Due to the large number of different kingdoms and empires represented in 1483 Online, it is important that players know several key mapping elements and symbols in order to effectively read the maps. These map features are detailed below:

Land/Water Boundaries: Thick Line: Thick lines indicate the boundary between land and water. Land units may not cross into a sea zone unless being carried by a transport ship of some type and ships may never cross onto a land territory.

Land Territory Boundaries: Thin Line: Thin lines define the boundaries of any land territory.

National Boundaries: Thick Line: Thick lines represent the boundaries of a nation as it stands at the start of the game.

Sea Zone Boundary: Dotted Line: This marks the boundary between two sea zones.

Land Territory:  All non-sea zone territories are land territories. All land territories will have a name marked in normal lettering within its boundaries, or in the water adjacent to the territory in the case of very small territories. Each land territory will also have an assigned Resource Value represented by a black circle with a white number in it.

Special Rule: The Siberian territories in Northern Asia (white with question mark in them) will randomly have the following units in them when attacked (once placed, these units remain until the territory is conquered). Roll 1d10: 1-3 = 1 infantry, 2-6 = 2 infantry, 7-8 = 2 infantry and 1 cavalry, 9-10 = no defending units. These units represent local tribes and harsh winter conditions in the zone.

Special Rule: The remote African territories (WHITE with question mark in them) have roaming tribes; therefore one never knows what is there until entering the territory. Once placed, these units remain until the territory is conquered. Roll 1d10 and add the territories resource value: 1-2 = no defending units, 3-4 = 1 infantry, 5-6 = 2 infantry, 7 = 3 infantry, 8 = 3 infantry and 1 cavalry, 9 = 4 infantry, 10 = 4 infantry and 1 cavalry, 11 = 5 infantry, 12 = 6 infantry and 1 cavalry.

Special Rule: The Berber territories in Africa (GRAY territories with question mark in them in North West Africa) have bands of ruthless raiders in them. Going on phase 5, the Berber's are governed by special rules. They will attempt to raid territories touching any Berber territory. The chance that a raid will happen is 1 in 10 for every point of value the territory has. This means if a territory has a resource value of 3 and it borders a Berber territory, during Phase 5 there is a 3 in 10 chance that nomadic Berber raiders will attack that territory. When attacking, the Berber's will attack with 1d10 - 3 cavalry (with a minimum of 1 cavalry). If they take the territory, it is automatically incorporated into their empire. The Berber's will NEVER try to reach out further than 1 territory away from their original starting territories. If a Berber territory is attacked, it will have 1d10 - 4 cavalry defending it, with a minimum of zero defenders.

Resource Value Marker: Black Dot with White Numbering. This represents the resource value of an individual territory. The resource value of all land territories is marked with a large black dot. Inside the dot, in white lettering, is the resource value of the territory. Naval territories have NO resource value.

Sea Zone: All sea zones are named with Yellow lettering within the boundaries of the zone. Sea zone territories are separated by dotted black lines.

Special Rule:  Due to ice flow and icebergs, movement into or out of the Barents Sea Zone costs 2 movement points. In addition, upon entering, or being built in this zone, the ship has a chance of striking ice and sinking. This will happen on a roll of 1 on 1d10. This must also be rolled if a ship is being built into the Barents Sea via some port in a territory adjacent to that sea.

Cities: Cities are marked as a small colored dot within the boundary of the land territory they reside. All newly built land units MUST BE PLACED WITHIN A TERRITORY CONTAINING A CITY. (Capital cities have a white ring around them, though this has no game significance, but can boost your ego if you capture someone else's capital). If a nation loses it's last city, it is considered conquered and will not collect any resources, nor can it spend it's saved resources on anything but trading and gifting with other players. Tribal cities are marked by a black dot with the text "T1" or "T2" inside them to mark which tribal nation they belong to.

Fortification Factor: All cities contain a number within the colored dot that represents them. This number is the city's fortification value. If the territory containing a city is attacked, all defending infantry may add 1 to their defense value, up to a maximum of 3, for every full 3 points of fortification value a city has.

1-3: = +1 defense
4-6: = +2 defense
7-9: = +3 defense

Straits: Straits are two bodies of land that are separated by a very thin strip of water. Land units may cross straits without the aid of transport sea vessels. However, any unit attacking a territory while crossing straits will suffer penalties as follows: -1 to attack for infantry and -2 to attack for cavalry. Straits in no way hinder the passage of ships unless otherwise noted. Two arrowheads joined by a line in a sea zone represent a straits.

Special Rule Concerning Straits: Any nation in control of the Constantinople land territory may choose to disallow naval movement between the Aegean Sea and Western Black Sea.

Special Rule: Travel by ship is possible from the Gulf of Aden Sea Zone directly into the Eastern Mediterranean Sea and vice versus using smaller rivers. However, if 1 or both of the nations controlling Cairo and Alexandria choose to, they may disallow Ships of the Line to pass in this manner.

The Units: Every unit below has a common trait. You'll notice that each icon has a box or open area within the image. On the maps this area will be colored to represent ownership to a particular nation. Also within that box/open area will be a number. This number will detail the quantity of units represented. hence an infantry unit with a "6" inside the picture would in fact be six infantry units. The exception to this rule is the "General". The number inside a general icon represents the skill factor of that general.
 

Unit Descriptions	Unit Image
Infantry: Infantry defend well (Def 6), but attack poorly (Atk 3). Infantry are also extremely important to the defense of cities as only they receive the defensive bonus awarded from city fortifications. Infantry have a movement of 1 and cost 5 resources.
Cavalry: Cavalry attack well (Atk 6) but defend poorly (Def 3). They have a movement of 2, though once engaged in combat or they disembark from a ship, are done moving for the turn. Cavalry may move through an unoccupied enemy territory, capturing it, and then move into an occupied enemy territory for combat all in the same turn as long as they don't exceed their movement of 2 and cost 8 resources. Players are also allowed to build elite cavalry called Knights.
Knights:Knights are a form of cavalry and share all of the same movement guidelines. They have an attack of 7 and defense of 6. Knights also have a movement of 2, though cost 11 resources.
Artillery: Artillery are heavy cannons designed to siege city fortifications. All artillery have a combat factor of 5 and a movement of 1. They may only attack city walls in conjunction with an attack on the city. Artillery roll first in each combat round. Each successful "hit" (rolling equal to or under 5 on a D10) reduces the city Fortification value by one point for the rest of that battle. Artillery have no combat values against other units, though may be taken as a casualty in battle.
General: When buying a General, players have two options. They can buy a standard general for 8 resources or a special general for 12 resources. When purchased, generals get 1D10 skill level (moderators roll once when purchased), and may use that skill to assist units in battle. The player may add the general's skill points, divided any way they chose, to a number of units in that battle. For instance, a general with a skill level of 4 could choose to add 1 point to each of two different infantry and 2 points to a cavalry unit. If those units were on the attack, the infantry would each have an attack level of 4 and the cavalry an attack level of 8 for that battle. A general may only add as many points to a single unit as to bring that unit's combat factor up to a 9 for that battle. A general is not a complete unit in itself and cannot be taken as a casualty. They are destroyed when the units they are with are destroyed (or when on defense, if the territory they are in is captured). Also, because great generals have their own style, only one General can function in a territory or a battle at one time. If more than one General is present the controlling player must decide which to use. Any standard General will receive a special ability if his skill level is a ten (10). A special general will receive a special ability if his skill level is an eight, nine, or ten (8, 9, 10). Any general with a special ability will roll 1d10 and consult the table below to determine the ability. Generals may use BOTH their special ability and skill level in a single turn.
Port: Ports are naval yards where ships may be built. In order to build a new naval unit, it must be placed in a sea zone adjacent to a land territory containing a Port controlled by the player building the naval unit. Ports are destroyed when the territory they are in is captured. Ships may NOT be constructed out of a port in the same turn the port itself was purchased.
Ship of the Line: A Ship of the line was the largest of combat vessels in older navies. These ships had over 60+ cannons for firing at enemy vessels. Ships of the line weren't very maneuverable, but held a lot of firepower. Ships of the Line could also carry some fighting men. One infantry unit and any number of generals can be transported by a Ship of the Line. Ships of the Line have an attack value of 6, a defense value of 7 and a movement of 3. In addition, these ships require 2 hits (see combat) in order to sink. A damaged Ship of the Line will be marked with black dot in the sails.
Frigate: Frigates are the middle-sized ships in 1483. They have an attack value of 4, a defense value of 3 and are the only ship with a movement of 4. They may not carry any units except generals.
Merchantmen: Merchantmen are horrible at combat, having an attack value of 1, a defense value of 1 and a movement of 3. Their strength however is in their ability to transport units. They may transport the following: 2 infantry OR 1 cavalry OR 1 artillery. In addition to this, any number of generals may be transported by a merchantman.

General Special Abilities

  1: Master of Terrain: This is the ability to determine the best land area within a territory for which to make a defensive stance. This allows the general to give defending troops a major advantage in combat. In any land territory without a city, infantry with a general with this skill may receive +2 to their defense.

  2:  Master Tactician: Generals like Napoleon, Alexander The Great, and Hannibal possessed such skill. These generals are masters of the battlefield and are best when attacking. Such a general will give +1 Attack to infantry and +1 Attack to cavalry under their immediate command.

  3: The Cautious: These generals always secure their path of retreat before any battle. They think the best defense against an advancing army is to tire them out, and continually harass them as they advance. After the first round of combat has been resolved, this general and any remaining troops with him may retreat to any territory under his nation's control (or allied territory) adjacent to the territory the battle was being fought in. Due to this game being online, players must leave the Moderator instructions to use this ability and under what circumstances. Vague instructions will be completely up to Moderator interpretation.

  4: Master Engineer: This general is expert in how to weaken and destroy enemy fortification and gain access to a city quickly. All city fortification ratings automatically receive a -2 when this general is among the attacking army. All Artillery with this general have an attack rating of 7 instead of 5.

  5: Master of the Steppe: This is a natural born cavalry leader. They are experts on how to utilize cavalry. Any time such a general is in command of an all cavalry force (no infantry, and no artillery) all cavalry receive +2 to their combat factor. This ability will also work with knights or a combined force of cavalry and knights.

  6:  Quartermasters: These men know how to make limited resources last much longer and accomplish much more. They are excellent organizers and therefore the best commanders of an army within a city under siege. All defending infantry within a city under attack receive an additional +1 to their defense (still a maximum rating of 9).

  7:  The Statesman: This person is fluent with the workings of the nation's governing systems. When this general conquers a new territory it only costs half as much to fully bring the territory into the kingdom (Incorporation) if that money is spent while the general is still in that territory.

  8: Man of the People: This general is loved by the people and knows how to use that to excellent advantage. When a territory that has been officially incorporated into the kingdom is attacked and this general is leading the defense, he is able to summon forth the peasants to form a militia capable of assisting the army. The general may call forth one militia unit per 4 resource value of the territory (i.e. 1-4 gives 1 militia, 5-8 gives 2, etc). These militia only defend at a 2, but may be taken as casualties. If the territory is successfully defended, any surviving militia simply disband.

  9:  The Brigand: If this general is in a territory adjacent to an enemy territory and is accompanied by more total units than are in the enemy territory, he can cause the opposing player to lose the resources from that territory that turn. He accomplishes this by taking his troops on "unofficial" raiding parties across the countryside, but always withdraws before confronting actual troops.

  10: The Admiral: This general is an expert naval tactician and strategist. If this admiral is on board any ship among your fleet, all vessels in that fleet will receive +1 in combat.

Chapter 2: Sequence of Play:

Action 1: Diplomatic Influence:

To start with, all non player nations are considered "neutral" towards all other nations. Many factors may change this, and will be detailed in this section. The "Non-Player Nation Chart" appears as follows:
 

At War Against

Disfavorable

Neutral

Favorable

Allied To

During this action, a player may perform one or more of the following:

  -Influence: For a cost of 5 resources a player may try to influence a non player nation to become friendlier with him. On a roll of 9 or 10, the nation's status will move one box to the right. If the nation he is trying to influence is already in the "At War" box, then only a roll of 10 will move his status to the right.

  -Negative Influence: For a cost of 8 resources a player may try to influence a non player nation to become less friendly with a 3rd party nation. On a roll of 9 or 10, the neutral nation will move one box to the left concerning it's standing with the 3rd party nation. Note: This tactic cannot be used to cause a non player nation to go to war with another nation.

  -Use Threat of War: If a non player nation is at war with another nation, then a 3rd party MAJOR nation may use a threat of war to cause the non player to end the war and move to the disfavorable box regarding the nation he is fighting. This will succeed on a roll of 3 thru 10. If the threatening nation has no land border with the nation he is threatening, then success will only happen on a 9 or 10. Regardless how the neutral nation responds to the threat of war, the neutral will move one box to the left on the threatening nation's diplomacy chart. If a nation uses the threat of war on a neutral and that neutral does not stop its war, the major nation must follow declare war on its next turn or else lose all ability to use the threat of war for the rest of the game. A player can not use threat of war against any nation it is currently at war with.

  -Finance War: This is where one player finances a neutral nation in a war against another player nation. There are limited circumstances where this option will be possible. A neutral nation will only be interested in receiving such support if they had previously been in a war against one or more player nations *and* lost at least one territory in that war. Any player may place a bid with such a neutral to try and get the neutral to attack a nation which previously attacked and captured territory from it. The target nation must 1) still own at least one territory which had been captured from the neutral nation and 2) have a land border with the neutral nation and/or have a coastal territory and at least one port *and* the player nation has to have at least one coastal territory. To place a bid to attempt to get a neutral to re-instate such a war merely e-mail the Moderator with your bid. The minimum bid is 10 resources. The Moderator will examine the situation to judge weather the neutral nation would have a realistic chance of recapturing its lost territories with the support of the bid.

If the Moderator thinks such a war would benefit the neutral then he/she will accept the bid. If the Moderator accepts the bid the bidding nation MUST PAY the bid amount each and every turn for the duration of the war between the neutral nation and the target nation. The bidding nation can not skip paying the neutral nation even if they find themselves in another war, or even if they are near being conquered. If the neutral nation is conquered, then a per turn payments stop. If the neutral nation manages to recapture all of its original territories which had been conquered by the target nation, then the neutral nation will automatically offer the target nation a peace offer. If the target nation accepts the offer, then the war ends and the financing player nation must pay the neutral nation the bid amount one last turn and then the payments stop. If the target nation does not accept the peace agreement the war will continue and the financing player nation must continue to finance the neutral nation. When the initial bid is placed, should the Moderator decide the decline the offer to finance the war, the minor nation will keep 10 resources from the bid (Bribe money paid to the ruling family), but will return anything beyond that.

If a neutral nation accepts war financing and is successful in regaining its lost territories from the target nation, the neutral nation will automatically shift one slot to the right on the financing nation's diplomacy chart. If a bid offer is rejected no future bids will be accepted unless they are for an amount of resources at least 2 greater than the previous bid.

Action 2: Trade & Economy:

Steal Sea Trade:  Many nations have several trade routes by sea; each one of these trade routes gives the nation with it an income of 1 resource per turn. It is possible for one nation to steal a sea trade route from another. It costs 5 resources to try this. The base chance of success is 1-5 on a D10. If the nation making the attempt has more total naval vessels that the target nation, then add 1 to the chance of success for the total number of ships greater than the target nation. Example: If Venice has 9 ships and is trying to capture a resource traded by sea from Portugal, who only has 6 ships, then Venice would succeed on a 1-8. The maximum chance for success is a 9, a 10 is always failure. If the nation attempting to capture the resource has less total ships than the target nation, then subtract 1 from the chance of success for each ship less the nation has. The minimum chance of success is a 1.

Steal Land Trade: Land trade is just like sea trade, except these are trade routes across land. Just like sea trade, it costs 5 resources to try and steal a land trade and success will happen on a roll of 1-5 on 1d10. Unlike sea trade, there are no modifiers to the success of an attempt to steal land trade, however in order to attempt to steal a land trade route; the nation doing the stealing must have a land border with the nation he is stealing from.

Trade Reorganization: For a cost of 3 resources, a nation may have the point value of a territory containing a city drop by one and have another raise by one. To do this, there must be a line of controlled territories between the 2 cities. Sea zones can be part of that line as long as the nation has ships in each sea zone between the cities.

Build Economy: This option allows a player to increase the point value of any land territory he owns and is collecting income from. The player will pay an amount of resources per the chart below and roll a d10, on a roll of 1-5, the territory in question permanently has it's income value raised by 1.
 

Current Value	Increase Attempt Cost	Current Value	Increase Attempt Cost
Zero	6	7	26
1	6	8	30
2	9	9	35
3	12	10	40
4	15	11	45
5	18	12	50
6	22	13 & Up	50

Build New City: You may chose to build a new city in any territory you own and already have incorporated into your empire. The cost to build a new city is 15 resources. If this territory is within the core of your empire, then the resource value of the territory will remained unchanged. However, if the territory is outside the core areas of your empire, then the newly built city will be considered a colony and automatically have is resource value decreased by 2 (to a minimum of 1. If the territory had previously been worth zero resources, then it will have a resource value of 1). A colony is considered to be any city that is greater than 3 sea zones or 5 land territories away from any lands belonging to your nations initial "core" grouping of territories.

As a far flung outpost of your empire a colonial city can only have as many units built out of it as the resource value of the city. Any ships built out of a port belonging to a colonial territory count against the total number of units that can be built out of the colony each turn. It is easier to build the economy of colonial city than any normal territory. This is because all the discontents willingly flock to remote colonial cities in order to seek out new lives. Building the economy of a colonial city works just like building the economy of any other territory, excepting the cost for a build economy attempt is only half the cost, as per the chart above. Lastly, if at any time an empire expands so that a colonial city is no longer separated from the core of the empire by more than 3 sea zones or 5 land territories, then the city will no longer be a colony and become a normal city within the empire.

Action 3: Build New Units:

During this action, a player may spend any or all of his saved resources to purchase land units, sea units and/or ports. Units purchased will not be placed on the board until action 8. See action 8 for details on New Unit Placements.

Action 4: Naval Movement:

A player may now move any or all of his sea vessels. It is also during this phase that land units would board a vessel for transport. It is possible for several nations to occupy the same sea zone and not have a naval battle break out. Unless a player has specific instructions to attack ships entering a sea zone he occupies, movement into and through an occupied sea zone is possible. If a navy is attacked while moving, and IF they successfully defend themselves, any surviving ships may continue on to the destination they had intended to move to. If two nations are currently at war, by default ships belonging to one nation will attack ships belonging to the other if its ships enter a sea zone controlled by the other.

Merchantmen & Transporting Units: Merchantmen have 2 transport points. Ships of the Line have one transport point. Generals require zero transport points, Infantry one transport point, and Infantry, Cavalry, and Knights two transport points to carry. In the event a ship is picking up more than one unit in the same turn it may do so as long as both its are in territories adjacent to the sea zone the ship is in. Units may be dropped off to 1 land territory only in a single turn. Land units with more than one movement may NOT move after being dropped off from any ship. Any ship dropping off units can not move any further after dropping off those units.

Deep Sea Naval Movement: Instead of standard naval movement a player may have a ship or group of ships enter into deep sea movement. During any turn where ships are doing deep sea movement they may not pick up any units. They may also not seek to engage in a naval attack. By default this means they may not enter into any sea zone containing ships belonging to a nation they are at war with. Deep Sea movement allows ships to move at 4 times their normal rate. Hence Ships of the Line and Merchantmen have up to 12 movement points and Frigates up to 16 movement points. If at any point during that movement if the ships are stopped by an enemy fleet and enter combat, those ships which survive the combat are done moving for the turn. Also, because the ships are sailing in order to make the best time possible they are not in military formation and are thus at a combat disadvantage if they are intercepted and forced into combat. Ships of the Line and Frigates both receive a -2 to attack, and Merchantmen receive a -1.

Action 5: Naval Combat:

Naval Combat may happen in one of two events. The first is where you intentionally move ships into another sea zone with the declared (to the moderator) intent to attack an enemy fleet there. The second is where your ships are simply trying to move through a sea zone and a player with ships there has left instructions with the moderator to fight your ships if they try to enter. In both cases the ships entering the sea zone are considered the "attacker" for combat purposes. Attacking ships roll (the moderator rolls) to determine how many hits (a hit is where a ship rolls equal to or under its combat factor on a D10) they inflict upon the defender. Each hit will remove 1 ship from the game (except for Ships of the Line which can take 2 hits before being sunk). The defending ships roll their defensive rolls (including ships sunk this round of combat), and hits are applied to the attackers vessels in the same way. Hits for a combat round are applied simultaneously. The attack will then continue on to the next round. The attack will continue until one side or the other is victorious. The attacker may choose to put a condition for retreat, in which case if the condition is met, the Moderator will retreat the attacker into the nearest sea zone not occupied by enemy vessels.

Unless specified to the Moderator by either combatant, the Moderator will automatically apply naval loses to each combat force is the following order: 1) Merchantmen, 2) Frigates, 3) Merchantmen carrying units, 4) Ships of the Line, 5) Ships of the Line carrying units.

Action 6: Land Movement:

The active player now decides to move any to all of his land units. All Infantry and Artillery may move one space into any adjacent land territory. Cavalry may move two spaces, but only if the first space they move through is not occupied by enemy troops. If the movement of the land units has moved them into a territory owned by another nation, then one of several things will happen. Normally this will be an attack unless the player moving his units declares otherwise. If such a declaration is made, then the owner of the territory may decide to either allow the units to enter or try and prevent them from entering (if he has troops there to stop him with). (Player nations are assumed to NOT allow other player's troops into their territories unless the Moderator receives an email from them allowing a specific nation passage through their lands). If they chose the second, then land combat occurs. Cavalry moving through 2 enemy territories may capture the first unoccupied territory and move into a second enemy territory in the same turn. Non-player nations will never allow player nation troops to enter their territory. During this action, troops aboard transport vessels may also offload and/or beach land for a naval invasion. (see below).

Acquiring Territory:  Once land units have entered a vacant enemy territory, or destroyed all the defending units (see Land Combat) in a territory, that nation becomes the new owner of the territory. However, before the player is able to collect any resources from their newly acquired territory, they must spend resources to (Incorporate) effectively extend their nation's government into it in order to control the populace. This can be paid for immediately with any saved money, or paid for in any future turn. Until a territory is incorporated the nation owning it will not receive the resources from that territory. Any non-city territory costs two times (x 2) its listed resource value in order to incorporate it into the kingdom. A territory with a city in it cost 4 times (x 4) its listed resource value. (The territory will change color to that of the incorporating nation, letting everyone know he is now collecting resources from it. Until then ownership will be marked by listing the new owning nation's name in text). A special case is made if a nation no longer controls *any* incorporated cities. Only in such a case, if the nation acquires one of its original city territories it does not need to pay to incorporate it; incorporation happens by default and for zero cost.

Land combat occurs whenever the active player moves land units into an enemy controlled territory containing land units. Land combat, like naval combat, is resolved in several easy steps.

Step 1: Artillery and Fortifications: Attacking Artillery now roll to see if they can lower the Fortification factor of a city, if the territory under attack has a city in it. 1D10 is rolled for each Artillery unit. For each Artillery that rolls equal to or under its attack value, the Fortification value of the city is lowered by 1 point for the duration of the battle. The remaining Fortification points add it's defense bonus to defending Infantry (1-3 = +1, 4-6 = +2, 7-9 = +3).

Step 2: Combat: Both sides roll 1D10 for each of their units, trying to roll equal to or under their combat values (attack value for the attackers, defense value for the defenders) to score a hit against the opponent. Each player assigns one hit to their own units for each hit scored by the enemy. Since all land units only require one hit to destroy, any units assigned a hit are removed from play. The attacking player then has the option to retreat the rest of his units and end the combat. Any retreating land units must retreat to an adjacent land territory that was friendly prior to action 6. If the attacker chooses to stay, then repeat steps 1 & 2.

Unless otherwise specified by either combatant, the Moderator will automatically apply loses in the following order: 1) Infantry, 2) Cavalry, 3) Artillery, 4) Knights. If a General is present the Moderator will automatically evenly divide its bonuses among the troops it is with unless the player assigns those bonuses specifically to certain units.

Naval Invasions:  A naval invasion occurs whenever units attempt to disembark from transport vessels into a territory that is enemy controlled. The beaches of these territories are naturally fortified. Coastal defense forces in small numbers use these natural defenses to form a suitable defense. The coastal defense force forms an imaginary unit with a defense rating of 1. This unit gets to defend the territory along with any "real" units. The coastal defense unit is always assigned the first hit scored by the attackers. There will always be 1 coastal defense unit defending against a naval invasion no matter what has previously transpired in that territory or how many other coastal defense units have been destroyed. Beach landing troops are at a severe disadvantage in combat. Invading infantry receive a -1 to their attack rating, and invading Cavalry (and Knights) receive a -3. Artillery may accompany the invaders, but not participate in a beach landing. Beach landing troops may retreat back to their Merchantmen at the end of a combat round, but if done the defenders get one free round of fire against them.

Action 8: Place New Units:

All units built during Action 2: Build New Units, are now placed on the map. The player must place all land units within a city or cities under that player's control at the start of the their nation's turn. Newly captured cities may not be used to place new troops. Additionally, no troops may be placed in any city that belongs to a territory that has not been incorporated (paid 4 times its resource value) into the player's nation. All newly built ships must be placed into a sea zone that is adjacent to a land territory containing a port belonging to the player's nation. Any newly built Ports may only be placed in a territory that was under the nation's control prior to its active turn. A territory does NOT need to be incorporated in order to have a Port placed on it. However, a Port can NOT be built in any territory far enough away from the core of a nation's empire that it could be considered a colony unless the territory has a colonial city in it. In such a case any ships built out of that port would count against the maximum number of units per turn allowed to be built out of the colonial city. In the event that newly placed ships end up in a sea zone containing ships belonging to another player, an immediate naval conflict may occur, if the player with the existing ships has left orders with the Moderator to attack any newly built ships or the two nations are at war.. The ships may NOT, however, move beyond the sea zone they are placed in until the player's next turn.

Action 9: Collect Resources:

The player now receives the resource values of all the territories currently under their nation's control that have also been incorporated into the nation. Added to this, they add the total number of resources from Sea and Land Trade as well as from Colonies. Lastly, the player adds any resources gained that turn from Tribute (neutral nations that surrendered). The total of these figures is the amount of resources (money) collected that turn. These resources, combined with any resources not spent that turn, are available at any time the player chooses to spend them.

Action 10: Treaties:

At this point any peace treaties agreed upon during the course of the player's turn now officially take effect. The player may also offer surrender options or other peace treaties at this time. Any that are agreed to, also take effect during this phase. If a surrender calls for the payment of Tribute, the victorious nations do not collect said tribute until Action 9 of their next turn.

Surrender: Player nations can agree on any surrender terms they choose; however in regards to the surrender of a non-player nation, there are certain guidelines. If a non-player nation has actually gained more territories than it has lost, it will not surrender unless under the threat of war (see action 1). Otherwise the chance of a non-player nation accepting surrender is as follows:

Base chance: 3 in 10

For each territory lost: add 2 chances in 10

Over 50% of nation lost: 9 in 10 chance of surrendering (never will the odds become better than 9 in 10).

If a non player nation surrenders to a player nation it will pay a tribute to that player for the next 5 turns. The Tribute amount will be 2 resources for each territory the minor nation lost during the war, to a maximum of 1/2 of the resources still belonging to the minor at the end of the war. Also, should a player nation offer to surrender to a non player nation, as part of the surrender treaty the non player nation will demand tribute; tribute to be on' the same terms as listed above.

Non-Player Nation Alliances: A player nation involved in a war against another nation may enlist the aid of a non-player nation he is allied to. In order for this to happen, 2 things must occur. The player must ACTIVELY be at war and have had at least 1 battle (either naval or land, but NOT simple stealing of trade) with the nation he is at war with. The non-player nation must have a land border with the nation he is asked to go to war with or have merchantmen in the water to transport troops, or at the very least a port that is within a 4 sea zone distance of the potential enemy. The non-player nation allied in this fashion will still not allow any other nations troops within it's borders.

In such a war, the neutral nation will seek peace with its enemy for one of two reasons. The first is the neutral nation's player ally has sought peace. If for some reason the neutral's player nation ally makes peace with the opposing player, yet the opposing player does not accept peace with the neutral, then the neutral will instantly fall to a disfavorable status with its former ally. If the war ends with the enemy player making peace with the neutral and its player nation at the same time (the opposing player simply tells the moderator it is seeking peace with the neutral as well), then the neutral nation will keep any territorial gains it achieved during the war. Also the neutral will demand a tribute of 2 resources per turn for each territory it gained in this fashion for the standard duration of 5 turns. If the opposing player refuses to pay such tribute, the neutral nations player nation ally has one of three choices: 1) Refuse the peace treaty and continue the war, 2) Accept the peace treaty and pay the neutral nation whatever portion of the tribute the opposing player is unwilling to pay or, 3) Accept the peace treaty and refuse to help pay the minor nation its tribute. If the minor nation's ally opts for #3, then the neutral nation will instantly become disfavorable towards that nation. If the war ends with the minor nation losing territory or gaining no territory, then it will become neutral towards its former ally.

Lastly, a neutral nation will only enter into one war at a time on behalf of its player nation ally. If the player nation is engaged in a war against several foes, the player may still only ask the minor nation to declare war on one of them. If another player nation were to declare war on the neutral it will instantly submit an offer for peace with any nation it is at war with so it may focus on the new threat.

Marriage: In order for a marriage to be attempted, the non-player nation must be either "Favorable" to or "Allied" with the player nation making the marriage attempt. An attempt cost 10 resources and can be made once per turn. If the neutral nation is "Allied" to the player the marriage will be successful on a 9 or 10. If "favorable" the marriage will only be successful on a 10, though a roll of 9 will move the neutral into the player's "Allied" box. A roll of 2 or 3 will move the neutral nation one slot to the left on the diplomacy chart and a roll of 1 will make the minor declare war on the player nation (abusive marriage; stolen properties & titles, etc). If at any time during the game a marriage attempt results in a war, no further marriage attempts may be made with that minor nation for the duration of the game. If a marriage is successful all territories, units, and saved resources belonging to the minor become part of the player nation which married the minor. This happens instantly, though the player nation can not command those units till the following turn. Territories gained from the minor due to the marriage are automatically incorporated into the player's empire.

Supporting Rebellion: It is now that a player may support a rebellion. A rebellion may be supported only if a nation (player or non-player) has been completely conquered. (for these purposes a nation consists of any nation which had at least one city in it; not merely an independent territory) A rebellion may also be supported in colonial cities. The player supporting the rebellion decides much money he wishes to spend; the more money spent the greater the odds that a rebellion will occur. See below.
 

Money Spent Supporting Rebellion	Chance of Rebellion Starting
5-10	1 in 10
11-18	2 in 10
19-28	3 in 10
29-40	4 in 10
41-55	5 in 10
56 & Up	6 in 10

When supporting a rebellion, the sponsoring player chooses a territory that the rebellion will occur in, their must be NO troops in this territory and it must be a territory belonging to the conquered nation or a colonial city. If a rebellion does happen, it gets 1 general (normal general factor of 1d10). The amount of money the rebellion will have to spend on troops is equal to the generals factor times 5 plus the amount of money given to the rebellion on this attempt to try and make it happen. (For instance, if a player spent 10 money on a rebellion and rolled a 1 on a d10, the rebellion happened. If the general was a factor 5 general, then the rebellion would have 35 total resources to spend on troops (5 times 5, plus 10 = 35.) The maximum number of troops a rebellion can begin with is equal to the land resource value of the original territories that the kingdom began the game with. If the rebellion begins in a colonial city, then the maximum number of units is the resource value of the city, plus the resource value of any adjacent territories owned and incorporated by the same nation. If the rebel is a non-player nation then the Moderator will control the rebel forces. If the rebellion begins in a nation which had previously been a player nation then the Moderator will assign the rebellion its initial units. After that time, if still available, the original player of the rebel nation will assume control of the rebel units. If not available, then control reverts back to the Moderator. Rebel forces DO NOT have to pay to incorporate lands originally owned by that nation.

If the rebellion is a non-player nation, it will be "Favorable" to the nation which sponsored it and "At War" with the nation who owned the territory in which the rebellion started. As a non player nation the rebellion will have but one purpose, to reclaim all of it's original lands. If it reclaims all lands from the first nation it was at war against, it will then try to reclaim the rest from other players holding it's land, starting with the player holding the land worth the most income.

Granting Independence: Through the course of play, there are several reasons a nation may decide to grant independence to a nation it had previously conquered. Independence may be granted to end a conflict with a rebel army. In this case, it must be full independence. This means the conquering nations returns all territory that originally belonged to the newly liberated nation, that the conquering nation still controls. The other two reasons for granting independence are an enemy nation may mandate in negotiations that the nation grant independence to a nation it had previously conquered. In this case, all the territory originally belonging to the conquered nation does not have to be restored to the original nation's control. Any number of territories, with a minimum of one city territory, may be returned during a grant of independence. How many and which territories are granted independence is purely a matter of politics between the players. The last reason to grant independence to a nation is a matter of strategy. There could arise situations where it is better to have a neutral nation with newly built armies in those territories rather than maintaining conquest over them.
When independence is granted, the newly liberated nation will build up some form of army from rebels and peasants. The nation may spend a number of resources equal to the total sum of all the territories gained from the liberation, times two. These may be spent on land units, naval units, and ports, but not diplomacy, stealing trade, or other non-military applications. These units are instantly placed on the map anywhere the liberated nation controls. In the case of liberation due to rebellion, the liberated nation gets the standard money to spend on units, plus gets to keep all remaining units from the rebellion. When a nation is granted independence, it can only be granted to territories it originally control at the start of the game.

If the nation being granted independence had been a player nation, then a couple of possibilities exist. Firstly, if there had first been a rebellion, then see rebellion rules regarding if the original player assumes control of the rebel forces or if they become a non-player nation. If the original player is not available to resume control of the newly liberated nation then the Moderator will assume control and the nation will be treated as a neutral nation. However, the nation is considered an open position which anyone, may join the gain and assume control.

Action 11: Trades & Gifts:

Being a multi player game each player will have the opportunity to conduct private diplomacy with the other players via e-mail. The players may develop any sort of agreements they wish. However, in many cases there will be no game mechanic to force a player to follow through on those agreements. That means that for such an agreement to be viable, the other player will simply have to trust the player for which the agreement was made. Examples of such agreements could be non aggression packs, promises of financial support in a war, negotiations to maintain troop levels along a common border at agreed upon numbers, etc. Players are free to make whatever arrangements with other players they wish, but are also not bound to keep those arrangements. So who you care to deal with should be influenced by how trustworthy the other player/s prove.

Trades: Official trades are a means to conduct a "safe" transaction with another player. Any assets may be traded, except for Generals. These include 1) Resources, 2) Units (including Ports), 3) Trade Resources, and 4) Ownership of territories. To conduct an official trade with another player simply, first make your arrangement with that other player. Then e-mail the Moderator AND that other player clearly stating what is being traded for what. When the Moderator receives confirmation from that other player, only then will the Moderator go ahead and process the trade. Trades are the very last thing a Moderator does on a turn update.

Example #1: England gets into a naval war with Sweden and the English player would like to get more ships for less than their standard cost. Spain recently launched an invasion of France and the French player realizes he needs more money to buy additional infantry to stem the invasion. The French player sends an e-mail to the English player suggesting that England buy France's 3 ships (1 Ship of the Line, 1 Frigate, and 1 Merchantmen) for a total of 40 resources. The English player agrees, sending the French player back a positive response. Either the French or English player then e-mail the terms of the trade to the Moderator will corresponding that e-mail to the other player. The Moderator gets that e-mail and knows that a trade has been offered. No he awaits an e-mail from the other player confirming the *exact* terms of the trade and his agreement to them. The Moderator then goes ahead and gives 40 of England's resources to France and the French ships convert into English ships.

Example #2: The Teutonic Order player starts the game knowing he'll have a tough time trying to keep control of Prussia. He sends the Polish player an offer to trade ownership of the territory of Prussia to Poland in exchange for 3 Infantry Poland owns in the territory of Kaunuas. Poland agrees. One of them initiates the trade process by sending the Moderator (and the other player) an e-mail detailing the terms of the trade. The other player concludes the deal by e-mailing the Moderator and confirming the terms of the trade. Poland ends up with ownership of Prussia and the Teutonic Order gets ownership of the 3 infantry.

Limitations of Trades: Trades are a one time deal and can not include conditional events or need to be conducted over a period of time. Players can not trade future assets. In other words, a player may not offer 20 resources now, plus another 20 resources next turn in exchange for some commodity. If the first player does not have 40 resources available to complete the transaction right away, then the Moderator can not process it. Two player could agree on a purchase which included a trade of 20 resources this turn for that item and 20 resources next turn. However, the trade would have to be presented to the Moderated purely as 20 resources in exchange for that other item. That much of the transaction the Moderator can process. The following turn when the first player collected that additional 20 resources, that player would then "Gift" the other 20  resources to the other player. However, gifts are NOT a trade and are handles differently (see below). Trade of a territory does not alter its current incorporation status. In other words, if Poland traded a territory to Russia, Russia would still have to pay to incorporate that territory before he could collect the resources from it. ***You can NOT trade a unit in the same turn that is has actively moved or was Built***. Nor may the new owner Move a Unit acquired in a trade in the same turn it was traded.

If a trade does not get processed, here are the two most likely reasons:

1) The first player submitted the terms of the trade to the Moderator, but the second player never e-mailed the Moderator to confirm the trade. Without confirmation the Moderator will NOT process a trade. It could be the second player wasn't able to get the confirmation e-mail to the Moderator in time for the trade to happen in the most recent update, in which case it would get processed in the next update (assuming the items to be traded were still available).

2) It could be the second player sent the Moderator an e-mail with terms which were conflicting with those from the first player. If it is not clear to the Moderator that both players are asking for the same terms for a trade, then the Moderator WILL NOT process the trade.

3) Or it could simply be the second player has fooled the first player and intentionally backed out of the trade.

Gifts: Gifts work differently than trades. Any player may opt to "Gift" an item to another player nation or non player nation. To gift an item does not require any sort of confirmation from the player that will receive the gift. The same exact items that could be traded can also be gifted. Like Trades, Gifts are also the last thing a Moderator updates in a game turn. Also like trades no Units may be traded in a turn in which it moved or was built.

Players may also place conditional "Gift" orders with the Moderator, IF and only IF the conditional Gift is for resources. Such as, if Player X declares war on Player Y, then Gift player X 10 resources. Conditional Gift orders for resources are transacted the instant the condition for the order happens. The most prominent use of this rule is the conditional order to gift resources to a neutral nation should a particular player declare war on it. The resources are instantly gifted to the Neutral who gets to instantly spend those resources on military units.

Long Range Gifts: When gifting resources, if the target nation for the gift does not have a land border with your nation or is not within a 4 sea zone range, then the only way resources may be gifted is if those resources are delivered by Independent Merchants. Its cost 1 resource for every 10 resources gifted (round up) to send money in this fashion.

At this point the player leaves the Moderator any standing orders to cover the duration of other phases until the player's turn rolls around again next turn.

1) Military Co-Operation. You can chose to allow or disallow another player's units to enter a territory which you control. This applies to sea zones and land territories. Such an order could be lodged for naval units, allowing certain units passage while contesting passage for naval units from another player. Or permission can be left to allow another player's land units to enter a territory you control.

A more complicated scenario might include you have ships in the same sea zone as another player. During a later phase in that same turn a third player might try moving ships through or into that same sea zone. You can leave an order with the Moderator where if those two fleets were to fight, your ships would join one side or the other. A similar scenario could also happen on land (though its fairly unlikely), where your units are sharing the same territory as another player.

In the event a player attacks a territory containing troops from two or more players, the default assumption is that all troops within the territory will fight for the defense of that territory. It is also assumed that the attacker is trying to destroy all units within the territory. But this does not have to be the case. If the attacker declares to the Moderator that he wished to avoid combat with units belonging to one nation AND that nation has left instructions with the Moderator that if the first nation attacks the territory that they don't wish to fight the attacking forces. Or they can JOIN the attacking forces against the other defenders.
 

Turn Orders:

The game will be divided up into 4 phases, with 11 players per phase. The phase each nation acts on is listed on the Nation Standing chart at the Guild of Blades website. In each phase update, the Moderator will post when the turn deadline is for the next group of players. All non player nations go on phase "5" which is updated along with the phase 4 update, but calculated after all phase 4 events. Non-player nations save half their money each turn while inactive. If active for any reason (i.e. war, paying tribute, etc.) they collect their full allotment of money. When a player declares war on a non player neutral nation that nation gets to instantly spend any to all of its saved resources on military units and place those units in any territory/ies it owns. This is done prior to the resolution of any combats initiated by the attacking player.

Tribal Nations:

Each tribal nation gets two cities, which they may place anywhere in Central or South Africa, in territories not belonging to any nation. These cities do not have to be next to or near each other. Each of these two cities is worth 7 resources. The players each get 1 general, plus may spend 75 resources on military units. Each player may then choose to put those units in up to six different territories (the two territories the cities were placed in count against these six). These are the territories the tribal empire begins play with. In the territories the cities are in, count those territories as worth the 7 resources the city is worth instead of whatever the point value of the territory normally is. Add up the resource value of the other (up to 4 more) territories, and this is the tribal nation's starting income.

The tribal nation does not have to pay to incorporate a territory in order to collect resources from it. However, ANY territory not occupied by one of the two tribe's cities or the tribes military units will not produce any resources. Further, tribal nations may have no diplomacy with non-player nations, may not steal trade, build colonies, or economically develop a territory.

The two tribal cities have a defense rating of only 1. However, the tribal player may opt to move the tribal city into an adjacent territory they control. Or have the city accompany a military force invading a territory. On any turn that a city is moved, no units may be built out of it. If both tribal cites are destroyed without the tribe owning another incorporated city, the army disbands and the tribal nation disappears. A tribal nation may choose to pay to incorporate a regular city. If they do this, they must destroy one of their tribal cities for each city incorporated in this fashion. Tribal nations may not build units out of captured cities that have not been incorporated. If a tribal player no longer has any tribal cities, but do have incorporated cities, the tribe reverts to being a regular nation now subject to all normal rules, with all territory they currently occupy assumed to be already incorporated.

For purposes of game set up, Tribal nation number 1 has priority of territory preference. If both tribal nations chose to put units the same territory, nation #1 would get the territory and nation #2 would have to place elsewhere. The standard method for assigning Tribal units and territories is for Tribal Nation #1 to select his territories and units and unit placements, then for Tribal Nation #2 to do the same.

Player Nations at War:

If 2 player nations are at war then they may NOT trade with each other, but may gifting items to each other. In addition, their naval units cannot share the same sea zone; movement into a sea zone occupied by a nation you are at war with is considered an attack. Lastly, a nation cannot allow passage (see below) to a nation he is at war with.

Missed Turns:

The first turn missed the moderator will email the player asking him if he is still in the game. The second consecutive turn missed, the moderator will email the player as above and perform a move for the nation, building defensive units and shoring up the border (the moderator will perform no attacks). The third consecutive turn missed will cause the nation to become open for play and the moderator will play the nation defensively until a replacement player can be found. Of course, emailing the moderator and letting him know you are going to be out of town, etc, etc is always acceptable.

Turns  Phases:

The standard game turn is divided into 4 phases with 11 nations assigned per phase. Two phases will be processed per week at 3-4 days intervals. In this fashion the game proceeds at a rate of 1 full game turn every 2 weeks. 1483 games are campaign in nature, meaning they have no set end time. Games will continue until such a time when the Moderator is no longer able to handle the moderation of game play. When or IF such happens we'll poll the players; if the majority of them wish to continue the game, then we'll do our best to assign a new moderator and keep game play going. A Phase "5" happens during the Phase 4 update period, but all Phase 5 activities are processed *after* all Phase 4 turns and events. Phase 5 is the phase where all active non player nations take their moves, build new units, etc.