Kingdoms: Summer - War

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Summer - Season of War

Long hours of sunlight make for easy campaigning, and between the seasons of sowing and harvest there are plenty of able bodied farmers that a King can gather into his armies. Also of course, the heat of a summer's day makes for short tempers, and summer is when men's lust for rapine and pillage run highest. Is it any wonder that Summer is the Season of War?

Summertime Events

Before the Season begins properly, the Adjudicator may declare that one or more Events has occurred. Events are limited only by the Adjudicator's imagination, but miught include such things as:

• Relations between the kingdoms souring, granting a mutual bonus to attack.
• Sandstorms make travel difficult, granting a mutual penalty to attacks.
• Civil unrest throughout both kingdoms demands internal commitment of troops.

Launching Summer Campaigns

Summer Campaigns happen when the Kingdom sends it armies to war. The King himself decides what Campaigns will be launched, and assigns his Attack Armies to each one. As long as he has enough Armies, he can launch as many Campaigns as he wishes.

Attack Commander

Every Summer Campaign needs an Attack Commander. Any back rank piece can act as an Attack Commander, though some are clearly better at it than others.

The King Player can always choose the King, or any Dominant Actor of the Court, to lead a Campaign as the Attack Commander.

However, if he wants the Queen, or Shadow Actor of the Court to be an Attack Commander, he must first gain the consent and agreement of the Queen Player.

If a planned Campaign does not have an Attack Commander attached to it, it is cancelled and does not take place.

Attack Armies

Every Summer Campaign needs at least one Attack Army. Each Pawn piece represents a single attack army. The King decides how many armies are assigned to each Summer Campaign.

If a planned Campaign does not have at least one Army as part of it, it is cancelled and does not take place.

Campaign Objective

Each campaign must have a stated objective. The types of objective that can be aimed for are defined by the Armies involved. By default there are four objectives that armies can go for:

• Pillage - When you declare this Objective you must name one specific Improvement in the enemy kingdom. If you achieve this Objective, destroy that Improvement.
• Plunder - When you declare this Objective you state that the army is Plundering. If you achieve this Objective, steal 1 Glamour from the target kingdom per Army in your Summer Campaign. Stolen Glamour is added directly to your own King's total.
• Rescue - When you declare this Objective you must name one specific Piece that has been captured by the enemy. If you achieve this Objective, that Piece is rescued, and no longer considered captured. He can immediately be used by you as normal (and can even contribute to War Defences later this Season).
• Checkmate When you declare this Objective you must state that you are attempting Checkmate. If you achieve this Objective, you capture the enemy King.

The Checkmate Objective has a few special rules that limit it:

• Each Summer, each Kingdom can only declare one Summer Campaign with the Checkmate Objective.
• The Campaign with the Checkmate Objective must always be the first one that a King reveals.

"In the Field..."

Importantly, from the moment they are included in a Summer Campaign, an Attack Commander or Army is considered to be in the field. This happens before any attacks are resolved in Summer, and even before the first Summer Campaign is revealed.

Pieces that are in the field remain there for the whole of Summer, and cannot participate in War Defences in any way.

Roleplaying the Summertime

Generally, the structure of Summertime will be as follows:

(1) The Adjudicator declares Springtime has begun, and reminds the players which game year they are in (1 to 12) and which Court has priority this year.

(2) The Adjudicator relates any Events to all the players as a group.

(3) The two Courts split off, and quietly discuss their plans for the Season, without letting their opposites hear what they are saying.

(4) The two Courts each tell the Adjudicator what Summer Campaigns they are launching.

(5) In strict order, Campaigns are revealed to the group, and defended against and resolved one at a time.