Friedrich

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Overview

Friedrich is a strategy game for 3-4 players based on the Seven Years War (1756-1763). One player controls Frederick the Great (Prussia and Hanover), while the other players control the attacking alliance: Elisabeth (Russia and Sweden), Maria Theresa (Austria and the Imperial Army), and Madame Pompadour (France). Frederick must survive until historical events force the attackers out of the war, while each attacker tries to conquer all objective cities flagged in their nation’s color before that happens. Combat is resolved through a card-playing duel using Tactical Cards matched to map sector suits.

Components

Setup

  1. Assign roles: Frederick, Elisabeth, Maria Theresa, Pompadour (4P: one per player; 3P: one player plays Elisabeth + Pompadour).
  2. Place all pieces on their set-up and depot cities per the army sheets. Generals go on cities marked with their rank number; supply trains on cities marked “T.”
  3. Each player secretly assigns their nation’s starting troops to generals (minimum 1, maximum 8 per general), writing allocations on their army sheet.
  4. Shuffle one Tactical Card deck for use; set aside the other 3 decks.
  5. Place 5 game turn record markers on the track (spaces 1-5).
  6. Shuffle the Cards of Fate deck and place on the hourglass space.

Turn Structure

The game is played in turns. Each turn consists of 7 action stages (one per nation) in strict order. Each nation’s action stage has 5 phases:

Phase 1: Tactical Cards

The active nation draws Tactical Cards (TCs):

Nations accumulate TCs with no hand limit. TCs cannot be shown, mixed, or exchanged between nations.

Each TC shows a suit (hearts, diamonds, clubs, or spades) and a value (2-13). Reserve cards are wild: declared as any suit and any value from 1-10.

Phase 2: Movement

All active pieces may move (city to city along roads):

Phase 3: Combat

All active generals adjacent to enemy generals must attack. Combat is resolved as a card duel (see Actions).

Phase 4: Retroactive Conquests

Check all objectives marked with a question mark. If the protecting general has retreated during combat, the objective is retroactively conquered (flip marker to coat of arms). Otherwise, remove the question mark marker.

Phase 5: Supply

Check supply for all active generals:

End of Turn

For turns 1-5: remove one marker from the game turn record track. From turn 6 onward: draw and execute the top Card of Fate (read the spades version in the standard game), then place it at the bottom of the deck.

Actions

Combat (Card Duel)

Players may only play TCs matching the suit of the sector their general occupies. If opposing generals are in different sectors, each plays their own sector’s suit.

  1. State troop counts. The difference is the initial score (negative for the inferior side, positive for the superior).
  2. The inferior player may play one TC, adding its value to the score.
  3. If the score becomes zero or positive, the right to play switches to the other player (now inferior).
  4. Play continues switching until the inferior player cannot or will not play a TC. That player is defeated.

Defeat: The defeated general loses troops equal to the final negative score (but not more than commanded) and retreats the same number of cities. The winner loses no troops and stays in place.

Tie: If a player receives the right to play on a score of zero, they must play a card of the correct suit if they have one (Reserves are optional). If they have none, combat ends as a tie with no losses.

Retreat

The winning player chooses the retreat path:

Conquest of Objectives

Generals may conquer objective cities of their own color by moving over them (or starting on them and moving away), provided the objective is not protected. An objective is protected if a defending general is within 3 cities.

Recruitment

During the movement phase, a nation may bring lost troops and pieces back into play by paying with TCs (any suit, used as money, no change given):

Pieces re-enter at depot cities (must be legally stackable). Cannot move in the phase they re-enter. No nation may exceed its starting troop total.

If all depot cities are occupied by other players, a substitute city is used (per specific rules for each nation), and recruitment costs increase from 6 to 8 points per troop/supply train.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Attacker Victory: An attacking nation wins if it controls all its objective cities (1st order objectives only if eased victory conditions apply) before the Card of Fate is picked at the end of a turn, or after the Card of Fate resolves (if eased conditions were triggered). The controlling player wins; all others lose.

Prussian Victory: If Russia, Sweden, and France have all quit the game due to Cards of Fate, Prussia/Hanover (player Frederick) wins.

Cards of Fate - Historical Events:

Special Rules & Edge Cases

Player Reference

Turn Sequence (per nation)

  1. Draw Tactical Cards
  2. Movement (move pieces, conquer objectives, recruit)
  3. Combat (mandatory attacks against adjacent enemies)
  4. Retroactive Conquests (check question-marked objectives)
  5. Supply Check (generals outside home country need supply path)

Movement Rates

| Piece | Normal | Main Road | |——-|——–|———–| | General | 3 cities | 4 cities | | Supply Train | 2 cities | 3 cities |

Combat Summary

Key Numbers