Great Western Trail: Argentina
Great Western Trail: Argentina Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 game board, 4 player boards (1 per player), 5 double-sided player count tiles, 1 scoring pad.
- 57 worker tiles: 19 each of gaucho (herder), carpintero (carpenter) and maquinista (machinist); 8 of each type carry a strength icon.
- 51 farmer tiles: 12 each of green granjero (value 4), blue granjero (value 3) and orange granjero (value 6); 15 yellow granjero (value 7). Farmer-tile backs are marked A, B or C so the tiles enter play in a balanced way.
- 3 bags (the Buenos Aires supply), sorted by tile back letter (A, B, C).
- 4 estancieros (rancher, 1 per player), 4 hats, 4 engines, 8 markers for grain and certificates (2 per player).
- 72 player discs (18 per player), 82 coins (57 silver 1-peso coins, 25 gold 5-peso coins), 1 job market token, 12 exchange tokens.
- 92 cattle cards: 56 player cattle cards (14 per player: 5 Niata, 3 Patagonico, 3 Fronterizo, 3 Holando Argentino) and 36 market cattle cards (6 Caracu, 5 Chaqueño, 5 Serrano, 5 Blanco Orejinegro, 9 Franqueiro, 6 Aberdeen-Angus).
- 8 station master tiles, 8 neutral building tiles (lettered A to H), 40 private building tiles (10 per player, double-sided; numbered 1 to 10 with a lowercase "a" side and "b" side).
- 3 double-sided city maps (Le Havre, Rotterdam, Liverpool), 3 cover tiles (for 2- or 3-player games), 18 ship tiles, 25 exhaustion cards, 24 objective cards.
- Solo mode components: 1 specialization tile, 12 loading cards, 15 Pedro's cards, 1 Pedro's cattle market tile, 1 Pedro's board.
Object of the Game
You move your estanciero along a trail that winds and forks from the lower-left corner of the game board up to Buenos Aires in the upper right. Along the way you perform actions that earn victory points in many ways: placing private building tiles, buying cattle, upgrading train stations and helping granjeros. Each time your estanciero reaches Buenos Aires you must ship cattle and grain to Europe, which can also be worth points; then it restarts from the lower left. Over an average game your estanciero reaches Buenos Aires about 5 to 6 times. All victory points are awarded at the end. Add up the victory-point icons on your components, on the game board and on the city maps. The player with the most victory points wins.
Setup
Game board
- Place the game board in the middle of the table.
- Shuffle the 8 station master tiles and place one at random face-up on each of the 5 station master spaces; return the other 3 to the box.
- Place the 8 neutral building tiles face-up on the 8 neutral spaces. First game: put each tile on the space that matches its letter (A to H). Later, shuffle and distribute at random.
- Place the job market token on the top dashed round space in the job market.
- Turn the 57 worker tiles and 51 farmer tiles face-down, sort them by their back letter (A, B, C) and put them into the matching bags. Place the bags next to the board near Buenos Aires — this is the Buenos Aires supply.
- Draw 5 farmer tiles with an "A" back and place them face-up on the board. A green farmer tile goes onto the empty green space with the lowest number (1 lowest, 4 highest); do the same for the blue and orange areas. If a color's four spaces are all full, return the tile to the bag and draw a new one.
- Draw worker tiles with an "A" back from the supply and fill the job market. Start beneath the player-count sign of your actual count and fill each row left to right, then move to the next row (again beginning in line with your player-count sign). The last tile goes on the space to the left of the job market token. Depending on player count there are now 5, 8 or 11 worker tiles in the job market.
- Fill the 6 foresight spaces: draw 2 tiles with an "A" back onto the two spaces marked A, 2 with a "B" back onto the spaces marked B, and 2 with a "C" back onto the spaces marked C.
- Shuffle the 36 market cattle cards into a face-down market stack. Draw a starting cattle market: 9 cards (2 players), 12 (3 players) or 15 (4 players). Sort them by color face-up in an overlapping row (left to right: orange, yellow, red, blue, brown, purple). Place the 25 exhaustion cards as a face-up exhaustion stack to the right of the market stack.
- Shuffle the 24 objective cards into a face-down stack left of the board and reveal 4 in a column below it — the general objective display.
- Lay out the 11 ships bearing a sun icon in a loading zone to the right of the board: place the "0" ship next to Buenos Aires, then the other 10 in ascending order below it (18 furthest down). Shuffle the remaining 7 ships (no sun icon) face-down as a ship pile beneath.
- Place the 3 city maps above the board (Le Havre left, Rotterdam middle, Liverpool right). First game: use the a-side of each. Then cover city centers with cover tiles: 2 players place 1 cover tile on each of the 3 maps; 3 players place 1 on Rotterdam (return the other two); 4 players return all cover tiles.
- Place all coins and exchange tokens as a general supply (the bank).
Player setup
- Each player takes a player board and a player count tile showing the count, placed in the Phase A box of the board.
- Take your 10 private building tiles. Each is numbered 1 to 10 with an "a" side and a "b" side. First games: use the a-side and display them above your board in ascending order of required carpinteros. Later, one player randomizes the sides and displays them; all other players copy those same sides. The side of every building tile is then identical for all players and may never be flipped.
- Take your color's items: 18 discs (cover all 17 colored disc spaces on your player board — the 2 gray spaces stay empty — the extra disc goes on the Le Havre city map, quay I); 1 engine (starting/gray building space of the railroad track); 1 certificate marker (top of your certificate track, next to 0); 1 grain marker (left space of your grain track, on 0); 1 estanciero (beside your board for now).
- Take the 14 player cattle cards marked with a sun of your color and add 1 exhaustion card — these 15 cards form your herd deck. Shuffle it into your face-down personal draw stack left of your player board.
- Determine a starting player; others follow clockwise. Receive starting capital and 1 exchange token: 1st player 7 pesos and 4 cards; 2nd 8 pesos and 5 cards; 3rd 9 pesos and 6 cards; 4th 10 pesos and 7 cards (each also gets 1 exchange token). On your very first turn, discard down to 4 cards (to your personal discard pile), place your estanciero on any neutral building tile and continue directly with phase B. Players may share a building tile.
Your Herd Deck
Your herd deck represents the herd you lead along the trail; each cattle card is one animal of a specific type (its color and breeding value). You start with a low-value deck plus one exhaustion card, and improve it during the game by adding market cattle cards (higher breeding values) and objective cards. The deck is made of your face-down personal draw stack, your hand cards (starting hand limit 4) and your face-up personal discard pile. When you must draw but the draw stack is empty, then (and only then) shuffle your discard pile into a new face-down draw stack and keep drawing.
Cattle cards serve three purposes: some trail actions require discarding specific cattle to gain rewards; in Buenos Aires the more different, high-value cattle types you hold, the more money and points you earn; and each cattle card shows a strength used to help granjeros. Exhaustion cards are gained whenever you help a granjero with cattle strength — get rid of them, as they weaken your deck and cost minus points at the end.
Gameplay
Beginning with the starting player, players take turns clockwise. On your turn carry out all three phases in order:
- Phase A — Move your estanciero to another location along the trail.
- Phase B — Use the action(s) of the location you reached.
- Phase C — Draw up to your hand limit.
Phase A — Movement
A location is Buenos Aires or any tile on a trail space (every building tile and every farmer tile). Empty spaces are not locations. You must move your estanciero forward along the arrows to another location.
- Movement is measured in steps; each location passed or reached costs 1 step (empty spaces cost nothing).
- Always follow the intended direction; at a fork choose one path. You may not pass over Buenos Aires — if you reach it, your movement ends there.
- Other players' estancieros never block you; several estancieros may share a location.
- You must move at least 1 step and no more than your current step limit (starting limit 3, 4 or 5 by player count; it can be increased later).
- The location where you stop is the one you use in phase B.
Hands (fees): Some locations show a green or black hand. If your estanciero moves to or passes such a location you must immediately pay the fee — onto a farmer tile's coin space, or to the owner of another player's private building tile. Fees per hand by player count: 2 players — black hand 1 peso, green hand 2 pesos; 3 players — black 1, green 2; 4 players — black 1, green 1. If you cannot pay a hand fee you may still move: pay what you can and continue; you never pay hand fees retroactively. This leniency applies only to hand fees — all other costs must be paid in full.
Shortcuts (Hop on your engine!): Along the track are 6 shortcuts marked with red arrows leading past a loading ramp to a "location" that reaches Buenos Aires faster. To use a shortcut, your engine must have reached or moved beyond the matching railroad space (3, 6, 9, 12, 17 or 23). Reaching such a location transfers your estanciero immediately to Buenos Aires, where you follow the usual rules.
Phase B — Use the location
Options depend on what your estanciero reached:
1) A neutral building tile or a private building tile of your own color — EITHER use the local action(s) of the tile OR use one single auxiliary action.
- Most building tiles show two different local actions (separated by full-length dividers); a few show one or three. Perform each local action once, in any order. You need not perform them all, but you must fully pay any cost/requirement to gain a reward. A few tiles offer two actions separated by a white slash — perform only one of those. Some trail spaces have a risk action attached, which becomes part of the tile's local actions.
- If you perform none of the local actions, then and only then may you perform one single auxiliary action instead (from the auxiliary action section on the left of your player board). Only 2 auxiliary actions are available at the start; others unlock as you clear their disc spaces.
2) A private building tile of another player — your only option is to perform one single auxiliary action.
3) A farmer tile — EITHER use one single auxiliary action OR perform "Help one granjero," but only the granjero your estanciero is currently on.
4) Buenos Aires — carry out all 6 Buenos Aires subphases in succession (below), moving your estanciero along the numbered spots so you do not skip any.
Phase C — Draw up to your hand limit
Hand limit starts at 4 and can rise to 6. Draw from your personal draw stack until you reach your limit (shuffle your discard pile into a new draw stack if needed). After going through Buenos Aires you replenish your entire hand. Then it is the next player's turn.
Buenos Aires
The 6 subphases are: Extra delivery, Income, Loading, Foresight A, Foresight B, Foresight C.
Extra delivery
Before income and loading you may make one extra delivery of grain to a European port (Le Havre, Rotterdam or Liverpool). You need a player disc on one of the five quays; you may use no more than one disc per subphase. Each city quarter shows an amount of grain to deliver in order to move your chosen disc from its quay onto a free bonus space in that quarter (the two "quay II" reduce the grain required). A bonus in a circle space is awarded immediately; some spaces' victory points are awarded only in final scoring. A placed disc stays on its bonus space until the end of the game, and each bonus space holds only a single disc.
Income
Reveal your entire hand and calculate its total breeding value: sum the breeding values of each different type of cattle you hold (each type counts once, regardless of copies; ignore victory points, strength, objectives and exhaustion cards). Then, if you like, increase that total with certificates:
- Temporary certificates — the number by your certificate marker; spend any of them now by moving your certificate marker backward accordingly.
- Permanent certificates — on the upper half of your station master tiles; each adds its printed number to your total for the rest of the game.
Once your total breeding value is set, take that many pesos from the bank and set them slightly apart so you can track that total during Loading. Then discard your whole hand to your personal discard pile. Exhaustion cards in hand are not discarded but returned to the exhaustion stack instead.
Loading
The cattle you were just paid for must now be loaded onto a ship. Choose a ship whose loading value is equal to or lower than your total breeding value. You may not choose a ship you already loaded (already has one of your discs), except the "0" ship and the "18" ship, which you may reuse. Place one of your player discs on the ship's ship space (stacking on any discs there). Discs come from disc spaces on your player board, which have either white corners or dark corners: a white-corner disc may go on any ship space; a dark-corner disc may only go on a dark-corner ship space. Clearing a disc space unlocks its ability (step limit, hand limit, certificate limit, auxiliary options, strength, or immediate pesos; clearing the lowest-right space costs 3 pesos once).
After loading, check the grain the ship requires. If you can load the full required grain, do so. If you have less grain than required, load all you have and pay a default fee of 2 pesos to the bank per missing grain (permanent grain reductions on two station master tiles can lower the requirement, but not for extra deliveries). Because you gain income first, you can always pay any default fees. Placing a disc on a ship may gain or lose end-game victory points and can trigger loading actions you must perform immediately (e.g. a Rotterdam ship makes you gain one objective card). Placing on the "0" ship gains 2 pesos immediately but loses 2 victory points at the end.
Foresights (A, B & C)
In each foresight subphase choose one of the 2 tiles in the matching foresight spaces and move it to its corresponding section:
- Farmer tile — place it in the matching color area on the empty space with the lowest number; if none is free, return it to the box. If estancieros occupy that space, slip the tile underneath them.
- Worker tile — place it on the next free space of the job market (in the row where the job market token sits, filled left to right; rows are shorter with fewer players). The last space to be filled in a row is the job market token's space; placing a tile there moves the token along its arrow to the next row's dashed round space. When the token moves along a yellow or blue arrow you must, after finishing the subphases, either refill the cattle market or let 3 ships depart.
Refill cattle market — draw from the market stack up to the count for your player count (9 / 12 / 15), sorting by color as in setup. Don't exceed the total, and add nothing if the market stack is empty.
Let ships depart — the 3 ships matching the arrow's icon color depart: move all player discs on them to the matching quays of the city maps, return those 3 ships to the box, and draw 2 ships from the ship pile into the loading zone.
End of Buenos Aires — after the foresights: (1) move your estanciero to the horseman space in the lower-left corner (its next movement starts there); (2) refill each empty foresight space with a tile from the Buenos Aires supply whose back letter matches the space. If the job market token is moved from the bottom row along the red arrow, the end of the game is triggered.
Actions
Actions are shown by icons and always mean the same thing wherever they appear. Requirements use red (arrows/numbers); rewards use green and white. You may only gain a reward if you fully meet its requirement, and you perform each action only once no matter how often you could meet it. You may forfeit a reward wholly or partly, except you must always take any pesos reward in full. The most common requirement is discarding cards: place the exact depicted card(s) from your hand face-up onto your discard pile. A specific card is shown by its color and breeding value.
Terminology: discarding a card means placing it face-up on your personal discard pile; gaining pesos means taking from the bank; paying pesos means returning to the bank; moving your certificate marker forward advances it on your certificate track (never past your temporary certificate limit, 4 at start); moving your grain marker forward works the same (limit 8); moving your engine advances it along the railroad track.
Hire one worker
Choose one worker tile from the job market, pay its hiring cost and place it in the matching row of your worker section (leftmost free space). You may not hire from the row where the job market token currently sits. A worker's cost is the value shown on the right of its row, modified by the action icon (unchanged / +2 pesos / -1 peso). Workers with a strength icon always cost 1 peso more. Each player already starts with one worker of each of the 4 types (gaucho, carpintero, maquinista, granjero), so the first space of each row is occupied. If the space where you place the worker shows an immediate action, either perform it right away or forfeit it. You cannot hire into a full row. At the end of the game, each worker on the fifth or sixth space of any row is worth 4 victory points.
Immediate actions (by row): Gaucho — gain 2 pesos and remove 1 hand card; gain 3 pesos and buy cattle from the cattle market. Carpintero — build once, paying 1 peso per carpintero needed. Maquinista — gain 5 pesos and upgrade a station behind your engine. Granjero — pay 10 pesos to add a granjero and place 1 disc on quay I in Liverpool; pay 6 pesos to add a granjero and gain 1 grain; pay 8 pesos to add a granjero and place 1 disc on quay I in Rotterdam.
Place one of your private buildings
Choose one private building tile from above your board and EITHER place it on any empty building space on the trail OR use it to replace one of your already-placed private building tiles. You may not flip a tile to its other side. To place, you must have at least as many carpinteros (in your carpintero row) as the number in the tile's upper-left corner, and pay 2 pesos per carpintero needed. To replace, you need only the difference in carpinteros and pay only that difference; remove the old tile from the game. Replacing is the only way to place buildings needing more than 6 carpinteros. Only neutral building tile "B" and the carpintero-row immediate actions let you place your own buildings; the right carpintero immediate action costs only 1 peso per carpintero.
Buy cattle from the cattle market
Acquire cattle cards from the market onto your personal discard pile. What you can buy depends on how many gauchos are in your gaucho row and how much you spend, with each gaucho used only once. With 1 gaucho you may take one option: buy a "Caracu" card for 4 pesos; buy 1 cattle card with breeding value 3 for 5 pesos; or buy a "Franqueiro" card for 11 pesos. With 2 gauchos your options open up (e.g. two value-3 cards at 5 pesos each; one value-3 card for 2 pesos; or an "Aberdeen-Angus" for 11 pesos). Sample combinations: 3 gauchos and 5 pesos yield exactly two value-3 cards; 5 gauchos and 9 pesos yield exactly two "Franqueiro" cards. Any gaucho not used to buy may instead draw 2 cards from the market cattle stack and add them to the cattle market (at any moment during the action). You may only buy cards currently in the market, may always buy fewer than allowed, and place everything you acquire face-up on your personal discard pile.
Move your engine forward
Move your engine up to as many spaces forward on the railroad track as you have maquinistas (some other actions move it a fixed number regardless). Only the starting space (0) can hold more than one engine — ignore entirely any space occupied by another engine. Turnout spaces belong to train stations and each counts as one extra space between the two it emerges from. You may move fewer spaces than allowed, but stopping forfeits any remaining movement from that action (including stopping on a turnout to upgrade).
Upgrading train stations: If you stop on a turnout space, decide whether to upgrade that station. You can only upgrade if you can pay the cost and have not upgraded it before (no disc of yours there yet); opponents' discs don't matter. Pay the upgrade cost and place a disc on the station space (white/dark-corner rules as with ships). If a station master tile still sits next to it, you may acquire it by appointing one of your hired workers currently on the rightmost space of its row: remove that worker, put it in the tile's place, and place the station master tile next to your board. You only get this chance when you upgrade. Removing a worker re-exposes its immediate action for next time. The final station (space 31) may be upgraded once each time your engine reaches it; then place your engine in the train depot (from which it cannot move backward until moved forward at least to space 24).
Each station master tile has two halves: the upper half shows an immediate action, a permanent certificate, or permanent grain for loading; the lower half is a unique way to gain end-game victory points.
Gain one objective card
Take one objective card from the general objective display (refill the display immediately) or draw the top of the objective stack, placing it face-up on your personal discard pile. Objective cards later enter your hand. On your turn, if you hold objective cards, you may play any of them before phase A, or before/after any single action in phase B (never mid-action nor during phase C). Playing one places it in your personal objective area (beneath your board), then perform (or forfeit) its immediate action (draw up to 3 and discard as many; move engine 1; move certificate marker 1; gain 3 pesos; move grain marker 1). Each objective card shows tasks fulfilled at end of game for its victory points, or you lose its negative value if not fully fulfilled. Each fulfilled task counts toward only one objective card. You are not forced to play objective cards — any left in your deck at the end you may choose to score or not; cards in your objective area must be scored.
Help one or more granjeros
You may help granjeros if (a) your estanciero ended on a farmer tile — then you help only that granjero; or (b) you perform the local action "Help one or more granjeros" — then up to 3 granjeros on the board. Your total strength must at least match the combined required strength (each granjero needs 3 to 8). Total strength comes from strength icons on your player board (from worker tiles and cleared disc spaces; the bottom-right white-corner disc space gives 1 strength, the dark-corner one gives 2), plus you may reveal up to 4 cattle cards from hand for their strength. Revealing 1–2 cattle cards costs 1 exhaustion card; revealing 3–4 costs 2 exhaustion cards (placed on your discard pile); then discard the revealed cattle. Private buildings "3a" and "8b" temporarily add strength. If you cannot match the required strength for at least one granjero, you may not perform the action.
When successful, take the corresponding tiles and immediately receive money from the granjeros' coin spaces and from the amounts printed below their board spaces. You may then invest by adding any number of the received tiles to your granjero row, one at a time, paying the pesos shown on the leftmost free space of your granjero row and performing (or forfeiting) the immediate action; flip added tiles to their light-brown back. Granjeros in your row count as workers (and may be appointed station masters). Tiles left next to your board stay there for the game and score 2 victory points each at the end; only granjeros next to your board (not in your row) count toward objective-card colors.
Auxiliary actions
The auxiliary action section shows 6 auxiliary actions, each with 2 disc spaces. An action is locked while both its disc spaces hold a disc; clearing at least one unlocks it. If both are cleared you may use it as a double auxiliary action (requirement and reward doubled) — but a single auxiliary action performed as a location option can never be doubled. The six actions (single / double): gain 1 / 2 pesos; draw 1 / 2 cards then discard that many; move grain marker 1 / 2 backward, then certificate marker 1 / up-to-2 forward and gain 1 / 2 pesos; pay 1 / 2 pesos and move grain marker 1 / up-to-2 forward; pay 1 / 2 pesos and move engine 1 / up-to-2 forward; move engine 1 / 2 backward, draw 1 / 2 cards then remove that many hand cards from the game. Moving the engine backward ignores occupied spaces; you can stop on a turnout to upgrade, may never move fewer than required, and cannot use a backward-engine action from the starting space or the train depot.
Gain an exchange token
Gain one exchange token from the bank. Exchange tokens can be spent at any time (even mid-action or off-turn): return one to the bank, then draw up to 2 cards from your draw stack and immediately discard as many as you drew. You start with one and gain more via private building "3a" and the gaucho-row immediate action.
Other local actions
Remove an exhaustion card — remove an exhaustion card from your hand (and your deck) and place it on the exhaustion stack (never back to the box; same for exhaustion cards removed via auxiliary or immediate actions). Exhaustion cards may be discarded (1) or removed (2) from hand like other cards, though they are not cattle cards; all are removed in the Income subphase.
Move your estanciero forward — move at least 1 step and no more than the icon's number to another location, then perform all of phase B again on the new location (you do not replenish your hand between; that only happens in phase C).
End of the Game
The end is triggered when you place a worker tile on the last space of the job market during a Buenos Aires foresight subphase, moving the job market token along the red arrow out of the job market; take the token and place it in front of you. Finish the current subphase (you may not choose another worker tile; skip the subphase if only worker tiles remain), then refill empty foresight spaces at end of turn. This is your last turn. Each other player then has one final turn (moving and using a location as usual; those reaching Buenos Aires perform all 6 subphases but may not take worker tiles from foresight spaces, refilling any empty foresight spaces at end of turn). After the last player's final turn, the game ends.
Final scoring
Use the scoring pad's 12 categories:
- Gain 1 victory point per 5 pesos you own.
- Victory points printed on each of your private building tiles placed on the board.
- Victory points unlocked with your discs on the ships (subtract any negatives).
- Victory points unlocked with your discs on the city maps (many quays also score per disc).
- Victory points next to each train station holding your disc (the final station scores per disc on it).
- 2 victory points for each collected farmer tile in front of you (not those on your player board).
- From your whole deck, sum the victory points on all exhaustion cards and cattle cards (subtract negatives).
- Decide for each objective card still in your deck whether to remove it or add it to your objective area (without its immediate action); then, for every objective card in your objective area, add the positives of fully fulfilled cards and subtract the negatives of unfulfilled ones.
- Sum the victory points from the individual tasks of your station master tiles (independent of objective cards).
- 4 victory points per worker on the fifth or sixth space of any worker row.
- 2 victory points if you cleared the relevant disc space on your player board.
- 2 victory points if you have the job market token.
Station master task examples: 3 victory points per 2 discs on the 8 ships at game end (the 0 and 18 ships each count); 3 per 2 station spaces holding your disc (last station counts once); 3 per 2 objective cards in your objective area (fulfilled or not); 3 per 2 worker tiles with a strength icon in your worker section; 4 per complete group of 1 gaucho, 1 carpintero, 1 maquinista and 1 granjero (including the ones printed on your board); 1 per cattle card with breeding value 3, 4 or 5 in your herd deck; 1 per farmer tile in front of you.
After totaling all categories, the player with the most victory points wins. In a tie, the victory is shared.
General notes
- Money and exchange tokens are unlimited; substitute if the bank runs out.
- If the objective stack runs out, the display is not refilled; an empty display means no objective cards can be gained.
- You may look through your discard pile anytime, but never your draw stack.
- Removing cards via auxiliary actions can slim your deck with no lower limit; if you can't refill your hand to its limit, get by on fewer cards.
- When placing a disc: a white-corner requirement may be met with a dark-corner disc if that's all you have; if you cannot place a disc at all, remove one from a train station of your choice and place it instead.
- If you replace a building while your estanciero is on it, you may not immediately use the new building's local actions.
- If you remove a farmer tile carrying estancieros, leave them on the empty space to continue movement from there.
- When you reveal your hand (Income or helping granjeros) to calculate strength or total breeding value, it is a snapshot in which you cannot use an exchange token.
Designer: Alexander Pfister. Illustrations: Chris Quilliams. © 2022 Plan B Games Europe GmbH; EGGERTSPIELE is a brand of Plan B Games Europe GmbH.