Tanto Monta: The Rise of Ferdinand and Isabella, 1470-1516

Tanto Monta: The Rise of Ferdinand and Isabella, 1470-1516 is a 4-player game based on the reigns of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, best known as the Catholic Monarchs. The game’s name is taken from their popular motto ("Tanto Monta, Monta Tanto") that roughly translates to "As much as the one is worth, so too is the other." Each player controls one or more major powers that participated in the military, political, and societal conflicts in the Mediterranean, Western Europe, and North Africa during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs. The players’ roles are: the newly unified Spain, the maritime empire of Portugal, the emerging power of France, and the Muslim powers of the region who desperately resisted the advances of the European Christian kingdoms.

Tanto Monta: The Rise of Ferdinand and Isabella covers the period from 1470 to 1516, the height of the Age of Discovery and the years leading immediately into the period covered by Here I Stand: Wars of the Reformation, 1517-1555. The game opens with Isabella’s disputed ascension to the throne of Castile, a position contested by a Portuguese-backed faction supporting Joanna La Beltraneja. Ferdinand’s possessions are similarly threatened by Aragon’s ongoing civil war against forces from the Principality of Catalonia, a faction often supported by France. How can these young Catholic Monarchs possibly deal with both these crises while still pursuing their agendas to unite their two kingdoms into a single Spanish realm, subjugate the Canary Islands, and finish the reconquest of Granada?

In Tanto Monta: The Rise of Ferdinand and Isabella, each of the four players rules one major power and another secondary power as follows: Spain (Kingdom of Castile; Kingdom of Aragon), Muslim (Nasrid Kingdom of Granada; North African Powers: Sultanates of Fez and Tremencén), Portugal (Kingdom of Portugal; Beltranejos Faction), France (Kingdom of France; Principality of Catalonia).

Retaining many of the game systems from Here I Stand and Virgin Queen, turns start with each player being dealt a hand of cards from the shared deck to supplement their Home Cards (which provide unique actions for each major and secondary power). After diplomatic negotiations and spring preparations have concluded, players play these cards as events or operations to conduct military, political, or exploration actions to maximize their victory point gains. At the end of each turn, armies winter, royal marriages take place, and—unless there is a winner—the game resets in preparation for the start of the next turn.

• One 22" x 34" Mounted Map
  
• Six Countersheets
  
• 131 Playing Cards
• Four Player Cards
• Six Reference/Supporting Charts
• One Rulebook
  
• One Scenario Book
• Twelve 6-sided dice