[1] INTRODUCTION These are rules for an beta-test version of a board game. feedback is solicited.
[1.1] Overview: Mediterranea is a four player board game with strong historical content but only a limited attempt at simulation.
[1.2] Nations: Each army or leader (see below) is associated with a nation. A nation represents one of the peoples that lived in the Mediterranean basin or northwestern Europe between about 400 and 1100 A.D..
[1.3] Factions: Each nation is a member of one of four factions, identified by the colours white, yellow, green and orange. All nations in a faction are controlled by a single player, but each nation moves and fights independently of the others.
[1.4] Map: The map covers the Mediterranean, northwestern Europe and some adjacent areas.
[1.4.1] Land Area: The names of land areas (e.g. Wessex) are printed in a cursive script.
[1.4] External Area: The names of external areas (e.g. Germany) are printed in an underlined serif font.
[1.4] Sea Area: The names of sea areas (e.g. North Sea) are printed in a sans serif font.
[2] COMPONENTS
[2.1] Armies:
[2.2] Leaders
[2.3] Population Increase Markers
[2.4] Miscellaneous Markers
[2.4.1] Turn Marker
[2.4.2] Nation-Turn Marker
[3] GAME SEQUENCE
[3.1] SETUP PHASE
[3.1.1] Armies are placed on the board as indicated by the inital setup chart for the first turn of the game.
[3.1.2] Each population increase marker is placed in a 2 area on the population increase chart. Markers belonging to nomadic peoples (as specified in the unit arrival chart) are placed in the 2 area in the nomadic half of the chart. Markers belonging to settled peoples are placed in the settled half of the chart. (In practice markers for nations which have no units at the start of the game can be left off until needed to reduce clutter.)
[3.2] Turns: Perform the turn sequence for each turn in the scenario, as described in [4]. The number of turns in a scenario is specified in [11].
[3.3] Victory Determination: For each faction, total the victory points earnt by each nation in that faction, and subtract the faction's victory target. The player controlling the faction with the most positive score is the winner.
[4] TURN SEQUENCE
[4.1] Nation-Turns: For each nation, conduct the nation-turn sequence described in [5]. The order of nation turns is shown on the turn order chart.
[4.2] Territorial Victory Award Phase: After all nation-turns are complete, award victory points to any nation which scores victory points for territory held at the end of this turn. The number of victory points awarded for an area is listed in the victory card for the faction of which that nation is a member. If all of the armies in the area belong to the scoring nation then the award is as printed. If one or more armies of another nation are also present then the award is halved.
[5] NATION-TURN SEQUENCE Perform the following steps in order.
[5.1] Change of migrant/settled status. A nation may change from migrant to settled or vice versa as specified by the arrival chart. If no change is specified then the nation remains in the same state as last turn.
[5.2] Leader Removal: Any leader of that nation currently on the map is permanently removed.
[5.3] Reinforcement: see [6].
[5.4] Movement: see [7].
[5.5] Leader Placement: Any leader specified in the arrival chart to become available that turn is placed with an army. Exception: the Byzantine leader Narses is only placed in the second pulse of a double move.
[5.6] Combat: see [8].
[5.7] Leader removal: Any leader marked with a P in the arrival chart is permanently removed from the board, unless this is the first pulse of a double move.
[5.8] Second Move: This step is only performed if a nation has a double move in this nation-turn, as shown in the turn arrival chart. Perform steps [5.2] through [5.7], with the following changes.
[5.8.1] There is no population increase.
[5.8.2] Reinforcements are placed only if they are specified to appear in the second move of a double.
[5.9] Overpopulation, see [9].
[6] REINFORCEMENT
[6.1] Any new units to which the nation is entitled are placed. Armies arrive through two mechanisms: arrival (see [6.2]) and population increase (see [6.4]). The player controlling the faction of which the nation is a part may choose to perform these in any order. If the rules call for an army to be given to a nation but all armies are already on the map then the army is lost and the nation's population increase points are set to five.
[6.2] Arrival of Reinforcements: Any reinforcements received by a nation in a particular turn will be listed, along with their location, in the unit arrival chart. There may be a choice in location, in which case it is made by the player controlling the faction of which the nation is a part, who may choose to split armies between several areas. If the choice has several cases separated by commas then the rule on the left takes precedence, and the rule on the right is used to resolve cases that are equal with respect to the rule on the right.
[6.3] Removals and Replacements: Sometimes armies are specified in the unit arrival chart to be removed, or to be replaced by other units. This also occurs at this time unless otherwise specified. Choice of which unit is as for reinforcements. (e.g. an instruction to remove an army "on coast, nearest Andalusia, Cordovan choice" means that the army must be on the coast if possible. If there are no armies on the coast then remove a non-coastal army as close as possible to Andalusia; if there are several such the Cordovan chooses which. If there is more than one army on the coast then remove a coastal army that is as close to Andalusia as possible; if there are several such the Cordovan chooses which.)
[6.4] Population Increase:
[6.4.1] Earning Population Increase Points: The nation earns one population increase point for each area it shares with another nation, and two points for each area in which it is the only nation to have an army. Add to this the population increase points already recorded on the population increase chart.
[6.4.2] For each six population increase points, the nation receives one reinforcement army. These are placed in areas with previously existing armies of that nation, no more than one per area.
[6.4.3] Any remaining points are recorded on the population increase chart by placing the population increase marker for that nation in the appropriate box.
[7] MOVEMENT
[7.1] Armies belonging to the moving nation (the nation whose nation-turn it is) may be moved. Armies are moved one at a time. Each army may only be moved once in a nation-turn, even if it only consumed some of its movement points earlier.
[7.2] Each army has three movement points, which can be expended as follows.
[7.2.1] Entering Land Areas
[7.2.1.1] It costs one movement point to enter an adjacent land area in which at least two-thirds of the armies already present (e.g. zero out of zero, or four out of six, or three out of four) belong to the moving nation. This determination is made at the moment at which the army begins moving: because armies move one at a time it is possible that an area which does not satisfy the condition at the start of the movement phase may satisfy it by the time an army begins moving, or vice versa.
[7.2.1.2] It costs all of an army's remaining movement points (minimum one) to enter an adjacent land area in which the criterion of [7.2.1] is not satisfied.
[7.2.1.3] Crossing Arrows: If a nation is specified to have ships this turn then its units may move across crossing arrows into land areas as though the areas connected were adjacent, i.e. for the cost given in [7.2.1.2] or [7.2.1.3] as appropriate. If the nation does not have ships this turn then the cost is three movement points. Andalusia and Morocco are considered adjacent areas, there is no crossing arrow.
[7.2.2] Entering Sea Areas:
[7.2.2.1] It costs one movement point to move to an adjacent sea area, provided the moving nation is specified in the turn arrival chart to have ships this turn. The Atlantic Ocean and Western Mediterranean are connected via the Morocco-Andalusia strait: they are considered adjacent always. The Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean are connected via the Constantinople strait: they are considered adjacent if the moving nation has an army in Constantinople or if Constantinople is vacant.
[7.2.2.2] It is illegal to enter a sea area if the condition of [7.2.2.1] is not met.
[7.2.3] External Areas:
[7.2.3.1] It costs all of an army's remaining movement points to enter an external area, provided the moving nation is specified in the turn arrival chart to receive zero or more reinforcements in that area next turn.
[7.2.3.2] It is illegal to enter an external area if the condition of [7.2.3.1] is not met.
[7.2.4] Settled Status: A settled army which is the sole occupier of its land area may not depart that area (during the movement phase). This rule is resolved at the moment the army attempts to depart the area.
[8] COMBAT The combat sequence below is performed once in each land area in which one or more armies belonging to the moving nation and one or more armies belonging to a non-moving nation are simultaneously present during the combat phase.
[8.1] Order of combats is chosen by:
[8.1.1] The moving player specifies a non-moving nation involved in at least one combat.
[8.1.2] The player controlling that non-moving nation specifies which of the combats in which he is involved will be fought first. That nation need not be the only non-moving nation involved in that combat.
[8.1.3] Steps [8.1.1] and [8.1.2] are repeated until all combats required by [8] are resolved.
[8.2] Combat Sequence
[8.2.2] Coexistence: if the only armies present are a single army of the moving nation and a single army of a single non-moving nation then they may choose to coexist, in which case the combat is over. If the army belonging to the moving army began its movement phase in the area then the non-moving nation must offer to coexist. Once resolved by coexistence the battle may not be reinitiated until a subsequent nation-turn.
[8.2.3] Shooting: Each army in the combat shoots by rolling one die. Armies shoot in the order opposite to that in which they entered the area in which the combat is occurring (if there are only two nations in the combat, it doesn't matter who fire first). If the roll is five or more then an army belonging to another nation, chosen by the shooting player, is eliminated (the eliminated unit still gets to fire in that round, if it hasn't already). Eliminated units may be worth victory points to the firing army. If all armies of a nation have been eliminated by another nation's armies earlier in the round then another nation may still fire at them in the hope of earning victory points: victory points for a single army can therefore in principle be scored by two different nations.
[8.2.3.1] The roll is modified +1 if a leader of the shooting nation is in a land area adjacent to the combat.
[8.2.3.2] The roll is modified +2 if a leader of the shooting nation is in the land area of the combat.
[8.2.3.3] The roll is modified -1 if the combat is occurring in Constantinople, the moving nation is non-Byzantine and the target unit is Byzantine.
[8.2.4] Elimination: if there are no armies surviving in the area, or if all the surviving armies belong to the same nation, then the combat ends. Surviving armies of the active nation may still choose to perform raider retreat as in [8.2.5].
[8.2.5] Raider retreat: If the attacking units are specified in the turn arrival chart to be raiders then the combat ends. Surviving attacking units are retreated (see [8.3] and [8.3.4]).
[8.2.6] Attacker retreat: Some or all of the active nation's units may choose to retreat (see [8.3] and [8.3.5]). If all surviving active nation armies are retreated the the combat ends.
[8.2.7] Defender retreat: Some or all of the defender(s) may choose to retreat (see [8.3] and [8.3.6]). If all defending armies retreat then the combat ends.
[8.2.8] Subsequent rounds: Repeat steps [8.2.2] through [8.2.7] until all but one nation's armies have retreated or been eliminated, or coexistence has been agreed. If all armies of one nation in an area are eliminated then so are all leaders of that nation in that area, and any nation that eliminated an army of that nation during the last round of the combat becomes eligible for the "kill" victory points, if any.
[8.3] General retreat procedure: Armies retreat to land areas, external areas or sea areas. Not all armies need retreat to the same area. If an area is a legal retreat area for any army of a nation in a combat then it is a legal retreat area for all armies of that nation in that combat. The last army of a nation that retreats from a combat carries any leaders of that nation with it. Legal retreat areas satisfy the conditions in [8.3.1] through [8.3.3] and in [8.3.4] through [8.3.6].
[8.3.1] Land area retreats: An army may only retreat to a land area if there are no armies present there of another nation. This may make it impossible to take up a raid retreat option.
[8.3.2] External area retreats: An army may only retreat to an external area if its nation is specified turn arrival chart to receive reinforcements from that area in the next turn (the chart may specify zero reinforcements from this external area, the only effect of this is to permit retreats).
[8.3.3] Sea area retreats: There is no special restriction on the sea area to which an army may retreat.
[8.3.4] Raider retreat procedure: Raider armies retreat to the areas in which they began the movement phase.
[8.3.5] Attacker retreat procedure: Attacking armies are armies of the active nation that did not begin their movement phase in the combat area. They retreat to areas that were the last land, sea or external areas they entered before the combat.
[8.3.6] Defender retreat procedure: Defending armies are any other army in a combat. They retreat to any adjacent land or external area. Defending armies do not retreat to sea areas.
[8.4] Example of Combat (Catalaunian Plains): A Gaul army is in an area. A Visigoth army enters the area, and the Visigoth and Gaul players agree to coexist. Three Hun armies enter the area: coexistence is impossible, so combat occurs. The Hun player places a leader "Attila" in the area, the Gaul leader "Aêtius" is also present. The order of shooting is Hun, Hun, Hun, Visigoth, Gaul (because the Gaul has been there longer than the Visigoth). The first Hun can choose to shoot at the Visigoth or the Gaul, it shoots at the Visigoth and misses. The second Hun also chooses, shoots at the Visigoth and kills. The third Hun has only one target, shoots at the Gaul and misses. The Visigoth army then shoots at a Hun or the Gaul as it prefers, it shoots at a Hun and kills. Then the Gaul army decides whether to shoot at a Hun or the Visigoth, shoots at a Hun and kills. This ends the first round of combat. The Visigoth forces have been eliminated. The Hun player chooses to retreat his surviving army, carrying Attila with it and ending the combat. The Gaul army and leader are left in sole control of the area.
[9] OVERPOPULATION
[9.1] Overpopulation effects are resolved after all battles are complete. They are not resolved twice in a double move.
[9.2] The maximum number of units belonging to the active nation that can be supported is equal to twice the number of areas solely occupied by the active nation, plus the number of areas shared between the active nation and some other nation.
[9.3] All units in land areas count toward the number requiring support. Units in sea or external areas count unless they performed a raid that turn (participated in at least one round of combat and used [8.2.5]).
[9.4] Procedure: The active player must remove units of the active nation until all units requiring support are supported. Removals are illegal if they reduce the maximum number of units that can be supported (i.e. remove the only army of a nation in an area).
[10] VICTORY
[10.1] Each faction has a card on which is listed the circumstances under which that faction receives victory points (see cards for the white, yellow, orange and green factions).
[10.2] Victory points for territory in a particular turn, unless otherwise marked, are awarded for territory held at the end of the turn. Territory shared with another nation scores half points. If the turn is suffixed with a T then the award occurs only if that turn is the last turn in the scenario. (e.g. "Turn 6T or 5" means that the award is given for Turn 5, unless Turn 6 is the last turn of the scenario, in which case it is given for Turn 6 instead.)
[10.3] Adjustment: Subtract the victory point target listed in the scenario description (see [10]) from the victory point total of all nations in the faction to obtain the net victory score.
[10.4] The winning player is the one controlling the faction with the largest net victory score.
[11] SCENARIOS
[11.1] AGE OF DARKNESS: This scenario covers the whole map from about 400 to 1000 A.D..
[11.1.1] All the map is in play. Units specified in the turn arrival chart are available if they have an "E" or "W" suffix or no suffix, but not if they have a "!E" or "!W" suffix. Play begins with Turn 2, and ends after Turn 13.
[11.1.2] Victory point targets are Green 194; White 147; Yellow 195 and Orange 118.
[11.2] DECLINE AND FALL: This scenario covers the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.
[11.2.1] Only the western half of the map is in play: Hungary, Macedon, Greece, Eastern Mediterranean Sea, Barca and all areas east of these are out of play. Units specified in the turn arrival chart are available if they have an "E" or "!W" suffix, or if they have no suffix and their arrival area is in play. Play begins with Turn 2, and ends after Turn 3.
[11.2.2] Victory point targets are ...
[11.3] HEIRS TO THE EMPIRE: This scenario covers the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and the rise of the German successor states.
[11.3.1] Only the western half of the map is in play. Hungary, Macedon, Greece, Eastern Mediterranean Sea, Barca and all areas east of these are out of play. Units specified in the turn arrival chart are available if they have an "W" or "!E" suffix, or if they have no suffix and their arrival area is in play. Play begins with Turn 2, and ends after Turn 5.
[11.3.2] Victory point targets are ...
[11.4] JIHAD: This scenario covers the sudden rise of Islam in western Asia and North Africa, against the resistance of the Byzantine empire.
[11.4.1] Only the eastern half of the map is in play: Cyrene, Central Mediterranean Sea, Dalmatia, Bavaria, Germany and areas west of these are out of play. Units specified in the turn arrival chart are available if they have an "E" or "!W" suffix, or if they have no suffix and their arrival area is in play. Play begins with Turn 2, and ends after Turn 5.
[11.4.2] Victory point targets are ...
[11.5] THE END OF THE WORLD: This scenario covers the crises of the end of the first millenium, when it seemed the last days were upon us.
[11.5.1] All the map is in play. Units specified in the turn arrival chart are available if they have an "E" or "W" suffix or no suffix, but not if they have a "!E" or "!W" suffix. Play begins with Turn 10, and ends after Turn 12.
[11.5.2] Victory point targets are ...
[12] CREDITS
Game design and development by David Bofinger. Thanks for play testing to Jonathan Coe, Kurt Frank, Ian Mackinder, Michael Price, Charlie Schmidt and Timo Sillgren.
Please send feedback to the author, David Bofinger. Other material can be found on my home page, including some related to other board games.
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