Thirty Years of Misery Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Overview
  • Factions
• Game Components
  • Units and Leaders
  • Player Aids
  • Custom Dice
  • Cards
  • Treaty of Westphalia Cards
  • Events Cards
  • Marked Event Cards
• Map
  • Principalities and Areas
  • Electorates
  • Heartlands
  • Impassable Areas
  • Fortresses
  • The Baltic Sea
• Control and Religious Status
  • Control
  • Victory Points
• Game Setup
  • 1.0 Choose a Scenario
  • 1.1 Choose a Faction
  • 1.2 Place Starting Units and Force Pool
  • 1.3 Religious Status Markers
  • 1.4 Create Decks and Draw Cards
• Allies and Leaders
  • 2.0 Allies and Leaders
  • 2.1 Allied Units
  • 2.2 Leaders
• Game Play
  • 3.0 Rounds and Turns
  • 3.1 Game End Check
• Faction Turns
  • 4.0 Faction Turns
  • 4.1 Draw Cards Phase
  • 4.2 Reinforcements Phase
  • 4.3 Movement Phase
    • 4.3.1 Armies
    • 4.3.2 Protestant Baltic Sea Movement
    • 4.3.3 Swedish and French Neutrality
  • 4.4 Battle Phase
    • 4.4.1 Fortress Defense
    • 4.4.2 Battle Dice Results
• Religious War
  • 5.0 Religious War Turns
  • 5.1 German Troubles Phase
  • 5.2 Allied Reinforcement Phase
  • 5.3 Religious War Phase
  • 5.3.1 Religious Conversion Dice Results
• Game End & Victory
  • 6.0 Game End
  • 6.1 Sudden Death Victory
  • 6.2 Treaty of Westphalia
  • 6.3 Tied Games
  • 6.4 Faction Victory
    • 6.4.1 Faction Victory Points (FVP)
• Scenarios
  • 1618-1648 Thirty Years of Misery
  • 1618-1629 The Empire Strikes Back
  • 1630-1648 The Lion of the North
• 7.0 Optional Rules
  • 7.1 Slightly More Advanced Religious Rules
  • 7.2 Slightly More Advanced Reinforcement Placement Rules
  • 8.3 Strictly Team Play Variant
• Players Notes
  • German Troubles
  • Religious Conversion
  • Saxony
  • Sweden
  • Fortresses
  • France

Game Overview

Players for each side strategize together in order to coordinate their campaigns. Each side attempts to control the principalities on the map in order to restructure the religious map of Germany. Each Round players, in randomized order, take their turns and check to see if any outside powers intervene in the conflict or if any other calamities befall Germany.

The game ends either by Sudden Death or at the end of a round after a majority of the players have declared their willingness to conduct peace talks by playing their "Treaty of Westphalia" card, after which players tally their side's victory points. The players on the winning side then tally faction victory points to determine who among them is the overall winner of the game.

The game has 2 sides, Catholics and Protestants, composed of 2 factions each. Each player chooses a faction to play and takes the corresponding units, Battle Dice and cards of that faction.

Factions

Catholic / Pro-Habsburg side

• The Emperor / Imperial faction (I). Unit icons and dice colour: red.
• The Catholic League faction (CL). Unit icons and dice colour: blue.

Protestant / Anti-Habsburg side

• The Sweden faction (Sw). Unit icons and dice colour: yellow.
• The France faction (F). Unit icons and dice colour: light grey.

In addition to the 4 player-controlled factions, the game includes 3 non-player factions:

Non-player factions

• Spain (Sp). Unit icons and dice colour: purple. Controlled by: the Imperial player.
• German Protestants (G). Unit icons and dice colour: black. Controlled by: both Protestant factions (Sweden and France).
• Saxony (S). Unit icons and dice colour: brown. Allied to / controlled by: either the Imperial faction or Sweden, depending on events in play.

Game Components

Units and Leaders

Units are represented by counters or cubes (your choice), which are colorized after their faction:

• Red for Imperial (I) units.
• Blue for the Catholic League (CL).
• Purple for Spain (Sp).
• Brown for Saxony (S).
• Black for the German Protestants (G).
• Yellow for Sweden (Sw).
• Light Grey for France (F).

Each side also has a number of leaders. These are represented by standees and offer certain advantages as noted in section 2.2 and on the player aid.

Player Aids

There are 4 identical player aids that contain the sequence of play and other useful info and reminders.

Custom Dice

• 3 Red Imperial battle dice.
• 3 Blue Catholic League battle dice.
• 2 Purple Spanish battle dice.
• 2 Brown Saxon battle dice.
• 3 Black German Protestant battle dice.
• 2 Yellow Swedish battle dice.
• 3 Light Grey French battle dice.
• 1 Grey Fortress battle die.

These are used to resolve battles.

Also included are 1 Red Catholic Religious Conversion die and 1 Black Protestant Religious Conversion die, used to resolve Religious War.

Cards

There is 1 deck for each of the main factions in the game: The Imperial, The Catholic League, Sweden and France. These are used by the players of those factions. In addition to the 4 factions' decks there is the German Troubles deck, which is used to resolve events outside the control of the players during Religious War turns.

Example card "Truce of Ulm" (shown on page 4 of the playbook): PLAY AT THE START OF A TURN. If Bavaria is not currently Catholic-controlled, units may not enter Protestant-controlled principalities this turn.

Historical note printed on that card: Bavaria, under Maximilian I, made a short-lived truce with Sweden and France in 1647 after the country was devastated.

The section highlighted above of the event text clearly states in which side's or specific faction's turn and phase it can be played and/or if there are certain requirements that must be fulfilled in order to play it.

Treaty of Westphalia Cards

Each faction has one "Treaty of Westphalia" card. As specified in their event text these cards are also played as a Movement Card. After being played, they are placed face up in an available slot along the right side of the map instead of being discarded. This enables players to track how many Treaty of Westphalia cards have been played. The game ends at the conclusion of any round in which 3 or more Treaty of Westphalia cards have been played, although not before round 6.

Historical note: After 5 years of negotiations in Osnabrück and Münster, the peace of Westphalia finally ended the Thirty Years War in 1648.

Events Cards

Playing cards for their event allows players to tweak the rules in many ways by adding extra units to the map, modifying your or other faction's movement, affecting combat etc.

A player's cards can be used EITHER as a Movement Card OR for their Event.

• a. If played as a Movement Card during the Movement Phase (4.3), the number in the upper-right blue soldier icon denotes how many armies can be moved, while the number in the green boot icon denotes how many movement points these armies each have (printed as 3.2.1; the Movement Phase is section 4.3).
• b. If used for its event, the text in the center of the card describes when it can be played, and what effect it has (printed as 3.2.6; see the card's own text and the Movement Phase in section 4.3).
• c. The italicized text at the very bottom of a card are historical notes on the background of the event and have no effect on play. The card number in the bottom right corner is used during the setup of certain scenarios.
• d. Some cards have an icon along the border of the historical notes section. This is a reminder that this card is not part of the starting deck as described in the scenario setup.

Example card "Cuirassiers" (shown on page 10 of the playbook): PLAY IN A BATTLE IN A TURN. "HIT" result counts as 2 hits each combat round. The cuirassier regiments of the Imperial army were heavily armoured and well trained.

Once played, all cards are removed from the game, except for the Treaty of Westphalia cards and "*" marked cards as described below.

Marked Event Cards

Event cards that modify scoring at the end of the game have an "*" next to their title. These cards should be placed next to the Treaty of Westphalia slots along the map edge, instead of in the discard pile, if their event ends up affecting victory or faction victory, as a reminder of that effect. If played as a Movement Card, or if the event ends up not affecting victory (some of these events offer players a choice), the card is discarded as normal.

Map

Principalities and Areas

The map is divided into colour-coded principalities, which are again (usually) subdivided into areas by dotted lines. Most principalities are coloured light grey, yellow, blue or green, while the principalities of the major belligerents during the war have been coloured in the same way as their units in the game for thematic reasons. Light grey areas are independent city states; Principalities that only comprise one area.

Electorates

Control of these is important for victory purposes at the end of the game and for certain card effects. For multi-area principalities it is important to note that it is the principality that is considered an electorate, and not the specific area within it that holds the icon.

Historical note: The rulers of the electorates held special power within the Holy Roman Empire. Among other things they appointed the Emperor. This was of critical importance during the Thirty Years War, as Ferdinand II wanted to increase imperial power and secure the throne for his son Ferdinand III.

Heartlands

The Sweden, Pomerania, Interior France, North-Eastern France, Spanish Netherlands, Bavaria, Austria and Saxony principalities are marked with a flag. These principalities are considered Heartlands and represent crucial objectives for the main belligerents of the war. Control of these is important for VP purposes at the end of the game. As with electorates, it is important to note that the icon represents the principality as a whole, and not the specific area that holds the icon.

Historical note: Most of these heartlands represent the home territory of a power, with one notable exception: Pomerania, which was not in any way part of Sweden, but was considered a vital objective for them, although they had no legal claim to it. For this reason, it is treated as a heartland in game terms.

Impassable Areas

Some areas are considered out of play and can never be entered by either player during the game. These areas represent either seas, countries neutral in the conflict, or areas with terrain that was not suitable to movement of large armies and was historically avoided.

Fortresses

Areas containing a fortress icon are fortresses and have certain special rules for combat. They also have a crucial importance for reinforcements, as most new units are placed in fortresses.

Historical note: Siege warfare dominated the warfare of the era, especially in the rich, and thus highly fortified, western part of Germany along the Rhine and in the Netherlands.

If at all possible, units placed according to event text may not be placed directly into areas containing enemy units. If there are no other valid alternatives for placements, however, units may be placed into an enemy-occupied area, in which case a battle there is resolved during this turn's Battle Phase, with the just-placed units as the attackers.

The Baltic Sea

The Baltic Area is a special area, as it is only impassable for the Catholic side. See 4.3.2 for details.

Control and Religious Status

Control changes as units enter/leave principalities, while Religious Status only changes in the Religious War turns.

Control represents control of an area through a physical military occupation, while Religious Status represents both the hearts and minds (to use a modern expression) of the population (or at least key elements within it), as well as the effects of well-established social, economic, political and religious structures within society.

Control

Principalities are either uncontrolled, Catholic-controlled or Protestant-controlled. A principality that is occupied by units of both sides, or is vacant, is considered uncontrolled, while a principality containing units of only one side is controlled by that side.

Control is determined the instant it becomes relevant (at the end of movement and battles, upon play of certain cards, and at the end of the game). Control is normally not marked during play, but whenever a situation exists where the controlling side of a principality does not match its Religion Marker, players place a Flame counter on it. This serves as a reminder to roll for Religious War there in the upcoming Religious War Turn (printed as 4.0; the Religious War turns are section 5.0).

Note that control IS marked for principalities that are Heartlands and/or Electorates, as control of these matters more in terms of victory and event card effects.

Example: Bohemia has a Protestant Religion Marker. It contains Protestant units and is thus Protestant-controlled, and marked as such in the Electorate Control section on the upper-right of the map. If Catholic units enter and occupy an area within Bohemia, it becomes uncontrolled as long as both sides have units here. If the Protestant units were to leave (or become eliminated), Bohemia would become Catholic-controlled (and marked as such), and a Flame counter would be placed there, as the controlling side now does not match its Religion Marker.

IMPORTANT: Control vs Religious Status. It is very important to distinguish between a principality's control and its Religious Status. It is possible for an area to be Catholic in terms of religion, but Protestant-controlled, and vice versa. Also note that it is possible for an uncontrolled area to have a Religion Marker, or for areas to have no Religion Marker.

Victory Points

Victory Points (VPs) are used to determine which side is winning the war (6.0). VPs are tracked on the Victory Point Track along the right map edge. The middle of the track is 0, which is a draw, and then the track extends 12 spaces towards each side: Catholic and Protestant.

During play, the VP marker is shifted up and down the track according to the situation on the map, as religious status changes in the principalities. Each principality on the map with your side's religious status marker is worth 1 VP for your side. If the VP marker reaches the 12 space, that side wins a sudden death victory (6.1).

Example: The starting situation in the game has 20 principalities with Protestant religious status markers and 13 with Catholic religious status markers. Thus the VP marker starts the game in the 7 space on the Protestant side of the VP track, as 20 - 13 = 7.

Example: During the Religious War turn in the first round, the Catholics roll a "Conversion" result in a Protestant principality (exchanging the Protestant religious status marker with a Catholic one) and roll an "Uproot" result in another principality (removing a Protestant religious status marker there). This results in the VP marker shifting 3 spaces in favour of the Catholics, from 7 to 4, as there are now 18 Protestant and 14 Catholic principalities on the map.

Only shift the VP track for changes in religious status during play. As noted in the rules for Electorates and Heartland principalities, the VP shifts from these ONLY apply at the end of the game (and thus do not apply in terms of achieving a sudden death victory).

Game Setup

1.0 Choose a Scenario

Players must decide before play which scenario to play. These are described in the Scenarios section of this booklet.

1.1 Choose a Faction

Catholic Side (red background) Factions:

• Imperial (I): 40 units, 3 battle dice, and 27 cards.
• The Catholic League (CL): 40 units, 3 battle dice, and 27 cards.

To prevent confusion between the terms "Catholic side" and "Catholic League", the Catholic League faction will only be called "The League" from now on in the rules, player aids and cards.

Protestant Side (black background) Factions:

• Sweden (Sw): 17 units, 2 battle dice, and 27 cards.
• France (F): 25 units, 3 battle dice, and 27 cards.

In addition to the above, the Catholic side also includes the Spanish (Sp, 2 battle dice) and Saxons (S, 2 battle dice), while the Protestant side also includes the German Protestants (G, 3 battle dice) and may take over control of the Saxons (see 2.1).

When playing with fewer than four people, one or more players must control both factions on their side of the conflict.

1.2 Place Starting Units and Force Pool

Players place their units on the map as described in the scenario. Two of the scenarios have their setup printed directly on the map, while the third scenario requires players to disregard the setup on the map and only use the description in the scenario text. Also place the Round Marker Pawn on the space designated as the first Round for the chosen scenario.

Any of a faction's units remaining after finishing the setup are placed next to the map and constitute that side's Force Pool.

These units will be placed on the map as Reinforcements (4.2) at the beginning of a faction's future turns or as called for by German Troubles cards or Event cards, and units eliminated in battle or removed via event text will go back to the Force Pool.

1.3 Religious Status Markers

Principalities are marked with an icon showing their starting Religious status. This affects certain card effects and die rolls. Principalities are also marked with a church marker (or the lack of a church marker) showing their current Religious status: red churches for Catholic principalities, black churches for Protestant/Calvinist principalities.

As with Electorate and Heartland icons, it is important to note that these icons/markers reflect the principality as a whole and not any specific areas within them.

Principalities marked with a white church icon and white church marker are principalities that are not tracked for religious status in any way.

The coloured church marker denotes a principality's current Religious status. Players should keep track at all times of the number of principalities with Catholic Religion Markers vs the number of principalities with Protestant Religion Markers by shifting the white church marker on the victory track. One space towards your side for each enemy church removed and one space for each friendly church placed (thus potentially 2 shifts at once if you replace an enemy church with your own).

It is important to note that for purposes of tracking Religious Status markers it is of no importance which side (if any) controls the principality.

Historical note: The reason why religious status is not tracked for the major belligerents is that there was no real effort or intention by either side to convert these territories; the major religious struggle was about the religion of the rest of Germany. This rule also neatly avoids a lot of problematic and potentially complex game situations, as France (a Catholic country) was fighting for the rights of Protestants in Germany, at the same time as they were suppressing the rights of the Protestant Huguenots in a vicious civil war at home, while Saxony (a Protestant country) was allied to the Catholic Habsburgs and received guarantees of its own religious freedom, while the Habsburgs pursued policies of harsh re-catholization for its neighbours.

1.4 Create Decks and Draw Cards

Prepare the decks for each faction as well as the special German Troubles deck as designated in the chosen scenario. Each faction then draws a starting hand of 4 cards. Players from the same side may show each other their cards at any time in order to coordinate their actions.

Important: Unless specifically stated in an event text, all cards are one-use and will never return to the Draw Pile after being used or discarded.

Allies and Leaders

2.0 Allies and Leaders

Besides the units of the 4 factions controlled by the players, the game includes units from Saxony, Spain and the German Protestants that are handled slightly differently. Each of the 4 factions also has one or two leaders that give friendly units in their area some special abilities.

2.1 Allied Units

Saxony (S): 10 units, 2 battle dice. Allied to the Imperial faction at the beginning of the game and controlled by them. Saxon units can only be moved by a player if he also has units of his faction in the same area as the Saxons. One Swedish event changes Saxony's allegiance and makes them allied to, and controlled by, the Swedish player, while an Imperial event once again makes them allied to the Imperial player. Note that Saxon allegiance and who controls their units is thus not dependent on who physically controls Saxony on the map.

Historical note: Protestant Saxony tried hard to balance its policies between the, at times divergent, goals of upholding the imperial constitution, fulfilling its own territorial ambitions, eliminating Calvinism as a destabilizing factor while also defending Protestantism in Germany.

Spain (Sp): 20 units, 2 battle dice. Controlled by the Imperial faction. Counts as Imperial for purposes of forming armies for movement.

Historical note: Spain was the other branch of the Habsburg dynasty. They naturally supported their fellow Habsburgs in Austria, as a stable Holy Roman Empire was necessary to enable Spain to fight effectively in their 80-years war against the rebellious Netherlands and check French ambitions.

German Protestants (G): 45 units, 3 battle dice. Controlled by both Protestant factions. Counts as both French and Swedish for purposes of forming armies for movement.

Historical note: The German Protestant princes were a mixed lot. Some sought merely to strengthen their own positions by violating the Imperial constitution, while others were fighting sincerely for the Bohemian and Palatine cause and to defend the rights of fellow Protestants across the Empire.

2.2 Leaders

Leaders are represented by standees. These count as units for purposes of movement and forming armies, but not for any other purpose. In battle, Leaders do not roll dice but may choose to accompany any unit from their side that rolls a "ROUT" or "STAND ?" result. If they ever find themselves alone with enemy units, they are eliminated.

A leader in the Routed Units box is brought back in the game in the same manner as a unit of the same colour.

Each Leader has one or more special abilities that allow tweaks to the normal rules, as described below.

Turenne: When present in a moving army, he increases its movement points by 2 (to a maximum of 4).

Tilly: Ignore the first Catholic loss in each battle where he is present (NOT in each combat round).

Wallenstein: Receive 1 additional I in his current area (regardless of control) during the Reinforcement Phase. May double the effect of "STAND ?" results in battles where he is present.

Gustavus: Automatically has the Initiative in each battle where he is present, and after winning a battle, he may move with some or all of the units in his area into an adjacent area, which may result in a new battle. This may only be done once per turn.

Torstensson: During the Movement Step of each Swedish turn (only), he may move his army for free with the same number of movement points as the played Movement Card (i.e. the Swedish player may move one army more than listed on his Movement Card as long as Torstensson is part of the army).

Historical note: Technically not just an ally of the Swedes or French, but the original antagonist on the Protestant side.

Game Play

3.0 Rounds and Turns

The game is played over a variable number of rounds.

At the beginning of each round, all 5 Turn Markers are placed into a suitable container. Designer's recommendation: use a small bag or a cup. Next, a Turn Marker is blindly drawn from the container and placed on the "1st Turn" space of the Turn Track. The colour drawn denotes what turn it is. This faction completes its turn before the next Turn Marker is drawn.

When drawn, the RW (Religious War) Turn Marker is instead placed in the "R.W." space on the Turn Track, and players then together execute a Religious War Turn as described below.

Once all the Turn Markers have been drawn and all the factions have had their turn, the round ends. The Round Pawn is advanced to the next round space on the Round Track and a new round begins.

Faction Turn Sequence. A drawn faction Turn Marker (Imperial, League, Sweden or France) designates which faction takes its turn next. The person who controls this faction is the Active Player and performs the phases below in order:

• a) Draw Cards Phase (4.1)
• b) Reinforcements Phase (4.2)
• c) Movement Phase (4.3)
• d) Battle Phase (4.4)

Religious War Turn Sequence. A drawn RW Turn Marker designates that a special Religious War turn is conducted. All the players together perform the phases below in order:

• a) German Troubles Phase (5.1)
• b) Allied Reinforcements Phase (5.2)
• c) Religious War Phase (5.3)

Note on sequence (transcription): the Religious War Turn Sequence box on page 9 of the printed playbook lists the Allied Reinforcements Phase first, while the Religious War Turn box on page 12 and the phase numbering (5.1 German Troubles, 5.2 Allied Reinforcement, 5.3 Religious War) list the German Troubles Phase first. This transcription follows the phase numbering and the page 12 order.

3.1 Game End Check

At the end of round 6, and at the end of each subsequent round, check how many "Treaty of Westphalia" cards there currently are on the Treaty of Westphalia slots along the eastern/right map edge. If there are at least 3, the game ends.

Faction Turns

4.0 Faction Turns

Whenever the Imperial, League, Sweden or France Turn Marker is drawn, the corresponding faction (Imperial, The League, Sweden and France respectively) conducts their turn by performing the phases below in order.

4.1 Draw Cards Phase

At the very start of their turn, the Active Player may discard cards from his hand and then draws his hand back up to 4 cards.

Note on card play timing: any cards that specify that they must be played at the start of a faction's turn may be played AFTER drawing cards, but before the Reinforcement Phase.

4.2 Reinforcements Phase

Place Reinforcements & Routed Units. At the beginning of his turn, the Active Player returns his faction's units (including leaders) from the "Routed Units" box and receives new units from his Force Pool (1.4). Reinforcements and units returning from the "Routed Units" box are placed in Fortresses already containing units from the same faction.

In addition, F units and Sw may always be placed in the "Interior France" and "Sweden" areas respectively.

If no valid placement area exists, any reinforcements received are lost, while Routed units remain in the "Routed Units" box.

Play note: Due to the above restriction, players should be careful not to lose all of a faction's units.

Historical note: Fortress cities were often used as logistical bases for the armies. The regiments of the armies of this period were composed of multinational mercenaries, as most states had little or no conscription, and new regiments were often mustered far away from the power paying for their service.

Reinforcements received each turn:

• Imperial: 4 I units. Received in the Imperial turn. If Austria is Protestant-controlled, no I reinforcements are received, but Routed units return as normal.
• The League: 3 CL units. Received in the League turn. If Bavaria is Protestant-controlled, no CL reinforcements are received, but Routed units return as normal.
• Sweden: 1 Sw unit. Received in the Swedish turn (even while Sweden is neutral, 4.3.3).
• France: 2 F units. Received in the French turn (even while France is neutral, 4.3.3).

Saxon (S), Spanish (Sp) and German Protestant (G) units are received in the Allied Reinforcement Phase during Religious War turns (5.2).

Reinforcements received via event text are always received, even if Austria, Bavaria or Franche-Comté are enemy occupied.

If a faction does not have enough units remaining in their Force Pool to place the full number of reinforcements, they place all available units.

4.3 Movement Phase

The Active Player must play one (and only one) of his cards as a Movement Card during his turn, if at all possible. During his own (or even other player's) turns he may also play cards for their event effects, as specified on the event text. Once played, all cards are removed from the game, except for the Treaty of Westphalia cards (printed as "Peace of Westphalia" in this section), which are placed face up along the right side of the map, as well as "*" marked cards, which are kept near the map as reminders of their effect if played for their Event.

The played Movement Card designates the maximum number of armies that the Active Player may move, and how many areas each of these armies may move.

Important: It is possible for a faction to run out of cards if they play too many events and thus be unable to play a card as a Movement Card. If that happens, that faction is restricted to only moving 1 army 1 area for the remainder of the game. This represents a faction exhausting its economic resources.

An army, including any of its units, may only be moved once during a turn. Armies are moved from area to adjacent area. An army must stop if it enters an area occupied by enemy units. Armies cannot drop off or pick up units while moving. Units may not move multiple times with different armies.

Armies are moved by the Active Player as permitted by the Movement Card he played and can be modified by Event Cards. A player does not need to move the full number of armies indicated on the Movement Card or use all the allowed movement per army.

Important: When forming an army, a player may only include units from the other faction on their side if that player agrees to it, but there is no requirement to inform that player beforehand where you intend to move the army if they accept. Thus on the Catholic side, the Imperial player must have the permission of the League player to include CL units in an army in their turn, while the League player must have the permission of the Imperial player before including I, S and Sp units in their turns. On the Protestant side, the Swedish player must have the permission of the French player before including F units in an army, while the French player must have the Swedish player's permission to include Sw and S units in an army. G units are controlled by both Protestant players, and thus neither of them needs agreement from the other before including G units.

Example 1: The Active League player forms an army that includes 2 League CL, 3 Saxon S, 2 Spanish Sp and 10 Imperial I units. He moves all these units together as an army.

Example 2: The Active Swedish player forms an army that includes 8 French F and 3 German Protestant G units. He moves all these units together as an army, even though not a single Swedish Sw unit is present, as the German Protestant G units count as both Swedish and French for purposes of forming armies.

Important note: Provinces that touch only at a corner point are not adjacent to each other.

4.3.1 Armies

Armies are formed from units in the same area. An army can be formed with units from factions and allies of the same side. A player can include all or some of the units, but at least 1 unit in the army must belong to the Active Player. G count as belonging to both the Swedish and French players, while Sp count as belonging to the Imperial player, for purposes of forming armies. The Active Player can then move the army.

4.3.2 Protestant Baltic Sea Movement

The Baltic Sea is impassable for Catholic Armies. Protestant Armies may enter/exit the Baltic Sea area freely, but may not end their move in it.

Historical note: The Danish, Swedish and Dutch navies controlled the Baltic Sea.

4.3.3 Swedish and French Neutrality

Sweden and France, two of the key belligerents of the Thirty Years War, start the game neutral. The use of their units and territory is therefore restricted until they enter the war as described below.

Sweden: At the beginning of the game, entry/exit of the Sweden area is prohibited for all units. Once the "Sweden Enters the War" card is played in the "German Troubles" step, Protestant units may enter/exit the Sweden area for the remainder of the game.

France: Catholic units are prohibited from ever entering the "Interior France" area, at all times. At the beginning of the game all entry and exit of "Northeastern France" is also prohibited for all units, but once the "France Enters the War" card is played in the "German Troubles" step, this restriction is lifted, and units of both sides may then enter and exit that area for the rest of the game.

Historical note: Certain sequencing of Protestant event cards and German Troubles cards may see Swedish and French units actively fighting before the entry of their country into the conflict. This is legal and represents an even higher degree of financial and military support for the Protestants, but still short of officially declaring war and committing the main army to the German war.

4.4 Battle Phase

A battle occurs when opposing armies occupy the same area. If there are multiple battles, the Active Player chooses the order in which the battles are resolved. Any Event Cards played that may influence a battle must be assigned prior to battle resolution, unless the cards specifically say otherwise.

The side that moved into the area is the attacker, and the other side is the defender. The defending players have the initiative, and get to roll their Battle Dice and apply their results first. If units of both sides still remain in the battle after resolving the defender's dice, the attacking players then roll their Battle Dice and apply their results.

The presence of leaders in a battle may allow the controlling player to alter certain combat rules and/or change the effects of certain dice results.

The battle continues over several combat rounds, of first the initiative player and then the other player rolling their dice, until only one side remains in the area. Each faction's controlling player will roll his Battle Dice and make decisions for his own units. A player rolls a number of Battle Dice corresponding to the number of his units present in the battle.

The maximum number of dice that may be rolled is limited by the number of dice a faction possesses, and the combined total of dice rolled by a side in a combat round can never be higher than 5. The owning player decides which dice to roll if relevant.

Example: The Protestant player can roll a maximum number of 3 dice for German Protestant G, 2 for Swedish Sw and 3 for French F units, but never more than 5 dice in total, even if he had more units than that present.

Historical note: These restrictions abstractly represent the limitations in command & control as well as logistics, which was such a characteristic feature of the period and severely limited the size of field armies each side could effectively field.

Event cards only modify the unmodified dice result, so a die roll result cannot be changed more than once. If both sides play cards that modify the same dice result, then only apply the owning faction's effect.

4.4.1 Fortress Defense

At the beginning of a combat round in a fortress area where the defender has 2 or fewer units, the defender rolls the Fortress Die in addition to his other allowed dice.

Example: The Protestants are defending a fortress area with 4 German Protestant units against 8 Imperial units. The Protestant player thus receives no benefit from the fortress at the beginning of the battle. At the beginning of a later combat round of the same battle, the Protestants find themselves reduced to 2 units. The fortress defense rules now come into effect, and they may roll the Fortress die in addition to their 2 black German Protestant dice.

4.4.2 Battle Dice Results

Each faction's Battle Dice have a unique combination of "HIT", "ROUT", "STAND ?", Blank "No Effect" and "Fortress Defense" faces.

• HIT Result: When a Hit die face is rolled, an opponent's unit is removed from the battle and placed into its Force Pool. The opponents decide among themselves which unit(s) to remove if units from more than one faction are present in the battle.
• ROUT Result: When a Rout die face is rolled, that faction's player removes one of his own units, of the same colour as the die, from the battle and places it into the Routed Units Space. A faction's Routed Units return at the beginning of that faction's next turn (3.0), and are placed according to that faction's rules for reinforcements.
• "STAND ?" Result: When a "STAND ?" die face is rolled, that faction's player may decide to move one of his own units, of the same colour as the die, out of the current battle. This unit may move into any adjacent area that is friendly occupied (including a not-yet-resolved battle).
• "No Effect" Result: When a blank die face is rolled, there is no effect.
• Fortress Defense: Fortress Defense results can show either a -1 or -2 or a blank "No Effect" face. This is the number of the attacker's "HIT" results that are nullified. In addition: the defender automatically nullifies all their own "ROUT" results when they are eligible for Fortress Defense, regardless of the die result.

Example: The Protestants from the previous example roll -1 on the Fortress die, and "ROUT" and "HIT" on their two black dice. They cause 1 elimination on the attackers, while their ROUT result is automatically nullified because they are eligible for fortress defense (2 or fewer units in a fortress). The Imperials then roll their 3 red dice and score "HIT", "ROUT" and "No Effect". The hit result is nullified by the Protestant fortress die effect, so the Imperials cause no losses to the Protestants and move one of their units to the Routed Units Box.

Battle dice "HIT" and "ROUT" results are resolved first, then "STAND ?" results.

After resolving all battles, the Active Player's turn is now over. A new Turn Marker is drawn from the Draw Bag and the next player takes his turn. If all Turn Markers have been drawn, the round is over and game end conditions are checked. If the game does not end, a new round begins.

Religious War

5.0 Religious War Turns

Whenever the brown Turn Marker is drawn, a special "Religious War" turn is conducted. Players together perform the phases below in order:

• a) German Troubles Phase (5.1)
• b) Allied Reinforcements Phase (5.2)
• c) Religious War Phase (5.3)

Note on sequence (transcription): see the note at 3.0. This transcription follows the phase numbering and the page 12 order.

5.1 German Troubles Phase

During this phase a single card is drawn from the top of the "German Troubles" deck and its instructions applied. Sometimes this results in additional cards being drawn and executed. Whenever these cards tell players to place or remove units, this is done by the player normally controlling that faction (treat G units to be controlled by France and Sp units to be controlled by the Imperial player for purposes of this rule).

If at all possible, units may not be placed into areas containing enemy units. If there are no other valid alternatives for placement, units may be placed into an enemy-occupied area, and a battle there is immediately resolved with the just-placed units as the attackers.

These cards may also dictate that certain special rules take effect for the remainder of the Round, and thus only affect those factions' turns whose Turn Markers haven't yet been drawn.

Historical note: This deck represents the foreign interventions, disease and general misery that prolonged and characterized the war.

5.2 Allied Reinforcement Phase

This is conducted for the allied units according to the normal rules of placement of reinforcements and Routed units (printed as "see 3.2"; see 4.2):

• Saxony: 1 unit. Placed by the faction that currently controls Saxony (see 2.1).
• German Protestants: 2 units. Placed by the French player.
• Spain: 1 unit. Placed by the Imperial player. If Franche-Comté is controlled by the Protestants at this point, no Spanish reinforcement is received.

Historical note: Due to Dutch naval power, Spanish resources mainly flowed into the Spanish Netherlands and Germany from the Spanish possessions in Italy, across the Alps, along the "Spanish Road" through Franche-Comté.

5.3 Religious War Phase

During this phase a special Religious War Phase is conducted by both sides. The side currently ahead on the VP track goes last.

In every Protestant and Catholic controlled principality that does not currently have the same religious status as its control status (i.e. those marked by a Flame counter), a player rolls the controlling side's Religious Conversion die (black for Protestants and red for Catholics) once for each eligible principality. Note that some cards allow additional, or modified, die rolls.

No rolls are conducted for uncontrolled principalities.

Example: During a Religious War turn the Catholics find themselves controlling Bohemia, Upper Palatinate and Moravia, which all currently have Protestant Religion Markers, while the Protestants control Metz, which currently has a Catholic Religion Marker. The players now roll for conversion in those principalities in an attempt to remove these Religion Markers and possibly place their own instead.

Designer's note: The term "Religious Conversion" in this game represents a wide range of events, such as peaceful and pious attempts to win the hearts and minds of a subjugated population, harshly enforcing laws restituting former secularized church lands to the Catholic church, shutting down and/or systematically looting churches, forcing members of unwanted religious societies to migrate, or even outright killings of clergymen and others. The two sides' dice are different, as the Catholics were prepared and determined to roll back Protestantism and reimplement Catholicism in the conquered lands, while the Protestants were focused on defending Protestantism, while simply looting and disrupting the Catholic church wherever they could.

Play Note: As the Protestant die does not have a "Conversion" result, the Protestant players need not roll for Religious Conversion in principalities whose starting religion was Catholic but which currently have no religious status (due to previous "Uproot" results).

Uproot results. Representing success at uprooting the old order, but failure at ensuring support for the new one. Uproot results also represent the widespread devastation and chaos that characterized the war.

• Conditional Uproot: Treated as an Uproot result IF the principality's starting religion (the coloured church icon) matches your side. If not, nothing happens. Representing that it is easier to uproot a newly imposed, and likely unpopular, religious order.
• Conversion: Place a friendly Religion Marker (church) and remove the enemy one (if any). Representing success at establishing your side's religion as the dominant religion.
• Conditional Conversion: Treated as a Conversion result IF the principality's starting religion (the coloured church icon) matches your side. If not, nothing happens. Representing success in restoring your religion back to its rightful pre-war primacy.

Every time a Religious Marker is placed or removed, players should shift the Victory Track to reflect the new situation.

Example: The Catholics roll an "Uproot" result in Bohemia and remove the Protestant Religion Marker. This shifts the Victory Marker 1 space in the favour of the Catholics. Had they instead rolled "Conversion", a Catholic Religion marker would also have been placed in Bohemia, and thus the Victory Marker would have been shifted 2 spaces in their favour. Had they rolled a "Potential Uproot", nothing would have happened, as Bohemia's starting religion is Protestant.

Play Note: The Victory Marker's position on the Victory Track can easily be recalculated at any time during play if needed. As no factors (cards, special rules, etc.) affect the VP track before the end of the game, the position of the marker will always be the difference between the two sides' number of religion markers.

5.3.1 Religious Conversion Dice Results

Each side's Religious Conversion die has a unique combination of Conversion, Uproot and/or "No Effect" faces:

• No effect: Nothing happens. Representing resistance among the population and/or nobility towards this attack on their religion.
• Uproot: Remove an enemy Religion Marker (church) (if any).
• Conversion (Catholic die only): see above.

Game End & Victory

6.0 Game End

The game will end whenever one of the following 3 things happens:

• A sudden death victory occurs. As noted below, this can happen in two ways.
• At least 3 Treaty of Westphalia cards are on the mat during the "Game End Check" at the end of Round 6-10.
• It is the end of Round 10 (or Round 4 if playing the "The Empire Strikes Back" scenario).

6.1 Sudden Death Victory

The game can end by sudden death, during any round, in one of two ways:

• If at the end of a Religious War Turn, a side's victory marker exceeds 12, that side wins an instant shared sudden death victory. Such a victory is automatically a shared victory, so the players on the winning side do not calculate which faction won among them.
• If at the start of a faction's turn, they play an event that gives them a sudden death victory. Each faction has one such card (card #27), and such a victory always only applies to the faction that played it, NOT the other faction on the same side.

6.2 Treaty of Westphalia

At the end of Round 6 onwards, players check the Treaty of Westphalia slots along the right map edge.

If there are 3 or more "Treaty of Westphalia" cards along the right side of the map, the game ends, and the Victory Track is adjusted as described below. If it is the last round of the chosen scenario, the game also ends using these rules. When the game ends with the Treaty of Westphalia, players first determine which side won the war, and then determine which of the factions on that side is then the overall winner of the game.

Players first conduct one final Religious War Phase. The result following this is then adjusted for control of Electorates and Heartlands.

The base victory level is the number of principalities with Catholic religious status markers minus the number of principalities with Protestant religious status markers, regardless of who currently controls the principality or its starting religion.

Players then adjust the Victory Marker 1 space in their favour for each of the 7 Electorate principalities they control (regardless of religious status): Lower Palatinate, Trier, Mainz, Cologne, Saxony, Brandenburg and Bohemia.

Historical note: This represents the political importance of these principalities in Imperial politics.

Players finally adjust the Victory Marker 2 spaces in their favour for each of the 8 Heartland principalities they control (regardless of religious status): Interior France, North-Eastern France, Spanish Netherlands, Sweden, Pomerania, Saxony, Bavaria and Austria.

Historical note: This represents the political advantage of controlling the homelands of each of the major parties to the peace talks. (Note that Saxony counts as both an Electorate and a Heartland principality. Also note that the impossible-to-reach-for-Catholics "Sweden" and "Interior France" principalities are Heartlands.)

The side with the Victory Marker in their favour at these adjustments wins the war.

Example: At the end of the game the Victory Track (the number of red churches on the map minus the number of black churches on the map) is at Catholics 5. This is then adjusted for control of Electorates and Heartlands. Both sides control 3 Electorates while one is uncontrolled. The victory track is adjusted 1 space for each Electorate, so there is no adjustment for Electorates in this case. The Protestants control 4 Heartlands, the Catholics 3, while 1 is uncontrolled. The Victory Track is adjusted 2 spaces for each Heartland, so the Victory marker is adjusted a total of 2 spaces in the Protestant favour, going from Catholics 5 to Catholics 3. Thus, the game ends with a Catholic victory of 3 points.

6.3 Tied Games

If the VP marker sits at "0" after all applicable adjustments have been made, the game ends in a tie and all factions are considered to have lost.

Historical note: This represents a situation where Germany slides into further political and religious chaos, while most of the belligerents of the war are driven to bankruptcy.

6.4 Faction Victory

If playing with 4 players, the two factions on the side who won the war then determine which of them has achieved most of their war goals.

The factions on the winning side (Sweden & France OR The League & Imperials) determine how many Faction Victory Points (FVP) each of them has at the end of the game. The overall winner of the game is the faction on the winning side that has the most faction victory points. Ties are possible and will result in a shared victory.

Historical note: The Thirty Years War was a complex conflict with many belligerents, who each had their own agendas. This often led to conflict of interests between allies, as all tried to press the efforts of their alliance into furthering their own goals.

6.4.1 Faction Victory Points (FVP)

Printed as "5.3.1" in the Contents page; the body heading is 6.4.1.

These represent the objectives of each faction. Achieving these would mean fulfilling the ambitions that led that faction into the war in the first place, and achieving a strong position for the post-war period.

Imperial

• Catholic control of Austria: 3 FVP.
• Catholic control of the Spanish Netherlands: 2 FVP.
• Catholic Religion Marker and control, including a I / Sp unit, in Bohemia: 1 FVP.
• Catholic control including a I / Sp unit in Hungary: 1 FVP.
• Catholic control including a I / Sp unit in Franche-Comté: 1 FVP.
• Catholic control of at least 4 Electorates: 1 FVP.
• The "Edict of Restitution" (Imperial card #2) event has been played during the game: 1 FVP.
• The "Wallenstein Assassinated" event (French card #20) may give -1 FVP.

Historical note: The Habsburgs' goals in the war were strengthening their dynasty's hold on its hereditary lands, as well as strengthening Imperial authority within the Holy Roman Empire.

Sweden

• Protestant control, including a Sw unit, in Pomerania: 2 FVP.
• Protestant control, including a Sw unit, in Brandenburg: 1 FVP.
• No Catholic control of either Saxony or Bohemia: 2 FVP.
• No I or Sp units in principalities adjacent to the Baltic Sea: 1 FVP.
• The "Dano-Swedish War" event (Imperial card #25) may give -1 FVP.
• The "Torstensson Arrives" event (Swedish card #5) may give -1 FVP.

Historical note: The Swedish monarchy was locked in a bitter dispute with the Catholic king of Poland over the Swedish throne, and championing the cause of fellow Protestants therefore felt natural. Especially since Sweden was also a rising power in the Baltic region, where it sought to build an empire. Intervention therefore enabled Sweden to both weaken potential rivals in the Baltic and gain control over the mouths of the rivers, and thus be able to tax the plentiful trade that flowed through them.

France

• Protestant control of North-Eastern France: 2 FVP.
• Protestant control including a F unit in both Lorraine AND Metz: 1 FVP.
• F units in at least 2 fortresses in the Spanish Netherlands: 1 FVP.
• Protestant control of at least 4 Electorates: 1 FVP.
• The "Huguenot Rebellion" event (CL card #3) may give -1 FVP.

Historical note: France's main goal in the Thirty Years War was breaking the power of the Spanish-German Habsburg dynasty, which encroached France on all its borders. They desired both a weakening of Imperial power within Germany (as that throne was currently held by the Austrian Habsburgs) and territorial acquisitions to strengthen their borders. To this end the strongly Catholic Bourbon monarchy and its chief minister Cardinal Richelieu were happy to support the political and religious rights of Protestant princes within the Holy Roman Empire (while fighting a domestic civil war against Protestants desiring the same rights in France). In addition to the goals of France and Sweden were of course the goals of the Protestant German princes they claimed to be fighting for. The war had started with a Protestant uprising in Austrian-ruled Bohemia against the attempt at enforcing Catholicism there. Their cause was championed by Frederick V of the Palatinate, and later Baden and Brunswick-Lüneburg. These princes had been heavily punished by the (Austrian) Emperor for their interference in (Austrian) Bohemian matters, and the goal of the German Protestant princes were the restoration of the rightful rulers in these lands, as well as the restoration of Protestantism in these lands.

The League

• Catholic control of Bavaria: 3 FVP.
• Catholic Religion Marker and control, including a CL unit, in Lower Palatinate: 1 FVP.
• Catholic Religion Marker and control, including a CL unit, in Upper Palatinate: 1 FVP.
• Catholic Religion Marker and control, including a CL unit, in both Cologne AND Mainz: 1 FVP.
• The "Electorate Transferred" event (League card #16) has been played during the game: 1 FVP.
• There are more Catholic than Protestant Religious Markers on the map: 1 FVP.

Historical note: The Catholic League sought to roll back Protestantism in Germany. Its leading member, Bavaria, under the rule of the Wittelsbach dynasty, also sought to weaken the influence of the Habsburg dynasty, and especially its Spanish branch, within Germany, as well as paving the road for a later transfer of the Imperial crown from the Habsburgs to the Wittelsbachs.

Scenarios

Players select one of the included scenarios, and set up the map and decks as described in the chosen scenario:

• Campaign Game: 1618-1648; Thirty Years of Misery
• Short Scenario 1: 1618-1629; The Empire Strikes Back
• Short Scenario 2: 1630-1648; The Lion of the North

1618-1648 Thirty Years of Misery

This scenario covers the entire war.

Protestant Setup (specific locations within the principality are noted on the map):

• Hungary: 3 G
• Bohemia: 9 G
• Nurnberg: 1 G
• Lower Palatinate: 2 G
• Upper Palatinate: 1 G
• North-Eastern France: 2 F
• Interior France: 1 F
• Magdeburg: 1 G
• Brandenburg: 1 G
• Sweden: 1 Sw

Protestant Religion: Brunswick-Kalenberg, Brunswick-Lüneburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Holstein, Lübeck, Mecklenburg, Pomerania, Brandenburg, Bohemia, Magdeburg, Hesse-Kassel, Lower Palatinate, Upper Palatinate, Württemberg, Nuremberg, Baden, Hungary, Moravia and Silesia (20 in all).

Catholic Setup (specific locations within the principality are noted on the map):

• Austria: 5 I, 2 Sp, 1 CL
• Bavaria: 11 CL, Tilly Leader
• Augsburg: 1 CL
• Trier: 1 CL
• Mainz: 1 CL
• Cologne: 1 CL
• Saxony: 6 S
• Spanish Netherlands: 2 I, 7 Sp
• Franche-Comté: 1 Sp

Catholic Religion: Munster, Aachen, Cologne, Trier, Mainz, Metz, Strasbourg, Lorraine, Rottweil, Augsburg, Tyrol, Regensburg, and Salzburg (13 in all).

Starting VPs: Protestant 7 (20-13).

Cards. Players perform the following steps in order to create the starting decks of cards:

• A. Place the cards marked with a red diamond icon (either cards #19-27 or 20-27 depending on deck) in a separate pile next to the map. These will be shuffled into their deck in Round 4 or 5 as instructed by the German Troubles cards.
• B. Shuffle each deck's remaining cards and place them face down in a pile in front of each faction's player. This is that faction's Draw Pile.
• C. Each faction's player then draws 4 cards from their Draw Pile. This is that faction's starting hand.
• D. One player then prepares the German Troubles deck by placing the 3 D-marked cards face-down to form the bottom of the pile. The 5 C-marked cards are placed on top of them, then the 4 B-marked cards, and finally the 5 A-marked cards on the top of the pile (each of these groups is shuffled before being placed in the pile).

This ensures that these events happen in some kind of chronological order while still being somewhat unpredictable.

Round 1 Special Rules:

• The first Turn Marker drawn in Round 1 is automatically the Imperials. After that turn, draw randomly as normal.
• The French and Swedish players may not enter uncontrolled principalities in their turns during Round 1.

The Protestant rebels were fighting a defensive war and trying to gain the sympathy of the neutral principalities.

1618-1629 The Empire Strikes Back

This scenario covers the early part of the war and automatically ends at the end of Round 4. As it only covers the early war period, Sweden and France won't make an appearance, and the dispersed German Protestant forces will face the Catholic juggernaut alone in a desperate struggle.

Setup: The Protestant and Catholic setup tables, Starting VPs, and Religion lists are identical to the Thirty Years of Misery scenario above (the same table is printed on page 17 of the playbook).

Cards. Players perform the following steps in order to create the starting decks of cards:

• A. Place the cards marked with the red diamond icon (either cards #19-27 or 20-27 depending on deck) back into the box. These are not used in this scenario.
• B. Each faction assembles a Draw Pile of 11 randomly drawn cards from among the remaining cards. These are then shuffled and placed face down in a pile in front of them.
• C. Each faction's player then draws 4 cards from their Draw Pile. This is that faction's starting hand.
• D. One player then prepares the German Troubles deck by sorting them according to the letter in their upper left corner. The D and C cards are all removed from the game, as are the B cards "Sweden Enters the War" and "Habsburg Solidarity". The 2 remaining B cards are then shuffled and placed face down to form the bottom of the pile, and then the 5 A cards are shuffled and placed face down on top of the pile.

This ensures that these events happen in some kind of order while still being somewhat unpredictable.

Round 1 Special Rules:

• The first Turn Marker drawn in Round 1 is automatically the Imperials. After that turn, draw randomly as normal.
• The French and Swedish players may not enter uncontrolled principalities in their turns during Round 1.

Round 4 & Special Rules:

• The last Turn Marker drawn in Round 4 is automatically the Religious War (put it aside at the start of Round 4). After resolving that, the game ends.
• To ensure a balanced game despite the inherently unbalanced situation, players do not apply the usual Treaty of Westphalia rules (6.2) at the end of the game, but instead ONLY shift the VP marker 4 spaces in favour of the Protestants, + 1 additional space for each Protestant-controlled Electorate (regardless of religious status).
• The "Strictly Team Play" optional rule is mandatory in this scenario.

The Protestant rebels were fighting a defensive war and trying to gain the sympathy of the neutral principalities.

1630-1648 The Lion of the North

This scenario starts in Round 5 (thus lasting 1-6 Rounds). This scenario covers the late war, which saw a dramatic Protestant resurgence as first Sweden and then France intervened.

Protestant Setup (deployed freely within the listed principality). Setup 2nd:

• Sweden: 5 Sw
• Pomerania: 2 G
• North-Eastern France: 2 F
• Interior France: 5 F
• Magdeburg: 2 G
• Hesse-Kassel: 2 G
• Routed Units Box: 4 G

Protestant Religion: Brunswick-Kalenberg, Brunswick-Lüneburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Holstein, Lübeck, Mecklenburg, Pomerania, Brandenburg, Magdeburg, Hesse-Kassel and Nuremberg (12 in all).

Catholic Setup (deployed freely within the listed principality). Setup 1st:

• Austria: 1 I
• Hungary: 1 I
• Bohemia: 1 I, Wallenstein Leader
• Bavaria: 2 CL
• Upper Palatinate: 6 CL, Tilly Leader
• Lower Palatinate: 1 CL
• Württemberg: 1 CL
• Baden: 1 CL
• Trier: 1 CL
• Mainz: 1 CL
• Cologne: 1 CL
• Saxony: 5 S
• Silesia: 1 I
• Mecklenburg: 3 I
• Spanish Netherlands: 2 I, 5 Sp
• Franche-Comté: 1 Sp

Catholic Religion: Munster, Aachen, Cologne, Trier, Mainz, Metz, Strasbourg, Lorraine, Rottweil, Augsburg, Lower Palatinate, Upper Palatinate, Tyrol, Regensburg, Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia and Salzburg (18 in all).

Starting VPs: Catholic 6 (18-12). (No Religion Marker in Württemberg, Baden and Hungary.)

Cards. Players perform the following steps in order to create the starting decks of cards:

• A. Place the cards marked with the red diamond icon (either cards #19-27 or 20-27 depending on deck) in a separate pile next to the map. These will be shuffled into the deck in the first Round as dictated by the German Troubles cards.
• B. Each player then removes the following cards from their deck and puts them back in the box.

These removed cards (mostly) represent events that historically happened in Rounds 1-4.

• Sweden Deck: Card #2, 3, 8, 10, as well as 7 randomly drawn cards.
• France Deck: Event cards #2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11 and 12, as well as 4 randomly drawn cards.
• The League Deck: Event cards #2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9 and 11, as well as 4 randomly drawn cards.
• Imperial Deck: Event cards #2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 14, as well as 4 randomly drawn cards.

Before drawing these randomly removed cards, all factions put their Treaty of Westphalia aside, so it is not removed. Afterwards it is shuffled into its faction's remaining cards. This is that faction's Draw Pile.

• C. Each faction's player then draws 1 (not 4 as usual) card from the remaining deck as his starting hand.
• D. One player then prepares the German Troubles deck by sorting them according to the letter in their upper left corner. All the A cards, as well as the B card "Denmark Enters the War", are removed from the game. The 4 D cards are shuffled and placed face down to form the bottom of the pile. The 5 C cards are likewise shuffled and placed face down on top of them, and finally the remaining 3 B cards are placed face down on the top of the pile.

Round 5 (first turn of the scenario) Special Rule: The first Turn Marker drawn is automatically the Religious War. After that turn, draw Turn Markers randomly as normal.

7.0 Optional Rules

The following rules add more depth and historical detail to the game, but as some players might also find them fiddly and hard to remember, they are optional and should only be used if all players agree beforehand.

7.1 Slightly More Advanced Religious Rules

The Thirty Years War was a very complex conflict and not just a religious struggle. For many of the belligerents, religious concerns had only a minor or even adverse effect on their political and military actions.

The following unit types are not considered for control of an area during a Religious War Phase: Sp, S, Sw and F. This means that Catholic Conversion attempts require the presence of at least 1 I and/or CL unit, while Protestant Conversion attempts require the presence of at least 1 G unit.

This rule somewhat matches the Swedish and French abilities to place reinforcements at home, and it also mitigates a potentially game-ending and somewhat gamey problem that can occur if one of these Catholic factions loses all their units and thus no longer has any valid placement locations.

In addition, the two Catholic players (only) may now choose to decline to conduct Religious War in principalities that are occupied by at least one of their units but none from the other's. Declining to do so will potentially hurt their side's VP tally overall, but may make sense in terms of getting ahead on Faction Victory Points.

7.2 Slightly More Advanced Reinforcement Placement Rules

In addition to reinforcements and units from the "Routed Units" box being placed in Fortresses occupied by units of the same faction, I, CL and Sp units may now also be placed in any areas of their home areas if they are not Protestant-controlled. Home Areas are the principalities on the map with the same colour as that faction's units, so Austria for the Imperials, Bavaria for the League, and either Spanish Netherlands or Franche-Comté for the Spanish.

8.3 Strictly Team Play Variant

Printed as "8.3" in the playbook (the Optional Rules run 7.1 to 7.2 and this variant).

If players want to play a more team-based game, or if one player is controlling both factions on the same side, disregard all the rules below for individual faction victory and have both factions on the winning side share victory.

If playing this way, each faction's sudden death card (#27) becomes unplayable as an event.

Historical notes on the factions: Catholic France cared little for the German Protestant cause, except when this cause could be championed to hurt Habsburg interests within the Holy Roman Empire and thus strengthen France in the European balance of power. Protestant Saxony cared mainly about the survival of its own religious freedom and territorial ambitions, and viewed the Calvinists as a greater threat than the Catholics. Catholic Spain's main interests in Germany lay in securing safe overland passage for troops and resources from Spain to the Netherlands, and their long war against the rebellious Calvinists in the United Provinces. Protestant Sweden saw their defence of Protestantism as an extension of their ongoing dispute over the Swedish throne with the Catholic king of Poland, and their strong concerns over the increased Habsburg presence in the Baltic and the prospect of a more centralized and powerful Holy Roman Empire. Even the Papal State was split in its sympathy during the war, as 2 of the 3 reigning popes during the war actively supported the restoration of Catholicism in Europe, while the third pursued anti-Habsburg policies in Italy.

Players Notes

The following are distilled bits of experience, wisdom and insight from the designer and play-testers that might prove useful for new players. Use them at your own risk.

German Troubles

You will quickly learn that the various interventions almost all favour the Protestants, so the Catholics should be prepared for new threats popping up across the map during the first half of the game. The deck also contains many cards that will hurt both sides, and this trend is stronger towards the end of the game.

Religious Conversion

Take a good look at the dice results for each side's Religious Conversion die, and play with this in mind. The Protestants have far more to gain by retaking lost principalities than by going off conquering Catholic lands, as they are unable to place Protestant religion markers in principalities. They can still uproot, however, so if the opportunity for easy pickings presents itself, they shouldn't hold themselves back from the opportunity to pillage the rich Catholic church and annoy the enemy!

Saxony

Saxony is a fickle power which may betray you suddenly. It is therefore advisable to use them as much as you can when you do have them on your side and, given their unreliability, they make good candidates for taking losses.

If you switch Saxony to your side, be careful where you place their units, as German Troubles and enemy actions may cause you to lose all the on-map Saxon units, which prohibits you from receiving the units they have in the Routed Units Space.

In terms of territory, Saxony is a key principality on the map due to its central location and the fact that it's both a Heartland and an Electorate.

Printed grey parenthetical (its placement is ambiguous in the source layout; placed under Saxony): this situation represents a collapse of Saxon political and economic will to actively continue the war.

Sweden

The Swedish units are great, and when Sweden enters the war, they, under Gustavus, may seem like an unstoppable juggernaut. Be careful not to use them as such, and make sure their armies include many German Protestant units to beef up numbers and shield the Swedes. The number of Swedish units is low, and they are hard to replace.

Fortresses

The importance of controlling fortresses should not be underestimated, as they are key positions in both geographical and logistical terms. However, the difficulties of taking a fortress should not be underestimated either! Especially if your army only contains 1 kind of unit and thus only rolls relatively few dice each combat round. The ground outside many of these fortresses is littered with the bodies of many an overly optimistic army led by a brave playtester.

Players are advised to garrison them if possible, as they will often find it easier to spare a unit or two for a garrison than an entire army to take it back if lost through negligence.

France

For the Protestants it can be frustrating to look at France and all their units sitting passively each turn while France is neutral, and the desire for decisive offensive action may be overwhelming once they finally enter the war. Before you launch their entire army into a gung-ho offensive somewhere, remember the following:

The French units are good compared to the German Protestant units, but not better than the Imperials or League units, and their armies are not at all invincible.

While France was neutral, the threat of their intervention forced the Catholics to use a lot of the very effective Spanish units to garrison the Spanish Netherlands, while your own North-Eastern France was guaranteed peace. When France enters the war, this Heartland principality suddenly becomes vulnerable, and if the French army suffers many losses or moves away from their northern border, the Catholics garrisoning the Netherlands are suddenly free to move. The end result of French intervention can thus prove to be a Catholic gain if the French are not careful.