[Ed sez: We like game questions, we really do. They show us that people are actually PLAYING the games. Just remember, our rules are written to provide an answer, not a straightjacket. It would be great to receive more questions that give the paragraph numbers causing the question, as these do.] From: Bill Finley We are currently enjoying second edition of La Guerre. The three of us (apparently closet lawyers) do tend to have 'lively' debates about rules interpretations. I have been elected to seek your guidance in clarifying some issues of disagreement. I will try to keep them to simple yes or no answers. 1. NPC Surrender (5.122) First sentence concerns 'voluntary' surrender of Allied NPC. Second sentence concerns 'forced' surrender of Allied/Controlled NPC. e.g. If British PC Allied with Austrian NPC, when Britain surrenders Austria (but not Britain), does British player lose 5 VP for surrender? A) Britain never loses VP's when its allies surrender (NPC or PC). 2. Results of surrender (5.123) 'Its troops cannot move into provinces it doesn't control during the turn in which it surrenders.' Since an NPC capitol would not be 'controlled' during turn of 'forced' surrender, could Corps outside country be repatriated to the capitol? A) The prohibition applies to the surrendering player's turn, not repatriation during a surrender (at which time all of the surrendering nation's home provinces, including the capital will be vacated by the conquering power - see 5.127). Can Corps inside home provinces of surrendering NPC be moved (repatriated) to capitol after surrender? A) Yes Can Corps outside NPC country be repatriated to the capital if the capital is not the nearest friendly province? A) They're moved to the nearest friendly province Once NPC surrenders and becomes neutral, can its Corps be moved (relocated) to other provinces to set up for future defense? A) No Or must they remain at last location? A) Yes 3. Minor Powers (3.41) Desertion. If a minor power is controlled by an NPC, its minor power divisions would suffer desertion each winter once the NPC lost control of the minor power country. If the NPC surrenders, do all remaining minor power divisions continue to desert each winter? A) Yes, they would desert normally. Or are these divisions immediately removed and 1. placed in new owners army on the board? Or 2. placed in new owners force pool to be purchased? If immediately removed, would this result apply if previous owner is a PC? A) Treat NPC's as if they were PC's wherever possible. In this case, say NPC Austria controls Bavaria and has fielded the Bavarian Corps with 3 Divisions. Austria Surrenders. France now controls Bavaria. Each winter, one division would be removed from the Bavarian Corps (still in Austria) and become available for French recruitment. Once the last Corps had deserted, the Corps marker would also go to France. 4. France's Continental System (4.24) Prussia is an NPC not allied with France, but at war with France and her allies. If French allies (non French troops) occupy Berlin, can France declare the embargo? A) Yes. If France occupies Berlin in the Summer turn and maintains control through the Prussian turn, then Prussia must surrender in the Fall turn. France may declare the embargo in the Summer turn or the Fall turn (if go before the Prussian surrender). After the surrender France no longer occupies Berlin. If not initiated previously, can France still declare the embargo in the Spring turn (or other subsequent turn during the enforced peace with Prussia)? A) Once France occupies Berlin, the embargo's on. Occupation (or alliance) is simply the trigger, it doesn't need to be ongoing. If France does not occupy Berlin, can Prussia surrender and prevent the embargo declaration for the duration of the enforced peace? A) See above. British VP Losses. 'Ports of trade' include all provinces on the coast. In 4.244, each 'minor country port of trade' closed results in 1 VP loss to British. In 4.257, each 'minor power port of trade owned by blockading player' results in 1 VP loss to Britain. A) 4.257 is just a repetition of 4.244. If a minor power port is held by the blockaders, Britain loses a VP. It's one VP per port (a port being a province bordering the Baltic/British Isles/North Sea/Atlantic. Economic Losses. Only 'minor power ports of trade' generate no income. I assume any 'province, country, minor power' which causes VP loss will generate no income? A) right (4.258) 5. Remaking the Map of Europe (4.73). Poland is worth minimum 10 VP to maximum 25 VP (5 VP per province). If the Rhine Confederation worth minimum 20 VP to maximum 40 VP (5 VP per province controlled at time of creation)? A) Flat 20 VP at time of creation (unlike Poland). If Poland and/or Rhine expanded later, do additional provinces also generate 5 VP per province? A) Poland yes, Rhine no. Does Britain gain 10 VP for Portugal and/or 15 VP for Sweden, if they are turned into Loyal Minors? A) No, but a good idea. 6. NPC Builds (4.411). If an NPC ally conquers and garrisons provinces, his at start division strength will be reduced. Can these divisions be replaced from unused units and built during the winter turn (up to 4 Corps worth) to fill up available Corps? A) No, every winter you just add the new Corps and the new divisions (and possibly a fleet). 7. Capture of Commanders (5.521). If a non Primary Commander's last Corps conquers a province and the last remaining infantry division is used as a garrison (thus removing the Corps), is the Commander (who won the battle) captured and removed from play? A) No. But if an enemy force marched in and took the province, he would be captured (true it only says a leader's captured if his force is "wiped out", but that'd be my interpretation). If a non Primary Commander must be moved during the naval phase (no line of communication to other Corps) but is unable to land in a province containing a Corps, is he considered captured and removed? A) I'm not following this. Can you give me a paragraph number? Since Commander move comes before Naval movement, and transported units may not move normally, can the Commander be repositioned to any available Corps/Army as long as Naval units are available and do move to a position of LOC for the Commander? A) Leaders cannot move across sea zones during reassignment. If possible, would the Commander be available to move during the Land Phase? A) yes 8. British Transports (5.424). A British transport must be in a home port during a mutual build phase (or troop surplus event roll) to put new infantry divisions on board without a Corp. During a subsequent naval phase these divisions can be moved to a friendly port and dropped off either in a new Corps (if available) or to fill up existing Corps(s) in that port. Can the transport then continue moving with any remaining portion of its movement allowance? A) Yes If multiple Corps are reinforced this way, can divisions moved by naval movement be repositioned into a single Corps so the remaining Corps can move normally in the land phase? A) Your call, since the rules don't cover it. I'd say no. Flip the "receiving" corps over as if it had been transported itself. 9. Search (5.43) and Interception (5.431). The player with the 'higher' 'modified' roll declares if search/interception is successful. The interception chart on the map indicates only the searching/intercepting player's die roll is modified, while the rule implies that both players get a 'modified die result. Are both player's die roll modified? A) No Since a 'higher' result is indicated for success, does a tie result in failure? A) only if your glass is half empty. I prefer to see a tie as "not having succeeded" Or does a tie generate a reroll? A) During Naval Combat only. 10. Garrison (5.512) vs. Army (5.513) Combat. Once a province is besieged, if it is not conquered, it cannot be besieged by another Army that turn. If conquered, the province can be entered by another Army, but that Army may not leave the conquered province that turn. If an enemy Army is attacked and the battle lost (enemy retains control), can a second friendly Army enter the province and attack the enemy Army previously attacked? A) Yes (you didn't besiege it). 11. Removing Casualties in Strategic Battles (5.618). Odd 'casualties' are destroyed, even 'casualties' are routed. Every Corps must 'lose' one division before any Corps 'loses' a second division. Can the owning player determine at his discretion which Corps take destroyed vs. which Corps take routed 'casualties'? A) Yes. For the second round 'loss', do destroyed divisions have to come from Corps that had a routed 'casualty'? A) No. Or can a first round Corps that had a destroyed division also have a second round destroyed division? A) Yes. 12. One last request: The components list mentioned a 48 page rulebook, we only downloaded 29 pages. I recall that a discussion of game strategy was mentioned, nor do we have a copy of the builds table. How can we obtain these items? A) You have to buy the book! 13. Under 5.128 when a nation Surrenders, the winner must leave the occupied provinces and takes a certain amount of VPs. What if more nations must leave the province? To whom these VPs are assigned ? A) Good question. The rules don't state how the VP's are to be divided. I'd say that the VP's from a province would go to the player whose garrison is being repatriated (ignore the nationality of Corps being repatriated). 14. if a province revolts, who may end the revolt? Only the former owning player or anyone? Example: Warsaw rebels. If Austria, who is not at war with Prussia, wants to enter Warsaw, must it declare war before? A) You would have to declare war before you could attack an opposing player's province in revolt. 15. Creating new states. Does it seem to you that the probablity to create them is historical? A) That's the $64,000 question. I think it gets pretty close to historical in games with 4+ players. The new surrender rules (in which enemy garrisons in remapable home provinces aren't repatriated) goes a long way to making the new states more likely. 16. Table #2 - Political Events 7: Metternich outwits Napoleon: "France ...offer peace". My translation is France must: break an alliance or offer a negotatied peace. Is the event fulfilled if France offers a peace with unacceptable conditions? Or, if France "must" conclude a peace, which means it could be obliged to accept an unaccetable peace ? A) The tactics you propose aren't prohibited by the rules. For now it will have to be a gentleman's agreement as to what a genuine peace offer is. I'd say simply ceasing hostilities and imposing an enforced peace would be enough for France to offer in this case. We'll have to visit this in the next version of the rules, I think. 17. 5.46 Invasions: can you invade a province adjacent to a sea zone where you do not control other ports (which can supply the ships) ? Do the rules negate this ? A) You can invade anywhere on the map that doesn't have a Corps, BUT your fleet must be able to make it back to a "supplied" sea zone by the end of the move. This does limit things. 18. How many attack rounds are available to an invader, 3 or 4 ? A) The invasion itself uses up one movement point, so the invader has 3 movement points left (or 4 with a leader). 5.46 is misleading: the Corps uses up one movement point invading, not the fleet. 19. Can you invade a province with enemy ships in the port ? A) Yes, if they fail to intercept you on the way in. You can also blockade them (forcing them to fight you after you kick them out). Good idea to garrison your important ports with a Corps. Back to OSG News February 2003 Table of Contents Back to OSG News List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2003 by Operational Studies Group This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com