Reviewing games can be a dreary business, yet another Russian Front campaign with NATO symbols and more factors than one can shake a stick at. However, the times they are a'changing and the pleasant surprises are more frequent but nothing had prepared me for the splendour of Svea Rike published by Casper Games and designed by Dan Glimne and Henrik Stradberg. That I should purchase it for a mere £ 20 in the (temporary) closing sale of Just Games demonstrates that some folks are just lucky.
Svea Rike is a "German" game about Swedish history. This means that it has a strong competitive system without undue complexity of rules which could easily constitute a "family game". However, unlike most "German" games Svea Rike is not an abstract game hiding behind the subject of potato farming or amoeba, it really is about Swedish history (including fighting - which German games avoid for non-gaming reasons). Not only that but it wears its erudition lightly, if you want to read about the "Hat" Party, or the career of Lennart Tortstensson then you can, but otherwise you can simply concentrate on how those factors (represented in these cases by Event Cards) affect the game. It brims with atmosphere, is beautiful to behold and despite being a multi-player game (2-5 players) plays quickly. It is as if Catherine Deneuve had been born a game, I think I am in love!
The game covers the reigns of the 16 Vasa kings and queens, each turn being one reign. But the game is broken into three eras each with different Reign Cards and History Cards. From Gustavus Vasa to Charles IX (who deposed the Catholic Vasa who also ruled Poland-Lithuania) is the Vasa Era (five reigns 1523 to 1611). This is a more peaceful period with Sweden rarely moving much beyond its own borders. From Gustavus II Adolphus to Karl XII (5 reigns 1611 to 1719) is the era of Expansion with colonies and many more wars. From Ulrica-Eleanora to Charles XIII (adopted father of the Prince of Ponte Corvo) is the Age of Liberty (6 reigns 1719-1818) where wars with Russia seem more frequent.
Svea Rike is about families of Swedish nobles, none of these families is going to seize the throne, but that silly (though common in other games) idea is not the basis of Svea Rike. Instead we are not so much as guiding the State Carriage as riding on it (or behind it). Regrettably the local Foppington-Vaseys (Counts of Aarshøl) are not present with their fiefs of Praatland and Vasteregoland, but the rest are still nothing big in the scale of things. The kings and the councillors decide matters of national policy, but we nobles can influences this and are certainly influenced by it. Instead of struggling to take control (something few nobles of the period managed) we have three routes which we use to build up status (the true measure of one's family's greatness). These are called Agriculture, Commerce and Culture & Science but these titles are not really very atmospheric or exact.
Agriculture is really living off your estate, the ancient sport of the nobility (and one still practised). In this case you collect income from your fiefs (which are scored with a number of crowns to show income in gold pieces) and can purchase new fiefs (if available). You do not have to pay for your troops (certain fiefs have regiments attached) as you are not using them. You will earn extra gold from various activities but the commonest one is building a Palace - a sure sign that you are a wealthy noblesse de l'epee and not some re-sprayed merchant (tsk tsk).
There is only one small problem with Agriculture - it can take you a long time to amass the wherewithal the buy another fief. All families start with four crowns of income and even a minor fief is going to take at least two turns of collection (unless you plunder the ancestral strong box). The temptation is to acquire cheaper Finnish fiefs (try saying that with a cracker in your mouth) but these vanish in an unsuccessful war against Russia so they may or may not be a bargain. In addition in the early turns of the game there are not that many fiefs available. The German, Danish, Polish and Russian provinces are unconquered (the colonies unfounded) and, like Normandy before the de Hautevilles, there is a great land hunger.
So perhaps lolling on your estates and looking very noble is not the entire answer to fame and fortune. Instead one may engage in Commerce. Commerce, how totally plebeian! Well of course I do not mean that we would soil our noble hands with vulgar trade, however our agents (purely in the interests of selling the produce of our estates) may do this sort of thing, as long as we get the old brown envelope it would be inadvisable to comment. Commerce consists of sending merchants out to the foreign nations that surround Sweden. Denmark, Prussia, Poland and Russia all have a handy little square with super heraldic device. During commerce you place a merchant (or move one) and then draw your earning after paying for your troops. Do not ask me why the latter but perhaps you have to maintain the appearance of nobility (and its a neat game device). One merchant of yours in a country will earn you a mere 2 gold, that's likely to be less than the cost of paying your retainers. However, get 2 merchants in that country and the dosh rises to 6 gold. Get five in there and it is 21 gold. So it pays to concentrate with the rising curve of returns. However. There are limits to the number of merchants and other players may choose to spoil matters by placing their own to reduce the country capacity (but this equally reduces their return).
War as Disaster
The real disaster is War because once Sweden is at war with your trading partner all trade is off, your merchants return home and the cash dries up. Except of course if you one of the two Blockade Runner cards which allows your naughty traders to keep raking in the filthy lucre even as our Brave Swedish Boys are perishing in the breach, how very Dutch! Commerce thus requires an eye to the longer term, and a few handy Event cards will help too. Without Commerce I doubt one will win a game, but Svea Rike is not a game for hard-and-fast rules. Indeed, if the early reigns are more warlike than peaceful it may be that few merchants are established. Trade can be helped by diplomatic marriages which assist in merchant's penetration of the market
Culture & Science is perhaps better seen as enlightened conspicuous consumption, a middle road between the hedge-squire and the trading oligarch. You draw your income from either your fiefs or your merchants (so you can use it with either strategy), pay your troops and then purchase History Cards. History cards come (like the game) in three eras. They include Queens (who help trade), Palaces (which help agriculture), Military cards (which assist in combat), Culturepersons (who allow you to draw event cards), Scientists which permit the purchase of another History Card, and Resources (which produce a regular source of funds, and seem invulnerable to Event Cards). Not only do History cards have an effect (for example, Torstennson provides a further unit of troops at no cost which can be added to the Swedish army) but collecting series of them gets you status as they reflect the glorious history of your family.
Each reign (except the first where Peace reigns) sees a Royal Card drawn which gives (by Era) the surrounding events. These can be Peace (in which case you proceed with one of the three activities), or Peace with another event - Famine, Tax Raising, Good Harvests or High Demand for Imports. The last three (respectively) reduce income from fiefs by half, remove half of one's cash ("Tough on Wealth, Tough on the Causes of Wealth" as New Labour might say), double your income from fiefs, or increase the take per merchant. There are also War cards, in each case with one Nation. So a card might give Peace in the Vasa Era, War with Denmark in the Era of Expansion, and Good Harvests in the era of Liberty. Wars tend to be numerous in the last two eras, but the spread between nations reflects the rise of Russia as the main "other" Baltic power.
A War causes a whole different structure for a turn, no Trading, Agriculture of Culture. Instead everyone can declare (my simultaneous draw of cards) whether or not they are participating in the war by playing one (and one only) fief. The fief with its troops needs to be paid (and they need double the rate) and a large fief (three troops is the maximum) can be expensive (but you'll be further up the queue for booty). Not everyone need join the war effort, and those with no troops in their fiefs or no money cannot join. Royal Cards are then dealt out up to the number of families in play plus one (plus two for Russia in the 18th century). This will usually mean that the Swedes are outnumbered (there are four troop cards for the enemy, but there are zero cards as well). The Swedes dice first trying to score per fief the number of troops or less, if they succeed the smallest enemy card is removed.
After Swedish "fire" the remaining enemy reply in similar form. First side to be entirely "destroyed" loses. As the Swedes start first with the chance of some useful cards (for example battle Event Cards that remove some enemy units upon play, we have Klissow [Poland], Breitenfeld [Prussia], Narva [Russia] and a March across the Belt to hit Denmark). But for the really naughty player (especially one who has not joined the war effort) there is a Poltava card which wipes out Swedish troops.
If Sweden wins the nobles who participated get to chose their booty ("krigsbyte") -if available - from a fief (at random) a history card from the four in play at anytime, or three dice worth of gold. Fiefs controlled by the losing nation are then available to the victors, but of course are targets for revanchism. Poland holds Livonia, Prussia Pomerania, Russia Estonia and the Danes the two provinces of Skane and Trondelag (now in Norway). The bigger the number of troops contributed the earlier in the order you select.
A successful war can thus build up far more than has been lost by not being able to collect income from fields, but it equally is much more risky. If Sweden loses all fiefs held in the victor nation's borders are lost, in addition in the Era of Liberty a defeat by Russia will lose the Finnish fiefs (which can cause terrible damage to some families). As well as these national losses each participating noble lose one of his fiefs to the Exchequer as the royal administration cracks down. Non-participating nobles have a 50% chance of losing a fief. You can readily see that Sweden should win battles until the point where nobles either do not participate or participate with small fiefs (reducing their costs but also reducing the Swedish army). Indeed early wars tend to be quite popular but once defeat cuts in the effect on families whose strength lies in the periphery can be strong, and the "inner" families must consider losing a war as an important part of their strategy.
The game has eras of wealth and eras of poverty and wars can greatly change the rhythm of the game. If you "win" a war with a Battle event Card you keep it (like a history card) to score Status. In one game one family never managed to trade well and held comparatively few fiefs but they had three victories - worth 60 gold - and their reputation as the strong arm of the state was assured.
As is traditional in such games the simple structure of three activities, one per family, plus the effect of the Royal Card is embroidered with Event Cards. These cards introduce a great deal of the history that cannot be squeezed onto the History Cards. They also give you the chance to dish the opposition. There is no limit to your Event Card hand and you get one a turn come what may. These cover an immense range of topics: Bad harvests' peasant uprisings, diplomatic pressure to remove "enemy" merchants' War Taxes, Regencies (the Reign does not end but continues a whole extra turn), Noble Marriages (you get a fief cheap), Untimely death (removes Queens, culture persons or scientists before their fame is establish - so no status), Witch hunts (which unsettle the natives), provoking war (very useful for flushing out merchants), loans, Improved Tactics (very useful with Gustavus Adolphus), Plague, Battles, and many many other things.
These permit the stranger excesses of (say) Charles XII to almost fit into a much more traditional turn sequence (Charles, you will remember, seemed to have wars with everyone, Denmark, Poland and Russia). Unfortunately the English translation circulating in this country neglected to match the card to the Swedish name, so one had a bit of detective work to do but this has now been dealt with. The play of cards seems unlimited but I reckon there are areas where house rules need to be established. I know one group limit the number played, but given the single card replenishment rule I am loath to do this. Like all such "Take That" systems one can get snowed by bad cards if one surges ahead of the pack, but that's life and short of limiting the numbers of cards played on one player one is left with accepting it.
Presentation
An important factor in Svea Rike's popularity is the unbelievably high standard of the presentation. There can be few art museums in Sweden unraided by the design team. All of which is produced in stunning quality on the cards. The fief cards are clear and attractive with the arms of the province on them, and the families have very smart little markers in stand-up plastic supporters. The whole thing is very very attractive and therefore brings the necessary element of atmosphere. We may not know a lot of Swedish history but we begin to get into the spirit straight away, and before long the player is experiencing much that the Swedish nobility did. What is also a strong factor is that Svea Rike avoids "safe" play plans. You will have to trade eventually, just as you need to engage in Culture.
Having reached the end of the last reign one tots up status. Points for gold (but lots of it), troops, fief values and sets of History cards all require a well-rounded strategy to have been pursued.
Playable with from two to five players (though the more the merrier) the game plays quickly (as it needs to) and at a strong pace we are talking a short session here providing you each have your card translation copies handy. So successful was it that I understand that Svea Rike won the Swedish Game of the Year Award (not bad for something so close to a wargame) and they have issued a strategic board with big cardboard soldiers! I purchased my copy from the moving Just Games, but contact the publishers Casper games at Target Games AB, Box 4628, 116 91 Stockholm, or on casper@target.se on e-mail. It is an utterly poptastic game and you should all have one.
Expansion Pack
Casper Games have also released an extension pack called Batalj done in the same exemplary style and finish. The kit contains a whole ton of fun. There are a number of new Reign-Card activities. One of which is Plundering which covers the long wars in Germany where the Swedes would go on a long trail of destruction. In these cases you cavort around a period map of Germany and Poland picking up little markers which either give you fame or fortune OR running into Imperial troops who defeat you and confiscate all your spoils. When you stop is your business. A bit pointless and for the atmospheric amongst you.
There is then (on the reverse side of the Plundering board) a Columbia-style battle ground with lovely little stand-up soldiers (infantrymen, commanders and artillery) so that you can expand the War system into a variety of Battle.
The new cards include three new Militaria cards - all artillery with the strength growing through the eras. There are three new history cards for Philosophers (including Rene Descartes). A new concept is the Archbishop. This rank entitles one to collect loot from the other families, but subject to regular elections and a slaughter of Archbishops not seen since Blackadder. New Regent cards bring in a whole suite of new concepts. I was surprised to see two plundering expeditions in the last era, but perhaps the historical control exceeded the designers here. After Charles XII apart from a poor show in the Seven Years War I did not think Sweden did much.
There are then a further 29 (I think) Event Cards, some are repeats for cards in the previous set but there are a stack of new items. You will need to get a translation list and merge these two before you play. You get all sorts of stuff, secret liaisons (counts as a Queen in the Fame stakes, the nobility up to their old pranks of planting their daughters in their sovereign's bed), Enlistment (increasing your fief's combat value) Conspiracy (swapping Event Cards) and on it goes
I am not sure I would recommend Batalj to you. The cards are useful but I found the Battle and Plundering boards were not an efficient use of time. If you like Svea Rike then you will find the extra cards useful. The archbishop seemed a bit powerful but then what do I know of Swedish history?
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© Copyright 1998 by Charles and Teresa Vasey.
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