Home Kosmos,
2003, designed
by Klaus Teuber, translated
by Pitt Crandlemire
...
bold seafarers dare far out onto the open sea in the hope of finding wealth and
fame. Those who manage a safe return speak of rich, fertile islands where no man
has previously set foot. Not long after, the first pioneers reach the new
islands. Inspired by the desire for a new and better home, they clear the
countryside and build the first meager huts. Soon, they experience a modest
level of prosperity and then declare themselves "Settlers" with pride.
More islands in the vicinity are discovered where spice, tobacco, and cotton
thrive. Trade in these commodity will soon lead the settlers to become
prosperous citizens and wealthy merchants.
Game
material
- 1 gameboard
- 90 commodity cards
- 4 home islands (large player tiles)
- 32 island tiles
- 28 inhabitant tiles, 7 per player
- 14 public building tiles
- 16 coat of arms tiles, 4 per player
- 8 wooden ships, 2 per player
- 1 die
Set-up
The gameboard is laid out. It shows a rich island world that will be discovered
in the course of the game.
The
island tiles are sorted into 3 stacks according to the number of islands
displayed on their back (2, 3, 4). In the 2-player game, you use only the 2
stack. In the 3-player game, you also use the 3 stack. In the 4-player game all
island tiles used.
Each
of these stacks is shuffled by itself, then the island tiles are placed
face-down on the gameboard on the spaces marked with the same number of islands.
Some
tiles will be left over. They are placed face-down - without being disclosed to
the players - as a reserve stack next to the gameboard. Each player then chooses
his playing color and gets in this color:
4 coat
of arms tiles
2 ships
7 inhabitant tiles
The
inhabitant tiles have 2 sides and either show the combination of Pioneer/Settler
or Citizen/Merchant.
[Pioneer/Settler
Citizen/Merchant]
Each
player takes a home island, sets it in front of himself, and places one Pioneer
and one Settler on the two red bordered spaces.
Each
player puts one of his ships on the start space on the gameboard. Each player
starts the game with 7 gold pieces and indicates this by placing his smallest
coat-of-arms tile on the "7" space on the gold track on the gameboard.
The
public building tiles have a brown background. In the 2-player game, the tiles
with a 3 or 4 on the back are removed, in the 3-player game only the tiles with
a 4 on the back are removed. In a 4-player game, all the tiles are used. The
tiles are placed face-up next to the gameboard where they can easily be seen by
all.
The
commodity cards are sorted by type and placed face-up in individual stacks next
to the gameboard. Each player gets one stone and one wood card as his starting
capital.
Stone
Wood
Tool
Cloth
Spice
Tobacco
It
goes like this
Each player has different production places on his home island that produce the
commodities wood, stone, tool, or cloth with a corresponding die roll. Using
these commodities, each player can build ships, settle additional pioneers on
his island, or develop pioneers into settlers. In order to play ANNO 1503
successfully, however, settlers must advance to become citizens or even
merchants. Accomplishing this requires spice and tobacco. There commodities
cannot be found on the home islands but, rather, on the small islands on the
gameboard. Thus, it is necessary to build ships in order to take possession of
the most lucrative islands. In order to win the game, you need to get 3 of the 5
possible victory points. So, for example, you get one victory point for having 3
merchants, amassing a treasury of 30 gold pieces, or for constructing 4 public
buildings.
The
course of the game
Each player rolls the die. The player with the highest number begins. On his
turn, a player executes the following actions in order.
1.
Production die roll for all players
2a. Placement and development
2b. Sell and/or buy commodities
3. Move ships and discover islands
Actions
2a and 2b need not be played in order. You can, for example, buy a commodity,
move a ship, and then sell a commodity.
Important:
At the end of his turn (and only then) a player may not possess more than 5
commodity cards. If he does have more, he must discard the excess cards of his
choice. Once a player has finished his turn, play passes to the left.
The
actions in detail
1.
Production die roll for all players
The
active player rolls the die. Each player now looks on his home island to see
which commodity is displayed next to the number rolled. Each player - not only
the active player - now takes a card of the corresponding commodity from the
commodity stacks. If a question mark is displayed next to the number rolled, the
player may take any one commodity card - including tobacco or spice. If a 6 is
rolled, the players get no commodities. Instead, an event takes place (see step
3).
Example:
A 4 was rolled. The player gets a cloth. If a 1 had been rolled, the player
would have been allowed to take any one commodity.
2a.
Placement and development
Place a ship
A player desiring to build a ship pays (discards) one cloth, one wood, and one
tool and then places the ship on the start space on the gameboard.
Place a pioneer
A player desiring to settle a pioneer on his home island pays (discards) one
wood and one tool and then places one of his pioneers (1) on the unoccupied
green space that borders his most recently placed inhabitant.
Develop inhabitants
All other types of inhabitants cannot be placed directly. They come into play
only through "Development". A Pioneer tile is developed into a Settler
through payment (discarding) of 1 cloth and 2 stone (the Pioneer tile is then
turned over to its Settler (2) side). A Settler is developed into a Citizen
through payment (discarding) of 2 spice and 1 stone (the Settler tile is removed
from the gameboard, returned to the player's stock, and then replaced with a
Citizen (3) tile). A Citizen is developed into a Merchant through payment
(discarding) of 2 tobacco and 1 spice (the Citizen tile is then turned over to
its Merchant (4) side).
Example:
A player develops a settler into a citizen. He discards 2 spice and 1 stone,
returns the settler tile to his stock, and replaces it with a citizen tile.
Note:
Any player who currently has any combination of four pioneers and settlers in
play on his home island cannot, at that time, settle another new pioneer. He
must first develop one of his settlers into a citizen, which allows him to get
back one of his pioneer/settler tiles, which he can subsequently place as a
settler by paying a wood and a tool.
Cost overview
The costs for placing a ship or pioneer, as well as the development costs for a
settler, citizen, or merchant are displayed on the overview on the home island.
So, for example, the development of a pioneer to a settler costs 1 cloth and 2
stone.
[Placement
cost
Ship
Pioneer (1)
Development costs
Pioneer to Settler (2)
Settler to Citizen (3)
Citizen to Merchant (4)]
2b.
Sell and/or buy commodities
The commodities in ANNO 1503 serve two purposes. First, commodities are needed
to place pioneers and ships, as well as to develop inhabitants. Additionally,
you get gold through the sale of commodities to your inhabitants, which you can
use to buy other, desperately needed commodities.
Note
please: Purchase, sale, or trade of commodities between players is not allowed .
Sell commodities
Once per turn, a player can sell one type of commodity to each inhabitant
settled on a space on his home island. The type of commodity that can be sold to
that inhabitant is shown on the inhabitant's tile. So, for example, you can sell
tool, stone, or wood to a pioneer, cloth to a settler, spice to a citizen, and
tobacco to a merchant. The selling price corresponds to the number on the tile.
Sold commodities are then returned to the appropriate commodity card pile. Then
the player's coat of arms tile is adjusted accordingly on the gold track.
Example
A player needs gold and would like to sell as many of his 5 commodities as
possible in order to get it. To the pioneer, he can only sell either the tool or
the stone. He sells the stone. Then, he sells his cloth to the settler and his
two spice to the citizen. He gets a total of 6 gold and moves his coat of arms
tile 6 spaces forward on the gold track.
Buy commodities
Twice in his turn a player may buy any one commodity card for 6 gold pieces. For
example, a player needing spice moves his coat of arms tile 6 spaces back on the
gold track and then takes a spice commodity card from the stack. The purchase of
a commodity is independent of the player's inhabitants.
3.
Move ships and discover islands
The action points available to a ship depend on the number of players. In a
2-player game, a player gets 2 action points for each of his ships, 3 in a
3-player game, and 4 in a 4-player game.
Rules for ship
movement:
-
A ship is
only allowed to move orthogonally (up/down, left-right), not diagonally, and
only onto an adjacent sea space.
-
Ships may not
be moved onto island spaces.
-
Each move
onto an adjacent space costs one action point.
-
There may be
any number of ships in the same space.
-
If a player
has two ships in play on the gameboard, each of his ships gets the full
complement of allowed action points.
Discovery:
When a player moves his ship next to an island tile, he may then look at the
tile (discovery). He should not share the information with the other players.
The act of discovery (looking at the tile) costs one action point. If the player
is not interested in the tile, he may place it face-down back on the island
space. If he still has action points remaining, he may continue moving his ship,
as well as discovering other island tiles.
However,
if he would like to use the tile, his journey of discovery ends and he returns
that ship to his stock.
Note
please: A ship is only allowed to move next to an island space, never onto an
island space or an island tile.
Example:
It is a 3-player game. The Red player has 3 action points available to his ship.
1st
action point
He moves the ship to the right one space.
2nd
action point
He discovers an island, but decides he doesn't want to use it so he puts the
tile back face-down.
3rd
action point
He moves his ship 1 space further to the right. On his next turn, he can
discover the tile in the 3 island space.
Use
of island tiles
There are 3 different types of island tiles. The Branch Office shows a
commodity, the Trade Agreement is marked with "-1", and the Treasure
displays a chest.
Branch
Office
Trade Agreement
Treasure
A)
Branch Office
To use a branch office, take possession of it and place it immediately above an
available gray stone bridge on your home island.
When
the die number of the bridge is rolled, you can take either the commodity shown
on your home island for that number or the commodity shown on the branch office
connected to that bridge. Thus, a branch office should, if possible, always be
placed at a bridge where the commodity it generates differs from that generated
by your home island.
Since
your home island has only 4 gray bridges, a maximum of 4 branch offices can be
placed there. Should you happen to discover 5 branch offices, you can not take
the 5th one you discover nor exchange it with one you already have.
B)
Trade Agreement
Trade Agreements are placed to the right of an available brown wooden bridge.
Each trade agreement reduces the purchase price of a commodity by one gold.
Thus, a player who has placed 3 trade agreements can, during his turn, buy 1 or
2 commodities for 3 gold each instead of 6 gold each. Since there are 3 brown
bridges, a maximum of 3 trade agreements can be placed.
C)
Treasure
If a player wants to use a treasure, he immediately implements the benefit shown
on the tile.
Depending
on the tile, the benefit is to either develop one of his inhabitants one step or
increase his fortune by 12 gold (see also the overview on the last page). The
treasure tile is then removed from the game.
Note
please: As with the other island tiles, when a player uses a treasure, his ship
is removed from the board and placed back in his stock.
Example:
The player has a spice branch office and 2 trade agreements. On a die roll of
"3", he may take either spice or wood. His two trade agreements allow
him to purchase a commodity for 4 gold instead of 6 gold.
The
public buildings
For every pioneer he places after the third (i.e. in a green space that has a
brown space below it), a player may select a public building and place it at no
additional cost immediately below the pioneer he just placed. Two buildings of
the same type may not be placed, however. If there are no more public buildings
available, he may not place pioneers any longer. The benefits of the individual
buildings are described in the overview on the last page.
Example:
A player settles a new pioneer (his 5th). He selects the "Church"
public building and places it below his newly placed pioneer. He could not have
selected a second school since he already had a school in place.
The
events
If a player rolls a "6", there is no production. Instead, the player
rolls again. The newly rolled number results in an event:
1,
2 - Pirate: Each
player must pay one gold for each island tile he has lying on his home island.
If a player doesn't have enough gold to pay the pirate, then - and only then -
the player must remove a branch office or trade agreement of his choice from his
home island. In this case, he pays no gold at all. If you can pay, however, you
must do so instead of removing an island tile. The removed tile is shuffled into
the rest of the tiles in the reserve. Then, the top tile of the reserve stack is
placed face-down on the farthest available island space from the start space on
the gameboard. The number of islands shown on the island space and island tile
is no longer relevant.
3,
4 - Fire: Each
player must pay 1 gold for each inhabitant he has lying outside the red-bordered
safety area on his home island. If a player doesn't have enough gold to pay for
the fire, then - and only then - the player must remove his most recently placed
inhabitant. It doesn't matter if that is a pioneer or a developed inhabitant.
When a player is forced to remove an inhabitant, he pays no gold. If you can
pay, however, you must do so instead of removing an inhabitant.
If the
inhabitant being removed was associated with (immediately above) a public
building, that building is removed and put back in the general stock.
5,
6 - Golden Times:
Each player may take any one commodity from the commodity stock.
Example:
The player has 3 island tiles and two inhabitants outside the red area. On a
Pirate event he would have to pay 3 gold, on a Fire event he would pay 2 gold.
Victory
points
The victory point spaces on the gameboard show the 5 possible ways in which
victory points can be achieved. Whenever a player has 30 or more gold, 4 branch
offices, 3 trade agreements, 4 public buildings, or 3 merchants, he marks the
corresponding victory point space with one of his coat of arms tiles.
Note
please:
Victory points can be lost during the game. For example, if a player
subsequently has less than 30 gold or loses a branch office, a trade agreement,
or a public building as a result of an event, he would also lose the
corresponding victory point.
The
number of public buildings, branch offices, and trade agreements is not
sufficient to allow all players to achieve all the possible victory points
associated with them. Only the victory points for 30 gold and 3 merchants are
always attainable by all.
End
of the game
When a player, on his turn, achieves his third victory point, the game ends and
he has won.
Overview
of the public buildings
Big Branch Office:
Once during his turn, the player may draw one commodity card at random from
another player's hand. He must then pay that player 2 gold.
Fire
Brigade: When
the "Fire" event happens, this player's inhabitants are protected. He
does not pay any gold.
Smithy:
When the "Pirate" event happens, this player's island tiles are
protected. He does not pay any gold.
Church:
When the "Golden Times" event happens, this player gets two
commodities of his choice instead of only one.
School:
Each time this player sells one of his pioneers a tool, a wood, or a stone, he
gets 2 gold (instead of 1 gold).
Bath
House: Each time
this player sells one of his merchants a tobacco, he gets 6 gold (instead of 4
gold).
Restaurant:
Each time this player sells one of his settlers a cloth or one of his citizens a
spice, he gets 4 gold (instead of 2 gold for cloth or 3 gold for spice).
Shipyard:
This player has double the normally available action points for each of his
ships.
The
treasure tiles
Develop an inhabitant one step
You get 12 gold
2:
6 x Contract, 1 x Upgrade, 1 x Gold, 4 x Spice, 3 x Tobacco, 1 x Cloth
3: 2 x Contract, 1 x Upgrade, 1 x
Gold, 1 x Spice, 1 x Tobacco, 1 x Stone, 1 x Tool
4: 3 x Contract, 1 x Upgrade, 1 x
Gold, 1 x Spice, 1 x Tobacco, 1 x Wood
2: Fire brigade, Smithy, Church, School,
Bath house, Restaurant, Shipyard
3: Big branch office, School, Shipyard
4: Big branch office, Fire brigade, Smithy, Restaurant
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