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_____ /__ /\ ________ T.H.E ____________ // __\_____ \/\________ \_______ _________ ___ __/ / /\\ \ .\_____ \/\ /. / /\ ____ ____ ___ Y \______ / \ \ \\ _ \ \// / \___ _ _\ Y . \_____/ / \ \________/\\ \ \____ / /\ \\ . \/ \_______/\ \____________/ / \ \ ______/[Sk!n] \_______/ \/ \ \_____/ [Simply Nutty] \/ 06/01/94 PROUDLY PRESENT KINGMAKER MANUAL Typed By:-( TinTin Supplied By:-) PyTh0N ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ KINGMAKER --------- The game of intrigue and warfare in the War of the Roses Original Board Game by : Andrew McNeil Programming : Graham Lilley Development : Paul Cockburn Play-testing : Paul Bonner, Martin Smith Producer : Steve Fitton DoCs : TinTin INTRODUCTION ------------ Act 2, Scene 4 of William Shakespeare's HENRY VI Part One is a scene of great drama. Six powerful lords of England stand in the Temple gardens. Richard, Duke of York, has challenged his great rival, John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, over great matters of State. Somerset, foremost of those who surround the King at Court, can barely restrain his anger. They have argued loudly in the Hall, each trying to persuade others of the righteousness of their case. But the others present cannot find a clear winner in the argument. Determined to resolve the issue, York plucks a white rose from a nearby bush, and signifies that those who support him should do likewise. Echoing this, Somerset picks a red rose. In vain, a noble named Vernon pleads with both parties to accept that "he upon whose side the fewest roses are cropp'd from the tree shall yield the other in the right opinion". The nobles are drawn into their factions - the Earl of Warick, Vernon and an unnamed lawyer take the white rose, while the Earl of Suffolk alone sides with Somerset. Realising how matters have turned out, Somerset almost draws his dagger there and then. The scene ends with Richard speaking these ominous words to his supporters " Come, let us four to dinner. I dare say this quarrel will drink blood another day " In four tumultuous plays, Shakespeare portrays the War of the Roses as a conflict of treachery, murder, fearsome vengeance and bloody battle. For those who lived in Shakespeare's era - a century later - the Wars were a time of violence, devastation and anarchy. Only when Henry Tudor killed Richard III at Bosworth, did these evil times come to an end. The Tudors - whose faithful propagandist Shakespeare was - had an interest in portraying the Wars of the Roses in this way. It reminded anyone considering rebellion that loyalty to the crown might be the lesser evil. Henry Tudor had taken the crown from Richard III's head and the new dynasty was precariously seated upon the throne. Henry VII faced open revolts in the field; Henry VIII felt the crumblings of rebellion; even good Queen Bess - Elizabeth I - faced the opposition of northern lords. To legitimise their rule, the Tudors claimed they were the legitimate heirs of the Plantagenets; Henry Tudor was related Henry VI. Certainly, they were the last champions of the Lancastrian cause, all others having fallen. Also, Henry had married Elizabeth of York, symbolically uniting the two waring factions. In this way, the culmination of the Wars could be portrayed as the legitimate victory of Lancaster over Yorkist usurpers, along with the reconciliation of the losers through an act of dynastic union. It's typical of the Wars of the Roses that this simple explanation has passed into popular belief. Much of what we know has been obscured behind simple symbols, without much basis in fact. The emblems themselves, for example. The War of White and Red Roses was not an allegory understood at the time. In fact, the symbols were themselves rarely used - Edward IV is better known for his symbol of the Sun in Splendour, while Richard II fought under the White Boar. It is equally confusing to the modern reader - or games player - to discover the Lancastrians held large estates in Yorkshire, while the Yorkists were strongest in the Midlands! In fact, the story is a confusing jumble of names ( there are altogether too many Prince Edwards!), titles, places and dates, against an ever-changing background of treachery and political chicanery. And barely half of what you read is factual... Ever since Shakespeare's day, the Wars of the Roses have been confused by the propaganda of partisan supporters of the White or the Red, or by those who see the whole affair as a minor dynastic squabble. The Wars were not the bloodbath Shakespeare described, but the royal house of plantagenet was wiped out, and other noble dynasties beside. Modern research, however, has shown that the era was no better or worse than those that came before and after for the ending of the dynastic lines. But it is too easy to trivialise the Wars. Like all civil conflicts, they were savagely contested. Though the battles were often small, and many victories owed more to treachery or accident than force of arms, blood was spilled freely, though one foreign commentator remarked that the English fought very curious wars: "...once they have gained a battle, they do no more killing, especially of common people..." Several victories were marked by the beheading of captured leaders. This is because the Wars were primarily a struggle between opposing factions, with no great ideals at stake. Although the Yorkists claimed a constitutional cause for their revolt, both sides were cut from the same political cloth. The struggle was also characterised by the way many local struggles were fought under the banner of the Civil War. In the far north, the Nevilles and the Percies had been bitter rivals for centuries. In SW England, a feud between the Courtenay Earls of Devon and the upstart bonville family drew in the major players in the Wars, who sided with their supporters in a local dispute over land and title. For those bold enough, the Wars of the Roses provided opportunities for advancement and power as established noble families fell by the wayside and local rivals were slain. The story is epitomised by the story of Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick, the man immortalised as the Kingmaker. Warwick used his power, the patronage at the command of his wealthy family, and the desperate times to promote Neville interests, even while he strove to put Edward IV on the throne. Then, having achieved all this - at the high point of his career - he and Edward parted company, and the Kingmaker went to war against his King, to die on the battlefield at Barnet. Powerful barons had acted against the crown before - when they conspired against King John they were called heroes. But the conspiacies of Warwick, Somerset, de la Pole and Stanley mark the beginning of the end for feudal baronies, who had treated Kings like puppets. In Kingmaker, the chaotic spirit of the age is captured perfectly in a game of intrigue, factional politics and bloody warfare. Can you place your candidate upon the throne ? Or will you end, as so many did, bent beneath the headman's axe... ******************************************************************************* HOW TO PLAY ----------- This manual provides all the information you need to play Kingmaker. It is written assuming you are playing with a mouse, in VGA, on an IBM-compatible PC, with the game stored on your hard drive. For different formats, consult the Reference Card. BEFORE YOU START ---------------- Check that your game box contains the following items: 3 Disks Manual Reference Card You can install Kingmaker on your hard drive. [Please follow the instructions on the Reference Card]. SOUND ----- Select the sound options appropriate for your machine. The music will run on AdLib / SoundBlaster or Roland; the FX run on SoundBlaster or Roland; digitised speech is only available on SoundBlaster. GETTING STARTED --------------- This manual contains all the instructions you need to play Kingmaker. [The basics are also summarised on the Reference Card.] All the game's major functions can be accesssed with the mouse, although you do need to use your keyboard as well. There is also an On-Line Help facility for use during play. From Start-Up, you are taken through a short introduction, conducted by William Shakespeare. You can hit any key to escape. NEW / SAVED GAME MENU --------------------- You are now presented with this menu. New Game Saved Game Select Saved Game to restore a game previously saved to disk. Select New Game to start afresh. NUMBER OF FACTIONS ------------------ Selecting New Game brings up a second menu, which asks you to select the number of Factions you will face in the game. 1 faction (easy) 2 factions 3 factions 4 factions 5 factions (hard) The more factions the computer controls the tougher the game becomes, although the computer-controlled factions will compete against each other just as fiercely as they compete against you. The Roll of Honour rewards victory against large number of Factions with greater glory. DIFFICULTY LEVEL ---------------- A third menu asks you to set one of two difficulty levels. Allocate Blind (hard-you move first) After Computer (easy-you see where it has placed its forces before you place yours) Allocate Blind forces you to place your Nobles on the map in ignorance of the actions of the computer-controlled Factions. If you select After Computer, you see the computer-controlled Faction(s) appear on the map before you make your own disposition. This allows you to see which Royal Heirs are most at risk of capture by your opponents, and where the enemy is strongest. ADVANCED OPTIONS ---------------- You are next asked to set or reject two Advanced Game options - Advanced Weather and Advanced Plague - and the level of Autohelp. The Advanced Game options affect the way the game is played, although neither adds to difficulty. Use the buttons to toggle these options on or off. Advanced Weather is checked at the beginning of the player's Turn. The computer determines wheather this is to be a Fair Weather or a Bad Weather Turn. In Fair Weather, the game proceeds as normal. In Bad Weather the following restrictions apply: 1) Armies move only 3 areas per Turn. 2) No combat or sieges are possible. 3) Storms at sea occur more often, and can sink ships. With Adavanced Plague, infection can break out anywhere, not just in towns. Plague spreads along roads, through ports, and into Towns and Cities. Death is no longer automatic, but anyone caught in a plague area has a 25% chance of being killed. Select On / Off for each option AUTOHELP -------- Kingmaker features an On-Line help facility. Before the game begins, you must select from the following: Full Autohelp First-use Autohelp Disable Autohelp Full Autohelp provides repeated automatic advice and help on all facets of the game as you play it. First-use Autohelp provides the same level of help, but each unit of the tutorial is displayed only once. Disable Autohelp removes this facility. It still leaves the Chronicle system available, in case you need a little specific information later on. Clicking on the button cycles through these three options. The Autohelp menu can be accessed during play through the Game Utilities icon. Having completed your games setup, click on the Exit button. Kingmaker now completes loading. COPY SECURITY ------------- At selected intervals during the game, you may be asked to pass a Copy Security Check. Your computer displays a picture of a City, Town or Castle featured in the game, along with a range of page numbers. All the Towns and Castles featured in this way are listed, with their pictures, in this manual. Find the correct Town / Castle, and enter its name at the prompt. OBJECT OF THE GAME ------------------ In Kingmaker, you control a Faction of power-hungry nobles and their supporters. Your objectiveis to control the last Royal Heir in the game, and to crown him King of England (or Queen, in the case of Margaret of Anjou). In other words, you're not trying to become King yourself, but to be the power behind the throne, the ultimate puppet-master. To achieve this, you must: (i) capture and control a Royal Heir; (ii) eliminate all his/her rivals; and (iii) have your Heir crowned King in a Cathederal Town or City by an Archbishop or two Bishops. In addition to the Noble members of your Faction, you may control Assets, such as Offices of the Crown, Mercenaries and Ships. Other Nobles and Assets are gained during the game which you either bring into play at once, or keep hidden, ready to be produced at a vital moment. Of course, in the meantime the opposing (computer-controlled) Factions are trying to do the same thing... ROLL OF HONOUR -------------- Kingmaker includes a Roll of Honour, which carries the names and ranks of those players who have best fulfilled their destiny. You may enter your name on the Roll of Honour if you successfully complete the game. THE ROYAL HEIRS --------------- Because the Royal Heirs are the key to success or failure in the game, it's important you understand how they work before you deploy your Assets at the beginning of the game. The quick capture of a Royal Heir can pay rich dividends as play unfolds. THE ROYAL HOUSES ---------------- There are nine potential heirs to the throne of England. These are: HOUSE OF LANCASTER HOUSE OF YORK Henry VI Richard, Duke of York Margaret of Anjou Edward, Earl of March Edward, Prince of Wales Edmund, Earl of Rutland Beaufort, Duke of Somerset George, Duke of Clarence Richard, Duke of Gloucester CAPTURING ROYAL HEIRS --------------------- Royal Heirs are captured when Nobles from a Faction occupy the same area on the map. If the Heir is accompanied by another Faction's Nobles, the enemy must be defeated in Battle before the Heir can be captured. See the chapter on Combat to find out how this works. If the Royal Heir occupies a City, Town or Castle, that place may have to be captured by siege. This is covered in more detail in the chapter on Sieges. However, since you may need to overcome a Castle early on in the game (in order to capture a Royal Heir), the basic idea is presented here. The total troop strenth of the noble(s) trying to capture the Royal Heir must be equal to or greater than the Town/Castle's garrison. The example on the following page should make this clear: ( Edward, Earl of March, is in Harlech, which, like all Royal Castles has a garrison of 200 men. The Percy faction wishes to capture him. Percy himself, Earl of Northumberland and Constable of Dover Castle, is accompanied by Stanley. Percy has 100 Troops from his own household and 50 men by virtue of being Constable of Dover, while Stanley's contribution is another 50 Troops. That gives Percy a total Troop Strenth of 200. He can besiege Harlech and - when it falls - will capture Edward ) Every Castle, City and Fortified Town has a garrison. THE ROYAL HEIRS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME -------------------------------------------- In every game, the Royal Heirs start in the same places. These locations are listed here, along with their garrison, any other Troops who might be there, and the name of any Office which grants ownership of that place to the Noble who possesses the Office. Henry VI - London - The capital is controlled by the Constable of the Tower, who can sieze Henry directly. Otherwise, London must be besieged by a force of at least 300 Troops - more if another faction has troops in the City ( and whoever controls the Constable of the Tower has at least 250). Margaret of Anjou - Coventry - this Fortified Town must be besieged by a force of at least 200 troops - more if another faction moves troops in. Edward, Prince of Wales - Kenilworth - this Royal Castle must be besieged by a force of at least 200 troops - more if anoter Faction has troops in the Castle. Beaufort, Duke of Somerset - as mentioned above, Beaufort is a special case, and enters the game as an ordinary Noble. Richard, Duke of York - York - This City is controlled by the Archbishop of York, who can seize Richard directly. Otherwise, York must be besieged by a force of at least 300 troops - more if another faction has troops there ( and anyone who controls the Archbishop has at least 30). Edward, Earl of March - Harlech - This Royal Castle is controlled by the Marshall of England, who can seize Edward directly. Otherwise, Harlech must be besieged by a force of at least 200 troops - more if another faction has troops in the city ( and whoever controls the Marshall has at least 100). Edmund, Earl of Rutland - Ireland - the Emerald Isle is controlled by the Lieutenant of Ireland, who can seize Edmund directly. If no faction controls the Lieutenant, Edmund can be seized with a minimum force ( provided you have a ship ), since there is no garrison protecting the Earl. However, if another Faction controls the Lieutenant of Ireland, and sends him over to guard Edmund, that Noble has at least 250 troops at his disposal in Ireland, who must be defeated in Battle before Edmund can be captured. George, Duke of Clarence - Cardigan - This is an Open Town, with no garrison. Whoever reaches the town first can seize Clarence easily. Richard, Duke of Gloucester - Calais - This Town is controlled by the Captain of Calais, who can seize Edmund directly. Otherwise, Calais must be besieged by a force of at least 200 troops - more if another faction has troops in the City ( and anyone who controls the Captain of Calais has at least 350 ). Furthermore the besieging force needs to be transported by Ship. Because of these factors, Richard is often not captured during the game, but is killedwhen the plague reaches Calais. INITIAL STRATEGY ---------------- Planning the risk-free capture of a Royal Heir is one of the most important parts of the game's opening Turns. Your Faction's opening dispositions and moves should be geared primarily towards the capture of at least one Royal Heir. Choosing the right one is a question of balancing a number of variables - how close are members of your faction to the Heir ? How close are the forces of opposing Factions ? How well guarded is the Heir ? Is there a Noble in play who can capture the Heir easily by virtue of an Office they hold ? For your first few games, the right strategy might seem bewilderingly obscure. Until you get used to the game, set yourself a simple goal, and go for it. You'll soon get used to the advantages of certain combinations. For example, Neville, Earl of Warwick, can start the game close to Kenilworth, Cardigan, or York. He has 50 Troops automatically. On his own, he can capture Clarence in Cardigan, unless Herbert can beat him there. With another 150 Troops assigned to him, he can capture Kenilworth and the Prince of Wales. With 250 extra Troops he can capture York in the first Turn, or he can enter the City freely if the Faction controls the Archbishop. This flexibility makes Warwick a powerful Noble. CONTROLLING ROYAL HEIRS ----------------------- Having captured a Royal Heir, a Faction can begin the process of eliminating their rivals and having their Heir Crowned King. Each faction may control more than one Royal Heir, but may not control Heirs from both royal houses ( Lancaster and York ) for more than two consecutive Turns. After that, one or the other Heir must be executed. A Faction may execute any Royal Heir it controls at any time. You are asked if you wish to execute an Heir at the point at which he or she is captured. Thereafter, click on the Heir's name in the Family Tree display and you are asked if you wish to execute him or her. When you capture Royal Heirs, they are assigned to one of the Nobles in the Army. The captive royal puppet now follows your army and is in your control until captured or killed. The presence of a Royal Heir alongside your army brings a small benefit to its combat abilities, but otherwise he is just a target for the other Factions to pursue. Make sure you protect your Royal Heir(s) with ample forces - allowing for even the most unlikley mishaps. CROWNING ROYAL HEIRS -------------------- To win the game, you must control the last, Crowned Royal Heir. This implies two factions. First, the last surviving Heir must be Crowned King, and, second,you need to see the other Heirs killed. Some may die at the hands of your enemies. Others may fall into your hands through victory in Battle or Siege. As you capture Royal Heirs, you must judge when the moment is right to execute them. Since you become biased towards one of the Royal Houses, some decisions are easy. On the other hand, knowing when to "lose" a second member of the same Royal House is more tricky. The second task ahead of you is to arrange the Coronation of one of your Royal Hiers. Royal Heirs can be Crowned only in the order of succession for their Houses. Margaret of Anjou, for example, can only be Crowned once Henry VI is dead, and Edward, Prince of Wales can become King only after she joins her husband in the grave. NOTE : THAT IT IS QUITE POSSIBLE FOR THEIR TO BE TWO KINGS, A YORKIST AND A LANCASTRIAN In addition to this rule about seniority within each House, their are other conditions which must be met for a Corronation to take place. (i) The Heir must occupy a Cathederal. Several Towns and Cities have Cathederals, from mighty London and York, through lesser Towns like Lincoln and Exeter, down to small centres like Salisbury or St Davids. (ii) The Heir must be accompanied by at least one Noble of your Faction. (iii) The Heir must be accompanied by at least one Archbishop or two Bishops. Once you control a Crowned King, you have the power to call Parliment. This may allow you to give additional Assets to your Faction's Nobles. This power only resides in a King's Faction when their is but one King - if their is a rival monarch, the chancellor has the power instead. On the minus side, a sole Crowned King can be pulled to different parts of the country to meet Embassies from foreign lands. This can be very awkward, since it can disrupt your plans, and divide a secure Army into two smaller, defeatable forces. The fact that Henry VI starts the game as the sole crowned King can lead to a situation where he is called away from London to an unfortified town, making him easy to capture. FACTIONS -------- Before the bloody struggle for the Crown can commence, you need to know who your supporters are, and what resources you have. At the beginning of the game you are presented with a display containing: 1 All-Britain map, showing places associated with your Faction. 2 The Build Faction Box, showing the Nobles in your Faction. 3 Faction Build controls. The All-Britain Map shows all of England and Wales, the Scottish Borders, plus the Irish and French coasts. This is where the action takes place. Several Cities, Towns and Castles may be picked out in different colours. Gold locations are Castles belongingto the Nobles of your Faction. Red dots mark various locations connected with Assets under your control. The white and pink dots show the locations of Royal Heirs. In the Build Faction Box at the top right of the screen there is a list of Nobles, some with Titles, and others not. These are the initial members of your Faction. The display shows their name, their Title (if any) and the number of troops under thier immediate command at that moment. There shold also be a cursor, which you can position with the mouse pointer. To scroll up or down, click the Left Mouse Button on one of the buttons in the first row under the Build Faction Box. In order, these are: Scroll up a Noble Scroll up a line Scroll down a line Scroll down a Noble You can also position the Cursor by clicking on one of the locations marked in red or gold on the map. If London, for example, is marked red, click on it and the cursor moves to show the Office of the Constable of the Tower, an Asset which grants possession of the City to whichever Noble is given the Office. During the game you can return to the Build Faction Box display by clicking on the Faction Icon. THE INITIAL FACTION BUILD ------------------------- Your first task as a power-crazed Kingmaker is to allocate the Assets you have been given to these Nobles. Click on the Noble Up button a few times, and you scroll up the list of your Assets. Each Faction begins with a random assortment of forces. Depending on the number of computer-controlled Factions you choose during the start-up sequence, you have 6-18 Nobles and other Assets available. Some, such as the independant towns, are not featured on the list, but are in your possession on the main map. Number of Factions (inc. Players) Assets 2 18 3 12 4 9 5 7 6 6 There are 9 different elements from which your Faction will be built. These are: Titled Nobles Untitled Nobles Titles ( Which you can give to untitled Nobles; effectively making them Titled Nobles.) Offices ( Which you can give to a Titled Noble.) Archbishops and Bishops Mercenaries Ships Independant Cities and Towns Each Asset is listed by it`s name, and several have a numerical value attached - these are the Troops which that Asset automatically and permanently bestows on the Faction. Other benefits may also come from possessing that Asset. Independent Towns are not shown in the Faction Box. Instead, your Factions flag is placed above that town on the Main Map. You can learn more about any Noble or Asset by positioning the mouse pointer over it`s icon (the pointer changes shape to a Question Mark as you do so). Click the Left Mouse Button. You can now read the Chronicle information about that item. Once you are happy that you understand the strength of the Assets in your Faction, you must allocate these to your Nobles. A Noble may only have one Title, and only Titled Nobles may have Offices. Apart from that, you can combine these forces as you wish. Select a Noble by clicking on his name with the mouse pointer; he becomes highlighted, and the Castles which he possesses flash. Now you can allocate your resources to capture Royal Heirs and to frustrate the enemy. No one strategy in Kingmaker works better than all the others, so you should group your resources in pursuit of a number of key goals - the rapid capture of Royal Heirs, regional supremacy and security. LOCATING ROYAL HEIRS -------------------- The Main Map shows the starting locations of the Royal Heirs - white dots for the Yorkists, pink dots for tyhe Lancastrians. You`ll see the Yorkist Rutland in Ireland, and two Lancastrians in the Midlands - Prince Edward and Margaret of Anjou. As disscussed above, if one of your Nobles starts the game close to a Royal Heir, you may wish to ensure he has sufficient strength to capture the Heir at the beginning of the game. For Clarence, just 10 men can do it; for Prince Edward, you need 200 to overcome the garrison at Kenilworth. You can `tour` these locations using the Review button. ALLOCATING ASSETS ----------------- Having selected a Noble, scroll through the list of your Faction`s Assets (or select red locations on the map which are close to your Noble`s castles). Click on an Asset; it is highlighted and any places on the map associated with that Asset start flashing. You can select further Assets in the same fashion. When you have selected the Assets you wish to allocate to that Noble, click on the Combine button. The list automatically reconfigures so that the Assets you have allocated to a Noble are listed directly under his name. Do the same for other Nobles in your Faction. If you make a mistake, or you`re unhappy with the way your forces are allocated, you can click a Noble and the Disperse button to break that grouping up. The aim is to allocate all of your Assets to the Nobles in your Faction. However, you may not be able to allocate all the forces at your disposal. For example, you may have an Office left over, and no Titled Nobles to give it to. This is unfortunate, and theres nothing you can do about it. Thye Asset is placed in Chancery when you finish building your Faction. In all other cases, you hear a warning if you try to leave the Build Faction Phase without having allocated all your forces. THE ENEMY FACTIONS ------------------ If you selected Allocate Blind as a pregame option, you must place your forces in ignorance of the whereabouts of the enemy. Your first chance to see what opposition you face will come during the first Turn. If you selected After Computer, you will have seen the other Factions place their forces before you start. This should affect your choices. If it looks as though an enemy Faction has the means to capture a Royal Heir before you, then you should change your plans. You might also want to avoid starting a Noble in a part of the country swarming with enemy troops. REVIEWING ENEMY FACTIONS ------------------------ You can review the dispositions of the computer controlled Factions by pressing the Review icon. This function is onlt available if you choose to deploy after the computer. Select to view one of the enemy Factions, or the Royal Heirs. You are given a `guided tour` of each Faction you select, working through the Nobles one-by-one. Use Review to take note of where enemy Nobles are, and where their strengths are. What Royal Heirs are they likely to move after ? Is there an option for your Faction to pounce on an isolated Noble ? Click the Right Mouse Button to return to the Build Faction view. STARTING LOCATIONS ------------------ When you have completed allocating your forces, click on the Proceed button. Select a starting location for each Noble in turn - their Home Castles are the flashing [gold] `spots' (other locations associated with them through Offices, etc are shown in [white]). Click the mouse pointer to select a Castle. RAISING THE STANDARDS --------------------- After you click on the Proceed Icon, your Faction raises its standards, proclaiming its cadidacy for power. It is 1453 and Margaret of Anjou has just produced an heir for Henry VI. The Yorkists se their chance to seize the throne slipping away. The times are out of joint; let slip to the dogs of war... The other Factions, your oponents in the race for power, raise their standards likewise. Depending on which option was selected at the start, they show their hand either before or after you have deployed your forces. OBSERVING THE ENEMY ------------------- You can keep an eye on the other Factions using the full map and the Review option. Click on the arrow in the botton left corner of the small map in the Information Box (click the RMB to make this visible). This brings up the main map showing the location of enemy forces and unclaimed Royal Heirs. You can also click on the Review icon on the main panel. This works exactly the same way as the Review in the Build Faction display. THE FAMILY TREE --------------- You can also gain intelligence about the Royal Heirs through the Family Tree icon. This lists the Royal Heirs, by House, in their order of precedence. Where a Royal Heir has been killed, their names are "crossed out". Where a Royal Heir has been captureed by a Faction, this is indicated by a bar in the colour of that Faction under the Heir's name. If a Royal Heir has been crowned King, this is indicated by a crown beside his or her name. KNOW YOUR ENEMY --------------- Depending on the option you selected at the beginning of the game, your Faction is opposed by 1 - 5 other Factions, equally determined to seize unchallenged power. IDENTIFYING FACTIONS -------------------- Throughout the game, each Faction's resources are marked by a single colour. The player's Faction is always green. Each Factions colour is used to signify: i) The Faction to which a Noble belongs; the background colour behind their sheilds is the same as their Faction's. ii) Cities, Towns and Castles controlled by that Faction, which are marked by a flag of the appropriate colour on the map. iii) Royal Heirs captured by that Faction (on the Family Tree). In addition, the most senior Noble of the Faction gives his name to the Faction as a whole - messages will speak of "Percy's Faction", or "Mowbray's Faction". COMPUTER CONTROLLED FACTIONS ---------------------------- Computer-controlled Factions have the same goal as you. They try to control one Royal Heir, and eliminate the others. To do this they need to defeat enemy Factions. Each Noble in a computer-controlled Faction is rated for his Aggressivness, Mercy and Ambition. As you play, you'll appreciate how Nobles display different degrees of each attribute. If you read through the historical information in the second half of this manual, you can work out for yourself who are the bloodthirsty, gramping ego-maniacs... Aggression measures the extent to which the Noble is prepared to take risks in seeking battle. Aggressive Nobles fight more battles when the odds are less heavily stacked in their favour. They also take greater personal risks in combat. Mercy measures the extent to which the Noble is prepared to temper his Ambition and Aggression with a measured and less bloodthirsty attitude towards his opponents. This particularly affects how the Noble deals with prisoners. Ambition dictates how readily the senior Noble in a Faction seeks and uses the instruments of State - Corinations and Parliment - in pursuit of his goal. The computer checks the attributes of Faction Leaders or local commanders whenever it is decising on how the factions controls will behave. WHAT ARE THEY UP TO ? --------------------- As previously stated, you can Review the whereabouts of all or some of the Nobles in different enemy Factions by clicking on the Review icon of the Build Faction display. FACTION RIVALRY --------------- The computer-controlled Factions have their programmed priorities (which aren't so very different to the player's). However, during the game, these become unballanced by specific rivalry between Factions. Each computer-controlled Faction records the injuries done to it by other Factions (including the player's). Each Battle fought increases the rivalry between it's participants. The execution of a Noble can increase it even more. These rivalries become sharper and more intense as the game goes on. The computer-controlled Factions seek out enemy Factions with whom they have the most intense rivalry, looking for revenge... THE SEQUENCE OF PLAY -------------------- Play continues in turns, until one faction acheives the victory conditions - namely, control of the sole remaining royal heir, crowned King of England. In each turn, each faction proceeds through upto six phases, namely: Events Phase - the vagaries of chance. Movement Phase - your chance to move all or some of your forces. Combat Phase - all battles and seiges are resolved. Parliment Phase - the King (if there is only one) or the Chancellor may summon Parliment. Coronation Phase - the first royal heir in order of succession from either royal house may be crowned. Reinforcement Phase - each faction recieves additional forces, which may be allocated immediately or kept hidden. ORDER OF PLAY ------------- The faction controlling the Office of Chancellor of England moves first, followed by the others in rotation. Should the Chancellor's Office not be in play, the most senior cleric from the following list determines which faction starts first. Archbishop of Canterbury Archbishop of York Bishop of Durham Bishop of Carlisle Bishop of Lincoln Bishop of Norwich If this does not decide the issue, the faction with the greatest number of permanent troops moves first. EVENTS ------ Plagues, emissaries from foreign lands, storms at sea, raids, revolts... a turbulent world is turning while you and your rivals squabble over the throne. During this phase of each faction's turn, you are kept informed of events in the Kingdom through the Information Window in the top right of the screen. Events can create opportunities, or rob a well-planned strategy of a vital component. Watch them carefully. It is possible for there to be no event during a factions turn. Some events affecting an enemy faction are kept secret from you. The different types of event are listed here, along with their effects. PLAGUES ------- Plague strikes at one or more cities and towns. Any noble in that town is killed immediately. The plague does not affect the surrounding countryside, though it will affect any port attatched to the town. Before the game, you can toggle on the Optional Plague Rules. Under these rules, plague can break out in a port at anytime. Once it does, it spreads widely, area by area. It moves fastest along the coast, port to port, and into areas which contain armies. Any noble, royal heir, Archbishop or Bishop who spends any part of a turn in an area affected by plague under Optional Rules may contract the disease, and be slain. In addition, merecnaries may desert if there leaders insist on passing through plague-ifested regions. STORMS AT SEA ------------- Storms drive all ships at sea into the nearest port at once ( obviously, if a ship is already in port, there is no effect), a friendly one if possible, a neutral one as second choice. A ship forced into a neutral or hostile port may have difficulty leaving again... RAIDS, REVOLTS AND PIRACY ------------------------- Because of the unrest in different parts of the realm, nobles amy be forced to leave the armies they march with, in order to meet the threat. Nobles may be summoned because of their title, or because of an office or bishop they hold. All forces associated with the summoned noble move with him. Other nobles in the same army do not move. [ The only choice a faction has concerns royal heirs: if an heir is present in an army split up through summonsof this kind, the faction chooses who the royal heir remains with.] The noble moves into the place named on the summons. If the location is no longer friendly, the noble remains outside instead. If a noble is summoned to two seperate locations by virtue (for example) his title and his office, he goes to the first location named by the event. Nobles in beseiged castles, at sea, on an island or in Calais cannot respond even if they have a ship close-at-hand. EMBASSY ------- News of the arrival of an embassy causes the King to move at once to the place where the meeting is to take place. Embassies do not arrive when there is no King, or when there are two. Any nobles accompanying the King when the embassy is announceed must move to the meeting place with him. If the King is beseiged in a town or castle, or if he is at sea, on an island or in Calais, he cannot respond even if he has a ship close-at-hand. FRESH HORSES ------------ Factions may recieve fresh horses. These are recorded in the icon on the main control panel. Fresh horses allow a single noble, royal heir or bishop to move twice in a single turn. To move more than one noble in a stack, one set of fresh horses is required for each noble. To use fresh horses, inspect an army. If your faction has sufficient fresh horses, you will be offered the option to use them, and to move 4 extra areas. PARLIMENTARY SUMMONS -------------------- A faction which includes the Chancellor may receive a Writ of Parlimentary Summons. The faction retains this summons, and can play it at an appropriate time to summon a session of parliment. See "Parliments" If a faction loses control of the Chancellor, all the summons they hold are discarded. Factions may also receive Writs of Attendance. Thaeir use is also described in the Chapter on "Parliments". MERCENARIES GO HOME ------------------- Finally, a factions foreign mercenaries may be called home. This affects all mercenaries, except the Scots and Irish. CONTROLLING THE ACTION ---------------------- During the movement phase of the player turn, you have the option to inspect areas in detail, and to move some or all of your forces. During the computer factions turn, you will see their forces move. THE AREA MAP ------------ Play now switches to the area map display. GAME CONTROLS ------------- On the right of the screen, there is an Information Box, and the following icons. 1 Faction Build Key This returns you to the Faction Box, where you can make changes to your factions line-up. You can also use the Review function to observe where other factions have their armies, and where the royal heirs are. 2 Family Tree You can gain intelligence about the royal heirs through the Family Tree icon. This lists the royal heirs, by house, in their order of precedence. Where a royal heir has been killed, that character's name will be "crossed-out". Where a royal heir has been captured by a faction, this is indicated by a bar in the colour of that faction. If a royal heir has been crowned King, this is indicated by the crown beside his name. 3 Secret Support During the Reinforcement Phase of the game, factions may be joined by additional nobles. These can be brought into play through the Secret Support button. See the Chapter on Reinforcement. 4 Chronicle Key Use the menus to discover detailed information about various parts of the game. Click on the item you wish to read. 5 Review This allows you to discover the whereabouts of royal heirs and enemy nobles. 6 Where Is...? Use this to track down nobles, royal heirs, bishops, towns or any other item. 7 Save Game Options You can store upto eight saved games on your hard disk. Click on a line to highlight it, type in a unique name, and hit return. Click on Save the game to return to play. You can also restore a saved game from here. 8 Game Options From here you can restart the game (return to the New Game option). Quit, toggle the sound On/Off and alter the Auto-Help setting (click on the button to cycle through the options). 9 Fresh Horses This records how many fresh horses your faction has. See Movement for the way to use fresh horses in the game. THE MOVEMENT PHASE ------------------ At the beginning of your turn, the area map centres one of your nobles. His sheild flashes, to show that he is waiting for orders. Nobles are represented on the area map by their heraldic sheilds. If two or more nobles are grouped together in an army, only the most senior is shown. INSPECT ------- Basic intelligence about most items can be gathered by clicking on them with the RMB. Details appear in the Information Box. You can look at different parts of Britain using the large-scale map in the top right window. Click the pointer an any part of this map, and the main area map centres on the selected area. Click on the button in the bottom left corner to bring up the full map of Britain. If you click on that map, the display returns to the detailed view. NOBLES / ARMIES --------------- Click the RMB on a noble's sheild, and the Information Box displays the names of the noble leading the army, any lesser nobles or royal heirs with him and this summary: Troop Strenth B = Archbishops / Bishops R = Royal Heirs S = Ships (controlled by a member of that army) If the Noble occupies a City, Fortified Town or Castle, His troop strength is strengthened by its garrison. This is shown by a "+" sign after the troop strength number. Garrisons are disscussed in the Seiges section. CASTLES CITIES AND TOWNS ------------------------ When you inspect a castle, town or city, you are shown an illustration, the place's name, and three pieces of information: C = Capacity - the maximum number of troops the location can hold (excluding its own garrison); G = Garrison - the number of troops the location adds to a defending army; S = the current total of troops present. SHIPS ----- When you inspect a ship, you are shown it's name, any passengers on board, and whether its at sea or in port. MOVEMENT -------- During your turn's movement phase you may move each of your nobles and ships along with all forces stacked with them. Each noble can command an army consisting of the assets he controls directly, plus any lesser nobles placed under his command (see Combining/Dividing Armies) along with any captured royal heirs. When you move an army or ship its marker moves across the map, area by area. The map automatically re-centres if a unit moves close to the edge of the visible map. Each of your armies and ships is presented in turn, requiring your orders. You have the following options: No Move: hit the SPACEBAR if you do not wish to move that army at all this turn, or to halt an army before it has used its full movement allowance. Delay Move: hit TAB if you wish to move this force later in your turn. Move: details of which follow. NOBLES / ARMIES --------------- To move an individual noble or an army, move the pointer across the map in the direction you wish to go. As the pointer moves over areas adjacent to the army, it changes shape. Click on the area, and the army moves there. Each army can move five areas. The number of moves an army has left is shown on its sheild. FRESH HORSES ------------ During previous events phases, you may have received frash horses. These are recrded on your Command Panel. Fresh horses allows you to move one noble or royal heir an extra 4 areas (2 in bad weather). One set of fresh horses is required for each noble or royal heir in an army. Inspect an army, and - if you have enough fresh horses - you will be asked if you wish to use them to complete this move. TERRAIN EFFECTS --------------- Caertain terrain affects movement. Forest - Any move into a forest area ends there. You can move out next turn. Estuaries - Land forces cannot cross estuaries. Sea - Only ships may enter sea areas. Nobles require ships to make sea crossings. Rivers have no effect on the game, except when they act as area boundaries. If you try to make an illegal move an audible warning sounds. ROAD MOVEMENT ------------- In addition, an army may move by road, provided it starts the movement phase in an area bisected by a road. As you move the pointer over the map, beyond normal range of land movement, the pointer changes shape. Whenever it passes over an area to which there is a direct, unblocked road connection. Click on the area, and the army moves directly there. Not all road areas will be accessible. Road movement is blocked by neutral or unfriendly fortified towns cities or castles. It is not blocked by the presence of enemy forces. You cannot combine road with ordinary movement. CASTLES, TOWNS AND CITIES ------------------------- Towns and castles are part of the area they occupy. When selecting an area to move into, click either on the open area, or directly onto the castle city or town you wish to enter. If a force enters an area containing a town or castle, it may pass by or remain outside freely. If, however, you wish the army to occupy the town or castle click directly on its symbol. STATUS OF TOWNS AND CITIES -------------------------- Your ability to enter a town or castle depends on its status. Towns can be open, fortified or unfortified. All cities are fortified. Naturally, so are all castles. Open towns (Cardigan, Hereford and Kinston) are friendly to all factions. They can be occupied and besieged, but never controlled. As soon as an occupying army moves out, an open town reverts to its original status. Unless defended by a factional army, they pose no hinderance to mevement. Cardigan, where George, Duke of Clarence starts the game, is a particularly important open town. Unfortified towns have no major effect on the game, though they may also be ports and/or cathederals. They can be defended, but without advantage to the defender. They can never be controlled. Unless defended the pose no hiderance to movement. CONTROL OF CASTLES TOWNS AND CITES ---------------------------------- As the game progresses, the control of key locations becomes vital. From any factions perspective, all castles cities and fortified towns are eitheer friendly, neutral or hostile. Friendly places are those controlled by the moving faction. They may be freely entered, and place no restriction on road or other movement. Neutral places are controlled by no faction. No noble or army may enter them; they must first be captured by siege. They block road movement. Hostile places are those belonging to other factions. They block road movement and can only be captured by siege. Sieges are covered in the Combat Chapter. Obviously, once a place is captured by siege, it becomes friendly to the faction who capture it. CAPACITY -------- The only other restriction on entering castles, towns or cities is that the capacity of the place must not be exceeded by the troop strength of the visitors. Different places have different capacities: Unfortified Town = n/a Towns(inc. Open Towns) = 400 Cities = unlimited Noble Castles = 300 Royal castles = 300 If an army's troop strength is too great to enter the town or castle, the army must be split up to allow a portion to enter. The remainder are left outside. COMBINING / DIVIDING ARMIES --------------------------- Nobles and armies of the same faction can be combined by moving one onto the other during the movement phase. The armies combine automatically. To divide an army, double click the LMB on its sheild. You are shown a list of the nobles and royal heirs in that army. Select those you wish to stay together by clicking on their name with the LMB, then click on the combine button. Then hit the proceed button, and play continues. This is, in effect a simpler version of the Build Faction routine allowing you to "allocate" nobles to different armies. ENEMY ARMIES ------------ Enemy forces pose no hinderance to movement. If an army ends its movement in the same area as an enemy army, [ a message explains that you are skirmishing with the opposing force.] You are given the option to attack in the combat phase. SEA MOVEMENT ------------ Armies may also be moved by ship. Any noble moved into a friendly or unfotified port in which the faction also has a ship may embark. Click on the ship as you would click on any other destination and the noble/army moves to the ship and boards it. All ships move later in a factions turn, after the armies, and are moved independently, without passengers. Any number of nobles may travel together on a ship, but they must be combined into one army before they board the ship. Only one army can travel on a ship. Ships can be inspected (by clicking on the ship's marker with the RMB). Sea movement is conducted in the same manner as land movement. When a ship is flashing, it is waiting for orders. Move the pointer over an adjacent sea area and it changes shape. Click on the area for the ship to move there. Ships may move upto 5 areas. Ports count as seperate areas. A ship can leave port and move into the adjacent sea area, or from a sea area to a port on its periphery, including along estuaries. FAIR WINDS ---------- Fair winds allow you to move one ship and all its passengers an extra 5 areas (3 during bad weather). You only discover if the weather is set fair once you start moving. ENTERING PORT ------------- As soon as a ship enters a port movement ceases and all passengers automatically disembark. They cannot move until the next turn. Ships may not enter fortified, neutral or unfriendly port unless forced to do so by an event (sheltering from a storm, for example). A ship which occupies a neutral port is free to leave in the follwing turn. A ship which occupies a port controlled by another faction may not leave. If a faction loses control of a ship while it is at sea (through the loss, for example, of the office to which the ship is attatched or the seizure of its home port), the ship may complete its journey before it is lost. Ships cannot block the movement of other ships, nor do they engage in combat. REINFORCEMENTS -------------- Reinforcements can be made active at any time during the movement phase. Nobles are brought into play through the secret support icon. Other assets can be assigned to a noble through the Build Faction screen. THE COMBAT PHASE ---------------- Any army which ends its movement in the same area as an opposing factions army can attack the enemy during the combat phase. If you move an army onto the heraldic sheild representing the other factions forces, a message appears to tell you that you are skirmishing with the enemy. If it was your intention to attack, and you do not get this message when you move, try moving the army within the area. An individual noble or army may only attack once per turn. If the defending force occupies a city, fortified town or castle, they can only be attacked by siege. This is covered in the next chapter. CHOOSING TO ATTACK ------------------ When an army of the player's faction ends its movement in the same area as an enemy force, a box appears, detailing the forces present in the area, and asking you if you wish to attack or evade it. Control is covered in Advanced Battle. If you evade, and their is more than one army present in the area, you will be offered the chance to attack the second. If not your army has completed its turn. Evading doesn't mean that there can't still be a battle here; the enemy faction may attack you during its turn. Computer-controlled nobles are rated for their aggression. Some, such as Warwick, seek battle almost at any odds. Others, such as Fitzalan, only attack when they know they can win. Experience will expose the more aggressive nobles. All nobles in an army contribute their troop strength to a grand total. As has been shown, you can inspect an enemy force by clicking the RMB on its heraldic sheild during the movement phase. BATTLE RESOLUTION ----------------- If you elect to attack, if you are attacked by an enemy faction, or if there is a battle between two computer-controlled factions, heralds bring word of the outcome. Battles can be delayed by storms or bad weather. In the basic game, there is a small chance of a storm preventing a battle. Using the advanced weather option, combat is immpossible during a bad weather turn. A battles outcome is decided through a simple calculation. The troop strength of the attacker is compared to the troop strength of the defender, and expressed as a ratio. This can be a simple majority, 5:4, 3:2, 2:1, 3:1 or 4:1. The ratio is always rounded down in favour of the smaller force. For example, if a force of 410 troops attacked an army of just 280, the ratio would be 1.95:1, which falls somewhere between 3:2 and 2:1. The battle ratio is therefore 3:2 in the attacker's favour Each battle can either be a victory for the larger army, or indecisive. The odds on either outcome depend on the ratio between the forces. ATTACKING WITH A SMALLER ARMY ----------------------------- Small forces can attack larger ones in the hope of killing one or more nobles in the opposing army. The odds are calculated in the same manner as for an attack by a larger army, but reversed. THE OUTCOME ----------- The following are the approximate odds against a decisive victory for the larger army. BATTLE OUTCOME RATIO VICTORY INDECISIVE 1:1 15% 85% 5:4 25% 75% 3:2 40% 60% 2:1 55% 45% 3:1 70% 30% 4:1+ 85% 15% Having calculated the outcome, the computer displays the result on the screen. In a decisive battle the smaller army is destroyed. An indecisive outcome means it has escapes to fight another day. CASUALITIES ----------- Even in an indecisive battle, there can be critical losses on either side. The battle result names nobles killed in the affray. Each noble has a variable chane of becoming a fatality, the more aggressive nobles having the highest chance. On average, the odds are about 1-in-12 (8%). In an indecisive battle, where no major victory is scored by either side, those nobles who cheated death leave the field of battle with their lives and other assets intact. In a decisive battle, on the other hand, all the loser's surviving nobles are captureed, and many of the forces they controlled may be lost through ransom. The outcome of all battles - even those between computer-controlled factions - are shown. The herald brings news of the deaths of royal heirs or your deadly rivals, be it on the battlefield or through savage execution. AMBUSH ------ If a small army attacks a largerone at odds worse than 1:4, it will certainly be decisively defeated. The only point in such a suicidal attack is that it might lead to the death of a more important noble in the larger army. Only one noble in the larger army can be killed in this way. An ambush is a desperate tactic, but it might just mean that you kill off a noble controlling 300 men for the loss of a minor pawn like Audley... EXECUTING CAPTURED NOBLES ------------------------- To the victor, the spoils. The victorious faction decides how to deal with captured nobles and their possessions. If you are the victorious party in a decisive battle, a box appears, listing the nobles you have captured one by one. The information box displays the assets available for ransom. For each noble, you are asked whether he is to be executed, ransomed or set free. If executed, the noble is removed from his faction, along with any assets ne held. Titles and offices are placed in chancery; other assets are removed. All towns, cities or castles controlled by that noble, either directly or through his assets, become neutral and all occupants are expelled. If set free, the noble returns to play with all his assets intact. Why would you do it ? Remeber faction rivalry. Killing a noble may take him out of the game, but his faction may never forgive or forget your action. RANSOMING A CAPTURED NOBLE -------------------------- Alternatively, a faction can attempt to ransom all or some of it's captives. If successful, the faction takes control of all or some of the assets of the captured noble's faction in exchange for his freedom. Nobles titles and offices cannot be taken. Nor can any asset gained as part of another asset (for example, the town of Lincoln, which is part of the holding of the Bishop of Lincoln). Royal heirs, Archbisops and Bishops, ships and certain towns which are not attatched to offices or other assets can be taken as ransom, along with all troops and other assets connected with them. Select one or more of the items displayed in the information box, and then click on the ransom button. You will be told either that the ransom is agreed, in which case your army gains control of the assets, and the noble is set free, or that the demand is refused. In the latter case, you are offered to either set the noble free, or to execute him. Naturally the more you demand, the less likely it is that the other faction will agree to your demands. If a royal heir is captured, the option is given to execute him at once, you cannot ransom royalty. All mercenaries in the defeated army are destroyed, and are removed from the factions strength immediately. MERCY OR VENGEANCE ? -------------------- If the player's faction is the loser, the computer displays the extent of it's malice or mercy. It may allow you to ransom your nobles. You must decide whether the ransom is worth paying. Sometimes, a noble is set free even without a ransom being paid. If a ransom is demanded, you will be told of which noble is being considered, and which of your assets demands. You may either accept or reject the demands. The computer-factions have their own rationale for deciding when to set a noble free, when to execute, and when to demand ransom. As part of this, through faction rivalry, they keep a note of how you treat the prisoners you capture. The more generous you are, the more likely they are to be generous with you. On the other hand, if you execute proisoners regularly, you can be sure you will be at the centre of every other faction's vengeful plans. HEIRS ----- Nobles killed in battle or executed afterwards are removed from play. Their heirs may appear later through the reinforcement phase. CHANCERY -------- The titles (where these are not permanently attatched to a titled noble) and offices of nobles who die as a consequence of battle are in chancery (see the parliment chapter). They only re-enter play through the summoning of Parliment. EXECUTING ROYAL HEIRS --------------------- As has been previously mentioned, when royal heirs are captured, you are given the choice of whether to execute them immediately or hold them prisoner. You must decide if the royal heir has any potential place in your plans; if not, then you must act with appropriate brutality... You are faced with the same decision if you capture heirs from both opposed royal houses. You can only sit on the fence in the dispute between York and Lancaster for a short while. After two turns, you are asked to choose which royal heir you will continue to support, and which will meet his inevitable fate. During play, if you decide that a royal heir you have been holding prisoner becomes superfluous, then click on the family tree button. From this display, select the name of the noble you have decided you no longer need. You are given the opportunity to execute the poor wretch. If you select YES, the headsman will be summoned at once. The computer-controlled factions are making the same kinds of decisions. Ambitious nobles find it easier to kill royal heirs than more reserved characters. Sooner or later, though, the royal heirs must decline and die, until but one remains... ADVANCED BATTLE RULES --------------------- At any time in the game, you may fight a Battle usong the advanced battle rules. Simply select Control when the option to attack or defend is offered to you. Instead of the normal resolution of the conflict, you are taken to the battlefield to take command of your army. By superior generalship and good fortune, you may find that you achieve a greater level of success than the normal calculation inspires. THE PLAN OF BATTLE ------------------ Before the battle, you must allocate your forces, under the command of the nobles you have in that army, to their places on the battlefield. Your army will consist of two lines, a front rank and a reserve, and each line divided into a right wing, centre and left wing, according to the accepted military practice of the day. The nobles in your army (along with any royal heirs and mercenaries) are listed in the information box. Select them one-by-one and place them in one of the six "slots" available. You might, for example (and this would be normal practice) place your most senior noble in the centre of the front rank. Continue to do this until all your forces have been allocated a place on the battlefield. As you allocate your nobles, their sheild appears in that position, and the box underneath records their troop strength. Mercenaries, likewise, add their strength to that battalion. A Royal Heir merely adds himself, but he gives that battalion an edge in the coming fight. SCALING ------- To make things easier to handle on screen, the computer automatically scales larger forces down (equally on both sides!), so that each man on the screen equals 2.5 or even 10 actual troops. As your nobles are placed in position, the troop strength given in the box shows their actual size. COMMAND ------- The first noble placed in each position commands that "battalion" once fighting begins. It pays to have a noble in command of each battalion, since they will relay your orders more successfully. More than one noble can be placed in a battalion, adding his troop strength, but he has no command role. "SPILLING" ---------- Somtimes , even having taken scaling into account, one noble brings a disproportionate number of troops to the field, for example, if one noble controls 200 troops out of an army of 220. Each of the "battalions" can hold a maximum of 30 men (after scaling has been taken into account). If a noble is placed in command of a battalion, and he has more than 30 men, the excess will "spill" into a neighbouring battalion. Unless another noble is then placed in command of this neighbouring battalion, these troops remain under the direct command of their lord. Naturally, it makes sense to make certain that as many of your battalions as possible have a noble to command them. Your troops are an unwieldy bunch, and once the fighting starts it's very difficult to manouvre them around the battlefield. Of course, if you have less than six nobles, you can't place a noble in command of each battalion, so there may be battalions who take their orders from a distant noble. They will suffer from delays and errors accordingly. An army of 200 men with 6 nobles involved will be easier to command than an army of 200 all undre one noble. THE BATTLEFIELD --------------- Having laid out your forces, the action now shifts to the battlefield itself. Your army, dressed in red, and with it's green banners prominent, will be arrayed opposite the host of your opponent. Your men are arrayed in their "battalions", as you deployed them. The front rank is nearest the enemy, with the centre separated from the left and the right. In each battalion, there is a mix of spearmen, archers and men-at-arms, normally in three ranks. The numbers of each type are decided by the source of the troop strength you placed in the battalion. For example, the noble's own household troops contribute 1/3 srearmen, 1/3 archers and 1/3 men-at-arms (which means that the 30 troop strength Talbot commands supply 10 of each). Most troops supplied by virtue of office or by bishops are 1/3 spearmen and 2/3 archers. Some mercenary units are all archers. Your nobles appear mounted on dark horses under a banner. Any royal heirs you have are mounted on white horses. To move round the battlefield, move the mouse pointer and press the LMB. The view centres on the pointer. There is a menu bar across the top of the screen. Use this to cammand the action. The first thing you will want to do is to issue orders. ORDERS ------ Select the orders box in the menu bar. Each battalion is divided into two "companies" of 15 men. You can give orders to each company individually, or - by giving orders to the noble - to the whole battalion. You can also give orders to royal heirs, who have no command role. Select a company by clicking on one of its soldiers using the RMB. If you move the pointer around the map, you will now see a ylloe line appear. Select a target - this can either be a place or an enemy soldier. If you select an open area on the map, your selected company marches in that direction. If you select an enemy noble or soldier to be the target, when you release the button you are presented with a pair of icons. If you select the `man' icon, your chosen company will attempt to engage that target in combat, traking them acrossthe battlefield. If you selectthe `area' icon, your chosen men move to the target area. When you give orders to the whole battalion through their commanding noble, you are given an additonal pair of icons to select from. Select the arrow icon if you wish your troops to advance to the attack. Select the shield if you want them to halt in place immediately. As soon as they come into range, your archers open fire on the enemy. They have a limited supply of arrows - once these have gone they become spearmen. Your men will also melee automatically if they come into contact with enemy troops. Normally, once this occurs they will be virtually impossible to control again, and will ingnore any fresh orders you try to give them. REVIEW ------ You can review which orders each unit has by clicking on the review box in the menu bar. Select a unit. You will see where it has been ordered to march to. STATUS ------ Once the battle begins, you may wish to see how healthy your forces are. Select the status box in the menu bar. Select a unit with the RMB. You will See the name of its commander, its type (spearmen, archers, men-at-arms or noble) and its status. Status is a measure of the unit's cohesion, how well it is capable of performing its duties. Nobles and men-at-arms start as elite forces; all other start as firm. The presence of a royal heir in a battalion makes allunits in that battalion start as elite troops. As a unit takes missile fire, or is batteredin a melee, it reduces its status, falling to shaken then routed. A shaken unit tries to retreat out of mele and missile range. A routed unit tries to flee the battlefield. CONTINUE -------- Having inspected your army and given your orders, select the continue box in the menu bar. The battle commences. Your men attempt to obey their orders, click the RMB to recover the menu bar. Once a battalion is deeply engaged in battle, they become incapable of obeying fresh orders. Commanding a mediaeval army was an impressive science at its best. You may also find that your battalion commanders may exercise a little "discretion", if they feel they should be taking a more active or passive role. Under fire, or faced with an opponent against whom the faction has a strong faction rivalry, an agressive noble might ignore your order to stand firm, and charge into the fray. On the other hand, a less agressive noble might be slow in obeying an order to attack. NOBLE CASUALTIES ---------------- During a battle, nobles and royal heirs can be killed. Each arrow strike or melee blow has a small chance of killing one of these prominent figures. The battle continues, but all units in a battalion commanded by a noble who is slain, or who were accompanied by a royal heir who fell, suffer an immediate fall in status. VICTORY! -------- The battle continues until one of the following occurs: (i) One of the armies completely routs from the battlefield. This counts as a decisive victory for the other side. (ii) 50% or more of each army routs, in which case the battle is indesisve. With the battle over, the game returns to its normal display. If the victory was a decisive one, all the defeated army's nobles will be prisoners, and can be ransomed, executed or set free in the usual fashion. You can speed up the conclusion of a battle by using either of the other buttons on the menu bar. Fight places the battle into a quicker mode. You won't be able to access the menu bar any longer, and all combat damage is doubled. Click on surrender when your position is too hopeless to cantinue. This at least means your remaining nobles survive until the ransom routine... SIEGES ------ If an army belonging to one faction attacks another faction's forces occupying a city, town or castle, a siege must take place. In order to declare a siege, the attacking army must have a troop strength of at least an equal size to the opposing army, including the garrison. GARRISONS --------- Garrisons resist sieges, even when no other troops of their faction are present. This is particularly important when considering neutral towns. The number of garrison troops depends on the location. TYPE GARRISON UNFORTIFIED TOWN NONE TOWNS 200 (inc. open towns) CITIES 300 NOBLE CASTLES 200 ROYAL CASTLES 100 Open towns only provide a garrison while occupied by a faction's forces. At other times they have a garrison strength of 0, and can be freely entered. When you inspect an army, the presence of additonal garrison troops is signified by a "+" sign. If you inspect a place, the size of its garrison is given after the "G", and the total troop strength (including any nobles' forces) after the "S". If the attacking army's troop strength falls below the size of the defender's army (including the garrison), the siege is lifted. This can happen if the attack is delayedand the attacker weakened by events. EDuring the movement phase, the besieger voluntarily raise the siege by moving away. SIEGE RESOLUTION ---------------- Each turn after a siege is declared, there is an 85% chance that the defenders will capitulate. In the meantime, as in battle, nobles can be killed in the fighting. A display shows all nobles who perish in this way. The siege may be successful immediately, or it may take a number of turns to be successful. This largely depends on good weather; a siege cannot proceed during storms (basic game) or a bad weather turn (advanced weather option(. During their turn, the defenders (excluding the garrison) may sally forth to give battle (particularly if the odds aren't too much against them). They can join forces with a relieveing army but they can't move away from the castle. Once the besieged defenders surrender, the outcome is shown on screen. All those within are captured, and may be dealt with in the same way as nobles captured after a decisive battle. A city, town or castle captured in this way becomes fiendly to the victor, even if it is associated with an office or asset. It only becomes neutral if the faction is destroyed. No-one may get in or out of a town or castle under siege. THE PARLIMENT PHASE ------------------- During the course of play, titles and offices may become "vacant" as nobles are killed. These assets are placed in chancery and can only be brought returned to play by parliment. CHANCERY -------- Titles and offices appear in chancery through one of two methods. (i) Some factions may not be able to allocate all the assets they begin the game with (because they did not have enough nobles). The excess is placed in chancery. (ii) Any offices or seperate titles held by a noble killed through plague, battle or execution are placed in chancery. Not all titles can be seperated from their nobles, even by death. Some nobles have a title permanently associated with them. If they are killed, and their heir appears later in the game, the heir automatically has the title. SUMMONING PARLIMENT ------------------- Parliment may be summoned during the parliment phase of any faction's turn. It is summoned in one of two ways. (i) If there is one crowned King (or Queen), the faction controlling that royal heir may call parliment. (ii) If there is no crowned King / Queen, or if there are two, the chancellor must also issue a writ of parlimentary summons (these are gained through the events phase and stored among the factions secret assets). In either case, the King or chancellor must occupy a town or city (excluding Calais or anywhere under siege), and must also possess at least one writ of attendance (likewise gained through the events phase). If all these conditons are met, the faction controlling the King or chancellor is told how many assets are in chancery, and is offered the opportunity to call parliment. WRIT OF ATTENDANCE ------------------ Having decided to call a parliment, the faction must first serve a writ of attendance on a noble in one of the other factions. You are asked to select which noble receives a writ from a list in the information box of all the nobles in play. Use the scroll buttons to move through the list, and click on the selected noble. Naturally, the computer handles this choice automatically for its factions. You are told if one of your nobles is selected. Each faction which possesses writs of attendance is asked if they too wish to serve these on nobles in other factions. If your faction holda any additional writs, you will be asked if you wish to play them. Either select nobles from the list, or select cancel. All nobles summoned to parliment by a writ must attend. VOLUNTARY ATTENDANCE -------------------- Finally, each faction is asked if any of their nobles attend parliment voluntarily. Nobles cannot be summoned or volunteer to attend if they are in a besieged city or town. Nor can they attend if they are in Calais or some other location seperated from mainland Britain by the sea, unlessthe faction they are part of controls a ship with sufficient capacity to transport the noble and his followers. Those nobles who grace parliment with their presence then make their way there regardless of normal movement rules. ATTENDING PARLIMENT ------------------- Once parliment has assembled, the faction which summoned it is entitled to reallocate titles or offices which have been placed in chancery. One title or office can be reallocated for each noble attending parliment (assuming there are sufficient in chancery). Titles and offices may be given to any noble and not just to those actually present, subject to the usual rules concerning combinations of nobles, titles and offices. If the player controls parliment, you are asked to combine a noble with each title or office in turn. Any titles or offices which cannot be allocated are returned to chancery. You can give a new title or office to one of your nobles who already controls such an asset. His old asset will have to be given to someone else. This is the only time offices may be transferred. Once parliment dissolves, the factions move away during the movement phase of their turn as normal. No battle may take place in the town or city either during parliment of for a full turn thereafter. The King's peace forbids any transition of this law. THE CORONATION PHASE -------------------- Part of the vicyory conditions for Kingmaker is that a faction must not only control the last surviving royal heir, but must also have that heir crowned as King (or Queen) of England. Coronations, therefore, play a central part in the game. In addition, a crowned heir may be able to summon parliment. ARRANGING A CORONATION ---------------------- The following conditions must be met before a faction can crown a royal heir. (i) They must control the most senior Yorkist or Lancastrian royal heirs, according to the order of succession of that house. (ii) The potential King must occupy a town or city which is also a cathederal and must be accompanied by either an archbisop or two bishops. If these conditions apply, the faction automatically crowns its royal heir. THE REINFORCEMENT PHASE ----------------------- In the final phase of each faction's turn, it receives one asset as a reinforcement, so long as there are assets available. All the nobles, titles offices, bishops, ships, etc which were not distributed at the beginning of the game are available, as are all nobles killed during the game, and any other assets removed during play. Titles and offices, as we have seen are placed in chancery when they are removed, and return to play through parliment. A message appears to tell which asset has become available. Nobles who join a faction are automatically added to the faction's secret support. Other assets are placed in the faction build box. SECRET SUPPORT -------------- Secret support can be thought of as those supporters of your faction who have not yet come into the open, declaring their allegiance. Computer factions determine when to bring their supporters into play automatically. You must activate your secret reinforcments as you see fit. Select the secret support icon. The list of your secret supporters appears. Select a noble by clicking on his name, and select proceed to bring him into Home Castle. Nobles start in their nome castle unless it has been captured by another faction, in which case the noble starts instead from the nearest friendly castle, town or city. As usual, you can learn more about the noble by positioning the mouse pointer over his icon. Click on the LMB. You can now read the chronicle information about him. ACTIVATING OTHER ASSETS ----------------------- All other assets are brought into play through the build faction box. Allocating an asset to a noble activates that asset. This is done in the same way as in the original faction build phases; select a noble and the asset you wish to give him, click on combine, and the asset is brought into play. Any assets you have not allocated by the time you click on proceed are returned remain in reserve. Until a noble declares his allegiance to your faction, or an asset is assigned to one of your nobles, they are completely secret - the other factions do not know of their existence. The computer-controlled factions likewise develop their "secret reserves". REBUILDING YOUR FACTION ----------------------- During the game, nobles in your faction may be killed. Any titles or offices they control are returned to chancery (see parliment), towns, cities or castles which they controlled become neutral. As your faction suffers losses, or is enlarged through reinforcment, you may wish to redistribute your assets. Return to the build faction box display by clicking on the faction icon. You cannot reallocate titles or offices in this way - this must be done at parliment. Other assets such as merecenaries or bishops can only be exchanged between two or more nobles in the same army. The rules for this are covered in the movement chapter. PARLIMENTARY SUMMONSES AND WRITS OF ATTENDANCE ---------------------------------------------- During the events phase, you may recieve parlimentary summonses and writs of attendance. These are automatically stored, and can be played in the parliment phase, as outlined above. ****************************************************************************** GLOSSARY -------- Archbishops. The senior members of the church in England. Control of an archbishop allows you to crown a royal heir. There are two archbishops. Canterbury is the most senior. York provides the faction with extra troops. Armies. Two or more nobles in the same faction can be combined together, along with all their assets, to form an army, commanded by the mor senior of the nobles. They are represented on the map by the sheild of the most senior noble. Bishops. Lesser clerics of the church in England. There are four bishops in the game, and any noble can control any number of them. You need two bishops to stage a coronation. Most bishops bring other assets with them. Cathederals. Found in towns and cities, cathederals are sites where coronations take place. Cities. Larger versions of towns, the cities of London, York, Bristol and Norwich have garrisons of 300 troops. Faction. One of between two and six groups of nobles, each group vying against the others for the ultimate prize - the Government of England. The plaer controls one faction, the computer controls the others. Each is identified by the name of its leader and a colour. The player's faction is green. Mercenaries. There are eight mercenary bands in the game, and any number maybe controlled by any noble. Nobles. Nobles are the basic playing piece of the game controlling your facton's army. They can be titld or untitled. Each noble is shown on the map by his heraldic sheild. They can be combined together to form armies. Offices. These provide additional power. Each titled noble (or untitled nobles granted a title) can be given one office. They confer extra troop strengths (sometimes tied to one part of the country), towns or castles. A titled noble with an office is a potent combination. Royal Castles. Well-garrisoned fortifications in key parts of the country. Only one - Carisbrooke - can be controlled in this way. It can be given to any noble. Ships. These provide vital transport, particularly if your faction has a base in Calais, Ireland or the Isle of Man. There are twelve in the game, and any noble may control any number of them. Titled Nobles. These are the primary members of a faction. There are 9 in all, annd even the least powerful one has a respectable number of troop strength points. Titles. These are high honours which can be given to your untitled nobles. Obviously, only one can be allocated to each untitled noble. This effectively makes them the same as titled nobles, though not as permanent. There are eight titles available. Towns. These are the key locations in England. Fortified towns provide a defensive garrison of 200 men for the faction which controls them. Unfortified towns do not, and they cannot be controlled. Open towns (namely Cardigan, Hereford and Kingston) cannot be controlled, but do provide garrisons if occupied. Control of certain independent towns is gained either at the start of the game or through reinforcement. Others can be gained by control of offices, bishops or titles. Towns can be also captured by siege. As far as any faction is concerned, a town is either friendly (occupied and/or controlled by the faction). Neutral (controlled by no faction) or unfriendly (controlled by an enemy faction). A fortified town can shelter up to 400 troops. Untitled Nobles. These are less powerful nobles, but they can be built up to be as powerful as their titled cousins. ****************************************************************************** THE FOLLOWING ARE REFERENCES TO ALL THE FORCES IN THE GAME: TITLED NOBLES ------------- Percy, Earl of Northumberland. Troop Strength 100; Alnwick and Cockermouth castles. Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk. Troop Strength 50; Castle Rising, Denbigh, Framlingham, Usk and Wressle castles. Neville, Earl of Warwick. Troop Strength 50; Ogmore, Richmond, Warwick and Raby castles. Beaufort, Duke of Somerset. Troop Strength 30; Corfe castle. Stafford, Duke of Buckingham. Troop Strength 30; Leeds and Newcastle castles. Pole, Duke of Suffolk. Troop Strength 30; Ludlow castle. Courtenay, Earl of Devon. Troop Strength 30; Okehampton castle. UNTITLED NOBLES --------------- Stanley. Troop Strength 50; Douglas castle. Roos. Troop Strength 20; Belvoir and Helmsley castles. Grey. Troop Strength 20; Chillingham and Rockingham castles. Holland. Troop Strength 20; Kimbolton and Compton castles. Cromwell. Troop Strength 10; Tattershall castle. Howard. Troop Strength 10; Farnham castle. Bourchier. Troop Strength 10; Pleshy castle. Greystroke. Troop Strength 10; Appleby castle. Scrope. Troop Strength 10; Masham castle. Clifford. Troop Strength 10; Conisborough castle. Audley. Troop Strength 10; Tickhill castle. Berkeley. Troop Strength 10; Berkeley castle. Hastings. Troop Strength 10; Tutbury castle. Herbert. Troop Strength 10; Llanstephan castle. TITLES ------ Earl of Richmond. Troop Strength 40. Earl of Westmoreland. Troop Strength 40. Earl of Kent. Troop Strength 30. Earl of Salisbury. Troop Strength 30. Earl of Worcester. Troop Strength 30. Earl of Wiltshire. Troop Strength 30. Duke of Exeter. Troop Strength 20; Exeter. Earl of Essex. Troop Strength 20. OFFICES ------- Marshall of England. Troop Strength 100; Harlech castle. Chancellor of England. Troop Strength 50; Caernarvon castle. Captain of Calais. Troop Strength 50; 300 extra troops in Calais; Calais. Chamberlain of the County Palatine of Chester. Troop Strength 50; 200 extra troops in Wales; Rhuddlan, Chester. Lieutenant of Ireland. Troop Strength 50; 200 extra troops in Ireland. Chancellor of the Duchy of Cornwall. Troop Strength 50; 100 extra troops in Devon and Cornwall; Oxford, Plymouth. Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Troop Strength 50; !00 extra troops within three areas of Conway; Conway castle. Warden of the Northern Marches. Troop Strength 50; 100 extra troops noth of the River Tees; Bamburgh, Berwick. Constable of Dover Castle. Troop Strength 50; Dover. Steward of the Royal Household. Troop Strength 50; Newark Treasurer of England. Troop Strength 50; Wallingford and Beaumaris. Admiral of England. Troop Strength 50; Lynn, Southampton; Le Margaret of Rye, Le Christopher of Southampton. Warden of the Cinque Ports. Troop Strength 50; Pevensey; Le Trinity of Rye, Le George of Rye. BISHOPS ------- Archbishop of Canterbury. Canterbury. Archbishop of York. Troop Strength 30 north of the River Trent; York. Bishop of Norwich. Troop Strength 50; Norwich. Bishop of Carlisle. Troop Strength 30 north of the River Trent; Carlisle. Bishop of Durham. Troop Strength 30 north of the River Trent; Durham. Bishop of Lincoln. Lincoln. INDEPENDENT TOWNS ----------------- Bristol, Coventry, Ipswich, Lancaster, Leicester, Newcastle, Northampton, Nottingham, Shrewsbury, Swansea. INDEPENDENT SHIPS ----------------- Le Swan of Berwick, Le Rose of Plymouth, Le Lucas of Whitby, Le Michael of Bristol. MERCENARIES ----------- 100 French Foot Soldiers. 2 x 30 Burgundian Crossbowmen. 2 x 20 Flemish Crossbowmen. 2 x 20 Scots Archers. 2 x 10 Saxons. ROYAL CASTLE ------------ Carisbrooke. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thats ya!! lot go play this immensly ?? interesting game and fight !!!!!