Virgin Queen Forum Game

I may have missed something but it looks like only the home cards are in hand.

Make sure you advance the log.

Yeah It slipped my mind to actually treat the log like a log. Oops, all good here.

Ha, makes two of us. And happened to me turn 1 of Here I Stand too

I probably should have posted a save instead of a log, but it is hard to break the habit.

I suppose I should list the eligible royal bachelors and maidens available for marriage this turn. As you all know, when a man and woman get married, they must roll on the royal wedding table. If they are from different great powers, they each add their eligibility bonus to the die roll. If they are from the same power, they just add the highest total. Hapsburgs can never marry Hapsburgs and Valois can never marry other Valois.

If you roll a 12 or higher on 2d6+eligibility bonus, you can get a card marker, +1 VP, +1VP and a +1 Card Marker, or 2VPs. If you wanted to marry Elizabeth and are jilted, you can receive one or 2 +1 card markers, or 2-4 CPs to Spend on diplomatic influence or mercenaries, depending on what you roll on a d6.

Now, on the royals:

First, the eligible ladies:

  1. The true prize of this year’s marriage season is Her Majesty herself, Queen Elizabeth of England. She is eligibility rating 5, but since the English get a VP every turn she remains unmarried (through turn 5), she is unlikely to be married off this turn.
  2. Elisabeth de Valois (French) is eligible-ish, because she is already betrothed to Philip II, King of Spain. If Philip breaks the prearranged marriage, he loses a card. Because Elisabeth is a Valois, she earns France a VP when she marries. She is eligibility 2.
  3. Anna of Saxony rounds out the eligible ladies. While she is only eligibility 1, she does come with a lovely bonus: her Husband’s power gets +1 card next turn.

There are also a glut of eligible male royals:

  1. Philip II, King of Spain is the most eligible at 3 points, but is in a prearranged marriage to Elisabeth de Valois. Can someone get Spain to give up a card next turn for another match?
  2. Don Carlos of Spain is available, at eligibility 2, but he has to reroll the highest marriage result die, thanks to his lousy Hapsburg genes.
  3. Charles II of Austria (Holy Roman Empire) is eligibility 2, but gives -1 card to England to the Protestant on a marriage.
  4. William of Orange (Protestants) is a strong candidate at eligibility 2 with no negative factors. Plus, if his marriage fails to produce VPs, he goes back into the marriage pool at eligibility 2 to try again.
  5. The Earl of Arras (Protestant) is eligibility 1, but when he gets married the Protestant gets to resolve a Preach Sermon action in Scotland.
  6. The Earl of Leicester (England) is in the pool at eligibility 1. If he is unmarried, he remains in the pool so long as Elizabeth remains unmarried. Pining away he is.

To all people waiting for french diplomacy: I’ll read the rules today and answer soon!

I thought this a historical game!

I mean, they are pretty much all Hapsburgs somewhere along the line, but these are the sibling Hapsburgs, rather than the cousin Hapsburgs.

I will note that he is a very handsome boy and his mother is very proud of him <😠>

I should also remind people I have 4 mercenaries that must go.

How are people coming along with diplomacy? Do we need another couple of days?

Let’s wrap up by Tuesday evening and then run through announce deals.

Alright, probably time to start with announcing deals. We do this in impulse order, so @CraigM is first for the Ottomans.

Right. The Ottomans and the HRE have reached an accord for alliance. @Tom_Mc

Spain next I believe @Cuthbert

No deals for me. @Panzeh

Queen Liz is bethrothed to William of Orange. I’m sure that’ll last.

England makes peace with France

On to @Juan_Raigada

France confirms peace with England.

Over to @Tom_Mc

Confirming Alliance with Ottomans.
Announcing marriage of Charles II of Austria and Anna of Saxony.

William of Orange is eagerly planning his wedding to Elizabeth, which he is certain will go off without a hitch.

That concludes the announce deals segment. There are no leaders to ransom, so we move to Declarations of War, starting with the Ottomans. @CraigM