Subject: Re: 1630 something variant
From: Allan Bell <abell@apple.com.au>

Hi Alan,

You might like to put this up on grognard.com

Allan
----
>Allan,
>   here is the variant as we played it.
>
>1630 something - rules variant.
>===============================
>
>All rules are as stated in the official rules unless otherwise stated.
>
>Sequence of play
>================
>
>This sequence of play clarifies how the whole thing hangs together with 
>the new rules.
>
>Game Set-Up
>   1 Draw VP Counters - number determined by number of players. See table 
>1 below.
>   2 Deal initial hand - number of cards equal to maximum cards held on 
>turn 1. See table 1 below.
>   3 Each player chooses up to 3 influence cards to begin the game with 
>"in play" and places them face down in front of him. When everyone is 
>ready then turn the influence cards over and place them in ascendant 
>position.
>   4 Roll dice to choose 1st player for 1st turn.
>
>Player Turn
>   1 Remove 1 descendant influence (if any) to player's market place (not 
>discard).
>   2 Draw cards - number determined by number of players. See table 1 
>below.
>   3 Play up to 2 special cards. The cards played are placed in the 
>discard pile. Any other cards lost as a consequence are placed in their 
>respective marketplaces.
>   4 Mandatory vote.
>   5 The player places all excess cards plus one more into his market 
>place (NB if the player has less than the maximum, and hence no excess, 
>the "one more" is still placed in his market place). The maximum number 
>of cards that can be retained depends on the game turn and the number of 
>players. See table 1 below.
>
>End of Full Round (All players starting from 1st player have had 1 turn)
>   1 Add up victory points and adjust totals
>   2 Check for end of game
>   3 Market place rounds ( Details below)
>      Round 1: Exchanges
>      Round 2: Pickup
>      All cards remaining in markets are discarded.
>   4 Remove all leaders and unrest markers from the board. Pass the 1st 
>player marker ANTI-CLOCKWISE.
>
>NB The origional trading rules are not used.
>
>Table 1
>=======
>
>Number of Players >  3    4    5    6
>Max cards held
>Turn:
> 1 to 4             13   10    8    6  < also cards dealt at set-up
> 5 to 7             10    8    6    5
> 8 to 10             6    6    4    4
>
>Cards drawn          6    5    4    3
>VP counters each     6    4    4    3
>
>Rules changes and clarification:
>================================
>
>Maximum army size for any country         3
>Maximum military ability for any country  3
>
>Influence
>=========
>Maximum influence cards a player may have in play for any one country is 
>3. When playing influence cards during a vote a player may replace a 
>current influence card with one from his hand. The replaced card is 
>placed in the players marketplace. This may not be done if the players 
>influence in that country is in descent. The maximum influence a player 
>can have in a country is thus 9 (3 cards each of 3 influence).
>
>Market Place
>============
>
>Other than the two special cards played in step 3 of the player turn, all 
>cards lost by a player are placed in his market, a stack of cards 
>retained until the market rounds in step 3 of the end of round actions.
>
>To begin the market rounds each player places all the cards from their 
>markets face up in front of them, so that all the cards can be clearly 
>seen.
>
>Round 1: Exchange
>
>Starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise each player may 
>exchange one card in their hand for one card in any market other than 
>their own. The card from the market goes into the players hand and the 
>card from the hand is now part of the market from which the market card 
>came.
>
>Round 2: Pickup
>
>Starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise each player may 
>pick up one card. The card may come from any market including the 
>player's own.
>
>Finaly, any cards remaining in the market place are removed to the 
>discard pile.
>
>Comments:
>=========
>
>I based the numbers in table 1 on a fairly thorough analysis of the 
>number and kind of cards in the deck and the dynamics of the number of 
>players. The aim is to force players to make hard choices about their 
>cards, when to use them, when to exchange etc. The assassin and unrest 
>cards are harder to hold on to, a little more agressive, and tend to come 
>in to play more and more often toward the end game.
>
>The number of VP counters possessed also varies with the number of 
>players to keep things tight and allow maximum flexibility for trying to 
>hide your true concerns in the early game.
>
>I believe it would be possible to bring Italy back into the game without 
>reducing the total number of cards in the deck, by changing some of the 
>other cards to Italian Influence cards. I have also done some thinking 
>and tinkering with some special rules changes for the German States but 
>have not had a chance to play test them. The aim is to make the German 
>States a pivotal battleground which everyone has a stake in defending or 
>plundering at various times.
>
>Danny Stevens: Sydney - 15/2/98

----------------
Allan Bell
Marketing Manager - Software
Apple Asia/Pacific