El Grande
99 questions players ask about El Grande. Pick one for the answer. See also the full rulebook.
Updated 2026-11-06.
Preparation
- How many Caballeros does each player have, and where do they start?
- In what order are the King's region and home regions drawn at setup?
- What is the setup for a 5-player game?
- How are the action card stacks arranged in a 2- or 3-player game?
- How many action cards are there, and are they all used in a game?
Playing the Game
- Who plays the first power card in the next round?
- Can two players play the same power card value in a round, and can a player be left with no legal card?
- Do played power cards go back to my hand?
- Are played power cards visible to the other players, and should they be face up or face down?
- Can a Modification card push a power card's value below 1 or above 13?
- Where may I place Caballeros from my court?
- Can I place fewer Caballeros than my action card allows, or spread them over several regions?
- When can I take Caballeros from the board into my court?
- In what order are action cards chosen and resolved, and can a later player wait and see?
- What happens to action cards nobody takes, and how many are turned up with fewer players?
The King and the King's Region
- Can Caballeros, Grandes or scoreboards enter, leave or be taken from the King's region?
- Can I pick the King's region (or a region where the victim has nothing) for cards that remove or move Caballeros?
- When the King is in France, is Navarra next to him for placing Caballeros?
- How does the King get back after a Rebellion card sends him to the Castillo?
- Must I move the King when I take the card that moves him?
The Castillo
- Can the King or a Grande be put into the Castillo?
- May players look into, shake or lift the Castillo to see what is in it?
- Can I work out, or write down, how many Caballeros are in the Castillo?
- Do all Caballeros fall out when the Castillo is lifted?
- Can I play El Grande without the Castillo tower?
- When may Caballeros go into the Castillo?
- During general scoring, may the Castillo's Caballeros go to the King's region or to a region not next to the King?
- Do Castillo Caballeros count twice, in the Castillo and again in their destination region?
- After a card scores the Castillo mid-game, where do its Caballeros go?
- Can the Special Scoring cards that let you pick any region choose the Castillo?
Scoring
- In what order do general scoring and turning up the next round's action cards happen?
- How are ties scored in a region?
- Which places score in a region with 2 or 3 players, and how do ties work there?
- If I am the only player with Caballeros in a region, do I also collect second-place points?
- Do the King's bonus and home region bonus need a true majority, and what if there is a tie?
- Do the King's bonus and home region bonus count when an action card scores a region?
- Does the King's region score twice during general scoring?
- What does the Grande do, and does it count toward majorities?
- If a special action scored a region, can it score again at the next general scoring?
- When a card scores several regions, who chooses the order?
Action Cards: Veto
- Can Veto! stop a special action part-way through, or only at the start?
- Under the older Veto! rulings, could it interrupt Intrigue moves or the Movement (Evict) card part-way?
- Can I use Veto! against my own special action?
- How long can I keep a Veto! card?
- Can Veto! stop the King's move from the King card?
Action Cards: Special Scoring
Action Cards: Moving and Removing Caballeros
- Do 'your fellow players' effects, such as Decay of Authority and The King Returns!, also hit the player who played the card?
- Does the card taking one Caballero from each player include one of my own, and may they come from different regions?
- What if no region holds two of my Caballeros for the card that makes players remove 2 from a region?
- Can special actions move Caballeros to any region, not just ones next to the King?
- When a card says 'up to' some number of Caballeros, do I have to move that many?
- How does the Movement (Evict) card work?
- Can Militia or Delegation put Caballeros in the Castillo in the newest edition?
Action Cards: Other
Game End
Editions and Player Counts
El Grande: König & IntrigantExpansion
- If I end up with the King or Intrigue card, do I also get my played card's special action?
- Who gets the Intrigue action and who gets the King action?
- What does the Intrigue action allow?
- Is the special action optional in King & Intrigue?
- Where does the extra Caballero set with the secret disk come from at setup?
- Does card 130's double scoring double the King and home region bonuses too?
- Do Grandes placed in the Castillo by card 35 still give their bonus when the Castillo is scored?
- Does a quarantined region (card 93) still score?
El Grande: GrandissimoExpansion
- How many ships can I use in one turn?
- Can prisoners released by the King card go to several regions?
- When do I lose the Queen or the Jester?
- Can I take the King card after Double Turn and keep it?
- What does The Last Word do?
- What do the two black Grand Inquisitor cubes do in Grandissimo?
- How is Portugal scored and used with Grandissimo?
- Do I need other expansions to play Grandissimo?
El Grande: Grossinquisitor und KolonienExpansion
- What exactly does the Copycat card copy?
- Can Caballeros on the Ship leave for a coastal region when the King isn't in one?
- Can cards move Caballeros directly between Spain and America or Africa?
- Can I take a card from stack 6 or 7 when combining King & Intrigue with Grand Inquisitor?
- Can the Grande move to France?
- How does the limit table work?
- Can I use both Grand Inquisitor options in one turn?
- Can a mobile scoreboard go on the Ship, and does the Captain keep his bonus?