Namibia Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Game Overview
  • Game Money
• The Game Board
• Getting Started
• Playing the Game
  • 1. Bribe Colonial Officials
  • 2. Construction
  • 3. Shipping
    • Shipping Example
  • 4. Administration
    • Purchasing Reputation (Public Relations and Advertising)
• End of the Game
• Hints for New Players
• Rules Changes for a Three Player Game
  • Getting Started
  • Bribe Colonial Officials
  • Construction
  • Shipping
  • Hints for New Players
• Game Administration Summary

Contents

• 5 trains
• 20 mine heads
• 4 scoring discs
• 4 trucks
• 80 coins (Goldmarks)
• 8 commodity discs
• 44 wooden rails
• 60 abandoned mine markers (black plastic squares)
• 3 oil barrels
• 60 commodity cubes
• 4 commodity demand pawns
• 4 player summary cards
• 1 board

Game Overview

A board game for 3 – 4 players, age 12 and up.

Players mine for four commodities – diamonds (white cubes), gold (yellow), silver (grey) and copper (dark brown) – and attempt to transport them to ports to sell at the highest possible price. Due to the colonial government restrictions, each player may only mine for three of the four commodity types. In order to achieve their aims, players will have to grease the palm of colonial government officials who control access to the interior and to the ports (only three of which operate each turn). Too much palm greasing leads to a decrease in reputation which affects a player's position at the end of the game, but limited access to the transport and shipping infrastructure will seriously impact a player's ability to operate.

The winner will be the player who can make loads of money while keeping a good market reputation.

Game Money

The money used in the game is goldmarks (GM) which was the currency used in Germany during colonial times. The goldmark coins come in four denominations: 1 GM, 5 GM, 10 GM and 25 GM. There are 20 of each type of coin in the game.

The Game Board

The game board shows a map of Namibia split into hexagonal spaces. Four of these spaces are coloured orange and contain an icon depicting a cargo ship indicating that the space is a port. The three darker spaces which contain brown squares are only for use in a possible future expansion and are not used in the base game. All remaining spaces are used for mining.

The board shows: port spaces, pre-printed rails, initial placements, spaces for mining, selected port spaces (white circles), possible expansion spaces, the game turn track, the commodity index, the player order track and the reputation track.

The board also contains four tracks:

• the reputation track, which is used to record the players' current market reputation (indicated by discs in the player colours on the track around the outside of the board)
• the game turn track, indicated by a timepiece, which is used to record the progress of the game using the black train piece
• the player order track, indicated by four arrows in a circle, which is used to record the current player order using the train pieces in the player colours
• the commodity index which is used to record the following information:
  • the price of the commodities (indicated by coloured discs in the commodity colours)
  • the current demand for each of the commodities (indicated by coloured pawns in the commodity colours)
  • the current supply of each of the commodities (indicated by oil drums)

C = Diamond (Carbonium); Au = Gold (Aurum); Ag = Silver (Argentum); Cu = Copper (Cuprum); U = Uranium

Note that the commodity index also has a column headed "U" which is only for use in a possible future expansion.

Unlike some games, the type of terrain shown on the board (e.g. rivers and mountains) does not affect gameplay.

Getting Started

These rules explain how a four player game is played. Rule changes for a three player game are explained later on.

Place the board in the middle of the table. Each player takes the 5 mine heads, the train, truck and score marker disc in their chosen player colour and 15 GM.

Place the black train on the 1 space of the turn track.

Take one commodity cube of each type and randomly place one on each of the spaces on the board containing an outlined square (labelled "Initial Placements").

Separate out the other game components by colour and type and place them beside the board. The remaining money constitutes the bank. During the game all payments are made to and from the bank.

Place a matching coloured commodity disc on the 6 space of each commodity column on the Commodity Index. These represent the starting value of each commodity. Place the appropriately coloured commodity demand pawn (which represents the current demand for that commodity) on the 6 space of each column.

Place the remaining commodity discs and three oil barrels within easy reach off to one side of the board.

Randomly distribute the player summary cards. Use the side with the four people symbols at the bottom right in a four player game. The top of each card shows the three commodities the players can collect and the one commodity they cannot collect. In the example shown, the player can collect diamonds, silver and copper but cannot collect gold.

Players place their score marker discs on the 15 space of the reputation track around the outside of the board. These discs represent the players' current reputation in the marketplace.

The player who last visited Namibia, or who has ever been closest to Namibia, becomes the start player for the setup phase and places their train on the 1 space of the player track. Other players follow, in clockwise order, with the next player placing his train on the 2 space etc. until all players have placed their train.

Each player takes one commodity cube of each type they can collect. Beginning with the start player and proceeding clockwise, each player places one of their commodity cubes on to an empty space on the board. Cubes may never be placed on port spaces or the possible future expansion spaces. In addition, where possible, cubes must not be placed on a space adjacent to another cube, although note that cubes will likely need to be placed in adjacent spaces towards the end of this process. This is repeated around the table until all players have placed all of their commodity cubes.

Beginning with the start player and proceeding clockwise, each player then places one of their mine heads upright on a space on the board which contains a cube of a commodity they are allowed to collect. An additional 2 commodity cubes of the same type are added to these spaces. These represent the players' starting mines, which have three commodities ready to ship.

Once all players have done this, in reverse player order, each player places one mine head flat on its side on a space on the board which contains a cube of a different commodity they are allowed to collect. These represent the players' mines under construction. One additional commodity cube of the same type is added to these spaces.

Finally, in player order, each player places 2 rails on the board. Rails are always placed along the side of the hexagonal spaces. Rails must connect to at least one existing rail on the board. Note that port spaces start the game with pre-built rails along their land facing sides (these are pre-printed on the board).

The game is now ready to begin.

Playing the Game

The game is played over 6 rounds. Each round consists of four phases:

1. Bribe Colonial Officials
2. Construction
3. Shipping
4. Administration

Note that the availability of all components, except money, is a limiting factor in the game and represents resource and raw materials limits.

1. Bribe Colonial Officials

Players bid to influence the expansion of the rail network and gain access to prime mining spaces.

Move the turn markers (trains) to the right (blue shaded) side of the turn order track, keeping them in the current order, as bidding will proceed in this order.

Beginning with the first player, players bid for the "right" to influence rail network construction and shipping. (This is also known as paying off the colonial officials.) The minimum bid is the number of the current game round. In player order, subsequent players can either increase the bid or pass. If a player passes, they drop out of the bidding, pay the necessary cost in both money (the amount bid) and reputation (see below), take the appropriate number of rails (see below) and place their marker on the highest numbered available space on the player order track.

The reputation costs to be paid and rail construction opportunities gained are:

• the winner of the bid loses 5 reputation points and takes 3 rails from the supply.
• the second placed player loses 3 reputation points and takes 2 rails from the supply.
• the third placed player loses 1 reputation point and takes 1 rail from the supply.
• the last placed player loses no reputation points and takes no rails.

A player must always pay at least the minimum bid - i.e. the number of the round - even if they pass without making a bid. If a player does not have enough money to pay the minimum bid, they must cash in reputation points at the rate of 1 point for 2GM until they have enough money to pay the bid. If player's reputation falls below one (which is highly unlikely!) they are eliminated from the game.

The first three players always lose reputation points, even if the player pays the minimum bid.

2. Construction

Players develop mines, build railways and prepare to ship goods.

Note that the three possible future expansion spaces are not used in the base game. Neither mines nor cubes may be placed in these spaces.

In player order, each player takes the following five actions to develop their mining capabilities and access to the transport infrastructure. A player takes all of their construction actions before the next player takes their turn.

1. Complete Mines

To complete a mine, the player moves all of their mine heads currently lying flat on their sides to an upright position. A player must complete all mines they are able to.

• If a newly completed mine is not adjacent to a space containing an abandoned mine marker, the player places an additional resource cube of the same type as the mine from the supply on to that mine's space. If there are no resource cubes of the necessary type left in the supply the player cannot add an additional cube.
• If a newly completed mine is adjacent to a space containing an abandoned mine marker, the player does not place an additional resource cube. This represents the seam becoming exhausted.

2. Start a New Mine

To start a mine, a player places one of their mine heads flat on its side on to a previously prospected space (a space containing a commodity cube) on the board which contains a cube (or cubes) of a commodity type they are allowed to collect. If no such space exists, a player cannot start a mine. A player must start a mine if they can.

The last player must start two mines (if they can) as they do not have to spend time building railways.

3. Prospect

Prospecting adds additional commodity cubes to the board as the players "discover" additional natural resources. These cubes cannot be placed on port spaces, a space which contains a mine head or a space which contains an abandoned mine marker (i.e. empty spaces). Players may only prospect commodity cubes of a type they are allowed to collect. All players must prospect (if they can).

To prospect, a player places 2 commodity cubes of the same type on to an empty space adjacent to a space which already contains one or more commodity cubes of that type. This represents extending the existing seam. If there is only one resource cube of the selected type left in the supply the player only places one cube.

If a player cannot extend any existing seams they may place a single cube of the selected type on to any empty space on the board to start a new seam. A new seam cannot be started if an existing seam can still be extended.

If there are no commodity cubes left in the supply then players can no longer prospect in the current round.

The last player must prospect twice (if they can).

4. Place Rails

A player expands the rail network by laying rails along the edge of the game board spaces. New rails must connect to at least one existing rail on the board. A space is considered connected to the rail network if a rail has been placed along one side of the space. Remember that port spaces start the game with pre-built rails along their land facing sides.

In the example shown, the port space is shown with its three pre-printed rail links. Space A is connected to the rail network because there are rails along two sides of the space. Space B, on the other hand, is not connected to the rail network as there are no rails along any of its sides.

Note that the railway network belongs to the colonial government and can be used by all players during the shipping phase.

Players must place all of their rails. The last player does not take this action as they have no rails to place.

5. Move Truck to Completed Mine

A player must move their truck to a space containing one of their completed mines. If a player has no completed mines they cannot take this action ... they are also in a wee bit of trouble ...

3. Shipping

Players ship goods by road and rail to the ports.

In player order, the first three players each lead a shipping phase where they decide which type of commodity will be shipped via which port during this turn. Shipping for one commodity completes before the next player selects which type they would like to ship. The player who selected the commodity currently shipping is known as the active player. A shipping phase proceeds as follows.

The active player selects which type of commodity will be shipped during the phase and which port will ship that commodity. A player may not select a commodity or a port which has already been selected by another player. The player takes any commodity disc (including the one he cannot mine) from beside the board and places it on the white circle beside the selected port. The player also places a supply marker (oil barrel) on the zero space of the Commodity Index for that commodity.

During the shipping action, the active player always ships commodities first, followed by the remaining players in player order.

Commodities are shipped in two ways – firstly by truck, then by rail:

1. Truck Shipping

In player order, if a player's truck is on a mine space containing the selected commodity type, the player may load one cube on to their truck from the current mine space, move the truck with its cube to the selected port and ship the commodity cube. Truck shipping is optional – players may choose not to ship with their trucks.

2. Rail Shipping

Once truck shipping has been completed, in player order each player decides whether any of their mines containing cubes of the selected commodity type will ship this turn. Mines can only ship if their space is connected to the selected port via the rail network. If a player decides to ship from a mine they must ship all of the commodity cubes from that mine.

For each commodity cube shipped, the supply marker (oil barrel) for the commodity is increased by one on the Commodity Index. The player shipping the commodities immediately receives the current market value, in GM, for each commodity cube shipped as long as the supply does not exceed the demand (the coloured pawn).

As soon as the supply exceeds the demand, the price of the commodity immediately halves (rounded up) – move the coloured disc down the Commodity Index appropriately – players then receive the lower price for all additional commodity cubes of that type shipped during the round.

In addition, for each truck and mine (not the number of cubes!) that other players ship, the active player gains 2 reputation points. Note that when the active player ships their own cubes they do not receive these additional reputation points.

Once commodity cubes have been shipped they are removed from the board and returned to the supply.

Once the commodity shipping for the first player's port selection has been completed, they cease to be the active player and the shipping phase is repeated for the second and third players. Subsequent players must select a different commodity and port.

Since only the first three players lead a shipping phase, only three commodity types ... and three ports ... ship each round.

Shipping Example

Gery is the second player to ship and decides to ship gold through Lüderitz. The current price of gold is 11 and the demand is 6. Gery places the yellow disc onto the white circle beside the port and an oil barrel on to the 0 space of the gold column on the Commodity Index.

Truck shipping now begins. Gery ships 1 gold cube from a mine not connected by rail in his truck, receives 11 GM and moves the oil barrel up 1 space on the Commodity Index.

Although Grant is the fourth player, he is the only other player whose truck is situated at a gold mine (which is also connected by rail). Grant also ships one gold cube, receives 11 GM and moves the oil barrel up 1 space.

Because another player has made a shipment through his selected port, Gery receives 2 reputation points which is recorded on the score track. As truck shipping is now over, rail shipping commences.

Rail shipping now begins. Gery now ships 3 gold cubes from a mine connected by rail to the port, receives 33 GM and moves the oil barrel up 3 spaces. Although Brian is the first placed player and would be the next to ship, he cannot collect gold and so cannot ship during this phase.

Gareth is the third placed player. He has two gold mines connected to the port by rail. He decides to ship both mines containing a total of 5 cubes and moves the oil barrel up 5 spaces. As the demand exceeds supply when Gareth ships his second cube (when the supply reaches 7), the price of gold drops to 6 GM. Gareth therefore receives a total of 35 GM (1 x 11 GM plus 4 x 6 GM) for his 5 cubes.

Gery receives 4 reputation points, 2 for each of Gareth's mines that shipped.

Play now returns to Grant in fourth place. He decides not to ship the remaining 2 gold cubes from his mine, hoping that the price will rise later in the game.

4. Administration

The market moves and preparation for the next round.

Place the spare commodity disc for the commodity which did not ship on the zero space of its column on the commodity track.

The market moves and the Commodity Index is adjusted as follows:

• For all commodities where the demand (the coloured pawn) is lower than the supply (the oil barrel) (supply > demand), the demand is increased by 2 on the Commodity Index. (The price has already halved during shipping!)
• For all commodities where the demand (the coloured pawn) equals the supply (the oil barrel), both the price (the coloured disc) and demand are increased by 1 on the Commodity Index.
• For all commodities which shipped during the round and where the demand (the coloured pawn) exceeds the supply (the oil barrel), the price (the coloured disc) of that commodity is increased by 2 and the demand is halved (rounded up) on the Commodity Index. (Neighbouring South Africa will happily meet the demand in future.)
• For the one commodity which did not ship during the round, both its price (the coloured disc) and demand (the coloured pawn) are increased by 3 on the Commodity Index.

Note that the demand and price of commodities can never fall below 1 or exceed 15 – that is more than the market can bear.

Once the market has moved, the commodity discs from all ports are removed from the board. The supply markers (oil barrels) from the Commodity Index are also removed from the board.

In addition, mines that have shipped all of their commodity cubes are exhausted. The mine heads are removed from the board and returned to the players' supplies, and abandoned mine markers are placed on these spaces on the board. All trucks are returned to the players.

Purchasing Reputation (Public Relations and Advertising)

At the end of the 3rd and 5th rounds (as indicated on the game turn track) players have the option to convert money into reputation as a result of public relations and advertising campaigns.

• At the end of round 3 players can buy reputation at a cost of 3 GM per point
• At the end of round 5 players can buy reputation at a cost of 4 GM per point

Purchasing reputation is carried out in player order. The increase in reputation is recorded on the reputation track.

Finally, the black train is moved to the next space on the turn track. The next round then begins.

End of the Game

The game ends once the market movement in the 6th round has been completed. At that stage a final market adjustment is performed and each player receives a cash injection from their mines under construction (if any).

For each commodity cube on the board which is in a space not containing a mine (either complete or under construction), the price of that commodity is reduced by one on the commodity index. This represents perceived oversupply by the markets.

Players then receive a payment, from the bank, of the current market value of all the commodity cubes on spaces where they have mines under construction.

Finally, players convert their remaining money into reputation at a cost of 5 GM per point.

The player with the highest reputation score is the winner. In the event of a tie, the tied player with the most money remaining is the winner.

Hints for New Players

• It is not always a good idea to concentrate on just one commodity as this leaves you open to market manipulation by other players. Spread your assets wisely and keep an eye on the commodity index.
• Similarly, it is not always a good idea to have a presence in just the north or south of the country, particularly early in the game, as you can get shut out of shipping opportunities.
• Don't be in a hurry to join the rail networks in the north and south of the country ... your efforts will benefit all players!
• Although early cash is useful, remember that prices will soon rise. Try to balance cashflow against potential returns.
• Placement of your mines under construction is absolutely crucial in the early rounds. Remember to consider future shipping opportunities as well as commodity values.
• Being last in an auction is not all bad as you have the opportunity to place two mines under construction. Being third can be a bit of a pain though ...

Rules Changes for a Three Player Game

Getting Started

Place the player pieces not required and three cubes of each commodity type back in the box.

Use the side of the player summary card which shows three people symbols at the bottom right.

Place two wooden rails on the Etosha National Park space as shown in the diagram.

Bribe Colonial Officials

The first player loses 4 reputation points; the second player loses 2 reputation points. The third player becomes the last player for the remainder of the round, loses no reputation and takes no rails.

Construction

Only the first two players place rail track.

Shipping

All three players select a port for shipping.

The last player must select the highest priced unshipped commodity to ship, whether or not that commodity is a type they are allowed to collect. If both unshipped commodities have the same price the player can select which commodity to ship.

Hints for New Players

• If you are first or second in the player order, keep an eye on the commodity (or commodities) that the third player may be forced to ship and try to take advantage of the opportunity which may arise.
• Being third in an auction in a three player game isn't as bad as being the third player in a four player game, but you may still find yourself being shut out of shipping opportunities, particularly early in the game. This may prove detrimental to your cashflow and future turn order bidding opportunities ...

Game Administration Summary

3. Shipping: As soon as the supply (oil barrel) exceeds the demand (pawn), the price (disc) of the commodity immediately halves (rounded up). Players then receive the lower price for all additional commodities.

4. Administration: The market moves and the Commodity Index is adjusted as follows:

• Supply > demand: demand +2. (The price has already halved during shipping!)
• Supply = demand: price +1, demand +1.
• Supply < demand (commodities which shipped): price +2, demand halved (rounded up).
• The one commodity which did not ship: price +3, demand +3.
• Once the market has moved, the commodity discs from all ports are removed from the board.
• The supply markers (oil barrels) from the Commodity Index are also removed from the board.
• Mines that have shipped all of their commodity cubes are exhausted. The mine heads are removed from the board and returned to the players' supplies, and abandoned mine markers are placed on these spaces on the board.
• All trucks are returned to the players.