Sheepdogs of Pendleton Hill
Sheepdogs of Pendleton Hill Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Description of Play
Players take turns playing a card from their hand to place shepherds on the hill, to place sheep in a flock, to move a flock, or to move the wolf. Players are awarded points when their color coded sheep reach one of their shepherds. Matched pairs of sheep and shepherds that meet in this way are removed from the board and placed back into the player's pool of pieces for future use.
When a flock of sheep is moved onto the same space as the wolf or the wolf is moved into a flock of sheep, one of the sheep will be frightened by the wolf and run down the hill. This sheep is removed from the board and placed back in the owning player's pool of pieces for future use.
Components
- 65 Cards: 20 x "1", 20 x "1+1", 20 x "2", and 5 Sheepdog cards (1 per player)
- Game Board
- 35 Shepherds - 7 each in 5 colors
- 30 Sheep - 6 each in 5 colors
- 5 Scoring Disks
- 1 Wolf
- 1 Black Sheep
(The card breakdown is shown as pictures in the original; the "1 x" card pictured is the Sheepdog card, one per player.)
The Board
The board is divided into four tiers of pastures. The first or bottom tier has four pastures, the second tier has three, the third tier two and the fourth tier has one pasture. The board does not "wrap around".
Sheep that are collected by one of their shepherds from:
- The bottom tier of pastures are worth one point each
- The second tier of pastures are worth three points each
- The third tier of pastures are worth five points each
- The top tier pasture are worth seven points
Three flocks are depicted by a series of spaces in sheep pens at the bottom of the board. Each flock in a sheep pen is four to five spaces in size.
In a three player game only two sheep pens are used. Do not use the pen with the black sheep. Place the black sheep here as a reminder.
In a four or five player game all three pens are used. Do not place the black sheep on the board.
Set Up
Each player selects a set of matching sheep and shepherds. Give each player their matching sheepdog card. Place the scoring disk for each player on the zero of the score track. Place a shepherd from each player on the 7, and on each of the two 5 spaces on the board. Place the wolf on the center "3" pasture.
Shuffle the deck and deal each player three cards face-down.
The player that makes the best wolf howl will go first. Beginning with the first player and proceeding to their left, each player places one of their shepherds on the board in a pasture until each player has placed two shepherds. There may never be more than one shepherd of the same color in a single pasture on the board. Any number of shepherds of different colors may occupy the same pasture.
The wolf and shepherds may occupy the same pasture. So players may place shepherds on the center "3" pasture during set up. The wolf is sneaky and lurks out of sight of the shepherds, who are distracted by playing a StrataMax game.
Sequence of Play
Beginning with the first player, players take turns playing a card from their hand, performing their action or actions, and drawing a replacement card. A player performs all of their actions before play proceeds to the next player on the left.
Actions
There are only six types of actions a player can perform on their turn. Depending on which card they play a player may take one or two of these actions per turn:
- Place a shepherd on the board. Once placed, shepherds cannot be moved about the board. Shepherds may be placed where there are already other players' shepherds, where there are sheep and with the wolf. A shepherd may not be placed in a pasture that already contains a shepherd of the same color.
- Place a sheep into a flock in a pen
- Move a flock from a pen onto any of the pastures in the first tier
- Move a flock up the hill from a lower tier pasture into an adjacent higher tier pasture
- Move a flock sideways along the hill from one pasture to another adjacent pasture in the same tier
- Move the wolf
The Cards
The deck is made up of three types of cards.
The "1" Card
Playing a "1" card allows a player to perform one of the following actions for any color including their own:
-
Place one shepherd of any color on the board in a pasture that does not already contain a shepherd of the same color.
Or
-
Place one sheep of any color on an empty space in a flock in a pen.
Or
-
Move a flock:
- From a pen onto any of the pastures in the first tier or,
- Up the hill from a lower tier pasture into an adjacent higher tier pasture or,
- Sideways along the hill from one pasture to another adjacent pasture in the same tier.
With the one card a player may move flocks that contain only their own sheep or that contain both their own sheep and other players' sheep or flocks that contain only other players' sheep.
The "1+1" Card
Playing a "1+1" card requires a player to perform the same actions as the "1" card but they must take one action only for their own color and one action for at least one other player's color but not their own color.
The actions may be performed in any order. The action for the player's own color may be performed first or the action for at least one other player's color but not their own color may be performed first.
The actions may, but do not have to be the same. For example a player may place one of their shepherds in a pasture on the board and move a flock that does not contain one of their sheep. Or they may place one of their sheep into a flock in a pen and place another player's shepherd in a pasture.
The player may not move a flock containing sheep of their own color as the action required for another player's color even if the flock contains other players' sheep. With the 1 + 1 card a player cannot move a flock that contains both their sheep and other players' sheep. They may move a flock containing only their sheep and/or a flock containing only other players' sheep.
The "2" Card
Playing a "2" card allows a player to perform the same actions as the "1" card in any combination of two actions, in any order, but only involving their color.
The two actions may be the same or different. For example a player may place one of their sheep into a flock in a pen and if the flock has at least 4 sheep in it, move it onto one of the first tier pastures.
They may move a flock even if the flock has other players' sheep in it as long as the flock also contains at least one of their own sheep.
If a player wishes to move a flock two spaces, the flock must contain at least one of their sheep each time it is moved into a pasture. A flock cannot be moved out of a pasture then moved back into the same pasture it started from in the same turn.
With the two card a player may move flocks that contain only their own sheep or both their own sheep and other players' sheep. With the 2 card a player may not move a flock that contains only other players' sheep.
Or a player may place two of their shepherds on the board in different pastures.
A player may also place two of their sheep into the same flock in a pen, or a single sheep of theirs in two different flocks in different pens.
Any combination of two actions involving their color is allowed.
The "2" card may also be used to move the wolf (see below) instead of performing two actions.
The Sheepdog Card
The Sheepdog card is a wild card and can be used as a "1", "1+1", or "2". It may be used by a player during their turn at any time during the game instead of playing another card. When a player uses it they draw a replacement card from the draw deck at the end of their turn just as if they had played any other card. It may only be used once and once used it is discarded.
Moving Flocks
When sheep are placed into the pens there can only be one sheep per space.
A flock cannot be moved out of a pen until at least four of the spaces in it are filled with sheep as denoted by the shorn sheep.
The maximum size of a flock is five sheep.
When moving a flock place the sheep into a stack for easy handling and move the entire stack. The stacking order does not matter.
The first move for a flock must be to any one of the pastures on the first or bottom tier which does not already contain a flock.
Thereafter a flock may move in any direction along a tier (sideways) or up to a connecting pasture on the next tier. A flock may never be moved down to a lower numbered tier. Each space a flock moves counts as a separate action. The board does not "wrap around".
Only one flock may occupy a pasture at any time. A flock may not move through a space occupied by another flock.
A flock with only one sheep remaining still counts as an entire flock.
It is important to understand that several times during the game, players will be moving flocks that do not contain their sheep.
Collecting Sheep and Scoring
When a flock has been moved onto a pasture, check to see if any of the sheep in the flock match the color of any shepherds in the pasture.
Remove all matching pairs of sheep and shepherds and immediately record the number of points scored by each player that has made a match by moving the corresponding players' scoring disks on the score track. If more than one sheep matches the same shepherd, remove only one sheep of that color from the flock along with the shepherd. The remaining sheep remain on the board. If a match is made it cannot be passed up; the matching sheep and shepherd must be removed and the appropriate points scored. Remember, the number of points scored will depend on which tier the match occurs.
A shepherd placed in a pasture after a flock arrives there may not be matched with a sheep in that flock. A shepherd may only be removed by making a match with one of its corresponding sheep that moves into the same pasture the shepherd occupies. The size of a flock will decrease as matches are made and sheep are removed.
Sheep and shepherds that have been matched and removed from the board are returned to their respective owners to use again.
If a flock has reached the pasture at the top tier and still contains unmatched sheep after all possible matches have been made, the unmatched sheep are returned to their owners and no points are scored for them.
The Wolf
If a flock is moved into a pasture that contains the wolf, the player moving the flock chooses one sheep in the flock which is then frightened off of the hill. The frightened sheep is returned to its owner for future use and no points are scored for it. This occurs before any sheep are matched with their shepherds.
When playing a "2" card a player may move the wolf up to two spaces. The wolf may move up, down or sideways into connecting pastures. As soon as the wolf encounters a flock it must stop and cannot be moved any further that turn. The player moving the wolf chooses one of the sheep in the flock that is frightened off of the hill. This sheep is returned to its owner for future use and no points are scored for it.
When using the "2" card to move the wolf, a player may not do anything else during their turn.
The sheepdog cards may be used as a "2" card and used to move the wolf.
The wolf cannot be moved out of a pasture then moved back into the same pasture it started from in the same turn.
Winning the Game
The game ends when all of the cards in the deck and all of the sheepdog cards have been played.
The person with the most points is the winner. In case of a tie, the first tie breaker is the player with the most sheep on the hill. The second tie breaker is the player with the most sheep in the pens. The third tie breaker is the player with the most shepherds on the hill.