Nomads of Arabia: The Wandering Herds Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Gameboard
• Game Setup
• Restocking
  • Land Restock
  • Animal Restock
  • Random Restock
  • Stock Spaces
• Playing the Game
• Player Turns
  • Move Your Nomad
  • Getting New Handlers
  • Traveling with the Pilgrim
  • Capturing Animals
  • Calling Animals
  • Shifting the Desert by Choice
  • Selling Animals
• The Desert Shifts
  • New Board Strip: Placing City Disks
• Special City Disks
• Final City Disks
• Lost in the Desert
• End of the Game

Contents

• 16 Handler dice: 4 Donkey (marked with gold donkey spots), 4 Goat, 4 Horse, 4 Camel
• 2 Animal dice
• 1 Land die (white)
• 80 Animals: 20 Donkeys (brown), 20 Horses (black), 20 Camels (orange), 20 Goats (white)
• 6 Nomads
• 4 cover cards (2-sided, for 3 or 4 player games)
• 6 reference cards
• Money: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 Dinars
• 8 City Board Strips (blue back), each with one City space
• 8 Desert Board Strips (yellow back), with no City space; half-mountain spaces on the edges
• 8 Special City Disks (yellow back)
• 5 Final City Disks (blue back)
• 1 Rule book

Note: the color of the Donkey spots on the Donkey Handler dice and Animal dice is gold, even though the Donkey pieces are brown. This was done to make it easier to distinguish Donkeys from Horses when the dice are rolled.

Gameboard

• Land Boxes: Animals go here, available to be captured.
• Pilgrim Space: You may need to travel with the Pilgrim. Place Handler dice here or beside the board.
• Special City Disks go here, face-down.
• Final City Disks go here, face-down.
• Stock Spaces for Goats and Donkeys, and Stock Spaces for Horses and Camels.
• Board Strips go here. Alternate between City and Desert Strips. This is where the Nomads move.
• Place the restock dice (Animal dice and Land die) here or beside the board.

Before the first game, punch out the Board Strips and City Disks.

Game Setup

Set the game board in the middle of the table. The playing area will be made of five board strips set horizontally (tops to bottoms) in the space provided on the game board. To create this, separate the board strips into two piles: city board strips (yellow backed) and desert board strips (blue backed). Shuffle each pile face down. Lay out the playing board as follows: Place a desert board strip face up, followed by a city board strip, a desert board strip, a city board strip, and a desert board strip (see Example 1). Place the remaining city and desert board strips in two separate face-down piles beside the board.

Example 1: The board is made of five Board Strips, alternating between City and Desert Strips.

Separate the city disks into yellow and blue. Shuffle the yellow city disks face down. Place 4 yellow city disks face down on the spaces provided on the board, and one face down on the city space closest to the Pilgrim. Put the rest in the box, out of the game, without looking at them. Shuffle the 5 blue city disks face down. Place the blue disks (still face down) on the five spaces provided for them on the board. Note that no city disks will start the game on the city farthest from the Pilgrim.

For a shorter game, you may use fewer than five yellow city disks. Alternately, you may set aside the blue city disk that says "Mecca" and shuffle the remaining four face down. Put two of these back in the box, out of the game. Then shuffle "Mecca" face down with the remaining two blue disks, and place these three disks face down on three of the blue spaces on the board.

Roll the white Land die. Place one of each animal (Camel, Goat, Donkey, Horse) in the Land box that matches the color you rolled. Reroll if you rolled yellow (see Example 2).

Example 2: The Land die rolled green, so you place a camel, donkey, horse, and goat on the green (grasslands) Land Box.

Place a specified number of Handler dice (yellow dice with animal colors) into an Available Handler Pile on the board next to the Pilgrim space, with the number depending on the number of players:

• 3 player game: 2 of each animal.
• 4 player game: 3 of each animal.
• 5 - 6 player game: 4 of each animal.

Put the unused Handler dice back in the box. They are not available for this game.

Set up the stock spaces as follows: Fill the stock spaces by placing one animal of the correct type on each stock space. The leftmost column will not be used in a four player game, and the two leftmost columns aren't used in a three player game. Place the Cover cards over these spaces to remind you (see Example 3).

Example 3: Using Cover cards in a 4 player game.

Put any remaining animals back in the box: they won't be used for this game. Next, fill the four empty Land Boxes from stock by doing four Land Restocks, followed by two Random Restocks. (See "Restocking" below.)

Each player takes a Nomad and places it on the city farthest from the Pilgrim, and takes a matching colored reference card and ten Dinars from the bank. Choose a first player. (See Example 5 for finished setup.)

Example 5: The board set up and ready to play a 4 player game.

Restocking

As a result of capturing or selling animals, you may need to restock the lands before the next player takes his turn. If you do a Land Restock or an Animal Restock, then you must also do a Random Restock and shift the desert. When setting up the game, you will do four Land Restocks and two Random Restocks, but you will not shift the desert.

Land Restock

If a Land Box has no animals, then you must do a Land Restock. Roll the two animal dice. If two different animals are rolled, place two of each animal rolled from the stock spaces into the empty Land Box (see Example 4A). If you rolled one animal and one blank, or two of the same animal, take four of that type of animal from stock and put them on the Land Box (see Example 4B). If you rolled two blanks, put one of each type of animal in the Land Box (see Example 4C). When taking animals from stock, always take from the highest numbered stock spaces first. Always place animals in the Land Boxes. Animals never go on the playing board strips.

Example 4: Selecting animals for a Land Restock. (A: two different animals rolled; B: one animal and a blank, or two of the same animal; C: two blanks.)

If an animal runs out of stock, place as many as you can. If the Land Box is still empty (due to one or more animals being out of stock), keep doing Land Restocks until the Box isn't empty. (See Example 6.)

Example 6: A Land Restock. Black and orange were rolled, so the empty (red) Land Box gets two horses (black) and two camels (orange).

Animal Restock

If one type of animal is not in any of the Land Boxes then you must do an Animal Restock. However, if there are none of that animal in stock (on stock spaces), then the Restock must wait until someone sells one or more of that animal back into stock. To do an Animal Restock, take four of that animal (or as many as there are, if fewer than four are available) from stock. Always take from the highest numbered stock spaces first. Roll the white Land die and place two of the animals you took from stock on the Land Box matching the color you rolled. If you rolled a yellow dot, put them on the Land box that has the fewest animals. If there is a tie, you choose. Then roll again for the second pair of animals. (See Example 7.)

Example 7: An Animal Restock. There are no donkeys (brown) in any of the five Land Boxes, so the Land die is rolled twice. Red is rolled first, so two donkeys go in the red Land Box. Then yellow is rolled. The purple Land Box has the fewest animals, so the other two donkeys are placed in the purple Land Box.

Random Restock

If you did ANY Restocking at the end of your turn, then you must also do one Random Restock, and shift the desert once. No matter how many Restocks you did, you still only do one Random Restock and only shift the desert once. (Note that during game setup, you will do four Land Restocks and two Random Restocks, and not shift the desert at all.) To do a Random Restock, roll both animal dice and the land die. Take four animals from stock (as described above in "Land Restock") and place them in the land rolled. If you rolled a yellow dot on the land die, put them on the space that has the fewest animals. If there is a tie, you choose (see Example 8). (When setting up at the beginning of the game, if yellow is rolled on the land die, then reroll the land die.)

Example 8: A Random Restock. Two blanks were rolled on the animal dice, so one of each animal is taken from stock. On the land die, green was rolled. So these four animals go on the green Land Box.

Stock Spaces

When taking animals from stock, you must always take animals from the highest numbered spaces first. When placing animals back into stock, you must place them so that they cover up the lowest numbers first. This will ensure that the highest numbers are showing and the lowest numbers are covered. The value of the animals when they are sold depends on this.

Playing the Game

Choose a first player. Play progresses clockwise. On a turn, you will move your Nomad (or not), use Handlers to capture or call wild animals, shift the desert, or sell your animals in the cities. Nomads must keep moving to avoid being lost in the desert, and the Pilgrim travels constantly toward Mecca. When the players reach Mecca, the Nomad who makes the most generous offering (the richest player) wins the game.

Player Turns

On your turn you may move one or two spaces. Then, if you are on a Land space, you may use your Handlers to try to capture or call wild animals. If you are in a desert space, you may shift the desert. If you are on a city space, you may sell animals at the market. You get new Handlers from those available as you leave a city.

Move Your Nomad

At the beginning of your turn, you may move your Nomad one or two spaces. You do not have to move. You may not move into the mountain spaces (black) or off of the board. When you move two spaces in one turn, you use up supplies, which costs money. You pay nothing if you have no animals and only two Handlers. If you are bringing animals, you must pay 1 Dinar for each animal you have with you. In addition, you must pay 3 Dinars if you have three Handlers. Note that the cost applies only when you move two spaces. Moving one space is always free, no matter how many animals and Handlers you have. If you don't have enough to pay, then you may not move two spaces. You cannot abandon animals or Handlers outside of a city (see Example 9). After moving, you may do one action: in a land space you may capture or call animals, in a desert space you may shift the desert, or in a city space you may sell animals.

Example 9: Movement. The purple Nomad may move one space and end up in one of the spaces marked with a "1". If he moves two spaces he may end up in any of the spaces marked "2". He may not move to any of the spaces marked with "X". If he moves two spaces, then he must pay 5 Dinars: 2 for the two animals, and 3 for having three Handlers. Moving one space is always free, no matter what he is carrying.

Getting New Handlers

When you move into a city space, you must immediately put all your Handler dice into the Available Handlers Pile. When you move out of a city space, you must take 2 or 3 Handlers from the Available Handlers Pile. If you take two Handlers, you pay nothing. If you take three Handlers, you must pay 3 Dinars to the bank.

Traveling with the Pilgrim

It may happen that you find yourself trapped behind mountains, or in a seriously bad position. You may choose to travel with the Pilgrim instead of taking your normal turn. To travel with the Pilgrim, you must discard all of your Handlers to the Available Handlers Pile and also discard all but two of your animals back into stock. Move your Nomad onto the Pilgrim's space (in front of the first board strip). You may do nothing else this turn: you are now traveling with the Pilgrim. On your next turn, you must place your Nomad onto any space of your choice. It is recommended that you place your Nomad into a city, since you have no Handlers and a city is the only place you can get them. You may do no more moving, and you may not take a special city disk if there is one in the city. However, you may sell any of the animals you kept. On your following turn you may move and play normally (see Example 10).

Example 10: Green is in a bad spot, so he decides to travel with the Pilgrim. This turn (1) he discards all his Handlers and all but two of his animals, and moves to the Pilgrim space. On his next turn (2) he will place his Nomad in a space of his choice. He chooses a city space.

Capturing Animals

If your Nomad ends its move in a land space (a space that matches one of the five Land Boxes), you may capture any of the animals from the Land Box matching the space you are on. Desert spaces have no animals in them. Roll all your Handler dice. For each die that shows an animal, take one of that type of animal from the Land Box (if there is one there). Blank dice receive no animals. Exception: If all dice come up blank, you may take one animal of ANY kind (your choice) from the Land Box matching the space you are in (see Example 11).

Example 11: You have a camel Handler and a goat Handler, and you are on a grasslands space (green). If you roll a camel and a goat (A) you get the camel. (There are no goats.) If you roll a goat and a blank (B) you get nothing. If you roll both blanks (C) you may take one animal of your choice from this Land Box. You may take a horse, even though you have no horse Handler.

NOTE: Capturing animals may cause a Restock to take place. If, after capturing, there is an empty Land Box on the board, you must do a Land Restock. If there is an animal not present in any of the Land Boxes, then you must do an Animal Restock. Before the next player takes his turn, you must do all necessary Restocks (see "Restocking"). Restocking will cause the desert to shift (see "The Desert Shifts").

Calling Animals

Instead of rolling to capture animals, you may choose to call animals into your land. Before calling animals, you must clearly state that you are calling animals this turn, instead of trying to capture them. Roll all of your Handlers. For each die that shows an animal, place two of that type of animal from stock into the Land Box matching the space you are in. If all Handler dice come up blank, place one animal of each type into the Land Box (see Example 12). Note that this is a special restock instead of capturing animals, and it does not cause the desert to shift, nor is there a Random Restock afterwards. You must wait until your next turn to try to capture the animals you called. If you have the "Sands of Time" you may use it to take your next turn right away, and if you have the "Expert Handler" you may immediately capture one of the animals you just called (see "Special City Disks").

Example 12: Green is on a wastelands (red) space. He calls for more animals and rolls his three Handler dice. He rolls two goats and a camel, so four goats and two camels are placed in the red Land Box from stock.

Shifting the Desert by Choice

If you end your move on a desert space (not a city or a land space), then you may choose to shift the desert (see "The Desert Shifts" below). You may not choose to shift the desert if there is a Nomad on the board strip you would remove. Shifting the desert in this way does not cause any restocking.

Selling Animals

If your Nomad ends his movement on a city space, you may sell any or all of your animals. The amount you receive for each animal is equal to the number in the lowest uncovered stock space for that animal. You may sell different types of animal on the same turn. After you have received your money, place all the animals you sold back into stock, one animal on each stock space, filling up the lowest numbered spaces first. Note that you return your animals to stock after you have finished selling, so you don't receive different prices for selling more than one of the same type of animal (see Example 13). Be sure to ignore the leftmost column of stock spaces in a 4-player game, and the two leftmost columns in a 3-player game.

Example 13: You are selling 3 camels and 2 horses. You will get 3 Dinars for each camel and 10 Dinars for each horse. Your total is 9 (3 camels) plus 20 (2 horses), making 29 Dinars.

Strategy note: If you have a lot of one particular animal, you may choose to sell some of that animal this turn in order to increase the price, then stay in the city and sell the rest on your next turn. This is risky, since a Restock between turns may drive the price down again.

If the stock spaces for an animal were all empty before you sold, then your sale may cause an Animal Restock after you sell. Check: If there are none of that animal in any of the Land Boxes, you must do an Animal Restock.

The Desert Shifts

When you must do a Restock, the desert will shift. This may cause a Nomad to be Lost in the Desert. The desert may also shift if a player chooses to shift it (see "Shifting the Desert by Choice" above).

Slide the board strip furthest from the Pilgrim Space off of the game board, and place it face down underneath the stack of board strips of its type (desert board strips or city board strips). Any Nomad on the board strip that you removed is immediately Lost in the Desert (see "Lost in the Desert" below). Shift the remaining board strips away from the Pilgrim to make room for one more board strip, then draw the top strip of the type you didn't just discard and place it face up at the top of the playing area. There should be five board strips, and they should alternate between city and desert strips (see Example 14).

Example 14: Shifting the desert.

New Board Strip: Placing City Disks

When the new board strip contains a city, place one of the (yellow) Special City Disks face down on that city. The first player to reach that city (by normal movement, not by travelling with the Pilgrim) takes the Disk and keeps it secret until he decides to use it. When the Special City Disks are all gone, then each new city gets a (blue) Final City Disk. These Disks are turned face up on the city, and remain there. Players do not pick up Final City Disks. One of the Final City Disks says "Mecca". The other four give bonuses to all players for selling one of the four animals in that city. (For example, "Horses +1" means that each horse sold in this city is worth one extra Dinar.) As soon as the Disk that says "Mecca" is placed on a city, the game ends immediately.

Special City Disks

There are eight different (yellow) Special City Disks, each with its own special ability. After using a Disk once you must discard it out of the game.

• 4, 5, or 6 Dinars: Do not use until the end of the game. Then exchange this Disk for the number of Dinars printed on the Disk.
• Silver Tongue: Use this Disk in a city (or when selling to Abdul the Trader) to receive one Dinar more for each animal you sell this turn.
• Abdul the Trader: Play during your turn. In addition to your normal action, you may sell any or all animals as if you were in a city. You may not use Abdul in a city to sell twice on the same turn.
• Expert Handler: Play during your turn. In addition to your normal action, you may have the Expert Handler capture one animal of your choice from any of the five Land Boxes. You may use this Special Disk anywhere, even in a city. If capturing the animal causes a Restock, you must Restock immediately, instead of waiting until the end of your turn.
• Ride the Winds: Instead of your normal movement, you may use this Disk to move to any space on the board. All your animals and Handlers travel with you and you pay nothing. If you travel to a city that has a Special City Disk, you may pick it up.
• Sands of Time: Use this Disk at the end of your turn, or between any two players' turns, to take an extra turn.

Final City Disks

There are five different (blue) Final City Disks. These Disks are turned face up when placed, and remain on the board for all players to use in that city.

• Animal +1 (Goats +1, Camels +1, Donkeys +1, Horses +1): Every animal of this type sold in this city is worth one Dinar more than the printed price.
• Mecca: When the Mecca Disk is placed in a city, the game ends immediately.

Lost in the Desert

When a player's Nomad is on a board strip that is removed during a shift of the desert (see "The Desert Shifts"), that Nomad is immediately Lost in the Desert. Immediately discard all Handlers and all but two of your animals. Handlers go to the Available Handler Pile, and animals go back into stock. Remove your Nomad from the board (place it on the table in front of you). On your next turn you must travel with the Pilgrim (see "Traveling with the Pilgrim").

Note: the printed text reads "Lost in the Desesrt"; this is a typographical error for "Desert" and is corrected here.

End of the Game

As soon as the Mecca Disk is placed in a city, the game ends immediately. Players do not have a chance to sell their remaining animals. The player with the most Dinars gives them to the Pilgrim and wins the game. If two or more players have the same number of Dinars, the tied player with the most animals wins.