Fields of Arle Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• In Order to Get Started (Goals Overview)
• About the Home Board
• The Vehicles
  • Loading Vehicles
• Course of the Game
  • Phase 1: Preparations
  • Phase 2: Work Phase
  • Phase 3: Inventorying
• Animal Husbandry Rules
• The Goods Track
• Limited Components
• The Action Spaces — General Rules
• Action Spaces — Summer/Fall Half Year
• Action Spaces — Winter/Spring Half Year
• Further Details on the Action Spaces
• The End of the Game and the Winner
• The Solo Game Variant
• Index of Small Houses (Green Buildings)
• Index of Minor Craft Buildings (Yellow)
• Index of Major Craft Buildings (Orange)
• Index of Inns (Blue)
• Index of Large Buildings (Red)
• Index of Travel Destination Tiles
• Index of Equipment and Tools
• Credits

Components

Game Boards:

• 1 large Game Board
• 2 "Travel Destinations and Barn" Storage Boards
• 1 Supply Board (for tiles)
• 2 Home Boards (with tracks on the sides)

Tiles:

• 5x "Forest/Park"
• 7x "Stall/Depot"
• 3x "Stable/Double Stall"
• 14x "Grain Field/Flax Field"
• 3x "Cart/Horse Cart"
• 3x "Carriage/Droshky"
• 2x "Handcart/Wagon"
• 6x "Peat Boat/Plow"
• 9 travel destinations per player (18 total)
• 31x "Building"

Building Material Tiles:

• 24x "Clay/Brick"
• 24x "Wood/Timber"
• 10x "Dike"
• 2x "Small Boardwalk"
• 6x "Moor/Dehydrated Moor"

Clothing Tiles:

• 24x "Linen/Summer Wear"
• 23x "Leather/Leather Wear"
• 23x "Woolen/Winter Wear"

Replacement Tiles: 1x "5 Linen", 1x "5 Wool", 1x "5 Leather".

Wooden Tokens: 2x4 Workers (in the player colors), 40x Peat, 20x Sheep, 20x Cattle, 20x Horse.

Wooden Indicators: 2x10 round Tool Indicators (in the player colors), Goods Indicators (2x Grain, 2x Flax, 2x Hide, 2x Wool, 4x Food), 1 orange Half Year Counter, 1 Starting Player Marker.

Also: 1 Scoring Pad, 2 Overview Sheets, 1 Sticker Sheet.

Before Your First Play: Attach the stickers to the 12 Goods Indicators and the 8 Workers. You can attach the spot stickers to the white Cattle tokens to make them "black pied" (as they used to call it in East Frisia).

Setup

Place the Supply Board between you. Place the depicted tiles on the appropriate spaces as indicated on the Supply Board — Fields, Plows and Peat Boats, Vehicles, Clothing, Stalls and Depots, Stables and Double Stalls, and Forests and Parks. During the game, tiles in the top row can be acquired with either side facing up. Tiles in the bottom row can only be acquired with their front side facing up; their reverse sides show upgrades. There are a lot of Field and Clothing Tiles — you only need to place some on the Supply Board and can add the rest later. (If your table is not big enough, you do not need the Supply Board at all; just place the stacks wherever you can.)

Place the large Game Board next to the Supply Board. Place the orange Half Year Counter on space 1 of the Half Year Track. Choose a player color; take the round Tool Indicators of that color and place one on the leftmost space of each of the 10 Tool Tracks of the Game Board (Fish Traps, Fleshing Beams, etc.). The Tool Indicators keep track of the number of Tools you have; you can increase that number during the game.

Familiarize yourselves with the costs of the Buildings, printed on the Game Board.

Randomly determine the Starting Player; this player receives the Starting Player Marker. Place 1 Worker of each color on each of the spaces "July" to "October" on the Game Board, so that the Starting Player's tokens are on top.

Distribute the Buildings on the spaces of matching color on the Game Board. In 3 of the 5 building colors there are 3 more Buildings than there are matching spaces; in these cases, randomly determine which Buildings to place and which to remove from the game. There are two types of green Buildings: for your first play, use the 4 light green ones; when more experienced, use 4 of the 7 dark green ones instead.

Take a Home Board each and place it (on your side of the table) below the Supply Board. Place the depicted components on it as indicated, i.e. certain tiles, 1 Horse, 4 Peat Tokens and 6 Goods Indicators. On the left side of the Home Board is the Travel Experience Track; in the middle are the Landscape Spaces; on the right side is the Goods Track.

Overall Layout. Each player also receives a "Travel Destinations and Barn" Storage Board and a set of Travel Destinations in their color; place the Travel Destinations on the appropriate spaces of the Storage Board. (Your Barn appears below the Travel Destinations and starts empty.) You each receive an Overview Sheet. You each take 4 Wood, 4 Clay and 3 Peat and place them next to your Home Board in your personal supply. Sort the remaining Wood/Timber and Clay/Brick tiles, and the wooden Animal and Peat tokens, and place them handily on the side. You will not need the Scoring Pad until the end of the game.

In Order to Get Started (Goals Overview)

The wind roses indicate the number of Victory Points you get for the depicted actions; yellow wind roses stand for Victory Points. This section has no relevance for understanding the rules — all information is explained elsewhere.

• Dike the Tidal Flat Area on your Home Board to get access to more Fields, Pastures and building land. (If you do not finish this process by the end of the game, you lose points.)
• Build Buildings (they have a fixed number of Victory Points).
• Breed Animals in Stalls and Stables. At the end of the game, Stalls and Stables are worth 2 and 6 Victory Points respectively. Animals are also worth Victory Points. Animals can live in Stalls and Stables or graze outdoors.
• Travel Experience Track: the more villages and towns you provide with goods, the more points you get.
• Dehydrate the Moor so you can cut peat. As soon as you remove the last Peat Token from a Moor Tile, you can cultivate that Moor Section by removing the Moor Tile from your Home Board. (Until then, you lose points for it.)
• At the end of the game you get Victory Points for each type of good you have a certain number of (per the wind rose symbols on the Goods Track). You can double these points by turning one of your Stalls into a Depot.
• Linen, Woolen and Leather are made from the corresponding resources (each upgraded good is worth 1 VP). Use them to craft Clothing to double their value.
• Wood, Timber, Clay and Bricks are cardboard tokens (Timber and Bricks are worth Victory Points). Peat is wooden tokens.
• Plow Fields to increase your income of Grain and Flax.
• Forests (worth 2 VP) provide additional Wood; later, upgrade them to valuable Parks (worth 6 VP).
• Food, Grain, Hides, Flax, and Wool are tracked on your Goods Track — at most 15 of each. Food is represented by 2 Goods Indicators (light blue), so you can have up to 30 Food.
• Try to have about the same number of Animals of each type at the end of the game, so your Animals are effectively worth 1 VP per Animal. Empty Land Spaces (Pastures) hold 2 Animals of the same type, Stalls 3 and Stables 6. Parks hold 2 Animals of any type; each of your 5 Dikes holds 1 Animal of any type.
• You can build Plows, Peat Boats, and various Vehicles (Equipment), stored in your Barn — worth Victory Points at the end of the game. You have limited Barn space.
• The Game Board indicates how many Tools of each type you have (they are worth Victory Points).

About the Home Board

The landscape consists of a Tidal Flat Area (above the Dike Line — the 3 Dike tiles lying in a horizontal row) and the Mainland (below the Dike Line).

The Mainland. At the beginning of the game you have 2 empty Land Spaces you can build on by placing tiles of appropriate size (Fields, Forests, Stalls, Buildings). 4 Land Spaces are already covered by tiles. A row of one or two Dike tiles is irrelevant to the distinction between Tidal Flat Area and Mainland.

Dike Building. At the start there are 9 potential Land Spaces in the Tidal Flat Area; the Dike Line marks the border. You have 5 Dike tiles, each lying in the gap between 2 vertically adjacent spaces. When you use a "+1 Dike" action, move one of the bottom Dikes up into the next gap. Whenever you create a new Dike Line above your old one (a new horizontal line of 3 adjacent Dike tiles), you immediately gain 3 new Land Spaces ("polder spaces"). The 1st Dike you build already provides 3 new Land Spaces; the 2nd initiates the next step (no new spaces yet); the 3rd still gives no new spaces; only the 4th provides access to 3 more Land Spaces; the 5th prevents the loss of a Victory Point; the 6th and 7th also prevent the loss of Victory Points, and the 7th unlocks the remaining 3 Land Spaces.

Cutting Peat in the Moor Area. At the bottom of your Home Board are 3 Moor Tiles. Use a "Dehydrate a Moor Section" or "Warden" action to dehydrate one: turn the Moor Tile to its reverse side and immediately place 4 Peat Tokens on it. Afterwards, use "Cut Peat" actions to take Peat Tokens off the Moor Tile into your personal supply. (The Peat Cutter Action Space lets you do multiple consecutive "Cut Peat" actions depending on how many Spades you have.) As soon as you remove the last Peat Token from a Moor Tile, immediately remove that Moor Tile from play, gaining more Land Spaces to build on. At the start of the game you already have one dehydrated Moor Section with 4 Peat waiting to be cut.

The Vehicles

Vehicles play a special role and are purchased on the Supply Board. Once owned, you can put them to work once per Half Year — outside the normal course of play. You need Vehicles to get access to Timber, Bricks, and Clothing, and to sell goods at certain Travel Destinations.

There are 6 types of Vehicles. There are 4 Parking Spaces in your Barn for Small Vehicles and other Equipment (like Plows and Peat Boats), and 3 spaces for Large Vehicles. (Alternatively, the bottommost Parking Space can be used for a small piece of Equipment instead of a Large Vehicle.) You can have multiple copies of the same piece of Equipment. Small Vehicles: Handcart, Wagon. Large Vehicles: Cart, Horse Cart, Carriage, Droshky. Vehicles are built via the "Wainwright" action; costs are some amount of Wood and Horses. (You lose the Horses you pay — thematically, the Horse is no longer used for breeding but for pulling the Vehicle.)

Loading Vehicles

At any time during the Work Phase you can load your Vehicles (even right after you get them). This is not an action — you can do it on top of your actions. The tiles you put on Vehicles are only removed at the end of the Work Phase (when you empty your Vehicles). You can load your Vehicles with:

• Building Materials (Wood and Clay) to upgrade them to Timber/Bricks.
• Fabrics (Linen, Woolen and Leather) to upgrade them to Summer/Winter/Leather Wear.
• Travel Destination Tiles of your color to receive Food at the given destination.

Vehicles have Single and Double Spaces in different amounts and distributions.

Single Spaces can be loaded with Wood and Clay tiles (immediately turn them to their reverse side, Timber or Bricks). When placing Clay on a Vehicle you must also pay 1 Peat. Alternatively, Single Spaces can hold the smallest Travel Destinations (Hage, Dornum, Beemoor). On Large Vehicles, you can consider multiple adjacent spaces as one large space to fit tiles of sizes 2, 3 and 4.

Double Spaces limit your options — you may not place Timber, Bricks, or small Travel Destinations on them; only bigger Travel Destinations and Clothing Tiles. You may combine Double Spaces with adjacent Single Spaces to fit even bigger tiles.

When placing basic Building Materials (Wood, Clay) or Fabrics (Linen, Woolen, Leather) on a Vehicle, place them with their upgraded side up (Timber/Brick, Summer/Winter/Leather Wear) — but you cannot access them until you empty your Vehicles after the Work Phase.

Travel Destinations on Vehicles: When you place a Travel Destination Tile on a Vehicle, you must use it immediately — sell at least one of the depicted items and receive the given amount of Food. Each item can only be sold once per Travel Destination. When done, turn the Travel Destination Tile to its reverse side and leave it on the Vehicle; it blocks the spaces until the end of the current Work Phase, after which you place it on your Travel Experience Track. (You can only use a Travel Destination once.) It is not allowed to make a piece of Clothing with one Vehicle and then sell it for Food via another Vehicle during the same Work Phase.

Details on Vehicles:

• You cannot combine the Single Spaces of the Wagon to fit bigger tiles.
• At Travel Destinations you can only sell goods you have in your supply (including goods on your Goods Track). In special cases you can sell a Plow or Peat Boat from your Barn, or a Field or Moor Tile from your Home Board. You cannot sell goods from your Vehicles.
• "Bremen" (size 4) can only be accessed by Horse Cart or Droshky — it requires 4 Single Spaces, or 2 Single Spaces and 1 Double Space.
• Plows and Peat Boats are not considered Vehicles, although like Vehicles they must be kept in the Barn.
• Carts and Horse Carts only have Single Spaces (more versatile). Carriages and Droshkies also have Double Spaces but are worth more points.
• If you have no space left in your Barn for a new Vehicle or Peat Boat, you must first get rid of another piece of Equipment of equal size (return it to the Supply Board).

Course of the Game

A game is played over 9 Half Years — alternating between Summer and Winter. Each Half Year consists of 3 Phases.

Phase 1: Preparations

In June (during Summer) and in December (during Winter), you place your Workers for the subsequent Work Phase. At the beginning of each Half Year, place Workers on each of the 4 Month Spaces, with the Starting Player's Workers on top of his opponent's. (During setup, you have already placed Workers for the first Half Year.)

Special Action and Starting Player. In Summer, 1 of the 8 Workers may use a Winter Action Space (instead of a Summer one); in Winter, 1 Worker may use a Summer Action Space. When a player makes use of this Special Action, his opponent receives the Starting Player Marker for the subsequent Half Year. If none of the 8 Workers makes use of the Special Action, the Starting Player Marker changes hands automatically at the end of the Half Year.

Phase 2: Work Phase

Take turns placing your Workers on empty Action Spaces of the current Half Year. Take your Workers from left to right off the Month Spaces. In each Month, the player with the Starting Player Marker goes first. The Summer Action Spaces are only available in odd-numbered Half Years, the Winter Action Spaces only in even-numbered ones. In each Half Year there are 15 different Action Spaces to choose from. After placing a Worker, immediately carry out the corresponding action. Each Action Space can only be occupied by a single Worker — an occupied Action Space is blocked until the end of the current Work Phase. (Placing a Worker is not mandatory; you can instead remove him from the Month Space and do nothing on your turn.)

Remember the Laborer Action Space, which allows you to use an already occupied Action Space again (it must still belong to the current Half Year).

Spaces with a white/blue Frisian pattern indicate costs — you must pay the depicted goods to get the Building below that space, to move a Tool Indicator one space right, or to use the action. Regardless of the action, you can always pay Timber instead of Wood and Brick instead of Clay.

Anytime Actions (in addition to your actions, at any time during the Work Phase):

• Load your Vehicles. You decide when to end your Work Phase — even after placing all Workers, you can still load goods on remaining free spaces of your Vehicles.
• Rearrange the Animals on your Home Board (per the Animal Husbandry rules).
• If you own a Peat Boat, exchange Peat for goods of the Goods Track at a 1:1 ratio, any number of times.

Phase 3: Inventorying

The Work Phase ends after all 8 Workers were used and both players declared the end of the Work Phase. In November (end of a Summer/Fall Half Year) and in May (end of a Winter/Spring Half Year), take stock of your belongings. Go through the following sub-phases in order.

November (End of a Summer/Fall Half Year):

1. Empty Vehicles: Place the Timber, Bricks, and Clothing from your Vehicles into your personal supply. Place the Travel Destination Tiles from your Vehicles on your Travel Experience Track.
2. Milking: You receive 1/2/3 Food for 2/5/8 Sheep and 1/2/3 Food for 1/3/5 Cattle on your Home Board. (You cannot get more than 6 Food this way.) Indicate the Food on your Goods Track.
3. Harvest: You receive 1 Grain per Grain Field and 1 Flax per Flax Field on your Home Board. You also receive 1 Wood per Forest (you do not receive Wood for Parks).
4. Sustenance: Pay 3 Food and 2 Peat (as fuel for the upcoming Winter). For each missing Food, pay 1 Grain instead; if you run out of Grain, pay 1 Animal per missing Food instead. For each missing Peat, pay 1 Wood (or Timber) instead. If you are still missing Food or Fuel, you lose 2 Victory Points per missing item (track this in the "Supply Bottlenecks" category of the Scoring Pad).

May (End of a Winter/Spring Half Year):

1. Empty Vehicles: Place the Timber, Bricks, and Clothing from your Vehicles into your personal supply. Place the Travel Destination Tiles from your Vehicles on your Travel Experience Track.
2. Baby Animals: In each Stall with exactly 2 Animals of the same type, you receive a third Animal of that type. In each Stable with 2, 3 or 5 Animals of the same type, you also receive another Animal of that type; in Stables with exactly 4 Animals of the same type, you receive 2 Animals of that type. Double Stalls (upgrades to Stables) are considered two separate Stalls. Place the newborn Animals with their parents. (Animals outside of your Stalls and Stables, e.g. in Parks, do not breed.)
3. Sheering: You receive 1/2/3 Wool for 1/4/6 Sheep on your Home Board. (You cannot get more than 3 Wool this way. Your newborn Sheep can be shorn right away.)
4. Sustenance: Pay 3 Food. For each missing Food, pay 1 Grain instead; if you run out of Grain, pay 1 Animal per missing Food. If you are still missing Food, you lose 2 Victory Points per missing Food.

You can only eat Grain if you run out of Food (the same applies to Animals). You can only burn Wood if you run out of Peat.

Travel Experience. Whenever you empty your Vehicles, place the used Travel Destination Tiles face down on the Travel Experience Track on the left side of your Home Board. The first tile is placed at the bottom so the coastal path runs from bottom to top; every subsequent tile is placed above the previous ones. The first empty space above those tiles indicates the number of Victory Points you get for your Travel Experience at the end of the game (up to 10 VP; the track has 19 spaces, and each tile covers 1-4 of them according to its size).

Half Year End. At the end of each Half Year, move the orange Half Year Counter one space forward onto the next Half Year and start it. The game ends after a total of 9 Half Years.

Animal Husbandry Rules

There are 3 types of Animals: Sheep, Cattle, and Horses. You get Animals via various actions during the Work Phase and as newborns at the end of each Winter Half Year. You can only keep newly gained Animals if you can accommodate them on your Home Board. You can return Animals to the general supply (without substitution) at any time. During the Work Phase, rearrange the Animals at any time per these rules:

1. Each of your Dikes can hold 1 Animal of any type.
2. Each empty Land Space can hold up to 2 Animals of the same type.
3. Each Stall can hold up to 3 Animals of the same type. (Get a pair of Animals into each Stall before the end of Winter to get a newborn during the May Inventorying.)
4. Double Stalls (reverse side of Stables) are considered two separate Stalls. (You get them via the "Warden" and "Dike Warden" actions.)
5. Each Stable can hold up to 6 Animals of the same type. (You get Stables via the "Carpenter" action in Winter.)
6. Each Park (reverse side of a Forest) can hold up to 2 Animals of the same or of different types. (You get Parks via the "Warden" and "Dike Warden" actions.)

Animals can be moved at any time during the Work Phase, but must always be accommodated on your Home Board. Dike tiles can only be moved as a result of specific actions. All other tiles (including Fields) can only be placed, turned, or removed via certain actions and cannot change their position (except Dikes). As Barn space is limited, you can return Equipment to the Supply Board at any time (without substitution).

The Goods Track

Indicate the amounts of Food, Grain, Hides, Flax, and Wool with the Goods Indicators on your Goods Track. The Goods Indicators cannot go above 15 or below 0. You may move one Food Goods Indicator down to move the other Food Goods Indicator up by the same number of spaces (distribute your total Food between the two indicators any way you like — you may want to do this at the end of the game to maximize points). You can store up to 30 Food and up to 15 units of every other good.

Limited Components

Animals, Building Materials, Clothing, and Peat Tokens are considered an unlimited supply — improvise or use the Replacement Tiles (5 Woolen, 5 Leather, 5 Linen) if you run out. Every other type of tile is limited by the provided supply (especially Grain/Flax Fields, Stalls, Stables, Peat Boats/Plows, and all Vehicles). When a player returns one of these tiles to the supply, it becomes available again.

The Action Spaces — General Rules

At any time during the Work Phase you may visit a Travel Destination to get Food you may use immediately (e.g. for a Building action). Whenever you may take something, take it from the general supply or move the Goods Indicators up. Whenever you have to pay something, return it to the general supply or move the Goods Indicators down.

There are 3 types of Conversion Arrows:

• Brown arrows (like "1 Hide → 1 Leather") indicate you may carry out the conversion immediately a number of times equal to the number of appropriate Tools you have.
• Grey arrows (like "Field → Forest") indicate you may carry out the conversion immediately, not limited by Tools. Found on the Game Board (Carpenter) and on Buildings (like the Farmer's Inn).
• Yellow arrows (like "1 Grain + 1 Peat → 3 Food") indicate you may carry out the conversion at any time and any number of times. Found only on buildings (like the Schnapps Distillery).

Notes on notation:

• "Take 1 Cattle/Horse" means you may choose to take 1 Cattle or 1 Horse.
• "Pay 1 Grain (Flax)" means you must pay 1 Grain; only if you have no Grain may you pay 1 Flax instead.
• In "per" expressions (like "1 Clay per Shovel"), you do not lose whatever is written after "per".
• "Action A and/or Action B" means you may do both or just one; a single "or" means you must choose one; no conjunction means "and/or".
• To "Cut Peat" means you take Peat Tokens off your Moor Tiles. To "Take Peat" means you get Peat from the general supply.
• A "Land Space" is any space on your Home Board below the Dike Line (including Moor Spaces). Spaces above the Dike Line are "Tidal Flat Spaces" and cannot be used.

Action Spaces — Summer/Fall Half Year

• Fisherman: Take 1 Sheep. Also move your Fish Trap Tool Indicator one space right. Then take 1 Food per Fish Trap you have (up to 6 Food).
• Grocer: Take one of: Timber, Brick, Sheep, Cattle, or Horse. Additionally, take 1 Grain and 1 Leather.
• Woolen Weaver: Per Weaving Loom you have (up to 2, 3, 4, or 5 times), you may convert 1 Wool to 1 Woolen.
• Colonist: Take 1 Horse and/or dehydrate a Moor Section by flipping over one of your Moor Tiles (so the Boardwalk illustration is visible at the top), then place exactly 4 Peat Tokens from the general supply on it.
• Peat Cutter: Per Spade you have (up to 3, 5, or 7 times), you may take 1 Peat Token off one of your Moor Tiles. (You may take Peat from different Moor Tiles, but not from the general supply.)
• Dike Builder: Take 1 Sheep or 1 Cattle. Additionally or alternatively, carry out a "Dike Building" action: for each Pair of Shovels you have, move 1 Dike (i.e. 1/2/2/3 Dikes with 3/4/5/6 Shovels).
• Clay Worker: Take 1 Clay per Shovel you have (i.e. 3, 4, 5, or 6 Clay).
• Farmer: Build a Plow and place it in your Barn. Additionally or alternatively, you may plow 1 Field per Plow you have (you may plow fewer). For each new Field, decide which side to display (Flax or Grain).
• Forester: Pay 1 Food and either take a Forest, or build a Building by paying the costs on the Game Board. In either case, place the tile on an empty Land Space.
• Woodcutter: Take 1 Wood per Axe you have (i.e. 3, 4, 5, or 6 Wood). (The number of Forests you have does not matter here.)
• Master: Per Workbench you have (up to 2, 3, or 4 times), you may move one of your Tool Indicators 1 space right. You cannot move a Tool Indicator more than once. The costs are depicted on the Game Board.
• Carpenter: Either build a Building by paying the costs on the Game Board, or build a Stall for 2 Clay and 1 Grain. In either case, place the tile on an empty Land Space.
• Builder: Build a Building by paying the costs on the Game Board. Place the new tile on an empty Land Space.
• Warden: Flip over a tile with the arrow Symbol for free (a "Tile Upgrade" action).
• Laborer: Pay 2 Food and either build a Vehicle by paying its costs, or imitate an occupied Summer Action Space (regardless of who occupies it). You cannot imitate an occupied Winter Action Space.

Action Spaces — Winter/Spring Half Year

• Peat Boatman: Take 3 Peat and, additionally, 1 Peat per Peat Boat you have (for a total of 3/4/5/... Peat if you have 0/1/2/... Peat Boats). (You may not take the Peat off your Moor Tiles.)
• Tanner: Per Fleshing Beam you have (up to 3, 5, or 6 times), you may convert 1 Hide to 1 Leather.
• Linen Weaver: Per Weaving Loom you have (up to 2, 3, 4, or 5 times), you may convert 1 Flax to 1 Linen.
• Butcher: Per Slaughtering Table you have (up to 2, 3, or 4 times), you may convert 1 Animal of any type to 3 Food and 2 Hides. You get 1 more Food per Cattle you convert.
• Cattle Trader: Take 2 Grain and 1 Sheep. Additionally, take 1 Cattle or 1 Horse.
• Grocer: Take 1 Peat off one of your Moor Tiles (not from the general supply). Additionally, take 1 Animal of any type, 1 Wood, and 1 Clay.
• Builder's Merchant: Take 2 Hides. Additionally, take 1 Wood or 1 Clay, and 1 Timber or 1 Brick.
• Potter: Per Pottery Wheel you have (up to 2, 3, or 4 times), you may convert 1 Clay to 3 Food and 1 Peat. (You may not take the Peat off your Moor Tiles.)
• Baker: Per Oven you have (up to 1, 2, 3, or 4 times), you may convert 1 Grain and 1 Peat to 6 Food. You may replace Grain with Flax and Peat with Wood if you have no Grain or Peat.
• Wood Trader: Pay 1 Food and either take 4 Wood, or build a Building by paying the costs on the Game Board. If you cannot pay the Food, you may pay 1 Grain instead.
• Master: Per Workbench you have (up to 2, 3, or 4 times), you may move one of your Tool Indicators 1 space right. You cannot move a Tool Indicator more than once. The costs are depicted on the Game Board.
• Wainwright: Build a Vehicle by paying its costs. Additionally or alternatively, you may build 1 Peat Boat (a Peat Boat costs 1 Wood). Place the new pieces of Equipment in your Barn.
• Carpenter: Either build a Stall for 2 Clay and 1 Grain, or exchange a Stall for a Stable by paying 2 Bricks. (You cannot build Stables directly.)
• Dike Warden: Flip over a tile with the arrow Symbol for free (a "Tile Upgrade" action). Additionally, build 1 Dike.
• Laborer: Pay 2 Food and either build a Building by paying the costs on the Game Board, or imitate an occupied Winter Action Space (regardless of who occupies it). You cannot imitate an occupied Summer Action Space.

Further Details on the Action Spaces

1. Plows (Farmer): A Plow costs 1 Wood and either 1 Cattle or 1 Horse. (You lose the Animal.) If you have no Barn space, get rid of another piece of Equipment first (return it to the Supply Board).
2. Placing tiles: Fields, Forests, Stalls, and Buildings go on empty Land Spaces (below your Dike Line). Stalls are not Buildings. Double Stalls, Depots, Parks, and Stables cannot be built directly; they can only be upgraded via a Warden action. Building costs are on the Game Board: the first four Buildings at the top each cost any 1 Building Material and 1 Grain; the next two each cost 1 Timber and 1 Brick; the middle Buildings have individual costs; each Building at the bottom left costs 2 different Building Materials and 9 Food; each Large Building (bottom right) costs 3 Timber, 3 Bricks, and 15 Food. Each Stall costs 2 Clay and 1 Grain.
3. Vehicle costs and VP: Handcart (0 VP): 2 Wood. Wagon (1 VP): 4 Wood. Cart (1 VP): 5 Wood, 1 Horse. Horse Cart (2 VP): 7 Wood, 1 Horse. Carriage (4 VP): 4 Wood, 2 Horses. Droshky (5 VP): 6 Wood, 2 Horses. If you have no Barn space for a new Vehicle or Peat Boat, first get rid of another piece of Equipment of equal size.
4. Tile Upgrades (Warden / Dike Warden): There is no cost for flipping over tiles with an Arrow Symbol. (For instance, upgrading a Cart to a Horse Cart requires no Wood or Horses.)
5. Master example: With 2 Workbenches, the Master action lets you move 1 Tool Indicator per Workbench (including the Workbench Tool Indicator). Moving the Workbench indicator (cost 2 Clay) gives 3 Workbenches immediately, so you can still move 2 more Tool Indicators (total of 3 movements). You pay per movement (costs on the Game Board), not per individual tool — moving the Spade Tool Indicator increases Spades by 2 but still costs 1 Wood per movement. You may not move the same Tool Indicator more than once per Master action.
6. Wood Trader: You may pay Grain instead of Food once you run out of Food. This is not possible on any other Action Space.
7. Laborer imitation: When imitating an Action Space occupied by your opponent, use it according to your belongings, not your opponent's. (Example: opponent has 7 Spades, you have 3 — imitating their Peat Cutter gets you 3 Peat, not 7.) You may also imitate one of your own actions.
8. No additional costs: For actions marked (8) there are no additional costs; in particular, you do not pay the costs printed in front of the Tool Tracks (those are paid when moving Tool Indicators, not when using the Tools).

The End of the Game and the Winner

The game ends after 9 rounds at the end of the last Summer Half Year, after the November Inventorying. (Animals will not breed anymore, since they only do so in May.) Each player may then use his Peat Boat (if he has one) to exchange remaining Peat for other goods that might provide Victory Points on the Goods Track. Use the Scoring Pad to write down your Victory Points in the various scoring categories:

• Clothing Tiles and Building Materials: Bricks, Linen, Woolen, and Leather are each worth 1 VP. Summer, Winter, and Leather Wear are each worth 2 VP. Each Timber is worth ½ VP. (Do not round the total.)
• Equipment in the Barn: Add up the VP from your Plows, Peat Boats, and Vehicles. Then subtract 3 VP unless you have at least one Large Vehicle in your Barn.
• Travel Experience: The first empty space (from the bottom) on your Travel Experience Track indicates the VP you get (up to 10 VP).
• Tools: Add up the VP of your Tools on the 10 Tool Tracks.
• Goods Track: Each Goods Indicator on space 15 is worth 3 VP; on spaces 11-14, 2 VP; on spaces 7-10, 1 VP. (Distribute your total Food between the two Food indicators to optimize.) If you have a Depot, double the total VP in this category (only once, even with multiple Depots).
• VP on Home Board: Add up the VP from your Buildings, Stalls, Stables, Forests, and Parks. Then subtract 4 VP for each hydrated Moor Section, 1 VP for each dehydrated Moor Section, and 1 VP for each Tidal Flat Space (of the top row) left on your Home Board. (Animals have their own category.)
• Animals on Home Board: Each Animal of the type you have the least of is worth 2 VP. Each Animal of the type you have the second least of is worth 1 VP. Animals of the third type are worth 0. (Examples: 6 Sheep, 5 Horses, 4 Cattle = 0+5+8 = 13 VP. 5 Horses, 4 Cattle, 0 Sheep = 0+4+0 = 4 VP. 3 of each = 0+3+6 = 9 VP.) Horses and Cattle you paid when acquiring Plows and Vehicles are not counted.
• Supply Bottlenecks: This category tracked VP losses due to missing Food and Fuel during the game. You do not lose any additional VP here during scoring.

Finally, the player with the most Victory Points wins. In case of a tie, the Starting Player of a hypothetical 10th Half Year breaks the tie.

The Solo Game Variant

In the solo game there is no Special Action — you cannot use an Action Space of the other Season. Otherwise, simply place your Workers one by one and try to score as many points as you can. 110 Victory Points is considered a remarkable score.

Index of Small Houses (Green Buildings)

Small Houses go on the four spaces at the top of the Game Board; all have the same building cost (any 1 Building Material and 1 Grain) and are each worth 1 VP.

Light green Starter Houses (recommended for first play):

• Farmer's House: Before November (end of each Summer Half Year), receive 1 Clay. Additionally, you may cut 1 Peat before each November (off one of your Moor Tiles).
• Plow Maker's Workshop: Before November, you may place 1 Field of your choice on an empty Land Space. (Not required; if you do not, you cannot do so later retroactively.)
• Novice's Hut: Before November, receive 1 Grain and 1 Dike (move the bottommost Dike to the next free gap above the Dike Line).
• Workshop: Before November, receive 1 Wood and 1 "Master" action (pay the costs and move exactly one Tool Indicator 1 space right).

Dark green Small Houses (choose 4 for subsequent plays; each usable at any time during the game):

• Weaving Parlor: At any time, any number of times, pay 3 Flax to receive 1 Linen and cut 1 Peat (off one of your Moor Tiles).
• Colonist's House: At any time, any number of times, pay 2 Woolen to receive 1 Clay and cut 1 Peat.
• Carpenter's Workshop: At any time, any number of times, pay 4 Food and 1 Brick to upgrade one of your Stalls to a Stable. (You do not need to pay the usual 2 Bricks. Only 3 Stables available.)
• Schnapps Distillery: At any time, any number of times (even between Harvest and Sustenance), exchange 1 Grain plus 1 Peat for 3 Food.
• Loading Station: At any time during the Work Phase, place 1 Peat on an empty Single Space (not Double Space) of one of your Vehicles, any number of times. (Peat comes from the general supply, not your Moor Tiles.)
• Litter Storage: At any time, any number of times, exchange 3 Flax for 1 Horse if you already have at least 2 Horses.
• Wood Trader: At any time, any number of times, exchange 1 Timber plus 1 Food for 2 Wood.

Index of Minor Craft Buildings (Yellow)

Minor Craft Buildings go on 2 yellow spaces; all cost 1 Timber and 1 Brick. Determine which 2 to play with. They provide an immediate one-time reward when built, plus VP at the end.

• Turnery (5 VP): Immediately (once), per Forest you have, receive 1 Wood and cut 2 Peat.
• Smokehouse (5 VP): Immediately (once), cut 1 Peat per Fish Trap you have.
• Smithy (3 VP): Immediately (only when building), you may exchange Peat Boats, Handcarts, and Wagons (small pieces of Equipment) for Plows at a 1:1 ratio, any number of times.
• Cooperage (4 VP): Immediately (once), determine your number of Dairy Animals (Sheep and Cattle). For 5/10/15 Dairy Animals, move each of your six Goods Indicators up 1/2/3 spaces.
• Bakehouse (4 VP): Immediately (only when building), per Oven you have, you may exchange 2 Grain and 1 Flax for 8 Food.

Index of Major Craft Buildings (Orange)

The 6 Major Craft Buildings are placed on the orange spaces (all available in every game); each has individual costs and provides an immediate one-time reward.

• Mill (6 VP): Costs 1 Timber and either 8 Flax or 8 Grain. Immediately, receive 8/10/12 Food if you have 3/5/6 Fields. (2 or fewer Fields: no Food. Both Grain and Flax Fields count.)
• Weaving Mill (7 VP): Costs 2 Bricks and either 10 Flax or 10 Woolen. Immediately, receive 1 Winter Wear and move your Weaving Loom Tool Indicator up to 2 spaces right for free.
• Textile House (9 VP): Costs 1 Brick and 2 different pieces of Clothing (Summer/Winter/Leather Wear). Immediately, receive 1 Linen, 1 Woolen, and 1 Leather.
• Saddlery (8 VP): Costs 2 Timber and 3 Leather. Immediately, cut 1 Peat per Horse you have; afterwards, move your Fleshing Beam Tool Indicator 1 space right for free.
• Joinery (6 VP): Costs 2 Timber and 5 Grain. Immediately, receive 2 Peat per Peat Boat you have and 1 Horse per Plow you have. (Accommodate the Horses immediately. Take the Peat from the general supply.)
• Waterfront House (10 VP): Costs 2 Bricks and 25 Food. Immediately, receive 10 Food back, 2 Dikes (move the 2 bottommost Dikes to the next free gaps above the Dike Line), and move your Fish Trap Tool Indicator up to 3 spaces right for free.

Index of Inns (Blue)

Determine which 3 blue Inn Tiles to play with; all cost 2 different Building Materials and 9 Food. (First play recommendation: Potter's Inn, Farmer's Inn, Junk Dealer's Inn.) Each provides an immediate one-time reward.

• Potter's Inn (5 VP): Immediately, receive 1 Animal of any type per Pottery Wheel you have. (Accommodate immediately.)
• Farmer's Inn (3 VP): Immediately, you may replace up to 3 of your Fields with Forests.
• Junk Dealer's Inn (4 VP): Immediately, either receive 1 Handcart or 1 Peat Boat for free. Additionally or alternatively, receive 1 Leather Wear and 1 Woolen.
• Gulf House Inn (5 VP): Immediately, receive 1 Timber per Stall you have and 1 Brick per Stable you have. (No Timber instead of Bricks. Double Stalls count as 2 Stalls.)
• Milk House Inn (5 VP): Immediately, receive 1 Cattle, and afterwards 1 "Cut Peat" action per Cattle you have.
• Sluice Yard Inn (4 VP): Immediately, move the Fish Trap Tool Indicator 1 space right for free, then take 1 Wood per Fish Trap you have (i.e. 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 Wood).

Index of Large Buildings (Red)

The red Large Buildings are placed next to the Inns; all cost 3 Timber, 3 Bricks, and 15 Food, and each is worth 15 VP. Each provides an immediate one-time reward.

• Village Church: Immediately, receive 1 (Wedding) Carriage for free and place it in your Barn (provided a Carriage is still on the Supply Board).
• Lütetsburg Castle: Immediately, receive 1 Forest Tile and place it on an empty Land Space (if available), and move each of your Tool Indicators for Spades, Pottery Wheels, and Workbenches 1 space right for free.
• Berum Castle: Immediately, move each of your Tool Indicators for Ovens and Weaving Looms 1 space right for free. Additionally, receive 1 "Tile Upgrade" action (see the Warden action).

Index of Travel Destination Tiles

You may only place a Travel Destination Tile on a Vehicle if you immediately sell at least one of the depicted items. Each item can only be sold once. The proceeds are always some amount of Food (max 30 Food stored). The size (spaces required on a Vehicle) is given in parentheses.

• Hage (1): Immediately remove a Field from your Home Board and receive 1 Food.
• Beemoor (1): Remove 1 Peat from your supply (but not your Home Board) and receive 2 Food.
• Dornum (1): Return a Plow from your Barn to the Supply Board and receive 8 Food.
• Norden (2): Sell 1 to 3 items: 4 Food for a Sheep, 7 Food for Winter Wear. Additionally or alternatively, return a Peat Boat from your Barn and receive 5 Food.
• Aurich (2): Sell 1 to 3 items: 4 Food for Leather (not Leather Wear), 5 Food for a Horse, 4 Food for an Animal of any type (may be another Horse).
• Esens (2): Sell 1 to 3 items: 4 Food for 2 Grain (you cannot sell a single Grain), 2 Food for a Hide, 4 Food for Woolen.
• Emden (3): Sell 1 to 4 items: 7 Food each for Winter and Leather Wear, 6 Food for Summer Wear. Additionally or alternatively, remove 1 Peat from your supply and receive 3 Food.
• Leer (3): Sell 1 to 4 items: 2 Food for Flax, 3 Food for Linen (not Summer Wear), 5 Food for Cattle, 6 Food for either Summer, Winter or Leather Wear.
• Bremen (4): Sell 1 to 5 items: 5 Food for Timber, 9 Food for 2 Animals of the same type, 12 Food for a set of Linen, Woolen and Leather, 30 Food (excess lost) for a set of Summer, Winter and Leather Wear. Additionally or alternatively, remove a Moor Tile from your Home Board (regardless of side or remaining Peat; the Peat is lost). No Food for this, but you avoid losing points for the tile.

Index of Equipment and Tools

Keep your Equipment in your Barn (4 spaces for small Equipment including Small Vehicles, 3 for Large Vehicles; alternatively the bottommost Large space holds a fifth small piece).

Equipment	Category	Costs	VP	Function
Plow	Small piece of Equipment	1 Wood and 1 Horse/Cattle	3	provides Fields with the "Farmer" action
Peat Boat	Small piece of Equipment	1 Wood	1	exchange 1 Peat for 1 good of the Goods Track at any time
Handcart	Small Vehicle	2 Wood	0	1 Single Space for loading
Wagon	Small Vehicle	4 Wood	1	2 Single Spaces that cannot be combined
Cart	Large Vehicle	5 Wood and 1 Horse	1	3 Single Spaces for loading
Horse Cart	Large Vehicle	7 Wood and 1 Horse	2	4 Single Spaces for loading
Carriage	Large Vehicle	4 Wood and 2 Horses	4	1 Single Space and 1 Double Space
Droshky	Large Vehicle	6 Wood and 2 Horses	5	2 Single Spaces and 1 Double Space

There are 10 types of Tools (tracked on the Game Board). You may get VP at the end of the game for having many Tools of a certain type.

Tool	Number at Start	Cost per Increase	Increments
Fish Traps	2	1 Wood	3, 4, 5, and finally 6 (3 VP)
Fleshing Beams	3	1 Wood	5 (1 VP) and finally 6 (3 VP)
Weaving Looms	2	2 Wood	3 (1 VP), 4 (3 VP), and finally 5 (4 VP)
Slaughtering Tables	2	1 Clay	3 (1 VP) and finally 4 (2 VP)
Spades	3	1 Wood	5 and finally 7 (2 VP)
Shovels	3	1 Wood	4, 5, and finally 6
Pottery Wheels	2	1 Clay	3 and finally 4 (2 VP)
Ovens	1	1 Brick	2 (1 VP), 3 (5 VP), and finally 4 (7 VP)
Axes	3	1 Wood	4, 5, and finally 6
Workbenches	2	2 Clay	3 (1 VP) and finally 4 (4 VP)

Shovels are used to determine the number of Pairs of Shovels you have.

Credits

Game design: Uwe Rosenberg. Artwork: Dennis Lohausen. © 2014 Feuerland Spiele. English Version: © 2016 F2Z Entertainment Inc. Fields of Arle is the most autobiographic game designed by Uwe Rosenberg — its story is set in the village where his father was born. The rule book was written by Uwe Rosenberg himself.