DARK AGE II

10 KINGS & KINGDOMS

10.1 INTRODUCTION In times when Britain was divided into many independent kingdoms it was usual for one or more of the kings to be recognised as high king (under various names: Bretwalda to the English). It was not uncommon for there to be more than one high king at the same time (usually, but not always, belonging to different nationalities). In Dark Age the OVERLORD action is used to nominate or recognise a high king, and someone that recognises someone else as high king is referred to as an "under king".

10.2 HIGH KINGS The OVERLORD action is used to nominate yourself as high king. You can't be recognised as high king by other players unless you have first nominated yourself. Enter your own kingdom code in the "who" box.
Format [ "OVERLORD" ] [ NOT USED ] [ YOUR KINGDOM ] [ NOT USED ]
VICTORY POINT BONUS Each turn, for each under king recognising you as high king you gain a number of additional VPs equal to one fifth of EITHER the treasury total and household strength (added together) of his own kingdom OR the treasury total and household strength of the kingdom of the under king (added together), whichever is less.

10.3 UNDER KINGS The OVERLORD action is also used to recognise someone else as high king, provided they have first nominated themselves. Your high king must be the same nationality as your own kingdom.
Format [ "OVERLORD" ] [ NOT USED ] [ WHICH KINGDOM ] [ NOT USED ]
BUILD POINT BONUS Each turn an under king gains a number of treasury BPs equal to one fifth of EITHER the treasury total and household strength (added together) of his own kingdom OR the treasury total and household strength of the kingdom of the under king (added together), whichever is less.

10.4 EXCHANGE The EXCHANGE action allows you to swap kingdoms with a dummy or dropout kingdom. The action fails if the kingdom selected is run by a live player, or if someone else exchanged into it earlier in the same turn. You can make only one successful exchange action in a turn (you can attempt more, but if one of them works then any subsequent ones will fail).
If the action is successful the change of control happens immediately. All your orders up to that action are processed for your old kingdom as usual, and all those after the exchange action are processed for your new kingdom. Your old kingdom gets some bonus armies and income. Your current victory point total is carried with you in the exchange, along with half your treasury (after any remaining BPs have been stashed) and half your household, army reserve and fleet reserve (rounded down in all cases).
If you exchange to a kingdom of a different nationality then any previous overlord action by either kingdom is cancelled.
Format [ "EXCHANGE" ] [ NOT USED ] [ WHICH KINGDOM ] [ NOT USED ]

10.5 VIKING The VIKING action allows you to abandon your current kingdom and begin again as a Viking. If the Danes or Norse have not yet entered play then you will take control of one of these. If both have already entered play, but any of the Danes, Norse and Viking kingdoms have been eliminated then they return to play. If all three are in play, but include a dummy or dropout kingdom, then this kingdom is abandoned, started again and exchanged with your old kingdom.
If your action is successful then your new kingdom starts with an army reserve of five, a fleet reserve of five, ten build points and treasury of ten. The procedure for changing to the new kingdom is the same as for exchange actions (see 10.4).
Format [ "VIKING" ] [ NOT USED ] [ NOT USED ] [ NOT USED ]
Note: A new Viking kingdom starts with no territories on the map. To get onto the map you will need to place ships from your fleet reserve on the map with a FLEET action (and move them about if you wish). Follow this later in the turn with a RESERVE action to get some armies aboard your ships (but remember that RESERVE is sticky). Don't forget that some will promptly disperse at the end of the turn. There's plenty of scope for spying and scouting in the first turn as well so it would probably be a good idea to get your spy on the map at the same time as well as assembling your household if you plan to use one.