De Kolonisten van de Lage Landen Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Overview
• Map Legend
• Game Components
• Setup
  • Variable starting setup
• Game Play
  • 1. Yields
  • 2. Trading and Building
    • 2a. Trading
    • 2b. Building
      • Building a Road
      • Building a Town Hall
      • Building a Monument
    • Buying a Development Card
    • Playing a Development Card
      • Soldier
      • Progress
      • Victory Point
  • Fish Tokens
• Special Rules
  • a) Rolling a "7"
  • b) Longest Trade Route
  • c) Largest Army
  • d) Extraordinary Building Phase (5 players only)
• End of Game

Game Overview

The map of the Netherlands and Flanders is made up of five different landscapes. Here the raw materials wood, wool, brick, ore and grain are gathered, which you hold in your hand in the form of resource cards. In the water along the coast, fishing takes place. Here you can earn fish tokens.

Raw materials are needed to build roads and to build monuments and town halls in cities. With fish tokens you can carry out various extra actions.

So how do you get raw materials and fish tokens? Very simple. Each round, two dice determine which landscapes are harvested and in which waters fishing takes place. So each landscape and body of water has a number. For example, if a "3" is rolled, then all landscapes and fishing waters with a "3" yield resource cards or fish tokens.

To receive resource cards and fish tokens you must own a town hall on the landscape or body of water with the rolled number.

At the start of the game you have 3 town halls, so you quickly receive resource cards and possibly fish tokens. You may trade resources with other players to get the right combinations for building roads, monuments and town halls.

Each town hall you build is worth 1 victory point. Everyone starts with 3 victory points. If you are the first to reach 12 victory points (in a game with 3 or 4 players) or 10 victory points (in a game with 5 players), you win the game.

Map Legend

• Starting space monument — This is where the monument is placed at the start of the game.
• Reward for the builder — Whoever builds a monument receives the depicted reward.
• Longest Trade Route — (icon shown on the board)
• Free crossroads — A crossroads with no special feature.
• Road — Roads are built along paths.
• Crossroads with monument space — This is where the monument is built over the course of the game.
• Crossroads with city space — Town halls are built on city spaces.
• Yield number — If a "10" is rolled, the owners of adjacent town halls receive 1 grain.
• Highwayman — The highwayman starts on this landscape space.
• Forest — Here wood is chopped.
• Mountains — Here ore is mined.
• Fields — Here grain is harvested.
• Pasture — Here wool is produced.
• Hills — Here brick is made.

Game Components

• 1 game board
• The rules
• 2 card holders
• 2 dice
• 120 playing cards: 25 development cards, 90 resource cards, 5 building-cost cards (with starting setup on the back)
• 174 game pieces: 100 roads, 60 town halls, 13 monument pawns, 1 highwayman, 30 fish tokens

Setup

• Lay out the game board.
• Each player receives 12 town halls and 20 roads in one color.
• Sort the playing cards by type (resource cards, development cards and building-cost cards).

Remark: once all players are familiar with the rules, the players may choose to select their starting town halls freely. See the box below for the rules for a variable starting setup.

Variable starting setup

Draw lots for who begins. The starting player places one of his town halls on any free city space. The other players follow clockwise. The player who placed his first town hall last may now place his second town hall first on any free city space. The other players follow counter-clockwise. The player who placed his second town hall last now places his third town hall on any free city space. The other players follow clockwise.

Around the edge of the game board, monuments of major Dutch and Flemish cities are illustrated. Below each illustration is a space for a monument pawn. Place the highwayman on the landscape space with the "12" in the east of the Netherlands.

NOTE: In a game with 3 players, only the Netherlands is played in order to keep the game balanced. Building locations in the Netherlands are accessible and yield resources as normal, even if the resource space partly lies in Flanders. Use the starting locations per number of players according to the table below:

• 3 players: starting locations Assen–Deventer–Hoek van Holland + Hoorn–Drachten–Harderwijk + Steenwijk–Gouda–Wageningen

• 4 players: starting locations Hoorn–Drachten–Harderwijk + Steenwijk–Gouda–Wageningen + Bergen op Zoom–Eindhoven–Oudenaarde + Vlissingen–Mechelen–Maaseik

• 5 players: all starting locations

• Sort the resource cards by type (grain, ore, wool, brick and wood) and lay out the 5 stacks face up in the 5 slots of the card holders. This is the general supply. Place the card holders next to the game board.

• Shuffle the development cards and place them as a face-down stack in the remaining slot of the card holders.

• Shuffle the fish tokens and place them as a face-down stack (or stacks) next to the card holders.

• Find the building-cost cards intended for the number of players. This is indicated on the cards by a symbol and numbers below it. Shuffle these building-cost cards with the building-cost overview face up. Each player then receives one building-cost card. Return any unneeded building-cost cards to the box.

  • Every player places one of his town halls on each city indicated on his building-cost card and takes the resource cards indicated on the card into hand. He then places the building-cost card with the building-cost overview face up in front of him on the table.

Game Play

The oldest player begins. Play proceeds clockwise. Each turn consists of 2 phases. Whoever is on turn carries out both phases in the order given below. Then it is the next player's turn.

1. Yields: the player throws both dice. The result determines the resource yields for all players.
2. Trading and building: the player may trade and build as much as he wants and can, in any order. During his turn he may play only one development card. For example, he may first build, then trade, then build again, and finally play a development card. During this phase a player may also use the benefits of fish tokens.

1. Yields

• The player whose turn it is always begins his turn by throwing both dice. The roll determines which landscapes produce resources and which fishing waters yield fish tokens.
• Every player who owns a town hall on a landscape with the rolled number receives one resource card of the type belonging to that landscape. If he has more town halls on that landscape, he receives one resource card for each of them.
• Every player who owns a town hall on a body of water with the rolled number draws a fish token from the bank. If he has more town halls on that body of water, he draws one fish token for each adjoining town hall. He keeps his fish tokens face down in front of him. He may look at them at any time and use them in the "Trading and building" phase of his turn.

2. Trading and Building

2a. Trading

• The player whose turn it is may trade with all other players. He may state which resources he needs and which he is willing to give in return. He may also wait for other players' proposals and respond to them. Trading with fish tokens is not allowed. Important: a player may only trade with the player whose turn it is. Players who are not on turn may not trade with each other or discuss trades with each other.
• The player whose turn it is may always trade with the bank (resource supply). To do so, he places 3 identical resource cards from his hand into the bank and takes back 1 of his choice. A player who plays the development card "Trade" in his turn may trade at a ratio of 2:1 that turn. In that case he places 2 identical resource cards from his hand into the bank and takes back 1 of his choice. He may trade as many times as he wants or can.

2b. Building

• A player must always build starting from town halls and/or roads of his own color. At the start of the game he has only 3 town halls. From there he must first build roads. As soon as he reaches a crossroads with an empty city space, he may build a town hall there. If he reaches a crossroads with a free monument location, he may build a monument there. To be able to build, he needs the right combination of resources.

Building a Road

• A road is always built on a path and costs 1 wood and 1 brick. Only one road may lie on a path. The player must place his first road adjacent to one of his own town halls. His following roads he places adjacent to one of his town halls or one of his previously built roads.

• If he wants to place a road adjacent to a previously built road, he must take the following into account:

  • If there is a free crossroads between the previously built road and the new road, he may place the road without restrictions.
  • If there is a crossroads with a city space between the previously built road and the new road, he may only place the new road there if he himself has a town hall there. If the city space is unbuilt, or another player already has a town hall there, he may not place the road there.
  • If there is a crossroads between the previously built road and the new road with a monument, then he may only place the new road there if the monument is built. If the monument is not yet built, he may not place the road there. Because monuments are neutral, it does not matter who built it.

  Example: Red may build a road south of Gorinchem because he has built a town hall there. Blue may not build a road there. Blue also may not build past Den Bosch, because he does not yet have a town hall there.

  Example: the monument in Den Haag has been built. Red may therefore build a road past Den Haag. Because the monument in Rotterdam has not yet been built, Red may not build roads past Rotterdam.

Building a Town Hall

• A player may only build a town hall on a city space that borders one of his own roads.
• Whoever builds a town hall places 1 wood, 1 brick, 1 grain and 1 wool into the supply and places one of his town halls on the city space.
• No more than one town hall may stand on a city space.
• Every town hall on the board is worth 1 victory point for its owner.

Building a Monument

• A player may only build a monument if the relevant monument space borders one of his own roads.
• Every monument must be built in the prescribed city. For example, the Euromast [tower] can only be built in Rotterdam.
• Whoever builds a monument places 2 ore and 1 grain into the supply, takes the relevant monument pawn from the edge of the game board, and places it on the corresponding monument space.
• A monument is a neutral building. It has no owner. However, the player who builds the monument receives a reward. He places one of his town halls on the now-free monument illustration at the edge of the game board (worth 1 victory point) and, depending on the symbols shown next to that illustration, may build a road, take resource cards, or take development cards for free.

Buying a Development Card

• Whoever buys a development card places 1 wool, 1 ore and 1 grain into the supply and draws the top development card from the face-down stack. He keeps this hidden until he plays it.

Playing a Development Card

• The player whose turn it is may play one development card (turn it face up) at any moment during his turn. This may not be a development card he bought this turn. A player may never play more than one development card per turn.

There are three kinds of development cards:

Soldier

• Whoever plays a Soldier moves the highwayman to another landscape space. He then draws, hidden, one resource card from the hand of one of the players who has a town hall on this space. The played Soldier remains face up on the table in front of the player.

Progress

• Whoever plays the "Road Building" card may immediately build 2 roads for free, following the usual rules. A player who plays the "Banking" card may immediately take 2 resource cards of his choice from the supply into his hand. Whoever plays the "Trade" card may, as many times as he wants during his turn, trade 2 identical resource cards for 1 of his choice. With a "Trade" card it is for example possible to trade 4 brick for 1 grain and 1 wood, and then trade 2 more wool for 1 wood. Put played Progress cards in the box. They do not return to the game.

Victory Point

• Cards with victory points are kept secret until the end of the game. Only once a player has reached the required number of victory points (town halls + victory points) does he turn them face up. To win the game a player needs 10 victory points (5 players) or 12 victory points (3 or 4 players).

Fish Tokens

• Each fish token shows 1, 2 or 3 fish. The player whose turn it is may discard fish tokens face up to carry out an extra action. Which action he may take depends on how many fish he pays:

  Fish paid	Action
  2 fish	The player places the highwayman next to the game board (he may not draw a card from another player's hand).
  3 fish	The player may draw 1 resource card of his choice from the hidden hand of another player.
  4 fish	The player may take 1 resource card of his choice from the bank.
  5 fish	The player may build one road for free.
  7 fish	The player may draw one development card for free.

• Fish tokens may not be traded. A player who pays more fish than the action costs loses the excess fish (for example, two fish tokens with three fish each for a resource card of choice). Fish tokens are not resources and do not count if a "7" is rolled. If the highwayman is moved, that player may not draw a fish token from another player.

• Place discarded fish tokens face up next to the face-down fish tokens. If there are no face-down fish tokens left, turn the discarded fish tokens face down. Shuffle these and make a new face-down stack.

• A player may perform multiple extra actions per turn if he has enough fish. He must settle each action separately, so he keeps running the risk of having to overpay.

Special Rules

a) Rolling a "7"

• If the player whose turn it is rolls a "7", none of the players receive resources. Every player who has 8 or more resource cards in hand must return half of them to the supply. With an odd number of cards this is rounded in the player's favor (a player with 9 cards only has to hand in 4 cards).
• Next, the player whose turn it is moves the highwayman to another landscape space of his choice. A landscape space with the highwayman on it yields no harvest. Adjoining town halls therefore receive no yields when that landscape's number is rolled.
• Afterwards, the player whose turn it is draws one resource card, of his choice, from one of the other players who has one or more town halls on this landscape space, from that player's hidden hand. If more than one player has town halls on the relevant landscape space, he may only draw a resource card from one player. He may choose from whom.

b) Longest Trade Route

• As soon as a player has a continuous route of at least 5 connected roads (branches do not count), he may place one of his town halls on the "Longest Trade Route" victory-point space on the game board. This is worth 1 victory point, just like the other town halls on the board.
• If another player manages to build a longer route than the player with the longest trade route so far, that player places one of his town halls on the relevant victory-point space. The town hall that stood there returns to its owner.

Important: a route only counts as connected if there are no other players' town halls on the route. Monuments and a player's own town halls do not block the route.

Example: the longest trade route of Blue is 5 roads long (white outline). The roads outlined in red do not count, because the red town hall lies between them. The road outlined in black also does not count, because it is a branch.

c) Largest Army

• Whoever is first to have 3 Soldiers played face up in front of him may place one of his town halls on the "Largest Army" victory-point space on the game board. This is worth 1 victory point, just like the other town halls on the board.
• If another player manages, over the course of the game, to have more Soldiers played than the player with the largest army so far, that player places one of his town halls on the relevant victory-point space. The town hall that stood there returns to its owner.

d) Extraordinary Building Phase (5 players only)

• In a game with 5 players, an extraordinary building phase takes place after every turn. Once the player whose turn it is has indicated he is finished, the other players, clockwise, may build roads, town halls or monuments according to the usual rules. They must pay the building costs "as they go". It is not allowed to trade with other players or the bank during the extraordinary building phase. Players may also not spend fish tokens during the extraordinary building phase. Once all players have built or passed, it is the next player's turn.

End of Game

The game ends as soon as one of the players has, during his turn, at least 10 victory points (5 players) or 12 victory points (3 or 4 players). That player wins.