Armorica
Armorica Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Card Distribution
63 cards: 4 start cards, 1 start-player card, 29 Gaul cards (in decks A, B, C, D & E), 29 Roman cards (in decks I, II, III & IV).
Cards come in 6 suits: farmers (yellow), workers (blue), soldiers (brown), matrons (green), generals (red) and bureaucrats (white). Cards feature 6 types of icons: wheat (1st row), grapes (2nd row), olives (3rd row), sheep (4th row), gold coins (5th row) and amphorae (6th row).
Setup
Randomly determine a start player. Give this player the card labeled Start 1 and the start player card. Give the other players Start cards in numerical order, clockwise from the start player. Players put their start card face-up in front of themselves, to become the first card of their personal displays.
Sort the Gaul cards into separate piles based on the letter (A, B, C, D, E) in the lower right. Shuffle each pile separately, and then stack them face-down on top of each other in order, so that the A pile is at the top and E is at the bottom.
Do the same with the Roman cards, sorting them into piles by Roman numeral (I, II, III, IV), shuffling and then stacking, with the I pile at the top and IV at the bottom.
Turn over a row of 6 face-up Gaul cards. Turn over a separate row of 6 face-up Roman cards.
Turn Sequence
Each turn has 3 phases: 1 Gaul Immigration, 2 Roman Immigration, and 3 Winter Starvation.
1. Gaul Immigration Phase
In turn order, beginning with the start player, each player must take a card from the Gaul card row and add it to their personal display, or pass.
If the active player takes a Gaul card, she counts the number of wheat icons (top row) in her display to determine how many cards she may select among. The range of cards she may select from starts with the rightmost card in the row, and is then counted leftward. At the start of the game all players have 2 wheat icons, and so may only choose either the rightmost card, or the second card from the right.
The chosen card is then played face-up at the right end of the active player's personal display, partially on top of the previously played card in the display, leaving the columns of icons on the underlying card visible.
If the active player passes, she must discard the rightmost card of the Gaul card row.
After taking or discarding a card, the active player shifts the remaining cards in the Gaul card row to the right and adds a card from the Gaul deck to the left end of the card row, face-up.
2. Roman Immigration Phase
In turn order, beginning with the start player, each player must take a card from the Roman card row and add it to their personal display, or pass.
The range of plebeian Roman cards (blue, brown and yellow) from which the active player can choose among is determined in the same manner as Gaul cards, by counting the active player's wheat icons. Patrician Roman cards (green, red and white) are instead made accessible by the icon shown in the lower right of the Roman card being targeted: grapes (2nd row) for red cards, olives (3rd row) for green cards, and sheep (4th row) for white cards. The active player counts the number of the needed icon in her display to determine how many cards from the rightmost card she may select among a patrician Roman card of the desired color. When determining the range of Roman cards from which the active player can choose, count all the cards in the Roman card row, not just cards of the same type.
The chosen card is then played face-up at the right end of the active player's personal display, partially on top of the previously played card in the display, leaving the columns of icons on the underlying card visible. There will be occasions when there is no legal Roman card the active player can take; the active player must pass on these occasions.
Example: It is Michael's turn to select a Roman Card. He has 3 wheat icons, 2 olive icons, and 1 grape icon in his personal display. Going from left to right, the Roman card row contains a brown card, a white card, a blue card, a yellow card, a red card, and a green card. Michael may not choose the Red card, because it is the 2nd card from the right, and he has only 1 grape icon. He may not choose the white card, because it is the 5th card from the right, and he has no sheep icons. He may not choose the Brown or Blue cards, because they are 6th and 4th from the right, and he has only 3 wheat icons. He may take the yellow card because it is 3rd from the right and he has 3 wheat icons, or he may take the green card because it is 1st on the right and he has 2 olive icons.
If the active player passes, she must discard the rightmost card of the Roman card row.
After taking or discarding a card, the active player shifts the remaining Roman cards to the right, and adds a card from the Roman deck to the left end of the card row, face-up.
3. Winter Starvation Phase
In turn order, beginning with the start player, each player compares the number of amphora icons (6th row) in her personal display to the number of cards in her personal display. If the display has more cards than amphora icons, then the player must discard cards with no amphora icons until the number of amphora icons and cards is equal. Cards may be discarded from anywhere within the personal display; if discarding from the middle of the display, move any cards on the right leftward to cover the gap created by the removed card. A player may never discard a card with any amphora icons on it.
Pass the start player card left.
(* In the 2 player game only, also discard the rightmost card of each card row, and add a card from the draw decks to the left end of each card row.)
Game End
The game ends at the end of the turn in which either the Roman or Gaul draw decks is exhausted.
Scoring
Players receive victory points (VP) for sets of sequenced, differently-colored cards in their display. A new set begins with the first card which duplicates a color in the prior set. Players must begin their first set with their start card, counting rightward, without skipping any card in their display.
| 1 Color | 2 Colors | 3 Colors | 4 Colors | 5 Colors | 6 Colors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 VP | 3 VP | 6 VP | 10 VP | 15 VP | 21 VP |
Players receive 1 VP for each gold coin icon (5th row) in their display.
The player with the most grape icons in the columns of the cards in her personal display receives 4 VP. If 2-3 players tie for this bonus, each receives 2 VP. VP are awarded for having the most olive icons and sheep icons in the same manner.
The player with the most VP wins. In the event of a tie, the player with the most gold coin icons in her display wins.
Example: Michael has a sequence of 3 colors worth 6 VP in his personal display (brown, blue, yellow) followed by a sequence of 5 colors worth 15 VP (brown, yellow, red, blue, white), and a sequence of 2 colors worth 3 VP (yellow, white). There are 3 gold coins in his display, worth 3 VP. He has more sheep icons in his display than any other player, for a bonus worth 4 VP. Michael is tied with Carmen for having the most grape icons, for a bonus worth 2 VP. His total score is 33 VP. Michael and Carmen tie with 33 points each, however Michael has 3 gold coin icons and Carmen only has 2. Michael wins the game on the tiebreaker.