A New World is a card-driven, area-control, area-movement game with elements of strategy and overall management of quite high complexity designed by Luca Cammisa e Luca Franceschetti.
While the project is entering the playtesting phase we are happy to introduce players to an overview of the main game aspects and dynamics.
A New World is a card-driven, area-control, area-movement game with elements of strategy and overall management of quite high complexity. Players assumes the leadership of a major European nation (Major Power) during the XVI-XVIII Centuries.
The accurate historical context is supported by event cards and by hundreds of counters reproducing military and political leaders of the age.
Europe, North Africa and the Middle East appear in the game map. Worldwide explorations and colonizations are managed an original system that gradually expands the game area by Exploration Cards.
The Cards are the engine of A New World: they provide Command Points to pay costs for Actions, activate Events, enlarge the game surface.
Cards are organized into and belong to two Card Decks.
Game Cards, shuffled into the Game Card Deck includes:
- Generic Event Cards, used to introduce in the game reoccurring events providing the flavor of the age;
- Unique Event Cards, used to introduce in the Game Turn dependent major historical events;
- Monarch Cards and Minister Cards, used to introduce in the game generic and historical rulers of Major Powers or historical personalities (Ministers) whose service to their nation enhanced its glory and fortune.
- Technology Cards, used to introduce advancements in the art of war provides a bonus in the resolution of combat.
- Response Cards, used by non phasing players to activate events in response to game situations or active player's actions.
- Combat Cards, can be played during the Combat Resolution Phase to provide an ad hoc bonus.
- Foreign War Card, used to simulate the effects of conflicts fought on theaters outside the game map and the effects of civil wars.
Exploration Cards, shuffled into the Exploration Card Deck simulate the exploration and colonization of The New World. When activated by a successful Exploration Action the specific Exploration Card is set face up at a spot by the game map then, areas printed on the card become available for colonization.
In A New World there are eleven Player Controlled Major Powers to choose from: England, France, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Venice, Austria, Holland, Russia, Prussia and Sweden.
The actual number of active Major Powers depends on the selected scenario. During the Grand-Campaign Game, 1492-1789, six Major Powers are active at any time.
A Player's Nation Board is provided for each Major Power.
Any Player's Nation Board includes a summary of the Game Actions and their relative cost in Command Points, as few tables to assist the player in the management of the Power he controls during the game.
Many historical Minor Powers are also in the game with their units and leaders: they are the object of the diplomacy and warfare carried on by player controlled Major Powers.
A Game Turn corresponds to about 12 years of real time.
Every game turn is divided into game phases that must be played according to a specific sequence. Phases are resolved through a sequence of game impulses.
The active player can accomplish any game activity and action permitted by rules during the current phase. When permitted by the rules, non-phasing players can respond to the active player's actions with reactions.
A New World offers and requires a great interactivity between players that can negotiate agreements, sign alliance treaties, bound each other by dynastic marriage, exchange controlled areas and resources. (Diplomacy Phase).
During the Action Phase, the Active Player expends Commands Points provided by cards to accomplish game actions.
The full list of Game Actions is quite long: it includes leaders, armies and navies recruitment; armies and navies movement; campaigning with active forces; resolution of siege warfare; troops naval transport and amphibious landing; harbor blockade; search for technological advancements; exploration of unknown regions and their colonization; religion conversion and many more.
The impulse-architecture of the game and reactions by non phasing players generate a great flexibility and unpredictable results. The sequence of Game Impulses is repeated in the Action Phase until all players decided to pass or must pass because they have no cards to put in play: that ends the Action Phase and introduces the Game Interphase.
During the Interphase players carry out management, diplomatic and game-keeping activities.
Nations at war can negotiate conditions to end conflicts. White Peace Treaties, Negotiated Peace Treaties with the defeated side giving own areas to the winner, Minor Annexation Treaties are permitted in the game.
Then, players must compute the income and the expenditure and modify accordingly the National Treasury of the Major Power they control. Revenues are provided by commerce, piracy, overseas shipping of colonial goods, gold mining. Fluctuation of prices, bankruptcy, inflation are also simulated in the game.
The maintenance of national armies, navies and mercenary is the main expenditure nations have to pay for.
Management of the internal Stability of powers is simulated with accuracy: warfare, events, rebellions, plagues and other factors can negatively affect it.
The victory tracking system of the game is affected by successful warfare and diplomacy, colonization and exploration of the New World, control of Major Areas, Trading and Colonial Goods Monopoly, Events and many more.
Hidden factors and bonuses (VP Bonus Counters) which are claimed at the conclusion of the scenario provide unpredictable, open-ended balancing factors to determine the winner: as a result victory can be assigned only after the end of the last game turn.
The overall longevity of the game is enormous.
Any Major Power has unique bonuses and limits indicated in the Player's Nation Board. Then, the hidden effects of VP Bonus Counters influence the strategy players must go after to achieve victory.
During the Grand Campaign scenario the status of some nations can change: Major Powers becomes Minor Powers and few Minors are promoted to Major Nations.
When that happens the Nation controlled by a player is changed: players must control at anytime at least one Major Power.
These changes are scheduled events encoded in game rules or are introduced by Event cards.
So, while a player controlling France or England has to lead that country to victory or defeat from the beginning to the end of the scenario, a player controlling Venice in the the beginning has later to give it up and to take control of a rising power as The United Provinces (Holland).
There are many aspects I passed over but that are actually simulated in the game: religion and war of religions; logistic; warfare strategies with opportunities for campaigning, interceptions, evasions; The Holy Roman Empire; the rise of the powerful House of Hapsburg; ransoming of enemy captured leaders; the birth of the United States of America and tons of unique events that wrote modern history are also in the game.
Thanks for attention.
LEF64
