Elfenland translation

Back to BBG home page
Back to BBG reviews page

Doug Adams writes:

Here are the rules to Elfenland based on the Amigo rulebook.  I took the set of rules Alan Moon posted on rec.games.board early in 1998, and altered them to reflect the Amigo rulebook.  Alan's rules don't quite match the Amigo rules in a few areas, and Alan did note where they varied in his rules. Changes are basically:

• If you are holding 5 or more cards at the end of your movement, you must discard down to four cards.
• All players must discard down to 1 transport counter at the end of the round, BEFORE...
• You are dealt cards to bring your hand back to 8 cards.
• Alan's rules indicated that you may play 'log' counters on rivers and lakes, but they are ineffectual.  The Amigo rules say you just can't play them there.
• Moved the city cards rules to the end of the rules as a variant, as in the Amigo rules. I've also moved the Boatmen and Alan's Ferry rules to the variant section as well.

ELFENLAND by Alan Moon

INTRODUCTION

ELFENLAND is the revision of ELFENROADS by White Wind Inc. For 2-6 players.

COMPONENTS

• Gameboard
• 6 Elfs
• 72 Movement Cards (12 rafts plus 10 each each of the other six types of transportation)
• 12 City Cards
• 48 Transportation Counters (8 each of the six types of transportation)
• 6 Trouble Counters
• 120 Markers (6 sets of 20)
• 4 Round Cards
• 1 First Player Card
• 6 Playing Aid Cards
• Rules

PREPARATIONS

• Each player should take one Elf, the corresponding set of 20 markers, one Trouble Counter, and a Playing Aid Card. Each player places one marker on each of the 20 cities on the board and places his Elf in the Elf City.
• Shuffle the Movement Cards thoroughly. Turn all the Transportation Counters face down on the table in a pile and mix them thoroughly.
• Place the four Round Cards in the space on the game board.
• Decide who will be the First Player for the initial Round of the game and give him the First Player Card.
• The First Player shuffles the Movement Cards and deals 8 to each player. Any remaining cards are not used during the Round.

SEQUENCE OF PLAY

The game consists of a maximum of 4 rounds. Each Round is played as follows:

1. Beginning with the First Player and proceeding clockwise around the board, each player draws one of the face down Transportation Counters. Each player may keep this counter face down.
2. Turn 5 Transportation Counters face up. Beginning with the First Player and proceeding clockwise around the board, each player draws one Transportation Counter at a time until each player has drawn 3 counters. Each player will then have drawn a total of 4 counters including the one drawn in Step 2. A player may draw one of the 5 face up counters or may draw any face down counter (this is a blind draw). However, all these Transportation Counters must be kept face up. If a player draws a face down counter, he must place this counter in front of him. Each time a face up counter is drawn, another counter from the pile should be turned face up to replace it so that there are always 5 face up counters. A player may never have more than five counters (face up or face down) total.
3. Beginning with the First Player and proceeding clockwise around the board, each player takes one turn at a time. On his turn, a player may either place one Transportation Counter on a route or PASS.
4. Beginning with the First Player and proceeding clockwise around the board, each player plays cards and moves his Elf. At the end of their movement, if they are holding more than four movement cards, they must discard down to four cards.
5. The First Player removes the Round Card and puts it in the box. The First Player passes the First Player Card to the player on his left who becomes the First Player for the next Round. All Transportation Counters on routes are removed from the board and placed back in the pile, and the pile is then thoroughly mixed. Trouble Counters that were on the board are placed in the box (a player may only use his Trouble Counter once per game). Any players holding more than 1 Transportation Counter at this point must discard down to 1 counter - they may discard face up or face down counters. All discarded Movement Cards are shuffled with all the unused cards from the previous round, and each player is dealt enough cards to bring them up to 8 cards each, total. A new round commences.

ROUTES & METHODS OF TRANSPORTATION

There are six types of routes:

• Open Roads
• Forest Paths
• Desert Tracks
• Mountain Trails
• Rivers
• Lakes

1. Giant Pigs may not be used on Desert Tracks nor on Mountain Trails.
2. Trollwagons are slow on Forest Paths, on Desert Tracks, and on Mountain Trails.
3. Elfcycles may not be used on Desert Tracks and are slow on Mountain Trails.
4. Unicorns may not be used on Open Roads and are slow on Desert Tracks
5. Magic Clouds may not be used on Desert Tracks and are slow on Open Roads and Forest Paths.
6. Dragons are slow on Forest Paths.
7. Rafts may only be used on Rivers and Lakes. They travel at normal speed down river; going in the direction shown by the arrows. They are slow when travelling up river; going in the opposite direction shown by the arrows.  They are slow crossing when crossing the lake in any direction. No other method of transportation may be used on Rivers or Lakes.

PLACING TRANSPORTATION COUNTERS

The placing of counters starts with the First Player and proceeds clockwise around the table. Each player may place a counter or PASS. A player who passes one turn may still place a counter on his next turn. This step ends when all players PASS consecutively.

A player may place any counter on any route on the board, except a counter of a method of transportation that is prohibited from being used on that type of route. For instance, a Giant Pig counter may not be placed on a Desert Track.

A player may place his Trouble Counter next to any Transportation Counter already placed. Only one Trouble Counter may be placed on any one route. Except for a route that has a Trouble Counter on it (in which case the route will have two counters), each route may only have one Transportation Counter on it. Trouble counters may not be placed on rivers or lakes.

A player may not keep more than one counter from one Round to the next. If at the end of the placement step, a player has more than one counter, he must discard enough counters to get down to the limit. A saved counter retains its original orientation, either face up or face down.

PLAYING CARDS & MOVING

A player can move his Elf along any route if the following conditions are met:

1. There must be a counter on the route.
2. The player must play a card matching the counter on the route.
3. If the method of transportation is slow on this type of route, the player must play two cards instead of just one.
4. A Trouble Counter on a route increases the required number of cards by one. Example: If there is a Trollwagon Counter and a Trouble Counter on a Desert Track, a player would need three Trollwagon cards to use this route.

There are no Raft Counters. Players may travel along rivers or lakes just by playing Raft Cards.

A player may move along as many routes as he is able to in the same turn. He may move along the same route more than once including backtracking (moving both ways along the same route) but the player is still required to play the appropriate cards for each move.

A player removes one of his markers from each city he passes through during the turn, as well as removing the marker from the city where he ends his turn. After finishing movement, a player must discard down to four cards, if holding five or more.

CARAVANS

In addition to the normal method of movement, a player can join a Caravan to move along any route if the following conditions are met.

1. There must be a counter on the route. (It is not possible to join a Caravan to move along a river or across a Lake.)
2. The player must play three cards. The three cards can be three of the same type of transportation, three different types, or two of one type and one of another. Raft Cards may be included.
3. If there is a Trouble Counter on a route, the player must play four cards instead of just three.

LAKES & BOATMEN

A player can cross Mare Magnum in any direction (between Elvenhold, Strykhaven, and Virst, or Grangor, Yttar, and Parundia) by playing 2 Raft cards.

GAME END & WINNING

At the end of the fourth round, the player who has collected the most city markers wins the game. If there is a tie, the player holding the most movement cards wins the game.

If a player collects all 20 city markers before the end of the fourth round, the current round is completed and the winner is then determined as above.

VARIANTS

Home Cities: Shuffle the City Cards and give one to each player. Each player should keep his City Card face down in front of him. Put the rest of the City Cards back in the box and make sure none of the players see any of them; they are not used in the game.

The task of the players is now to collect their city markers and if possible to finish at, or at least near to, the city listed on their City Card.

At the end of the game, as well as the usual rules, the players reveal their City Cards and remove one city marker for each space they are away from the city on their City Card (by shortest route). The player with the most markers wins the game. In case of ties, the player closest to the city on their City Card wins the game.

Lakes: A player can cross Mare Nebulae in any direction (between Grangor, Yttar, and Parundia) by playing 1 Raft.

Boatmen: Instead of using a Raft, a player may play any three cards and hire The Boatmen to cross Mare Nebulae in any direction. The three cards can be three of the same type of transportation, three different types, or two of one type and one of another. There are no Boatmen available on Mare Magnum.

PLAYING ELFENROADS ON THE ELFENLAND BOARD

ELFENLAND can be played using the ELFENROADS rules with some modifications.

City Values:

• Al' Baran - 7
• Kihromah - 6
• Grangor, Mah' Davika, Jaccaranda. Erg' Eren - 5
• Strykhaven, Dag' Amura, Yttar, Parundia, Usselen, Feodor - 4
• Virst, Jxara, Wylhien, Throtmanni, Tichih, Rivinia - 3
• Beata, Lapphalya - 2

• 9 each of the seven types of transportation and 7 Gold Cards.

• 4 Dragons
• 4 Magic Clouds
• 5 Unicorns
• 8 Elfcycles
• 8 Trollwagons
• 9 Giant Pigs
• 2 Gold Counters
• 2 Trouble Markers

Top of Page