La Révolution Française

a board game by Azure Wish Editions

Open Scenario Summary

last updated Mon Jul 27 14:19:21 PDT 1998
See also the Historical Scenario summary and errata. If you want to learn more about the actual history of the French Revolution, see the Background and Bibliography page.
Contents: (sections marked "(o)" have additional rules in this scenario)

What the Actions Do:


Actions Government Can Take:


Personalities Who Can Be Arrested:

In all Regimes, any personalities of factions which have been outlawed as a result of a failed Coup. In addition any factions outlawed under the rules of a particular regime and the following:

Winning the Game:

All:

  1. If Royalist has 25 VP or more, he wins.
  2. Otherwise, determine if game ended more in Reaction or Revolution: If a Current scored 25+ points, that is one vote for its type; if less than 25, that is vote for opposition.
  3. Winner is decided based on whether there are more votes for Reaction or Revolution and what the current Regime is. So it is a good idea to make sure you have at least 25 points and that your fellow revolutionaries (or reactionaries, as the case may be) also have at least 25 points.

Regimes:

Legislative: Convention: Terror: Thermidor: Wrath: (aka Fear [French Epouvante]) Mercy: (aka Indulgent [French Indulgence]) Directorate: Prairial: Vendémiaire: 1st Federal Republic: 1st Republic One and Indivisible:


Coups and Referenda:

Coups:
A "Limited Coup" attempts to change the governing Current via Action Table:
A "Constitutional Referendum" attempts to change the regime via regional vote:
A "Popular Coup" attempts to change the regime via Action Table:
A "Military Coup" attempts to change the regime via Action Table and armies:


Special Things the Royalist Can Do:

Raise Catholic Royal armies if Clergy marker ever reaches 17 or higher:
a. must appear in Cholet, Nantes or Angers
b. must be raised by one of Charette, Chouan, Cathelineau or Cadoudal in the region
c. can only be raised once
The first army raised puts France into Civil War (which has random events & Law effects).
Placing Reinforcements:
Royalist places all Coalition reinforcement armies.
Royalist places Catholic Royal reinforcements in Nantes, Angers or Cholet.
Paying Army Maintenance:
Royalist pays 100 per Catholic Royal army per game turn. Coalition armies are free.
Move Non-player Coalition Armies:
Coburg's Austrian: start in Lille, then Amiens, Paris, Orleans, Rouen
Brunswick: start in Metz, then Paris
Wurmster's Austrian: start in Strasbourg, then Dijon, Paris, Lyon (via Dijon)
Sardinian: Marseilles
Spanish: Montpellier and Toulouse
English Fleet: Marseilles
Quiberon: Bretagne or Nantes, then (if Allies control Paris) Angers, Tours, Orleans, Paris
York: Lille
Move Catholic Royal Armies:
Royalist moves Catholic Royal Armies after all Coalition forces move, but before Government armies. Coalition and Catholic Royal armies are always friendly to one another, and always antagonistic to Revolutionary armies. Combat occurs when one army tries to prevent another leaving a region. Coalition and Catholic Royal Armies can move through as many adjacent regions as they control, but may only move 1 into an uncontrolled region. Government armies move any number of regions until encountering enemy. When a Government army enters Paris, it must say whether it is putting down the Commune (if raised). Army in the Paris box means the Commune is put down (move Commune marker to 20 and resolve combat); in the Paris region means it is not.
Catholic Royal Armies cannot leave Nantes, Cholet and Angers unless led by Charette, Cathelineau, Cadoudal or Chouan.
Combat:
Occurs in the same region and is mandatory. Decide the attacker: if only one player wants combat, his side is the attacker; if both players want combat, then the player with the most armies is the attacker and receives a +1 or -1 dice roll modifier for every extra army, which he can decide how to apply after he sees his roll on the Resolution Chart. Always use the 13-14 column. A =all defenders eliminated, B = no effect, C = all attackers eliminated. Combat is for one round only. Catholic Royal armies can avoid combat in Nantes, Cholet and Angers if led by Charette, Cathelineau, Cadoudal or Chouan, but this loses control of the region.
Fame Adjustment:
Royalist gets +1 Fame if Catholic Royals defeat Government forces in a region without any Coalition forces present.
Regional Actions:
Royalist is the one Current that can try Regional Actions in regions where Coalition or Catholic Royal armies are in control. He gets a +2 bonus for doing this. Yes, he can still try to get political control of the region through revolt, even if it is Paris. Catholic Royal control has precedence over Coalition if both are in a region. Military Control by a Catholic Royal army gives automatic political control, but military control by the Government does not confer any political control. However, once the Government has armies, it can quash revolts by simply sending in an army (assuming no enemy army present), although this doesn't change political control.
Paris:
As soon as an enemy army enters Paris, the Commune is automatically raised. If combat occurs in the Paris region, the Government decides whether its Army or the Commune is eliminated (treat Commune as suppressed, may be raised again on the next turn). If Paris is conquered by Coalition or Catholic Royal armies, the capital of France is relocated and the Commune random event is skipped, with the Commune no longer raisable.
The King:
If Royalist or Coalition has military control of Paris during Legislative (in other regimes happens free and automatically), can once in the game try to kidnap the king as an action spending 200, thus getting permanent control and letting the king leave Paris with a friendly army. If recaptured, he automatically goes to trial on the next turn and Guilt has a +4 bonus. If the kidnap fails or isn't tried, king is moved to the provisional capital.

The Tracks:


Miscellaneous:

  1. Royalist can never ally with or transfer money to Mountain/Sans-Culotte and vice-versa.
  2. Put spent cash in the box labeled Assignats.
  3. Snake eyes on the Action table means you lose a Fame. Box cars you get an extra one.
  4. Minimum income for any Current is: 100 + (no. of personalities) x 50
  5. Government always gets 2500 minus revolt or Coalition/Catholic Royal-controlled regions.
  6. Government always returns all its current cash before receiving new income.
  7. For government bankruptcy, see p. 21 (Current controlling it loses 5 Fame, can happen once per game).
  8. Louis XVI cannot leave Paris voluntarily, cannot execute actions.
  9. Foreign war ends when no enemy armies left in France or if Coalition goes to I.
  10. Civil war ends when no Catholic Royal armies left in France (not counting hidden ones).
  11. Civil war starts again if at least 4 regions are in revolt.

Hints for Placing Your Personalities:

  1. Placement in areas where your faction is in control reduces chance of arrest by -4.
  2. Placement in areas where personality has influence reduces chance of arrest by -2.
  3. Placement in areas where you have influence increases chance for regional actions (+2).
  4. Placement in hot (orange) areas increases chance for triggering revolt (+2).
  5. Placement in neutral areas improves chance to control by +2.
  6. You need one in Paris if you want to steal Deputies in Assembly.
  7. If your Faction controls the Government, you must place at least one in Paris.

Hints and Tips for the Early Game


The Favorite Regimes of each Current:

Royalist: [Vendémiaire]
Feuillant:[Legislative]
Marais: [Thermidor] [Directorate] (and to a lesser extent, [Mercy])
Gironde: [Convention] [1st Federal Republic]
Mountain: [Terror] [1st Republic One and Indivisible] (lesser, [Prairial])
Sans-Culotte: [Wrath] [1st Republic One and Indivisible] (lesser, [Prairial])


Examples of Objectives:

Note: even if the objective is accomplished, it must endure through the end of the turn in order to count.

Player Objectives:

Turning Deputies is not a legal Objective.

Government Objectives:

If the Government declares Suppression of a Revolt as an objective, it does not count if the revolt is suppressed via army.

Starting Regions; Cash; Assemblée Nationale:

1. Put one of your markers in each of your starting regions.
2. Procure the listed amount of cash for yourself.
3. Put the listed number of your deputies in the
Assemblée area of the board.
Note: there are 26 total Assemblée votes at start, 14 needed to get a majority

Royalist: Angers, Cholet, Nantes, Tours; 400; 2 in Center at top edge (hidden)
Feuillant: Clermont, Dijon, Metz, Montpelier, Orleans, Rouen, Strasbourg, Toulouse; 1400; 8 in Right
Marais: Angouleme, Cahors, Limoges, Lyon, Nevers; 800; 10 in Center
Gironde: Amiens, Bordeaux, Caen, Paris; 1400; 4 in Left
Mountain: Lille; 350; 1 in Left at top edge (hidden)
Sans-Culotte: Marseilles; 350; 1 in Left at top edge (hidden)
Region of Bourges is in Revolt.
Government is controlled by Feuillant and has 2300.
Armies in Lille, Metz, Strasbourg, Marseille.
Put one Royalist marker at the start of Clergy Level II and two markers at III.
On the Commune track, put a Sans-Culotte marker at the start of Levels II and III and a Mountain marker at III.
Put 50, 150 and 100 Assignat markers at the start of Coalition levels I, II, III resp.


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