Virtù
Virtù Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Part One: The Art of Governing (3–5 Players)
- Part Two: The Wars of Italy (2-Player Rules)
Part One: The Art of Governing (3–5 Players)
Contents
The components specific to 2-player games (bearing the 2-player icon) are used only in Virtù, The Wars of Italy.
- 1 large central board depicting Italy, with a side for 2/5 players and a side for 3/4 players
- 1 small board with a Prestige side for 3 – 5 players, and an Influence side for 2 players
- 5 "Palace" Action boards (1 × 5 colors) including 2 double sided (blue and yellow)
- 57 tiles, including: 31 Cities (Rome appears twice), 14 Titles, 5 Guilds, 5 Cathedrals, and 2 tiles for 2-player games
- 56 Notable cards (5 copies of each, except the Pope)
- 15 Family cards, 3 – 5 players (3 × 5 colors); 13 Family cards, 2 players
- 10 Indulgence cards
- 10 Patronage Bonuses (9 cards + 1 tile)
- 90 Control discs (18 × 5 colors)
- 8 Forbidden City tokens
- 11 +1 War Bonus tokens
- 32 Troop meeples (8 blue; 6 of each of the other 4 colors)
- 25 Agent meeples (5 × 5 colors)
- 5 Cathedral pawns
- 5 Action markers, printed with coats of arms (1 × 5 colors)
- 45 Florin coins (30 × 1 florin; 15 × 5 florins)
- 5 double-sided Player Aids (one side for 3 – 5 players; the other, for 2 players)
- 1 scorepad
- 2 rulebooks: Virtù: The Art of Governing and Virtù: The Wars of Italy
Setup
- Place the Italy board in the middle of the table, with the side matching the player count facing up. Stack the similar Notable cards in a face-up display, all available for purchase.
- Stack the Neutral City tiles (those without coats of arms) and splay the Patronage Bonuses (9 cards and 1 tile), as well as the Title tiles and Cathedral tiles (with their 5 pawns).
- Stack the 10 Indulgence cards.
- Pile the 11 +1 War Bonus tokens in a general supply.
- Finally, pile the florins in a general supply, as well.
Each player, choose a color and get the following in that color:
- 1 Action board, called your "Palace", which you place in front of you (for the blue and yellow Palaces, be sure to use the side for 3 – 5 players).
- 3 Family cards for 3 – 5 players (with your coat of arms), which you will place either in various Rooms of your Palace, or on the Cortigiano spaces (see "Your Palace" below).
- 1 Action marker (with your coat of arms), which you will later place on one of the 5 Rooms of your Palace, indicating your choice for your 1st action.
- 2 tiles depicting your two Starting Cities, with your coat of arms; place them face up (full-color, Resources Available side) in your Domain (i.e. above your Palace).
- 18 Control discs. Place 1 on each of your 2 Starting Cities on the Italy board, 1 on a random Turn Order space, and 2 on the Prestige board: 1 on the Patronage starting space; 1 on the Cities starting space.
Once you determine the 1st player (see below), the order of discs in these two stacks must match the turn order: top on top; bottom on bottom. Keep your other discs near your Palace.
- 6 Troop meeples. Place 1 beside each of your 2 Starting Cities on the Italy board. Keep the others near your Palace, available for recruitment later. (Blue only gets 6; the other 2 blue troops are for the 2-player game, The Wars of Italy.)
- 5 Agent meeples. You start the game with 2 (except for Naples; your Family cards let you start with 3). The others are unavailable for now; put them in a common supply.
- 1 Florin, 1 side.
- 1 Player Aid (use the side for 3 – 5 players).
2-Player Game
Read these general rules for 3 – 5 players, then read the special 2-player rules, The Wars of Italy.
3-Player Game
Use the 3/4 players side of the Italy board, and the 3 – 5 players side of the Prestige board and player aids.
You can play as Florence (red), Naples (yellow), or Venice (green).
8 cities are unavailable: Nice, Turin, Milan, Genoa, Parma, Ragusa, Cagliari, and Reggio (there is a small star by their names on the central board). Cover these cities with the 8 Forbidden Cities tokens, and return the 8 corresponding City tiles to the box.
Also return the City tiles for Perugia and Civitavecchia to the box, because they are not on the 3/4-player side of the board.
Use the Rome City tile without a coat of arms; splay it with the Neutral City tiles.
4-Player Game
Use the 3/4 players side of the Italy board, and the 3 – 5 players side of the Prestige board and player aids.
You can play as Milan (blue), Florence (red), Naples (yellow), or Venice (green).
Return the City tiles for Perugia and Civitavecchia to the box, because they are not on the 3/4-player side of the board.
Use the Rome City tile without a coat of arms; splay it with the Neutral City tiles.
5-Player Game
Use the 2/5 players side of the Italy board, and the 3 – 5 players side of the Prestige board and player aids.
The fifth player plays Rome (white), and starts with 3 agents (instead of 2).
Use the Rome City tile with a coat of arms, which starts in possession of the Roman player.
Note: A 5-player game is not a great way to learn Virtù.
Determining the 1st Player
Whoever most recently visited Italy becomes the 1st player, and turn order goes clockwise. Arrange the discs on the Turn Order track accordingly. This order will change during the game.
At the beginning of the game, the discs on the Prestige board (Patronage and Cities), must also be stacked in the same order, with the 1st player on top and the last player on bottom.
Goal of the Game
Each player represents one of the great dynasties that made its mark on the Italian Renaissance: the Aragons of Naples, the Sforzas of Milan, the Medicis of Florence, the Doges of Venice, or the Borgias of Rome. Your goal is to establish your power and supremacy, and become "Master of Italy".
You will earn Prestige Points through your choices and actions, such as Governance to collect resources, Patronage of scholars and artists, Commerce, as well as seizing control of other Cities (via diplomacy by Annexing them, or by force through War), all while becoming an expert at political Intrigues and Alliances with great foreign powers.
These Prestige Points will represent the fruits of your "Virtù", your "Art of Governing", which will depend on your final standing in different measures:
- The number of Cities you control.
- Your advancement in Patronage of the arts and sciences.
- Your level of religious influence.
- Your Military Trophies.
- Your political alliances with the great foreign powers.
- Prestige Points from certain cards or tiles.
Elements of the Game
Cards and Tiles
Tiles primarily represent Cities and Titles.
Cards represent Notable individuals; some of them provide an Action (in the upper-right corner).
Most of the cards and non-City tiles have a purchase cost (in the upper-left corner).
All cards and tiles have symbols at the bottom which will be used during Actions or purchases. On the full-color side, these are "available resources"; on the amber side, these are "exhausted resources".
The tiles you obtain during the game always go in your Domain, Resources Available side up, except during a Siege or during construction of a Cathedral (this will be explained later).
Your cards will always be in your Palace, in one of 3 types of spaces (you never keep cards in your hand); and we refer to the card according to its space type:
- So-called Cortigiano (Courtier) cards: After setup, when you obtain a new Notable card during the game, it must go to an empty Cortigiano space. Depending on the phase of the game, these cards will show their Resources Available side or Resources Exhausted side.
- So-called Action cards will go in a Room of your Palace. The card must have an Action on it, and its Action thereby replaces the action of the Room it occupies.
- So-called Improvement cards will go beneath a card in an Action space, with their bottom symbols visible.
Attention: Each Action space can only contain a single Improvement card.
Cards in Action and Improvement spaces always show their Resources Available side.
During setup, place your 3 Family cards in your Palace however you like, respecting the above restrictions (thus, you can place each directly in an Action or Improvement space, or even in a Cortigiano space).
Your Palace
Your Action board is different from everyone else's, and is called your Palace. In the middle of each Palace are 5 Rooms, or Action spaces.
You will choose which action you want to take by moving your Action marker clockwise from one Room to another.
Your Palace also has 6 Antechambers, or Cortigiano spaces, of which only 3 are available at the beginning of the game (2 on the right and 1 on the left). The 3 shaded spaces are unavailable for now.
If the Action marker moves past a Cortigiano Arrow symbol (on the left or right edge of your Palace), flip all Cortigiano cards on that edge of your Palace back to their Resources Available side.
Thus, as you pass by your courtiers, "visiting" them, they put their resources at your disposal.
Actions and Resources
A — There Are 6 Actions
- Govern
- Sponsor
- Trade
- Annex
- Wage War
- Scheme
B — There Are 8 Types of Resource Symbols at the Bottoms of Tiles and Cards
- Florin — Usable at any moment.
- Crown — Usable during the Govern, Sponsor, and Annex actions, as well as during purchases or to rid yourself of an Indulgence.
- Cross — Usable during the Govern and Sponsor actions, as well as during purchases or to rid yourself of an Indulgence.
- Cavalry — Usable during the Wage War action.
- Ship — Usable during the Annex, Wage War, and Trade actions.
- Mask — Usable during the Scheme action.
- War — Usable when resolving Sieges, providing 1 additional point of strength.
- Arrow — Usable during Phase 1 of the turn, allowing you to advance your Action marker one additional space for free.
Attention: During any given game phase, only 1 type of symbol per card/tile bottom can be used to "pay a cost".
An Action card atop an Improvement card provides 2 different card bottoms — you can use the same type of symbol on both, or one type from the Action card and a different type from the Improvement card.
Using Resources to Pay a Cost
During the game, you will have to pay costs during your Actions or Purchases. These costs are expressed in florins and/or Resource symbols.
You pay florins from your treasury.
You can also use Florin symbols on Cortigiano cards or tiles in your Domain at any time (even outside an Action, or on another player's turn — provided their Resources Available side is showing) to collect florins directly to your treasury. Simply flip each card/tile you use to its Resources Exhausted side to do this.
On the other hand, you can only use the Florin symbols on Action cards and Improvement cards when you are using their Room's action (see Actions); if they provide more florins than you need, you cannot add the surplus to your treasury.
You cannot store non-florin Resource symbols; you must use them immediately (or they go to waste).
If you wish to use Resource symbols on the bottom of a Cortigiano card or a tile in your Domain, it must be showing its Resources Available side; and you flip it to its Resources Exhausted side to use the depicted resources.
The symbols on an Action card or an Improvement card can only be used to pay the cost of the Action of the Room where the card is (see Actions). On the other hand, these cards never flip over; they always show their Resources Available side.
Some of the default Actions printed on the Palace Rooms (Govern, Scheme, and Wage War) offer a symbol at the bottom already (respectively, Crown, Mask, Cavalry), which may allow you to perform these actions without additional cards or tiles.
Once you cover the space with a card, those symbols are covered and unavailable.
1) First use the resources provided:
- From the Action card under the Action marker.
- From the Improvement card that might be in this same Room.
These cards remain on their Resources Available side after the Action.
2) Then supplement them if necessary:
- From one or more Resources-Available Cortigiano cards (from the left and/or right sides of your Palace), which you immediately flip to their Resources Exhausted side.
- From Resources-Available tiles in your Domain, which you immediately flip to their Resources Exhausted side.
- From an Alliance Bonus available to you. After an Alliance has ended, its Bonus becomes unavailable (see Alliances).
Rules of the Game
The game is divided into "Years", each comprising a Spring phase and a Winter phase; each phase uses the Turn Order, which changes between the two phases.
PHASE 1: SPRING
Beginning of Spring: Move your Action marker and perform the Action.
End of Spring: Resolve Sieges, then redefine the Turn Order.
PHASE 2: WINTER
Pay Troops' salaries, reorganize your Palace, recruit, purchase, form alliances.
If, at the end of a Year, a player has reached the end of either the Patronage or Cities track on the Prestige board, or players control every city on the Italy map, the game comes to an end.
Phase 1: Spring
A — Beginning of Spring
Move your Action marker and perform the Action.
In only the very 1st Spring, in turn order, you will place your Action marker directly on the Room whose Action you wish to perform, and immediately perform the action.
Each Spring thereafter, you must move your Action marker clockwise 1 – 2 spaces for free.
If you wish to move more than 2 Rooms, you can:
- Pay 2 florins (only one time per Spring) to move one additional Room.
- Pay 1 Arrow symbol per additional Room to move additional Rooms. You flip the tiles, whose Arrow symbols you spend, to their Resources Exhausted side.
You can even do both: You can pay 2 florins and some number of Arrow symbols. By spending enough arrows, you could even do a "complete circuit" of your Palace to perform the same Action that you did in the prior Spring.
Next, perform the Action of the Room in which your Action marker ends its move.
If there is an Action card in this Room, perform the card's Action instead of the one printed in the space. The Action card supersedes the Action space as long as the card is there.
Actions have variable costs, and their magnitude will depend on the symbols you can and are willing to pay when performing them.
Paying the Action Cost
When you perform an Action, you must pay the cost, using the Resources of the specified type(s). You can only use one type of symbol from each card/tile bottom; however, you can use multiple cards and/or tiles.
Requesting an Indulgence
Once per phase, during the Spring phase (and the Winter phase, as well), you can request an "Indulgence", which works like a loan.
It permits you to take one of the following benefits:
- 1 Crown, which you must use immediately to pay for the cost of your Action.
- 3 florins, which immediately go into your treasury.
After taking the benefit, place an Indulgence card on the Room of your Action. If Family or Notable cards are already in this Room, stack the Indulgence card atop them (but beneath the Action marker).
If the Room is already covered with an Indulgence card, you cannot request another here.
In fact, if the Room where your Action marker stops already has an Indulgence card (and you do not immediately rid yourself of it), you cannot take the Room's Action, and cannot request another Indulgence this Season.
Ridding Yourself of an Indulgence
To rid yourself of an Indulgence card and remove it from your Palace, you must pay either 1 Cross or 2 Crowns at the moment your Action marker passes over or ends up on the Room with the Indulgence card; and you must pay it before taking your Action.
Attention: You cannot use this Action to flip tiles that you are using to pay for this Action.
Note: You are always allowed to collect florins from Resources-Available tiles just before resolving a Govern action. Because you don't pay florins to Govern, and you can use Florin symbols at any time, you can use the tile, then Govern to make it available again.
You are allowed to use Cortigiano cards (even ones made freshly available by the Action marker's move) to pay the cost to rid yourself of an Indulgence. In any case, once you pay the cost, remove the Indulgence card from the room and return it to the stack of Indulgences.
If this Indulgence card was in the Room where the Action marker ended up, you can now take the Action as usual.
Note that each Indulgence card still in your Palace will lose you 1 Prestige Point at the end of the game.
Historical Clarification: In the 15th and 16th Centuries, the Catholic Church traded in Indulgences, allowing the rich and powerful to redeem their sins. Starting in 1517, this practice will be profoundly denounced by Luther in his 95 theses, and will be one of the causes of the Protestant Reform.
The 6 Actions Available
Govern
Effects: Flip all tiles in your Domain to their Resources Available side and reactivate the Alliance Bonus.
Action Cost: Crowns or Crosses.
Procedure: Flip up to 2 tiles to their Resources Available side per Crown or Cross you pay.
You can spend both Crowns and Crosses in the same Action (but from distinct cards/tiles, because you can only use one type of symbol from each card/tile).
You can also spend a Crown or a Cross to reactivate the Alliance Bonus for an alliance you have with a Major Power. See Phase 2: Winter, E - Alliances.
Sponsor
Effect: Progress on the Patronage track (as a patron of scholars and artists).
Action Cost: Florins, and Crowns or Crosses.
Procedure: Pay the cost indicated on the Prestige board for the next step you want to take on the Patronage track.
You can only progress one step per Year.
It costs 2 florins and either 1 Crown or 1 Cross to progress to each of the first two steps; then 3 florins, 1 Crown, and either another Crown or a Cross to reach each of the next two; and finally, 4 florins, 2 Crowns, and 1 Cross to reach the final step (as indicated on the Patronage track).
Patronage Bonus
When you reach the 2nd and 4th steps on the Patronage tracks, you immediately take a Patronage Bonus of your choice from those remaining.
Patronage Bonuses (9 cards and 1 tile) are identifiable by the Patronage symbol, and there are two types: Artist or Work.
The type you select at step 4 must be different from the type you selected at step 2. Thus, you can have no more than 1 artist and 1 work during the game.
There are eight Patronage Bonuses that grant permanent effects, which you place near you, but "away from your Palace" and outside your Domain:
- Leonardo da Vinci provides a War Bonus (if you pay 1 florin) during each Siege.
- The Bastion Fort provides a War Bonus of +2 defense each time you are besieged.
- Nicolaus Copernicus provides an additional Cortigiano space.
- The Prince provides a Cortigiano space and an additional Agent. It also prevents other players from placing their Agents on your Cities, Rooms, and Alliances.
- Michelangelo provides a "free" Crown for your Sponsor actions.
- The Duomo and the Sistine Chapel provide, respectively, 1 or 2 additional Crosses but only in determining your level of religious influence in the final scoring (see End of the Game).
Some Patronage Bonuses also provide 1 Prestige Point at the end of the game; Christopher Columbus provides 2.
There are two Patronage Bonuses that provide resources, which you place differently when you obtain them:
- Place Niccolò Machiavelli (considered a Notable card) with the Resources Available side up on a Cortigiano space.
- Place the Cannons (which is a tile) with the Resources Available side up in your Domain.
Trade
Effect: Collect 2 florins per Ship you use.
Action Cost: Ships.
Procedure: Collect 2 florins (from the supply) per Ship symbol you "pay" from your available resources.
Annex
Effect: Seize control of a neutral City (without a coat of arms) through diplomacy.
Action Cost: Crowns, and in some cases Ships.
Procedure: You must pay a number of Crowns greater than the "modified" value of the City you are annexing. The City's base value is indicated on the Italy board. Reduce the value by 1 if you have an Agent there. Increase the value by 1 if an opponent has an Agent there.
Place one of your Control discs on the City, then take its tile and place it in your Domain, with the Resources Available side up. In addition, advance 1 space on the Cities track of the Prestige board.
Restrictions: The target City must be adjacent by road to a City you already control.
Instead of annexing a City adjacent by road, you can annex a port City from one of your port Cities. In addition to the Crown cost, you must pay 1 Ship per sea traversed.
You cannot annex "Pirate" Ports (Ragusa, Ajaccio, Cagliari, Tunis), indicated on the Italy board by a pirate-port symbol.
The Anchor symbols on the Italy board indicate which sea borders each port. Note that some Cities have ports on two seas.
Example: Red annexes Ravenna (value 2) from Florence, and must pay 3 Crowns.
Example: Red annexes Terracina (port, value 1), which has 1 green Agent on it (value +1), from Pisa (port), and must pay 3 Crowns and 2 Ships (having traversed 2 seas).
Wage War
Effect: Move your Troops and initiate one or more Sieges to try to seize control of one or more Cities forcibly; you can besiege Neutral Cities and/or Cities already controlled by opponents.
Action Cost: Cavalry, Ships, War Bonuses.
Procedure: Pay Cavalry and/or Ship symbols to move your Troop meeples.
- 1 Cavalry symbol lets you move 1 Troop to a City adjacent by road.
- 1 Ship symbol lets you move 1 Troop across 1 sea.
You can move the same Troop multiple times by spending multiple Symbols (for example: 1 Cavalry to move 1 Troop from a City to a neighboring Port City, then 2 Ships to move it across 2 seas).
You are welcome to move any number of Troops this way (together or independently) by paying the necessary symbols for each.
Any Troops that move to a neutral City or a City controlled by an opponent must end their movement there immediately (leave the Troops "in front" of the City) to besiege the City. The Siege will be resolved during the End of Spring. (See Resolving Sieges.)
Attention: If you wish to use a War symbol at the bottom of your Wage War Action card or Improvement card for the upcoming Siege, remember that you cannot also use Cavalry or Ship symbols on it (because you can only use one type of symbol per card/tile).
To help you remember when you use the War symbol instead, take 1 +1 War Bonus token for each War symbol you used, then use the tokens during the Siege resolution during the End of Spring.
You must pay any florin cost immediately when you take the token.
You cannot get multiple tokens from the same War symbol — not even by paying multiple times.
+1 War Bonus tokens that you don't use during the End of Spring go to waste.
Scheme
Effect: Place, move, or eliminate Agents.
Action Cost: Masks.
Procedure: For each Mask symbol you pay, do one of the following:
- Place one of your Agents in, or move one of your Agents to, a City that does not contain one.
- Place one of your Agents in, or move one of your Agents to, a Palace Room that does not contain one.
- Place one of your Agents in, or move one of your Agents to, an Alliance that does not contain one.
- Remove an opponent's Agent from anywhere in play.
Agents
At the beginning of the game, you have 2 or 3 Agents available. Agents are essentially spies who will work to promote your enterprises and to sabotage other players' progress.
You receive a new available Agent (up to a maximum of 5) when you purchase a Consiglière, Podesta, or Assassin card, or take The Prince Patronage Bonus.
During a Scheme action, Agents move to Cities, to the Palace, or to Alliances.
Each City, each Alliance, and each Palace Room can only host one Agent at a time.
Optional rule for your first few games: Each Palace can only host one enemy Agent at a time.
If you want to send your Agent somewhere already occupied by an enemy Agent, you must remove the enemy Agent before you can place yours there. You can do this as part of the same action; it simply requires paying 2 Mask symbols.
You can thus defensively place your own Agents in your Palace Rooms, Alliances, or Cities under your control, so your opponents cannot place their own Agents there until they remove yours.
If you have run out of available Agents, or feel one of your Agents would be more useful elsewhere, you can use this action to relocate one of your Agents, instead.
When an opponent removes one of your Agents, it returns to you, available to be deployed again in your next Scheme action.
Conquering another player's City or appropriating an Alliance does not make the Agent there disappear, no matter whose Agent it is.
How an Agent Affects a City
Cities have a base value, which is printed on the Italy board.
An Agent in a neutral City (without a control disc) modifies its value by 1 in favor of the Agent's owner, and by 1 against all other players during Annexations and Sieges.
An Agent in an enemy City lowers its value by 1 if you besiege that City.
An Agent in a friendly City has no effect on its value.
Example: Ancona — neutral City with a red Agent: Value −1 for Red; +1 for everyone else (during an Annexation or a Siege).
Example: Siena — City with red Control disc and a green (enemy) Agent: Value −1 for Green (during a Siege).
Example: Spoleto — City with blue Control disc and Agent: Value is unchanged, but it prevents another Agent from going there as long as this one is present.
If you want to send your Agent somewhere already occupied by an enemy Agent, you must remove the enemy Agent before you can place yours there (as above).
How an Agent Affects a Palace Room
If an enemy Agent occupies a Room of your Palace, you cannot take the Action from that Room (same as when an Indulgence card is there).
However, if that Room has the Scheme action, you can still take this action as long as you use its first Mask symbol (and one other) to remove the enemy Agent from it.
An enemy Agent also prevents you from rearranging the cards in that Room during the Winter phase.
How an Agent Affects an Alliance
During the Winter phase, you will have the option of Forming or Appropriating Alliances with the Major Powers of the era. The available Alliances are depicted on the Italy board.
Place your Agent in the rightmost Alliance space if it is another player's Alliance, on your Control disc if it is your own, and on the left space if it is no one's.
Having an Agent on an Alliance gives you a discount of 1 symbol (of your choice) to form this Alliance, or if it's an opponent's Alliance it enables you to appropriate the Alliance by paying the normal Alliance cost.
An enemy Agent on your Alliance prevents you from using its Bonus.
B — End of Spring
Resolving Sieges
Once everyone has performed their Action, it's time to resolve Sieges in progress.
If you have one or more Troops around a City that is not under your control (neutral City, or City controlled by another player), then you have begun a Siege.
Starting with the 1st player in turn order, each player takes one turn to resolve all Sieges that player has begun; you get to choose the order in which you resolve your Sieges.
Several Sieges can be initiated during the same Spring.
War Bonus
When resolving your Sieges, you can spend 1 or more +1 War Bonus tokens that you got from performing the Wage War action.
Additionally, both you and the defender can use War Bonuses from your available Cortigiano cards by flipping them to their Resources Exhausted side.
While resolving the Siege, announce using your Bonuses one by one, starting with you, then the defender, then you, and so on.
Most War Bonuses required paying 1 florin to use them.
You can only use each War Bonus once per Siege (you cannot pay multiple times to use it multiple times).
Once both you and the defender have "passed" (declined to use any further Bonuses), the Siege is complete.
After resolving all of your Sieges, discard all of your remaining +1 War Bonus tokens.
Special War Bonuses — Clarifications of the general rules:
- The Patronage Bonus Leonardo da Vinci grants a +1 War Bonus that can be used once per Siege by paying 1 florin each time.
- The Patronage Bonus Bastion Fort grants a +2 defense-only Bonus for defending against all Sieges against you.
- The Patronage Bonus Cannons grants a +2 War Bonus (by paying 1 florin) during a Siege if its Resources Available side is up, and you flip it to its Resources Exhausted side.
- The Alliance with the Kingdom of France grants a +2 War Bonus that can be used during a Siege, but it deactivates the Bonus (see Phase 2: Winter, E - Alliances).
Procedure for Resolving Sieges
Evaluate each player's combat strength:
ATTACKER
- Base: +1 per Troop present
- +1 per War Bonus used
DEFENDER
- Base = Value of the City (1 – 4)
- −1 if the attacker has an Agent here
Neutral City: +1 if an Agent belonging to anyone but the attacker is present.
City controlled by a player: +1 per Troop present belonging to this player; +1 per War Bonus used.
Example: Attacker: 2 (Troops) + 1 (War Bonus) = 3. Siena: 3 (City value) − 1 (Agent) = 2. The attacker wins.
Example: Attacker: 2 (Troops) = 2. Benevento: 2 (City value) + 1 (enemy Agent) = 3. The attacker loses.
Example: Attacker: 3 (Troops) + 1 (War Bonus) = 4. Ravenna: 2 (City value) + 1 (Troop) + 1 (War Bonus) − 1 (red Agent) = 3. The attacker wins.
Example: Red besieged Spoleto, but at 2 versus 2, Red fails to conquer it. Red loses 1 Troop, and the other retreats to Florence (adjacent friendly City).
VICTORY & TROPHY
As the attacker, if your combat strength is greater than the defender's, you are victorious, and proceed as follows.
If the City had a final combat strength of 3 or more, you automatically lose 1 attacking Troop. Then, you lose 1 attacking Troop for each defending Troop, and the defender loses all of their defending Troops. Even if you have no attacking Troops left, your victory stands (you had more combat strength when it mattered).
Lost Troops return to their owners, who can recruit them again in the following Winter.
You seize control of the City: Place one of your Control discs on it, and take the City tile and place it in your Domain, Resources Exhausted side up, due to the rigors of the Siege.
- If the City was neutral, take the City tile from the supply.
- If the City was controlled by an opponent, take the City tile from that opponent. Furthermore, you earn a Trophy in the form of the vanquished opponent's Control disc; place it on the Trophy space in your Palace.
You can only have one Trophy disc per opponent, but you can still besiege the Cities of a player from whom you've already taken a Trophy.
Each Trophy you earn will be worth 2 Prestige Points at the end of the game.
If the City has a Cathedral, you also take a Cathedral tile from the vanquished opponent; place it in your Domain, Resources Exhausted side up, due to the rigors of the Siege.
Each Cathedral tile you have at the end of the game will be worth 1 Prestige Point.
DEFEAT & RETREAT
As the attacker, if your combat strength is less than or equal to the defender's, you are defeated, and proceed as follows.
- You immediately lose 1 Troop.
- All of your Troops remaining there must then retreat to a City under your control, directly adjacent, without having to spend any Cavalry symbols (they retreat on foot).
- If the City you attacked was a Port, you also have the option to withdraw Troops to another Port City you control by spending 1 Ship per sea each Troop traverses.
Attention: Retreats at the end of the phase happen in turn order, after all Sieges are resolved.
- Any attacking Troops that survived but cannot retreat, either because there is no adjacent friendly City, no port access, or you simply don't want to spend the Ships, are lost. You are allowed to choose to lose Troops.
Example: Green must retreat from Ancona, but cannot retreat by land; Green must pay 1 Ship per Troop that retreats.
BATTLES ON THE PLAINS
If two players have Troops in front of the same neutral City (or a City controlled by a third player), then there will be a Battle on the Plains between the attackers before the Siege of the City. Calculate the various attackers' combat strengths, counting only their Troops and any War Bonuses they opt to use.
IF ONE HAS GREATER COMBAT STRENGTH:
- The defeated player loses all Troops there; the victor loses the same number (or as many as possible).
- The victor can now besiege the City with the remaining Troops. If this prospect is no longer appealing, they will have to retreat from the City at the end of this phase.
- You do not earn a Trophy for winning a Battle on the Plains.
- War Bonuses you use in a Battle on the Plains are spent, and do not apply to the subsequent Siege.
IF THEY ARE TIED:
- Both players lose 1 Troop, and must retreat at the end of this phase.
- All Troops you lose return to your supply, and can be recruited again in the following Winter phase.
Determining the New Turn Order
Each time you seize control or lose control of a City (due to Annexation or Siege), adjust your position on the Cities track of the Prestige board to match the number of Cities you control. If there are already markers in the new space, your marker goes atop them.
If you control 5 Cities or more, you unlock an additional Cortigiano space in your Palace, as indicated on the City track.
Once all Sieges have been resolved, and all retreats are complete, set the new Turn Order: The player with the most Cities is 1st; second-most, 2nd; etc.
If there is a tie, the top player in the stack goes before the ones below, and so on.
Adjust the markers on the Turn Order track to indicate the new order, and commence the Winter phase.
Phase 2: Winter
Salaries, Palace, Purchases, Alliances
In turn order, each player performs all 5 steps of the Winter phase before moving on to the next player:
- Pay the salaries of your Troops in play.
- You can reorganize your Palace.
- You can purchase cards or tiles.
- You can recruit Troops.
- You can form an Alliance.
Then the next player does all 5 steps.
A - Pay the Salaries of Your Troops
You must pay the salaries of your Troops on the Italy board as follows:
| Troops | Salary |
|---|---|
| 1 or 2 Troops | 0 |
| 3 or 4 Troops | 1 |
| 5 or 6 Troops | 2 |
If you cannot pay in full, or prefer not to pay in full, you must remove the unpaid Troops from the Italy board.
B - Reorganize Your Palace
You can freely rearrange one or more of the cards in your Palace, respecting both the general rules for placing them and the following reorganization rules:
- Reposition the cards one at a time.
- You cannot move a card into or out of a Room with any of the following in it: your Action marker, an Indulgence card, an enemy Agent.
- You can only move a Cortigiano card to a Room or another Cortigiano space if the card's Resources Available side is up.
- If you remove a card from a Room, it must go Resources Exhausted side up on an empty Cortigiano space.
- You cannot leave an Action-less card by itself in a Room.
Note: You cannot move a card directly from one Room of your Palace to another; it must go through a Cortigiano space. Furthermore, removing a card from a Room (or moving a Resources-Available Cortigiano card to another Cortigiano space) requires an empty Cortigiano space. So, you cannot move a card from one Room of the Palace to another Room during the same Winter, nor can you directly swap two Resources-Available Cortigiano cards.
Available Cortigiano Spaces
You have 3 Cortigiano spaces available at the beginning of the game (1 on the left of your Palace, and 2 on the right). You can gain access to up to 3 additional spaces (shaded) by purchasing Title tiles, by obtaining certain Patronage Bonuses, or by controlling at least 5 Cities (as indicated on the Cities track).
The additional spaces provided by Title tiles are always available, even if the tile's Resources Exhausted side is up: Although the rest of the face is amber, this effect is not.
Additional Cortigiano spaces you acquire (the shaded ones) are not "set in stone". That is to say that if you move a card from one to a Room, the next card to become a Cortigiano card can go to a different shaded space if you like.
If you have acquired additional Cortigiano spaces, you can use them even if some of your original spaces are empty.
A Cortigiano space is empty if it is available and unoccupied by a card. You can free any Cortigiano space occupied by a card, even if its Resources Exhausted side is up, by discarding the card. If it is a Notable card, it returns to the display, available for purchase again. If it is a Family card, remove it from the game.
If you have an additional Cortigiano space because you control at least 5 Cities, and the number of Cities you control drops below 5, you choose which shaded Cortigiano space you lose. If there was a card in it, you must immediately move it to another Cortigiano space, or discard it (even if its Resources Exhausted side is up).
C - Purchase Cards and/or Tiles
You can purchase as many different cards and tiles as you wish by paying the cost depicted in the upper-left corner of each.
All purchases made during this phase are considered to happen simultaneously, so you cannot purchase a card/tile and use its resources in the same phase to pay for something else. As with paying for Actions, you can only use 1 type of symbol per card/tile bottom for your total purchase.
You cannot purchase the same card or tile several times in the same Winter phase; however, you could buy an identical card or tile next Year (unless you are only allowed to own one copy of that particular card/tile).
Attention: Restrictions on purchases — you are only allowed to own 1 copy (each) of the Cardinal Notable card, the Guild tile, and the Title tiles bearing the "1" symbol in the upper-right corner.
You must place cards that you purchase Resources Available side up on an empty Cortigiano space. Remember that you can discard to free one up; in fact, you can discard a card you used to pay for your purchases!
You must place tiles that you purchase (except Cathedral tiles) Resources Available side up in your Domain.
Title Tiles
During the game, you can purchase a Duchy tile, as well as a Principality tile. Take the tile bearing your coat of arms.
You can also purchase a Kingdom tile or a Republic tile; however, these two regimes are incompatible, so you can only have 1 of the 2. (There are only 2 copies of each.)
Cathedral Tiles
You can only purchase a Cathedral tile if you control a City with a base value of 3 – 4, that doesn't already have a Cathedral on it.
When you purchase a Cathedral tile, you must place it Resources Exhausted side up in your Domain, and place a Cathedral pawn on the City on the Italy map.
If you lose control of the City during a Siege, you must give both the City tile and the Cathedral tile to the conqueror; however, both flip to their Resources Exhausted side due to the Siege.
There are only 5 Cathedrals available for the entire game; it is a very limited supply!
Each Cathedral tile you have at the end of the game will earn you 1 Prestige Point.
Additional Agents
When you obtain a card with an Agent symbol, you also obtain an additional available Agent meeple, which you can place next year with a Scheme action.
You are limited to a total of 5 Agents (each).
D – Recruit Troops
You can recruit Troops in a City you control.
Recruiting 1 Troop in one of your Starting Cities under your control (i.e. with your coat of arms) costs 1 florin; recruiting in a City you annexed or conquered costs 3 florins.
You cannot recruit in a Starting City that an opponent controls.
You are limited to a total of 6 Troops (each).
E - Form or Appropriate an Alliance
Each Winter, you can form or appropriate one Alliance with one of the three Major Powers of the era: the Kingdom of France, the Holy Roman Empire, or the Ottoman Empire.
Each Major Power can only be allied with a single player at a time.
The Cost to form an Alliance is indicated on the Italy board; however, you get a discount of 1 symbol (of your choice) if you have an Agent on this Alliance (see Scheme action) and the Alliance has not been formed with another player. Then place your disc on the left space of that Alliance to indicate that you have formed it.
If you have an Agent on an Alliance formed by another player, you can appropriate that Alliance (but only for yourself) by paying its normal cost (without discount). Return the disc there to its owner and place your own on the left space, then place your Agent atop it.
When you form or appropriate an alliance, leave your Agent on the Major Power.
Although you can only form or appropriate a single Alliance per Winter phase, you can become allied with several Major Powers over the course of several Years.
Each Alliance grants a Bonus during the game. At the end of the game, each Alliance is worth 1 Prestige Point (unless an enemy Agent is still there).
You can use an Alliance Bonus if your disc is on its left space, and no enemy Agent is on that Alliance. When you use the Bonus, shift your disc to the right space (covering the Bonus, showing that it's used).
To be able to use the Bonus again, you must use a Govern action and pay 1 Crown or 1 Cross per Bonus you wish to reactivate (then move your disc back to the left space).
The Bonuses for the different Alliances:
- Kingdom of France: +2 War Bonus usable during a Siege or Battle on the Plains (see Wage War action).
- Ottoman Empire: 2 Ship symbols usable (at the same time) during an Annex, Wage War, or Trade action, or when retreating.
- Holy Roman Empire: 1 Cross symbol usable during an action, a purchase, or to rid yourself of an Indulgence. This Cross also counts when tallying religious influence at the end of the game (unless there is an enemy Agent on this Alliance, of course).
F - Request an Indulgence
During Winter (just like in Spring), you can request an Indulgence at any time, as long as the Palace Room with your Action marker does not already have an Indulgence card on it.
This grants you 1 Crown which you must use immediately, or 3 florins that go into your treasury.
Then place an Indulgence card on the Room under your Action marker.
End of the Game
The endgame is triggered when, at the end of Spring, at least one of the following conditions is met:
- Players control all Cities on the Italy board (no neutral Cities remain).
- Someone has reached the end of the Cities track (they control 8 Cities or more).
- Someone has reached the end of the Patronage track.
Everyone finishes the Year by playing a final Winter phase, after which the game ends.
Next, tally the Prestige Points.
Prestige & Victory
-
Controlling Cities: According to your position on the Cities track (0 – 6 Prestige Points). The player furthest along the track earns a bonus of 1 Prestige Point (if it's a tie, each tied player gets the bonus).
-
Supporting the arts and sciences: According to your position on the Patronage track (0 – 3 Prestige Points). The player furthest along the track earns a bonus of 1 Prestige Point (if it's a tie, each tied player gets the bonus).
-
Cards/Tiles: Certain cards in your Palace or tiles in your Domain grant you the Prestige Points indicated on them, even if their Resources Exhausted side is showing.
-
Religious Influence: Prestige Points are awarded based on how each player ranks in their total number of Cross symbols. That total includes:
- Cards in your Palace and tiles in your Domain (even if their Resources Exhausted side is showing).
- The Alliance with the Holy Roman Empire (unless an enemy Agent is there).
- Certain Patronage Bonuses (Duomo and Sistine Chapel).
The awards are as follows, in descending order according to the number of Crosses you have:
- 3-player game: 4, 2, and 0 Prestige Points.
- 4-player game: 4, 2, 1, and 0 Prestige Points.
- 5-player game: 4, 2, 1, 0, and 0 Prestige Points.
If there is a tie, each tied player is awarded the points for the next-lower rank.
Example: In a 4- or 5-player game, if 2 players tied for 1st, each would receive 2 points, and 3rd would receive 1 as usual.
-
Military Prestige: 2 Prestige Points per Trophy (you can only have 1 Trophy from each opponent).
-
Alliances: 1 Prestige Point per Alliance you have without an enemy Agent (it doesn't matter whether the Bonus is available).
-
Indulgences: −1 Prestige Point per Indulgence card still in your Palace.
The player with the most Prestige Points is proclaimed the Master of Italy.
If there is a tie, the tied player with more total Crowns in their Palace and Domain (on cards and tiles, whether Resources Available or Resources Exhausted) wins.
If there is still a tie, the tied players simply must share the power.
The winning score is generally in the neighborhood of 15 Prestige Points.
Credits
Designer: Pascal Ribrault French Rulebook Co-authors: Pascal Ribrault and Bernard Philippon English Translation: Nathan Morse Illustrations: Roma Gewska, Sveta Pikul, Alena Stepanova, Fabrice Weiss, paperpiratesproduction. Project Manager: Charles-Amir Perret Artistic Direction: Igor Polouchine Layout: Igor Polouchine and Tatiana Polouchine Packaging: Origames
Acknowledgements: To quote Niccolò Machiavelli, "Chance governs a little more than half of our actions, and we guide the rest." And so Virtù, long called "The Masters of Italy", would never have been possible without the support of Corinne, my wife, and her understanding of my passion for gaming; without Franck and the "langonnais": Bertrand, Simon, and Thomas, my first playtesters; without the "Kalbarjots" and particularly Alexandra, Sylvain, and Loïc for their support and their expertise, and especially Gontran for having come up with a name for the game, and for reworking all of the introductory text. Finally, Anton for his help with "The Wars of Italy".
I would also like to thank PEL's "games of tomorrow" for awarding the prototype in 2015; Benoit Forget, Thomas Cauet, and Didier Jacobee for having, despite the vicissitudes, believed in "the Masters of Italy" from the beginning; and especially to Bernard and Charles-Amir of Super Meeple for their enthusiasm and the final quality achieved.
Virtù is a game published by SUPERMEEPLE. 193 rue du Fg Saint Denis - 75010 Paris ©2021 SUPERMEEPLE. SUPERMEEPLE and its logo are trademarks of Super Meeple.
Fabriqué en Chine par Whatz Games.
Part Two: The Wars of Italy (2-Player Rules)
To understand this rulebook, you must first be familiar with the rulebook for 3 – 5 players: Virtù: The Art of Governing.
No fewer than eleven wars would be fought by the Kings of France in Italy from 1494 to 1559. It is during these wars that principles of "modern warfare" would develop, continuing an evolution begun in the Hundred Years War. Cavalry would become less crucial than infantry, guns and artillery would gain importance. The last wars of Italy would become the geopolitical beginnings of a multi-century conflict between the Kingdom of France and the Spain of the Habsburgs.
Charles VIII called "the Affable" (1470 – 1498), King of France from 1483 to 1498, is the last of the Valois. In 1491, he married Anne of Brittany, uniting the duchy with the Crown. In 1494, he proclaimed himself King of Naples and embarked on the first "War of Italy". Although victorious, in 1495 he was forced to make a perilous return to France. In 1498, he died at the age of 27 after nine hours of agony from bashing his head violently against the stone lintel of a low door in his Amboise castle. Without a direct heir, his cousin, Louis d'Orléans, dubbed Louis XII, who accompanied him to Italy, ascended to the throne.
"A war is just when it is necessary." — Niccolò Machiavelli: The Prince (1532)
In 1442, the Kingdom of Naples, which had been in the hands of the House of Anjou, came to be ruled by King Alfonso V and thus under the control of Aragon. With the death of René d'Anjou, Charles VIII, King of France, asserts his rights to the crown of Naples.
In 1494, a French army, commanded by the king and comprising more than 20,000 men and 70 cannons, departed Grenoble and crossed the Alps to join his ally, the Duke of Milan. They faced a divided Italy, in which Florence and Milan struggle against Venetian power, while in Rome the scandalous Rodrigo Borgia has just been elected pope under the moniker Alexander VI.
After a rapid and aggressive military campaign, using Florence and Rome as a veritable corridor, Charles VIII seized Naples in February, 1495. Nonetheless, the following spring, The League of Venice (a strong coalition uniting the city of the Doges, Pope Alexander VI, Ferdinand II of Aragon, Emperor Maximilian, and even the king's old ally, the Duke of Milan) made Charles VIII return to France, abandoning Naples to his enemies.
Ferdinand II of Aragon, known as "Ferrandino" (1467 – 1496): Son of Ferdinand I of Naples, he was indoctrinated in both the arts and war in his youth. His brief reign (he was crowned in January 1495) was marked by the invasion of the kingdom by the troops of Charles VIII, King of France. Upon formation of the League of Venice, a quasi-general alliance of the cities of Italy, he succeeded in driving the French from Naples and retaking his throne. He died shortly thereafter, in 1496, at the age of 27… just like Charles VIII. Also without an heir, his throne goes to his uncle, Frederick I of Naples.
The Wars of Italy is the name of the 2-player version of Virtù.
One player plays as the King of France and his ally the Duke of Milan, laying claim to the throne of Naples; the other player plays as the King of Naples, determined to defend his title and his City.
The game plays over 21 rounds, each of which has a historical duration of two months, thus spanning a period from 1494 to 1497. Despite this, for greater compatibility with the rules you have learned in The Art of Governing, we will continue to refer to the phases of each round as Spring and Winter.
Setup
Use the usual components for the 3- to 5-player game, but the items crossed out below can stay in the box. You will also need the specific 2-player components identified by the 2-player icon.
Italy Board and Influence Board
Use the 2/5 players side of the Italy board and the 2 players Influence side of the Prestige/Influence board.
The French Player (Blue)
- Take your Palace and your Action marker (both blue), both showing their King of France side.
- Take the 4 French Family cards specific to a 2-player game. At the beginning of the game, you will place these 4 cards however you like in your Palace, just like in a game for 3 – 5 players.
- Place the 2 French Family tiles specific to a 2-player game (Kingdom of France and Cannons) in your Domain, along with the Title tile Duchy of Milan.
- You start the game with 1 blue Agent; the other 4 start in the general supply.
- Place a blue Control disc on the 2 Cities Turin and Milan, and put those 2 City tiles in your Domain.
- Place 2 blue Troops in Turin, 2 blue Troops in Milan, and keep 4 Troops available to recruit — thus you will use 8 blue Troop meeples.
- Start with 4 florins in your treasury.
The Neapolitan Player (Yellow)
- Take your Palace (yellow), showing its King of Naples side, the 3 Neapolitan Family cards specific to a 2-player game, the Title tile Principality of Naples, and your Action marker.
At the beginning of the game, you will place these 3 cards however you like in your Palace, just like in a game for 3 – 5 players.
- You start the game with 2 yellow Agents; the other 3 start in the general supply.
- Place a yellow Control disc on the 4 Cities Naples, Rossano, Reggio, and Bari, and put those 4 City tiles in your Domain.
- Place 4 yellow Troops in Naples and keep 4 Troops available to recruit.
- Start with 4 florins in your treasury.
The Major Cities
Place the following on the Italy board:
-
1 red Control disc on Florence, and 1 on Pisa. 1 red Troop on Florence.
-
1 white Control disc on Rome, and 1 on Civitavecchia. 1 white Troop on Rome.
-
1 green Control disc on Venice, 1 on Corfu, and 1 on Ravenna. 1 green Troop on Venice, and 1 on Ravenna.
-
On the Influence board, place a Control disc from each of these three Major Cities on its starting position on its track (indicated by the coat of arms). This disc will serve as an Influence marker.
-
Place the other components for the Major Cities beside the Italy board.
FOR ROME (white)
- 2 Family cards.
- 2 City tiles: Rome (use the tile with the coat of arms) and Civitavecchia.
- 1 Agent and 1 additional Troop available to recruit.
FOR FLORENCE (red)
- 2 Family cards.
- 2 City tiles: Florence and Pisa.
- 1 Agent and 1 additional Troop available to recruit.
FOR VENICE (green)
- 2 Family cards.
- 3 City tiles: Venice, Ravenna, and Corfu.
- 2 additional Troops available to recruit.
The Cards and Tiles
-
Stack the similar Notable cards in a face-up display, except for the Pope and Maestro cards (return them to the box).
-
Display the 5 following tiles: the 2 Guilds, the Titles Principality of Milan, Duchy of Naples, and 1 Kingdom tile.
-
Stack the rest of the City tiles and the Indulgence cards, and pile the florins in a general supply. Return the rest of the tiles to the box.
The Prestige Board
- Cover the Alliances and Turn Order on the Italy board with the small, 2-player Prestige board (you don't use Alliances or Turn Order in a 2-player game).
Finally, return the following to the box: the rest of the control discs and red, white, and green Agents and Troops.
Board Setup Reminder
France (blue) places a Control disc on Turin and Milan, and places 2 Troops in Turin, and 2 in Milan.
Naples (yellow) places a Control disc on Naples, Rossano, Reggio, and Bari, and places 2 Troops in Naples.
Major Cities: Place a red Control disc in Florence and Pisa, and 1 red Troop in Florence. Place a white Control disc on Rome and Civitavecchia, and 1 white Troop in Rome. Place a green Control disc on Venice, Ravenna, and Corfu, and 1 green Troop in Venice, and 1 in Ravenna.
Rules of the Game
France First — Place the Cathedral pawn on Round 1 on the Influence board. France always goes first (hence no need for the Turn Order track). France, you must remember to advance the Cathedral pawn before you take your turn each round (except the first).
The rules of the game are the same as for a game for 3 – 5 players, with the following exceptions:
Usable Cortigiano Spaces
You each start with one additional Cortigiano space (because of the Title tiles you have); however, one Room of your Palace has no Action. Until you occupy this Room with an Action card (which you could do in your initial placement), moving your Action marker to this Room will not allow you to take an Action.
In the 2-player game, controlling 5 Cities does not unlock an additional Cortigiano space in your Palace.
Diplomacy and Major Cities
In The Wars of Italy, three great Cities of the peninsula — namely Rome (white), Venice (green), and Florence (red) — have not yet sided with either protagonist. We call these 3 Cities the Major Cities.
At the beginning of the game, each Major City controls another City, and has Troops on the board.
The other Cities (controlled by neither a player nor a Major City) are called Neutral Cities.
In the 2-player game, you will be able to Influence the Major Cities using the Influence action.
Influence Tracks
Each Major City has its own track on the Influence board. A disc of its color indicates its leaning between France and Naples.
Each time you gain 1 Influence with a Major City, move its marker 1 space toward your side of its track (left for France, right for Naples).
The tracks are divided into zones: Neutral, Favorable, Alliance.
- If the marker is in the Neutral zone, this Major City does not favor either player; it has a Neutral Posture toward you both.
- If the marker is in your Favorable or Alliance zone, that Major City has a Favorable Posture toward you, and a Hostile Posture toward your opponent.
- If the marker is already in your Alliance zone when you take the Influence action (see Changes to Actions) you can form a permanent Alliance with this Major City.
Example: In this example, France spends 3 Crowns to Influence Rome, and accordingly moves the white Influence marker 3 spaces toward France (leftward). Because France wanted to Influence Rome, they could have substituted Cross symbols for any or all of the Crown symbols required. When Influencing Rome, you can spend Crosses instead of Crowns (or any mix of the two).
Major City Postures
At the beginning of the game, each Major City controls another City, and has Troops on the board.
A Major City has a Hostile Posture toward you if its Influence marker is in your opponent's Favorable or Alliance zone.
- If you move your Troops to a City controlled by a Major City with a Hostile Posture toward you, you must end your movement there and besiege the City at the end of Spring.
- Similarly, at the end of Spring, if you have Troops in front of a City controlled by a Major City with a Hostile Posture toward you, you must besiege the City.
Favorable Posture
If a Major City has a Favorable posture toward you, then you can freely move your Troops to or through Cities controlled by this Major City without having to end your movement. Moreover, your Troops must help defend Cities controlled by this Major City.
Neutral Posture
If you move your Troops to a City controlled by a Major City with a Neutral Posture, you must end your movement there; however, you are not required to besiege this City. If both you and your opponent have Troops in front of a Major City with a Neutral Posture at the end of Spring, then you will have a Battle on the Plains. If you win, you can besiege the City, but you are not required to do so, and you can leave your Troops there either way.
Example: In the example above, the Major Cities' postures are as follows: Rome: Neutral (toward both players). Venice: Favorable to Naples to the degree that Naples could form a permanent Alliance by performing an Influence action. Hostile to France. Florence: Favorable to France. Hostile to Naples. Remember: The coats of arms indicate where the markers start the game.
WHEN A MAJOR CITY ALLIES WITH YOU
- You immediately get the 2 Family cards of this Major City, which you place in available Cortigiano spaces (these cards immediately give you an additional available space).
- You add the City tiles still under this Major City's control to your Domain, Resources Available side up.
- You take control of the mercenary Troops of this Major City (both those already in play, and those available for recruitment), as well as its Agent (note: Venice has no Agent).
- Finally, remove the marker from this Major City's Influence track, because it has permanently allied with you.
Example: If you become allied with Florence, you get everything you see here; however, if Pisa had already been conquered, you would not get the Pisa tile. You also take control of the Florentine Troop and Agent.
How an Agent Affects an Influence Track
In addition to the usual options, you can also place one of your Agents on a Major City's Influence track, as long as it doesn't already contain one (place the Agent on the marker).
You are allowed to have Agents on several Influence tracks at the same time.
An Agent on an Influence track effectively cancels the first Crown (or Cross) your opponent spends during each Influence action toward this Major City.
Furthermore, you cannot form an Alliance with a Major City while an enemy Agent is on its Influence track.
Example: In this example, a French Agent sits atop the Florentine Influence marker: Naples performs an Influence action, but must waste the first Crown spent to influence Florence. So, by spending 3 Crowns, the marker will only move 2 spaces toward Naples. In addition, even if the marker were in Naples' Alliance zone, the French Agent would prevent formation of the Alliance.
Example: Venice is already in Naples' Alliance zone. Naples could spend an entire Influence action to form this Alliance for free.
When You Perform an Influence Action on a Major City Whose Influence Marker Is Already in Your Alliance Zone (and There Is No Enemy Agent There)
You can form a permanent Alliance with this Major City. However, you must spend your entire action to do so; you will not be able to Influence any other Major Cities, nor will you be able to Annex a Neutral City.
Alliances with the Major Powers
Alliances with the Major Powers are unavailable in a 2-player game.
Changes to Actions
SPONSOR
This Action does not exist in the 2-player game.
ANNEX / INFLUENCE
You have two options when you take the Annex action (you can do one or both):
- Annex a Neutral City (not controlled by a Major City) per the usual rules.
- Influence the Major Cities. Spend Crown symbols to gain Influence in one or more Major Cities. Each Crown buys you 1 Influence in the Major City of your choice.
Changes to Siege Resolution
TROPHIES
You get a Trophy each time you conquer a City controlled by your opponent or by a Major City (no matter whether it's allied with your opponent).
In the 2-player game, you can earn duplicate Trophies. Each Trophy will only be worth 1 Prestige Point at the end of the game.
SIEGES AND MAJOR CITIES
You are not required to besiege a City controlled by a Major City with Neutral Posture or Favorable Posture toward you; your Troops can simply stay in front of this City.
If the City has a Neutral Posture, you can still decide to besiege it.
If both of you have Troops in front of a City controlled by a Major City with Neutral Posture, a Battle on the Plains occurs. The victor gets to choose whether to besiege the City, or simply leave the Troops there.
If both of you have Troops in front of a City controlled by a Major city with Hostile posture toward you, you must besiege the City, and your opponent's Troops will participate in defending the City.
If you win a Siege on a City controlled by a Major City that is not allied with your opponent, you immediately lose 4 Influence in that Major City.
If you win a Siege on a capital of a Major City (i.e. Florence, Venice, or Rome), you eliminate that Major City and you immediately lose 1 Influence in each remaining Major City.
A Major City is eliminated if you conquer its capital (Florence, Venice, or Rome) during a Siege.
- If this City was not yet allied with your opponent, remove all remaining components for this Major City from the board (Troops, Control discs, Influence marker), as well as those beside it. It is impossible to Influence or form an Alliance with this eliminated Major City.
- If this City was allied with your opponent, the game continues as usual. Your opponent retains the Family cards, Troops, and possible Agent from the Major City.
Additionally, for 1 florin you can recruit 1 of an Allied Major City's Troops, in a starting City still under that Major City's control. You cannot recruit them elsewhere.
The total number of Troops for a Major City is limited (2 for Florence and Rome, 4 for Venice).
When a Major City's Troop is eliminated in a Siege or Battle on the Plains, it becomes available for recruitment again. When you must lose Troops in a Siege or Battle on the Plains involving Allied Troops from a Major City, you choose which Troops to lose.
RETREAT
If your Siege fails, or you are defeated in a Battle on the Plains, you are allowed to withdraw your remaining Troops to a City controlled by a Major City that is Allied with or Favorable toward you.
Troops
You only pay Troop salaries every 4 Rounds (as indicated by a coin on the Round track).
When you pay your Troops' salaries, you must also pay the salaries for the Allied Major Cities' Troops on the board.
Salaries are 1 florin per 2 Troops, rounded up. Unlike the game for 3 – 5 players, a salary is due with even just 1 Troop.
Titles
In a 2-player game:
France can only acquire the title Principality of Milan because France already has the titles Duchy of Milan and Kingdom of France.
Naples can only acquire the titles Duchy of Naples and one Kingdom title because Naples already has the title Principality of Naples.
End of the Game: Prestige and Victory
The game lasts 21 rounds unless France controls Naples at the end of a round, which immediately ends the game.
Prestige Points
- Controlling Cities: 1 Prestige Point for each City you control (including your starting Cities and Cities controlled by an Allied Major City). There is no bonus for controlling more cities than your opponent.
- Cards/Tiles: Certain cards in your Palace and tiles in your Domain grant you the Prestige Points indicated on them, just as in a game for 3 – 5 players.
- Religious Influence: 2 Prestige Points for the player with more Cross symbols. If it's a tie, neither player gets any points for Religious Influence.
- Military Prestige: 1 Prestige Point per Trophy, including Major Cities. Attention: Even if you have several Trophies of the same color, even from a Major City, they all count (unlike in a game for 3 – 5 players).
- Indulgences: −1 Prestige Point per Indulgence card still in your Palace.
Victory
Whoever has more Prestige Points at the end of the 21 rounds is declared the victor of the first "War of Italy". If it's a tie, Naples wins.
Automatic Victory
If France controls Naples at the end of a round, France is immediately declared "King of Naples" and wins the game, regardless of which round it is, or how many Prestige Points you each have.
Special rules for 2 players by Pascal Ribrault and Bernard Philippon © 2021 Super Meeple