Low Whig and High Tory Rules

The game uses the British Parliament as the forum for gaming Colonial conflicts between 1837 and 1914.

The Rules

Setup

The Treasury is determined.  Roll 2d6 x 12 for the number x 1000000 guineas.  Low rolling will create a cash strapped Government pretty quickly.  The total is recorded in the Treasury using tiny "white fiver" tokens.

The cards are shuffled and dealt blind into three six card hands. 

These are then turned and examined.  Find the Whig, Tory and Radical MPs with most influence.  These become party leaders.  Any ties in the influence score are resolved in favour of alphabetical order.

All MPs cards dealt are moved to the same hand as their party leaders.  Count up the influence for each side, the highest forming a Government.

Any Wars are placed into the Active Wars zone.  Enemy leaders are added onto the map, or onto their active war if relevant.

Queen Victoria's amusement level is set to six (on a track of  12). If it reaches 0 the Government falls.

Any bills are retained by the party leaders, but the Government may place a bill before the dispatch box as first business.

Any scandals are placed in "The Papers" and random rolls determine which unlucky MP attracts attention.  If a scandal appears the Queen's "amusement" level is reduced by the extra number.

Any Concessions, including Honours, are held by party leaders at this point, but may need to be given to individual MPs to buy loyalty.

Any Military Officers are sent to Home Service.
A Field Force is deployed in Home Service and one in India.
Add the influence total in the respective political parties.  The one with the most influence becomes the Government.
The politician with highest influence is PM. 

If Parliament is split both sides may attempt to attract Radicals or Independents by paying 4000 guineas or awarding honours.

The Government sponsors a Bill but must still pay to support its passage.  The price differs between bills.

Whigs and Liberals take 12000 guineas as a party  to support to a bill as a party.

Tories  take 12000 guineas to support a Bill as a party.
Unionists  take 4000 guineas each to support a Bill, even if part of a Government, but add d6 to Irish Unrest.
Radicals and Independents take 4000 guineas each to support a Bill.

The Lords  will take 12000 guineas to guarantee to pass a bill, otherwise roll d6.  On a 4, 5, 6 the bill passes, roll lower and it is sent back to the dispatch box.  If a bill passes the Queen is amused and adds one to her score.

Wars have a face cost, to send out a field force.  Enemy leaders may increase this cost.  Once a field force is dispatched the battles for that war can be fought until the war is defeated.  Defeating a war earns a cash "subsidy" from the vanquished.  It also adds one or more to the Queen's amusement and an honour may be generated.

Losing a battle is not a good idea since Victoria will not be amused about that.

With setup complete we move to the first month, and draw a card.  Twelve cards will be drawn for each year of the campaign and the deck holds ten years worth of cards for each period.

Wars of Victoria's Early Reign Deck
Canadian Rebellion 1837
The Pastry War, Mexico 1838
First Anglo Afghan War 1839
First Opium War 1839
Second Egyptian Ottoman War 1840
First Anglo Sikh War 1845
7th Xhosa War 1848
Second Anglo Sikh War 1848
8th Xhosa War 1850
Second Anglo Burmese War 1852
Taiping Rebellion 1850
Second Anglo Burmese War 1852
Crimean War 1853
Second Opium War 1856
Anglo Persian War 1856
The Indian Mutiny 1857

Wars of Victoria's Mid Reign Deck 1859 to 1872
1859 Pig War United States
1860 Second Māori War.  Māori Kiwi (tribes)
1863 Anglo-Satsuma War. 
1864 Ambela Campaign, British Raj ,Afghan Pashtuns
1864 Second Anglo-Ashanti War
1864 Tauranga Campaign New Zealand
1865 Bhutan War  
1865 Morant Bay rebellion Jamaican Rebels
1865 -1868 East Cape War New Zealand
1867 Andaman Islands Expedition, Onge rebels
1868 Tītokowaru's War New Zealand Wars
1868 British Expedition to Abyssinia
1869 Red River Rebellion, Dominion of Canada, Métis
1879 Ninth Xhosa War, Mfengu Tribe
1878,Second Anglo-Afghan War

Wars of Victoria's Later Reign Deck. Cards.
The Zulu War 1879

The First Boer War 1880

(Card Example
Requires a vote to send a Brigade to the Cape.  Strength 1d6.
Skirmish at the wagon auction
Battle of Laings Nek
Battle of Majuba Hill 
Enemy Leader, Boer, Piet Cronjé, lvl 1)

Anglo Egyptian War 1882

(Card Example
Requires a vote to send a Brigade to Alexandria.  Strength 1d6.
Battle of Kafr El Dawwar
Battle of Tell So Kebir
Gen Garnet Wolseley
Enemy Leader Tewfik Pasha lvl 1
Enemy Leader Ahmed ‘Urabi lvl 1)

Mahdist Sudan War 1881

(Card Example
Requires a Bill to send two Brigades to Egypt.  Strength 2d6.
Tel El Kebir
Gordon Relief Expedition
Gen Garnet Wolseley
Enemy Leader The Mahdi. Lvl 2
Enemy Leader The Khalifa Lvl 1)

1878 Second Anglo-Afghan War

1885  North-West Rebellion

1885 Third Anglo-Burmese War
1888  Sikkim Expedition
1891. Hunza-Nagar Campaign
1893  Anglo-Manipur War
1893. First Matabele War
1895. Ashante War 
1896. Second Matabele War
1897. The Tirah Expedition
1899. Boxer Rebellion
1899. Second Anglo Boer War

Cards in the deck

Politicians

Laws and Reforms cards

Concessions cards

Scandals

Wars

Military Officers

Enemy Leaders

Honours

Events

The Offices of State

Her Majesty's Prime Minister
Lord Chancellor of the Exchequer
Minister of War
Home Secretary
Foreign Secretary
First Sea Lord

Lesser Offices and honours are given to buy loyalty.  Worth 4000 Guineas each.  Peerage.  Knighthood.

Field Force deployments
Home Service. 3Bde
Ireland. 2 Bde
India.  2Bde
Ceylon. 1Bn
Africa. 2Bn
South Africa. 1Bde
Canada. 1Bn
The Caribbean. 1Bn
Far East.  1Bn
China and Hong Kong.  1Bn
Mediterranean.  1Bn
The Australias 1Bn

Examples of Bills
Army Discipline Act
Consolidated fund Act
Indian stocks Act

Wars of the Edwardians card deck.  Still working on this one.

South African War (1899–1902)

Botha

Smuts

Anglo-Somali War 1900
The Mad Mullah of Somalilland

Agadir
The Panther incident
Pulling the Lion's tail US
The Balkan troubles
The War of a Thousand Days (1899–1903)
Boxer Rebellion (1900–01)
Moro Wars (1901–13)
Russo-Japanese War (1904–05)
Pig War (1906–09)
Mexican Revolution (1910–20)
Italo-Turkish War (1911–12)
Armageddon - The Great War 1914

Provincial Loyalty Rolls
1 Rebellion
2  Concession required

3 Simmering
4-6 Loyal for now
 

Very much a work in progress.

The Offices of State
Her Majesty's Prime Minister
Lord Chancellor of the Exchequer
Minister of War
Home Secretary
Foreign Secretary
First Sea Lord

Her Majesties Government 1879

The Liberals
John Russell Prime Minister
Lord Tweedmouth, Lord Chancellor of the Exchequer

John, Lord Wodehouse - Unionist, Home Secretary
Charles Parnell, Radical, voting with the Liberals (1st Sea Lord)

Sir Robert Slack

Her Majesty's Opposition
The Tories
Mr Benjamin Disraeli 
Lord Randolph Churchill

Mr Judas Quilp MP

Mr H.M. Strainer MP
Mr Dominic Blarb MP

1 crisis in play, A General Resigns (next one out)

The Queen is currently rated as "Amused, (level 6)" 

Events so far

Sir Robert Slack has  resigned due to a Far East Scandal.  

The First Afghan War is in progress but British Finances are soundly propped up by Rhodes and currently stand at 14 million Guineas.

Wolesley has gone out to prosecute the war using Indian Army brigades.  What could go wrong?

In January the "Tories in Petticoats" scandal erupts in the Papers.  Tory MP Dominic Blarb resigns.

February.

Veteran Scots MP Hamish McBeth Strainer survives a scandal on Scottish Widower Trust shares misappropriation.

A Scandal rocks the January papers, Men in Petticoats, one that rocked Victorian visions of morality at the time.  The Queen loses one amusement point.