Vikings on the Volga
Vikings on the Volga Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Setup
Each player begins with a ship. Take a ship of your chosen color, along with a ship card of the same color. This card shows the size of your ship, with a small ship on one side and a large one on the other. Set it on the table in front of you with the small side up. (The card's small-ship side is printed "Cargo Capacity 2"; the large-ship side is printed "5 Rubles to Upgrade".)
Rubles are the local currency, represented with paper money. Each player begins with five rubles. Put the rest of the rubles somewhere off to the side, leaving the middle of the table empty. You may find it useful for one player to act as banker.
The Board
The board is made of tiles. Shuffle the tiles, face down. Draw one and set it face up in the middle of the table; this is the first tile of the board.[a] Take turns going around the table, drawing a tile and connecting it to the board, anywhere you like.
[a] It does not matter very much who places the first tile.
Trade Goods
There are three trade goods to buy and sell: amber, fish, and furs. Sort the trade goods by type, then set them out in stacks, face up.
During the game, the price of trade goods will change. Set out the price card where everyone can see it.
Cities
When a city is burned it is covered with a burned marker. As more cities are burned, goods become harder to acquire, and the price of goods goes up. Place all five burned markers on the price card, covering all the circles except for the leftmost.
Each city offers a single pass, allowing easy passage through the city. Shuffle the city passes and set them face down.
The Horde and the Prince
The Golden Horde roams about, burning and looting. Reveal the first city pass to see where the Horde begins. Take the leftmost burned marker off of the price card, then place it on the city whose pass was revealed. Place the Horde on top of that burned marker.
The Prince of Kiev travels around helping his subjects, rebuilding their looted cities, and driving away the Horde. Reveal another city pass and place the Prince on that city.
Gather together all the city passes (including the two that were revealed) and turn them face up, spreading them out so they can all be seen.
Contracts
When cities demand trade goods, they issue contracts for those goods. Each contract shows which good is wanted and which city it needs to be delivered to.
Shuffle the contract cards and place them in a stack, face down.
At the beginning of the game there are a number of contracts already available. Reveal twice as many contracts as there are players, spreading them out face up on the table.
Starting Items
Each player begins the game with one city pass. Whoever placed the last board tile chooses a pass first, then the player to their right chooses next, and so on until each player has a pass.
Each player then chooses an unoccupied starting tile for their ship, in the same order. Whoever placed the last board tile places their ship first, proceeding around the table to the right until everyone has placed their ship. You may not place your ship on a tile with the Horde, the Prince, or any other player's ship.
Whoever placed their ship last takes the first turn of the game. Play proceeds to the left.
On Your Turn
There are several actions you can do on your turn, in any order you like:
- move your ship
- buy passes
- buy and sell goods
- upgrade your ship
- reveal hidden contracts
- trade with other players
Movement
Viking longboats are very good at traveling by river, yet light enough to be carried over land. Move up to three spaces by river, or a single space overland. You do not have to move the full amount if you do not want to.
You may not enter the tile where the Horde is standing.
You may travel through a tile with another ship but you may not end your turn there.
If you end your turn on the tile with the Prince he will be gracious and move out of your way: move him to any adjacent unoccupied tile.[a]
Cities require travelers to stop and pay a fee. When you enter an unburned city that you do not have the pass for, you must:
- stop moving for the turn (though you may still do other actions such as buying goods),
- and pay one ruble to whoever has the pass for that city. If no one has the pass, pay that fee to the bank.
[a] If there are no adjacent unoccupied tiles, simply leave the Prince on the same tile as you.
Buying Passes
Whenever you are in a city you may buy that city's pass for five rubles, but only if their pass is still available and the city is not burned.
Buying Goods
Each of the trade goods may be bought in only one city:
- amber in Novgorod
- fish in Minsk
- furs in Smolensk
If you are in one of these cities you may buy that trade good for one ruble each.
When you buy a trade good, place it on your ship card. If you have a small ship, you may only carry up to two goods at a time.
You may throw away trade goods if you wish.
Selling Goods
Goods may only be sold according to contracts sitting out on the table. Each contract shows a city and a trade good. If you bring that good to that city you may sell it:
- Return the trade good to its stack.
- Discard the contract card.[a]
- Collect rubles for selling the good. The current price is the highest number revealed on the price card.
Unlike in some games, contracts on the table are not automatically replenished.
[a] If there are no contracts left in the deck or on the table or in anyone's hands, the game ends.
Ship Upgrades
If you have a small ship you may upgrade to a large one by spending five rubles. Turn your ship card over. You may now carry an unlimited number of goods.
Showing Hidden Contracts
If you have any contracts in your hand you may lay all of them down on the table at once (see Draw New Contracts below for how to draw contracts to your hand).
Trading Among the Players
You may trade with any player whose ship is on an adjacent tile. You may trade any combination of money, goods, passes, and contracts.
Special Actions
Instead of taking a regular turn, you could do a special action. If you do one of these, you may not do any other action on your turn:
- move the Horde
- move the Prince
- draw new contracts
- start over
The Horde
Move the Horde up to two steps in any direction; they do not care about rivers. The Horde can be used to attack cities, ships, and the Prince.
If the Horde enters a tile with an unburned city, they stop moving for the turn to pillage the city. Take the leftmost burned marker from the price card and place it on the city. Collect one ruble as a reward. If five cities are now burned, the game ends (see End of Game).
If the Horde enters a tile with a player's ship, they stop moving for the turn to raid the ship. That player pays you one ruble,[a] then moves their ship to an adjacent unoccupied tile of their choice.[bc]
If the Horde enters the tile with the Prince, they stop moving for the turn to do battle. Move the Prince to any unburned, unoccupied city on the board.
[a] If they have no money, they choose one of their trade goods to give to you. If they have neither money nor goods, they merely weep as you laugh at their pitiful plight.
[b] If there are no adjacent unoccupied tiles, they stay on the tile with the Horde.
[c] If the Horde drives them into a city, they do not have to pay a fee to get in.
The Prince
Move the Prince like a ship that has the pass to every city: 3 steps by river, 1 by land.
If the Prince enters a burned city, he stops moving for the turn to rebuild the city. Remove the burned marker from the city and put it on the rightmost empty space on the price card. Collect one ruble as a reward.
If the Prince ends his movement on a tile with a player's ship, that player moves their ship to an adjacent unoccupied tile of their choice.[ab]
If the Prince steps onto the tile with the Horde, he stops moving for the turn to do battle. Move the Horde to any unoccupied non-city tile on the board.
[a] If there are no adjacent unoccupied tiles, they stay on the tile with the Prince.
[b] If the Prince drives them into a city, they do not have to pay a fee to get in.
Draw New Contracts
Draw two contracts, keeping one hidden in your hand and laying the other one down on the table.
Start Over
If your expedition is going very poorly, you may choose to restart as a new Viking. Turn in your passes, goods, and money. Collect five rubles from the bank and choose one available pass. Place your ship on any unoccupied tile. Turn your ship card small side up.
End of Game
As soon as someone has at least thirty rubles, or five cities are burned, the game ends.
Whoever has the most money wins. If there is a tie for most money, the tie is broken by whoever has the most goods. If there is still a tie, the tie is broken by whoever has the most passes.
At all times, the amount of money you have, the goods on your ship, and the passes you have are public knowledge.
Reference
Setup
Each player: 5 rubles, ship & card with small ship up. Burned markers on price card, leftmost price revealed. Shuffle tiles, assemble board.
Shuffle passes. Reveal one, place horde there with first burned marker. Reveal another, place prince there. Spread out all passes.
Shuffle contracts. Turn over twice as many as players.
Players each take pass, start with last to place board tile, proceed to right. Players place ships on empty tiles, proceed to right. Last to place, first to play, proceeding to left.
On Your Turn
All optional, do in any order: move, buy, sell, upgrade, play contracts, trade.
Move up to 3 by river or 1 elsewhere. Cannot step onto horde, cannot end on ship. End on prince: bump to adjacent empty.
Enter unburned city: stop and pay 1 to pass owner. In unburned city: buy pass for 5.
In source: buy goods for 1. Sell to close contract on table, collect highest price visible.
Upgrade to large ship for 5. Play all contracts in hand. Trade with adjacent ship.
Special Actions
Instead of normal turn, a special action: move horde, move prince, draw contracts, restart.
Move horde up to 2. Stop to burn a city: gain 1. Stop at ship: steal 1, bump to adjacent empty. Stop on prince: send to empty city (unburned).
Move prince like ship, not stopping for cities. End on ship: bump to adjacent empty. Stop on horde: send to empty non-city. Stop to rebuild city: gain 1.
Draw two contracts: keep one, play the other.
Restart as in setup.
End of Game
Game ends at 30 rubles or 5 burned cities. Winner: most rubles, break tie by most goods, break tie by most passes.