Strategy in Soldier Kings
Part 4: Summer-Winter 1757
By Doug McNair
October 2007

The Northern Alliance tries to hold off the resurgent Catholic League as the year 1757 winds down in today’s episode of my Soldier Kings replay. As Spring, 1757 came to an end, French, Spanish and Swiss armies drove British and Dutch forces out of Paris and Swabia, and the League’s new Danish allies were doing a good job threatening the Dutch and British rear while blocking Swedish reinforcements from getting to Holland. Frederick the Great repulsed another assault on Prussia by Austria and her Polish and Bavarian allies, and Muhsinzade Pasha of Turkey inflicted another defeat on Austrian and Polish armies in the east and is now within sight of the gates of Vienna. Holland and Austria both need to get reinforcements quickly to stabilize their lines or risk being overrun, and Britain has to find a way to stop the double assault from Denmark and Switzerland or risk being kicked off the Continent.

TURN SIX: SUMMER, 1757
Purchase Phase: At the start of the turn the current money and manpower totals are:

Nation .......... Money .......... Manpower
Austria.............. .20....................... 13
Britain.................15....................... 11
France................15......................... 9
Holland............... 6........................ 15
Prussia............... 10......................... 8
Russia.................. 2 .........................6
Spain ..................13 .......................23
Turkey ..................6 .......................27

Britain, Holland and Spain each receive one new fleet that they purchased last year. Austria is in dire need of more forces and builds one new army, but nobody else does. Then everyone makes all the unit repairs they can afford.

Initiative Phase: Frederick needs to take Saxony and push the Poles away from Prussia and toward Turkey, so he opts to add +2 to his initiative roll. But once again he doesn’t roll very well, and the initiative order comes out:

France/Spain/Russia/Holland/Prussia/Britain/Austria/Turkey

Action Phases:
CATHOLIC LEAGUE: The Swiss mercenaries continue their march northward into Hesse, and the Franco-Spanish armies under Alvarez and d’Estrees move north along their western flank to attack the Prince of Orange in the Austrian Netherlands. The Danish fleet in the North Sea moves to blockade the new British fleet in Southern England, while the Danish army in Denmark moves south to attack the lone British army holding Hannover. Then the newly-reinforced Spanish fleets in Galicia head northward out to sea again, with one of them carrying a Spanish army. The Anglo-Dutch fleets patrolling the Eastern Atlantic roll a 9 + 1 = 10 and just barely intercept them. Neither side scores a hit on the first round, but on the second round both sides score one hit, and one of the two Spanish fleets has to retreat to Galicia while the British fleet has to retreat to the North Atlantic. That leaves both sides evenly matched at a strength of 1-1, but on the third round the Dutch roll a 6 and force the second Spanish fleet and the army it’s carrying back to Galicia. Yet once again the Armada has been stopped!

But two Spanish armies in Catalonia cross the Pyrenees and make it to Burgundy, and then the land attacks against the Dutch and British go in. The Danes make a two-round assault against the British in Hannover, and this time the Alliance’s luck takes a turn for the worse, with the Danish 2-against-6 attack scoring one hit to none for the British. The British army can’t retreat south to join the other British army in Swabia because there are more enemy armies there than friendly armies, so it has to retreat west to Holland, along with both British leaders. Then the Swiss attack the lone British army in Swabia at five dice to one, and they score one hit but so do the British. The 2-1 Swiss army takes a step loss and retreats south to Swabia, but the remaining British army retreats north to Hannover, which at least prevents a Danish siege there later this turn. Then France and Spain both pay 2 Money for a two-round Assault on the Prince of Orange in the Austrian Netherlands, but immediately afterward Orange plays an Irregulars card, unleashing hired skirmishers to harass the League armies’ scouts and supply lines, cutting their attack strength in half. With leadership bonuses the League can still attack with eight dice to Orange’s six, but they score just one hit on the first round (not enough to dislodge Orange’s 3-2 army) while the Dutch score one hit and eject a 2-1 French army. The second round attack is at six dice to six, and the League armies triumph, scoring two hits to one and forcing Orange to retreat northward to Holland to join his retreating British allies. The Spanish army takes a hit and Alvarez retreats south with it, and then d’Estrees spends 2 Money for unlimited siege rounds against the Austrian Netherlands. He didn’t need to – his engineers score two hits on the enemy fortifications on five dice in the first round, taking the Austrian Netherlands for France (though France may give it back to Austria at the end of the year, depending on what condition Austria is in by then).

As for Austria, the loss of her 3-2 army means she’s not strong enough to counterattack the Prussians, so she goes after the Turks instead. Ulysses Browne brings in a 2-1 army from Vienna to replace him at the northern lines in Silesia, then takes his elite 4-3 army plus another 2-1 army from Vienna into Hungary to attack Muhsinzade Pasha. At the same time, two Polish armies attack the Turkish 3-2 army in Galicia. The Polish 5-dice-to-3 assault scores just one hit on the second round and fails to dislodge the Turks, but Browne’s two-round Assault against Muhsinzade Pasha at eight dice to seven scores the one hit needed to eject the Turks back to Transylvania. But Muhsinzade Pasha mounts a brilliant defense, scoring three hits on seven dice to do one step loss to Browne’s elite 4-3 army and forcing it to retreat back to Vienna. The Austrians roll a 10 + 1 and just barely fail to kill Muhsinzade Pasha (the Turks get nowhere near Brown, who makes damn sure the latrines in Vienna are dug really, really deep this year to prevent disease).

Across the pond, France plays a Fair Wind or Foul card and adds one to the movement allowance of her 2-1 fleet in the Western Atlantic, sending it east to Europe. The reduced British fleet in the North Atlantic (the one that retreated from the fight with the Spanish Armada) rolls another 9 + 1 = 10 and intercepts it, but the French get the wind gauge, roll a 6 on two dice and destroy the British fleet. The blockaded British fleet in Southern England can’t try to intercept, but when the French move into the North Sea, the new Dutch fleet in Holland rolls a 12 + 1 = 13 and intercepts them. Once again the French get the wind gauge, but they score no hits on the first round while the Dutch score one hit and force the French to retreat back to the North Atlantic. That is an incredible victory for the Dutch, because the French fleet was heading for Sweden to blockade the Swedish 3-2 army there and prevent it from being transported to Holland.

Then Galissoniere’s fleet returns to the Caribbean from the South Pacific (those breadfruit plants weren’t all they were cracked up to be), and then the Spanish fleet in Cuba embarks an army and heads out to invade the British-held Bahamas. But at that moment, Britain plays a Caribbean Hurricane card, and the Spanish fleet plus the army its carrying, plus Galissoniere’s fleet and the French fleet blockading the Central Islands all take step losses. The Spanish can’t afford to lose their Caribbean fleet to shore battery fire, so they head back to Cuba for repairs. The now-reduced French fleet blockading the Windwards is a sitting duck for an attack by Admiral Hawke, so it ends the blockade and joins up with Galissioniere’s fleet. France then moves her Sepoys back into the South Carnatic in India but doesn’t attack the numerically-superior Dutch.

NORTHERN ALLIANCE: The Dutch fleet in the North Sea puts into port in Sweden, picks up the Swedish 3-2 army there and moves along with the reduced Swedish fleet to unload the Swedish army in Holland. Then the Dutch fleet in the Eastern Atlantic sails for the Thames and joins the British fleet in Southern England in trying to break the Danish blockade. The Allies get the wind gauge, and they score one hit on the second round, forcing the Danes to retreat to Denmark. The Dutch fleet puts into port in Holland, and the British fleet stays put to prevent any more Spanish Armada activity out of Galicia.

Then the Swedish army in Mecklenburg attacks the Danish army in Hannover, and the British armies in Holland move into Hannover to protect British soil on the Continent. The Swedes score one hit on the first round and drive the Danes back up to Denmark.

Frederick takes advantage of that opportunity, playing a New Leader card and putting Prince Henry in charge of the siege of Saxony, and then taking his 4-3 army all the way north to Denmark to attack the fleeing Danes. He spends just 1 Money on a Probe, and with that small a Prussian commitment the Danes decide to stay and fight to defend their homeland rather than escape by ship. But Frederick lives up to his title and scores three hits on seven dice, wiping out both the Danish army and fleet!!! He then spends 1 Money on a two-round siege and takes Denmark for Prussia. General Schwerin spends 1 Money for a Probe against the 2-1 Austrian army holding the lines in Silesia, and since that army has no chance of harming Schwerin’s 4-3 army it retreats to Vienna before battle. Then Henry takes a free siege round in Saxony and does one more hit, taking Saxon fortifications down to strength 1.

In the New World, Admiral Hawke departs New York and goes hunting French and Spanish. He moves into the Caribbean and fails to intercept the French fleets under Galissoniere, so he tacks westward and hits the Spanish fleet laid up in port at Cuba after their battering in the hurricane. Neither side scores a hit on the first round, and the Spanish retreat out to sea since they have nearly zero chance of hurting Hawke with just 3 dice at their disposal.

Having lost all their gains on the Continent but gained powerful Swedish reinforcements, the Dutch spend another 1 Money to attack the French sepoys in Chandranagore. Neither side scores a hit. The India Rebel army there also fails to hurt the Sepoys but more Indian rebels move toward Chandranagore from South Carnatic to oppose them. The British fleet in the South Atlantic heads around the Cape toward the Spice Islands to bring in Dutch money this winter.

TURKEY: Having pulled off an impressive defense against General Browne in Hungary, Muhsinzade Pasha marshals his forces and counterattacks there, with his powerful 3-2 army making a risky mountain crossing from Galicia to support the attack against the lone 2-1 Austrian army remaining in Hungary after Browne’s retreat. That lets the Austrians hit on every 5 or 6 they roll, but Muhsinzade Pasha’s one-round Probe goes in at 7 dice to 5 and does two hits to none, wiping out the 2-1 Austrian army. He then takes a free siege round but scores no hits, but his brilliant performance in the Hungarian Campaign (with two Austrian armies destroyed) earns him special prayers back in Constantinople, and has once again taken him within sight of the gates of Vienna.

Nobody surrenders, so play proceeds to . . .

TURN SEVEN: FALL, 1767
Purchase Phase: Nine new armies purchased in the spring plus one British 3-2 fleet purchased last year appear on the board. The British fleet goes with the Home Fleet in Southern England, a British 4-3 army appears in Hannover (and the Swiss look up from their cheese), two French armies (a 2-1 and a 1-1) appear in Ile de France, a Prussian 3-2 army appears in Silesia with General Schwerin, an Austrian 1-1 army appears in Vienna to reinforce General Brown (who really, really needs the help right now), a Turkish 1-1 army appears in Moldavia (from where it can reinforce either Volhynia or Transylvania or repel an attack from Poland), and three Russian armies appear in St. Petersburg with General Apraxin. This prompts Prussia to play a Profligate Heir card on Russia, draining the last 2 Money from the Russian coffers to silence rumors about the appetites of the Tsarevitch. If Russia wants to break either of her peace treaties with Prussia and Turkey she can move south and besiege East Prussia or White Russia, but she can only do it for one round at zero money cost, and if any of her armies take step losses from defensive fire they’ll die over the winter due to lack of maintenance.

Nobody buys any armies, and everyone repairs what they can with the money they have left. Spain has no choice but to repair all her damaged fleets and armies (in particular, any fleets that don’t get repaired will likely get annihilated by the growing Royal Navy), and that drains her coffers down to 1 Money, so her activities will be very limited for the rest of the year. France isn’t much better off at 4 Money, but she’s still got a shot at pushing the Dutch into the sea, IF she can get initiative before the other Swedish 3-2 army shows up in Holland.

Initiative Phase: Frederick needs the initiative to pull off his master plan, so he adds +2 to his dieroll . . . but yet once again he rolls miserably, and the order comes out:

Austria/France/Turkey/Spain/Russia/Prussia/Britain/Holland

Action Phases:
CATHOLIC LEAGUE: Before anyone does anything, Britain plays a Papal Bull card. His Holiness Pope Benedict XIV, alarmed at Muhsinzade Pasha’s victories in the east, calls for the Catholic League nations to repent of their alliances with the heretic Danes and Russians, and thus regain God’s favor that He might end His just punishment in the form of the marauding Infidels. Tax money in France, Spain and Austria dries up, and each Catholic League nation loses 2 Money. Spain is now broke and France is down to 2 Money, but Austria is still in good shape with 11 Money.

General Browne and his Bavarian and Polish allies go on the offensive on all fronts, with a Bavarian 3-2 army attacking Prince Henry in Saxony, Browne taking his elite 4-3 army to attack Muhsinzade Pasha in Hungary, and a Polish 3-2 army from Galicia attacking the Turkish armies in Moldavia to cut off the Turks occupying Volhynia. The Bavarian two-round assault goes in at three dice to five and scores one hit on Henry’s weak siege armies, but Henry springs a brilliant trap and scores three hits on five dice, sending the Bavarians back to Bohemia.

The Polish two-round assault on Moldavia goes in at three dice to six, but the Poles score no hits and the Turks score just one hit on each round and can’t damage the Polish 3-2 army. The Poles withdraw to Galicia so they don’t get cut off from behind by attacks from Volhynia or Transylvania.

Then Browne spends 2 Money for an Assault on Hungary, and his elite 4-3 Catholic army clashes with two of Turkey’s best armies. Both sides score 2 hits. That is not enough to rebuff Browne’s army, but it is enough to repulse Muhsinzade Pasha’s 3-2 army and send it to Transylvania. Muhsinzade Pasha has almost no chance of hurting Brown’s army with just the 2-1 army he has left, so he retreats as well, with an Austrian roll of 10 + 1 = 11 just barely failing to kill him. But before he goes he plays a Scorched Earth card on Hungary, meaning nobody will get money or manpower from Hungary this winter, and if Browne stays there his army will take a step loss from winter attrition. Brown knows that if he retreats to Vienna to avoid winter attrition the Turks will just rush back into Hungary and besiege it so they’ll have the fortifications in the spring, and then just take the step losses over the winter (they’ve got armies to burn so it’s no biggie for them). But he also knows that Schwerin has two powerful armies in Silesia and even Frederick can make it down to Vienna from Denmark with his 4-3 army and his unique movement allowance of 3, so rather than risk losing Vienna to Prussia he pulls back and leaves Hungary to the wolves. But Browne gets some small measure of satisfaction by playing a Prisoner Exchange card on Turkey, giving both Austria and Turkey an extra 3 Manpower (which Austria can really use while Turkey is overflowing with manpower already).

Russia decides to wait and see what Turkey does rather than acting at the same time as her allies, and France and Spain combine their fleets in the Caribbean to gain Galissoniere’s protection against Hawke and to bring in the Money from there this winter. Another French fleet moves from the North Atlantic to the Western Atlantic to try and intercept any Northern Alliance fleets that move there to reap money and manpower for Britain this winter. Then the two Spanish fleets at Galicia try to make for the South Atlantic to escape the strong British and Dutch fleets to the north and to bring in money from French Senegal. This time the British in Southern England fail to intercept them, and they escape to the warm waters off Africa.

Then General Alvarez plays a Force March card and takes his one Spanish army north to Hesse to join the two Swiss armies that gather there. The Swiss 3-2 army could move north to attack Hannover, but the addition of the elite British 4-3 army there would make such an attack suicidal. So Alvarez just sends orders for the other two Spanish armies to head north through France toward him, and then takes a free siege round and besieges Hesse. He scores no hits but takes one, which a Swiss 2-1 army dutifully takes and retreats to Switzerland.

Then d’Estrees moves north with his two armies to attack Holland while bringing another French army in behind him and sending two others west to guard the coast against invasion. France spends her last 2 Money on an Assault and then Spain plays a Surprise Attack card which allows the French 2-1 army that followed d’Estrees north to move into Holland and attack at double-strength. But then Holland plays yet another Irregulars card (her supply of hired thugs is endless) which cuts French attack strength in half, but France responds with a Booty Taking card that causes half the Swedes to go raiding the French baggage train rather than fight. The attack ends up at seven dice to 16 (due to Holland’s massive fortifications), but somehow d’Estrees manages a brilliant attack against overwhelming odds and scores 3 hits, routing the Dutch and Swedish Marines, capturing some Dutch shore batteries and shelling the allied fleets so they take step losses and retreat to the North Sea. But the Dutch engineers save the day, and their defensive works allow the Allies to inflict five hits on the French, sending them reeling back to the Austrian Netherlands with two step losses to the strongest French armies on the board.

TURKEY: Muhsinzade Pasha gets to go before the Northern Alliance, and rather than reoccupying the wasteland into which he turned Hungary, he diverts his armies southwest and attacks Bosnia. He’s short on cash and spends just 1 Money on a Probe against he sole Austrian 2-1 army there, and the 8-dice-to-4 attack scores one hit but takes two, and the Austrian army retreats to Croatia but two Turkish armies have to retreat to Transylvania and Macedonia. Luckily Muhsinzade Pasha brought along two 1-1 cannon-fodder armies for that purpose, and he and his two better-quality 2-1 armies besiege Bosnia for two rounds and take it. But the Austrian garrison inflicts a step loss on one of Muhsinzade Pasha’s 2-1 armies on the second round, and that plus the two hits the brave defenders of Bosnia inflicted on him in battle means he’s got some damaged armies that won’t survive the winter.

RUSSIA breaks her peace treaty with Turkey (which will expire at the end of the winter anyway) and Apraxin takes his 3-2 army south to besiege White Russia for one free round, leaving his other three armies behind to guard St. Petersburg against amphibious invasion by the British or Dutch. He scores one hit on four dice and fails to reconquer the territory, but his occupation of it means the Turks won’t get money or manpower from it this winter.

NORTHERN ALLIANCE: Back on the other side of the world, a second Indian Rebel army reaches Chandranagore and attacks the French Sepoys there, but the Sepoys drive off both rebel armies. The Dutch can’t afford the high cost of repairing units that far around the world now that their homeland is under siege, so the fleet and army that were attacking Chandranagore withdraw and head back to Ceylon. The British fleet that rounded the cape of Africa makes it to the South China Sea.

Then the Dutch, British and Swedish navies sail west to bring home the treasures of the New World and make sure France and Spain cannot. A Dutch and a Swedish fleet from Holland enter the Western Atlantic, and the French fleet there fails to intercept them. The two units of the British Home Fleet sail for the Caribbean, but Galissoniere and his Franco-Spanish fleet intercept them. Galissoniere gets the wind gauge, and he scores one hit on the first round, forcing a British 2-1 fleet to retreat to port in the Central Islands. The British 3-2 fleet fires and misses but stays to fight it out, and it scores on hit to none on the second round, forcing a French 2-1 fleet to retreat to port in the Leeward Islands. Battle rages for four more rounds with not enough hits to either side to damage a fleet, but on the fifth round Galissoniere breaks the British line and scores five hits on seven dice, completely wiping out the British 3-2 fleet! But the British score a hit before dying, doing a step loss to the Spanish 2-1 fleet and forcing it to retreat to port in Cuba.

Then Admiral Hawke goes hunting Galissoniere, rolls a natural 10 and finds him. Neither side scores any hits on the first round, but on the second round Hawke scores no hits while Galissioniere again performs brilliantly and scores three hits on six dice, doing a step loss to Hawke’s elite 4-3 fleet and forcing it and the 2-1 fleet with it to retreat to the Bahamas. Galissoniere’s brilliant Carribbean Campaign saves the gold of the New World for France and Spain . . . except for that of Haiti, because Holland plays a Pirates card in the Caribbean and sends the Pirate fleet to Haiti to pillage it this winter.

Back in Europe, General Schwerin makes ready to attack Vienna, but Austria plays a Vacillating General card, and once again Schwerin displays a caution worthy of McClellan a century later and stays in Silesia. Frederick goes ballistic and charges south from Denmark with his elite 4-3 army, moving through Mecklenburg, Magdeburg and Saxony, stretching his movement allowance of 3 to the limit to smash into the Bavarian armies guarding Bohemia. He spends 2 Money on an Assault, but the 7-dice-to-7 attack does one hit on the first round and none on the second round, leaving Frederick to spend the winter living off the land in Bohemia. But Henry takes Saxony for Prussia again, so Prussia will end the year with some significant territorial gains.

Then the Dutch, British and Swedish armies make ready to go on the attack against the weakened, broke French and Spanish, but Spain plays a Miscommunication card, and the Swedes misunderstand their orders and dig in for the winter instead. That kills the Dutch attack plans (their one 3-2 army has little chance of hurting any French armies on its own), but the British pay no mind and move south to attack General Alvarez’ Spaniards and Swiss allies. But Spain plays a Burned Bridges card to block British routes of advance and cuts British attack strength in half, and the 7 die to 6 2-round Assault does no hits on the first round but takes one (driving a weak British army back to Hannover), and performs the same on the second round. The British withdraw to Hannover, and Spanish lines hold!

Peace Phase: Austria tells France that because the Debase Currency card Britain played on her last year will drain her treasury by 25% this year, she’ll have no choice but to surrender to Prussia if France doesn’t give her back control of the rich Austrian Netherlands. France is feeling generous due to her victories overseas (and does not want Frederick turning his attention westward), and agrees to return the territory in the upcoming Diplomacy Phase. So, nobody surrenders.

TURN EIGHT: WINTER, 1767
Winter Attrition Phase: No armies are unsupported so none take attrition losses.

Maintenance Phase: Turkey has just 1 Money left and spends it plus a Manpower to maintain her reduced 3-2 army, and loses three other reduced armies to lack of maintenance. All four of Russia’s armies take step losses due to lack of maintenance since Russia has no money, but all were full-strength so none of them are eliminated. Prussia has 3 Money left and can maintain most of her armies (Frederick lets Schwerin’s men starve over the winter), and Austria has enough money and manpower to maintain all her armies. France and Spain have no money left and all their armies take step losses, with the two strong French armies that took step losses in Holland dissolving and the French and Spanish fleets that were damaged in Galissoniere’s brilliant Caribbean Campaign falling apart due to lack of maintenance as well. The Swiss mercenaries go home due to lack of pay, the French fleet in the North Atlantic mutinies and takes up fishing in Acadia, but France plays an Illegal Recruitment card on Britain, and French agents divert the usual stream of poor Irish recruits to Brittany, dropping Britain’s manpower total to 5 while increasing France’s to 7. Still, the fact that France destroyed two of Britain’s fleets overseas means the 5 Manpower Britain has left is just enough to maintain all her damaged units, so she doesn’t lose any more. Holland has the 4 Money necessary to maintain all her units except Orange’s army (which she can easily rebuild in the spring).

Victory Phase: The current victory point totals are:

Nation VP ........Total
Austria................. -1
Britain.................. -4
France................... 4
Holland.................. 0
Prussia ...................5
Russia................... -5
Spain ......................2
Turkey ....................6

Turkey is in first place with just four points between her and victory, Prussia is in second place and Spain is in third (they both need 15 VPs for victory, while France needs 20). But Turkey is now facing a resurgent Russia and she’s lost three armies over the winter due to lack of maintenance. If Muhsinzade Pasha is ever going to win without allies he has to do it next year, so he plays a Debase Currency card on himself, increasing Turkey’s Money take this year by 25% but reducing it by 25% every year thereafter.

Money and Manpower Phase: Nations collect money and manpower from eligible areas, and the totals they end up with are:

Nation................. Money ..............Manpower
Austria..................... 17 .........................16
Britain...................... 44..........................20
France..................... 39.......................... 26
Holland.................... 17 ..........................19
Prussia..................... 19.......................... 16
Russia........................ 9........................... 21
Spain........................ 37.......................... 36
Turkey...................... 21.......................... 57

Galissoniere’s victory in the Caribbean has meant the difference between life and death for the Catholic League, because a defeat there followed by a Northern Alliance blockade of damaged Spanish and French fleets would have cut the French and Spanish year-end totals by 47 Money. France would have had to sell out Austria and keep the Austrian Netherlands, which would have forced Austria to surrender to Frederick, which would have sent Frederick charging through the Holy Roman Empire and straight for Paris. So the Marquis de la Galissoniere can expect lavish praise and gifts from a grateful King and country when he returns home - hopefully in this reality he can stay alive long enough to receive them.

Event Card Phase: Everyone turns in their event cards and gets five new ones.

Diplomacy Phase: Britain, France and Spain have lost numerous fleets and armies this year and need to rebuild them, so they’re less generous to their allies than they’ve been in the past. Britain gives Prussia 3 Money, but Holland declines to do so in favor of building more fleets to help deal with the French and Spanish overseas (Britain approves of this). France gives Austria no money (the cession of the Austrian Netherlands was her donation to the Empress’ cause), so after considerable haggling Spain gives her 5 Money and 2 Manpower (which puts her on a par with Prussia money-wise). Russia gets shut out of the League congress and gets no money, and then the League formally severs its ties with both Russia and Denmark. The explanation comes when Spain then plays a Papal Bull card. Pope Benedict holds a Mass of Thanksgiving for the League’s repudiation of its erstwhile heretic allies, and writes a letter exhorting his flock to support the Defenders of the Faith. Contributions flow in and France, Spain and Austria all gain 3 Money.

The League nations now have over 102 Money between them in their war chests for 1758, but the Northern Alliance isn’t that far behind with 80, and its armies way outgun the League in Europe. Can the League rebuild its armies before the Northern Alliance storms the gates of Paris and Vienna? Can Britain rebuild the Royal Navy in time to stop the next Spanish Armada from invading England? Will Lulu run back to Logan, or fall for Johnny's gangster charm? Can Turkey get to 10 VPs and score an Automatic Victory in 1758 before her coffers run dry? And what can Russia do now that nobody wants her? Tune in next time and find out!

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