Medieval MACHIAVELLI
New Scenarios from Italy’s Middle Ages
By Charles Bahl
There can be no doubt that MACHIAVELLI is a direct descendent of DIPLOMACY, yet the game is more than just a clone of its illustrious forebear. It is not, for instance, simply DIPLOMACY played on a map of Renaissance Italy. The addition of garrisons, unit conversions and sieges makes MACHlAVELLl a very different gaming experience. When you go beyond the basic game and include such features as finances (particularly bribes), rebellions, assassinations and a smattering of optional rules like famine, plague and excommunication, you are talking about a game that not only captures some of the color and intrigue of the period it depicts, but also provides even the most experienced and hardened DIPLOMACY players with a whole new world of challenge and strategy.
In addition, MACHlAVELLl lends itself well to the use of multiple scenarios. Unlike DIPLOMACY, which always begins with the same starting positions, MACHIAVELLl's home control markers allow an unlimited variety of setups. The game comes with four such scenarios covering most of the Renaissance period. However, the game system need not be restricted to that particular historical epoch. After all, doubledealing and back-stabbing were not invented in the Fifteenth century. They have, rather, a long and distinguished career that stretches as far back as the historical record allows us to look. Indeed, one of the most interesting, treacherous, and cruel periods in Italy’s history begins with the barbarian invasions and the subsequent collapse of the Western Roman Empire, and seems admirably suited for inclusion within the MACHIAVELLI canon of scenarios. With this in mind. here are four new scenarios covering some of the most salient moments from Italy’s Middle Ages.
SCENARIOS
The setup for each scenario lists the provinces controlled by each of the powers (home countries) at the start of the game. If a military unit starts in a particular province, this is indicated by an A (army), F (fleet) or G (garrison). The starting treasury of each power is also listed (ignore if playing with basic game rules). The variants for each scenario explain how to align the powers to allow for different numbers of players. When a player starts with more than one power, all the units listed by that player are treated as one power.
Neutral Provinces: If a country (or series of provinces) is defined as neutral in a scenario, treat the provinces of that Power as if they were not on the mapboard --these areas are out of play. Units may neither advance nor retreat into neutral provinces. Neutrals are different than uncontrolled or autonomous provinces (rule 7.7).
Inactive Provinces: If a country is defined as inactive in a scenario, treat the units of that power as if they were in civil disorder (rule 7.8).
Counter shortages: If a particular country does not have enough home control markers to record all of its home provinces, use regular control markers for this purpose. In addition, the counter mix is not a limit to the number of military units a particular power can possess. If a power should run out of a particular kind of military unit, it can use those of any other power not currently in play or not being used by another player.
Victory Conditions: The victory conditions for some of the scenarios may differ from those given in the rules of play. If no victory conditions are listed for a particular scenario, then they are the same as those given in rule 3.2 (how to win).
Special Rules: Some scenarios list special rules. These are considered to take precedence over any relevant rules given in the rules of play.
Variable City income: Unless the scenario indicates otherwise, players do not collect the variable city Income for control of Florence, Genoa, Milan, Naples or Venice.
SCENARIO V
THE FALL OF THE LOMBARDS: 725-800
Although the Byzantine Empire under the generalship of Narses expelled the last of the Ostrogoth invaders from Italy by 554, external pressures on the Roman world -- both from the east and from the west -- proved too much for the Empire to maintain its traditional borders. With the death of Narses, new Germanic tribesmen, the Lombards, pushed through the Alps onto the northern Italian plains. By 600, the Lombards controlled most of Italy, including the Po River Valley, Tuscany and a large area south of Rome. The Byzantines kept only toeholds in Sicily, around their capital in Ravenna and in southern Italy. The Papal See, however, retained considerable military power at Rome and its precincts.
The Popes viewed the Lombards as both potential allies and future enemies. At first, the Papacy courted the Lombards' military strength in the hope of gaining control of Byzantium's holdings in central Italy. In collusion with Papal authorities, the Lombards at first successfully challenged the Empire. In 751, they succeeded in capturing Ravenna and in driving the Byzantines permanently from the area. Fearing now that they had created in the Lombards an enemy more dangerous than the Byzantines, the Papacy turned to France to thwart their power. Under Pepin in the 750's and then under Charlemagne in the 770's, the Frankish Empire, at the urging of the Papacy, invaded Italy, destroyed the Lombard hegemony in northern Italy, and turned over the former Byzantine area in central Italy to Rome. After their defeat, the Lombards held tenuously only to a group of declining possessions in southern Italy.
START DATE: Spring 725
SETUP
FRANCE: Avignon (A), Marseille (F), Swiss (A), Savoy (F), Saluzzo (A) and Provence. Treasury: two ducats.
LOMBARDS (use Austrian units): Turin (A), Pavia (A), Modena (A), Mantua (A). Cremona (A), Naples (A), Bari (A), and Aquila. Treasury: six ducats.
BYZANTINES (use Venetian units): Palermo, Messina (A), Otranto, Durazzo (F), Albania (F), Ragusa (F), Dalmatia (F), Friuli (A), Treviso (A), Padua (A) and Ferrara (A). Treasury: four ducats.
PAPACY: Rome (A). Patrimony, Ancona (F), Perugia (A), Arrezo (A) and Urbino. Treasury: six ducats.
AUTONOMOUS GARRISONS: One each in Tunis, Siena, Piombino, Pisa, Florence, Bologna, Lucca, Genoa. Montferrat, Milan and Venice.
NEUTRAL PROVINCES: Tyrol, Austria and Hungary.
VARIABLE INCOME (Advanced)
A. The Papacy and France receive variable income as indicated on the chart.
B. The Lombard player receives the variable income indicated for Venice on the chart. but DOES NOT need to control Venice to receive this income. No other power may receive the variable income for Venice.
C. The Byzantine player receives the variable Income indicated for the Turk\s.
SPECIAL RULE
The Lombards may never build fleets or convert military units into fleets. Their army units, however, may be convoyed by other powers per the normal convoy rules.
PLAYER VARIANTS
Two Players: One player takes France and the Papacy, the other player takes the Byzantines. All Lombard units are considered to be inactive.
Three Players: One player takes France and the Papacy, one player takes the Lombards, and the third player takes the Byzantines.
Four Players: Each player takes one of the powers.
SCENARIO VI
EMPIRE AND INVADERS: 1051-1100
By the beginning of the new millennium, the Holy Roman Empire under Otto I had succeeded both in invading northern Italy and in establishing control of the area. In return for Otto's promise to recognize Papal power over central Italy, the Pope agreed to crown him Emperor. Otto, however, counterclaimed the right to confirm Papal elections. Thus were sown the seeds of conflict between Empire and Papacy concerning the exercise of competing spiritual and temporal powers. The conflict was to last for centuries. Under Imperial rule, northern Italy divided into two rival camps: the Guelphs (pro-Papal) and the Ghibellines (pro-Empire). All during this period, however, despite theoretical allegiance to the Emperor, northern Italian cities (especially Pisa and Venice) developed autonomously as small, but powerful city states.
In the south, the Duchy of Benevento (a remnant of the original Lombard Kingdom) conducted a desultory war with Byzantium. The conflict succeeded only in weakening both sides. Thus, when the Normans under Robert Guiscard invaded the area in the second half of the eleventh century, they met little organized resistance. By 1O71, both Lombard and Byzantine power had been effectively wiped out. The Normans were pro-Papal, and their military might and able administration greatly increased the prestige of the Papal See to the detriment of the Empire. Toward the end of the century, Robert's brother Roger extended Norman control in the Mediterranean with a successful invasion of Sicily, seizing it from the Muslims, who had themselves taken the island from the Eastern Roman Empire in 865.
START DATE: Spring 1051
SETUP
NORMANS (use Neapolitan units): Tyrrhenian Sea (F). Gulf of Naples (F) and Naples (A). Treasury: four ducats. Only Naples is considered a home province of the Normans.
BYZANTlNES (use Milanese units): Salerno (A), Otranto (A), Ragusa (F), Albania and Durazzo. Treasury: six ducats.
PAPACY: Rome (A), Patrimony, Perugia (A) and Arezzo (A). Treasury: three ducats.
VENICE: Venice (F), Padua (A) and Treviso (A). Treasury: six ducats.
MUSLIMS (use Turkish units): Tunis, Central Mediterranean (F), Palermo (A) and Messina (A). Treasury: six ducats.
PISA (use Florentine units): Pisa (F), Lucca (A) and Piombino (A). Treasury: 4 ducats.
HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE (use Austrian units): Milan (A), Pavia (A) and Cremona (A). Treasury: five ducats.
LOMBARDS (use French units): Ancona (A) and Bari (A).
AUTONOMOUS GARRISONS: One each in Turin, Montferrat, Genoa, Trent, Mantua, Modena, Ferrara, Bologna, Florence and Siena.
NEUTRAL PROVINCES: Avignon, Marseille, Provence, Savoy, Saluzzo, Swiss, Tyrol, Austria, Hungary and Slavonia.
VARIABLE INCOME (Advanced)
A. The Papacy and Venice receive variable income as indicated on the chart.
B. The Holy Roman Empire receives the variable income indicated for Austria on the chart.
C. The Byzantine player receives the variable income indicated for Milan, but DOES NOT need to control Milan to receive this income. No other power may receive the variable income for Milan.
D. The Muslims receive the variable income indicated for the Turks.
E. The Pisan player receives the variable income indicated for Florence, but DOES NOT need to control Florence to receive this income. No other power may receive the variable income for Florence.
F. The Normans receive the variable income indicated for France.
VICTORY CONDITIONS
Games with Five or More Players: The winner is the first player to control at least 12 cities (fortified or unfortified) at the start of a spring turn.
Games with Four or Fewer Players: The winner is the first player to control at least 15 cities (fortified or unfortified) at the start of a spring turn.
SPECIAL RULES
1. The Holy Roman Empire may never build fleets or convert military units to fleets. Their army units, however, may be convoyed by other powers per the normal convoy rules.
2. The Normans are slated to receive more military units at the beginning of the game than they have cities to support them. If they do not control sufficient cities to support the number of units they possess by the military unit adjustment phase of the next spring turn (1052), they must eliminate the extra units per the normal rule for unit removal (4.1). The Normans possess only one home province/city (Naples). However, as an exception to the normal rule for placing new units (4.2), the Norman player can place new units in Naples and/or in any other Norman-controlled provinces/cities subject to the other restrictions of rule 4.2.
3. The two Lombard army units are considered to be inactive.
PLAYER VARIANTS
Two Players: The Muslims, Pisa and the Holy Roman Empire are considered inactive. One player takes the Papacy and Venice, the other player takes the Byzantines and the Normans.
Three Players: The Muslims are considered inactive. One player takes the Normans and the Byzantines, one player takes Rome and Pisa, the third player takes the Holy Roman Empire and Venice.
Four Players: The Muslims, Pisa and the Holy Roman Empire are considered inactive. Each player takes one of the remaining powers.
Five Players: The Muslims and Pisa are considered inactive. Each player takes any one of the remaining powers.
Six Players: The Muslims are considered inactive. Each player takes any one of the remaining powers.
Seven Players: Each player takes one of the powers.
SCENARIO VII
PAPAL ASCENDANCY AND MONGOL THREAT: 1177-1250
In 1176, the Holy Roman Empire's control of northern Italy was dealt a severe blow when the "Lombard League," under the leadership of Milan, defeated an Imperial army at the battle of Legnano. Then, when dynastic struggles erupted in Germany, the Papacy was able to strengthen its hold over the Papal States under the able leadership of Pope Innocent III. In the south, however, the Empire fared better. The marriage of Emperor Henry VI to Norman princess Constance of Sicily helped ensure the spread of Imperial influence to Naples and Palermo. In fact, their son, Frederick II, was to rule the Empire largely from Sicily.
During this time, while the fortunes of Byzantium declined, those of smaller kingdoms within its borders rose. This was especially true of Hungary and Serbia, which developed into small but powerful principalities. Venice, too, basking in its wealth as one of the dominant commercial powers of the Mediterranean, made good use of the increased trading opportunities engendered by the collapse of Byzantium and the rise of the Crusader States. However, the ever-present threat of Mongol invasion loomed over all of Europe. During this period, the Mongols swept through Asia, the Middle East, Russia and Central Europe, and seemed to be on the brink of crushing Vienna and Venice. It was only the fortuitous death of Ogodai Khan which caused Mongol armies to retire to Asia, never again to threaten Europe.
START DATE: Spring 1177
SETUP
HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE (use Neapolitan units): Messina (F), Palermo (A), Naples (F) and Bari (A). Treasury: two ducats.
PAPACY: Rome (A), Patrimony, Perugia (A), Arezzo (A), Florence (A) and Pisa (F). Treasury: four ducats.
VENICE: Venice (F), Dalmatia (F), Padua (A), Treviso (A) and Ferrara (A). Treasury: six ducats.
MILAN: Milan (A), Trent (A), Cremona (A), Mantua (A) and Modena (A). Treasury: six ducats.
MONGOLS (Use Austrian units.): Austria (A), Tyrol (A), Hungary (A), Carniola (A) and Croatia (A). Treasury: five ducats.
AUTONOMOUS GARRISONS: One each in Turin, Montferrat, Genoa, Pavia, Lucca, Bologna Siena, Piombino, Ancona, Tunis, Ragusa and Durazzo.
NEUTRAL PROVINCES: Avignon, Marseille. Provence, Savoy. Saluzzo and Swiss.
VARIABLE INCOME (Advanced)
A. The Papacy, Venice and Milan receive variable income as indicated on the chart.
B. The Holy Roman Empire player receives the variable income indicated for Naples, but DOES NOT need to control Naples to receive this income. No other power may receive the variable income for Naples.
C. The Mongols receive the variable income indicated for Austria.
VICTORY CONDITIONS
Games with Five or More Players: The winner is the first player to control at least 13 cities (fortified or unfortified) at the start of a spring turn.
Games with Four or Three Players: The winner is the first player to control at least 15 cities (fortified or unfortified) at the start of a spring turn.
Games with Two Players: The winner is the first player to control at least 18 cities (fortified or unfortified) at the start of a spring turn.
SPECIAL RULES
Mongol units are placed on the board only in a five-player game. In games with fewer than five players, all the beginning home provinces of the Mongol player (Tyrol. Austria, Hungary, Carniola and Croatia) are considered to be neutral provinces.
PLAYER VARIANTS
Two Players: One player takes the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire, while the other player takes Milan and Venice.
Three Players: The Holy Roman Empire units are not placed on board; their home provinces are considered neutral. Each player takes any one of the remaining powers.
Four Players: Each player takes any one power other than the Mongols.
Five Players: Each player takes one of the powers.
SCENARIO VIII
TO THE RENAISSANCE: 1250-1300
As a result of both continual opposition by the Papacy and the rising influence of the Italian city states, the Holy Roman Empire's hold on northern Italy was virtually at an end. In the south too, the descendants of Frederick II found their power stripped from them by the active cooperation between Pope Urban IV and his French favorite, Charles of Anjou. Charles brought an army to southern Italy, defeated Frederick's son Manfred in battle, and seized what was left of Imperial power there, calling himself King of Naples. Deeply resenting French influence in their affairs, the Sicilians called upon Pedro III of Aragon (who was related to Frederick by marriage) for military assistance. Pedro defeated Charles and became King of Sicily. In the ensuing years Pedro’s descendants extended the power of Aragon to include both Corsica and Sardinia. Thus, by the end of the century, southern Italy was divided between the French and the Spanish. The Holy Roman Empire had been effectively excluded from the Italian peninsula.
In the north, the trade rivalries between Venice and Genoa had led to open warfare. Genoa, in this period, gained the upper hand and reached the peak of its power and prestige. (It was at this time that Marco Polo, who had since returned from China, was captured by the Genoese and imprisoned.) Milan also grew in importance as the leading manufacturing center on the Lombard plain, while Florence on the other side of the Apennines began to acquire neighboring lands and to increase its military muscle. In a short period of time, Florence became the cultural capital of Europe and the birthplace of the Renaissance.
START DATE: Spring 1253
SETUP
PAPACY: Rome (A), Patrimony, Perugia (A) and Ancona (F). Treasury: four ducats.
VENICE: Venice (F), Padua (A) and Ferrara (A). Treasury: six ducats.
MILAN: Milan (A), Pavia (A) and Cremona (A). Treasury: six ducats.
GENOA (use Austrian units.): Genoa (F), Savoy (F) and Modena (A). Treasury: six ducats.
FLORENCE: Florence (A), Pisa (A) and Piombino (A). Treasury: four ducats.
ARAGON (use Turkish units.): Palermo (A), Messina (F) and Sardinia (F). Treasury: six ducats.
AVIGNON (use French units.): Avignon (A), Marseille (F), Naples (A) and Bari (F). Treasury: eight ducats.
AUTONOMOUS GARRISONS: One each in Turin, Montferrat, Saluzzo, Trent, Lucca, Bologna, Siena, Ayers, Treviso, Ragusa and Durazzo.
NEUTRAL PROVINCES: Austria and Hungary.
VARIABLE INCOME (Advanced)
A. The Papacy, Venice, Florence and Milan receive normal variable income as indicated on the chart.
B. Genoa receives the variable income indicated for Genoa, but DOES NOT need to control Genoa to receive this income. No other power may receive the variable income for Genoa. The three ducats for the city of Genoa are collected by any power controlling the city as in the normal rules.
C. Aragon receives the variable income indicated for Austria.
D. Avignon receives the variable income indicated for Naples, but DOES NOT need to control Naples to receive this income. No other power may receive the variable income for Naples.
PLAYER VARIANTS
Two Players: Treat Avignon as inactive. One player takes Venice, Milan and Genoa, while the second player takes the remaining three powers.
Three Players: Treat Avignon as inactive. One player takes the Papacy and Florence, one takes Venice and Milan, and the third player takes Aragon and Genoa.
Four Players: Treat Avignon as inactive. One player takes the Papacy and Florence, one takes Genoa and Milan, one takes Aragon, and the fourth player takes Venice.
Five Players: Treat Avignon and Aragon as inactive. Each player takes any one of the remaining powers.
Six Players: Treat Avignon as inactive. Each player takes any one of the remaining powers.
Seven Players: Each player takes one of the powers.
Updated 14 Jan 08.
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