Catherine the Great

Ability
Gain an extra military acition and produce 2 culture.

Once per game, as a political action, you may cause each civilization with a lower strength rating to lose 1 yellow token. if at least one token is lose (two in a 4-player game), you gain 1 yellow token.

Catherine in History
Catherine the Great was a very ambitious and passionate ruler. But did you know that her name wasn't Catherine and she wasn't even Russian? Originally a Prussian princess named Sophie, she married Peter, an heir to the Russian throne. Soon after marriage, princess Sophie decided to also convert to the orthodox faith, and she changed her name to Catherine.

But when Peter came to power, Catherine wasn't impressed...and neither was Russia. She decided to dethrone her husband and become the new Russian empress with a great vision and goals. Under her reign, the Russian territory expanded greatly, the cities prospered from her administration reforms, and her court became known all across Europe.

On the other hand, many of her subjects suffered during her rule and the serfdom that was pretty common in Russia expanded to Ukraine as well. And that is why Cathrine made history as one of the most beloved and, at the same time, one of the harshest and most ruthless female leaders.

Designer's Note
There was a lots of various benefits Catherine could give to your nation, picking just some is not completely fair, but hey, it is just a game. We went with these three:


 * The military action representing Catherine political skills and ambitions. Beside all the wars she lead, she also acted as international mediator in disputes and wars of other nations.
 * The culture represents Catherine’s love for arts, literature, and education. The Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg (the second-largest art museum in the world) started from her personal art collection.
 * And the one-time territory-stealing ability represents Catherine’s expansionist policy – well, being neighbor of Russia was not safe (even) in those days. During Catherine’s reign, Russian territory was extended by about 520,000 square kilometres.

We liked how these three abilities represent the love and fear people felt about Catherine, and with minor tweaks, they survived the entire playtesting.