Here I Stand 4x4 +2 and conclusion

The Reformation must go on!

For the first four turns of our four player game see here.

Turn 5 and the Hapsburgs took the interesting step of surrendering.

This got them keys back, but did give the victors some VPs (see later).

Henry VIII sires a heir, England converts to Protestantism and wins the game.

While held back by the Protestant VP total according to the multiplayer rules,

they just managed to keep their cool through a blaze of book burnings.

The Ottomans were a close second, believe it or not. 

Regardless, well played Mike and your second win.

Won lots of wars but not the game.

Pity I didn't photograph the other player cards.

And now for a detailed walkthrough by Richard (Hapsburg/Papacy player).

"Fat Hands and Fuggers guide your way to victory!"

Our 4 player game concluded in 2 very long turns (6 hours total) encompassing turns 5 and 6. There was a lot happening and several new situations arose requiring some rules checking which influenced the play time. This game went down to the very last roll of the dice and the winner emerged by the barest possible margin.

Turn 5

New World riches proved elusive to everyone, except the Hapsburgs who got a different prize, they lost their colony in Hispaniola. Guffaws from the French! So bitter...

Pre-turn diplomacy saw emissaries of France and then the Hapsburgs beat a path to Henry's door. The discussions were fruitful for France and an alliance was formed. The Hapsburgs request for a white peace and the return of Antwerp were met with a polite rebuff. With the Ottomans ready to resume their advance through Hungary, France set to re-arm, a weak force in Vienna, in a move that surprised and shocked everyone, the Hapsburgs sued for Peace with the Ottomans and also England, regaining the keys of Antwerp and Brussels and Amsterdam spaces. A risky strategy as this pushed the Ottomans to within sight of their required VP total. The French continued to reject logic in favour of their "honeur" and refused to offer a card to lift their excommunication. So bitter...

In the war declaration phase, the Hapsburgs, seeking to exploit a very weak French position and with the Ottomans neutralised by peace, declared war on France. Would it be turn 1 all over again? The conditions were ripe, the cards, as it turned out, were neither sufficient nor favourable, however.

So, Hapsburgs at War with Protestants and France, Papacy at war with Ottomans, France and Protestants, France and England allied, Hapsburgs and Papacy allied, England and Protestants allied.

Spring deployment saw the Ottomans move to Belgrade, the Hapsburgs mass on border with France in the Pyrenees, whilst the English, with the bulk of their army displaced to Calais as a result of the vacation of Antwerp, moved some minor forces north to the Scottish borders. France moved Montmorency to Bordeaux and Francis stayed in Paris with a small garrison.

All eyes then turned to the Adriatic, would Barbarossa and his fleet sail from Scutari or not? The Papacy was not party to the Hapsburg peace with the Ottomans and thus remained at war. Crucially, this meant that Hapsburg galleys, including Andrea Doria and his galley could be loaned to the Papacy to counter any naval moves by the Ottomans on a roughly equal basis. Any naval battle would be a very high stakes roll of the dice.

Having feasted on Scutari's finest Fërgesë  me melçi, the Ottoman Fleet weighed anchor but, a thick fog rolled in and they were unable to find the harbour entrance due to "Foul Weather" being played by the English. Thanks Henry! With Fleet stymied, the Hapsburgs dithered over a hand of very low CPs, reinforcing Vienna in the end. Henry got re-married and got straight to business, however, despite her +1 DRM on the Birthing Table, Jane Seymour is unable to give Henry a child. With the prospect of Mary on the throne, Henry is starting to fret. With the Hapsburgs dithering on the borders, and Henry II possibly coming into play this turn, France hurried to build Chateaux and then re-inforced their many weakly defended keys.

Meanwhile, the Papacy could barely contain themselves until it was their turn, gleefully playing "Venetian Alliance" to ally Venice, bringing a crucial key and the Venetian Navy with their 3 Galleys.

The Protestants continued to spread the reformation moving on to France, committing French debaters as they rapidly converted 5 spaces. The only debater unused was Olivetan, who would soon feel the heat. They also completed the English translation of the New Testament and the Reformation took a firm hold in England. In an attempt to stem the tide, the Papacy placed a Jesuit University in Shrewsbury and Nuremburg after the Protestants played the "Jesuit Universities" mandatory card.

With France paralysed fending off another Hapsburg war  (The Hapsburgs are wary of a French win, they are in 2nd place after all!), the Papacy finally took some steps to stemming the reformation calling a debate in the French Language zone. Poor Olivetan must have had a frog in his throat as Eck crushed him 5 hits (out of 7 rolls) to nil in the debate (A superior set of die rolls later immortalised in Titian's "Pope rolling dice". Take a photo Richard it won't happen again!) Olivetan burned at the Stake. The Papacy then counter reformed all 5 newly converted spaces before the ink had even dried on the new liturgy. The reformation in France is rolled back to the Catholic fold.

With no-one to fight and kingly duties already performed in the boudoir, a plentiful hand of cards, the English invested in "Plantations" for their colonies, whilst France played "Smallpox" launching a free conquest.... but would they bear fruit or whither and die?

In somewhat of a sore point throughout the game, either the English or the Protestants have had access to both the Fuggers card and Diplomatic Marriage for all but one turn when the Hapsburgs had them, stuffing even more cards into their already bloated hands in this turn and the next. This proved to be a decisive advantage.

The Ottomans, short on quality cards and facing an even more powerful combined fleet blockading them and no land enemies in reach, concentrated on building up their forces.

The reformation and counter reformation raged in Germany and England with neither side able to land a decisive shift, however, the Protestant total has started to creep up with more concerted efforts in England.

With their final card of the turn, the Papacy was faced with a moral dilemma. With "Papal Bull" still to play, the options were to excommunicate Henry or do some Book Burning. Henry had stopped the Ottoman fleet from sailing so the moral thing to do was burn books, but with the prospect of an enormous hand in the future, the logical thing to do was excommunicate. Following Princely guidance, the Pope, in spite of infallibility, erred on the side of morality. That's two contradictions in one for you!

The New World phase was up next and with a +2DRM, the French conquer the Incas for 2 VP and a possible card next turn.

Turn 6.

New World Riches were up for grabs. The Hapsburgs got nothing AGAIN! - 9 rolls all below average!!!, the English get a Card from the Maya, which depleted and with the help of plantations, another two cards from their colonies. The English have 8 cards in their hand! The Protestants 7. They are going to be hard to stop.

Diplomacy saw the English/French Alliance terminated and the French sued for Peace with the Papacy.

The Ottomans, with their now enormous host, declared war on the Hapsburgs and Spring deployed to Nezh ready for moving on Buda, investing it and rolling over the helpless mercenary garrison the following turn.

Following on immediately,  their next move was to play Venetian Alliance and de-activate Venice as a Papal Ally. Pope NOT HAPPY after just paying for another Venetian Galley!

Seeing the possibility of the Ottomans prevailing over the Hapsburgs at Vienna, the Protestants played "Threat to Power" targeting Ibrahim Pasha and he left the game for the rest of the turn, leaving Suleiman with an enormous host of which he could command only 12 in a single formation, significantly reducing the chances for success against Charles V in Vienna.

The Hapsburgs also played "Janissaries Rebel", placing unrest along the Ottomans LOC, thus preventing them from initiating any further assaults as they continued their march on Vienna.

These two plays effectively broke the Ottoman will to press on to Vienna. With no path forward and limited cards left, the Ottomans cleared the way for Hapsburg action against the Protestants to try and extend the game. The Ottomans clear up unrest and build even more forces.

The Hapsburgs played Spanish Inquisition for the Papacy and honouring the Gentlemen's Agreement, the Papacy inspected the English Hand and randomly picked... Machiavelli! No backstabbing by Henry for now at least.

Henry marries Anne of Kleves and with time ticking and no male heir, it was all or nothing. Following a quick dice blessing from the Pope, on the third attempt, a healthy Edward VI is born and with it the whopping 5VPs. The reformation was now running rampant in England, with the English streaking out to 29 VP!. At this stage with the Protestants already sitting on 21VP, it was looking like a Domination Victory unless the Protestants could be beaten down to 19VP. A concerted effort was required by EVERYONE!!!! That means you too FRANCE!

Meanwhile, it was now the Protestant forces advancing into Metz that kept it from French hands. For the whole game, Metz was to Francis as the fruit dangling above his head was to Tantalus in Hell, so close but unreachable...

The equation now was that the Protestants needed to be forced back to 19 VP which would see the game continue for another turn as the Ottomans had now moved up to 24 VPs. The Hapsburgs would have to take on the Protestants and recapture 2 Electorates, whilst the Papacy would need to maintain at least a status quo in the number of reformed spaces and France could help to by moving its Catholic troops into positions to support reformation attempts. Would it be possible? Yes, but did it happen?

This is how France "helped" the cause.

France advances to Brussels, with the aim of going after Antwerp held by the currently last placed and no chance to win Hapsburgs. #Oui it's all about moi! So Bitter.

The Hapsburgs respond by sending the Duke of Alva over the Pyrenees

The Hapsburgs can't handle it any longer and call out the French who are FINALLY shamed into making a contribution by sending ONE Mercenary to the borders of the Holy Roman Empire to provide extra dice in possible counter reformation attempts. Go France!

With the nod from the Ottomans, it was now up to the Hapsburgs and the Papacy to make the game go like their motto,  "Plus Ultra".

The Hapsburgs have a very weak hand of 1 and 2 CP cards, so with the green light form the Ottomans they are forced to play their "Holy Roman Emporer"  card to march Charles V to Wittenberg and lay siege to that electorate. The Protestants respond with "Mercenaries bribed" and the Hapsburgs lose half their force. The assault in the next impulse weakens the Protestant garrison, but crucially they hang on for an extra impulse. The Hapsburgs, capture Wittenberg with their last card played, they have now run out of cards and CPs to capture any further electorates. It seems like its all over.

With the Ottomans seemingly resigning themselves to a English/Protestant win and few cards to help them, they played "Michael Servetus" to pick up a crucial 1VP to get themselves to 25VPs.

The final twist in our game came in the final card of the round which saw the Protestants play the "Council of Trent" Mandatory card. A successful performance at the Council would see the reformation significantly rolled back. The Papacy has 14 rolls to the Protestants 8. Any result could influence the game's final winner. The result? 2 hits each. A tie!

With just one fewer protestant space, the adjusted VP total of the English/Protestants would have been 25, so tied with the Ottomans. In that case it would have gone to a count back and the Ottomans were ahead in the previous turn, so they ended up 1 protestant space from winning! (The English still had 3!!!! unplayed cards and the Protestants 1, all high value, so in the end it probably was more definitive than it seemed).

Well done to Mike for another victory - I now wish I hadn't blessed the birthing die roll!

The game was definitely influenced in favour of players with 2 Powers to play due to the ability to play cards benefiting each other's game and in spite of the need to balance the VP ledger. Despite this, it was still an immensely enjoyable game and it went right down to the wire.