Hägar ruft zum Beutefest Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• The Most Important Thing: The Loot
• Preparations for the Journey
• Departure
• On Raiding Expeditions
• Iron Plundering Rules
• Transporting the Loot
• Ambush
• Assorted Misfortunes and Divine Pronouncements
• Fate Lightning Bolts
• Uncertainties
• Loot Feast

Contents

• 1 game board
• 6 Vikings
• 6 ships
• 2 rune sticks
• 39 loot pieces
• 33 fate cards
• 6 collector's cards

The Most Important Thing: The Loot

The Viking's prestige depends on the value of the loot he has gained. However, this value cannot initially be determined in the melee of battle. The Viking first plunders everything, determines the value afterwards, and sensibly keeps it secret from his comrades.

• Good loot. These loot pieces count their printed value.
  • 4 × Weapons
  • 4 × Gold
  • 4 × Game (Wildbret)
  • 4 × Wine
• Gifts. The final value is decided by the wife at the Loot Feast.
  • 3 × Clothes
  • 3 × Jewellery
  • 3 × Perfume
• Bad loot. These loot pieces count for nothing at all!
  • 4 × Old cheese
  • 4 × Cuckoo clocks
• Dangerous loot. These drive the wife at home to white heat. For this reason it becomes very expensive to bring them home.
  • 3 × Foreign women
• Treasure chests. These are especially valuable and occur only on the way to Byzantium.
  • 3 × Byzantine treasure chest (value 8, marked "BYZANZ")

Preparations for the Journey

• The 3 Byzantine treasure chests are sorted and laid out face up on the corresponding space between Minsk and Venice.
• The remaining loot pieces are mixed well, face down, and placed at the cities. The number of loot pieces per city differs and is indicated by the gold chests on the respective space.
• The fate cards are also mixed well and placed as a face-down stack on the card space next to Zürich.
• Each player receives a collector's card in the colour of his playing piece. It shows whether he is currently carrying a loot piece, has loot on the ship, or already has loot in the safe home.

Departure

The Vikings start at either of the two harbours of their northern homeland.

• Each player receives one of the 6 coloured Viking figures and a ship of the same colour. The Vikings are placed in the ships, and off they go.

On Raiding Expeditions

Rune sticks. The Viking always trusts his luck. Before each stage of the journey he therefore throws the two rune sticks into the air, adds the two values together, and moves that many spaces in a direction of his choice.

• The points indicate movement on land.
• The wave lines indicate movement on water.
• In the example shown on the left, the Viking may therefore move either 7 spaces by water or 3 spaces by land.
• The lightning bolt indicates one of the many fates that Vikings on land may meet → fate cards.

Harbours. When a ship docks at a harbour, or when a ship is loaded from land, surplus waves or points expire.

• If a Viking reaches a harbour with his ship, he may continue from there only on foot the next time. The same applies when he weighs anchor.
• No more than two ships may lie in one harbour. If necessary, a third ship must take an alternative route. Harbours are safe places: attacks on other Vikings are strictly forbidden there.
• The two home harbours may be approached at will for unloading. The start is then again from the harbour that was approached.
• A Viking may also have his ship sail to another harbour while he is travelling on land. However, per turn he may only move either by water or by land. For the trip into one of the home harbours, he must be aboard!

Iron Plundering Rules

Cities. These are the favourite plundering targets of Hägar and his comrades. Here there is moderate loot, provided the city has not yet been completely plundered.

• When a Viking enters a city to make loot, surplus points expire.
• Attacking other Vikings in the cities is strictly forbidden.
• No more than two Vikings may plunder a city at the same time. If necessary, a third Viking must take an alternative route.
• Whoever reaches a city takes the topmost loot piece lying there, looks at it secretly, and places it face down in field 1 of his collector's card. It then only needs to be brought to a harbour and onto the ship.

Byzantine treasure chests. These are the most valuable loot pieces and can be robbed at the camp site of the caravans from Byzantium. The camp site of the treasure chests must be reached exactly with the matching point number. This location may only be entered and left in the direction of the arrow.

• A Viking may rob at this location only once.
• Additional treasure chests may, however, be robbed by other Vikings on the way, or taken up at other camp sites, if they were dropped there.

Loot at the roadside. A loot piece that was thrown away at the roadside (→ dragon) may be taken along by any Viking who reaches that space directly with the matching point number.

Transporting the Loot

The collector's card lying in front of each player gives him an overview of the state of his raids.

• Field 1. Loot pieces that were plundered in a city, or somewhere on land, are placed here. Each Viking can only carry one loot piece to the ship at a time. Only after he has unloaded his loot piece there may he go on new raids.
• Field 2. Loot pieces are placed here when they are loaded onto the ship, or when they were robbed by other Vikings in an attack at sea.
  • Each Viking ship can transport at most three loot pieces and must try to bring them safely into one of the two home harbours.
• Field 3. Loot pieces that the Viking ship has brought safely home are placed here. They remain there until the Loot Feast.

Ambush

If a Viking meets another Viking directly, on land or at sea, he tries to profit from it:

• The attacker may take one loot piece from the other Viking (if there are several, he draws them face down). In this case he may transport one loot piece more than he or his ship would normally be allowed to.
• If the attacker is himself carrying loot but the other Viking is not, he can force his loot on the other. This is a good opportunity to get rid of bad and dangerous loot.

Assorted Misfortunes and Divine Pronouncements

Storm. If a ship comes onto this position, it immediately moves the wave number thrown with the rune sticks once more. All wave lines must be drawn, possibly past the destination harbour.

• If the ship is loaded, it loses part of its cargo in the storm: the player hands over any one loot piece, which is removed from the game, and then continues moving as described above.

Crossroads. Here the Viking again trusts his luck. Whoever reaches such a space must immediately decide in which direction he wants to go on an even and on an odd number.

• Example: The Viking reaches the crossroads at sea west of Paris. He decides for Paris or Madrid and announces: "Paris even – South odd." (If this harbour of Paris is already occupied by two ships, he has only the choice between North and South.)
• He then throws the rune sticks, counts the wave lines (or the points on land), and moves the total in the announced direction, e.g. with 2 waves in the direction of Paris or with 3 waves in the direction of South. In this case the process is repeated.

Fate Lightning Bolts

Along the way a number of dangers lurk, but friendly gods also sometimes help the Viking. Whoever moves on land and throws a lightning bolt with his rune sticks must additionally draw a card from the stack and follow the fate instruction on it. Points from the second rune stick may afterwards only be counted if the Viking is then not on the high seas.

Fate cards come in the following kinds:

• Dragon. The Viking flees in fright to his ship. If he is carrying loot, he first drops it on the spot.
• Odin. Odin helps the Viking. He carries him with his loot through the air directly onto his ship, or into the next city to make loot.
• Various events. These take effect immediately.
• Arrows. Naturally the Vikings are also constantly shot at on the way. Whoever draws an arrow card may hand it to any fellow player (the German idiom is "to set his fur alight"), regardless of whether that player is on the water or on land. The arrow card remains lying open in front of the shot player.
  • Whoever has received three arrows must go home by the quickest route at once, to undergo treatment by the healer Dr. Zook. Making loot and attacks on others are not allowed on this journey home.
  • Whoever comes home with one or two arrows may also be cured by his wife, and the arrows are removed. Arrow cards are shuffled back into the stack after successful treatment.

Uncertainties

Uncertainties are already possible in such adventures. Decisions may be made by the Vikings themselves, or simply, in the old custom, by throwing the rune sticks.

Loot Feast

If a Viking has brought 7 loot pieces home, he may call the Loot Feast. Now the scoring is done and the gifts are presented to the wives.

• Only loot pieces that are at home, or already on the ships, count. Loot that is still being dragged along on land counts for nothing.
• Foreign women must first be matched with the best loot piece, which then logically does not count.
• Loot at home counts its printed card value +1 bonus point.
• Loot on the ship counts only its printed card value.
• Gifts may receive additional sympathy points from the wife. For this, the player throws one rune stick for each gift (dress, jewellery, perfume) and adds the points (0–2) to the card value.

The winner is whoever, after adding up all values and bonus points, could make the most loot.

That was a feast! A warm congratulation to the successful Viking!