VOC! Founding the Dutch East Indies Company

VOC! Founding the Dutch East Indies Company Rulebook

Table of Contents

Basic Game

Corrected rules of the basic game, v 1.1 BE. The basic game can be played by 4 or 5 players.

Game Material

This game contains:

Wooden cubes, representing men; depending on their placement, these can have different functions depending on where they are played on the board:
1. Men which are placed are called merchants. They can carry goods from the East.
2. Men which are placed here are called sailors. They can navigate the ship.
Goods: Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Tea, Coffee, Textiles, Cloves, Pepper (placed in the harbor printed).
Contract cards (see below).
Warehouses for each player. You can put your men and up to two goods in your warehouse.
Four navigation cards; these can be written on using the marker provided (always use an erasable marker to do so!). The line at the bottom of each navigation card shows the starting area of each ship.
Contracts: the contract with on the left side two cinnamon, two nutmeg and two cloves and on the right side one pepper is wrong; it should be understood as a contract for one cinnamon, one nutmeg and one clove, or two pepper (printed correction on the rules sheet). On a contract: (1) the goods needed to fulfill this contract - the numbers above the goods indicate how many are needed to fulfill the contract; (2) the maximum amount you can earn fulfilling this contract; (3) this number has no meaning in the basic game.

The year markers and the "Burgemeester" card are not used in the basic game.

Preparation

Put the board on the table. Sort the goods and place them in the matching harbors. Most harbors get four goods. Only the harbors selling pepper get one pepper each.

Put the four navigation cards next to the board. Take the card marked 'VOC' out of the pile of contracts. Shuffle the remaining cards. Take 6 of them without looking. Shuffle these 6 together with the VOC card. Put this pile face-down on the table. Put the remaining contracts, face-down, on top of this pile.

Every player chooses a color. If four players join, each player gets 10 men (wooden cubes) of his color. In this case, do not use the blue men. With 5 players, each player gets 8. These men are put on the ships on the board in such a way that the colors of the cubes match those on the slots on the ships. Some slots have two colors: blue and one other. With four players, put red, yellow, black or green men in these slots, as the color indicates. With five players, put in blue men.

Each player gets a warehouse.

Take the top three contract cards and put these face-up next to the board, all facing the same way so that all players agree which side is left and which is right.

A game of VOC starts in 1585. Put the wooden ship on this year.

Outline of Play

VOC is played in a number of rounds, each symbolizing a year in the history of the VOC. Each year consists of 5 or 6 phases. In some phases, all players get a turn. In others, they do not. The ship on the board indicates the current year. In the years marked by a ships' convoy, scurvy occurs.

Phase 2 (scurvy) is played only in years marked with a ships' convoy. In the first round (1585), skip phase 1 and 2 and start with phase 3 immediately.

Phase 1: New Orders

Take the top contract card from the pile. If it is the VOC card, the game ends immediately (see Game End). Otherwise, put the card on the table, face-up, to the right of the cards already lying there.

If there are now 6 cards present, take the oldest (leftmost) card and give it to the city of Amsterdam (put it on the board on the area marked Amsterdam). This represents a contract fulfilled by Amsterdam. At the end of the game, it will yield points for Amsterdam.

This phase is not played in the first year (1585)!

Phase 2: Scurvy!

This phase is played only in years marked with a ships' convoy. Each ship which is not in the harbor of Middelburg loses one sailor to the effects of malnutrition on board. Take the leftmost sailor from each ship and hand it back to the owner of that color.

If a ship has no more sailors, it sinks. Put back all goods into the harbors they came from. Give all men to the respective players. The ship can be refitted later in the same year.

Note that ships in harbors in the east still suffer from scurvy. Only those in Middelburg are exempt.

Phase 3: Investments

All ships that have sunk, or that have returned home, have to be fitted out anew. All players replace their men on the slots indicated on the ship. The ship's navigation card is wiped clean with a piece of moist cloth. The refitted ships cannot sail in the next phase: they have to wait for one turn.

Phase 4: To the East, and Back

In this phase, the ships A, B, C and D sail one after the other. Typically, a ship will try to move a certain distance. Ships are controlled by their skipper, that is, the player owning the leftmost sailor on the ship.

In the sixteenth century, navigating was no small task. The available maps were often imprecise. Moreover, it was impossible to determine the exact position of the ship in east-west direction. North-south position could be easily determined looking at the stars.

In the game, ships sail by means of a navigation card. Each ship has its own card. The skipper takes the pen provided with the game and puts it on the navigation card at the exact spot which marks the location of his ship. Ships sailing from Zealand start anywhere on the line at the bottom of the navigation card.

Then, the skipper closes his eyes and draws the route he wants the ship to sail. The other players look on and can provide limited assistance. For each sailor a player has on the ship, he may call out once. Calls are limited to the words 'North', 'South', 'East', 'West' or 'Stop'. Each word counts as one complete call. If a player calls another word, or calls more often than allowed, he has to pay 5 daalders to the bank. The skipper, meanwhile, is free at any time to follow or ignore the instructions given.

When the skipper decides he has sailed far enough, he stops, takes the pen off the card and opens his eyes. Then, he puts a little cross on the card to mark the new location of his ship.

If a skipper crosses a coast while drawing, other players call out: 'Land ho!'. The ship has run aground. Sometimes it is unclear whether a ship has crossed the coast, or if it is a near miss. It is advisable to let the skipper draw on, and judge afterwards if he has run ashore. This is the case if the line drawn crosses the coast, i.e., part of the line drawn is visible on the inside of the coastline. Running off the map is treated in the same way.

If a ship runs aground, the skipper cannot sail any further that year. Any drawing after the hit is ignored. Moreover, the leftmost sailor falls overboard and is given back to the player of that color. If there are any sailors left on the ship, this means that there will be a new skipper, who can assume his position one year later, starting from the spot where the ship has run aground.

If there are no more sailors on the ship, it sinks (see below).

If the skipper succeeds in reaching a harbor (that is, he draws his line into one of the encircled areas on the navigation card), players may buy goods. All merchants on the ship get a chance to do so, starting with the leftmost merchant. If goods in the harbor run out, trading ends.

Each merchant can only carry one item. He is not obliged to do so, but may also pass in the hope of procuring more valuable goods in a later harbor. Merchants do not pay for the goods they procure. Each item is placed on the ship, under the merchant who carries it. Goods taken up cannot be discarded until the ship reaches Zealand. Thus, a merchant taking up a good can not take up any other goods until the ship has been to Zealand and back.

A ship does not have to stop when it enters a harbor, provided the skipper does not open his eyes. Thus, it is possible to visit multiple harbors in one year. These harbors are then handled one after the other. The harbors are safe: as long as you stay inside the circles, you cannot run aground, not even if you draw across the coast line. Only if you draw on the land outside the circle, you run aground. But if the skipper has drawn inside of the circle first, the merchants can first take goods, before the ship runs aground and a sailor is lost.

If the skipper hits the line at the bottom of a navigation card, the other players call: "Home!", and the ship automatically sails home to the harbor of Middelburg. All men and goods are taken from the ship and given to the respective players. The ship then has to be refitted in the next year.

Note that it is possible, and even quite likely, that not all players will be skippers in a particular year. Others may even control two ships. This is normal - those who have little control now will fare better next year.

Sunken Ships

As soon as a ship no longer has any sailors, it sinks. Put back all goods into the harbors they came from. Give all men to the respective players. The ship then has to be refitted in the next year.

Phase 5: Sales

This phase occurs only if players have brought goods to Zealand in this or a previous year. All players may negotiate for one minute to buy or sell goods from each other. Only goods that have been brought back can be traded. Players may pay each other in daalders.

As soon as the minute has ended, each player wishing to do so may fulfill contracts that are open. He puts back the goods indicated on the contract card in the harbors they came from, and earns the amount of daalders indicated on the card. The card itself is discarded.

If a contract has a slash, you may choose to deliver either the goods shown on the left side or the goods shown on the right side.

If multiple players are able to fulfill the same contract, they can cooperate by letting one of them take the contract, paying a small sum to the other. Alternatively, they can compete by bidding a lower price than the one indicated on the card. For instance, a player may call out: 'I will take the 2 tea contract at 8 daalders instead of the sum printed on the card'. If a player calls out a bid, it immediately becomes impossible to earn more from the deal. If the other players do not want to bid less than 8 daalders, the calling player gets the contract for 8.

At the end of the sales phase, each player may store up to two goods in his warehouse. Any excess goods are placed back in their harbors of origin. A player may freely decide which goods to keep and which to return.

Phase 6: New Year

The wooden ship is moved one year further.

Game End

The game ends as soon as the VOC card is turned open. The Company is founded, and only the richest players will get a position on the board. All players count their daalders. Whoever has earned most, wins the game.

However, all cards that have gone to Amsterdam are counted as well. If Amsterdam has gathered more daalders than any of the players, all players lose. None of the great merchants of Zealand then makes it into the body of Seventeen Lords.

Advanced Game

Corrected rules of the advanced game, v 1.1 AE. The advanced game can be played by 3 to 5 players.

Game Material

This game contains:

Wooden cubes, representing men; depending on their placement, these can have different functions depending on where they are played on the board:
1. Men which are placed are called merchants. They can carry goods from the East.
2. Men which are placed here are called sailors. They can navigate the ship.
Goods: Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Tea, Coffee, Textiles, Cloves, Pepper (placed in the harbor printed).
Contract cards (see below).
Warehouses for each player. You can put your men and up to two goods in your warehouse.
Four navigation cards; these can be written on using the marker provided (always use an erasable marker to do so!). The line at the bottom of each navigation card shows the starting area of each ship.
Contracts: the contract with on the left side two cinnamon, two nutmeg and two cloves and on the right side one pepper is wrong; it should be understood as a contract for one cinnamon, one nutmeg and one clove, or two pepper (printed correction on the rules sheet). On a contract: (1) the goods needed to fulfill this contract - the numbers above the goods indicate how many are needed to fulfill the contract; (2) the amount you earn fulfilling this contract; (3) the amount you will lose if you do not fulfill the contract at the agreed time.
Year markers: used to define by the end of which year a contract must have been fulfilled.
The Burgemeester card indicates which player is the current starting player.

Preparation

Put the board on the table. Sort the goods and place them in the matching harbors. Most harbors get four goods. Only the harbors selling pepper get one pepper each. Put the year markers in a row on top of the board.

Regardless of the number playing, each player gets 10 cubes, a warehouse and 10 daalders.

Take the top three contract cards and put these face-up next to the board, all facing the same way so that all players agree which side is left and which is right.

A game of VOC starts in 1585. Put the wooden ship on this year.

The youngest player gets the Burgemeester card, indicating he be the starting player in phase 3.

Outline of Play

VOC is played in a number of rounds, each symbolizing a year in the history of the VOC. Each year consists of 4 or 6 phases. In some phases, all players get a turn. In others, they do not. The ship on the board indicates the current year. In the years marked by a ships' convoy, new contracts are turned open and scurvy occurs.

Phase 1 (new orders) and 2 (scurvy) are played only in years marked with a ships' convoy. In the first round (1585), skip phase 1 and 2 and start with phase 3 immediately.

Phase 1: New Orders

This phase is played only in years indicated by a ships' convoy (but not in 1585!). All cards which do not have a man (cube) on them at the beginning of this phase are given to Amsterdam. Then, three new cards are turned open and placed to the right of the cards already on the table. If the VOC card is turned open, the game ends immediately (see Game End).

Phase 2: Scurvy!

If a ship has no more sailors, it sinks. Put back all goods into the harbors they came from. Give all men to the respective players. The ship can be refitted later in the same year.

Note that ships in harbors in the east still suffer from scurvy. Only those in Middelburg are exempt.

Phase 3: Investments

In this phase, players can invest to fit out ships. The Burgemeester (Mayor) of Middelburg, that is, the player holding the Burgemeester card, starts, followed by the others in clockwise order. In their turn, players choose to perform one of the following actions. When all players have had two turns, the phase ends.

Fitting out ships: a player places 4 men on one of the ships currently in Zealand. On each ship, all slots marked 1 must be filled before any of the 2's can be used. The 3's can be used only if all 1's and 2's are gone. In the advanced game, the colors of the slots are not important.

A player may only place less than 4 men if he does not have enough men or if the ship has not enough slots to fill: in that case, he must place as many men on the ship as possible. It is never allowed to place more sailors than merchants on the ship. When there are two slots with the same number available for placing a sailor, the rightmost slot must be taken. The same rule applies to merchants.

A player can invest in multiple ships, but the 4 men placed in one turn must all go into the same ship. Players may not add men to a ship that has sailed to the East.

Taking out a contract. Put a man on one of the unclaimed contracts. Take a year marker, and place it on the contract. This indicates before the end of which year you promise to fulfill the contract.

It is possible to take over a claimed contract by putting an earlier year-marker on it. The original player then gets his man back. To prevent others from taking over your contracts, it is allowed to put an earlier year-marker on a contract you have claimed yourself. In this case, keep the original man on the contract. When a contract is taken over or secured with an earlier year marker, the year marker which was on the contract before is put back in the row on top of the board, so that it can be reused later for other contracts.

In case all the year markers are gone (or indicate years in the past), you can always take out a contract for 1602. Put a man without a year marker on the contract to indicate this. Note that this is only allowed if no year markers are left!

Passing, or taking back men. A player may also pass, or take back all of his men from a ship currently in Zealand. When men are taken back, the other men on the ship are moved to the right: men in the left half of the ship are move towards the middle of the ship as far as possible; men in the right half are shifted right as far as possible. Players may not take back men from multiple ships; neither may they take men from ships that have sailed to the East.

A player may freely determine which actions to take in his two turns. For instance, he may take out a contract both turns, or first pass, then fit out a ship, or first fit out a ship, then take out a contract, etcetera.

Phase 4: To the East, and Back

In this phase, the ships A, B, C and D sail one after the other. Ships fitted out during phase 3 may sail immediately. Typically, a ship will try to move a certain distance. Ships are controlled by their skipper, that is, the player owning the leftmost sailor on the ship.

When the skipper decides he has sailed far enough, he stops, takes the pen off the card and opens his eyes. Then, he puts a little cross on the card to mark the new location of his ship.

If there are no more sailors on the ship, it sinks (see below).

Sunken Ships

As soon as a ship no longer has any sailors, it sinks. Put back all goods into the harbors they came from. Give all men to the respective players. The ship can be refitted in the next year.

Phase 5: Sales

As soon as the minute has ended, each player wishing to do so may fulfill contracts. A player may only fulfill contracts he has claimed by putting men on them. He puts back the goods indicated on the contract card in the harbors they came from, and earns the amount of daalders indicated on the card. The card itself is discarded. The year marker is put back in the row on top of the board, so that it may be reused later for other contracts.

If a contract has a slash, you may choose to deliver either the goods shown on the left side or the goods shown on the right side.

At the end of phase 5, check if there are still any contracts open which had to be fulfilled by this year. The player that has taken out such a contract loses the number of daalders indicated on the card. The card is discarded, and the man is returned to the player. If a player cannot pay a fine, he is out of the game.

Phase 6: New Year

The Burgemeester gives his card to the player to his left. The wooden ship is moved one year further.

Game End

The game ends as soon as the VOC card is turned open. The Company is founded, and only the richest players will get a position on the board. All players count their daalders. Any contracts still on the table yield no daalders; neither do they have to be paid for. Whoever has earned most, wins the game.