KINGMAKER VARIANTS
from THE GENERAL, 14, #4. pp 15-16.

NEW EVENT CARDS

     Across the table sits the last remaining varlet between you and the throne of England. That is, between your Royal heir and the throne of England. You, of course, will serve in an advisory capacity only. Little does this scurrilous cad know, but two months earlier you made a secret compact with Percy (i. e., you drew his noble card from the Crown deck a couple of turns ago) to aid in the cause of your claimant (i. e., you are about to play the card) in order to crush his faction (i. e., with Percy you've got a 4 to 1 majority) and triumphantly enter London. But wait! You have analyzed your plans to the last detail. Nothing can go wrong. So why is this pheasant (English turkey) smirking and laughing in your face? You just drew a "Treachery" card from the Event deck and have lost Percy to the Crown deck. A "Treachery" card? Where did that come from?
     Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Are you tired of seeing the same old plagues? Does watching your best noble answer the same Raid and Revolt (don 't those peasants ever take time out for a meal) provoke a strong desire to do some raiding and revolting of your own on the Event deck. Well, your troubles are over. Now available for the first time is an alternative. Try stuffing the Event deck with some new surprises.
     Presented herein are new Event cards that you can add to the Event deck to rejuvenate your KINGMAKER game. We suggest, however, that you warn your opponents of these additions before starting play or you may just find a sudden escalation of the war to a more modern setting.
     The new Event cards are shuffled into the Event deck and utilized like the others. The number and type of each new Event card to be used is up to you, A recommended number of each type has been included in the description, although it is not a mandatory figure.

1. Treachery card
     The player who draws this card must return one, two or three Crown cards held in his hand (i.e., unplayed cards in hand) to the Crown deck. These cards are chosen while face down by the player on the left and are not revealed to anyone. If the player holds less than the number to be removed, the excess is ignored.
     There are three types of "Treachery" cards; one listing one Crown card to be removed, one listing two Crown cards to be removed, and one listing three Crown cards to be removed. One or two cards of your choice should be shuffled into the Event deck at the start of play.

2. Gales at Sea card
     When this card is drawn, all ships currently at sea are sunk, and all nobles and Royal heirs aboard are lost. The ship cards of the sunk ships are returned to the Crown deck and their ships removed from the board. These ships can return to play when their cards are redrawn.
     The ships of the Warden and Admiral are removed, but the office cards still remain in play. The ships of these offices can be returned in either of the two situations:
     A. The office is awarded or transferred to a new faction.
     B. A vote in Parliament is taken at the request of any faction in attendance to resurrect one or more of the ships. A majority of the votes cast in the House of Commons permits the ship or ships to be returned to the port of origin under the control of the proper office.
     All nobles aboard a sunk ship and their awards are returned to the Crown deck or the Chancery and the Royal heirs are removed from play. It is suggested that only one or two of these cards be placed in the Event deck.

3. Refuge card
     Option A: Rather than allow a noble and Royal heir in the Advanced game unlimited stay in Ireland and the Continent, permit only the Lieutenant of Ireland unlimited stay in Ireland. Any noble or nobles and any accompanying Royal heirs may stay in Ireland, the Continent or Scotland only if they play a "Refuge" card. On the "Refuge" card is listed the number of turns that a noble(s) and Royal heir(s) may stay in refuge. Once the time of refuge has expired, the nobles and Royal heirs must either leave or be lost. Nobles and their awards are returned to the Crown deck or Chancery and Royal heirs are removed from play.
     When drawn, a "Refuge" card is retained in the Same manner as a "Free Move" card. It can be traded. It is played just like a "Free Move" card during the movement portion of the player's turn. Any number of nobles and Royal heirs in a faction may take advantage of the refuge as long as they move to the same location (i.e., Scotland, Ireland or the Continent) in the same turn that the "Refuge" card is played. Additional nobles and Royal heirs cannot take advantage of the refuge after the turn that the card is played or if in another location. Only one group may be in refuge in one place at one time. Combat cannot occur on the Continent or in Scotland. It may occur in Ireland.
     There are three types of "Refuge" cards available; one for three turns, one for five turns and one for seven turns. Any number of each may be placed in the Event deck at the players' discretion. The number of turns of refuge should be kept secret and only revealed on the turn that the noble(s) and Royal heir(s) must leave. A finger or thumb over the number is sufficient to hide this information. When the time of refuge is up or when all of the nobles prematurely leave the refuge, the card is returned to the discard pile. Nobles in refuge cannot be summoned to Parliament although they may go voluntarily. Scotland is considered a port in the same manner as the Continent and Ireland. Once a noble leaves refuge, he cannot return until another "Refuge" card is played.
     Option B: Include the islands of Anglesey (Beaumaris), Wight (Carisbrooke), Man (Douglas) and the Calais square as places which can only be occupied with a "Refuge" card. Exceptions would include unlimited refuge without use of a "Refuge" card for Stanley in Man, for the Captain of Calais in the Calais square, for the Treasurer of England in Anglesey and the noble awarded Carisbrooke for Wight. Any other noble to enter one of these island squares would need a "Refuge" card.
     Nobles can enter one of the refuge locations without a "Refuge" card in order to besiege the town or castle in the square, to attack a force in the square (not allowed in Scotland or the Continent) or to capture a Royal heir. They must leave the turn after the siege, battle or capture has been concluded. A faction which has successfully besieged a refuge port, either Calais, Beaumaris, Douglas or Carisbrooke has free refuge there up to the capacity of that port (e.g., 200 troops for Carisbrooke, 100 troops for Douglas, etc.) as long as they retain control of the port. A ship cannot involuntarily enter a refuge port due to storms at sea unless it is the only "closest" port, nor can a ship voluntarily enter a refuge port unless it has enough strength to successfully besiege it.
     If a refuge contains a port and a force in the open, the port must be successfully besieged before the force in the open can be attacked.
     Permit nobles the ability to cross from the mainland into Anglesey (Beaumaris) if they start their turn adjacent to that square (in the Caernarvon square). Nobles can cross back from Anglesey to Caernarvon in the same way.

4. Vacillating Allegiance card
     Option A: Any number of these cards may be placed in the Event deck. The drawer of this card during the Event Phase immediately loses the use of one noble for one turn. The noble affected cannot attack or move in that turn. The noble affected must be determined randomly. Players may devise any system to choose the noble. A suggested method would be to take all of the noble cards of the player and mix them up. Have another player choose one of the face down cards to determine the vacillating noble. The noble cards are then returned to their awards.
     Another system that could be used if there are 6 or less nobles in the faction would be to assign a number from 1 to 6 to each noble and roll a die.
     An affected noble aboard a ship prevents the movement of the ship for that turn (ship is becalmed).
     If the card is drawn while determining the result of combat, one of the nobles of the weaker of the two forces involved in the combat must either return home before the battle or siege or immediately switch allegiance to the opposing faction. After the noble is randomly determined, the odds are readjusted and a die is rolled utilizing the table below. A noble who is to return home must immediately be placed on one of his home castle(s), if friendly, or the closest friendly town, city or castle if unfriendly. A noble who switches allegiance is given to the opposing faction with all of his awards. The noble now operates with and is part of the opposing faction.

ATTACK ODDS
Majority 5-4 3-2 2-1 3-1 4-1
Return Home 1-6 1-5 1-4 1-3 1-2 1
Switch Allegiance ---- 6 5-6 4-6 3-6 2-6

Combat must continue and after the disposition of the vacillating noble is determined, a new Event card is drawn to determine combat. A noble who switches allegiance may be added into its new faction's strength for the combat.
     A "Vacillating Allegiance" card is ignored if the affected faction has only one noble in play during the Event phase or one noble in combat during the Combat phase.
     Option B: Rather than allow only the stronger force the benefit of "Vacillating Allegiance" in combat (Also recalling that Henry VII with a weaker force defeated Richard III at Bosworth Field because both Stanley and Percy vacillated), roll one die and consult the Allegiance Table to determine which force is affected by the "Vacillating Allegiance" card.

ALLEGIANCE TABLE
Die Roll Affected Force
1-4 Weaker Force
5-6 Stronger Force

If the Stronger Force is affected use the following table to determine the disposition of the affected noble.

ATTACK ODDS
4-1 3-1 2-1 3-2 5-4 Majority
Return Home 1-6 1-5 1-4 1-3 1-2 1
Switch Allegiance --- 6 5-6 4-6 3-6 2-6

If both sides are exactly equal in strength, treat the "Vacillating Allegiance" card as a "Bad Weather Delays Attack" result. Another Event card is not drawn.

5. Catastrophe card
     When drawn, this card affects all nobles in play and any who are subsequently put into play during the period of its influence. While this card is in effect, all strength given to a noble by office, bishopric or title is temporarily lost and not counted for strength. When the period of its effect is over, the "Catastrophe" card is returned to the Event deck and the nobles immediately regain their full troop strength. All garrisons (town, city and castle) are not affected .
     Titled nobles (e. g., Percy, Mowbay, Neville, etc.) do not lose any strength due to their title. Only strengths awarded by a title card are lost.
     There are three types of "Catastrophe" cards; one for one round duration, one for two rounds duration and one for three rounds duration. The round begins on the turn of the draw. If a "Catastrophe" card is drawn while another is in effect, the card must still take effect on the turn of its draw. There is no additional penalty if two or more "Catastrophe" cards are concurrently in play. It is suggested that one or two cards of the players' choice should be placed in the Event deck.
     The reasoning behind the inclusion of this type of card is based on the overriding effect of uncontrollable events on the course of history, especially during medieval and early renaissance periods. Any type of catastrophe, natural or otherwise, could reduce a noble's power to the bare minimum of his own personal entourage. These cards represent catastrophes and events of such an overriding nature to preclude the effective maintenance of large field armies by the nobles. Of course, as soon as the catastrophe or event passed, the war resumed at full strength.

6. Royal Death card
     The player who draws this card rolls two dice and consults the table below to determine the natural or accidental death of one Royal heir. If the Royal heir chosen has already been removed from play, do not roll again. It is recommended that only one card be placed in the Event deck and, once drawn during an Event Phase, removed from play.

Dice Roll Basic Game Advanced Game
2. George of Clarence Edmund of Rutland
3. Richard of Gloucester Richard of Gloucester
4. Richard of Gloucester Edmund of Rutland
5. George of Clarence Margaret of Anjou
6. Edward of ClarenceRichard of York
7. Henry VIHenry VI
8. Margaret of AnjouEdward of March
9. Edward of MarchGeorge of Clarence
10. Richard of YorkEdward of Lancaster
11. Richard of YorkRichard of Gloucester
12. Edward of MarchEdward of Lancaster

NEW OPTIONAL RULES
     1. Let the ownership of a town card provide 20 additional men. Bristol would give 30 men. Castles would not have any troop bonus. These men are useful only in attack. They have no defense value. From this, it can be seen that even the most insignificant noble can appear strong. This encourages exciting contests because even if an attack fails or is delayed due to bad weather, a counterattack will almost certainly succeed due to the low defense of the assemblage. The levies are not taken into consideration when calculating ship capacities. The town forces, therefore, cannot be used on an island, in Calais, the Continent, Ireland or Scotland (see Optional Event cards article above). This troop bonus is only associated with towns named on town cards. Town cards gained by capture must be awarded to one noble involved in the siege when utilizing this rule. It might be advisable to mark in the troop bonus on the town cards.
     2. Each time an Embassy card is drawn, the entire deck of Crown cards are reshuffled (adding the Discard Pile). This does away with the predictability. You may also wish to reshuffle the crown deck after every Parliament.
     3. Allow a player whose faction successfully defeats a force of at least 100 strength points by battle or siege to take the defeated player's next draw from the Crown deck when it occurs. This reflects the increase in power of the victorious faction and loss of power of the defeated faction. It also is an additional incentive to attack.
     A future draw from the Crown deck can also be an incentive in Ransom. Allow the defeated player to trade one or more of his future draws from the Crown deck as a bargain for Ransom. If it is agreed upon, the capturing nobles may hold on to the ransomed noble or Royal heir until his ransom is fulfilled (i.e., the Crown cards drawn) and then, he must be freed. If the ransomed noble is recaptured in a subsequent battle before all of the ransom is paid, the ransom can be ignored (the defeated player, as an act of good faith and friendship, can still go through with the bargain). If the noble is not executed on the turn of capture, he cannot be executed at all (until recaptured after being set free). A faction is not required to hold the captured noble or royal heir, it is the controlling player's choice. A noble left alone is immediately freed. A noble or Royal heir cannot be moved in more than one turn in a round (i.e.,a Royal heir cannot be moved by the capturing faction, freed, and then moved by the controlling faction in the same round).
     4. Combat at sea is fought just like a battle on land. Each ship's combat strength is represented by its passenger capacity. The strength of any passengers are ignored. It ls assumed that the difference between a ship's capacity and the strength of its passengers is made up of sailors.
     When one or more ships of one faction enters a square occupied by one or more ships of another faction (not in port), the moving ships may choose to attack. All ships in the same faction or alliance may defend together at the option of the controlling player(s). The ratio of ship capacities of the opposing fleets are compared and an Event card is drawn to determine victory as in land battle. The "nobles killed" section is still utilized. If one side is victorious, they capture all ships, nobles and Royal heirs of the defeated faction. They may execute or ransom them as in normal combat. Ship(s) named on "Ship" crown cards are immediately placed under the control of the capturing faction and the "ship" card(s) given to one or more of the noble passengers. A ship or ships of the Warden or Admiral remain under the control of the capturing faction, but as soon as it touches port, it immediately reverts back to the control of the Admiral or Warden. The victorious fleet may choose to scuttle captured ships of the Admiral or Warden. If this occurs, the ships can be returned to play only within the conditions outlined in Gales at Sea. A "Vacillating allegiance" card is ignored unless the Vacillating Noble forms the majority of the ship's capacity. In this case, the ship either goes to any port (of opposing player' choice) and the noble home, or the ship joins in with the opposing fleet. Any other nobles on board are captured.
     As an adjunct to "Combat at Sea", a ship may blockade a port by occupying a sea square adjacent to the port and naming the port being blockaded. If a ship or ships in the port leave that port to sail, they must stop in that hex and join battle with the blockading ship or ships. A blockading ship or fleet which is forced into the unfriendly port as a result of "Storms at Sea" and which are unable to successfully besiege the port are prisoners in the port and can leave only by permission of the player controlling the port.
     Nobles and Royal heirs captured at sea and subsequently ransomed, still retain control of the ships that they occupy. They must return to a port on their next turn. As soon as the ship(s) touch port, the ransomed noble(s) relinquish control.
     5. After the early turns of play, siege tends to become too powerful a tool for the attacker and as a result, the weaker faction prefers to fight in the open rather than hide in town and risk a siege. For example, a force of 200 attacked in the open by a force of 400 would have a 50-50 chance of survival in the basic game, but a force of 200 in a town besieged by a force of 400 would only have a 1 in 6 chance for survival. Also sieges could, and did, last years as exemplified by the siege of Harlech. So an attacking force confronted with the task of capturing a town, city or castle has a choice of one of two methods to take it:
     a. The attacking nobles may attempt to storm the town, city or castle by conducting a battle against the garrison plus any defending nobles within. If the battle is successful, the town and occupants are captured. If the battle is unsuccessful, they may try again or turn to siege on the next turn, or
     b. The attacking nobles may attempt to siege by stating so aloud. A siege is never resolved the turn it is announced, but the town, city or castle is considered "under siege" that turn exactly as if a "Bad Weather Delays Attack" card had been drawn. On the next turn, an Event card is drawn to resolve the siege. Of course, within this period, the defender can attempt to lift the siege.
     If a force is trapped in a refuge because it has been involuntarily forced there by storm or the port has changed hands, it may remain there indefinitely and without penalty but must leave at the first opportunity.
     6. The blank Crown card included in the game can be used as a Scottish Mercenary card. The use of this card would be similar to the French Mercenary card with the following differences. The Noble awarded the "Scottish Mercenary" card must either be in refuge in Scotland or in the town of Berwick. The "Scottish Mercenary" card does not give any ship bonus. The "Scottish Mercenary" card has a troop strength of 50.

Here are some points to remember. The effect of these new Event cards are ignored (except "Vacillating Allegiance") if they are drawn during combat resolution. Once their effect is over, all cards except "Royal Death" are returned to the Discard Pile. All cards which are returned at the same time to the Crown deck must be mixed when placed at the bottom of the deck so that no one knows their order. When any of these cards are picked to resolve combat, utilize the Advanced Nobles Killed Table to determine the nobles killed.

Updated 14 Jan 08.

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