Westphalia
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Game Design: Tom Russell Map Art: Mark Mahaffey Hex Number: 46 Duration: 120 minutes Players: 6 Solitaire Suitability: Low Theme: 17th Century Westphalia concerns the diplomatic negotiations and military campaigns that brought an end to the Thirty Years War and Eighty Years War. The question isn't a matter of who "wins" the war - that was decided a long time ago. Instead¸ each player seeks to arrive at a settlement that meets their own political¸ confessional¸ and economic goals. These goals are not mutually exclusive: if multiple players meet their victory conditions¸ they all win. The trick is¸ if all six players manage to meet their goals¸ then the game goes to a scoring round¸ and only one player wins. The result is a mix of cooperation and competition between six asymmetric factions (Austria¸ Bavaria¸ Spain¸ France¸ Sweden¸ and the Dutch Republic). The game unfolds in alternating Diplomacy Phases¸ in which anything and everything is up for negotiation¸ and Military Phases¸ in which tense cat-and-mouse chases give players the leverage they need in talks. There is no money in the game¸ only Debt¸ and you only ever seem to get more of it. At the end of the game¸ your Debt is reduced according to your accomplishments¸ and the remaining Debt is compared to faction-specific benchmarks to check for victory. Additionally¸ two factions must each ensure that two other specific factions meet their goals in order to meet their own: Austria must ensure victory for Bavaria and Spain¸ while France must do the same for Sweden and the Dutch Republic. This isn't mutual¸ however; once Bavaria gets what it wants¸ for example¸ it can hang Austria out to dry. This is a game for exactly six players: no more¸ no less. It cannot and does not scale to suit other player counts. 17" x 22" mapsheet 56 Debt Tokens You will need 142 wooden pieces 36 cards 20 page rulebook You will need 2 six-sided dice