Updated July 13th, 2006

A Play-by-Email Game of Warfare and Conquest in the Ancient Mediterranean

Contents

If you wish to discuss the rules with others, its a good idea to join the discussion group, which you can do at the game webpage:

http://www.lordsofconquest.com

If you have found a problem in the rules, and you think the Rulebook should be corrected, write to the moderator at:

You can ctrl+click on the hyperlinks to go straight to a chapter or section – I’ve offset some of the links so that you don’t accidentally hit the wrong one.

Chapter 1: Introduction tutorial, mechanics of sending and receiving turns, where to get help

Chapter 2: Headquarters how to use the HQ of the Diploware

Chapter 3: The Map how to understand what you see on the map

Chapter 4: Turn Events the order in which the Diploware orders the game each turn

Chapter 5: Details more in-depth on various aspects of the game

Chapter 6: Battles the gritty details of how battles are won and lost

Chapter 7: Troops combat strength, defence, speed, cost, upkeep – it’s all here

Chapter 8: Realms a little information on each realm, and where to find them

Chapter 9: Advice what to do when you’re new, and a sheet well worth printing

Chapter 10: FAQ some miscellaneous questions

Victory Conditions

Chapter 1: Introduction

Age of Conquest is a giant board game, with players from all over the world. Each player is the lord of a separate Realm, attempting to dominate the Ancient Period of the Age of Conquest. The game is played as if you were a ruler of this region. You give orders to your captains and other minions, which in the game is done using the Diploware program (which you download from the website). There is a due date for everyone’s orders, in which time all game events occur. Then, everyone is sent the results (and things continue onward in the same manner). This is the rulebook, which you can use as a reference, in conjunction with the help menus of the Diploware. Also, in the rulebook, major orders are written in dark yellow font, to make them more visible. This is to help in finding them if you are skimming for a certain order. For example:

Offer Alliance: This is only for a neutral realm, and is to attempt to form an alliance.

Sometimes you will see a message in green – this is advice from Joe Brennan, and may be of some value. J

For royalty rights, go to http://www.agegames.com/donate.html For each game you join, you have to specify to the GM on the turn you wish to go royal (whether at the start of the game or some point into the game.) To check up the status of the game and whether your latest turn is out, check http://www.lordsofconquest.com/newturns.php You can download your latest turn from here if you wish. The information you need (password, game number, realm number) will be on the email that contains your latest resultfile.

Tutorial:

If you are just starting out, you probably have only a vague idea of how things work at this point. Don’t worry; you shall soon get the hang of things. You should have the Diploware on your computer, and should be ready to run it. If you don’t have the Diploware, you need to download it ASAP (it’s completely free) from:

http://www.lordsofconquest.com

Now that the program is installed on your computer, it is important that you work through the Tutorial. You can come back to this rulebook later.

Opening Your Turn:

First, close any unnecessary programs you have running. This helps to ensure that you don’t have too many things running on your computer, and so your Diploware will run efficiently. This is a very important step! After this, start the Diploware, which brings you to the Start-up Menu, where you can select a file to load. When you are playing in a game, you should select either your saved orders, or your newest Results file, which was sent to you by the GM. When you select this and open it, you are brought to your Headquarters (if not, then contact the GM for troubleshooting).

At the Top of the Diploware:

At the top part of the Diploware, you can see:

  1. Headquarters: This is where you manage your diplomatic relations.
  2. Map: This shows you the map, and is where you manage your various forces.
  3. Messages: This shows you various reports and messages about what happened on the last turn.
  4. Game: This allows you to save your orders, or open a new turn.

Messages Menu:

By clicking on the Messages at the top, you can see reports of the last turn’s events. You can click between normal Messages, Battle Reports, and Proclamations. You can see the following:

Game Menu:

Even though you are impatient to learn about the map, I will now talk about the Game (or main) menu. Here, you can do the following:

  1. Results file: this is a file sent to you by the GM, which has your latest results. Be careful to use your latest resultfile, not an old one (this file has the extension ".new" and the icon is a package).
  2. Saved Orders: these are your saved orders, which you create with the Save Turn button. This will have your saved orders on it, which you can open and edit as you like. This is also the file you send to the GM.
  3. Upgrade File: This is a special file that you download from the website, then open. This will upgrade your Diploware automatically. This is only if there is some upgrade available, which the GM will let you know about. At the website, there is an upgrade file available, created by fans of the game. This adds all manner of sounds and art to your Diploware, it’s really nifty.

Introduction To Turn Events:

Each unit can perform different orders. All game events happen during turn events, and all orders for all realms will be carried out at this time. Such things as units moving, battles and revenues, etc. happen. They occur in a certain order, which is explained in Chapter 4. If you are wondering about a particular game event (such as how units march, how revenues are collected, etc.), then please skim through Chapter 4 and Chapter 5, which detail these activities. Also, please note that game events happen in a certain order. There are 3 main parts to turn events; Initial Events, Movement Events, and Final Events. Each type of activity is explained better in Chapter 4, as well as the exact order in which it will happen during turn events, so be sure to look through that chapter (especially be sure to know about Phases, to help with your planning). For example, declaring war happens before movement, so this means that you can declare war on an enemy, and then move to attack him that same turn. But, troops are built after all movement and battles, so the troops you build won’t be there if an enemy attacks.

Important Notes about Sending In Your Turn:

Turns are due at the same time for all games, and there is one turn per week (unless otherwise indicated for your game).

LOCATION

DUE DATE

California, USA

Wednesday, 5:00 PM

New York, USA

Wednesday, 8:00 PM

London, England

Thursday, 1:00 AM

Sydney, Australia

Thursday, 11:00 AM

If you don’t send your turn in on time, please don’t expect the game to wait for you. Sometimes you

might get lucky – if you haven’t received your next turnfile, there is a good chance you can still send

your turn in and get it processed, but there is no guarantee. Send your turn in before the deadline if you

want to be sure it will get processed.

Policy about Playing in Multiple Games:

The GM enjoys hosting games, and there are always positions available for new people (current players always have priority for signing up for new games). However, the GM can host only a limited number of games, so to be fair to everyone on the waiting list, we ask that each person plays in only 1 game at the same time (this includes all games hosted by A.G.E. games).
The following exceptions apply:
A) If you have Royalty status in 1 game, then you may join 2 games at the same time.
B) If your position is relatively hopeless, or victory is expected to be declared within the next 3 turns, then you are also welcome to sign up for another game.
C) Once you have played 10 turns in a row without missing a turn, you are considered a Veteran, and are then eligible to be a replacement in a current game. This is if you are already in a game, and you wish to join another as a replacement for a player that cannot continue. In this case, just sign up normally, and indicate that you would like a replacement position.

Note:  Player Status (Royalty or Commoner) is separate for each game.  So, if you join another game, and want to have Royalty status, you need to request this specifically (everyone is Commoner by default).

Final Notes:

  1. Be sure you have followed through with the tutorial. Also, more detailed descriptions of how game events work are in Chapter 4 and Chapter 5.
  2. At the bottom of the rulebook, there will be a Frequently Asked Questions section. This has answers to questions which have been previously asked. There is a good chance your question will have an answer there.
  3. There is a discussion group for the game, and you can sign up at the webpage. Feel free to fire off your questions there, to get a faster response. And, for more experienced players, if you see a question in the group that you have the answer to, please be kind and answer it. JB: Read this rulebook first! Veterans generally don’t want to answer questions that are very clearly covered in the rulebook. We experienced players are happy to help clarify things, but if you’re asking something that’s clearly covered in the book…. :-(
  4. As a last resort, if you can’t find answers to your questions elsewhere, then you can send them to:

But, please be advised that replies to email by the GM are fairly slow, because of the volume of email (although VIP players, known as Royalty, have access to the GM’s private email for fast responses).

Bonus Files: There will be a special upgrade available, which will add numerous pictures and sounds to your diploware. However, this upgrade is only recommended if your computer is at least 500 mhz - otherwise, it will slow your diploware down quite a bit. Go to the GM notes section of the website to download this.

Troop Upkeep Costs are an Important Consideration

Chapter 2: Thy Headquarters

Headquarters Overview:

After opening your turn, you are brought to your Headquarters, and you can return here by clicking on Headquarters at the top of the Diploware. You can think of this area as your Throne Room, where your advisors are available to carry out your commands. Performing an order would be similar to summoning your Grand Chamberlain, Chief Diplomat, or other minion to carry out your instructions. Here, you will see:

  1. Treasury: This is the amount of gold currently in your coffers.
  2. Upkeep: This is the total upkeep costs for all troops you own.
  3. HQ Expenses: This is the total gold cost of all Headquarters orders you have planned (such as annexing provinces, etc.).
  4. Garrison Expenses: This is the total gold cost of all current orders received by your Garrisons (such as building troops, etc.)
  5. Expected Surplus or Shortfall: If you are spending less gold than is available in your treasury, you can see the amount of gold that will be unspent. Unspent gold is added to your treasury for the next turn. If you are spending more gold than you have, then there will be a shortfall. In that case, some of your orders will fail during turn events. JB: This is the most important thing you need to pay attention to – so long as this value is 0, or better, you know you haven’t over-spent. The moment this value goes negative, find out how you’ve overspent. It’s very embarrassing when your annexations don’t work because you overspent on the knights!
  6. Expected Revenues: This is the amount of revenues you can expect to receive next season. Note that this income won’t be available for you to spend this season.

Please understand that these values are not always exact – some values may be rounded to the nearest number. For instance, if you own 4 troops with an upkeep value of 1.1 gold each, for a total of 4.4 gold, the expenses will be reported as only 4 gold. To be on the safe side, you should consider leaving a surplus of two gold in your treasury.

Diplomatic Relations:

Each Realm has Diplomatic Relations with every other Realm in the game, which is shown on the list of Realms at your Headquarters. Your main Diplomatic Relations with each realm will be one of the following:

The orders you can issue to change your diplomatic relations are:

  1. Offer Alliance: This is only for a neutral realm, and is to attempt to form an alliance.
  2. Cancel Alliance: This is only for an ally, and is to remove the alliance between your realms.
  3. Declare War: This is only for neutral realms, and is to declare a state of war to exist between your two realms.
  4. Offer Peace: This is only for an enemy, and is to try to establish peace between your two realms.
  5. Offer Allegiance: If you do this, you could become another player’s Client State. The other player has to offer you Patronage at the same time.
  6. Offer Patronage: If you do this, you could become another player’s Patron. The other player has to offer you allegiance at the same time.

Other Diplomatic Status:

Each Realm also has diplomatic statuses with other Realms, which are:

  1. Accept Gifts: This is to accept gifts from a realm.
  2. Accept Nothing: This is to refuse any gifts from a realm. JB: Why you would choose to accept nothing from another player is beyond me. Keep it on! On the other hand, if you’re attacked by two players, you could try to give one land gifts, and then tell the other enemy you’ve payed the first one off with land. I’ve seen it work…..once. Split their alliance up and they bickered and fought. I survived. J Very Macchiavellian. Maybe you should turn off gifts from your enemies….
  1. Grant Passage Rights: This is for any realm that is not an enemy and that has not already been granted Passage Rights. This is to allow another Realm to move through your lands.
  2. Revoke Passage Rights: This is for any realm that you have previously granted Passage Rights to. This is to revoke Passage Rights from a realm.
  1. Give Province: This is for all realms, and is to give a province you own to another Realm.
  2. Send Ambassador: This is for all realms. This is to send your email address to another player, in the expectation that he will read your message, and then send you a private email, thus initiating diplomatic discussions.
  3. Send Gold: This is for all realms, and is to send a gift of gold to that Realm. You must own a garrison within 7 locations of the recipient for this to succeed, or the gold won’t be sent.
  4. Others: The functions of the other buttons (Share Recon, Espionage, Intel Report and Regions) are explained elsewhere.

HQ Plans:

As mentioned before, at the top of the Diploware, you can see all of your planned Headquarters orders. This has:

Granting Full Passage Rights allows Cooperation, but can expose

You to Duplicity. Limited Permission May Be a Better Option.

Chapter 3: The Map

Map Overview:

At last, we come to the map. To get here, click on the Map at the top of the Diploware. You can see a giant game board, with provinces and seas marked by black borders, as well as the troops in each location. You can scroll up and down to see a greater area of the map. You can think of it as if your realm’s advisors have built a model replica of the known lands. Major locations and scouting reports of troops have been plotted here with miniatures as well, and all of this represents your view of the actual political situation of Kharne. It is up to you to write planned orders for your followers; to expand and protect your realm. Here, you will see the following:

Seas:

A sea represents a large expanse of water in the game, with the name written in blue. Seas are not owned by any Realm, and do not yield revenue. You can move your fleets through seas, which can transport armies and engage in naval battles.

Provinces:

A province is a large tract of land in the game. Some important notes about provinces are:

Map Barriers:

Your forces can move between different locations that are adjacent to each other. However, there are various barriers to movement between locations. Some borders are blocked by natural features such as swamps, dense forest, mountains, etc., which are virtually impassable for an army, with its supply wagons and so forth. Barriers to movement between provinces are shown with mountains (although the barrier is not necessarily mountainous terrain). Armies cannot march between such provinces. Some coastlines are blocked by cliffs, unfavourable currents, dangerous shoals, etc. Barriers to movement between a sea and a province are shown with reefs (although the barrier is not necessarily reefs). Fleets cannot load or unload armies across such provinces, and fleets cannot anchor at such a province. Note that in ancient times, fleets would stay within sight of a coastline at all times, as means of navigation were not well developed, and a fleet would need to seek shelter in times of stormy weather, to avoid disaster at sea. Thus, on the map you will see barriers between large sea zones, as sailing across such large expanses of open seas was impractical and dangerous during this era.

Regions:

There are numerous Regions in the game. A Region is an extensive region, with language and cultural ties that unite the area. Each Region has an available title that can be claimed by players (only Royalty have the standing to do this of course). Gaining the title to these lands will yield valuable revenues, as greater taxes can be wrung from the nobility and merchants of the domain. For example, several provinces make up the Earldom of Wessex, and a player owning all these provinces will gain the title Earl of Wessex, and a valuable additional income in gold each season (delivered to the treasury of your realm). Also, the Kingdom of England is a Region, made up of several smaller Regions (including the Earldom of Wessex), which yields far greater revenue each season. Some important notes about Regions are:

Troops:

Each province and sea may have troops stationed there. Ships can be anchored in a province, or can be sailing in a sea. Soldiers can be located in a province, or aboard ships in a sea. On the map, the troops (soldiers and ships) are shown in the following manner:

For example, if you see a miniature of an infantry, with a blue base, and the number 8, that means you own 8 troops there, and the most valuable type is infantry. If you see a miniature of cavalry, with a red base, and the number 3, then you know that there are 3 troops owned by foreign realms (it could be more than 1 realm), and the most valuable type is cavalry (there could be infantry there as well).

JB: To get more information, click on the Troop Miniature. A box will open, explaining what troops are there, and which country owns them. Independent troops hold many provinces at the start of the game, and it is typical strategy for many players to start the game by attacking neighbouring independent provinces.

Map Options:

On the bottom-right of the map, there is a button with a hammer and wrench. This changes the map display. You can do the following:

Location Report:

To get more detailed information about a location, click on some part of it on the map. This brings up the Location Report. This shows you:

Province Report Orders:

When you open the Location Report for a province, orders may be available. The order buttons are on the right-hand side. These are all Headquarters’ Orders, and can be seen on the HQ Plans menu (these activities are not done by units). The orders available are:

Unit List:

Under the map, there is a list of units that you own. You can see the following for each unit:

Major Unit Orders:

From the map menu, you can issue a number of orders to your units. First, select a unit (on the unit list) by left-clicking your mouse on the unit. The available orders for that unit will then be shown to the right of the unit list. When you select a unit, you can see its location on the map, as the troop base will be outlined in white. Also, any movement orders for that unit are shown with blue and red arrows (a blue arrow means you are moving through a location, a red arrow means the location is your last destination). You can also double-click on the selected unit, and the map will centre on it. Once you have selected a unit, you can perform different orders. The major unit orders available are listed on the right-hand side of the Unit List. You select an order, and then you receive a menu where you determine the specifics of the order. Each type of unit has different orders available. The orders are:

Unit Plan:

As you know, you can give your units various orders. The orders given to a unit are saved onto the Unit Plan for that unit. Each unit has a separate Unit Plan. To see the unit plan, right click on any unit on the unit list, or select a unit and press the View Orders button. The Unit Plan shows various information about the unit. In the middle part, you can see:

Managing Commanders:

At the top left of the Unit Plan, you can select to show the troops or commanders in the unit. If commanders are selected, then any commanders in the unit will be shown, and you can perform orders for them, which are:

Managing Troops:

At the top left of the Unit Plan, you can see the troops in the unit. At the top, you can select to show commanders or troops. If troops are selected, then you can perform orders for them, which are:

Administrative Unit Orders:

On the left side of the Unit Plan, there are different admin orders for units. Each type of unit (Army, Fleet, Garrison) has different orders available, and the units that can perform each order are listed. All of these orders are done from the Unit Plan. None of these orders cost Move-points to perform. In addition, for garrisons, you can examine fortifications in the province. The orders that can be performed here are:

JB: This is useful if you have an army of infantry assigned to low ranks and an army of cavalry set to high ranks. You can put some infantry in the second rank, and tell them to retreat when the first rank is destroyed. You can order the cavalry to follow a unit in the second rank of infantry. That way your cavalry will retreat when your infantry decides to do so. If this seems tricky, perhaps you should have combined both armies together before attacking. J Beware of the danger involved if the unit you are following is killed in battle. Without that good man’s leadership to tell the lads to retreat, all your other soldiers will die in the field beside him.

JB: You should always click this option on if there is any chance of your navy taking hits. The last thing you want is to have your non-fighting armies drowning because they wouldn’t help out the sailors in a battle.

Advanced Map Techniques:

There are some map options available that make viewing the map easier:

Determine Units Shown on the Unit List: You can change the unit list so that only some types of units are shown. Click on Map Options, and you can see 3 buttons: Armies, Fleets, and Garrisons. Clicking these buttons will change the units shown on the unit list. For example, click on Armies, making the button unlicked. Now, go to the map, and Armies are not shown on the unit list. Go back and select armies again, and they will now be shown on the unit list.

 

Strong City Defences doth increase troop combat strength.

Chapter 4: Turn Events

Everyone prepares their orders separately, and then sends them to the GM to be processed. Everyone’s orders will be carried out at the same time. If you don't send in orders, then your Realm won’t do anything except pay upkeep and collect revenues (your forces will still defend your lands). But, other Realms will still carry out their orders. All the game events happen in a certain order, which is shown here. Pay special attention to the order in which events are listed. This is the exact order that they occur when turns are processed. Also, please see the Details section - these concepts are important for understanding this chapter.

Introduction to Turn Events:

Everyone’s turn is processed together at the same time. There are "First Events", then "Movement Events", and then finally "Last Events". The First Events are things like declaring war, etc., which all happen before the Movement Events. The Last Events are things like gaining revenue, etc., that all happen after Movement Events. Pay close attention to the order of events in the Turn Events section. This is how you will know when each of your orders will happen when turns are processed. For example, changing Acceptance happens in First Events, so this will happen before any movement. Also, ownership change happens during Movement Events, so this is only after all First Events are done (Ownership change happens in phases, so the ownership of a province can change more than one time during the turn). Gold revenues happen in Last Events, so this happens only after all movement and battles (in the Phases of Movement Events) are complete.

Phases:

Movement Events happen in a number of "Phases". A Phase is about 1 month of time (a Phase could also be called an "impulse" if you are more familiar with that term in wargaming). Each phase, various events will occur, and they repeat a number of times until no units have any Move-points. For example, on Phase 1, all units move 1 location, and then battles happen, province ownership changes, etc. Then, there is a Phase 2, and all units move 1 location, then battles happen, province ownership changes, etc. These Phases continue until no units have any Move-points left. When there are no more units that can move, then there is 1 more extra Phase, and then Movement Events are complete. When that happens, the Last Events happen. For transferring, units will transfer only if they are in the same location at the same phase. If units never arrive at the same place at the same phase, then no transfer will happen! Also, remember phases for coordinating unit movement. For example, you give Army#1 orders to invade enemy Province A, and you give Army#2 orders to move to friendly Province B, and then invade Province A. These armies won’t arrive at the same time! This is what will happen: Army#1 will invade during Phase 1, while meanwhile, Army#2 will move to Province A during Phase 1. Army#2 will invade during Phase 2 (although if Army#1 succeeds, you will own the province by the time Army#2 gets there). A better plan would be to give Army#1 orders to Wait and then invade, while Army#2 has orders to move and then invade. This way, on Phase#1, Army#1 will wait (remain in place) while Army#2 moves to Province A. Then, on Phase#2, both units will attack together.

Here is the list of all events that occur in each round, in order. Note that the movement events repeat until all possible ordered movements are completed. Each event is explained in the rest of the chapter, in order.

 

First Events:

This is the first part of Turn Events. These steps are:

War Declared:

This happens first. This changes the diplomatic relations between Realms from Neutral to War. This is done by Declaring War. Only 1 Realm has to do this, and then war will be declared. However, you can’t declare war with a Realm that is your Ally. In this case, you can’t declare war this same turn. For an ally, you will need to cancel your alliance. It will take one turn to break the first relations, and then you can declare war the next turn. When war is declared, then all Passage Rights and Special Permission will be immediately cancelled between the two realms, and cannot be established while the two realms are enemies.

Ctrl+click here for more on Invasions.

Acceptance Changed:

This step is to change the Acceptance between all Realms. You do this with the Change Acceptance action. This indicates whether you will accept gifts from another Realm (including provinces, transfers and gold sent). If you don’t want their gifts (for whatever reason), then change your Acceptance to No. This happens at this time. A realm could give you a province it is about to lose to try and embroil you in a conflict you want nothing to do with.

Passage Rights Changed:

This step is to change Passage Rights between all realms. This is not the only way to give permission for a realm to move through your territories. You do this with the Grant Passage Rights or Revoke Passage Rights actions. You can grant or revoke Passage Rights to another realm (but not an enemy realm). If you grant Passage Rights to a realm, then they can move through all of your lands at will. This is potentially hazardous, for should they decide to attack you, they could send out small units through your lands. Next turn, they could declare war, causing all manner of havoc. For a trusted ally, this is useful, as he will be able to retreat into your lands, etc.

Special Permission Changed:

This is to change the Special Permission for any provinces you own. For each province, you can indicate which realms will be granted permission to move through it. You do this with the Grant Special Permission, Revoke Special Permission actions. This is to give a realm permission to move through a single province, which is safer than granting full Passage Rights.

Ctrl+click here for more on Permission.

New Armies Formed:

This step is to form all new armies. This can only be done by armies and garrisons. For all new armies being formed, they are created now. Each Realm can have only 99 armies. Armies formed can have troops and commanders transferred into them, and can be given orders the same turn they are created.

New Fleets Formed:

This step is to form new fleets. This can only be done by fleets and garrisons. For all new fleets being formed, they are created now. Each Realm can have only 99 fleets (these are completely separate from armies). Fleets formed can have troops and commanders transferred into them, and can be given orders the same turn they are created.

Various Administrative Actions Performed:

At this time, a number of administrative orders are performed, which are:

Same Location Transfers Occur:

This step is to transfer troops and commanders between units. These are transfers that will happen because the recipient and giving unit are in the same location. These transfers will always succeed, and will happen at this time (prior to any movement happening). Transfers also happen during Movement Events.

Ctrl+click here for more on transfers.

Troops Reassigned To Ranks:

The next step is reassign troops to different ranks. Each unit has 5 ranks, and each troop in a unit is in one of these ranks. Remember, ALL troops cause damage against the enemy, no matter what rank they are in (Ranks and Retreat Level are explained in Chapter 5). Troops in lower numbered ranks are taken first as casualties in battle – as a general rule, put your worst troops up front. JB: I like to put heavy infantry up front, because they often survive a small fight without any casualties. When I’m besieged, I also put them up front, because two cheaper units, each getting the benefit of city defences, will make a bigger impact on my enemies. You can reorganize a type of troop by placing all of the individual troops into different ranks. All of the troops will now be placed into their new ranks. You should check your units to make sure the troops are assigned as you wish. Whenever you transfer troops into one of your armies, you should re-assign the new troops to ranks, and whenever you build new troops you should reassign them also – unless they are about to be put into another army (in that case, you reassign them once they’ve been transferred). Keep in mind that troops are reassigned in First Events (not during movement). You can put as many (or as few) of your troops in each rank. You can leave ranks empty. JB: If you have a small force, and want them to attempt a risky move to a currently empty enemy territory, you might like to put one troop in the first rank, and set the retreat level to rank one. If enemies turn up, you’ll take casualties from the first round of combat, but the rest of your troops will flee like the cowardly scum they are. It’s better than having them all die, isn’t it???

Disbanding/Salvaging Troops:

This step is to get rid of troops that you do not want. If you don’t want to pay upkeep for commanders or troops, then you can disband or salvage them. Disbanding soldiers or scuttling ships will remove the troop, so you won’t have to pay upkeep that same turn. Salvaging is the same thing, except that you may gain gold from doing this. Salvaging represents taking equipment, horses, etc. from the disbanded troops. To gain salvaged gold from ships, the unit must be in a province (not a sea).

Movement Events:

Okay, now that all of the first events are complete, the main part of the turn activities happen. These are called Movement Events. These steps are performed one at a time. After the last step, if there are any more armies or fleets that have orders to perform, then all of the steps in Movement Events will repeat in the same manner. Each time Movement Events happen, this is called a Phase (this is explained better previously in this chapter). This continues in a number of Phases (each phase, movement events happen). After all units have performed all their actions, there will be 1 extra phase, and then Movement Events are complete. For example, an army has orders to March to province A, then March to province B. In the first Phase, all of the steps in Movement Events happen, and occur, and so during Phase 1, the army will march to province A. On Phase 2, the army will move to province B. If more units have actions to perform, then there will be additional Phases. There may be a Phase 3, Phase 4, etc. The steps of Movement Events are:

Transfers Happen:

This step is for all transfers to happen. Transfers will happen exactly like they did in First Events, with the same requirements. Each unit will check to see if it has any transfers to perform, and if the recipient is in the same location. If the recipient is there, then the transfer will happen. If the recipient is elsewhere, then the unit won’t transfer (transferring is explained better in Chapter 5). JB: A simple rule of thumb is: troops can only transfer if they’re in the same place at the same time.

Ctrl+click here for more on transfers.

Armies Prepare To Board Foreign Fleets:

This step is for each army to prepare the Board Fleet action. You don’t do this if your own fleet will load your army, this is only for a foreign fleet that will do so. A foreign fleet can only load your army if your army performs this action! This will not cause an army to be loaded at this time, but will prepare the army to be loaded later. This action is only needed for boarding a fleet owned by a different realm. This action indicates which realm will be allowed to load the army. Without this action, your army will refuse to board any foreign fleet. When an army will board a fleet, it cannot move that turn (loading/unloading armies is explained better in the Details section).

Your army can be a marine on your ally’s fleet. So long as you have checked the box on your army’s description box so that it says "Board Enemy Ships in Sea Battles" then your soldiers will act on your ally’s ships as marines just as they would work on your own ships.

If your ally chooses to break faith with you, and your soldiers are on his ships, then there will be a battle between your soldiers (and any of your accompanying ships) and his ships (and any of his accompanying soldiers). Generally you would expect the ships to win such an encounter. But if the soldiers win, they could capture some of the ships, and thereby save themselves from drowning.

If you wish to load an army onto your own fleet, this is an action undertaken by your fleet, not your army. You order your fleet to load an army. You don’t need to order the army at all – unless you want your army to board a foreign fleet.

Fleets Load Armies:

This step is for all armies to be loaded aboard fleets (remember, harbours are not needed for loading/unloading armies). In order for an army to be loaded onto a fleet, these conditions must be met:

When an army is loaded, that army will not be able to move any further during the turn (it will have 0 Move-points). The fleet can still move.

Note: A Royal Carrack has Marine Capacity for 4, and Storage for 4. This does not mean you could put two infantrymen on as marines and another two as passengers. You will only get two infantry units on the Royal Carrack, and you can set them to marine duties. A Timber Raft can carry the same amount, but cannot use the troops as marines in battle, since its Marine Capacity is 0.

Ctrl+click here for more on Fleet Loading and Unloading.

Fleets Set Sail:

This step is for each fleet to sail 1 location. A fleet can sail between seas and provinces (for a province, this is to sail to the coast and dock ships there). A fleet can only sail to 1 location per phase - a fleet can sail to additional locations in other Phases. (It is important to understand Movement, Move-points and Permission, which are explained in the Details section). For sailing, there are the following conditions:

Ctrl+click here for more on Move-points.

Homeless Fleets Depart:

A Homeless Fleet is any fleet located in a province, but there is nowhere for the fleet to anchor. This will happen if there is no harbour, or if the province is owned (or conquered) by an enemy. A harbour can be destroyed, and in each case, all fleets there will be Homeless Fleets. Such fleets will flee to any connected sea (a random sea will be chosen). If a fleet flees in this way, it will do so in the next phase (not the current one) and will use up all Move-points, and will not be able to follow any sail orders. If for some reason there is no connected sea, then all ships in the fleet will be scuttled, and a new army will be created to contain all commanders that were in the fleet.

Sea Battles Are Fought:

This step is for Sea-battles to be fought. This is a battle between enemy fleets and marines that are in a sea. Fleets are never engaged in battles on land. Sea battles occur according to the Sea-battle System (this is explained in Chapter 6). Enemy ships will be involved in the combat, as well as marines, which are soldiers in armies loaded aboard the fleets fighting. Whether troops fight as marines depends on the Marines Option of an army, and also the available Marine Capacity of a fleet (this is explained in Chapter 5). Enemy fleets in the same sea will always engage each other in battle. If 2 enemy forces are crossing the same sea border, Sea battles happen with normal cross-border battles.  So if you are moving from A to B, and he is moving from B to A, a normal cross-border battle will happen.  If a fleet retreats from a battle, this will use up all of the fleet’s Move-points and the fleet won’t perform any other actions that turn (including transfers, etc.) The victors of a sea-battle may capture ships lost by enemy fleets. All Sea Battles will be resolved at this time, one by one, until there are no more enemy fleets in the same location. Note that a fleet could retreat from 1 battle, only to find itself in another sea, and have to fight another battle. If a fleet is destroyed in battle, any commanders in the fleet will be transferred to other available fleets (if none are available, the commanders will be lost at sea).

Sea battles have no move cost for units involved (fleets or armies).

Ctrl+click here for more on Sea Battles.

Fleet Storage Checked:

This step is to check all fleets to make sure there is enough Storage available to contain the total weight of all armies loaded aboard. All fleets are checked in this way. A fleet may have insufficient storage if ships are transferred out, discarded, or lost in battle. If a fleet has more weight loaded aboard than storage, then troops will have to abandon ship. If possible, these will be transferred to other fleets you own. If this is not possible, then troops will have to be abandoned at sea. Troops that are heavier and have less value have a tendency to be thrown overboard first, but you will have no control over what you will lose. So, try to make sure you have enough storage to carry your valuable cargos!

Ctrl+click here for more on Storage and Weight.

All Armies Unloaded Onto Provinces:

This step is for all fleets to perform the Unload Army action. Each fleet can have numerous armies loaded onto it. These armies can be unloaded onto a province (remember, harbours are not needed for loading or unloading armies). When an army is unloaded, it will be placed onto the target province. If this action is performed successfully, then the fleet’s and army’s Move-points will be all used up, and neither unit will be able to move any further for the turn. The conditions for unloading armies are:

There is a negative combat modifier for your troops if they unload on a province where there are enemy troops. The modifier will only take effect during the first combat – if you win the first battle, and more enemy troops arrive in a later phase of the same turn, there will be no negative modifier. If you bring in more troops next week, and your enemy attacks at the same time, your troops will not have a negative modifier either, as the province is now owned by you and it is therefore not an amphibious assault.

Note – if there is an empty enemy province you wish to invade, and your enemy marches troops there in the first movement phase, they will meet simultaneously. The enemy will still own the province, so your invasion force will get the negative modifier for an amphibious assault.

Ctrl+click here for more on Amphibious Invasions.

Armies March:

This step is for each army to march 1 province for the current Phase. This will only happen if the army meets all conditions for movement (Marching is explained better in Chapter 5). Each army will only march to 1 province at this time (an army can march to additional provinces in other Phases, but an army can only move 1 location per phase). After an army marches, then the Move-point cost is taken from the army’s Move-points. For marching to succeed, there are the following conditions:

Crtl+click here for more on Movement and Movepoints.

Ctrl+click here for examples of Movement.

Ctrl+click here for more on Invasions.

Ctrl+click here for more on Coordinating Movement.

Defend Fortifications Option Changed:

This is for all armies to change their Defend Fortification option, as they prepare for any battles. This option indicates if an army will enter and defend a fortification if there is a battle in the province. If an army does this, the army will gain a defensive bonus from any fortification. But, if there is a fortification, the army will not be able to retreat from the battle. If the unit is set to not defend fortifications, then it can retreat normally. If there is no fortification, then this option has no effect (the unit will be able to retreat then).

Ctrl+click here for more on Fortifications.

Cross-border Battles Are Fought:

Now, all Cross-border battles happen. This is a battle that happens when 2 or more enemy armies attempt to move into each other’s locations on the same border. This is related to armies marching, and only the units actually moving are involved (garrisons will never be involved in cross-border battles, and neither will fortifications). For example, Province A connects to Province B. Army#1 moves from A to B. An enemy army moves from B to A (this is all happening in the same Phase). These 2 enemy units are moving to each other’s location, so this will cause a cross-border battle to happen, at the border of Provinces A and B. If another army was moving from C to A, that army would not be involved in this battle (only units moving from A to B or from B to A will be involved). You can consider the border a completely separate province for the purposes of this battle, and any unit not on the border will not be involved. So, no fortifications will be involved, and neither will units located in the provinces, or units that were unloaded into the provinces. Cross-border battles are resolved similarly to normal province battles. However, if a unit retreats, it will go back to where it was before it attempted to move. So, in the above example, if Army#1 retreated, it would just move back to Province A. This may cause another battle to happen in the next step (province battles).

Cross-border battles do not affect the immediate movement of the winning army – that force will continue to move to their ordered destination, and may fight another battle when they get there. As for the loser, his army will not be able to successfully complete its ordered move.

Ctrl+click here for more on Battles.

Land Battles Are Fought:

This step is to check for all Land Battles to happen. A land battle is a bloody combat between enemy armies (and any garrison, if there is one) in the same province. In the previous steps, all armies have marched 1 location and fought any cross-border battles. Now, land battles will happen in all provinces where there are enemy units. Battles will be fought according to the method explained in Chapter 6. Some important notes about land battles are:

  1. Fleets and ships are never involved in land battles.
  2. Armies that are not at war will never fight each other. So, if your ally attacks a unit, but you are not at war with that unit, then you will simply watch, and won’t be involved.
  3. Independent armies will always consider an intruder an enemy, and will always engage in battles against those who cross their borders. The exception is if you have Special Permission to move into an independent territory, in which case you will be ignored when your forces enter the province.
  4. At the end of each round of battle, each army involved may retreat. If an army retreats, then it flees into another province. This will be the province that the army moved from, unless this province has enemy soldiers in it. In this case, the army will retreat to any available province that it can move to. If there are no available provinces to retreat to, then the unit will not retreat, and will instead remain in the battle. When a unit retreats, all Move-points will be used up.
  5. Units in cross-border battles will still arrive at normal land battles. They will arrive at the same time as other units that were not in a cross-border battle. Units that retreat from a cross-border battle will return to the province from where they started movement. These units will be involved in any battle in the province they started from (unless they were destroyed in the cross-border battle).
  6. You don’t have to destroy the fortifications of a city to conquer the province. You just need to kill off any troops defending it. If there aren’t any, then you conquer the city without damaging it – the city throws open its gates to you! But if there are defenders, it might be very beneficial for you to damage or destroy the defences first.
  7. If two attackers in an independent province are hostile towards each other, the battle will be a 3-way battle; each side will attack all the others. His troops may attack you or the other invader. The one he attacks is random, same with everyone else's forces. For example, you have 10 troops, the other invader has 15, then for each unit owned by the independent, there is a 10/25 chance the independent will attack one of your troops, 15/25 chance of attacking the other invader. The same thing for which troops you will attack, etc.

Battle only uses move points if fought on enemy territory.  Therefore, there is no move cost for a cross-border battle, or a battle that occurs on friendly or neutral territory.

Ctrl+click for more on Battles.

Province Ownership Changes:

This step is for the ownership of provinces to change. If a province is invaded, and all friendly armies are destroyed or have retreated, then the invaders will now own the province. If a province is invaded by more than one Realm, then the Realm with the greatest number of troops/commanders in the province at this time must have a total combat of at least 10 (which means a lone siege machine cannot conquer a province). If ownership changes, the following happens:

If two or more countries have troops in a province, and the province is to change hands, then it will belong to the country which has the largest total of troops in the province. Eg Denmark and Norway are allies; both move to Flanders, and conquer it. Denmark has eight heavy cavalry, Norway has nine men-at-arms. Norway will get ownership, simply because nine is more than eight. The quality of the troops is irrelevant in determining ownership – quantity rules!

If your province is conquered by another player, and that player doesn’t annex the province, you have only three turns to re-conquer it, before your annexation is automatically cancelled. If the province is ceded to another player, however, the process of losing your annexation gets delayed to 3 turns after the ceding of the province..

Provinces are Pillaged:

This step is to perform all Pillage orders for all armies and garrisons (fleets can’t Pillage). The ownership/annexation of a province does not matter for Pillaging. To Pillage is to seize gold from a province, which can cause devastation to that province (increasing the damage level). The conditions are:

If all conditions are met, then the province will be pillaged. This results in:

Movement Events Repeat:

This step is to check to see if the Movement Events should be repeated. If any unit has Move-points, or can perform valid actions, then Movement Events will repeat. In this case, there will be another Phase (so if the previous Phase was 3, then there will be a Phase 4). After all units have performed all their actions, there will then be 1 extra Phase, and then Movement Events are complete, and then Final Events will happen.

Final Events:

After all the Movement Events are complete, then there are the Final Events. These happen now.

Province Damage Increases:

This step is to check to see if the Damage of any province is increased. Damage will occur if:

If any of the above events happened, then province damage will be increased +1, to a maximum of 3. The damage can only be increased +1 each turn (if multiple events happened, province damage is still only increased +1).

Gold Sent:

This step is to perform all Send Gold actions, where you send gold to another realm. There is a cost of 10% of the amount sent, which represent transportation expenses and merchant fees. The recipient garrison can be owned by a foreign realm, or the same realm. To send gold, the conditions are:

Upkeep Paid:

This step is to pay the upkeep costs for your commanders, soldiers and ships. Commanders gain upkeep first. Gold used for upkeep will be lost. For troops that do not receive upkeep, you don’t necessarily lose half your troops, but each troop not receiving full upkeep has a 50% chance of being lost.  So, you could lose half, or less than half, based on the chance of each troop.

Troops Built:

This is for all soldiers recruited and all ships built to be placed onto their garrisons. If there are not enough funds to build a type of troop, then the number to be built will be reduced to what you can afford. If the province you were building in is conquered by another nation, you will not be able to build there. If your province is attacked, but you successfully defend it, then you will be able to build troops there.

Remember that your HQ is not always precise in determining exactly how much surplus gold you have. If you have a surplus of two gold when you send your turn on, you can be confident that all of your purchases will succeed.

Ctrl+click for more on Building Troops.

Commanders Hired:

This step is for garrisons to hire commanders (only garrisons can do this). The conditions for this action are:

If the garrison meets all conditions, then a new commander will be hired. This individual will have ratings in different skills, some commanders have higher ratings than others (you may get a highly skilled individual, or you may get an amateur). Commanders will improve their skills from successful battles.

Ctrl+click here for more on Commanders.

Provinces Annexed:

This step is for garrisons and armies to Annex Province. Annexing means to assimilate it into your realm, and creating an infrastructure there with officials, governor and tax collectors, so that you can extract revenue from the local inhabitants. Annexation cost is equal to the maximum revenue of the province, as shown on the map screen. JB: There is a significant change from older games – you no longer have to pay double to annex a province with a city. You pay the annexation cost now, but you won’t receive any revenue from the province this turn (you will get revenue next turn). If you lose ownership of a province, it will remain annexed to you for a few turns more, and then the taxation infrastructure will be lost, so it will be annexed to no one. So, if you lose a province, and then recapture it soon, then you won’t have to annex it again. To annex a province, you must own it now, and also you must have owned it at the beginning of the season. You do need troops to conquer a province, but they don’t have to stay there while you annex – the province could be empty of troops, and you could still annex it. Also, you don’t need to keep troops in an annexed land – you can leave it empty, and it will stay yours forever. JB: Unless an enemy army moves in and takes it from you, which you have to expect if you don’t guard your borders.

Remember that your HQ is not always precise in determining exactly how much surplus gold you have. If you have a surplus of two gold when you send your turn on, you can be confident that all of your purchases will succeed.

Province Annexation Declines:

When a province changes ownership, it will remain annexed to the realm that it was previously annexed to. However, if the ownership of a province is different than the annexation, then the province will not yield revenue. In addition, if this continues for 3 turns, then the province will become annexed to independents. This represents the decline and wasting away of the officials and infrastructure previously organized there. So, if you lose an annexed province, try to recapture it in a few turns, because after 3 turns it will no longer be annexed to you (if you recaptured it after a long period, you would have to annex it again).

Construction Happens:

This step is for all structures to be built or repaired. These activities include building/upgrading/repairing fortifications, as well as building harbours. The conditions for construction are:

For a unit that meets all conditions, the unit will now perform construction.

A province could have it’s fortification level go up twice in one turn, but only if it has damaged fortifications that are left in peace for the turn, and you decide to build another level of fortification at the same time. Eg Your Fort is level 2, but it has suffered a little damage and is currently on Level One. The damage will repair automatically because the province is not attacked that turn, and because you’ve ordered 3 soldiers to build there that turn, it will be on Level Three at the start of the next turn.

Ctrl+click here for more on fortifications.

Gold Decay:

This step is for any gold left in your treasury to decay. At this time, 7% of the gold in your treasury will now decay, which represents pilfering, and frivolous expenses by your ruler as he lives the high life.

Structures Razed:

This step is to raze a structure in a province; a harbour or fortification level. Only armies and garrisons can do this. Gold can be salvaged from razing, which is indicated for each structure. The conditions for razing are:

If a unit meets all conditions, then the structure will be razed. Any materials gained will be placed into the storage of the unit (these won’t decay, because of course decay happened previously).

Regions Claimed:

This step is to update the ownership of all Regions. Each Region can have only 1 realm as the owner. In order for a realm to own a Region, the realm must meet all requirements:

At this time, the ownership of all Regions are updated. A realm that has meets all requirements to a Region will now be the new owner, and will gain revenue this turn. A realm that no longer has claim to a Region will continue to be the owner as long as the realm owns at least 1 province in the Region. However, if you do not own all provinces in the Region, you won’t gain the revenue (you will get the commander bonus though).

Region Revenue Gained:

This step is to produce the revenue from each Region. If you have title to a Region, then you can gain additional revenues, as the lesser nobility and merchant class yield additional taxes and tribute. To gain this revenue, you must meet all requirements to claim the Region (as described in the previous step). If you have a Patron, you will pay him 10% of the revenue you gain from your province income and your own Region income.

Province Revenue Gained:

This step is for all provinces to yield revenue to your main treasury. Province income is explained better in Chapter 5. The conditions for producing revenue are:

At this time, all provinces will deliver their revenues (which the inhabitants have worked hard all season long to produce).

Ctrl+click here for more on Province Revenue.

Provinces Gifted:

This step is to transfer the ownership of provinces between Realms. On the Diploware, you can give another realm a province you own. In order for this to happen, the following conditions must be met:

When ownership is changed, this won’t change the annexation of the province, and will also not affect any fortifications or harbour in the province (which will become owned by the recipient realm). Any garrison owned by the old owner will have all troops transferred into new units. So, you can’t use this to give away troops to another realm.

Proclamations Income:

This step is for the revenue to be gained from any Proclamation that you made. When you make a proclamation, this will increase your prestige, resulting in extra production by your followers. Accordingly, you will earn 7 gold, which is placed into your treasury. In order to gain the revenue, the proclamation must be suitable, as explained in Chapter 5. Your population does not want to hear vulgarities, which may invoke divine wrath in this superstitious age - and some superstitions are real, for the GM is reading...

Province Damage Repaired:

This step is to repair the damage level of provinces. Damage represents destruction that occurs to crops, population centres, bridges, etc. that reduces the revenue you can gain from a province. Each province has damage from none (undamaged) to 3 (heavily devastated). The damage level is increased at the beginning of Final Events (this happens from pillaging, battles, etc.) Damage is only repaired 1 level per turn. For damage to be repaired:

For provinces that meet these conditions, damage will be repaired 1 level at this time (this happens automatically). This step happens after revenues are gained of course, so revenues will be based on the damage level before damage is repaired.

Peace Established:

This step is to establish peace treaties between Realms. If 2 Realms are at war, they can attempt to establish a peace treaty. This will only succeed if both Realms offered peace to each other. If this happens, then they will now be neutral. Otherwise, they will remain enemies.

Alliances Cancelled:

This step is to cancel alliances. If 2 Realms have an alliance, then either Realm can cancel it. Only 1 Realm needs to do this, and then the alliance will be cancelled. If this happens, then they will now be neutral.

Alliances Formed:

This step is to form an alliance with another Realm. If 2 Realms are neutral, then they can establish an alliance. Both Realms will need to offer each other an alliance. If this happens, then an alliance will be formed between them. Otherwise, nothing will happen. You can’t offer an alliance if you're at war. So, you can’t move from enemies to allies in the same turn, because that would take 2 turns (the first is to gain peace, and then next is to form the alliance).

Client States Revolt From Their Patrons:

This is for any Client State to revolt from his Patron. A Client State may do this if he is unhappy with the arrangement for whatever reason. It only takes 1 to be revolting. When a Client State revolts:

Patrons Dismiss Client States:

This step is for any Patron to dismiss a Client State from his service, should such a Client State prove to be undesirable. In this case, the Client State will now have no Patron. Relations will become Neutral between the 2 realms. No other diplomatic statuses or other factors will be affected.

Feudal Relations Established:

This step is to form all Patron/Client State relations. In order for this to happen, 1 realm must offer Patronship to a realm, and that realm must Offer Allegiance to the other realm. Both realms need to do this the same turn, or nothing will happen. The conditions are: