| Soldier
Kings: National Objectives
By Steve Cabral
July 2008
Experienced players of the
outstanding diplomatic wargame Soldier
Kings: The Seven Years War Worldwide know that they
can seek certain alliances over and over
in the quest for victory. This can cause
a sense of sameness after multiple playings.
Of course, the absolute monarchs
of Europe had advisors, often powers in their
own right. A word in this ear and a word
in that ear, and the monarch soon hears how
best to proceed in the growing world conflict.
This along with various self-interests led
to frequent changes in European alliances
from 1500 to 1900.
Britain and Holland were typical.
They allied against Spain in the 1500s but
broke up as Holland became a major world
power. The two countries fought four horrific
naval wars between 1652 and 1684, occasionally
allied against France, and then re-allied
when William of Holland became co-ruler with
Mary in Britain. After William’s death
the Dutch and British fought again in 1780
and in 1797. The Dutch were allied with Britain
by the end of the Napoleonic wars, then lost
South Africa to Britain in 1814. One odd
alliance in that period came in 1654, when
odd couples England and France allied together
against Holland and Spain.
This variant gives a sense
of those ever-shifting priorities and alliances.
Game Variant: National
Objectives In the campaign
scenario, each major power draws one National
Objective card. Keep the card secret and
place the unused cards away from view.
At the end of the game, each
player receives five victory points for achieving
the objective, and loses three victory
points for failing to achieve it.
In Automatic Victory checks,
add the five VP for achieving the objective,
but do not subtract the three VP for failing
to achieve it.
On the cards, “Conquer” means
the player must take possession during the
game and control it when the game ends. “Hold” means
the player must start with the area and must
hold possession of it at game’s end.
Losing and regaining areas has no affect;
possession at the end of the game is what
counts.
Click here to download the
National Objective cards: Click here to buy Soldier
Kings today! |
