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[Haspen]

Empire is game similar to Risk and Diplomacy. Make armies, conquer enemies, become the Emperor, win the game.

Playerlist:
1. evictedSaint, Duke of Milan (lavender)
2. Parsely, Duke of Burgundy (purple)
3. vacant, Count Palatine of the Rhine (teal)
4. vacant, Duke of Bavaria (cyan)
5. vacant, Archduke of Austria (silver)
6. KhanBoyzitbig, Margrave of Brandenburg (dull brown)
7. Taricus, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (orange)
8. TankKit, King of Bohemia (bright brown), also The Holy Roman Emperor

Spoiler: General Rules (click to show/hide)

PLAYERS:

Each Player controls 1 Prince of the Holy Roman Empire. The available princes, in initial order of Phase movements, are:

1. Duke of Milan (lavender)
2. Duke of Burgundy (purple)
3. Count Palatine of the Rhine (teal)
4. Duke of Bavaria (cyan)
5. Archduke of Austria (silver)
6. Margrave of Brandenburg (dull brown)
7. Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (orange)
8. King of Bohemia (bright brown), also The Holy Roman Emperor

Each starts with certain amount of Supply Centers and Armies:

1. Duke of Milan: 3 Supply Centers (LMB, VER, SIE), 1 Army at LMB
2. Duke of Burgundy: 2 Supply Centers (BRG, FRC), 2 Armies at BRG, FRC
3. Count Palatine of the Rhine: 2 Supply Centers (PAL, NRB), 2 Armies at PAL, NRB
4. Duke of Bavaria: 2 Supply Centers (BAY, RGN), 2 Armies at BAY, RGN
5. Archduke of Austria: 2 Supply Centers (WIE, STY), 2 Armies at WIE, STY
6. Margrave of Brandenburg: 2 Supply Centers (BER, POT), 2 Armies at BER, POT
7. Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg: 2 Supply Centers (BSK, LUN), 2 Armies at BSK, LUN
8. King of Bohemia: 3 Supply Centers (BOH, SIL, MRV), 3 Armies at BOH, SIL, MRV

TURNS AND PHASES:

Each Turn represents one Year. Each Year is divided into 3 phases:
1. Spring Movement phase, separate for each Player.
2. Fall Movement phase, separate for each Player.
3. Winter Build/Disband phase, simultaneous for all Players.

During Spring and Fall phases, each Player has their own time to move (capped at 24 hours).
They can move their Armies from territory to territory, or support their other Armies.

During Winter Build/Disband phase, each Player builds new Armies or disbands their current Armies so that amount of Armies is equal to amount of Supply Centers they own.
So if you own 3 Supply Centers and have 1 Army, you can Build 2 Armies. If you have 4 Armies but have only 2 Supply Centers, you must disband 2 Armies.

THE MAP:

Map of the Holy Roman Empire is divided into named Territories, each name shortened to 3-letter abbreviations. You can find entire list in 'Territories' spoiler.
Areas outside HRE are 'greyed out' and cannot be traversed by Players' Armies.

You can view the map of traversible Territories in the 'HRE Map' spoiler.

SUPPLY CENTERS:

There are 34 Supply Centers on the map, each makred with a black 'dot'.

Supply Centers determine how many Armies you can have. You can build new Armies at Supply Centers only.
Neutral Supply Centers can be taken by having an Army at a Supply Center at the end of the Fall Phase.

Controlling lots of Supply Centers is necessary to win the game.

WINNING THE GAME:

There are 3 options you can go for:

1. Own more than half (18) Supply Centers at the end of any Fall Phase.
2. Secure all 7 Electoral Votes, and with them, be elected The Holy Roman Emperor. Player Electors who vote for that particular Emperor win the game ALONGSIDE said Emperor.
3. Be the Holy Roman Emperor at the end of Turn 50 (Winter Phase 50). Unlike option 2, Player Electors do NOT win alongside the Emperor.

LOSING THE GAME:

If, at the end of any given Fall Phase, you do not own any Supply Centers, you must disband all your Armies, and you lose.
If this happens to the current Holy Roman Emperor, they 'die' and Elections happen to determine the new Holy Roman Emperor.

ARMY MOVEMENT AND COMBAT:

Armies are represented as squares with two black 'swords' on the field with a color representing their owner.

During your time to move at Spring/Fall Phases, you can move your Armies around, from one Territory to another adjacent to it. There can be only 1 Army inside any Territory at any given time.

There are four special cases for non-adjacent Territories.

Oldenburg (OLD) - Holland (HOL)
Bremen (BRE) - Schlesvig (SLV)
Mecklenburg (MCK) - Pomerania (POM)
These three pairs are connected by short distances over the water. Armies can cross between these pairs of territories without problems.

Venezia (VNZ) - Ferrara (FER), Verona (VER), Treviso (TRV)
While Venezia is an 'island', Armies can move to and from it to all three Provinces listed - Ferrara, Verona, Treviso - without problems.

If your Army wants to enter a territory where an enemy Army is already stationed, a Combat occurs. Both Armies roll 1d6 dice; if there's a tie, the dice are re-rolled.
The Army that has the higher roll wins the combat; the loser is destroyed. If the attacking Army wins, it also moves into the territory previously occupied by the loser.

You can also Support your Armies; one Army moves into territory occupied by an enemy Army, and other, adjacent to the territory you wish to conquer, Supports.
Supporting Army grants a second 1d6 to your attacking Army's roll. No matter the outcome of the combat, the Supporting Army is not affected.

You cannot Move and Support; an Army that is Supporting during a Phase cannot Move in the same turn, and vice versa.

Example:

Brandenburg has 2 Armies, 1 in Anhalt and 1 in Meissen, while Austria has 1 Army in Saxony.
Brandenburg sends Army in Anhalt to attack Austria in Saxony, and commands Meissen Army to Support.
If Brandenburg wins the combat, Austria loses its Army in Saxony, Brandeburg's Army in Anhalt moves into Saxony, while the Army in Meissen remains there.
If Brandenburg loses the combat, it loses Anhalt Army, Austria's Army remains in Saxony, and Brandenburg's Army in Meissen remains there.

HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR AND THE ELECTIONS:

One Player can wield the title of the Holy Roman Empire. Bohemia starts the game as the Holy Roman Emperor.

How to be elected an Emperor and how does the title affects the game - and the Player - is described in 'HRE Elections' spoiler.

Spoiler: HRE Map (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Territories (click to show/hide)

/Letter:
ABR - Abbrieviation full name (accepted alternative name) *Supply Center indicator*


/A:
AAH - Aachen *SC*
ANH - Anhalt
ANS - Ansbach
AQU - Aquileia *SC*
AUG - Augsburg

/B:
BAD - Baden
BAR - Barrois
BAY - Bayern (Bavaria) *SC*
BER - Berlin *SC*
BOH - Bohemia *SC*
BRA - Brabant *SC*
BRE - Bremen *SC*
BRG - Bourgogne (Burgundy) *SC*
BRN - Bern
BSC - Brescia
BSK - Braunschweig (Brunswick) *SC*

/C:
COL - Cologne (Köln)
CLV - Cleves

/E:
ELS - Elsass (Alsace) *SC*
ERZ - Erz

/F:
FER - Ferrara
FLO - Florence
FRC - Franche-Comté
FRF - Frankfurt *SC*

/G:
GEL - Gelre
GEN - Genoa *SC*
GRA - Graz

/H:
HAM - Hamburg *SC*
HES - Hesse *SC*
HOL - Holland *SC*

/L:
LBK - Lübeck *SC*
LIE - Liege
LIM - Limburg
LMB - Lombardie *SC*
LPP - Lippe
LST - Lausitz (Lusatia)
LTH - Lothringen (Lorraine) *SC*
LUN - Lüneburg *SC*
LXB - Luxemburg

/M:
MAN - Mantua
MCK - Mecklenburg
MEI - Meissen
MGD - Magdeburg
MNZ - Mainz
MOD - Modena
MUN - Münster
MRV - Moravia *SC*
MTZ - Metz

/N:
NIC - Nice
NRB - Nurenberg *SC*
NSU - Nassau

/O:
OLD - Oldenburg

/P:
PAL - Palatinate *SC*
PIS - Pisa
POM - Pommern (Pomerania) *SC*
POT - Potsdam *SC*

/R:
RGN - Regensburg *SC*

/S:
SAV - Savoy *SC*
SAX - Saxony *SC*
SIE - Siena *SC*
SIL - Silesia *SC*
SLV - Schlesvig
SLZ - Salzburg
STY - Styria *SC*
SUD - Sudeten (Sudety)
SWZ - Schwyz

/T:
THU - Thüringen (Thuringia)
TIR - Tirol
TRR - Trier
TRV - Treviso

/U:
ULM - Ulm
UTR - Utrecht

/V:
VER - Verona *SC*
VNZ - Venezia *SC*

/W:
WIE - Wien (Vienna) *SC*
WRT - Württemberg *SC*
WRZ - Würzburg

Spoiler: HRE Elections (click to show/hide)

HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR AND HOW TO BE ONE:

Being Holy Roman Emperor changes the game for you in few ways:

-You do not disband excess Armies during Winter Build/Disband phase (although you still cannot Build above the limit).
-Your turn is moved to the last position in player's order.
-Your Armies gain 1 bonus point to their rolls.

Bohemia (bright brown) starts the game as the Holy Roman Emperor.

Each Winter (except 1st Winter after fresh Elections), a 1d6 will be rolled. If a 1 is rolled, the current Holy Roman Emperor 'dies' and Elections happen. The Player with most votes becomes the next Emperor.

Votes come from:
1. Archbishop of Cologne (neutral @COL)
2. Archbishop of Mainz (neutral @MNZ)
3. Archbishop of Trier (neutral @TRR)
4. Count Palatine of the Rhine (teal, Player@PAL)
5. Duke of Saxony (neutral/Supply Center@SAX)
6. Margrave of Brandenburg (dull brown, Player@BER)
7. King of Bohemia (bright brown, Player@BOH)

How to gain votes from:
Archbishop of Cologne:
Have the largest sum of Supply Centers owned + Armies on the map OR Move an Army to COL (Cologne). Condition 2 takes precedence over Condition 1.
If there's a tie for Condition 1, a coin is tossed to determine who receives the vote.
At the start of the game, Cologne is voting for Bohemia.

Archbishop of Mainz:
Have the largest number of Armies on the map OR Move an Army to MNZ (Mainz). Condition 2 takes precedence over Condition 1.
If there's a tie for Condition 1, a coin is tossed to determine who receives the vote.
At the start of the game, Mainz is voting for Bohemia.

Archbishop of Trier:
Have the largest number of Supply Centers owned OR Move an Army to TRR (Trier). Condition 2 takes precedence over Condition 1.
If there's a tie for Condition 1, a coin is tossed to determine who receives the vote.
At the start of the game, Trier is voting for Bohemia.

Count Palatine of the Rhine:
If Palatine Player is still in the game, the Palatine Player decides whom he/she votes for.
Else, whomever controls the Supply Centre at PAL (Palatinate) gains the Palatine's vote.
At the start of the game, Palatine is voting for itself.

Duke of Saxony:
Have the largest sum of Supply Centers owned + Armies on the map OR Control the Supply Center at SAX (Saxony). Condition 2 takes precedence over Condition 1.
If there's a tie for Condition 1, a coin is tossed to determine who receives the vote.
At the start of the game, Saxony is voting for Bohemia.

Margrave of Brandenburg:
If Brandenburgian Player is still in the game, the Brandenburgian Player decides whom he/she votes for.
Else, whomever controls the Supply Centre at BER (Berlin) gains the Brandenburg's vote.
At the start of the game, Brandenburg is voting for itself.

King of Bohemia:
If Bohemian Player is still in the game, the Bohemian PLayer decides whom he/she votes for.
Else, whomever controls the Supply Centre at BOH (Bohemia) gains the Bohemia's vote.
At the start of the game, Bohemia is voting for itself.

Neutral Electors change their votes when appropriate conditions change.
Player Electors can change their votes at any given time.

Electoral Tie:

If there's a tie (2 Players have the same amount of Votes), the tie is broken according to these rules:

1. The previous Holy Roman Emperor takes precendence.
2. If neither Player was the previous Holy Roman Emperor, the Player with the most Votes received from OTHER Players wins.
3. If both Players have same amount of Player votes, the Player with greater sum of Supply Centers held + Armies on map wins.
4. If both Players have same amount of Player votes, and equal sums of Supply Centers and Armies, a coin toss is made with both Players declaring their side. The winner of the coin toss becomes the next Holy Roman Emperor.

[Taricus]

In as the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg

[TankKit]

I claim King of Bohemia.

[Haspen]

Both added ;v

[TankKit]

Oooh, I see. I claimed it the second I saw it's advantages after panicking slightly when I thought about how someone else might claim it when I want it, but it's actually a double sided coin. I'm the last to act, for one, which is quite troublesome. Not only that, but I have a 1 in 6 chance of losing the emperor-ship each turn. And rely on other people to become emperor. And rely on other people to stay emperor. Hmm. Yeah, I like it. Powerful, but limited in good ways. Now to go make my MSPaint plan...

EDIT: I just noticed something. With no diplomatic victory, there is literally no reason to vote for other people or to really engage in any diplomacy at all. In fact, doing so would just be a waste of time that would inevitably lead to your down fall. In fact, being elected the emperor by all sides is an impossible win since no one will want to do that. In fact, you may as well just get rid of the entire emperor system at that point, though I get why it is here due to the nature of the country this take place in. In fact, I said In fact way too many times in this paragraph. In fact, I propose that those who elect the emperor for the emperor victory also win since, you know, they're still alive, and they're the ones who put the emperor in power.

[Haspen]

Good points them all ;vc

Maybe also reduce it to 6 votes total? Three Emperorships in a row? Be Emperor at end of Turn XX?

EDIT: Now it's 6 votes and Player Electors win along.

[TankKit]

I'm fine with seven votes. I think making it so that you win if you have a specific number of Emperorships in a row would be too devastating and make no one want to be Emperor as everyone would immediately have to pile on top of the Emperor if they wanted to win, and that would then keep going until only one group is left. I'd say being Emperor at the end of turn 50 is a good win condition, since the game had likely gotten stuck in a stalemate if it takes that long.

EDIT: Just noticed the updated rules, sweet. Now diplomacy is important, yay! And just to clarify, I'm not doing this just because I'm Emperor. It is highly unlikely that I will always be Emperor, especially since there's a 1 in 6 chance I lose the Emperorship each turn.

[Haspen]

Time-limit Emperor is now 3rd condition, but without player Electors winning ;V

[TankKit]

Alright, looks good to me.

[Haspen]

Player input is always a good thing c:

Now we just need the remaining 6 Princes.

[Khan Boyzitbig]

I claim the Margrave of Brandenburg

[TankKit]

And I immediately propose an alliance to you and Taricus. We are the three northernmost princes, meaning that so long as we are together we only need to worry about the south. I propose in my alliance that, when it comes to voting, we each vote for whichever one of us we think need the Emperorship the most. Not only that, but we also do not attack each other and, if any of us breaks the alliance, they will lose potential voting support as well as security. Finally, when it comes to splitting up the north between you, I suggest Taricus takes the western area of the north and Khan takes the east of the north, including the areas next to me. Therefore, Taricus goes west, Khan goes east. I suggest this course of action because once we have conquered the northern area we will be able to focus all of our soldiers southward, providing us with a substantial advantage when it come to fighting the southern princes.

[Haspen]

Added!

Hey @TankKit (and others?) what do you think about letting the Emperor dispense titles? When an Emperor is (re)elected, they can bestow titles on Electors, either Players (to reward them) or NPCs (to keep bonuses from Players).

Arch-Chamberlain: This Elector does not have to disband their excess Armies in Winter Phase.
Arch-Marshal: This Elector's Armies gain +1 to their combat rolls.
Arch-Bannerbearer: This Elector is moved to the first position of the Player movement order.

Basically the Emperor would be dispensing a part of their power (or reverse of it, for Arch-Bannerbearer) to their favorites ;v

EDIT: THough that might also include Electoral shifts/replacements.

[Khan Boyzitbig]

The dispensing of titles by the emperor makes sense to me.

As to the alliance offer, Sure. Sounds good to me, plenty of tasty land around to share.

[TankKit]

Hmm, that might provide the Emperor with too much power. I'd say the Arch-Marshal is okay-ish and the Arch-Bannerbearer is okay, with some changes, but the Arch-Chamberlain seems a bit too abusable. As for Arch-Bannerbearer, I say that instead of moving the player to the first position in the order, you improve their position in the order by 2. Therefore:

Arch-Bannerbearer: This Elector is moved up two positions in the Player movement order.
Arch-Marshal: This Elector's Armies gain +1 to their combat rolls.

It gives some more incentive to buddy up with the Emperor, as well as making those who are friends with the Emperor a worthy threat, while not giving the Emperor's side too much power. A bit meh about Arch-Marshal, but it looks okay to me.