Westphalia Rules Summary
Introduction
Westphalia is played in alternating diplomacy and military phases, with 7 total phases (4 diplomacy and 3 military). During the Diplomacy Phase, the players may negotiate and several events happen, which will be discussed in more detail below. During the military phase, players activate and move their armies, potentially making territorial claims or fighting battles. There is no negotiation during the military phase.
After the players have completed the fourth and final diplomacy phase, there is a Debt Resolution Phase where the players are able to eliminate debts through commerce, taxes, units, prestige, and the position of the tolerance and privileges track.
After the Debt Resolution Phase, the players determine whether they have met their victory conditions. Any player who has met their victory conditions shares in a win, except where all six players have met their victory conditions. In that case, it goes to a final scoring phase, and one winner is declared.
On Negotiations
Westphalia allows for a variety of things to be used as bargaining chips in negotiations during the diplomacy phase. The things you can trade include:
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Territory: The map is made up of Areas. Within each area is one, two, or three round spaces, called Territory. A player can have a claim to territory, represented by a disc of their color. Any territory without a player disc is Austrian Territory. Players may trade claims to territory they control. Note: territory in the Netherlands may only be held by Spain, France, or The Dutch Republic. Territory in the Holy Roman Empire may only be held by Austria, Bavaria, France, and Sweden.
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Units: These are your soldiers (and ships, for the Dutch). Each Army can have up to 8 units. Excess units are discarded at the end of the diplomacy phase.
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Debt: You generally do not want debt, but may want to take it on to complete a deal for something else you value.
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Prestige: Prestige function as a type of credit score, determine how much extra debt you accrue each turn as a result of the interest on your already existing debts. Prestige also reduces debt in the Debt Resolution Phase. Prestige is brought into the game by Spain, in the form of gold from the colonies, and can be won or lost in battles.
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Commerce Cards: These are Trade Agreements brought into the game by the Dutch. If a player accepts a trade agreement from the Dutch, it will reduce their debt by the amount printed on the card during the Debt Resolution Phase. The Dutch also get to reduce their debt during the Debt Resolution Phase, equal to the lowest numbered commerce card held by each player.
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Turn Order: You can swap turn order for the military phase.
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Promises: You can make a binding, short-term (through the end of the next military phase) promise to do or not do something. This also includes Peace between the Spanish and Dutch, or a single-turn Truce between any two other hostile powers.
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Adjusting Tolerance & Liberties Tracks: Austria may agree with one of the minor powers listed on the Tolerance Track (Dutch Republic, Sweden) or Liberties Track (Bavaria, Sweden) to raise or lower the track by any amount.
Reminder: You can’t negotiate during the military phase.
Diplomacy Phase
The Diplomacy Phase has a number of steps. Under the rules, negotiation can take place at any time during the Diplomacy Phase. To make things easier for running this on a Forum, I believe we should pause for negotiation at the beginning of the phase, run through the steps below, and then pause again at the end of the phase. While the steps are moving on, players may negotiate, but the game will continue moving while players negotiate.
(Pause for negotiation at the beginning of the phase)
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Initiative Determination: We randomly determine turn order.
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Arrears: We all get more debt according to our current debt and prestige. (There is a table with the map).
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Recruitment: We get new units according to the recruitment level on our Power Card. The Dutch can put up to six units as ships in the Dutch Sea Box.
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Italy: We roll two dice, rerolling doubles. Spain and France lose units or take on debt equal to the lower of the two dice. This reflects Spain and France fighting over Italy, off-map.
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Gold: Spain tries to bring in gold, equaling 1 prestige, from the New World. Automatic if at peace with the Dutch. If at war with the Dutch, Spain rolls a die. If the die is greater than the number of Dutch ships, Spain gets 1 prestige. If it is less than the number of Dutch ships, Spain gets 2 debt.
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Commerce: The Dutch try to draw new Commerce Cards. They roll a die, and gain Commerce Cards if they roll less than or equal to the number of Dutch Ships. If at war with Spain, they draw once commerce card if successful. If they have made peace with Spain, they draw two if successful. The Dutch then remove half of their ships, rounding up.
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Unrest: Sweden and France jointly decide whether they want to flip zero, one, or two Unrest Cards. Each card flipped will result in the immediate removal of one Unit for both players. If they cannot agree, zero cards are flipped. When a card if flipped, Sweden and France must decide if one of them wants to take on the additional debt indicated on the card in exchange for advancing the indicated track (Toleration or Liberties) one step. If both decline to take the debt, Austria may elect to take the debt and reduce the indicated track by one step.
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Final Step: Players assign up to eight units to each of their armies. Any armies in excess of eight that are not traded to another player are discarded back to the supply. The Final Step ends when each player confirms that they have nothing further to trade or discuss, at which point things move into the next Phase on the Phase Track.
Military Phase
- Overview
Each player may activate their army, in initiative order. France has the opportunity to activate both of its armies (in the Netherlands and the Empire).
Each activated army may move from one area in their theater to an adjacent area, as many times as they like, until the army ends it s turn voluntarily or until it participates in (or refuses) battle.
When an army enters or occupies an area containing an enemy Claim, they may (but are not required to) attempt to replace one those Claims with their own. When they announce their intention to do so, any hostile power may Intercept (described below). If no power Intercepts, the player removes one of their units to the supply and removes the enemy claim, replacing it with their own. Armies may not replace a claim if it will bring the army to zero units.
A player’s home area is represented by a large shield of their color on the map. No hostile power may ever enter a player’s home area.
If an army enters into an area with an enemy army, it must attack the enemy army.
- Interception
If the acting player’s army announces an intention to replace a claim, a hostile non-acting player in that theater may Intercept if they choose, provided they can create a chain of Friendly Areas (areas in which they or an ally have at least one claim) to the enemy army. If multiple hostile powers want to intercept, the power whose claim is being replaced is given priority.
- Battle
Each battle has an attacker and a defender. In the event of an interception, the active player army is the defender, and the intercepting army is the attacker.
Before resolving the battle, the defender may choose to avoid battle, moving their army into an adjacent friendly area. No battle is resolved, and the acting player’s turn ends. If the acting player was the attacker, they may replace an enemy claim in the area, removing one of their units to the supply.
If the defender cannot or does not refuse battle, the battle is resolved. The defender’s strength is two times the number of units in their army. The attacker’s strength is the number of units in their army, plus a roll of 2d6. The higher strength wins. BUT, if the attacker roles doubles, the defender wins automatically.
Each Army loses units equal to the lower or the two dice (unless doubles are rolled, then only the attack loses units equal to one die). The losing player returns a prestige to the supply (if they have one) and the winning player takes a prestige from the supply (if one is available). If a Protestant Power (Sweden or The Dutch Republic) win a battle, Tolerance is increased by one. If the active player is the attacker and wins a battle, they may replace a claim by returning a unit to the supply.
The losing player must retreat to a friendly area not occupied by the enemy, using a path of adjacent friendly areas. If no friendly areas are available, a player may retreat through a non-friendly area, but they lose one unit for each such area they retreat through.
- Recatholicization
If Bavaria begins its military turn in sole possession of a Protestant Area (all claims are Bavarian), place a Recatholicization marker in the area. The area is now permanently considered a Catholic area. Reduce the Tolerance Track by one space (but never below zero).
Debt Resolution Phase
After the fourth Diplomacy Phase, the game ends. Debt is resolved, and then victory is adjudicated. The following steps take place in the Debt Resolution Phase:
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Fluctuation: Austria rolls two dice. Each player accrues debt equal to the lower of the two die results. No debt is accrued if Austria rolls doubles.
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Commerce: Each player besides the Dutch Republic reduces their debt by the amount of any commerce cards in their possession. The Dutch Republic reduces their debt by the sum of the lowest numbered commerce card possessed by each other player. This sum is called the Dutch Republic’s Trade Agreements (and is part of their Victory Condition).
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Taxes (Holy Roman Empire):
A. Sweden and Bavaria reduce their debt by the number of territories they control with their religious affiliation in the Empire. They reduce debt by an additional one for each multi-territory area in which they control all territories.
B. Austria reduces its debt by the number of areas (not territories) in the Empire that do not possess any Swedish, French, or Bavarian Claims.
C. France reduces its debts by the number of areas (not territories) in the Empire that do pleases Swedish, French, or Bavarian claims.
- Taxes (Netherlands):
A. The Dutch Republic reduces their Debt by the number of points of territory they personally possess.
B. Spain and France compare their holdings to see which side has more claim markers placed in the Netherlands (France counts Dutch claims as French for this purpose). The side which has more reduces their debt by 5. The other side gets nothing. Ties go to the French.
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Units/Ships: Each player reduces their Debt by half of their remaining units (including ships), rounding up.
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Rights and Prestige:
A. All players reduce their debt by the amount of prestige they possess.
B. Sweden reduces its debt by the sum of the Tolerance and Liberties Tracks.
C. The Dutch Republic reduces its debt by the current position of the Tolerance Track.
D. Bavaria reduces its debt by the current position of the Liberties Track plus the number of Recatholicized areas on the map.
Victory and Final Scoring
All players who achieve their victory conditions—printed on the cards and discussed in the upcoming faction overviews—win the game, unless all six players meet their victory condition.
If all six players meet their victory condition, final score is determined as follows:
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Catholic Powers: Score 1 VP for each Catholic area in the Empire, and lose VP equal to the position of the Tolerance track plus the number of areas containing Swedish or Dutch claim markers.
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Protestant Powersq: Score VP equal to the current position of the Tolerance Track.
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Major Powers (France & Austria): Score 1 VP for each unrest card remaining in the deck.
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Minor Powers (Not France or Austria): Score VP equal to the position of the liberties Track.
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HRE Powers: Score VP equal to the amount indicated on Austria’s Goal Card.
The player with the highest score wins, with ties broken in favor of the first player on the turn track.
