Christoph Bauer

Players: 34 Age: 10 and up Playing time: 3045 min

Game Components
8 Order cards

2 1 1 1 1 1 1 reverse

2 Camerlengo cards

1 reverse 1 reverse

54 Gold cards

20 10 10 10 4 reverse

20 Cardinal cards

3 5 5 5 1 1 reverse
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 18 Political cards

3 5 5 1 1 each 1 reverse

18 Action cards

14 each 1 reverse

52 Gems (16diamond, 10ruby, 11sapphire, 15amber)

16 10 11 15

1 Card base

4 View screens

4
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 Game Idea
The Pope is dead! Each player takes on the role of a Cardinal with a good chance of
ascending to the Holy See. Turn for turn, the players bid for the most valuable cards on
offer with precious gems. You need to win as many Cardinals as possible for your side;
they are a vote each! But you need the favor of the political powers as well; they grant
you important auxiliary votes and above all the necessary funds to buy the votes of the
indecisive Cardinals. Action cards assist you during bidding; they also allow you to siphon
gold from your fellow players. The Camerlengo, however, is the right choice to fulfill
your urgent need for gems.
When the White Smoke rises in the end, the player with the most votes wins.

Preparing for Play

Camerlengo card Pile of Pile of Pile of

action cards political cards Cardinal cards

bank
common display in the middle of the table

1. Sort all cards according to their reverse sides.

2. Shuffle the 18 political cards and the 18 action cards face down in separate piles.
3. Separate the Black Smoke and White Smoke cards from the 20 Cardinal
cards and shuffle the remaining 18 Cardinal cards face down.
4. Insert the Black Smoke card face down into the deck of Cardinal cards at ap-
proximately half height. Now take the last 3 cards of that deck, face down, add
the White Smoke card, shuffle, and put those (now 4) cards at the bottom
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 of the deck, face down.
5. Now arrange the three decks, and the Camerlengo card (the one with the sym-
bols) in a row, as shown in the illustration.
6. Each player receives a view screen behind which he puts 4 diamonds, 1 ruby,
2 sapphires, 3 amber and 20 gold coins (110, 15, 12 and 31).
Please note: Your gold cards and gems should be hidden behind your view
screen. They should not be revealed to your fellow players. Gold cards may be
exchanged with the bank at any time.
7. Put the other gems and gold cards aside. They form the bank (see the illustration
on page 25). Unused view screens are removed from the game.
8. Put the second Camerlengo card (the one without the symbols) into the card
base; this is the Camerlengo token. The spryest player is appointed Camerlengo
for the first turn. He places the Camerlengo token in front of his view screen.
9. Shuffle the 8 order cards and deal 2 to each player face down. Unused order
cards are removed from the game without revealing them.

Sequence of Play
1655 Habemus Papam is played over a maximum of 18 turns. Each turn con-
sists of 4 phases played in sequence. After all 4 phases of a turn have been finished,
the next turn begins again with phase 1.
When the Black Smoke card is revealed, the game is interrupted briefly. The
players receive additional financial means and have to discard one of their two or-
der cards. Revealing the White Smoke card heralds the end of the game.

The 4 phases are:

1. Reveal cards in the common display

2. Play action card (optional)
3. Bid 0 to 3 gems
4. Take a card

1. Reveal cards in the common display

In this phase, the Camerlengo turns over the top card of each of the 3 piles (Car-
dinal, political and action) and reverses the Camerlengo card.
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 2. Play action card (optional)

In this phase, every player may play up to 1 action card (except during the first
turn). To play an action card, you place it face down in front of your view screen.
When all players have placed a card or declined to do so, these cards are revealed.
They are then resolved clockwise, starting with the Camerlengo (also see Action
cards, page 38).

3. Bid 0 to 3 gems

In this phase, the players bid gems to receive the most valuable card of those on
offer in the common display. Players may choose the top card of the pile of the
Cardinal cards, the political cards, the action cards, or the Camerlengo. In the
4-player game, everyone receives one of the 4 cards. In the 3-player game, the
remaining card will be removed from the game or in the case of the Camerlengo
card will not be used that turn. The sequence in which the players may take the
cards is determined by their bids.

All players bid 0 to 3 gems. They hide the gems chosen in their closed palm, re-
vealing them simultaneously and putting them on the table, visible for all.

Now you calculate the value of the bids. The player with the most gems in his bid
goes first.

Example: The bids are: Amelie 3 gems, Birgit 2 gems, Ralf 1 gem, and Christoph
0 gems. This means that Amelie goes first, followed by Birgit, then Ralf, and
Christoph comes last.

If 2 or more players have bidden the same number of gems, the quality of the
gems determines which is the more valuable bid.

The value of the gems is as follows: diamonds are the most precious, next are ru-
bies, sapphires and the least precious ones are amber.

This means:
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- clear wins against red, blue, and yellow
- red wins against blue and yellow
- blue wins against yellow
- yellow cannot win at all.

When the amount of the most valuable gems is identical, you compare the next
valuable one, and so on.

Example: Amelie has a bid of 2 diamonds and 1 amber, Birgit has a bid of 2 dia-
monds and 1 ruby, Ralf has a bid of 1 ruby, and Christoph has a bid of 1 sapphire.
The quantity of the bids of Amelie and Birgit is equal, so quality comes into play.
Both have 2 diamonds, so the third gem decides the bid.
Birgit has a ruby, which is more valuable than Amelies amber. Thus Birgit goes
first, Amelie comes second. Ralf and Christoph now compare their gems: rubies
are more valuable than sapphires, so Ralf comes third and Christoph goes last.

If quantity as well as quality of a bid are identical, the players seating position to
the Camerlengo determines whose bid is higher.
The player sitting next to the Camerlengo, in clockwise order, has the highest bid.
If the Camerlengo is one of these players, he automatically wins the bid.

Example:

Amelie Birgit

Christoph Ralf

Ralf has a bid of 2 amber, Birgit, Amelie and Christoph have each bidden
1 sapphire. Ralf has the highest bid, next is Amelie, being the Camerlengo, fol-
lowed by Birgit (she is closer to the Camerlengo in clockwise order); Christoph
comes last.

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All gems used in a bid are placed in the bank.

4. Take a card
In order of the value of the bids, the players each take 1 of the cards on the com-
mon display. They may choose from these card piles:

- Cardinal cards
Each of these cards provides 1 vote at the end of the game. Every Cardinal
belongs to one of 4 factions, as indicated by the emblem in the left upper corner
of the card. In addition, each of these cards earns the owning player 5 gold when
the Black Smoke card is revealed. The Cardinal cards are placed in your personal
display, face up and clearly visible to all players. It is advisable to have the cards
overlap to save space (see the illustration on page 30).

- Political cards
These cards mainly earn you extra votes or gold. If you take a political card,
you have to use their ability immediately. Political cards are also placed in your
display (the same way your Cardinal cards are), with one exception (the A case
of death card).

- Action cards
Most of these cards give you an advantage during bidding; in addition, you
can siphon gold from your fellow players. When you take an action card, you place
it behind your view screen, to be used later in phase 2 (Play action card). This
pile also holds the 4 leader cards (one of each faction); when you take one of them,
you place it in your display just like a Cardinal card.

- Camerlengo card
When choosing the Camerlengo card, reverse it and receive 1 ruby, 1 sap-
phire, 1 amber and 1 gold coin from the bank. The Camerlengo card stays in the
common display; you do receive the Camerlengo token, though, which makes you
immediately the new Camerlengo.
Please note: The Camerlengo card is the only means of retrieving gems. Spent
diamonds are lost forever!

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 Black Smoke

When the Black Smoke card is revealed in phase 1, this card is put aside and
another Cardinal card is revealed so that there are again 4 upturned cards. Now
an interim period starts, during which every player receives 5 gold coins for every
Cardinal with the gold symbol in the lower left corner in their possession.

Please note: the symbol has no further meaning for the rest of the game.

Example: Birgit has these cards in her display:

Birgit receives 20 gold coins from the bank. She has 4 Cardinals in her display with
the symbol.

Every player now has to discard one of his order cards, as he sees fit. These cards
leave the game without being revealed to the other players. The game continues
with phase 2, Play action card.

White Smoke

When the White Smoke card is revealed in phase 1, this heralds the end of the
game. All remaining cards from the 3 piles are revealed. The current turn is then
completed.

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It may now be possible in phase 4 that the players can choose from more than 4
cards. It is also possible that some players may not receive useful cards, since action
cards lose all their effects at the end of the game. Taking the Camerlengo is still an
option (it effectively provides 4 gold coins; see Counting the Votes). After this
last turn, all remaining cards in the common display are removed from the game.

Should the White Smoke card be the last card in the pile of the Cardinal cards,
then there is only the Camerlengo card left to bid for in phase 3.

The game is now finished and the players count their votes.

Counting the Votes

First of all, eligible players receive gold coins from the bank. They receive 1 gold
coin for each gem they still have behind their view screen. Players with one or
more Felipe cards gain the amount of gold coins mentioned on the card(s).
Starting with the Camerlengo, players now count the votes collected. We recom-
mend doing it in this way:

1. Order fulfilled:
A player who has met the requirements of his order receives 2 or 3 votes, de-
pending on the order. If he hasnt met the requirements, he receives 0 votes (see
Order Cards, page 41).

2. Number of Cardinals and faction leaders:

Every Cardinal and faction leader provides you with 1 vote, as denoted by this
symbol:

3. Number of Louis XIV cards:

Depending on the number of Louis XIV cards in his personal display, a player
receives 18 votes, in this manner (see Political cards, page 36):
1 Louis XIV card equals 1 vote.
2 Louis XIV cards equal 2 votes.
3 Louis XIV cards equal 4 votes.
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4 Louis XIV cards equal 6 votes.
5 Louis XIV cards equal 8 votes.

4. Turn gold coins into votes:

The number of Mazarin cards in a players possession determines how many votes
a player may buy with his gold coins:
0 Mazarin cards: 15 gold coins equal 1 vote
1 Mazarin card: 10 gold coins equal 1 vote
2 Mazarin cards: 8 gold coins equal 1 vote
3 Mazarin cards: 7 gold coins equal 1 vote
4 Mazarin cards: 6 gold coins equal 1 vote
5 Mazarin cards: 5 gold coins equal 1 vote

5. The Old Boys:

If a player is in possession of 2 cards with the same symbol in the top center, he
receives an extra vote for that card couple.
Cardinals Barberini and Sacchetti receive an extra vote should the player hold at
least 2 Louis XIV cards or at least 2 Mazarin cards, respectively.

6. Squadrone Volante:
The owner of the Squadrone volante card gains 3 votes.

After counting all the votes, the player with the most votes is declared Pope and
wins the game. In the event of a draw, the player with the oldest Cardinal/faction
leader in his personal display wins.

Example for counting the votes:

In the turn in which the White Smoke card was revealed, Birgits bid was the
lowest in phase 3. So Birgits only choice in phase 4 is the Camerlengo card,
nothing else is left. Birgit takes the card, places the Camerlengo token in front of
her, and receives 1 ruby, 1 sapphire, 1 amber and 1 gold coin.

The game is over and the players count their votes. The action card in Birgits
possession is discarded, since it is now void. At the end of the game, Birgit pos-
sesses these cards and gems:
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First Birgit receives 5 gold coins from the bank for her 5 gems.

She also receives 5 gold coins for the Felipe card.

1. Now she checks whether she has fulfilled her order card. She needs 3 French
coats of arms. She has the French faction leader (2 coats of arms) and Cardinal
Barberini (1 coat of arms) in her display and has thus fulfilled her order. She
receives 3 votes for this.

2. She receives 7 votes for 6 Cardinals and 1 faction leader.

3. Two Louis XIV cards give her another 2 votes.

4. Now Birgit counts her gold coins. She finished the game with 27. Adding the
10 coins she received for her gems and the Felipe card, her total is 37 gold coins.
Since she has 2 Mazarin cards in her possession, her gold coins yield her another
4 votes (37/8 = 4.625 rounded down).

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5. The Old Boys gain her another 2 votes for the following couples:

6. Since she doesnt possess the Squadrone volante card, she cannot receive votes
from it.

All in all, Birgit has collected 18 (=3+7+2+4+2+0) votes.

Publishing house and author want to thank the following gamers for the intensive play testing and va-
luable hints:
Gerd Eibach, Ralf Foldenauer, Birgit Hirth, Pascal Horn, Franziska Klose, Roland Klose, Kurt Koller,
Felix Koopmann, Karsten Lenuweit, Christoph Rder, Helmut Sauer, Karl-Heinz Schmiel, Katharina
Zuber, the gamers of the Wrzburger Spielerlei and the gamers of the Kitzinger Spieletreff as well as the
AK Spiel of the FOS/BOS Triesdorf.

2011 DDD publishing house GmbH Author: Christoph Bauer

2011 DDD Verlag GmbH Cover/Illustrations: Katharina Kubisch
Zweierweg 36, 97074 Wrzburg, Germany Developing: Carsten Grebe
E-mail: info@ddd-verlag.de Editing: Hanna & Alex Wei
www.ddd-verlag.de Translation: Albert Wolf
Version 2.0 Translation editing: Rainer Nagel
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 Survey of the Cards

This chapter of the rules gives you the characteristics of all cards, adding to some of
the elements of the rules. It will be used mainly for reference purposes.

Cardinal cards

The Cardinal cards are placed in your personal display during phase 4, face up and
clearly visible to all players. It is advisable to have the cards overlap to save space.

A card counts as a Cardinal when it has the name and picture of

a Cardinal on it, as well as a red border. Every Cardinal gives you
1 vote, as indicated by the tiara in the lower right corner. The
number in the upper right corner shows the Cardinals age. The
upper left corner of each Cardinal card shows his faction in the
form of a coat of arms. The cards also display the symbol of a
gold bag in the lower left corner. Each of these 18 Cardinals gives
you 5 gold coins from the bank when the Black Smoke card is
revealed. After the Black Smoke has been revealed, the gold bag
symbol has no further meaning for the rest of the game.

Some Cardinals also show an additional symbol in the top center

of the card. This symbol either represents political powers they
are related to, or shows whether they are part of an Old Boys
Network between 2 Cardinals. The player with 2 cards with the
same symbol receives an extra vote at the end of the game. Cardi-
nals Barberini and Sacchetti are well connected and thus receive
an extra vote if they combine with at least 2 Louis XIV cards or at
least 2 Mazarin cards, respectively.

Cardinal Fabio Chigi occupies a special position amongst the Car-

dinal cards; he is identified by the pigeon symbol in the top center
of the card. The Conclave of 1655 elected him Pope; he chose the
name Alexander VII. To symbolize the significance of this Cardinal,
the pigeon symbol gives him complete immunity from the You
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manage to bribe 1 Cardinal, Swap two Cardinals, and A case of death cards. He
also is protected against the Exclusion from the Spanish King Felipe IV. Neverthe-
less, the player whos in possession of Cardinal Fabio Chigi may play the Swap two
Cardinals card in phase 2 and swap Chigi with another Cardinal.

Political cards

The effect of a political card takes effect immediately after the card has been taken.
Only when all effects of the card have been resolved may the next player pick up
the card he has auctioned from the common display. All political cards are placed in
your personal display for all to see, just like Cardinal cards. Theres one exception:
the A case of Death card is removed from game when resolved.

- Jules Mazarin
There is a total of 5 such cards in the game. This card determines
the exchange ratio of gold coins to votes at the end of the game.
0 Mazarin cards: 15 gold coins equal 1 vote
1 Mazarin card: 10 gold coins equal 1 vote
2 Mazarin cards: 8 gold coins equal 1 vote
3 Mazarin cards: 7 gold coins equal 1 vote
4 Mazarin cards: 6 gold coins equal 1 vote
5 Mazarin cards: 5 gold coins equal 1 vote

Example: Birgit has 62 gold coins at the end of game. She has 3 Mazarin cards in
her personal display, thus she receives 8 votes (62/7 = 8.86 rounded down).

Although Jules Mazarin was a Cardinal in reality, he does not count as a Cardinal in
this game as far as the rules are concerned.

- Louis XIV
There is a total of 5 such cards in the game. The political power of
the French King allows the players to obtain further votes.
Depending on the number of Louis XIV cards a player has in his
display, he receives 18 votes in this manner:
1 Louis XIV card equals 1 vote.
2 Louis XIV cards equal 2 votes.
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3 Louis XIV cards equal 4 votes.
4 Louis XIV cards equal 6 votes.
5 Louis XIV cards equal 8 votes.

- Felipe IV
There is a total of 3 such cards in the game. The political power of
the Spanish King is so vast that he is able to exclude a Cardinal (not
a faction leader) from the Conclave. As soon as a player puts a se-
cond Felipe card in his display, he has to remove 1 Cardinal present
from the game. He is not allowed to remove Cardinal Fabio Chigi
and Cardinals from a player in the favor of Felipe, i.e., a player
who also has a Felipe card in his personal display. If at that moment
only players which are in the favor of Felipe have Cardinals, then no Cardinal is
removed. When you take a Felipe card, you immediately receive 5 gold coins from
the bank. Since you are allowed to remove a Cardinal ONLY when placing a second
Felipe card in your display, placing a third Felipe card in your display only gains you
5 gold coins. At the end of the game, players receive additional gold coins from the
bank as per the number of Felipe cards in their personal display:
1 Felipe card earns you 5 gold coins.
2 Felipe cards earn you 15 gold coins.
3 Felipe cards earn you 25 gold coins.

- Squadrone volante
This card symbolizes a number of indecisive Cardinals. You gain
their 3 votes if you pay 20 gold coins to the bank. When you choo-
se to take this card, you put it in your personal display and pay
20 gold coins to the bank. If you lack the necessary funds to pay for
the card, it will be removed from game.

- A case of death
A player who takes this card receives 5 gold coins from the bank.
Then the oldest Cardinal or faction leader in his opponents dis-
plays combined is removed from the game. Only Cardinal Fabio
Chigi is immune to this card.

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3 Cardinals (late arrivals) are hiding among the political cards. They
give you 1 vote each at the end of the game, as indicated by the tiara
symbol in the lower right corner. However, they do not belong to
a faction and players receive no gold coins for them. All 3 are Old
Boys and may give you 1 extra vote if you have the matching coun-
terpart at the end of the game.

Action cards

Most of this cards give you an advantage during bidding; in addition, you can
siphon gold from your fellow players. When you take an action card, you place it
behind your view screen, to be used later in any phase 2 (Play action card).

If 2 or more players siphon gold coins in the same turn, the player sitting closest to
the Camerlengo gets his gold coins first and the siphoning proceeds from there. A
player who does not have enough (or any) gold coins pays less (or nothing at all).

Please note: During phase 2 Play action card, the players may only use a maxi-
mum of one action card per turn.

- You receive 10 gold coins from the bank (2)

You do not gain these 10 gold coins immediately: you have to play
this card in phase 2 to receive 10 gold coins from the bank.

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- Your opponents bid first, you bid second (2)
After playing this card, your opponents bid normally while you
postpone. You may examine their bids and then decide on yours,
setting your gems out openly. At the same time, you siphon
2 gold coins from all your opponents.
In the case of 2 players using this card at the same time, the
other players do their bidding normally, then the 2 users do their
round of bidding openly. Then the results of the bids are compa-
red as per the standard rules. Also, each of the 2 players gains 2 gold coins from
their fellow players.

- Your most valuable gem counts twice (2)

When you play this card, you may only bid 02 gems, but the
most valuable gem in your bid counts twice.

Example: Birgit has played this card in phase 2. In phase 3 she

bids 1 diamond and 1 sapphire. When comparing bids a (virtual)
second diamond is added to her bid since diamonds are the gems
with the highest value in her bid. Thus, she is effectively bidding
2 diamonds and 1 sapphire this turn.

At the same time, you siphon 3 gold coins from your opponents.

- Your next bid: 3 rubies (2)

When you play this card, you do not bid real gems this turn.
Your (virtual) bid has already been placed. At the same time you
siphon 2 gold coins from your opponents.

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- You manage to bribe 1 Cardinal (3)
By playing this card, you have to pay 5 cold coins to one player.
You may then take any Cardinal from his display and place it in
your personal display.
Please note: Faction leaders and Cardinal Fabio Chigi are immune
to this effect!
In the rare case of you not having enough gold coins to pay for this
card (you have been siphoned before you could use this card), you
are allowed to take this card back behind your view screen to play at a later time.

- Swap two Cardinals (3)

By playing this card, you are allowed to swap any two Cardinals al-
ready in the displays of any of the players. You take a Cardinal out
of a players display and place it in the display of another player,
then you take a Cardinal out of this players display and place it in
the display from which you have taken the first Cardinal.
This may allow you to complete your order, get an Old Boys
extra vote at the end of game, or prevent fellow players from do-
ing the same.
Please note: Faction leaders and Cardinal Fabio Chigi are immune to this effect!

The pile of action cards also contains the 4 faction leaders. They
are placed in your personal display as soon as you take them. As
opposed to Cardinal cards, faction leaders are identified by a green
frame and 2 coats of arms of their factions (counting twice for
fulfilling orders); they do not show a gold bag in the lower left
corner. The upper right corner shows their age (they can die), the
lower right corner has the tiara symbol (giving you 1 vote). They
cannot be bribed or swapped and due to the missing gold symbol
they do not provide gold coins.

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 Camerlengo

When choosing the Camerlengo card, you receive 1 ruby,

1 sapphire, 1 amber and 1 gold coin. The Camerlengo card stays
in the common display; you do receive the Camerlengo token,
though, which makes you the new Camerlengo. The Camerlengo
goes first in case of a draw.
In phase 1, the Camerlengo turns over the top cards of the
3 piles (Cardinal, political and action).
Please note: The Camerlengo card is the only means of retrieving
gems. Spent diamonds are lost forever!

Order cards

During the Conclave of 1655, four power groups vied for influ-
ence. There was the Spanish-Imperial faction, the French faction,
a faction of Cardinals appointed by Pope Innocent X, and last but
not least a faction of Cardinals appointed by Pope Urban VIII.
At start of game, each player receives two order cards. When the
Black Smoke card is revealed, he has to decide which order he thinks possible
to fulfill at the end of game. He discards the other order card.

To fulfill an order card, a player usually needs to be in possession of a set of Car-

dinals of a certain faction at the end of the game. To gain the additional 2 or 3
votes, you need to have fulfilled the prerequisites at the end of the game; fulfilling
your order prematurely doesnt gain you the votes early. It is possible to lose
the prerequisites due to some of your Cardinals dying, being swapped, or being
bribed. To fulfill your order card, you need to have at least the necessary number
of coats of arms (it is advisable to have more, to compensate for losing some in
the last turns).
Please note: The 4 faction leaders have 2 coats of arms and are immune to swap-
ping and bribing, so they are most sought after for the purpose of fulfilling your
order.

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Order: 4 different coats of arms (2)
To fulfill this order, you need to have Cardinals or faction
leaders from all 4 factions in your display. You gain 2 votes
for fulfilling this order.

Order: Spain and Innocent

To fulfill this order, you need to have a minimum of
2 Cardinals or the faction leader of the faction of In-
nocent X and a minimum of 2 Cardinals or the faction
leader of the faction of Spain in your display. You gain
2 votes for fulfilling this order.

Order: Innocent and Urban

To fulfill this order, you need to have a minimum of
2 Cardinals or the faction leader of the faction of In-
nocent X and a minimum of 2 Cardinals or the faction
leader of the faction of Urban VIII in your display. You
gain 2 votes for fulfilling this order.

Order: Spain and Urban

To fulfill this order, you need to have a minimum of
2 Cardinals or the faction leader of the faction of Spain
and a minimum of 2 Cardinals or the faction leader of the
faction of Urban VIII in your display. You gain 2 votes for
fulfilling this order.

Order: France
To fulfill this order, you need to either have all Cardinals
or the faction leader and at least one Cardinal from the
faction of France in your display. You gain 3 votes for ful-
filling this order.

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Order: Majority of the faction leaders
To fulfill this order, you need to have more faction lea-
ders in your display than any other player. You achie-
ve an automatic success if you have 3 faction leaders.
You also fulfill this order if you have 2 faction leaders
and none of the other players also has 2, or if you have
1 faction leader and none of the other players have 1. You gain 2 votes for fulfilling
this order.

Order: Felipe and Mazarin

To fulfill this order, you need to have a minimum of
2 Felipe cards and a minimum of 2 Mazarin cards in
your display. You gain 2 votes for fulfilling this order.

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