Copper Country Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Copper Country History
• Suggestions for Beginners
• Suggestions for Experts
• Components
• Overview
• Camps
• Mine Sites
• Community Cards
• Unrest and Cemetery
• The Industry Track
• Era Cards
• Setup
• Playing the Game
• Management Actions (Choose Two)
• Labor Actions (Choose One)
• End of Turn Dividends (Mandatory)
• Working Mine Sites to Produce Copper
• Production Cards
• Claims
• Capital Cards
• The Resource Grid
• Example: Resolving Production Cards
• Miners
• Unrest and Cemetery
• Company Houses
• Shaft Houses and Hoist Houses
• Powered Shaft Houses and Powered Hoist Houses
• Example: Adding Shifts
• Poor Rock
• Example: Placing Poor Rock
• Terrain Tokens
• Local Business Cards
• 19th and 20th Century Event Cards
• Company Cards
• Ending the Game
• Industry Track Tokens – Advanced
• Winter Game Board – Advanced
• From Struggle to Shutdown

Copper Country History

If you're interested in Copper Country history, look for sections highlighted in yellow throughout the rulebook. These sections, written by Copper Country historian Larry Lankton, provide insight into Copper Country's unique history and context for many game mechanics.

Copper Country History, Part 1: To State and Nation

In 1850, miners at the Cliff mine in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan blasted out a 2,180 pound mass of copper. Loaded aboard the propeller ship Independence, the copper specimen traversed Lake Superior on the first leg of its journey east. This mass never went to a smelter; it was never made into a commercial product. Instead, craftsmen dressed it into a block and polished it. They fabricated silver (also from the Cliff) into a shield and letters that they applied to the block. The shield was Michigan's symbol; the letters spelled: "MICHIGAN - AN EMBLEM OF HER TRUST IN THE UNION." The young state of Michigan had selected the mass to serve as its memorial "stone" to be cemented into place in the stairway rising up the Washington Monument. After 1850, copper came out of Michigan for another 145 years, but none ended up in a place so indicative of how important Michigan copper once was to the state and nation.

Suggestions for Beginners

If you are learning to play Copper Country, look for sections highlighted in green throughout the rulebook. These sections offer suggestions for simplifying the game by removing the company, local business, 19th century, and 20th century event cards and shortening the game by placing fewer poor rock on the industry track. Refer back to this section while you set up the game (see Setup).

Setup Step 9 To remove local business cards, cover up the two local business spaces on the industry track (on the game board) with reverse sides of the local business industry track tokens. Place local business cards aside; they will not be used.

Setup Step 9 To remove event cards, cover up the 19th and 20th century event spaces on the industry track (on the game board) with reverse sides of the 19th and 20th century event industry track tokens. Place event cards aside; they will not be used.

Setup Step 10 To remove company cards, place company cards aside; they will not be used.

Setup Step 11 To play a short game (eras 1 and 2 only), place the end of game industry track token on top of the era 3 space on the industry track. During step 11 of setup, place 18 poor rock on the industry track instead of 33.

Setup Step 11 Alternatively, to play a short game with an introduction to era 3, place the end of game industry track token on top of the 20th century event space on the industry track. During step 11 of setup, place 25 poor rock on the industry track instead of 33.

For either short game, after step 11 of setup, place any excess poor rock aside; they will not be used.

Suggestions for Experts

If you're a Copper Country expert, advanced rules (highlighted in red) provide instructions for customizing the start and end spaces on the industry track, increasing the number of local businesses and events, and playing on the winter side of the game board.

Components

• 1 Double-Sided Game Board
• 3 Era Cards
• 6 Company Cards
• 8 Local Business Cards
• 4 19th Century / 4 20th Century Event Cards
• 4 Ledgers
• 66 Capital Cards
• 66 Production Cards
• 1 Rulebook
• 4 Action Reference Cards
• 6 Industry Track Tokens
• 20 Miners (5 / Color)
• 12 Company Houses (3 / Color)
• 16 Shaft Houses (4 / Color)
• 8 Hoist Houses (2 / Color)
• 33 Poor Rock
• 18 Terrain Tokens

Overview

Players compete to produce copper by hiring miners to work mine sites. When you work a mine site, you reveal cards from the production deck, one at a time, then play capital card resources from your hand or place your miners at risk to produce copper. You can build company houses at camps to increase the safety and loyalty of your workforce and shaft and hoist houses on mine sites to increase productivity.

As players work mine sites, they remove poor rock, the waste byproduct of copper production, from the industry track along the edge of the game board, in clockwise order, and place the poor rock onto those mine sites, reducing productivity nearby for all players. When an icon is revealed on the industry track, a local business opens its doors, a historical event occurs, or Copper Country enters a new era of production.

The game ends when the last poor rock is removed from the industry track, depleting the mineral wealth of Copper Country. The winner is the player who has produced the most copper.

Each production card has a produce copper icon with a number on it; this is the copper value of the production card. Your score is the total copper value of all production cards placed face-down in your copper pile throughout the game. Your score is hidden from other players until the end of the game. Your company claim and your resource specialization may add to your total score.

Copper Country History, Part 2: America's First Mining Boom

Seven thousand years ago, indigenous peoples traveled to the far north to collect pieces of native copper: copper that existed naturally in its metallic state, unalloyed with other elements. They worked the copper specimens they found into tools and adornments that they traded with other Native Americans across the continent. In the early 1840s, a half decade before the California gold rush, Americans, French Canadians, and Europeans came to exploit that same copper, the largest deposit of native copper in the world. Speculators and settlers coasted along the south shore of treacherous Lake Superior to join America's first mining boom in this remote part of the American West – The Keweenaw Peninsula on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan – popularly known, later, as Copper Country.

Camps

There are 4 hexagonal camps (green border) on the game board, each with 3 company house build spaces. Miners are contracted onto the game board at camps and stockpile at camps to collect resources.

Mine Sites

There are 18 hexagonal mine sites (black border) on the game board, each with 3 shaft house / hoist house build spaces on its vertices, 3 poor rock spaces on its sides, and a terrain token at its center. Miners work mine sites to produce copper.

Community Cards

Community cards are the 4 capital cards dealt face-up above the Community Cards space along the top edge of the game board. When a Community Card is drawn (or discarded) immediately replace it with a new card from the top of the capital deck.

Unrest and Cemetery

Miners dissent or die and are placed in the hexagonal unrest (blue border) or cemetery (red border) areas of the game board. The negotiate and immigrate actions allow you to replenish your workforce.

The Industry Track

The industry track consists of 33 spaces along the edge of the game board. At the start of the game, 1 poor rock, the waste byproduct of copper production, is placed on each industry track space. During the game, players remove poor rock from the industry track, in clockwise order, and place them onto mine sites. A mine site with poor rock on its side(s) is more difficult to work. Also, when poor rock are removed from the industry track, an icon may be revealed: immediately place a new local business, era 2, 19th century event, era 3, or 20th century event card into play. When the last poor rock is removed from the industry track, the game ends.

Era Cards

The current era card is placed face-up below the era card space along the bottom edge of the game board. It shows the end of turn hand size limit (called dividends) and the buildings available (and unavailable) during the era. When a new era begins, more powerful capital and production cards are added to the game:

The game starts in the Era of Exploration (era 1). When the era 2 icon is revealed on the industry track, pause the current turn and immediately place the Era of Expansion (era 2) card on top of the era card space. Shuffle the capital discard pile, capital deck, community cards, and era 2 capital cards together to create a new capital deck, then deal 4 new community cards. Shuffle the production discard pile, production deck, and era 2 production cards together to create a new production deck. Then continue with the current turn. Similarly, when the era 3 icon is revealed on the industry track, follow the same steps as above using the Era of Exploitation (era 3) era card, capital cards, and production cards.

The era card shows, from top to bottom: era number and name; end of turn hand size limit; buildings available (and unavailable) during the era; and instructions for changing eras, summarized on back of cards.

Setup

The game board is double-sided. The winter side of the game board is more challenging and is intended for experts.

1. Place the game board on a table within reach of all players, leaving room for players to set down cards and ledgers.

2. Each player chooses a different color: blue, green, white, or red. Give each player 1 ledger, 1 action reference card, and all 5 miners, 3 company houses, 4 shaft houses, and 2 hoist houses of their chosen color. Place your ledger on the table with your miners in unskilled and your company, shaft, and hoist houses in the labeled spaces.

3. Randomly place 1 terrain token, face-down, on the center of each of the 18 mine sites on the game board.

4. Stack the era cards in order using the numbers (1, 2, or 3) in the bottom left on the face of each card. Place the stack, face-up with Era of Exploration (era 1) on top, below the Era Cards space on the bottom edge of the game board.

5. Separate the production cards into 3 piles by era using the numbers (1, 2, or 3) in the lower left on the face of each card. Shuffle the era 1 production cards and place them face-down below the Production Deck space on the bottom edge of the game board. This is the production deck at the start of the game. Set the era 2 and era 3 production cards aside; they will be used later.

6. Separate the capital cards into 3 piles by era using the numbers (1, 2, or 3) in the lower left on the face of each card. Shuffle the era 1 capital cards and place them face-down above the Capital Deck space on the top edge of the game board; this is the capital deck at the start of the game. Set the era 2 and era 3 capital cards aside; they will be used later.

7. Deal 3 cards from the top of the capital deck to each player to form their starting hand (players may look at their own hand).

8. Deal 4 cards from the top of the capital deck, face-up, above the Community Cards space on the top edge of the game board.

   If you're learning to play Copper Country, skip step 9 (see Suggestions for Beginners).

9. Set aside the local business, 19th century event, and 20th century event cards; they will be used later.

   If you're learning to play Copper Country, skip step 10 (see Suggestions for Beginners).

10. Randomly deal 1 company card to each player. Place your company card, with the start of game side face-up, on the company card space on your ledger. Excess company cards will not be used this game.

    If you're learning to play Copper Country, shorten the game by placing fewer poor rock (see Suggestions for Beginners).

11. Place 1 poor rock on each of the 33 industry track spaces along the right, bottom, and left edges of the game board.

12. The player with the oldest penny goes first*. In clockwise order, each player contracts 1 miner: take 1 miner from unskilled and place the miner, ready, at any camp (a ready miner stands upright; an exerted miner is placed face-down).

Alternatively, use any method of your choice to determine which player goes first.

Playing the Game

Once each player has contracted 1 miner, begin the first player's turn. During each turn, the current player takes 2 management actions (or the same management action twice), then 1 labor action, then the end of turn dividends action. Play proceeds clockwise to the next player.

Management Actions (Choose Two)

Capital Call: Draw 1 capital card (choose either a face-up community card or the top card of the face-down capital deck).

Survey: Turn any 1 face-down terrain token face-up.

Build: Place 1 company house on an unoccupied build space within any camp in eras 1, 2, or 3, OR

Place 1 shaft house on an unoccupied build space at the vertex of any mine site in eras 2 or 3, OR

Place 1 hoist house on an unoccupied build space at the vertex of any mine site in era 3.

Prospect: Peek at the top 2 cards of the production deck; discard 1 or both of those cards (if you choose to discard 1 card, return the other card to the top of the production deck, face-down.)

Negotiate: Move 1 of your miners from unrest (on the game board) to unskilled (on your ledger).

Immigrate: Move 1 of your miners from cemetery (on the game board) to unrest (on the game board).

Labor Actions (Choose One)

Labor actions require you to exert (place face-down) a ready miner or allow you to ready (stand up) exerted miner(s).

Work: Exert your ready miner at a mine site (or any adjacent mine site): take 2 shifts (+/- modifiers). Your shaft houses, your hoist houses, poor rock, and terrain tokens modify the shifts you may take.

The work action is described in detail below.

Stockpile: Exert your ready miner at a camp (or any adjacent camp): peek at top 2 cards of the capital deck; draw 1 of those cards, discard the other, then peek at top 2 cards of the capital deck again; draw 1 of those cards, discard the other.

Relocate: Move your ready or exerted miner to any camp (even the same camp); you may ready that miner.

Payroll: Only if you have no ready miners: ready all your miners and you may contract 1 miner from unskilled. To contract 1 miner, take one miner from unskilled (on your ledger) and place that miner, ready, at any camp.

End of Turn Dividends (Mandatory)

Dividends: Players have an end-of-turn hand size limit as shown on the current era card (4, 5, or 6 capital cards). If the number of cards in the current player's hand exceeds this limit at the end of their turn they must discard excess cards of their choice. You may exceed this limit by drawing cards during a turn; only at the end of your turn do you check your hand size for dividends.

Working Mine Sites to Produce Copper

Working mine sites with your miners to produce copper is the primary goal in Copper Country.

When you take the work action, your productivity is measured in shifts. Each shift allows you to reveal and resolve the top card of the production deck (see Production Cards). Each production card is an opportunity to play capital card resources from your hand (see Capital Cards) or place your miners at risk (see Unrest and Cemetery) to produce copper.

To initiate the work action, you must exert your ready miner at the mine site you wish to work. As part of the work action, you may first move your ready miner to a mine site from any adjacent camp or mine site before exerting that miner.

A ready miner stands upright. To exert a miner, place that miner face-down on the game board.

In the example, the blue miner is ready at a camp. The blue player, as part of the work action, may first move their miner to one of the six adjacent mine sites before exerting that miner at the mine site they wish to work.

The red miner is ready at a mine site. The red player may exert their miner to work that mine site, or, as part of the work action, may first move their red miner to one of the two adjacent mine sites before exerting that miner at the mine site they wish to work (the three mine sites the red player may work are shaded red).

Both the blue player and the red player have the option of working the mine site that is shaded half blue and half red (a miner may work a mine site regardless of any other miners at that mine site).

Next, determine the maximum number of shifts you may take. The work action provides 2 shifts. You may add one of the following bonuses (see Shaft Houses and Hoist Houses), then subtract one penalty due to poor rock (see Poor Rock), if applicable:

2 shifts from the work action plus one bonus:

• +2 shifts for a shaft house, OR
• +2 shifts for a hoist house, OR
• +4 shifts for a powered shaft or powered hoist house.

Then subtract one penalty for poor rock:

• -1 shift for 1 poor rock on the mine site, OR
• -3 shifts for 2 poor rock on the mine site, OR
• -6 shifts for 3 poor rock on the mine site.

If you determine that your maximum number of shifts is zero or negative, you must stop working immediately.

Take your first shift by revealing the top card of the production deck: place that card face-up on the table so all players can see it. You then resolve your shift by choosing one row of icons on the production card and satisfying the requirements of all icons on the chosen row (see Production Cards).

After each shift, you must stop working (end your work action and continue to the dividends action to end your turn) if:

• You have taken your maximum number of shifts, OR
• The miner that initiated the work action is no longer at the mine site (see Unrest and the Cemetery), OR
• You place poor rock on the last unoccupied poor rock space among all applicable mine site (see Poor Rock).

If there is a face-down terrain token on the mine site you are working, you must stop working after you resolve your first shift (see Terrain Tokens). Otherwise, you may choose to stop working or you may continue working by taking your next shift: reveal and resolve the next card from the top of the production deck.

Once you reveal a production card, you must resolve it. However, taking your next shift is optional. Evaluate the capital card resources in your hand and the state of your workforce before you decide to continue working!

While working a mine site, if you remove poor rock from the industry track and reveal a local business, era 2, 19th century event, era 3, or 20th century event icon: pause your turn, bring the new local business, event, or era card into play, then continue with your turn. If you reveal the end of game space, end the game immediately after you resolve your current shift (see Era Cards, Local Business Cards, 19th Century Event Cards, and 20th Century Event Cards, and Ending the Game).

Production Cards

Production cards represent what you encounter underground: copper, rock, and disasters. Each production card is an opportunity to produce copper by playing capital card resources from your hand, placing your miners at risk, or both!

When your miner works a mine site, first determine the maximum number of shifts you may take (see Working a Mine Site). Each shift, you reveal (place face-up on the table for all players to see) and must resolve the top card of the production deck.

The production card's title and flavor text have no effect on gameplay. Number and color indicate the era upon which the production card is added to the game. Each row of icons represents a different outcome. Choose one row of icons and fulfill the requirements of all icons on that row to resolve your shift.

To resolve a production card, choose one row of icons and fulfill the requirements of all icons on that row. These requirements vary: some are costs and others involve rewards. Think of each row of icons as a checklist; you must carry out the instructions of every icon on the chosen row as described below:

Produce Copper: Place this card face-down in the copper pile on your ledger. The number is the card's copper value. Your score is the total copper value in your copper pile.

Place 1 Poor Rock: Take the next poor rock from the industry track and place it on an applicable mine site. See Industry Track and Poor Rock.

Play 1 Resource: Play a capital card resource, of the type indicated, from your hand (labor shown as an example). See Capital Cards.

Play Any 1 Resource: Play any capital card resource from your hand. See Capital Cards.

Place 1 Miner in Unrest: Place either the miner that is working, or 1 unskilled miner, in the unrest area on the game board. See Unrest and Cemetery.

Place 1 Miner in Cemetery: Place either the miner that is working, or 1 unskilled miner, in the cemetery area on the game board. See Unrest and Cemetery.

Take Claim: Place this card face-up in the claim space on your ledger (unless you already have a claim). See Claims.

Complete Claim: Fulfill the requirements of the produce copper row on your claim (or company claim). See Claims.

Pass: Move on to your next shift at no cost.

Every card in the production deck has either a take claim or a complete claim icon on one of its rows.

When you resolve (or in some cases, discard) a production card, place that card face-up in the production discard pile below the bottom edge of the game board (unless you chose to produce copper or take claim). If there are no cards in the production deck at any point in the game, shuffle the production discard pile and place it face-down to create a new production deck. As new eras begin, more production cards are added to the game (see Era Cards). If, by mistake, you encounter a production card before its indicated era, set that card aside for now and redraw.

Claims

Claims represent ongoing work on a lode: claim a production card, collect the resources required by that card, then produce copper from that card on a later turn. To take a claim, work a mine site and reveal a production card with a take claim icon and place that card, face-up, in the claim space on your ledger.

You may only have one claim at a time. You must complete your claim before you may take another claim. To complete your claim:

• Work a mine site;
• Reveal a production card with a complete claim icon;
• Meet any other requirements of the complete claim icon's row;
• Meet all requirements of the produce copper row on your claim.

Discard the production card with the complete claim icon and place the completed claim face-down in your copper pile (or, if you completed your company claim, turn your company card to its claim complete side).

Capital Cards

Capital cards represent the 6 resources available to your mining company: labor, surface development, equipment, underground development, explosive, and transport.

The capital call and stockpile actions allow you to draw capital cards into your hand. You may be instructed to draw cards from the top of the face-down capital deck or to choose from the face-up community cards.

When you play a capital card, its resource(s) contribute to resolving the requirements of the production card revealed on your current shift.

The capital card's title and flavor text have no effect on gameplay. Number and color indicate the era upon which the capital card is added to the game. Resource(s) provided: OR = choose one resource, AND = one or both resources.

When you play a capital card that provides multiple resources (such as an era 3 "AND" capital card), you may assign those resources independently (for example, toward a terrain token or 2:1 company card ability), but those resources contribute to your current shift only.

When you play (or in some cases, discard) a capital card, place it face-up in the capital discard pile above the top edge of the game board. If there are no cards in the capital deck at any point in the game, shuffle the capital discard pile and place it face-down to create a new capital deck. As new eras begin, more powerful capital cards are added to the game (see Era Cards). If, by mistake, you encounter a capital card before its indicated era, set that card aside for now and redraw.

The Resource Grid

Most production cards require specific sets of resources to produce copper. Each era adds new sets to the game. The resource grid summarizes these sets.

Era 1 production cards require vertical sets of 2 resources to produce copper (labor + surface, equipment + underground, or explosive + transport).

Era 2 production cards require either horizontal sets of 3 resources (example: labor + equipment + explosive) or vertical sets of 2 resources with a duplicated icon to create a set of 3 resources (example: labor, surface, surface).

Era 3 production cards require either horizontal plus vertical sets of 4 resources (example: labor + equipment + explosive + transport) or horizontal sets of 3 resources with a duplicated icon to create a set of 4 resources (example: labor, equipment, explosive, explosive).

The resource grid: Labor + Equipment + Explosive (top row); Surface + Underground + Transport (bottom row); the columns pair Labor with Surface, Equipment with Underground, and Explosive with Transport. Era 1 vertical sets of 2, plus era 2 horizontal sets of 3, equal era 3 combo sets of 4.

Example: Resolving Production Cards

Example A: When you take a shift and Conglomerate Copper is revealed, you have 3 choices:

• A1 Play 1 surface, 1 underground, and 1 transport resource, place 1 poor rock, and produce 4 copper (place Conglomerate Copper face-down in your copper pile), OR
• A2 Take claim (place Conglomerate Copper face-up in the claim space on your ledger), OR
• A3 Pass (place Conglomerate Copper in production discard pile).

For the next example, assume you chose A2 and took Conglomerate Copper as your claim. Over the next few turns, you collected the surface, underground, and transport resources it requires; you are ready to complete your claim! To attempt to complete your claim, you must work a mine site. On your first shift, you reveal Collapse!

Example B: When you take a shift and Collapse! is revealed, you have 3 choices:

• B1 Play 1 equipment and 1 development resource, place 1 poor rock, place 1 miner in the cemetery, and produce 3 copper (place Collapse! face-down in your copper pile), OR
• B2 Place 1 miner in unrest and complete your claim (place Collapse! in production discard pile and meet the requirements of the produce copper row on your claim, Conglomerate Copper; see A1 above), OR
• B3 Place 1 miner in unrest (place Collapse! in production discard pile).

Miners

Miners begin the game in the unskilled miners section of your ledger. At the end of setup, each player contracts 1 miner onto the game board. To contract a miner, take 1 miner from unskilled and place that miner, ready, at any camp.

Miners you have contracted onto the game board are skilled underground laborers; they are the driving force behind your copper production. Contracted miners have two states: ready and exerted. A ready miner stands upright; an exerted miner is placed face-down.

The labor actions require that you exert (place face-down on the game board) your ready miner or allow you to ready (stand upright) your exerted miner(s) (see Labor Actions). Only miners at camps and mine sites can be ready and exerted.

As part of the work action, your ready miner may first move to any adjacent mine site before exerting. As part of the stockpile action, your ready miner may first move to any adjacent camp before exerting. To contract an additional miner onto the game board, you must take the payroll action, but you may not take the payroll action while you have 1 or more ready miners on the game board.

Unskilled miners (placed in the unskilled miners section of your ledger) represent the laborers working in and around all of your mines at all times. Unskilled miners serve as a barrier between your contracted miners and disaster (see Unrest and Cemetery below).

Unrest and Cemetery

When you resolve a production card by choosing a row with unrest or cemetery icon(s), for each icon: take either the miner that initiated the work action or an unskilled miner (from your ledger) and place that miner in the corresponding unrest or cemetery area on the game board. As a result, if the miner that initiated the work action is no longer at the mine site, you must stop working after your current shift.

The immigrate and negotiate management actions allow you to replenish your workforce (see Management Actions).

Company Houses

To build a company house, take the build action (see Management Actions).

You may build a company house on an unoccupied company house build space within any camp in eras 1, 2, or 3.

Company houses increase your miners' loyalty and safety at adjacent mine sites, protecting them from unrest and the cemetery.

Once during your turn, while working a mine site with 1 (or more) of your company house(s) at camp(s) adjacent to that mine site, you may use 1 of the following company house abilities, but only if you have that ability's required number of company houses:

• 1 or more of your company houses at camps adjacent to the mine site: you may ignore 1 unrest icon on a production card;
• 2 or more of your company houses at camps adjacent to the mine site: you may ignore 1 cemetery icon on a production card;
• 3 or more of your company houses at camps adjacent to the mine site: you may discard and redraw 1 revealed production card.

In the example, the blue player is working a mine site with 3 of their company houses at camps adjacent to the mine site. Once during this turn, the blue player may use 1 company house ability and may choose from all 3 company house abilities listed above.

In the Collapse! example, if the blue player chose option B2 or B3, they could ignore the unrest icon on that row; or if they chose option B1, they could ignore the cemetery icon on that row; or they could choose to discard Collapse! and draw a new production card for the current shift.

Copper Country History, Part 3: Life, Work.

Around the mines, life and work were not separate, but linked. Paternalistic mining companies did more than create jobs. They erected houses, encouraged the immigration of workers with families, hired doctors, built hospitals, controlled schools, built libraries, and supported churches. In hard times, they laid off single men first and kept married men as long as possible. But companies took much better care of some of their men than of others. Based largely on ethnic background, companies decided who fit where, who got the best jobs, and who got to live in company-owned houses. Company houses, in their size, style, and details, captured the discriminatory nature of paternalism and the hierarchical structure of mining society. Companies built different classes of houses intended for different classes of workers. Many unskilled workers never received the benefit of a company house at all.

Shaft Houses and Hoist Houses

To build a shaft house or hoist house, take the build action (see Management Actions).

You may build a shaft house on an unoccupied build space at the vertex of any mine site in eras 2 or 3.

You may build a hoist house on an unoccupied build space at the vertex of any mine site in era 3.

Shaft and hoist houses increase your productivity by adding shifts and giving you additional options for placement of poor rock:

When you work a mine site with at least 1 of your shaft or hoist houses on its build spaces, add 2 shifts (see Working a Mine Site).

When your shaft or hoist house contributes (or could contribute) toward the number of shifts you may take while working a mine site, you may place poor rock on any mine site upon which the contributing shaft or hoist house is built (see Poor Rock).

In the example, the blue hoist house is on a build space at the vertex of one mine site (shaded blue). When working that mine site, the blue player adds 2 shifts and may place poor rock on any of the 3 poor rock spaces that are also shaded blue.

The green shaft house is on a build space at the vertex of two mine sites (shaded green). When working either one of those mine sites, the green player adds 2 shifts and may place poor rock on any of the 5 poor rock spaces that are also shaded green.

Powered Shaft Houses and Powered Hoist Houses

Individually, a shaft house and a hoist house provide identical bonuses. However, when a shaft house and a hoist house are built on nearby mine sites, they power each other, further increasing your shift bonus and your options for placement of poor rock.

When your shaft house and your hoist house are on build spaces of mine sites that share at least 1 poor rock space, both buildings are powered.

When you work a mine site with at least 1 of your powered shaft or powered hoist houses on its vertices, add 4 shifts instead of 2 (see Working a Mine Site).

When your powered shaft or powered hoist house contributes (or could contribute) toward the number of shifts you may take while working a mine site, you may place poor rock on any mine site upon which that shaft or hoist house is built (see Poor Rock).

A single hoist house can power multiple shaft houses (and vice versa).

In the example, the white shaft house and white hoist house are powered; the mine sites they are built on share 3 poor rock spaces (shaded white). Red shaft house A and the red hoist house are powered; the mine sites they are built on share 1 poor rock space (shaded red). Red shaft house B is not powered; the mine sites it is built on do not share any poor rock spaces with the mine sites the red hoist house is built on.

A shaft house and a hoist house may power each other regardless of whether or not their shared poor rock space(s) have poor rock placed on them.

Example: Adding Shifts

In the example, the white player adds 4 shifts at any of the mine sites upon which their powered shaft house and/or powered hoist house are built.

The red player adds 4 shifts at any of the mine sites upon which their powered shaft house A or powered hoist house are built. The red player adds 2 shifts at either of the mine sites upon which their shaft house B is built.

Copper Country History, Part 4: Technological Change

Copper Country mines started when mining still resembled craft production: almost all of the work was done by hand. But as technological change proceeded, companies mechanized nearly all of their mining operations. Machine rock drills replaced sledgehammers (and miners). High explosives replaced black powder. Electric locomotives replaced hand tramming. And massive steam-powered hoist engines replaced horse-powered whims.

Copper Country History, Part 5: Profit, Death.

Copper Country pioneers braved summers full of ravenous bugs and cold, snowy, six-month winters to carve an industry out of a remote wilderness. They built communities and impressive copper mines like the Cliff, the Minesota (sic), the Quincy, and the mammoth Calumet and Hecla, which dominated copper production through the 1880s and accounted for 90% of America's new copper. Copper Country mines were the deepest and most productive in the country. At their peak in 1910, the mines employed 19,000 workers and supported a local population of nearly 100,000 residents. Ultimately, the mines produced fifteen billion pounds of copper and an economic impact that surpassed the California gold rush. All this production did not come without cost: at least 1,900 workers died in the mines. By 1910, one worker died every week. Over the course of a year, a worker's odds of being injured on the job were 1 in 3; his odds of being killed were 1 in 200.

Poor Rock

As miners work mine sites, they haul poor rock, the waste byproduct of copper production, to the surface and place it onto those mine sites, reducing future productivity nearby for all players.

When you must place 1 poor rock, remove the next poor rock from the industry track (in clockwise order, beginning with the start space) and place it on an unoccupied poor rock space on the side of an applicable mine site. An applicable mine site is:

• The mine site being worked, OR
• If your shaft house or hoist house contributes (or could contribute) toward the number of shifts you may take at that mine site: any mine site upon which that shaft house or hoist house is built (see Shaft Houses and Hoist Houses).

When you initiate the work action at a mine site with poor rock on its side(s), you must subtract shifts due to poor rock:

• If there is exactly 1 poor rock on the mine site, subtract 1 shift, OR
• If there are exactly 2 poor rock on the mine site, subtract an additional 2 shifts for a total of -3 shifts, OR
• If there are exactly 3 poor rock on the mine site, subtract an additional 3 shifts for a total of -6 shifts.

Poor rock you place while working a mine site have no effect on the number of shifts you take this turn. However, if you place poor rock on the last unoccupied poor rock space among all applicable mine sites, you must stop working after you resolve your current shift. If you initiate the work action at a mine site where you have zero (or negative) shifts, stop working immediately.

Example: Placing Poor Rock

The green player is working a mine site with a powered shaft house and 2 poor rock on its sides. The green player may take 3 shifts (2 from the work action, +4 for the powered shaft house, -3 for 2 poor rock on the mine site).

The powered shaft house and the hoist house that powers it are contributing to the work action. When the green player must place 1 poor rock, they remove the next poor rock from the industry track and may place it on any unoccupied poor rock space on any applicable mine site (shaded green).

The green player's other shaft house is not contributing to the current work action and may not be used when determining applicable mine sites for placement of poor rock.

Copper Country History, Part 6: Industry and Nature

Settlers often wrote of Copper Country's natural beauty, of its magnificent forests and pristine lakes and streams. Early drawings depicted a landscape where mines nestled among trees, where industry and nature coexisted in harmony. But that idealized landscape changed rapidly. People came to Copper Country not to admire the environment, but to exploit it. Woodsmen cleared forests for the wood needed to prop up rock in the mines, to burn as fuel, and to build structures. Plumes of smoke and ash rose into the sky from boilers, furnaces, and smelters. Mills spewed industrial wastewater and millions of pounds of tailings into nearby waterways. And mines littered piles of poor rock across the landscape.

Terrain Tokens

Terrain tokens reflect variation among mine sites. At the start of the game, one face-down terrain token is randomly placed on the center of each mine site. A face-down terrain token limits the number of shifts players may take at that mine site. To turn a terrain token face-up, take the survey action (see Management Actions). A face-up terrain token provides a bonus at its mine site.

Face-Down: While you are working a mine site with a face-down terrain token, you must stop working after you resolve your first shift.

Face-Up Resource: While working a mine site with a face-up terrain token that has a resource icon on its face: once per shift, you may play any 1 resource as if it were the resource shown on the token. There are 12 resource terrain tokens: 2 for each of the 6 resources. You may combine this ability with your company card's 2:1 ability (see Company Cards).

Face-Up Poor Rock: When a terrain token with a poor rock outline is turned face-up, immediately choose 1 poor rock from that mine site and place it on top of the terrain token. If there are no poor rock on that mine site, the next time any player places poor rock on any side of that mine site, place it on top of the terrain token instead. A poor rock on top of a terrain token does not reduce shifts. Limit one poor rock per terrain token. There are 6 poor rock terrain tokens.

If you're learning to play Copper Country, play without the local business and event cards (see Suggestions for Beginners).

Local Business Cards

When a local business icon is revealed on the industry track, pause the current turn and immediately choose 1 card at random from the local business deck, place it into play below the Local Business and Event Cards space along the bottom edge of the game board, then continue with the current turn. During a turn, the current player may use the gametext on any or all local business card(s) in play.

Using the gametext on a local business (or event) card does not count as an action.

19th and 20th Century Event Cards

When a 19th (or 20th) century event icon is revealed on the industry track, pause the current turn and immediately choose 1 card at random from the 19th (or 20th) century event deck. Follow the instructions on the card to resolve it, place it below the Local Business and Event Cards space along the bottom edge of the game board, then continue with the current turn. Once an event has been resolved, it no longer has any effect on the game (unless otherwise stated). When an event card requires multiple players to perform tasks, players always perform those tasks in turn order, with the current player going first.

Business / event title and flavor text have no effect on gameplay.

Copper Country History, Part 7: Management and Labor

For the first 70 years, mining companies functioned almost without constraint, unfettered by labor unions, government oversight, hostile courts, or laws concerning the length of the work day, the employment of child labor, or monetary compensation for accident victims. Over the lives of the mines, society came to demand that companies do more to protect both their workers and the environment. Labor-management relations worsened and antagonism started to grow, particularly around 1910, when companies pushed for new labor-saving technologies (such as the one-man machine rock drill), that would put half of Copper Country's miners out of work. In response, workers rushed to join the Western Federation of Miners union.

A long and violent strike ensued from 1913 - 1914. The mining companies ultimately won the strike: they were rich, scabs were easily imported to the region, and striking workers and their families had to endure a Copper Country winter without pay. The strike destroyed Copper Country's long-held reputation for labor peace, but brought national attention to labor issues.

If you're learning to play Copper Country, play without company cards (see Suggestions for Beginners).

Company Cards

At the beginning of the game, place your company card on your ledger with the start of game side face-up. Your company card represents your strengths and long-term goals. It provides you with three abilities:

Company Claim: Your company claim is a unique 10 copper value claim that requires you to play 6 resources and place 1 poor rock. You may complete your company claim as if it were a production card in the claim space on your ledger (see Claims): work a mine site, reveal a production card with a complete claim icon, satisfy any other requirements of the complete claim icon's row, and satisfy all requirements of your company claim. Once you complete your company claim, turn your company card to the claim complete side (do not place your company card in your copper pile). A completed company claim adds 10 to your copper score at the end of the game.

2:1 Ability: Once per shift, you may play 2 identical resources of the type shown on your company card as any 1 other resource of your choice. This ability is available on both sides of your company card. You may combine this ability with a face-up resource terrain token's once per shift ability.

Resource Specialization: The top left corner of your company card shows your company's resource specialization, which can increase your final score. Each production card in your copper pile has a produce copper row with resource icons on it. Each of those icons that matches your resource specialization increases your resource specialization score by 1. Like your copper score, your resource specialization score is a running total that is hidden from other players until the end of the game, at which point the player(s) with the highest resource specialization score add(s) that score to their copper score before determining the winner (see Ending the Game below).

At the end of the game, only the player(s) with the highest resource specialization score add it to their copper score.

Ending the Game

End the game immediately (after the current shift) when the last poor rock is removed from the industry track and placed onto a mine site.

Each player adds up and reveals the total copper value in the copper pile on their ledger; this is their copper score.

If you are playing without company cards, the player with the highest copper score is the winner (skip the company claim and resource specialization instructions in the next paragraph).

Players who have completed their company claim add 10 to their copper score. Then, starting with the lowest copper score, each player counts and reveals their resource specialization score (see Company Cards). The player (or players) with the highest resource specialization score add(s) that number to their copper score.

The player with the highest copper score is the winner!

In case of a tie, remove all cards with cemetery icons in their produce copper rows from the tied players' copper piles and recalculate their copper scores (including resource specializations). If those players are still tied, also remove all cards with unrest icons in their produce copper rows from the tied players' copper piles and recalculate their copper scores again. If, after both tiebreakers, those players are still tied, they remain tied: they exploited Copper Country, and their workforces, to equal profit!

Copper Country History, Part 8: Growth and Decline

From the 1840s through the Great War, the copper industry and local society experienced growth. Profits, production, employment, and population increased substantially, especially after 1890 when the electrical industry created a huge demand for copper wire. But 1920 marked the onset of permanent decline. For decades, Copper Country mines found it difficult to maintain an adequate profit margin on each pound of copper they produced. The industry, a mere shadow of its former self, limped along through the Great Depression, until the last native copper mine closed in the late 1960s. As the mines declined, so did society as a whole. Schools, churches, barbershops, and department stores closed. Copper Country, which once attracted new workers across continents, now sat idle while thousands abandoned the mines to make a living elsewhere.

Industry Track Tokens – Advanced

Industry track tokens offer expert players the option to customize the start and/or end game spaces on the industry track and/or add local business, 19th century, and/or 20th century event spaces to the industry track.

To change the start and/or end game spaces on the industry track, during step 1 of setup, place the start and/or end game industry track tokens on top of any other industry track space(s) of your choice (the start space must be before the end space). During steps 5 and 6 of setup, prepare the capital and production decks for the era during which the start space occurs. During step 11 of setup, place the appropriate number of poor rock on the industry track (from the start space to the end space). Set excess poor rock aside. At the end of setup, before players contract miners, players take turns placing 1 of the excess poor rock (in turn order, starting with player 1) onto the side of any mine site on the game board until no excess poor rock remain.

To add local business, 19th century, and/or 20th century event spaces to the industry track, during step 1 of setup, place the local business, 19th century, and/or 20th century event industry track tokens on top of any unoccupied industry track space(s) of your choice (do not place them on top of the start, end, era 2, or era 3 spaces on the industry track). The 19th century event token must be placed between the era 2 and era 3 spaces. The 20th century event token must be placed after the era 3 space.

Winter Game Board – Advanced

Copper Country's winters are unforgiving. Cold, snow, and ice restrict access the world "down below" and make it more difficult, and more dangerous, to produce copper.

The winter side of the game board offers an alternative layout for expert players. It features 16 mine sites (instead of 18) and 6 camps (instead of 4). Each camp is adjacent to 5 mine sites (instead of 6) and contains 1, 2, or 3 company house build spaces (instead of all camps containing 3 company house build spaces).

During step 3 of setup, randomly place 1 terrain token, face-down, on the center of each of the 16 mine sites on the game board. Set the 2 remaining terrain tokens aside, face-down (do not look at them); they will not be used. No other special rules apply.

Copper Country History, Part 9: Immigration

Immigration changed the face of American society in the 19th and early 20th centuries and also brought great change to Copper Country mines, whose profits were earned on the backs of immigrant workers. Members of 25 different ethnic groups died in Copper Country mines. Foreign-born workers accounted for 92% of all fatalities through 1880. Even after 1900, immigrants represented 80% of the industry's death toll.

The mines held some ethnic groups in high esteem, especially those who migrated early from western Europe. Those workers came from other mines, such as the tin mines of Cornwall, and had skills the companies needed. They held in far less favor the ethnic groups that arrived later from northern, southern, and eastern Europe, who typically lacked mining experience.

In 1865, the three largest ethnic groups at the Quincy mine were Englishmen from Cornwall (318 men), Germans (138 men), and Irishmen (130 men). In 1912, the Copper Range Consolidated Company's Champion mine painted a very different picture. Champion employed 294 "Austrians" (a term used for many eastern Europeans), 285 Finns, 200 Cornishmen and other Englishmen, 103 Americans, 83 Lithuanians, 79 Italians, 78 Poles, 10 Germans, 10 French Canadians, 9 Swedes, and fewer than 5 Irishmen, Russians, and Syrians.

To this day, the traditions and cultures of these immigrants can be seen, heard, felt, and even tasted, throughout Copper Country.

From Struggle to Shutdown

If the following 3 conditions are met, a desperate player may play any 4 resources and exert their miner at a mine site (or adjacent mine site) with exactly 2 poor rock on its sides to initiate the work action (as their labor action) and take exactly 1 shift at that mine site: there must not be any mine sites with fewer than 2 poor rock on its sides on the game board, all of that player's shaft and hoist houses must be on the game board, and every mine site upon which that player's shaft and/or hoist house is built must have 3 poor rock on its sides.