Trumps of Kings

by Mike Demana

Introduction

A deck of cards (two in larger games) is used to resolve map movement, diplomacy and affect battles in a campaign set in the time of the War of Austrian Succession. Each player takes on the role of a nation's king, guiding his people through the wars and turmoil of Europe using the resources (cards) dealt to him.

Kindgoms

Each kingdom begins the campaign in control of a certain number of provinces, known as Royal Provinces. All provinces taken over after the start of the campaign are "ordinary" provinces. Both types have an economic value, the sum of which determines a kingdom's resources for each turn. The total Economic Value of all provinces determines the maximum number of cards players may have in their possession at one time, i.e. their "hand limit."

Using Cards

At the beginning of each turn, players will draw cards from the deck equal to their hand limit. These cards are used to move armies, conduct diplomacy, foster unrest in enemy territories, etc. Each suit of cards can be used to conduct a particular type of action, detailed below. However, other players can oppose attempted actions by "trumping" them. This is accomplished by playing a higher value card of the same suit. For example, Prussia decides to invade Saxony using a 9 of Clubs. The Austria can trump it by playing a 10 of clubs or higher, which negates the action. However, the Prussian can "trump the trump" by playing a still higher value of club, which would reinstate the proposed action.

Some kingdoms have special abilities which allow a suit of cards to be used as another type. In this case, the card functions in every respect as the type the player nominates. The different actions allowed for each suit are detailed under Kingdom Special Ablities, below.

Suits

Clubs - Clubs are used to prompt (or trump) invasions of neutral or enemy provinces. When placing a club, the player nominates which of his Royal Armies is invading which neigboring province. If the invasion is successful, the province becomes the "Client" of the invading player.

Hearts - Hearts are used to conduct diplomacy with non-player provinces. With the play of a heart, a province that is currently Neutral moves up to "Ally" status. If the province nominated by the player is already an "Ally," it moves up to "Client" status. A heart played upon a Client brings it into the kingdom as a wholly-owned province.

Spades - Spades have three uses in the game.

1. Play of a spade upon another player's province causes unrest or revolt to break out. A Province, Client or Ally goes down one level in diplomatic status (Province becomes a Client, etc.). Spades have no effect on Royal Provinces (i.e., the ones the kingdom begins the campaign with).

2. Spades can also be used to initiate Naval movement. This allows an army to move from any province bordering a sea zone to another that borders the same zone. Players may attempt to link up more than one spade by immediately playing another one if the first is untrumped. This extends the range of the army to another sea zone bordering the first. Successful play of a third spade extends the range out to a third sea zone, etc. If a second or subsequent zone is trumped, though, the player is given a choice of cancelling the action altogether (the cards are still expended, though), or picking a province to land in any of the untrumped sea zones.

3. The final way in which spades can be played is during the Tactical Phase (when miniature battles are fought out). Play of spades here can NOT be trumped. Only one spade may be played per side (by the player for his own army, or on behalf of a non-player whose army he is controlling for the battle resolution). With it, one piece of terrain may be moved to another spot on the board or removed altogether (see Resolving Battles), immediately prior to the armies deploying.

Diamonds - Diamonds are used to increase the size of armies for tabletop battles. After an invasion has been established with the play of an untrumped club, a player may place a diamond upon the invading or defending army as a subsequent action. This increases the size of the army by three elements. A player may use diamonds only on his own armies or upon NON-PLAYER armies. For example, if both Russia and Austria are players, the Russian player may not use a diamond to increase the Austrian army's size if it is invaded by a third player.

Any Suit - Any card of any suit may be played to move a kingdom's army from one of its Provinces to another Province or Client areas. Note, this is different from needing a Club to move to attack another player or Neutral non-player province. Areas which are at Ally diplomatic level may NOT be moved into (but do not have to be vacated, either, if the army begins the turn in them).

All Suits - The Age of Reason was also an age of advances in the military, scientific, economic, social and cultural fields. Players may expend cards to attempt to finance a Discovery by his kingdom's learned men. One card of each suit is required, but they may be played over a number of turns. A record will be kept of cards played until all four suits have been successfully played. Once this has been done, the player rolls on the Discovery Chart and obtains the listed temporary or permanent benefit.

Kingdom Special Abilities

During the War of Austrian Succession, the competing kingdoms each had certain inherent strengths, which often dictated their course of action. These special abilities take the form of allowing one suit of cards to be used as a different one, as detailed below.

Austria (Wealth: The Hapsburg possessions were extensive, and the vast amount of men and material it controlled allowed it to recover time and again from serious blows to its fortunes). The Austrian player may use ANY suit as a diamond, once per turn.

Bavaria (Intrigue: The Bavarian kingdom used its extensive diplomatic contacts to frustrate Austrian attempts to secure the imperial crown for Maria Theresa). The Bavarian player may substitue ANY card as a spade for unrest, once per turn.

England (Naval Power: England's powerful fleets enabled it to effectively control the seas). The English player may use an unlimited amount of clubs as a spades, for naval movement only.

France (Diplomacy: The French king was still looked to as the diplomatic leader in Europe at the time of the War of Austrian Succession). The French player may substitute ANY card as a heart once per turn.

Prussia (Military Prowess: Frederick the Great was able to seize the initiative with timely and efficient invasions time and again during the war). The Prussian player may substitute an unrestricted number of Hearts as Clubs each turn.

Russia (Manpower: The huge reserves of manpower often enabled the Russians to outnumber their battlefield opponents). The Russian player may substitute spades for diamonds an unlimited number of times per turn, but only to increase an army's size.

Spain (Overseas Wealth: Spain's gold-rich colonies kept its Treasury full during the time period). The Spanish player may substitute any card as a diamond to increase its Treasury, once per turn.

Sweden (Control of the Baltic: Sweden's fleets, although not as numerous as England's, enabled it to control the Baltic Sea). The Swedish player does not have to expend a spade for movement across the Baltic Sea zone -- treating it as land movement (requiring any suit if moving into a Province it controls or a Client, or a Club if invading.

Turkey (Manpower: Turkey's massive feudal levies enabled it to oppose invasions with huge armies). The Turkish player may use an unlimited number of any cards as diamonds to increase army size, but only when defending.

Sequence of Play

Each turn, an Order of Play is established. This is done in a rotating manner as prescribed in the Setup Rules. Thus, each kingdom will take turns "going first." Play proceeds in the following steps:

1. In this turn's order of play, each kingdom draws cards from the deck sufficient to bring their total up to their Hand Limit (dictated by the Economic value of its provinces).

2. The kingdom designated as first plays a single card, describing the action he would like to take with it (i.e., invade a named province, exercise diplomacy, foment unrest). Then, the player next in this turn's order of play is given a chance to trump the action. If he declines, the next in order is given a chance, and so on, until it circles back around to the player whose turn it is. If no one attempted to trump it, then the action was successful.

3. If one of the others attempts to trump the action, the player may "trump the trump," and so on, each playing a higher value card of the appropriate suit until the action is resolved. Also, once any player attempts to trump the action, NO OTHER PLAYERS may intervene. It is a closed struggle, at this point.

4. When it is a kingdom's turn to nominate an action, it may "Pass." Play then proceeds to the next in this turn's order. However, after two passes, that kingdom forfeits its chance to nominate any actions for that turn. It is free to continue to try to trump other's actions, though.

5. Once all players have passed twice or run out of cards, the strategic portion of the turn is over, and the tactical phase is begun. This is simply when the resultant miniature battles are fought out.

6. One additional restriction upon actions is that once an area has been invaded, no other invasions may be played upon it that turn. This is to improve the flow of the game, allowing the strategic phase to be completed prior to miniature battles being fought.

7. Also, as dictated in Economics below, players are free to purchase a card with gold sovereigns. This may be done at any point when it is the player's turn for an action, either prior to or following proposal of an action. This purchase may not take the hand above its limit, though.

Garrison Armies

For purposes of the game, every province is assumed to have at least a garrison army. These garrison armies do not move and must remain in the province at all times. If ownership of a province switches hands, the old garrison army is considered to either have switched allegiance or a new one having been installed.

All garrison armies are composed of 12 elements. This may be augmented by the play of diamond cards -- for each untrumped diamond played, the army increases in size by 3 elements. The maximum army size is 24 elements. Losses are not tracked for Garrison armies. It is assumed levies are drafted to make up for losses suffered in previous turns.

Royal Armies

In addition, each kingdom will possess a limited number of Royal Armies. These armies are free to relocate, having a movement rate of one area per card expended (Clubs being needed to invade another area, any suit can be used for simply relocating from one Province or Client area to another). Royal armies are the only ones that may conduct invasions of other provinces.

Players must also come up with a name for the commander of each of their Royal Armies. All commanders start out at Skill Level 1. This skill level will increase with battlefield victories, using the following simple system: A Skill Level 1 general goes up to Level 2 with one victory. A skill level 2 general goes to three with two additional battlefield victories. A skill level 3 general increases his level with three additional victories, and so on.

All Royal armies begin the campaign at 15 elements. However, they can suffer attrition in battle, so their current size may be less. Players can replace losses by expending gold sovereigns (see Economics below), or if the army is scheduled to fight a battle, by playing Diamonds. Each untrumped Diamond increases its size by 3 elements up to a maximum of 24.

Similarly, Royal Armies suffer attrition in 3 element steps. An army that wins an ordinary (not Major) victory loses one step. This will be marked on the campaign map with an asterik. An army that suffers a minor defeat loses two steps, while one that suffers a major defeat drops three steps. Thus, if a Royal army begins at 15 elements, and wins a non-Major victory, it drops to the 12 elements for future encounters. These losses are permanent until they are replaced by expenditure of gold sovereigns or play of diamond cards.

If a Royal Army has accumulated more than one asterik (dropped below 12) it may not conduct battle or invade other areas. If attached, and no diamonds are played upon it nor sovereigns spent, it MUST retreat.

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