The Ruhr: A Story of Coal Trade
The Ruhr: A Story of Coal Trade Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Goal of the Game
- Components
- Preparation (for 4 players)
- The Game Board
- Game Flow
- Historical Events
- Obstacle/Demand Markers
- Progress Markers
- Changes for 3-Players
- Changes for 2-Players
- End of Game and Scoring
- Appendix
- Credits
Goal of the Game
In The Ruhr: A Story of Coal Trade, the players transport and sell coal to cities and factories along the Ruhr River in the 18th and 19th centuries. Through selling coal to cities and factories, players will acquire unique progress markers. In the beginning, players only have access to low value coal. By selling coal to certain locations, players gain access to the high value coal. In addition to selling coal, the players will build warehouses, build locks, and export coal to neighboring countries in the pursuit of the most victory points. After 12 rounds, the player with the most points is the winner.
Components
- 1 Game board depicting the Ruhr River
- 4 Player boards
- 4 Player board extensions
- 24 Obstacle/Demand markers
- 59 Progress markers
- 9 Blank progress markers
- 8 Country flag markers
- 1 Pilot banned marker
- 2 Increased cost markers for special actions
- 4 Barges (1 each in the 4 player colors)
- 1 Round marker
- 1 Export marker
- 8 Player disks (2 each in the 4 player colors)
- 14 Goods dice (8 black, 6 white)
- 48 Development cubes (12 each in the 4 player colors)
- 45 Yellow Thalers
- 40 Warehouses (10 each in the 4 player colors)
- 4 30+ victory point markers (1 each in the 4 player colors)
- 1 Bag for the obstacle/demand markers
- 1 Rules booklet
Preparation (for 4 players)
For preparation of 2- or 3-player games, see Changes for 3-Players and Changes for 2-Players.
Game board
- Place the game round marker on the first space marked 1769 of the round track on the game board.
- Place the export marker on the leftmost victory point space marked "1" in the export area.
- Place 1 black die with a value 3 on the space marked by the arrow on the brickearth path of the transport track.
- Each player places 1 player disk on the 0 space of the victory point track.
- Place the 30+ victory point markers next to the victory point track.
- Form a supply with the 48 development tokens.
- Sort out the 6 High/Low water markers. Using the following table, remove the depicted markers from the game:
| Difficulty | High/Low water markers removed from the game | Remaining Markers |
|---|---|---|
| Easy | 2 markers | 22 |
| Normal | 2 markers | 22 |
| Hard | 2 markers | 22 |
| Transport Master | -- | 24 |
- Shuffle the remaining obstacle/demand markers with the white arrow side face up. Place 14 of the markers on each of the obstacle/lock spaces on the game board. The remaining 8 markers (or 10 if playing Transport Master) are placed in the bag.
- Shuffle the 8 country flag markers facedown and place one marker on each flag space below the round track.
- Each player places 1 warehouse next to each of the following spaces of the round track: 1782, 1784, 1809, 1860, and 1880.
- Each player places 2 warehouses of their player color in both orange boxes on the game board.
- Form a supply with 45 thalers (coins).
- Each player places 1 player disk next to the action track.
- The 2 cost markers and Pilot Banned marker are placed near the action track.
- Depending on the number of players, place the corresponding coal dice with the indicated pip value in each of the coal storage spaces along the Ruhr river on the game board.
Player Board
- Each player receives a player board and player board extension in their player color.
- Each player receives 1 barge and 1 warehouse in their player color and places it near their player board.
- Each player takes the 8 progress markers in their player color and places them along the top row of their player board. The markers are:
- Essen warehouse
- Grafschaft Mark warehouse
- Coal depot
- Lock building
- Port Ruhrort
- Grafschaft Mark
- Wage
- Supply
- Form a supply with the remaining progress markers next to the game board.
The Game Board
Locations Along the Ruhr
The game board depicts several areas along the Ruhr river between the city of Witten and downriver to Port Ruhrort (now Duisburg-Ruhrort). There are 7 cities, 12 industries, 15 coal storage spaces, and the Port Ruhrort space. The 12 industry spaces are divided into forges, hammer mills, and gun factories.
Historical Note: In the 18th and 19th centuries, the forges, hammer mills, and gun factories utilized hydroelectric power from the Ruhr river. The three types of industries are for historical flavor only.
The city, industry, and Port Ruhrort spaces are locations where players may sell coal. The 15 coal storage spaces represent available coal to be selected by the players for delivery to the various locations along the Ruhr. The die's pip value depicts the quality of coal; the higher the pip value, the higher the quality of coal. The black dice represent coal from the Essen, Werden, and Broich territories. The white dice represent coal from the Grafschaft Mark territory.
In addition, there are 14 obstacle spaces along the Ruhr river. Obstacles lower the quality of a player's coal during transport. Players can remove these obstacles by building locks during the game.
There are also 4 coal depots in the major territories on the game board, highlighting the location of the local mines. These territories represent the territory borders during 1800.
The 2 orange Warehouse Holding Boxes each hold 2 of every player's warehouses. These warehouses become available to a player after they have acquired certain progress markers and have taken the appropriate action.
Transporting Coal
Players will load their barge with coal at the coal storage spaces. The color of the arrow on the coal storage space indicates which selling space can be reached with a standard trip. A standard trip consists of traveling 2 spaces downriver and arriving at a delivery location. For standard trips, orange arrows indicate delivery to cities and grey arrows indicate delivery to industries.
The coal storage spaces with a black arrow and pilot wheel symbol do not have a valid delivery location within the 2 spaces of a standard trip. Players are only allowed to select the black arrow coal spaces if they have chosen one of the three pilot actions. With the pilot action, players are able to deliver to any location downriver, even to Port Ruhrort.
The Pilot special action is required to travel more than 2 spaces downriver.
The Transport Tracks
The coal storage spaces along the Ruhr river are supplied with coal dice from the transport tracks.
There are three types of transport tracks: brickearth, paved, and rail. At the beginning of the game, only the brickearth path is used. Starting in round 4 in 1779, only the paved track will be used. At the start of round 8 in 1787, only the rail track will be used. Due to these track improvements, the length of time of transport is reduced. The shorter tracks will supply coal faster.
The paved and rail tracks have 2 columns: a left one for black dice from the Essen, Werden, and Broich areas and a right one for the white dice from the Grafschaft Mark area.
When a player delivers coal to a location (city, industry, or Port Ruhrort), the coal is sold and the die is placed on one of the boxes of the current transport track. If the transport track is empty, the coal die is placed on the box with the white arrow. If that box is occupied, additional coal dice are placed on the next empty box above the arrow box. If all of those boxes are occupied, the coal dice are shifted one box down and the new die is placed in the now available top box. If shifting the coal dice down causes a coal die to leave the transport track from the bottom, the player furthest upriver places the die on an empty coal storage space. Black dice must be placed on an empty coal storage space in the territory indicated in the current game round box. If all coal storage spaces are occupied in that territory, the player may choose any other territory except the Grafschaft Mark territory.
At the beginning of game round 4 and game round 8, the coal dice are shifted to the right to the new transport track. If any coal dice leave the transport track during the shift, they are placed on an empty coal storage space on the game board in the manner outlined above.
Players may choose one of the three Transport special actions to move a coal die on an arrow box to an available coal storage space. Black dice may be placed in any coal storage space except the Grafschaft Mark territory. White dice must be placed in the Grafschaft Mark territory. Afterwards, any dice above the arrow box are moved one space down so the arrow box is occupied again.
Note: In rare cases, if there are no coal dice available on the transport tracks, the player must select a coal die from a coal storage space along the river.
Important: The number of pips on a coal die does not change while on or leaving the transport tracks.
Debt
Money is scarce in this game. A player can take debt if they do not have the appropriate amount of money to pay for any action. To take debt, a player takes one of the warehouses from his available pool and places it on one of the four debt spaces of his player board. The player immediately receives 2 Thalers on his player board. This warehouse is now unusable until they repay the debt in phase 6 of a game round. The cost to repay debt is 3 Thalers for each debt space.
For each debt not repaid, the player loses 2 victory points at the end of the game.
Note: In rare cases, if a player does not have any warehouses in his pool, he may take the next warehouse from the game round track and place it on a debt space on his player board. The player receives 2 Thalers and immediately loses 1 victory point. In the unlikely event that the player has no warehouses remaining on the game round track, he may take 2 Thalers and loses 2 victory points.
Game Flow
The game is played over 12 rounds. Each round is divided into 7 phases:
- Conduct Historical Event
- Draw Obstacle/Demand Marker
- Choose Action & Position Barge
- Deliver Coal
- Claim Progress Markers
- Purchases and Debt Repayment
- Award Export Victory Points
Phases 1, 2, and 7 are resolved once and affect all players. In phases 3 through 6, each player acts once (in player order) before moving on to the next phase.
At the start of the game, the starting player is determined randomly.
Note: Throughout each game round, the player order will change several times!
The start player at the beginning of each phase is always the player whose barge is farthest upriver (furthest away from Port Ruhrort). The rest of the player order is determined by the sequence of barges progressing downriver from the start player. Each player only acts once per phase, even if they move downriver of another player.
The blue barge is further upriver than the green barge. Blue is the start player for this phase.
1. Conduct Historical Event
The historical event is resolved for the current game round as indicated by the game round marker. The historical event affects all players and may affect only the current round or will remain in effect for the remainder of the game. Historical events marked with a red border indicate a negative effect on players. See Historical Events for full details of the historical events.
2. Draw Obstacle/Demand Marker
Draw 1 obstacle/demand marker from the bag. The event on the reverse side of the marker is resolved. The marker is then removed from the game. See Obstacle/Demand Markers for full details of the obstacle/demand marker events.
Note: New obstacle/demand markers are only added to the bag when they are removed from the game board as part of the lock building action in phase 6 of a game round.
Important: An obstacle/demand marker is not drawn in the last game round!
Historical Note: Coal transport on the Ruhr was extremely dependent on good weather and, as a result, was only feasible for a few months in the year. Regardless, transporting the coal by barge was more profitable than transporting it on land. When the Prussian government took over the administration of the "Ruhrschifffahrt," they banned transporting coal on land. During low water conditions, barges were not able to move, so the coal was then transported to the local coal storage facilities along the river. However, the effects of high water again and again were even more damaging as the water swamped and even destroyed the coal storage facilities.
3. Selection of Special Action & Barge Location
In player order, players move their barge to a coal storage space and may select a special action. On the first round of the game, the start player selects any Essen coal storage space (black coal die) and special action followed by the remaining players in clockwise order.
Important: A player must move his barge to a coal storage space containing a coal die that can be delivered in phase 4.
The player may freely move his barge to a coal storage space downriver (towards Port Ruhrort). However, in order to move upriver, the player must select the Hauling special action. A coal storage space with the pilot symbol may only be selected if the player also selects the Pilot special action.
Note: A player may only select a coal storage space with a white coal die (in the Grafschaft Mark territory) if he has previously claimed the Grafschaft Mark progress marker.
Special Actions
The following are special actions available to the players throughout the game. Some special actions have a Thaler cost or require a certain progress marker. If a player does not have the necessary Thaler for a special action, he may take debt to pay for the special action. The selected special action is marked with a player's colored disk. The Wage special action may only be selected by one player per game round; all other actions may be chosen by any number of players.
Note: If a high water or low water event marker was drawn in phase 2, all 3 of the special actions with the pilot symbol will not be available in that game round!
| Cost | Description |
|---|---|
| Free | Transport: The player immediately moves a coal die from the arrow space on the coal transport track to an empty coal storage space on the board. |
| Free | Pilot: The player may, in phase 4, move any distance downriver to reach a delivery location. The only way to deliver coal to Port Ruhrort is with this special action. |
| 1 Thaler for rounds 1 – 6; 2 Thalers for rounds 7 – 12 | Hauling: The player may choose to move to a coal storage space upriver of his current barge location during this phase. |
| 1 Thaler for rounds 1 – 6; 2 Thalers for rounds 7 – 12 | Transport & Pilot: The player gains the benefit of both transport and pilot special actions, as described above. |
| 2 Thalers for rounds 1 – 6; 3 Thalers for rounds 7 – 12 | Transport & Hauling: The player gains the benefit of both transport and hauling special actions, as described above. |
| 2 Thalers for rounds 1 – 6; 3 Thalers for rounds 7 – 12 | Hauling & Pilot: The player gains the benefit of both hauling and pilot special actions, as described above. |
| Free; Requires the Wage progress marker | Wage: Only 1 player may select the wage special action in any game round. This player immediately gains 2 Thalers from the bank. |
| Free; Requires the Supply progress marker | Supply: The player immediately increases the value of any coal die on any coal storage space along the river by 2 (up to a maximum of 6). |
4. Deliver Coal
Beginning with the player whose barge is furthest upriver, each player moves their barge with the coal die to its selling space. A standard move is exactly 2 spaces downriver. Each space with an arrow and each obstacle space (regardless if an obstacle tile is present or not) counts as a space. If a player has selected one of the 3 Pilot special actions, he may deliver his coal to any city or industry downriver. One of the Pilot special actions is required to deliver coal to Port Ruhrort.
If the coal is transported across any number of obstacles (obstacle/demand markers remaining on the game board), the value of the coal die is reduced by a total of 1 for that delivery. Only when a lock has been built and the obstacle marker has been removed (and put into the bag as a demand marker) will a coal die's quality not be reduced when moving over such a space.
Historical Note: When a barge reached an obstacle, coal was transferred to another barge waiting on the other side of the obstacle. If this happened several times, the quality of the coal decreased dramatically. Sometimes only coal dust reached Port Ruhrort. Most obstacles were minor dams for fishing.
Players may deliver their coal to an industry space, a city, or Port Ruhrort. If multiple players deliver to the same city or industry, the barges arriving earliest are considered further downriver. When delivering to Port Ruhrort, players always place their barge in the furthest empty downriver location (beginning with the space marked "1").
When a coal die is delivered, it is immediately sold. If delivery takes place at a city, every player that owns a warehouse in that city earns 1 Thaler. If any Thalers are present at the delivery location, the delivering player immediately collects all Thalers at that location and places them on his player board. When selling coal, the delivering player also receives a number of Thalers equal to the pip value of the delivered coal die. However, 1 Thaler earned from the coal die must be immediately spent to place a development cube on the correct location on his player board. If there are no applicable spaces remaining his player board, the player instead collects the full value of their coal die.
Note: The development area on a player's board is divided into 2 rows, with the top row corresponding to black coal die and the bottom row corresponding to white coal die. The left column is used for deliveries to industries, center column for deliveries to Port Ruhrort, and the right column for deliveries to cities. Each area contains 2 or 3 empty spaces for development cubes.
Example: The player sells a black coal die of value 4 to the city of Werden. He puts a development cube on the leftmost available space in the black coal sold to a city area. Then he receives 3 Thalers on his income track.
When delivering to Port Ruhrort, the player always receives an additional Thaler. Each delivery to Port Ruhrort moves the export marker in the export area 1 or 2 spaces to the right. If the coal die has a value of 1-3, the export marker is moved one space to the right; if the coal die value is 4-6, the export marker is moved 2 spaces to the right. If the export marker is already in the rightmost position, it will not move. Exporting, covered in phase 7, has the potential to earn players victory points at the end of a round.
Finally, the delivered coal die is placed on the correct location on the coal transport track (see The Transport Tracks).
5. Claim Progress Markers
In current player order, the players collect all progress markers that match the corresponding combinations of the development cubes on their player boards. The claimed progress markers are placed in the matching location on the player board to show the player now has that special ability. The development cubes are never spent; they are used to claim successively more difficult progress markers.
Example: The Inn progress marker requires a delivery of 1 black coal die and 2 white coal die to an industry, 2 black die to Port Ruhrort, and 1 black die to a city.
Players may acquire more than one progress marker each round.
Note: White progress markers are of limited supply. If a player unlocks a white progress marker that is not in the general supply, that player receives a white blank marker and places it on the appropriate space of his player board.
See Progress Markers for full details of the progress markers.
6. Purchases and Debt Repayment
In current player order, the players may make any number of purchases and debt repayments.
Note: The players may take debt to make a purchase (See Debt).
Important! The players may activate all unlocked grey progress markers once per round!
Build a Lock
If a player has acquired the Lock Building progress marker, he may build 1 lock by paying 2 Thalers in Rounds 2 through 4 or 3 Thalers in Round 5 and beyond. After paying the Thalers, the player removes an obstacle from the game board and places it in the bag. Building a lock in the Grafschaft Mark area immediately earns the player 3 victory points, and all other locks are worth 2 victory points.
When a player builds his first lock, he immediately receives his 2 warehouses from the Lock Building – Warehouse Holding Box on the game board.
Historical Note: A total of 14 locks were built along the Ruhr within 6 years. Three of them proved redundant and were removed from the river. The remaining locks were constantly rebuilt, refurbished, and maintained. Most of them are still in existence.
Build a Warehouse in a City and/or Coal Depot
The Essen Warehouse progress marker allows a player to build 1 warehouse in a city in the Essen and Werden regions (excluding Mülheim). The Grafschaft Mark Warehouse progress marker allows a player to build 1 warehouse in the Grafschaft Mark region. The Coal Depot progress marker allows the player to build 1 warehouse in any available Coal Depot.
The player takes one of his warehouses from his available pool and places it on the leftmost empty space of a city or coal depot.
The costs of building a warehouse are shown on the spaces of the game board. After building, the player immediately earns 2 victory points.
Each player may have only one warehouse in each city.
Note: When any player delivers a coal die to a city, all players that have a warehouse in that city each receive 1 Thaler from the bank.
Warehouses in cities and coal depots may earn victory points at the end of the game.
Build a Warehouse in Port Ruhrort
With the Port Ruhrort progress marker, a player may build a warehouse in the topmost empty space of one of the three export columns in Port Ruhrort. The first warehouse built (of any player's color) in Port Ruhrort costs 3 Thalers. The second and third warehouse built (of any player's color) in Port Ruhrort costs 4 Thalers each. Thereafter, each warehouse built in Port Ruhrort costs 5 Thalers.
The player immediately earns 2 victory points.
A player may have no more than 1 warehouse per column and may have a maximum of 2 warehouses in Port Ruhrort.
Move a Warehouse in Port Ruhrort
Also with the Port Ruhrort progress marker, the player may move a warehouse from one column to another for a cost of 2 Thalers each. The player selects a warehouse from a column and moves it to the topmost empty space of one of the other columns, provided that each player still only has one warehouse per column. The other warehouses in the original column are shifted up one space each.
Build a Warehouse with the Warehouse Progress Marker
Once per game and with the white Warehouse progress marker, the player may build a warehouse in any city (including Mülheim), coal depot, or Port Ruhrort, provided that he also has claimed the corresponding progress marker for building in that location. The cost to build a warehouse using this progress marker is 2 Thalers, ignoring the cost shown on the game board.
Note: This is the only way the player may build a warehouse in Mülheim. Additionally, this progress marker does not allow the player to build more than once per city, in a city or coal depot that has no room, more than twice in all of Port Ruhrort, or more than twice in a column in Port Ruhrort.
Repay Debt
The player may repay as much debt as he chooses. Debt may only be repaid during this phase. For each debt repaid, the player pays 3 Thalers to the bank and a reclaims a warehouse from his debt space to be used during a build action (including this round).
7. Award Export Victory Points
In rounds 4 through 11, players who own warehouses in Port Ruhrort may earn additional victory points. The warehouses in the column corresponding to the country flag for the current round are eligible to earn these victory points. Each warehouse in that column earns a number of victory points equal to the current position of the export marker plus the bonus amount for the row the warehouse is located.
After awarding victory points, the export marker is moved as many spaces to the left as there were warehouses in the scoring column. The export marker will never leave the export track!
Important: In the last game round, coal is not exported!
Example: A Belgium flag was revealed at the start of the current round. During Phase 7, Red earns 3 victory points (2 + 1), Blue earns 2 victory points (2 + 0), and Yellow does not earn any victory points since they have no warehouses in the Belgium column. The export marker is then moved 2 spaces to the left.
End of Game Round
The player disks are returned from the Special Action spaces. Remove the Pilot Banned marker if it was in use. If any player has more than 10 Thalers, they must discard down to 10 Thalers. The game round marker is advanced to the next round on the game round track.
Historical Events
1769 – Start player is determined randomly and each player receives 1 Thaler.
Start of organized coal transport on the Ruhr in the Reichsabtei Werden territory.
1774 – From now on, players may build locks in phase 6 if they have acquired the Lock Building progress marker. Building a lock costs 2 Thalers. Black coal dice pushed out of the transport track are placed in the dark green Reichsstifft Essen region.
Start of building 14 locks between Witten and Ruhrort.
1775 – Each player immediately pays 1 Thaler or 1 victory point. Black coal dice pushed out of the transport track are placed in the pink Reichsabtei Werden region.
The Prussian government introduces the Ruhrschifffahrtskasse (Ruhr-Shipment-Fund).
1779 – Coal dice on the transport track are immediately moved to the paved path. Black coal dice pushed out of the transport track are placed in the light green Herrschaft Broich region. The first country flag for export is revealed.
At the Ruhr, the transport paths from coal mines to coal storage locations are enhanced.
1780 – Costs for building a lock in phase 6 increases to 3 Thalers. Black coal dice pushed out of the transport track are placed in the dark green Reichsstifft Essen region. The second country flag for export is revealed.
Construction of the 14 locks along the Ruhr was completed.
1782 – Each player receives the warehouse in their color from this space and either 1 victory point or 1 Thaler. Black coal dice pushed out of the transport track are placed in the pink Reichsabtei Werden region. The third country flag for export is revealed.
The transport capacity of Ruhr barges is increased.
1784 – The costs for fee-based special actions increase by 1 Thaler for the remainder of the game. Place the 2-Thaler cost marker over the 1-Thaler space on the game board. Place the 3-Thaler cost marker over the 2-Thaler space on the game board. Each player receives a warehouse from this space. Black coal dice pushed out of the transport track are placed in the light green Herrschaft Broich region. The fourth country flag for export is revealed.
The transportation costs on the Ruhr increase.
Note: For Game Round 7, year 1784, this is an example of where to place the 2-Thaler and 3-Thaler cost markers on the special action board.
1787 – Coal dice on the transport track are immediately moved to the rail track. Black coal dice pushed out of the transport track are placed in the dark green Reichsstifft Essen region. The fifth country flag for export is revealed.
The first transportation of coal by rail appears in Hattingen.
1809 – The pip value of all dice in the coal transport is increased by 1 (to a maximum of 6). Each player receives a warehouse from this space. Black coal dice pushed out of the transport track are placed in the pink Reichsabtei Werden region. The sixth country flag for export is revealed.
Steam engines are first used in coal mines.
1860 – Each player receives a warehouse from this space and either 1 victory point or 1 Thaler. Black coal dice pushed out of the transport track are placed in the light green Herrschaft Broich region. The seventh country flag for export is revealed.
Transportation of coal along the Ruhr reached its peak in 1860 of which 892,000 tons were transported.
1880 – The pip value of all dice along the river and on the transport tracks are reduced by 1 (to a minimum of 1). Each player receives a warehouse from this space. Black coal dice pushed out of the transport track are placed in the dark green Reichsstifft Essen region. The eighth country flag for export is revealed.
The Ruhrtalbahn, transportation of coal by rail, begins.
1890 – No Demand/Water level tile is drawn from the bag during phase 2. The Supply special action only allows players to increase the value of a coal die by 1 (to a maximum of 6). The Wage special action only earns the player 1 Thaler instead of 2 Thalers.
The Ruhrschifffahrt is decommissioned.
Obstacle/Demand Markers
Details of the Obstacle/Demand Marker Tiles are described below.
Note: Each industry or city space may have a maximum of 2 Thalers at any time!
- Forge industry: Place 1 Thaler on each forge industry space on the board.
- Hammer mill industry: Place 1 Thaler on each hammer mill industry space on the board.
- Gun factory industry: Place 1 Thaler on each gun factory industry space on the board.
- Herrschaft Berg/Herzogtum Broich industry: Place 1 Thaler on each industry space on the board within the light green Herrschaft Berg and purple Herzogtum Berg regions.
- Reichsabtei Werden industry: Place 1 Thaler on each industry space on the board in the pink Reichsabtei Werden region.
- Reichsstift Essen industry: Place 1 Thaler on each industry space on the board in the dark green Reichsstift Essen region.
- Grafschaft Mark industry: Place 1 Thaler on each industry space on the board in the blue Grafschaft Mark region.
- Blankenstein city: Place 1 Thaler on this city.
- Port Ruhrort: Place 1 Thaler on Port Ruhrort.
- Mülheim city: Place 1 Thaler on this city.
- Blankenstein/Mülheim cities: Place 1 Thaler on each of these cities.
- Werden/Witten/Steele cities: Place 1 Thaler on each of these cities.
- Mülheim/Kettwig/Steele cities: Place 1 Thaler on each of these cities.
- Mülheim/Werden/Witten cities: Place 1 Thaler on each of these cities.
- Hattingen/Blankenstein/Steele cities: Place 1 Thaler on each of these cities.
- Kettwig/Hattingen/Blankenstein cities: Place 1 Thaler on each of these cities.
- Kettwig/Witten/Blankenstein cities: Place 1 Thaler on each of these cities.
- Mülheim/Werden/Hattingen cities: Place 1 Thaler on each of these cities.
- Low water level: Pilot special actions are not available this round. Place the Pilot Banned marker over the 3 Pilot special actions.
- Low water level / coal increase: Pilot special actions are not available this round. Place the Pilot Banned marker over the 3 Pilot special actions. All coal dice along the river are increased by a value of 1 (to a maximum of 6).
- High water level: Pilot special option spaces are not available this round. Place the Pilot Banned marker over the 3 Pilot special actions.
- High water level / coal decrease: Pilot special actions are not available this round. Place the Pilot Banned marker over the 3 Pilot special actions. All coal dice along the river are decreased by a value of 1 (to a minimum of 1).
Progress Markers
The Progress Markers and the actions they grant the owning player are described below.
Note: White progress markers may only be used once per game and are in limited quantities. When used, the white progress markers are flipped over. Grey progress markers may be used once per round.
| Quantity (2/3/4 Players) | Description |
|---|---|
| 2/3/4 | Essen Warehouse: Once per round, the player can build a warehouse in one of the Essen cities (Kettwig, Werden, or Steele). |
| 2/3/4 | Grafschaft Mark Warehouse: Once per round, the player can build a warehouse in the Grafschaft Mark cities (Hattingen, Blankenstein, or Witten). |
| 2/3/4 | Coal Depot: Once per round, the player can build a warehouse in one of the four coal depots. |
| 2/3/4 | Lock Building: Once per round, the player may build a lock. After building his first lock in the game, the player earns 2 warehouses from the corresponding spot on the board. In 2-player games, the player may build two locks for the price of one on rounds 2-5. In 3-player games, the player may build two locks for the price of one the first time they build a lock. |
| 2/3/4 | Port Ruhrort: Once per round, the player may build a warehouse in port Ruhrort. Remember: A player may only have 2 warehouses in Port Ruhrort, and no more than 1 warehouse per export column. |
| 2/3/4 | Grafschaft Mark: The player is allowed to transport and sell white coal dice from Grafschaft Mark. When claiming this progress marker, the player also receives 2 warehouses from the Grafschaft Mark Warehouse Holding Box on the game board. |
| 2/3/4 | Wage: The player may choose the Wage special action during phase 3. Only 1 player may select the Wage special action in any game round. |
| 2/3/4 | Supply: The player may choose the Supply special action during phase 3. |
| 1/2/3 | Coal Hauler: Once per game, the player may increase the value of any coal die at a coal storage space by 3 (maximum value of 6). |
| 1/2/3 | Hauling Action: Once per game, the player may choose a legally available special action without paying the associated cost. The action must include the Hauling action (horse). |
| 1/2/3 | Inn: Once per game, the player receives either 3 Thalers or 2 victory points. Any debt the player may have does not matter! |
| 1/2/3 | Warehouse: Once per game, the player may build a warehouse in a city, Port Ruhrort, or coal depot for the cost of 2 Thalers (instead of the normal cost). The player must still have the necessary progress marker that allows him to build at the desired location. Note: This progress marker is the only way that a player can build a warehouse in Mülheim. |
| 1/2/3 | Merchant: Once per game, the player may place a development cube just received to any other empty position on his player board. |
| 1/2/3 | Coal Shop: Once per game, the player may reposition one of his warehouses in Port Ruhrort to any other export column, free of charge. |
| 1/2/3 | Ruhr Barge [Game End]: At the end of the game, the player earns 4 victory points if his barge is in Port Ruhrort or 2 victory points if it is not. |
| 1/2/3 | Mayor [Game End]: At the end of the game, the player earns 1 victory point per Thaler he possesses, only if he has no debt. |
| 1/2/3 | Railway [Game End]: At the end of the game, the player earns 1 victory point for each city (excluding Port Ruhrort) in which they have a warehouse. |
Victory Point Summary
During the game, victory points are immediately awarded as follows:
- Building a lock: 2 victory points in the Essen/Broich regions or 3 victory points in the blue Grafschaft Mark region
- Warehouse in a city: 2 victory points
- Warehouse in Port Ruhrort: 2 victory points
- Export Awards in Phase 7 (Game Rounds 4 through 11 only): 1 – 3 victory points
- Warehouse in a coal depot: 2 victory points
- Game Rounds 6 & 10: 0 – 1 victory point
- Progress Marker – Inn: 3 Thalers or 2 victory points. (Debt does not matter)
Changes for 3-Players
Preparation: 1 black and 1 white dice less are used.
Progress Markers: There are only 2 of each white progress markers available to the players.
Locks: When building their first lock, each player may build 2 for the price of one, earning victory points for both. Both tiles are placed into the bag.
Changes for 2-Players
Preparation: 2 black and 2 white dice less are used.
Export Marker: The leftmost space of the export marker track is not used. During setup, the export marker is placed on the 2nd space from the left.
Progress Markers: There is only 1 of each white progress marker available to the players.
Locks: In phase 6 of game rounds 2 through 5, each player may build 2 locks for the price of one, but earn victory points for both. Both tiles are placed in the bag.
End of Game and Scoring
The game ends after 12 game rounds.
At the end of the game, victory points are awarded as follows:
Warehouses in all 3 Essen cities (Kettwig, Werden, Steele): 1 victory point
Warehouses in all 3 Grafschaft Mark cities (Hattingen, Blankenstein, Witten): 1 victory point
Warehouses in all 7 cities (Kettwig, Werden, Steele, Hattingen, Blankenstein, Witten, and Mülheim) not including Port Ruhrort: 3 victory points (these points are awarded in addition to the above)
Warehouses in all 4 coal depots: 2 victory points
Warehouse majority in each coal depot (Herrschaft Broich, Reichsabtei Werden, Reichsstift Essen, Grafschaft Mark): 1 victory point each; no points are awarded for ties.
Progress Marker – Ruhr Barge: If the player's barge is at Port Ruhrort, he earns 4 victory points. Otherwise, he earns 2 victory points.
Progress Marker – Mayor: 1 victory point per Thaler (this is only possible if the player does not have any debt!)
Debt: Each warehouse on the player's debt space costs the player 2 victory points.
Appendix
The following presents the historical terminology rooted in the 18th century of coal mining and transportation of coal along the Ruhr.
- Blankenstein: Nowadays a part of Hattingen and the place of Castle Blankenstein
- Coal Hauler: A worker hauling the coal on the transport tracks.
- Coal Storage Spaces: A special storage location for coal near the Ruhr river. From here, coal was transferred to the barges.
- Grafschaft Mark: Prussian territory containing the cities of Witten, Blankenstein, and Hattingen.
- Hauling Horses: Horses that pulled the Ruhr barges upriver by leashes.
- Hauling Path: Horse path directly along the riverside.
- Herzogtum Berg/Grafschaft Broich: Formerly independent territories near Mülheim.
- Industries: Forges, hammer mills, and gun factories that utilized hydropower from the Ruhr.
- Kettwig: Nowadays a part of Essen.
- Locks: Raises or lowers ships on the river.
- Pilot: The Pilot was knowledgeable of all shoals along the Ruhr, as some parts of the Ruhr were only navigable with a Pilot.
- Port Ruhrort: The main terminal for coal at the mouth of the Rhine River.
- Railway Line: Around 1890, the railway line took over the transportation of coal in the Ruhr valley. This meant the end of the transportation of coal on the river.
- Reichsabtei Werden: Formerly an independent territory administered by the Abbot of Werden.
- Reichsstift Essen: Nowadays a part of Essen and location of the Essener Münster church.
- Ruhrschifffahrt: The transportation of coal along the Ruhr River from 1769-1890.
- Ruhr Barge: A special transport barge with very little draft.
- Steele: Nowadays a part of Essen.
- Transport Track: The path from a coal mine to the coal storage space along the Ruhr.
- Werden: Nowadays a part of Essen and location of the Werden monastery. This is the birthplace of the Ruhrschifffahrt.
Credits
Design: Thomas Spitzer
Developer: Clay Ross
Graphics: Harald Lieske
Layout: Johannes Sich
Thank you to the play testers: Frank Biesgen, Joachim Coster, Angela Dahmen, Thorsten Diekmann, Bodo Drews, Reinert Frensemeyer, Hanna Kamitz, Felix Koch, Reinhard Kuschmierz, David Maponya, Bernhard Matelin, Christoph Neumann, Stefan Neumann, Lars Pfaff, Marvin Porsche, Alexander Schramm, Matthias Schulz, Aline Spitzer, Stefan Schwarz, Dirk Terhechte, Justina Terhechte, Sylvia Terhechte, all testers at Bodefeld, Karsten Hoser, the Herner Spielezentrum, Spieleclub Hippodice, Spieleclub CVJM Gelsenkirchen, and Spieletreff Weseke.
A special thank you to Uli Blennemann.
A very special thank you to Jesse McGatha for reorganizing the original Ruhrschifffahrt rules.