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al-azad
May 28, 2009





Welcome to medieval Spain. You're a grande swinging some big pipe. The king is touring the countryside throwing baller rear end parties and you want in. But once the party starts the club locks up tight! So you send your pimpalleros to spread your good name across the country and if you can convince the king to grace your court with a party you'll get beaucoup respect. But the other grandes are out to diss you and nothing pisses off the king more than multiple people kissing his rear end. The grande who can control the king and smartly manage the region will come out on top!

Rules of the Game
El Grande is a pretty simple, low-luck game.

There are 9 regions on the gameboard, each with a point value.



From left to right, top to bottom: Galicia, Basque Country, Aragon, Catalonia, Old Castile, New Castile, Valencia, Seville, Granada.

There's also the castillo . It's a special region that anyone can access. You can see the white outline on the lower right.

You have caballeros represented by cubes . Some of them are in your province (reserves) while others are in your court (in the game but not in play). You move them around the board to dominate the regions.

You also have a grande, a slightly larger cube . They make a region more valuable for you but they do not count for dominance and they usually don't move.

Finally there's the king . The king shuts down a region: nothing in his region can be affected by any ability whatsoever. No one goes in and no one leaves. He supersedes all rules! Caballeros can usually only be placed in regions adjacent to the king.

Everyone has a hand of 13 "power" cards numbered 1 to 13 and with 6 to 0 caballeros.



At the beginning of a round, each player in turn order plays a numbered card. The number determines (A) who goes first in descending order (13 always goes first, 1 always goes last) and (B) the max caballeros you move from your province to your court. Players can not play duplicate cards in a single round. If player 1 plays a 13 then player 2 cannot play a 13. Your power cards are discarded at the end of the round.

Note: If you have no caballeros in the province you may remove them from the board to make up the difference (remember, the king is taboo!).

On your turn there are 5 "action" cards with an action and number of caballeros on them from 1-5.



You pick one action card on your turn. You may, in whichever order you want, perform two things: (A) move up to the pictured caballeros from your court to the board adjacent to the king or the castillo (you may split up as many as you want), (B) execute or ignore the special action. The special action usually allows you to ignore rules such as moving the grande or placing caballeros in any region. The 5-card always lets you move the king. Remember, the king is taboo to everything except moving the king. Action cards can only be chosen once per round and are permanently discarded after used. Only the number 5 (move the king) remains in the game but it still can only be used once per round!

Each player takes a turn selecting an action card. Once everyone has taken a turn we begin a new round and the last player will be the first to choose a power card.

After the 3rd, 6th, and 9th (final) round you score the game. The person with the most caballeros in a region gets the most points, second most gets the next highest, and so on. Tied players drop a rank. E.g. if a region is worth 5/3/1 and two players tie for first they'll both get 3 points. Be warned, if two players tie for first and two players tie for second then the first tie gets 3 points but the second tie gets nothing. You score +2 points if you have majority in the region with your grande. You score +2 points if you have majority in the region with your king. In both cases ties don't count for this bonus.

The castillo is actually the first region to be scored. After scoring, everyone with caballeros in the castillo will secretly choose a region (not the king's region!) to send all of their caballeros. The castillo is a way to score points as well as sneaking up on people when they least expect it.

Lastly these are mobile scoring boards.



If a card tells you to place one then you may select it and overwrite a score track on the board. Once placed mobile scoreboards may be moved but they can never be removed from the board.

RULES OF THIS THREAD

I'll be tracking caballeros with an image post that everyone can see. I will also post the action cards with an accompanying picture. All other information will be displayed by text including power cards that have been used (this is not secret).

There is no secret information in this game except for when the secret spinner is called for either by an action card or scoring the castillo. Players will PM me their moves (if you don't have PM I will provide an email address). While the rules expects players to pay attention to the castillo during real life gameplay, the contents are not secret information so they will be displayed in the image.

When selecting your power card, simply post Power: XX, Caballeros: XX. Remember, you choose power cards in player order one at a time and you cannot choose a duplicate card for that round. Your power cards are discarded after use and only a few actions can retrieve them so pick wisely. The power cards you have available at the start are worth the following:

P: 13, C: 0
P: 12, C: 0
P: 11, C: 1
P: 10, C: 1
P: 9, C: 2
P: 8, C: 2
P: 7, C: 3
P: 6, C: 3
P: 5, C: 4
P: 4, C: 4
P: 3, C: 5
P: 2, C: 5
P: 1, C: 6

State how many, if any, caballeros you take from your province. If your province is empty you can remove caballeros from the board (state the region and how many).

Once the turn begins you select your action card, this is easy enough. Choose the order you want to resolve the card: place/don't place caballeros, perform/block the action. Simply state the region(s) and how many caballeros you want to drop there.

That's it! Let's get 5 players, first come first serve!

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Captain Bravo
Feb 16, 2011

An Emergency Shitpost
has been deployed...

...but experts warn it is
just a drop in the ocean.
I have no clue how this game works, but I'm willing to give it a shot.

al-azad
May 28, 2009



I'll run through a sample turn before starting. Don't worry, it's a really elegant boardgame.

rchandra
Apr 30, 2013


Do you know how long the game will take, and/or how often people should take turns?

al-azad
May 28, 2009



rchandra posted:

Do you know how long the game will take, and/or how often people should take turns?

The game is broken up into rounds. In a round there are basically two phases

phase 1: everyone posts which power card they use which determines turn order for phase 2
phase 2: everyone takes a turn choosing an action. The last person becomes the first player in phase 1 when we begin a new round.

This goes on for 9 rounds. How long it takes depends on how often people post. The game really isn't that involved, you're just doing two things each round and then you make a secret decision during scoring. I'd like to update the board after every action but if players want to take their next turn by tracking the pieces in every post on their own then that can speed things up.

I think a slow assumption for this game is 2-3 rounds a week. If everybody posts twice (once per phase) every 24-32 hours we could realistically knock a game out in 2 weeks which is a good time for a PBP boardgame IMO.

rchandra
Apr 30, 2013


OK, I'll join in. I've played the game before but probably only twice, and years ago.

Dire Wombat
Oct 29, 2011

In this world, there is no truth. The truth is made later on and overwrites what comes before it. Real truth doesn't exist anywhere.
I am godawful at this game, but I'll throw my hat in the ring.

Bubble-T
Dec 26, 2004

You know, I've got a funny feeling I've seen this all before.
I'm in, never had the chance to play this IRL.

al-azad
May 28, 2009



Alright, looks like we need one more player. C'mon the king wants to party!

al-azad
May 28, 2009



If I can't get a fifth person by tonight we'll roll with 4.

al-azad
May 28, 2009



Alright, I'm going to be sending out PMs to ensure everyone who was interested is still willing to play. Here's a test post for those who need a refresher on how the game works.

Assume we're in Round 3 with two players, Player A (blue) and Player B (red).



The following action cards are available for this round



The setup for the two players is

pre:
Blue
Province: 21
Court: 2

Red
Province: 21
Court: 0
Blue went last in the previous round so he gets to pick the first power card.

Phase 1

Blue definitely wants to go first so he plays P:13, C: 0 card. 13 power means he'll always go first (because other players can't play duplicate cards) but he won't add any caballeros from his province to his court. This means he only has 2 caballeros to work with.

Red needs caballeros in his court so he decides to play the P: 1, C: 6 card. Power 1 means he'll always go last but he'll add 6 caballeros from his province to his court.

Phase 2

Blue wants to secure the king so he picks Action 5. Although this card lets him move 5 caballeros from the court to the board, he only has 2 in his court. He moves 1 caballeros to Valencia and 1 to Granada. Then he activates the action to move the king to Galicia. This order is important: if he moved the king to Galicia from the start then he wouldn't have been able to drop his caballeros in Valencia and Granada because they wouldn't be adjacent.

Red chooses Action 4. He'll move 1 caballero to Basque and 3 to Old Castile. Then red executes the special scoring. Blue and red secretly choose a region to score. If blue chooses Galicia he'll score 8 points (4 for control, +2 for grande, +2 for king). But if red chooses New Castile he'll score 9 points (7 for control, +2 for grande). Blue chooses New Castile to score hoping red will also choose New Castile which will cancel the scoring out. Red is savvy to this so he chooses the newly acquired Old Castile for scoring.

Blue hosed up and scores 9 points for red in New Castile ,and red scores 7 points in Old Castile for a total of 16 points (in a 2 player game only the first number is resolved).

Not a good play for blue in hindsight. If blue chose Action 3 and placed 2 caballeros in Granada then execute the special scoring (score the region(s) with the least caballeros) he could have have scored 24 points. This is because Seville, Old Castile, Granada, and Galicia tie for the least caballeros (in this case 2). Red would've scored 11 points in New Castile but it would have been a net gain for blue. Manipulating the board is part of this game's strategic depth. The king is powerful but don't let his immunity and +2 points throw you off!

End of Round



At the end of round 3 the game is scored. First the castillo is resolved. Red has majority and scores 5 points. Blue and red secretly choose regions to send their caballeros. Blue chooses Old Castile and red chooses Seville.



Blue controls Galicia, Valencia, and Granada. Combined with the king and his grande he scores a total of 19 points.

Red controls Basque, Catalonia, and New Castile. Combined with his grande and the castillo, he scores a total of 23 points.

Seville and Old Castile are ties. In a two player game this means no one scores any points although in a 3+ player game they would have both scored 3 for Seville and 4 for Old Castile.

With scoring over we discard all unused action cards and reveal a new set. Round 4 begins in phase 1. Because red went last in the previous round he'll be picking his power card 1st.

pre:
Red
Province: 15
Court: 2
Score: 39

Blue
Province: 21
Court: 0
Score: 19
Going into round 4 blue has some catching up to do but there's still an entire half of the game and 2 scoring phases left to secure his victory!

al-azad
May 28, 2009



Ready to start. PMs have been sent out, initial turn order is first come. Colors are blue, red, yellow, green, or brown.

Captain Bravo
Feb 16, 2011

An Emergency Shitpost
has been deployed...

...but experts warn it is
just a drop in the ocean.
Dibs on green!

al-azad
May 28, 2009



rchandra has checked in claiming blue.

Dire Wombat
Oct 29, 2011

In this world, there is no truth. The truth is made later on and overwrites what comes before it. Real truth doesn't exist anywhere.
I will take brown.

al-azad
May 28, 2009



Bubble-T has checked in claiming yellow.

Setup
Starting locations are assigned randomly.

Captain Bravo (green) starts in Old Castille.

rchandra (blue) starts in Galicia.

Dire Wombat (brown) starts in Basque Country.

Bubble-T (yellow) starts in Seville.

The king is in Catalonia.

Round 1


Round 1 Action Cards


1 - Move up to 3 foreign (opponent's) caballero(s) from any region(s) to any other region(s) including the castillo.
2 - Choose one region to be scored including the castillo.
3 - Score all the 5 point regions (Basque Country, Aragon, Valencia). Castillo isn't scored.
4 - Choose one region: all opponents with caballeros in that region secretly choose a region and move their caballeros there.
5 - Move the king to any region.

Phase 1

Available power cards at the start (I will mark off power cards by number as you use them)

pre:
Captain Bravo (green)
Court: 7
Province: 21
Used Power Cards: 0
Score: 0

rchandra (blue)
Court: 7
Province: 21
Used Power Cards: 0
Score: 0

Dire Wombat (brown)
Court: 7
Province: 21
Used Power Cards: 0
Score: 0

Bubble-T (yellow)
Court: 7
Province: 21
Used Power Cards: 0
Score: 0
Crib Sheet
Play a power card face-up in turn.
The power cards played determine turn order for the round: highest to lowest. In a turn, each player may:
1) Move up to power card's listed caballeros from the provinces to the court.
2) Select action card and in any order:
3a) Move up to action card's listed caballeros from the court to the board.
3b) Execute or not execute the special action on the action card.

Reminder: Nothing enters or exits the king's region. If for some reason you send caballeros to the king's region then you return them from the board to your court.

If an action says to secretly choose a region then PM me (any of the 9 main regions, the castillo isn't chosen secretly). To speed up play do not PM me if you're the only person affected by a secret action.

To speed up play, if you're comfortable with visualizing the game board in your head then you can proceed to your action in turn order. I will update the board in the middle of a round if requested.

Captain Bravo
Feb 16, 2011

An Emergency Shitpost
has been deployed...

...but experts warn it is
just a drop in the ocean.
Ok, so if I understand it right, I can choose to play my P: 13 C:0 card right now, correct?

al-azad
May 28, 2009



Correct, you may play any power card during phase 1. You can't play a duplicate card as someone else in the same round. Turn order for the next round is determined by who went last in the previous. You discard your power card after use and there are exactly 2 action cards that let you get it back so you can count on never seeing a played power card again.

So if you play your 13 now then you're guaranteed to go first but you probably won't ever have that guarantee for the rest of the game.

Captain Bravo
Feb 16, 2011

An Emergency Shitpost
has been deployed...

...but experts warn it is
just a drop in the ocean.
Game only lasts 9 turns, right? I'm ok with that.

rchandra
Apr 30, 2013


Play P9 / C2.

Dire Wombat
Oct 29, 2011

In this world, there is no truth. The truth is made later on and overwrites what comes before it. Real truth doesn't exist anywhere.
I play P2/C5.

Bubble-T
Dec 26, 2004

You know, I've got a funny feeling I've seen this all before.
P1/C6 please.

al-azad
May 28, 2009



For the future you don't have to wait for me to go into action drafting after you've played your power cards. But the action order for this round would be

Captain Bravo
rchandra
Dire Wombat
Bubble-T

Captain Bravo
Feb 16, 2011

An Emergency Shitpost
has been deployed...

...but experts warn it is
just a drop in the ocean.
Ok, do we post our moves here, or PM them to you?

rchandra
Apr 30, 2013


I'm pretty sure you can post them unless there's secrecy needed (like the opponents' choices in card 4).

Captain Bravo
Feb 16, 2011

An Emergency Shitpost
has been deployed...

...but experts warn it is
just a drop in the ocean.
I'll take card 2, I'll move my two Caballeros from court to Valencia, and I'll choose Old Castille as the region to be scored. :getin:


(My thinking was that rchandra would jump on the 3 card, toss three into Aragorn, and then I'd get 8 points from Old Castille and 5 extra points from Valencia. But I realized that rchandra would only be getting five points either way, and it makes way more sense for them to toss three into Valencia, keeping me at 8 points. And if, for whatever reason, they chose a different card, it wouldn't make a difference because Dire Wombat sure as poo poo will take that card if nobody else has, and nab themselves ten free points. In that case, it makes sense to give up the eight points that the two card gives me for a solid ten from the three card. Even though that is less than the thirteen I was hoping for, it doesn't rely on another player making a stupid move, because there's no guarantee that rchandra will drop the ball. :v:)

Captain Bravo fucked around with this message at 06:57 on May 19, 2015

Captain Bravo
Feb 16, 2011

An Emergency Shitpost
has been deployed...

...but experts warn it is
just a drop in the ocean.
Actually, nix that. Dire Wombat is getting five points either way, I might as well make the most of my turn. I'll take Card #3, move two Caballero to Valencia and one to Aragon, then declare the special scoring to give myself 10 points and Wombat 5.

rchandra
Apr 30, 2013


Take Card 2
2 Caballero to Aragon (7 in Court).
Score Galicia 6 points for me, none elsewhere.

Cards remaining: 5, 4, 1.

While you might be guaranteed I will drop the ball, I can't promise I'll throw it to you.

Dire Wombat
Oct 29, 2011

In this world, there is no truth. The truth is made later on and overwrites what comes before it. Real truth doesn't exist anywhere.
I take Card 5.
Move the king to Aragon.
1 caballero to Old Castile, three to New Castile, one to Catalonia.

Bubble-T
Dec 26, 2004

You know, I've got a funny feeling I've seen this all before.
I take Card 5.

I evict Caballeros from Old Castille.

This resolves before I have to choose where my Caballeros go, correct?

Dire Wombat
Oct 29, 2011

In this world, there is no truth. The truth is made later on and overwrites what comes before it. Real truth doesn't exist anywhere.

Bubble-T posted:

I take Card 5.

I evict Caballeros from Old Castille.

This resolves before I have to choose where my Caballeros go, correct?

I think you mean Card 4. You're right about the order of operations.

al-azad
May 28, 2009



You can choose the action first or second. In the case of the eviction card it only works on "foreign" (opponent) caballeros so you would be immune anyway.

Dire Wombat has sent me his location so you can post yours publicly Captain Bravo. I'll update the map and begin round 2 when you do.

Captain Bravo
Feb 16, 2011

An Emergency Shitpost
has been deployed...

...but experts warn it is
just a drop in the ocean.
I'll move my Caballeros to Aragorn.

Bubble-T
Dec 26, 2004

You know, I've got a funny feeling I've seen this all before.
2 in Old Castile, 2 in Catalonia please.

Captain Bravo posted:

I'll move my Caballeros to Aragorn.

The king is there at the moment.

Captain Bravo
Feb 16, 2011

An Emergency Shitpost
has been deployed...

...but experts warn it is
just a drop in the ocean.
herp derp, Valencia then.

al-azad
May 28, 2009



I should establish "seating order" for the purposes of turn order. From left to right going clockwise: Captain Bravo -> rchandra -> Dire Wombat -> Bubble-T. rchandra is on Captain Bravo's left who is on Bubble-T's left and so on. If Dire Wombat is going first then Bubble-T is going second, etc.

Round 2



Round 2 Action Cards



1. Only two of your caballeros can be moved to any region. The 1 still has to follow the king-adjacency rule.
2. The full details of the veto card require you to announce it as a player is selecting their action. Since this is impossible for a PBP game I offer this alternative ruling: You block a special action immediately after it has happened. You prevent only the special action, not the moving of caballeros onto the board. You must post immediately after the post you want to block. If the next player takes their turn then you cannot block the previous action. The veto card can be held until the end of the next round at which point it's discarded.
3. Score all 6 and 7 regions (Granada, New Castile, Old Castile)
4. Place a mobile scoreboard (see the first post) on the board.
5. Move the king.

Bubble-T plays first.

pre:
Seating Order: Captain Bravo -> rchandra -> Dire Wombat -> Bubble-T

Bubble-T (yellow)
Court: 9
Province: 15
Used Power Cards: 1
Score: 0

Captain Bravo (green)
Court: 4
Province: 21
Used Power Cards: 13
Score: 10

rchandra (blue)
Court: 7
Province: 19
Used Power Cards: 9
Score: 6

Dire Wombat (brown)
Court: 7
Province: 16
Used Power Cards: 2
Score: 5

Captain Bravo
Feb 16, 2011

An Emergency Shitpost
has been deployed...

...but experts warn it is
just a drop in the ocean.
Uhh, it still shows me as having two caballeros in Old Castille, shouldn't those have been evicted?

Edit: Haha, nevermind, I just realized who those belong to. Colorblindness strikes again! :argh:

Bubble-T
Dec 26, 2004

You know, I've got a funny feeling I've seen this all before.
P12/C0

Captain Bravo
Feb 16, 2011

An Emergency Shitpost
has been deployed...

...but experts warn it is
just a drop in the ocean.
P3:C5

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rchandra
Apr 30, 2013


P4 / C4

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