El Grande: Grossinquisitor und Kolonien Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Additional Components and Setup
• Game Sequence
  • The New Regions
  • Francia
  • Ship
    • Captain's space
  • América and África
    • The Viceroy of América
  • Gold and Wares
    • Taking Gold and Wares
    • Bringing them to Spain
• The Grand Inquisitor
  • The Caballeros of the Grand Inquisitor
• Limit Table
  • Movement
  • Free spaces
  • Caballeros in the Castillo
• Move
• King and Intrigue
• Action Cards - Stack 7

Additional Components and Setup

Additional components:

• 1 Grand Inquisitor card
• 12 new Action cards (1 "Stack 6" card, 11 "Stack 7" cards)
• 4 black Caballeros
• 1 limit table (front: 6 spaces, reverse: 10 spaces)
• 30 additional Caballeros in 5 colors (6 per color)
• 11 Ware tokens
• 6 Gold tokens
• 1 Special Scoring token

The reverse of each stack 6 and 7 Action card is marked with a ship symbol.

Setup is identical to the base game with the following exceptions:

1. The game board is placed so that the side with the ship symbol in the lower left corner is faceup.
2. The Grand Inquisitor card is placed next to the game board.
3. The "Holy Inquisition" card is placed as the only card in stack 6.
4. The 11 Action cards marked with a 7 on their back are shuffled and placed as stack 7.
5. After a region has been chosen as the King's region, two additional Region cards are revealed. Place 2 black Caballeros in these two regions. The black Caballeros belong to the Grand Inquisitor.
6. Reveal yet another Region card and place the limit table in that region. In a 2- or 3-player game, use the side with 6 spaces. In a 4- or 5-player game, use the side with 10 spaces.
7. There are an additional 6 Caballeros for each player in the Province. After all players have determined their home region, they will each place 2 additional Caballeros on the board: all players choose a region on their secret disc (not the King's region) and reveal their choice simultaneously. Each player places 2 Caballeros from the Province in their chosen region.
8. Place 2 Ware tokens in "África" and 1 Gold token in "América." The remaining Ware and Gold tokens form a supply near the board.

Game Sequence

The game sequence is identical to the base game. However, there are a number of new elements.

The New Regions

There are 4 additional regions on the game board: Francia, the Ship, América, and África. The new regions are used in the same manner as the other regions.

Note the following:

• During a general scoring, Caballeros may not be moved from the Castillo to these new regions.
• The King may not leave the mainland. Except for Francia, the King may not enter the new regions.
• The mobile scoreboards may be placed in any of the new regions.

The specific rules regarding each region are described below.

Francia

No more than 3 Caballeros can occupy Francia.

• Caballeros may be placed from your Court into Francia when the King is in "Aragón" or "Cataluña."
• Caballeros may be moved to Francia, for example by using Intrigue cards (movement cards in stack 1) or from the Ship (see below).

Each Caballero that you bring to Francia must be placed in one of the 3 spaces. If all 3 spaces are occupied, you may no longer bring Caballeros to Francia. Only when one or more of these spaces is free may a new Caballero be brought to Francia. (Those Caballeros in the second and third spaces of Francia do not automatically move up when better spaces are available.)

You may move your Grande to Francia, but it can not occupy one of the spaces.

During a general scoring, the player with the most Caballeros in Francia scores 3 points. The player with the second most scores 1 point. Also, the player whose Caballero occupies the ambassador (left) space scores an additional 2 points. The player whose Caballero occupies the envoy (middle) space scores an additional 1 point. One player can score both of these bonuses.

For example, one player occupying both the ambassador and envoy spaces will score 6 points during general scoring: 3 points for majority, 2 points for the ambassador space, and 1 for the envoy space.

Ship

The Ship represents merchants shipping in and out of Spain. It is treated as a normal region. However, it is usually only used as a transitional region to travel to África and América.

• Caballeros may be placed from your Court onto the Ship when the King is in a coastal region. (Coastal regions are those that are directly next to water: Cataluña, Valencia, Granada, Sevilla, Galicia, País Vasco, and Francia. The Spanish coastal regions are each marked with an anchor symbol.)
• Caballeros may be moved to the Ship, for example by using Intrigue cards.

If you have Caballeros on the Ship from a previous round, you may move these at the beginning of your turn to América, África, or to any coastal region of Spain (see above). This does not cost a place or move action.

Example: In the 1st round, the King was in Valencia, a coastal region. Gonzalo may place 3 Caballeros. He places 1 Caballero in a region neighboring the King's region, and 2 Caballeros on the Ship. In the 2nd round, Gonzalo moves 1 Caballero from the Ship to América, and the other to África. Afterward, he may place his Caballeros according to the normal rules.

The scoreboard of the Ship is blank. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place each score 0 points when the Ship scores. However, points are scored by the player whose Caballero occupies the Captain's space (see below).

Exception: If a mobile scoreboard is on the Ship, points are scored according to the mobile scoreboard.

Note: You can score your home region bonus if your Grande is on the Ship.

Captain's space

If the Captain's space is free, you may place one Caballero that you are placing or moving to the Ship on the Captain's space. The Captain may leave the Ship. The Captain's space does not need to be occupied. The Captain's space may be occupied by the movement supplied by stack 1 Intrigue cards. A Grande may not occupy the Captain's space.

The Caballero occupying the Captain's space does not count toward majority during scoring. However, the player whose Caballero occupies the Captain's space scores 3 points whenever the Ship is scored.

América and África

Caballeros may not be placed directly in these two regions. Caballeros may only be moved there. The Ship is the primary method of doing so. The King may never occupy either of these regions.

• At the beginning of your turn, you may move Caballeros that were placed or moved onto the Ship in a previous round to América and/or África.
• You may move Caballeros to América and/or África using stack 1 Intrigue cards.

The Viceroy of América

If the Viceroy's space is free, you may place one Caballero that you are moving to América on the Viceroy's space. The Viceroy may leave América. The Viceroy's space does not need to be occupied. The Viceroy's space may be occupied by the movement supplied by stack 1 Intrigue cards. A Grande may not occupy the Viceroy's space.

The Caballero occupying the Viceroy's space does not count toward majority during scoring. However, the player whose Caballero occupies the Viceroy's space scores 5 points whenever América is scored.

Gold and Wares

The Action cards in stack 7 depict Gold and Ware symbols. Whenever a player chooses a card from stack 7, he immediately places the depicted Gold and/or Wares in their corresponding region (this is part of the card's special action).

Gold is always placed in América, Wares are always placed in África.

The supply of Ware and Gold tokens is limited. If none of the appropriate token are available in the supply, then none are placed.

Taking Gold and Wares

During your turn, you may take Gold and Wares.

• You may do this at any time during your turn, and as often as you are able.
• You must have 1 Caballero in the corresponding region for each token you wish to take.
• Place the Caballero on top of the token. The Caballero now possesses that token.
• This is not an action.
• Each Caballero may only possess 1 token.
• A Caballero and its token are attached and may not be freely separated.

Bringing them to Spain

When you move a Caballero in possession of a token to Spain, that token is placed in the supply, and you immediately score points (4 points for a Ware token or 6 points for a Gold token).

To do so, you must move a Caballero in possession of a token to the mainland of Spain. This is usually done via the Ship.

Caballeros that were moved to América or África in a previous round may be moved to the Ship for free during your turn. This does not cost a move or place action.

At the beginning of your following turn, you may move your Caballeros on the Ship to any coastal region of Spain. Then you return the token to the supply and score the corresponding points. The Caballero remains in the region to which it was moved.

Important: These movements are "free actions" that may be performed in addition to your normal placement and special actions. However, it should be noted that, in most cases, it requires several turns to bring tokens to Spain.

You may move a Caballero in possession of a token using the movement supplied by the stack 1 Intrigue cards. This is quicker, but it requires that you choose a stack 1 card.

Example: Bringing an "unclaimed" token from América or África to Spain usually requires 4 steps (4 rounds).

1. Place a Caballero on the Ship (only when the King is in a coastal region).
2. Move the Caballero to América/África and claim the token.
3. Move the Caballero to the Ship.
4. Move the Caballero to one of Spain's coastal regions. You immediately score points (4 points for a Ware token or 6 points for a Gold token). The token is returned to the supply, and the Caballero remains in the coastal region.

The placement in step 1 "costs" a "placement action." The movements in steps 2–4 are free actions.

Note: Using stack 1 Intrigue cards, you may move a Caballero directly between Spain and América/África (or vice versa), thereby bypassing the Ship.

If a Caballero in possession of a token is returned to your Court, the token is lost and returned to the supply, for which you score no points.

This is also true when a Caballero in possession of a token is moved into the Castillo.

Special cases:

• A Caballero in possession of a token counts toward majority during scoring.
• A Caballero in possession of a token may not occupy the Captain's space.
• A Caballero in possession of a token may not occupy the Viceroy's space.

The Grand Inquisitor

When you choose the "Holy Inquisition" Action card, you execute and note the following:

• Take the Grand Inquisitor card and place it in front of you.
• Place up to 3 Caballeros from your Court into regions neighboring the King's region.
• Move up to 2 of the Grand Inquisitor's (black) Caballeros.
• All of the Grand Inquisitor's (black) Caballeros will count as yours during scoring.
• In each round during which the Grand Inquisitor is placed in front of you, you may take 1 additional Caballero from the Province into your Court or place 1 additional Caballero from your Court into a region neighboring the King's region.

The Grand Inquisitor remains placed in front of a player until such time as another player takes the "Holy Inquisition" card, and thus the Grand Inquisitor card itself.

Example: Gonzalo chooses the "Holy Inquisition" card. First, he executes the actions on the card. He takes the Grand Inquisitor card and moves 2 black Caballeros. The Action card allows him to place 3 Caballeros. Here, Gonzalo uses the special ability of the "Grand Inquisitor," which allows him to place an additional Caballero. He has enough Caballeros to do so, and places 4 Caballeros on the board.

Example: Gonzalo has the "Grand Inquisitor" in front of him from the previous round. He chooses the King's Card this round, which allows him to place 5 Caballeros. Gonzalo only has 4 Caballeros in his Court. He uses the special ability of the "Grand Inquisitor" and takes an additional Caballero from the Province into his Court, and then places his 5 Caballeros on the board.

The Caballeros of the Grand Inquisitor

The Caballeros of the Grand Inquisitor are governed by the following rules:

• The player who has the Grand Inquisitor card may move black Caballeros to regions or the Castillo, and may even claim Ware or Gold tokens, as if they were his own.
• No player may remove the black Caballeros from the board. They can never be added to the Province or a player's Court.
• During scoring, the black Caballeros count as Caballeros belonging to the player with the Grand Inquisitor card.
• If no player has the Grand Inquisitor card, the black Caballeros belong to no player. They are not counted during scoring.

In certain cases, the player with the Grand Inquisitor card also determines which Caballeros occupy the limit table. Details in the following section: "Limit Table."

Limit Table

The limit table is used to limit the number of Caballeros in a region that may be counted during scoring. Each space of the table may hold 1 Caballero. In a 2- or 3-player game, there are 6 spaces. In a 4- or 5-player game, there are 10 spaces.

The limit table begins the game in a randomly chosen region. The action card "Limit Table," that appears 3 times in stack 7, allows a player to move the limit table to a new region. The limit table may not be removed from the King's region. The limit table may not be placed in the King's region or Francia.

When you move or place Caballeros into the region with the limit table, your Caballeros are placed on the empty spaces of the limit table, as long as there are empty spaces available. You may place or move Caballeros into the region even if the limit table is full. These Caballeros are placed next to the table. Caballeros next to the table will not be counted during scoring. The order in which Caballeros were added to the limit table has no effect when determining majority.

When you wish to move the limit table to another region, you must first empty the Caballeros on the limit table into the region the limit table currently occupies. Then you place the empty limit table in a new region. If there are Caballeros in the new region, they are immediately placed on the limit table. If there is not enough room for all the Caballeros in the new region, you decide which Caballeros are placed on the limit table, and which are placed next to it (they will not be counted during scoring).

Movement

When you move Caballeros from the region with the limit table, you may move those Caballeros that occupy the limit table, as normal. When you move Caballeros to the region with the limit table, your Caballeros must be placed on the limit table (if there are empty spaces).

Free spaces

After each player's turn, if there are any empty spaces on the limit table, the Grand Inquisitor must fill those empty spaces with Caballeros remaining in the region. This can happen when an Intrigue card moves a Caballero from the limit table to another region.

Caballeros in the Castillo

If there is not enough room for all the Caballeros from the Castillo on the limit table, the Caballeros are first placed next to the limit table. Then, the Grand Inquisitor adds Caballeros to the limit table until it is full.

Move

When moving Caballeros (e.g., through the Intrigue card in this expansion or through a number of methods in the base game), you may:

• Move Caballeros directly to or away from América or África; the Ship can be bypassed in this way. You may also move Caballeros in possession of Gold or Wares.
• Move Caballeros on and off the limit table. You may even do this from within the same region. When you move 1 Caballero off of a limit table and replace it with another Caballero, this counts as 2 movements.
• Occupy the Viceroy's space in América, the Captain's space on the Ship, or the Ambassador's space in Francia.
• Move the Grand Inquisitor's Caballeros.

King and Intrigue

The Grand Inquisitor and Colonies expansion can be combined with the King and Intrigue expansion.

• Instead of using the base game's Action cards, you will use the Intrigue, Caballero and King's Cards as described in the King and Intrigue rules. Place stacks 6 and 7 of the Grand Inquisitor and Colonies expansion directly to the right of them.
• Instead of choosing an Intrigue, Caballero, or King's Card, a player may choose to take the visible card from stack 6 or 7. You must decide this when your turn begins. You then return that card facedown under the corresponding stack; it will not be available for the remaining players to choose.

Note: By combining these two expansions, it is possible for unusual game situations beyond the scope of this rulebook to occur. For this reason, the combination of these two expansions is not recommended. However, if you wish to try, we recommend deciding on a system by which you may settle any unusual rules disputes. Regardless of how you wish to play El Grande, we hope that you have fun doing so.

Action Cards - Stack 7

All stack 7 cards: When a player chooses a stack 7 card, he places the Gold and Ware tokens depicted on the card (Gold in América, Wares in África).

The stack 7 cards are as follows:

• Execute Action Card (1x). You may use this special action in this round or any later round. Execute an available Action card. This card may not be chosen again. Place this card in front of you. Discard it after use.
• Copycat (1x). Directly after an opponent has completed his turn, you may execute the special action he executed during his turn (including the Gold and Ware symbols depicted on the card). You only execute the special action (you do not place the Caballeros as depicted on the card). In this way, you will execute two special actions in this round; your own and that of another player. However, you only place Caballeros based on the icons of your own card. Place this card in front of you. Discard it after use. The card text reads: "You may execute a special action that an opponent has just completed."
• Free Choice (1x). After the Castillo has been scored and players have moved their Caballeros by secret disc, but before the regions are scored, you may move 2 of your Caballeros. Keep this card in front of you until its effect is complete. The card text reads: "Before the next general scoring, you may move 2 of your Caballeros."
• Special Scoring (1x) (all regions outside Spain). All 4 of the new regions are scored. The active player decides the order in which they are scored. The card text reads: "All regions outside of Spain (América, Francia, África, and the Ship) are scored immediately."
• Special Scoring (1x) (regions with black Caballeros). All regions containing at least 1 black Caballero are scored. The black Caballeros count as yours. You may place your 2 Caballeros before scoring is executed. The active player chooses the order in which the regions are scored. If you choose to place Caballeros after scoring is executed, you may place 3 of them instead, as you now have the Grand Inquisitor. The card text reads: "You may place the Grand Inquisitor card in front of you. All regions containing black Caballeros are scored immediately."
• Transport (1x). You may move your Caballeros directly onto the Gold or Wares just placed. If you already have Caballeros in América/África, you can claim the Gold or Wares and then move them to Spain in the same turn. The card text reads: "You may move 3 of your Caballeros."