RULES BOOKLET

MARIA
MARIA THERESA AND THE WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION
FOR 2 OR 3 PLAYERS BY RICHARD SIV ÉL

VERSION 2.3

In October 1740, Charles VI, the German emperor and the In December 1740, the War of the Austrian Succession
Austrian head of state, dies. Succession falls on his oldest finally breaks out. Seizing the opportunity, Frederick II of
daughter, the 23 year old Maria Theresa. However, by Impe- Prussia – himself King for only six months – invades the
rial law and tradition, women cannot succeed to the Imperial Austrian province Silesia, driven by his ambition for power
throne. and personal glory. The Prussian surprise attack takes Silesia
Although the other states of Europe had agreed to Maria with scarcely a fight.
Theresa’s succession only a few years before by signing the In Spring 1741, Bavaria, Saxony and France take up arms
Pragmatic sanction, her enemies now regard Austria as easy as well. Engulfed by this wave of attacks, Austria seems
prey. Bavaria and Saxony lay claim to large swathes of doomed.
Hapsburg possessions. Supported by France, Bavaria is even However, the attackers have underestimated Maria Theresa,
claiming the Imperial title itself. And what could be easier to her strength of character, and her fierce tenacity. Against
achieve? Austria is isolated and ruled by a young, inexperi- the advice of her ministers, she is not willing to give up the
enced, and, it is assumed, weak woman. tiniest shred of her inheritance . . .
2 MARIA

1 BASIC CONCEPT 3 THE GAME COMPONENTS

MARIA is a game for 2 or 3 players based on the War of the 3.1 The playing pieces
Austrian Succession (1740–1748). The game can be played in
2 variants: the introductory game (9 turns to play, about 90 Every power has generals and supply trains, hereafter re-
min., with simplified rules) or the advanced game (12 turns, ferred to as pieces. Austria also has 2 hussars. Hussars are
3 to 5 hours, with the full set of rules). never called pieces.

Sections 1 to 13 give the 3-player rules that are valid for Every general has a name and a rank number. Before
both variants. Sections 15 to 23 give rules that are only for playing the game for the first time, stickers must be applied
the advanced game. Additional rules that are advanced- to the generals for each power (blue on blue, red on red, etc.)
game-only are included in sections 1 to 13, highlighted by The 2 hussar stickers go on the white hussar disks.
grey boxes. The additional rules for 2 players are to be found Comment: For technical reasons, the sticker sheet has 2 blank stickers.
in section 24. The die-cut markers are of the following types:
The introductory game victory conditions are in section
14. The advanced game victory conditions are in section 23.
Victory marker Elector marker Turn marker
The game MARIA includes:
• 1 game board
• 1 political display Political marker Change of income Subsidy marker
• 22 stickers for generals & hussars
• 1 die-cut sheet with 130 markers
3.2 The game board and the political display
• 192 cards, in detail:
◦ 4 Tactical Cards decks, 38 cards each The game board includes 2 maps: The Flanders map and
◦ 25 Political Cards the Bohemia map.
◦ 2×6 National Cards (English, German) A rectangular grid divides the maps into 44 sectors. Each
◦ 3 playing aids sector is assigned one suit: hearts, diamonds, clubs, or
• 1 compendium-sheet for the Political Cards spades. These suits affect the play of Tactical Cards in re-
• this rules booklet (incl. 4 army sheets in the middle of solving combat.
this booklet), and:
Home country. The home country of a power includes all
the territories in its colour. Note that the Flanders map in-
20 generals 10 supply trains 2 hussars cludes white territories that are part of Austria’s home coun-
in 6 colours in 6 colours (white) try. Silesia (Schlesien) is not home country for any power at
the beginning of the game, but during the advanced game it
2 THE PLAYERS can become Prussian home country.
The maps show cities connected by roads. The thick roads
The 3 players take the roles of Maria Theresa, Frederick, and are main roads. Cities connected by a road are adjacent.
Louis XV. They control the following powers:
Note that there are roads that connect the Flanders map and
• Maria Theresa: Austria (white) the Bohemia map. Some cities are special: these include mi-
• Frederick: Prussia (blue), Saxony (green), Pragmatic nor fortresses, major fortresses, and set-up cities.
Army (grey)
• Louis XV: France (red), Bavaria (orange) 3
Comment: The Pragmatic Army was comprised of soldiers from Great Major fortress Minor fortress Set-up cityg
Britain, the Netherlands and the Electorate of Hanover.
Austria, Prussia, France, and the Pragmatic Army are Control of fortresses: During the game, a power con-
major powers, while Bavaria and Saxony are minor powers. trols all of the fortresses inside its home country not marked
with a victory marker, and all the fortresses outside its home
The following powers are allied to each other: country marked with one of the power’s victory or elector
• France, Bavaria, Prussia, and Saxony. markers.
• Austria and the Pragmatic Army. There are 9 special fortresses that give the controlling
Powers that are not allied to each other are enemies. power one elector’s vote each (for instance, Berlin). Elec-
tor’s votes decide the imperial election, for which the Elec-
Some allied powers co-operate:
toral College (see the bottom edge of the board) is used, too.
• France and Bavaria. In the top-left corner of the board, there is a victory box
• Prussia and Saxony. display: 8 boxes for battle victories (2 for each of the 4 major
• Austria and the Pragmatic Army. powers), and 4 other victory boxes.
Comment: As can be seen, Frederick’s role in the game is schizophrenic.
When he plays Prussia and Saxony, he is Austria’s enemy, but when he
Near the edge of the board, each major power has an off-
plays the Pragmatic Army he is Austria’s ally. But don’t worry! It all map box and a box for its pool of victory markers.
works. The political display is explained in section 17.
COMMENT: Off-map boxes are used for generals sent to distant theatres
of operations (e.g., Italy). As long as a general is in an off-map box he is
completely out of the game.
 MARIA THERESA AND THE WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION 3

4 HOW TO START 5 SEQUENCE OF PLAY

Players can decide randomly or by mutual agreement The game is played in turns. Each turn consists of 5
who is playing which role. stages, which are carried out in strict order:
Put the turn marker on the “1” space on the time track 1. Major Powers conduct politics (advanced game only).
(see the top-right corner of the board). 2. Austria places its hussars.
In the middle of this booklet are the army sheets. Divide 3. Action stage of France and Bavaria.
one army sheet into four and give each player his respective 4. Action stage of Prussia and Saxony.
quarter. Set aside the quarter “Winter Scoring” for later use. 5. Action stage of Austria and Pragmatic Army.

Set up all pieces as indicated on the game board. (The The action stages are the core of the game. Every action
army sheets provide map coordinates.) Generals go on stage is divided into 5 phases. The powers that share an
set-up cities marked with their rank number in their colour. action stage are the active powers and they act in each phase
Supply trains go on set-up cities marked with a “T” in their simultaneously. This is true even for Austria and the Prag-
colour. The 2 Austrian hussars go beside the board. NOTES: matic Army, although they are played by different players.
1.) One Prussian general starts in the “Ostpreussen” off-map The 5 phases are carried out in the following strict order:
box and one Prussian supply train starts in the “Silesia” vic- 1. Tactical Cards. The active powers draw new Tactical
tory box . Both pieces are out of the game at game start. 2.) Cards.
After setup, set-up cities are treated like regular cities. 2. Supply of every active general is checked.
3. Movement. All active pieces may move. This includes
Put the following number of victory markers for each conquest of objectives and re-entry of supply trains.
major power in its corresponding pool: Prussia 13, France 4. Combat. Active generals must attack adjacent enemy
11, Pragmatic Army 8, Austria 8. generals.
5. Retroactive conquests are checked for.
After all stages are completed, the turn track marker is
advanced by one space, and the next turn starts.
Winter. After every 3 turns, the normal flow of the game
Tactical Card Political Card National Card is interrupted by winter. Winter is not a game turn: it does
not consist of any of the above stages. During winter, gener-
Shuffle one of the four Tactical Card decks for immediate als who were formerly removed from the board may re-enter
use as the draw deck. Set aside the other 3 decks for later. and troops can be recruited. The powers conduct these activ-
ities in the same order used for action stages. After winter,
Prussia puts 1 victory marker each on its fortresses in Sile-
normal game turns resume.
sia (Liegnitz and Glogau). Austria puts victory markers on
the other 5 Silesian fortresses. IMPORTANT: In the advanced The advanced game includes winter scoring.
game, these markers come out of the pool.
Each power draws its initial hand of Tactical Cards. 6 STACKS AND TROOPS
France receives 2, Bavaria 5, Prussia 9, Saxony 3, Pragmatic
Army 3, Austria 5. Before presenting the detailed rules for the different phases, it is
helpful to introduce the basic rules for stacks and troops.
The army sheets indicate the numbers of troops each
power has at the start of the game. Each player secretly Only 1 piece may ever be placed on each city.
assigns all of a power’s troops to its generals by writing EXCEPTION : Two generals may occupy one city to form a
numbers in the boxes next to the names of the generals. Each stack, but only if they belong to the same power or to co-
general must receive a minimum of 1 troop, but cannot re- operating powers. A stack of generals from co-operating
ceive more than 8 troops. Some generals, however, have powers is called a mixed stack. In both cases, the general
higher minimums for initial setup; these are indicated on the with the lower rank number is the supreme commander and
army sheets. is placed on top of the stack. If two generals have the same
Example: Prussia has 22 troops. In compliance with the minimum set-up
rank number (for instance, Prussia No. 1 and Saxony No. 1),
values, Friedrich receives 8 troops, Schwerin 4, Erbprinz Leopold 4, der the player must decide at the moment he creates the stack
Alte Dessauer 6. which will be the supreme commander.
Mark the fortresses Köln and Mannheim with French
elector markers, and the fortresses Mainz and Trier with 1
2 1 1
Austrian-Pragmatic elector markers. 4 4
2
In the Electoral College, put 1 elector marker of the corre- Wrong !! One power Co−operating powers
sponding colour in each of the 9 boxes. (For instance, put a
Prussian elector markers in the “Berlin” box.) Every general has to command at least 1 troop.
Sort the Political Cards into four decks, one for each year
No general may ever command more than 8 troops.
from 1741 to 1744. Shuffle each deck. Then stack the decks
one on top of the other in chronological order (1741 on top, In a (mixed) stack, generals must command at least 2
1744 at the bottom) to create one combined deck. troops in total, and can never command more than 16 troops
On the political display, put 1 political marker onto each in total.
of the 3 tracks. The marker goes in the box with a star. The allocation of the troops among a power’s generals
4 MARIA

is written on the power’s army sheet and kept secret. If unless they are played. Every TC has a suit ( ) and a
during the game, the number of troops assigned to a gen- value from 2 to 10. There is a special wild card type called
eral changes, the sheet is updated with the new number. A “Reserve”. When a player plays a Reserve card, he declares
player has to state the current troop-total of a power if asked it as being any suit and any value from 1 to 8. NOTE : The
to do so. However, the troop strength assigned to a particu- variable value is of great use in minimizing battle losses.
lar general is made public only during combat. Hint: Keep each power’s National Card on top of its TC hand, so that you
As long as generals of one power are stacked, a player don’t get confused about which hand belongs to which power.
can transfer troops between them whenever he desires. He Whenever TCs are played, they are set aside and sorted
can do it even during the action stage of another player. according to their deck of origin. When the first deck of TCs
Troops can never be transferred between generals which are has been used up, use the second deck as draw deck, and so
not stacked or which belong to different powers. on. If the fourth deck is used up, form the new draw deck
A general who loses his last troop is removed from the by shuffling together the two decks which have accumulated
board, unless the general is in a stack and it is possible to most discards.
transfer at least one troop to him. In such a case transfer is In some situations, players have to pay for costs with TCs
mandatory: a general never is removed from the board as (for instance supply, see section 9). For this, you pay with
long as he has one troop or as long as one troop can be trans- TCs of any suit or combination of suits; only the values mat-
ferred to him. ter. If you overpay, you do not get change.
Example: Friedrich and Schwerin are in a stack. They have 4 and 5 troops,
respectively, for a total of 9 troops. The Prussian player decides to transfer
troops in this stack. Friedrich receives 7 troops, and Schwerin 2. He writes 9 SUPPLY PHASE
down the new allocation of troops on his army sheet.
Generals need supply. The supply status of generals is
Example: Friedrich and Schwerin like above. In combat they lose 8 troops.
The last surviving troop goes to Friedrich, and the troopless Schwerin
checked exclusively in the supply phase of the power’s ac-
leaves the map. As a variant, suppose they lost only 7 troops. In this tion stage.
case both generals would stay on the map with 1 troop each. Inside his home country a general is always in supply.
REMINDER : At the beginning of the game, Silesia is not home
country for anyone (see 3.2).
7 HUSSARS
Outside his home country, to be in supply a general needs
Austria has 2 hussars, which it places on cities to compli- a supply path to a supply train of his own colour. This path
cate enemy supply (see section 9). may not be longer than 6 cities. The path cannot be traced
Hussars are placed in the hussars stage. A hussar can be through enemy pieces (generals and supply trains).
placed on any city, within the following restrictions: If a general cannot be supplied in his supply phase, he
• The city must be on the Bohemia map, and is flipped face-down and suffers an immediate loss of one
• it may not be more than 4 cities distant from an Aus- troop. If he is already face-down, he stays face-down and
trian general, and loses 2 troops. If he is face-down, but back in supply, he is
• it is currently not occupied by any piece. turned face-up again.
If a hussar is still on the board (from a previous turn), Face-down generals cannot conquer fortresses.
Austria may leave him where he is or place him anew.
Hussars do not block pieces’ movement, re-entrance or
Out of supply:
retreat. If a piece moves, re-enters or retreats into or through Flip face−down &
a hussar’s city the hussar is removed from the board, but can Each general −1 troop !
be placed again next turn.
1
2 3 4 5
8 TACTICAL CARDS PHASE 6

At the beginning of its action stage, every active power

Hussars. Every general hostile to Austria who is tracing
draws a certain number of Tactical Cards (TCs) from the
a supply path through a hussar must pay with TCs to be in
draw deck:
supply. The cost is equal to the length of the supply path, 1
France 4 (5) TCs Bavaria 2 (1) TCs point of TC per city. (There is no additional penalty for trac-
Prussia 3 TCs Saxony 1 TC ing through two hussars.) A power must pay if it can. If it
Pragm. Army 3 TCs Austria 5 TCs cannot pay the full amount, it must pay all its TCs and, in
addition, any general (owner’s choice) whose path has still
NOTE : In the first 3 turns, France draws 4 TCs per turn, and Bavaria 2
TCs due to a subsidy. Starting in turn 4, the subsidy is optional. In any not been completely paid for is out of supply with the usual
turn that France chooses not to give Bavaria the subsidy, France draws 5 consequences (loss of troops, flipped face-down etc.).
TCs and Bavaria 1 TC.
A minor power does not receive TCs (not even subsi-
dies) if its major fortress is enemy controlled.
Powers may never mix nor exchange their TCs. A power 1 2 3 4
accumulates its TCs until they are played. There is no max- 4 cities, 2 generals = Pay 8 points of TC !
imum hand size. TCs may not be shown to other players
 MARIA THERESA AND THE WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION 5

10 MOVEMENT PHASE Only French and Austrian pieces may move from the
Flanders map to the Bohemia map, and vice versa.
10.1 Movement Austrian and Pragmatic Army generals may stack only if
In their movement phase, the active powers move their both players agree to do so.
pieces. A power may move as many or as few of its pieces as If a dispute arises between the Pragmatic Army and Aus-
it wishes, but one piece must finish its move before another tria about the order in which they will move on the Flanders
can start. A piece can be moved only once. Movement is map, they alternate moves on the Flanders map for the rest
from city to city along roads. of the turn, starting with the Pragmatic Army.
A general may move up to 3 cities, even back and forth.
10.2 Re-entering supply trains
During its movement phase, a power may:
• bring an eliminated supply train back into play;
• eliminate a supply train voluntarily and immediately
If the entire move is along a main road, the general may bring it back into play again. EXCEPTION : The sup-
move an additional city, up to a total of 4. ply train in the Silesia box cannot leave the box by this
method.
Main road +1 !
In both cases:
• The re-entering supply train costs 4 TC-points.
• The supply train can re-enter on a major fortress in-
A supply train moves like a general, but one city less, i.e. side its home country, but is not allowed to move in
2 cities (and 3 on main roads). the current movement phase. A major power can also
choose a major fortress of a co-operating minor power
for re-entering its supply train.
• The chosen fortress must be empty and must be
friendly controlled. If such a fortress does not exist, the
Only one piece may ever be placed on each city supply train cannot re-enter. NOTE : A fortress with a
(EXCEPTION : Stacks). Under no circumstances may a piece hussar is considered to be empty.
jump over another piece. When one general stacks with an- Example: A French supply train re-enters in München. This is possible,
other, movement is finished for both immediately. When a since Bavaria is a minor power co-operating with France. The re-entry
face-up and a face-down general stack, both keep their fac- costs 4 TC-points. France pays with a 5 (and does not get any change).
ing.
10.3 Conquering fortresses
A general can enter a city containing an enemy supply
train. In this case, the supply train is eliminated (remove it Control of fortresses changes due to conquest. Only
from the board), and the general can continue moving. a face-up general may conquer fortresses. Only enemy-
controlled fortresses can be conquered. (Prussia, for in-
stance, cannot conquer a French-controlled fortress.) An
enemy-controlled fortress is conquered when:
• a face-up general moves out of the fortress (either by
Force march. Under certain conditions a general may moving through it, or by starting its move on it and
force march. (Supply trains cannot force march.) On a force moving away); and
march, a general may move up to 8 cities. A force march: • the fortress is not protected at that moment.
• must be entirely along a main road, A fortress is protected, if a general of the power currently
• may never enter or pass through an enemy-controlled in control of the fortress is positioned 1, 2, or 3 cities away.
fortress. If a force march starts on an enemy-controlled (It is protected even if there are pieces between the protect-
fortress, this fortress is never conquered. ing general and the fortress.) Also, generals of co-operating
• may never enter or pass through a city adjacent to an allies protect each others’ fortresses in the same way. For in-
enemy piece (either a general or a supply train). stance, a general of the Pragmatic Army protects an Austrian
Do not forget that enemy fortresses and enemy pieces fortress and vice versa.
block a force march. A general cannot conquer fortresses when force march-
ing (see section 10.1). A general may conquer more than
Force March = 8 one fortress in a single move. After conquest, a conquered
fortress may still be entered by other pieces.

Friendly fortresses Retroactive Conquest. If a general moves through (or

away from) a protected fortress, put a marker with a ques-
tion mark on the fortress. In the retroactive conquest phase
of that same stage, check each fortress with a question mark.
BLOCK !!
If the fortress is not protected anymore (due to retreats af-
ter combat), it is retroactively conquered. If the fortress is
BLOCK !! still protected, it is not conquered and the question mark
Enemy fortress is removed. Note that the general who moved through the
6 MARIA

fortress does not have to be the general that forced the en- 11 COMBAT PHASE
emy retreat. It is only important that both the move and
retreat occurred in the same action stage. 11.1 Combat
In the advanced game, when you take a question mark Every general who is adjacent to an enemy general at the
out of the pool, return it to the pool if the fortress is not beginning of his power’s combat phase must attack. This
retroactively conquered. is true even if the generals are located on different maps.
If more than one attack must be made, the attacking player
Conquered! chooses the order of resolution.

Tournai
Friedrich &
Brüssel Schwerin
3 Protected! 2 1
Example: A French general moves through Tournai and Brüssel. The un- Neipperg
protected Tournai is conquered. The Austrian-controlled Brüssel is pro-
tected by the Pragmatic Army general; it is not conquered. An attack is resolved as a card game using Tactical Cards
(TCs). A player may play only those TCs which are of the
Retroactively conquered!
Retreat same suit as the sector in which his general is positioned.
First, the opposing players state how many troops their
Brüssel
2 1 participating generals command. The difference between
3
these two numbers is called the initial score. This score is
Example (continued): Brüssel was marked with a question mark in the
French movement phase. During the combat phase of the same action stage, negative for the player with fewer troops, and positive for
the protecting general has to retreat thus leaving Brüssel now unprotected. the other one.
Therefore it is retroactively conquered.
Next, the player with the negative score has the right to
After conquest, change of control is indicated: play a single TC of his suit. He adds the TC value to the
initial score. This results in the new score which he states
If the previous controlling power has a victory marker on aloud. The score is always the same for both players, except
the fortress, remove the marker. (In the advanced game, re- that it is negative for one and positive for the other. As long
turn the marker to the pool.) as his score is negative, a player has the right to play another
If the conquered fortress is Trier, Mainz, Köln, or TC.
Mannheim, flip the elector marker to its other side. Whenever a score becomes zero or positive, the right to
NOTE : These 4 fortresses are special in two ways: 1.) They play TCs switches to the other player (whose score is nega-
are never marked with victory markers; 2.) If the Pragmatic tive now). Now he may play a a TC using the same proce-
Army or Austria conquers one of them, they control it jointly. dure. The right to play TCs keeps switching until the player
with the right to play is unable or unwilling to do so. At that
For the other fortresses, the conquering power marks the
point his general is defeated.
fortress with its own victory marker if:
The defeated general loses as many troops as the final
• it is inside an enemy home country; or
negative score (but not more than he commanded) and is
• it is inside a friendly minor power home country.
retreated the same number of cities.
(This is possible if the conquest is actually a re-
conquest.); or The winner loses no troops and remains in place.
• it is in Silesia (Schlesien). (Fortresses in Silesia are
A tie. If a player receives the right to play a TC on a score
ALWAYS marked with victory markers!)
of zero, he must play a card if he has any of the correct suit
In all other cases the fortress is NOT marked with a vic- (he is not obligated to play a Reserve). If he has none (and
tory marker. (The conquest is a re-conquest of a friendly if he is not willing to play an existing Reserve), combat ends
major power home country fortress. Such a fortress, if not as a tie. In a tie, neither side loses troops nor has to retreat.
controlled by an enemy, is controlled by the major power
Special cases:
that owns the territory, and the territory’s colour indicates
control. Silesian fortresses, however, are exempt from this • If the attack starts with a score of zero, the attacking
rule, see above.) player plays TCs first (following the above rule).
• Austria makes its attacks before the Pragmatic Army
A fortress conquered by a minor power is marked with
makes its.
a victory marker of the co-operating major power following
• Stacked generals always fight together.
the above rules.
• If the stack is a mixed stack, only the TCs of the power
Comment: Players should note that the re-conquest of a minor power in supreme command may be used. However, any
fortress is rewarded with a victory marker, while the re-conquest of a major troop losses are taken by the other power. If its troops
power fortress is not. This subtle difference is for reasons of game balance.
are not enough to fulfill the required loss, the power in
Examples: a) Austria conquers a fortress in Bavaria. An Austrian victory supreme command takes the remaining losses.
marker is placed, since the fortress is in enemy home country. • If a general/stack starts the combat phase adjacent to
b) Bavaria re-conquers this Austrian-controlled fortress. The Austrian vic-
more than one opponent, he has to fight them one af-
tory marker is removed. Since Bavaria is a minor power, the fortress is
marked with a victory marker. A French marker is used, since France is ter the other. If more than one general/stack are adja-
Bavaria’s co-operating major power. cent to one opponent, they have to attack one after the
c) The Pragmatic Army conquers a French-controlled fortress in the Aus- other.
trian Netherlands. Since this is friendly major power home country, no • A general who had to retreat may not attack or be at-
victory marker is placed; the French marker is simply removed. tacked again in that combat phase.
 MARIA THERESA AND THE WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION 7

Neipperg (Austria A, 2 troops) has moved adjacent to the stack Friedrich and 13 WINTER
Schwerin (Prussia P, 4 troops). He has to attack in his upcoming combat phase.
Initial score = difference of armies = 2 – 4 = 2 After every 3 turns, Winter occurs. During winter new
Austria is behind by 2 troops and has the right to play TCs. (Neipperg could also
troops can be recruited and generals formerly removed from
opt to retreat immediately, thus losing all his troops, but saving the Austrian the board may re-enter.
Tactical Cards for another use.)
Every troop costs 4 TC-points.
Neipperg is in a diamonds sector. Friedrich is in a spades sector.
A has: 10 9 7 Reserve P has: 5 4 4 3 Generals re-enter for free, but each general must receive
A is –2 and plays: 10 at least one new troop.
New score: –2 + 10 = +8
Now the score is positive for Austria (and therefore negative for Prussia). New troops can be used to reinforce a general already
The right to play TC switches. on map, or they can be given to a re-entering general, or
P is –8 and plays: 5 –8 + 5 = –3 any combination thereof. A player must declare how many
P is −3 and plays: 3 –3 + 3 = 0 troops he is recruiting when he pays the TCs for them, but
The right to play TCs switches again. On a score of zero Austria may only break he keeps secret which general(s) will receive them.
off combat if it has no diamonds. If it had only the Reserve, then it could opt to
continue the combat or to break off (the combat would then result in a tie). Since A general can re-enter on a major fortress inside its home
Austria still has diamonds, it must play: country, provided the major fortress is friendly controlled
A is 0 and plays: 7 0 + 7 = +7 and the result would not be an illegal stack. If such a fortress
P is –7 and plays: 4 –7 + 4 = –3
does not exist, a general cannot re-enter. NOTE : Unlike sup-
Prussia is now running out of spades and decides to accept defeat with a final ply trains, a major power general is not allowed to re-enter
score of –3. Friedrich/Schwerin lose 3 troops and have to retreat 3 cities. Only
one troop is left, therefore the lower ranked Schwerin is removed from the board. on a co-operating minor power’s major fortress.
EXCEPTION : In the introductory game, French generals may
re-enter in München if it is friendly controlled.
A hussar or an enemy supply train does not prevent a
11.2 Retreat
general from re-entering. If there is a hussar or an enemy
A defeated general has to retreat before the next attack is supply train on the major fortress where a general re-enters,
resolved. The length of the retreat is the same as the number it is taken is taken off the board.
of troops lost. During a retreat a stack may never split up.
Winter scoring: In the advanced game, each major power
The winning player chooses the retreat path, according to scores one point for each victory marker still in its pool (the
the following conditions: lower the better). The scores are written down on the "Win-
• The general must retreat the full distance and has to ter Scoring" sheet. After that, the sheet is folded in such a
finish his retreat as far away as possible from the win- way that no-one can read the numbers; they will not be re-
ning general (only the winning general matters). vealed before game end.
• A retreating general may never enter a city a second
time. 14 THE INTRODUCTORY GAME
• A retreating general may not enter or move through
a city containing any other piece (enemy or friendly); The introductory game does not use the Flanders map.
not even to eliminate a supply train nor to stack with Pieces on this map do not move; those pieces and their as-
a friendly general. A general can retreat through a signed troops do not participate in the game. The same is
fortress, but cannot conquer it. true for the Prussian pieces starting in the “Silesia” victory
box and in the “Ostpreussen” off-map box.
NOTE : Only French and Austrian generals may retreat from
the Bohemia map to the Flanders map, and vice versa. Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, and Austria, receive their nor-
mal TC-income. The income of France, however, is reduced
If a general cannot retreat the full distance, he loses all his
by 2 TCs. (France receives only 2 TCs on turns when it makes
troops and is removed from the map.
a subsidy payment to Bavaria, and 3 TCs when it doesn’t a
Black has lost 3 troops, and has to retreat 3 cities! subsidy payment). The Pragmatic Army does not participate
in the game and does not have any TC-income.
The game ends immediately when a player fulfills his vic-
tory conditions. The victory conditions for each player are:
• Louis XV: Control of 9 fortresses in Austria.
Possible retreat cities • Frederick: Control of 12 fortresses in Austria and/or
Silesia (NOTE : 2 fortresses in Silesia are already Prus-
sian controlled at game start).
• Maria Theresa: It is the end of turn 9, and no other
player has won.
No retreat of 3 cities possible!

12 RETROACTIVE CONQUEST PHASE

Retroactive conquests are checked for after all combat is
executed. The rules have already been explained in sec-
tion 10.3.
8 MARIA

17 POLITICS
THE ADVANCED GAME
At the beginning of every turn, the political stage takes
During the War of the Austrian Succession, the political situation was place. Only major powers may engage in politics. To do
very complex. Separate peace treaties, betrayals, and changes of alliance so, each turn they may place 1 TC on the political display.
were common in the war. Further, Italy was an important theatre of op-
According to the values of the placed cards, the order of in-
erations, and Russia was an important factor. The advanced game rules
integrate all of these factors into the game. fluence is determined. In this order the major powers are al-
lowed to select a political card. The political stage is divided
into 5 phases:
15 GENERAL RULES 1. Reveal 2 Political Cards.
For the advanced game, both maps are used. 2. Determine the political trump suit.
3. Major powers place TCs on the political display.
Basic goal of the game: A major power wins as soon as it 4. Determine order of influence.
has emptied its pool of victory markers. 5. Select Political Cards.
When a power marks a conquered fortress with a victory
marker, always use a marker from the pool. If a fortress 17.1 Reveal 2 Political Cards
marked with a victory marker changes control, always re- The 2 top cards of the deck of Political Cards are turned
turn the marker to the pool of origin. NOTE : this is true even face-up.
for the victory markers that start the game in Silesia.
17.2 Determine the political trump suit
16 THE VICTORY BOXES The player who most recently had a combat win (even one
in which no victory points were awarded), decides which
Victory markers may also be placed in victory boxes: suit will be political trump. He announces his choice.
Battle victory. a) A victory in combat is worth 1 vic- If nobody has won a combat yet, reveal the top card of the
tory point for every 3 troops eliminated. If less than TC draw deck. The suit of this card is political trump. (If a
3 troops were eliminated, but at least 1 general was Reserve card is drawn, draw another card until you draw a
removed from the board, the combat is worth exactly 1 vic- non-Reserve card.) Discard any revealed TCs.
tory point. (NOT 1 per general!) The winner of the combat
wins that many victory points, and the loser loses that many 17.3 Place TCs on the political display
victory points.
Every major power may choose to place 1 TC face-down
b) For every general a power has to remove from the board
on the corresponding space on the political display. The
due to lack of supply, it loses one victory point.
placement is executed in the order of the spaces from left
In both cases: For each victory point won, a major power
to right (Prussia goes first). Players may place a trump TC, a
moves one victory marker from its pool to one of its battle
non-trump TC (i.e. a bluff), or no TC at all.
boxes (until its battle boxes are full). For each point lost, it
moves one victory marker in the opposite direction (unless 17.4 Determine order of influence
its battle boxes are empty). NOTE : Victory points won (or
lost) by minor powers count for (against) its co-operating After all powers have placed their TC, turn them face-up.
major power; victory points won (or lost) by a mixed stack A card not of the political trump suit is returned to the hand
count for (against) the power in supreme command. of the power that played it. NOTE : Do not return cards left on
Example: Bavaria defeats Austria in combat with a final score of +1. In the display from previous turns (called “saved TCs”), even
this example, Austria cannot retreat and loses all 10 of its troops involved. if they do not match this turn’s trump suit.
The eliminated troops are worth 3 points. France (as Bavaria’s co-operating
On the political display, a Reserve TC always counts as 16
major power) gets to move 3 victory markers to its battle boxes, but France
has only 2 boxes, so the third victory point is ignored. Prior to combat, points in trumps.
Austria had 1 victory marker in a battle box; it must return it to its pool. Now, sum up for each major power all its TCs lying on
3 Electors. On taking control of 3 of the 4 fortresses the political display (incl. all saved TCs). The power with
of Mainz, Trier, Köln, Mannheim, France moves the highest sum has the greatest influence, followed by the
1 victory marker from its pool to this box. Sim- second-ranked major power, and so on. Ties are resolved in
ilarly, on the Pragmatic Army/Austria taking control of 3 favour of the power whose space is further to the right on
of these fortresses, the Pragmatic Army (and only the Prag- the display.
matic Army) moves 1 victory marker to this box. As soon
as a side controls less than 3 of these fortresses, it returns its 17.5 Select Political Cards
victory marker from this box to the pool. The major power with the greatest influence, is the first to
Emperor. Depending on the result of the imperial decide whether it:
election, Austria or France move 1 victory marker • saves its TC,
from its pool to this box (see section 18). • or selects one of the 2 face-up Political Cards.
Italy. When the track “Italy” on the political display
A major power may only select a Political Card on which
calls for it, Austria or France move 1 victory marker
its coat of arms is depicted. If there is no such Political Card,
from its pool to this box (see section 17.5).
a power must save its TC. A major power may not select a
Silesia. When Prussia annexes Silesia, it moves 1 political card, if it currently has no TCs on the political dis-
victory marker from its pool to this box and receives play.
its second supply train, see section 19.1).
 MARIA THERESA AND THE WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION 9

If a major power decides to save its TC, all its TCs on the Victory point. The benefiting power puts 1 vic-
political display stay there. On the other hand, if it decides tory marker in the victory box “Italy”. The victory
to select a Political Card, all its TCs on the display go to the marker is returned to the pool only when the polit-
discard pile; the power may then execute the selected Politi- ical marker is shifted back to the box marked with
cal Card or discard it without effect (see below). the star!
When a power’s TC-income changes, use the income
This process of selecting/saving is repeated by the major
markers “+1” or “-1” as a reminder; put them in front of the
power with the second greatest influence, then the third, and
affected player.
so on. However, as soon as both Political Cards are selected,
all major powers whose turn is still to come take all their TCs Some Political Cards give powers new troops. The power
(including saved TCs) from the political display back to their immediately assigns these troops to its generals as desired. It
hands. can even assign them to generals currently not on the board;
any such generals re-enter immediately, as per section 13, al-
Once all major powers have had their chance to select a
though it is not winter.
card, any unselected face-up Political Cards are discarded
without effect. A general in an off-map box leaves the off-map box as
Example: Prussia has 9 TC-points on the political display, Austria and
soon as the penalty “expeditionary corps” is no longer in
France have 3 points each, while the Pragmatic Army has 2 points. There- effect. He is immediately placed on the city to which the
fore, Prussia has greatest influence, followed by Austria, then France, and off-map box’s arrow is pointing. If this city is occupied by
lastly the Pragmatic Army. Prussia has first choice, and decides to select another piece, the blocking piece is moved by its owner to
a Political Card. Since this card is of negative effect for Prussia, Prussia an adjacent city.
discards it. Austria follows: Since the remaining Political Card does not
show the Austrian coat of arms, Austria has to save its TC (which remain The Prussian General starting the game in the “Ost-
on the political display for future turns). Now, France chooses to select the preussen” off-map box leaves the off-map box in the same
remaining Political Card for execution. Since all Political Card have now way. If, later in the game, Prussia suffers the “expeditionary
been selected, the Pragmatic Army has to take back its TC into its hand, corps” penalty again, it has to put any one general back into
despite the fact that it was a saved TC from a previous turn.
the off-map box.
Example (variant): Like above, but France decides to save its TC as well,
and so does the Pragmatic Army. The unselected face-up Political Card is
discarded without effect. 18 IMPERIAL ELECTION
Execution of Political Cards The Political Cards for the year 1742 include 1 additional
When not discarded, a political card may be executed Card, the “Imperial Election”, which is not a real Political
completely or partially. The executing power may: Card. When this card is revealed, proceed like this:
• follow the instruction on it; and/or 1. Reveal one more Political Card (so that altogether 2
• shift the marker on the Italy, Russia, and/or Saxony real Political Cards are revealed).
track according to the depicted arrows. 2. Put the “Imperial Election” card face-up on top of the
deck of Political Cards (as a reminder).
Some cards allow the shifting of the political marker to 3. Elect the Emperor at the end of the current turn.
the left or to the right; in this case the player may choose
Note: The imperial election will be at the end of turn 4 at the earliest and
in which direction the marker is shifted. Some cards allow a
at the end of turn 7 at the latest.
shift of more than 1 box; in such cases, if the marker is shifted
at all, it must be shifted the full distance. Some cards allow Candidates for Emperor are Charles Albert of Bavaria and
shifting of markers on two tracks; in such cases, a player can Francis Stephen of Lorraine (Maria Theresa’s husband). There
shift the marker on none, one, or both of the tracks are 9 elector votes. Whoever gets at least 5 votes is Emperor.
Marker shifts are announced on selecting a card, but not A power has 1 vote for each fortress it controls marked
executed until after both cards have been selected. Each with the “Elector’s vote” symbol . Which power con-
marker is then shifted by the sum of the announcements for trols which vote is tracked on the Electoral College display.
that marker (2 to the right plus 1 to the left results in 1 to the Whenever control of one of these fortresses changes, update
right). the Electoral College display accordingly.
When a political marker reaches a box with an icon, a Voting is conducted clockwise, starting with Austria. All
penalty or a bonus is in effect. The colour of the icon refers votes of Austria and the Pragmatic Army must be for Francis.
to the power being affected. The icons mean: The other votes can be given to either candidate. A power
cannot abstain from voting. NOTE : When Saxony controls
TC-penalty. The TC-income of the affected power is
Dresden, the player currently playing Saxony decides for
decreased by 1 as long as the marker is in this box.
whom the Dresden vote is.
TC-bonus. The TC-income of the affected power is
If Francis becomes Emperor, Austria moves 1 victory
increased by 1 as long as the marker is in this box.
marker to the box “Emperor”. If Charles becomes Emperor,
Expeditionary corps. The affected power has to France moves 1 victory marker to the box “Emperor”.
choose 1 of its generals to put into its off-map box.
After the election, discard the “Imperial Election” card
If the power chooses a general not on the board, it
and proceed with the normal game.
must immediately recruit 2 troops for him at a price
of 8 TC-points.
10 MARIA

19 POLITICAL CHANGES NOTE : 1.) The Saxony political marker can be shifted more
than 2 boxes by a single combat. Thus, it is possible that
19.1 Prussia annexes Silesia Saxony switches directly form the Status Prussian ally to the
At the end of each Prussian action stage in which Prus- status Austrian ally. 2.) The shifting of the Saxony marker is
sia controls all fortresses in Silesia (Schlesien), it may offer a performed after possible retreats.
temporary peace to Austria. Peace may be offered more than When the Saxony marker stops in a “neutral” box , then:
once, but can be accepted only once in the game. If Austria
• Saxony becomes neutral (the rules in 19.4 apply). Any
accepts the offer:
on-map Saxon pieces are immediately returned to their
1. Silesia is now Prussian home country. (NOTE : Breslau set-up cities.
becomes a re-entry site for Prussian pieces.) • Foreign pieces in Saxony are moved to the nearest city
2. If Saxony is a Prussian ally, the Saxony-marker is (owner’s choice) in their home country where they
moved to the box marked “S”. This makes Saxony neu- may legally stack. French pieces may also be placed
tral (proceed according to section 19.3). in Bavaria.
3. All Austrian victory markers in Prussia are returned • Any victory markers on Saxon fortresses are returned
to the Austrian pool. Half (round up) of the Prussian to their pools.
victory markers in Austria are set aside, the rest are
returned to the pool.
4. Austrian pieces in Prussia or Poland are transferred to
the nearest city (owner’s choice) in Austria where they Prussian ally Austrian ally
may legally stack. Prussian pieces outside Prussia are When the Saxony marker stops in the "Austrian ally" box,
transferred to the nearest city (owner’s choice) in Prus- Austria and Saxony become co-operating allies:
sia (including Silesia) where they may legally stack.
5. Prussia puts 1 victory marker in the victory box “Sile- • Saxon pieces stay where they are. (EXCEPTION : If the
sia” and receives its second supply train which it im- Saxon general is in a stack, player Maria Theresa moves
mediately places at no cost on any Prussian major the general to the closest empty city.) If Saxony’s gen-
fortress (incl. Breslau). eral is not on the board, he may re-enter immediately
6. Prussia is now neutral. It remains so until Prussia’s with newly recruited troops, as per the recruitment
action stage after next; the rules in 19.4 apply. rules (see section 13).
7. As soon as a Prussian piece leaves Prussia, the victory • Any victory markers on Saxon fortresses stay where
markers set aside in step 3 are returned to the Prussian they are.
pool. • Austria and Saxony co-operate. Austrian supply trains
may re-enter in Dresden. Victory points earned (or
NOTE : The annexion of Silesia is the only way for Prussia
lost) by Saxony count for (or against) Austria. Saxony
to bring its second supply train into the game. receives 2 TCs per turn from now on, as per the Politi-
Example: Prussia and Austria make peace at the end of the Prussian action cal Display.
stage of turn 5. The above steps 1 to 7 are executed. Now Prussia is neutral.
Until the beginning of Prussia’s action stage of turn 7, neither Austria nor From the moment Saxony leaves the alliance with Prussia,
any other foreign power may enter Prussian territory. During that time- it is played by Maria Theresa. From now on it takes its actions
span no combat with Prussian generals is possible (see section 19.4). in the Austrian action stage. Note that it might be possible
that Saxony has two action stages on the turn it leaves the
19.2 France reduces military objectives Prussian alliance (first Prussia’s, then Austria’s); neverthe-
At the end of any French action stage, when there are no less, it only draws TCs once per turn.
French generals inside Core-Austria (the part of Austria on
19.4 Neutrality
the Bohemia map), France may take all its victory markers
in Core-Austria from the board. Half of them (round up) are Prussia and Saxony can become neutral. A neutral power
not returned to the pool, but set aside. participates normally in the game: It still receives its TC-
income, it may recruit troops, its generals and supply trains
After that, as soon as Bavaria or France conquers/re-
may re-enter, and so on. The only restrictions are:
conquers a fortress on the Bohemia map (this can even be a
fortress in Saxony or Bavaria), the formerly set aside victory • Neutral pieces may never leave their home country.
markers are returned to the French pool. A second reduction • Neutral generals never participate in combat.
of military objectives is not possible. • Neutral territory may not be entered by foreign pieces,
nor can foreign pieces trace supply paths through it.
19.3 Saxony’s defection
As well as through the execution of Political Cards, the 20 SUBSIDY CONTRACTS
Saxony marker can also be shifted:
• if Prussia annexes Silesia (see section 19.1). Subsidies are TC-payments to allied powers. Only major
• 1 to the right for each victory marker Prussia has to powers may give subsidies, and they can give subsidies only
remove from a victory box, either due to defeat in bat- to allied powers (minor or major).
tle or due to lack of supply. This applies even if no In order to give/receive subsidies, a subsidy contract
marker is actually removed because the victory box is must be made. The contract must be made for a fixed du-
empty. Austria can choose not to apply this shift (for ration (for instance, 2 rounds). There may be not more than
instance, if a shift is not in her interests). one subsidy contract between a pair of powers at the same
time. Subsidy contracts may be cancelled at any time pro-
 MARIA THERESA AND THE WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION 11

vided both powers agree. EXCEPTION : The initial subsidy its four winter scores. The winner is the power with the low-
contract between Bavaria and France cannot be cancelled. est total score. If tied, among the tied powers, Maria Theresa
wins all ties, while Louis XV loses all ties.
As long as there is a subsidy contract, the giver hands out
exactly 1 TC of his TC-income to the recipient. This is done
before the giver looks at the drawn TCs. Use the subsidy 24 THE 2-PLAYER GAME
markers “S” as a reminder: Put as many S-markers in front
of the recipient as the contract lasts. For each received sub- MARIA is designed to be a 3-player game. However, it can be played as a
sidy, the recipient discards 1 S-marker. 2-player game with the following rules modifications. However, the game
does not have its full Machiavellian flavour with only 2 players.
Example: France cannot make a subsidy contract with Austria, since they
are enemies. But it can make one with Prussia. So it does, and both powers For the introductory game with 2 players, all rules are
agree on a contract for 3 turns. In each of the next 3 turns, France hands valid, except:
over 1 TC of its income to Prussia (before looking at the TCs).
• Player A plays France, Prussia, Saxony and Bavaria.
Player B plays Austria.
21 NEGOTIATIONS • The victory conditions are modified: Player A wins,
as soon as both major powers fulfil their 3-player-
All powers, even enemies, may negotiate in order to game victory conditions (i.e. Prussia controls at least
achieve agreements on their behaviour. Agreements can be 12 fortresses in Silesia/Austria, and France controls at
made on a coordinated strategy, an armistice, the votes for least 9 fortresses in Austria).
Imperial Election, a subsidy contract, etc. Powers are al- • Player B wins if neither Prussia nor France fulfill their
lowed to make deals with each other in which each promises individual victory conditions at game end (turn 9).
to perform certain actions. All agreements are binding; • In all other cases it is a tie.
promises must be kept. To avoid slowing down the game,
For the advanced game with 2-players, all rules are valid,
players should try to keep negotiations brief and to the
except:
point. Secret negotiations are not allowed.
• Player A plays France, Prussia, Saxony and Bavaria.
Negotiations cannot result in exchanges or donations of Player B plays Austria and the Pragmatic Army.
TCs. The only way to include TCs in negotiations is a sub- • Subsidies may be given only to minor powers.
sidy contract. • If a player selects 2 Political Cards in one turn, he may
Agreements can never change an alliance, a game rule, execute only one of them. The other one has to be dis-
or any inherent game mechanic. (For instance, you cannot carded.
agree that a general loses his ability to protect a fortress.) • The Saxony political marker is moved one to the right
Powers cannot agree on a peace treaty (except the “Annex- whenever France (as well as Prussia) loses a victory
ion of Silesia”). point, but only due to a defeat in battle on the Bohemia
map or lack of supply on the Bohemia map.
Examples: a) The Pragmatic Army offers Austria a Subsidy Contract for 2
turns. The offer, however, requires that all Austrian generals leave Silesia • In the combat phase, the Pragmatic Army is not re-
as fast as possible. stricted to making its attacks after Austria. Player B
b) Prussia offers Austria that it won’t attack it for 2 turns, but demands has free choice of the order of all his attacks.
that Austria keeps its generals out of protecting distance from the fortresses • The victory conditions are unchanged, except that all
Neisse and Cosel. ties are won by player B.

22 ARENBERG 25 OPTIONAL POLITICAL RULE

The Austrian general Arenberg has the following special With this optional rule for politics, bluffing will no longer be com-
abilities (which are in addition to his normal abilities as an pletely cost free, since a TC used to bluff will be out of the player’s
Austrian general): hand for one whole turn. It is recommended to play with this op-
• He is always in supply in the Netherlands and can also tion.
be supplied by the supply train of the Pragmatic Army. Some rules of section 17 are modified. The political stage
• He may also re-enter on a Dutch major fortress. is expanded by 1 phase:
1. From the political display, return face-down TCs to the
23 VICTORY CONDITIONS players.
2. Reveal 2 Political Cards.
A major power wins immediately, ending the game, if its 3. Determine the political trump suit.
pool of victory markers is empty a) at the end of any action 4. Major powers place TCs on the political display.
stage (its own or that of another power), or b) at the end of 5. Determine order of influence.
any political stage, or c) after the imperial election. 6. Select Political Cards.
If more than one power has an empty victory pool, award
victory to the power with an empty pool that could have 25.1 Return face-down TCs to the players
played the most additional markers from its pool if it had In this phase, players return to their hands any face-down
them to play. If still tied, among the tied powers, Maria TCs on the political display left over from the previous turn.
Theresa wins all ties, while Louis XV loses all ties.
If no player has emptied its victory pool after the fourth 25.2 Reveal 2 Political Cards
winter, the game ends by default. Every major power totals This phase is unmodified.
12 MARIA

25.3 Determine the political trump suit

GAME DESIGN : Richard Sivél
GRAPHICS COVER : Andreas Töpfer
This phase is unmodified.
GRAPHICS TACTICAL CARDS : Andreas Töpfer, Hans Baltzer
OTHER GRAPHICS : Richard Shako
25.4 Place TCs on the political display HISTORICAL RESEARCH : Richard Sivél
LAYOUT, TEXTS , TRANSLATION : Richard Shako
This phase is unmodified. ENGLISH PROOFREADING : Bowen Simmons, Guy Atkinson
PLAYTESTING : Anton Telle, Steffen Schröder, Thorsten Hennig, Alexan-
der Hofmann, Manfred Wichmann, Josef Gundel, Birte Wolmeyer, Sven
25.5 Determine order of influence Grünwitzky, Franziska Gilbert, Andrea Homberg, Stefan Stubenvoll,
Tatyana Shako, Louise Gilbert, Ralf Viereck, Bowen Simmons, Michael
In this phase the following rule is changed: Benkendorf, Bernd Eisenstein, and others. – Many thanks to all of you!
LITERATURE : Christopher Duffy, Friedrich der Große, Ein Soldatenleben,
• A TC not of the political trump suit is not returned to Benziger 1986. Wolfgang Handrick, Die Pragmatische Armee 1741–1743,
the hand of the power that played it. Instead, place it R. Oldenburg Verlag 1991. Ludwig Reiners, Friedrich, Das Leben des
face-down on the political display. Only face-up TCs Preußenkönigs, dtv, 1980. Wolfgang Venohr, Fridericus Rex, Friedrich der
Große – Porträt einer Doppelnatur, Gustav Lübbe Verlag, 1988. J.B. Weiss,
count for determining political influence. Maria Theresia und der österreichische Erbfolgekrieg, Prandel & Ewald,
NOTE : These face-down ≫bluff-cards≪ are returned to Wien 1863.
the players during phase 1 of the politics stage on the The background of the cover shows the glorious attack of the Bayreuth Dragoons in
the battle of Hohenfriedberg. Pencil sketch of Andreas Töpfer based on an lithogra-
next turn. phy of von Rössler..
©2009 Histogame – Knaackstr. 70 – D 10435 Berlin
25.6 Select Political Cards All rights by histogame and the author.
If you have any rules questions, ideas or hints, please contact:
In this phase the following 2 rules are changed: http://www.histogame.de

• A major power may only select a Political Card, when

she has at least one face-up TC on the political display.
• If a major power selects a Political Card, only its face-
up TCs go to the discard pile.
• As soon as both Political Cards have been selected, all
major powers whose turn is still to come do not take
their TCs from the display back to their hand. Instead,
they flip these TCs, so that they are now lying face-
down on the political display.
NOTE : These face-down cards are returned to the play-
ers during phase 1 of the politics stage on the next turn.
Design notes it by one more year. Most importantly, however, Up to this point, 4 months of design had passed
it was necessary to speed up the rhythm of the by, and the game was shaping up quite well.
Everything has two sides; but only if you conceive of
game. For that, force marches and battle victo- However, there was one basic question which I
something as having three sides can you really cap-
ries were introduced (the latter are catalysists for had not answered, and to find the answer to this
ture the subject. (Heimito von Doderer) — After the
winning the game), and – for the same reason basic question I needed 4 more years, and I found
release of FRIEDRICH, an obvious idea for a sec-
– everything belonging to the category of delay- it only by a circuitous route. This basic question
ond game was the War of the Austrian Succes-
ing tactics was thrown out of the system (for in- was: How does a power win the game?
sion. Nothing could be easier, was my thinking
stance, in MARIA a general does not have to stop
back in 2004, since I could use the same core sys- As mentioned before, it should be possible that
moving when eliminating a supply train). Deal-
tems of movement, supply, and combat. The only every power goes on the strategic defensive.
ing initial hands of TCs is based on the same mo-
changes needed would be for the different strate- Of course, a power should still be able to win
tivation. (By the way: These initial TCs simu-
gic situation. the game while on defense. I had developed
late Prussia’s great preparedness for the war.) In
ten to fifteen different sets of victory conditions.
While the basic character of the Seven Years War addition, the supply rules were toughened: Sup-
I tested them all, and I had to reject them all.
could be reduced to two facets – one being Prus- ply is checked now before you move your pieces,
There were rules for war-fatigue, for aborting an
sia’s desperate struggle for survival and the other and you cannot conquer fortresses with a face-
offensive, for collapse, There were separate vic-
the wondrous death of the Tsarina – the War of down general. These are real thumbscrews! Due
tory marker pools for both maps, victory points
the Austrian Succession was a much more multi- to the introduction of force marches campaigns
for provinces, linked requirements, and on and
faceted and convoluted affair. There was a lot like the one in 1743/1744 are now possible in
on. Either a set of victory conditions did not
of diplomacy, shifts of alliances, rapid movement the game. But, you cannot abuse a force march
work at all, or it worked technically but resulted
of armies between distant theatres of operations, to attack with lightning speed and you cannot
in a synthetic and soulless construct of rules, or it
rapid changes in the overall strategic situation, eliminate supply trains by coming from out of
worked wonderfully in that it produced the de-
and – most importantly – at different times dif- nowhere. All in all, a force march corresponds
sired actions, but also a game that was boring
ferent powers were on the strategic defensive. to interior line movement, and – as a side-effect –
to death, or it had some other fatal defect. —
For instance, in 1743 the Austrians drove the fortresses now have an important blocking func-
This process of testing and rejecting took many
French from Prague, back across Germany, and tion. (By the way: Do not underestimate the 4
years, and was interrupted by times when I just
then beyond the Rhine in less than 12 months, elector fortresses on the Flanders map, since they
stuffed MARIA in a broom closet, as well as by
only to be driven back to Prague in 1744 after a are an important flank protection for Bavaria!) —
other projects that just needed my time.
few weeks of force marching. A game not be- With all these changes, MARIA plays very differ-
ing able to portray these rapid changes of for- ently than FRIEDRICH. Play has a nervous qual- Sometimes it is amazing what happens to prob-
tune, these dramatic ups and downs, would not ity, the situation can turn on even small events, lems if you do not think about them. For MARIA,
capture its theme. I also wanted a shorter game and rarely are any mistakes forgiven. it was the fermenting of a dim feeling that – al-
than FRIEDRICH – despite the fact that the con- though the game rules were already quite com-
I also wanted to integrate:
flict lasted a year longer and that much more hap- plex – it was simply lacking the third side. That
a) Hussars (which could have been named Pan-
pened on the political and strategic front! I think is, it needed the political system in order to inte-
durs, Grenzer, or Bohemian peasants as well).
what I wanted may have been the squaring of the grate Italy and the important role of Russia. For
Hussars existed since the first prototype, but for
circle. And, indeed, within a few weeks I real- many months I shied away from doing this since
a very long time they rarely appeared physically
ized that the “Nothing could be easier” was pure I did not want to load the boat with even more
on the board. Many playtesters found fault with
blindness. Before I could find the missing third rules. But, once I introduced the political sys-
that, and they were right. With the current rules,
side in the design, years had gone by. tem (into which I was able to integrate Saxony’s
hussars are now just perfect: Annoying plagues,
defection, which previously had its own clumsy
The first problem was the map: How could I which make a campaign in Austria very expen-
special case rules), I was stunned! Suddenly all
unite all these theatres of the war (Flanders, Italy, sive. I am sure that players will soon love or hate
problems with the victory conditions were gone!
Bohemia, Silesia) on one map? Quickly I decided the hussars – depending on whether or not they
But why? Due to the simple reason that Prus-
to cut Italy out of the game – and with such a ra- are playing Austria!
sia now has to play very differently than in the
zor I got rid of the powers fighting there (Spain, b) Imperial election: A game about the War of the
game without the political system. Of course,
Sardinia-Piedmont, Naples) and of all the design- Austrian Succession, where Bavaria cannot steal
Prussia still can try to play without ever mak-
problems they brought with them as well. The the imperial crown from the Hapsburgs? Un-
ing peace with Austria. But, if Saxony defects,
war in Italy didn’t really start to roll until 1743 thinkable!
and Silesia is not Prussian home country, and the
anyway, and so I thought this decision was ac- c) Political shifts in the form of disloyal allies, the
2nd supply train is missing, and even the Old
ceptable. annexation of Silesia, negotiations, Saxony’s de-
Dessauer is not available, then: Goodnight, my
fection, and Prussia’s exit and re-entry into the
The next problem came immediately afterwards: dear Brandenburg house of cards. Only now did
war, etc. These all were big parts of the conflict,
The first prototype map was a contiguous map MARIA make the invasion of Silesia what it was
and needed to be possible in the game.
of Europe. Due to the awkward spread of the for Prussia: A high-risk tightrope walk, which
countries, 60% of the map consisted of territo- Initially intended as a 4 player game, MARIA could have ended very differently. Another as-
ries that were seldom entered by anybody. To quickly became a 3-player game, in which one pect of the political system is that negotiations
make things even worse, these territories were in player controlled Austria and the Pragmatic are now very common, and even subsidy con-
the centre of the map, and this was really hor- Army. However, there were some severe prob- tracts are common in the game (before, they were
rible! You maneuvered with your pieces along lems with that: a) The two powers played too almost never made), and the game now became
the edges and wondered all the time: Why the much like a single power; they did not have the much more exciting and unpredictable.
heck is there such a vacuum in the centre? – Thus tension between them that they did historically.
Although it was never planned, the rules for
I split the map in two parts, scaled them both b) The Prussian player was not at all interested
MARIA are now very different from the rules for
differently and rotated them against each other in the action on the Flanders map. c) Prussia
FRIEDRICH . Unfortunately they are also more
(that’s the reason why you can switch the maps would never make peace. Doing so meant that
complex. Both facts are due to the very differ-
only in the South), and voila! That played much the player was reduced to watching the game for
ent character of the War of the Austrian Succes-
better. — Two additional comments: 1.) At the one hour. Even if it led to victory Prussia would
sion. What worked for FRIEDRICH, did not work
back of the board you will find a normal map not do it. – If I remember correctly, it was Sven
for MARIA (and vice-versa). To help beginners
of Europe with the two maps depicted in their Grünwitzky who came up with the idea of the
learn the game, the introductory game was de-
normal position. 2.) Many Prussian exclaves, es- schizophrenic player after the first playtest. And
veloped, which is a sort-of FRIEDRICH-light with
pecially on the Flanders map, are not shown in this idea works perfect! It solves all the afore-
clear roles of attacker/defender. But it is the ad-
order to simplify the game and avoid the excep- mentioned problems at one sweep, and from a
vanced game where MARIA really shines, with
tions that their inclusion would have entailed. historical point of view it is even justifiable, since
all its entanglements of politics, negotiations and
Prussia and Great Britain – although nominally
Initially I was aiming at 3 to 4 hours as maxi- strategic campaigns. I hope that players will
enemies – were not at war, except in 1745, when
mum duration for the game. (Now it is 5 hours.) agree with me, and that MARIA will give them
they were pro-forma at war for a few months.
The question was: How to make the fast pace many hours of tense gaming full of Macchiavel-
And regarding Austria, both powers tried to
of strategic changes possible in this time frame? lian flavour.
push Maria Theresa to the same decision: Let Richard Sivél, Juli 2009
First, I shortened the time frame to 5 years (that
Prussia walk away with Silesia, and fight France
is, the game should end with Prussia dropping tranlated by Bowen Simmons
and only France.
out in 1745), and later, with a heavy heart, I cut