Grand Strategy Cheat Sheet

Structure of Play

• Set-Up: All players collect income from prior turn (taxes, personal wealth, etc.). All players determine number of actions for themselves, states, etc.
• Initiative Phase: (all states gain 2 base actions for this phase)
• All factions/players write orders and send orders (ideally one set of orders for the entire phase) to GMs, to be resolved simultaneously. Trade maintenance, recruitment and movement orders for troops happen here.
• As an action, a faction may attempt (Intelligence roll) to get advance information on the actions of other powers
• GMs confer and report back on major events (including actions by secondary powers)
• Response Phase: (all states gain 2 base actions for this phase)
• All factions/players write and send orders to the GMs asynchronously; orders are resolved by time of receipt. Allow 5 minutes between orders sent to the GMs.
• Resolution: GMs evaluate any economic changes, national modifiers, etc.

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General Rules: What Counts as An Action?

• Any Time a Die is Rolled, or an Average is Taken on A Die

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• Any Time a Unit or Character Changes Theaters

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• Any Time a Deal/Investment is Initiated

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• Any Time an Outcome Could Alter the Status Quo of any Situation

Action Economy

• Every state gets 2 actions per phase, plus bonus actions per turn equal to motivating capability (usually admin)
• Every great institution gets no base actions per phase but may take bonus actions per turn equal to half motivating capability (round up)

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• Every player character gets actions per turn equal to half Drive value
• Every agent or officer gets one action per turn if an individual, two actions if a squad: individual officers/agents may take additional actions if their patron (player character controller) spends an influence point for each action

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What Can Characters Do with An Action?

• Move: Characters can move up to 3 theaters away.
• Transfer Wealth
• Intervene in a State Action: roll an attribute plus related skill* and take higher of that result or the state capability result to resolve outcome of state action (if taking average for state capability or attribute die, both must take average)
• Perform a Personal Institutional Action: as intervening in a state action but using personal institutional capability (does not cost a state action) – using capabilities of a great institution functions like intervening in a state action
• Perform an Autonomous Action: certain activities (e.g. private study of an artifact, meeting with a political ally, etc.) may not require using a capability die of any kind

*players may propose any attribute and dependent skill, but GM may either require a different attribute/skill or allow the roll with some penalty

What Can States/Institutions Do With An Action?