Board Game Posts

The reverse side of the autumn map is the winter map. You can play any mix of factions on this map, but it is recommended only for experienced players.

Setup

Before playing on the winter map, take out the 12 suit markers, flip them face down, and shuffle them.

Then, place one suit marker near each clearing on the map. After a suit marker has been added to each clearing, flip them all over, and set up the game as normal. Note the different placement of ruins, as shown below. …

Sometimes there are fewer tokens available than cards during a sale. In that case, you still receive the bonus token for the number of cards sold.

The use of the camels is a balancing act: if you don't have any then you have a problem if you want to take a lot of cards and your hand is empty. However, if you take a lot of camels then you risk leaving a very profitable market for your opponent.

If you do decide to take a large group of camels, it can be worthwhile doing this when your opponent already has 7 cards in hand. Then, if the new market is interesting, he'll have to exchange cards and probably won't be able to take all the cards wanted. …

India in the era of the aspiring Mogul empire. New lands are being gained along with great prosperity attained through the trading of silk, tea, and spices. Imposing structures such as the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort are built, and gorgeous gardens are created alongside new buildings and parks that will impress generations to come even centuries later.

At a time when the empire has almost reached its greatest dimensions and is in a phase of relative stability, players, representing rajas and ranis, are called upon to live up to the requirements of their role as venerable sovereigns. They must improve their estates into magnificent and wealthy provinces. …

Q: Is there any significance to 64 different cards?

A: Yes. Since there are 4 colors, 4 shapes and 4 numbers, 4x4x4 or 64 is the number of possible combinations of those 3 properties. The Wild Cards, however, often make it possible for there to be an alternate way to complete a lot.

Q: What do you mean "face value"?

A:"Face value" is simply the number on the card. It appears on the corners of the cards and is also the number of smaller white shapes inside the larger colored shape. The face value of a Wild Card is 0. …

Clan Buchanan

Several members of this clan were prosperous 'Tobacco Lords' in Glasgow. Most of their tobacco imports from the United States were immediately re-exported to mainland Europe. Buchanan Street is one of the main shopping streets in Glasgow and was named after a wealthy Tobacco Lord, Andrew Buchanan, who owned the land it was originally built on.

You have an additional Export box and can thus obtain one or two Export contracts in one turn. If you obtain just one Export contract per turn, you pay the regular cost of the current round. However, if you obtain two Export contracts (two Export contracts from the action Obtain an Export contract, or two Export contracts from the Building bonus) in one turn, you pay the cost only once instead of twice. …

In Terraforming Mars, you control a corporation, and you buy and play cards describing different projects.

The projects often directly or indirectly contribute to the terraforming process, but can also consist of business enterprises of different kinds. In order to win, you have to accumulate a good terraform rating (TR) and many victory points (VPs).

Your TR is increased each time you raise a global parameter (temperature, oxygen or ocean). Your TR determines your basic income, as well as your basic score. As the terraforming process proceeds, more projects become feasible. Additional VPs are awarded for anything enhancing mankind's grip on the solar system. This can be anything, from founding cities to building infrastructure, or protecting the environment. …

Victory Points

You win the game by having the most Victory points (VPs). VPs are scored for your Terraform rating, from tiles on the map, from Milestones and Awards, and from many of the cards.

Parameters

Terraforming Mars is about making Mars earthlike enough to live freely on it. There are 4 parameters on the game board connected to this process: Terraform rating, temperature, oxygen level and ocean coverage.

Terraform Rating (TR) is the measure of how much you have contributed to the terraforming process. Each time you raise the oxygen level, the temperature, or place an ocean tile, your TR increases as well. …

Corporate Era (Extended Game)

To play the extended game, simply add all cards marked with a red and white icon () on the cards' lower left border at the start of setup, including 2 new corporations. Players start with no extra production of resources. Corporate Era can be combined with any of the other game variants.

Corporate Era focuses on economy and technology. These are projects that do not contribute directly to the terraforming, but make the corporations stronger, adding new strategic choices to the game. …

Players are heroes competing to gain the most Glory Points . During the game, players roll their dice to gain Gold , Sun Shards , and Moon Shards , that they can spend to:

• Acquire die faces to modify and upgrade their dice
• Perform powerful heroic feats.
• to collect precious Glory Points.

Components

• Rulesheet
• Hero Aid which explains the specific effects of Faces and Cards
• Temple Board
• "Temple" Sleeve
• Islands Board
• 4 Hero Inventories
• 20 Colored Resource Markers (4 sets of 5 cubes)
• 8 Tokens
• 108 Die Faces (60 for the Temple + 48 for the dice)
• 8 "Divine Die" Cores, on which to fit removable faces (4 Light + 4 Dark cores)
• 1 First Player Token
• 1 Round Tracker
• 96 "Heroic Feat" Cards (24 sets of 4 identical cards: 15 + 9)
• 8 "Single-Use" Tokens (4 Triton + 4 Cerberus tokens)
• 4 Hammer Tokens
• 4 Chest Tiles

Setup

For a two-player or three-player game, follow the same setup steps but see "Setup Configurations" for changes. …

Mogul Empire (1526-1858)

The Mogul empire was a great empire that developed in the Indus-Ganges plain in North India. At the peak of its power (17th century), it comprised almost the entire India (as we know it today) and some parts of Afghanistan.

In 1858, the remaining part of the empire was occupied by the British and ceased to exist. A rich heritage of architecture, painting, and poetry shaped by Persian and Indian artists have been preserved to the present day. The empire was named after its rulers, the Great Moguls. …