Cannonball Colony

Cannonball Colony Rulebook

Table of Contents

Game Components

4 island boards
4 player mats
1 rules of play booklet
90 road tiles
8 mountain pieces
40 fort pieces (10 each in 4 colours)
8 cannon pieces (2 each in 4 colours)
4 ship pieces (1 each in 4 colours)
4 blockade pieces

Overview of the Game

The aim of the game is to be the first player to build ten forts on the island, or to have the most forts built when the road tiles run out. This player gains control of the island for his country!

The game begins with each player choosing where to land his ship on the island. This will be the starting point for all that he will build.

On each turn, the players will build one or two road tiles on the island, or build one of their forts, cannons or blockades on top of an existing road tile. A player may build only on road tiles that are connected to one of his forts or his ship by a path of road tiles. Different networks of road tiles may be joined, allowing the players access to road tiles built by their opponents.

As the players build more forts on the island, their cannons and blockades will progressively become available for them to build. If the player has built any cannons, he may fire one of them on his turn to destroy an opponent's fort. Blockades can be built to defend against enemy cannon fire.

Understanding the Island

The following diagram shows each type of space that can be found on the island boards:

Grass space: Road tiles can be built on grass spaces.
Lake space: Road tiles cannot be built on lake spaces.
Forest space: Road tiles can be built on forest spaces but with more difficulty than on grass spaces.
Mountain space: Road tiles cannot be built on mountain spaces. Mountain spaces can block cannon fire.

Understanding Connections

An important part of playing the game is understanding when two road tiles are said to be connected. This happens when there is an unbroken path of road tiles between them. Connections are important because a player can build only on road tiles that are connected to one of his forts or to his ship.

When a particular player is calculating which road tiles are connected to one of his forts or ship, he simply follows the path of adjacent road tiles starting from that fort or ship. Tiles connect only along their four edges, they do not connect diagonally. A path of connected road tiles is broken by any road tile on which there is built an opponent's fort or any blockade.

An easy way to understand this rule is to think of your forts and ship as where the soldiers from your country stay. If they wish to build something on the island, they must travel along road tiles to get to the appropriate location. They can pass by cannons, because they are not large enough to block the road. However, blockades are larger and will block the path. Opponents' forts also block the path, as no enemy is going to let you pass through his own fort!

Diagram description: This diagram shows a section of the island. The brown squares represent road tiles that have been built. The red player has built a fort at A. The yellow player has built a cannon at B and a fort at C. A blockade has been built at D. A red line traces a path of connected road tiles from the red fort. Each road tile it passes through is said to be connected to the red fort. Note that the yellow cannon does not break the path. Road tile E is not connected because it only touches the other road tiles diagonally. The road tile at F is not connected to the red fort because the yellow fort blocks the path. The road tile at G is not connected because the blockade blocks the path. This would happen even if the red player built this blockade.

Setting Up the Game

1) Set up the island.

The island is made up of island boards laid out randomly for every game. The island boards are set up differently depending on the number of players in the game:

Following this layout, place the island boards together in the centre of the table. The orientation of each board should be chosen randomly. In a two or three player game, the specific island boards that are used should also be chosen randomly.

After you have set up the island boards, place a mountain piece on each mountain space. The mountain pieces function only to make it clear where the mountain spaces are.

2) Place the road tiles in a supply pile.

Throughout the game, players will take road tiles from a common supply pile in order to build them. The number of tiles in this pile depends on the number of players.

In a two player game, 50 road tiles are used.
In a three player game, 70 road tiles are used.
In a four player game, all 90 road tiles are used.

Take these tiles and place them in a pile beside the island, in reach of all players. In a two or three player game, return all remaining road tiles to the box, as they will not be used.

3) Take player mats.

Each player chooses which country he would like to play as. He then takes the player mat corresponding to that country and places it on the table in front of him.

4) Take pieces.

Each player then takes all his pieces: ten fort pieces in his country's colour, two cannons in his country's colour, one ship in his country's colour and one blockade.

The player places his fort pieces on his player mat, putting one fort on each of the spaces marked one to ten. These are called his fort spaces. He places a cannon on each of the cannon spaces, and his blockade on the blockade space. He sets aside his ship piece for now.

5) Determine each player's landing board.

To begin the game, each player will land his ship on a different island board. This is called his landing board. A player's landing board is the island board closest to where he is sitting. Two or more players cannot share the same landing board.

6) Choose the starting player.

In a two or four player game, the starting player is determined randomly by the players. In a three player game, the starting player is the player whose landing board is in the peninsula position (the third board, placed below the two side-by-side boards).

The Landing Phase

To begin the game, players go through the landing phase. This is where each player will choose a space on the island to land his ship. This landing space will be the starting point for all that he will build throughout the game.

The player must obey the following rules when selecting his landing space:

The space must be on the player's landing board.
The space must be on the edge of the island. That is, at least one of its edges must also be the edge of the whole island.
The space must be either a grass space or forest space.
The space must be at least four adjacent spaces away from any other player's landing space.
When playing a three player game, the space must not be one of the four spaces marked in the adjacent diagram (the diagram marks four spaces on the island edge beside the peninsula board).

After choosing his landing space, the player claims it by taking his ship piece and placing it on the table, adjacent to that space.

Example: The yellow player has chosen space A as his landing space, and so has placed his ship next to it. The red player must choose a landing space on the edge of his landing board. He cannot choose space B because it is only three adjacent spaces away from the yellow player's landing space. He cannot choose space C because it is a mountain space. He may choose space D.

Play moves clockwise around the table with each player claiming his landing space. Once this is complete, play returns to the starting player who will take the first regular turn of the game. The first road tile built by each player will be on his landing space.

A Turn in Overview

After the landing phase, regular play commences. Play begins with the starting player.

On his turn the player takes the following steps in order:

The player may fire a cannon.
The player must perform only one of the following build actions:
- a) Build one or two road tiles over grass.
- b) Build one road tile over forest.
- c) Build a fort.
- d) Build a cannon.
- e) Build a blockade.
The player checks if one of his cannons or blockades has become available.

When the player has finished his turn, play moves clockwise around the table to the next player. Play continues in this way until the game is ended (see Ending the game).

A Turn in Detail

1) The player may fire a cannon.

If the player has any of his cannons built on the island, he may fire one of them at the start of his turn. He chooses one of his cannons, and then chooses one enemy fort that is in range of that cannon to fire a cannonball at and destroy. Destroyed forts are removed from the island.

A fort is in range of a cannon if it is in the same row or column as the cannon (regardless of how many spaces away it is), and there is no mountain or blockade between it and the cannon. Mountains and blockades block all cannon fire. Cannon fire is not blocked by grass, forest or lake spaces, empty road tiles or forts. Cannonballs can be directed to shoot over these and land on any chosen fort in range. This means that the player firing his cannon may destroy a fort even if there are other forts between it and the cannon, regardless of who owns these forts.

Diagram description: The red player has built forts at A and B. The yellow player has built a fort at C and cannons at D and E. Fort A is in range of cannon D because it is in the same row, with no mountain or blockade in between. The cannon can shoot over forest and lake spaces. Fort B is in range of cannon D because it is in the same column, and the cannon can shoot over fort C. Fort B is not in range of cannon E, because there is a mountain between it and the cannon.

The player whose fort has been destroyed takes that fort from the island and returns it to the first available fort space on his player mat. For example, if fort spaces four to ten are occupied on his player mat, he places the destroyed fort on space three. This fort will be used the next time the player wishes to build a fort, as per usual (see Build a fort).

Remember:

The player firing his cannon may destroy only one fort per turn.
The player firing his cannon may not destroy one of his own forts.
Cannons cannot destroy road tiles, mountains, blockades, ships or other cannons.

2) The player must perform only one build action.

The player must take one of the following build actions, whether he fired a cannon or not:

a) Build one or two road tiles over grass.

The player takes a road tile from the supply pile. He places it on any grass space that is adjacent to a road tile connected to one of his forts or his ship. The player may then choose to take a second road tile and place it in the same way. When building his first road tile for the game, the player will build it on his landing space.

Diagram description: The red player has landed his ship at A and has built a fort at B. The yellow player has built a fort at C. The red player wishes to build two road tiles over grass. He may build a road tile at D because this grass space is adjacent to a road tile that is connected to his ship and his fort. He may build a road tile at E because this space is adjacent to a road tile that is connected to his fort. If the player does build a road tile at D or E, he could then build a second road tile at F. This is because space F would now be adjacent to a road tile connected to his ship or fort.

Remember:

If two road tiles are built in a turn, they need not be adjacent to each another.
The player may choose to build just one road tile over grass on his turn.

b) Build one road tile over forest.

The player takes a road tile from the supply pile. He places it on any forest space that is adjacent to a road tile connected to one of his forts or his ship. When building his first road tile for the game, the player will build it on his landing space. Players may build only one road tile over forest per turn because it is harder work to lay road through a forest than over grass.

c) Build a fort.

The player takes the first available fort from his player mat. For example, if the player has built two forts already, he takes the fort from the third fort space on his player mat. The player then builds this fort by placing it on a road tile on the island.

The following rules must be obeyed when selecting a road tile on which to build a fort:

The road tile must be connected to one of the player's forts or his ship.
The road tile must not contain any fort, cannon or blockade.
The road tile must be at least three adjacent spaces from any other fort belonging to the player. Lake and mountain spaces are ignored when making this calculation.
The road tile must not be in range of an opponent's cannon. (See the diagram under The player may fire a cannon.)

Diagram description: The red player has built a fort at A and a cannon at B. The yellow player has built a fort at C and cannon at D. The small numbers count out adjacent spaces starting from the red fort. Note that the lake space is ignored in the counting. The red player wishes to build a fort. He may not build at E because this road tile is only one space away from his fort. He may not build at F because this space is in range of the yellow cannon. The player may build a fort at G or H because these road tiles are at least three spaces away from his fort and not in range of the yellow cannon.

Remember:

When the player builds a fort, it does not matter how close it is to an opponent's fort, or any cannon, providing it is not in range of an opponent's cannon.
When the player builds a fort, it does not matter how close it is to any ship.
It does not matter which player built the road tile on which the player builds his fort.
A player's fort breaks paths of connected road tiles for his opponents.

d) Build a cannon.

If the player has an available cannon (see The player checks...) then he may build it. The player places the cannon on a road tile on the island. He will be able to fire this cannon on subsequent turns, but not on the turn he builds it.

The following rules must be obeyed when selecting a road tile on which to build a cannon:

The road tile must be connected to one of the player's forts or his ship.
The road tile must not contain any fort, cannon or blockade.
The road tile must not be in range of an opponent's cannon. (See the diagram under The player may fire a cannon.)

Remember:

When the player builds a cannon, it does not matter how close it is to any fort, ship or cannon, providing it is not in range of an opponent's cannon.
It does not matter which player built the road tile on which the player builds his cannon.
Once built, cannons can never be moved or destroyed.

e) Build a blockade.

If the player's blockade is available (see The player checks...) then he may build it. The player places the blockade on a road tile on the island.

The following rules must be obeyed when selecting a road tile on which to build a blockade:

The road tile must be connected to one of the player's forts or his ship.
The road tile must not contain any fort, cannon or blockade.

Remember:

It does not matter which player built the road tile on which the player builds his blockade.
A blockade blocks all cannon fire.
A blockade breaks paths of connected road tiles for all players.
Once built, blockades can never be moved or destroyed.

3) The player checks if one of his cannons or blockades has become available.

If the player has built a fort on his turn, he now checks to see if one of his cannons or his blockade has become available.

The first time the player builds the fort from his third fort space, his first cannon becomes available. He immediately takes it from the first cannon space on his player mat and places it on the table next to his ship. It is now available to build on any subsequent turn.
The first time the player builds the fort from his sixth fort space, his second cannon becomes available. He immediately takes it from the second cannon space on his player mat and places it on the table next to his ship. It is now available to build on any subsequent turn.
The first time the player builds the fort from his eighth fort space, his blockade becomes available. He immediately takes it from the blockade space on his player mat and places it on the table next to his ship. It is now available to build on any subsequent turn.

If later in the game, some of the player's forts are destroyed and he finds himself building the fort from his third, sixth or eighth space again, no extra cannons or blockades become available to him.

Once a cannon or blockade has been made available to a player, it will never return to his player mat.

There is no obligation for the player to build a cannon or blockade once it has been made available.

Passing a turn

A player may pass his turn only if there are no legal build actions left for him to make on the island. The island must keep developing! So if the player can take a build action, he must. Even if the player wishes only to fire a cannon on his turn, he must also take a build action if possible.

This means that towards the end of the game as the supply of road tiles runs low, a player may not prolong the end of the game by passing. Conversely, if a player is in a strong position, he may bring the end of the game nearer by building road tiles as quickly as he can.

Ending the Game

The game can end in one of two ways:

1) A player builds his tenth fort.

As soon as a player has built all ten of his forts on the island, he gains control of the island for his country and has won the game!

2) The last road tile from the supply pile is built.

As soon as any player builds the last road tile, the island is fully developed and the game is over. When this happens, the player with the most forts built on the island wins. This player has the strongest presence on the island and claims it for his country!

If multiple players are tied with the most forts, then victory goes to the player with the fewest forts built on his landing board. This player has extended his reach the furthest over the island and therefore takes control!

If multiple players are still tied, then players count up the number of cannons and blockades they have built. The player with the lowest number wins, having used his resources more economically.

If multiple players are still tied, then they share victory and forge an uneasy alliance to govern the island together.

Strategy Tips

When landing your ship, choose a position that takes advantage of the protection offered by mountain spaces.
Remember that when you build a cannon, no opponent may build forts in range of it. This allows you to build your own forts in the cannon's row and column without competition.
Be careful when you build a road tile that connects two networks of roads. You may allow an opponent access to road tiles that you would not like him to build on!
If an opponent is getting near to building his sixth or eighth fort, do what you can to stop him! When his second cannon and blockade become available, he will gain significant power.