Longships
Longships Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
0. Preparations
Sort the 52 God Cards into four piles, one for each of the four gods. Place 8 mushrooms each on Norway and Denmark, 8 cloths each on Denmark and England, 8 thralls each on England and Scotland, and 8 furs each on Scotland and Norway. Place the chess piece at the center square of the game board. Each player chooses a viking and takes the markers associated with that viking. Throw the dice to determine the starting player. The game turn is passed on clockwise.
1. The first turn
Choose a country to start plundering, place a ship there and move 4 goods from that country to your ship. (If a country has less than 4 goods left, then it's wise to not start there.)
NOTE: In a 2-player game, both players may not start in the same country.
After everyone has chosen their starting country and goods, each player puts one of his Plunder Markers on the country he just plundered. Then the starting player continues with the next turn, which, like every subsequent turn, looks like section 2 below.
2. The game turn
Each turn has 7 phases:
- Repair
- Move wind
- Travel
- Battle
- Plunder
- Sacrifice
- Remove alarm
You may also Trade between each phase, and use God Cards at certain times, as explained in that section.
The four corner squares on the board are countries.
A hostile country is a country in which you have a Hostility Marker.
A friendly country is one in which you do not have a Hostility Marker.
2.1 Repair
Remove any damage markers from all of your ships that are currently located in friendly countries.
2.2 Move Wind
Move the Wind Piece one step vertically or horizontally (but not diagonally).
2.2.1 You don't have to move the wind if you don't want to.
2.2.2 The Wind Piece can be moved to areas with arrows on them.
2.2.2.1 From the most peripheral outer wind areas, it can also be moved further out, outside the game board.
2.2.2.1.1 While outside the game board, the wind keeps the properties of the last game board area it stood on.
2.2.2.1.2 Until the Wind is back at the board, it can only be moved in two directions: further out or back towards the game board. (Use objects to track how far off-board the wind is.)
2.3 Travel
You may move each of your ships once.
2.3.1 If the square on which the Wind is located has one arrow pointing in a certain direction, then all your ships may move one step in that direction. If the Wind square has two arrows pointing in a certain direction, then all your ships can move two steps in that direction.
Example (Possible ship movements): With the Wind located one step to the northwest of the centre square, all Bluetooth's ships may move 2 steps to the northwest, or 1 step to the southwest, west, north or northeast. Ships A and B are limited by the edges of the North Sea.
2.3.2 It is allowed to not move ships if you don't want to, and to move only one step even if you're allowed to move two.
2.3.4 A damaged ship can never move more than one step.
2.3.5 Ship movement is limited to the 5x5 squares in the middle of the board.
2.3.6 Storm
If the Wind piece is on a square with grey/white arrows, then that means storm. In case of storm, all your ships that are not in a country square at the end of your Travel phase receive damage.
Example (Storm): Bluetooth is caught in a storm. Ship A can stay safely in England, while ship C can move into Denmark (it doesn't matter that they are hostile to him). Ship B, however, is caught on the open sea and receives damage.
2.3.6.1 If an already damaged ship gets further damage, it is sunk and is returned, with all its goods, to the supply.
2.3.6.2 A damaged ship can only carry 4 goods; throw excess goods into the sea.
2.4 Battle
Each of your ships may initiate one battle per turn. The opponent must be a player with ships in the same square.
2.4.1 If the defender has several ships in the square, then he chooses which of his ships that is defending.
Example: Greycloak attacks Hardrada with ship A. Hardrada defends with ship D. Greycloak plays 2 Battle Cards, Hardrada plays 1. Dice roll = 4. +2 for the attacker's Battle cards, -1 for the defender's Battle card. Net result = 5: Ship D takes damage.
2.4.1.1 There is no limit as to how many times one ship can defend.
2.4.2 First, the attacker and defender may play any number of Battle Cards they might have on hand.
2.4.2.1 You cannot cancel using a Battle card that you have played.
2.4.3 When neither player wants to play more Battle Cards, roll the dice:
- Add 1 for each Battle Card played by the attacker.
- Subtract 1 for each Battle Card played by the defender.
- Subtract 1 if the attacking ship is damaged.
- Add 1 if the defending ship is damaged.
0 or less means that the attacking ship is sunk.
1 or 2 means that the attacking ship gets damage.
3 means that none of the ships get damage.
4 means that both ships get damage.
5 or 6 means that the defending ship gets damage.
7 means that the defending ship gets sunk.
Example: Greycloak attacks Hardrada with ship B. Hardrada defends with ship D. Greycloak plays no Battle Cards, Hardrada plays 2. Dice roll = 1. -2 for the defender's Battle cards, +1 for the defending ship's damage. Net result = 0: Ship B is sunk. When a ship is sunk, its crew goes to Valhalla where they drink mead until Ragnarok.
2.4.4 If an already damaged ship gets damage, it is sunk.
2.4.5 Stealing goods and Cards
If both ships are sunk: Remove both ships and any goods they carried.
If one ship is sunk: Remove the ship and transfer its goods to the opponent ship. The victorious player also gets to draw one God Card from the hand of the loser.
If only one ship took damage, but survived: The victorious player gets to take half of the goods from the damaged ship (rounded down). The stolen goods (not the remaining goods) must be as evenly distributed over the 4 kinds as possible. The victorious player also gets to draw a God Card from the hand of the loser.
If both ships were damaged but none sunk: No goods or God Cards change owners.
If no ship was damaged: No goods or God Cards change owners.
Example: After the first battle, the victorious ship A has to take one mushroom and one fur from the damaged ship D; Greycloak also takes one Tyr Card from Hardrada. After the second battle, the victorious ship D takes all goods from the sunk ship B. Hardrada also takes one Freya Card from Greycloak.
2.4.6 Cargo limit
Once all Battles have been resolved, count the goods on all ships that battled. An undamaged ship may hold 8 goods, while a damaged ship can only hold 4. If the limit is exceeded for a ship, then the owner must choose goods to discard until the limit is met. It's allowed to move excess goods to other ships you own in the same square, but you cannot trade this goods to other players or sacrifice it to the gods.
Example: Finally, Hardrada has to throw one good away since his damaged ships are too full.
2.4.7 Diplomatic consequences
If you attack within a country's sea border, and the viking you attack has a friendly relation to that country, then you get a Hostility Marker in that country (unless you already have one).
If you have a hostility marker on a country then:
- Everyone can still trade goods or plunder there (including you).
- You cannot build or repair ships there.
Example: If the attack took place in Danish waters, and Hardrada was friends with Denmark, then Greycloak gets a Hostility marker in Denmark.
2.4.8 Scorched earth
The attacker, but not the defender, may throw goods into the sea before the Battle, to not risk the other player capturing them.
2.5 Plunder
You may plunder any country in which you have ships, and which doesn't have a Plunder Marker on it.
If you have a plunder marker on a country then:
- No one can trade goods or plunder there.
- You cannot build or repair ships there.
Note: When a country has a Plunder Marker on it, it is alarmed. The economy is in shock, and the population in arms. Valuables are hidden away, and it's not possible to trade with or plunder the country. The country will still repair and build longships for friendly vikings – providing allied fleets with materials, provisions and axehands is the country's way of defending itself. As soon as all ships belonging to the plundering viking are gone, things return to normal and the country is plunderable again, as it's not rich enough and organised enough to maintain standing army.
2.5.1 Viking defenders
When you attempt to plunder a country, all ships in that country may attack you.
2.5.1.1 The player on your left gets to attack first, and then the opportunity is passed on clockwise until all players has had the chance. A player may not attack again after passing on the opportunity.
2.5.1.2 Attacking a plundering viking does not have the diplomatic consequences of rule 2.4.7.
2.5.1.3 Each Ship may make one attack each, and the Battle is carried out like normal, see section 2.4.
2.5.1.4 After each Battle, the plunderer may choose to abort plundering, in which case the other vikings cannot attack him anymore (until it's their turn). The plunderer gets no goods, but has to place a Hostility marker on the country (unless he already has one there).
2.5.1.5 After all Battles are resolved, check for excess cargo (See rule 2.4.6).
Example: Attempting to plunder Norway, the Black is attacked by Hardrada, after which he aborts the plunder to not risk being sunk by Greycloak's ship. Scotland is undefended. The Black throws one dice for each of his two ships. He gets 4 + 2 = 6, but cannot take more than half one kind, thus 2 thralls and 3 furs.
2.5.2 Looting
If you still have ships in the country after all the other players' ships has had the chance to attack you, then you get to loot:
2.5.2.1 First play any number of Battle cards. Then throw one dice for each ship you have in the country. Subtract 2 from the total for each ship that is damaged and add 2 for each Battle card played. Move the resulting number of goods to your ships.
2.5.2.2 You cannot take more than half of all goods of one kind.
Example: Harald the Black places one Hostility marker in Norway for the failed Plunder attempt, and flips the Hostility marker in Scotland over to the Plunder side.
2.5.2.3 Place a Plunder Marker in the country you looted. If you already have a Hostility marker there, flip it around to the Plunder side. (A plunder marker is replaced by a hostility marker when there is no more ships left of that viking in that country at the end of that viking's turn. (See 2.7).)
2.5.2.4 Goods in excess of 8 per ship (4 per damaged ship) have to be given back to the country or thrown in the sea - not traded or sacrificed.
2.6 Sacrifice
To sacrifice, remove a good from one of your ships and draw a card from the corresponding pile. Sacrificing a mushroom gets you a Tyr Card, sacrificing a thrall gets you an Odin Card, sacrificing a cloth gets you a Freya Card and sacrificing a fur gets you a Thor Card.
2.6.1 You may sacrifice as many goods as you want.
2.6.2 Battle Cards (6 in the Tyr pile, 2 each in the other piles.) As explained in sections 2.4 and 2.5, these can be used to increase your strength when Battling other vikings or Plundering countries.
2.6.3 Repair Cards (6 in the Odin pile, 2 each in the other piles.) You can use these at any time during your subsequent turns to instantly repair a ship, not on other players' turns. (You cannot use a Repair Card to save a ship that has sunk.)
2.6.4 Growth Cards (6 in the Freya pile, 2 each in the other piles.) You can use these at any time during your subsequent turns to increase the stock of goods in a country of your choice. The country gets 2 cubes extra each of the two kinds it produces.
2.6.5 Wind Cards (6 in the Thor pile, 2 each in the other piles.) You can use these at any time during your subsequent turns to move the Wind an extra step (according to the normal rules for moving the Wind). You can move the Wind between moving two of your ships. Each ship moves once per turn, no matter what.
Example: move Ship #1 two steps southwest, use wind card to move wind back to center square, then move Ship #2 one step to the northeast.
2.6.6 When a God Card has been played, put it on a discard pile. When a pile of God Cards is depleted, shuffle the discarded cards of that god.
2.6.6.1 If all cards of one god are held by players, then you can sacrifice 2 goods of one kind and draw a card of the corresponding god from the hand of the player holding the most cards of that god (in case of tie, you choose which player).
2.6.6.1.1 You cannot draw God Cards from other players through sacrifice if you are one of the players holding the most cards of the god in question.
2.6.7 Christianity Cards (1 in each pile.) If you draw a Christianity Card, put it aside and draw a new God Card. The Christianity Cards are not shuffled back into their decks, but kept face open next to the gameboard to remind you that the fun is soon over. When the fourth Christianity Card appears, the player who drew it gets another God Card as replacement, after which the game ends immediately, see rule 4 for determining the winner.
2.6.8 No instant help: God cards acquired by sacrifice can never be used in the same turn they were bought. (God Cards won in Battle can.)
2.7 Remove alarm
The last thing you do in your turn is to check if you have any Plunder Markers on countries where you have no ships present anymore. In such cases, flip those markers over to the Hostility side.
2.7.1 Amnesty
As soon as a country gets its 2nd (if 2 players), 3rd (if 3 or 4 players) or 4th (if 5 or 6 players) Hostility Marker, remove the Hostility Marker of the weakest of the vikings that already had a Hostility Marker there. Only ONE viking gets an Amnesty.
2.7.1.1 The weakest viking is the one with the fewest ships. If tied, the fewest undamaged ships. If still tied, the fewest goods + God Cards. If still tied, the fewest goods. If still tied, most Hostility Markers on the board. If still tied, throw a dice.
Note: Should a country discriminate against all vikings, it would have no protection. Thus, in cases where all or most vikings have offended a country, it needs to pardon some past sins. In reality, it'd favour vikings who have defended them actively, or whose crimes are minor or committed long time ago. For reasons of rules simplicity and game balance, the countries in Longships pardon the weakest viking.
2.8 Trade
Between any two phases, you can trade as much as you want. There are three kinds of trade:
2.8.1 Trade between your own: If you have several ships sharing the same square, then you can freely move goods between them.
2.8.2 Trade with other vikings: Your ships can also trade with other vikings' ships in the same square. You can exchange goods in any way you want, as long as both players agree. You can only trade goods and promises; God Cards and ships cannot be traded with.
2.8.2.1 Goods doesn't have to go both ways; you can simply give away goods as bribes or demand goods from players to not attack them. It's up to every player to honor any agreements; there are no rules against lying and deceiving.
2.8.2.2 The player whose turn it is must be a part of every trade; two players may not trade with each other during a third player's turn.
Note (Haggling): Some players won't take a no for a no but keep negotiating forever. If you have such players in your group, it is recommended to disallow rule 2.8.2.
Note (Kingmaking): It is not allowed to abuse rule 2.8.2 to help another player win to punish a third player. Players guilty of such conduct are banned from playing Mondainai Strategy Games for the next 12 months. If you don't want to play anymore, leave your ships where they are for anyone to sink, grab your PlayStation Portable and let the others enjoy the game.
2.8.3 Trade with countries: When you have a ship in a country that doesn't have a Plunder Marker, that ship may trade with that country.
2.8.3.1 Supply and demand: Count the country's stock of the good you want to buy from them, here called "A". Subtract the country's stock of the good you want to sell to them, here called "B".
- If the difference is at least 4, then you get 2 "A" for giving them 1 "B".
- If the difference is 2 or 3, then you get 1 "A" for 1 "B".
- If the difference is 1 or less, then the country is not interested in selling "A" for "B".
2.8.3.1.1 If you want two goods that both have a 4+ difference to the good you offer, then you can buy one of each.
2.8.3.2 It is allowed to give away goods for free to a country.
2.8.3.3 Shipbuilding: If one of your ships is carrying one good of each kind and is situated in a friendly country, then you can remove these four goods and replace them with a new longship in your colors. Place a Damage Marker on the new longship.
Note: The Damage marker represents the fact that it takes one turn for your new-built ship and its crew to achieve full strength and capacity.
The damage marker gets removed in the repair phase of your next turn (provided the country is still friendly towards you). If the new ship gets attacked, it will sink if it gets damaged!
2.8.3.3.1 A new-built ship cannot be moved anywhere until next turn.
2.8.3.3.2 The Seventh Ship: You win the game the very second you own 7 longships.
2.8.3.4 Plundered countries: Countries with a Plunder Marker on them will not trade goods with anyone.
2.8.3.5 Country growth: Each country has two consumption goods and two production goods. As soon as a country has 1 of each consumption good, these are immediately consumed and replaced with 3 of each production good.
2.8.3.5.1 Country growth when cubes run out: Goods are still consumed even if there are not cubes enough in the supply for all the production goods.
2.8.3.5.2 If stock of one of the goods runs out, no more production/growth is possible until some cubes in the right colour are returned to the stock.
2.8.3.6 Cargo limit: Cargo limit is checked at the end of each phase before moving on to the next phase in your turn (or to the next player). Check that you don't have more than 8 goods per ship (4 per damaged). If you trade just before the Sacrifice phase, then you can sacrifice excess goods.
3. Dying
3.1 Dead viking's turn
If you at the beginning of your turn have no ships at all, then you are dead. Discard all your God Cards, and remove all your Hostility/Plunder markers from the board. If you were considering going to get some pizza for everyone, then now might be a good time. But if you were considering conquering the North Sea through trade and plunder, then spawn on the game board as a carbon copy of the weakest player (see 2.7.1.1 for definition of weakest player).
Get the same number of damaged/undamaged ships as the weakest player, place them in the same spots, get the same goods on the ships, and get the same Plunder/Hostility Markers on the same countries. Draw the same number of cards of the same gods (to the extent there are God Cards left).
3.1.1 After getting everything the weakest player has, your turn is over.
Example: It's Fairhair's turn. He's got nothing but Hostility Markers on the gameboard. He removes those and spawns as a clone of Hardrada (who, with 2 ships compared to Bluetooth's 3, is the weakest player). He gets the same number of the same God Cards as Hardrada has (the effects of the cards might be different of course). Note that Hardrada loses his Hostility marker in Norway since a country only can have 2 Hostility markers in a 3-player game. Fairhair passes on the turn, without moving the wind, trading, sacrificing or anything else he'd normally do.
3.1.2 Check and resolve if any country now has too many Hostility Markers (see rule 2.7.1).
Note: Note that the spawned player trade-wise becomes a competitor to the weakest player, having the same goods in the same places. Diplomatically, however, the two weakest players now become sort of allies, being friends and enemies with the same countries.
3.1.3 If there was only one player alive, then you don't spawn, but the remaining player wins the game. (Which means that there is no spawning in a 2-player game.)
4. Winning
A player has won if he is the only one alive (rule 3.1.3), or if he owns 7 longships (rule 2.8.3.3.2).
If 4 Christian crosses are drawn before any of that happens, then the winner is the player with the most points:
- Each player gets 2 points for each country in which they have a majority of ships; 1 point for tied or second majority.
- 3 points for majority in each kind of God Card; 2 points for tied or second majority.
- For each color of cubes: 1 point for having 1 cube in that color, 3 points for having 2 cubes, 6 points for 3 cubes, 10 points for 4 cubes, and any extra cubes in that color: +5 points. For each color in which you have no cubes: -10 points.
- Each Hostility Marker gives minus 1 point plus an additional minus point for each other player with a Hostility Marker in that country. (Example: 3 vikings have Hostility Markers in Denmark. Each of them gets 3 minus points.)
- The viking who has visited the most sea squares during the game gets the Explorer Bonus +10 points (+3 each in case of tie).
- The viking who has sunk the highest number of enemy ships gets the Dragon Bonus +13 points (+4 each in case of tie).
- The viking who has played the most Wind Cards gets the Storm Bonus +7 points (+2 each in case of tie).
Hehe, just kidding. The winner of Longships is the player with the most Longships. In case of tie, count the number of undamaged Longships. If there is still a tie, count the number of goods+cards. If there is still a tie, count the number of goods. If there is still a tie, count the number of Hostility/Plunder Markers (lowest wins). If there is still a tie, settle it with a game of Rövkrok.
5. Optional Rules
5.1 Kings of the North Sea
5.1.1 Don't use the Plunder and Hostility Markers. It is always possible to plunder and trade with a country, and countries will always repair and build ships for all vikings.
5.1.2 When plundering a city, take 1 good only. This number cannot be modified with Battle Cards.
5.1.3 Instead of building a ship, you can make it a fort. A fort is marked by a ship marker which is put inside the walls of the country where it's built, but outside the country square. A fort functions exactly like a longship, with two exceptions: it cannot move, and it has a +1 bonus in Battles.
5.1.4 Dead players are respawned with the same ships, forts and goods as the weakest player, but in the opposite locations (example: if the weakest player has a damaged ship one square south of Norway, then the respawned player gets a damaged ship one square north of England).
5.2 Traders of the North Sea
5.2.1 Remove the Plunder and Hostility Markers. It is always possible to plunder and trade with a country, and countries will always repair and build ships for all vikings.
5.2.2 The only way to plunder a country is to use a Battle Card. One Battle Card gives you one of the country's goods, whichever you want, regardless of how many they have of each kind.
5.2.3 Players may not battle each other under any circumstances. (You can still hurt other players indirectly by whipping up storms at the right time.)
5.2.4 Dead players are respawned with the same ships, forts and goods as the weakest player, but in the opposite locations (example: if the weakest player has a damaged ship one square south of Norway, then the respawned player gets a damaged ship one square north of England).