Europa 1945-2030 Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Components
• Overview
  • Political Points
  • Victory Points
• Object of the Game
• Setup
• Phases of Play
  • Turn Order Phase
  • Recruitment Phase
  • Election Order Phase
  • Risks Of War Phase
  • Pawn Placement Phase
  • Elections Phase
• Risks of War
  • Determine Areas of Potential and Actual Conflict
  • Calculate the General Level of Conflict
  • European Intervention
  • Consequences of Tension and War on the Elections
• Elections
• End of Play
• Optional Rules
  • Variable Turn Order
  • Black Horse Voting

Introduction

1945: Europe lies in ruins. On the heels of 1500 years of internal conflicts, the Second World War again plunged the nations of Europe into barbarism and horror. Is Europe doomed to be plagued by eternal conflict? Is there any way to end this terrible cycle? Perhaps…The first step toward solving the problem was taken at the end of the war by three countries: Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg. Together they decided to form Benelux.

In 1951, West Germany, France, Italy and the three Benelux countries combined to form The European Coal And Steel Community, paving the way for a stronger economic community. Then, upon the signing of the Treaties of Rome in 1957, these same parties gave birth to the European Economic Community, the forerunner of today's European Union.

Despite initial difficulties, the movement surged ahead: Great Britain, Denmark and Ireland joined the union in 1973. In 1981 it would be Greece's turn, and in 1986 that of Spain and Portugal. In 1995, three new countries enter the Union: Austria, Finland and Sweden. In the not too distant future, Poland, The Czech Republic and Hungary should be following the same path.

Long doubted by nationalists and sceptics on all sides, the European Union took shape, proving itself to be a rare island of stability in a multi-partisan world shaken repeatedly by crises and conflicts. But could the European example work on a global scale?

The credibility of the European dynamic will depend upon Europe's ability to end, once and for all, the conflicts on its own continent. The Union has the means to put an end to war and to put all the xenophobes in their place. It lacks only a political will, clear and strong, a will shared by a large majority of European citizens. In its own humble way, this game strives to capture that collective consciousness.

Components

1 Game Board representing the political map of Europe today. Included on the board are several charts to keep track of Points, Elections, etc. during the game.

44 Blue Puzzle Pieces representing each of the 38 countries after it has joined the Union. Each piece is placed onto the game board when that country is admitted to the Union. Four countries (France, Great Britain, Greece and Russia) are composed of two separate Puzzle Pieces (Islands or Separated Territories); Italy has three Puzzle Pieces (The Mainland, Sicily and Sardinia).

4 Historical Overlays: 1. Spain & Portugal; 2. Greece & Turkey; 3. The Eastern Bloc Countries; 4. The Ex-Soviet Countries. These Overlays all are positioned on the game board at the start of the game, and are removed on the turn number indicated on each Overlay.

42 Country Cards representing each country's Political Points and the vote needed to defeat the Nationalist Parties opposing the EU. The cards also show each country's capital, national flag, area and population. The turn number in which each card comes into play is also indicated. The cards for Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino are included for information purposes only and are not used in play. 120 Wooden "Europeans" in 6 colours, 20 Pawns per player (10 men and 10 women), representing the Political Parties.

6 Political Points Markers, round wooden markers used on the Political Ladder that surrounds the board to indicate each player's accumulated Political Points.

28 Election Counters, numbered from 1 to 28, which are placed on the map to indicate the order in which the elections are held.

99 Victory Point Counters, in the colour or the European Flag (75 of "1", 24 of "5"). 20 "Tension" / "War" Counters, used to indicate Tension (white spiral side) or War (red spiral side).

1 Turn Marker in the colours of Europe and of EuroGames.

2 Ten Sided Dice used to determine the Risks of War during turns 3 and 4.

1 Rule Booklet which you are now reading the translation of.

1 Quick Start Rule Sheet, explaining how to start playing in only 5 minutes.

Overview

The game of Europa is played in 4 turns. Each player represents a European Political Party which will attempt to win as many elections as possible, alone or in collaboration with other players. Each time the European Parties win an election in a country, that country joins the European Union (EU). If the players are clever and do not hesitate to ally themselves, they will eventually have the opportunity to draw all the countries in Europe into the Union before the end of the game. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, one factor continually destabilises the EU's ascent to power: the Risks of War. The rise of "Tension" and the outbreak of "War" test the solidarity of the players. Europa intends to reflect, if not repeat, reality.

Throughout the game, the players gain two types of points:

Political Points

Players win Political Points each time they win an election, alone or with other players. Political Points allow a player to augment the number of European Pawns of his colour and to reinforce his presence on the map. At the end of the game, the player with the most Political Points is elected President of the EU. During each turn of the game, players track their Political Points on the Political Ladder that surrounds the game board.

Victory Points

Players receive Victory Points whenever they win an election, participate in a successful peace action, and if they are elected President of the EU. Players may also lose Victory Points if they fail to provide enough support when a peace action is necessary. Victory Points are represented by tokens valued 1 and 5 in the colours of the European flag. On his turn, a player may exchange 5 tokens of "1" for a "5" and vice versa if he wishes. Note: You should keep the number of Victory Points you have secret; do not show other players how many you have.

Object of the Game

In Europa, all players share these common goals: bringing as many countries as possible into the EU and eliminating or minimising all conflict on the Continent. On an individual level, the player with the most Victory Points wins the game. A secondary goal is to be elected President of the EU, by gathering the most Political Points during the game. The Victory Conditions are explained in greater detail in the End of Play section.

Setup

Place the Game Board in the centre of the table with the Track for the Country Cards placed beside or below it. Place the four Historical Overlays on the map, so that they show Europe the way it looked during the period 1945-1973. Take the C.C.C.P. (USSR) Counter and cover the name "Rossija" (Russia). Place the Turn Marker on square 1 of the Turn Track. Sort the Country Cards into three groups according to the turn in which they enter the game: the first group for the turn 1 countries, the second for turn 2, and the third for turn 3. Put aside the cards for Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino; these are included for information purposes only and are not used in play.

Each player picks a colour to represent his political party and receives his starting Political Points:

6 players - 20 Political Points 4 players - 30 Political Points

5 players - 24 Political Points 3 players - 40 Political Points

Place the Political Points Marker for each player onto the appropriate space of the Political Ladder. Note: If a player reaches 100 Political Points, continue around the Ladder, but treat the 1 as 101, the 2 as 102, etc.

Example of the starting setup: This shows the board setup for five players.

Phases of Play

Each turn is divided into six phases. All players must complete each phase before play proceeds to the next phase. The six phases are as follows:

Turn Order Phase

For the first turn of the game, each player rolls a die. The highest roll goes first. Play then proceeds clockwise around the board. On all subsequent turns, play proceeds in order of Political Points, highest first. In case of a tie, a die is rolled and the high roll goes first. The turn order decided during this phase holds for the entire turn; players may wish to re-arrange themselves around the table in turn order sequence, since the Political Points Markers will move during the Elections Phase.

Recruitment Phase

In this phase, each player determines how many Europeans (Pawns) of his colour he will have this turn. This number is obtained by taking the player's Political Points score and dividing it by 10, rounding down. Players may not accumulate Pawns between turns.

Example: If a player has 49 Political Points, then that player gets 4 European Pawns this turn.

Election Order Phase

Shuffle the Country Cards to be used for the turn and deal them face-up on the Card Track. These cards determine the Election Order for the turn. In turns 2 and 3 the cards of the new countries attempting to join the EU are added to the deck of cards of the countries that have not yet joined the EU. These cards represent countries where democracy has been re-established and it is now possible to organise elections.

To allow the players to better visualise the Election Order on the map, place the corresponding Election Counter onto each country on the map so that it matches the Election Order of the Country Cards on the Card Track (the #1 counter for the first election, the #2 the second, etc.).

Risks Of War Phase

During turns 3 and 4, the Risks of War Phase takes place. This Phase is divided into three parts. In general, players roll the dice six times to determine areas of potential and actual conflict. Each player decides how much support he wants to provide for peace- making efforts, then the peace efforts are resolved. If, after the intervention of the players, there are still countries at "War", these countries are unable to hold elections. If political tension persists in a country, it will be more difficult for the Europeans to win election there.

Pawns committed to reducing the General Level of Conflict during the Risks of War Phase are not available for the Pawn Placement and Elections Phases that follow: they are permanently removed from the game. Risks of War is explained in greater detail below.

Pawn Placement Phase

Following the Turn Order, each player places half (rounded up) of his remaining Europeans on one or more of the available countries for that turn. When all players have placed half of their Pawns, they then proceed to place their remaining Pawns using the same Turn Order. No player may withhold any of his Pawns from the map.

During the first turn, players are free to place their Europeans in any of the countries not covered by the Historical Overlays. On subsequent turns, players are further restricted to non-EU countries that share a border with an EU country or that are connected to an EU country by a dotted line. Within these limitations, players can distribute their Europeans in any way they choose.

Example: On turn 1, a player with 3 Pawns could place 1 in Germany and 2 in France or he could place all 3 in Belgium.

Elections Phase

The elections begin with the country that is in space Number 1 on the Card Track and proceed in ascending order until all elections have been held. Whenever an election is won by the players, the country joins the EU and the corresponding Blue Puzzle Piece (or Pieces) is (are) placed on top of that country. The winning parties in the election can move one of their European Pawns from that country into any non-EU country that borders the newly-expanded EU and where elections are scheduled to take place later this turn, if one exists. Regardless of the outcome of the elections, the remaining Pawns in the country are withdrawn from the game.

IMPORTANT: The cards of the countries that have entered the EU are put aside for the rest of the game. The cards of the countries where Europeans have lost the elections to the Nationalists are kept in play for future turns. Don't forget that in turns 2 and 3 new Country Cards are added to the deck.

Once all the elections are over, move the Turn Marker to the next space on the track, remove the Historic Overlay that corresponds to the new turn, and begin the next turn. Elections are explained in greater detail below.

Risks of War

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 gave hope to the millions of people who were not allowed political freedom for almost half a century. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many suppressed but unresolved national and ethnic problems resurfaced. After 1990, armed conflict escalated in many East-European countries, endangering Europe as a whole. These effects have been incorporated into Europa during turns 3 and 4 as the Risks of War Phase.

Determine Areas of Potential and Actual Conflict

A random player rolls the two dice and adds the results together. Using the table on the Game Board, the die roll indicates which country has a potential conflict. This is done six times (6 possible conflicts). For each dice roll, two results are possible:

An EU Member Country is rolled: The problems that arise are resolved by non- violent negotiation within the country. This result has no effect on the game.

A non-EU country is rolled: Internal political "Tension" produces a dangerous escalation towards "War". A "Tension" Marker is placed on that country. If a country with "Tension" is rolled again (in either this turn or the following), "War" breaks out! The Marker is flipped over to indicate "War". If a country is at "War" and that country is rolled again (in either this turn or the following), the "War" spills over into the neighbouring countries. Place a "Tension" Marker on all non-EU countries that border the country in question (Note: Countries connected by dotted lines are not considered to be neighbouring in this case). If a neighbouring country already has a "Tension" Marker, it is flipped over to "War". Neighbours that are already at "War" are not affected. You now have a devastating domino effect in which "War" can rapidly expand into non-EU countries.

Example: The following sequence of dice rolls represents a rare but possible scenario, showing the devastation of the domino effect:

11 Place a "Tension" Marker in Yugoslavia.

9 Place a "Tension" Marker in Macedonia.

5 Place a "Tension" Marker in Bulgaria.

8 Place a "Tension" Marker in Moldavia.

9 Flip the "Tension" Marker to "War" in Macedonia.

9 The four countries neighbouring Macedonia are affected. Place a "Tension" Marker in Albania. Flip the "Tension" Markers to "War" in Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. In this example, Greece is not affected since it is already part of the EU. The picture below shows the effects after the breakout of the "War".

Calculate the General Level of Conflict

After determining the areas of potential and actual conflict, the players calculate the General Level of Conflict in Europe as follows:

• Each country with a "Tension" Marker is worth 1 Conflict Point.

• Each country at "War" is worth double its Black Circled Number in Conflict Points. The total of all Conflict Points gives you the General Level of Conflict in Europe for this turn.

Example: In the previous example, the general level of conflict is 28: 10 for Yugoslavia, 8 for Macedonia, 8 for Bulgaria, 1 for Albania and 1 for Moldavia.

European Intervention

Each player must now decide how much aid he will provide in a joint European effort to end the conflicts that are threatening the construction of Europe. This aid covers everything: an international peace conference, the supplying of medical and humanitarian aid, even the use of peace-making or peace-keeping forces to intervene within the country. Once again you must co-operate with your fellow players in order to advance your common goals. This difficult process is handled in the following way:

• Each player secretly places a number of his European Pawns into his hand.

IMPORTANT: Once committed to peace efforts, these Pawns will not be available for the phases that follow.

Example: You have 69 Political Points, so you receive 6 European Pawns on this turn. You may use up to 6 Pawns to participate in the peace efforts. Any Pawn you use in this manner won’t be available for placement on the Board. If you use all 6, you won't have any left to go to elections with.

• Once all players are ready, they open their hands simultaneously. All of these Pawns are placed on the Dove of Peace of the Game Board. Two scenarios are possible:

The number of Pawns is equal to, or greater than, the General Level of Conflict

Bravo! Europe has succeeded in putting aside its political differences, and stopped the conflict. All "Tension" and "War" Markers are removed from the board. The player with the largest number of Pawns on the Dove of Peace is awarded 4 Victory Points. The player with the second largest number receives 2 Victory Points, and the third receives 1 Victory Point. In the case of a tie, the player with the least number of Political Points wins –because, comparatively speaking, that player contributed more to end the conflict. If there is a tie on the Political Points as well, roll a die (high roll wins). All of the Pawns on the Dove of Peace are then withdrawn from the game.

The number of Pawns is less than the General Level of Conflict

Europe looks fine on paper, but when faced with major obstacles, it folds. The player who kept the largest number of Pawns for the Pawn Placement Phase loses 4 Victory Points. The player who kept the second largest number loses 2 Victory Points, the third loses 1 Victory Point. In the case of a tie, the player who put the least amount of Pawns to the peace effort receives the largest penalty. If there is still a tie, a roll of the die decides (the lowest roll gets the penalty). Once the penalties are applied, the player who has the most Pawns on the Dove of Peace must decide how to resolve the conflicts. In the case of a tie, the player with the most Political Points decides; if there is still a tie, roll a die (high roll wins).

IMPORTANT: You must attempt to resolve all instances of "War", before resolving "Tension". Ending a "War" requires expending a number of European Pawns from the Dove of Peace equal to the Conflict Points of the country in question. To eliminate "Tension" in a country, a single pawn will suffice. Once resolving Wars becomes impossible, Tensions are eliminated. Any "Tension" and "War" Markers that can't be removed remain on the board. In the following turn, if the level of EU intervention permits, they may be removed.

Once this is done, all of the Pawns on the Dove of Peace are then withdrawn from the game.

Example: Using the example above, we have "War" in Yugoslavia, Macedonia, Bulgaria and "Tension" in Albania and Moldavia, for a total of 28 Conflict Points. Let’s assume that the players committed 18 Pawns to the peace effort. That's a lot of aid, but still not enough to resolve all of the conflicts. The player that has the most number of Pawns on the Dove of Peace must now choose a solution.

Stopping the "War" in Yugoslavia (10 Pawns) seems to be the best choice, because it has 7 neighbouring countries. If Yugoslavia came up on the die roll in the next turn, it could spell disaster for Europe. The player could then choose to stop the "War" in either Macedonia or Bulgaria. The two countries are seemingly equivalent, but since Albania is already in Tension, any added "Tension" in Macedonia would automatically start "War" in Albania. A similar effect is not found in Bulgaria. Therefore the player should opt to stop "War" in Macedonia. That would leave "War" in Bulgaria and "Tension" in Albania and Moldavia.

Another possible solution would be to stop "War" in Bulgaria and Macedonia, then reduce "Tension" in Albania and Moldavia (18 points in all). This choice would limit "War" to one country (Yugoslavia) so as to decrease the odds of its spread in a following turn. On the other hand, a result of 11 has the highest probability of being rolled on the dice (11 corresponds to Yugoslavia). If 11 is rolled twice in the following turn, Europe will have to deal with "War" in seven countries!

Consequences of Tension and War on the Elections

Because of the Nationalist forces at work, it's more difficult to organise and win an election in a country where "Tension" exists. In a country with "Tension", the Black Circled Number needed to defeat the Nationalists is increased by 1. In a country at "War", democratic debate is suppressed by force of arms. People of differing views no longer speak to one another; they kill each other. If a country is at "War" it is impossible for an election to take place. The Country Card is temporarily put aside. If the "War" is ended on a subsequent turn, it can be brought back into play and elections can be held again.

Elections

On each European country and its Country Card are two numbers. The White Number indicates the number of Political Points that are to be divided among the victorious parties of an election in that country. The Black Circled Number indicates the minimum vote needed to defeat the Nationalist Party opposing the EU in that country. For the Europeans to win the election, they must be able to form a coalition of at most three players whose total number of votes (Pawns) is greater than or equal to the Black Circled Number. When elections take place in a country, two things can happen:

The European Pawns in that country cannot match or best the Black Circled Number

This can be either because there are not enough Pawns in total, or there are no potential three-player coalitions that could match or best the Nationalists. In this case, the Nationalists win the election and the country does not enter the EU this turn. The European Pawns in that country are withdrawn from the game and the Country Card is kept in play for the following turn.

The European Pawns in that country could match or best the Black Circled Number

Players having European Pawns in that country are then eligible to run and vote in that country's election. The election is divided into two steps:

• Campaigning (Negotiating) Eligible players announce the coalition that they propose to defeat the Nationalists. This coalition must consist of parties that are present in the country at the time of the election. The coalition may not include more than three players. The total number of European Pawns in the coalition must be equal to or greater than the Black Circled Number. Of course, a player with a sufficient number of European Pawns may attempt to win the election alone.

• Voting In Turn Order sequence, the first eligible player proposes one coalition. The other eligible players must then respond to this proposal by saying "Yes" or "No". Each European Pawn in the election represents one vote. If the proposal receives a majority of the European votes, it wins and no other proposals are heard. Otherwise, the next player makes his proposal, and so on.

IMPORTANT: If at the end of the Voting no coalition has successfully been formed, the Nationalists win the election.

A victory by the Europeans in an election has six effects:

• The country where the election has been won joins the EU.

• The Political Points award is divided equally among the winning coalition. Each winning player then advances his Political Point Marker farther up the Political

Ladder. SPECIAL RULE: If a coalition of three parties is elected in a country worth only 2 Political Points, each party is given 1 Political Point for the win. In a country with 4 Political Points, this same coalition would receive 2 Political Points each.

• Each player taking part in the winning coalition receives one Victory Point.

• Each player in the winning coalition may immediately move one of his winning Europeans into any non-EU country adjacent to the newly-expanded EU where elections are scheduled to take place later this turn, if one exists. The most judicious choice is to move your pawn to a country where your presence could use beefing up.

As you can see, as long as he keeps winning elections, a player may keep moving a single pawn from country to country.

• The remaining Pawns are withdrawn from the game and the country's blue Puzzle Piece(s) is (are) added to the board. Four countries (France, Great Britain, Greece and Russia) are composed of two separate Puzzle Pieces (Islands or Separated

Territories); Italy has three Puzzle Pieces (The Mainland, Sicily and Sardinia).

• The corresponding Country Card is removed from play. Once a country joins the EU, it cannot reverse the decision.

A victory by the Nationalists in an election has two effects:

• Any Pawns in the country are withdrawn from the game.

• The corresponding Country Card is put aside until next turn, where it will again take part in the Elections Phase.

Example: 2 Blue party Pawns, 2 Green party Pawns, 1 Red party Pawn and 3 Yellow party Pawns are present during the elections in Great Britain, for a total of 8 European votes. To defeat the Nationalist Party, the Europeans must attain a coalition of at least 4 votes. To successfully form, a coalition must garner 5 of the 8 European votes.

During the Campaigning, Blue proposes a coalition with Green, who hesitates (4 votes). Yellow responds by proposing a coalition with Red (4 votes). Red, unhappy with Yellow's position in the game, proposes a coalition of Red-Blue-Green (5 votes). Just before the minute is up, Yellow makes a last ditch offer to join Green (5 votes). The players then proceed to the Voting.

Using the current Turn Order, Blue proposes a Blue-Green-Red coalition (5 votes). Red accepts, but Green refuses to join. That leaves Blue & Red with 3 votes…Proposition rejected. Green proposes a Yellow-Green coalition (5 votes), Yellow accepts. The Green-Yellow coalition wins the election with 5 votes and Great Britain joins the EU.

Great Britain represents 30 Political Points (the white number), so the Green and Yellow players receive 15 points each and move their Political Points Markers farther up the Political Ladder. Had the Blue-Green-Red coalition won, each player would have received 10 points.

Once the Political Points have been collected, the Yellow and Green players can then opt to move one European Pawn each from that country into any non-EU country neighbouring the newly-expanded EU where an election is scheduled to take place later this turn. They both decide to put one Pawn each into Ireland, where elections have not yet taken place, and where Yellow already has one Pawn. The remaining Pawns in Great Britain are removed from the game. Great Britain is then covered with its European Blue Puzzle Pieces and its Country Card is removed from play.

Example: One Pawn each of Blue, Green, Red, Yellow and Purple are present during the elections in Great Britain. Although the total European vote is large enough (5 votes) to defeat the Nationalist Party (4 votes), no three-player coalition can muster more than 3 votes, so the Nationalists automatically win the election.

In order to avoid unnecessary prolongation of the game, we suggest the following measures:

Limit the Campaigning to one minute;

During the Voting Phase, limit all comments to "Yes" or "No";

Do not allow any commentary during any of the other Phases.

End of Play

At the end of turn 4, the player with the most Political Points is elected the President of the European Union and receives 3 Victory Points. In the case of a two-way tie, the players are elected President and Vice-President with each receiving 2 Victory Points. In the unlikely case of a three-way tie, the players are elected President, Vice-President and Co-Vice-President, with each receiving 1 Victory Point. All players then add up their Victory Points. The player with the most Victory Points wins the game. In the case of a tie, the player with the most Political Points wins. If there is still a tie, the players should shake hands, pat each other on the back and promise to play Europa again soon.

The quality of this victory depends completely upon the state of Europe in the year 2030. The victory is evaluated as follows:

For each country with "Tension", add 1 Conflict Point. For each country at "War", double the Black Circled Number and add this number to the Conflict Points. Compare the result to this chart:

Conflict Points	Result
11+	Pyrrhic Victory. Europe doesn't have long before World War Three.
4-10	Fragile Victory. Can Europe survive these Tensions?
1-3	Decisive Victory. Before 2150, all of Europe will be united.
0	Total Victory. The European Union is a shining example for the entire world.

You can also compare the results of one game against another by using the following method:

Victory Points + Number of countries in the EU - Conflict Points = Final Score for each player.

If you are running multiple games simultaneously ( a tournament, for example) we suggest that each game use the same Risks of War dice rolls. That way you have a perfect comparison between styles of play and you can judge how important human behaviour is when dealing with political problems.

Optional Rules

Variable Turn Order

Players may find it easier to determine the Turn Order anew with each election, since the Political Points Markers will move whenever the Europeans win an election.

Black Horse Voting

Instead of the players presenting their coalition proposals during Voting in Turn Order, have them do it in reverse Turn Order.