Patria Libre Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Immersion in Time
• You Will Be the Leader of a Faction in the New World
• Content
• Game Setup
• The Game Begins
• In My Turn
  • A - Activate an Order
    • Recruit
    • March
    • Stronghold
    • Buy Card
    • Attack
    • Training
    • Taxes / Looting
    • Clone Order
  • B - Activate Card
  • C - Retrieve Orders
  • D - Rearrange Orders
• Supply / Victory Point Cards (S / VP)
  • Activation of S / VP Cards
  • Score with S / VP Cards
  • Region Domain
  • Domain Bonus
• Popularity Board
  • Pendulum
  • Special Symbols on the Popularity Board
• Special Card Symbology
• Victory Points and End of the Game
  • Conditions of Victory and End of the Game
  • Can a Player Be Eliminated?
• Military Faction Mode Led by Iturbide
  • Components in Play for the Military Faction
  • Game Setup (Military Faction)
  • Allies
  • End of Game (Military Faction Mode)
• Solo Mode
  • Rules for Solo Mode
  • Player's Turn with AI
  • The Use of the Cards Is Priority for the Opponent
• Terminology
• Scoring Example

Immersion in Time

Patria Libre is a game that recreates historical events in Mexico (New Spain) between 1810-1821.

In the game you will be either the insurgent side that wanted to be separate from Spain, or the royalist side that tried to prevent it. 2-4 players can participate. You win if you get more victory points by the end of the game.

Use orders. With them you can recruit, move, attack, upgrade your troops, collect taxes or earn victory points, build a stronghold, or buy event or character cards. Control key regions, use cards strategically, and perform tactical attacks. The cards are essential. You can buy character or event cards. Characters will join your faction. With the events you can get interesting rewards.

Popularity is very important in this game. If the people supports you, you will be able to intertwine your orders forcefully. Without the approval of the people, your cause will lose steam.

There are characters who might change factions, as it happened historically. Some of them could change their mind according to their preferences and join a different side.

You Will Be the Leader of a Faction in the New World

In the game you will play the role of a historical leader of one of the sides.

• Hidalgo: He is a controversial character, but also charismatic and brave. He loves the people and will draw many people to his faction.
• Morelos: An admirable priest who is very committed to the insurgent cause. He will have significant characters and will be able to activate many events.
• Venegas: Prominent viceroy who knew how to contain the revolution by offering rewards for the insurgents. He will manage to gain popularity quickly.
• Calleja: Outstanding military man who subdued the insurgency many times. His specialty is strong and unexpected attacks.

Content

• 1 Game board
• 4 Leader tokens (1 per player)
• 1 Popularity board
• 12 Popularity markers (3 per faction)
• 12 Pendulum tokens (3 per faction)
• 12 Strongholds
• 30 Coins (6 of 3 pesos and 24 of 1 peso, per the component illustration; the text list says 5 and 25)
• 2 VP markers (1 per side)
• 5 Domain markers
• 16 Orders (4 per faction)
• 40 Infantry troops (10 per faction)
• 16 Cavalry troops (4 per faction)
• 8 Artillery troops (2 per faction)
• 4 Leader cards
• 5 Supply / VP cards
• 20 Phase I character / event cards
• 20 Phase II character / event cards
• 14 Phase III character / event cards
• 20 Solo mode cards

Content for the military faction (3 players): 1 Ally marker, 1 Iturbide token, 1 Iturbide card, 16 Military VP tokens (10 of 1 VP, 6 of 5 VP; the text list says 15).

Game Setup

Before the beginning of the insurgency, each player will choose a side, insurgent or royalist, and take components according to the table below:

Players	Insurgent leader	Royalist leader	Infantry	Extra
2	1	1	2 infantries per leader	Leader card, leader token, 4 order tokens
3 *	1	1	2 infantries per leader	Leader card, leader token, 4 order tokens
4	2	2	2 infantries per leader	Leader card, leader token, 4 order tokens

* In a 3-player game, play with the military faction mode.

A player takes the Iturbide card as leader and the rest of the components of any available faction. Unchosen leader cards are to be removed from the game.

1. (Components) Take the components as above.
2. Place the main board in the center of the table.
3. Place the popularity board on the side of the main board.
4. Take the three pendulum tokens with a popularity marker of your color and place them in the middle rows of the popularity board (illustrated with a megaphone). One pendulum and marker per player on each column. Separate and shuffle the different decks of cards face down.
5. Give each player 2 peso coins.
6. Take 4 random phase I character/event cards and place them on the card market on the main game board face up, one card on each market space. Shuffle the remaining cards from phases I, II and III face down.
7. Divide deck II into two parts (decks IIa and IIb), with 10 cards each. Place the decks near the market on the board, so that there are: I, IIa, IIb and III, leaving the space of one card between them. Then take each deck and take 6 cards (face down) in deck I, 6 cards in deck IIa, 6 cards in deck IIb, and 6 cards in deck III. The rest of the cards are to be returned to the box. Shuffle the five S/VP cards and place them, face up, at the beginning, at the end, and between the 4 decks of cards from Phases I, IIa, IIb, and III. This line of cards is called a supply of cards.
8. Now turn all the cards of the different decks, so that all the decks are face up (see image).
9. On one side of the board, place the coins, troops, domain markers, and strongholds.
10. Place the 2 VP markers on the board in the space 0 on the victory point (VP) counter.
11. Place the leader token and infantries troops in the following provinces on the map:

Leader and special power	Infantry & token	2nd infantry
Hidalgo. In addition to attacking, you can recruit infantry.	Gto. / Valladolid	Nuevo Santander
Morelos. In addition to attacking, you can buy a card.	Yucatan	Gto. / Valladolid
Calleja. In addition to attacking, you can move.	Reino de España	Zacatecas
Venegas. In addition to attacking, you can go level up your popularity by paying 1 peso.	Puebla	Reino de España

(For 3-player military faction mode, see below.)

Now everything is ready to start playing! Any insurgent player begins.

Rule: The order "clone order" always starts face down. Players can choose the face of the rest of their orders at the start of the game.

For the first games, we recommend starting with the faces up of the tokens: Recruit, Build, Train and * Taxes (see image).

The leader token, the leader card, the orders, two infantries and two coins will be the initial elements of each player.

Important: All player items are public. Cards, coins, and order tokens must be visible on each player's area.

The Game Begins

The starting player takes an action and passes the turn to the next player on the opposing faction.

In a 4-player game, it is recommended that insurgents and royalists take alternate seats in order to make the turn order easier.

For 3-player games use the military faction mode explained later.

In a 2-player game, the insurgent and the royalist play alternately.

In My Turn

On your turn you can take 1 action: A, B, C or D, which are mentioned below. All actions are related to order tokens.

The orders are placed in the provinces and will eventually accumulate on top of each other, so you have to rotate them leaving the tab exposed, so you can see how many there are and which faction they belong to.

• A. Activate an order
• B. Activate a card with one of your available orders
• C. Retrieve order tokens and character cards
• D. Reorganize your order tokens: Organize orders in your play area by placing the actions you want to turn face up and pass. You cannot perform this action in 2 consecutive turns.

After taking one of these actions, your turn ends and the next player's turn begins. Also, at any time you can change any card on your playing area for a coin.

A - Activate an Order

There are 4 order tokens. One represents the action 'recruit' on one side and 'march' on the other. Another one indicates 'strength' on one side and 'buy card' on the other. Another one represents the actions 'attack' and 'train'. The last token symbolizes 'taxes / looting' and 'clone order' on one side. On each turn you can activate an order or place it to activate a card. If you are present in a province, you can place as many orders as strength points you have there, even if there are orders from another player already.

Example: Ferdinand (blue player) has two orders placed and the Jesus (red player) has one.

Strength: you can place as many orders in one province as strength points you have there. An infantry troop grants 1 strength point, a cavalry troop 2 strength points, an artillery troop 3 strength points. The leader token grants 1 strength point and a stronghold grants 1 additional strength point.

Strength
Infantry	1
Cavalry	2
Artillery	3
Complete stronghold	1
Leader token	*1

Control: The player with the most strength points in a province is in control. * The leader token adds 1 strength point but, in order to gain control, you need at least one troop.

Orders: You can place as many orders in a province like strength points you have in it. A leader token alone can play an order token.

Place an order in a province where you are present.

Recruit

Place an infantry troop in the province where you placed the order or in an adjacent province. The ship is considered a province and it communicates by sea lines.

Restriction: There can only be one troop per player in the provinces.

Example: George (blue) from Yucatan could place an infantry troop on the ship, in Veracruz or in Central America.

March

Move your troop from the province where you placed the order to an adjacent province. This movement can include the leader token on the board. In the event that the movement is to a province where there is another one of your troops, they can switch positions, divide or join forces. If a cavalry troop marches towards a province with its own infantry, they can switch positions or become artillery.

Cavalry: The cavalry token can move two spaces, but must slow its advance against an opposing cavalry or artillery troop. It must also slow down when it reaches the ship, even if it has another movement left.

Example: Alex the red player, can move its cavalry to Nueva Galicia and form an artillery. Another option is to keep your cavalry and move up to two adjacent spaces. The Hidalgo token can be left in the new destination.

Stronghold

Build half a stronghold in the province where you placed the order. If there was already half a stronghold in that province, rotate the stronghold token to the side of the complete stronghold. If you share a province with opposing players, you must have the same or more strength points than them to be able to build it. Place the troop or leader token on it. You gain 1 strength point for domain and 2 popularity levels immediately on any column. Additionally, it protects you from an attack.

Restrictions: There can never be more than 1 stronghold per province and no more than 12 stronghold can be built in the game.

Example: Peter (blue) built half a stronghold on the previous turn, Carlos (red) takes advantage and finishes the stronghold. Carlos must place his infantry on the token to indicate that he controls it, receiving two levels of popularity.

Buy Card

By placing this order, you can buy a card from the market by paying the coins indicated or by having a number (insurgents) or card (royalists) that matches one of your cards in sight on the board (without an order), or in your playing area. You can buy any card with coins, including those with a purple background or cards of the opposing faction, except the S / VP cards with a padlock.

When you buy a card, place it in your playing area and fill the space by moving the market cards to the left and replacing it with a new card, face up, on the space with a cost of 3 coins, following the order of the supply of cards. There are never any empty card slots left on the market.

The S / VP cards are described in detail below.

Remember: you can buy a card from an enemy faction to prevent that faction from using it. Then you can remove any character / event card from your playing area for a coin at any time.

You can gain extra popularity by buying a card. When you buy a card with coins and the card matches letters (royalists) or numbers (insurgents), you receive a popularity level for each match with previous cards in your playing area or on the board that are visible (without an order). If you buy the card and it matches on more than one occasion, you gain a popularity level for each extra match. These bonuses are also earned from character cards with purple background, which are considered mixed.

Popularity per card is taken immediately on the columns that the player prefers, see popularity and pendulum rules below. Thematically, these cards have historical relationship with each other. There are characters or projects that are easier to attract depending on the profile of your faction.

A player cannot have more than 5 cards on their playing area. When buying, recovering or capturing a sixth card, the player must remove any card in exchange for a coin.

Example: Isaac (red) has the Hidalgo card visible on the board and Grito de Dolores in his playing area. Isaac, who has no coins, uses his order and buys Juan Aldama's card. Aldama matches with numbers 1 and 2 with Hidalgo and with number 2 with Grito de Dolores. Then a match covers the cost of the card and, with the remaining, Isaac goes up 2 levels on the popularity board. Each popularity level is resolved before moving on to the next level.

Attack

When you use the attack order, you immediately remove 1 strength point from the attacked troop, which must be in the same province where you placed the order, except artillery, which can attack an adjacent province (the ship is considered a province). If an artillery is attacked, it becomes cavalry, the cavalry becomes infantry, and the infantry leaves the board.

During an attack, the entire stronghold will be eliminated before affecting the troops or the leader token. The leader token will be the last one to be attacked.

Bad reputation: If the attacking army has more strength points than the objective army in the province, it takes away popularity levels equivalent to the difference in strength between the armies. If an artillery attacks an infantry, they lose 2 popularity points. If an artillery attacks other artillery, you do not lose popularity. Leader token and fortress strength is also considered. Attacking in a region when you have dominance, taking down a stronghold, or capturing a character or leader does not penalize you with "bad reputation".

Thematically people get angry and stop supporting factions that abuse their strength against weak enemies.

Captures: If a leader token is without its own stronghold or troop in a province and it is attacked, then the leader's card is captured (see example below). The player to whom the captured leader belonged loses 2 victory points. If a leaderless infantry is attacked and the province contains an enemy character card, this card is captured. The attacker takes the card of the character or leader he captured. Prisoners can also be traded to another player who is willing to negotiate. Cards or coins can be offered or requested freely if they are in the playing area of each player.

If a faction recovers its leader's card, it can place its token back on the board with the recruit order on its turn. In that case, instead of placing an infantry, it will place its leader token.

Attention: If you capture a character with a purple background, it can be used as if it were your own.

Eliminate prisoners. Prisoner characters can be eliminated in exchange for a supply coin. Captive leaders can be eliminated for 2 VP but lose 1 level of popularity.

Example: Axel (blue) attacks Jorge (red), who has his Hidalgo token without troops. Then, the Hidalgo token is removed and Axel takes the Hidalgo card. Jorge loses 2 victory points. In the game popularity is not lost by capturing leaders or characters. Axel can eliminate the Hidalgo card at any time. In return, he would receive 2 victory points but he lose 1 popularity level.

Training

By placing this order, the troop moves up one level. That is to say, the infantry becomes cavalry and the cavalry becomes artillery. The artillery cannot level up.

Note: A faction can only train four knights and two artilleries.

Taxes / Looting

With this order you take 2 coins from the supply or 3 if the province has a mine (province illustrated with a coin). Each time you use the tax / looting order token, you lose one level of popularity immediately. If you share a province with other player(s), you must be the strongest to be able to use the tax / looting order there.

Thematically, the royalists collect taxes, the insurgents loot wealthy family assets. Both actions take away popularity.

In a province with an illustrated coin (mine), you take 3 coins; in a province with no coin, you take 2 coins. In both cases you lose 1 level of popularity.

Clone Order

With this order you can replicate any order of your tokens by paying 1 coin, including taxes/looting.

B - Activate Card

Cards are activated in provinces where they are present. You can activate one card at a time, always together with a token of any order.

First the order token is placed and then the card and then it is checked that the card can be activated. You can activate as many cards in a province as orders you can place according to your strength level.

Place any order in a province where you are present, but the order token will not be activated. Then you place the card you want to activate on the order. Some cards indicate that they need certain requirements to activate. For example, a leader card is used only in the province in which the leader token is located.

Insurgents can activate cards with a yellow background and the royalists can activate cards with blue background. Cards with a purple background are considered mixed and can be used by both sides. Each card indicates its abilities.

There are 3 types of cards that can be activated by the players (S / VP cards are activated automatically for all players when exiting the market):

1. Leader cards. They have a head icon in profile, identified by a star next to their name. They are initial cards, they indicate the faction of each player, whether insurgent or royalist. They are very powerful cards and have 2 effects, which can be executed in any order. You can activate only 1 effect. They are accompanied by an order in the province where their leader token is on the board. After using a leader card, it remains with its order on the board until the player takes the action retrieve orders. When recovering orders, leader cards are also retrieved.

2. Character cards. With icon of a head in profile. They are very similar to the leader cards. They are used accompanied by an order, in a province where they are present. Character cards remain on the board with their order token until the player who placed it takes the retrieve orders action. Some characters switched sides during the fight for independence. These characters are represented in the game with cards with a purple background. These cards can change players (see retrieve orders below). When retrieving orders, the character cards are also retrieved.

3. Event cards. With a lightning bolt icon. To activate them, an order token is placed in a province where they are present. Afterwards, the card is placed on the order. The lightning bolt indicates that they are immediate and single use. After activation, this card is discarded and is removed from the game.

Usage requirements: There are some cards that condition their use, either because they require a certain level on the popularity board, that you pay certain elements (coins, troops or cards) or that you play them in certain regions.

C - Retrieve Orders

If the active player no longer wants or cannot place more orders, then you must retrieve them. When a player retrieves orders, two things happen:

A. Take your orders and cards on the board (if any) and; B. Eliminate the card to the left of the market, moving the remaining ones and placing a new card. It is possible for this action to activate a Supply / VP card (see below).

The player carefully takes his orders and his character cards from the board, places them in a pile, and rotates them 180 degrees displayed in their playing area. The face of the order facing up will be the action that can be activated in the future. Orders are rotated even if they were used to activate cards. (Turn the orders to their opposite side, including the orders that were used to activate cards. The faces that are visible will be the ones that the player can activate in their next turns.) Leader and character cards are placed face up in the playing area.

When choosing to retrieve tokens, you must remove the leftmost card from the market. Then all the cards are moved one place to the left and a new card is placed in the free space of the market with a cost of 3 coins.

Attention: If you choose to retrieve orders and you still have orders in your playing area with the possibility of being played, alone or with a card, you lose popularity. In this case you lose a popularity level for every order in your play area.

The retrieved character cards with a purple background are analyzed to see if they can join another faction. The preference is printed on the right side of the card. If this preference is tied with another player, the character card stays with the player who retrieved it. Thematically, that character changes sides, as it happened historically.

Example: Esteban (red) retrieves Jose de Iturrigaray, a character who prefers the lowest level of the column of the yellow building (illustration). Cynthia (green) is one level lower than Esteban's marker, so Iturrigaray changes sides and joins the green faction.

Important: After retrieving orders, the player removes the leftmost market card and places a new card from the active deck, face up, on the 3 coins cost space. A card that is pushed out of the market is removed from the game, unless it is S / VP (see below).

D - Rearrange Orders

If the active player wishes to place a different order than the ones they have active, they can rearrange orders. They take the orders in their playing area and turn them around as they like. The faces you leave up on your order cards will be the ones you can activate on your next turns. Then the turn will pass to the next player.

Attention: When rearranging orders, neither the cards are modified in the market nor the orders on the game board. A player cannot repeat this action 2 times in a row on their turn.

After a player takes 1 of these 4 actions, the turn goes to the next player.

Supply / Victory Point Cards (S / VP)

These cards, thematically, represent great historical events. After exiting the market from the left, when a player retrieves orders, the S / VP cards are activated automatically. They can penalize, since they request supplies for our troops, as it happens in any warlike confrontation. Supplies are found with popularity and money. If you cannot supply your troops, they will be removed from the board.

These cards also reward significant VPs needed to tip the balance and win the game. After adjusting supplies, it will reward the factions that have control in specific provinces (indicated on the card), as well as those who control important provinces marked with VP stars.

Activation of S / VP Cards

Once the player who activated the S / VP card completes their "retrieve orders" action, the visible S / VP card is placed to the side of the board.

Checking Supplies: The player who activated the card counts the number of troops they have on the board. Coins and positive popularity levels (above middle row megaphone with gray background) can supply troops. To supply a troop, pay a peso or lower a positive popularity level in any column. In this way, all troops can be supplied or these resources depleted. Provinces that are not supplied will be lost and the player must withdraw their unsupplied troops. Empty fortresses remain in the province, as they can be taken over by another faction.

• The leader token does not need to be supplied.

The player who has unsupplied provinces chooses which provinces they abandon. Once the player who activated the S / VP card adjusts his supplies, the rest of the players do the same, following the turn order.

Example: It is Alex's turn (red), who has no coins to pay for supplies. Alex drops 3 popularity levels and he sacrifices a card from his playing area to pay one peso, and gets 4 supplies. Afterwards, he decides to eliminate the infantry in the north, since there was an unsupplied province.

After adjusting the supplies for all players, we proceed to the scoring phase.

Control. The player with the most strength in a province is in control. * The leader token adds 1 to the strength, but it requires a troop (infantry, cavalry or artillery). Infantry grants 1, cavalry 2, and artillery 3 strength points. A fortress grants 1 point of strength (see table).

Score with S / VP Cards

VPs are awarded starting with the player who activated the card. Control of a province is achieved by having more strength than any other player (see strength table). If the forces are equal in that province, it does not award VP.

1. The player in control of the provinces with printed VP star will take 1 VP (or 2 VP in Mexico Capital), and moves their VP marker on the main board. Repeat this procedure with all the provinces on the board with stars.
2. Next, check every province in the region illustrated in the S / VP card. The player in control will take an additional 2 VP per controlled province.
3. Lastly, check if there are any players with domains in regions. If so, these players will take additional VP based on the VP stars printed in the region they dominate.

Rebellion at Cistell, in addition to scoring all provinces with a star on the board, scores the 3 regions with a tobacco leaf with green background on the south-east of the map.

In 4-player games, the players' forces of the same faction are not added. Control is gained by a single player, although VPs do add up between like-minded factions. Remember that there are only two VP markers. The 2 insurgent players use the marker with the trigarante flag and the 2 royalist players use the marker with the royalist flag.

Once a S / VP card is activated, it is removed from the game and the turn continues with the next player who activated the card.

Region Domain

When a player has control of all provinces in a region, he immediately gains dominance of that region. In 4-player games, the player must meet the conditions alone, the allied forces do not accumulate.

The leader token cannot control a province alone. It is necessary to have a troop from their faction. In case of tie in a province, no player is considered to have control over it.

In 4-player games, the players of the same faction's forces are not added. Control is gained by a single player, although VPs do add up between like-minded factions. Remember that there are only two VP markers. The 2 insurgent players use the marker with the trigarante flag and the 2 royalist players use the marker with the royalist flag.

Once a S / VP card is activated, it is removed the game and the turn continues with the next player who activated the card.

Domain Bonus

When a player achieves dominance of a region, they immediately claim: the coins and printed VPs (stars) in the region, in addition to 1 popularity level for each half and 2 for complete fortresses built in that region, even if someone else built it.

If you have dominion in a region, you can attack there without gaining bad reputation.

Then, place a domain token on a province in that region. This indicates that that region will no longer give out rewards for dominance in the future, unless all provinces in that region run out of troops during the game. In that case, the marker is removed and the region will be available for domain again.

Popularity Board

The popularity board has 3 columns: illustration, military, and church. They represent the main areas of influence at the time. Popularity markers and their respective pendulums begin in the neutral zone of the board (gray zone with megaphones). These markers move according to what happens in the game.

The upper zone grants benefits, indicated on each of the squares in which the marker and its pendulum are going up. The lower zone penalizes, with effects indicated on each of the squares through which the markers and their pendulum are going down.

As you begin to move, the marker and the pendulum move together. When the movement of a marker is contrary to its previous movement, the pendulum stays still and only the marker changes levels. Then, if later in the game the marker changes direction again and reaches squares where the pendulum had already been, it does not take the benefit or it is not penalized again. This rule seeks to limit the tactic of continually lowering and raising to repeatedly trigger a bonus.

Pendulum

When a marker is not on the same square as its pendulum and passes the neutral zone, reaching a new square with effect in the area opposite the pendulum (superior or lower), that player receives the benefit or penalty to its new position. Then the pendulum of that marker swings, moving under the marker in that new position. The spaces that were previously inactive in the opposite zone (because the pendulum had already reached them) are activated again, since now the pendulum is in the opposite zone.

Example: Alejo (blue player) lost two popularity levels due to an attack he made. He chose the lower two levels in the first column (illustration). His marker goes past the middle of the board, so the pendulum is repositioned below the marker. As long as the marker is there, Alejo will not be able to use the marching order.

Another way to reset the pendulum is to reach the highest or lowest point in popularity columns. When you arrive to the highest square, you receive 1 VP and place the pendulum and the marker again in the neutral zone of that column. When you get to the lowest square in the column, the same thing happens, with the difference that instead of winning 1 VP, you lose it.

Note: the levels at the top can help you with supplies.

Special Symbols on the Popularity Board

• You earn a coin and buy a card.
• You attack with a troop on the board following the "bad reputation" rules.
• You choose a player and they must change one of his infantry on the map to one of yours.
• You choose a player and they lose one popularity of their choice.
• You can't use the march order.
• You can't use the attack order.
• You lose another level of popularity of your choice.
• Choose a player and change one of your infantry on the map to one of theirs.

(The printed rulebook shows these as icons beside each description; the icon-to-text pairing follows the order printed.)

Special Card Symbology

The ≤ or ≥ symbols displayed on some cards indicate the conditions that must be met in order to use those cards. They indicate that, in order to activate the card, you must be equal to or less (≤) or equal to greater (≥) in the area specified on it compared with the rest of the players.

Pedro Moreno: It can only be used for training in the provinces illustrated with torch and bell.

Constituent Congress: You must sacrifice a card from your playing area in exchange for 2 VP.

Slavery Abolished: You must have fewer coins or be tied with the poorest player, train and build.

Excommunicated: Can only be used if you are tied or higher than the other players in the church column of the popularity board. Choose a player and they lose 3 levels of popularity of their choice.

Pardons: Pay a coin and a popularity level for another player to lose a card of their choice.

Evangelization: You can take two actions of recruiting in provinces with different region symbols adjacent to the province where you activated the card.

Church Division and Caste Division: They can only be used if you are higher or lower than the other players in the church or illustration column of the popularity board (if you are tied, you will not be able to use this card). Church Division gives you 2 VP and with Caste Division you receive one peso and you can buy up to two cards.

Santa Anna: You gain one level of popularity in the church column and you can also attack. The illustrated cards with popularity and building icons indicate that you gain one popularity level in that column when you activate them (another example is Iturbide, which goes up in the military column).

Victory Points and End of the Game

Conditions of Victory and End of the Game

The game ends if any of the following 4 conditions is met:

1. If one side advances by 10 VP or more to the opposite side. The side with the most VP wins the game.
2. If a player has control in each of the three provinces with enemy flags, they win the game.
3. If a faction reaches or 30 VP or more, they win the game. (Indicate excess of VP by turning the marker). If it was reached by means of a S / VP card, the full score is made and the game ends immediately. The faction with the most VP wins.
4. When the last of the S / VP cards is activated. The player with the most VP wins the game.

In the event of a tie, the side with the most supply capacity wins (popularity and pesos). If it is still a tie, the one who controls the most flag provinces wins. If it is still a tie, the player who controls the most provinces wins. Finally, if the tie continues, the royalists win.

Can a Player Be Eliminated?

There is no definitive elimination of players. If during the game a player loses all their pieces on the board, they lose 1 popularity and rearrange their order tokens.

On their turn, they can take 2 actions: recruit infantry in a province with a related flag, without having to place an order, and another one with their order tokens and cards, if they have them.

Military Faction Mode Led by Iturbide

This game mode is for 3-player games.

Iturbide, with a long military career in the service of the royalist army, decides to form secret alliances with the insurgents. Through the Iguala Plan he proposes equality and independence to the insurgent guerrillas and offers the monopoly to the high Catholic clergy, who was hurt by the approval of the Constitution of Cadiz in Spain, which took away their privileges. His calling gains acceptance and achieves a powerful alliance. And then, he turns against the Spanish government, which could do little to prevent the independence of New Spain. This game mode integrates this dangerous faction, which can either win alone or benefit any other faction, as it suits it.

A third faction enters, "the military one", headed by Iturbide. This faction distributes the VPs it achieves between the factions (insurgents or royalist). The points it grants in this way are added with military VP markers and grant more VP to the winning faction, in order to win together.

First the insurgent player and the royalist choose a random faction. Then the military faction takes the elements of one of the two remaining armies.

Components in Play for the Military Faction

• 1 Iturbide leader token.
• 1 Iturbide card.
• 1 Ally marker.
• 16 Military VP markers (6 of 5 VP and 10 of 1 VP).
• • 3 Popularity markers.
• • 3 Pendulum markers.
• • 4 Order tokens.
• • 10 infantry troops, 4 cavalry troops, 2 artillery troops.

* From an unselected faction.

Game Setup (Military Faction)

The third player represents the military faction and takes:

• Iturbide's leader card and token. The card and the token are placed on their playing area in the Mexico-Capital province.
• Two infantry. One is placed in the Mexico-Capital province and the other on the ship on the main board.
• The three popularity markers on their respective pendulum tokens. Place both tokens on each square with the megaphone, on the popularity board.
• The four order tokens. Place the clone order face down and the others, with the faces that they want to activate face up, on the playing area.
• Two 1 peso coins, placing them on the playing area.

Set aside the military VP tokens and the rest of the troops. The game setting continues as normal, checking the rulebook.

The rules are the same except for the following changes:

• The turn order will be: insurgent, royalist and then military.
• The military faction can only activate cards with a purple background and allied faction cards (see below).
• When an S / VP card is activated, the military faction receives as many military VP markers as points earned.
• The military faction takes their markers and distributes them among the two factions. This faction can't deliver more than two thirds of the VP to a single faction. If it gains 1 VP, it does not award a marker. If you win 2 VP or plus the military player distributes according to the following table:

Table to distribute VP by military faction (columns with two entries show the alternative splits allowed)

VP	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Faction 1	1	2	2	3	3 or 4	4	4 or 5	5 or 6	5 or 6
Faction 2	1	1	2	2	3 or 2	3	4 or 3	4 or 3	5 or 4

(Read each pair in order: for 6 VP, 3+3 or 4+2; for 8, 4+4 or 5+3; for 9, 5+4 or 6+3; for 10, 5+5 or 6+4. The printed table labels the rows "Facción 1" and "Facción 2". For 7 VP the table shows a single column, 4 and 3 respectively.)

Allies

Military VP markers awarded to factions are checked. The faction with the most military VP will become an "ally" to the military faction. The military faction places the ally marker with the allied faction side up, on their playing area. From that moment on, the military faction will be able to use the cards of that faction, in addition to the cards with a purple background. If the sum of the military VPs is equal between the insurgent and royalist factions, the military faction is considered to have no allies and can only activate cards with a purple background.

End of Game (Military Faction Mode)

• A regular faction wins if, after the military faction delivers VP markers, it has 6 VP or more than the others on the VP tracker on the board. If this condition is met, this faction is declared the winner, ignoring the military faction.
• The military faction wins immediately if it manages to control 4 flag regions on the map.
• When the cards run out, the regular faction with the most VP wins. The military faction also wins together if this faction has more VP markers than the other regular faction. If not, the military faction loses too.

If the military faction gave the same amount of military VP to the two factions at the end of the game, it cannot be a winner and the victory will be contested between the regular factions with the classic rules. If none of the above conditions are met, the game continues.

Note: The VP awarded by the military faction are public, as are all components of the playing area.

Solo Mode

Patria Libre has a solo mode imitating a 2-player game. This mode gives you an interesting and unpredictable opponent with artificial intelligence inspired in Chad Mestdagh's Solo System. It should be noted that this gameplay is flexible and open to interpretation. The cards with different personalities and preferences that appear randomly will mark the actions and strategies of artificial intelligence.

Additional components for solo mode: 20 Personality cards.

Rules for Solo Mode

First, the game is configured as if two players were going to play, one insurgent and one royalist.

You can choose either side, taking into account that if the artificial intelligence (AI) is the insurgent faction, it will take the turn first.

The AI player will start with the "clone order" face up. You can choose the rest of the orders.

Shuffle the solo mode deck and place the cards face down on one side of the board.

The turn passes normally with the basic rules.

Player's Turn with AI

Take and reveal a personality card, that personality will indicate the AI's preferred action indicating what style the opponent is playing with. The card has suggestive icons around the top. The preferred action is the one on the tab on the left side. If this action cannot be performed or is very illogical (we appeal to your common sense), go to the next suggestion on the right, until an action that corresponds the personality of the card is taken.

Sometimes it will suggest an attack, movement or other action related to the geography of the board. If you have a very obvious option, choose it. For example, dominate a region close to scoring. If not, choose according to the indicated region preferences on the card.

If at one point it is estimated that there are several equally acceptable options for the opponent to make, simplify the assumptions to just two and number them as Option 1 and Option 2. Then, ask the opponent: are you going to do option 1? Take a new card from the solo deck and if it has a positive rating on the right tab, the opponent takes that action. If it is an x, the opponent executes option 2.

If the opponent only has orders or cards that require money left and does not have enough, then choose the action rearrange orders and place all the orders on the opposite side.

The Use of the Cards Is Priority for the Opponent

If their preference is to attack, try using the leader card (all these cards attack) or another attack card, before using the order. The orders the opponent will use to activate cards are chosen in reverse to his preferences. That is, to activate cards, spend orders choosing them from right to left, according to their card.

Example: The AI is playing with the royalists. Abad, the active personality, has a preference for buying a card and Bataller allows it. The opponent activates the card with the order to collect taxes according to the order that interests them least according to Abad's card (in this case collect taxes).

If there are no cards that activate preferences, then use the orders. If the last options are any of the last four preferences (from the center of the card to the right), the action of retrieving orders is taken in the traditional way and takes a new turn immediately. Be very mindful of popularity as an aid to indirectly attaining the opponent's preferences. For example, the opponent has a preference for training and you realize that by building a fortress, achieving dominance, or buying a related card, it can advance in the military popularity column and train a troop. So, you could choose one of those options.

When it comes to raising or lowering popularity, use the preferences on the card. The option on the left is preferred by the opponent. When you go up two or more levels, distribute them one at a time, from left to right. Same when going down, but from right to left.

If the personality card says "Same as the previous", repeat the last active personality. This gives the player consistency with AI and becomes more logical, even though it continues being, in essence, unpredictable.

In short, it is played like a normal two player game, where you have clues of the opponent and their preferences. The only mechanical advantage of the opponent is that, when taking the collect orders action, it immediately takes a new turn.

The victory conditions for both players apply according to the classic rules. Enjoy the experience, you will get interesting surprises.

Terminology

• Card supply: Line of cards ordered near the market, based on the initial configuration.
• Flag: Icon in some provinces that indicates the bastions of the two sides participating in the game (insurgents and royalists).
• Event card: Single-use card that represents a historical event that grants certain effects indicated on the same card.
• Leader card: Cards that activate the powers of the leaders of the factions. They can only be used where the leader token is on the board.
• Character card: Permanent cards that represent historical figures with certain abilities and conditions indicated on the same card.
• S / VP card: Cards that request to pay for supplies for provinces with troops with "positive" popularity levels or coins. In addition, they grant VP in provinces with a star, in provinces with a certain symbol, and in regions with dominance.
• Build: Action of placing the half fortress token, or turn it on its full side if it was already started, granting 2 popularity levels and 1 strength point.
• Control: Status of a faction when it has a single troop or those of greater strength in a province.
• Domain: When a faction has control of all provinces in a region.
• Stars: Icons on the board or on some cards related to gaining victory points.
• Leader token: Token on the board that indicates where the leader is and their card can be used.

Scoring Example

Stephen has the blue faction and Kevin has the red one. After adjusting supplies, VP are given with the Calderon Bridge Battle card.

A. Score by major provinces: Kevin receives 2 VP for Mexico-Capital. Stephen receives 1 VP for Veracruz, 1 VP for Kingdom of Spain and 1 VP for the United States. Central America does not award VP since there is a tie (infantry 1 + Calleja 1 against cavalry with strength 2). Subtotal Kevin 2 VP, Stephen 3 VP.

B. Score by region event: Stephen receives 2 VP for Zacatecas. New Galicia gives no VP (the strength is tied). Kevin receives 2 VP for Valladolid. Subtotal Stephen 2 VP, Kevin 2 VP.

C. Domain scoring: Kevin has the only domain for the region of the capital (crown icon). He receives 2 VP for the 2 stars illustrated in Mexico-Capital. Subtotal Kevin 2 VP.

Total VP for this card: Stephen 5 VP, Kevin 6 VP.