Scottish Highland Whisky Race Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Overview
• Components
• Setup
• Playing the Game
  • 1. Planning Phase
  • Trading
  • 2. Player Phase
    • 2.a Movement
    • Obstruction by Other Players (Squabbling)
    • 2.b Activating a Marker
    • End of Turn
• End of the Game and Victory Points
• Expert Game
  • Random Setup
  • Variant Setup
  • The Marker Placed Under the Englishman
• Marker Explanations
  • Location Markers
  • Whisky Markers
• Translator's Notes

Game Overview

Each player is one of the participants in the race. On each turn, they secretly plan how many spaces they will move, that is, how many malt points they want to spend. Naturally, their plans can be thwarted by the other players' actions, and they may end their movement on a different space than planned. Good planning and an accurate assessment of the other runners are required. If, at the end of its turn, a runner finishes its movement on one of the special markers placed along the route, something interesting happens. At the end of the turn, competitors can refresh themselves with new malt points. The game ends as soon as a player's piece reaches the finish space. Victory points (VP) are then awarded: the first place earns 8 VP, the second place 4 VP and the third place 2 VP.

Since this race is judged not only by final position but also by whisky smuggling, the fastest player will not necessarily be the winner. Rather, the winner is the player who has also collected the most whisky and delivered it to the pubs.

But prepare to suffer if the Englishman catches you!

Components

• The game board: the board shows a section of the Scottish mountains where the race takes place. The race runs along the stone path.
  • Some spaces are marked with a small circle. These are the spaces where the initial markers (whisky and location) are placed at the start of the game.
• Wooden player pieces: each player has one piece, a classic wooden pawn.
• Malt points: brown wooden cubes. Malt points are the "engine" of the game, as it were. They show how much energy a player still has. During the planning phase, each player chooses a number of malt points equal to the number of spaces they wish to move. Each brown disc is worth 5 malt points. Exchanging between 1-point cubes and 5-point discs can be done at any time.
• The Englishman: a large red wooden piece.
• Location markers: markers with a blue or brown background are location markers, representing special events or occurrences during the race. If a player finishes its movement on a location marker, it must carry out the special event explained later.
  • Blue location markers (such as the pub, the St Culaban's Festival and the Englishman) take effect when the player is alone on the space at the end of its turn. Their effects are explained at the end of these rules.
  • Brown location markers (the malt source and the checkpoint) give their benefit automatically, at no cost, when the player finishes its movement alone on the space.
• Whisky markers: whisky markers have a green background; each marker is a bottle of whisky. Each player starts with two bottles of whisky and may acquire others during the game. Each whisky has a special ability. The different whiskies can be distinguished by their coloured labels.

Setup

Each player takes two whisky bottles, one red (Glen Mhor) and one orange (Kinclaith), twelve malt points, and a player board.

Each player places its piece on the start space.

The route is now prepared. Standard setup is shown in the standard setup diagram. Experienced players may instead choose a random setup as described in the expert rules. Each player places its piece on the start space indicated by the green arrow.

Remove the Glenlochy whisky markers from the game; they are only used if players make their own markers.

The remaining markers (location and whisky) are shuffled face down and placed in the appropriate supply.

All remaining malt points form the bank.

The Englishman is placed on his start space, indicated by the crown.

Playing the Game

Each turn has three phases:

1. Planning phase: players secretly and simultaneously choose their malt points for this turn.

2. Player phase: the player who chose the most malt points goes first:

   • A. They move their piece.
   • B. If, at the end of its movement, its piece is alone on a marker, that marker's effect applies.

   During its turn, a player may use one whisky bottle (a whisky marker). The next player then carries out phases A and B, and so on.

3. End of turn: the Englishman moves 3 spaces. He jumps over spaces that contain player pieces, and each of those players must pay a customs tax of 1 malt point per whisky. A marker drawn at random is placed under the Englishman.

1. Planning Phase

During the planning phase, each player secretly chooses the number of malt points it wants to use during the movement phase. A player may choose as many malt points from its supply as it wishes, one, two, and so on, even all of them at once. However, it may never exceed the number of points it currently has in its supply; there is no credit. A player must choose at least one malt point, provided it has at least one in its supply. Once all players have made their decision, they reveal the malt points they have chosen simultaneously.

The order in which players now move depends on the number of malt points they have chosen. The player with the most malt points (chosen!) moves first. When it has finished its turn, the next player with the most malt points (chosen!) moves. The number of malt points each player has kept in its supply has no effect on the turn order.

If two or more players have chosen the same number of malt points, they must reach an agreement among themselves on the order in which they will play; otherwise each of them loses its turn. Their pieces remain in place and the malt points chosen are paid to the bank. It is perfectly legal to deliberately block another player by not agreeing with them, thereby causing them to lose their turn (as well as your own, naturally). You are fully entitled to choose exactly the number of malt points you think another player will choose, so that, because of the conflict, only the player who moves first will gain something. If more than two players choose the same number of malt points, all the players involved must agree on the turn order; if only some of them agree, all of them will lose their turn.

Example: McLoud has chosen five malt points, McDuff four and McDonald six. McDonald moves first, then McLoud, and finally McDuff.

This is one of the most important rules of the game! Often two players will try to move towards the same location marker and, having to use the same number of malt points for the movement, will both choose the same number and both want to move first. There is only one way for them to move: they must reach an agreement, or neither of them will move!

Trading

At any time, players may offer malt points, brown location markers and whisky markers from their supply to negotiate for certain actions, for example to move first. Malt points already chosen for movement may never be used in this negotiation.

2. Player Phase

Players move in turn order. The player who chose the most malt points carries out phases A and B, followed by the next player, until every player has taken its turn.

2.a Movement

The following principles apply to movement:

• You must move if you can. You may only move in one direction (it is a race), that is, you may not move backwards.
• You must use all the malt points chosen, if possible.
• Leaving a space costs one malt point.

This may seem quite simple, but it can be harder than it looks, because other players can obstruct your movement.

At the end of your turn, you must pay all the malt points chosen to the bank, even if you were not able to use them all.

Obstruction by Other Players (Squabbling)

Leaving a space that contains other players' pieces (opponents' pieces) costs one additional malt point for each additional piece on that space. This applies both to the first space of the movement and during the movement. These additional malt points must be taken from those chosen for movement this turn. If a player does not have enough malt points to leave a space, its piece stays there. Entering a space containing other pieces costs no additional malt points.

Example: three pieces are on a space: McLoud and two others. To leave the space, McLoud must pay three malt points: one to leave the space and two additional points for the other pieces that squabble with him, using their vile Scottish behaviour to hold him back. If McLoud has only one chosen malt point left, he remains on that space with the other pieces.

There is no squabbling on the start space.

Example: Red must pay two malt points to move from A to B and two more to move to space C. If Red has chosen only three malt points for the movement, it moves to space B and stops there.

2.b Activating a Marker

If a player ends its movement alone on a space with a marker (whisky or location), that marker's effect applies. A piece is alone only when there are no other pieces on that space, including the Englishman.

Whisky markers: a player may buy a whisky bottle if its piece finishes its movement alone on the space containing the marker. The purchase price is four malt points, which the player must take from its supply. The whisky marker is removed from the board and placed face up in front of the player. If the player cannot buy the whisky marker, or chooses not to, it stays in place on that space.

A whisky marker costs four malt points.

Brown location markers: brown location markers provide benefits that the player receives automatically, without any cost, if it finishes its movement alone on the space.

• Malt source: the player gains that many malt points from the bank, and the location marker is then removed from the board and returned to the supply.
• Checkpoint: the player gains the corresponding number of VP. To indicate this, it places the checkpoint face up in front of it.

Blue location markers: a blue location marker takes effect if the player finishes its movement alone on the space. The effect of these markers is explained in detail at the end of these rules.

More than one marker on a space: if there is more than one marker on a space, the player may choose which marker to activate, but it may activate only one of them, and naturally its piece must be alone on that space. For example, if there were a whisky marker and a pub location marker on the same space, the player could buy the whisky for four malt points, or sell part of its whisky at the pub.

Using whisky markers: each whisky marker has a special ability, and most may only be used once. A player may use only one whisky marker during its turn. Most whisky markers may only be used once during the game (they are identified by the "1 x" on their label). After use, they are turned face down to reflect this. They may still be sold normally, and they also count for the Englishman's customs tax (see below). The whiskies are explained in detail at the end of these rules.

A whisky that can only be used once.

Example: the Englishman moves three spaces, skipping space B, and arrives on space E. Yellow and green must pay the tax. A new marker is placed on E.

End of Turn

After each player has finished its turn, the Englishman moves. The Englishman moves 3 spaces in the direction of the finish line, jumping over spaces (without counting them) that contain player pieces. Each player piece he encounters while moving (that is, those on the space where he begins his movement and those he jumps over) must pay one malt point per whisky in its possession as customs tax. Whiskies that have been used still count when calculating the cost of this penalty. If a player cannot or does not want to pay, it must discard a whisky of its choice (it returns to the supply).

After that, a marker is drawn at random from the supply and placed face up under the Englishman.

In this way, two or more markers may be on the same space; a player may nonetheless activate only one marker.

End of the Game and Victory Points

The game ends as soon as any piece reaches or passes the finish line (the last space). The whole of that turn is played out. Afterwards, VP are awarded. The VP awarded differ depending on whether a Scot (that is, a player's piece) or the Englishman reached the finish line first.

• The race itself: the VP awarded for the race depend on whether a player's piece or the Englishman first reached the finish line.
  • If a player reached the finish line first, that player gains 8 VP. The second (the player whose piece reached the finish line second, or who is closest to the finish line if no other piece reached it) gains 4 VP. The third gains 2 VP. If two or more players are tied for second place, each gains 4 VP; if two or more players are tied for third place, each gains 2 VP.
  • If the Englishman is the first to reach the finish line, the player whose piece is at the head of the race loses 4 VP (the shame is too great), the second player loses 2 VP and the third player loses 1 VP.
• Whiskies: players gain 5 VP for each whisky sold at a pub. Each whisky not sold is worth only 2 VP.
• Most malt points: the player with the most malt points gains 3 VP (if two or more players are tied for the most malt points, each gains 1 VP).
• Checkpoints: checkpoints are worth their indicated value, from 1 to 3 VP.

The winner is, surprisingly, the player with the most VP. If two or more players are tied, the player among the tied players with the most whisky bottles is the winner; in all other cases the game ends in a tie.

Expert Game

Random Setup

A player draws markers from the supply and places them face down on each space marked with a dark circle. All markers are then turned face up. Each player may now remove one marker and replace it with another marker drawn at random. In case of conflict over the order in which players may remove and replace a marker, draw lots.

Variant Setup

The players start with 12 malt points. The whisky markers are separated from the location markers and shuffled face down. Then, 3 markers are drawn from the supply and placed face up beside the board, one group of three whisky markers for each player in the game.

The players now bid (secretly and simultaneously) using their malt points to determine who gets to choose one of the whisky marker groups first. The highest bidder gets the first choice. If two or more players make the same bid, they must agree among themselves on the order of choice or draw lots. After all players have chosen, the game begins under the normal rules, except that the players now have fewer malt points and three whisky markers each.

The Marker Placed Under the Englishman

At the start of the game, 3 markers are drawn at random from the supply and placed face up beside the board.

At the end of the turn (after the Englishman has moved), the player who moved first chooses one of these three markers and places it face up under the Englishman. The two other unused markers are returned to the supply, and three markers are drawn to be used at the end of the next turn.

Marker Explanations

Location Markers

A location marker's effect applies when a player's piece is alone on its space at the end of its turn. Blue location markers stay in place on the board after their effect is applied. Pieces that are behind on the track may use them later, when they advance.

• Pub: the player may sell one whisky, if it has one. In exchange, it gains five VP (and a 5 VP marker) or twelve malt points. A player may also sell a whisky that has already been used, for the same price. The whisky sold returns to the supply. (A used whisky is one whose owner has already used its special ability.)
• St Culaban's Festival: the player may swap any two markers on the board, including this marker or a marker on which another piece is standing.
• Englishman: the player may move the Englishman up to 3 spaces forward or backward, and the Englishman collects one malt point from the player for each whisky held by each player he encounters, as when he jumps over spaces containing player pieces. The Englishman's normal end-of-turn movement is not affected by this action.
• Sacred Place: the player may reactivate one of its used whisky markers (face down) so that it can be used again the same turn, or it may buy a whisky marker from the board for eight malt points. It may not, naturally, buy a whisky marker from the supply or one belonging to another player.
• Malt source: the player gains as many malt points as indicated on the marker from the bank, and then the location marker is removed from the board and returned to the supply.
• Checkpoint: the player takes the marker and gains 1 to 3 VP at the end of the game, as indicated on the marker.

If there is more than one marker on a space, see "More than one marker on a space" above.

Whisky Markers

Most whisky markers may only be used once. A player may use one or more during its turn, at any appropriate moment according to the ability. After use, it is turned face down. Even when turned face down, a whisky marker may be sold; it counts toward VP at the end of the game, and its owner must pay the Englishman the customs tax when he demands it.

• Banff Veto: prevents the use of a whisky or a location marker. Blue location markers stay in place; brown ones are removed. Whisky markers are turned face down. This ability may be used on other players' turns. When used against whisky markers with a continuous effect (Brora and Convalmore), their effect is only suspended temporarily, for one turn.

• Benromach: the player may steal one malt point from each player. When it steals from a player who has not yet taken its turn, it must steal one of the malt points chosen for that turn. Stolen malt points are placed in the thief's supply.

• Brora: the player gains one additional malt point at the end of the turn (5 instead of 4). This whisky continues to have this effect for this player until it is sold (or stolen).

• Coleraine: the player may steal from another player. It gains half (rounded down) of the other player's malt points from its supply. To do so, the thief must pass the other player during its movement. If it is behind or on the same space as that player, it cannot steal from them.

• Convalmore: the player may exchange this whisky marker with another whisky marker (used or unused) held by any player it passes during its movement. That player may then use Convalmore during its movement.

• Glenlochy: this whisky marker is removed from the game. Players may use it to create their own whisky markers.

• Glen Mhor: the player may challenge another player to a duel for a whisky marker belonging to that player (chosen by the challenging player). It may be a used or unused whisky. Both players secretly choose a number of malt points, and the player who offers the greater total wins the duel and wins the whisky. The loser gains the malt points bid by the winner. The loser gives its bid malt points to the bank. In case of a tie, nothing happens: the challenged player keeps its whisky marker and both players keep their malt points, but the Glen Mhor whisky marker is now used and turned face down. It is possible to choose zero malt points.

Translator's Notes

• The standard setup diagram, the board artwork and the marker artwork in the source are images and are not reproduced here. The rules refer to the green arrows and crown symbols on the board for the starting spaces.
• The French source paragraph on the first brown location marker reads "Pour un camp" ("for a camp"), while the marker explanation calls it "Source de points de malt". This transcription uses the name "malt source" for that marker.
• Whisky and location names (Glen Mhor, Kinclaith, Brora, Coleraine, Convalmore, Glenlochy, Benromach, Banff, St Culaban's Festival) are kept as printed in the source.