Ab die Post!
Ab die Post! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Equipment
- 1 game board
- 6 biplanes in different colors
- 6 success markers in the colors of the biplanes
- 55 spare parts data cards (16 x 1, 23 x 2, 16 x red 3)
- 1 Our First Passenger ("UNSER ERSTER PASSAGIER") card
- 14 colored "wind balls"
- 1 gale/hurricane indicator
Set-up
Each player takes a plane and a marker of the same color. Put the planes on the start field in the corner of the board and the colored markers on the scoring field next to the airport in the middle of the board.
Separate the Our First Passenger card from the rest and place it face up next to the board beside the passenger picture. Shuffle the remaining cards and place them face down beside the board.
Put the colored balls into the hurricane indicator device (this device acts like a special die) according to the number of players as indicated in the following table:
| Players | Green | Blue | Red | Yellow | Black |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
Return spares to the box. The youngest player begins and play proceeds clockwise.
Play
On your turn, you may may do either of these two things:
- Obtain spare parts cards
- Fly
A player may only fly if they possess sufficient spare parts (four points in spare parts). So, in the first round all players may only obtain spare parts.
Obtain Spare Parts Cards
The cards in the draw deck represent spare parts for your plane.
To obtain spare parts, draw cards one at a time from the top of the deck and lay them down, face up, in front of yourself. You may draw as many cards as you want with one exception. Should you ever draw a third red-3 card, you will lose ALL THREE 3-cards and immediately end your turn. Place the 3-cards to the discard pile. When the draw deck is depleted, reshuffle the discard pile to form a new draw deck.
Flying
To be allowed to fly, you must possess spare parts cards which total at least 4 points.
When flying, shake the hurricane indicator device and then hold it tip-down to display a ball in the viewing window. There are two possibilities:
- A black ball
- A ball of another color
Black Balls
Black balls indicate a hurricane. Hurricanes affect all players.
Before anyone may continue, every pilot (player) must repair all damage to their planes by discarding points in Spare Parts Cards equal to the required value (or more) for the lane which they presently occupy:
- Inner lane: 8 points
- Middle lane: 4 points
- Outer lane: 2 points
If you cannot meet the required points exactly, you won't get any change back. Players are also allowed to pay extra if they want to (e.g. a player may use a red 3 and a 2 to cover 4 points worth of damage because the player does not wish to risk drawing another red 3) but still won't get any change back.
A player who cannot meet the repairs surrenders all their cards to the discard pile and returns their plane to the starting field.
Anyone who has insufficient cards to fly (i.e. minimum total of 4 points) must draw further cards before flying.
Balls of Other Colors
Balls of other colors allow you to move your plane. The distance you may move is shown on the wind table (located on the board, right behind the starting field) for that color. Planes may pass other players but, if this causes them to land on an occupied spot, do not move at all. At the start, and on landing, a plane may not change lanes but may only fly in a straight line. Otherwise, planes may change lanes as often as desired during a move. For examples, see the Flight Companion below.
Our First Passenger
Half way around the track is the passenger. The first player to pass through or land on BOTH of the spots in the outer lane that are located to either side of the passenger takes the card. Possession of the passenger card is worth 2 extra points at the end of the flight. If a player suffers hurricane damage and it forced to start the flight over, the passenger card is returned to the side of the board to be picked up again later.
Ending the Flight
As soon as the first plane lands on the goal airport (ignore surplus move points) the flight is ended for all players. Each plane is now scored for position:
-
The first player moves their marker 7 points down the scoring strip.
-
The second player moves their marker 5 points down the scoring strip.
-
The third player moves their marker 4 points down the scoring strip.
-
The fourth player moves their marker 3 points down the scoring strip.
-
The fifth player moves their marker 2 points down the scoring strip.
-
The sixth player moves their marker 1 point down the scoring strip.
-
Two additional points are awarded to the player with the passenger card.
-
Planes on the start field receive zero points.
To help calculate your place in the race, the flight path has been segmented by river sections. Planes in the river section nearest the goal airport are considered to be ahead of planes in areas further back. Where planes share a zone, precedence is give to planes on the inside lane, then the middle lane, and finally the outer lane. Detailed examples are given in the Flight Companion.
Any players still in the first half of the flight route are allowed to retain one Spare Parts Card of their choosing. All other cards are discarded.
The Next Flight
Place the passenger card alongside the board once again. The next flight proceeds in the reverse direction of the previous flight. The start field is the ending field of the previous flight and the goal airport field is the start field of the previous flight.
The player who is furthest behind on the scoring track goes first. If tied, the player receiving the least number of points at the end of the last flight goes first.
Winning
When a player's marker reaches 15 points or more, the game ends and that player is the winner. If more than one player scores more than fifteen, then the player furthest past 15 wins. If still tied, the one who scored the most points at the end of the last flight wins.
Flight Companion
This is is not the rules section. Instead, you will find detailed examples on flying, accommodating the passenger, and placing at the end of the flight. Additionally you can read amusing and worthwhile anecdotes from the time of the post office fliers.
The diagrams referred to in the examples below are not reproduced in this text.
Flying
The wind table indicates how far you're allowed to fly. Within the course you may change flight lanes at will, provided that your are neither leaving the starting position nor arriving at the finishing position.
Example: A red ball appeared in the viewing window. This player may fly four spaces. A few possible flight paths have been included in the diagram.
Note: When taking off and when the landing, you may not change flight lanes!
Example: A blue ball appeared in the viewing window. In either case, this player may fly three spaces this turn, but in neither case may he change lanes.
Accommodating the passenger
The first player to fly over the two fields which are in the outer lane — to the left and to the right of the passenger — gets the "our first passenger" ("UNSER ERSTER PASSAGIER") card. If a player arrives on the first of the two fields, but ends his movement before reaching the second, he can be overhauled still by another flier, who then takes the passenger card.
Example: If player B is allowed to fly at least three spaces on her next turn, she could snatch the passenger away, right out from under player A's nose!
Placement at the end of a flight
Example 1: A is better placed than B, since it is in a subrange (as defined by the rivers) which is closer to the target. The same applies to B in relation to C.
Example 2: A is better placed than B, since A is flying on the inside lane. B is better placed than C, since B is flying on the center lane.
Example 3: A is better placed than C, since A is flying on the inside lane, and C is on the center lane. B is in a subrange behind it and is therefore behind both A and C.