Die Händler vom Taubertal

Die Händler vom Taubertal Rulebook

Table of Contents

Components
Game Overview
Market (Markt)
Day (Tag)
Action Spaces (Die Aktionsfelder)
Night (Nacht)
- What Happens After the Night Phase?
Flood (Hochwasser)
End of the Game (Spielende)
Extensions (Erweiterungen)
- Tithe Barn (Zehntscheune)
- Secret Orders (Geheimaufträge)

Components

1 game board
5 merchant pawns (Spielfiguren, "Händler")
3 pilgrim pawns (Pilger)
1 Black Knight pawn (Schwarzer Ritter)
5 oxcarts (Ochsenkarren)
36 trade cards (Handelskarten)
21 market cards (Marktkarten) and market board (Markttafel)
13 pilgrim cards (Pilgerkarten)
6 IOUs (Schuldscheine)
5 castle privilege cards (Schlossprivilegien)
1 starting player card (Startspielerkarte)
14 secret orders (Geheimaufträge)
4 tithe barn cards (Zehntscheune)
Play money (Spielgeld): 10, 50 and 100 Gulden
5 each of wheelwright tiles (Wagnereiplättchen) and castle tiles (Schlossplättchen)
25 movement tiles (Bewegungsplättchen), numbered 0 to 4
1 die (Würfel)
1 round marker (Rundenmarker) and 1 flood marker (Hochwassermarker)
16 cannonballs (Kanonenkugeln)
64 goods and monastery cubes (Waren- und Klosterklötzchen)
4 grey cubes (not separately labelled in the booklet)

Game Overview

The game lasts 7 rounds (6 rounds with 4 or 5 players). The round track (Rundenleiste) controls the flow of the game. Every round always has the same sequence:

Market – all players together
Day – 4 turns (each player takes turns in clockwise order)
Night – the Black Knight moves and robs merchants

Market (Markt)

All players together.

Each round begins with a visit to the market. To do so, all pawns – wherever they currently stand – are placed in Königshofen. On the market board, as many market cards are revealed as there are players.

The starting player chooses a card first and offers the minimum bid or a higher amount. Going around the table, players may either raise the bid by at least 10 Gulden or pass, and so drop out of the auction for that card. The player with the highest bid pays his stake to the bank, takes the corresponding goods cubes from the goods depot and places them on the matching spaces of his oxcart.

Example: The starting player wants the goods on this card and offers 50 Gulden. Green raises to 70 Gulden. Blue raises to 80 Gulden. Red says that is too much and drops out. Green also drops out. Blue gets the card, pays 80 Gulden and loads the goods onto his oxcart.

Next, the player sitting to the left of the starting player chooses a market card, and the auction for that card begins. A player who has already acquired a market card cannot bid on another one. The last player therefore gets his card without an auction, at the minimum bid. Each player thus receives exactly one card in the market phase. Afterwards all market cards are set aside again.

If a player has acquired more goods than fit on his oxcart, he must return the excess goods to the goods depot.

Observe the maximum load! (Maximale Zuladung beachten!)

Day (Tag)

All players in turn.

The starting player begins. The player whose turn it is always carries out the following, one after the other:

Move your pawn by playing a movement tile.
Complete a trade or perform an action (both optional).

At any time: Transport pilgrims (optional).

Players take their turns in clockwise order. The round marker shows which turn is being played. Once every player has had four turns, night falls.

Move Pawn (Spielfigur bewegen)

Each player has five movement tiles with different movement values available per day. The starting player begins. He decides how many locations he wants to move across the board freely and flips over the corresponding movement tile. He must move exactly as many locations as printed on the tile.

Any number of merchants may stand on the same location. A location may only be passed through once per turn. The movement must be continuous (no forward and backward steps). The movement may not end in the location where it began (this is only allowed with movement tile "0").

Warning: During a flood, the Tauber bridges cannot be crossed!

Example: The player is at the cannon founder (Büchsenmeister) and wants to get to the winery (Kelterei). He passes through two locations (green line) and flips movement tile "2" to do so. Alternatively he may take a detour (red line). Here he passes through three locations and flips movement tile "3". This can sometimes be useful to save certain movement tiles.

Note: The brown and blue arrows on the game board have no meaning for the movement of merchants. They determine the movement of the Black Knight in the Night phase.

Complete a Trade (Handel abschließen)

The face-up trade cards show which goods are in demand in which location and how much is paid for delivery. To sell goods you must be in the named location. There you place the corresponding goods cubes on the trade card in the order shown and receive the sale proceeds shown. In one turn you may sell as many goods as you like. Observe the bonus!

Example: The player delivers 2 salt and 1 wine. For this he receives 130 Gulden in total. Because he delivered "3 or more" goods, as described below, he receives an additional bonus of 30 Gulden. His total proceeds are therefore 160 Gulden. If a location is completely supplied with goods during the day, the trade card nevertheless stays in place and is not replaced by a new one.

Or: Perform an Action (Aktion ausführen)

Which actions are possible in each location is described in the section "Action Spaces" (Aktionsfelder).

Transport Pilgrims (Pilger befördern)

At any time, optional.

If a merchant stands in a location with a pilgrim, he may take the pilgrim along on his oxcart. The pilgrim "uses up" 1 weight unit in doing so. The player draws a pilgrim card and learns where the pilgrim wants to go. The front of the card shows how advantageous the card on top is:

one star: slight advantage (Leichter Vorteil)
two stars: medium advantage (Mittlerer Vorteil)
three stars: strong advantage (Starker Vorteil)

If the pilgrim is delivered to his destination, the player receives the reward named on the card. After use, the card is placed back under the stack.

What happens if the player draws the pilgrim card for a location on which he currently stands? Lucky you! He may use the advantage immediately and put the pilgrim pawn back on the game board. A pilgrim that has been brought to a location may not be taken along again straight away in the next turn. Only when the player later heads for that location again may the pilgrim board again.

More Load Capacity (Mehr Tragkraft)

Tip: It can sometimes pay to acquire an upgrade for the oxcart as soon as possible, so that more goods can be transported. So off to the wheelwright!

Short of Cash? (Knapp bei Kasse?)

A player may take out one or more loans of 100 Gulden at any time, but only one per game round. A loan may be repaid at any time. When repaying, 150 Gulden is due per IOU. The card goes back to the bank.

Action Spaces (Die Aktionsfelder)

Each location with an action space offers the following options during the Day phase.

Cannon Founder (Büchsenmeister, Cullesheym)

Buy cannonballs to fight the Black Knight! The prices rise steadily, because the cannon founder smells a "bomb business".

Delivery included: After purchase, the cannonballs are placed directly on the ammunition chest.

The price track reads, in order: 250, 260, 270, 280, 290 / 300, 320, 340, 360, 380 / 400, 450, 500, 550, 600 Gulden.

Conjurer (Taschenspieler, Boxberg)

At the conjurer you can improve your purse with strategy and a little luck. To do so, you roll the die as often as you like. After each roll you decide whether to roll again. The pips are added together.

With at least 10 points you receive 20 Gulden.
With at least 20 points you receive 40 Gulden.
With at least 25 points you receive 50 Gulden.

But beware: If you roll a 1, everything is gone and the game is over!

Wheelwright (Wagnerei, Königheim)

Here you can permanently upgrade the load capacity of your oxcart.

The ability to transport up to 8 goods costs 100 Gulden.
The ability to transport up to 10 goods costs 150 Gulden.

After purchase, place the corresponding wheelwright tile on your oxcart.

Warehouse (Lagerhaus, Bischofsheim)

Here it is possible to exchange your own goods. To do so, you redistribute any number of goods on your own oxcart across the four goods types wine, tools, cloth and salt. The respective cubes are simply moved on the oxcart.

Note: Spices cannot be exchanged!

Example: 1 tools becomes 1 cloth. 2 wine becomes 1 salt and 1 cloth. The spice must stay unchanged.

Black Market (Schwarzmarkt, Grünsfeld)

Exchange:

3 goods of your choice (wine, tools, cloth, salt) for 1 spice, or
5 goods of your choice (wine, tools, cloth, salt) for 2 spices.

The spice good is very precious and gives you several advantages during the game.

Winery / Weaving / Salt Dealer / Smithy (Kelterei / Weberei / Salzhändler / Schmiede)

Buy tools (Wittighausen), wine (Lauda), cloth (Großrinderfeld) and salt (Werbach) at rising unit prices, also outside the Market phase. After purchase, take the goods cubes from the game board and place them on your oxcart. Supplies are replenished in the next round.

Monastery Gate (Klosterpforte, Bronnbach)

All gifts that are visible and not covered by white monastery cubes have been left here by the bishop's courier from Würzburg for collection. After taking a gift, always shift 2 white cubes freely along the lines.

Example: The player receives 30 Gulden from the bank and then shifts 2 cubes of his choice.

Note: The illustration carries the markers "1." and "2."; the text does not explain them separately.

Market (Markt, Königshofen)

Only during the Market phase do all merchants take part in the lively market activity. Here goods are auctioned. See the explanation in the section "Market". Outside this time the market is closed.

Residence Castle (Residenzschloss, Mergentheim)

Here you can exchange certain goods for valuable privileges. The castle tile on top is available for selection. To do so, the goods named there are returned from your own oxcart to the goods depot. You may only ever possess one castle tile. You may only acquire the next one after you have redeemed the current one. After use, the tile is placed back under the stack. What the individual privileges mean is explained on the card "Castle Privileges" (Schlossprivilegien).

Night (Nacht)

At night the Black Knight tries to rob merchants. The location in which he is active is determined by the movement tiles left over from all players.

Example: Three players are playing. Red has movement tile "1" face up in front of him. Blue has "0" left over and yellow has "3". The sum is 4. The Black Knight therefore moves four locations further along the predetermined route (brown arrows on the game board). If a merchant stands there, he is robbed and loses half of his play money. With odd sums, the calculation is made to the disadvantage of the player. If the player has, for example, 230 Gulden, he loses 120 Gulden.

Flood: During a flood, the Black Knight cannot cross the bridges and follows the blue arrows instead.

What Happens After the Night Phase?

The starting player card passes clockwise to the next player.
All goods cubes on the trade cards are returned to the goods depot.
New trade cards are revealed.
The goods stocks on the fields Weaving, Winery, Smithy and Salt Dealer are refilled.
The players turn their movement tiles face up again.
A new day begins with the visit to the market!

Flood (Hochwasser)

When the round marker reaches this field, the starting player rolls the die. The number of pips determines in which of the next game phases a second flood occurs. As a reminder, the blue flood marker is placed on the corresponding field next to the round track.

End of the Game (Spielende)

The game ends as soon as the round marker has been moved onto the last field of the round track. The Black Knight's castle is then bombarded. Whoever has acquired the most cannonballs by then wins the game.

If there is a tie, the player with the most Gulden wins.

A player who has not repaid his loan by the end of the game finishes last, no matter how many bombs he has acquired by then. After all, an indebted merchant enjoys no esteem among the population!

Congratulations: you have driven the Black Knight out of the Tauber valley and earned the sympathy of the townsfolk!

Extensions (Erweiterungen)

Tithe Barn (Zehntscheune)

Depending on the number of players, the corresponding card is placed next to the game board.

In the dusk phase (Dämmerung), a player who is in Königshofen may sell exactly one good (salt, tools, wine or cloth). Whenever a good is sold, every other player must, counterclockwise, now sell the same good, provided they have it (regardless of whether they have already had a turn in this round or not). The tithe barn action is then finished.

Example: The player sells one cube of salt and receives 50 Gulden. The player sitting to his right has 2 salt and must sell one for 30 Gulden. The next players both have no salt and therefore have to give nothing. Lucky: the tithe (tax payment) is omitted in this round!

Secret Orders (Geheimaufträge)

The 16th cannonball is placed on the field of the round track marked with the cannonball symbol.

Before the game begins, each player draws a secret order card and places it face down in front of him. As soon as, during the game, the last goods cube is placed on a trade card, the player who holds the corresponding order receives that trade card. At the end of the game, the victory points of the secret orders are settled, and the player with the most victory points receives the cannonball that was set aside. In a tie, everyone goes away empty-handed.

Note: The order "Pilgrim Chauffeur" (Pilgerchauffeur) is not played secretly. The associated cards show how many pilgrims the player has already brought to the destination.