Military Units, Armies, and Fleets #
There are several different types of Military Units that can be Deployed. Each player has 20 Regular Units and 3 Army miniatures, plus 15 Ships and a Fleet at their disposal. There are also Mercenary Units and NPR/Rebel Units.
Regular Units #
These Land Units normally make up the bulk of your armed forces on land, and are deployed through the Recruit Units Action as Infantry, Cavalry, or Artillery. Your available Units are kept in your Manpower Reserve, and the rest are set aside in your Supply. During the Income & Upkeep Phase you must pay 1D for each Deployed Regular Unit you want to keep in service; any Units not paid for will return to your Available m.
Infantry #
Hits on: f or g
Siege Strength: 1
Recruitment Cost: 2D
Infantry may be deployed directly onto the board as single Units, or in any of your Armies by placing them onto the Infantry area on your chosen Army Mat.
The c cost of moving a Single Unit is the same as moving an entire Army.
With the Ideas “Tercios/Janissaries” and “Line Infantry”, the outlined icon on the g result counts as a second Infantry result. Each Unit may still only score 1 hit.
Cavalry #
Hits on: h
Siege Strength: ½ (rounded down)
Recruitment Cost: 5D
Cavalry must be deployed in Armies. Place the Unit tokens onto the Cavalry area of your chosen Army Mat to signify that they are deployed as Cavalry.
Artillery (requires “Cannons” Idea) #
Hits on: i
Siege Strength: 2
Recruitment Cost: 6D
Artillery must be deployed in Armies. Place the Unit tokens onto the Artillery area on your chosen Army Mat.
Artillery Units have a Siege Strength of 2; they may Siege 2 Small Provinces or 1 Large Province at the cost of just 1c.
Armies that have more Artillery than Cavalry Units cannot be used with the Action Cards Forced March or One Step Ahead.
Armies #
All players have 3 Army miniatures, each with a corresponding Army Mat.
To Deploy an Army you must assign at least 1 of your Land Units to it, either from the Area in which the Army is placed (during a Land Activation), or from Manpower (during a Recruit Action). If all Units in an Army are removed from its mat, remove its miniature from the board.
Units in an Army are placed on their corresponding Army Mat; each Army may contain as many Regular Units, Mercenary Units, and Allied NPR Units as you like. All Units in an Army move as one, and are represented on the board by the Army miniature depicted on the Army Mat.
It takes only a single Land Activation to Move an entire Army, with all its Units.
During a Land Activation, an Army may pick up or drop off Units in its Area at any point during Movement, for free.
Units (Regular, Mercenary, and Allied) are placed on your Army Mat in the Infantry, Cavalry, or Artillery areas, depending on what types of Units you have recruited.
An Army may also be assigned a General – a Leader who provides extra Battle Dice.
Ships #
Ship Units are deployed through the Recruit Action, as Light Ships, Heavy Ships, or Galleys. When you build a Ship, it comes from your Supply – it does not affect m. You can only build 1 Ship per Port (2 per Large Port), per Recruit Action.
During Phase 4 you must pay ½D for every Ship that you want to keep at sea. Any ships not paid for must return to a Friendly Port within reach (2 spaces). Any ships at sea that are not paid for and unable to return to a Friendly Port must be disbanded.
Light Ships #
Hits on: i
Build Cost: 4D
A Light Ship costs 4D to build. A Light Ship may be deployed directly onto the board as a Single Ship, or you may place it onto your Fleet Mat.
Light Ships may be used to occupy Trade Protection Slots in a Sea Zone, and will then each provide a Trade Power of 1 in all Trade Nodes adjacent to that Sea Zone. Read more about Trade Power in section 11.5 (p. 35).
Heavy Ships #
Hits on: i+ 1 automatic hit
Build Cost: 10D
A Heavy Ship can only be deployed onto the Fleet Mat, as part of your Fleet.
Each Heavy Ship involved in a Naval Battle inflicts an automatic hit on the Enemy whenever its controller rolls the Battle Dice (in addition to any hits rolled on the dice). When counting hits on the dice, Heavy Ships are counted in the same way as other Ships.
Heavy Ships can take 2 hits before being removed as Casualties. Indicate that a Heavy Ship has been damaged by laying the Ship on its side (or position it vertically for Standard Ed.). If it does not take another hit, it will immediately be repaired if its Fleet ends a Turn or Round in a Friendly Port.
Captured Heavy Ships are always considered to be damaged.
Galleys #
Hits on: i
Build Cost: 2D
A Galley can only be deployed onto a Fleet Mat, as part of a Fleet.
Galleys can only sail in Sea Zones marked with a * or a †. If a Fleet containing Galleys moves from one of those and into a Sea Zone without a * or a †, all Galleys in that Fleet are immediately disbanded and returned to the Supply.
Fleets #
All players have a Fleet miniature and a corresponding Fleet Mat.
To deploy your Fleet, you must assign it at least 1 Ship, from the Sea Zone or Port where you deploy the Fleet Unit (during a Naval Activation), or from your Supply (during a Recruit Action). If all Units in the Fleet are removed from its mat, remove its miniature from the board.
Ships in your Fleet are placed on your Fleet Mat; your Fleet may contain as many Ships as you like. All Ships in your Fleet move as one, and are represented on the board by your Fleet miniature. You may never have more than 1 active Fleet.
During a Naval Activation, the Fleet may pick up or drop off Light Ships in its starting and destination Sea Zone or Port, for free.
Ships are placed on your Fleet Mat in the areas corresponding to the types of Ships you have built.
Your Fleet may also be assigned an Admiral – a Leader who provides extra Battle Dice.
Mercenaries #
Mercenary Units come from the General Supply, and are available to all players. They are expensive, but do not count against your m or MC. Mercenaries can only be deployed in Armies, and are Recruited as Infantry, Cavalry, or Artillery with the Recruit Units Action. You may Recruit a maximum of 3 Mercenary Units during a Recruit Units Action.
Each Mercenary Unit costs 2D more to recruit than a Regular Unit of the same type. During the Income & Upkeep Phase you must either pay 2D for each Mercenary Unit you want to keep in service, or else return them to the General Supply.
NPR Units, Rebels, & Pirates #
Black Units come from the General Supply and are by default treated as either Infantry or Light Ships. They are used to represent Rebels and NPR forces at War with PRs, or as Allied Units in a PR’s Army.
Rebel Units (?)
#
All black Land Units on the board (including invading NPR Units that stay in an Area after a Battle) are considered to be ? (see p. 37). ? always fight to the last man, and will try to Siege any t/v with u in their Area in Phase 3, Step C (see p. 9).
NPR Units #
These are used to represent the defending or invading forces of NPRs (see p. 36). Defending NPR Units are removed after Battle, while invading Units stay on as ?.
Allied Units #
When a PR sends or accepts a CtA to/from an NPR Ally (see p. 32) and turns it into an Active Ally, the PR will add a number of black Units to their Available m. These Units are referred to as Allied Units, and may be deployed in any of that PR’s Armies, using the Recruit Units Action.
Pirates #
Pirates are always placed on Trade Nodes, and reduce the = of all PRs in that node (see p. 35). Pirates can be attacked by Ships located in a Sea Zone adjacent to the node in question; to do so, a player must take a Naval Activation. The Ships used to attack must all be in a single Sea Zone.