The Imperial Struggle module was created by Joel Toppen and then substantially updated by Brian
Reynolds. Special thanks to Nix who created the Card Display and made other helpful tweaks.
The module is presently maintained by Brian
Reynolds - please report any problems to
brian@brianreynolds.net.
Under the "Help" menu you will find a link to the latest version of the Imperial Struggle rulebook and playbook, in case you are
still learning how to play the game itself, or just need to "look up a rule".
Meanwhile the rest of this document details how to use this VASSAL module to play Imperial Struggle.
(a) Once you've launched the module and picked a side, the important first step is to open the War of the Spanish Succession screen and from its toolbar click either
the "Deal French Basic War Tiles" or "Deal British Basic War Tiles" button, whichever is appropriate for your side (or both sides, if you are playing solo). In addition to dealing the
initial war tiles, this will give you "ownership" of the side in question by flipping to hidden all of your side(s) Ministry cards using your password.
(b) Next, ONE player (whoever is setting up the game first) should click the "Deal Awards" button on the main toolbar, followed by the "Deal Investment Tiles" button next to it. This will
randomize the first set of Awards and Global Demand counters, as well as the first set of Investment Tiles.
(c) Third, scroll to the bottom of the main map and use the "Draw Card" buttons for your side to draw your first hand of 3 event cards. The faces of the event cards you draw will be hidden
from other players but visible to you. You can reveal an event card to your opponent either by dragging it onto the mapboard or right-clicking it and selecting an option from the menu.
(d) Fourth, open the Ministry for your side using the button on the main toolbar. If the cards aren't already face down, then you forgot to do step (a), but you can still take ownership
of your side with the "Flip Cards Face Down" button. You can then choose your starting ministers either by right-clicking them and using the "Select Minister" option, OR by dragging the
minister card manually to your Player Mat, which can also be opened from the top toolbar. On your Player Mat you will find your selected ministers (and the option of sending or dragging them
back to the ministry if needed). Minister cards can be freely dragged between the Player Mat and the Ministry window -- it is up to the players to follow the correct rules for doing so, but
the Vassal module will provide a log of any changes, automatically update Ministry keyword-related War scores when Ministers are hidden/revealed, and will warn when a move looks like it might
be incorrect.
(e) Once both sides have drawn war tiles and event cards and chosen ministers, and one player has dealt out the Awards/Demands/Investments, you are ready for the French player to decide
who is going first, and for that player to select their first Investment tile!
(a) When it's your turn, you can right-click the Investment Tile of your choice and select it for your side. Although it's allowable under the rules to use other
systems such as dragging the tile elsewhere, it is recommended at minimum that you also right-click the tile and mark it for your side, as this will improve the automated features of the
game, plus making it clear who has selected which tiles.
(b) If eligible, you can then play an event card from your hand. The most popular way to do this is to first drag the event card to the middle of the map, which will reveal it to your opponent. Then,
right-click the event and select "Play Event", which will move the event to the played cards pile (to the left of the main map). At some point during this process you may want to announce to
your opponent (eg in the chat) whether you qualify for the bonus on the card or not. And then of course resolve the card's effect(s).
(c) If your Investment Tile qualifies you for a war tile upgrade, you can open the appropriate War screen from the toolbar, right-click on one of your Basic War Tiles, and select
"Draw Military Upgrade". That will deal a new random war tile to the appropriate theater, at which point you can decide which of the two tiles to right-click on and send either back to
your Player Mat or out of the game at your option.
(d) Once your event, if any, has been resolved, you can begin spending action points from your Investment Tile by e.g. flagging/unflagging spaces on the map, activating advantages you control,
and so forth.
You can right+click on any map space to flag it or unflag it. As of version 3.0, flag markers can now also be dragged around -- either short distances to organize
counters, or even to entirely different spaces if desired. When flag markers are dragged around, the appropriate flag counts for regions etc will still be kept properly updated.
You can also right+click on a flag marker itself when you wish to e.g. flip or remove it -- it will produce the equivalent menu to clicking on its space.
You can right+click on any space (or flag) to add a conflict marker to it, or to remove one if already present. Conflict markers will correctly update the flag counts
for regions and wars to account for the Conflict marker's effect on scoring, wars, etc. Note that conflict markers are automatically removed when control of the space changes (flagged, unflagged, etc).
When the Game Turn marker is moved into a War turn space, all conflicts used in that war are automatically marked "Used in War". When the Game Turn marker is moved from a War turn space to a peace
turn space, all conflicts currently marked "Used in War" are automatically removed.
Squadron markers can now be freely dragged around the map, and will properly update flag counts and war strengths whenever you do so. Optionally they can also
be right-clicked to select the places to deploy them from a menu. You will find the supply of additional squadrons on your Player Mat (accessible through the top toolbar) -- to build a
squadron you can drag one onto the map from there, or click the "Build 1 Squadron" button in that window's toolbar to send a squadron to the Navy Box.
Advantage tiles will automatically be sent to the proper player mat when the proper map space(s) are controlled by a side. They will also be automatically
returned to the map if control is lost. You can find your currently controlled advantages on your Player Mat (accessible via the top toolbar). Right-clicking an Advantage tile will give
you the option to Exhaust the advantage in order to use its effect.
Rolling over an advantage tile or vacant Advantage location on the map with your mouse will show you both sides of the advantage tile.
Victory Points, Debt, Debt Limits, and Treaty Points are all tracked on the General Records track. The markers can be dragged between spaces as appropriate to
make adjustments. Right-clicking on a counter will also reveal the hotkeys Ctrl+ and Ctrl- to adjust them upwards or downwards. Changes to marker values will be logged so that it is easy
for all players to follow.
Certain rarer counters (e.g. Atlantic Dominance, Bing, Jacobites, New World Huguenots, Townshend Acts) along with additional Conflict, Exhausted, and Fort Damaged
counters can be found in the Pieces Window, which you can open from the main toolbar.
When you are ready to score at the end of a turn, the flag counts displayed in each region's Award Box will show the total flag count of each side--the count also properly
ignores flags in spaces with a Conflict marker. Go through each region and apply the results by adjusting the Victory Points marker.
The Global Demand chits similarly display a flag and number showing the side which currently controls that demand, or a 0 if neither side controls it.
When a turn is complete and you have finished scoring, the Game Turn marker can be dragged to the next appropriate space--or if you click to select the marker, the Ctrl+ and Ctrl- hotkeys
become available to adjust it. Note that if you are about to resolve a War turn, it is recommended that you move the Game Turn marker into the appropriate War turn space, as this will cause all
of the Conflicts used in that war to be automatically marked "Used in War". When the Game Turn marker is then moved onward to the next peace turn, the "Used in War" Conflict markers will automatically be
removed.
(a)Each of the four War buttons on the main toolbar opens a window displaying the mat for the corresponding war.
(b) Bonus War Tiles can be purchased on this screen by clicking the appropriate button from the War window's toolbar.
(c) Basic War Tiles can be upgraded by right-clicking them and selecting "Replace This Tile" from the menu. A new tile will be drawn,
after which you can choose which tile to right-click and send back to your Player Mat or out of the game.
(d) The flag counters next to each region show the current strength of each side based on the "Bonus Strength" box for that region--in other words, the numbers
take into account all of the flags, squadrons, conflict markers, and minister keywords (from currently revealed ministers). They do NOT presently count the values on the
war tiles themselves.
(e) After you have resolved all of the theaters in a war (perhaps alternating with your opponent in revealing the tiles for the next theater and resolving the effects), it is
important for each player to open the window for the NEXT war and click the "Deal French Basic War Tiles" or "Deal British Basic War Tiles" button for your side -- this will shuffle the
basic war tiles and deal them out in preparation for the next war.
In the image below, France wins the theater by a net of 3 (5 to 2).
(a) When a new peace turn starts--either following War resolution or when moving from turn 2 to turn 3, one player should advance the Game Turn marker and then again click the
Deal Awards button followed by the Deal Investment Tiles buttons on the main toolbar. Then, click the Reset button to remove any Exhausted markers on advantages and
Ministers, and if a war was just completed, you can click the Remove Conflict button to remove any Conflict markers you have marked as "Used in War" (note that if you
previously moved the Game Turn marker into the War's triangular space on the turn track, the Conflict markers relevant to that War will already have been automatically
marked "Used in War", and when you then advance the Game Turn marker to the next peace turn all "Used in War" Conflict markers will automatically be removed.
(b) Next, if it is turn 3 or turn 5, add four to each player's Debt Limit, and right-click the new Event Card deck for the new age and select the "Shuffle into Events Deck" option.
(c) Each player draws 3 new event cards.
(d) If it is Turn 3 or Turn 5, players select new Ministers -- return the current ministers from your player mat either by right-clicking them or dragging them back into the Ministry Window, and then
select new ministers from the Ministry window. If it isn't Turn 3 or Turn 5, then players can still return and replace unrevealed ministers.
(e) Each player discards down to 3 event cards.
(f) Determine who holds the Initiative based on the current Victory Points level, and if needed flip the Initiative Marker. The player with Initiative decides who goes first for the turn.
The Cards button on the main toolbar opens a Card Display window which shows the text of every card in the game, for reference purposes. You can roll over any card
with the mouse to zoom in on its full text.
This module features several special user preferences. To reach them, go to the File menu, select Preferences..., and then select the Imperial Struggle tab.