Gold Connection Translation (C) Peter F Dwyer May 1994 HTML (C) Tony Briers 1995 Aim of the Game The aim of the game is to collect gold bullion. The winner is the player who, at the end, has collected the most valuable bullion in his transportation-crate. Bonus points are awarded for collecting bullion series which are 5 and 6 bars long. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contents 1. Components 2. Set-Up 3. Overview 4. Movement 5. Sorting the bullion 6. Consolation Chips 7. Plundering Opponents' transport crates 8. Settling-Up 9. Reminders 10. Play Variation --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Components 1 x board; 84 x bullion bars: in each colour: 6 bars of value 1, 5 x 2, 4 x 3, 3 x 4, 2 x 5 and 1 bar of value 6; 20 x consolation chips; 4 x transportation crates; 4 x robber-stones; 4 x arrows; 1 x turn-counter; The game board shows 14 bank vaultsr(or safes). Each safe is one field or square. Two safes are un-numbered. The rest are numbered 1 to 12 for the purposes of placing the robber stones at the start. Robbers have a limited time in which to empty the safes. Set-Up 1 Shuffle the 84 bullion bars and deal 6 to each safe, face-up, at random. 2 Put the 20 consolation chips handy, beside the board. 3 Give each player a transport crate, a robber stone and an arrow in the same colour. Each player puts the transport crate in front of himself. The crate contains a storage space on the cover (where bullion bars are placed after a succesful move), and numbered fields in 4 colours (in which sequences of bullion bars are placed at the end of a player's turn). It is possible to collect 3 series of bullion bars in each colour. 4 Each player in turn rolls both dice to ascertain start squares for their robber stones. Only 1 robber stone can occupy one square . Players may use the sum of both dice or the value on one die to place their robber stones. If a field (safe) is already occupied, the player may continue to roll the dice until a free field is designated by the throw. 5 After the robber stones are placed, each player puts his arrow on top of his robber stone. The start player is the player whose field totals the highest number. The others follow in clockwise order. The walls on the game board between the safes may not be traversed. The arrows show the direction of a player's move. Arrow stones must clearly indicate in which direction a player is intending to move in their first move and all subsequent ones. When each arrow stone has been properly placed, begin the game. Overview Each player moves his arrow around the game board hunting for bullion bars - from safes or from other players. Players should consider which bullion bars are needed because they must fill their transport crates with bars in strict order of numerical sequence. Players may start any colour sequence of 4, 5 or 6 bars at any time, but must complete such sequences in strictly numerical order. The dice decide if a player succeeds or not on each move. The longer the path and the more valuable the loot, the greater the target roll required from the dice throw. If a throw succeeds, a player may decide to continue his move and attempt to acquire more bullion bars in the same turn. If the player stops voluntarily, he may sort the bars already collected in his storage compartment into the corresponding coloured rows inside the transport crate. If the player fails, all the loot acquired during the player's current turn is returned to the game board (back into the safe), and the arrow is returned to the square occupied by the player's robber stone (ie it is placed on top of it). Movement The player whose turn it is first moves the turn-counter forward one square. (The start player puts it on the first field of the numbered path). The player then moves his arrow one or more fields, leaving the robber stone where it is. Each player determines how far his arrow will move. Moves are always made in the direction of the arrow - about faces are not allowed. Only on the un-numbered fields at the ends of the paths do players have a choice of direction in which to continue. Players landing on the un-numbered fields must point their arrow in the direction in which they wish to continue their move. The arrow can be moved onto any field, including ones occupied by opponents' arrows. The walls between rows of safes may not be traversed. If a player's arrow lands on an un-occupied field, the player may try to empty the safe. The player states which bullion bars are wanted, and pushes them beside the safe. The player may select any of the bullion bars in any combination. At the end of the player's turn, the bullion bars are sorted into the transport crate in strictly numerical sequence. (Hence it would be pointless to collect high numbers first!) After the player has announced which bullion bars are wanted, the player makes a 'loot throw'. The player counts the steps the arrow has moved and adds the digits of the desired bullion bars. The player must now equal or exceed this sum with a throw of both dice to be successful. Example 1 A player moves his arrow 2 fields and wants the two blue bars numbered 2 and 3. The player must roll a 7 (2 + 2 + 3) or more to be successful. The throw succeeds and the player puts the bullion bars into his storage compartment (but not yet into the numbered sequences inside the crate). The player may then finish the turn voluntarily or try and pillage further bullion. If the throw fails, the player must replace all of the loot accumulated in the storage compartment during that turn back on the board. The bars are placed back in the safe where the arrow stone is currently resting. The player then returns the arrow to the top of his robber stone. The player's turn is now finished and the next player starts his turn. If a player continues to move, he must count all steps taken since the start of his turn in the target throw required. Hence the target throw increases cumulatively with each move in a turn, by the number of steps taken. Example 2 After the previous success, the player decides to move one more field and attempt to capture the blue 1 bar and the yellow 1 bar from the next safe. The player must roll at least a 5 (ie 2 steps from the previous move, 1 step for this move, and 1 + 1 for the bars). If a player voluntarily ends his turn, the player takes his robber stone from its current square and puts it on the same field as his arrow stone, placing it underneath. The player then sorts the bullion bars from the storage compartment into the crate in strict numerical sequence, by colour. A player may finish a turn on an empty safe - but only if no other player occupies it! In this event, the player must still execute a successful throw, but only counts the steps taken. If the player fails, he loses the bullion bars in his storage compartment as before. Sorting the bullion When a player voluntarily ends his turn, he may sort the bullion bars from his storage compartment into his transport crate, into the sequences, by colour. Series must be collected in strict numerical order, though it is possible to start any colour sequence at any time. But once a sequence is started, it must be completed in strict numerical order. If a player misses a number in a sequence (eg he holds a 1 and a 3 and fails to collect the 2), the bullion bar(s) concerned must be returned from the storage compartment to the board to the safe on which his robber stone and arrow stands. Example 3 A player has pillaged green 1,3,3,4. From an earlier turn, the player already had green bars 1 and 2. He extends his 6-sequence with bar numbers 3 and 4, and starts a new 5-sequence with bar number 1. He cannot use green bar number 3 and therefore returns it to the board. During sorting, each player must carefully decide which sequence he is collecting (ie a 4, 5 or 6). Bonus points are available for the 5- and 6-bar sequences, but these are harder to complete! Consolation Chips Each time a player fails a loot throw, he receives 2 consolation chips - up to a maximum of 5. (Hence, players holding 4 chips already can only claim 1 more). Players may use these chips to improve their dice throws, putting in as many as desired (1 chip = 1 dice point). Chips employed are declared after the dice throw. Used chips are returned to the stockpile. A player successfully using chips cannot claim consolation counters because his dice throw alone was too low! Players may use chips to speculate on scoring more than 12! Plundering Opponents' transport crates Players who have collected ten or more bars can be robbed by other players. If a player moves his arrow on to an opponent's robber stone, he may attempt to pillage his opponent's transport crate. The opponent cannot fight against it. The plundering is conducted by the same rules as for robbing safes. The player announces which bullion bars he wants from his opponent's transport crate. Example 4 The player claims bar number 4 from the 6-sequence and bar number 2 from the 5-sequence. (A player may claim any combination of bars). The designated bars are placed in the victim's storage compartment. Dice are then thrown to see if the robbery is successful. If the throw is successful, the player must continue his move. The player may not finish the turn on this field. Neither may the player empty the safe on the same field. If the throw fails, the victim of the attempted robbery may return the bullion bars to his transportation crate and claim a consolation chip. The player who attempted the robbery returns all bars in his storage compartment back to the board to the safe on which his arrow stone is standing, and then returns his arrow to his robber stone's square. The game ends when the turn-counter is moved onto the last square on the numbered track (ie square 36). Settling-Up Each player now calculates the value of bullion held by adding up the digits on the bars inside his transport crate and adding any bonuses for completed 5- or 6-bar sequences. Whoever scores the most, wins! In the event of a tie, whoever holds the most consolation chips wins. Reminders A player must move at least one field. He may not abstain from moving. A player who lands on an un-numbered field must clearly point his arrow in the direction in which he wishes to continue. A player whose loot throw fails must place his arrow on his robber stone pointing in the same direction as it was originally - he cannot change its direction from the original. Safes occupied by opponents may not be emptied. A safe or an opponent's transport crate may not be plundered twice in the same turn by a player. The move-counter is incremented once at the beginning of a player's turn, not after each move. A player must have 10 bullion bars before he can be robbed. Pillaging may reduce a player's holding to less than 10 bars! Play Variation If all players agree, the turn-counter is not used and the game ends as soon as one player holds two 6-bar sequences or three 5-bar sequences, or better. Players must keep a watchful eye on each other's transport crates in this variation.