The Official VIKTORY Blog

Comment from Napoleon Blownaparte
Time: February 10, 2007, 1:29 pm

Below is a list of house rules that we usually used. We liked the original rules too, but though these gave the game a slightly different flavor.

– Instead of building on his turn, a player may instead choose to relocate one of his existing cities or towns to an adjacent hex. This is only permissible if, after the relocated town’s removal, it would be legal to build in the destination hex. If the population center moved is a city, it is immediately reduced to a town (but can be upgraded on a later turn, as normal). (Note that this rule is similar, but not identical, to a pre-existing variant found in para 15.5 of the rulebook.)

– A town cannot be built (a) in a hex adjacent to or occupied by enemy forces, or (b) if the town would not be reachable by Road Movement at the time of its placement.

– Road Movement can cross a SINGLE Sea hex

– Road Movement cannot pass through hexes occupied by or adjacent to enemy units (unless the adjacent hex is occupied by a friendly unit). (We considered allowing Cavalry to road move through hexes adjacent to non-Cavalry units, but have not playtested that particular “tweak.”)

– Unit movement reduced (Infantry and Artillery, 1 hex/turn; Cavalry, 2; Frigates, 3)

– Bombardment range reduced to 1 hex (i.e., adjacent hexes only)

– Both attacker and defender get pre-battle Artillery fire

– Either attacker OR defender can get Frigate Support combat bonus (neither get it if the number of adjacent Frigates is equal).

– Loss of a city / town only prevents placement of non-supported pieces from the losing player’s reserves – it does NOT result in immediate removal of pieces from the board.

– Combat casualties remain off the board longer. (Pieces lost in combat are placed lying on their sides in the Reserve area. On the next Place Reserves phase, they are stood upright, but remain in the Reserve. On the next Place Reserves phase after that, they go on the board. Pieces entering the Reserve for any reason other than combat losses are placed normally.) (We also considered extending this rule to include units gained from capturing enemy cities, but have not playtested that change.)

– During amphibious assault, the attacker’s Artillery does not get pre-battle fire (though his Frigate(s) may still bombard). During the first round of combat, the attacker rolls ONLY 1 DIE for his attacking land units (other bonuses apply normally). During subsequent rounds, he rolls normally.

– Loss of a Capital results in the following penalty only: the player who loses his Capital loses his next turn. He cannot build, move or attack (except for bombardment of enemy units already in range), and cannot place reserves. On his next turn, he can select any one of his remaining towns or cities to be his new Capital (the Capital marker is moved accordingly).

– Plains cities provide a total of 3 Infantry (Town = 1 Infantry, City = 3 Infantry)

– Reinforcement is prevented only if Road Movement to a town/city is cut off (not by adjacency of a single enemy unit).

We also tried the following alternate victory conditions, which we liked: the first player to control 8 Cities at the end of his turn won the game. This seemed to work well for three player games (obviously, the target number would be scaled up or down depending on the number of players).

When we were in a hurry, we also used some accelerated set-up rules that seemed to work well:

1. The map tiles would all be randomly placed face-down. We would then turn them all face-up, so we had a random, but fully-revealed, map.

2. Each player, in turn, would place his Capital. Then, each player would take turns placing a City (in accordance with the normal placement rules). (Towns were not used.)

3. When no more Cities could be placed, each player would take turns placing a single unit on the board. These units could be placed in ANY of the player’s Cities (or, in the case of Frigates, adjacent to any of the player’s Cities).

When this process was over, we would have a fully-revealed board, fully populated with Cities, with massive armies on the border just waiting to tear into each other. It made for some shorter, but very intense, games.

One additional house rule I am considering adding, but have not playtested: each player’s capital city produces / supports one “bonus” unit of the player’s choice, in addition to the units normally produced by the capital. If the capital is ever captured, this bonus unit is no longer produced, even after a new capital is selected.

Hope all you other Viktory II enthusiasts out there find this interesting! : )