Waldmeister (1994)
Waldmeister (1994) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
- 4 landscape boards (Landschaftsspielpläne)
- 1 season track (Jahreszeitenplan)
- 66 cards, plus 4 replacement cards
- 60 tree tiles in 6 species
- 32 sapling tiles in 6 species (the reverse sides serve as seeds)
- 24 remediation tiles (Sanierungsplättchen)
- 48 animal tiles in 12 species
- 1 cloth bag with 100 damage points
- Play money
- These rules
Setup
In the middle of the table, place:
- The season track.
- The sorted tree, sapling and remediation tiles (the remediation tiles are placed text side up).
- The sorted animal tiles.
- The damage points and the play money.
Each player receives one landscape board and 30,000 in play money.
At the start of the game, each player distributes 2 beeches, 2 spruces, 1 oak sapling and 1 pine seed as they wish across their board (advanced players may vary the number and selection of the starting layout). The trees and the sapling receive damage points immediately.
The number of damage points that trees and saplings receive is always determined by the number of arrows with which industrial and traffic zones burden the tree areas.
Shuffle the cards well and deal 5 to each player. Place the remaining cards as a face-down draw pile in the middle of the play area.
Place one of the red damage points as the season marker on the middle winter space of the season track. Choose a starting player at random.
Damage points needed: with 4 players, all damage points are used; with 3 players, 75; with 2 players, 50.
Sequence of Play
Play proceeds clockwise. The player whose turn it is carries out the following actions in the order given:
- Lay out 1 to 3 cards from your hand face down in front of you.
- Move the season marker clockwise by as many spaces as cards were laid out. The season marker indicates the season now in effect. If the marker reaches or passes the middle space of a season, all players - beginning with the player who laid out the cards - carry out the general action corresponding to that season (see the detailed explanation below).
- The player decides who must draw the face-down cards laid out and carry out the corresponding measures.
- The player may voluntarily remediate one industrial or traffic area at double the price, and may buy any one sapling for 30,000.
- The player refills their hand to 5 cards. The next player then takes their turn.
Detailed Explanation of the Actions
1. Laying Out Cards
Whether a player lays out 1, 2 or 3 cards is up to that player's judgement, based on the current game situation.
2. General Actions According to the Season
Winter
In winter there are no general actions, since the forest is resting.
Spring
- Seeds (the reverse side of the saplings) grow into saplings. They are turned over and immediately receive all damage points from neighbouring industrial and traffic zones (the sum of the black arrows pointing at the sapling's space).
- The saplings grow into trees. The sapling tiles are replaced by the corresponding tree tiles. The damage points on the saplings are transferred to the trees. If there are no tree tiles in the supply, the sapling does not grow up this year and remains on its space. The saplings exchanged for trees return to the supply.
Saplings that have just grown from seeds can only grow into trees in the following spring.
Summer
Up to 2 forest animals immigrate into each landscape (each player's landscape board).
This immigration depends on the number of trees on the board. The number on the animal tiles (1 to 12) indicates how many tree tiles a player must have in order for that animal to immigrate. For example, the boar (value 5) requires 5 tree tiles, and the fox (value 3) requires 3 tree tiles. The lynx (value 12) requires 12 tree tiles.
Example: Volker has 5 trees on his board, 4 of which are already occupied by a wild boar (5), a fox (3), a hare (2) and a roe deer (1). Only the stag (4) can immigrate into his landscape. If he had a sixth tree, the marten (6) could also immigrate in addition to the stag.
The players count their tree tiles on the board and receive animals with an equal or lower number. These are placed on a tree that is not yet occupied by another animal.
A player may not own the same animal twice. If there is no free tree left, no animal can immigrate.
Autumn
The timber value is settled: each player receives the printed values of their trees as payment. These values reflect the timber-economy use of a forest stand. The tree tiles remain on the board. Saplings and seeds yield no income.
3. Distributing and Carrying Out Cards
The player who laid out their cards face down decides which opponents - including themselves - must draw one of these cards. The selected players draw in clockwise order first; the player who laid out the cards must take the card laid out last.
If the player laid out only one card, that player chooses one opponent, who decides whether the player who laid out the card or the card-layer themselves must take it.
Starting with the player following clockwise, each player must carry out the action given on their card. The player whose turn it is carries out their action last.
Example: Volker has laid out one card face down and asks Robert whether he wants the card. If Robert does not want it, Volker must take it himself.
4. Voluntary Remediation and Purchase of a Sapling
The player may now carry out a remediation without using a remediation card. The player pays double the price of the remediation tile. The remediation is carried out in the same order as when a remediation card is used. A voluntary remediation is also permitted even if the player has already remediated once during their turn by means of a playing card.
The player may also buy one sapling at the fixed price of 30,000 and place it on their landscape board.
The Landscape Boards
Each player owns a landscape in which they can reforest woodland. Trees (large tiles) and saplings (small tiles) may only be placed on the free spaces of the board.
Each board contains industrial and traffic zones which damage the adjacent trees and saplings. This is indicated by the black arrows.
Tree and Sapling Tiles
There are 6 different tree species, 3 broadleaf and 3 conifer, and each tree species has 2 values. The number of printed circles indicates how many damage points the tree can withstand. The monetary sum indicates how much money the tree yields in autumn.
At the start of the game, the trees and saplings placed receive a number of damage points equal to the number of arrows from neighbouring industrial and traffic zones pointing at them.
Example: The body text of the source gives the example "Die Tonne" (the tree that can withstand at most 2 damage points and has a timber value of 4,000). The tile illustrated next to it is labelled "Tanne 4.000" (fir), and the tile's own printed circles and value match that label, so the example is the fir (Tanne); the word "Tonne" appears to be a misprint in the source.
Beyond the tree tiles there are also the smaller sapling tiles. New saplings may only be placed on free spaces. Players may also, before placing a sapling, remove a seed in order to create a free space.
Saplings can withstand 3 damage points (exception: a fir sapling only 2).
Damage occurs only when an adjacent space is newly occupied by a sapling, or when a seed grows into a sapling (the tile is turned over to its sapling side). Then as many damage points are placed on the sapling tile as there are black arrows pointing at the tile (see also Fig. 1).
Reverse sapling tiles are used as seeds. Seeds receive no damage points. Damage points are only placed when the seed grows into a sapling.
Playing Cards
The playing cards bring events which can:
- harm the forest (such as bark beetles, frost, smog, etc.)
- benefit the forest (such as ichneumon wasps, red wood ants, etc.)
- enable reforestation (sapling auction)
- enable remediation of industry and traffic (filter 45%, filter 66%, catalytic converter, railway).
The symbols indicate in which season the card takes effect. A card may be laid out even if, because of the current season, it will not take effect (the player who receives it places it on the discard pile).
The cards mostly explain themselves. The appendix to the rules explains all cards from a forestry point of view. In case of doubt, consult the full text of the appendix.
Played cards are collected in a discard pile. When the face-down draw pile is used up, the discard pile is shuffled and used as the new face-down pile.
Damage Cards (red bar)
The card states under what conditions damage may occur and how severe it is. The text specifies what is damaged. The number and the red point indicate the damage points to be distributed. If the text contains a dice symbol, the damage is determined by rolling a die. When distributing damage points, ensure that each tree or sapling receives only 1 damage point per event.
Benefit Cards (green bar)
The benefit cards follow the same structure as the damage cards; however, they have a positive effect on the trees and saplings.
Sapling Auction Cards (green bar)
The player who has drawn a sapling auction card must auction 3 saplings from the supply, one at a time. Each sapling is auctioned among all players. The minimum price is 5,000. Raises must be made in steps of 5,000 or a multiple thereof. The auctioneer makes the first bid; the other players follow clockwise. A player who makes no bid or no higher bid must pass and may no longer bid for this sapling. The lot goes to the player with the highest bid once all other players have passed.
If no player bids on a sapling, that sapling type may not be selected for auction again in this round.
A player may not bid more money for a sapling than they possess; there is no credit. The purchase price is always paid to the bank.
Saplings won at auction must be placed on the landscape board immediately.
There are no auctions in winter.
Remediation Cards (green bar)
A player who receives a remediation card checks whether they wish to carry out a remediation in their landscape (e.g. installing a filter or catalytic converter). If so, the player selects a remediation tile, pays the stated price, and places the remediation tile picture side up on the corresponding space.
Remediation must follow a fixed order. The "Filter 66%" may only be built once the "Filter 45%" has already been installed in the region. Likewise, "Railway" may only be introduced once the "Catalytic converter" tile is already on the space.
A player who remediates reduces the effects of damage and may therefore remove damage points from each adjacent tree and sapling as indicated by the white arrows on the remediation tile.
Example: By installing the Filter 45%, up to 4 damage points can be removed from the adjacent trees and saplings.
If a player wishes to remediate but cannot do so for lack of money, or does not wish to remediate, they must pass the playing card clockwise. This continues until a player wishes to remediate or all players decline a remediation.
Checking for Forest Death
Traffic, industry and some playing-card events endanger every player's forest. The state of the forest must be monitored throughout the game. If trees or saplings are damaged too severely, they die and must be removed from the landscape.
A tree or sapling may carry at most as many damage points as it can withstand (= the number of circles). A tree or sapling dies as soon as the number of damage points exceeds the number of possible damage points (= number of circles) by 1.
Dead trees are returned to the supply and replaced by corresponding seeds, provided these are still in the supply.
If a forest animal is on a tree that dies, it may move to a free tree in the same landscape. If there is no free tree in this landscape, the animal moves into the forest of the player to the left, provided it is not already present there. If it is already settled there, it moves on in turn until it can remain in the forest of an opponent. Only when no opponent can take in the animal does it return to the supply. In contrast to the summer immigration, the number of trees does not matter for whether the animal remains.
End of the Game
The game ends when either:
- a player has covered all spaces of their landscape with trees, except for industry and traffic, and that player announces the end of the game at the end of their turn. All other players then take one more turn.
- or the bank can no longer pay out money.
- or all damage points have been distributed onto trees and saplings. In that case, all players have lost.
Scoring
Each player counts their trees and animals as follows:
- each tree tile is worth 5 points
- each sapling tile is worth 3 points
- each seed is worth 1 point
- a simple mixed forest (at least 1 tree of each of the 6 tree species in the landscape) earns a bonus of 10 points
- a double mixed forest (exactly 2 trees of each of the 6 tree species in the landscape) earns a bonus of 20 points
- for animals, the printed point value counts
- for each damage point, 1 point is deducted from the result
The winner is the player with the most points.
Money is not counted in the scoring. However, in case of a tie on points, the player with the highest amount of money wins.
Rules for 2 Players
When playing with 2 players, all rules remain in force with one exception: when 1 or 2 cards are laid out, the procedure described in the rules applies. When 3 cards are laid out, the opponent may decide whether to take 1 or 2 cards. However, all 3 cards must be carried out in any case.
Appendix: Explanation of the Playing Cards
The card effects are given as printed; the explanatory text is the appendix's forestry commentary, translated.
Ameisenbuntkäfer (Checkered Beetle)
The player may remove 1 damage point from 1 conifer.
His main food is the bark beetle, whose larvae and adults he hunts from spring to autumn. With his "diligence" he helps the forest owner reduce the danger of mass multiplication of bark beetles.
Borkenkäfer (Bark Beetle)
The player must place 1 damage point on every damaged spruce (not saplings).
The larvae of the tiny beetles eat the zone between wood and bark, which is so vital to the tree, and kill it. Sick spruces attract the beetle as if by magic. In warm, dry weather the pests multiply particularly well.
Eichelhäher (Jay)
The player receives 1 oak seed, which they may place immediately.
The jay buries several thousand acorns, beechnuts and hazelnuts as a winter store. Since it only recovers part of them, it helps the forest owner regenerate the forest. It can imitate other birds' calls, and its loud warning call cannot be confused by the attentive forest visitor.
Frost
The player must remove 1 sapling without replacement.
Our native trees are accustomed to winter and can bear low temperatures well. However, if a sudden cold snap comes in autumn or spring, saplings may freeze. A good remedy is therefore to leave some old trees standing as a protective canopy over the young plants when regenerating woodland.
Frostspanner (Winter Moth)
The player must place 1 damage point on every damaged broadleaf tree and broadleaf sapling.
At the first night frosts, the moth lays its eggs on broadleaf trees. In spring the caterpillars hatch and, until summer, eat buds and leaves, grazing the crown from below upwards. Healthy trees cope with the feeding, weak trees suffer greatly.
Kahlschlag (Clear-Felling)
The player must remove 1 tree of their choice and receives its timber value as payment. The tree may not be replaced by a seed.
Clear-felling is a form of forest use. The forest is divided into management units (so-called "Schläge"), which are harvested in one turn and reforested again. A modern forestry business manages differently. In regenerating woodland, individual mature trees or groups of trees are removed gradually. The young trees grow in the freed, light spots under the protection of the remaining old trees. The result is uneven-aged, structurally rich, near-natural managed forests.
Mäuse (Mice)
The player must place 1 damage point on 1 sapling.
Damage to saplings is mainly caused by field voles. When food runs short in autumn and winter, they gnaw the bark and roots of young trees. Saplings planted on cleared areas are particularly at risk, because the mice find cover and food there in the tall grass. The forest owner therefore leaves a canopy of old trees to shade the ground and curb rank growth. Whoever has birds of prey, owls and foxes in their forest is fortunate, since mice are their favourite food and they contribute considerably to limiting the danger.
Nonne (Nun Moth)
The player must place 1 damage point on each of 3 conifers.
This moth lays its eggs on warm, dry summer days under the bark scales of conifers. The following spring the caterpillars hatch and eat the needles until summer. Epidemics frequently occur within the caterpillar population, which quickly halt a mass infestation.
Rote Waldameise (Red Wood Ant)
The player may remove 1 damage point from 1 tree.
The ant lives mainly on the honeydew of aphids. Outside of winter dormancy, a colony hunts thousands of insects, including potential forest pests. Ants form social animal states with a perfectly functioning division of labour.
Rüsselkäfer (Weevil)
The player must place 1 damage point on 1 conifer sapling.
The beetle eats the bark of young conifers at the root collar, at the point where the stem leaves the ground. If the wound is large, the saplings wilt or die. Because the beetle lays its eggs mainly on sunny open areas in the forest, damage can be avoided by leaving a canopy of old trees over the plants when regenerating woodland.
Sanierung (Remediation)
See the rule "The Playing Cards - Remediation Costs" (page 7).
Factories, houses and transport installations cannot be given up by our modern society. We cannot switch off pollutant emissions from one day to the next, but we can reduce them considerably, for example by remediating industrial plants and installing filters. More effective, however, is for each of us to live in an environmentally conscious way, for example by saving energy, using public transport and using environmentally friendly materials such as wood.
Saurer Regen (Acid Rain)
The player who drew the card must distribute 2 damage points onto trees or saplings in their landscape. All other players receive 1 damage point each, which they must place on a tree or sapling. (This is the only card that also affects other players!)
Nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide are released into the air from industrial chimneys, car exhausts and domestic chimneys. These gases are transported far in the air and damage forests even in regions far from motorways and factory chimneys. When it rains, acids form which damage needles, leaves and roots. The result is acidified soils, impaired roots and leached nutrients.
Schlupfwespe (Ichneumon Wasp)
The player may remove 1 damage point from each of 2 trees.
Ichneumon wasps can substantially counteract the threat to our forests from the proliferation of insects. The eggs are laid in and on all developmental stages of other insects. Their larvae suck the body fluids of the infested insects as parasites.
Schneebruch (Snow Breakage)
The player must roll the die once for each tree. On a result of 1, the tree breaks under the snow load and is replaced by 1 corresponding seed. If no corresponding seed is available, the player gets nothing.
Large amounts of snow can settle on branches and twigs in the tree crowns. If it is wet and heavy, weak trunks may be unable to bear this load of several tonnes and break.
Schwammspinner (Gypsy Moth)
The player must place 1 damage point on every damaged broadleaf tree.
This moth lays its eggs on broadleaf trees in a yellowish egg-sponge. In the following spring the caterpillars hatch and, until summer, eat buds and leaves. Healthy trees survive the feeding, but weak trees can even die.
Schwarzspecht (Black Woodpecker)
The player may remove 1 damage point from 1 tree.
Europe's largest woodpecker hews spacious holes, which are later occupied by jackdaws, stock doves and Tengmalm's owls. Using its beak as a chisel and its long tongue, it successfully hunts insects and larvae in wood and bark.
Setzlingsversteigerung (Sapling Auction)
The auction of saplings is a purely playful element. See the section "The Playing Cards - Auction Cards" (page 6).
Of course, in reality no saplings are auctioned among forest owners. The seed is harvested from the forests and, unless the forest owner sows it themselves, goes to forest nurseries, which grow small trees from the seed and then sell them to forest owners as saplings. The cheapest and most natural way to establish a new forest generation is natural regeneration: the falling seeds can then germinate on the spot and grow up under the protection of the parent trees.
Smog
The player must distribute 6 damage points onto their trees and saplings. For every remediation already carried out, the player receives 1 damage point fewer. A player who has carried out all 6 possible remediations naturally receives no damage points from the smog.
Smog arises when, in an area, many exhaust gases pollute the air and, because of the weather situation, cannot drift into the atmosphere. This stinking "smoke fog" damages not only trees, but also animals, plants and people.
Sturm (Storm)
The player must roll the die once for each damaged tree (a tree with damage points). If the die result is less than or equal to the number of damage points on the tree, the following happens:
- The affected tree falls over and must be replaced by a seed.
- In addition, all damaged trees of the same species that border the fallen tree must each be replaced by 1 seed. Spaces that touch only at a corner also count as bordering.
Storm winds, which occur particularly in spring, autumn and winter, can blow over or break trees. In principle all tree species are affected by strong storms, but shallow-rooted trees are at greater risk than deep-rooted ones. A vital tree with healthy roots always has better chances of withstanding the stress than a sick tree. The forest owner guards against the danger by cultivating stable mixed stands of shallow- and deep-rooted trees. Pure stands, especially of spruce, are particularly threatened by widespread storm damage. For game-mechanical reasons, the rule that neighbouring trees of the same species fall is extended to all tree species.
Trockenheit (Drought)
The player must place 1 damage point on each of 2 of their saplings.
Saplings do not yet have a fully developed root system. They can therefore draw nutrients and water only from the uppermost soil layers. If no precipitation falls for a long time, the uppermost areas of the forest floor dry out quickly. Especially in the growing season (spring and summer), saplings can be severely damaged as a result.
Waldbrand (Forest Fire)
The player must roll the die once for each tree. On a result of 1, the tree burns and is replaced by a corresponding seed. If no corresponding seed is available, the player gets nothing.
The main cause of often devastating forest fires is irresponsible forest visitors, who do not consider the consequences of carelessly discarded cigarettes or open fires. For this reason it is forbidden to handle fire in the forest. From 1 March to 31 October a strict smoking ban applies in the forest. Less often than through humans, forest fires are caused by lightning strikes.
Wildverbiß (Browsing by Game)
The player must remove 1 oak sapling, 1 beech sapling or 1 fir sapling.
Roe deer, red deer, chamois and hare like to eat the buds and shoots of young trees, which thereby have their height growth restricted. Beech, oak and fir are particularly favoured for browsing in spring, autumn and winter. These tree species are thereby overgrown by the "less attractive" spruces and pines and eventually lost from the mixed forest. Hunting therefore has the important task of restoring the natural balance between forest and game.
Appendix: Explanation of the Tree and Animal Tiles
Trees
Whoever thinks of forest thinks first of trees. The range of our native tree species is very large. But one tree species is not the same as another: each has its special requirements for soil, light, water and temperature, and each has its special strengths and weaknesses from both an ecological and an economic point of view.
For WALDMEISTER we have chosen the six most common tree species in our country, which stand for the diversity of our forests.
- Beech (Buche), timber value 8,000. Left to nature, it would be by far the most widespread tree species in Central Europe. The beech has a strong taproot system with which it anchors itself well in the soil. The wood has a slightly reddish colour (hence "Rotbuche") and is especially sought after for making furniture. Its fruits, the beechnuts, are welcome in the winter stores of many animals.
- Oak (Eiche), timber value 8,000. Oaks can become very old, because their wood is extraordinarily resistant owing to its high tannin content. The native species, English oak and sessile oak, need a lot of light to develop. The strong root system gives the oak a hold even in cold, damp soil.
- Alder (Erle). Alders have high demands on soil moisture but are otherwise very undemanding. They master the art of binding nitrogen from the air with the help of bacteria on their roots and utilising it directly. Today furniture made of alder is experiencing a boom; its reddish wood is as sought after as ever. (The timber value printed on this tile is not legible in the source scan and is not transcribed.)
- Spruce (Fichte), timber value 10,000. The spruce can grow over 50 metres tall. Its low demands and its rapid, straight growth make the spruce, which is native to rough high-altitude locations, the forestry industry's preferred tree ("bread tree of forestry"). Its wood finds almost endless uses as construction, furniture and paper wood, which leads to high demand. Because of its shallow root system, especially on unsuitable sites, storms can cause severe damage. Moreover, the spruce is very susceptible to fungal diseases and insect infestation.
- Pine (Kiefer), timber value 4,000. The pine is extremely undemanding, since it can grow even on nutrient-poor, dry sandy soils. Its roots can adapt to extreme soil conditions in order to reach water and nutrients. Regarding light conditions, however, the pine makes great demands and hardly tolerates shade. Together with its ability to form a large number of seeds, this makes the pine a typical pioneer tree species, which succeeds in quickly reclaiming land for the forest. Knot-free pine wood is in strong demand from the construction and furniture industries.
- Fir (Tanne), timber value 4,000. In contrast to the spruce, the fir's strong taproot reaches deep into the soil, so that it can withstand strong storm winds. That the fir's share in Bavaria has fallen to 2% is also due to the fact that its young shoots are especially favoured by roe deer. Firs react extremely sensitively to air pollution. The health of the fir is therefore currently a cause for concern.
Animals
Each animal makes different demands on a woodland landscape. Roe deer and hare are very undemanding and are therefore assigned only low point values. The lynx, with the highest point value, instead requires large, connected, quiet forests, which are very rare.
Named in the rules text with their immigration values: roe deer (1), hare (2), fox (3), stag (4), wild boar (5), marten (6), lynx (12).
The immigration and point values of the remaining animal species (badger, capercaillie, owl, jay, wildcat and others) are printed on the tile faces, which are not legible in the source scan at the available resolution, so they are not transcribed here.
We can only touch upon the effects of environmental influences and the significance of the individual tree species here. Further information is available from your local forestry office or the responsible state forestry administration.