Moonshiners of the Apocalypse Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Who's Who in Shanty Town
• Components
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • The Day Phase
  • Movement
• Actions
  • "Explore" Action
  • "Scavenge" Action
  • "Trade" Action
  • "Construct" Action
  • "Challenge" Action
• Booze Cards
• Survivors
• Resources
• The Night Phase
  • Survivors
  • Production
  • Redistribution of Survivors
  • Existing Drunkards Move
  • New Drunkards Arrive
• Game End and Victory
• Glossary

Who's Who in Shanty Town

First of all, you gotta get your noodle around the fact that this is a game about Moonshiners (aka Heroes) trying to make their way out of Shanty Town by selling liquor to Survivors while fighting off hordes of Drunkards.

Heroes are certainly not your best role models. They're moonshiners from the 1920s, intent on building up a burgeoning moonshine empire and escaping to a better place. There are 4 Heroes available to choose from, each with a special, unique ability (so make sure you try them all, a'right?):

• Alfred Wolffe, horse jockey: When exploring, find +2 scraps.
• Benny Whitaker, mob accountant: his Inebriation track has 5 additional spaces.
• Samuel Connery, Pinkerton agent: When scavenging, double the smallest number rolled.
• Marla Jonnes, housewife: Once per round, can reroll up to 2 dice.

Everywhere's got some Drunkards, but Shanty Town might just take the cake. They usually ain't too much trouble, but sometimes you just gotta sit down and have a serious drink with 'em to set things straight.

Drunkards wander through Shanty Town and create problems wherever they go. You can expect to encounter the following types of Drunkards:

• Crazy Drunkards (blue, Tolerance: 5): When they drink, these Drunkards get crazy. Fortunately, their tolerance is quite low.
• Sad Drunkards (green, Tolerance: 7): Liquid inside the bottle quickly turns to tears. Best to get them drunk enough to pass out before they start telling sob stories.
• Angry Drunkards (red, Tolerance: 10): With a high tolerance and a penchant for violence, steer clear of these dangerous Drunkards.

Survivors are god-fearing people, and that's a fact. They love their liquor - that's a fact too, but hey, who doesn't in Shanty Town? These Survivors may be beaten down by life, but they're looking for a leader and every time you drink a Drunkard under the table, they rush to join your cause and help you succeed.

Uncle Harding owns Shanty Town, quite literally. Crafty as a bobcat and stubborn as a mule on Sunday, the reclusive Harding bought up all the property and installed himself in a compound in the center of town, insulated from all the trouble. He only talks to moonshiners and even then, it's not much at all. Legend has it that the old man has a weakness for Relics. You'll find Uncle Harding's compound in the center of the board across 2 hex spaces (see the image).

Components

• 1 Game Board
• 20 Building tiles
• 4 Hero mats
• 12 Drunkard cards
• 4/8 Hero miniatures
• 12 Drunkard standees
• 4 Player Reference cards
• 40 Relic cards
• 20 Booze cards
• 1 First Player marker
• 40 Scrap tokens
• 40 Corn tokens
• 40 Moonshine tokens
• 40 Gold tokens
• 1 Air Balloon token
• 5 Scavenge dice
• 5 Drinking dice
• 3 Drunkards Movement dice
• 80 Survivor meeples (20 per player color)
• 80 Wood House tokens (20 per player color)
• 24 Tolerance and Booze cubes
• 16 Action tokens

Setup

1. Place the Game Board in the center of the table within easy reach of all players.

2. Place the Air Balloon token on the "1" space of the Time track.

3. Create the Drunkard, Relic, Booze, and Building tile decks by separately shuffling each type of cards and placing each deck face down, on the designated board space (the Building tile deck is placed next to the board). If any of these decks are exhausted during the game, simply reshuffle the discards to create a new deck.

4. Setup of Drunkards: a. Draw 1 Drunkard cards equal to the number of players and place them face up next to the Drunkard deck. b. For each Drunkard card, roll the D20 to determine its starting position on the board and place its standee on the space indicated by the die. There can never be more than 1 Drunkard in a given hex, so simply reroll the D20 if a roll would place 2 Drunkards in the same hex. c. On each Drunkard card, place a Tolerance token on the highest number of its Inebriation track to indicate the Drunkard's starting Tolerance. Place all remaining Tolerance tokens next to the Drunkard deck.

5. Create Uncle Harding's resource supply area by arranging the following items into piles: Corn tokens, Scrap tokens, Moonshine tokens, and Gold tokens.

6. All players choose a Hero and take the corresponding mat and miniature, as well as the cubes, Houses, and Action tokens of their chosen color. Any remaining mats, miniatures, cubes, Houses, and Action tokens may be returned to the box - they won't be used in the game.

7. Place cubes and tokens on the following Hero mat locations: a. 1 cube on either end of the Inebriation track in the spaces with heart symbols (Stamina and Inebriation cubes). b. 1 cube on the unnumbered space of the Booze track (Booze cube). c. 4 action tokens next to the Action spaces (Action tokens).

8. Select a starting player by any means you see fit and give that player the First Player marker (roll the dice, pick the best drunk story, whatever makes you happy).

Gameplay

The gameplay is divided into 7 rounds with 2 phases each - Day and Night.

In the Day phase, you will complete a maximum of 4 actions. This is tracked by placing 1 of your 4 Action tokens on an available action space each time an action is taken. Each turn, you'll complete up to 2 actions of your choice and play then moves clockwise around the table.

After all players have completed two turns, the Day phase is over and play moves to the Night phase.

In the Night phase, production will take place, existing Drunkards will move, and new ones will appear in Shanty Town.

During the game, use the provided Player Reference cards. These cards have the resource conversion table on one side and the list of steps during the Day and Night phases on the other side.

The Day Phase

Day Phase steps:

1. Collect all spent action tokens and pass the first player marker to the left (skipped on the first round).
2. Each player takes a turn consisting of up to 2 actions: 3. Explore a hex 4. Scavenge for resources 5. Construct a building 6. Challenge a Drunkard 7. Trade with Uncle Harding
3. Each player takes a 2nd turn consisting of up to 2 actions.

Play moves to the Night phase.

Movement

You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. Gettin' around Shanty Town ain't too hard, long as you know which way's up. Then again, not too many people 'round here know their ass from their elbow.

Note: To begin each player's first turn, you may freely choose any hex on the outside border of the map and place your miniature there to begin the game.

In Moonshiners of the Apocalypse, movement is NOT considered to be an action and thus, not included in the limit of 4 actions per round. However, there are limits as to where your Hero can move:

• Your Hero may NOT move if you no longer have Action tokens to spend this turn.
• Your Hero may NOT move to a hex currently occupied by another Hero, except for Uncle Harding's compound.
• The destination hex must be either a previously-explored hex or be adjacent to a previously-explored hex. Heroes may not cross unexplored hexes, but can cross as many previously-explored hexes as desired.
• Once a hex adjacent to Uncle Harding's compound has been explored, the compound itself is considered to be a previously-explored hex. Therefore, you may move through Uncle Harding's compound to reach another hex adjacent to the compound.

Actions

There are 5 Actions available during your turn - see the numbers on your Hero mat for how many times you can use a given action during a single turn:

• Explore (3 times/round)
• Scavenge (1 time/round)
• Trade (2 times/round)
• Construct (4 times/round)
• Challenge (2 times/round)

Note: If there is currently a Drunkard on a hex, you may NOT use the Explore, Scavenge, or Construct actions while he is on that hex. While at Uncle Harding's compound, you may only use the Trade Action.

Place an Action token into an available action space to activate one of the following actions:

"Explore" Action

To Explore, take 1 Relic card. Then, draw the top Building tile (hex) and place it face up underneath your Hero miniature. This tile represents the type of building that can be built on the hex, but it is not a building yet (see Construct action below). Once a hex has been explored, the discovered tile will remain in place for the rest of the game and any player may Construct the listed building on it.

It's a lazy man that sits around and does nothing. You gotta get out there and explore - ain't no telling what you'll find.

"Scavenge" Action

When people kicked the bucket, they left all sorts of things behind - broken pieces of wood, metal, rusty nails, and even some family heirlooms. They're all there just waiting to be dug up.

The Scavenge action allows you to search for Scraps and Relics.

Roll the 5 Scavenge dice and take Scraps and Relics equal to the numbers and symbols rolled. You may Scavenge on both explored and unexplored tiles with the exception of Uncle Harding's hex/compound or where Drunkards are present. Scavenge Action is allowed only once per round.

"Trade" Action

In the middle of the board and protected from wandering Drunkards, Uncle Harding's compound is literally and figuratively the center of Shanty Town. At his compound, you can Trade for all manner of goods, including Scraps, Corn, Relics, Moonshine, Gold, Booze, and Hangover Cures. Multiple Trades can be combined into a single Trade action:

• 8 Scraps = 1 Gold
• 4 Scraps = 1 Moonshine
• 2 Scraps = 1 Corn
• Relics: 1 point of value = 2 Scraps (Ex. a Relics card with a value of 3 trades for 6 Scraps.)
• Booze cards: Draw the top 5 Booze cards and pay 3 Scraps for each card that you would like to buy. You may draw another 5 cards only if you buy all of the initial 5 cards. Booze cards may NOT be traded back to Uncle Harding.
• Trade 2 Scraps for 1 Hangover Cure and immediately reset your Stamina and Inebriation cubes to their starting positions.

Some people was born to haggle, but not Uncle Harding - his prices don't drop one dime and if you don't like it, then that's just fine - you can take it or leave it!

Tip: We're not here to tell you how to strategize your game, but be aware that resources traded with Uncle Harding are traded at a 2/1 ratio, while the same resources produced at your buildings are at a 1/1 ratio, which is better. Got that?

"Construct" Action

You may Construct a building on any explored tile, provided that no other player is currently located there or has previously Constructed on the tile.

To Construct, pay 4 Scraps to Uncle Harding's supply and place 1 House token of your color on the 1st slot of the hex (Level 1 building).

When combined with Survivors, your buildings produce resources during the production step of the Night phase. Each building can hold a maximum of 4 Survivors.

You can use the Construct action to Upgrade a previously Constructed building to the 2nd Level by paying another 4 Scraps to Uncle Harding. Place a 2nd House token on the 2nd slot of the hex (Level 2 building).

Well, you can't just sell your liquor out of the bathtub, now can you? It don't have to be fancy, but a roof and a few chairs would be nice. Just a bit of grit and elbow grease and it won't take long before you got the prettiest house in Shanty Town, which I guess ain't saying too much, now is it?

Note: You may Construct and Upgrade a hex using a single action by paying 4 Scraps for each (8 Scraps total for both a Level 1 and Level 2 building).

Creating combinations between the 5 available building types can pay better profits when chained together into a smooth production engine. Keep in mind that while the buildings do produce differently, they're all created equally and it's how you use them that matters!

"Challenge" Action

To Challenge a Drunkard to a drinking contest, you must be on the same hex as the Drunkard. To defeat the Drunkard, you'll use a bottle of liquor, represented in the game by the 5 Drinking dice. The pips on the Drinking dice represent the swigs of liquor being drunk by you and your foe.

Roll the 5 Drinking dice and compare the pips. The number of red pips count how much the shared bottle affected you, while the number of green pips represent how much your foe was affected by the liquor. Subtract this "damage" from both your and the Drunkard's Inebriation tracks.

They used to sit and guzzle them bottles one after another just like they's fresh mountain air. First one to pass out loses and boy, there was a lot of losers!

After the initial roll, if the Drunkard has not been defeated, you may choose to continue the drinking Challenge. Move your Stamina cube (the left cube on the Inebriation track) to the next highlighted slot to the right (1/3/6/10) and have another bottle (reroll all the 5 Drinking dice). You may continue to use Stamina up to 4 times, as long as you have highlighted slots available. If you choose to abandon the Challenge instead of using stamina or move away from a hex that has a Drunkard, there is no penalty and the Drunkard's Inebriation track remains at the same level (does NOT reset).

When the Drunkard no longer has Tolerance left, then they have Passed Out and you've won the Challenge. As a reward, claim 2 Survivors of your color (placed on your Hero mat), plus a bonus of 2 Scraps for an Angry Drunkard (red) or 1 Scrap for a Sad Drunkard (green). In addition, remove the Drunkard standee from the board.

If your Stamina and Inebriation cubes ever pass each other, then you have Passed Out. When this happens, you immediately lose 1 Survivor, your miniature is removed from the board, and you may not complete any other actions until the next Day phase. At the start of the next Day phase, you wake up refreshed and your Stamina and Inebriation cubes move back to their starting positions. You may re-enter the map by moving to any hex that has been previously explored or is adjacent to a previously-explored hex.

When choosing the Survivor to be lost, it is taken from the building with the most Survivors. In the case of a tie, you may choose from which building to remove a Survivor. If you have no Survivors on any buildings, then you must remove one from your Hero mat. Finally, if you have no Survivors in play, the penalty is simply omitted.

If both you and a Drunkard have Passed Out during the same Challenge, then you only receive 1 Survivor as a reward and no other Survivors are lost.

When Drunkards move onto a hex with your Hero, a Challenge is NOT started. Only Heroes have liquor and may start Challenges.

Booze Cards

We drink moonshine 'round these parts. But if you got some store-bought liquor, I wouldn't mind taking a couple sips of that as well...

You start the game with your own, unlimited supply of lightweight liquor and you can Challenge Drunkards with only that, but to increase your chances in a Challenge, you'll quickly notice that some more high-octane hooch could be useful. Buy one or more Booze cards from Uncle Harding (see Trade action) and start drinking with the big boys!

Each Booze card represents a crate containing 6 bottles with different strength values (see the number in the upper right corner). In other words, each card can be used 6 times.

When activating a Booze card, move the cube on your Booze track from the unnumbered slot to the one numbered 6. The slots on the Booze track represent the remaining bottles in the crate. Every time you Challenge a Drunkard, you MUST spend 1 bottle (regardless of whether it's needed or not) to add the value of your Booze card to the green pips rolled, thus causing more "damage" to the Drunkard. Empty Booze cards are discarded and once opened, the crate must be finished before a new Booze card can be activated.

Be aware that you can also Trade for Hangover Cures with Uncle Harding or find special Booze cards like Have One on Me.

Survivors

Folks out here are just waiting for a hero and they'll latch onto pretty much anyone that shows some initiative. Hell, won't be long and they'll be doing your work for you!

Survivors are, well... survivors - people that live scattered around Shanty Town with no place to stay or go. Every time you best a Drunkard in a drinking Challenge, two of these Survivors come to your aid and are placed on your Hero mat. They may be assigned at any time to your buildings by placing them directly on the Building tile to assist with production (max. of 4 Survivors/building).

Resources

When the fit hit the shan, there weren't no need for money anymore. Instead, they just traded what they could find - scraps, old world relics, corn, and, of course, 'shine.

• Gold: The most valuable resource by far, Gold nuggets are worth their weight in, well... Gold. Value in Scraps: 8
• Moonshine: Popskull, Rotgut, or Panther Piss - no matter what you call it, it's all 'shine. Value in Scraps: 4
• Corn: If you don't have Corn, then you don't have Moonshine. Value in Scraps: 2
• Relics (cards): One man's junk is another man's treasure. Or maybe it's still junk. Each point of Relics value is worth 2 Scraps (a Relics card with a value of 3 trades for 6 Scraps).
• Scraps: Can't buy building materials, so piecing together Scraps is the only way to build. Value in Scraps: well... 1

Note: During the game, use your Player Reference card to easily convert resource values.

There are 5 ways that you can obtain resources in Shanty Town:

• "Scavenge" Action: Use the 5 Scavenge dice to find Scraps and Relics.
• "Trade" Action: When you take a Trade action, you can exchange resources at Uncle Harding's compound.
• "Explore" Action: The Explore action automatically generates 1 Relic card.
• Production: Constructing and Upgrading your buildings will lead to resource production during the Night phase.
• Drunkards: When you outdrink an Angry or Sad Drunkard in a Challenge, you receive Scraps as a reward.

The Night Phase

You know us normal people go to sleep at night, but not them drunkards. Hell, you'll find them walking around from dusk till dawn, drunk as a skunk, mad as hell, and destroying everything they come across. Guess it's true what they say - misery loves company.

After all players have completed their 2 turns during the Day phase, play then moves to the Night phase:

Night Phase steps:

• Survivors are turned into Drunkards
• Production
• Redistribution of the Survivors
• Drunkards move
• New Drunkards arrive
• Advance the Air Balloon token on the Time track 1 space to the next round

Survivors

At the start of the Night phase, remove 1 Survivor from each hex where a Drunkard is present and replace the Survivor with a new Drunkard by drawing a new Drunkard card, rolling the D20, and placing the new Drunkard on the board. If a Drunkard is already present on the hex, reroll until an empty space is rolled.

NOTE: If a Drunkard is present on a Building tile, then it does NOT produce.

Production

For every Constructed building where you have at least 1 Survivor, production will happen. Each building can house a maximum of 4 Survivors and produce according to the table below (also listed on the individual Building tiles):

Building	Constructed Building Production	Upgraded Building Production
House	1 Scrap for each Survivor	1 Relic card for each Survivor
Workshop	1 Scrap for each Survivor	2 Scraps for each Survivor
Cornfield	1 Scrap for each Survivor	1 Corn for each Survivor
Distillery	1 Scrap for each Survivor	Pay 1 Corn for each Survivor to produce 1 Moonshine
Saloon	1 Scrap for each Survivor	If 2+ Survivors, pay 1 Moonshine for each Survivor present to produce: 2 Survivors = 1 Gold; 3 Survivors = 2 Gold; 4 Survivors = 3 Gold

Layout note: in the printed rulebook the "Constructed Building Production" column is a single merged cell reading "1 scrap for each Survivor" that applies to all five building types, so it is repeated on each row here.

During production, evaluate in player order whether your buildings produce and take any relevant resources from Uncle Harding's supply. You may evaluate your personal building production in any order. In addition, you may use newly-produced resources at one building to immediately fuel production at other buildings. All resources gained that are not used to fuel other buildings are stored next to your Hero mat.

If you cannot use the Level 2 Distillery or Saloon production (trading one resource for another), then take 1 Scrap for each unused Survivor (same as Level 1).

Ex. You have a Level 2 Saloon with 3 Survivors, but only 2 Moonshine. 2 of your Survivors use the Moonshine to produce 1 Gold each and the remaining Survivor produces 1 Scrap.

Example (printed on page 10): the red player has a Cornfield with a Level 2 building and 4 Survivors, so it produces 4 Corn. The player then immediately uses the 4 Corn at a Still with a Level 2 Building and 4 Survivors, thus producing 4 Moonshine.

Redistribution of Survivors

After production, you may move Survivors freely between buildings to prepare for the next round's production. However, once placed on a building, Survivors may not be moved back to the Hero mat.

Existing Drunkards Move

For the Drunkards that are on the board, roll all three Movement dice and evaluate each in order, starting with the Crazy Drunkards (blue) and continuing with the Sad Drunkards (green) and Angry Drunkards (red). All Drunkards must move one tile at a time, to the nearest hex in the direction indicated by their respective die. However, they do not move if they are on a hex with a Hero or Survivors.

Notes about Drunkard Movement:

• Drunkards that would move into Uncle Harding's compound jump across it to the next hex on the other side. Uncle Harding's compound is well guarded, so they will simply move around it. Those that would move off the map re-enter from the other side (see the nice picture below).
• There can never be more than 1 Drunkard in a given hex. When movement would place 2 Drunkards in the same hex, reroll the Movement die until an empty space is rolled.

New Drunkards Arrive

After all Drunkards have moved, new Drunkards enter Shanty Town as indicated on the Time track:

• Round 1: equal to the number of players
• Rounds 2 and 3: number of players +1
• Rounds 4 and 5: number of players +2
• Round 6: number of players +3

For each of the new Drunkards, draw the top Drunkard card and roll the D20, placing the Drunkard on the space indicated by the number of the die. If a Drunkard is already present, reroll until an empty space is rolled.

Game End and Victory

I remember it like it was yesterday - that hot air balloon just hovered over Shanty Town, like it was waiting for something. Then it swooped down and picked up that moonshiner, the best one of all, and it was gone again. We may be stuck here, but at least that one moonshiner made it out alive. That bastard!

Once the 7th Night phase production has been completed, immediately convert all resources to Scraps as follows and then take their value in Gold (8 Scraps = 1 Gold).

• 1 Moonshine: 4 Scraps
• 1 Corn: 2 Scraps
• Relics: 2 Scraps for every 1 point of value

For every 4 Survivors on your Hero mat, take 1 Gold (rounded down).

The player with the most Gold is rescued by the hot air balloon and wins the game.

Have a shot of moonshine to celebrate!

Note: If 2 or more players are tied, then the winner is determined according to the following:

• Most leftover resources (Scraps, Relics, Corn etc)
• Most Constructed houses on the board (Level 1 and Level 2)
• Most Survivors

Dedicated to all them 'Shiners and Survivors left back in Shanty Town. May your liquor be sweet!

Glossary

Well, if you made it here, then you probably could tell the Moonshiners of the Apocalypse story better'n me. But just in case you don't know or just plumb forgot, here's a list of all them fancy terms that moonshiners used and what they mean.

• Action tokens: Action tokens are used to keep track of your available actions (up to 2 per turn and 2 turns per round, so up to 4 potential actions per round). Every time you take an action, place one of the Action tokens into an Action space on your Hero mat.
• Booze: you can trade for stronger Booze from Uncle Harding's compound in exchange for 3 Scraps. Each Booze card is a crate of 6 bottles and may be used a total of 6 times against Drunkards before being discarded.
• Building tile: These hexagonal tiles represent the different types of buildings in the game. When completing an Explore action, the top tile is drawn from the deck and placed underneath your Hero miniature. There can only be one Building tile on each hex.
• Challenge: A Challenge is when a Hero and a Drunkard enter into a drinking contest.
• Construct: With the Construct action, you're either raising a building or upgrading an existing building. By engaging in Construction, you're improving your moonshining empire's production.
• Day: All Hero actions occur during the Day phase and are split into up to 2 actions per turn per player. Each player has 2 turns per Day phase.
• Explore: Using the Explore action allows you to discover the type of building on an unexplored hex. The top Building tile is drawn and placed under your Hero miniature.
• Hangover Cure: While at Uncle Harding's compound, you can pay 2 Scraps for a Hangover Cure. Instantly move the Stamina and Inebriation cubes on your Inebriation track back to their starting positions.
• Inebriation cubes: On your Hero mat, your Inebriation and drinking Stamina are tracked with cubes. During Challenges with Drunkards, the Inebriation cube (right) is moved leftwards corresponding to the number of green pips on the dice and the Stamina cube (left) is moved rightwards to the next Stamina level space (1/3/6/10). When these two cubes meet or cross paths, your Hero is Passed Out and may not be used until the next round.

Editor's note: the printed draft is not consistent about when a Passed Out Hero returns. The Challenge section says "until the next Day phase" and the Inebriation cubes entry above says "until the next round". Both are reproduced as printed.