Aelderman
Aelderman Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Game Versions
- Components
- Setup
- Preparation
- Resources
- Gameplay Overview
- Phase 1: Round Preparation & Production Phase
- Phase 2: Sea Trade
- Action Overview
- Phase 3: Council Hall Phase
- FAQ
- Final Score of the Short Version
- Final Score of the Main Version
- Sea Trading Phase: Actions
- City Actions
- Buildings
- Council Hall Cards
- Improvements
- Council Orders
- Rules for the 2-Player Setup
- Solo Mode
- Historical Setting
- Credits
Game Versions
Throughout the rulebook, all content in red boxes is only relevant for the main version, content marked in orange applies to the short version. In the white boxes you will find useful tips and hints.
Short version (basic task / advanced): We recommend the short version to all those who want to learn the core mechanisms first and to players who lack time for the main version. In the short version you play only two rounds instead of five. In addition, you do not play directly against each other, but you receive a mission that must be completed. This mission includes a basic task and additional goals for advanced and expert players. All missions are unique and offer different challenges. It is your goal to fulfill all the tasks specified by your mission after two rounds of play (detailed explanation of the missions on p. 18/19). You win the game if you manage to complete at least the basic task of your mission. That means there can be multiple winners in this version.
Main version (expert): In the main version you must not use the mission tiles. Instead you compete to be elected Aelderman after five rounds to hold the most influential office within the Hanseatic League at the end of the game. Trading goods profitably and developing an efficient production of goods will help you on your way! For the final election, which is also the final scoring, you will primarily collect victory points in the form of prestigious luxury goods, influence and, above all, council votes. You will collect luxury goods and influence during the game. You receive council votes by forming influence majorities in the trading zones on the sea map and in the city districts of Lübeck. Other ways to gain council votes are selling goods, constructing certain buildings and directly bidding for council votes, individual scoring cards or monopoly cards.
(A council vote is also a victory point.)
Components
Note: For the main version, combine all components from the short version (marked with the short-version symbol) with the remaining game components.
- 1x game board
- 4x player boards
- 4x buildings overview
- 4x missions
- 6x period indicators
- 5x round indicators
- 4x player aids
- 1x score pad
- 4x extra storages
- 12x multipliers
- 1x display board
Resource markers:
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12x wood, 10x stone, 8x tools, 8x glass, 8x pelt, 15x action point, 20x coin
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12x wheat, 10x fish, 8x beer, 8x meat, 8x spices, 20x coin
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28x improvements
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8x barriers
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3x action cards (001–006) for Lübeck, Levantehandel and Fernosthandel (double sided)
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50x action cards (007–057) — main version
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88x Council Hall cards
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2x penalty card
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24x Council orders — short version
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30x building tiles (I)
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30x start boosters
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30x building tiles (II)
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140x influence markers
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52x income markers (13x per player color) — use backside as action point counter (p. 9)
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32x property tiles
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4x player markers
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3x dummy overview (solo mode)
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17x placement cards for influence markers (solo mode)
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5x placement cards for buildings (solo mode)
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4x draw cards (solo mode)
Setup
The setup overview shows the fully assembled table: the sea map with the display of player order, round indicator and period indicator, the resources, the player setup, the Council Hall cards, the display board for improvements and council orders, the building tiles, and the properties in the city districts of Lübeck.
Preparation
1. Prepare components
Prepare goods and other resources. Goods and resources are available in unlimited supply. In case of shortages, use the multipliers.
Tip: For a better overview, we recommend laying out the goods as shown in the reference image.
Place the building tiles next to the game board.
2. Lay out action cards on the sea map
For the short version, put all action cards without marking back into the box – you do not need them for the short version.
Shuffle all action cards with short version symbol (007–037) and form a face-down draw pile next to the game board. In the short version, action card 001 is placed in Lübeck, action card 002 at Levantehandel and action card 003 at Fernosthandel. They show the symbol for the short version. For all other cities, randomly draw action cards and place them on the remaining free spots.
For the main version, shuffle all action cards (007–056) and form a face-down draw pile next to the game board. Place action card 004 in Lübeck, action card 005 at Levantehandel and action card 006 at Fernosthandel, showing the main version side. For all other cities, randomly draw action cards and place them on the remaining free spots.
3. Lay out Council Hall cards
For the short version, put all Council Hall cards without marking on the top edge of the card back into the box – you do not need them for the short version.
Place all Council Hall cards showing three council votes in a pile next to the game board. Shuffle all remaining Council Hall cards and form a face-down draw pile. From this pile, randomly lay out Council Hall cards in both rows. Each row contains player number +1 cards. If there are at least three players, place one card showing three council votes in the top row. Fill the remaining three or four spots randomly. These Council Hall cards are displayed every round. The Council Hall card "three council votes" is always displayed in games with at least 3 players.
For the main version, place all Council Hall cards showing three or ten council votes in piles next to the game board. Shuffle all remaining Council Hall cards and form a face-down draw pile. Place the following Council Hall cards in the upper row: 1x ten council votes, 1x developing improvement. If there are at least three players, one spot is reserved for three council votes. Fill the remaining spots randomly with cards from the draw pile until each row contains player number + 1 cards.
4. Prepare round and period indicators
For the short version, put the round indicators for round 3-5 back into the box.
Stack the five round indicators on the respective space on the game board. The top card shows "Round 1".
For the short version, discard the period indicator with two action points.
Randomly assign four of the six period indicators to the four quarters of the game round. The first tile is placed face-up, all others face-down. Place the remaining period indicators next to the game board.
5. Prepare Council orders and improvements
Randomly draw four council orders and place them on the display board. Put the remaining council orders back into the game box – they are not needed in the game.
Shuffle the improvements and form a face-down pile: Lay out 4 improvements face-up on the display board (the order from left to right must be followed).
All player markers are placed in Lübeck.
6. Prepare player setup
Every player receives: 1 player board, 1 buildings overview, 1 player aid, 13 different income markers as well as these components in your player color: 8 property tiles, 35 influence markers and 1 player marker (ship). The resource wheel on the player board is set to one of two starting positions. This means that the axis that shows the action points is vertical. The position shown is recommended for beginners. However, you can decide for yourself which of the two starting positions you choose at the beginning of the game.
You start with 5 influence markers in your active supply on the player board. Place remaining influence markers of your color next to the player board as a general supply.
For the short version, each player receives one randomly chosen mission each.
For the main version, block the last two places for improvements with 2 barriers.
7. Set player order
Randomly determine the player order for the first round. Place influence markers from the general supply to show the player order.
8. Choose start boosters
Put all start boosters without marking back into the box. Shuffle the remaining start booster tiles. Every player draws four tiles. Choose two out of these four, receive the resources depicted on the tiles and place them in the storage on the player board. If you receive coins or influence markers, place them on the areas shown on the player board.
Note: If you don't know which start booster tiles to choose in the first game, choose any two.
First, sort the two types of start boosters (with and without marking) into two separate piles and shuffle them. In the main version, you get two start boosters with the short version symbol and two without that symbol. You may choose any two tiles.
The selection of the tiles takes place in player order. Starting with the first player, you choose two of the four start booster tiles. Place the depicted resources in the storage on your player board. If you receive coins or influence markers, place them on the areas shown on the player board. Mark any income you may gain in the future with the according income marker on the production bar (p. 10). If you are to perform the action developing improvement, choose one from the display and replace it immediately. The next player in player order follows.
9. Additional setup for 2-player game and solomode
For a 2-player game, select a spare player color and choose one of the available dummy player scenarios (p. 38). According to the chosen scenario, place buildings in the city districts and influence markers on the sea map in the selected player color for the dummy player. All components of the dummy player are treated like those of other players during the game and in the final scoring. See p. 39 for the solomode rules.
Resources
Trade Goods
You can trade with ten different goods: Four building material items (wood, stone, tools and glass), four food items (wheat, fish, beer and meat) and two luxury goods (pelt and spices). Unlike all other goods, luxury goods cannot be produced and can only be purchased under difficult conditions. They are the only goods that provide you with additional council votes for the final scoring at the end of the game. During the game you need them for the action selling goods, if you would like to sell more than four. All other goods are categorized into four different price levels according to their value (see price list on the player board). All your goods must be stored in your personal storages: One token per box. Goods can be removed from your own storage at any time.
All trade goods must be placed in your storage on the player board. At the beginning of the game, 12 storage spaces are available. You can store one token in each of the 12 boxes. The storage can be expanded with buildings, among other things. Goods can be removed from the storage at any time to make room for new goods.
Influence
The influence markers in your player color are stored next to the player board as general supply. Through certain actions and buildings, you can either directly add influence markers to your active supply or receive them as income per round in each production phase. Influence markers do not require storage space. They count for final scoring at the end of the game, where each set of three influence markers equals three council votes. Single influence markers do not give you additional council votes. You also need your influence markers in your active supply to bid on attractive Council Hall cards in the Council Hall phase.
Action Points
The period indicators give you a certain number of action points to spend each turn. To keep track of your action points you can mark them with the action point marker in your player color on the production bar. These action points expire at the end of your turn if you do not use them.
You can gain additional action points through actions on the sea map, Council Hall cards, the Council Hall bonus and certain improvements. You will either receive them immediately or during the production phase at the beginning of the next round. You do not need storage space for additional action points. You can use them any time during your turn to increase the basic action points from the period indicator up to six.
Money
You need coins mainly to perform actions and construct buildings. Your supply of coins also determines the order of choice during the Council Hall Phase. In case of equal bids on Council Hall cards during the auctions, money acts as a tie breaker. In case of equal bids, money can also determine the new player order. You do not need storage space for coins.
Rockerl-Games-Joker
"No, wait! May I just...?" The more complex the game, the more often it can happen that you want to change a part of your turn later or miss receiving a bonus. If you have the same problem as we do, you can optionally play with our joker, that each player receives at the beginning of the game. This joker can be used once in the game to undo or make up for something as described above.
Gameplay Overview
Aelderman is played in two (short version) or five rounds (main version), each of which contains the following game phases:
- Phase 1: Round Preparation and production phase: Prepare for the next round - certain buildings generate their benefit or produce their goods (income) - and pay your operating costs. This phase is skipped in the first round (overview on p. 10).
- Phase 2: Sea Trading phase: Use action points for actions on the sea map in four periods (turns), which represent the trade year (overview on p. 11). You additionally have the option to perform certain city actions in Lübeck and in cities with your own subsidiary without using action points (overview on p. 15).
- Phase 3: Council Hall phase: Bid on Council Hall cards with influence markers from the active supply in two auction rounds (overview on p. 16).
Phase 1: Round Preparation & Production Phase
Skip this phase in the first round.
Round Preparation
In all other rounds perform the following steps:
- Rearrange player order: The sum of influence markers bid in both auction rounds during the Council Hall phase determines the new player order for the next round. The player who bid the most influence markers in both auction rounds becomes the new starting player. All others follow in descending order according to their influence bids. In case of a tie, the player who currently has the most coins wins. If there is still a tie, player order does not change. Once the player order has been rearranged, return the influence markers placed during the Council Hall phase to your general supply.
- Reveal the new round indicator: This shows the costs for property tiles and the costs for feasts in the coming round. These continue to increase as the game progresses.
- Renew the period indicators: shuffle all period indicator tiles, randomly pick four and place them face-down on the astrological clock.
- Renew Council Hall cards: all Council Hall cards that have not been taken during the auction form a discard pile next to the game board. Lay out new Council Hall cards according to the number of players. The slots reserved for the Council Hall Cards three council votes or ten council votes are filled with these cards again (see setup).
In the main version, the Council Hall card "developing improvement" is never replaced. It is available every round.
Additionally in the main version:
- All improvements are moved one position to the right. The improvement on the far right is discarded. Then a new improvement is placed on the far left position.
- All your improvements that have been activated in the last round and were therefore turned face-down will be turned to the active side again.
Production Phase
Your resource income depends on the production bar on the right side of the player board. You can line up your income markers as needed on the right side of the player board. Multiple markers at the same production level are joined together.
Some buildings produce resources directly.
Example: 1x glass is produced. In addition, two coins must be paid as operating costs.
Some buildings allow certain actions during the production phase. Put an influence marker from the general supply on the building tile to mark that the action was used. All buildings of this type can be used a maximum of four times (Carpentry, Lighthouse, Deli Market).
After production, the operating costs for buildings are paid. These can be offset against your income - e.g. from Gabled Houses or Merchant Houses. If the operating costs cannot be settled, you lose two council votes for each coin you cannot pay. To mark the malus, use a spare income marker showing the ship in your color on the backside and place it on the general penalty card.
Example: During the production phase, Eric has to pay operating costs of four coins for his two buildings Glassblower. He cannot pay these costs because he does not have any coins at the moment. He loses 8 council votes, which he marks on the penalty cards, using spare income markers. There is a separate penalty area for each player color on the card. The tiles placed on one card (right) count as six minus points, and on the other (left) as two minus points in the final scoring.
Phase 2: Sea Trade
The Sea Trading phase is divided into four periods (turns). The period indicators tell you how many action points you have available. When all players in player order have spent their action points and completed their turn, the next period indicator is revealed. The player order remains the same for all periods in this Sea Trading phase. After the end of the fourth period, the Council Hall phase immediately follows.
Revealing the Period Indicator
You start by turning your resource wheel one position clockwise on the player board. This step is unnecessary for the first period in the first round since the period indicator is already displayed at the beginning of the game.
Whenever you have turned your resource wheel five times, a bonus is activated and you may place an influence marker from the general supply at your current location for free (see action: placing influence marker p. 24/25). The bonus is also indicated on your resource wheel.
The period indicator is then flipped over, and the number revealed tells you the amount of action points available during that turn. The six period indicators contain the numbers 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5. The number of action points can be increased up to six in each turn by using additional action points from your active supply.
In the short version, the period indicator showing two action points is removed.
Performing Actions on the Sea Map (details p. 22)
You can use the action points to perform actions in various cities as soon as you have moved your player marker (ship in player color) there along the shown trade routes. You can sail the routes in both directions. There is no limitation of player markers in one city. The movement itself does not cost any action points. However, you must spend at least one action point in each city you pass. At the beginning of a new turn, the actions of the action card on which your player marker is located cannot be used again. You must always move to a new city before you can perform an action in that city.
In each city you have up to six actions available, which are arranged in two rows. You can use a maximum of one action from each row. The actions in the left column always cost one action point each, the actions in the middle column cost two and the actions in the right column cost three action points. The required number of action points is also shown in the center bar of each action card. On each action card that allows selling goods, the resources that can be sold are indicated below.
Example: This turn everybody has four action points available. Eric first moves his ship to Aalborg and performs the action buying goods from the middle column for two action points. Then he moves to Ribe and uses the action gaining influence markers for one action point. Eric spends the last action point in Hamburg to increase production of fish for five coins.
Sarah first moves to Ribe to use the buying goods action for three action points. She then moves to Aalborg to use the action selling goods for one action point.
Anna moves to Hamburg and spends three action points to increase her action point production by two for eight coins. Then she performs buying goods for one action point as an additional action in Hamburg. This is possible because the two actions are in different rows on the action card.
The actions buying goods and selling goods are main actions that need to be explained in detail.
In the example just given, Eric first performs the action buying goods in Aalborg using two action points. Aalborg belongs to the blue trading zone, as indicated by the blue banner next to the city. Each zone on the sea map has a sector of the resource wheel assigned to it via the colored border on the outside of the player board's resource wheel. The axis on the resource wheel shows that Eric receives 1x fish and 1x beer for two action points. He puts the resources into his storage.
Sarah receives one influence marker in her active supply for three action points in Hamburg (purple zone), 1x meat and 2x wheat. She receives the latter goods according to the illustrated wooden crate shown on the outside of the resource wheel: you receive certain goods depending on the trading zone in which your ship is located.
In Aalborg, Sarah sells four goods for one action point. She has 1x wood, 2x wheat and 1x meat in her storage – these are the goods demanded in Aalborg, shown at the bottom bar of the action card. She puts the goods back to the general supply and therefore receives 10 coins and an influence marker in her active supply.
All actions are explained in detail starting on p. 22.
Alternative Trade
If you cannot or do not want to perform an action in a city, you always have the option of performing an alternative trade for one action point. This allows you to buy or sell one good at the most favorable conditions (see the price list on the player board). Using the alternative trade means that only this action can be performed in this city - a combination with an action of the action card is not possible.
Example: Sarah moves her ship from Lübeck to Malmö. There, however, she does not want to use any action from the action card but prefers to make an alternative trade for one action point. In this case she buys 1x beer for three coins.
Placing Influence Markers on the Sea Map (details p. 24/25)
As the game progresses, you will not only perform actions on the sea map, but you will also compete for influence majorities in the five different trading zones. These majorities will give you additional council votes at the end of the game. Whenever an influence marker may be placed, you must decide whether to place it on the banner to the right of a city or as a subsidiary on the anchor icon above the action card. These influence markers are always taken from the general supply.
There is only one possibility to build a subsidiary in each city. To set up a subsidiary you need to pay five coins. You need to place your influence marker on the designated field to mark your subsidiary. Subsidiaries allow you to perform the same city actions as in Lübeck, such as the construction of buildings (see city actions p. 28).
Influence markers that are not placed as a subsidiary must be placed from left to right and from top to bottom on the banners of the respective city. Whenever a row on the banner is filled with two influence markers, the action card is immediately exchanged for a new one. The construction of subsidiaries never causes an exchange of action cards. If all ten spaces on a city's banner are filled with influence markers, no more influence markers can be added.
If you wait too long before building a subsidiary, all strategically favorable cities may already be occupied by other players.
Example: Eric pays nine coins to place two influence markers in Hamburg for two action points. He can now decide to place both influence markers on the banner. In this case, the action card will be exchanged immediately. Or, for an additional payment of five coins, he can place one of the influence markers as a subsidiary.
In the main version you can also gain a bonus, if you place influence markers in all cities of a trading zone (p. 25).
City Actions (details p. 28)
The following city actions can be performed in Lübeck or one of your personal subsidiaries: You can purchase property and construct buildings on it. You can celebrate small or big feasts to receive influence markers, which help with final scoring and auctions during the Council Hall phase. An overview of all city actions can also be found on the player aid card for each player.
In the main version, you will also be able to fulfill Council orders if you meet the corresponding requirements.
City actions do not cost any action points but can only be performed in Lübeck or in one of your subsidiaries. Once you have moved your ship to one of these cities, you can combine the city actions and the actions of the action card (or an alternative trade) in any order. You can perform the same city action several times. Even if you perform one or more city actions, you must spend at least one action point on a sea trading action. If you have no remaining action points, you cannot enter Lübeck or any of your subsidiaries in this turn. City actions cannot be performed at the beginning of a turn, but only after you have moved your ship.
Action Overview
Actions in the sea trading phase: Alternative trade; Buying goods; Selling goods; Upgrading goods; Splitting goods; Placing influence markers; Gaining influence markers; Turning the resource wheel; Buying luxury goods; Increasing production (six variants, one per good type); Developing improvements; Buying council votes; Swapping action cards.
City actions: Purchasing property; Constructing buildings; Celebrating feasts; Fulfilling Council orders.
Phase 3: Council Hall Phase
The Council Hall phase is the last phase in each round.
This is where representatives of the Hanseatic cities and merchants meet to make important decisions for the Hanseatic League. Seize the opportunity and use your influence to gain advantages for the subsequent rounds of the game via exclusive Council Hall cards.
At the beginning of this phase, all players announce how many influence markers they have in their active supply and how much money they own. In each Council Hall phase, there are up to ten Council Hall cards available. These are arranged in two rows. For each of these rows, an auction is held, starting with the top row. During the auction, all players hold a secret amount of influence markers from their active supply to bid on the Council Hall cards. The player who bids the most influence markers may first take a Council Hall card of his choice. Then the other players follow according to their bids. Nevertheless, you only get a Council Hall card if you bid at least one influence marker.
Note: Remember that in each Council Hall phase there is a card, which gives you ten council votes. To get this Council Hall card, you must bid at least five influence markers.
Keep in mind that every three influence markers count for three council votes at the end of the game.
In the event of a tie, the number of coins in the players' supply decides who wins. If there is a tie again, the current player order decides. After choosing a Council Hall card, the bidden influence markers are placed on the spot of the corresponding card in the Council Hall. When all bidders have made their choice, the Council Hall cards of the lower row are auctioned. Some Council Hall cards have a marking at the foot of the card, which indicates an additional bonus that the bidder receives. After choosing a Council Hall card, the influence markers used for bidding are placed on the corresponding card spot. They remain there until the player order has been adjusted in the round preparation phase. After that, the influence markers are put back to the general supply.
Example: 1st auction round: Marc first places six influence markers and is the first to choose the Council Hall card – he decides for the ten council votes. Anna has also speculated on the ten council votes with her five influence markers and must now settle for the monopoly on goods. Eric and Sarah have both placed one influence marker. If the bids are equal, the number of coins in the supplys decides, but there is also a tie. Therefore, the player order decides, and Sarah gets to choose a Council Hall card first.
In the 2nd auction round, Marc, Anna and Eric additionally receive the bonuses according to the left or right marker on the card.
The sum of the bidden influence markers of every player settles the new player order for the next round: Marc, Anna, Eric, Sarah. Eric and Sarah have placed the same number of influence markers and originally had the same number of coins in their supply. However, Eric received one coin as bonus during the second auction and now has more coins than Sarah.
The Council Hall cards give you either one-time instant bonuses or permanent advantages. Therefore, collect these cards next to your player board so that you do not lose track of your permanent benefits.
If you decide for the Council Hall card "developing improvement" in the main version during the first auction round, place the card back after you have chosen an improvement. This Council Hall card is available in every round!
The Council Hall cards are very powerful. Therefore, you should make sure that you have at least two influence markers in your active supply at the beginning of the Council Hall phase to be able to place the minimum bid during the two auction rounds. If you have more influence markers at your disposal, you will have to decide how much certain Council Hall cards are worth to you, since the influence markers will also be included in the final scoring.
In the main version, the ten council votes are also always an attractive target: ideally you can win a lot of council votes at comparatively low cost. If you do not have enough influence markers in your active supply to make the minimum bid of five, you may leave this very attractive Council Hall card to a competitor on the best terms. Be careful not to leave this card to your opponents too often and too cheaply.
After the second / fifth Council Hall phase, the game ends and the players count their council votes, using the score pad.
FAQ
We provide the FAQ section online on our website so that we can constantly expand and update it. If you have a question that is neither answered in the rulebook nor in the FAQ section, please send us a message via [email protected]
Final Score of the Short Version
In the short version, check which of the three mission requirement levels (basic, advanced, expert) each player was able to complete by the end of the second round. Winning council votes is part of each mission, but unlike the main version, it is not the only goal.
You win the game if you manage to complete at least the basic task of your mission. That means there can be multiple winners in this version.
If you are playing Aelderman for the first time, we recommend that you follow the basic objectives. The missions are meant to provide guidance through their very specific tasks. However, if you don't play in a goal-oriented way, it can quickly happen that you don't reach the basic goals either. In general, it makes sense to construct the required buildings as quickly as possible to benefit from the advantages for as long as possible.
Keep in mind that at the end of the second round the following items also count as council votes:
- three influence markers in your active supply: three council votes (but also count as influence markers)
- each luxury good: three council votes
Overview to the Different Missions
Hanseatic mission: Johann Rinck
- Basic: have at least 6 influence markers in your active supply; place 3x influence markers, at least one of them in London and at least one of them as a subsidiary; construct 2x buildings: Brewery, Gabled House; collect 10 coins; in your storage: 1x meat, 1x beer; 12x council votes (incl. influence markers and luxury goods)
- Advanced (additional): 1x spices; collect 5 coins
- Expert (additional): 1x construct a building: Trade Guild; 1x place influence marker in Edinburgh
Johann Rinck: Johann Rinck is born in Korbach at the end of the 14th century. He comes from a family of long-distance traders and cloth merchants. He is first mentioned as a merchant in Cologne in 1423, but mainly trades in England. With a certain talent for the merchant's business, he quickly acquires a large fortune. The trade with spices, weapons, pelt, precious metals as well as cloth and wine from Cologne is particularly profitable. After his marriage to the Cologne woman Gertrud Blitterswich, he becomes a resident of the city in 1432 and gradually acquires numerous properties all around the city. Since 1439 he is a member of the city council and in his position as representative of the brotherhood of Windeck, he mainly acts for the interests of all merchants trading with England. Before his death in 1464, he repeatedly donates for a number of churches and chapels. He also donates 400 guilders to a brothel, a so called "house of pretty women". This donation enables numerous women to buy themselves out of there.
Hanseatic mission: Mathias Mulich
- Basic: have at least 6 influence markers in your active supply; place 2x influence markers, at least one of them as a subsidiary; construct 2x buildings: Merchant House, Fountain; celebrate a small feast (mark that you celebrated a feast by placing one of your influence markers from your general supply on the icon on your mission card); in your storage: 1x beer, 1x tools, 1x wood, 2x glass; 12x council votes (incl. influence markers and luxury goods)
- Advanced (additional): 1x construct a building: Gabled House
- Expert (additional): 1x construct a building: Fountain
Mathias Mulich: Mathias Mulich comes from a Nuremberg long-distance trading family and settles in Lübeck around 1490. There, he is mainly involved with trade in southern Sweden, in particular trading the all-important salted herring. Until his death on December 2, 1528, he lives in Lübeck, acquires at least 13 properties there and inherits additional buildings from his brother. In 1514, he is finally granted citizenship in Lübeck and rises into the wealthiest circles. In Oldesloe, he furthermore owns 18 hectares of land and a copper mill. He also holds the silver monopoly of the Lübeck mint and trades in luxury goods as well as raw products from northern and eastern Europe.
Hanseatic mission: Hildebrandt Veckinchusen
- Basic: have at least 9 influence markers in your active supply; place 4x influence markers, at least two of them in the purple zone and at least one of them as a subsidiary; 1x construct a building: Harbour Master; in your storage: 1x pelt or spices, 1x meat, 1x glass; 18x council votes (incl. influence markers and luxury goods)
- Advanced (additional): 1x construct a building: Harbour Master
- Expert (additional): place 2x influence markers
Hildebrandt Veckinchusen: Hildebrandt Veckinchusen is born around 1370, presumably in Westphalia. As a young man he travels to Livonia and then to Flanders to be trained as a merchant's assistant together with his brother Sievert. In 1390 he first becomes known as a merchant in Dordrecht. A decade later, Margarethe, the daughter of the influential councilman Peter van dem Damme, becomes his wife in second marriage and he becomes a citizen of Lübeck. In 1402 Hildebrandt settles in Bruges and remains there as a merchant until 1426, even becoming Aelderman in 1419. His trade connections reach from Novgorod all the way to England, Venice and France. Popular goods for his ventures are cloth, salt and spices. Due to very risky operations with his business partners in Venice and failed deals, he ends up as debtor in Bruges' prison from 1422-1426 and dies shortly after his release on May 1.
Hanseatic mission: Bernd Pal
- Basic: have at least 6 influence markers in your active supply; place 2x influence markers, at least one of them as a subsidiary; construct 2x building: Deli Market; in your storage: 3x spices or pelt; 21x Council votes (incl. influence markers and luxury goods)
- Advanced (additional): place 2x influence markers
- Expert (additional): 1x pelt or spices; collect 10 coins
Bernd Pal: Bernd Pal III is born into a Lübeck patrician family around 1437 and dies on July 4, 1503 as a bachelor in Reval (modern Tallinn). Most of his life he works as a merchant in the city of Reval. Through steady trading partnerships with merchants in Lübeck, Reval, Gdansk, Narwa and other cities in the Baltic region, he is able to primarily cover the typical East-West wholesale trade. Besides salt and wax, he especially trades large quantities of pelt, such as fine ermine or fox.
Final Score of the Main Version
This list shows the scores that may be noted on the score pad:
Scoring of the influence majorities in the five sea zones: Count the influence markers and subsidiaries placed in all cities of each trading zone. Subsidiaries have the same value in the final scoring as an influence marker placed in the banner. In the event of a tie, the council votes for 1st and 2nd place are added up and evenly divided among these players. If the sum cannot be divided directly, it is rounded down accordingly. In a 2-player game, the dummy player's influence markers are taken into account in the scoring just like those of a third player.
Scoring of the building majorities in the five Lübeck districts: Determine the strength of each player's buildings in every district of Lübeck on the game board. Except for the Lighthouse, all buildings have a strength of I or II (see overview of the buildings). The Lighthouse can increase its own strength up to five. The Guard House increases the strength of all directly adjacent buildings by one. The Guard House works across the borders of city districts! In case of a tie, the same rule applies as for the scoring of the sea zones. In a 2-player game, the buildings of the dummy player are taken into account in the scoring in the same way as those of a third player.
Example: When scoring the city zone "St. Johannis" in the example above, the Fountain of Anna achieves a final value of 1. Eric owns a Merchant House with a strength of 2, whose final value is increased by 1 by the adjacent Guard House. In addition, he owns a Gabled House with a final value of 1, giving a total final value of 4. Marc has a Lighthouse with a strength of 1, which has been extended four times, giving the Lighthouse a final value of 5. Marc thus receives 14 council votes for this city district and Eric receives 8 council votes.
Scoring of all influence markers in the player's active supply: Three influence markers each represent three council votes. One or two influence markers do not yield any council votes.
Luxury goods (spices & pelt) in stock: each luxury good represents three council votes.
Council votes (cards) accumulated throughout the game.
Scoring of Council Hall cards: monopoly cards and individual scoring cards.
Note: Goods (I - IV) are only included in the final scoring via special Council Hall cards! Coins can only be converted into council votes through sea trading actions.
Whoever has the most council votes after the count is elected Aelderman and thus wins the game.
Sea Trading Phase: Actions
Buying Goods
When you use the action buying goods, you do not pay with coins but only with action points. The resource wheel on your player board shows, which goods you can buy during your action, depending on the position of your ship on the sea map, that is the city where your ship is located.
On the outside of the wheel are colored borders, each representing one of the five trading zones (blue, purple, yellow, green, red). Each zone is assigned to one of the ten sectors on the resource wheel. That means that only one sector is relevant for you at a time – the sector of the trading zone your ship is located in.
You can tell which trading zone you are in by the colored banners on the right side of each city. Lübeck, Levantehandel and Fernosthandel are not assigned to any trading zone: you can never perform any buying goods action there.
The action card can offer various actions to buy goods. If you invest one action point for a buying goods action, you get everything that is shown in the innermost circle segment of the resource wheel. Accordingly, if you spend two action points, you receive all the goods of the middle circle segment and all the goods depicted in the outer circle for an action worth three action points.
The wooden crates shown on the resource wheel serve as placeholders for goods that are in excess supply in the respective zones. The reference in the colored border on the outer edge of the resource wheel tells you which product(s) the wooden crate represents.
If you need certain low-level resources in large quantities, it makes sense to stay in the zone that offers the desired resource more frequently than other zones - for wood, for example, that would be the yellow zone.
Example: If Sarah performs the buying goods action for one action point in Aalborg, she receives 1x wheat and one coin. If she uses the buying goods action for two action points, she receives the goods fish and wood. Additionally, she gets 1x stone for the wooden crate in the blue zone shown on the outside of the resource wheel. If Sarah invests three action points and uses the buying goods action of the right column, she receives three influence markers in her active supply and an additional coin.
You can only buy the luxury goods pelt and spices when performing the action buying goods for three action points AND if the color marking of the desired luxury good matches the color marking of the outer circle. Thus, the luxury good pelt is only available in the blue and the red zone. The luxury good spices can only be acquired in the purple and the yellow zone. If the color markings do not match, then the alternative goods of the outer circle segment must be selected. If the color markings match, you have the choice between the two options.
Example: In one case you have the choice between: 1x pelt & 1x fish OR 2x fish, 1x tools & 1x stone. In the other case you can only get 1x stone, 1x beer and 2x wood.
Buying goods actions of different rows cannot be combined to a higher-level purchasing action. Likewise, a lower-level buying goods action cannot be performed in place of a higher-level purchase.
The resource wheel is rotated one position clockwise before each turn. In addition, there are actions, buildings, and in the main version also improvements that allow you to speed up the rotation to obtain certain goods or to place the bonus influence marker faster.
Selling Goods
In each city where you can sell goods, you will find the demanded goods below the two action rows. With a sale for one action point, you must sell the first four goods. If you use the action selling goods for two action points, you can sell four, six or eight goods. You must always fulfill the demand from left to right. If the "any resource" symbol is shown, any resource can be sold. The sales overview chart on your player board shows your profit.
When you sell four goods, you receive 10 coins and an influence marker in your active supply. When you sell six goods, you receive 15 coins, two influence markers in your active supply, and you may perform the placing influence marker action once. When you sell eight goods, you receive 20 coins, three council votes, and you may use the action placing influence marker twice. It is not possible to combine goods randomly in any way during the sale - the demanded goods are listed from left to right for the three sale options.
Note: When selling six or eight goods you always need a luxury good (pelt / spices), which indicates their special value in the game.
Note: You can immediately use the coins you receive to establish a subsidiary.
Upgrading Goods
Each regular good (excluding luxury goods) is assigned a level, which you can find in the price list on your player board. The level can be increased by one by upgrading the goods. If multiple upgrades are possible through the action upgrading goods, it is up to you whether you upgrade several goods once or one good several times. It is also up to you which of the two higher types of goods you upgrade a resource to. However, goods of level IV (meat and glass) cannot be upgraded to luxury goods (spices or pelt). If you use the action 2x upgrading goods or 3x upgrading goods, you will additionally receive one or two coins respectively. For example, you can upgrade a level I good wood to a level II good stone or fish.
Splitting Goods
Splitting goods allows you to convert high value goods into several lower value goods. The sum of the level values of the goods before and after splitting must always be the same! The luxury goods spices and pelt cannot be split. Furthermore, resources cannot be exchanged for goods of the same level. Otherwise, the splitting is applied to any goods of lower levels.
For example, you can split a level IV resource of glass into 4x level I wheat, or into 1x fish and 1x stone - two level II resources.
Placing Influence Markers
This action allows you to place one or two of your influence markers from the general supply in the city where your ship is currently located. This will cost five or nine coins.
Note that the action card of a city is always exchanged for a new one from the draw pile when the second influence marker is placed in one of the five rows, thus completing it. Influence markers must be placed from left to right and from top to bottom. Subsidiaries are not taken into account here. Whenever you use the action placing influence markers you have the option to establish a subsidiary for an additional payment of five coins instead of placing the influence marker on the banner.
Ways to place influence markers from the general supply on the sea map:
- by using the bonus on the resource wheel. Whenever you have turned your resource wheel five times, you activate the bonus and may place an influence marker from the general supply at your current location for free. Placing influence markers is not possible in Lübeck, Levantehandel or Fernosthandel. So, make sure you don't end your turn at these locations if you would get the bonus at the beginning of the next turn!
- by using the placing influence marker action
- by performing the selling goods action with six or eight resources
- by building a Trade Guild: the influence marker may be placed in any city, regardless of the location of the player's ship.
- by fulfilling council orders: in this case the influence marker may be placed in any city, regardless of the location of the player's ship.
- through Council Hall cards
- through improvements
You cannot perform a second action in a city, if the action card is exchanged after you placed an influence marker with your first action, e.g. with the action selling goods.
Effects of placed influence markers:
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Exchange of action cards: action cards of a city are always exchanged for a new one from the draw pile when the second influence marker is placed in one of the five rows, thus completing it. The influence markers of all players count. This means that your action and trading opportunities are constantly changing! Subsidiaries have no influence in this matter.
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Control a zone / receiving bonuses (only in the main version): If you manage to place at least one influence marker in each city of a trading zone, you control this zone and gain an additional income of one influence marker as a bonus starting with the next production phase. This means you can increase your production of influence markers up to five times during the game for free. Each time you control a zone, you adjust the influence production on your production bar on the player board with the corresponding marker.
Example: Eric uses the action placing influence markers in London to place an influence marker there. With the subsidiary in Edinburgh, he has occupied all cities in the green zone and immediately increases his influence production by one. This is marked on the production bar. In London, the action card is also replaced immediately, since Eric has completed the first row in the banner.
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Winning council votes (only in the main version): In the final scoring, the two players, who have placed the most influence markers in a trading zone receive the corresponding council votes (see overview on the left margin of the sea map). The influence markers and subsidiaries placed by the players in all cities of a trading zone are counted. Subsidiaries have the same value as placed influence markers. In the event of a tie, the council votes for 1st and 2nd place are added up and evenly divided among these players. If the sum cannot be divided directly, it is rounded down accordingly.
Gaining Influence Markers
Receive the depicted number of influence markers into your active supply once.
Turning the Resource Wheel
Turn the resource wheel clockwise by one or up to two positions. You will also get the indicated number of coins. If the marking on the resource wheel allows you to place an influence marker, do so immediately. Note that placing an influence marker may lead to an exchange of the action card.
Buying Luxury Goods
For seven coins, you will receive the depicted luxury good.
Increasing Production
Each time you use this action, you can increase your production, if you pay the appropriate amount of coins. Move the production marker on your player board one or two levels up. In contrast to the construction of production buildings, you will not receive the resources until the next production phase. Production does not cause any operating costs, but unlike the buildings you construct in the city districts of Lübeck, it has no influence on the final score. Level I and II goods cannot be produced by buildings but can only be bought by actions in other cities.
For six or eight coins, you will receive one or two additional action points per turn starting with the next production phase. Mark the increase in your production with the appropriate marker on your production bar on the right side of your player board.
For six or eight coins, you will receive one or two additional influence markers per turn in your active supply starting with the next production phase. Mark the increase in production with the appropriate marker on your production bar on the right side of your player board.
Developing Improvements
If you pay three coins and one influence marker from your active supply, you will receive one improvement. You may choose any improvement from the current display. Afterwards, all improvements to the left of the vacant spot are moved to the right. On the far left, a new improvement is revealed from the draw pile. Note that at the beginning of the game you only have three of the five spaces for improvements at the bottom of your player board available. The last two spaces must be unlocked by building a Guild House (see p. 34 for the use of improvements).
Buying Council Votes
Pay 18 coins to receive 10 council votes in your supply.
Swapping Action Cards
For three coins, you may swap any two action cards on the sea map. If you swap the action card to the city in which your ship is currently located, you may not perform any action there until you have moved back to the city. The action cards in Lübeck, Levantehandel and Fernosthandel are excluded from this action and cannot be swapped.
City Actions
Purchasing Property
You can build on properties in five city districts of Lübeck: St. Johannis, Lohberg, St. Marien, Fünfhausen, St. Jakobi. Before you can construct buildings, you must purchase property. The round indicator depicts the cost for property, which increases each round. You can buy as many property tiles as you want at once. The number you can buy is only limited by your supply of tiles (8x). Place one of your property tiles on a free building site in one of Lübeck's five city districts to mark your land. The boxes showing the final scoring for each city district may not be used as building sites. You do not have to use your property tiles immediately to place buildings there.
In the short version, it does not matter in which of the five city districts you purchase property. The only thing that matters is that there are enough property tiles available to realize all your construction projects.
In some situations, it can make sense to secure cheap land (in an attractive location) at an early stage during the game.
Constructing Buildings
All buildings are assigned either to strength I or II (see buildings overview). Buildings of strength I have a silver frame, buildings of strength II have a golden frame. For each building, you have to pay operating costs equal to their strength during the production phase.
The strength of the buildings is also essential for the final scoring in the main version.
Each building must be constructed on its own property tile. The overview of buildings shows the costs for all buildings and the rewards they bring with them. Existing buildings can never be removed or built over. The number of buildings of each type is limited.
Once you have paid the building costs, you can place the corresponding building on one of your property tiles. Each building comes with operating costs as high as its strength. Mark your operating costs on the production bar on the right side of the player board. Pay for the first time during the production phase at the beginning of the next round. If the building produces resources, this must also be indicated on the production bar. Buildings with the production symbol produce resources immediately when they are built and again in each production phase (see individual buildings on p. 30).
Example: A building with costs and a benefit that produces 1x glass, and allows the exchange of 3x wood for three council votes in each production phase.
Celebrating Feasts
While you use building materials to construct buildings, you can use various food resources to celebrate feasts and thereby generate influence. Once per turn (period) you can organize a small feast or, from the second round on, a big one. The round indicator shows your costs for a feast as well as the amount of influence markers you gain. The total number of feasts that may be held per round is equal to the number of players. This equally includes small and big feasts. To mark that you have celebrated a feast during your turn, place one of your influence markers from the general supply on the round indicator.
Fulfilling Council Orders (only main version)
The Council orders show requirements in the upper half of the card. If you have fulfilled the requirements for one of the Council orders, you can perform the action fulfilling Council order at any time as a city action (i.e. in Lübeck or one of your subsidiaries). You will immediately receive the reward or use the actions depicted in the lower half of the card. Afterwards, the Council order is removed from the display board and is not replaced by a new one. If resources are needed as a requirement, you do not have to spend them, but just have them available at the time of fulfillment.
Buildings
You must always place your buildings on one of your unoccupied property tiles.
All buildings with a production symbol generate income immediately when you place them on your property tile and afterwards in each production phase at the beginning of a round. This can include the production of goods as well as special abilities (Lighthouse, Carpentry, Deli Market). You can use the abilities a maximum of four times. When you use the effect, place one of your influence markers from the general supply on the affected building.
Existing buildings can never be built over. The number of buildings of each type is limited.
| Name | Costs | Strength / Operating Costs | Benefit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gabled House | 4x wood, 1x stone, 1x glass, 1x coin | 1 | The Gabled House produces four coins: once immediately during construction and afterwards in each production phase. |
| Fountain | 2x stone, 1x tools, 1x coin | 1 | The Fountain produces one influence marker: once immediately during construction and afterwards in each production phase. |
| Tavern | 2x wood, 2x stone, 1x tools | 1 | The Tavern allows you to immediately draw two Council Hall cards from the draw pile and select one of them. If it allows you to gain resources or to perform an action, do so immediately. If the card is a permanent bonus, place it next to your player board. |
| Guild House | 5x wood, 1x stone, 3x coin | 1 | With the Guild House you immediately unlock another place for an improvement. Remove one of the two barriers below your player board. You can still build a Guild House even if there is no more improvement space to unlock. From now on you will receive one coin when you use an improvement. This effect is additive if you build several Guild Houses. |
| Storage | 4x wood, 3x coin | 1 | The Storage adds nine additional storage spaces for goods. Place the extra storage next to your player board. |
| Carpentry | 2x wood, 2x stone, 2x coin | 1 | The Carpentry converts 3x wood into three council votes: once immediately during construction and afterwards in each production phase. You can only use this benefit four times. When you use the effect, place one of your influence markers from the general supply on the Carpentry. |
| Lighthouse | 3x stone | 1 | Increase the strength of the Lighthouse by 1 by paying 2x stone: once immediately during construction and afterwards in each production phase. You can only use this benefit four times. When you use the effect, place one of your influence markers from the general supply on the Lighthouse. The Lighthouse can reach a maximum strength of 5. Operating costs are not increased when you upgrade the Lighthouse. |
| Trade Guild | 4x wood, 1x stone, 1x tools, 2x coin | 1 | When you build a Trade Guild, immediately place an influence marker from your general supply in any city on the sea map. This may trigger action card change. You can also build a subsidiary instead if you pay five extra coins. From now on, you will always receive an additional coin when you place an influence marker. This already applies to the influence marker you place when building the Trade Guild itself. The bonus also applies to subsidiaries. This effect can be multiplied if you build several Trade Guilds. |
Council Hall Cards
This table provides detailed information about each Council Hall card. Some of them give you immediate one-time benefits, others have a permanent effect or will give you an individual scoring option.
| No. | Benefit |
|---|---|
| 101 | Additional storage: You will receive four additional storage spaces. From now on, this card will serve as an extension of the storage on your player board. Place the goods you want to store there directly on the card. |
| 102-116 | Additional resources: You will receive the depicted resources immediately and once. |
| 117 | Building advantage: This Council Hall card permanently reduces the construction costs for buildings of strength I by 2x wood. |
| 118 | Building advantage: This Council Hall card permanently reduces the construction costs for buildings of strength I by 1x stone. |
| 119 | Building advantage: This Council Hall card permanently reduces the construction costs for buildings of strength II by 2x wood. |
| 120 | Building advantage: This Council Hall card permanently reduces the construction costs for buildings of strength II by 1x stone. |
| 121 | Production expansion: From the next production phase onwards, you will permanently produce 1x action point per round. Mark your increasing income on your production bar accordingly. Your operating costs are also increased by one coin. Make sure to also mark this on your production bar. |
| 122 | Cheap property: This Council Hall card reduces the cost of all future property purchases by two coins each. |
| 123 | Production expansion: From the next production phase onwards, you will permanently produce 1x influence marker per round. Mark your increasing income on your production bar accordingly. Your operating costs are also increased by one coin. Make sure to also mark this on your production bar. |
| 124 | Reducing operating costs: Permanently reduce your operating costs by four coins. To do so, adjust the relevant marker on the production bar. If your marker shows less than four operating costs when you purchase this Council Hall card, reset it to zero. If you have no operating costs, this card is irrelevant for you. |
| 125-126 | Placing influence markers: Immediately place one of your influence markers from the general supply in any city on the sea map. This may trigger action card change. You can also build a subsidiary instead if you pay five extra coins. |
| 127 | Production expansion: From the next production phase onwards, you will permanently produce 1x stone per round. Mark your increasing income on your production bar accordingly. Your operating costs are also increased by one coin. Make sure to also mark this on your production bar. |
Improvements
Improvements are only available in the main version. You can develop improvements during the Council Hall phase or by using an action on the sea map.
When you receive an improvement, all improvements to the left of the vacant spot are moved to the right. On the far left, a new improvement is revealed from the draw pile.
The maximum number of improvements you can own is determined by the free slots for improvements at the bottom of your player board. At the beginning of the game, three of the five improvement slots are already available to you. The last two slots can be unlocked by building Guild Houses.
Improvements can be activated once per round if you fulfill the requirements. You do not need any action points for this. Remember that you still have to perform an action for at least one action point in the city, even if you activate an improvement there.
Each improvement must be placed in a free spot at the bottom of the player board. Once an improvement has been activated, it is flipped over and cannot be used until the next round.
| No. | Requirement | Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| 501 | none | When you activate this improvement, you may pass up to two cities on the sea map once without taking an action there. |
| 502 | Whenever your ship is in the purple trading zone, | you may use the improvement to spend 1 action point and perform the action placing influence marker in the city where you activate the improvement. You still need to perform a regular action there as well. |
| 503 | Whenever your ship is in the yellow trading zone, | you may use the improvement to spend 1 action point and perform the action placing influence marker in the city where you activate the improvement. You still need to perform a regular action there as well. |
| 504 | Whenever your ship is in the blue trading zone, | you may use the improvement to spend 1 action point and perform the action placing influence marker in the city where you activate the improvement. You still need to perform a regular action there as well. |
| 505 | Whenever you sell goods by using the action selling goods, | you may use the improvement to perform the action swapping action cards. This excludes the action cards in Lübeck, Levantehandel and Fernosthandel. If you swap the action card of the city in which your ship is currently located, you may not perform any action there until you leave the city and return again. |
| 506 | Whenever you construct a building, | you may use the improvement to turn your resource wheel up to two positions clockwise. |
| 507 | Whenever you receive 1x spices through the resource wheel, | you may use the improvement to pay four coins to get another token spices. |
| 508 | Whenever you receive 1x pelt through the resource wheel, | you may use the improvement to pay four coins to get another token pelt. |
| 509 | Whenever you store 3x level IV goods in your storage, | you may use the improvement to perform the action placing influence marker in the city where you activate the improvement. |
| 510 | Whenever you sell exactly six goods, | you may use the improvement to exchange 5 coins for 3 council votes. |
| 511 | Whenever you buy 2x level III goods with a single buying goods action (there is only one possibility on the resource wheel that allows this!), | you may use the improvement to perform the action placing influence marker in the city where you activate the improvement. |
Council Orders
Council orders are only available in the main version. Select four Council orders from the stack for the game. You can fulfill Council orders as a city action in Lübeck or in one of your personal subsidiaries as soon as you meet all the requirements.
Once you have fulfilled a Council order, it is removed from the display and placed next to your player board. The display is not replenished.
| No. | Requirement | Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| 301 | Min. 2x beer production | Receive 3 coins immediately. In the final scoring you get another 4 council votes. |
| 302 | Min. 2x glass production | Receive 1x stone immediately. In the final scoring you get another 5 council votes. |
| 303 | Min. 2x tools production | Receive 3 influence markers into your active supply immediately and 2x wood into your storage. |
| 304 | Min. 3 buildings constructed in the district St. Jakobi | Receive 1x glass and 2x fish immediately. |
| 305 | Min. 1 influence marker placed in Brügge and Reval (including subsidiaries) | Receive 1x glass and 1x meat immediately. |
| 306 | Min. 1 influence marker placed in Stockholm and Köln (including subsidiaries) | Receive 3 coins and 1x pelt immediately. |
| 307 | Min. 3 influence markers placed in Aalborg (including subsidiaries) | Receive 4 coins and 1x spices immediately. |
| 308 | Min. 3 influence markers placed in Danzig (including subsidiaries) | Receive 4 coins and 1x pelt immediately. |
| 309 | Min. 3 buildings constructed in the district St. Marien | Receive 1 influence marker into your active supply immediately. In the final scoring you get another 3 council votes. |
| 310 | Min. 3 buildings of strength I constructed (in any district) | Receive 12 coins immediately. |
| 311 | Min. 3x influence production | Receive 12 coins immediately. |
| 312 | Min. 1 influence marker placed in every city of the purple zone (including subsidiaries) | Receive 13 coins immediately. |
| 313 | Min. 1 influence marker placed in every city of the yellow zone (including subsidiaries) | Receive 13 coins immediately. |
| 314 | Min. 1 influence marker placed in every city of the green zone (including subsidiaries) | Receive 11 coins immediately. |
| 315 | Min. 1 influence marker placed in every city of the red zone (including subsidiaries) | Receive 12 coins immediately. |
| 316 | Min. 1 influence marker placed in every city of the blue zone (including subsidiaries) | Receive 13 coins immediately. |
Rules for the 2-Player Setup
In the two player mode, some places are taken during setup before the game starts, in order to balance the scoring of majorities in the city districts and the sea trading zones. That way the scoring for the second place does not fall too easily to the second player. Use a spare player color and be aware that those influence markers are also taken into account when it comes to an exchange of an action card. Likewise, the buildings constructed and the influence markers placed in that spare color are relevant for scoring the majorities in the sea trading zones and the city districts at the end of the game. Do not use the actual building tiles for the initial setup to show that buildings have been constructed. Instead, you place influence markers of the chosen player color on the property tiles to mark their respective strength for the final scoring.
Decide on one of the following three setup options. In the first option, the influence markers on the sea map and the buildings in the city districts are placed in a balanced ratio. The second option focuses on constructing buildings and the third option focuses on placing influence markers.
Option 1: Place property tiles with the specified number of influence markers on them to mark the strength for the final scoring. Place:
- one influence marker in Edinburgh
- one influence marker in Köln
- one influence marker in Brügge
- two influence markers in Hamburg
- one influence marker in Aalborg
- one influence marker in Stavanger
- one influence marker in Visby
- two influence markers in Malmö
- one influence marker in Memel
- one influence marker in Riga
Option 2: Place property tiles with the specified number of influence markers on them to mark the strength for the final scoring. Place:
- one influence marker in Edinburgh
- two influence markers in London
- one influence marker in Ribe
- one influence marker in Stavanger
- one influence marker in Oslo
- one influence marker in Bergen
- one influence marker in Visby
- one influence marker in Memel
Option 3: Place property tiles with the specified number of influence markers on them to mark the strength for the final scoring. Place:
- one influence marker in Edinburgh
- one influence marker in London
- one influence marker in Ribe
- two influence markers in Hamburg
- one influence marker in Stavanger
- two influence markers in Oslo
- one influence marker in Bergen
- one influence marker in Visby
- two influence markers in Stockholm
- one influence marker in Reval
Solo Mode
Solo Mode Variants
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You can play using the short version missions of the base game. That means you play in two rounds just as in the multiplayer version. Individual scoring follows at the end of the second Council Hall phase.
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You can compete against a dummy player in the main version of the game over five rounds, that is available in different difficulty levels. You use the 2-player setup and additionally have a developing dummy player during the game, that will be treated like a real opponent in the final scoring.
Rule Adjustments for the Council Hall Phase
As usual, you will have two opportunities to purchase Council Hall cards in this phase. You can first choose one of these cards at the given cost:
- 3 council votes cost 1 influence marker
- 10 council votes cost 7 influence markers
- developing improvement costs 1 influence marker
Then draw three Council Hall cards from the face-down draw pile. One of these can be purchased for the price of one influence marker. The influence markers you spent on the cards are then removed from your active supply and returned to the general supply. If you play the short version make sure to only use the cards with the right symbol.
Playing Against the Dummy Player
After setting up the game as described in the rulebook, place influence markers on the sea map and buildings in the city districts as in the 2-player version (see p.38). A dummy player acts as the actual opponent, against whom the final scores are counted after five rounds. First you decide on a difficulty level, which is indicated on each dummy description. Then also prepare the selection cards numbered 1-4 and the placement cards for the dummy player's influence markers and buildings, each in separate piles.
The actions of the dummy player are shown in the dummy description. In the left column of the overview you can see the buildings constructed in Lübeck at the beginning of each round during the production phase. Each of them is depicted with their respective strength. Instead of using building tiles you place one or two influence markers on a property tile of the corresponding color to mark the strength for the final scoring. During this phase you also randomly replace or remove one improvement tile and up to one Council order card according to the selection card you draw.
The right column shows how many influence markers the dummy player places on the sea map in each round before the third period indicator tile is revealed. Randomly drawn placement cards determine where the buildings and influence markers are placed.
Example: During the round preparation in the first round, a building of strength 2 is placed for the dummy player according to the dummy description. The randomly drawn placement card determines that this is built in the district St. Johannis and the location plan specifies the exact position.
The placement card determines the order in which the properties are occupied. If a property is already occupied, you use the next free spot following the direction of the arrows. If a city district is completely filled, draw a new placement card.
In the preparation phase for each new round, you remove an improvement using the four selection cards. To do this, draw one of the selection cards numbered 1 to 4 and remove the corresponding improvement, counting from left to right. After all remaining improvements have been moved to the right, a new improvement is revealed on the far left. In this phase, remember to also move all the improvements one position to the right, as described in the preparation phase. Also draw one out of four selection cards to remove a Council order card. Again, counting starts from the left. If the corresponding place is still occupied by a Council order, it is removed without replacement.
On the dummy description you can also see how many influence markers the dummy player places each round before the third period indicator tile is revealed. A corresponding number of randomly drawn placement cards determines in which cities the influence markers are placed. The dummy player's influence markers may also trigger the exchange of action cards.
Example: In the first round, the dummy player places four influence markers according to the dummy description. This happens before the third period indicator tile is revealed. The randomly drawn placement cards determine that one of the dummy's influence markers is placed in each of these cities: Danzig, London, Aalborg and Stavanger.
Placement cards are available in two piles: once for each city district in Lübeck and once for each city in the different trading zones on the sea map. At the end of each round, shuffle all placement cards that have been used back into their individual draw piles. This means that in one round two buildings can never be built in the same city district. Likewise, two influence markers can never be placed in the same city in one round.
The following basic rule must be followed when constructing buildings and placing influence markers for the dummy player:
If the dummy player already owns the majority in a city district or in a trading zone, do not perform that action, but draw a new placement card!
Remember to consider all influence markers placed and buildings constructed when defining majorities. If the dummy player has the majority in all city districts or trading zones, the action is still performed.
Overview dummy player actions:
- Round preparation / production phase: exchange of improvement; possibly remove Council order card; construct buildings according to dummy description.
- Before the third period indicator is revealed: place influence markers according to dummy description.
Final Score
The final scoring follows the description in the rulebook. Please note, that in addition to the scoring for majorities in city districts and sea zones, the dummy player receives a certain number of council votes, depending on the difficulty level. You can see the number of council votes on top of the dummy description.
Historical Setting
We understand that the Hanseatic theme has quite a large fan community. That is why we would like to add a few comments on the historical background.
The Aelderman (Middle Low German also Aldermann or Olderman) is head of a kontor. The four major Hanseatic kontors in Bergen, Bruges, London and Novgorod represent the most important subsidiaries for Hanseatic merchants and at the same time define the rough size of the economic area. These kontors are no individual buildings, but form their own large areas within the city. They even have their own regulations, which control the merchants' everyday life and trade. Among other things, the elected Aelderman is responsible for enforcing these rules. He assures internal order in the kontor, imposes penalties for violations, coordinates the staff and represents the Hanseatic merchants towards the local rulers, customs authorities and courts.
Since the Hanseatic merchants act as a community and could therefore deliver and purchase large quantities of goods, they are of particular importance to the foreign rulers. For this reason, they are granted various special rights, so-called privileges in the first place: for example, the operation of kontors, exemption from customs duties and rights of first refusal.
The Hanseatic League organizes its common interests at political meetings. The major transregional meetings are the Hanseatic Conventions, which are held mainly in Lübeck from 1358 onwards. Here, the council delegates of various Hanseatic cities discuss all important issues and decide by consensus. In the period from the 14th to the 17th century, merchants from around 200 cities are involved at times.
The success of the Hanseatic League is mainly based on the well-connected merchants, trading agreements with partners along the entire coast of North and Baltic Sea and the system of almost 50 subsidiaries, which the merchants use together. Although the individual merchants of the Hanseatic League compete with each other, the statutes of the Hanseatic League and the municipal law encourage them to cooperate in various fields. Together, they form convoys to reduce costs, provide mutual protection, and have greater political influence as a large community. Mutual loans and shareholdings are the rule rather than the exception. All of these factors contribute to the rise of the Hanseatic League to a central economic power in northern Europe.
In order to improve the game flow and mechanics we had to make some compromises at the expense of historical accuracy, especially in the selection of cities on the sea trade map. Nevertheless, we hope to have found a good balance between doing justice to the theme on the one hand and ensuring an attractive game experience on the other.
Credits
The game was designed by author Johannes Rogoll. The final version of the game was created in cooperation with co-author Doris Rogoll.
Ryan Lowe illustrated the game and Joachim Eckerl made significant graphical adjustments throughout the editing process. The general editorial work, development of graphics and production was shared by Sabrina Eckerl, Joachim Eckerl, Doris Rogoll and Johannes Rogoll. Johannes Rogoll was in charge of writing Alderman's rulebook.
We would like to thank all players who spent countless hours testing the different versions of the game and thus helped to optimize Aelderman in its details. For proofreading the rulebook, we would like to thank Elisabeth Eckerl, Bettina Rogoll and many others. The rulebook was translated into English by Sabrina Eckerl and Doris Rogoll. And last but not least, we want to thank all the many other supporters helping with various issues, making this project possible in the first place.
In particular, we would like to thank a supporter from the very first hour: Christian Renkel from Spielstil.net, who has supported us with advice and expertise since the project started. Special thanks also go to Dany Kemmler, who was able to inspire many board game enthusiasts for our game at numerous game nights and events. Special thanks also go to the European Hanse Museum in Lübeck and its team for their support in researching the historical background.
Impressum
- Marketing & Editing: Sabrina Eckerl
- Productdesign & Editing: Joachim Eckerl
- Production & Editing: Doris Rogoll
- Development & Editing: Johannes Rogoll
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