

Counter Note 1: The Protestant leader Frederick of Baden is the leader named "George F. of BD."

Counter Note 2: There is an extra Imperial Vet unit counter and a French leader counter (Guebriant) that are not used in the game. They were removed in the last round of edits, but too late to make the change in the counter mix. (See optional rules 19.2a&b)

Each leader counter shows a front and back side. A star indicates a Dynamic Leader; the back side is the Replacement Leader. Leaders carry an Activation Rating, a Battle Rating, a Leadership Rating and a Loss Rating (Combat DRM).

2.3 Strategy Cards

In THIRTY YEARS WAR, the Strategy Cards are the heart of the game. The players initiate all actions, including movement and combat, through the play of Strategy Cards. Both players have their own deck of Strategy Cards, which is sub-divided into three groups: Early War cards, Intervention cards and Apocalypse cards. Each card has a point value, contains Event text, and lists the Foreign Aid Points that can be provided by the card.

Note: There are 15 Early War Catholic cards and 14 Protestant Early War cards. This is intentional, because the Catholics have many important "Remove Card if the Event is Played" Events in their Early War deck, and so need the extra cards.

Each card shows a Point Value, Event Text, Foreign Sources and Aid Points, a Card I.D. (Early War, Intervention or Apocalypse), and an asterisk if the card is removed from the game when played as an Event.

2.4 The Map

2.41 Areas. The game map is divided into 24 Areas containing a variable number of spaces (called Cities, some of which are Fortress Cities), plus the off-map spaces of France. These Areas represent the political make-up of Germany circa 1618, which was actually a jigsaw puzzle of overlapping Electorates, dukedoms, bishoprics and provinces. Control of an Area represents the military and/or political domination of that region by the controlling side (Catholics or Protestants). An Area includes all non-Independent spaces within the Area. An Area does NOT include Independent Cities [2.43] whether or not those spaces straddle the Area's border or are embedded within the Area.

2.42 Control Boxes. The Control Box is used to hold a control marker noting whether an Area is controlled by the Protestant or Catholic player; a Neutral marker means that the Area is Neutral and controlled by neither player. In addition to having a place for such markers, the box indicates the Area's Control rating (the black-print number inside the small yellow box), the Area's Victory Point Value (the white-print number inside the small red box) and whether it is an Electorate (white-print word inside the purple box).

The Control rating is the number of Cities in the Area that a player must control in order to control the Area. The Victory Point Value is awarded to whichever player controls the Area. See 5.14 for details on Electorates.

France does not have a Control Box—France is always Protestant-controlled after it enters the war.

EXAMPLE: Bohemia's Control Box indicates that a player must control three Cities in Bohemia to control the Area, which gives the player three Victory Points. Bohemia is also an Electorate.

Design Note: The bulk of France is off the map, and, although the Catholics launched several dangerous invasions of France during the war, Cardinal Richelieu was able to keep France as a strong financial and later military supporter of the Protestant cause.

2.43 Independent Cities. There are 17 Independent City spaces on the map. They have no relationship with control of the Area in which they are embedded or straddle. These are major cities that retained their independence from the local ruler, usually because of their trade significance (Hamburg, Bremen, Lubeck) or because they were the seat of a powerful bishop (Köln, Mainz). Independent Cities have Victory Point ratings like Areas, and may also be Electorates. Independent Cities do not have Control Boxes—instead, place a control marker on the City space to indicate control.

EXAMPLE: Köln is an Independent City with a VP value of two. It is also an Electorate.

2.44 Fortress Cities. Some spaces are Fortress Cities, control of which typically requires Siege Combat. Each Fortress City has a Fortress Strength rating and a Siege Modifier rating.

EXAMPLES: Nürnberg is an Independent Fortress City. Würzburg is a Fortress City within an Area. Würzburg has a Fortress Strength of 3 and a Siege Modifier of 0.

2.45 Pathways and Rivers. Movement is regulated by the pathways connecting Cities. Rivers are provided for geographic reference, but have no bearing on the game (though obviously many pathways follow river courses—the traditional invasion paths).

2.46 Germany. "Germany" is any city on the map that is not in Austria, Bavaria, France, the Spanish Netherlands, or Hungary.

2.5 The Die

The die is ten-sided. The 0 is a 0, not a 10, as in some other games.

3.0 Key Terms

3.1 Control

All Areas and Cities on the map are either Neutral, Protestant-controlled or Catholic-controlled. Control is signified by placing a Protestant or Catholic control marker on the City or in the Area's Control Box. An Area or Independent City with a Neutral marker is Neutral. The Neutral marker indicates that the neutrality of an Area has not been violated [11.18]. Because an Area's neutrality can only be violated once, removing the marker is a good reminder of which areas have been "violated."

3.11 Cities. Control of any City, whether Independent or not, is shown by placing a control marker in the City space. Some Cities begin the game controlled by a player, as specified in section 4.0 or the scenario setup rules [18.0]. All other Cities (except Fortress Cities [3.11]) are controlled whenever a player moves a unit into a City space that is not occupied by enemy units and spends an extra MP. If the space is occupied by enemy units, the control marker may only be placed after the enemy units have been eliminated or retreated from the City space by combat, in which case the control marker is placed immediately by the victor. Vacating a controlled City does not abdicate such Control.

An army that ends its activation in an enemy city, but does not (or cannot) spend the extra MP to convert the city, must wait until its next activation to spend the MP to assert control. Winning a battle, an overrun, or capturing a city via siege automatically converts the space without an extra MP being required.

3.12 Fortress Cities. In most cases, a Fortress City must be successfully Besieged before placing a control marker on it.

• Enemy-Controlled. Any Fortress City which is enemy controlled (even if it is not occupied by enemy units) must be captured through Siege Combat to place a friendly control marker on it.
• Neutral Independent. Similarly, any Independent Fortress City which is Neutral must be captured through Siege Combat to place a friendly control marker on it.
• Neutral Non-Independent. Any other Fortress City which is Neutral but not an Independent City (i.e., Würzburg) shares the control status of its Area, thus allowing it to become controlled without a Siege. However, it may also be captured through Siege Combat.

EXAMPLE: If Hessen-Kassel becomes Catholic-controlled, Hanau becomes Catholic-controlled without requiring a Siege. Frankfurt, as an Independent City, would not become Catholic controlled, because it does not share the control status of the area it shares. Note, however, if Hanau is controlled by the Protestants, although Hessen-Kassel may still be neutral (although violated), under Bullet #1 above, Hanau would have to be captured by Siege combat. Independent fortress cities that are neutral or enemy-controlled, such as Hamburg, Trier, or Madgeburg must always be captured through Siege combat.

3.13 Areas. A player gains control of an Area immediately after he gains control of a number of Non-Independent Cities in the Area equal to the Area's Control Rating. Independent Cities within or bordering an Area do NOT count towards this total. Place a marker in the appropriate Control Box.

EXAMPLE: The Lower Palatinate has four Non-Independent Cities—Oppenheim, Mannheim, Heidelberg, and Landau. To gain control of the Lower Palatinate, a player must gain control of any three of them. The Cities of Trier and Mainz, even though within the Area boundaries of the Lower Palatinate, are Independent and do not count as one of the three Cities necessary to gain control of the Area.

Whenever a player gains control of an Area, remove enemy control markers from all Non-Independent Cities in the Area except for those in Cities occupied by enemy units. The player that controls the Area (as shown in the Control Box) is considered to control unmarked Cities. Cities that are occupied by enemy units don't switch control in this fashion—the enemy units must be removed from the City first.

CONTINUING THE EXAMPLE: In the Lower Palatinate, if the Catholic player gains control of Oppenheim, Mannheim and Heidelberg, while a Protestant unit remains in Landau, then the Catholic player gains control of the Lower Palatinate, places a control marker in the Area's Control Box while removing the markers from all of the Non-Independent Cities except Landau. A Protestant control marker remains on Landau, because the Protestant unit in the City prevents it from becoming Catholic-controlled.

3.2 Other Key Terms

Unit—A unit is any counter with a Combat Factor. A leader is not a unit. A unit may only attack if a leader is present. The unit counter mix is an absolute limit. A unit may move without a leader (such a unit may not conduct Combat but may join a stack that later conducts Siege Combat).

Leader—A leader is any counter with an Activation Rating. Leaders are used to activate several units at once, and to recruit more units. Leaders, by themselves, are not capable of combat, pillaging or gaining control of a City. All leaders have a movement allowance of 8, though this rating is not printed on the counters. A leader moving alone through a neutral province does not violate the neutrality of that province.

Army—An army is any stack that contains both leaders and units. There may be more than one leader in an army, and more than one unit.

4.0 Campaign Game Setup

Historical Note: Although the Thirty Years War is considered to have begun in 1618 with the stirrings of Bohemia's rebellion against Ferdinand II, this game begins in 1620. The years 1618-1619 saw the gathering of forces in Bohemia, Bavaria and the Empire, but not much in the way of campaigning. Spain's twelve-year truce with the United Provinces expired in 1621, which also makes 1620-1621 a convenient place to begin the game. What we have skipped is the beginning of Hungarian Prince Bethlen Gabor's rebellion versus the Empire in 1619; the game begins with the Hungarian Rebellion in full flower.

Thus, we have the following starting situation. The main Protestant army is in Pilsen under the professional soldier Count Ernst Mansfeld, with a smaller army under Thurn in Budweis, having just retreated from an unsuccessful move on Vienna. They are facing a variety of Catholic forces; Bucquoy commands the Imperial army in Vienna, while the old Count Johan Tilly leads the assembled Bavarian and Catholic League troops in Munich. Elector John George of Saxony has joined the Catholic coalition and threatens Bohemia from the north, while in response to the ending of the Dutch Truce, Marquis Ambrogio di Spinola has raised a Spanish army in the Spanish Netherlands and stands ready to invade the Lower Palatinate before taking on the United Provinces.

4.1 Protestant Setup

All units are at full strength.

• Pilsen, BOHEMIA: Mansfeld, Anhalt, 5 Protestant Mercenaries.
• Budweis, BOHEMIA: Thurn, Schlick, 4 Protestant Militia.
• Pressburg, HUNGARY: Bethlen-Gabor, 3 Hungarian Militia.

Protestant Controlled Areas: BOHEMIA, UPPER PALATINATE, LOWER PALATINATE, BRANDENBURG and HUNGARY. Place Protestant control markers in Control Boxes of these Areas. Hungary is in Rebellion.

Protestant Controlled Independent Cities: Nürnberg, Frankfurt, Magdeburg. Place Protestant control markers on these Cities.

Protestant Aid Available: England, United Provinces.

Protestant Controlled Electors: Brandenburg, Bohemia, Lower Palatinate/Bavaria.

4.2 Catholic Setup

All units are at full strength.

• Vienna, AUSTRIA: Bucquoy, 3 Imperial Veterans. (See Option 19.2a)
• Munich, BAVARIA: Tilly, Pappenheim, 4 Bavarian Mercenaries.
• Brussels, SPANISH NETHERLANDS: Spinola, 5 Spanish Veterans.
• Leipzig, SAXONY: John George, 3 Saxon Militia.
• Dresden, SAXONY: 1 Saxon Militia.

Catholic Controlled Areas: AUSTRIA, MORAVIA, SILESIA, TYROL, BAVARIA, SAXONY, SPANISH NETHERLANDS and FRANCHE-COMTE. Place Catholic control markers in these Areas' Control Boxes.

Catholic Controlled Independent Cities: Salzburg, Regensburg, Augsburg, Trier, Aachen, Köln and Mainz. Place Catholic control markers on all these Independent Cities.

Catholic Aid Available: Spain, Pope.

Catholic Controlled Electors: Mainz, Saxony, Köln and Trier. Note: Do NOT apply the Electoral Majority VP penalty on turn 1. Catholic control of the majority of Electors is already included in the starting VP total.

Design Note: The Catholic player has an extra 2 VPs beyond what he would begin with for Area, City, and Elector Control. Those extra VPs are a bonus from the election of Ferdinand II as Holy Roman Emperor just before the game begins.

4.3 Miscellaneous Setup

Place Neutral markers on all Areas not listed above in the setup for either player.

• VP Total: 21.
• Pope: Paul V.
• Val Telline Passes: Open.
• Palatinate/Bavaria Elector Marker: Lower Palatinate.
• Dutch War Track Marker: 0.
• Wallenstein Influence Marker: 0.

5.0 Determine Victory

Historical Note: The Thirty Years War began with Emperor Ferdinand II's ambition of recreating the medieval Holy Roman Empire in a completely Catholic Germany by rolling back Protestantism. Had he succeeded, imagine the effect on world history of a united Germany dominated by the Austrian Habsburgs in the south, rather than the historical Germany, centered on Prussia in the north. Victory in THIRTY YEARS WAR is based on how close the Catholic player comes to achieving that goal.

5.1 Tracking VPs

The Catholic player earns Victory Points (VPs) by gaining control of Areas and Independent Cities, by advancing the Dutch War Track, and by playing certain Event cards. The Protestant player subtracts from the Catholic VP level in a similar fashion. Record VPs on the General Records Track with the VP markers.

5.11 At Start. The Catholic player begins the campaign game with 21 VPs. The starting Catholic VP total for each scenario is given in the setup rules for that scenario.

5.12 Procedure. Whenever an Area or Independent City becomes Catholic-controlled, adjust the VP markers to add the Area/Independent City's VP value to the Catholic VP total. Whenever an Area or Independent City becomes Protestant-controlled, adjust the VP marker to subtract the Area/Independent City's VP value from the Catholic VP total. VPs gained or lost from the Dutch War Track and the play of Event cards are recorded in the same manner.

5.13 Neutrality Violation. Whenever a city belonging to a Neutral Area (but not a Neutral Independent City) is entered for the first time by a unit, the opposing player gains a VP bonus. If a Catholic unit is the first unit to enter a Neutral Area, subtract 1 VP from the VP total. If a Protestant unit is the first unit to enter a Neutral Area, add 1 VP to the VP total. This Neutrality Violation VP only happens once for each Area during the game. After Neutrality Violation occurs, the Area's Neutral marker is permanently removed. Independent Cities are not subject to Neutrality Violation.

5.14 Electoral Control. There are four Electoral Areas (Saxony, Brandenburg, Lower Palatinate/Bavaria and Bohemia) and three Electoral Cities (Mainz, Trier and Köln). See, however, 5.142.

5.141 Control of an Electoral Area/City is determined by whichever player controls the Area or City. Place a corresponding marker in the appropriate box of the Elector Control Track to denote who controls which Electors. If the Catholic player controls a majority of Electors—at least four—he gains 2 VPs. If the Protestant player controls a majority of Electors, subtract 2 VPs. If the Catholic player controls all Electors, he gains 5 VPs. If the Protestant player controls all Electors, subtract 5 VPs. These Electoral VP awards are given immediately when they occur (not for each turn the condition endures), and for each new occurrence (they may reoccur numerous times per game).

VP awards for controlling a majority/all Electors are awarded to the controlling player when the control occurs. The VP award is only lost if the opponent achieves the same condition that awarded the VPs.

EXAMPLE: The Catholic player begins the game controlling a Majority of Electors (4). He later gains control of the other 3 and gets the +5 VP bonus. The Protestant player captures an elector. The Catholic does NOT lose the +5 bonus, nor does he get the +5 bonus AGAIN if he recaptures that 7th elector.

Eventually the Protestant controls 4 electors. He now gets the 2 VP bonus, which is subtracted from the Catholic VP total (remember, the Catholic always adds VPs, the Protestant always subtracts VPs). Later the Catholic recaptures an elector, giving him the Majority again and the +2 VP bonus.

Later still the Protestant captures all 7 electors. He now gets the 5 VP bonus. Now, and only now, can the Catholic get another 5 VP bonus, and only after gaining control of all 7 electors again. If the Protestant player gains control of ALL electors, subtract the 5 VP regardless of whether the Catholic player has received the VP first.

5.142 At the start of the game, the Lower Palatinate is an Electorate, while Bavaria is not. Once the Event Frederick of Palatine Deposed as Elector (C12) is played, Lower Palatinate immediately and permanently ceases to be an Electorate, while Bavaria immediately and permanently becomes an Electorate. Move the Palatinate/Bavaria Elector marker to Bavaria as a reminder of this change.

Historical Note: After overrunning the Lower Palatinate, Emperor Ferdinand II stripped the Lower Palatinate of its Electoral status and transferred it to Bavaria. He did this for two reasons: 1) to punish Frederick V (who had been named King of Bohemia by the Bohemian estates after they rebelled against Ferdinand II in 1619), previously Elector Palatine, for his rebellion against Imperial authority, and 2) to reward Maximillian of Bavaria for his support of Ferdinand's cause. It also solidified the Emperor's influence over the Electors and partially compensated Maximillian for all the money owed to him by Ferdinand.

5.15 Spinola. If Spinola's army is not in the U.P. when the Intervention cards are added to the Unplayed pile, subtract 3 VPs. This penalty is only invoked once per game.

The penalties of this rule are not invoked if Spinola's Spanish army is in the UP, regardless of how they got there; by movement or play of Event C11. Spinola's army is defined as Spinola (or if he is a leader loss, than any Spanish leader) and at least 3 Spanish units. Exception; see 16.21 (3)

5.2 Winning the Game

5.21 Early Victory. The game can end by Peace Negotiation [5.3] or at the end of any turn prior to the final turn by virtue of a Major Victory by one side or the other, resulting in an Early Victory:

• Victory Points. The game ends in a Catholic Major Victory if the Catholic VP total is 50 or more at the end of any turn. The game ends in a Protestant Major Victory if the Catholic VP total is 0 or less at the end of any turn.
• Major Capitals. The game ends in Protestant Major Victory if the Protestant player simultaneously controls Munich, Vienna and Brussels at the end of a turn.
• Wallenstein's Influence. If the Wallenstein influence total [7.1] ever reaches 20, the game ends immediately (do not finish turn) as a Protestant Major Victory.

5.22 At End of Turn 14. The campaign game winner is determined at the end of turn 14 according to the following:

• Catholic Victory: Final VP total of 30 or higher AND the Catholics control Austria, Bavaria and the Spanish Netherlands.
• Draw: Final VP total higher than 10 but less than 30. The game is also a Draw if the final VP total is 30 or higher, but the Catholics don't control Austria, Bavaria and the Spanish Netherlands.
• Protestant Victory: Final VP total of 10 or lower. This was the historical result.

(See Option 19.1 for alternative VC)

Historical Note: A Draw, in historical terms, means that the Emperor has consolidated Imperial influence over southern Germany (at the expense of his ally Bavaria), but has been stopped by Sweden, Denmark and France from rolling back Protestantism in northern Germany.

5.3 Peace Negotiations

A player may spend a Free Action [8.32] without playing a strategy card to initiate peace negotiations, if VP conditions permit. Peace must be offered as the first Action [6.0] of a turn (using a Free Action). The position of the VP marker determines whether an offer can be made and whether the responding player may or must accept the offer.

5.31 Conditions

Offering Player	VP Requirement	Responding Player	Requirement	Result
Catholic	10 or fewer VPs or 30 VPs or more	Protestant	Fewer than 35 VPs	May Accept
Catholic	10 or fewer VPs or 30 VPs or more	Protestant	35 VPs or more	Must Accept
Protestant	15 or fewer VPs or 40 VPs or more	Catholic	More than 10 VPs	May Accept
Protestant	15 or fewer VPs or 40 VPs or more	Catholic	10 or fewer VPs	Must Accept

If the offer is accepted, roll a die and consult the Peace Negotiation Results Table (on the playing aid chart), adjusting the roll with the appropriate modifier:

• Add one, if Catholics control ALL Electors.
• Subtract one, if Protestants control ALL Electors.

5.32 Negotiation Results

• PMV — Protestant Minor Victory. The game ends.
• CW — Catholic Withdrawal. Catholic player must withdraw all units from one Area OR two Independent Cities. Protestant player chooses the Area OR Cities, but the Area or Cities chosen may not include those which the Catholic player controlled at the start of the game. Withdrawn units and leaders are removed from the Area/Cities (this includes units under a Siege marker) and placed in friendly-controlled Cities as close as possible to their Supply Base, even if the Supply Base has been captured by the other player. Continue with the play of the turn as normal.
• TRUCE — Truce. The turn ends immediately. Remove all Siege and Continued Siege markers and begin the next game turn. During the Recovery Phase, neither player halves the die roll result for recovering Pillage markers.
• BW — Both Withdraw. Both players must withdraw all units from one Area OR two Independent Cities chosen by the other player. Apply the player-specific restrictions found under PW and CW. Roll a die to see who withdraws first (high roller, re-roll ties).
• PW — Protestant Withdrawal. Protestant player must withdraw all units from one Area OR two Independent Cities. Catholic player chooses the Area OR Cities, but the Area or Cities chosen may not include those which the Protestant player controlled at the start of the game. In addition, the Area to be withdrawn from may not include the Area containing the Swedish Base, if it's in the game. Withdrawn units and leaders are removed from the Area/Cities (this includes units under a Siege marker) and placed in friendly-controlled Cities as close as possible to their Supply Base, even if the Supply Base has been captured by the other player. Continue with the play of the turn as normal.
• CMV — Catholic Minor Victory. The game ends.

6.0 Sequence of Play

A. Wallenstein Phase The Catholic Player may Dismiss Wallenstein. If he is currently Dismissed, he may be Recalled. If Wallenstein is in play, and has already been Dismissed, he may be Assassinated. [7.2]

B. Pillage Recovery Phase Each player rolls a die and divides the result by two, rounding up (to a minimum of one). The result is the number of Pillage levels boardwide that the player may recover from Cities. [15.25]

C. Card Draw Phase Both players draw cards from their respective Unplayed (undealt) piles until they have seven cards in their hands. Once the Unplayed pile is depleted, the Played pile is shuffled and recycled. A player must draw all of the Unplayed cards before recycling all of the Played cards and finishing the draw. [8.1]

D. Action Phase Players alternate playing cards in six Card Rounds, with the Protestant player always playing first in each round. Use the Activation markers on the General Records Track to keep track of the number of Rounds used by each player during the course of the turn. Played cards are placed in the player's Played pile, separate from his Unplayed pile. A player will have one card left at the end of the final Card Round of the Action Phase, unless one or more Combat Cards were played, leaving him with no cards left. Each player is allowed to hold onto one card at the end of the Action Phase. Extra cards are placed in the Played pile. [8.2] (check 19.3 for LoC option)

E. Pay Phase

1. Pay Segment. Pay combat units with Foreign Aid Points, marking any units that are left unpaid. [15.1]
2. Loot Segment. Both players then roll (for all Cities containing unpaid units) and consult the Loot Table. [15.2]

F. End Phase

1. Continued Siege Segment: For every Siege marker on the map, roll for Siege Combat. [13.0, 13.26]
2. Peasant Revolt Segment: Roll for the possible spread of Peasant Revolt. [9.43]

G. End of Turn Phase Both players may voluntarily discard cards left in their hands (and may keep a maximum of one card). Move the turn marker to the next turn, and repeat the Sequence of Play.

Order: For any "order of play" question assume the Protestants go first, unless the rules say otherwise.

7.0 Wallenstein

Historical Note: Count Albrecht von Wallenstein was appointed generalissimo of the Imperial army from 1625 to 1630, dismissed from command in 1630 by Emperor Ferdinand II, recalled to command in 1632 to counter Sweden's Gustavus II Adolphus, and finally assassinated by Ferdinand's order in 1634. Historians still argue Wallenstein's motives during the war—some see him as an early German patriot, others as little more than an opportunistic soldier of fortune. Wallenstein lacked Gustavus' tactical genius as a commander, but was a very skillful recruiter and campaigner. He certainly had the potential to be a German Napoleon, possibly uniting Germany under his control and overthrowing Habsburg Imperial influence. Emperor Ferdinand both needed and feared him; his order of assassination was based on the fear that Wallenstein was growing too powerful and independent—that Wallenstein's troops were more loyal to their general than to their Emperor.

Wallenstein arrives as a Catholic Imperial leader via card number C7.

7.1 Wallenstein's Influence

The Catholic Player uses the Wallenstein marker on the General Records Track to record the level of influence and prestige held by Wallenstein. Move the marker up for the following:

• One box for every unit that he raises when recruiting, regardless of whether the raised unit is full strength or half.
• One box per City gained by an army led by Wallenstein.
• Three boxes when an army led by Wallenstein wins a victory. Wallenstein's Prestige increase from winning a battle occurs only when Wallenstein attacks, never when he defends. This three-box shift of the Wallenstein marker includes the effect of taking control of a City as a result of Battle.

If the Wallenstein total ever reaches 20, the game immediately ends in a Protestant Major Victory [5.2]. If Wallenstein dies in a battle that has shifted the Wallenstein marker to 20 or higher, the game does not end in a Protestant Major Victory, but instead continues normally. (See optional rule 19.6)

7.2 Use of Wallenstein

7.21 Once per game, during the Wallenstein Phase, the Catholic player may dismiss Wallenstein. Remove Wallenstein's leader counter and place it aside. Immediately subtract half of the points (rounded up) from the Wallenstein Track.

7.22 If Wallenstein has been dismissed, the Catholic Player may recall him during the Wallenstein Phase. Place the Wallenstein counter with any army that includes Imperial units (except those units stacked with Tilly). Wallenstein may only be recalled once per game.

7.23 If Wallenstein is in play, and has already been dismissed and recalled, during the Wallenstein Phase the Catholic Player may assassinate him. Remove Wallenstein permanently from the game.

7.24 Wallenstein and Tilly may never stack together.

Historical Note: One of the many political subconflicts of the war was the conflicting interests of Elector Maximilian of Bavaria and Emperor Ferdinand. While Max staunchly supported the Catholic cause, he didn't want to see a new Holy Roman Empire dominated by the Habsburgs, nor did he wholly trust Wallenstein. Tilly, Maximilian's main commander, shared his employer's opinions.

7.25 (Optional Rule) The Imperial leader Wallenstein should be considered a two-star Dynamic Leader, which means that he must command every army he is stacked with. Refer to 10.14 note on Gustavus Adolfus.

8.0 Strategy Cards

Both players have their own deck of Strategy cards, which is subdivided into three groups: Early War cards, Intervention cards and Apocalypse cards.

8.1 Deck Preparation

Both players begin the game using their own Early War cards. Each turn thereafter, at the beginning of the Card Draw Phase, check to see if conditions warrant the addition of the next set of cards. When it is time to add the Intervention cards, each player shuffles them together with the Unplayed pile (or if the Unplayed Deck is at 0, then add back all of the played—but not Removed—cards) to create a fresh deck of Unplayed cards. The same procedure applies when it is time to add the Apocalypse cards.

8.11 Intervention. Add the Intervention cards at the beginning of the Card Draw Phase (note also 5.15), when the first of these occurs:

• VPs are 30 or higher.
• Turn 7.

8.12 Apocalypse. Add the Apocalypse cards at the beginning of the Card Draw Phase, if Protestant Event France Enters War (P17) has been played.

8.2 Strategy Card Use

Each Strategy Card may be used in ONE of four possible ways:

• To Activate a leader (ACT).
• To Recruit (REC).
• To Collect Foreign Aid Points (AID).
• As an Event.

Each time the same card is played during the game, it can be used in the same way or in a different way, but each card can be used in only one way each time it is played.

Note: Some cards contain text that dictates that the Event occurs as a leader is activated (thus allowing the card to be used in both ways). Text on the card always takes precedence over the rulebook. (With the exceptions of P6, P9, P20, C3, C4, C9, C11; these cards contain text that either date from a pre-publication version (P20), or has text omitted (P6) or whose text has been superceded by later clarifications (C3, C4, C9, C11). Each card is addressed in the appropriate rules section.)

8.3 Activations

When a Strategy card is played to Activate a leader (as an ACT card), the player may Activate any friendly leader on the board whose Activation rating is less than or equal to the point value of the card. Thus, a card with a value of 1 can only activate a leader with an Activation rating of 1; a 2-point card can activate a leader with an Activation rating of 1 or 2; a 3-point card can activate any leader.

8.31 Once activated, a leader may move, conduct combat, and/or conduct a siege with a number of units equal to or less than the combined Leadership ratings of the Activated leader and any leaders stacked with him, up to stacking limits [10.0]. An Activated leader may move his stack, one space at a time, up to the limit of the Movement Allowance (MA) of the slowest unit in his stack, dropping off and picking up units along the way (see Movement rules for more detail [11.0]). An Activated army must stop moving upon entering the space of an unbesieged enemy unit. This normally ends the army's movement for the round and results in Combat [12.0] or Siege [13.0].

8.32 Free Action. In place of playing a Strategy card, a player instead may use a Free Action to Activate either:

• One friendly combat unit, OR
• One lone leader (with no combat units).

8.321 The lone unit or leader may move up to its full MA [11.11] but may not initiate any form of combat nor recruit. It may join an army besieging a Fortress City. A lone leader activated by a Free Action cannot activate a Siege.

8.322 A Free Action uses one of a player's six Rounds, even though a card isn't spent to do so. A player may substitute a Free Action for a Strategy card play in as many Rounds as desired.

8.323 A Free Action, if conducted in the player's first Round of the Action Phase, can be used to offer Peace [5.3] instead of Activating a unit.

8.4 Recruitment

When a Strategy Card is played as a REC Card, the player may attempt to Recruit using a number of leaders equal to the card's point value. One leader may attempt to Recruit twice under the same REC card. Location is not important, so recruitment can take place all over the board (subject to nationality recruiting restrictions).

EXAMPLE: A 3-point card allows a player to attempt to recruit with three different leaders or the same leader twice and another leader once.

Recruiting is not allowed if the location has a Pillage-2 marker. Besieged leaders cannot recruit. Besieging leaders can recruit.

8.41 Procedure. A player declares whether he is trying to recruit Mercenary or Militia units (Veterans may never be recruited). For each Recruit attempt, roll a die and consult the Recruitment Table, applying these die roll modifiers (DRMs):

• +2 Recruiting with Wallenstein.
• +1 Recruiting with a Dynamic leader other than Wallenstein.
• –1 Location has a Pillage-1 marker (no Recruiting is allowed if the location has a Pillage-2 marker).

8.411 The Recruitment Table result gives the number of steps of that type of unit which are received. The steps may be taken as either reduced (one-step) or full-strength (two-step) units; the choice is up to the recruiting player. The resulting number of steps recruited (if any) MUST be taken.

EXAMPLE: A modified result of 7 on the Recruit Table provides two steps. These may be taken as one full-strength unit, or two reduced units.

8.412 The counter mix is an absolute limit on the number of units available; once all counters of the desired type are on the board, no other units of that type may be recruited. This even applies to reduced units; recruited steps may NOT be used to bring reduced units up to full strength.

8.42 Placement. If any units are received, place them in the same space as the Recruiting leader. Recruited units count against a space's stacking limit; if the number of units Recruited exceeds the stacking limit, any units above the limit are not received.

8.43 National Restrictions. As you may guess, there are significant political restrictions on the ability of some leaders to recruit in some Areas of the map (see 17.0 for listings of national restrictions on recruitment).

8.5 Foreign Aid

When a Strategy card is played as Foreign Aid, the player uses his Foreign Aid markers (on the General Records Track) to note the total number of Aid Points received. At the bottom of the Strategy card is a list of the Foreign Aid Points provided by the card.

A player may not use more than one card per turn for collecting Foreign Aid. See 14.0 for detailed rules on Foreign Aid. Note: card errata for P9; Aid should be Fr:0/Eng:5/UP:8.

8.6 Events

8.61 If a Strategy Card is played as an Event, the instructions on the card must be followed. Note that a card's instructions may violate rules in the rulebook; the card's instructions always take precedence. Several Events have markers as reminders that the Event has occurred. Place the proper marker on the Game Turn Track when the card is played as the Event. Reminder counters indicate an Event has already been played from that Strategy card.

8.62 If a Strategy card with an asterisk symbol is played as an Event, it is permanently removed from the game after this Round. The card is not removed from the game if it is used as an ACT, REC, or AID card.

Exception: Some Strategy cards (indicated by the † symbol) may only be played as an Event once, but the card remains in the game for use only for ACT, REC, or AID thereafter. Matching counters are provided as reminders that such events have been played. A symbol indicates the card remains in the game after being played as an Event (though the Event may not be played again).

8.63 If a Strategy Card is played as an Event, Recovery Events are not bound by the same restrictions as 15.25.

8.64 When a strategy card states "Unless discarded, Event always takes effect", and the card is played as an ACT, REC, or AID, the event takes place after the ACT, REC, or AID.

8.65 Card Events that affect Aid totals (for example, event P24) are not retroactive, and affect all subsequent Aid cards, even those in future turns, until the event is canceled. Note: card P20 contains text from an earlier version of the game; ignore reference to Spanish War drms to English Aid.

8.66 Saxony Switching Sides (C17/P35). When Saxony Switches Sides, any Saxon units and/or leaders stacked with previously friendly units (and/or leaders) return to any (now friendly) Saxony space. If no space is available due to stacking limits, the overstacked Saxon units are destroyed. (The units "teleport" to the space, they do not have to move there normally.) If the Saxons are besieged/besieging, any siege ends, because the once enemy besieging/besieged units are now friendly. However, if the Saxons were stacked with friendly units prior to switching sides, the siege continues and the Saxons are on the formerly enemy side of the siege.

9.0 Special Event Cards

There are several specific categories of Event cards that have additional rules regarding their play. They are detailed in the following sections.

9.1 War Entry Events

9.11 The Protestant player can bring major nations into play through the use of War Entry Events; these Events are Denmark Enters War (P7), Sweden Enters War (P18) and France Enters War (P17). When played, immediately place the nation's units on the map according to the rules in section 17.0 regarding the specific nation.

9.12 Only ONE War Entry Event may be played by the Protestant player per turn. Note that the England Intervenes card (P6) does NOT count as a War Entry Event and may be played in the same turn that a nation is brought into the game via a War Entry Event. Note: the card text on P6 is incorrect. The English unit may be placed in a neutral city as well. (ref 17.E.2)

9.13 When the Protestants play Events that bring a previously neutral Area into the war on the Protestant side, the Area's neutrality is not violated and the area's VP value is immediately subtracted from the Catholic total. The exception here is the Swedish army entering neutral Pomerania. That does violate Pomeranian neutrality.

Clarification: If card P-29 (George of Brunswick-Lüneburg) is played as an event prior to card P-3 (Christian of Brunswick-Lüneburg) it acts like P-3 in that it brings Brunswick-Lüneburg in as a Protestant state and the Protestant player gains the VP therefrom.

9.2 New Leader Cards

9.21 In most cases, the only way for both players to bring new leaders into the war is via New Leader Events. When played, immediately place the leader(s) and any units named on the card on the map according to the restrictions listed on the card. If more than one leader is brought onto the map with the card, they may be placed in the same or different spaces. New leaders and their units are immediately available for activation.

9.22 When an Area enters the game on the Protestant side (for example, event P28), if the Area is already Catholic controlled, any unoccupied Catholic-controlled city immediately switches to Protestant control upon play of the Event. Catholic-occupied cities do not switch control. If all cities in the Area are Catholic-occupied, the Event may not be played. (Exception card P17, France Enters the War, see 17.F.4)

9.23 If a card event requires that a New Leader be placed with troops of a specific nationality, and no units of that nationality are on the map, then the New Leader may be placed in any friendly controlled city. This rule only applies to New Leader Events where the leaders enter without combat units. Note that the recruiting and stacking restrictions of section 17.0 apply at all times. New Leaders may never be placed inside a besieged or masked fortress city. They may be placed with units that are besieging or masking a fortress city.

EXAMPLE: The Catholic plays Card Event C7 (Wallenstein & Piccolomini) which calls for the new leaders to be placed with any Imperial units, but there are no Imperial units on the map. The Catholic player places Wallenstein and Piccolomini in Ingolstadt in Bavaria, which is Catholic-controlled. Because of the restrictions in 17.A, neither leader may recruit while in Bavaria, nor may they stack with Bavarian leaders or units.

Clarification: In order for card C9 (Cordoba) to be played as an event, Spinola (or his replacement) must be in the UP with at least 3 units. The play of card C11 as an event is not required (The text of C9 is in error). [ref. 5.15 & 16.21(3)]

9.3 Dutch War Track Cards

9.31 Dutch War Track Events are used to move the marker up or down the Dutch War Track. The marker is moved immediately when the card is played. When the Dutch War marker is in the –3 box or the +5 box, the Dutch War is considered to have ended and the marker may no longer be moved. Dutch War Track cards may not be played as Events after the Dutch War has ended. See 16.0 for additional effects of the Dutch War Track and activities in the United Provinces.

9.32 Certain Catholic Dutch War Track Events—Spinola Besieges Breda (C4) and Spinola Besieges Bergen (C3)—require that Spinola's Spanish army be in the United Provinces (UP). [ref 5.15 & 16.21(3)] These cards may not be played as Events if Spinola's Spanish army is not in the UP. If the Catholic player wants to use them as Dutch War Track Events cards, such cards must be played as the first Catholic card during a turn. They may be played later in the turn, but not as Event cards. Thus, both cards may not be played as Events in the same turn.

9.4 Peasant Revolt Cards

9.41 Eligible Locations. Both players have Peasant Revolt Event cards. When played as an Event, immediately place a Peasant Revolt marker in any City within the Area listed on the card, subject to the card's restrictions. The City must not have an enemy army in it. This means that the Peasant Revolt in Bavaria card allows a Revolt marker to be placed in any City in Bavaria (except Munich) not occupied by a Catholic army. The City may be occupied by a Protestant army.

Fortress Cities can be placed in Revolt, but siege is not required to suppress the Revolt. Historically this happened frequently, when the locals would revolt and the garrison would shut itself up in the fortress to await help.

If an Area has a number of cities in Revolt so that the controlling player does not have the minimum number of cities required for control of the area, the controlling player loses the Area's VP value. Remove the control marker from the Area's control box as a reminder. Once either player gains control of enough cities, including via Revolt suppression, to equal the Area's control rating, that player gains control of the Area and the appropriate VP modifier. So the possibility of a VP double-whammy exists, where a player can lose an Area's VPs through Revolt and then lose them again through the opposing player gaining control of the Area. This is purposeful, to make players view Revolts as serious threats. Again, the Peasant Revolts represent widespread insurrection that the historic rulers felt obliged to suppress quickly and harshly.

If enough cities in an Area are in Revolt to force a player to remove his control marker and lose the Area's VP value, VP loss from Peasant Revolt is not permanent; ie if an owning player loses an Area's VP bonus due to Peasant Revolt, the VP bonus is regained once enough Revolt markers have been removed to restore control.

If no applicable City exists that isn't occupied by an enemy army, the Peasant Revolt card may not be played as an Event.

9.42 Revolt Effect. While a Peasant Revolt (PR) marker is on a City, remove any control markers from the City. If enough PR markers exist in an area such that a player does not have the minimum number of cities required for control of that area, adjust the VP marker accordingly.

Cities with Peasant Revolt markers should be considered Neutral for all game purposes. If you gain control of an area that contains a city with a Revolt marker, you do not gain control of that city. The Revolt is still in existence and subject to normal rules for Revolt spread. Peasant Revolt markers block Lines of Communications [15.14]. A LoC may not be traced through any City with a Peasant Revolt marker.

9.43 Revolt Suppressed. To remove a PR marker, a unit or army must move onto the City space and spend an MP. The PR marker is removed immediately.

Clarification: If an enemy unit/army is occupying the same space as a Peasant Revolt then to put down the Peasant Revolt you must first WIN/SUCCEED at the battle/siege. I.e., you CANNOT march in; put down the Revolt THEN fight the battle or resolve the siege.

9.44 Revolts Spread. During the Peasant Revolt Segment of the End Phase, roll for the possible spread of every Peasant Revolt marker on the map. The player that doesn't control the Area containing the City with the Revolt marker rolls a die; on a result of 0 or 1, place another Peasant Revolt marker on any other City in the same Area that meets all of the following requirements:

• It is not a Supply Base.
• It is connected to the space with original Revolt marker.
• It is not occupied by a unit/army.

If no City meets all three conditions, or if all Cities in the same Area have Revolt markers, the Revolt doesn't spread. A Revolt may not spread outside the Area in which it began.

9.5 Combat Cards

9.51 Combat Event cards are played during a Combat. The attacker must play Combat Events before the defender. Combat Events are the only cards that may be played during the opponent's Round. Each player may play a maximum of TWO Combat Cards per combat. A Combat card may only be used for one combat; after the combat, place it in the Played pile (or, if it has an asterisk, remove it from the game).

9.52 Many Combat Cards have restrictions regarding when they may be used. (see optional rule 19.9)

10.0 Leaders and Unit Stacking

10.1 Leaders

Leaders are used to Activate a stack of leaders and units for movement, combat, sieges and to recruit new combat units. Leaders are brought into the game by playing New Leader and War Entry Event cards, and may be lost during the Leader Loss portion of the Regular Combat procedure.

10.11 Stacking. Any number of leaders may stack in a City space with no penalty, subject to special Nationality restrictions [17.0] and Wallenstein rules [7.24].

10.12 Activation. The total number of units (to a maximum of eight) that a leader may Activate for movement and/or combat is equal to the combined Leadership ratings (LR) of the activated leader + leaders stacked with him at the moment of activation.

In order to establish a siege [13.13] or to engage in siege combat [13.2] during the Action Phase all that is required is the presence of an activated leader regardless of his LR rating. Example: Anhalt can only activate 2 units for movement/combat but any # of units to establish a siege or conduct siege combat.

A leader may activate more than one army per activation, by moving from army to army, dropping off units (11.14), and picking up units (11.15), including dropping off one army and moving, without combat units, (either alone or in company with any of the leaders that either activated with him or were picked up) to a second army, picking that army up and moving it. An activated leader may repeat this procedure as long he does not exceed his 8 MPs or the combined Leadership ratings of the activated leaders currently moving with him. Example: Mansfeld (LR of 5) can activate, move 5 Combat Units 1 space, drop them off, move alone to a second space, pick up another 5 units, move them 2 spaces, drop them off, move alone two more spaces, pick up 5 more units and move them his final 2 MPs, thus moving a total of 15 combat units for that Round.

Exception: A picked-up leader (11.15) may utilize his Leadership Rating if the movement ends in a battle in a besieged city so as to be able to utilize units that were besieged [13.15]. Example: a stack of 5 units moving under Mansfeld, during movement picks up Anhalt (LR of 2) and ends their movement attacking an Imperial force besieging 2 Militia units in Prague. Anhalt's presence allows the 2 Militia units to be counted in Protestant players force total for the battle.

10.13 In Combat. Only the Activated leader may use his Battle rating to modify the combat roll, even if other leaders in his stack have a better Battle rating.

10.14 Dynamic Leaders. Certain leaders are denoted as Dynamic Leaders, as indicated by a star on their counter. Dynamic Leaders are superior to other leaders they are stacked with, and only a Dynamic Leader can be used to activate an Army with which that leader is stacked. If more than one Dynamic Leader is stacked together, the owning player may choose any one of them for Activation. The activated Leader must be used for any Combat DRM in any battle that occurs [12.24].

Exception: Gustavus Adolphus must always be the Activated leader, even if stacked with another Dynamic Leader (this is denoted by the double star on his counter; also see 7.25 & 19.7).

10.2 Unit Stacking

10.21 Each player may have stacked in one City a maximum of EIGHT combat units regardless of type. This restriction refers to the number of units, not steps (for stacking purposes, a half-strength unit equals a full-strength unit). Players may examine all stacks.

10.22 Stacking restrictions are in effect at all times, except during movement. If, due to retreats, a player violates stacking restrictions in a City, that player must eliminate enough units to bring the stack within stacking restrictions. The owning player decides which units to eliminate to meet this rule.

Units may move through spaces containing friendly units they cannot stack with. Units can retreat into a space containing friendly units they cannot stack with (12.54) but then 10.22 applies at the end of the retreat and the owning player must eliminate enough units to bring the space under stacking limits and nationality restrictions. The owning player must choose which leaders and/or units to eliminate due to violating nationality stacking restrictions.

10.23 Units of different nations controlled by one player may stack together with no penalty, subject to special Nationality restrictions [17.0].

10.24 Stacking During Sieges. Stacking limits of 8 units per side apply even during a siege. So, for example, if 2 Protestant units were being besieged and a Protestant army entered the city to attempt to relieve the siege, the maximum size of the Protestant relieving army would be 6 units (6 outside the fortress plus 2 inside = 8 total).

11.0 Movement

Armies move when their leader is activated with an ACT card. Any ONE counter—either a leader or a unit—may be moved with a Free Action Activation [8.32]. (See optional rule 19.8)

11.1 Procedure

11.11 Costs. An Activated leader [8.3] may move his stack (up to 8 combat units—the stacking limit of a city space) up to the limit of the Movement Allowance (MA) of the slowest unit in the stack. [Exception: 8.32] All Cities cost 1 MP to enter. A combat unit may never spend more MPs than its MA in a single Round. Unused MPs are not accumulated for future Rounds or transferred to other units.

Leadership Ratings of two or more leaders are used to calculate the number of units that can be activated for movement [10.12]. Note, however, that units can be picked up/dropped off as long as the total number of units in an activated stack does not exceed the combined Leadership ratings of the leaders, and as long as stacking limits are met at the end of movement.

11.12 Movement must be from City to City connected by a solid line. Cities may not be skipped.

11.13 Combat units may move through a friendly stack and may end their turn in that stack, as long as ending in that City would not violate stacking restrictions [10.21].

11.14 Dropping Off. Units may be "dropped off" while moving; if this "drops off" a unit with a slower MA than the remainder of the stack, then the stack may move such that it fully uses the MA limit of the remaining units. A unit may not be "dropped off" more than once per activation. Once dropped off from a moving army, the unit's movement is done for the activation.

11.15 Picking Up. A stack, while moving, may pick up friendly units and Leaders and add them to the stack. However the number of units in the stack may never exceed the Activated leader(s) combined Leadership rating(s) or stacking limits (10.12). If the moving activated leader enters a stack containing a Dynamic Leader, he may only pick up units that are in excess of the Dynamic Leader's Command Rating so as not to violate 10.14. A moving activated leader may pick up a Dynamic Leader but may not pick up any units that were stacked with him as this would be a violation of 10.14. A picked-up leader does NOT contribute his Leadership Rating during movement and cannot be used to add units to the moving stack. [However see 10.12, Exception] The stack's MA is STILL equal to the slowest MA of units in the original stack; the picking up of friendly units does not augment the movement of the original stack. If picking up units from a friendly besieging force, the Siege marker is removed if the remaining besieging forces are reduced below the level necessary to maintain the Siege [13.14].

11.16 Foraging. If, during his activation, an Activated leader moves 3 to 5 units (total), then he must pillage one level in any one city through which he moved. If he moved 6 or more units total, he must pillage two levels (either both to any one city or one level to two different cities). The moving player chooses which City or Cities to pillage (before any battles are resolved), including the City in which the army stops movement. Place a Pillage-1 marker on the map, or increase an already existing Pillage-1 marker to a Pillage-2 marker by flipping the marker. This pillaging takes effect after any battle occurring in the space.

11.161 If these foraging requirements cannot be met (due to Pillage 2 markers already occupying all the cities that the force moved into/through), the moving player must apply a number of step losses equal to its unmet Foraging requirement among any of the units that were moved during that activation. If a leader moves his force to an enemy-occupied city, loses a battle and retreats, that (briefly visited) city is eligible for foraging.

11.162 If an army is eliminated as a result of the combined effects of the combat and foraging, the leader survives and remains in the space to where the army would have been required to retreat. If the army won the battle but is still eliminated due to foraging requirements, while the defender has units remaining in the space, the attacker has lost the battle, and the leader is retreated.

11.17 Control. Combat units and armies gain control of each City into which they move by paying an extra MP, unless that City is a Fortress and/or occupied by enemy units or armies. Leaders moving alone cannot gain control of a City. A player must besiege a Fortress City to gain control of it, regardless of whether it is occupied by enemy units. Armies can also gain control of non-Fortress Cities by winning a battle [12.28], retreat [12.54] or by conducting a successful Overrun [12.6] in the City space.

11.18 Neutrality Violation. When units or armies enter a City in a Neutral Area, that Area immediately enters the war, subject to Nationality restrictions [17.0]. The Area's Neutral marker is permanently removed and the VP total is adjusted [5.13]. Leaders moving alone may enter any number of Cities in Neutral Areas without causing them to enter the war.

11.2 Enemy Spaces

11.21 Enemy-Occupied. Armies may enter a City containing enemy units, but a leader moving alone may never enter a City containing enemy combat units. Entering a City occupied by enemy units or armies immediately ends the friendly units' movement. They must conduct Combat versus the enemy units.

Exceptions:

1. If all enemy combat units react [11.23] by retreating inside a Fortress City, the friendly units may continue to move.
2. If the friendly units qualify for Overrun [12.6] versus the enemy units, the enemy units are immediately eliminated at a cost of 1 MP to the friendly units, which may continue moving if they have any MPs remaining.
3. If all of the enemy combat units in the City are in a Fortress under Siege [13.0], the friendly units may continue to move.

11.22 Enemy Leaders. Combat units and armies that enter a City occupied by enemy leaders without combat units may continue moving with no penalty. The enemy leaders are eliminated immediately. Leaders moving alone may enter cities containing enemy leaders without combat units and continue moving without penalty, but may not end their movement therein.

Fortress City Reaction. When friendly units enter an enemy controlled Fortress City ALL enemy Leaders/units in that space may either react by retreating inside the Fortress (mark such units by placing them beneath the control marker) or ALL enemy Leaders/units must remain outside the Fortress. Enemy units that retreat inside the Fortress may only be attacked by Siege Combat [13.2]. If after reaction no enemy combat units remain outside the Fortress City, the active units may choose to end their movement round and establish a siege by placing a siege marker, assuming they meet the requirements of [13.13] OR continue to move with the option of Masking [13.16] the fortress.

11.231 Enemy units choosing to stay outside the Fortress do not gain the benefit of the Fortress and must be attacked by regular Combat (or Overrun, if legal [12.6]).

11.232 Friendly units are never required to besiege an enemy-controlled or neutral Fortress City although Siege [13.0] is the only way to take control of that Fortress.

Exception: Neutral Non-Independent Fortress City spaces share the fate of their Area [3.12].

11.233 Enemy units in a regular (non-Fortress) City may NOT react to friendly units entering their space. They remain in the space, causing regular Combat.

11.3 France

11.31 Leaders/units may not enter France before France enters the war (when France Enters War Event [P17] is played).

11.32 Off-Map Movement. Protestant units may move to and between the off-map France spaces. Off-map French spaces are always Protestant-controlled. Catholic leaders and units may never enter off-map France spaces. Protestant units in off-map France may attack on-map spaces, but may never be attacked. Other than that, the off-map France spaces are considered normal City spaces for all purposes (including MP cost). Off-map movement may be combined with on-map movement with no penalty.

11.4 United Provinces

Units and leaders may move to and from the United Provinces, subject to the restrictions found in section 16.0.

12.0 Combat

Combat may be initiated only by an Activated army against enemy combat units or armies occupying the same City space.

12.1 Procedure

12.11 A friendly army that ends its move in an enemy-occupied non-Fortress City must conduct Combat against those enemy units. If the enemy units or army are inside a Fortress City, or reacts to retreat inside the Fortress when friendly units enter the space, the enemy units can be attacked, but only through Siege Combat [13.0]. Siege is not mandatory against an enemy-controlled Fortress City. Once an enemy Fortress is under a Siege marker, or masked, friendly units can move through the space.

12.12 The active player is called the Attacker and the non-active player is called the Defender.

12.13 At least one unit must attack. Not all active units are required to conduct the combat. The Attacker may choose to attack with only one unit. All non-active units in the space are required to defend.

12.14 Only the units that participated in the attack may take losses from Combat.

12.2 Combat Resolution

12.21 Each regular (non-Siege) Combat is resolved using the following sequence [see 13.6 for Siege Combat]. Both players:

1. determine combat strengths.
2. may play Combat Cards.
3. determine their die roll modifiers (DRMs).
4. determine Fire Column(s) to use.
5. roll a die and determine results.
6. apply Losses.
7. check for Leader Loss.
8. determine Combat Winner.
9. Then the Loser Retreats.

12.22 Combat Strengths. Both players total the Combat Factors of the units involved in the Combat to determine their Combat Strength. The Attacker is not required to attack with every unit in the City space; the Defender must defend with every unit in the space.

12.23 Play Combat Cards. The Attacker may play up to two Combat Cards whose conditions are met by this Combat. After the Attacker plays his Combat Cards, the Defender may play up to two Combat Cards whose conditions are met by this Combat.

12.24 Die Roll Modifiers (DRMs). Each player determines what DRMs affect his roll. The DRM is a combination of the Battle rating of the leader commanding the army (if any) with the DRM of any Combat Cards played. Note that only the activated Leader of an Army is a commander for purposes of determining the Combat DRM of an attacking army.

12.25 Combat Column. Each player determines which Fire Column he will use on Combat Results Table (dependent upon combat strength and Combat Card play).

12.26 Combat Results. Each player rolls a die, modifies it with the DRM determined in the above step, and cross references it with the appropriate Fire Column to determine the combat result (a Loss Number). A roll can never be modified to less than 0 or greater than 11; treat any modified roll of less than 0 as a 0, and any modified roll of more than 11 as an 11.

12.27 Take Losses. Each player applies to his own units the combat losses [12.3] required by his opponent's die roll result. Each player checks for Leader Loss [12.4]. Note: Leaders killed in this step have no effect on 12.28 "Determine Combat Winner." (Thus, the Dynamic Leader bonus of a dead leader may not be used to determine the Winner.)

12.28 Determine Combat Winner. The player who caused the highest Loss Number wins the Combat. If both players' Loss Numbers are tied, the player whose army was led by a Dynamic Leader wins the Combat. If tied and both armies (or neither) were led by Dynamic Leaders, the defender wins the combat. The winner gains control of the space, if it is a non-Fortress City. If a winning force in a battle is eliminated, the opposing force wins the battle.

If a force wins a battle in an enemy fortress city and has sufficient units remaining [see 13.13] to place a Siege marker, it may do so.

12.29 Loser Retreats. The loser of the Combat must retreat [12.5] from the City space. If the defender was the loser and retreated, the attacker gains control of the City space, unless the space is a Fortress City. The attacker must obtain a Successful result on the Siege Table either in a later activation or in the End Phase (Continued Siege Segment) to gain control of the space.

12.3 Taking Losses

12.31 The result of each player's roll on the Combat Results Table is the opponent's Loss Number. That Loss Number must be fulfilled as closely as possible without taking more losses than the Loss Number. A player may not take fewer losses than required if it is possible to take the exact Loss Number, but the player never takes more losses than the Loss Number.

12.32 Losses are taken by reducing or eliminating combat units. Each step removed from a unit provides the unit's Loss Factor towards fulfilling the Loss Number.

12.33 A reduced unit may never be "refitted" to its full-strength side. It remains on its reduced side until eliminated, when it becomes available again as a recruitable unit.

Extended Example of Combat

Historical Note: This example is loosely based upon the Battle of Breitenfeld, fought on Sept. 17, 1631. The historical battle involved an allied Protestant army of Swedes and Saxons commanded by Gustavus II Adolphus, King of Sweden, and a Roman Catholic army of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, under the Flemish Field Marshal Johann Tserclaes, Graf von Tilly. The Protestant forces were victorious in the action, which engaged some 70,000 men. As a result, the Swedish army was able to occupy southern Germany.

The combat takes place in the Leipzig space, with the Protestant player moving his army into the space from Torgau. The Catholic player declines a retreat into the Fortress, as the army would be besieged with no relieving army expected. Gustavus, Baner and Horn are the Swedish leaders, in command of five full-strength Swedish Veterans, plus two full-strength Saxon militia, for a total combat strength of 24. The Catholic army is lead by Tilly (with Pappenheim in the stack as well), comprised of four full-strength Bavarian mercenaries and three reduced-strength Bavarian mercenaries, for a total combat strength of 18. The Protestant player plays Command Rivalry (P13) (–1 DRM for Catholic player) and Swedish Firepower (P34) (+1 DRM for Protestant player). The Catholic player plays Unreliable Troops (C49) (–1 DRM for the Protestant player). The net DRM for the Protestant player, including Gustavus' Battle rating, is +3. The net DRM for the Catholic player, including Tilly's Battle rating, is +1.

Each player finds the correct column on the Combat Results Table and rolls a die. On the 15-19 column, the Catholic player rolls a 4, modified to a 5, for 9 Loss Factors inflicted on the Protestant army. To satisfy the losses, the Protestant player eliminates a Saxon unit (4 LFs), reduces the other Saxon unit (2 LFs), and reduces one Swedish unit (3 LFs, for a total of exactly 9 LFs). The Protestant, alternatively, could have reduced three Swedish units, or he could have reduced one Swedish unit and eliminated one Swedish unit. However, the Swedish veterans are too valuable, while the Saxon militia can be recruited again, so the Saxons take the brunt of the loss. The Protestant player wants to have a little "fodder" available for later, thus deciding to keep a reduced Saxon while inflicting a reduction on one Swedish unit.

On the 20+ column, the Protestant player rolls an 8, modified to 11+, for 14 Loss Factors. The Catholic player eliminates the three reduced-strength Bavarian mercenaries (total of 9 LFs) and reduces one full-strength mercenary (3 more LFs, for a total of 12). Note that the Catholic army need not reduce another Bavarian unit, as this would involve taking more losses than the 14 LFs required by the result. Alternatively, the Catholic player could reduce the four full-strength Bavarians (12 LFs)—then the residual force would have a firepower of 14 (seven units with firepower of 2 each) instead of a firepower of 11. However, the counter mix is fixed, and the Catholic player wants more units available for recruiting, to rebuild his army.

Next, checking for Leader Losses, the Protestant player rolls a 1, 3 and 4—Gustavus, Baner and Horn survive the battle. The Catholic player rolls a 6 and a 4—both Tilly and Pappenheim survive (historically, Tilly was wounded several times). The Catholics retreat to Lützen, while the Protestants (later in the turn) move their army north and west to eventually besiege Würzburg.

Scale Note: The Swedes numbered about 29,000 and the Saxons roughly 11,000, while the Bavarians manpower was 37,000, so in game turns each full-strength unit is in the range of 4,000 to 5,000 men, with the artillery park and so on. Historically, Tilly lost about two-thirds of his army. Gustavus saw his Saxons melt away, although he had a significant enough force to invade Bohemia in October.

12.4 Leader Loss

After taking unit losses, both players must check for Leader Loss for all leaders in the attacking and defending stacks. Every leader is checked, whether his Battle rating was used to affect the combat or not.

If the combat is resolved at odds of 1-4 or less, do not make any leader loss rolls for the defending force.

12.41 Procedure. Every leader has a Loss rating. To check for Leader Loss, roll a die. If the roll is equal to or greater than the leader's Loss rating, the leader is killed. Remove the leader permanently from the game. A leader does not check for Leader Loss in an Overrun.

12.42 Replacement Leaders. Some leaders have replacements. When a leader is lost, flip his counter to the reverse side. If another leader is named on the back of the counter, he replaces the lost leader. In some cases, the replacement leader may be a leader already in the game. If that happens, the replacement leader's original counter is flipped to its replacement side as well. If a replacement leader is lost, remove the counter from the game.

EXAMPLE: Wallenstein is lost in combat in the Lützen City space. The Catholic player flips his counter to replace him with Piccolomini. Piccolomini is already in the game in the Vienna City space. Piccolomini's counter is immediately flipped to replace him with Enkevoort.

NOTE: If Pappenheim is lost before Mercy is in the game replace him with Mercy. When card C46 is played ignore Mercy's entry; i.e. Wolf doesn't enter until Mercy is killed.

12.43 Lost Army. If a leader's force is completely eliminated in combat, the leader is lost also. The lost leader's replacement leader does not come into play. The current status of another counter naming that replacement leader is not affected. That replacement leader may later come into play when named on a New Leader Event card. As long as units exist in the Army (despite elimination of other unit(s) in battle), the army is not considered a Lost Army requiring Leader elimination.

Design Note: The Leader Loss rule reflects more than combat casualties. Many leaders in the Thirty Years War, such as Mansfeld, Holke and the Cardinal Infante, died from disease or exhaustion, so the combat casualty rate is high to include deaths from "natural" causes.

12.5 Retreats

12.51 At the end of a regular Combat, the loser's combat counters MUST retreat from the City space (see 12.28 for determining the loser).

12.52 The loser retreats one space away from the location of the Combat.

An army defeated in regular combat may retreat inside a friendly-controlled Fortress in the same space.

Exception: An army defeated in regular combat while attempting to relieve a siege must retreat out of the space; any besieged units that participated in the battle remain (besieged) in the City. [13.15]

12.53 Attacker Retreat. If the Attacker is the loser, the Attacker's combat counters MUST retreat to the City space from which they entered the Defender's City space.

12.54 Defender Retreat. If the Defender is the loser, the Defender's combat counters must retreat to any adjacent City space under the following restrictions:

• May not retreat to a City space containing an enemy unit or a non-besieged/masked enemy controlled Fortress City.
• May not retreat into the City space from which the Attacker entered the City space of the Combat.
• Must all retreat to the same City space.
• Must retreat into friendly controlled City spaces if possible, but if not, may retreat into an unoccupied enemy controlled City space (gaining control of the City space at the end of the retreat).
• May retreat into a City space in violation of the stacking limits [10.21], but at the end of the retreat enough units must be eliminated to bring the space back under stacking limits.
• Retreat into an Independent City (neutral or not) is allowed. Retreat into a Neutral City space is allowed and violates Neutrality [11.18].

Defending units that can't fulfill these conditions are eliminated. If a retreat space is available, a player may not eliminate units instead of retreating.

12.6 Overrun Combat

Design Note: Overruns represent the ability of a large army to brush aside small enemy detachments without being required to stop and deploy for battle.

Overruns may occur whenever a friendly activated army enters an enemy-occupied City space.

12.61 Requirements. To qualify for an Overrun, the friendly army must meet all of these conditions:

1. Have at least 1 MP remaining AND
2. Have at least 8 combat factors AND
3. Have at least four times as many combat factors as the enemy units. Divide the friendly total CFs by the enemy CFs, rounding down any fractions. A friendly army with 8 CFs could overrun enemy units with 2 CFs, but couldn't overrun them if they had 3 CFs.

12.62 Effect. If the friendly army meets all three requirements, the enemy units are eliminated immediately by paying an additional 1 MP. The Overrunning stack may continue its movement if it has any remaining MPs, and may Overrun again. An Activated army may make multiple Overruns, up to the limit of its MA.

If the friendly army does not meet all three requirements, the enemy units may not be Overrun, but instead must be fought in regular Combat.

12.63 Fortress Cities. Enemy units inside a Fortress may not be Overrun, they must be eliminated in Siege Combat [13.0]. When an Activated army enters an enemy-occupied Fortress City space and the enemy units are outside the Fortress, before the Overrun occurs, the enemy units may react [11.23] by voluntarily moving inside the Fortress, in which case the Overrun does not occur (and the friendly army does not pay the additional MP) and the activated army may continue moving at no penalty.

13.0 Siege Combat

To gain control of an enemy-controlled/neutral Fortress City the active player must besiege it, whether or not it is occupied by enemy combat units. Exception; see 3.12 third bullet.

13.1 Establishing the Siege

13.11 To establish a siege, an activated leader must END his movement round in an enemy controlled or neutral Fortress City with a number of friendly units whose combined combat factors ≥ the Siege Level [13.13] of that Fortress, by either moving in units or joining Masking [13.16] units that are already present in the space. Unlike regular Combat, Siege Combat is NOT mandatory against besieged/masked enemy units. Friendly units may besiege/mask [13.14, 13.16] an enemy/neutral controlled or enemy occupied Fortress City space indefinitely but will only gain control of that Fortress via Siege Combat [13.2].

13.12 Siege Combat, like regular combat, follows movement. Units may never conduct regular Combat and Siege Combat in the same activation. Siege Combat at a Fortress cannot take place in the same Round in which the Siege marker is placed at that Fortress [13.13]. Activating an army for Siege Combat only (no movement) does not require foraging.

13.13 Siege Level. All Fortress Cities have a Fortress Strength rating. This, added to the combat factors of all units inside the Fortress, is the Fortress' Siege Level. To besiege a Fortress, the active player must have a total number of combat factors in the space ≥ the Siege Level plus an activated leader present at the end of his movement in the besieged space. If this is the case, place a Siege marker on the Fortress City. NOTE: the leader's Leadership Rating DOES NOT have to be ≥ the number of units conducting the siege.

EXAMPLE: The Protestant player is looking to besiege Munich. A Catholic unit with a CF of 3 is inside the Fortress in Munich. To initiate a Siege, the Protestants must have at least 8 CFs (Munich's Fortress Strength rating of 5 plus 3 for the Catholic CFs inside the Fortress). Assuming there are 2 Protestant CUs with a combined CF value of 6 masking Munich, Anhalt could move into the space with 1 Prot. Militia (CF of 2) giving the Protestants the required 8 CF to establish the siege, even though it took 3 CUs to do so & Anhalt's LR is only 2.

13.14 Maintaining the Siege. To maintain a Siege, enough besieging combat factors must be in the City at all times to maintain the Siege Level [13.13]. If the total number of combat factors ever becomes lower than the Siege Level [13.13], remove the Siege marker. A Siege marker may be placed on the City again at the end of a Round when the number of besieging combat factors ≥ the Siege Level and an activated leader is present.

A LOC can be traced through a hex containing friendly besieging or masking units.

13.15 Relieving the Siege and Combining Forces. When a friendly army enters a besieged fortress space and attempts to relieve a siege by attacking the besieging forces, the besieged units inside the fortress may join in the combat, but only if there are leaders with enough leadership ratings to add the units inside the fortress. The Leadership Ratings may come from outside and/or inside the besieged fortress. A picked-up leader (11.15) MAY use his Leadership Rating if the movement ends in a battle in a besieged city so as to be able to utilize units that were besieged [10.12]. However, the Battle Rating must be that of the leader who commanded the relieving army, even if a leader is present with the besieged units.

If such a combined attack fails, the besieged units must retreat back inside the City (as per a failed Sally [13.17]) and the relieving force must retreat out of the space.

13.16 Masking the Fortress. Friendly units outside of an enemy controlled Fortress and enemy units inside the Fortress may co-exist in the same Fortress City without a Siege marker; the friendly units are considered to be masking the Fortress.

Historical Note: "Masking the fortress" was a historical tactic, used when the attacker didn't have the strength or siege equipment to make a siege, but left troops outside the city trying to keep the defenders inside the walls.

13.17 Sallying. If both players have units in a Fortress City space, with or without a Siege marker, friendly units inside the Fortress may not exit the space unhindered. First they must Sally against the masking or besieging force—that is, Activate and move outside the Fortress to conduct regular Combat against the enemy units in the space. If the Sallying units win, the masking/besieging units retreat using normal retreat priorities. If the masking/besieging units win, the friendly units must retreat back inside the Fortress; they may not use the retreat to leave the Fortress City space.

13.2 Siege Combat

13.21 Conditions:

• To conduct Siege Combat during a Round, a Siege marker must have been placed in a previous Round [13.13].
• To perform a siege combat roll during an ACTION PHASE, an activated leader must be present at the end of movement in the besieged space. HOWEVER, the leader's Leadership Rating DOES NOT have to be ≥ the number of units conducting the siege combat. Example: 2 militia units inside of Ingolstadt (a 5 siege rating) would require a force with at least 9 combat factors to besiege it. Say there are 3 Mercenaries performing the siege. Anhalt (LR of 2) could be used to roll for siege combat during the Action Phase even though his LR does not equal the number of besieging units.
• If this is a Continued Siege [13.26], the besieging army must still Activate to conduct Siege Combat during the Action Phase.
• During the Continued Siege Segment of the END PHASE of the game turn, all armies on the map with Siege markers may conduct Siege Combat. This is the only time siege combat may be performed without Activating. Therefore a leader is not required to be present to conduct siege combat during the Continued Siege Segment.

Design Note: Siege Combat during an Activation represents an assault on the fortress. Siege Combat during the End Phase represents the effects of attrition (starvation, disease, mutiny) on the defenders.

13.22 Each Siege Combat is resolved using the following sequence:

1. Calculate Siege Combat DRM.
2. Determine outcome.
3. Place Continued Siege marker (if necessary).

13.23 Calculate Siege Combat DRM. The Siege Combat DRM is the total of any modifiers found on the Siege Combat Table plus the total number on any Continued Siege marker, minus the Fortress City's printed Siege Modifier.

EXAMPLE: The Protestant player is besieging Breisach. He already has a Continued Siege +1 marker, so his Siege Combat DRM would be –1 (Continued Siege modifier of 1 minus the Breisach Siege Modifier of –2).

Historical Note: The Spanish leader the Marquis Ambrogia di Spinola receives a positive DRM; he was a skilled besieger who captured many fortresses in the United Provinces and the Palatinate.

13.24 Determine Outcome. Roll a die, modifying the roll as required in 13.23, and consult the Siege Combat Table for the result:

• If Successful, the Fortress City is captured by the besieging player—the besieging player gains control of the Fortress City (change the control marker), and any enemy units inside the Fortress are immediately eliminated.
• If Unsuccessful, the Fortress does not fall (see Continued Siege [13.26]).

13.25 Natural Rolls. Regardless of any modifiers, a natural roll of 9 always gives a Successful result [13.24, first bullet]. Regardless of any modifiers, a natural roll of 0 always gives an Unsuccessful result, and the besieging units must lose a step. The owning player chooses which of the besieging units will take the loss. If this step loss causes the besieging force to fall below the minimum required Siege Level, remove the Siege marker from the space. The besieging player only loses a step on a natural roll of 0; any other Unsuccessful result does not require a step loss.

13.26 Continued Siege. A Continued Siege is any Siege that is ongoing during the Continued Siege Segment of the End Phase (F.) Any Siege marker (Siege, Siege +1, Siege +2, etc.) qualifies as a Continued Siege.

If a Siege Combat result is Unsuccessful, either during an Action Phase or during the Continued Siege Phase, place the next level of Continued Siege marker (+1, +2, or +3 Siege) on the space. With additional Unsuccessful results, continue to increase the DRM of the Continued Siege marker. The maximum DRM in a Continued Siege is +3.

Remove any Continued Siege marker if the besieging army moves away from the space such that the number of besieging Combat Factors in the space is reduced below the City's Siege Level.

Design Note: The Continued Siege marker represents the attritional effects of numerous assaults on the defenders of the fortress, as well as the cumulative effects of disease and starvation on the defenders.

14.0 Foreign Aid

Historical Note: The long duration of the Thirty Years War was made possible only by the massive amounts of foreign money contributed by supporters of the two sides—the Protestants were funded from such diverse sources as France, Sweden, England, the United Provinces, the Duke of Savoy and the Ottoman Empire, while the Catholics received money from Spain and the Pope. This flow of outside money—paid fitfully, often late and dependent on heeding conflicting foreign demands—allowed the combatants to fight on long after their organic resources had run out.

Foreign Aid Points (APs) are gained during the Action Phase by playing a Strategy card as AID (or as a result of certain Events), collecting the points from eligible donors listed on the card. APs are spent to pay units [15.0].

14.1 Foreign Aid Points are received by playing Strategy cards as AID, and in some cases by playing Events. Each turn, each player may play only one card as AID, though he may receive aid points from Events played during the turn as well. Temporarily set aside any card played as AID as a reminder that you cannot play another card that way in the turn (and for later reference in case a card play affects accumulated aid).

Players track the amount of Foreign Aid received each turn by using Foreign Aid markers on the General Records Track. Foreign Aid markers are reset to zero at the end of each turn. Thus, aid must be used on the turn it was received; it may not be saved for use on later turns.

Historical Note: The rulers and generals of this age were not noted spendthrifts; untold amounts of money were frittered away or lost from plain old theft. What is clear from reading contemporary histories is that no leader ever had enough money to meet all of his military and political needs.

14.2 Foreign Aid Points are received from the sources listed below in 14.3 and 14.4, subject to accompanying restrictions. If an AID card is played and one of the sources listed does not meet the requirements, Aid Points are not received from that source (though the other sources may still provide their points listed on the card). Events which affect Foreign Aid eligibility go into effect immediately, allowing receipt of Aid from the next card play.

EXAMPLE: If the Protestant Player has not yet played the Richelieu Becomes Chief Minister of France Event (P9), French Aid Points are not received when an AID card is played. If the Protestant player uses an AID card before the Richelieu Event is played, he would only receive points from England and the UP, not from France. When the Richelieu Event is played, the Protestant player begins receiving French Aid immediately, so that if he plays the next card as AID, he would receive the French Aid Points listed.

14.3 Protestant Aid Sources

France: French Aid is not received until after the Richelieu Becomes Chief Minister of France Event (P9) is played.

England: English Aid is received automatically at the beginning of the game. English Aid ends if the English Civil War Event (C40) is played.

United Provinces: Dutch Aid may be received at the start of the game. Dutch Aid totals are modified by the status of the Dutch War Track, and ends completely if the Dutch War marker ever gets to the +5 box.

Duke of Savoy: Aid from the Duke of Savoy is only received when the Aid from Duke of Savoy Event (P19) is played.

Sweden: Swedish Aid is only received when the Swedish Aid Event (P10) is played (this event cannot be played once Sweden enters the war).

14.4 Catholic Aid Sources

Spain: Spanish Aid is received automatically at the beginning of the game. Spanish Aid is only received if the Val Telline Passes are open. They can be closed if the Protestant player plays a Val Telline Passes Closed Event (P1, P39). They can only be re-opened by the Catholic player playing a Val Telline Passes Open Event (C1, C38). The Passes may be closed/opened any number of times during a game.

The Papacy: Papal Aid is received automatically at the beginning of the game. Papal Aid ends if the Urban VIII Becomes Pope Event (P15) is played, but resumes if the Innocent X Becomes Pope Event (C44) is played afterward.

Historical Note: The Val Telline Passes are the passes through the Alps between Venice and the Tyrol. They were the only effective conduit of Spanish aid to the Holy Roman Empire, and were cut twice during the war, once by the Duke of Savoy, once by the French. The Spanish managed to reopen the Passes both times.

15.0 Paying Units

Historical Note: The Thirty Years War was dominated by the Mercenary. The various nations, usually lacking large standing national armies, relied on the hiring of mercenaries to flesh out their armed forces. Mercenaries in the 17th century, unlike the solitary soldiers of fortune of today, were complete regiments raised and equipped by their unit leaders and paid by the nations they served. They were rarely loyal to any one cause and were quite savage towards civilians unlucky enough to be in their path. For mercenaries, looting, pillage and devastation were full-time jobs.

During the Pay Phase [6.0.E], players must pay to maintain their combat units by one of three methods: spending Foreign Aid Points (APs) [15.11], through Localized regional resources [15.12] or by Looting [15.2]. The Foreign APs that were gained during the Action Phase are now spent to pay units that are not paid through Local resources. Units that are not paid through either of these methods are marked as Unpaid units and will then Loot their immediate environs (rolling a die and consulting the Loot Table [15.2]) in order to be Paid.

The Pay Units Phase is conducted in two segments, in the following order:

1. Pay Segment: Pay combat units that do not qualify for Local Pay with Foreign APs and mark any units that receive neither as Unpaid.
2. Loot Segment: Roll for all Unpaid units and consult the Loot table.

Design Note: Rolling on the Loot Table represents not only the troops looting and pillaging the countryside, but also the commanders "requisitioning" money and supplies from the city authorities to protect them from looting and pillaging ... which the mercenaries would often go ahead and do anyway. Note that each result indicates the unit(s) in question getting paid; the only variable is the amount of damage that is inflicted.

15.1 Aid Points

15.11 Obtaining Foreign Aid Points. Players collect APs by playing AID and/or Event cards during the Action round. The AP totals on the AID cards may be modified by other conditions, such as the status of the Dutch War Track (increasing or decreasing Dutch aid [16.13]). Only one AID card may be played per turn, although any number of Event cards that increase APs may be played during a turn. Players use the Foreign Aid markers on the General Records Track to track the current number of APs accumulated during the turn.

15.12 Locally Paid. Units that meet the following criteria during the Pay Segment [6.0.E.1] are considered to have been paid by local regional resources and thus are not required to be paid either through the use of Foreign Aid Points [15.1] nor through the method of Looting their immediate locale [15.2] and will therefore neither be marked as Unpaid nor roll on the Loot table, UNLESS they are inside a besieged Fortress City or due to the play of certain events:

• Any Danish units that can trace a LOC to Denmark.
• Any Spanish units in the Spanish Netherlands.
• Any French units in France.
• Any Imperial units in Austria. (Exception: events P8 & P21)
• Any Bavarian units in Bavaria.
• Any Hungarian units in Hungary.
• Any Protestant army in the United Provinces.
• Any Catholic army in the United Provinces.

Units located in Independent Cities within the Areas that are eligible for Localized pay (for example; Aachen in the Spanish Netherlands or Salzburg in Austria), do not qualify for this method of payment and must be paid either by the use of Foreign Aid (with the requisite LoC; see 15.14) or through Looting [15.2]. The colored piping of their respective areas identifies Cities/Fortresses that qualify for Local Pay under this rule.

Design Note: With the exception of the Danes and the UP armies, these units were being supported by the local resources of their home territory. King Christian of Denmark had built up an impressive treasury surplus that allowed him to fund his armies without requiring outside resources. The armies operating in the UP were being paid by the Spanish if Catholic or the grateful Dutch if Protestant.

15.13 Paying Combat Units. Players may use Foreign Aid to pay to maintain their combat units; leaders are never paid. Paying units is completely voluntary [Exc; units that qualify for Local Pay under 15.12 must be paid by that method if possible.]; a player is never required to use APs to pay any units. (Remember unused APs are lost at the end of the turn.) However, combat units that are not paid under 15.12 or with Foreign APs are marked as Unpaid and will pay themselves by rolling on the Loot Table and may Pillage or lose steps as a result of being Unpaid.

15.131 The Pay Rates are:

• 2 APs — Veteran Units
• 2 APs — Mercenary Units
• 1 AP — Militia Units

15.132 A unit must be paid its full Pay Rate whether it is a full or half-strength unit. To be paid with Foreign Aid Points, a unit must be able to trace a Line of Communications [15.14] to its Supply Base [17.0] during the Pay Segment. Units that are paid locally under 15.12 do not require a LoC nor do Unpaid units that are paying themselves through Looting. (Option 19.3 establishes LoCs during the Action Phase.)

15.133 Units inside a Besieged Fortress City may never be paid; automatically mark such units with an Unpaid marker (even if they normally would be Locally Paid [15.12]).

15.14 Line of Communications. A Line of Communications (LOC) is an unbroken path, of any length, of connected friendly-controlled Cities that can be traced to the unit's Supply Base [15.15]. The LOC can NEVER be traced into:

• A Peasant Revolt marker,
• A Neutral Area,
• A Neutral Independent City,
• The United Provinces,
• France before France enters the war, or
• A City with an enemy force (whether besieging or masking).

A unit that can't trace a LOC to its Supply Base cannot be paid with Foreign APs. Locally Paid units [15.12] do not require a LOC to their Supply base with the exception of the Danes.

15.15 Supply Base. Every nation has its own specific Supply Base, as listed in 17.0. If this Base is enemy-controlled, that particular nation may no longer pay its troops with APs. Should friendly units regain control of a Supply Base, the nation in question may pay its troops with APs again. A Supply Base can change control multiple times with no ill effects.

15.2 Looting

Historical Note: The enduring image of the Thirty Years War is the German country village devastated by marauding mercenaries—homes looted, church burned, citizens dying of starvation and disease. The conventional wisdom is that the war nearly transformed Germany into a desert. Recently, however, some historians have challenged this view, wondering how a region so badly devastated could have recovered so quickly, and have suggested that the destruction was centered on a few frequently fought over areas while others remained relatively safe and prosperous.

During the Loot segment of the Pay Phase, all units marked with an Unpaid marker must roll a die and consult the Loot Table.

15.21 Procedure. Apply a single roll of the die to all Unpaid units in a City. Modify the roll using the modifiers listed below the Loot Table. If more than half of the Unpaid units are Mercenaries, apply the Mercenary modifier. If more than half are Veterans, apply the Veteran modifier. For these "majority of Veteran/Mercenary" modifiers on the Looting Table, only the majority of Looting units are considered, not every unit in the army.

Total the number of Unpaid units (not steps—full and half-strength units are equal when using the Loot Table). A besieging/masking force that is unpaid must roll on the Loot Table. Foraging does not require control of any space.

15.211 When a besieging/masking force AND a besieged/masked force must make rolls on the Loot Table, players roll simultaneously, using the current Pillage status of the city (i.e., the Pillage level prior to both die rolls). Then, each player applies the result as if there was no other force present. The Pillage status of the City is then determined based on the highest Pillage level attained.

EXAMPLE: A Protestant army with 3 Veteran units is besieging a Catholic army with a Dynamic leader and 4 Mercenary units inside a Fortress City. The space has a Pillage-1 marker. The Protestant player rolls, with a +1 DRM for the Pillage-1 and a -1 DRM for the majority of Veteran units. He rolls a 4, the result being Pillage 1. This increases the Pillage level to 2.

At the same time, the Catholic player rolls, with +1 DRM for the Pillage-1, +1 DRM for four units pillaging, +2 DRM for being in a Besieged Fortress City, +1 DRM for a majority of Mercenary units, and -1 DRM for the Dynamic Leader, for a net DRM of +4. The roll is a 5, adjusted to a 9—a result of Pillage 2, One Step Loss. Thus, one pillage is fulfilled in flipping the Pillage-1 marker over, and the unfulfilled Pillage requirement yields a total of two step losses. The space now has a Pillage-2 marker.

15.22 Loot Table Results

• Paid. All Unpaid units are paid. Remove the Unpaid marker.
• Pillage 1. All Unpaid units are paid. Increase the Pillage level of the City by one. Remove the Unpaid marker.
• Pillage 1, One Step Loss. All Unpaid units are paid. Increase the Pillage level of the City by one. The Unpaid units lose one step (from the total stack, not per unit). Remove the Unpaid marker.
• Pillage 2, One or Two Step Losses. All Unpaid units are paid. Increase the Pillage level of the City by two. The Unpaid units lose the required one or two steps (total from the stack—not per unit). Remove the Unpaid marker.

15.221 The maximum Pillage level is two. If the City cannot take an additional Pillage level (i.e. it is at Pillage 2 and must take an additional level, or it has a Pillage-1 marker and must take two levels), it retains or goes up to Pillage-2 status and the Unpaid units must lose a number of steps equal to the number of unfulfilled Pillage levels.

15.222 Step losses are taken from the total number of Unpaid units, not from each unit.

EXAMPLE: An army of three Unpaid units that receives a –1 Step result loses a total of one step, with the owning player deciding which single unit will take the loss.

15.223 The step losses must be taken using the following hierarchy:

1. The steps must be taken from Mercenary units, if possible.
2. If no Mercenaries are present, or all are eliminated, then the losses must be taken from Militia units if possible.
3. If no Militia are present, or all are eliminated, then the losses must be taken from Veteran units if possible.

15.224 Permanently remove from the game any unit that is eliminated as a result of steps lost in Looting (Including those looting due to the play of a Mutiny card event).

15.225 If every unit in an army is lost due to Looting and leaders are left alone, those Leaders are not eliminated. The owning player may place the leaders in any friendly city, subject to normal Nationality restrictions. All leaders must be placed in the same city. If no such friendly city exists then the leaders are eliminated.

15.23 A unit may be Unpaid any number of times during the game with no additional effects beyond the results of the Loot Table every turn it is Unpaid.

15.24 Pillage Effects.

Pillage-1:

• Units occupying Cities with a Pillage-1 marker incur a +1 DRM when rolling on the Loot Table.
• Leaders in a City with a Pillage-1 incur a –1 DRM when Recruiting.

Pillage-2:

• Units occupying Cities with a Pillage-2 marker incur a +2 DRM when rolling on the Loot Table.
• Leaders may never Recruit in a Pillage-2 City.
• Reduce the VP value of an Area by one when ALL of its Cities have Pillage-2 markers (restore the VP value upon Recovery of a level).

15.25 Pillage Recovery. In the Pillage Recovery Phase of each turn, each player rolls a die and divides the result by two, rounding up (to a minimum of one). The result is the number of Pillage levels boardwide that the player may recover from Cities. The Cities must be in friendly or neutral Areas, but may be friendly, neutral or enemy, so long as they are not occupied by or adjacent to enemy units. Pillage recovery may be conducted in Friendly or Neutral Independent cities so long as they are not occupied by or adjacent to enemy units.

15.251 A City may only recover one Pillage level per turn (so that a Pillage-2 marker may not be removed in this phase; instead, it must be flipped to Pillage-1 and then this marker may be removed in a future Pillage Recovery Phase). Non-used recovery levels are not saved from turn to turn (if you don't spend the recoveries, you lose them and must roll again the next turn).

15.252 Pillage levels are also recovered through the play of Recovery Event cards.

16.0 The Dutch War

Historical Note: Of the many events going on "offstage" during the Thirty Years War, the Dutch-Spanish War was the most important. Following the expiration of a twelve-year truce in 1621, the last chapter of the seventy-year-long war between Spain and its recalcitrant Dutch provinces began. The United Provinces were a prime supporter of the Protestant cause. Had Spain forced them into an unfavorable treaty, their monetary aid to the Protestants would have ceased. Spain's defeat in the Dutch War, marked by the decisive destruction of the Spanish fleet by the Dutch at the Battle of the Downs in 1639, ended Spanish aid to the Catholic cause in Germany.

16.1 The Dutch War Track

16.11 At Start. The course of the Dutch-Spanish War is monitored on the Dutch War Track. At the beginning of the game, place the Dutch War marker in the 0 box on the track. (See Optional rule 19.5)

16.12 Procedure. The marker is moved on the Dutch War Track by both players using Event cards. Some cards will automatically move the Dutch War marker, others require the presence of armies in the United Provinces (16.2). Catholic Events move the marker up the track, toward positive numbers; Protestant Events move the marker down the track, toward negative numbers. The marker may move up and down the track, but once it enters either the +5 box or the –3 box, the track is no longer used during the game (the Dutch War is considered to have ended).

16.13 Dutch War Effects. When the Dutch War marker reaches the following boxes on the Track, these effects occur immediately:

• +2 Box: Catholic Player gains 2 VPs. Subtract 2 from all Dutch Aid Point totals on AID cards.
• +4 Box: Catholic Player gains 2 VPs. Subtract 3 from all Dutch Aid Point totals on AID cards. Note that this is not cumulative with the +2 Box result; the modifier is either –2 or –3, depending upon the box occupied by the Dutch War marker.
• +5 Box: UP signs treaty; Spain wins the Dutch War (it ends). Dutch Aid ends. All armies in the UP at this time are eliminated.
• –3 Box: Spain gives up the war with the United Provinces (the Dutch War ends). Catholic player loses 3 VPs. Add 3 to all Dutch Aid Point totals on AID cards. If a Catholic army is in the UP at this time, it is eliminated. A Protestant army in the UP may leave upon Activation.

16.131 These VP Effects may only happen once per game, not every time the marker enters the box, and once gained, cannot be lost. Use the Aid Point effect of the most recently occupied box.

16.132 After the Dutch War ends, Dutch War Track events may not be played, nor may armies enter the UP.

16.2 Armies in the UP

16.21 Entering the United Provinces. As long as the Dutch War continues (but see 16.132), armies may move into the United Provinces (UP) in two ways:

1. They may move from the four Cities on the map (Ghent, Antwerp, Wesel and Lingen) that contain arrows marked "To UP." They may move into the UP at the cost of 1 MP as part of normal movement.
2. The Catholic player may play the Spinola Recalled to the Netherlands Event (C11), which allows the player to pick up Spinola and at least three Spanish units from anywhere on the map (even if besieged) and place them in the UP. (If Spinola is already dead, any Spanish leader may go.) This is the only leader in the game that can be transferred in this way from the map to the UP. Spinola may go with more than three Spanish units, but he must bring at least three. The Spanish units may come from anywhere on the map and do not necessarily have to be stacked with Spinola when the card is played [16.24].
3. If neither Spinola nor his replacement leader is alive AND no other Spanish leaders are in play, then Event C11 may be used to move three Spanish units to the U.P. without a leader. They are assumed to be under the command of a subordinate leader and thus would satisfy the requirements of 5.15, re: Spinola's Army.

Armies may never enter and exit the UP during the same Activation.

Place Catholic and Protestant armies in the UP in the respective boxes labeled Armies in the UP. Catholic and Protestant armies in the UP are automatically paid every turn, and do not require the usual Pay procedure.

16.22 One Army Limit. Each player may have a maximum of one army in the UP. Once a player moves an army into the UP, no other friendly units may move into the UP until the first army leaves. A leader cannot leave units in the UP by themselves (i.e., without a leader), because this move would mean the force ceases to be an army—only an army is allowed to be in the UP (exception; see 16.21 (3)).

If Christian of Denmark is removed by the Swedish War card OR if Anhalt is removed from the U.P. by card C13: ('Discretion over Valor') the Protestant player may:

a. Immediately replace him with a German Protestant replacement leader (use the un-named backside leader of one of the Protestant leaders) that is not currently on the map.

b. If such a replacement leader is not available (very unlikely by the time the Swedish War comes around), then the Protestant player may retreat the now leaderless army in the UP to Lingen or Wesel.

c. If neither of these options is available, then the units in the UP are eliminated.

Design Note: The idea here is to not allow players to send armies into the UP to save them from destruction.

Armies/units may never retreat into the UP. Any Army/unit forced to do so is eliminated.

16.23 Departure. Protestant armies in the UP may leave the UP as part of a normal Activation. They may not re-enter the UP during the same activation, but reenter the map via normal movement into any Protestant controlled or neutral City marked by a "To UP" arrow at the cost of 1 MP, or they may be placed in any Protestant-controlled Port City, taking up their entire MA.

A Catholic army departs the UP via normal movement into any Catholic-controlled or neutral City marked by a "To UP" arrow at the cost of 1 MP. They may NOT move to a Catholic-controlled Port City. Individual units cannot leave the UP without a leader; only armies can exit the UP.

Historical Note: The Dutch navy dominated the English Channel at this time, and wasn't about to allow any Spanish army to sail to Germany. All Spanish reinforcements reaching the Spanish Netherlands had to sail to Italy and then march overland.

16.24 Spinola's Army. Before Spinola's army enters the UP, any Catholic army in the UP must first reenter the map [16.23]. Once moved to the UP, Spinola's army may never leave. If Spinola is already dead, any Spanish leader may go in his place, and must remain there with Spinola's army permanently. [see also 16.21.(3)]

Card Event C-18 does not require Spinola's army to be in the UP.

Design Note: Once Spinola's army enters the UP, it is there permanently so that no other Catholic army may enter the UP after Spinola. The Catholic player should remember that there is a VP penalty for Spinola not entering the UP, and so should beware moving another Catholic army into the UP, thus blocking Spinola.

16.25 Spinola Besieges. For the Catholic player to play the Spinola Besieges Breda or Spinola Besieges Bergen cards (C3, C4), the Spanish leader Spinola (or his successor) [ref. 5.15 & 16.21 (3)] and at least three Spanish units must be in the United Provinces. (Play of C11 as an event is not required) To be played as an Event, such a card must be the first Action of the Catholic player in a turn (thereby preventing an offer of peace [5.3] in the same turn, as well as preventing play of both in the same turn). The play of each card moves the marker one space up the Dutch War Track.

16.251 To Respond to a Spinola Besieges card, the Protestant player moves an army of at least one leader and three units into the UP by the end of the turn. This army may already be in the UP when a Spinola Besieges card is played, in which case the Protestant player automatically Responds. If the Protestants have an army in the UP that is smaller than this requirement, it may not Respond (though it may depart, allowing a Protestant army of sufficient strength to move into the UP during the turn to Respond).

16.252 The Responding Protestant army loses one step. The step is lost immediately upon fulfilling the conditions for Response [16.251]. The responding army may be Activated for other purposes in a later Round, including departing the UP.

16.253 If the Protestant player does not Respond to such an Event play by the end of the turn the Catholic player moves the Dutch War marker an additional space up the track (in + direction), which represents the fall of each City.