We write the year 1623 and there is war in the German lands. Even from distance, you can hear the steady beating of the drums. The recruiters with their sounding coins come to town and try to recruit new soldiers for the mercenary armies, which are being excavated everywhere. You hope the recruiters will be successful because they work on your behalf. Ernst von Mansfeld is a tactical dice game for 2 to 4 players and is divided into the 2 consecutive phases recruiting and conquering. In the recruitment, the players try to win as many and powerful soldiers as possible for their mercenary army. This requires tactics and clever consideration of the risk, as the player who dares to reach the required dice value with fewer dice than his competitors may try his luck first. In the second phase, the players have to compete with their deployed armies against each other to conquer different valuable provinces. The smart use of your own troops as well as the correct anticipation of the tactics of the opponents are necessary to secure the provinces and to enter history as the most successful mercenary general.