Ladybohn
Ladybohn Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Material
The « ladybohn » variant contains 32 bean cards, a bean field card named "Quotenfeld" (Ratio field) and a rule. The "schminkbohne" (make-up beans) enter in the bohnanza family. It is particularly common bean. A player who can harvest a big quantity of "schminkbohnen" may even steal talers from fellow players. With also the female "Rote Bohn", also called "ladies in red" or "Rote Bohnïn", the « Augenbohnïn », the « Soja Bohnïn », etc. An overview is on the back of the "Quotenfeld" card. The female beans are cultivated together with their male muck riders on the same bean fields, but are altogether somewhat stronger than their "worse" halves. Among the ABC of the profit strategies, there is cultivating the female beans at the right moment, harvesting them at the right moment, and earning a higher profit in the process.
Because the female beans are the best ones, there are more male beans. Equal rights are therefore ensured: quality for the former, quantity for the latter. One can see how many female beans there are by looking at the female bean card. The large number on the card is the number of male beans. The small number (after the "+" sign) is the number of female beans. For the "Schminkbohnen", there are no males, only females, so you find "0+9" on the cards.
Game Idea
The extension "Lady bohn" is meant to be played by 1-5 players and enriches the basic game in three ways:
A. "Lady Bohn", compared to basic "Bohnanza", requires that the player pays more attention to the bean-o-meter (the reward) of the cultivated beans, since male and female beans have different bean-o-meters.
B. Additionally, the "Schminkbohn" add a new twist to the negotiations in the game. A trade offer may now look like this: "I give you this bean, but please spare me: if you harvest your 'schminkbohnen' and are therefore allowed to steal a Taler from me, don't!"
C. Players have at all times the possibility to exchange their full hand of cards against fans of cards being laid out.
In addition, a new bean field is provided, as well as rules for two players and for solitaire play.
The two-player and solitaire rules announced above are not in the source text and are not reproduced here.
Preparing the Game
"LadyBohn" can only be played with the basic game "Bohnanza", which is published by Amigo. We assume you know the regular Bohnanza rules. All 32 new bean cards are mixed together with the bean cards from the basic game when playing with 3 to 5 players. The "Quotenfeld" (ratio field) card is put with the 3rd bean field cards. Each player draws five cards to form his hand. The sequence of those cards in the hand, like in the basic game, cannot be altered. Six bean cards are laid face up on the centre of the table, so as to form a fan. Four other bean cards form another fan. The remaining cards form a face-down draw pile.
The Schminkbohnen
Like all other beans, the "Schminkbohnen" may also be harvested at any time. The "Schminkbohnen" have a very simple bean-o-meter (see picture). The picture is not in the PDF text and the bean-o-meter values are not stated in the text, so they are not reproduced here. For at least 3 of these beans, you get a third beans field. The player who first acquires a third bean field must take the "Quotenfeld" (see Play Process). 5 or more harvested "schminkbohnen" gives the player a choice: 3rd beans field or a Thaler. If the player chooses the thaler, he may additionally, at the end of his turn (when Phase 4 is over), ask a Thaler from a maximum of three other players. However, this thaler cannot be asked from players having no Thalers or from players who also cultivate "Schminkbohnen". Cultivating "Schminkbohnen" protects one from having to pay to another player. A third condition results from the play process. It is allowed to require in negotiation not to be chosen to pay a thaler after a "Schminkbohnen" harvest. If a player makes such a promise, it cannot be broken. Of course, whether a player makes such promises or not is left entirely at his own discretion.
Tip: If you have exactly three thalers and are about to possibly pay a thaler to another player due to a "Schminkbohnen" harvest, consider quickly buying a third beans field if you haven't already done so.
Play Process
The 4-card and 6-card fans
At every moment in the game, two card fans are laid out face up on the table. One of them contains six cards and the other four. At any time, and as often as they want, the players may exchange their whole hand against one of the fans. Condition: the number of cards in hand must match the number of cards in the fan, so only a hand of six cards can be exchanged with the 6-card fan, and the same goes for the 4-card fan. The sequence of bean cards of both the hand and the fan cannot be modified during the exchange.
Example: It's Andrea's turn. She has five cards in hand. In Phase 1 of her turn, she plays the first card of her hand. She then exchanges her hand with the 4-card fan and plays once again the first card of her new hand.
When different players want to exchange their hands against the same fan at the same time, priority is determined this way: first the player who has his turn, then the player on his left, etc., following a clockwise direction.
Example: It's Andrea's turn. Dora would like to exchange her hand against the 6-card fan. Beate explains she would like to do the same, and receives priority. Beate will have her turn right after Andrea, while Dora will only have hers later.
The play course
The play process differs from the one of the basic game in three substantial points:
A. Male and female beans of the same sort are cultivated on the same field. The harvest happens, as in basic play, in Phase 1 and 3 of the play course. A new bean card is always put on top of the already laid-down cards (which formed the beans field); the card cannot be pushed between the laid-down cards. Attention! If the field gets harvested, it is the last card's bean-o-meter which is considered when calculating the value of the field.
B. The player uncovers two cards from the draw pile. These cards are the ones offered for trade. Before the trade begins, the following happens: The player compares the two drawn cards with the highest card from both card fans. If the sort of an uncovered card matches the sort of the highest card from a fan, the drawn bean is put on the appropriate fan. First, the females are put this way, then the males ("Ladies first"). Then, if a fan has more cards than it should, the lowest cards (number calculated as #cards in the fan minus #cards there should be in the fan) from that fan are placed in front of the player to add to the offer. This procedure is not repeated.
Example: The fans are like this: Blaue-Rote-Brecht-Augen-Blaue-Blaue und Soja-Feuer-Feuer-Sau. The first mentioned beans (Blaue Bohne and Sojabohne) are the top cards from the fan. The player who has her turn draws a Sojabohne and a Blaue Bohne. The Sojabohne comes on top of the 4-card fan and the lowest card of this fan, a Saubohne, comes into the offer. The uncovered Blaue Bohne is put on top of the 6-card fan. The lowest card of that fan, in the present case a Blaue Bohne, is put into the offer. The fans now look like this: Blaue-Blaue-Rote-Brecht-Augen-Blaue and Soja -spja-Feuer-Feuer. In the new offer, we find a Saubohne and a Blaue Bohne. The Blaue Bohne now in the new offer is not put on the 6-card fan, because the procedure is not repeated. The trade phase begins with the Saubohne and the Blaue Bohne.
When the same sort of bean is on top of both fans, and the player draws the same sort of card, she may decide on top of which fan she wants to put it.
C. [Beginning with the female] player in turn, each [female] player takes exactly 1 card from the draw pile and places it at the back of the hand.
The source prints the bracketed words "[Beginning with the female] player" and "[female] player" as shown; their intended meaning is not explained in the text.
The Harvest
As in the basic game, fields may be harvested at any time (except for fields with exactly one bean). When a field is harvested, the bean-o-meter taken into account is the one of the last card planted. Since female beans have the best bean-o-meter, it is advisable to harvest a field when the last bean is female.
When a harvest occurs, the last beans planted are turned into Talers. The other beans of the harvested field are put into the discard pile.
Rotation after a harvest
Each harvest makes a bonus turn (in the shape of a rotation) possible. The player who just harvested a field may take the top card of one of the other fields and put it under the other cards of the field (making it look like it was the first planted). This may sometimes help getting a female bean on top of the field, which is useful because those beans have better bean-o-meters.
The Third Bean Field and the Ratio Field (Quotenfeld)
The third bean field costs three talers, except if it is acquired by the harvest of at least three "Schminkbohnen": it is then free. The player who is the first to acquire a third bean field may not take the regular third bean field, but must take the somewhat worse Ratio field ("Quotenfeld"). It is subject to the man-discriminating regulation. As long as only male beans are on this field, a normal harvest may not occur. If that field got harvested anyway when there are only male beans in it, all cards would move to the discard pile and no taler would be collected. Whoever has a "Quotenfeld" may not acquire a regular 3rd bean field or exchange his "Quotenfeld" against a regular 3rd bean field.
Tip: on the "Quotenfeld", a bean sort should be cultivated on a long-term basis, which is frequently noticed in play. The more frequently a bean sort occurs, the larger the proportion of female beans (see overview on the back of the "Quotenfeld"). In any case, "Gartenbohn" are worthless on a "Quotenfeld", as there are no female "Gartenbohn".
End of the Game
The game ends at the end of the turn in which the draw pile got emptied for the third time. All players harvest their fields for the last time. The fields with "Schminkbohnen" are harvested at the same time.
Example: Andrea has planted 5 "Schminkbohnen", Beate 1, Christa 1 and Dora none. Dora must pay one taler to Andrea after the harvest of her "Schminkbohnen". Afterwards, players count their talers. Whoever has the most wins.