About Ultima Ratio Regis
Ultima Ratio Regis is a grand strategy wargame by Ignacio Torres Siles, with graphics by Jesús Peralta García, for 1 to 8 players. It covers the military and political history of Early Modern Europe, from the discovery of the Americas to the eve of the French Revolution. The whole span is 20 turns of 15 years, played as scenarios such as the Wars of Religion or the Thirty Years’ War, or as a Grand Campaign from 1480 to 1790. Each player usually controls several major powers, and historical event cards change the rules as the centuries pass.
This is a big game: the publisher estimates two to four hours per turn, and building it means printing a 97 x 69 cm map and mounting about 800 counters. Version 3.0 completed the design and version 3.2 adds clarifications. The files are free from printandplay.games, which says it publishes its games under Creative Commons; a professional edition from Hexasim has been announced. It is for experienced wargamers and history fans who want a long campaign to build and play with a regular group, or alone.
How to play in one minute
- Choose a scenario for your player count. Players bid victory points in secret to pick their group of major powers, then deploy their forces on the map.
- Each turn starts with new powers entering and a play deck built from that period’s historical events plus generic events, dealt out in secret.
- In each half turn, players take impulses: play cards for events or actions, build troops, fleets and fortresses, move armies strategically and tactically, fight battles and sieges, or raid trade by piracy.
- Wars are declared with a casus belli and end in peace or truce; at the end of the turn, powers pay upkeep, collect income and score victory points.
- The player with the most victory points when the scenario ends wins.
What’s in the PDF
- Rules v3.2: 44 Letter pages in English, in colour, with examples, tips and designer notes.
- Game documents (a ZIP of about 500 MB) and the rest of the elements (about 460 MB). Between them: the map, the scenario book, counter sheets to print double-sided, power cards, 146 minor power and event cards in grey scale, and a box wrap.
- A VASSAL module to play on screen, and a build guide with tips on mounting and cutting.
In the PDF
- Rules v3.2 (44 Letter pages)
- Game documents and game elements (two ZIP files): map, scenario book, about 800 counters, power cards, minor power and event cards, box wrap
- VASSAL module
