"Brad Johnson" wrote in message news: ... I really like GMT's Thirty Years War -- I've loved the strategy card system since We The People, and I think 30YW adds some very nice concepts without making it feel too complex and fiddly. The look and feel is very compelling to me (whereas Wilderness War, which I'm led to believe is a better design, actually left me cold). My only complaint is, as most others implied in the reviews I was able to find, it seems as if there wasn't nearly enough playtesting focused on game balance and flow. It seems far too easy for the Protestant player to disrupt (and even essentially defeat!) the Catholics as early as turn 1 and 2. I believe the Catholics should have much more of the upper hand in the early game, with the tables only being turned my mid-to-late Intervention, and then swinging over to favor the Protestants in Apocalypse. I've only played twice so far, but both times the Protestants dominated the Catholics to the point that there really was not much reason to carry on into Intervention. I've given a lot of thought to all of the suggestions that I've found on the net, plus some of my own ideas, and I believe I would like to try the following set of house rules the next time I play. Yes, it's quite a bit of change, and yes, it's almost all in favor of the Catholics, but I don't think that just one or two minor tweaks will balance things. I'll admit I have only a small knowledge of the historical setting, so most of these suggestions are solely from the point of view of improving game play, while attempting to not skew things wildly with a huge change in any one area. Opinions and suggestions welcome... Brad/tempus42. 1) Add 1 Veteran unit in Vienna in initial setup. 2) Add 2 Mercenary units in Munich in initial setup. 3) Change (Saxony's) Elector John George's activation rating to 1. 4) Change Mansfeld's activation rating to 3. 5) Treat Wallenstein as a double-star dynamic leader. 6) Subtract 1 from all leader death die rolls. 7) Subtract 2 from all siege die rolls (in addition to any other applicable modifiers). 8) Add 1 to all recruitment die rolls (in addition to any other applicable modifiers) and permit multiple recruitment steps acquired in the same space to be combined if desired (e.g. if one leader gets 3 steps and another leader gets 1 step on the same card play in the same space, that can be taken as 2 full-strength units or 4 reduced units or 1 full-strength and 2 reduced units). 9) Forbid all Protestant recruitment in Bavaria and Austria. 10) Permit Spanish armies to move outside the Spanish Zone, but if the move is to enter any space outside of the Spanish Zone, the Spanish leader's activation rating must be treated as a 3 all purposes during that activation. Also, Spanish units can not stack with any other nationality outside of the Spanish Zone, and the "Spinola Recalled" event can not be played when he is outside of the Spanish Zone. 11) Armies may attempt to intercept (as in Hannibal) by rolling less than or equal to their leader's battle rating + (4 - leader's activation rating). All rules relating to movement of the army (forage requirements, dynamic leader restrictions, Spanish restrictions, leadership requirements, etc.) apply to the intercepting force. 12) Armies may attempt to avoid battle (as in Hannibal) by rolling less than or equal to their leader's battle rating + (4 - leader's activation rating). All rules relating to movement of the army (forage requirements, dynamic leader restrictions, Spanish restrictions, leadership requirements, etc.) apply to the retreating force. Armies may pursue (as in Hannibal) by rolling less than or equal to their leader's battle rating + (4 - leader's activation rating).