The 19th century was not only a century of intense political and economic change, but also great intellectual and ideological oppositions which sustained and accompanied them. The French Revolution moved the Enlightenment ideals from a handful of intelligentsia salons to the center of the political landscape across Europe, and as it did so new counter revolutionary and anti-Enlightenment ideas rose in opposition.

Indeed, the wars of the Revolution and the Empire were significant as much for plunging Europe into intellectual turmoil as for their military implications. After Napoleon was defeated in 1814 and 1815, it was the hope of the crowned heads of Europe that the Congress of Vienna could mark the end of these ideas as it ended the wars, but even through the repression and censorship that marked the postwar era, the new ideas kept on progressing among all parts of the population. It was from this ferment that the premises of modern ideologies such as nationalism and socialism arose.

In 1848, the ideological struggle of Revolutionary and Counter Revolutionary ideas is represented in The Battle of Ideas mechanic. Here both players can debate the great questions of the time, and try to get concrete benefits by “winning the debate”. There are three areas that can each be won over by either side, and whilst they maintain this position players will enjoy a powerful bonus – so it’s important not to be debated away from them!

The three areas of debate, called the three “Questions” in line with how historical contemporaries called them, are as follows:

1. The Political Question can swing from the Counter Revolutionary Divine Right, where the peasant masses are kept in check by the church, to the Revolutionary Popular Sovereignty, which gives the Revolutionary player a great 2 cards bonus to any Revolution that happens in a scoring region that is currently a monarchy.

2. The National Question allows the Revolutionary player to channel the forces of nationalism into a powerful +1 on cards played in a single Nation. Or, their Counter Revolutionary opponent might win the debate in favour of Empire, and use imperial infrastructure for the same effect in a single Empire region.

3. The Social Question adds important play around worker spaces. If the Revolutionary player has the upper hand here, worker spaces can become revolutionary bases thanks to Socialism, making it costly for the forces of reaction to operate in them. On the contrary, the Counter Revolutionary player might conjure the famous “great Spectre haunting Europe”, striking fear in the respectable classes that could help them divide the bourgeois and worker wings of the Revolution.

The Battle of Ideas mechanic is 1848’s answer to Twilight Struggle’s Space Race. Players are allowed one card per turn to initiate debate in the Battle of Ideas, although many events allow more. Just as with the Space Race, when played in this way, the event effect of played cards do not trigger. Unlike the Space Race however, the intellectual debate of the Battle of Ideas is resolved with an opposed die roll, with each player adding the value of any card played as a DRM. And yes, that’s both players! Your opponent can choose to discard a card in response to your attempt (albeit, any eligible event of yours on their card will still trigger).

There are two other modifiers to this roll as well. First, the player that controls more intellectuals on the board gets a +1. Second, the player already controlling an Idea (i.e. currently winning the debate) gets a defensive +1 too. The winner is the player whose final modified roll is highest, with ties going to the defender.

If the player who initiated the debate wins, they will move the targeted Question towards their side on the Battle of Ideas track – either denying their opponent the bonus by pulling it away from them, gaining their own bonus.

Lastly, it’s worthing noting that as both players have the possibility to play cards on the Battle of Ideas for each attempt, this makes such plays a powerful move in a number of ways. For example, if your opponent plays a strong card to a weak attempt you make on the Battle of Ideas, they might win the Debate but they will lose the Ops of that powerful card. Also, the Battle of Ideas can also force either to forfeit the ability to keep a card in your hand at the end of a Turn, or even make them lose an Action Round if their hand can be further reduced!

Play in the Battle of Ideas must therefore be carefully considered. Is it worth it to spend a lot of Ops points to have a good chance at winning a bonus? Or are those resources best utilized as Influence on the board? We are sure players of 1848 players will enjoy facing these interesting decisions. There’s more at stake here than discarding a nasty event!

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Previous Articles:

1848: The Springtime of Nations — Revolutions

1848: The Springtime of Nations — Armies