Lords of the Renaissance

Sea Movement:

• Navies can move up to 5 seas.
• If starting in port, entering the sea costs 1 MP.
• If ending at a port, movement from the sea to port is free.
• Galleys must end at port.
• It is allowed to enter a port containing units of another color.

Land Movement:

• Armies, if led by a leader, can move up to 5 areas.
• Leaders have 10 MP.
• Leaders can only move their own color units and mercenaries.
• Mountains cost 4 MP.
• Armies can move from a duchy to inside a city of that duchy without a leader.
• A leader can move a number of armies equal to his stature, or less.
• Pickups and drop-offs are OK, as long as nothing moves more than 5. Mercenaries cannot be dropped off leaderless.
• If starting in a city, entering the surrounding duchy costs 1 MP.
• If ending at a city, movement from the surrounding duchy to city is free.
• It is not allowed to enter a city containing units of another color. (Mercenaries have the color of their leader.)
• Emperors must end in a capital or a city with imperial troops.
• Caravans move just like armies except do not need leaders.
• Armies must stop if there are different colored troops there not in a city and may not leave without their permission.

Naval Transport:

• Caravans, leaders and armies can move into sea using same fleets as steppingstones.
• Each fleet entered costs 1 MP.
• Must be able to pass through a port, though the ship may be at sea.
• May remain at sea with round ships.
• Imperial troops never use galleys.

Land Combat:

• Must have a leader or hold empire's L card to attack.
• May only attack once per round.
• No combat in winter.
• Land combat is within a duchy.
• Strength is based on numbers of steps (each counter has 2 steps).
• Each combat step rolls 1 die and hits on a 1-3. Every hit causes a step loss.
• Combat is simultaneous.
• Loser determines how step losses are allocated.
• If entire stack is killed, friendly leader is captured on 1-3, killed on 4-6.
• Winner is the side with highest number of steps times one leader's stature.
• Loser retreats into adjacent non-mountain duchy (unless it is a siege).
• Armies cannot attack same color and must stack together if in same duchy.
• Combat is optional and decided by highest stature leader of a stack.
• If defender is in a city, it is a siege and they are only hit on a roll of 1.
• Defenders in cities can attack out, but unless all besiegers killed, retreat back in.
• Cities having 5 gold immediately buy an army if attacked.
• Neutral empires that are attacked immediately go up for auction to other players. Card is surrendered if the empire falls or the invaders leave.

Fleet Combat:

• Naval combat is just like land combat with both armies and fleets getting dice.
• Round ships always roll only 1 one die instead of 2.
• Ships in a port may only attack others in port; ships at sea may only attack others at sea.
• Fleets in port cannot attack armies, but do roll if attacked.
• Being attacked by land and sea in a port is 2 separate combats.

Looting and Captives:

• Imperial armies (but not mercenaries) in cities can attack Guilds or Edifices if no units protect them. Hit on 1-3. E counters have 2 steps, G or R only 1. Depleted E can be repaired with 1 Gold. Destroyed G and R are placed on the calendar at Immature. If Imperial armies do this in their own empire, they must give up the imperial L card for rebidding unless holding player is personally the emperor.
• Banks cannot be attacked or robbed.
• One half of Gold taken in a city is given to the winning leader (round down). The rest is lost.
• Unescorted leaders can be arrested by getting a single hit on them. If accidentally scoring 2 hits, he is killed (flip to heir side).
• Arrested leaders are moved to arresting player's calendar. Holder of the L card decides what to do with him. If ransomed, place in home duchy.

Economics:

• Player money is used for auctions, maturing projects or donation to the empire.
• Imperial money is accrued from taxation and customs and is stored in the empire's capital. It is used to build armies, navies, caravans, edifices, etc.
• Non-player money is accumulated until 5 at which time it is used to buy mercenary armies (during Spring recruitment). Non-player empires buy armies until every city in the empire has one, then start buying navies.
• Trade route going from land to sea or sea to land must have a counter in a port. If counter is a ship, do not need another one in that sea zone. If a caravan or army, do not need another one in the surrounding duchy.
• If a duchy has more than 1 city, the merchant decides which city is paid customs.
• Armies or navies in a strait port can choke either a land or sea trade route which is passing through.
• Players who refuse use of resources or guilds must put their card up for auction in the next auction round.
• Auctioned L cards have a side effect of changing the color of leaderless units in the L card's duchy to the owning player.
• Players may buy pirate counters, but if the card later comes up, the pirate switches to the purchasing player.
• Only players in a voyage of discovery or who have discovered the Caribbean can bid on New World R cards. R3 and R4 require only a rutter.

Stature:

• Leaders holding four other stature 1-2 L cards are promoted to stature 3.
• Players at stature 2 collect taxes only in their home city and where they have mercenary (and no imperial) troops. If at stature 3, they collect from every city in the duchy their leader occupies and from satellites.
• When a leader dies, spin card to reveal heir. Heir only keeps gold and L card. All else is up for auction on the next auction round. If no more heirs, out of the game.
• Most leaders also have a claim to a throne printed on the card. The title is only "on" when the player is in the country.
• When an emperor dies, a new emperor is chosen, unless his capital has been taken. In this case, the empire is amalgamated. The rightful heir is an automatic contender. The winner is the one with the most claims including
  • having stature 3
  • having a claim
  • marriage to a princess of that empire
  • holding a spy card of that empire
  • holding a revolt card of that empire
  • papal coronation (French, Habsburg and Aragon only)
  • holding C card for that empire
  • control of most of the invading armies in the empire [also tiebreaker]
• Players who become emperors combine personal treasury with the empire's.

The Pope can ...

• Excommunicate any Catholic leader once per game. Player must surrender 1 card of pope's choice for rebid. Costs pope player 5 Gold.
• Crown a contender for the French, Habsburg or Aragon empires.
• Annul a marriage so that a Catholic leader can discard a princess.
• Call a Crusade once per game. Cost 10 Gold of Papal money plus 5 personal gold. Forces 5 Catholic armies or fleets to turn white. Immune if in capital or under a leader. White may not attack any other color than black until there are no black armies in any Catholic duchy.
• Unify the Catholic and Orthodox churches. Costs the player 5 Gold. One army in a Greek Orthodox duchy converts to white.
• Cancel any Catholic lawsuit (power of the Inquisition).

Setup:

1. Each player is randomly dealt one of the L7-L23 leader cards.
2. The player places his corresponding counter in the city listed on the card.
3. Each player places his L card on the stature 2 block of the calendar (player mat).
4. Each player chooses an Imperial L1-L6 and C1-C6 pair in order, L7 ... L23
5. Each player places his Imperial L card on the stature 4 block of the calendar.
6. The player takes the counters corresponding to his empire.
7. Place a spare counter of this color on the Spring 1 block of the calendar.
8. Two coins are placed under each L7-L23 counter.
9. Emperors have their stature 4 side face up.
10. Leaders at Azov and Alexandria have their stature 3 side face up.
11. All other leaders are at stature 2.
12. All 23 leaders are placed, with coins, on map in the city listed on their green cards.
13. Each empire places its caravans in its capital.
14. Each empire places its ships at the imperial port shown on the map.
15. Each player receives a bank counter of his aligned color (except Ivan and Khushcadam).
16. Bank counters are placed on the map in the city specified on the L card (on red "stacked coins" icon).
17. A pirate ship is placed in Venice and Genoa. (These ships are controlled by these powers if in the game.)
18. Player gold is removed from the board and stored on the C card on their calendar.

Victory Conditions:

• The game ends at 1479 or earlier. At the end of each year roll 2 dice and add 1 for each P card which has been drawn in the game. A result of 13 or better ends the game.
• The player is the one with the most gold in his personal account at end. Each rutter card is worth 10.