Veracruz 1631
Veracruz 1631 Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object of the Game
Players are merchants who have to load gold, silver, corn and cacao into the Juncal, the Santa Teresa and the San Antonio, always following their commercial interests. Besides, they will try to get rid of the King's mail.
Components
- 1 Game Board (with the 3 vessels)
- 43 Boxes Cards
- 32 Boxes of Goods (gold, silver, cacao and corn)
- 7 Boxes of Stones
- 4 Empty Boxes
- 4 Goods Investment Cards
- 8 Betting Cards
- 6 Counters (for weight and balance)
- 1 Meteorology Counter
- 1 Doubloon
Set up
- Place the board in the middle of the table.
- Place a counter on the square 0 of the Weight track and the Balance track of each galleon.
- Shuffle the 4 Investment cards and give one to each player. This investment will be secret during the game. If any, place the remaining cards back into the box.
- Give 2 Betting cards of the same colour to each player.
- Shuffle the Boxes cards and give 4 to each player. Using the remaining cards, create 2 decks of 4 cards each (all cards must be facing up). Then, place them at the top of the board. Leave the rest of cards in a deck facing down next to the other 2 decks.
- Place the Meteorology counter on the square 3. Then, toss the doubloon. If its result is the Sun, move it up to the 4. If its results is the Storm, move it down to the 2.
- Choose the starting player.
Playing the game
Beginning with the starting player and in clockwise order, players will play their cards by turns. During their turn, players must choose among one of the two following actions:
1) Bet on a galleon
The King's mail is in one of the galleons. Maybe, you are interested in sinking it.
Place a Betting card (Reach Port/Sunken Galleon) facing down on the betting area of one of the galleons (the bottom of the board). If there is already a card, place your card on the top of that card.
2) Load a galleon
Load your boxes and keep the balance.
A) Place a card facing up in one of the sides of a galleon. Gold and silver are placed in the left side of the board, while cacao and corn are placed in the right side (as it's indicated on the board). The stones and empty boxes can be placed in both sides. If there is already a card in one of the sides, the new cards will partially overlap, leaving in view the number and the type of goods of the previous card.
Each galleon has a limit in weight and balance. That limit must not be exceeded by placing a card (for example, the Juncal has a weight limit of 15. If the counter is currently on the square 13, a player could not load a box of 3).
- Goods: Gold, silver, cacao and corn with values from 1 to 3.
- Stones: They are added to the weight and the imbalance, but they have no value.
- Empty Boxes: They are placed on the top of the last loaded box in any side of a galleon. That box is considered void and its values are substracted.
B) Move the Weight counter of a galleon according to the loaded box. Remember! This counter must show the total weight of a galleon's cargo.
C) Move the Balance counter to the side where the box has been loaded. Remember, it has to be moved as many squares as the box's weight and it must show the total balance of a galleon's cargo.
D) Draw a new card from any of the facing up decks available.
If during that moment a deck runs out of cards, create a new one with 4 cards facing up. Then, toss the doubloon and move the Meteorology counter one position to the Sun or the Storm, according to the result and as long as it can be moved.
If there are no cards left to create a new deck, the game continues without it.
End of the game
The game ends when the weight counters of the three galleons are in the red area (the last three numbers). This means they are ready to sail to the Old World.
The weather forecast is changed one last time and the final result will determine the fate of the galleons in the ocean:
- The galleon sinks if its imbalance value is equal or higher than the final result of the Meteorology value.
- The galleon reaches port if its imbalance value is lower than the final result of the Meteorology value.
Example: If the game ends with Meteorology 3, a galleon with imbalance 3 sinks, while another galleon with imbalance 2 reaches port.
All players reveal their initial investment and score according to:
- Their investment: Score the weight of the corresponding goods investment from those galleons reaching port. Sunken galleons don't score.
- Their bets: Face up the three betting decks and resolve them in order. For every galleon, players who bet and guessed right score according to the order of the bet. The first scores 4 points, the second scores 2 points and the third scores 1 point. For every failed bet, a player loses 1 point.
(Scoring summary as printed on the rulebook: correct bets 4 / 2 / 1 / 0; failed bet -1.)
The player with the most points wins the game. In case of a tie, the player with the most points in their investment wins. If the tie persists, the tied players share the victory.
If all the galleons sink, nobody wins the game.