Carson City: Horses & Heroes
Carson City: Horses & Heroes Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 3 personality cards (with a variant on the backside)
- 12 property tiles
- 10 cowboys
- 2 markers
- 5 black sticks representing the roads
- 4 rodeo chips
- 25 horse chips
- 6 individual player boards
- 1 overlay tile: if you play with the horse variant, place this tile on the first action square on the board (wages).
- 1 player turn track overlay tile: if you play with 6 players, place this tile on top of the turn order track.
Variant: Horses
Setup
Every player receives one horse, and an individual player board representing the enclosures where they can place their horses. This individual player board illustrates the different uses of your horses. The other horses are placed in the general reserve. Four rodeo tokens are stacked in a pile on top of the turn marker.
Buying horses
At the beginning of the game you only have one horse. There are two ways to obtain more horses: by choosing the yellow side of the Cowboy (if it is available from the characters) during the "choose a character" phase, or by placing a cowboy on the first action of the game board.
Indeed, the first action space, "salary", allows you to buy ONE horse for $4 instead of receiving $4. Note: you can only do this once per game round.
When you purchase a horse, you must immediately place it in one of your enclosures. If multiple cowboys are present on the "salary" action space, resolve this action in passing order.
Using horses and enclosures
During the cowboy placement phase, you have the choice of placing a horse in one of your enclosures immediately after placing one of your cowboys. You can use a horse after each cowboy you place on the board.
You can also choose to place a cowboy in one of your enclosures instead of using it for a normal action (you can only do this once per enclosure). The presence of a cowboy in an enclosure doubles the value of the rodeo in this enclosure (see next section: Rodeos).
It is not required to place all of your horses in an enclosure (for instance if you decide to play less cowboys than the number of horses you have).
Horse actions
Placing a horse in one of your enclosures allows you to perform one of these five actions:
- Having a horse in the first enclosure gives your cowboys +1 firepower for the rest of the game round. Having three or more horses adds +2 to your firepower.
- Placing a horse in the second enclosure allows to immediately either:
- place an extra cowboy from your personal reserve (allowing you to place an extra horse), OR
- move an already placed cowboy to another location (either by placing him on another location on the board or by placing him back in your personal reserve), OR
- pass (move your turn order marker to the first available spot on the pass order, effectively ending your cowboy placement phase.
- Placing a horse in the third enclosure allows you to double the income of one of your Ranches. Every horse placed here can double the income of one Ranch only. Each of your Ranches can have its income doubled this way once per game round. This power can not be combined with the ability of the Grocer (doubling the income of one type of building).
- Placing a horse in the fourth enclosure immediately gives you $2.
- Placing a horse in the fifth enclosure will give you a +5 rodeo point bonus when determining the winner of the upcoming rodeo.
Rodeos
At the end of every game round, a rodeo takes place. All the players take part in this major event. Each player calculates their rodeo score by adding together the rodeo points gained for each enclosure space. Rodeo points are scored by multiplying the number of horses present in an enclosure space by the "hat" value of that space (Double this number if there is a cowboy present in that space). The highest rodeo score wins the Carson City Rodeo, and gains a rodeo token, that raises the value of each horse you own at the end of the game by one victory point. In case of a tie, the player furthest to the left on the pass order track wins the rodeo.
End of the turn
At the end of the turn, remove all your horses from your enclosures and back in your personal reserve.
End of the game
At the end of the game, every horse you own gives you 1 VP. On top of that, for each rodeo token you own, you receive one extra VP per horse.
Example: If you end the game with three horses and you won 2 rodeos, your horses will earn you 3x(1+2) = 9 VPs.
New Personalities
The Paperboy
Pay 3$ and immediately choose another personality card (from cards in play), save the Sheriff. You apply the abilities of that new character as per usual, including its money limit, but you count the "0" value of this card to determine player order. Cash limit: $0.
Variant: Immediately choose another personality card (from cards in play), save the Sheriff. You apply the abilities of that new character as per usual, but you deduct 5$ off of that character's money limit. You count the "0" value of this card to determine player order. Cash limit: -$5.
IMPORTANT: If you play with the Paperboy, you must use 8 character cards in your game instead of 7.
Tips from the sheriff: the paperboy is always ready to help out for a little fee, like going to look for a particular person you need. But since he's often up to no good, he will never dare to disturb the sheriff.
The Heroes
During the entire round, all your buildings are protected from enemy attack, whether it's from other players or the outlaws. You cannot attack the buildings of other players. When moving the outlaws, consider the revenue of all your buildings to be 0$. If an outlaw is on one of your buildings during the revenue step, you still receive your normal income from that building. Cash limit: $240.
Variant: Choose one of these three available options:
- receive 3 VPs;
- put 1 of your available cowboys back in the general reserve and receive 6 VPs;
- put 2 of your available cowboys back in the general reserve and receive 9 VPs.
Cash limit: $40.
The Cowboy
Immediately receive a new horse token that you place in your personal reserve. Cash limit: 20$.
Variant: When you choose the Cowboy, you immediately pay 8$ and receive one ranch amongst those available on the building track. Place one of your property markers on any unoccupied parcel of land and place the ranch you just received on that property marker. The available buildings are all shifted down the line and a new building is taken out of the bag and placed on the 12$ spot. If there are no ranches available, take one out of the bag. If all six ranches have already been bought, flip the Cowboy card to its yellow side. Cash limit: $20.
Sixth Player
This expansion adds components for a 6th player (red). As with 5 players, playing Carson City with 6 players is generally very aggressive and ruthless. So, it's not recommended for beginners, nor with the river side of the map. If you play with the "MIGHT IS RIGHT" variant, the rules are the same as with 5 players, expect that each player receives 5 random duel tiles instead of 6.