Here I Stand: 500th Anniversary Edition (Version 3.4)
Please report any problems or suggestions to jkoepp@gmail.com.
Just the Basics
While there is no rules enforcement, this module provides many conveniences to speed up tasks and information tracking. Grab stacks of land/naval units and move them where you want them to go. Right-click cards in your hand and choose which way you're playing them. Other things are fixed in nature: non-key map spaces are fused with the map--right-click them to adjust their status (more on this below), and the Ottomans/France/Papacy have Power Card tracks adjusted by left/right arrow keys.
If a piece provides a right-click action, use it--it's often linked to the operation of another feature and/or score adjustment. If any of the miscellaneous VP tokens are earned, dragging them from the palette and dropping directly into a power's Bonus VP box will adjust the score.
Scenarios
- 1517 Scenario
- 1532 Scenario
- Two Player Variant
Choosing a Side
The power you choose gives you access to its hand of cards. For 3, 4, or 5 player
games, alternate between player sides as necessary to access a power's cards.
Ottoman |
France |
Hapsburgs |
Papacy |
England |
Protestant |
When playing the Two Player Variant, only the Papacy and Protestant sides are available.
Module Functions: All Players
Map: Hex Control Markers
Hex control markers (HCMs) are built into the map itself. Right-clicking a non-key map space will let you do everything: set political control, change religious influence, add/remove unrest. Use the Religious Control View button (to the right of the Hide All button) to toggle the
visibility of most pieces to quickly review the religious status of map spaces.
Right-click actions:
Convert to Protestant |
Flips to Protestant religious influence (disabled in Ottoman home spaces) |
Convert to Catholic |
Flips to Catholic religious influence (disabled in Ottoman home spaces) |
Control |
Menu for placing an HCM matching current religious control of space (non-key spaces only) |
Unrest |
Adds Unrest to the space and decreases Protestant space count (if necessary) |
Remove Unrest |
Removes Unrest from the space and increases Protestant space count (if necessary) |
Map: Square Control Markers
Square control markers (SCMs) must be dragged between the map and power cards to record a change in political control. Moving SCMs on and off the game map will adjust the owning power's VP automatically. Remember that exchanged SCMs need to match religious influence--there should be no net change in the number of Protestant spaces when exchanging control of keys.
Map: Unrest
To place unrest in map spaces, right-click the map space or key marker. After a key goes into unrest, click an empty key box on the owner's power card to cover it with unrest (click again to toggle unrest off).
Forces
Units for each power are in the Forces map window, and are limited to the number of pieces in the physical game. Naval units and naval leaders are in a separate game piece layer that draws beneath land units. Land units can be right-clicked and eliminated,
which sends them back to their stacks in the force pool. Naval units are sent to the Turn Track when eliminated, and from there returned to the force pool when the turn advances.
Pieces Removed From Play
Any piece removed from play (explorers, conquerors, debaters, reformers) is placed in the Removed From Game map window found in the Player Aids menu.
Score Tracking
A power's VP total is automatically adjusted by the following:
- Dragging a key between the map and Power Card
- Changes in the Protestant Space count (Papacy, Protestants, England)
- Burning/disgracing debaters (Papacy, Protestants)
- Gaining/losing control of electorates post-Schmalkaldic League (Hapsburgs, Protestants)
- Dragging a bonus VP marker from the palette to a Bonus VP box on the Power Card
- Making a New World discovery or conquest (Hapsburgs, England, France)
- Giving birth to Elizabeth and/or Edward VI (England)
- Advancing the Piracy track (Ottomans, using right/left arrow keys)
- Advancing the Chateaux track (France, using right/left arrow keys)
- Advancing the St Peter's track (Papacy, using right/left arrow keys)
If a power's VP total needs adjustment, drag it to the correct box on the VP track (this should almost never be necessary). Note that removing a VP token from a power's Bonus VP box (e.g. to undo something erroneously awarded) will not adjust their score downward.
Card Play
Player hands are accessible only to the owning side. If you need to reveal your hand
of cards (e.g., by play of Venetian Informant, Spanish Inquisition, or Papal Inquisition), send that information by
email or private message. Use the camera tool or your OS screenshot function to send card information when needed.
Each power's Home Card(s) start in their player hand. Playing for CP or Event will place it on the Power Card and trigger a message.
Home Cards will be automatically returned to player hands by advancing the Turn marker.
To play all other cards, right-click and choose the manner in which they are being played. A few cards have conditional removal and will present a prompt to the player to ask if the removal condition occurred.
For live play or non-ACTS PBEM, refer to the Hand Count display in the upper left of the map to track the number of cards in each player's hand. Use the button in the main toolbar to deal cards to all player hands (one player can deal cards for everyone). All cards should be right-clicked and played for CP or Event/Combat/Response.
Even if using ACTS for card tracking, certain cards should be retrieved from the deck and left in the Discard Pile or off to the side so they are ready when needed.
The complete list of cards with "Play as Event" effects is below (optional when using ACTS unless otherwise noted):
- Luther's 95 Theses places the Luther reformer, flips Wittenberg to Protestant religious control, and adds 2 regulars in Wittenberg
- Barbary Pirates enables play of Pirate Haven
- Schmalkaldic League places At War markers between the Hapsburgs-Protestants and Protestants-Papacy and sets qualifying spaces to Protestant political control (disabled on Turn 1; required even if using ACTS)
- Zwingli Dons Armor removes the Zwingli debater and reformer from the game
- Dragut removes the Barbarossa naval leader and replaces him with Dragut (required even if using ACTS)
- Edward VI removes Henry VIII and replaces him with Dudley (required even if using ACTS)
- Mary I removes Henry VIII and replaces him with Dudley (required even if using ACTS)
- Henry II removes Francis I and replaces him with Henry II (required even if using ACTS)
- Calvin removes the Luther debater and reformer counters (required even if using ACTS)
- Calvin Expelled sends the Calvin reformer and debater to the next turn on the Turn Track
- Katherina Bora, A Mighty Fortress, and The Wartburg all commit Luther
- Augsburg Confession commits Melanchthon
- Calvin's Institutes commits Calvin
- Affair of the Placards commits Cop
- Book of Common Prayer commits Cranmer
- Papal Inquisition commits Caraffa
- New ruler mandatory events such as Clement VII, Paul III, Henry II, etc are placed on the Power Card display
To retrieve a specific card from the Discard Pile--e.g.,
with the Here I Stand Protestant home card--right-click the pile and choose "Draw Specific Cards". The cards are sorted alphabetically and display
their CP value.
Awarding Card Draws and Random Discards
For non-ACTS PBEM or live play, toolbar buttons in each player hand give a random card to another player and discard one random card. Specific cards can be given to another player by right-click (only possible rules-wise through play of Diplomatic Overture). For PBEM games, each player giving up card draws during diplomacy will need to log that themselves.
Religious Affairs
Protestant Spaces Tracking
The Protestant Spaces and English Protestant Spaces markers move automatically as those counts change. If the count is incorrect, manually move the marker to the correct value. To keep the count accurate,
add/remove Unrest by right-clicking a space or key and using the Unrest action.
Religious Struggle Display
Toolbar buttons allow the random selection of debaters from the uncommitted or committed pools. Right-click and use the Burn/Disgrace actions on debaters to send them to Power Cards and have VP awarded. Burning a debater with a matching reformer on the map will remove that reformer.
Excommunication
Reformers and eligible rulers (specifically, their army leader pieces on the map) can be right-clicked and Excommunicated. This will place a marker on the Papal power card and a -1 Card marker on the targeted power if a ruler was excommunicated. Reformers are placed on the Turn Track along with their debater pieces, and can be right-clicked to return to the map/pools on the next turn.
New World
The module tracks which discoveries and conquests have been made (and by which power). Use the right-click actions for Explorers and Conquerors to record discoveries/conquests and have VPs awarded--don't move them manually. The Crossing Atlantic box can be right-clicked to add Exploration/Conquest Underway markers. When a conquest gets a Depleted result on the chart during New World Riches resolution, use the right-click action or move it manually to the power card.
There is a shuffler for getting a random selection from a pool of Explorers and Conquerors. Drag the stack of pieces onto the blue outlined box on the map, then drag a piece off. Although pieces are face up and it may appear that the top one was taken, it is a random selection.
All explorers, conquerors, and colonies are stacked in the lower left corner of the map. If any version of Cabot is lost at sea, the remaining Cabot counters and the Sebastian Cabot event card will be removed from play as well.
Module Functions: Ottoman
Use the left/right arrow keys to advance the Piracy track on your power card--do not move your on-map VP token manually.
Module Functions: Hapburgs
Gaining or losing political control of an electorate after Schmalkaldic League will adjust your score automatically.
Module Functions: England
Henry's Wives
Right-clicking on each wife counter will show the remaining possible die roll results. Choosing a result sends the wife to the correct box on the Pregnancy Chart. The list of results gets smaller as attempts are made. A result of 4 will place the Elizabeth 2 VP marker on England's power card, and a result of 5 or 6 will
place the Edward 5 VP marker (replacing the Elizabeth 2 VP marker if previously earned). IMPORTANT: Use this feature to have the post-divorce variable turn of entry cards automatically added to the deck at the correct time and for post-divorce debaters to be added on the next turn.
Module Functions: France
Use the left/right arrow keys to advance the Chateaux track on your power card--do not move your on-map VP token manually.
Module Functions: Papacy
Use the left/right arrow keys to advance the St Peter's track on your power card. When you reach 5 CP of progress, the St Peter's VP track will update and your score will increase--do not move your on-map VP token manually.
Module Functions: Protestant
Move translation tokens manually. When a Bible is completed, drag the associated token into your Bonus VP box to have your score updated automatically.
End of Turn Effects
Advancing the Turn marker will automatically:
- Uncommit all debaters
- Remove Allied markers between major powers
- Return Piracy markers to the Ottoman power card
- Remove religious effect markers from Turn Track
- Remove Loan markers from fleets
- Remove the Renegade leader (if present)
- Return eliminated squadrons on the Turn Track to the force pool
- Return all Home Cards to the owner's hand face up and ready for use
- Return an excommunicated reformer and associated debater to the map and debater pools
- Reshuffle discarded events into the deck
- Retrieves required mandatory events if still in the deck and places them on map for play
- Add newly-arriving event cards to the deck
- Add newly-arriving debaters to the debater pools
- Add newly-arriving reformers to the map and convert their entry space