The Planet King
The Planet King Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Components
- Setup
- Game Sequence
- Organisation Phase
- Events Phase
- Overview
- End of the Event Phase
- Events
- The Ensign Nun
- His Majesty the King
- Uprising
- Rivalry
- Storms
- Traitor
- Union of Arms
- The Fronde
- Raid Events
- Events of the War of the Palatinate (or Thirty Years' War)
- Old Tercio (Veteran Tercio)
- Libertines
- Instability
- The Twilight of Life
- Fall from Grace
- Spanish Road
- Diplomacy
- Austrian Alliance
- Mercenaries
- Corruption
- Beaten to a Pulp
- Conspiracy of Nobles
- Corsairs of Dunkirk
- War Event Cards
- Action Event Cards
- Corrales and Brothels
- Wars
- Actions
- End of Turn Phase
- Victory
- Special Rules
- Secret Memorial (Optional)
- Cooperative Game
- Scenarios
- Battle Name Generator
- Sequence of Play
- Tokens
- Errata
- Example First Game Turn
- A Bit of History
- Design Notes
- Bibliography
Components
- A 60x44 cm main game board.
- Two auxiliary boards: the Court and the Council of State.
- 2 reference sheets.
- 76 Notable cards.
- 68 Event cards.
- 14 Secret Memorial cards.
- 216 16x16 mm cardboard tokens.
- 25 coins, called Ducats.
- 14 wooden cubes: 4 red, 4 blue, 4 yellow and 2 green.
Game Board
The game board represents the different territories of the monarchy, the main fronts of military operations, and spaces for general control of the other European and North African powers. The map includes two mini maps representing Africa and America. During the game, the cards of the nobles who manage the territories of the monarchy through different offices are placed on the map, as will be seen later.
- Foreign powers: England, United Provinces, France, Ottoman Empire, Barbary Pirates, and Protestants. The Protestant power brings together the various Protestant nations that fought against the Habsburgs in the Thirty Years' War (or War of the Palatinate). Portugal becomes a foreign power after successfully declaring war on the monarchy when the War with Portugal event is played. Each foreign power has a box that shows the military strength of its army (a circled number, e.g. 9). Some foreign powers are naval powers, indicated with a ship in their box.
- Territories or "Nations": These are the territories in Europe (i.e. Flanders, Franche-Comté and Italy) under royal control (the player's control). They are represented by framed squares crowned by a coat of arms of the monarchy, and military units that are not assigned to wars (but ready to go to war if necessary) can be placed in them.
- Viceroyalties and overseas territories: Colonial territories under royal control, generically referred to as the Indies. At the start of the game, the Portuguese overseas territories (Mozambique, Brazil and the Portuguese Indies) belong to the Spanish crown, but after the war with Portugal begins, these territories are lost. These territories have an income value representing the number of ducats that can be collected from each one. The viceroyalties of New Spain and Peru have a level 1 fortification.
- Settlements: On the America mini map, there are two spaces reserved for the settlements of the Marianas and Formosa. These are spaces that will come into play through exploration actions.
- Offices: The cards representing the nobles who hold the various positions are placed on the board: Viceroy of the Indies, Viceroy of Italy, Governor of Flanders and Ambassador in Austria.
- Wars: Areas where wars between the Spanish monarchy and foreign powers are resolved. They are represented by tracks with one end (with black numbers) in favour of the Spanish monarchy and the other end (with red numbers) in favour of the rival power. Each foreign power has its own war track, except for France, which has up to three war tracks, called fronts: Italy, Catalonia and Picardy. Each war/front has a progression marker that moves to one side or the other as the war progresses. If the war progression marker moves to the left, the monarchy is winning the war, and if it slides in the opposite direction, it is losing the war. Each war also has a box for placing Spanish troops (the army) and a space (indicated with a horse silhouette) for the leader in command of the army. Foreign powers only have a space to place their leader, as the military strength of their armies is shown in the box of their foreign power as indicated above in point 1.
- Plus Ultra: This box is used to place units or markers whose action can cover the entire map. Example: Indies fleet or Pirate markers.
The cards of the army leaders can be placed next to the game board.
Naval Powers and the Palatinate War: The following powers are considered naval powers: England, Ottoman Empire, and Barbary Pirates. When the player is at war with a naval power, they must have at least one fleet assigned to that war or they will suffer certain negative modifiers (see Progression of a War and Government Actions). In all other wars, the player may only place one fleet, except in the Palatinate war, where there can be no fleets.
Ducats
The ducat is the currency used in the game. Ducats are used to perform various actions and are obtained through some event cards (e.g. EXCELLENT HARVESTS) and at the end of the turn, when the player collects income from the territories they control and from the arrival of fleets from the Indies. The maximum number of ducats that can be held in the player's Treasury at any given time is 12.
Historical note: Each ducat represents approximately one million real ducats, about 136 million euros at the current exchange rate.
Cards
There are two main types of cards: EVENT cards and NOTABLE cards. Event cards are used to guide the game, while Notable cards represent both politicians and military figures in the service of the kingdom, and characters from the Court and the arts.
SECRET MEMORIAL cards are used in cooperative or solo mode, according to the Secret Memorial section of these rules.
At the beginning of each game, four decks of cards are formed, one with the event cards and the other three with the Notable cards in three categories: Ladies, Nobles and Geniuses. All decks are face down and players cannot see the cards until they are played, except for the Ladies cards, which players can see at all times and choose the card they want to play (after all, the King chooses his mistresses or queens).
Event Cards
Event cards guide the various events that affect the monarchy and the King in a positive or negative way. Some of these events are generic and are used every turn, while others are specific and are only used in certain turns or even only once in the game.
Event cards can be played as events or as fortune tests (see Events Phase). If played as a fortune test, the entire text of the card is ignored and only the fortune symbol in the bottom left corner is used.
Some cards can only be used once as events (although an unlimited number of times as fortune tests), after which they are permanently discarded from the game. These cards are marked with a flame at the bottom middle.
Other cards have a strength point elimination symbol, which is used during the resolution of war event cards.
All event cards are used every turn except those with a specific turn of entry, and possibly turn of exit, shown in the seal in the bottom right. A question mark means that the card has certain conditions for entering play. Example: The THE FRONDE card is only used as of turn 6, and the LÜTZEN card is only used on turns 2, 3 and 4 of the game.
Notable Cards
Cards of Notables are divided into three groups. NOBLES: politicians, diplomats and military personnel in the service of the King; LADIES: female characters who please the King, including queens or potential queens; and GENIUSES: artists or scientists who bring prestige and enlightenment to the Court.
Notable cards have a seal in the bottom right corner that shows the turns in which they enter, and possibly exit, play. Example: The card FRANCISCO DE MOURA comes into play on game turn 5.
NOBLE Cards
Nobles in play can hold a position at Court, an office or be in command of an army. The rest of the noble cards that are not in play can be in the noble deck, waiting for their turn to enter the game, or discarded. The maximum number of nobles that can be placed at Court is four.
NOBLES cards have the following ratings:
- Military: Ability to lead military operations and expeditions. This rating can be modified by the tactician and admiral traits.
- Political: The noble's ability to resolve political issues, such as embassies or Cortes.
- Government: Ability to govern the affairs of the kingdom, such as collecting taxes.
Nobles at Court also provide prestige points to the player.
In addition to these ratings, nobles may have any of the following traits, which may be represented by their icons or by name at the bottom of the card text:
- Writer: Provides enlightenment points (literature) to the Court.
- Patron: Provides one generic enlightenment point to the Court and can act as an explorer if the noble is Viceroy of the Indies.
- Explorer: Enables the player to perform an exploration action if the noble is at Court or is Viceroy of the Indies.
- Admiral: If in command of an army, their strategy rating increases by 1 if at least half of the army is made up of fleets.
- Fortune: The first time (and only once per game) that the player places this noble or lady in an office, army command or as Queen, they receive a ducat.
- Brave: The noble can repeat a fortune test in a military campaign. If the new result is negative, the noble is removed.
- Father/Son: If the noble is removed from the game, immediately replace him with the associated noble with the son trait.
- Libertine: This noble can be affected by the LIBERTINES event card.
- Corrupt: This noble is affected by the CORRUPTION event card and collects one less ducat.
- Loyal: The noble is not affected by the TRAITOR and CONSPIRACY OF NOBLES events.
- Industrious: The noble provides an extra government or political action if he is the Valido of the King. He can act as an explorer if the noble is Viceroy of the Indies.
- Charismatic: The noble is immune to the effects of INSTABILITY cards.
- Tactician: The noble counts neutral results as positive in fortune test where the military rating is used.
- Advisor: The noble provides an extra government or political action, represented by a green cube, if they are at Court. (Only one extra action even if multiple advisors at Court).
- Mercenary: A noble with the mercenary trait is always removed if they are the target of the TRAITOR event, without the need for a fortune test. In addition, nobles with this trait are subject to the MERCENARIES event.
GENIUS Cards
Each GENIUS card has a category related to the art or science they practise, indicated in the top left. There are the following categories: literature, painting, sculpture, music, and science.
Geniuses provide enlightenment points to the Court. These points are counted in the End of Turn Phase (see Determining Enlightenment, Prestige, King's Happiness and Victory Points) and are converted into victory points. There is a limit to the number of geniuses that can contribute points depending on the art they practise. The maximum number of geniuses that can be placed at Court is four.
LADY Cards
Ladies can only occupy two positions in the Court: Royal Mistress or Queen. To be Queen, a lady must have prestige of zero or higher, and to be a Royal Mistress, she must have prestige of zero or lower.
Ladies can have the patron, advisor, or fortune traits and have the following ratings:
- Happiness: Happiness points they provide to the King.
- Fertility: Number of fortune tests to be performed when the player performs a royal issue action (see Royal Actions).
Ladies at Court also provide prestige points to the player. There may be ladies with negative prestige.
MARIA CALDERÓN provides one music enlightenment point if she occupies the position of Royal Mistress at the end of the turn.
The Valido
The Valido is the King's favourite or prime minister. The player has as many political and government action cubes as the respective ratings of the Valido (see Action Cubes).
Auxiliary Boards
There are two auxiliary boards for the game, one representing the Court and the other the Council of State, the executive body of Philip IV's government.
The Court: This board is used to place the Valido, the Notables, the Royal Mistress, the Queen, the legitimate children and the illegitimate or royal bastards. There is a box reserved for the King's male heir (Príncipe de Reynos). Each noble and genius at Court is assigned a number from 1 to 4, which is used with the corresponding notable marker (see Markers for Notables and Geographical Locations). Example: If a genius is in the Court 2 position, they will correspond with the genius 2 marker.
Historical note: Although it existed, the title Prince of Asturias was not used, as it is today, to designate the heir to the throne. Instead, he was named Prince of the Realm, more in keeping with the multinational nature of the monarchy.
The Council of State: This board keeps track of the actions available to the player and records the various game markers: Prestige, Enlightenment, King's Happiness, Victory points, and explorations. This board also records the Treasury and units under construction.
There is also a box for unique actions and events. In this box, the player places markers for unique actions and other events as a reminder.
The markers for prestige points and happiness points gained or lost during the turn are placed in their corresponding spaces. These markers are counted at the end of the End of Turn Phase (see Determining Enlightenment, Prestige, King's Happiness and Victory Points).
Tokens
The game distinguishes between the following tokens: counters for military leaders and military units, information markers, and markers for notables and geographical locations.
Military Leaders
Only nobles with a military rating of 1 or higher have a corresponding military leader counter. When nobles take command of an army on the board, the leader counter is placed in the appropriate space. Leaders have a strategy rating on their counter equal to the military rating on their card.
If the strategy rating is surrounded by a red circle, the leader has the tactician trait. If the leader counter shows an anchor symbol, they have the admiral trait.
Foreign powers also have their own leaders. These leaders are not affected by any events and are available during the turns indicated in the rules for each scenario.
All leaders have the game turns in which they are available indicated on the back of their counter. Example: The French leader Turenne is available between turns 3 and 8.
For all game purposes, a leader counter follows the fate of the noble card that represents them. Example: If DIEGO MEXÍA GUZMÁN is removed by the card THE TWILIGHT OF LIFE, his counter is removed from the game.
Military Units
Military units are divided into land units (tercios) and naval units (fleets). Each unit is equivalent to one strength point (SP) of about 3-5,000 men, or about 20-30 ships. Old tercios (veterans) are worth 2 SP, and when damaged, they are flipped to their 1 SP side. Provincial tercios are worth ½ SP.
In addition to the Spanish tercios, there are tercios of Nations (green), English (red), French (blue), Habsburg (grey), and Catalan (white) tercios. The Old, English, French, Catalan, and Habsburg tercios come into play through events; the others through player actions.
The number of unit counters is limited to those provided by the game, i.e. this number is chosen to represent the demographic and military power of the military forces in the time of Philip IV.
Only the player has military units at their disposal; the units of the other powers are represented by each power's military strength indicator.
Historical note: Infantry units made up of soldiers from territories other than Spain were called tercios of Nations: Italians, Burgundians, Irish, Walloons, Germans, etc.
Information Markers
These are used to represent certain events and unique actions in the game on the map and auxiliary boards.
The children of Philip IV are represented by a marker with a generic name. If they have a letter 'v', the child is male (from 'varón', Spanish for male) and therefore, if legitimate, a possible heir. The back of the marker has a different colour to indicate that the child is illegitimate (brown).
Historical note: Royal bastards were educated away from the Court. Most of them held religious offices. There were certainly more bastards than those recorded in the sources. Some historians count eight, but ambassadors of the time spoke of twenty-three and, according to other sources, their number reached thirty-two. Only one of them, Juan José de Austria, had political relevance. The rest of the bastards were, for the most part, destined for the clergy.
Markers for Notables and Geographical Locations
To resolve certain events, the player must randomly choose notables or geographical locations. These notables and geographical locations are represented by their corresponding markers.
The following markers exist:
- Notables: Nobles from 1 to 4, Geniuses from 1 to 4, one for each office, one for each leader deployed in an army at a specific war/front, and one for the Royal Mistress.
- Europe: Spain, Italy and Flanders.
- The Indies: the Viceroyalties of Peru and New Spain, the Philippines, Brazil, Mozambique, the Portuguese Indies, the Marianas and Formosa.
Action Cubes
Coloured cubes used to mark the actions available to the player. These cubes are placed on the Council of State board, each in the box provided for that purpose: red for government actions, blue for political actions and yellow for royal actions.
Extra actions provided by the industrious and advisor traits are represented by green cubes.
Each time the player performs one of these actions, they remove a cube from their box. Once there are no cubes of a certain type of action left, the player cannot perform actions of that type for the rest of the turn.
Reference Sheet
There is a reference sheet that provides an overview of the different actions the player can perform.
Setup
Overview
The player (or players) chooses one of the scenarios to play from the scenario book (see Scenarios). Set up the board, the auxiliary boards, and take a reference sheet.
Court and Council of State
The player places the noble cards in the offices indicated on the board according to the scenario. They then do the same with the nobles and geniuses at Court. The player chooses the Royal Mistress from among those available for the first turn of the scenario.
Place the Valido and Queen cards in the corresponding areas of the Court as indicated in the scenario.
Offices
There are four offices in the game: Viceroy of the Indies, Viceroy of Italy, Governor of Flanders and Ambassador in Austria. These offices can only be held by nobles. If an office is not held by a noble, it is considered to be held by a noble with all ratings of value 0.
Historical note: It is difficult to recreate the complex administration of the time with simple rules and markers. For example, the Council of State represents all the advisory and governing councils of the Habsburg administration, such as the Council of the Indies, the Council of Castile and the Council of State itself, the latter being considered the most important.
Vacancies: If, during the course of a turn, an office or army command becomes vacant due to the elimination or exile of a noble, the player must immediately place a noble located at Court in the vacant office or army command. In case there is no noble at Court with a military rating (greater than zero), the army command stays vacant. This move does not count as a political action.
The Valido
The Valido cannot be affected by any card in the game. He can only be removed from his position by the player's decision at the end of the turn phase (see Appointment of a New Valido).
Cards
The cards are divided into 4 groups: events, nobles, geniuses and ladies. Each group is divided into two decks. The first deck contains the cards available for the first turn of the scenario and the second deck contains the remaining cards that are not used during the first turn. The cards in the decks are placed face down, except for the ladies deck.
All event cards without a turn indication are placed in the event deck, and also those with a turn 1 indication and those whose entry condition is met. Example: The RAID IN THE INDIES card is placed in the event deck on the first turn of play of all scenarios (except "Hothead" and war-only) since the United Provinces are at war with the Monarchy.
Next, add the number of INSTABILITY cards indicated by the scenario.
Tokens
The player deploys the counters of the military units and military leaders on the game board according to the scenario. Place the war and war progression markers.
Place the cards of nobles currently in command of an army next to the board.
Next, group the enemy leader counters by nation, paying attention to those available for the first turn.
Also group the event and unique action markers together in a pile near the board for use, as well as the information markers (war progression markers, status markers, etc.).
The player separates the markers for notables, heirs and geographical locations into four groups:
- Notables: Nobles (one for each noble at Court, office and in each army), Geniuses (one for each genius at Court) and Royal Mistress.
- Locations in the Indies: Include only the locations in use. Example: Do not include the settlements of Formosa and the Marianas if they have not yet been established.
- Locations in Europe: Flanders, Spain and Italy.
- Heirs: The player cannot know whether they are choosing a male or female heir, but they do know whether they are choosing a legitimate or illegitimate heir.
Place the corresponding markers in four opaque cups. These markers will be used to resolve various events, such as the TWILIGHT OF LIFE. Once the event has been resolved, return the marker to its corresponding cup.
On the Council of State board, place the exploration marker on the first space of the exploration track and place ducats in each overseas territory in the Indies according to their income value.
Action Cubes
The player places four yellow action cubes in the royal actions box. Then place as many red government and blue political cubes as the Valido's government and political values, respectively, in the appropriate boxes. Finally, place a green cube if the Valido has the industrious trait and another one if any noble at Court has the advisor trait. Green cubes can be used to perform government as well as political actions.
Secret Memorial (Optional)
If you are playing with this optional rule, the player draws one card of each type (Valido's and King's), but does not read them (see Secret Memorial).
Game Sequence
The turn begins with an Organisation phase, followed by an Events phase, and ends with an administrative End of Turn phase. The turns are guided by a deck of event cards.
Turns are indicated with the turn marker on the victory track on the Council of State board. Prestige and happiness points gained or lost during the turn can also be tracked here in a similar way using an appropriate marker.
Organisation Phase
During this phase, the player prepares the card decks and performs a series of preliminary actions (see Organisation Phase below). During the first turn of the scenario, only perform the Player Actions step of this phase.
Events Phase
Event cards are drawn from the deck and resolved one by one (see Events Phase below).
End of Turn Phase
A series of administrative actions are carried out, such as collecting income or deploying new units, and prestige, enlightenment, happiness and victory points are counted (see End of Turn Phase below).
Organisation Phase
Overview
During this phase, the following subphases are carried out:
- Creation of the notable decks.
- Creation of the event deck.
- Placing action cubes.
- Player actions.
- Choosing the Royal Mistress.
- Read the secret memorial (see Secret Memorial).
Creating the Notable Decks
The player prepares the decks of notable (famous persons) cards for the rest of the turn: Ladies, Nobles and Geniuses. To do this, remove from each deck the cards whose turn of entry is higher than the current turn number and, if they have one, whose turn of exit is lower than the current turn number. Also add to the deck the cards that meet certain conditions, such as the FERNÁNDEZ DE CASTRO and SOR MARÍA DE AGREDA card (note the question mark).
Notables whose turn of exit, if they have one, is lower than the current turn number are removed from the Court, offices and armies. If this results in vacant offices or army commands, see Offices.
As of turn two, before shuffling the decks, the player may remove one card from each notable deck and permanently remove it from the game. This card must correspond to a notable who has not entered the game during the same turn. Example: During the Organisation phase of turn 3, the player decides to remove the card SOR JUANA DE LA CRUZ from his genius deck, permanently removing it from the game. He could not remove the JUAN CARAMUEL card because it was introduced during the same turn 3.
Creating the Event Decks
The event deck is created with:
- the cards with a turn of entry equal or lower than the current game turn and a turn of exit is higher than the current game turn
- those without a turn of entry and which have not been permanently removed from the game, and
- those that show a question mark and meet their entry condition:
- The RAID IN THE INDIES card is included if Spain is at war in Flanders/The United Provinces.
- The third FRANCO-SPANISH WAR (33) card is included if the player has 8 or more victory points or the Palatinate War has ended.
- The second ANGLO-SPANISH WAR (37) card is included if the player has 10 or more victory points or the previous turn ended with 4 or less prestige.
- The second FLANDERS WAR card (34) is included if the player has 4 or more victory points or the previous turn ended with 4 or less prestige.
- The GUERRA DELS SEGADORES card: see Guerra dels Segadors (Reapers' War).
- The HUNTING DAY card is included through the royal action "Hunt".
Cards that have been used during the previous turn as event (and not as a fortune test) and are for one-time use (marked with a flame), such as the LÜTZEN card, are removed from the event deck.
Leave the ACTION (14) card out of the deck, unless the UNION OF ARMS event has already been played twice in the game.
Next, remove from the deck any cards with text in red that describes a condition that has been met. Example: The player removes the BARBARY PIRATES card from the deck if they have won a war against the Barbary Pirates.
Also remove any cards that should be removed as instructed by the red text on another card that was played as an event on the previous turn. Example: If the LÜTZEN card was played during the previous turn, the player removes the DANISH INTERVENTION and BREITENFELD 1631 cards from the event deck.
The AUSTRIAN ALLIANCE card is removed if the Palatinate War ended the previous turn (see Events, War of the Palatinate).
As many INSTABILITY cards (marked with a question mark) as there are active wars minus 1, are included in the event deck. Example: It is turn 3 of the game, and the player is at war with France, England, and the Protestant powers. As there are three wars, the player adds 2 Instability cards to the event deck.
Once the player plays the UNION OF ARMS event, another Instability card is added (see Events). The INSTABILITY card added by this event remains in play for the entire game.
Finally, shuffle the newly created event deck.
Historical note: The reign of Philip IV was marked by a continuous period of conflict. Wars overlapped and followed one another endlessly against the same enemies. Although the main theatres of war were the battlefields of Central Europe, the endless struggle against the Ottoman Empire and its allies continued in the Mediterranean. This continuous state of war led to general impoverishment and a worsening of living conditions.
Placing Action Cubes
Available actions are represented by coloured cubes and are placed in the action boxes on the Council of State board.
The player places as many red action cubes in the government actions box and blue action cubes in the political actions box as their Valido's corresponding ratings. Also place four yellow royal action cubes in the royal actions box. They also place extra green markers: one if the Valido has the industrious trait and another if there is a notable with the advisor trait at Court. There are no action cubes for simple actions as their number is unlimited.
Player Actions
At this point, the player can perform up to 3 actions of different types as if playing an ACTION card (see Types of Actions), except that they cannot choose to perform military campaign or embassy actions. These player actions do not use any of the action cubes the player has in the Council of State.
Example: At the beginning of turn 3, after preparing the decks, the player prepares their action cubes. The Valido is GASPAR DE GUZMÁN, so they place three red cubes, two blue cubes, and four yellow cubes. As the Count-Duke has the industrious trait, they place a green cube on the government or political actions box. That cube can be used only once to perform a government or political action. They then perform a simple action (moving a fleet), a government action (raising a tercio by paying a ducat) and a royal action (hunting), without removing any action cubes.
Choosing the Royal Mistress
Skip this step on the first turn of the game. The player removes the current Royal Mistress from the Court and chooses another from those available in the Ladies deck, to take her place at Court. The replaced Royal Mistress is permanently removed from the game.
If the King has no Queen, due to royal family mortality (see Royal Family Mortality), select a new queen from among the available ladies with a prestige of 0 or higher.
Read the Secret Memorial Card (Optional)
If this optional rule is being used, read one of them on turn 2 and the other on turn 3 (see Secret Memorial).
Events Phase
Overview
Once the event deck has been prepared, the player begins to draw cards one at a time. The event unfolds as indicated in the text on the card. Each event is resolved immediately, before drawing another card.
Some events are simple and involve only a single action, such as earning a ducat or removing a notable from the Court. Other events are more complex and require a fortune test.
Fortune Test: The game does not use dice to resolve events or game actions but uses the event cards themselves instead.
When an event or action requires a fortune test, the player draws the top card from the event deck and resolves the action using the fortune symbol in the bottom left corner of the card. There are three possible outcomes, associated with three types of birds:
- Eagle - Positive: The action/event is resolved satisfactorily for the player. (41%)
- Pigeon - Neutral: The action/event may benefit or harm the player. (19%)
- Crow - Negative: The action/event is detrimental to the player. (40%)
Once the fortune test has been performed, the cards used to resolve it are discarded and are considered played.
A single event may require multiple fortune tests, such as wars. In this case, the player stops testing (and drawing cards) when the conditions of the event are met, except when the rules indicate otherwise (e.g. undefended raids, see Raid Events, or war event with more than 3 SP difference, see Progression of a War).
If the event cannot succeed or succeeds automatically, a fortune test is not performed. Example: TRAITOR event targeting a notable with the loyal resp. mercenary trait (see Traitor).
If the event deck is exhausted during or at the time of a fortune test, shuffle the discard pile and complete the test(s) before checking end-of-phase conditions.
Example: Fifth turn of the game, the player starts by drawing an event card. The first card is THE PLAGUE, so they only have to remove one ducat from the Treasury. They then draw the next card, FRANCO-SPANISH WAR. With this card, the player is forced to perform a fortune test. If the result is negative, war is declared with France. To resolve the test, the player draws the next card from the event deck: INSTABILITY. This card is used to perform a fortune test and not as an event. The fortune symbol is checked: negative, so war is declared (see Wars). The player continues drawing cards and resolving their effects until the end of turn conditions are met.
End of the Event Phase
The Event phase ends if the event card deck is empty when you would draw a new card as an event. It also ends when 5 ACTION cards or 4 ACTION and the TOTAL WAR cards have been played as events (and not as fortune tests). Place these cards separated in the discard pile to keep track of how many have been played.
Events
Each event is resolved independently. War events are special events that are detailed in the Wars section of the rules. ACTION cards are events in which the player carries out their actions, as detailed in the Actions section of the rules.
Events that cannot be carried out because a condition is not met are discarded without being played. Example: In the PATRON event, the player places a new genius at Court. This event is not carried out if all four genius spaces in the Court are already occupied. The event card is discarded.
Some events provide positive or negative happiness points; other events provide positive or negative prestige points. Record these by adding the corresponding markers on the Council of State board. These markers are counted in the End of Turn Phase.
If a single-use event (flame on the card) is played, remove it from the game permanently after resolving it.
If the card indicates (red text) that other cards should be removed, set it aside as a reminder to remove those cards just before the new event deck is formed on the next turn.
Although the event cards explain how they work, some require a more detailed explanation:
The Ensign Nun
The player chooses between performing an exploration (see Simple Actions) as if performed by a noble with a military value of 2, or a political action without spending an action cube.
His Majesty the King
The player chooses between performing a government action or a royal action without spending an action cube. The action is carried out as described in the Actions section.
Uprising
If Spain is not at war with any power, this card is discarded without being played. Otherwise, randomly take a geographical location marker from Europe. Place a revolt marker on that location, which will be resolved at the end of the turn (see Revolts).
Rivalry
Randomly choose a genius from those at Court. Remove their card from Court and place an exile marker on the genius. The Court painter is immune to the RIVALRY event.
Storms
Perform a fortune test for each fleet, pirate counter and Indies fleet counter located in the Plus Ultra box. If the result is negative, the fleet or marker is removed from the game. Note that the Manila Galleon does not have to perform the fortune test.
Traitor
Randomly select a noble or the Royal Mistress by drawing a marker from the notables cup (draw again if a genius appears). Then perform a fortune test:
- If the result is negative, immediately remove the noble/mistress from the game.
- If the result is neutral, remove the noble/mistress from their position on the board or Court and place an exile marker on their card.
- If the result is positive, nothing happens.
A noble with the mercenary trait is always removed if they are the target of this event, without the need to perform the fortune test. Similarly, a noble with the loyal trait is immune to this event and no fortune test should be performed.
Exile: A notable in exile does not provide any points and their values cannot be used while they are in exile. A notable remains in exile until they receive a royal pardon (see Royal Actions).
A notable who returns from exile can occupy any unoccupied position at Court, office, or command of an army. If there are no free positions, the notable's card is placed in the appropriate notable deck.
Union of Arms
This event can be used at the player's discretion, i.e. it is not mandatory to play it. If the player plays it for the first time, they gain a ducat but must immediately add an INSTABILITY card to the event deck. If there are no INSTABILITY cards available, they must add the GUERRA DELS SEGADORS card instead. These cards remain in the deck for the following turns.
The second time this card is used as an event, the UNION OF ARMS is considered to be completed. It is discarded from the game, and the following changes occur:
- The eighth ACTION card is added to the event deck at the start of each new Organisation phase.
- Two ducats are collected in Aragon (instead of one).
- Two provincial tercios are levied instead of one in Spain at the end of each turn.
Place the Union of Arms marker on the dedicated space on the Council of State board when it is completed.
Once the GUERRA DELS SEGADORS card has been played as an event, the UNION OF ARMS card is permanently removed from the event deck in the next Organisation phase.
The Fronde
This event can only be played if Spain is at war with France. In this case, the player deploys a French tercio on any French war front and checks whether the LOUIS II CONDÉ card is in play. If it is not, the player takes the Condé card and its corresponding counter from the nobles deck and places it in command of the Picardy or Catalonia army. The leader that was in command of that army is retired to the Court or the nobles deck.
Raid Events
With one of the PIRATES event cards, the RAID IN THE INDIES and COUNTER-ARMADA event cards, a raid takes place. To resolve the raid, a geographical marker for the Indies and Spain is taken at random from the corresponding cup and the defence level of the area is checked. A fortune test is carried out:
- If the area is occupied by a fleet or a level 2 fortification: only a negative result means that the raid is successful.
- If the area is occupied by a level 1 fortification: a negative or neutral result means that the raid is successful.
- If the area has no defences, the raid is immediately successful, although a fortune test must still be carried out (thus discarding a card).
Spain and the Viceroyalties of Peru and New Spain have an intrinsic level 1 fortification.
If the raid is successful, any ducats in the target territory are removed. Then place a raid marker. This marker remains in the territory until the player sends a fleet using a simple movement action (see Simple Actions). While the territory has a raid marker, it does not produce ducats (see Income).
A successful raid on a settlement (Marianas or Formosa) removes the settlement and the player loses one prestige point. Marianas or Formosa cannot be raided if they do not have a settlement (because they have not been discovered or because they have been destroyed).
Raids on areas that already have a raid marker have no effect, as do raids on Portuguese territories after their independence.
If the COUNTER-ARMADA event takes place in Spain and is successful, two ducats are immediately removed from the Treasury, and if there is no fleet in Spain, a raid marker is placed.
The RAID IN THE INDIES event is conditional on the United Provinces being at war with Spain at the time it is played. If the Flanders War is not in progress, this card is not included in the event deck during the Organisation phase.
Events of the War of the Palatinate (or Thirty Years' War)
The following cards move the War of the Palatinate progress marker: WALLENSTEIN, DANISH INTERVENTION, LÜTZEN, BREITENFELD 1631, BREITENFELD 1643, and the second FRANCO-SPANISH WAR (32) card.
Some of these cards are one-time use, and others require other cards to be removed during the Organisation phase (red text on card).
Example: If the LÜTZEN card is played during turn 2, the player removes the DANISH INTERVENTION and BREITENFELD 1631 cards from the event deck during the next Organisation phase (turn 3).
The BREITENFELD 1631 card, played as an event, increases the strength of the Protestant powers' army to 4 for the rest of the game.
Historical note: The Thirty Years' War was a conflict peripheral to Spain's real interests. The monarchy was drawn into the maelstrom of war by its unconditional support for its Habsburg relatives, who ruled the Empire. The ability to influence the conflict from the outset was limited and generally confined to Spanish interests, which were more focused on the Netherlands and Italy than on the Central European theatre.
Old Tercio (Veteran Tercio)
The player can exchange a Spanish tercio for an old (veteran) tercio by spending one ducat. This action is voluntary and limited by the number of counters in the game. An old tercio is worth 2 SP and, if chosen for elimination in a war, is flipped to its 1 SP side.
Libertines
The player chooses a notable with the libertine trait from among those at Court, in office or in command of an army. Perform a fortune test. If the result is negative, the notable is exiled. Place an exile marker. If there are no libertine notables in play, this card has no effect.
Instability
These cards are added to or removed from the event deck during the Organisation phase (see Creating the Event Decks) or when the UNION OF ARMS card is played.
When one of these cards is played as an event, the player removes a ducat from the Treasury and randomly selects a notable in play by drawing a marker (see Tokens). This notable is permanently removed from the game, except when the notable has the charismatic trait.
Example: Turn 4 of the game, the player has in office CARDINAL INFANTE (Governor of Flanders), RODRIGO PACHECO (Viceroy of the Indies), LEOPOLD OF HABSBURG (Viceroy of Italy), FRANCISCO PIMENTEL (Army of Italy) and GARCÍA DE AVELLANEDA (Ambassador in Austria). At Court, FERNÁNDEZ DE LA CUEVA and GASPAR DE BORJA are nobles, DIEGO VELÁZQUEZ and BALTASAR GRACIÁN are geniuses, and MARIANA PÉREZ is the Royal Mistress.
An INSTABILITY event is played, and after removing a ducat, a notable must be chosen to be removed from the game. A marker is taken at random, resulting in the Governor of Flanders, so CARDINAL INFANTE is removed. As a vacancy is created in the office of Governor of Flanders, the player moves FERNÁNDEZ DE LA CUEVA to the position without having to spend a political action.
Next, a TRAITOR card is played. DIEGO VELÁZQUEZ is chosen at random, but as he is a genius and not a noble, the card has no effect on him, so another marker is drawn. This time, the Court 1 marker is drawn, and the event involving GASPAR DE BORJA must be resolved. The player performs a fortune test on GASPAR DE BORJA: the result is neutral, and the noble is sent into exile.
The Twilight of Life
Randomly choose a notable in play (not in exile). This notable is permanently removed from the game. If this results in a vacancy, it must be immediately filled (see Offices).
If the Royal Mistress dies, all bastard children are removed and the player loses 1 happiness point.
Fall from Grace
Randomly choose a genius located at Court and shuffle it back into the genius deck. The Court painter is immune to the FALL FROM GRACE event.
Spanish Road
Check the status of the Valtellina pass (see War with France):
- If the pass is open (there is no Valtellina marker on the communication line between Franche-Comté and Italy), place the marker. From that moment on, the passage between Franche-Comté and Italy is considered closed.
- If the pass is closed (there is a Valtellina marker on the communication line between Franche-Comté and Italy) and the player voluntarily spends a ducat, remove the marker. From that moment on, the passage between Franche-Comté and Italy is considered open. If the player does not spend a ducat, the valley remains closed.
Historical note: The Valtellina valley was used as a passageway for the Spanish tercios from their Italian territories to the Spanish Netherlands, on the so-called Spanish Road. The pass was closed and opened to the tercios depending on the progress of the various wars against France.
Diplomacy
The player may send an embassy as if performing a political action: Embassy (see Political Actions), but without consuming an action cube and not placing the embassy unique action marker. The embassy can be sent even if it was already taken as an action.
Austrian Alliance
In the AUSTRIAN ALLIANCE event, the player performs as many fortune tests as the Ambassador in Austria has political rating. Positive results are checked:
- 2 or 3: The player deploys a Habsburg tercio in the Palatinate army. This tercio can only be deployed on the French war fronts or in the Palatinate war, and if eliminated, cannot be reconstructed.
- 1: Nothing happens.
- 0: The player must remove a tercio located in Flanders, Franche-Comté or Italy, or a leader with a military value of 2, or 2 ducats. If the player cannot perform any of these actions, they go bankrupt (see Bankruptcy).
This card is removed during the Organisation phase of the turn after the Palatinate War ends.
Mercenaries
The player removes one ducat from the Treasury for every two nobles or fraction thereof in play (at Court, in office or in command of an army) with the mercenary trait.
Corruption
The player removes one ducat from the Treasury for every two nobles or fraction thereof in play (at Court, in office or in command of an army) with the corrupt trait.
Beaten to a Pulp
The player loses one royal action and gains one happiness point.
Conspiracy of Nobles
The player moves the Flanders war progression marker one space in favour of the United Provinces. They must also check the loyalty of the Governor of Flanders as if he had been chosen by the TRAITOR event (see Traitor).
Corsairs of Dunkirk
When this card is played as an event, the military strength of the United Provinces is reduced to 3 for the rest of the turn. If France has won a war on the Picardy front, this card is removed from the event deck during the Organisation phase.
Historical note: The Spanish-Flemish privateers of Dunkirk strangled Dutch trade. Their raids on Dutch trade and fishing forced the diversion of significant resources to combat them. After the French occupation of Dunkirk, the privateers ceased to serve the Spanish monarchy.
War Event Cards
The war event cards are the following: FRANCO-SPANISH WAR, ANGLO-SPANISH WAR, FLANDERS WAR, TURKISH WAR, GUERRA DELS SEGADORS, PORTUGUESE WAR, and TOTAL WAR. War events are resolved according to the Wars section.
Action Event Cards
There are eight ACTION event cards. One of them is added to the deck during the Organisation phase of the turns following the completion of the UNION OF ARMS.
When playing an ACTION card, the player can perform up to three actions according to the Actions section.
Corrales and Brothels
The player loses a royal action cube, if they have any left, and gains one happiness point, if available.
Wars
Historical note: War was a fundamental part of Philip IV's politics and life. Of his 44 years on the throne, there was barely one year in which he did not declare war on an enemy power. However, the monarchy resorted to war in a defensive rather than offensive context, in response to attacks from other powers.
Overview
In The Planet King military confrontations between Spain and other foreign powers are called wars. Each power has its own war, except France. A war with France can be fought on three fronts: Picardy, Italy and Catalonia. For the purposes of the game, these fronts are considered equivalent to a war. For the purposes of Instability, these three fronts are considered a single war.
The player can be at war with the following foreign powers: United Provinces (Holland), England, France, Ottomans (Ottoman Empire), Barbary, Portugal and the Protestant Powers. The player can declare war through an action (see Government Actions) or an event card can start a war automatically.
Each war (and its fronts) has a track with progress spaces, where the progression marker for that war moves as the war progresses. This progression marker can move against the player as a result of a war event card (see Progression of a War), or the player can move it in their favour by performing a military campaign action according to Government Actions.
When the war progression marker reaches the final space at either end, the war ends. Wars can also end as a result of the Embassy political action (see Political Actions).
War Event Sequence
When a war event card is played, perform the following steps:
- Determine whether the player is at war with the foreign power indicated on the event card. To do this, check whether there is a War marker in the foreign power's box.
- If the player is not at war, one (or more) fortune tests are carried out to determine whether war is declared according to Declaration of War.
- If the player is at war, the foreign power carries out a military campaign against the player in accordance with Progression of a War.
Declaration of War
When a war event card is played and the power mentioned on the card is not already at war, the player checks whether that power declares war on them:
- If it is turn 1 or turn 2: The player performs one fortune test. If the result is negative or neutral, the foreign power declares war.
- If it is turn 3 or later: The player performs two fortune tests; if the result is negative or neutral in either of the two, the foreign power declares war.
Exception: In the TURKISH WAR event, only one fortune test is performed regardless of the turn, and only on a negative result is war declared.
If the foreign power declares war, the following steps are taken:
- Place the "War" marker on the foreign power's box.
- Place the war progression marker on space 0 of the war track.
- The player can move any unit in adjacent wars, territories, and/or nobles at Court to the army box of the war.
- Place a random leader from the foreign power from those available according to the game turn. The War of the Palatinate does not have specific leaders, so no leader is placed there.
Once these steps have been completed, the event is considered finished, and the events phase continues.
During a single turn, a maximum of two new wars can be declared (by a war event card or by a military campaign government action). Indicate this with the 1st and 2nd war declared markers. If a war event is played and two wars have already been declared during the turn, it is considered as no declaration of war, and no fortune test must be performed.
Progression of a War
When a war event card is played and the foreign power is already at war (and there is no truce), a military campaign is launched against the player. In this case, the war can only progress against the player.
The player checks the number of strength points of their army in that war or on that front. They compare that number with the strength of the enemy army. They then perform as many fortune tests as the enemy leader's strategy rating. If the deck is exhausted, they shuffle the discard pile and draw the necessary cards.
If the difference is 3 SP or more in favour of the enemy, or there is no noble in command of the army, any result of the fortune test moves the war's progression marker one space to the right, against the player. Although the result is automatic, a card must be drawn for each fortune test.
If the difference is 2.5 to 1.5 SP, negative or neutral results of the fortune test move the war's progression marker one (and only one) space against the player.
If the difference is 1 or less/to 0 SP, or in favour of the player, negative results of the fortune test move the war progression marker one (and only one) space against the player.
Armies at war with naval powers (England, Ottoman Empire, Barbary Pirates) must have at least one fleet SP, otherwise all neutral results will count as negative.
Armies at war with land powers may only have a maximum of one fleet, except in the Palatinate, where there may be none.
If the SP elimination symbol appears on any of the fortune test cards, the player removes one SP (only one, even if there are several identical results). If the enemy has a leader with a strategy rating of 2 or 3 and the player must remove a SP, they are obliged to turn over a veteran tercio (if they have any) to its 1 SP-side.
Once the fortune test has been carried out, check whether the enemy leader remains in his position or is relieved of command. If the war has not progressed or no SP has been removed, the enemy leader is removed from command of the army and replaced by a random other one. The removed enemy leader can be used in later replacements.
Example: Turn 6 of the game. The player is at war with the United Provinces and England. THE FLANDERS WAR event is played. The war is at position 1 against the player (in red).
The player checks the SP in their Flanders army, commanded by the Marquis de Lede. They have one veteran tercio (2 SP) and one fleet (1 SP), for a total of 3 SP. The strength of the Dutch army is 4, so there is a difference of 1 in favour of the enemy army.
The leader of the Dutch troops is Tromp. His strategy rating is 2, so two fortune tests must be performed, yielding the INSTABILITY (negative) and FALL FROM GRACE (neutral) cards. Both cards have the SP elimination symbol.
With the negative fortune test, the war progression marker moves one space against the player (it moves to position 2) and they must remove one SP. As Tromp is a value 2 leader, the player is forced to lose the SP by turning over the veteran tercio. Tromp remains in his position by successfully moving the war progression marker.
End of a War
When the war progression marker reaches the final space of the war track, at either end, the war ends. If the marker reaches the red end, the war ends in defeat for the player, and if it reaches the other end, the war ends in victory for the player. The following actions are taken:
- The player must move the army leader's card to the Court or to the noble deck.
- The player may move SPs without any restrictions.
- The enemy leader is removed.
- Victory points are added or subtracted as indicated on the war track.
- In the event of a victorious resolution of the war, the player gains one happiness point and one prestige point.
- In case of defeat, the player loses one happiness point and one prestige point.
A war cannot be declared again if it ended during the current turn (flip the War marker to its Peace side as a reminder). Example: On turn 3, the Flanders war has ended with a victory for the player. Next, in the same turn, the FLANDERS WAR card is revealed, but this card is ignored as the war ended in the same turn.
War with France
War with France can be fought on three fronts: Italy, Picardy and Catalonia.
War in Italy
If war with France is declared during the first three turns of the game, the Italian front is activated. The other two fronts can only be opened if this front is closed. The Savoyard leader Emmanuel is available on this front along with the other French leaders.
If Spain loses this war, the Valtellina marker is placed on the communication line between Franche-Comté and Italy, and the passage between Italy and Flanders is considered interrupted for the rest of the game. Once the Valtellina pass is closed, it can only be reopened by the SPANISH ROAD card at the cost of 1 ducat (see Spanish Road).
War in Picardy/Catalonia
If the war with France begins on turn 4 or later, or once the war in Italy has ended, the FRANCO-SPANISH WAR cards open these two fronts simultaneously.
On the Catalan front, the black zone of the war's progress track (in favour of the player) only has 3 squares until the GUERRA DELS SEGADORS event is played. As a reminder, place the Guerra dels Segadors marker on the fourth space.
If there are several open fronts when a FRANCO-SPANISH WAR card is played, the campaign takes place on the front with the most advanced progression marker, whether in favour or against the player. If all fronts have the same progression status, the Picardy front is chosen.
The strength of the French armies increases to 4 for the rest of the game when the FRANCO-SPANISH WAR (33) card is played as an event.
Example: Turn 6 of the game and France is at war with Spain. The Picardy front is at position 2 in favour of the player, and the Catalonia front is at position 1 in favour of France. If the FRANCO-SPANISH WAR card is played, a campaign would take place on the Picardy front.
If a front is closed, it cannot be reopened until all other fronts are closed.
The third FRANCO-SPANISH WAR (33) event card is included in the event deck in the Organisation phase of the turn in which the player reaches 8 or more victory points or the Palatinate war has ended.
War with England
War with England can only be declared from the Plus Ultra box, and thus the Spanish army will initially only contain a fleet.
Tercios can move to this war, in subsequent movement actions, if there is a fleet in the Plus Ultra box so that the tercios can move through it.
The second ANGLO-SPANISH WAR (37) event card is included in the event deck in the Organisation phase of the turn in which the player reaches 10 or more victory points or when prestige, at the end of the End of Turn phase of any turn, falls to 4 or less.
War with the United Provinces
The second FLANDERS WAR (34) event card is included in the event deck in the Organisation phase of the turn in which the player reaches 4 or more victory points or when prestige, at the end of the End of Turn phase of any turn, falls to 4 or less.
The strength of the United Provinces' army is reduced to 3 for the rest of the turn when the CORSAIRS OF DUNKIRK card is played as an event.
War with Barbary Pirates
The War with Barbary only takes place if the player declares war on them, not as an event. If the war ends in victory for the player, the BARBARY PIRATES card is removed from the event deck.
War with Portugal
Once war is declared, Portugal is considered an independent country and a foreign power, even if Spain wins the war. Place the independence marker. Any SP in the Portugal army box is automatically moved to Spain.
The strength of the Portugal armies increases to 4 for the rest of the game when the PORTUGUESE WAR (39) card is played as an event.
After independence, no income is collected from the Portuguese territories (Mozambique, Brazil and the Portuguese Indies), and the results of raids on Portuguese territories are ignored and do not affect the player.
The enemy leaders available for war with Portugal are the English, and the Portuguese leader Meneses.
War of the Palatinate
The Palatinate War (now known as the Thirty Years' War) is different from other wars. The war progression marker can be moved by different event cards, most of which are against the player (see Events of the War of the Palatinate (or Thirty Years' War)). The player can only move the marker in their favour by campaigning against the Palatinate army (see Government Actions) or via the WALLENSTEIN event card.
The strength of the Protestant armies increases to 4 for the rest of the game when the BREITENFELD 1631 card is played as an event.
If the war ends, the AUSTRIAN ALLIANCE card is removed from the game and the Ambassador returns to the Court; if there is no space available, his card is placed in the deck of available nobles. If there are any Habsburg tercios deployed on the board (due to the limitation of these units, they will be on a war front against France or in the Palatinate War), they are eliminated.
If this war ends during turn 6 or later, the player neither loses nor gains any victory points. However, they may gain or lose happiness and prestige, according to the normal rules.
Historical note: The Thirty Years' War was known in Spain and in its origins as the Bohemian War or the War of the Palatinate.
Guerra dels Segadors (Reapers' War)
If the GUERRA DELS SEGADORS card is played, the player must take different actions depending on whether or not they are at war with France:
- If France is at war, the Guerra dels Segadors marker is removed, and the front now has four progression spaces on the side of the player.
- If France is not at war, war is automatically declared, but only the Catalan front is opened. In this case, the front remains with three progression spaces on the side of the player and the Guerra dels Segadors marker is placed to cover the '4' space. The Picardy front will only be opened when a FRANCO-SPANISH WAR event card is played.
In both cases, the Catalan leader Margarit is added to the French leaders available for that front and the Catalan tercio is placed on the French side, increasing the strength of the French army on that front by 1 SP.
The Catalan tercio and 1 Spanish tercio are eliminated if the Spanish player carries out a campaign and draws an SP elimination card. From that moment on, the French army on that front returns to its strength as defined on the map (3, or 4 if the FRANCO-SPANISH WAR (33) card was played as an event).
Once the GUERRA DELS SEGADORS card has been played as an event, the UNION OF ARMS card is permanently removed from the event deck in the next Organisation phase.
Total War
With the TOTAL WAR event, a campaign is carried out against the player on all active fronts/wars except the Palatinate War and those at truce.
Actions
Overview
ACTION event cards are those with which the player can influence the course of the game. With each ACTION card used as an event, the player can perform up to three actions of different types. There are 8 ACTION cards, seven of which are included in the event deck from the start, and the eighth card is introduced when the UNION OF ARMS is played twice as an event (see Union of Arms).
Types of Actions
The player can perform four different types of actions: royal actions, government actions, political actions, and simple actions. During their turn, the player has a limited number of actions of each type to perform, except for simple actions, which have no usage limit.
Example: The player draws an ACTION card. In the Council of State, they have one red cube (government action), one blue cube (political action) and two yellow cubes (royal actions). In this way, the player could perform, for example, one government action, one royal action and one simple action; or one political action, one royal action and one government action. However, they could not perform two royal actions and one government action, as they cannot repeat the same type of action.
Some actions can only be performed once per turn. These actions are underlined in the list of actions on the Council of State board. However, if an event card explicitly allows a specific action to be performed, it does not count against this limit. Other actions have a prior cost of one ducat; these are marked with an asterisk (*). If the player does not have a ducat, they cannot perform that action. Military campaigns require a leader with a military rating (greater than zero), or they cannot be performed.
The number of available actions is shown in the Council of State by means of action cubes (see Action Cubes). Each time the player performs an action, they remove a cube of the corresponding colour. An action can only be performed if the player has enough action cubes of the chosen type. Green action cubes can be used as government or as political actions.
Some events add actions and others may subtract actions. In these cases, the cubes of the corresponding colour will be added to or removed from their box on the Council of State. Other events (e.g. ENSIGN NUN) allow the player to perform an action immediately without using action cubes (but at the cost of ducats if required).
Royal Actions
These are actions involving the King and his affairs. At the beginning of each turn, the player always has 4 royal actions at their disposal, to which actions can be added or subtracted when playing an event.
Example: With the BARBARA VAN BECK event, one royal action is gained.
When the player performs a royal action, they remove a royal action cube and choose one of the following actions:
Issue
As many fortune tests are performed as the fertility rating of the Queen and the Royal Mistress. For each positive or neutral test for the Queen, a random child (tan side) is placed in the legitimate 'sons' box of the Court. If the test is neutral, the child is sickly, and the corresponding marker is placed. If there is no heir in the Príncipe de Reynos (Prince of the Realm) box and the new child is male, he becomes the heir. There can only be one heir at a time.
For each positive or neutral test result for the Royal Mistress, place a random child (brown side) in the bastard 'sons' box. If this bastard child is male, the player gains one happiness point. If the test result is neutral, the child is sickly, and the corresponding marker is placed.
This is a unique action. Place the appropriate marker (Progeny) in the Unique Events box on the Council of State board to indicate that the action has been played this turn.
Choose Royal Mistress
This action cannot be taken in the first turn of a scenario.
If there is already a Royal Mistress, the player removes her and her illegitimate children from the Court. Choose a new Royal Mistress from the ladies with prestige 0 or lower available in the ladies deck and place her card on the Court board. The replaced Royal Mistress is permanently removed from the game. The player gains one happiness point.
This is a unique action. Place the appropriate marker in the Unique Events box on the Council of State board to indicate that the action has been played this turn.
Hunt
This action can only be taken if the HUNTING DAY card is not already in the event deck. The HUNTING DAY card is added to the event deck and shuffled. When the HUNTING DAY card is played as an event, the player gains one happiness point.
This is a unique action. Place the appropriate marker in the Unique Events box on the Council of State board to indicate that the action has been played this turn.
Nominate/Remove Genius
The player draws the top card from the genius deck and places it at Court. In addition, the player may remove a genius from the Court and remove it from the game. Furthermore, they must remove a genius (present or the newly arrived one) if the allowed limit has been exceeded.
Appoint Court Painter
A painter at Court with at least 2 enlightenment points is nominated Court painter. Place the painter marker on the card. The Court painter is immune to the RIVALRY and FALL FROM GRACE cards.
Sale of Privileges
The player permanently removes a noble from the Court and earns one ducat.
This is a unique action. Place the appropriate marker in the Unique Events box on the Council of State board to indicate that the action has been played this turn.
Royal Pardon
The player can bring a notable back from exile. To do so, remove its exile marker and place it in a free position at Court, in an office or in command of an army. If there are no free positions, the card is placed in the corresponding deck.
Cortes
The King may convene the Cortes. To do so, they must perform a fortune test:
- If the result is positive, he collects two ducats.
- With a neutral result, nothing happens.
- With a negative result, he randomly chooses a geographical location marker in Europe. Place a revolt marker on the location, which will be resolved in the End of Turn phase.
If there is a noble at Court (but not the Valido) with a political rating of 2 or 3, the player may repeat the result of the fortune test once.
This is a unique action. Place the appropriate marker in the Unique Events box on the Council of State board to indicate that the action has been played this turn.
Historical note: "Las Cortes" were political bodies of a parliamentary, consultative and deliberative character in the Iberian monarchies. The different social classes were represented in three Orders: the clergy, the nobility, and the people. In the monarchy of Philip IV, the Cortes used to convene to ask for more money, mainly to pay military expenses.
Political Actions
Political actions can be both foreign (embassies) and domestic (appointments). When the player performs a political action, they remove a political action cube and may:
Appoint Noble
The player draws the top card from the noble deck and places it at Court (if there is place), in any office or in command of an army. If the office or army command is already occupied, the player may remove the noble who occupied the position from the game or return them to the Court, without exceeding the limit of four nobles at Court.
Example: The player performs a political action and takes the top noble from the noble deck. The chosen noble is FERNANDO DE AUSTRIA, and the player decides to place him in the army of Flanders. As this position is already occupied by FRANCISCO DE MELO, the player can place the latter at Court (as there is space and the limit is not exceeded) or directly remove his card.
Nominate Noble
The player may move a noble located at Court to any office or to the command of an army. If the office or army command was already occupied, the player may remove the noble who occupied the position from the game or return them to the Court, without exceeding the limit of four nobles at Court.
Example: The player performs a political action and replaces the Viceroy of the Indies, LUIS DE HARO, with EVERARDO DE NITHARD, who is currently at Court.
Embassy
The player may send an embassy to a war or front of their choice. The player spends one ducat and appoints an available noble from their Court as ambassador for that war. If the war is against the United Provinces, they may use the Governor of Flanders as ambassador, and if it is in the Palatinate, the Ambassador in Austria.
To resolve the embassy action, as many fortune tests are made as the political rating of the ambassador minus 1. (A rating of 1 results in zero tests and automatic failure of the embassy). With at least one positive result, the war progression marker of the front/war that is the target of the embassy is flipped to its truce side. The front/war remains immobilised, with no possibility of moving in either direction until the end of the turn, regardless of the events that are played.
A truce or peace on any war front against France requires the Condé to be removed from the game if he is still in play. He can only return to Spain via the THE FRONDE event card. (See Condé).
Once the embassy is over, the noble is again available at Court or in their office. The truce marker is flipped back to its war side in the End of Turn phase.
This is a unique action. Place the appropriate marker in the Unique Events box on the Council of State board to indicate that the action has been played this turn.
Example: The player is at war with France (Picardy and Catalan fronts), United Provinces and England. The war with England has its progression marker in the red position 1 (in favour of England). The player decides to send an embassy to the war with England and spends one ducat to do so. He chooses LEOPOLD OF HABSBURG (located at the Court) as ambassador for the war. As Leopold has a political rating of 2, one fortune test must be made, obtaining a positive result. The war is immobilised for the rest of the turn.
A front or war with a truce marker can receive a second embassy (combining the DIPLOMACY card (see Diplomacy) and this political action during the turn). If this second embassy is successful, peace is signed in that war and it is considered ended, performing the actions corresponding to the end of the war (see End of a War). However, the player loses one victory point and one prestige point. The Palatinate war cannot be ended through diplomacy.
Government Actions
These are management actions by which the player builds military resources and engages in war.
The player cannot repeat a government action that was taken with the previous ACTION card played. (This can be tracked by placing the spent action cubes next to the name of the action in the actions list on the Council of State board. Remove the cubes after the next action card was played). A military campaign can be repeated if it is conducted on a different front/war. Rotate the war progression marker to mark the last war/front where a military campaign was carried out.
A government action that was taken during the Organisation phase (see Player Actions) can be repeated, but it cannot be repeated in the End of Turn phase (see Player Actions under End of Turn Phase).
A government action can also be repeated with the HIS MAJESTY THE KING event card (see His Majesty the King), as this is not an ACTION card.
Example: The player plays an ACTION card and conducts a military campaign on the Picardy front. With the next ACTION card, the player could conduct a campaign on a different front or in a different war than Picardy.
The available government actions are:
Military Campaign
If there are no nobles with a military rating (greater than zero) available at Court, this action cannot be taken.
The player spends one ducat and launches a military campaign against a foreign power of their choice. To do so, they must first check whether the power is already at war or not:
-
If the power is not yet at war:
- Place the "War" marker on the foreign power's box and place the first or second war markers (remember that you can declare a maximum of 2 wars in the same turn).
- Place the war progression marker on 0 space of the war track.
- The player may move any unit in territories or wars adjacent to the war to the war army box.
- The player must send one of their nobles with a military rating higher than 0 located at Court to the war as the army's leader. If Ambrosio de Spinola (see Ambrosio de Spinola) or Juan José of Austria with military rating of 3 (see Juan José of Austria and Rodrigo Pacheco), is selected as the Spanish army's leader, pay 2 ducats instead of 1.
- Place a random leader from the foreign power from those available according to the turn order.
- Conduct a campaign as in an ongoing war (see below).
-
If the power is already at war:
- The player checks the number of strength points of their army in that war or on that front (SP of your units + SP awarded by some leaders). They compare that number with the strength points of the enemy army (SP shown on their territory).
- Perform as many fortune tests as the Spanish army leader's strategy rating.
- If the player's SP is equal or higher than the enemy's SP, each positive result of the fortune test moves the war progression marker one space in the player's favour.
- If the enemy's SP is higher, for every two positive results of the fortune test, the war progresses one space in favour of the player.
If at least half of the army is made up of fleets, and a leader with the admiral trait (anchor in a circle) is in command of an army, its strategy rating increases by 1.
A leader with the tactician trait (strategy rating in a red circle) considers neutral results as positive results.
If in a war against a naval power there is not at least one fleet SP, the player subtracts one SP from their army for the purposes of comparing the SPs. All other wars or fronts can only count one fleet SP (except for the Palatinate war, which cannot count any fleets).
If the SP elimination symbol appears on any of the fortune test cards, the player removes one SP (only one, even if the symbol appears more than once). On the Catalan front, the Catalan tercio must be removed first. If the enemy has a leader with a strategy rating of 2 or 3 and the player must remove a SP, they are obliged to turn over a veteran tercio (if they have any) to its 1 SP side.
When the war progression marker reaches the final space at either end, the war ends (see End of a War).
Raise a Spanish Tercio
The player spends one ducat and places a Spanish tercio in the Under Construction box on the Council of State board, waiting to be deployed by the CONSTRUCTION card or in the End of Turn phase (see Construction and Maintenance).
Raise a Tercio of Nations
The player spends one ducat and places a tercio of Nations in any territory or war of the monarchy.
Historical note: Native Spanish troops were not always available, and it was generally quicker to hire local troops, whether subjects of the monarchy or not.
Build a Fleet
The player spends one ducat and places a fleet in the Under Construction box on the Council of State board, waiting to be deployed by the CONSTRUCTION card or in the End of Turn phase (see Construction and Maintenance).
This is a unique action. Place the appropriate marker in the Unique Events box on the Council of State board to indicate that the action has been played this turn.
Simple Actions
Simple actions do not consume any action cubes.
Raise a Provincial Tercio
The player places a Provincial tercio in Italy, Spain, or in the wars of Portugal, Italy, Barbary, the Ottoman Empire, or the Catalan front.
Move a Fleet, Tercio or Leader
The player may move any number of fleets, leaders or tercios present in the same territory or war, to one or different other territories, viceroyalties, overseas territories or wars connected by uninterrupted lines of communication.
The Plus Ultra box is considered adjacent to any territory (including the territories of the America and Africa mini maps) or war, except for the Palatinate and the Franche-Comté. To move a tercio from or through the Plus Ultra box, the player must have at least one fleet SP there. Only fleets can end their movement in the Plus Ultra box.
There cannot be any tercios in the Viceroyalties or overseas territories, only fleets.
Provincial tercios can only move to or be placed in Spain, Italy, and the wars in Barbary, the Ottoman Empire, Italy, Portugal, and the Catalan front.
Example: Turn 4 of the game, the Valtellina pass is closed, so the player cannot use the Spanish route to move troops from Spain to Flanders or the Palatinate. An ACTION card is played, and the player moves two tercios located in Spain to Flanders because there is a fleet in the Plus Ultra box.
If a fleet ends its movement in a territory with a raid marker, the marker is removed. There can only be a maximum of 1 fleet in wars with non-naval powers, and none in the Palatinate.
Build a Fortification
The player spends one ducat and places a fortification in the Under Construction box on the Council of State board, waiting to be deployed by the CONSTRUCTION card or in the End of Turn phase (see Construction and Maintenance). The player chooses the deployment territory, which can be a viceroyalty, an overseas territory, or a settlement (but never Spain). The names on the fortification markers are just for thematic flavour.
If a fortification is deployed in a territory with a level 1 fortification, it is upgraded to a level 2 fortification. Settlements can only have one level 1 fortification.
The player gains one prestige point when building a fortification.
This is a unique action. Place the appropriate marker in the Unique Events box on the Council of State board to indicate that the action has been played this turn.
Conduct an Exploration
The player may attempt to move the exploration marker on the Council of State board. To do so, they must have a noble with the explorer trait located at Court. They can also carry out an exploration if the Viceroy of the Indies has the explorer, patron or industrious trait. To do this, they roll as many fortune tests as the noble's government or military rating (chosen by the player). With at least one positive result, the exploration marker advances one space (and only one).
After successfully exploring the Amazon River, the player can explore the northern Pacific Ocean or establish a settlement in Formosa (provides 1 victory point, but costs one ducat). The next exploration is the occupation of the Marianas (1 victory point, costing one ducat) and then return around the world in the opposite direction ('Tornaviaje') (1 victory point).
The explorations of Formosa and the Marianas automatically create a settlement, which is placed on the America mini map. Once the settlement has been created, its marker is placed in the cup with the rest of the location markers in the Indies for future selection. These settlements can be fortified to level 1 and provide one prestige point on the turn they are built. If a settlement is destroyed by a raid, one prestige point is lost that turn and its marker is removed from the cup.
This is a unique action. Place the appropriate marker in the Unique Events box on the Council of State board to indicate that the action has been played this turn.
Historical note: At the beginning of Philip IV's reign, Portuguese explorations in the Amazon were prominent, later focusing on the Pacific area in competition with other colonial powers such as England and the United Provinces. In this context, the conflicts over trading posts in Formosa and the Mariana Islands stand out.
Asiento
The player earns two ducats but does not receive any ducats from Castile for that turn (secured revenues). If the player goes bankrupt, they can automatically declare an Asiento (see Bankruptcy). If Castile's revenues are already secured, the player may declare a second Asiento on the revenues of the Indies, receiving 2 ducats but withdrawing all ducats available at that time in any viceroyalty or overseas territory. Once Portugal is independent, the player only collects one ducat when making an Asiento.
Use the marker to indicate the Asiento is in effect. (See Income.)
Historical note: The Asiento was a commercial mechanism whereby the state ceded the exploitation or trade of a particular resource to a third party in exchange for a sum of money collected in advance to cover immediate expenses. Possibly the most famous asiento was that of the slave trade.
Unique Actions
Unique actions are those that can only be performed once during a turn. They are underlined in the action list on the Council of State. They are the following: Issue, Appoint Royal Mistress, Cortes, Sale of Privileges, Hunt, Build a Fleet, Embassy, Build a Fortification, Conduct an Exploration.
There are markers for each of these actions that can be put in the Unique Events box on the Council of State board to indicate that they have been performed. Remove these markers at the end of the turn.
Specific actions that are explicitly mentioned on an event card do not count towards the unique action limit. Example: Performing an exploration action with THE ENSIGN NUN event card, could result in two explorations taken in a turn.
End of Turn Phase
Overview
During this phase, the following sub-phases are carried out:
- Player actions
- Construction and maintenance
- Revolts
- Indies
- Income
- Royal Family Mortality
- Control of Enlightenment, Prestige, King's Happiness, and Victory points
- Appointment of a new Valido
Before beginning this phase, the player shuffles the cards that have been used during the events phase back into the event deck.
Player Actions
If the player still has three or more action cubes, they may perform up to three actions of different types (Royal, Government, Political, or Simple) as if they were playing an ACTION card. They can only perform actions of which type there are cubes remaining on the Council of State board, and not the government action that was played by the previous ACTION card this turn.
Construction and Maintenance
The units and fortifications in the Under Construction box on the Council of State board are deployed on the board. Place the tercios and fleets in any territory, war or on the Plus Ultra box. Place the fortifications according to Build a Fortification. Fleets cannot be placed in the Palatinate war or the Franche-Comté.
Placing a newly built fleet in a territory with a raid marker does not remove the marker, only moving a fleet there does (see Move a Fleet, Tercio or Leader).
All provincial tercios on the board are removed and one provincial tercio is placed in Spain or any adjacent war, and another in Italy or any adjacent war. If the UNION OF ARMS (see Union of Arms) has been established, two provincial tercios are placed in Spain or an adjacent war.
One ducat must be removed from the Treasury for every two tercios of Nations or fraction thereof present on the board. The player must remove any tercios that they cannot or do not wish to pay.
If in play, the Dunkirk Corsairs marker is removed.
In addition, remove the markers for the number of declared wars (the first or second war markers) and recently ended wars (i.e. the Peace markers).
Revolts
If there is a revolt marker in any territory, the player checks if there is at least 1 of their own SP in the same territory. If so, they perform a fortune test to remove the revolt. On a positive or neutral result, remove the marker. On a negative result or if there are no SP in the territory, remove the marker and one ducat from the Treasury (if available).
Indies
The player checks the number of Indies fleets, pirates, Manila Galleon, and fleets present in the Plus Ultra box. If there is a pirate marker, remove one Indies fleet, unless there is a fleet SP. If there is a fleet SP, the player performs a fortune test to remove the pirate marker. On a positive or neutral result, remove the marker. On a negative result, remove one Indies fleet.
Income
Income involves adding ducats to the Treasury. Apart from certain events that add or remove ducats from the Treasury, the player collects income from their possessions in the Indies, for Spain (divided between Castile and Aragon), Italy and Flanders (the Spanish Netherlands). Note that there can never be more than 12 ducats in the Treasury.
Income from the Indies
The player collects as many ducats from the overseas territories and viceroyalties as the Viceroy of the Indies' government rating. Collect again as many ducats as the Viceroy's government rating for each Indies fleet occupying the Plus Ultra box, and one more ducat for the Manila Galleon. If the Viceroy is corrupt, one less ducat is collected. The player cannot collect more ducats than are available in the overseas territories. If Portugal is independent, no ducats can be collected from Portuguese territories.
At the end of this sub-phase, all remaining Indies fleet, Manila Galleon and Pirates markers are removed from the Plus Ultra box, and the ducats in each territory are replenished according to their income value. Once Portugal is independent, if the Viceroyalty of New Spain has a level 2 fortification, it is replenished to three ducats. If the territory has a raid marker, no ducats are placed on it.
Example: End of turn phase 5. In the Plus Ultra box there is one fleet, two Indies fleets, the Manila Galleon and a Pirate marker. The Viceroy of the Indies is Gaspar de Guzmán (Government rating 2). A fortune test is performed to see if the Pirate marker is removed. The result is negative, so one Indies fleet is removed. The income from the Indies is checked: 2 ducats for the Viceroy, another two for the surviving Indies fleet and another for the Manila Galleon, for a total of 5 ducats. There are only 4 ducats available in the Indies territories, as there are three raid markers in three territories. The player ultimately collects only 4 ducats.
Income from Spain
If there is a revolt marker in Spain (e.g. via the COUNTER ARMADA event card), no ducats are collected from Castile and Aragon. The marker can be removed by sending a fleet to Spain (see Move a Fleet, Tercio or Leader).
Else, three ducats are collected for Castile, two once Portugal is independent. If the player has secured income due to an Asiento or bankruptcy (see Bankruptcy), no ducats are collected for Castile.
One ducat is collected for Aragon unless the UNION OF ARMS card has been played twice as an event. In that case, Aragon collects two ducats.
Income from Italy and Flanders
In Italy, as many ducats are collected as the Viceroy's government rating, and in Flanders, as many as the Governor's government rating minus one. If the Viceroy or Governor is corrupt, one ducat less is collected.
Historical note: The monarchy could always expect to obtain men and resources from its Italian possessions. However, in Flanders the situation was quite different, and local taxes were generally insufficient to cover the needs of government, which resorted to financial support from the peninsula.
Royal Family Mortality
The royal family consists of the Queen and her legitimate children. The Royal Mistress and bastards are not part of the royal family. During this subphase, all bastard children are removed, and the mortality of the royal family is checked.
For each legitimate child, starting with the heir (Príncipe de Reynos), a fortune test is performed:
- On a negative result, the child dies and is removed from the game.
- On a neutral result, a sickly marker is placed. If the child already has a sickly marker and receives a second one, it dies and is removed from the game. A happiness point is lost if they are male.
- If the heir dies, a happiness point is lost, and the player must name another legitimate male as the new heir.
All removed bastard and died legitimate children go back to the pool.
If there is a male heir alive after the mortality subphase, the player earns 1 victory point.
Historical note: One of Philip IV's greatest obsessions was to secure the dynasty with a male heir, thus avoiding the problems arising from a lack of succession (as happened upon the death of Charles II). However, despite all his efforts, his heirs died one after another in quick succession, bringing the monarchy closer to a period of instability.
The Queen takes the same test but only dies and is removed from the game when she receives two negative results in two different turns (mark the first negative result with a sickly marker). If the Queen received a sickly marker and subsequently passes a future mortality test with a positive or neutral result, the sickly marker is removed. If the Queen has died, the player must immediately appoint another queen from among the available ladies with prestige 0 or higher. If there are no ladies available, the position remains vacant until the new Organisation phase (see Choosing the Royal Mistress).
Example: Elizabeth of France takes a mortality test on the first turn of the game: negative, a sickly marker is placed on the Queen. On the next turn, she takes the test again and the result is negative, and Elizabeth of France is removed from the game.
If after this phase there is no legitimate child or heir left, the player loses 1 prestige point and 1 happiness point. One happiness point is also lost for the death of the Queen.
Historical note: Philip IV had 15 legitimate children and at least 30 bastards. Of the former, only four reached adulthood, in line with the high infant mortality rates of the time and the inbreeding typical of the Habsburgs.
Determining Enlightenment, Prestige, King's Happiness and Victory Points
Overview
The player's victory level is measured by victory points. In addition to these victory points, the player must manage prestige, the King's happiness and enlightenment.
The player gains and loses prestige and happiness points during their turn through markers received from events, explorations and wars. Subsequently, during the End of Turn phase, the player adds up these points, and gains or loses ducats and victory points as indicated on the Council of State board.
The first score to be updated is the enlightenment points, followed by the prestige points and finally the happiness points.
Once the victory points have been updated, all markers are reset to zero (except for victory points).
Enlightenment Points
Enlightenment points measure the artistic capacity and production of the kingdom.
During the End of Turn phase, the player adds the enlightenment ratings of the notables at Court:
- Enlightenment rating of each genius at Court.*
- +1 enlightenment point if a noble at Court has the writer or musician trait.*
- +1 enlightenment point for music if MARIA CALDERON is the Royal Mistress.
- +1 enlightenment point for each noble at Court with the patron trait.
* Only two geniuses from the same category or art can score at the same time.
A few nobles are also geniuses in literature or music; for all intents and purposes, they count as an additional +1 literature card, even if they do not count towards the limit of 4 genius cards in the Court. Some other nobles are patrons, counting as an additional enlightenment point, but not of a particular category.
If the player has only one or no enlightenment points, they automatically lose.
The total enlightenment score is converted according to the table on the Council of State, and this can result in gaining or losing victory points, happiness points, prestige points, and/or ducats.
| Enlightenment points | Benefits and Penalties |
|---|---|
| 6 or more | +1 victory point, +1 prestige point, -1 ducat |
| 4 or 5 | — |
| 3 or 2 | -1 victory point, -1 happiness point |
| 1 or less | Defeat |
Example: At the end of turn 3, the player checks the number of enlightenment points they have. At Court, they have the cards for QUEVEDO (2 points), LOPE DE VEGA (2 points), GÓNGORA (1 point) and ZURBARÁN (2 points). In the nobles area, they have ANTOINE BRUN (1 additional literature point) and GASPAR DE BORJA (1 additional point for patronage). As the player can only add two cards for each art, they ignore Brun and Góngora and get a total of 7 enlightenment points for the rest of the geniuses and for Gaspar de Borja. With these points, the player gains one victory point, one prestige point and loses one ducat. Without a doubt, keeping so many artists at Court is very expensive!
Prestige Points
Prestige points measure the external success of the monarchy and its ability to manage the kingdom's internal affairs.
During the End of Turn phase, the player adds the prestige points of the nobles at Court:
- Prestige points of each noble at Court, including the Valido.
- Prestige points of the Queen.
- Prestige points of the Royal Mistress.
Any prestige points earned during the turn are added to this number, according to the prestige markers obtained and whether any prestige points have been earned from the enlightenment score:
- +1/-1 prestige point for each war won/lost.
- +1/-1 prestige point for each settlement built.
- +1 prestige point for each fortification built.
- -1 prestige point if there are no legitimate children alive.
- -1 prestige point for each declaration of bankruptcy.
- -4 prestige points for legitimising a bastard child as heir (optional rule).
- +1/-1 prestige point depending on the enlightenment score obtained in the previous step.
If the player has one or no prestige points, they automatically lose.
The total prestige score is converted according to the table on the Council of State, and this can result in gaining or losing victory points, happiness points and/or ducats.
| Prestige points | Benefits and Penalties |
|---|---|
| 8 or more | +2 victory point, +1 ducat |
| 4 to 7 | +1 victory point |
| 3 or 2 | -1 victory point, -1 happiness point, -1 ducat |
| 1 or less | Defeat |
Example: Following the previous example, the player earned 1 prestige point for their level of Enlightenment. At Court are ANTOINE BRUN (1 prestige point) and GASPAR DE BORJA (another prestige point), and two prestige points from Queen ELIZABETH OF FRANCE, for a total of 4 prestige points for the notables at Court. The player must subtract 1 point for the King's mistress CASILDA DE MANRIQUE. This results in a total of 4.
Next, the player checks the prestige markers accumulated in the Unique Events box during the turn: 2 positive for winning a war and building the second fortification and one negative for having no legitimate children alive. The resulting 1 point is added to the four earned by the nobles at Court for a total of 5 prestige points. These 5 points provide an extra victory point.
King's Happiness Points
Happiness points measure the daily development of the monarch's life.
During the End of Turn phase, the player adds the happiness points as follows:
- Happiness points of the Queen.
- Happiness points of the Royal Mistress.
Any happiness points earned during the turn are added to this number, according to the positive and negative happiness markers obtained and whether any happiness points have been lost from the enlightenment and prestige scores.
- -1 happiness point if, in the End of Turn phase, the prestige score was 3 or less (see Prestige Points).
- -1 happiness point if, in the End of Turn phase, the enlightenment score was 3 or less (see Enlightenment Points).
- -1 happiness point if there are no legitimate children alive.
- +1 happiness point for the birth of each male bastard child.
- -1 happiness point for the death of an heir, Royal Mistress or Queen.
- -1/+1 happiness point for defeat/victory in a war/front.
The total happiness score is converted according to the table on the Council of State, and victory points and ducats are earned or lost.
If the King's happiness falls to zero, the King is considered dead, and the player automatically loses. In cooperative play, the Valido may continue the game without being able to play royal actions.
| Happiness points | Benefits and Penalties |
|---|---|
| 5 or more | +1 victory point, -1 ducat |
| 4 | — |
| 3 to 1 | -1 victory point |
| 0 or less | Defeat |
Example: The player earns one happiness point for Queen ELIZABETH OF FRANCE and two more for CASILDA DE MANRIQUE. From these three points, one point must be subtracted for not having any legitimate children alive and four points must be added for a HUNTING DAY event, for the CORRALES AND BROTHELS event and for two illegitimate sons, the result of the promiscuity of the libertine Philip. The result is 6 happiness points, which are converted into one more victory point and one less ducat (money does not bring happiness, it buys it...).
Victory Points
Victory points gained or lost at the end of each turn are added to those obtained in previous turns and marked on the victory points track with the King's victory points marker (and the Valido's in a cooperative game). The victory point markers cannot go below zero.
On the last turn of the scenario, the player compares the victory points obtained with the scenario conditions to determine their victory level.
Appointment of a New Valido
In the last action of the turn, the player may change their Valido. To change the Valido, simply choose one of your nobles at Court, in an office or in command of an army and place them in the Valido position at Court. The replaced Valido is removed from the game.
If the Valido has been in office for four or more turns and the prestige of the monarchy (according to Prestige Points) is less than 5 and the player does not change the Valido, the player loses one victory point at the end of each turn.
Historical note: The wear and tear of government and the loss of reputation caused by military defeats and open conflicts forced the King to dispense with Olivares, despite his good intentions and (at times) good judgement. Had fortune smiled on the Valido, he might have remained in power. When his successor, Luis Méndez de Haro, Marquis of Carpio, took power, there were wars in Italy and Flanders and rebellions in Catalonia and Portugal, which were soon joined by those in Sicily and Naples and that of the Duke of Híjar.
Clean-up
Once the victory points have been counted, the enlightenment, prestige and happiness score indicators are reset to zero.
Also remove the exile markers from the notable cards in this condition.
All markers are removed from the Unique Events box on the Council of State board.
Also flip truce markers on the war tracks of wars that did not end in peace (see Embassy).
Victory
Victory Points
Victory points are earned through certain events (such as the GOLDEN AGE), the progression of wars (see Progression of a War), explorations (see Conduct an Exploration) and during the End of Turn phase (see Determining Enlightenment, Prestige, King's Happiness and Victory Points). Victory points are compared after the End of Turn phase of the last turn of each scenario to determine the player's victory level.
The player also gains or loses victory points if they use secret memorials in solo play and cooperative play.
Victory Levels
After the End of Turn phase of the last turn, the player counts the victory points earned and determines their victory level:
- Major Victory: You, Philip Domingo Victor de la Cruz, will be remembered as the greatest of the Habsburgs. Your name will appear, alongside that of your brilliant heir, as one of the greatest Habsburgs. The powers of the world bow before your armies in the same way that ladies bow before your amorous virtues. You are the Planet King.
- Historical Outcome: You have been a great King, one of the first in your dynasty, but enough is enough. Men and women have fought against you, and although you have been victorious in some battles, the balance of your life and reign does not dazzle the world.
- Defeat: A gloomy reign. No art or glory, only defeat and darkness. The task was not easy, and you did not accomplish it; perhaps in another life...
- Neither King nor Planet: Shame on your dynasty, vice and debauchery without government. You had a kingdom, and you leave a stable as your legacy to the fool among fools. You have been the best King for France that history will remember.
Automatic Defeat
The player (or players) automatically loses if the prestige of the monarchy or the level of enlightenment at the end of the turn falls to one or less.
If the King's happiness falls to zero, the King is considered to have died suddenly, and the player gets an automatic defeat. In cooperative play, the Valido can continue the game.
Historical note: This game is called "The Planet King", if it were called "The Count Duke" it would be different.
Special Rules
Bankruptcy
When the player's Treasury is empty and they must lose a ducat for the completion of an event, bankruptcy occurs. With each declaration of bankruptcy, one prestige point is lost, and ducats must be collected to pay off the debt. Ducats can be collected by making an Asiento or by removing tercios or fleets deployed on the map. Making an Asiento is done in the same way as in the Asiento action, but without consuming a simple action. For each tercio or fleet removed from the board, the player earns one ducat. Tercios of Nations, English, French, Austrian or provincial tercios cannot be removed to collect ducats in this way.
Condé
The Condé becomes available as a French leader and enemy of Spain on turn 3. From turn 5 onwards, while he is in command of Spanish armies, the French Condé can no longer be used as a French leader. However, once he abandons the Spanish colours (through peace or victory), he can again be chosen as a French leader from among the other French leaders.
If, while in command of French troops, the THE FRONDE event is played, the Spanish Condé enters the game in command of the Spanish army, and a substitute French leader is appointed.
When the THE FRONDE card is played, check if the LOUIS II CONDÉ card is in play. If it is not, he takes command of a Spanish army according to The Fronde. The Spanish leader who was in command of that army goes to the Court or to the Noble deck. From that moment on, if at any time the player makes a truce or peace on any war front against France, the Spanish Condé must be removed from the game, but he can return to Spanish service via the THE FRONDE card.
While Condé is in play for Spain, on the board or in the noble deck, the French leader Condé cannot be in command of any French front.
If the Spanish Condé is eliminated by the events INSTABILITY or THE TWILIGHT OF LIFE, the French Condé is also permanently eliminated from the game.
Historical note: Louis II of Bourbon, the Great Condé, was one of the best French generals of the period, victorious in battles such as Rocroi and Valenciennes. At odds with Louis XIV, he went on to assist the Spanish army in Flanders.
Bastard Son as Heir (Optional)
At the beginning of the royal family mortality phase (see Royal Family Mortality), the King may designate a male bastard son as heir. This new heir is legitimised, and his marker is flipped to a legitimate son marker (yellow). The player automatically loses 4 prestige points for legitimising a bastard son.
Juan José of Austria and Rodrigo Pacheco
These two nobles have a question mark on one of their ratings (Military and Government). The first time either of them must use one of these values, they roll a fortune test; if it is negative, the value of their rating is 1, if it is neutral, it is 2, and if it is positive, it is 3. If JUAN JOSÉ OF AUSTRIA has a rating of 3, each campaign he undertakes costs two ducats.
Historical note: The royal bastard Juan José of Austria was the great hope at the end of Philip IV's reign. Like another royal bastard of the 16th century, Juan of Austria, victor at Lepanto, the King placed great responsibilities on the son of La Calderona. However, despite a promising start as a general in Flanders, the hopes placed on him did not live up to expectations.
Rodrigo Pacheco was an effective administrator of the Indies, but his innovative policies did not always have the desired success.
Sor María de Ágreda
The card for SOR MARÍA DE ÁGREDA is added to the noble deck on turn 6 or on the turn after the dismissal of the Valido GASPAR DE GUZMÁN, Count-Duke de Olivares. This noble provides an extra government action if the Valido is not GASPAR DE GUZMÁN.
Ambrosio de Spinola
Each time the player uses the noble AMBROSIO DE SPINOLA to conduct a military campaign, they spend two ducats instead of one.
Historical note: The Genoese Ambrosio de Spinola was one of the great generals of Philip IV and his father, King Philip III. However, his victorious campaigns involved a large consumption of human and material resources.
Isabel Clara Eugenia
If ISABEL CLARA EUGENIA is the Governor of Flanders, she cannot leave office at the player's will.
Historical note: Isabel Clara Eugenia, daughter of Philip II and therefore aunt of Philip IV, was the sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands alongside her husband and first cousin, Archduke Albert of Austria. Thus, at least in theory, the Spanish Netherlands remained independent until 1621, when Archduke Albert died without issue and his possessions reverted to the Spanish crown, to Philip IV. Isabella remained governor of the Spanish Netherlands until her death.
Secret Memorial (Optional)
Historical note: Confidential information passed on to the King by the Valido or the Council was organised in secret memorials. The most famous of these secret memorials was undoubtedly the one commissioned by the Count-Duke of Olivares for the planned and controversial Union of Arms.
Overview
The use of the Secret Memorial rules is mandatory in cooperative play and optional in solo play. It is recommended that before using the secret memorial rules, the player has played a few games in solo mode.
Secret Memorial Letters
There are two types of secret memorial cards: those belonging to the Valido ('Of The Council') and those belonging to the King ('Of H.M.'). Both types can be distinguished by the reverse side of the card and by the white signature on it.
The cards indicate a specific task to be performed by the player (Valido or King) and the moment when it must be performed. On the right side of the card, the VP are shown that players can gain or lose if the tasks are completed or not:
- In a black circle: the victory points that the player loses at the end of the game if they do not complete the task described on the card.
- In a red circle: the victory points that the player gains at the end of the game if they complete the task described on the card during a short scenario (four turns).
- In a white circle: the victory points that the player gains at the end of the game if they complete the task described on the card during the campaign scenario (eight turns).
Example: The TE DEUM card indicates: The monarchy has won a war against the Ottoman Empire or the Barbary pirates. At the end of the game, if the player did not win any of these wars, they lose one victory point. If they won one of these wars in a short scenario, they get two additional victory points, and if it was in the campaign scenario, they get one more point.
The GOLDEN AGE, US AGAINST ALL, ALL AGAINST US, CARPE DIEM, and REPUTATION cards claim victory points immediately, and the rest of the cards claim them at the end of the game.
Cooperative Mode
Before starting the game, each player randomly draws a card of their corresponding type (the Valido draws a Valido card, and the King draws a King card).
No player may see their card until the Organisation phase of the second turn of the game. Players may not see their partner's card until the end of the game or until they claim the victory points earned with the card.
At least one of the tasks indicated on the two cards must be completed successfully, else both players lose the game with a result of Neither King nor Planet.
Solo Mode (Optional)
The player randomly takes one card of each type and keeps them without looking at their contents. At the beginning of the Organisation phase of the second turn, they choose one of the two cards and reveal its contents. At the beginning of the Organisation phase of the third turn, they reveal the second and last card.
At least one of the tasks indicated on the cards must be completed successfully, else the player loses the game with a result of Neither King nor Planet.
Cooperative Game
Overview
In cooperative play, one player takes on the role of King Philip IV and the other takes on the role of his Valido. The King receives VP for the King's happiness and the enlightenment, and the Valido receives VP for the prestige of the monarchy. The War-only mode scenario cannot be played in cooperative mode. The King decides the order in which actions are resolved. Each player keeps track of their VP independently.
Actions
When an Action card is played, the King decides the three types of actions to be performed, but not which particular action (except for the royal actions).
Royal Actions
The King is the only one who manages royal actions. Only the King can remove or choose the Royal Mistress, the Queen, and the Valido.
Political Actions
The Valido manages political actions.
Government and Simple Actions
Government actions and simple actions are managed by the Valido. However, the Valido can only declare war (see Military Campaign and Wars, below) with the approval of the King.
Event Cards
The Valido manages the cards ENSIGN NUN and UNION OF ARMS, and the King manages the cards HIS MAJESTY THE KING and ROYAL MARRIAGE.
Wars
The Valido proposes to start a war, but war can only be declared with the King's consent.
Victory Points Earned by the King
During the End of Turn phase, the King gains VP for the level of Enlightenment and for the King's happiness. The King gains 2 VP for changing his Valido before turn 5 and 1 VP on another turn. For each war won or lost, the King gains/loses 1 VP. The King also gains victory points for the legitimate heir.
Victory Points Earned by the Valido
The Valido gains VP for the prestige level, for the conduct of wars and for explorations.
Secret Memorials
In cooperative play, the use of secret memoirs is mandatory. Each player gains or loses victory points according to Secret Memorial Letters.
At least one of the two tasks marked on the secret memorials must be completed, or both players lose the game.
Victory
At the end of the scenario, both players add up their respective victory points to check the victory level achieved according to the scenario. They then compare the points obtained by each player to determine who is the winner.
Scenarios
Overview
There is an introductory game scenario (Hothead), a short scenario with a single turn (Iupiter Hispano), two four-turn campaign scenarios (Anni Mirabilis and Anni Horribiles) and a full eight-turn scenario (The Planet King). The four-turn scenarios correspond to, respectively, turns 1-4 and 5-8 of the eight-turn campaign game. All scenarios can be played solo or in cooperative mode.
"Hothead"
Historical note: Hothead was the nickname of Charles Emmanuel I (or Emmanuel) Duke of Savoy, so called because of his penchant for military conflict. Charles Emmanuel fought both for and against Spain during the war for the succession to the Duchy of Mantua.
This scenario is designed to familiarise the player with the basic mechanics of warfare and the ACTION cards and is ideal for a first contact with the game.
In this scenario any rules and actions relating to Ladies, Geniuses, King's Happiness and Enlightenment are ignored. In this scenario only the office of Viceroy of Italy is used and only the war against France on the Italian front can be activated.
The player may perform any type of royal, political, government or simple action. After the set-up, only the Event phase is played. As an exception any tercio raised according to Raise a Spanish Tercio can deploy to Italy or the Italian war. Exploration is not allowed in this scenario.
Event cards in play: The player prepares the event deck with the following cards: two FRANCO-SPANISH WAR cards, three ACTION cards, HUNTING DAY, BARBARY PIRATES, PLAGUE, EXCELLENT HARVESTS, two INSTABILITY CARDS, THE TWILIGHT OF LIFE, and TOTAL WAR. All other event cards are not used in this scenario.
Nobles cards in play: The deck of nobles is made up of the cards of AMBROSIO DE SPINOLA, CASTEL RODRIGO and FERNÁNDEZ DE CASTRO (father).
The Court:
- Valido: GASPAR DE GUZMÁN (Olivares).
- Viceroy of Italy: GARCÍA DE AVELLANEDA.
- Nobles: FRANCISCO PIMENTEL, DIEGO CARRILLO and GONZALO FDEZ. DE CÓRDOBA.
Council of State:
- Treasury: 5 ducats.
- At war in Italy, progression marker position 0.
- The Valtellina pass is open.
Set up:
- Spain: 1 provincial tercio and 1 Spanish tercio.
- Italy: 1 provincial tercio and 1 Spanish tercio.
- Plus Ultra: 1 fleet.
Emmanuel of Savoy and La Motte are the only leaders available for use in the Italian war.
Victory conditions and duration:
- Duration: 1 turn.
- Victory:
- Major Victory: Win the Italian War and have the Viceroyalty of Italy occupied by a noble with a political or governmental rating of 2.
- Any other result is a defeat.
Special rules: Before the game begins the player draws a FRANCO-SPANISH WAR card and resolves it. War is declared without the need for a fortune test. With war declared the steps of Declaration of War are performed: place the appropriate markers, appoint leaders and move units. After the declaration of war, the Event phase begins. In this scenario there is no organisation or End of Turn phase.
Iupiter Hispano
Historical note: On 31 March 1621, Philip IV was crowned King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia, Duke of Milan, Duke of Burgundy, sovereign of the Netherlands and Count of Flanders. The first years of his reign were devoted to consolidating his domestic power, but a succession of European wars forced him to adopt an energetic foreign policy. This early period also saw an extraordinary artistic revolution.
The Court:
- Valido: GASPAR DE GUZMÁN (Olivares).
- Queen: ELISABETH OF FRANCE.
- Governor of Flanders: ISABEL CLARA EUGENIA (this noble cannot leave office unless removed).
- Royal Mistress: choose MARÍA CALDERÓN or MARÍA DE CHIREL.
- Nobles and Geniuses: Randomly draw 5 nobles and two geniuses from those available for turn 1. The cards of the leaders AMBROSIO DE SPINOLA and GONZALO FDEZ. DE CÓRDOBA are set aside before drawing the nobles (see Set Up below). Appoint a Viceroy of the Indies, a Viceroy of Italy and an Ambassador in Austria from the drawn nobles and place the remaining two nobles and the geniuses at Court.
Council of State:
- Treasury: 10 ducats.
- At war in the Palatinate (war progress marker on the black 1 space) and in Flanders (war progress marker on the red 1 space, with the Dutch leader Nassau).
- 1 INSTABILITY card in the event deck.
- All overseas territories and viceroyalties are at their maximum income value.
- The Valtellina pass is open.
Set up:
- Spain: 1 Spanish tercio and 1 provincial tercio.
- Italy: 1 Spanish tercio and 1 provincial tercio.
- Flanders War: Ambrosio de Spinola, an Old (veteran) tercio, 1 tercio of Nations and 1 fleet.
- Palatinate War: Gonzalo Fdez. de Córdoba and 1 tercio of Nations.
- Plus Ultra: 1 fleet.
Victory conditions and duration:
- Duration: 1 turn, from 1621 to 1626.
- Victory:
- 7+ VP: Major Victory.
- 4-6 VP: Historical Outcome.
- 2-3 VP: Defeat.
- 1 or less VP: Neither King nor Planet.
Anni Mirabiles
Historical note: The early years of Philip IV's reign were truly miracle years. Victories against the Dutch and English followed one after the other, while a new generation raised the arts to the top of the world. However, the continuing wars increased the tax burden of the kingdoms and the entry of France into the Palatinate war promised long years of war.
The Court, Council of State and Set up: The placement of the Court, Council of State and Set up is identical to the Iupiter Hispano scenario.
Victory conditions and duration:
- Duration: 4 turns (turns 1-4), from 1621 to 1645.
- Victory:
- 15+ VP: Major Victory.
- 11-14 VP: Historical Outcome.
- 7-10 VP: Defeat.
- 6 or less VP: Neither King nor Planet.
Anni Horribiles
Historical note: During the second part of Philip IV's reign, and despite the dismissal of the valido Count-Duke de Olivares, failures outnumbered successes. Only the vigour of the Golden Age kept some happiness in the life of the monarch.
The Court:
- Valido: LUIS DE HARO.
- Queen: MARIA ANNA OF AUSTRIA.
- Governor of Flanders: CASTEL RODRIGO.
- Royal Mistress: choose ISABEL DE LA CUEVA or CASILDA MANRIQUE.
- Heir: Carlos, sickly.
- Geniuses: DIEGO VELÁZQUEZ (court painter), LOPE DE VEGA and ALONSO CANO.
- Eliminated geniuses: SOR JUANA DE LA CRUZ, JOSÉ DE RIBERA, BALTASAR GRACIÁN and LUIS DE GÓNGORA.
- Eliminated Nobles: ISABEL CLARA EUGENIA, FRANCISCO PIMENTEL, GÓMEZ SUÁREZ, MANUEL DE MELO, GÓNZALO FDEZ. DE CÓRDOBA, DIEGO MEXÍA GUZMÁN, ALVAREZ DE TOLEDO, GASPAR DE GUZMÁN, FERNÁNDEZ DE CASTRO (father), DIEGO CARRILLO, FERNANDO DE AUSTRIA, AMBROSIO DE SPINOLA and ANTOINE BRUN.
- Nobles and geniuses: Randomly draw 5 nobles and one genius among those available for turn 5. Appoint a Viceroy of the Indies, a Viceroy of Italy, an Ambassador in Austria, a leader in command of the Army of Portugal from the drawn nobles and place the remaining noble and genius at Court.
Council of State:
- Treasury: 9 ducats.
- At war in Flanders (-3), Catalonia (+1), Portugal (0) and Picardy (-1). Palatinate War is over. The war track of the War in Catalonia has all 4 black spaces available.
- 3 INSTABILITY cards in the event deck.
- All overseas territories and viceroyalties are at their maximum income value.
- The Valtellina pass is closed.
- The Union of Arms is completed.
- Portugal is an enemy power.
Set up:
- Italy: 1 provincial tercio.
- Flanders War: an Old (veteran) tercio, 1 tercio of Nations and 1 fleet.
- Catalan Front: FERNÁNDEZ DE LA CUEVA, an Old (veteran) tercio, 1 Spanish tercio, and 2 provincial tercios.
- Picardy Front: GUILLAUME DE BETTE, 1 Spanish tercio and 2 tercios of Nations.
- Portuguese War: 1 Spanish tercio, 1 provincial tercio and 1 tercio of Nations.
- Plus Ultra: 1 fleet.
Victory conditions and duration:
- Duration: 4 turns (turns 5-8), from 1647 to 1665.
- Victory:
- 11+ VP: Major Victory.
- 8-10 VP: Historical Outcome.
- 4-7 VP: Defeat.
- 3 or less VP: Neither King nor Planet.
The Planet King
This scenario covers the entire reign of Philip IV. Use the starting position and setup of the Iupiter Hispano scenario.
Victory conditions and duration:
- Duration: 8 turns, from 1621 to 1665.
- Victory:
- 20+ VP: Major Victory.
- 15-19 VP: Historical result.
- 11-14 VP: Loss.
- 10 or less VP: Neither King nor Planet.
War-Only Mode
Overview: The Planet King is a game that tries to reflect the life of Philip IV from various points of view. However, there will be players who prefer to focus on the military aspects of his reign. The following ruleset dispenses with the aspects of the monarch's private life and the enlightenment of the Court, exploring only the political and military environment.
Game preparation and set up:
- The geniuses, king's happiness, heirs, royal mistress markers and royal action cubes are not used.
- Remove the HUNTING DAY card and one ACTION card from the game.
- Lady and genius cards are not used.
Gameplay:
- No royal actions are played.
- The Cortes and Royal Pardon actions can be performed through political actions.
- All cards that refer to geniuses or king's happiness are used only to resolve fortune tests. If they come up as an event, they are discarded unplayed: FALL FROM GRACE, BEATEN TO A PULP, CORRALES AND BROTHELS, RIVALRY, SÉBASTIÁN DE MORRA, BARBARA VAN BECK and SPANISH GOLDEN AGE.
- All references to happiness points and enlightenment points are ignored, including the heir.
- All victory points gained or lost are doubled.
Change Difficulty
The player can adjust the difficulty of the game (easier or harder) with the following modifications:
Increased difficulty: Remove 1 or 2 ACTION cards of the event deck. The more cards are removed, the more difficult the game.
Reduced difficulty: Remove the TOTAL WAR card from the event deck. To further reduce the difficulty, the "?" war cards (32, 34, 37) can be removed from the event deck.
Oh, how fragile human beings appear in their final moments, when Eastern aromas serve as useless worship and vain protection!
Only you were respected by the tyrant, oh great Philip! For with signs he has shown that all are mortal, he has accredited you as Sovereign.
You know that this body is made of earth and that the good of the soul imprisoned in it is engaged in a mortal war;
and thus, ascending to the good that Heaven holds, you have proven that you cannot fit on earth, for you leave behind even your body because it is earth.
Funeral sonnet to Philip IV, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
Battle Name Generator
If the player wishes to name the event that resolves a military campaign (whether it be an open field battle or a siege), they may use this table by rolling two six-sided dice. For example: The monarchy plays an action card and manages to move the Picardy front progression marker one space in their favour. As they want to know which historical event caused this movement, they roll two dice and get a 6 and a 5, resulting in the capture of Aire-sur-la-Lys.
Picardy
| Roll | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | des Avins | Thionville | Poligny | Corbie | Louvain | De la Marfée |
| 2 | Honnecourt | Rocroi | Cartagena | Bergues | Mardyck | Dunquerque |
| 3 | Givet | 2nd Dunas | Tornavento | Lens | Lerins | Leucate |
| 4 | Getaria | Ladrecies | Valenciennes | Péronne | Saint-Ghislain | Tournoi |
| 5 | Arras | Lille | Avesnes | Ostend | Hénin | Aire-sur-la-Lys |
| 6 | Saint-Omer | La Bassée | Bapaume | Fuenterrabia | Gravelines | Montmédy |
Flanders
| Roll | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1st Breda | La Capelle | Damvillers | Maubeuge | Anvers | Goche |
| 2 | Kallo | Gennep | Limburg | Schenk | Maastricht | Hirson |
| 3 | Diest | 1st Catelet | Givet | 3rd Groenlo | Boksum | Bois-le-Duc |
| 4 | Las Dunas | Abrolhos | Slaak | Saint-Vincent | Venlo | Roermond |
| 5 | Tirlemont | Berg-op-Zoom | 2nd Breda | Mook | Leiden | Liège |
| 6 | Stadtlohn | Matanzas | Amersfoort | Wesel | Geldern | Cleves |
Catalonia
| Roll | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1st Lérida | 2nd Lérida | Montjuic | 1st Barcelona | Martorell | Monzón |
| 2 | 2nd Barcelona | Colliure | Perpignan | Montmeló | 1st Tortosa | Almenar |
| 3 | Salces | Montgat | Geron | 1st Tarragona | 2nd Tortosa | Montblanch |
| 4 | Arán | Cadaqués | Solsona | Ager | Montgai | Rosas |
| 5 | Miravet | Flix | Illa | Balaguer | El Catllar | Castellfullit |
| 6 | Berga | Ampurias | 3rd Lérida | Montblanch | 3rd Tarragona | Camprodón |
Sequence of Play
-
Organisation Phase (see Organisation Phase)
- Creation of notables decks — The player prepares the Ladies, Nobles and Geniuses decks; the player may remove one card from each deck.
- Creation of event deck — The player prepares the event card deck. Remove and insert the appropriate cards (e.g., Instability).
- Placing action cubes — Four royal actions and the rest according to the ratings of the Valido.
- Player actions — The player may take up to three different types of actions as if playing an ACTION card without spending action cubes, but not the military campaign or embassy actions.
- Choosing the Royal Mistress — From the second turn onwards, the player removes the current Royal Mistress from the Court and chooses another one from among those available to take her place at Court.
- Reading the Secret Memorial — From the second turn onwards, the player(s) read a secret memorial card according to the Secret Memorial section.
-
Events Phase (see Events Phase). The events phase ends when the deck of event cards is exhausted or when 5 ACTION and/or TOTAL WAR cards have been played as events. If an ACTION card is played, the player may perform up to 3 actions of different types (Royal, Political, Government, Simple), subject to available cubes; simple actions are unlimited.
- Royal actions: Issue, Sale of Privileges, Hunt, Nominate a Court Painter, Nominate/remove a Genius to/from Court, Cortes, Choose a Royal Mistress, Royal Pardon.
- Political Actions: Appoint Noble to Court, Nominate Noble from Court to Office/Army, Send Embassy.
- Government Actions: Raise Tercio, Build Fleet, Conduct Military Campaign.
- Simple Actions: Conduct an Exploration, Move Tercio/Fleet/Leader, Raise Provincial Tercio, Build Fortification, Asiento.
-
End of Turn Phase (see End of Turn Phase)
- Player actions — If the player still has action markers, they may perform up to three different types of actions as if playing an ACTION card.
- Construction and maintenance — Deploy constructed units and pay one ducat for every two tercios of Nations or fraction thereof.
- Revolts — If there is a tercio deployed in a territory with a revolt marker, the player performs a fortune test. If the test is negative or there is no tercio, remove one ducat from the Treasury.
- Indies — If there are pirates, remove one Indies Fleet marker, unless there is a fleet. Collect as many ducats as the viceroy's government rating, plus the same amount for each Indies Fleet, plus one for the Manila Galleon.
- Income — 3/2 ducats for Castile, 1/2 for Aragon, as many as the government rating of the Viceroy of Italy, as many as the government rating of the Governor of Flanders minus one.
Tokens
The game's tokens and markers are organised into the following groups:
- General: Turn marker; Victory points marker (Philip IV); Positive and negative happiness markers; Victory points marker (Valido, cooperative game); Positive and negative prestige markers; Exploration marker.
- Military Leaders: Spanish (tan), Spanish admiral (tan), Spanish tactician (tan), Spanish/French Condé, French (blue), Catalan (white), English (red), Dutch/United Provinces (orange), Savoy (pink), Portuguese (green), Barbary (green), Ottoman (green).
- Military Units: Spanish tercio, Spanish old (veteran) tercio, Spanish provincial tercio, Spanish fleet, Catalan tercio, Tercio of Nations, English tercio, French tercio, Habsburg tercio.
- Plus Ultra: Indies fleet, Pirates, Manila Galleon.
- Fortifications & Settlements in the Indies: Level 1 fortification, Level 2 fortification, Settlement (Level 1 fortification at back).
- Notables: Noble (at Court, position 1-4), Genius (at Court, position 1-4), Leader (per army at war/front), Noble (in an office), Royal Mistress.
- Children: Male legitimate child, Female legitimate child, Male bastard child, Female bastard child.
- War markers: War active / Peace (back of War marker); War progression (per war/front) / Truce (back of War progression marker); 1st & 2nd new war this turn; Catalan front's progress track.
- Geographic location markers: Europe (Spain, Italy, Flanders); Indies (8 territories).
- Event markers: Valtellina pass closed (Spanish Road event); Portuguese independence; Union of Arms event; Breitenfeld 1631 event (Protestant army's power +1); Asiento action; Portuguese War (39) event (Portuguese army's power +1); Revolt (Uprising & Cortes events); Franco-Spanish War (33) event (French army's power +1); Corsairs of Dunkirk event (United Provinces army's power -1).
- Unique Action markers: Royal unique actions; Government unique action; Political unique action; Simple unique actions.
- Status markers: Sickly child or Queen; Notable in exile; Court painter; Raid event.
Errata
Event cards:
- ACTION (14): There should be a seal with a question mark on the card (conditional card, see Action Event Cards).
- LÜTZEN (49): The red text should read: "Remove Danish Intervention and Breitenfeld 1631".
- BEATEN TO A PULP (53): The card text should read: "The player loses a Royal Action but gains a Happiness marker."
Noble cards:
- LOUIS II CONDÉ: There should be a question mark in the seal instead of a 5 (conditional card, see The Fronde and Condé).
Counters:
- The back of the Oquendo leader marker should read 1-4 (instead of 1-5).
- The back of the Spinola leader marker should read 1-2 (instead of 1-3).
- The back of the de Fonte leader marker should read 1-5 (instead of 1-6).
- The back of the Turenne leader marker should read 3-8 (instead of 4-8).
- Image of Castro son (instead of father).
CLIO, To Our Lord King Philip IV. It was written on the occasion of having gone out on a very rainy day to play canes; and the Sky soon cleared up: and Lope de Vega described this Festival in Lyric Verse.
That August brow, which crowns all that the Sea surrounds, all that the Sun shelters, for whatever it does not govern, God Himself punishes by not subjecting it to his person; He could, while dressing Flora and Pomona, command the season to follow his design, making winter take back the ice and snows of which it boasts. He could make the Sun, which for him turned December into May, return, full of envy, to the West, its light with a frown, its gold grown faint. Riding gallantly and striking like thunder, He could make his reed-spear an arrow and a bolt of lightning; only Lope could sing of him.
Francisco de Quevedo y Villegas, in The Spanish Parnassus, a mountain with two peaks, divided among the nine Castilian muses, 1648.
Example First Game Turn
First turn of the Anni Mirabilis scenario (see Anni Mirabiles). The player prepares the decks with the following cards:
- Nobles: GASPAR DE BRACAMONTE, CASTEL RODRIGO, DIEGO CARRILLO, DIEGO MEXÍA GUZMÁN, GÓMEZ SUÁREZ, MANUEL DE MELO, FERNÁNDEZ DE CASTRO (father), FRANCISCO PIMENTEL, ANTONIO DE OQUENDO, ALVAREZ DE TOLEDO and BARTOLOMÉ DE FONTE.
- Geniuses: VINCENTE CARDUCHO, DIEGO VELÁZQUEZ, BALTASAR GRACIÁN, LOPE DE VEGA, FRANCISCO DE QUEVEDO, JOSÉ DE RIBERA, FRANCISCO DE ZUBARÁN and LUIS DE GÓNGORA.
- Ladies: CASILDA MANRIQUE and MARÍA CHIREL.
- Event deck: 39 cards without turn indication, DANISH INTERVENTION, WALLENSTEIN, RAID IN THE INDIES, 7 ACTION cards, and 1 INSTABILITY card for a total of 50 event cards.
The player creates their Court, placing the GASPAR DE GUZMÁN card as Valido, ELISABETH OF FRANCE as Queen and choosing MARÍA CALDERÓN as Royal Mistress. On the map, place the ISABEL CLARA EUGENIA card as Governor of Flanders. Set aside the AMBROSIO DE SPINOLA and GONZALO FDEZ. DE CÓRDOBA cards, then shuffle the decks of nobles and geniuses and draw 5 and 2, respectively.
From the drawn nobles, the player chooses DIEGO CARRILLO as Viceroy of the Indies to take advantage of his government rating of 2, FERNÁNDEZ DE CASTRO as Viceroy of Italy, and MANUEL DE MELO as Ambassador in Austria. Leave FRANCISCO PIMENTEL (very useful as a patron) and BARTOLOMÉ DE FONTE (an explorer) at Court. As geniuses, they have DIEGO VELÁZQUEZ and BALTASAR GRACIÁN.
The Valido is GASPAR DE GUZMÁN, Count-Duke of Olivares, so they place three red cubes (government), two blue cubes (political) and four yellow cubes (always four royal actions). As the Count-Duke is industrious, they place a green cube in the government or political actions box.
The units and leaders are deployed on the map as indicated in the scenario.
During the organisation phase, the player can perform up to three different actions without spending action cubes: they first choose the royal action Hunt (see Hunt), so they shuffle the HUNTING DAY card into the event deck. As this is a unique action, place the Hunting marker in the Unique Events box on the Council of State board. The second is a government action, and they build a fleet (see Build a Fleet), which is placed on the Under Construction box. The player pays one ducat for this fleet (9 remain in the Treasury). The last action chosen is a political action, and the player appoints a new noble to the Court (see Appoint Noble): GÓMEZ SUÁREZ, the Duke of Feria.
Once the organisation phase is over, the events phase begins. The player starts drawing cards from the event deck and applies their results.
The first card is WALLENSTEIN; the player chooses to spend the ducat and moves the Palatinate War marker one space in their favour.
The next card is EXCELLENT HARVESTS, earning one ducat.
The third card is an ACTION event. With this card, the player can perform up to three actions: as the first action, they choose to perform the exploration (see Conduct an Exploration) simple action with BARTOLOMÉ DE FONTE's military rating of 1. The player obtains a positive result in the fortune test, so they advance the exploration marker to the Amazon River.
As a second action, they choose the royal action Issue (see Issue). The player performs fortune tests with the fertility ratings of the Queen and the Royal Mistress. With the Queen they obtain a neutral and a negative result: a sickly son who becomes the heir (Príncipe de Reynos); and with the Royal Mistress two positive results: a boy (earning a happiness marker) and a girl. As this is a unique action, place the Progeny marker in the Unique Events box on the Council of State board. Remove a yellow action cube.
The third action chosen is a government action, with which the player decides to carry out a military campaign (see Military Campaign) in Flanders (at a cost of two ducats due to Spinola's special rule). Remove a red action cube. The army of the United Provinces is under the command of the enemy general Nassau. With Spinola's strategy rating of 3, three fortune tests are carried out, obtaining a total of one positive result which moves the war progress marker one space in favour of the player, as the player's SP of 4 is equal to the enemy's SP of 4. However, one of the cards drawn has an SP elimination symbol, so the player must eliminate one of his units. As Nassau is a general with a strategy rating of 2, the player must turn their veteran tercio to its 1 SP side.
The player continues to draw cards. The PATRON card allows them to bring a new genius to the Court. They draw FRANCISCO DE QUEVEDO as the new genius who has two literature points. Next, in a stroke of luck, the player draws the SPANISH GOLDEN AGE card. As they have notables at Court with a total of eight enlightenment points, they earn an immediate victory point (VELÁZQUEZ 3, QUEVEDO 2, GRACIÁN 1, PIMENTEL 1 via his patron trait, and MARÍA CALDERÓN 1 for her music).
The next card is INSTABILITY. One ducat is lost, and the player must remove a notable. SPINOLA is chosen at random and removed from the game. With the vacancy created, the player must transfer a noble from Court to command the army of Flanders. They choose GÓMEZ SUÁREZ, Duke of Feria, who leaves the Court and takes command of the army of Flanders.
With THE TWILIGHT OF LIFE card, the player must eliminate another notable. This time, the target is MARÍA CALDERÓN, who is removed from the game along with her two bastards. The death of La Calderona causes the loss of one happiness point.
The WEST INDIES FLEET card deploys an Indies fleet marker in the Plus Ultra box, and with the GALLEON OF MANILA card, that marker is also put in that box.
With THE ENSIGN NUN card, the player can perform a political action without spending an action cube or perform an exploration. They decide to do the latter and, after a fortune test, manage to move the exploration marker to the Formosa space. They spend a ducat and gain a victory and a prestige point for the settlement.
The next card is FRANCO-SPANISH WAR. As Spain is not at war with France, the first thing to do is to perform a fortune test to see if war is declared. As it is the first turn, only one positive test is required (from turn 3 onwards, two fortune tests are required). In this case, the test is negative, so war is declared. The player moves Pimentel from the Court to take command of the Italian army and moves the troops stationed in Italy to the new open front. La Motte is randomly chosen as leader of the French army, and a new INSTABILITY card is added to the event deck as of the next turn. Place the 1st war declared marker on the Council of State board as a reminder.
The next event card is TOTAL WAR, so the player is attacked in Italy and Flanders. On the Italian front, La Motte, with a strategy rating of 2, must make two fortune tests. The Spanish army has the equivalent of 1.5 SP. As the French army is superior to the Spanish (strength 3), neutral results will count as negative. With one neutral result and one negative result, the war progress marker moves one space to the right, against the player. If the war continues and ends in a Spanish defeat, 2 victory points, a happiness point and a prestige point would be lost, and the Valtellina Pass would be closed. A real disaster at this stage of the game. In Flanders, Nassau fails to move the war progression marker, so he is relieved of command. At least in that war, Philip IV's armies have the upper hand.
The player continues to draw and play cards until the event deck is exhausted, or a total of 5 ACTION and/or TOTAL WAR cards have been played.
In the administrative phase at the end of the turn, the player may perform additional actions if they have at least three action cubes left. They then deploy the units that are in the Under Construction box on the Council of State board, pay for their tercios of Nations, resolve revolts and collect income. In the Indies, with no Pirate markers, the player collects a total of 5 ducats: 2 for the Viceroy of the Indies, 2 for the Indies fleet and 1 for the Manila Galleon. For Castile and Aragon, they collect a total of 4 ducats and another 3 for Italy and Flanders, the government rating of their governors (minus 1 for the Governor of Flanders).
In the royal family mortality subphase, the player must perform a fortune test for the legitimate heir and another for the Queen. As the heir is sickly, he only survives with a positive result. With the EXCELLENT HARVESTS card, the heir remains alive, and the player gains one victory point. The Queen, on the other hand, gets a negative result with the PIRATES card and receives a sickly marker.
The Enlightenment, Prestige, King's Happiness and victory points are calculated. It is still too early to change the Valido, so the turn ends, and the player prepares the decks for the next turn.
A Bit of History
(Cards in the game are in bold in the original text.)
The Fourth King Named Philip
Among the Spanish kings of the Austrian (or Habsburg) dynasty, Philip IV is one of those traditionally referred to as the 'minor Austrias', along with Philip III, Charles II and Philip IV himself, as opposed to the 'major Austrias': Charles I and Philip II. This designation, artificial and perhaps unfair, gives us an initial idea of the transitional nature of Philip IV's reign within the House of Austria. In just a few years, the kingdom went from being the hegemon in Europe to a second-rate power. However, the empire was never as extensive or powerful as it was during much of Philip IV's reign. Such global power had to be attacked by all others in order to cease it to exist. "Nos contra todos" ("Us against everyone") could well sum up the foreign policy of the monarchy during the reign of all the Habsburgs.
Philip IV not only inherited a vast empire, stretching from the Philippines to America, but also a series of conflicts and rivalries with the other European powers, both military and economic. Thus, shortly after the beginning of his reign, the King had to face the resumption of the interminable war in Flanders, which had been frozen until then by the Twelve Years' Truce. This long war was undoubtedly the fundamental characteristic that marked the foreign policy of the entire House of Austria. Thus, there was a shift from a 'Mediterranean' policy, inherited from the contribution of the Crown of Aragon to the Spanish monarchy, to a more central European one, which gave rise to Spanish participation in distant conflicts, sometimes outside the sphere of the monarchy's real interests.
The Beginning of the Reign
After a costly campaign, the strategic Dutch city of Breda was occupied by the Genoese Spinola in 1625. However, this great triumph did not translate into a permanent victory over the Dutch. Commitments to the Austrian branch of the Habsburgs forced Spinola's army to be redirected to the Palatinate in the early stages of the Thirty Years' War. Characteristic of the foreign policy of the reign, a new front was opened without having been able to close the previous one. Among the reasons for this policy was, possibly first and foremost, the personality of the King's favourite ('Valido'), the Count-Duke of Olivares. Unlike his predecessors, who had pursued a more conservative foreign policy, the Count-Duke involved Spanish resources and means in support of the Austrian Habsburgs. Despite the Conspiracy of the Flemish nobles in 1632, the situation in Flanders stabilised while new fronts were opened.
True to his ideas and wishing to maintain hegemony in Europe, the Count-Duke sought to strengthen the Habsburg axis. However, this led to outright opposition from the rest of Europe. Although military victories followed one after another, each defeated enemy was replaced by another. Swedish intervention in the Thirty Years' War, with victories at Breitenfeld and Lützen, forced the dispatch of an army to Germany, led by Cardinal Infante Ferdinand, brother of Philip IV. Although the Swedes were defeated (albeit temporarily) in the great victory at Nordlingen (1634), the war continued with France's entry into the great European conflict, marking the beginning of the Franco-Spanish War.
Why the Planet King? Felipe Domingo Víctor de la Cruz, the fourth Spanish monarch named Felipe, was referred to in the writings of the time as the Planet King because of his association with the sun, fourth in the hierarchy of the stars according to the science of those days. The idea may also have been reinforced by the planetary power he wielded as ruler of the greatest power of the time.
1640, the Decisive Year
The war spread to Italy and northern France, threatening the military passage that linked the Italian territories with the Netherlands, known as the Spanish Road. The attempt at political and administrative renewal of the so-called "Union of Arms", the Count-Duke's great unifying project, degenerated in 1640 into a series of uprisings in Catalonia, Andalusia and Portugal. In Catalonia, the popular uprising of the "Corpus de Sangre" (Corpus of Blood) turned into the "Guerra dels Segadores" (War of the Reapers).
Taking advantage of the rebellion, a French army entered Roussillon and advanced to Barcelona. The war became entrenched in the Spanish-French conflict until the Peace of the Pyrenees was signed in 1659.
For its part, the Portuguese uprising marked the beginning of the Braganza dynasty as regent of the restored kingdom of Portugal. Philip IV did not accept independence and began another long and costly war. The war with Portugal lasted 27 years, with a relatively static front and no major military operations. Finally, after the death of Philip IV (Philip III according to Portuguese accounts), the new regency accepted the inevitable and the Iberian Union was formally abolished.
While the monarchy was bleeding from within, external enemies were consuming resources and armies. In 1648, the Peace of Westphalia was signed, ending the Thirty Years' War. Spain definitively recognised the independence of the Netherlands, although the war with France remained open.
The Fronde rebellions (both Parliamentary and Princely) against the French monarchy allowed Spain to recover some of the ground lost in previous years. In 1656, French General Louis II de Bourbon, the Grand Condé (the same man who had defeated the Spanish at Rocroi a few years earlier), achieved a great victory against the French at the Battle of Valenciennes, the last great victory of Philip IV's reign. The Spanish army, co-led by the Condé and Juan José de Austria, Philip IV's illegitimate son, achieved a great victory, but it had no long-term effect due to the bankruptcy of the monarchy and the exhaustion of the kingdom at all levels. The war continued for a few more years, until Franco-Spanish diplomacy sealed the Peace of the Pyrenees, which put an end (momentarily) to the Spanish-French rivalry.
Anglo-Spanish War
While Spain was fighting France and on the domestic front, it also had to contend with Oliver Cromwell's England. Transatlantic rivalry and French diplomacy made England a tenacious adversary during the second half of the 17th century. In return, Philip IV obtained the support of the English royalists, enemies of Cromwell, although this support was limited to a small expeditionary army defeated at the Dunes in 1658.
The English and Dutch continued to involve themselves in the American Empire, sometimes militarily and sometimes through privateering. The defence of the Indies was a priority of the reign, but the resources allocated to this undertaking were insufficient to protect the immense empire.
Despite internal problems, the 'age of discovery' was not over, and Spanish and Portuguese explorers and colonists continued to expand the boundaries of the kingdom. The Amazon was the priority for American exploration for the Portuguese part of the empire, while Spanish resources were devoted to the Pacific Ocean and the establishment of trading posts and colonies on the islands of Formosa and the Marianas. Rivalry with the Dutch and Chinese brought an end to the 'Governorate of Formosa' (dependent on the Captaincy of the Philippines), while control over the Mariana Islands would only end after the colonial war with the United States in 1898.
The End of Olivares
Military defeats, but above all the failed Union of Arms project, led to the downfall of Count-Duke Olivares. In 1643, he was exiled and removed from the Court, although Philip IV always feared the once powerful royal favourite. Even though Philip IV was initially reluctant to appoint another valido, Luis de Haro eventually rose to this position, which he performed more discreetly than Olivares, although fortune and money were not on his side either. The decline of the monarchy did not stop, nor did the wars that consumed the kingdom.
In this last period of Philip's long reign, his correspondence with the nun María de Jesús de Ágreda is surprising. She became the monarch's unofficial advisor, with whom he exchanged more than six hundred letters. In these letters, the nun advises him on how to use the armies, administer finances and prevent uprisings.
Philip IV, Patron of the Arts
This turbulent foreign policy was accompanied by a great development of the Hispanic arts. The reign of Philip IV falls within the so-called Spanish Golden Age, which spans from the beginning of the 16th century to the death of the last great writer of the period, Calderón de la Barca, in 1681.
Spain's most prolific playwright, Lope de Vega, known as the Phoenix of Wits, wrote some thousand plays during his lifetime. Diego Velázquez, considered one of the most influential painters in European history, was protected by King Philip IV and the Count-Duke of Olivares. Diego Velázquez's legacy includes several portraits that demonstrate his style and skill, as well as great works such as The Surrender of Breda (The Lances).
Some of Spain's finest music is considered to have been composed during this period. Composers such as Tomás Torrejón helped shape Renaissance music and the styles of counterpoint and polyphonic music, and their influence continued well into the Baroque period, resulting in a revolution in the music of the time.
This cultural movement was not limited to an elite, nor was it reduced to sacred art as in previous centuries but spread among corralas and mencebías (brothels) with satirical writings such as those that made Francisco Gómez de Quevedo famous. This artistic boom led to an enrichment of popular culture and the creation of new cultural subgenres.
King, But Also Human
The King's personal life was far removed from the pious and self-sacrificing image one might expect of the leader of the greatest Catholic power of the time. On the contrary, Philip IV was not immune to earthly pleasures and surrounded himself with a plethora of more or less official lovers. These ranged from artists such as María Inés Calderón, La Calderona, to nobles such as the wife of the Duke of Alburquerque, Juana Francisca Diez de Aux. Not even convents were safe from the King, as Sister Margarita de la Cruz could have testified.
One of the King's main concerns was to provide a male heir to perpetuate the dynasty. To this end, he married twice in political marriages. His first wife, Elisabeth of France (Isabel of Bourbon, daughter of Henry IV of France), bore him 11 children, of whom only two reached adulthood. However, Baltasar Carlos, heir and great hope to succeed the King, died of the then-fearsome smallpox at the age of 16. To solve the foreseeable dynastic crisis, Philip IV married his late son's fiancée, his niece Mariana of Austria. Of the six children from this second marriage, only two would reach adulthood: Prince Charles, the future Charles II the Bewitched, and the Infanta Margaret Theresa, who married Emperor Leopold I in another royal marriage of convenience.
Philip IV died on 17 September 1665, leaving an heir who was barely four years old, the child King Charles II. Thus began the last reign of the House of Austria in Spain, marked by a deterioration in Spain's position on the international stage but, possibly, a structural improvement in the economic and social foundations of the kingdom. Charles II, who suffered from serious health problems throughout his life, died without issue, leading to a war of succession that not only brought a new dynasty to Spain, the Bourbons, but also transformed the kingdom, laying the territorial and social foundations of modern Spain.
Assessment of a Reign
The 44 years of Philip IV's long reign were enough to cover the fields of Europe with military victories and defeats, the result of endless wars that impoverished Spain and ruined the Royal Treasury. An example of this is the four major suspensions of payments, accompanied by many other financial problems. The monarch's final years were marked by bitterness over the decline of the monarchy and concern about his problematic succession: Charles II, aged four, a king with little chance of surviving for long, and a foreign regent, Mariana of Austria, faced with opposition from much of the Castilian nobility, including the King's bastard son, Juan José of Austria.
Despite all these difficulties, Philip IV's most valuable legacy, outside the political arena, was the undeniable rise of thought, the arts and literature, which made the reign of the Planet King a brilliant continuation of the Spanish Golden Age.
Design Notes
Why This Is So and Not Otherwise
The Planet King is not a wargame about the military conflicts of the 17th century. It is not a game about the legendary tercios, nor is it even a game about the Thirty Years' War. But The Planet King is a game that includes the military conflicts of the 17th century, where the legendary tercios appear and where the Thirty Years' War is represented. All that, and much more, from the perspective of a (humble) human being, from the perspective of Philip IV the Great, King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia, Duke of Milan, Duke of Burgundy, Sovereign of the Netherlands and Count of Flanders.
This point of view is very special, as he is the most powerful and influential person of the time. However, unlike many wargamers when faced with a game, the King's concerns are varied and not limited to military events, or even political ones. The King, in this case the player, must not only deal with foreign monarchs and send his armies to fight in distant wars, but also manage such trivial matters as: "the first stirrings of adolescence, which rode unchecked through all the fields of delight, driven by overflowing passions". In this way, one can understand how the King (wasted) energy, effort and prestige in courting the wife of one of his best generals, causing a crisis of power over a matter of love.
This does not mean that Philip IV neglected his affairs of state, at least not as much as his predecessor (Philip III) or his successor (Charles II). The King was very involved in his role as regent of the largest empire known and was aware of his important task, but for this he had the help of his validos, who generally complied with the monarch's wishes. However, the valido also had his own point of view, and sometimes differed on the means to achieve this end, which led to friction between the two.
Then there was the Court, a hotbed of intrigue and corruption. Sometimes more suited to entertainment than to war, according to Luis de Haro: "There are too many artists at Court, and that is where the laxity comes from, and many evils derive from it; strong kingdoms are made with laws, swords and merchants, not with chatterboxes," and according to Olivares: "the feeling I have about the lack of heads (good generals) and the extreme pain this causes me."
One of the King's greatest concerns was to leave an heir, preferably a male, in order to perpetuate the dynasty. However, luck and consanguinity were not on his side, and only four of his 17 legitimate heirs reached adulthood. It is not easy to simulate this in a board game, other than by appealing to luck, in this case a double mechanism of birth and death: on the one hand, we have recreated the capacity for reproduction and, on the other, that of survival, or death. In both cases, there is little the player can do, just as there was little the King could do, other than trust in luck.
To represent the presence of luck in the King's life, we use the fortune test mechanism, which also allows us to 'clear' the deck so that the cards come in and out of play randomly, making it possible, with the same cards, for events to be different from one turn to the next. In this way, the player, like Philip IV, the most powerful person of the time, has and had very limited power, generally at the expense of luck, both good and bad.
Some of the design decisions can perhaps be better explained by the questions asked by testers during the development of the game:
Q: Why are there so many ladies when in reality there can only be 8-10, counting the Queen (one per turn)? A: Mistresses and queens can actually die during the game, and the player can substitute or replace the mistress by playing a royal action.
Q: Is there no way to end a war, and will it always fester no matter how much you win? A: That's right. The end of a war does not mean that the war is over, simply that offensive operations are not resumed in the short term after a 'decisive' victory or conquest. In terms of gameplay, the end of a war does not mean much, just a pause in a period of continuous warfare. In this period there were actually few battles or conquests that could be considered decisive, in the sense of definitive. One example was the Portuguese conflict, which lasted 27 years, but in reality, not even half of that time was spent on military campaigns; the war simply paused.
Q: Why is the War of the Palatinate treated differently from other wars? Why are there no enemy leaders? A: Good question. The real interests of Philip IV, like those of his predecessors, lay in Flanders and in competition with France. The Central European battlefields were only a distraction for the monarchy. The ability to influence that distant war was very limited and generally reduced to providing troops or money. To represent the almost certain defeat in that war, various formulas were tried, and it was finally decided that, normally, the war would be decided inexorably by event cards, and that the player would have few tools to prevail. The absence of leaders is part of this simplification in this deus ex machina that was the Thirty Years' War for the Spanish monarchy.
Q: What did Baltasar Carlos die of? A: Smallpox, although other sources refer to the possibility of peritonitis.
Q: If I use the geographical location markers to mark a raid, can I not make another raid in that location? Can I make a raid into Portuguese territories (e.g. Brazil) if Portugal is already independent? A: Correct, the territory already has its raid marker and cannot receive another one. And as for Brazil, yes, raids can be carried out on Portuguese territories when they are independent; this reflects the war between Portugal and the United Provinces.
Q: Why does the Duke of Hijar not have the traitor or similar trait when he was in fact a traitor? A: Logically, when he joined the Council of State, no one knew he was going to be a traitor, and neither the King nor Olivares would have promoted him if they had known. This prevents the player from underusing nobles who did not live up to expectations. Incidentally, Hijar never admitted his guilt in the famous plot.
Q: You've gone too far. There is no documentation that Philip IV had a 'romantic' relationship with a nun. A: That's right, and the player is not obliged to do so if they don't want to. This is a game about what the King did and what he 'could have done'.
Q: Can I name Archduke Albert as the King's Valido? Why? A: Same as the previous question.
Q: Why are wars so indecisive? Why do they last so long? A: Contrary to what it may seem, wars did not usually resolve much until one of the two sides ended up exhausted after long years of conflict and with their material and moral resources depleted. That is why there are so many battles known as 'decisive' that in reality decided nothing (White Mountain, Nordlingen, Rocroi, Lützen...). As Cánovas del Castillo rightly said: "Philip IV lost forty important battles, but both the victories and the defeats consumed our blood in vain."
Q: The game has a lot of luck. From turn 3 onwards, I feel powerless in the face of events. A: Welcome to the 17th century, where appendicitis could cut short the most glorious military career, or a trivial infection could cause a miscarriage. Yes, the game involves a lot of chance, just as Philip IV's reign did, in fact, any reign. What would have happened if Cardinal Infante had not died at such a young age? Could Philip IV have done anything about the sinking of the galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha and its 180,000 pesos in silver coins? If Rodrigo de Villandrando had not died so young, could the young Velázquez have become court painter?
This does not mean that the player is defenceless; they also have resources. They can assemble their armies and declare war or pursue a more peaceful policy and prepare the kingdom for the inevitable conflicts into which it will eventually be drawn. But yes, there will be times when the player can only take a deep breath and mutter a prayer to a forgotten god when drawing the Total War card.
Q: Why can I be at war with the Ottomans? There weren't really any major battles against them during this period. A: That's only half true. The struggle against the Turks or their proxies continued throughout the century and well beyond. It is true that the Turkish Empire, during this period, was engaged in almost continuous conflict with the Austrian Habsburgs, but under other circumstances, war in the western Mediterranean might have been reignited. And that is what the game aims to simulate: that the player should not dismiss the danger of war against the Turks, even if it is less likely and less costly (in victory points at least).
Q: Is it a good idea to attack the Barbary pirates? A: If it's the first turn of the game and you have an admiral at Court, it may be a good idea. In other circumstances, it usually isn't. Bear in mind that we have calculated that the player, in the full Planet King scenario, will lose five ducats due to the actions of the Barbary pirates. In other words, winning the war against them earns you one prestige point, one victory point and five ducats. It doesn't seem like a bad plan.
Q: The Hunting Day card isn't worth much; in short, I lose a royal action to gain one happiness point. A: Keep in mind that this card is associated with a positive fortune test, and that, although not very obvious, is a good point.
Q: What do the coats of arms on the cards of Louis II, Piccolomini and some Portuguese nobles mean? A: They are only there to indicate that the notables are not subjects of the King; they have no function as such in the game. Even this is debatable, since the Portuguese nobles, at least in theory, are subjects of Philip IV.
Q: Why doesn't the game have dice? A: Logically, the issue of dice is purely a design decision; we have nothing against our little square friends. Really, the use of cards to resolve events and fortune tests is not very original, but here it serves to ensure that events do not repeat themselves exactly from one turn to the next.
Q: How would you classify the game in a few words? A: El Rey Planeta is a narrative wargame, a game that tells a story.
Q: The land units are called "tercios". Are they really tercios? A: No, each strength point represents about 5,000 soldiers, while each tercio had about 800-1,200. Only the army of Flanders could field about 15-20 tercios and/or infantry regiments and as many cavalry regiments.
Q: It is possible that Portugal will not separate from the monarchy. How historically accurate is this possibility? A: Indeed, if the Portuguese War card does not trigger war, Portugal does not become a foreign power. Historically, it is difficult to contemplate this possibility, but it could have happened. Portugal remaining loyal to the player could mean, perhaps, that the Duke of Braganza does not accept the crown, or that the Battle of the Dunes or the Catalan revolt did not occur.
Q: Is it worth recruiting tercios of Nations if they are more "expensive" than Spanish ones? A: Yes, foreign tercios are recruited and deployed on the map; you don't have to wait until the end of the turn or for the Construction card to be able to use them. That availability has to be paid for in some way.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Gaçeta y nuevas de la corte de España desde el año 1600, Gerónimo Gascón de Torquemada (News and gossip from the Spanish Court since 1600) — A collection of concise writings on what happens in the Madrid court, from gossip to obituaries. Although there are references to these writings dating back to 1677, we have only been able to find them up to 1649.
Relación de la campaña de 1643 (y otras), Jean Vicart (Account of the campaign of 1643 (and others)) — Account of the various years of the campaigns in Flanders, compiled by Jean Vicart, secretary of the 'Avisos de Guerra' (War Reports). It goes into great detail, which is something we wargamers tend to like.
Lettres de Condé à Mazarin, Louis de Bourbon (Letters from Condé to Mazarin) — Letters written by Condé, essential for understanding the evolution of the young prince.
La Gazette, Various authors — What would be considered a newspaper today but controlled by the French state (Richelieu and Mazarin). To see its impartiality, read issue 65, which deals with the Battle of Rocroi.
Ciencia para las personas de corte, capa y espada (seis tomos), Various authors (Science for people of Court, cape and sword (six volumes)) — Translation of the original French. Although written somewhat after Philip IV, its concepts are fully applicable. Very interesting if you can bear to read in Old Spanish.
Secondary Sources
The Count-Duke of Olivares: The Statesman in an Age of Decline (1989), John Elliot — A treatise on the life of the powerful Count-Duke of Olivares, although a little dense, it is a classic of the period.
De Pavía a Rocroi: Los tercios españoles (2017), Julio Álbi de la Cuesta (From Pavia to Rocroi: The Spanish Tercios) — Essential for understanding the Spanish army of the period. The same author has other publications that are also worthwhile.
The Thirty Years' War (1997), Geoffrey Parker — One of the best books written about this complicated war. It deals with military aspects at a strategic level, so a detailed study of the art of war during this period should be sought in other books.
Los Infantes de España en los Siglos XVI y XVII, Carlos Robles Do Campo (The Princes of Spain in the 16th and 17th Century) — PDF on these interesting biographies. A very good summary of a subject that could be very extensive.
The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000-1650 (2006), Cathal J. Nolan — Another 'summary' of an extensive period; in our case, we only need to read about 200 of the 1,240 pages of this tome.
Philippe IV: Le siècle de Vélasquez (2014), Alain Hugon (Philip IV: The Age of Velázquez) — An interesting journey through the life of Philip IV through eight works by Velázquez. A different point of view from what we are used to.
Board Games
Thirty Years War: Europe in Agony, 1618-1648 (2001), David A. Fox and Michael Welkert — Although heavily criticised for its loopholes in the rules, this game is still valid today, focusing primarily on the military aspect of the conflict.
Under the Lily Banners (2005), Ben Hull — Five battles from the Thirty Years' War. Interesting, a little-discussed topic.
Revolution: The Dutch Revolt 1568-1648 (2004), Francis Tresham — You almost certainly won't know this one. Very interesting for understanding another point of view on the Eighty Years' War (or War of Flanders).
Won by the Sword: Great Campaigns of the Thirty Years War, Vol. 1 (2014), Ben Hull — The Thirty Years' War on another scale, in this case operational. Exclusively military aspects.
The Collapse: The Thirty Years War (2026?), Daniel Hernández Iniesta — An original CDG that is a breath of fresh air in the world of wargames. It draws on the experience of the period to create something truly original.
Unhappy King Charles! (2008), Charles Vasey — It is impossible not to find parallels between King Planeta and this other game dedicated to another King, even more unfortunate. Without a doubt, a very good game from an exciting era.