TF22: RELOAD!
TF22: RELOAD! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Aim of the Game
The aim of the game is to maximise the loading of RCU containers on your spaceship in order to maintain container majorities and by doing so score the most points at the end of the second game round.
Game Components
- 40 RCU containers: 10 each per basic color set (green, blue, red, yellow)
- 4 miniature score markers: Robot Combat Units (RCU's from the TF22 universe)
- 24 miniature chipcards as tie currency
- 28 container cards: 7 each per basic color set, each set with 1x face value 0 and 2x face values 1, 2 and 3
- 32 RCU cards: 8 each per player colour set, each set with face values 1 through 7 plus 1 R-card (RELOAD!)
- 4 spaceship cards with up to 5 container slots each (5 slots when 2 players, 4 when 3 players and 3 when 4 players)
- 4 score cards: front 1-40, back 41-80
- 4 player aid cards showing the container stacking possibilities (identical front/back)
- 4 player aid cards showing the possibilities how to use the R-card (identical front/back)
Setting Up the Game
Each player places 1 score marker, 1 score card, 1 spaceship card as well as both player aid cards in his color in front of him. He holds his complete set of RCU cards in his hand (including the R-card).
The 40 RCU containers and the 24 chipcards are set aside as common stock within the reach of all players.
The 28 container cards are shuffled face down and placed as drawing stack next to the common stock, then the top 2 container cards are revealed and activated with the corresponding RCU container (see ACTIVATE A CONTAINER).
Gameplay (Round 1)
Each player secretly chooses 1 RCU card from his hand and holds it face down on the table. Once all players have made their choice the cards are revealed simultaneously. The player who wins the battle (see BATTLE) gets both container cards (CC) and puts them face down on his personal CC discard pile.
He also gets the activated RCU container (see ACTIVATE A CONTAINER) and:
a. loads it on his spaceship (see LOAD), or b. returns it to the common stock if:
- he can't load it (see LOAD), or
- he doesn't want to load it (see BLUFF).
Then all players put their just played RCU card (RC) face down on their personal RC discard pile.
This is repeated until all container cards have been revealed (14 times per round).
Now follows the first scoring (of 2) (see POINTS).
Activate a Container
Before each battle the following 2 container cards from the top of the drawing stack are revealed in order to determine the color of the now to be activated RCU container. The strength of the container cards is as follows:
- Green beats Blue or Red
- Blue beats Red or Yellow
- Red only beats Yellow
- Yellow only beats Green
The "battle winning color" activates 1 RCU container of that same color. The so activated RCU container is placed on top of the 2 revealed container cards. It is for this container and the 2 revealed container cards that players will try to win the next battle by using their RCU cards (see BATTLE).
Attention: Two container cards of the same color (regardless of their face value) activate only 1 RCU container anyway. The face value of the container cards matters only for scoring (see POINTS).
Examples:
- Green 0 beats Red 2 (container cards 0 green and 2 red): 1 green container is activated.
- Blue 2 beats Yellow 1 (container cards 2 blue and 1 yellow): 1 blue container is activated.
- Red 2 equals Red 2 (container cards 2 red and 2 red): 1 red container is activated.
Battle
Each player tries to win as many battles as possible by playing his RCU cards. The RCU card with the highest face value in a battle wins both revealed container cards plus the currently activated RCU container. The color of the RCU cards plays no role whatsoever during a battle. RCU cards of the same face value tie during a battle (see TIE).
Attention: One RCU-1 card neutralizes one (or more) RCU-7 card(s), as if it (they) didn't exist during this battle. However, if an RCU-1 card ties with one (or more) other RCU-1 card(s), the RCU-7 card will be the highest in this battle. So players must always check in the following order:
a. if two (or more) RCU-1 cards tie, otherwise b. if an RCU-1 card neutralizes one (or more) RCU-7 cards, then c. which RCU cards remain involved in this battle.
Examples with 3 players:
a. Buzz plays RCU-7, Neil RCU-1, Valentina RCU-4. Valentina wins. (RCU-1 neutralizes RCU-7, RCU-4 beats RCU-1) b. Buzz plays RCU-6, Neil RCU-1, Valentina RCU-4. Buzz wins. (RCU-6 being the highest face value in this battle) c. Buzz plays RCU-6, Neil RCU-3, Valentina RCU-6. Neil wins. (two RCU-6's tie, RCU-3 remains last) d. Buzz plays RCU-7, Neil RCU-1, Valentina RCU-1. Buzz wins. (two RCU-1's tie, RCU-7 remains last)
Examples with 4 players:
e. Buzz plays RCU-7, Neil RCU-1, Valentina RCU-4, Juri RCU-5. Juri wins. (RCU-1 neutralizes RCU-7, RCU-5 beats RCU-4 and RCU-1) f. Buzz plays RCU-7, Neil RCU-1, Valentina RCU-4, Juri RCU-4. Neil wins. (RCU-1 neutralizes RCU-7, two RCU-4's tie, RCU-1 remains last) g. Buzz plays RCU-6, Neil RCU-1, Valentina RCU-4, Juri RCU-4. Buzz wins. (two RCU-4's tie, RCU-6 beats RCU-1)
Tie & Tie Currency
A tie is when two (or more) RCU cards of the same face value (not the R-card!) are played simultaneously.
Examples:
- Buzz plays RCU-6, Neil RCU-1, Valentina RCU-4, Juri RCU-4. The two RCU-4's tie. (remains RCU-6 which beats RCU-1)
- Buzz plays RCU-6, Neil RCU-6, Valentina RCU-6, Juri RCU-4. The three RCU-6's tie. (remains RCU-4)
- Buzz plays RCU-6, Neil RCU-1, Valentina RCU-6, Juri RCU-4. The two RCU-6's tie. (remains RCU-4 which beats RCU-1)
Each player involved in a tie receives 1 chipcard as tie currency. The tie currency can be used during the game for special actions linked to the R-card (see RELOAD).
Attention: Neutralizing an RCU-7 by an RCU-1 is not considered a tie and players involved will not receive any tie currency.
Absolute Tie
If a battle leads to an absolute tie, the 2 revealed container cards are put aside for the rest of the round and the associated RCU container is returned to the common stock. Each player who participated in the absolute tie gets 1 chipcard as tie currency. The tie currency can be used during the game for special actions linked to the R-card (see RELOAD).
Example with 3 players:
Buzz plays RCU-6, Neil RCU-6, Valentina RCU-6 = absolute tie. Nobody wins the battle (three RCU-6's tie). The 2 revealed container cards are put aside for the rest of the round and the associated RCU container is returned to the common stock. Peter, Neil and Valentina each receive 1 chipcard as tie currency.
Note: the printed rulebook names "Peter" in the last sentence of this example, where the other examples name "Buzz" for the first player. Transcribed as printed.
Example with 4 players:
Buzz plays RCU-5, Neil RCU-5, Valentina RCU-4, Juri RCU-4 = absolute tie. Nobody wins the battle (two RCU-4's tie, two RCU-5's tie). The 2 revealed container cards are put aside for the rest of the round and the associated RCU container is returned to the common stock. Peter, Neil, Valentina and Juri each receive 1 chipcard as tie currency.
Note: as above, the printed example names "Peter" for the player who played RCU-5 (Buzz). Transcribed as printed.
Load
Each spaceship has:
a. 5 container slots when 2 players b. 4 container slots when 3 players c. 3 container slots when 4 players
which can only be loaded by stacking the RCU containers as follows:
- Green stacks on Blue or Red or Yellow or an empty slot
- Blue stacks on Red or Yellow or an empty slot
- Red stacks on Yellow or an empty slot
- Yellow stacks on an empty slot only
Attention: Two RCU containers of the same color can never be stacked!
Therefore the optimum load per slot consists of a stack of 4 RCU containers of different colors (a green on a blue on a red on a yellow). At the end of the game (so only at the end of the second round!) each such optimum stack of 4 RCU containers is worth an additional 3 bonus points per stack (see BONUS POINTS & VICTORY).
Bluff
During the game loading a new RCU container onto your spaceship may be:
a. impossible or b. unwise.
In this particular case, if you won the battle, you may instead reload 1 previously loaded RCU container, provided the general loading rules are met, and that the RCU container that is to be reloaded is:
- in the "battle winning color", and
- taken from the top of a stack, and
- reloaded on top of another stack!
Attention: Even if you do not load or reload you still get the 2 revealed container cards! The activated RCU container is returned to the common stock.
Example: Buzz wins a battle for a blue RCU container, but instead of loading a new blue RCU container he chooses to reload an existing blue one. Since he has the appropriate slot on his spaceship he may do so. Right after this he wins another battle for a blue RCU container, and decides to reload the one he just moved right back to its old spot, which again he may do. Of course he will not reveal his strategy at this point.
(Illustration in the printed rulebook: Before... / after... / and back again.)
Reload (Special Actions Card R)
You may always play your card R (secretly) instead of one of the 7 numerical RCU cards. By doing so, and instead of participating in the current battle, you can:
a. R + [hand icon]: take back in your hand for free all your RCU cards from your personal RC discard pile, or
b. R + 1 chipcard [chipcard icon] + [discard icon]: by paying 1 chipcard surcharge, discard 1 RCU container of your choice from your spaceship (but only from the top of a stack!) or
c. R + 2 chipcards [chipcard icon] + [reload icon]: by paying 2 chipcards surcharge, reload 1 RCU container of your choice on your spaceship (but only from the top of a stack to the top of another stack!) (see LOAD), or
d. R + 3 chipcards [chipcard icon] + [buy icon]: by paying 3 chipcards surcharge, buy 1 RCU container of your choice from the common stock and load it on to your spaceship right away (by respecting the loading rules!) (see LOAD).
Important: In all 4 cases (a. b. c. or d.) the card R is not discarded but taken back into your hand immediately!
Attention: If several players have chosen variant d. and in order to prevent that their choice is influenced by the choice of another player, all players involved must secretly choose their desired RCU container color. An easy way to do so is by using the container cards from their personal discard piles, thus choosing one showing the appropriate color and keeping it face-down until all players have made their choice. Then the container cards are revealed simultaneously and the according RCU containers taken from the common stock. Change of opinion afterwards is not allowed! The container card is put back face-down to the respective personal CC discard pile.
Points
At the end of each round, players score points as follows:
a. For every absolute majority in an RCU container color on his spaceship the player scores all the face value points of all container cards of the corresponding color in his personal CC discard pile.
b. In case of a tie or a minority in one (or more) RCU container color(s) between two (or more) players, all concerned players score half the face value points, rounded down, of all container cards of the corresponding color in their personal CC discard pile. Each color scores separately!
Attention: In addition each loaded RCU container is worth 1 point (even if that same RCU container has already scored a point in the previous round).
Each player marks his score on his score card by placing his miniature score marker on the according number.
Example with three players:
At the end of the first round Buzz, Neil and Valentina have the following container cards in their personal CC discard piles and the following RCU containers on their spaceships (none of them has bluffed or reloaded):
0 0 1 1 1 1 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 3 3 3 3 1 1 0 0
3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 0 0 1 1
3 3 3 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 3 3 2 3 2 2 2 2 3 2 0 3 1 0 1
0 1 0 1 1 3 1 3 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 3 0 3 3 1 3 0 1 0
Buzz Neil (bought 1 extra red container!) Valentina
(The grids above are the printed container-card faces of each player's discard pile, left to right: Buzz, Neil, Valentina. Each card is shown as a face value over the one below it in the printed page.)
Buzz has the majority of Green RCU containers and a minority in Red and Blue. In his personal CC discard pile are 1x Green 2 and 3, 1x Blue 0, 1, 2 and 3, and 1x Red 1 and 3. Thus, he scores 5 points for Green plus 2 points (half of 4) for Red plus 3 points (half of 6) for Blue. In addition, he also scores 4 points for his 4 containers. So Buzz scores a total of 14 points in this round.
Neil has the majority of Blue RCU containers and ties (with Valentina) in Red and Yellow. In his personal CC discard pile are 1x Blue 1, 2 and 3, 1x Red 2, and 2x Yellow 1 and 1x Yellow 2 and 3. Thus, he scores 6 points for Blue plus 1 point (half of 2) for Red plus 3 points (half of 7, rounded down) for Yellow. His Green container cards are worthless! In addition, he also scores 6 points for his 6 containers. So Neil scores a total of 16 points in this round.
Valentina has no majority in any RCU containers but ties (with Neil) in Red and Yellow and holds a minority in Green. In her personal CC discard pile are 1x Yellow 0, 2, and 3, 1x Red 0, 1, 2 and 3, and 1x Green 0, 1 and 3. Thus, she scores 3 points (half of 6) for Red plus 2 points (half of 5, rounded down) for Yellow and 2 points (half of 4) for Green. In addition, she also scores 5 points for her 5 containers. So Valentina scores a total of 12 points in this round.
Round 2
All previously loaded RCU containers remain unchanged on each spaceship!
Attention: At the beginning of the second round each player must continue with the rest of his RCU cards from the first round, without taking back in his hand the RCU cards from his personal RC discard pile, unless he consciously played his card R as last in the first round (without chipcard surcharge!) in order to willingly replenish his hand of RCU cards just before the start of round two (see RELOAD, point a.). It is only then that you can start the second round with all RCU cards in your hand!
Important: Before reshuffling the container cards, do not forget to add those eventually put aside during the previous round (see ABSOLUTE TIE).
Then proceed as in round 1.
And remember, each time you win a battle, a previously loaded RCU container may be reloaded as long as the loading rules are observed (see LOAD, BLUFF).
At the end of round two scores are again settled (see POINTS). Finally, each player checks if he earned any additional bonus points or not (see BONUS POINTS & VICTORY).
Bonus Points & Victory
At the end of the game each complete stack of 4 different colored RCU containers is worth an additional 3 bonus points per stack!
The player with the highest score wins the game.
In case of a tie, the player with the most tie money wins. In case of another tie, the player with the fewest bonus points wins. In case of another tie, the players share the victory.
End of the Game
The game is over when the winner(s) has (have) been declared.
But beware: After the game is before the game! Care about a revenge?