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| 2 players, 30-60 minutes, 10 years and older |
| Author | Dirk Henn |
| Illustrator | Andreas Steiner |
| Published by | Kosmos |
| Online since | 2004-12-31 |
| Reimplemented | 2019-02-23 |
| Developed by | (BloodyMary) |
| Previously developed by | Kay Wilke (Sparhawk) |
| Boardgamegeek | 201 |
| Complexity | 1,94/5 |
| Yucata.de owns a license for the online version of this game. A big "thank you" to the copyright owners (publisher and/or author and illustrator) who make it possible to have this game for free online here! |
| Note: This online implementation uses slightly changed rules! |
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The following deviations from the rules apply:
To allow players to choose their favourite color, the starting player will be randomly selected.
The players of the game assume the roles of the royal houses of Lancaster and
York, who fought the War of the Roses (both sides sported a rose on their arms)
between 1455 and 1485 for control of the throne of England. Each will try
to bring the largest areas under their control.
Game content
1 playing board
52 52 doublesided markers ("powerstones," with Red Roses on one side and White Roses on the other)
24 power cards (there are three cards for each of the 8 directions, one each of value I, II, III)
8 Hero cards (4 for each side)
1 Crown marker
Preparation for Play
Place the board between the players, with one player sitting next to the crown
printed at the top of the map. (He'll see the crown and words upside down.)
This player plays the White Roses (House of York), and the other player plays
the Red Roses (House of Lancaster).
Place the powerstones next to the board so each player can reach them.
Shuffle the power cards and deal five to each player. The rest of the power
cards are placed face down beside the board as a draw pile. The players place
their five power cards face up in front of them, so that the crown at the top
of each card has the same orientation as the crown printed on the board.
Each player receives the four hero cards of his color – place them beside your
power cards as illustrated.
Place the crown marker on the center space of the board (marked with a sun
symbol).
In the original game the Red Rose player begins the game. On yucata the starting player is determined randomly.
Course of the game
Each turn, the player whose turn it is must choose exactly one of the following
three possible actions:
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Play a power card
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Draw a power card
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Play a hero card and power card together
Moves are obligatory. If a player is able to move he has to do so even
if the move is unfavorable for him. If a player is only able to move when using
one of his hero cards he has to use one. If a player is not able to move he has
to pass and it is again his opponent's turn.
1. Play a power card
Play one of your available face-up power cards and move the crown marker the
direction and distance shown on the power card. The bright sword shows the
correct direction to move the crown marker. In the crown on each card is the
Roman number I, II, or III – move the marker the indicated number of spaces
exactly. The following rules govern the movement of the crown marker:
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The crown marker must move the full amount shown on the power card. You may not
move the crown marker fewer spaces than shown.
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The space the crown marker moves to must be empty. That is, there cannot be any
powerstone of either player in the space.
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You may not play a power card which would move the crown marker off the board.
Before placing the crown marker on its new location, place a powerstone with
your color Rose showing on the space. Place the crown marker on top of this
powerstone. Place the power card on a discard pile and do not draw a
replacement.
2. Draw a power card
Instead of playing a power card, you may draw a power card from the draw pile.
You may only choose this option if you have fewer than five cards. The new card
is placed face up, with the crown on the card oriented with the crown on the
board, as at the beginning of the game. When the last card is drawn from the
pile, shuffle the discard pile and create a new draw stack with it.
3. Play a Hero card and Power card together
Each player has four hero cards to use once each during the game. If you have
used all four hero cards, you may no longer choose this option. Use of a hero
card allows you to move the crown marker to a space containing one of your
opponent's powerstones. This power stone is then flipped to your color before
placing the crown marker on the space. Thus a hero card is very powerful when
played.
Use of a hero card allows you to turn over a previously played powerstone of
your opponent. This is accomplished by playing a power card into the discard
pile, as in option (1), and discarding a hero card [into a separate discard
pile – they do not reenter the game once used]. Move the crown marker to the
indicated space occupied by your opponent’s powerstone. Before you place the
crown marker on this space, turn the powerstone over so it now shows your color
of Rose.
End of the Game
The game ends in one of two ways:
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When both players have five power cards and neither can take any legal action;
or
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When a player places the last powerstone on the board.
In both cases the game ends immediately.
Each player now figures the values of
their territories. A territory consists of one or more spaces containing your
powerstones connected across at least one side. Spaces adjacent only diagonally
do not count as connected – they must share an edge, not just a corner.
Multiply the number of spaces in a territory times itself to get the value for
that territory. Thus, a territory with 5 spaces is worth 25.
Add the points
from all areas to get a total score. The winner is the player with the highest
point total. In case of a tie, the winner is the player with the largest single
area. If still tied, the winner is the player with the most powerstones of his
color on the board.
If you choose a card to play, this card will be marked with a green border. You have to click on 'Play card' to confirm your choice and automatically
end your move.
If a card may only be played together with a hero card, you have to confirm the use of the hero card, before the card is played.
Playing with option 'Light' will perform the action of a card and show the result. But this action can be undone.
When playing with option 'show draw pile', a click on the blue info icon to the left of the draw pile will show the cards left in that pile.
In the player's info the numbers in parentheses behind the points indicate the values of the tiebreakers.
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