Kogge
Kogge Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
Game board: The board depicts the nine most important trading centers on the medieval Baltic Sea (numbered 0 to 8). The center of the map is a storage area for the trading goods.
Each trading center, simply called city or space from now on, has an identical layout: picture of a city, its name, unique number, and trading goods produced (e.g. Reval, No. 3, produces fur (orange) - the colour of the city corresponds to the goods).
Two squares (to which an arrow points). The route markers are placed on the squares to indicate where the players can sail to from this city.
Two sites for one office each.
Route markers: Cardboard counters numbered 0 to 8. They have different uses detailed later. They are distributed unevenly:
- 6 x "8"
- 7 x "7"
- 8 x "6"
- 9 x "5"
- 10 x "4"
- 11 x "3"
- 12 x "2"
- 13 x "1"
- 14 x "0"
(There are some additional markers as reserve for lost pieces - place them aside.)
Trading goods: Wooden pieces for the four different goods in grey (ore, 25 pieces), orange (fur, 18 pieces), white (salt, 10 pieces) and purple (amber, 13 pieces).
For each player (in red, green, blue, yellow) there are:
- one Cog (a medieval merchant vessel)
- four offices (wooden buildings)
- two chits marked "Raub/Raid"
The guild master: The large wooden figure.
Order-of-play chits: Counters numbered 1 to 4 depicting when a player takes her turn.
Bonus markers: under certain circumstances a player gets one bonus marker, which allows him a special bonus ability. There are four different bonus markers, two of each.
Four "Rules overview" sheets.
One "Game ends" marker.
Setting Up the Game
Three goods are placed on each trading center. Each city produces only the type of goods corresponding to the colour of the city.
Example: Space No. 4 (Riga) receives three orange goods (fur).
Each player selects a colour and takes the Cog, the offices and one "Raub/Raid" chit of that colour. The second "Raub/Raid" chit is placed aside for now.
In addition, each player receives:
- nine route markers, one of each value (0 to 8)
- two ore (grey) and one fur (orange) as her starting goods.
The remaining route markers form the reserve and are placed in a cup from which they are drawn at random as follows:
- one marker to indicate the starting space of the guild master (place the guild master and the "Game ends" marker in the city with that number).
- nine markers (valued 0 to 8) are mixed and one is placed on a square in each city. Then repeat the process so that each city has two markers - for the second marker draw at random from all markers.
Both numbers on the markers in a city must be different from the number of the city and from each other. Redraw from all markers if necessary.
The route marker for the guild master is placed back into the reserve. The goods are sorted by colour and placed as reserve in the center of the board.
Start Position
Each player now founds an office. All players choose one of their nine route markers secretly, reveal them simultaneously and place one office in the corresponding trading center. The route markers are placed back in the reserve.
If three or more players choose the same space, all of these players must reconsider - there are at most two offices in any given trading center. Those players take back their markers and, as before, re-choose a different route marker (not the same as before). This sequence is repeated if necessary. In the end, each player now has eight route markers remaining.
Each player now places her Kogge in the city with her office.
Before the game begins, the order of play must be determined. The player whose office and Kogge are in the trading center with the LOWEST number moves first and receives the order-of-play chit numbered 1. The player whose office is in the next lower numbered city receives chit 2 and so on. If two players start in the same city, their sequence is chosen at random.
During the whole game, play never proceeds clockwise, but instead is determined by the turn order chits.
Overview / Object of the Game
The players plan their ships' routes, trade with goods and markers and try to build offices and fulfil demands. All goods a player transports on her Cog are placed in front of her on the table, not on the Cog or on the game board. These goods are used to trade or as payment for actions.
During the game, the players strive to collect development points (DPs). They receive one DP per office and one DP per six trade goods they bring to the guild master.
The first player to reach FIVE DPs wins the game immediately. However, the game also ends when the guild master reaches or overshoots his starting space after completing two "laps" around the game board. If no player has reached five DPs by then, the player with the most victory points (VPs) (not DPs!) wins.
Turn Order
- Auction - the players bid for the turn order.
- Guild master phase
- Main phase
- A) Movement: Players move their Cogs.
- B) Actions: Each player can take different actions to gain DPs, VPs or otherwise influence the flow of the game in their favour.
Phases 1) and 3) are carried out by each player (in order-of-play sequence) before the next phase begins. Phase 2) is executed only by the first player.
1) Supplies and Order of Play
EIGHT route markers are randomly drawn two-by-two from the reserve. These are placed face up in four groups of two beside the map - these are the route markers the players may buy during their turn. Route markers from the last turn are placed back into the reserve.
(The number of route markers does not vary with the number of players.)
Beginning with the first player and continuing as determined by the order-of-play chits, each player selects one or more of their route markers. The route markers are placed face up.
The route markers have two functions: they determine
- which trading centers produce new goods this turn, and
- in which order of play the players move.
When bidding, the following restriction applies: no one may duplicate a bid already made by another player.
Example: A player has bid a single marker worth "5". No other player may bid a single "5" in that phase. However, another player may bid two chits worth "5" and "0" or two chits worth "2" and "3".
A player with no remaining route markers announces it on her turn and does not play a route marker. The same applies to a player who could only duplicate an existing bid with her remaining markers.
Supplies: After all players have played their cards and markers, for each route marker played, the city with the corresponding number receives two new goods from the reserve. Each city produces the goods corresponding to its colour (grey, orange, purple, white). The new goods are placed on the city space.
If more than one marker with the same number was played, the city produces two goods for each marker played: for two markers -> four goods, for three markers -> 6 goods.
To make distribution easier, new goods are placed in numerical order of the route markers played. First, all goods are placed in the city corresponding to the highest numbered marker(s) and down from there.
There is no limit on the number of goods in a city. However, the total number of goods is low by intention. If no goods of that colour remain in the reserve, the city receives nothing.
Offices/Kontore: If new goods are placed in a trading center with one or two offices, one good is placed in each office first. The trading center receives the remaining goods (if any).
Example: During the planning phase, two markers valued "3", three "4" markers and one "6" marker were played. There is one green office in city no. 3 and two offices (one red, one yellow) in 6. Two purple goods (Amber) are placed in space 6, one in each office. Space 4 receives six fur (orange) (if that many remain in the reserve) and 3 receives four fur, one in the green office and the remaining three on the city itself.
If there are two offices in a city, but only one good in the reserve, the goods are placed in the city. Neither of the offices receives anything.
Order of play: The route markers played also determine the new order of play.
The best bid is one consisting only of IDENTICAL markers. Any bid not consisting only of identical markers is beaten by a pair of identical markers which is beaten by three identical markers, etc. For example, a bid of two "0" markers beats a single "8" or a "7" and a "5".
Between bids having the same number of identical markers, the one with the higher value is better than a lower one (two "3"s are better than two "2"s).
Between bids not of identical markers, the one with the highest sum wins. If these are tied, the highest single marker wins. Thus a combination of "3" and "4" is worse than a single "7". A "0" counts as better than no bid at all and a "4" and a "0" is worth more than a solitary "4".
The player with the highest bid becomes the new first player and receives the order-of-play chit numbered "1", the player with the second highest bid the chit numbered "2" etc. Anyone unable to bid route markers moves last.
All route markers played are then placed back in the reserve.
Example: Player A has bid a "7" marker, player B a "3" and a "4", C a "4" and D two "2" markers. Lübeck (city no. 7) receives two salt (white), Riga (4) four fur (orange), Reval (3) two fur (orange) and Abo (2) four ore (grey). The D player's bid has the highest value and she becomes the new first player, followed by A, B and C respectively.
2) Guild Master Phase
This phase is only executed by the (new) first player. She moves the guild master one or two spaces (own choice) clockwise.
Cities containing a "Raub/Raid" marker do not count and are skipped. The guild master does not move along the sea but on land, thus he moves from 1 (Stockholm) to 2 (Abo) to 3 (Reval) etc.
The first player then places two new goods (as produced by the city) in the city the guild master ends his movement in. Goods are always placed on the city itself, not on offices.
If the guild master reaches or passes the space with the "Game ends" marker for the second time, the game ends immediately and the player with the most victory points (VPs) wins.
3) Player Phase
The player phase is divided in two parts: first movement, then actions. Movement always precedes actions. The player first moves his cog, then conducts his action phase, after this the next player moves his cog and then conducts his action phase etc.
3A) Movement Phase
During this phase, the players move their cogs. In this game the ships of the players move as determined by the route markers.
If the markers in a city are "2" and "5", the ship may move to city "2" (Abo) or "5" (Danzig). The distance between the two cities is irrelevant.
The first move is free of charge. Movement does not have to end on that space, however. If the player decides to sail on from that city, she pays one good or one route marker of any type (returned to the reserve) and moves the ship one additional space. From that city, the player can move again if she pays one more goods or one route marker, and so on.
There is no restriction for the number of cities a ship may visit. A ship does not have to move (with the handicap that the player may not trade during the action phase - see 3d).
Hidden route markers: in some situations a route marker is hidden (the number side face down). A player may use this marker for movement instead, but she may NOT look at the marker before moving! The player announces that she wants to use the hidden route marker, turns it up and moves the ship to the new city. The route marker stays face side up.
If she reveals a route marker she can not use (because it leads to the same city or to a city with her own "Raub/Raid" marker), she has to use a different route - the player has to pay normal fees for this move - it counts as an additional movement.
Trading goods and offices: A player can pick up goods in all her offices in cities she moves through at any time during her movement. Even if she simply passes through the city or starts movement in it, she can take the goods. However, it is not allowed to move goods from the Kogge to a player's office.
Movement Example: The red player has his cog in Stralsund (6). On the squares are one "3" and one "7". The player may move to city 3 (Reval) or 7 (Lübeck) or not move at all. He decides to move to 3 (Reval). This first movement is thus free of charge. In Reval is a Red's office with two trade goods. Red takes the two goods onto his Kogge. In Reval are a "4" and a hidden route marker on the squares. As the player has a "Raub/Raid" marker in Riga (4) the player may not take this route and chooses the hidden route marker. The player pays one trade good (each movement but the first costs one trade good or one route marker) and turns the hidden route marker face up. It is a "6", his Kogge must move to Stralsund. This is not the place where he would like to be, so he pays one additional trade good to move to city 7 (Lübeck).
3B) Action Phase
During this phase the players may execute various actions in the city where their Cogs end movement. The order in which these actions are carried out depends on the player; however, each action may be used only once by each player during any given turn. The player's action phase ends immediately after she plays a "RAUB/RAID".
a) Build an office
To build an office in a city, the player must:
- pay one each of the three goods the city does not produce, e.g. in Riga (4), a city producing fur, the player pays one salt, one ore and one amber. The goods are placed back in the reserve, AND
- pay one route marker (back to the reserve) with the same number as the city (in the above example, one route marker with a value of "4"), if there is no office in that city, or two markers of that number if there is already one office in that city (regardless who owns it).
There may never be more than two offices in any city.
As a reminder, each office (including the first) is worth ONE development point (DP).
b) Trading with the guild master
The guild master has one additional function besides determining the end of the game and supplying additional goods: it is possible to trade with him. If the player's Kogge ends its movement in the city with the guild master, the player may perform ONE of the following transactions:
- Exchange three identical route markers (e.g., three markers valued "4") for the second "RAUB/RAID" marker. A player may not receive more than one "RAUB/RAID" marker during the course of the game by this means.
- A player may sell SIX identical trade goods to the guild master (six ore, six fur, six amber or six salt). The player gets one BONUS CHIT for these six trade goods. The trade goods go back to the reserve. Each Bonus chit has one special ability which can be used by the player as often as desired until the end of the game. In addition, each Bonus Chit is worth 1 DP.
- Exchange one good for a route marker of the same colour.
- Exchange one route marker for a good of the same colour.
Goods or markers may be traded at a ratio of 1:1, but the player may choose the route marker from those in the reserve as long as the colour is maintained (e.g., one ore for a route marker with a value of "2" or one amber for a "6"). If the reserve is empty or contains no route markers of the desired number, the goods/markers may not be traded.
c) Buy route markers
The player may buy two route markers in exchange for one trading good of any type which is placed back into the reserve. The player can freely choose which group to buy. There are only four groups available, which are drawn at the start of the turn. A player whose turn is later has fewer groups available. A player must buy a pair - she may not buy a single marker each from different groups.
d) Trade goods
Important -> a cog may only trade if it has moved this turn and is lying in a different city than at the start of the movement!
The player may trade goods present in the trading center (not in the offices) for DIFFERENT goods on board her Kogge (e.g., it is illegal to trade ore for ore). The trade ratio is 1:2, i.e. for each good the player offers, she receives two; for two goods, she receives four, etc.
The goods the player receives are placed in front of the player (on her cog); the goods paid are placed on the trading center (not in an office).
Attention: This is the only case in which goods from the cog are placed on the trading center. In all other actions, goods paid are placed back in the reserve.
A player may choose to trade at a ratio of 1:1 (e.g. if there is only one good remaining in that city).
There is only one trading phase. The player may not re-trade goods she just received for other goods.
Example: There are six ore (grey) and two salt (white) in Reval (3). The green player's Kogge now reaches Reval with four salt, two fur (orange) and one amber (purple). The player may for example trade:
- two fur and one salt -> for six ore
- two fur -> for three ore and one salt
- one amber -> for one ore and one salt
- one amber and one salt -> for four ore
The player may not trade one salt for two salt.
The player decides to trade two salt for four ore. She now has two salt, four ore, two fur and one amber aboard her cog. Two ore and four salt remain in Reval.
e) Change trade routes
The trade routes are variable. A player may exchange one of the route markers (on the squares) with any one of his markers in the city where her cog is. The marker exchanged is placed back in the personal reserve of that player!
The new marker is placed hidden (numbered side down). For all other players, the route is new and surprising. AFTER its use a route marker is turned face up.
Only face up route markers may be exchanged. (That ensures that if a player exchanges a route, she gets one chance to move along the route before it can be changed again.)
The rule that no route marker with the same number as the city may be placed on the flags still holds. However, it is legal for both routes to lead to the same city.
Example: The yellow player's cog is situated in Reval (3). The route markers lead to Lübeck (7) and Riga (4). The yellow player doesn't like this at all. She places a marker from her reserve with a value of "5" numbered side down on the square and the marker valued "7" back into her reserve. The new route now leads to Danzig (5). The route to Riga (4) is unaffected.
f) Raid
A player can use her "Raub/Raid" marker to perform a raid. Afterwards the "Raub/Raid" marker remains on the board and the player suffers disadvantages from now on.
A raiding player can choose one of the following opportunities:
- She can rob the cog of one (not more than one) other player if that ship is in the same city. In this case, the raiding player receives half of the other player's goods. The owner of the goods divides them into two groups with roughly the same amount of goods, the thief chooses one of the groups, the other player keeps the other group.
- She can rob the trading center itself and receive ALL of the goods there, including goods in offices.
Disadvantages:
The robber may NEVER enter that trading center again, not even when travelling through. In addition, her cog is immediately moved one space (along the possible routes) as chosen by the other players (if the other players can not agree on a space, the player to the robber's left decides).
In addition, the robber's turn ends immediately.
If a cog, for any reason, would enter a trading center containing a "Raub/Raid" marker of the player's colour, the ship ends its movement in the preceding space.
As a reminder: The guild master skips all cities containing "Raub/Raid" markers.
Trading Among Players
Players may trade with each other at ANY time - as long as their ships are in the same city. They may trade goods and route markers according to any mutually acceptable terms. Players may also pay other players to perform (or omit) certain actions, e.g. moving the guild master two spaces instead of one or not changing a particular trade route.
Bonus chips, goods that still remain in offices, or offices themselves may not be traded in any way.
Players are required to honour promises for future actions if possible.
End of Game / Winning
The game can end in one of two possible ways: whenever a player fulfils the victory conditions, the game ends immediately (other players may not finish their turns) and that player wins, or when the guild master reaches or passes his starting space for the second time.
The main victory condition is to obtain FIVE development points. Each office (including the first) and each Bonus chit (that's 6 trade goods brought to the guild master) is worth ONE DP. Whenever a player has FIVE DPs during her turn, the game ends and she wins immediately.
There are only four offices per player. It is possible, however, for a player who has no Bonus Chit to build a fifth. This ends the game and the player wins.
The game also ends when the guild master has completed two "laps" around the board. When the guild master reaches or passes his starting space for the second time, the game ends immediately and the player with the most victory points (VPs) wins.
Players earn VPs as follows (only if no player reaches five DPs):
- Each office: 10 VP
- Each Bonus Chit: 20 VP
- Each unused "Raub/Raid" marker: 10 VP
Goods on the cogs or in the offices:
- Salt (white): 7 VP each
- Amber (purple): 5 VP each
- Fur (orange): 3 VP each
- Ore (grey): 1 VP each
If two players reach the same number of VPs, they tie for victory.
The Bonus Chits
There are 4 different bonus chits. A player selling the guild master SIX identical trade goods receives one bonus chit of his choice. Each bonus chit has a special ability. Each Bonus chit also counts as one Development Point or as 20 Victory Points.
- 3:1 tauschen (3:1 trading): the player may, during the trading action with the city (Phase 3d), exchange for 1 good to get 3, or 2 to get 6, etc. All other rules are valid.
- +1 Wegemarker (one additional route marker): the player gets, at the start of the turn (before the auction), one additional route marker drawn randomly from the reserve.
- 2 Felder gehen (move two spaces): the Kogge of the player does not have to pay any charge for the second movement of his cog. The third (and fourth etc.) movement costs one route marker or one trade good.
- Geheimweg (secret passage): the player has, in any city, an additional movement possibility - thus a secret third route marker. This route leads always to the city containing the guild master. If the player uses this route he pays ONE ADDITIONAL trade good or route marker. If it is the second or third movement of his Kogge in this turn she pays two trade goods or route markers.
The Advanced Game
The advanced game adds additional rules which change aspects of the game. As the name implies, they don't make the game easier. Players can agree beforehand to include some or all of the advanced rules.
A. Taxes
In this advanced rule, the guild master gains the additional function of levying taxes. After the guild master's movement he collects taxes on the city he ends his movement on:
- each player whose Kogge is in that trading center pays one good (player's choice) in taxes. Cogs which move through or enter the city later in the game turn are unaffected.
- all goods in the city which were not produced there (i.e., which are not of the same colour as the city) are confiscated, place them back into the reserve.
B. Trading with Offices
The players may trade with another player's office - if the Kogge is in the same city and the other player agrees to trade. Players may in this case only exchange trade goods from and to this office and route markers. The trade goods are placed in the office, the route markers in the personal reserve of the player.
Two offices may not trade with each other.
C. Conflicts
Conflicts are simply trade by other means. If this rule is used, all players must keep their goods and their route markers secret. (Of course, they may keep them secret even if this rule isn't used.)
After a player ends her main phase, a conflict can occur: in a trading center with two or more ships, the active player can initiate a conflict after the normal Action Phase.
Both sides secretly choose route markers (as if bidding for order of play) and exchange them. The player with the more valuable bid wins and can demand three goods of any type(s) from the loser. If the loser does not have some or all of these goods, the victor does not receive them and may not demand other goods. If both players select the same bid, neither player wins.
The value of a bid is determined as usual: the highest sum wins, pairs are higher than singles, triplets are higher than pairs, etc.
The route markers exchanged are kept by the respective players, not discarded. The other players therefore do not know which markers were played (only who won the conflict).
The victor may also move the loser one space (along the allowed trade routes).
Example: The yellow player's Kogge is in Stralsund with four goods. The blue player's Kogge arrives with seven goods and trades one good for two amber. The yellow player doesn't like that at all, but both players cannot agree on a peaceful sharing of the spoils. The blue player (as active player) declines to start a conflict, but the yellow player decides to begin one. The blue player chooses two route markers, one "8" and one "4". The yellow player bids a pair of "5"s. The yellow player wins and demands two amber and one ore from the loser. The blue player (obviously) has two amber, but no ore; therefore the yellow player receives only two amber. Both players keep the route markers their opponents played. Afterwards, the yellow player moves the blue Kogge one additional space along the trading routes.
D. Memory
In the variant ALL route markers are hidden. At the start of the game all route markers are placed face side down (in this case it is legal for route markers going to the same city to be in the same place).
As in the normal game each player chooses a start city - in this city the player may look at the two hidden route markers. In addition she may exchange ONE route marker with her own route marker (as in 3e).
Each player receives 2 ore and 2 fur as starting capital.
During movement, a player shows a route marker, turns it hidden side up so that all players can see it, moves the Kogge and turns the route marker face side down. At the end of the movement all route markers are always hidden.
Rule 3e is changed: a player may exchange hidden route markers too - even those just exchanged by another player.
A player may pay one route marker or one trade good to look secretly at the two route markers of a city his Kogge is in. This may be done before movement.
Credits
(c) Andreas Steding / MoD Games 2003
Rules revised by Ferdinand Köther. English translation by Michael Duisi Duismann. Second reading: Rick Heli.
The ship models with kind permission of Schmidt Spiele GmbH, Postfach 470437, D-12313 Berlin.