From: snewman@mail.csksoftware.com Subject: Optional Rules Submission (HRE) Dear Grognards, Please find below some optional rules for 3W's superb game "Holy Roman Empire" (Wargamer #33). I must stress that these rules are untested. However, having played the game a fair few times, as well as having studied the war a reasonable amount, I hope to at least offer players a few new spins on an old classic. Thanks very much for maintaining an excellent site. (My Monday mornings in the office wouldn't be the same without checking the weekly update!). By the way, I'm sure about a thousand people have already said it but the Grognards Challenge is 'The Kaiser's Battle' - S&T #83. Anyway, keep up the good work, Regards, Stewart Newman. HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE OPTIONAL RULES 1) IMPERIAL DECREES The '+Ban on Foreign Troops', and the '+Truce', should be deleted from the game as they are completely ahistorical. The Emperors at the time had no way of enforcing such decrees. Two new decrees should be added : i ) Transfer of Electoral Status : if an appropriate vote is won in an Imperial Diet the Emperor may remove the electoral status of any one state under his control (or the control of one of his allies) and transfer it to any other state under his control (or the control of an ally), providing that the new electoral state has either a tax value of 3 or greater, or is an archbisopric. (This happened after the Imperial / Bavarian conquest of Bohemia : the electoral status was transferred to Bavaria). ii ) King of the Romans : if a vote is won in a Diet, the Emperor gains the title of King of the Romans for his son and heir and possibly 5 VP,s - see below. (The title +King of the Romans, was traditionally given to the Emperor's preferred successor to the Imperial throne. Obtaining it for his son meant that the Emperor was assured of the throne staying within his own family). 2) FRENCH RESTRICTION Instead of being restricted as described in the game rules, France should have only the following restriction : the income for the '+France' state card should vary according to the following system - 20 crowns if more than 20 strength points of troops in France 15 crowns if between 15 and 20 strength points of troops in France 10 crowns if less than 15 strength points of troops in France (All above troop strengths exclude leaders, fleets and control markers and only apply to troops actually controlled by France). The new restriction applies until the end of turn 6, after which time France receives its normal revenue. (The rule represents resources diverted to internal religious wars between Catholics and Huguenots). 3) RETREATS If an army retreats into an adjacent friendly province at the approach of an enemy army, the retreaters do not suffer a round of '+hits' from the attacker, but they do undergo an attrition roll after each such retreat (usual attrition modifiers apply). 4) PEACE TREATIES These are similar to alliances in that they may be concluded between players and, for their duration, prevent the players concerned from attacking each other in any way (militarily, diplomatically or economically). The difference is that the countries involved are not allied and do not have the usual benefits/restrictions associated with alliances. The other main difference is that peace treaties with one player do not prohibit alliances/peace treaties with another. (In the game, if Player A is allied to Player B and wishes to ally also to player C, Player B must give his consent and a three-way alliance must be formed). With peace treaties, Player A may be allied to Player B and conduct a peace treaty with Player C without Player B's permission. To conduct a peace treaty, the players involved must have fought at least one battle. Exception : Spain and the Palatinate may conduct a peace treaty without ever having fought each other. (This is because of the peace treaty in effect between Spain and the United Provinces at the start of the game). 5) CHOOSING YOUR GROUND Before a tactical battle (i.e. one using the battle-board) the decision on which side of the board to place troops should be made according to the following table : Roll one die : 1 to 4 defender chooses 5 to 6 attacker chooses (the best leader - in terms of '++' bonuses - modifies the die roll in favour of his side by one for every '++' he has; if both sides have equally good leaders, no modifier). (The second player to place must still set up opposite the first). 6) CHANGES TO BONUS POINTS i) Spain receives/loses a varying number of VP's based on the number of Austrian VP's at the end of the game. (This reflects the fact that Austria and Spain were ruled by two branches of the Habsburg royal family and thus had closely-linked dynastic ambitions) : Austrian final VP total = less than 10 : Spain -5 VP's Austrian final VP total = 11 to 20 : Spain 0 VP's Austrian final VP total = 21 or more : Spain +5 VP's This rule replaces that penalising Spain if Austria is not Emperor at the end of the game. ii) Whoever is Emperor at the end of the game gains a bonus of 5VP's if they have won a vote on the King of the Romans.