11. Diplomatic Relations

11. Diplomatic Relations #

11.1 Influence (I) #

Influence signifies political power and good relations with NPRs in Areas that you do not directly control. Certain Diplomatic Actions, like Forge Alliance or the Subjugate Action Card, require you to have a certain amount of I in the target Realm.

No Area can hold more than 5I, and it is possible to fill an Area with I in order to prevent other players from taking the Influence Action to place I there.

I gained via Events, Mission rewards, or Peace Terms can be placed in Areas that are full – remove other I as necessary.

Any PR’s I can be sabotaged by the Spy Networks of their Opponents.

If you do not have z remaining in your Supply, you may freely remove your I from the board to use them where needed.

Influence and Player Realms #

I cannot be used to affect other PRs, and may not be placed in Areas where all Provinces are owned by PRs.

Once all the Provinces in an Area are Owned by PRs, all I here are removed and returned to their owners’ Supply.

Influence on Distant Continents #

No I can be placed in Distant Areas, but < in the Colonist Pool, for Forge Alliance and Call to Arms purposes, count as I in any Distant Area.

11.2 Marriages (M) #

You may use the Royal Marriage Action Card to strengthen your political ties to the Realm to which you get married. In these rules, the terms “Royal Marriage” and simply “Marriage” are used interchangeably.

You can have a maximum of 3M (the “Cabinet” Idea allows for 1 more).

Key features of Royal Marriages #

  • For all purposes, a M counts as an I, but M cannot be removed and do not count toward an Area’s 5I limit.
  • Whenever you take an Action (or play an Action Card) that requires you to remove I from an Area, remove 1 fewer I than normal if you have 1+ M in that Area.
  • A Marriage makes it possible to Subjugate NPRs that have Tax Incomes higher than ½ of your own Base Tax Income, or those that have Vassals of their own.
  • Royal Marriages are triggers for a number of Events (e.g., Disputed Succession).
  • You receive a -1s penalty if you attack a Realm to which you are Married (in addition to any loss of Stability that may occur as a result of lacking a Casus Belli).

Eligible Marriage Partners #

Several PRs -can- be Married to the same NPR.

You may Marry your own Vassals, but not those of other players. If an NPR to whom you are Married is Vassalized by another PR, you must remove your M from that Realm.

You may enter a Marriage with an Opponent Realm (see Player-to-Player Diplomacy), in which case both will gain an Action Card of a type chosen by the Active Player.

Eligible Marriage partners based on State Religion:

  • Christian PRs: other Christian Realms
  • Muslim PRs: other Muslim Realms
  • Revolutionary PRs: no other Realms

Disputed Succession (L) #

Having a Royal Marriage with another Realm also comes with the risk of dragging you into a conflict over a Disputed Succession. A Disputed Succession may be triggered by the Event of the same name, as well as certain other Events or by an Interregnum (see p. 20).

When a Disputed Succession is triggered for a Realm, flip all the Marriage tokens in that Realm to their “Disputed Succession” (L) side. A flipped Marriage token provides a CB for -all- players (p. 22). The token’s owner risks suffering a 0 loss if taking no action, as described on page 9.

11.3 Alliances (A) #

An Alliance is a pact between Realms to support each other in the event of War.

You can have a maximum of 3A (the “Cabinet” Idea allows for 1 more).

Key features of Alliances #

  • Treat your Ally’s Units, Areas, and Ports as Friendly.
  • Allies may normally not Declare War on each other (see DoW restrictions, p. 22).
  • You may send and receive Calls to Arms.
  • You may play the Subjugate Action Card to Vassalize an Ally (see section 11.4).
  • An NPR can only be Allied to 1 PR.
  • It is not possible to Forge Alliances (p. 15) while you are at War, or with Realms that are at War (incl. Active Allies).

Call to Arms (CtA) #

  • When you Declare War, or someone Declares War on you or your NPR Ally, you may send a Call to Arms (p. 13).
  • You may receive a CtA when someone Declares War on your Ally, or your Ally Declares War on another Realm.

Sending a CtA #

One of the main benefits of Alliances is that you may use the Call to Arms Minor Action (p. 13) to call for support in times of War.

Receiving a CtA #

An Ally may send you an Offensive CtA when they Declare War on another Realm, or a Defensive CtA when they are the target of a DoW – NPRs automatically always do so at once when targeted by a DoW.

You must immediately respond to a CtA, after determining if you can accept it:

  • If this is a Defensive CtA you can always accept (no DoW restrictions apply).
  • If this is an Offensive CtA you must adhere to DoW restrictions (p. 22). If a CtA cannot be accepted, it must be refused.

Accepting a CtA #

When you accept a CtA, you immediately join your Ally’s side in the War.

  1. If accepting an Offensive CtA, place War tokens on your Ally’s Enemies. If accepting a Defensive CtA, place Enemy PRs’ War tokens on your own Capital.
  2. If accepting a Defensive CtA from an NPR Ally, you may send Defensive CtAs to your other NPR Allies using the Call to Arms Action (p. 13).
  3. If you accept a Defensive CtA when you are also Allied to a PR on the opposing side, your Alliance with that PR is terminated.
  4. If accepting a CtA from an NPR, decide whether you wish to make them an Active Ally or not.
  5. Return to the appropriate step of the Declare War Action sequence (p. 16).

Note: Joining a War by accepting a CtA does -not- trigger any new opportunity for your Enemies to send CtAs.

Refusing a CtA #

When you refuse a CtA, the Alliance with the sender is terminated.

  1. Remove your A from Ally sending CtA.
  2. If this was an Active Ally, you lose a number of Allied Units from your Available m or Armies equal to ½ of the Tax Value of the NPR’s pre-War Provinces. Your Enemy must place a War token on your former Active Ally. This is now a separate War.
  3. If this is a Defensive CtA, you lose 2 and must remove 5I from your former Ally’s Areas.
  4. If this is a Defensive CtA and your former Ally is a PR, they -may- place a CB token on your Capital.
  5. If your former Ally is an NPR, or a PR that chose not to place a CB token, you must place a Truce token on their Capital (and if a PR, they must on yours).
  6. Return to the appropriate step of the Declare War Action sequence (p. 16).

Ignore steps 3 and 4 above if any of the following statements are true:

  • You have Passed
  • You are already involved in another War

Alliances between Player Realms #

PRs are allowed to enter into Alliances with other PRs, but such Alliances are not created through the Forge Alliance Action – it is instead agreed upon as part of a Player-toPlayer Diplomacy Action (see p. 12).

Players must respond to CtAs according to the ‘Receiving a CtA’ section.

Conflicting Alliances #

PRs that have Alliances with other PRs may sometimes face situations where they are Allied to Realms on both sides of a War.

If you are Allied to a Realm that has Declared War on another of your Allies, you can only get a CtA from the defender.

Active Allies (K) #

When you Activate an NPR Ally due to a CtA, flip the A to the “Active Ally” (K) side, and immediately add a number of Allied Units equal to ½ of the Tax Value of the NPR’s Provinces to your Available m area (but max. 5 Units). When accepting a CtA from an NPR Ally, you may choose whether or not to Activate that Ally.

The NPR Units in your Manpower Reserve may be recruited during a Recruit Units Action, as described on page 17. Your Active Allies are considered part of every War that you are currently involved in (or enter into while they are active). These NPRs can be attacked by your Enemies.

Active NPR Allies defend their own Areas with only half MC, since they have provided their PR Ally with part of their forces.

You are allowed to Recruit a number of Allied Units in Areas of your Active Allies, up to their MC for the chosen Area.

Resolving Peace on behalf of Active Allies #

You will be able to settle Peace Terms on behalf of all your Active Allies, except for Active Allies that your Enemy has achieved a Total Victory against (see p. 30).

Alliances with Distant NPRs #

When sending a CtA to a Distant NPR Ally, discard < instead of I. While Distant Realms have double MC for defense, this does not apply when calculating how many Allied Units they contribute.

Ending an Alliance #

Alliances can be ended in any of these ways:

  • By refusing a CtA, with consequences as described under ‘Refusing a CtA’
  • By accepting a Defensive CtA from one Ally against another of your Allies, as described under ‘Accepting a CtA’
  • By using the Disputed Succession CB to Declare War on your Ally (see p. 22)
  • Through an Event that either lets you (or forces you to) terminate an Alliance, or that makes a player gain an Alliance with another PR’s Ally, or when they have no available A left (p. 40)
  • Through the Forge Alliance Action or the New Alliance Action Card, when one player’s A replaces another player’s A
  • If an Enemy achieves a Total Victory against your NPR Ally (p. 29)
  • By taking the Cut Ties Minor Action, with the following consequences:
    • Ally at Peace: Lose 5I from Areas belonging to your former Ally, then place a Truce token on their Capital.
    • Ally at War / Active Ally: Lose 2s, and all I from Areas of your former Ally. If this was an Active Ally, you lose a number of Allied Units from your Manpower Reserve or Armies equal to ½ of the Tax Value of the NPR’s pre-War Provinces. Your Enemy must place a War token on your former Active Ally. This is now a separate War.

11.4 Vassals (v) #

Vassals are subordinate Realms. Vassals of PRs pay Vassal Tax to their Overlord and add to their Overlord’s Manpower, as indicated by the Vassal Track.

It is possible to Vassalize an NPR via Peace Resolution or diplomatic Subjugation.

A Vassal can only have Marriage ties with their Overlord, and no other PRs.

Vassals do -not- count as part of their Overlord’s Realm, nor are they considered to be NPRs. As such, Vassal Realms are a separate category of Realm. Vassal Provinces with different flags count as separate Vassals.

Subjugate – Vassalize and Annex #

You may use the Subjugate Action Card to diplomatically Vassalize NPR. This NPR must first be your Ally. When you Vassalize this NPR, remove your A from their Realm and place v on each of their Provinces (2v on Large Provinces). All other PRs must remove any M they had on this Realm. A Vassal may be Annexed and fully integrated into its Overlord’s Realm by using another Subjugate card. Replace all your v on the Vassal’s Provinces with your t, and remove any M there.

You can directly Annex a 1-Tax Income Ally without Vassalizing it first.

To play the Subjugate card on your NPR Ally or Vassal, your Base Tax Income must be at least twice that of the target. You must also discard I from any of the target’s Areas equal to their Tax Income plus any Opponent I in the target’s Areas. Each +1m token on an NPR’s Provinces provides them with 1 extra Tax Income.

If you have a Marriage with the target, your Base Tax Income must simply exceed that of the target (plus any Opponent I).

Subjugating an NPR with Vassals #

A Marriage is also required to Vassalize an NPR that has its own Vassals. When playing the Subjugate card, an NPR’s Vassals will only become your Vassals if you also discard I from their Areas equal to -their- Tax Income. Otherwise, they are released as NPRs (see p. 35), but you may place an A on their Capital -or- a G in 1 of their Areas.

NPRs on Distant Continents #

A PR cannot Subjugate a Distant Realm.

The Papal States and the Emperor #

The ›Papal States and the Emperor of the HRE can -never- be Vassalized.

Vassals in Wars #

Vassals will not act independently in Wars or Peace Resolution. To capture Provinces belonging to someone else’s Vassal, you must Declare War on, and resolve Peace with, their Overlord. A G on a Vassal’s Area counts as a G on their Overlord.

Vassals do not defend themselves and simply provide Manpower for their Overlord, as shown on the Vassal Track.

Vassal Provinces contribute to their Overlord’s MC, but not to NC. An Overlord may Recruit Regular Units and Mercenary Units in their Vassals’ Areas.

Calendar May 20, 2023