Aqua Romana
Aqua Romana Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Playing Equipment
- 84 tiles - with four different types of aqueduct components: curves, straight sections, bridges and double curves.
- 4 starting tiles in the four players' colours - showing water reservoirs on both sides with different outlets. Outlets for 4 aqueducts when playing with three players; outlets for 3 aqueducts when playing with two or four players.
- 16 wooden workmen in the four players' colours - build the aqueducts.
- 17 wooden master builders - supply the workmen with particular aqueduct components.
- 1 sheet of stickers - for the master builders. One sticker goes on the front and another with the same picture on the back.
- 1 board - with 84 blank playing squares and 4 pre-printed curved pieces of an aqueduct. The pathway around the board for the master builders is 38 squares long. There are 20 podiums for the workmen who have completed an aqueduct; they indicate the number of points gained. There is also a space for the 5 different master builders who are held in reserve.
- 1 set of instructions
The Aim of the Game
Antique Rome got the water it urgently needed via long water supply lines: the aqueducts. Each player, as the building principal, tries to make their aqueducts as long as possible with the help of their master builders and workmen and gain as many points as possible. However, sometimes not all resources are available. Each new piece of the aqueduct can only be built with the help of the appropriate master builder because they supply the components for curves, straight sections, bridges and double curves.
Good planning is important so that the players close off their aqueducts at the right time to win points.
Getting Ready to Play
Positioning the master builders
One of each kind of master builder (with a curve, double curve, straight, bridge or joker) is placed in reserve (top right of the board). Beginning with the starter player, the players then take turns to place the rest of the master builder figures onto any square of the pathway around the board. Only one master builder is allowed on each square.
Preparing the reservoir and workmen
Each player receives the water reservoir in the colour of their choice and the accompanying workmen.
If there are two players, each player is given 2 reservoirs, the first is given the yellow reservoir and the blue reservoir, the second player the other two.
Depending on the number of players, the reservoirs are laid so that the side with the 4 outlets points upwards (if there are 3 players) or the side with 3 outlets points upwards (if there are 2 or 4 players).
The water reservoirs are placed on the board as shown in the illustration opposite. (The black arrows show the number of outlets and the direction in which they are pointing.)
One of the player's own workmen is placed at each outlet.
Playing the Game
Play passes around in a clockwise direction. The eldest player begins. This player carries out an entire move which may include the following actions:
- Extending an aqueduct
- Closing off an aqueduct
- Points for a closed-off aqueduct
After the player has completed his go, it is the turn of the player to his left.
Note: it is only the aqueduct pieces on the board which are connected to a reservoir which count as part of an aqueduct. Individual tiles which are not connected to a reservoir do not count as part of an aqueduct.
Extending an aqueduct
To extend an aqueduct, a player carries out the following steps:
- Choose the workmen and the appropriate master builder
- Lay the corresponding tile
- Move the workmen forward
- Move the master builder forward
Choose the workmen and the appropriate master builder
The player decides which aqueduct he wants to extend and chooses one of his workmen on that aqueduct. If there are two players, a player can choose any of his 6 workmen each move.
This workman must have a master builder in his line of sight. This means that there must be a master builder on the path around the edge of the board who is in a straight line (horizontal or vertical) when viewed from the square on which the workman is standing.
As the workman always has four possible directions in which he can "look", there can be up to four master builders in his line of sight. (The yellow workman has a master builder in his line of sight, which means that he can add a bridge piece.)
The player now chooses one of the master builders in his workman's line of sight, takes the corresponding tile from the general stockpile and lays it on the aqueduct.
Laying tiles
- The tile is placed in front of the workman so that it extends the aqueduct to which the workman belongs.
- The tile can also be positioned so that it closes off an aqueduct belonging to another player or one of the player's own aqueducts.
- A tile cannot be laid where it would join 2 aqueducts with one another (i.e. no aqueduct can have a connection to 2 reservoirs).
Note: free aqueduct components that are not connected to a reservoir can be connected to an aqueduct.
Moving workmen forward
If one or more aqueducts have been extended, all the workmen involved now move to the new end of their respective aqueduct. To do this, the workman is placed on the edge of the tile which forms the current end of the aqueduct.
Example: Red lays a double curve and puts his workman on the new end of the aqueduct. The blue player's aqueduct has also been extended by this move. The blue workman is also placed at the new end of his aqueduct.
Note: The new end of the aqueduct may not necessarily be on the tile which has just been laid. If, in laying the tile, a space is filled, the aqueduct may be lengthened by several squares.
Moving master builders forward
The master builder who has been used is now moved clockwise onto the next free square of the pathway around the board.
If, in doing this, the figure goes round a corner, i.e. is moved over a fountain, the player must lay another tile of the same kind. The player lays it on any free square, but not so that it joins onto the end of an aqueduct (neither his own nor that of another player). Should this not be possible, because there is no such free square, an additional tile cannot be laid.
Special Cases When Extending an Aqueduct
Compulsory turn
If a player can move one of his own workmen in accordance with the rules, the player must do this. In this case another player's workman must be chosen who does have a master builder in his line of sight, even if this is to the first player's disadvantage.
No master builder in line of sight
If, however, no player has a workman with a master builder in his line of sight, no tile is placed in this go. Instead, any master builder is moved clockwise to the next free square of the pathway around the board. If, in doing this, the master builder is moved across a fountain, the player is not allowed to lay an extra tile.
A particular kind of tile is no longer available
If a master builder requires a particular kind of tile that is no longer in the general stock, a player instead takes any other tile from the stock and lays it accordingly.
Closing Off an Aqueduct
After a tile has been laid, players check whether any aqueducts have been closed off and if so, how many.
Closing off an aqueduct by means of construction work
If an aqueduct can no longer be extended, whether because the adjoining tile does not extend the aqueduct or because the aqueduct has reached the edge of the board, then the aqueduct has been closed off. In this case, it does not matter whether it involves the player's own aqueduct or another player's. Laying one tile may in some cases even close off several aqueducts.
Example: Red closes off the blue workman's aqueduct by laying a tile. Red extends his aqueduct but also closes it off because it cannot be extended beyond the edge of the board.
Voluntary closing off of a player's own aqueduct
If a player has not ended an aqueduct of his own in his go by laying a tile, he can then choose to close off any one of his own aqueducts (i.e. even if this aqueduct could still have been extended).
Note: As the places on the podiums are limited, it is very important to close an aqueduct at the right time.
Points for aqueducts which have been closed off
At the end of a player's turn, points are awarded for all the aqueducts that have just been closed off, whether they belong to the player or not.
The number of squares which the aqueduct passes over are added up. One point is then awarded for each of these squares. If an aqueduct leads over a square for a second time, this square counts for 1 additional point (2 points in total). The starting tile with the reservoir does not count.
Winners' Podiums
The workman whose aqueduct has just been closed off is put on the podium with the corresponding number of points at the edge of the board.
Example: One of the red player's aqueducts has been closed off. It passes (once) over 8 tiles and is therefore worth 8 points. The workman belonging to it is placed on the podium with the number 8.
If the podium is already occupied, the workman is placed on the podium with the next highest number of points. There is enough room on a podium for 1 workman, with the exception of podiums "3" and "7" which have enough room for 2 workmen each.
Example: The red player has closed off an aqueduct and scored 8 points. Unfortunately, the corresponding podium is already occupied. He therefore has to put his workman on the next highest free podium. Fortunately, two workmen fit on the number 7 podium.
If an aqueduct reaches a score of more than 20, the workman is placed on the highest free podium. The player receives the number of points shown on the podium; the rest of the score does not count.
If several aqueducts were closed off in one go, the workmen of the player whose turn it was are awarded points first. The remaining players' workmen then follow in a clockwise direction.
Reserve Master Builders
For each aqueduct which is closed off during the current turn, the player whose aqueduct it is chooses a master builder from the reserve for as long as there are any.
Beginning with the player whose turn it is, the respective players take turns to pick up the corresponding number of reserve master builders.
A player who has taken one (or several) reserve master builders must place them on any free square of the pathway around the board immediately before his own next go. They are then immediately available to all players as are all the other master builders on the pathway.
Note: of course, the player can also immediately use this master builder himself.
The "joker" master builder
One of the reserve master builders is marked with a special sticker. If this master builder is used (by a workman in the workman's line of sight), the player can lay any tile which is still available.
The End of the Game and the Final Round of Scoring
If a player has no workmen left on the board, he does not move a master builder and does not lay any more tiles.
If no tiles are laid for a whole round, the game ends with the player who laid the last tile. Points are still awarded for open aqueducts, beginning with the player whose go it is. The final round of scoring then takes place.
Each workman gets the number of points corresponding to his podium. The workman on the podium with the highest number gets a bonus of 4 points. The workman on the second highest podium gets a bonus of 3 points and the workman on the third highest podium gets 2 extra points.
Note: Including the bonus, it is quite possible for an aqueduct to gain more than 20 points.
The winner is the player whose workmen score the most points altogether (podium score and bonus points if applicable). If two or more players score the same number of points, they are joint winners.
Example of a final round of scoring
"Blue" - 17 pts. (podium) + 4 pts. (bonus) = 21 pts. + 5 pts. (podium) + 0 pts. (podium) = a total of 26 pts.
"Yellow" - 12 pts. (podium) + 2 pts. (bonus) = 14 pts. + 6 pts. (podium) + 3 pts. (podium) = a total of 23 pts.
"Green" - 14 pts. (podium) + 3 pts. (bonus) = 17 pts. + 4 pts. (podium) + 1 pt. (podium) = a total of 22 pts.
"Red" - 11 pts. (podium) + 7 pts. (podium) + 2 pts. (podium) = a total of 20 pts.
© Copyright 2005 Queen Games, D-53842 Troisdorf, Germany