A CLEVER BOARDGAME BY ANDREAS STEDING

Contents1.0 INTRODUCTION2.0 COMPONENTS3.0 STARTING PLAY4.0 GENERAL COURSE OF PLAY5.0 DRAWING 2 NEW ACTION MARKERS6.0 AUCTION7.0 A PLAYER TURN8.0 CONFLICT9.0 VICTORY POINTS

10.0 ACTION MARKERS11.0 DISTRIBUTION OF INFLUENCE MARKERS12.0 SPECIAL VICTORY MARKERS13.0 WINNING THE GAME

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Although Africa had been circumnavigated by the start of the19th century, the continent remained largely undiscovered.One of the great mysteries was the source of the Nile, and ex-plorers like Burton, Speke, Baker and Livingstone became im-mortal in their attempts to find it.Using Arab slave-routes leading from Zanzibar, Dr. David Livingstone, who despised slavery, led his last expedition intothe heart of Africa. Having been mauled by a lion earlier, survi-ving 11 bite wounds and a shattered arm, this Scot was deter-mined and utterly fearless. On they went, in a winding caravanwith their heavy loads, through impenetrable jungles and end-less, insect-infested swamps. They scaled rugged, seeminglyimpassable mountain ranges and toiled over endless steppes,beset upon by fierce, hostile tribes. Suffering from monsoonrains, crocodiles, snakes, dengue, malaria, hookworm, dysen-tery, desertion and thievery, his caravan finally disintegratedand Livingstone became too ill to go any further. His medicinechest was long lost. After an absence of 16 years, Livingstonewas unaware that he had become a people’s hero in England,although it was uncertain if he was still alive. Unknown to theoutside world, none of 3 relief caravans had reached him. Ittook another expedition, funded by an American newspaper,ably led by the equally brave adventurer and journalist MortonStanley, 2 more years to find the toothless, withered Dr. Livingstone on the shores of Lake Tanganyika.

Soon, Africa became the subject of colonialism and trade ex-pansion, and that is where Heart of Africa begins.Two to five players set out to gain as many victory points aspossible. As manager of a colonial trading company, you initi-ally have only limited resources. A bidding structure decideswho may conduct each next turn. Although bidding is costly,

rewards may be rich…As each turn ends, the player evaluates his

score. Will he have enough victory points towin?

2.0 COMPONENTS

Each copy of Heart of Africa contains:� 1 game board� 24 resource markers (6 sets of 4)� 1 Africa marker� 15 conflict markers� 83 action markers� 9 special victory markers� 5 retreat markers� 6 trading posts� 80 traders (wooden discs in 5 colors)� 25 neutral traders (wooden discs, grey color)� 5 wholesale traders (wooden playing pieces in 5 colors)� 60 influence markers (small wooden cubes)� 2 player aid cards� 1 rules bookletYou need an opaque cup to draw traders.

If any of these parts are missing or damaged, we apologize forthe inconvenience and ask that you contact us to receive anyreplacement parts needed.Please send your correspondence to:Phalanx GamesAttn.: Customer ServiceP.O. Box 32 1380 AA WeespThe NetherlandsE-Mail: info@phalanxgames.nl

2.1 The Game BoardThe game board depicts the continent of Africa, which is divided into 24 areas. Some areas contain a symbol. In theseareas one resource marker and one neutral trader are placed atthe start of the game. Madagascar may be entered or left normally via the areas connected by an arrow, see 7.1.2. Thedark areas on the game board (Europe and Saudi-Arabia) arenot playable!

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2.2 The Action MarkersThe core of Heart of Africa are the actionmarkers. They show a number and inmost cases an illustration as well. Thenumber determines the number of actionpoints a player may use. The illustrationexplains which additional special action a

player may conduct, see the Player Aid Card.

3.0 STARTING PLAY

1. Each player chooses a co-lor and receives the corre-sponding traders and thecorresponding wholesaletrader.

2. The influence markers (woodencubes) are distributed. In a 2or 3 player game, each playergets 15. In a 4 or 5 player game,each player gets 12. Unused mar-kers are placed back into the game box.

3. The Africa marker is put into the “0”-box of the Resource Table on the gameboard.

4. Among each ofthe 4 different typesof resources (take alook at the resourcemarkers) one markeris randomly selectedand placed onto theResource Table, eachmarker one box lowerthan the previousone (see the illustra-tion to the right).

5. Each player provi-des one trader, whichis placed in box “2”(the upper box) onthe Reputation Table.Note: Reputation determines the strength of a trader duringa conflict with another player.

6. Place a neutral trader (grey disc) and a randomly selected resource marker in each area with a symbol on the game board.

7. Each player puts one of their traders in a cup. One playerdraws these traders one after another. The first trader is placedin box “8” of the Victory Track, the second in box “7”, the thirdin box “6”, etc.Note: These are the players´ starting victory points.

8. Each player now takes 5 additional traders. First, the playerwith the least number of victory points (see 7. above) selects astarting area on the game board. Only coastal areas may beselected. In addition, a starting area may neither contain neu-tral traders nor those of other players. The player places all 5traders in his selected area.Next, the player with the second lowest number of victorypoints selects a starting area – again only from empty coastalareas, etc.

9. The nine special victory markers are shuffled. Each playerdraws one blindly, and keeps it secret from the others. The unused markers remain face down and are placed back intothe game box.

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10. Next, the actionmarkers are shuffledface down. Fromthese, 6 markers arerandomly selectedand ordered in 3 setsof 2. The remainingaction markers arekept face down nearthe game board.

11. Then the facedown conflict mar-kers are shuffled andplaced near the ga-me board.

4.0 GENERAL COURSE OF PLAY

Each Heart of Africa game turn consists of the following phases:1. 2 new action markers are selected and turned face up.2. The first set of action markers is auctioned off.3. The highest bidder gets the action markers, places a neutral

trader on the game board, conducts his player turn andcounts his victory points.

4. The influence markers are handed to the players.

5.0 DRAWING 2 NEW ACTION MARKERS

At the start of each game turn, two action markers are randomlypicked from the pool of unused markers near the game board.They are turned face up and placed 0 of the line of action markers. There are now 4 sets of action markers.

6.0 AUCTION

The first set of action markers is auctioned off. The player whowon the bidding gets both markers and may conduct a playerturn.Players use their influence markers to bid. Each player may only place one bid. This is done openly. The first bidder is theplayer who currently has the most victory points. Then the player with the second most victory points places his bid, etc.The final bid is placed by the player with the least

victory points. The player with the highest bid wins. Heputs his offered influence markers near the ga-

me board and receives the set of actionmarkers.

All players but the first one may bid with victory points in addition to their influence markers. If a player who has bid victory points wins, these points are deducted from his total anddivided evenly among the other partakers in the auction. If aneven distribution is not possible, the players with a lower totalof victory points receive more. No player may bid more than 10victory points and one may not bid more victory points than onehas. Moreover, no player may pay victory points as long as hestill has influence markers available.

Example: The player with the most victory points bids 5 influ-ence markers. Next, the player with the second most pointsbids 7 markers, the third player passes and the fourth playerbids 8, winning the auction. He only has 6 influence markers.Therefore, 2 victory points are subtracted from his total. Thesecond and third players each get one victory point; in this ex-ample, the player with the most points would gain none. Theauction winner puts 6 influence markers aside and receives theauctioned set of action markers.

7.0 A PLAYER TURN

The auction winner now conducts his player turn.1. He must place a neutral trader on the game board. He takes

a neutral trader and puts him into any empty area (an areawithout any traders or wholesale traders) or an area that already contains other neutral traders.

Note: It may contain traders of other players, however, it hasto contain at least one other neutral trader.2. He now moves his traders and places new ones on the

game board. The number of available action points restrictsmovement and placement.In addition, he may play as many of his action markers ashe wants.

3. Possible conflicts are resolved.4. Finally, victory points are counted and noted on the Victory

Track.

7.1 Action PointsThe two action markers that a player just acquired by auctionshow the number of actions points he has available. If a playerwants, he may list available actions points with any marker onthe Victory Track.

Action points may be used for:� movement,� introducing new traders, and� developing resources

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Action PointsAction Points

Important: The number of action points is limited by the twomarkers. A player cannot “save” action points! Unused actionpoints are lost at the end of the turn. However, it is possible tosave action markers to use their special function in a later play-er turn, see 10.0. The action points, however, only count for theplayer turn in which they were received!

7.1.1 Buying additional Action PointsThe player conducting his player turn may buy additional action points. Every action point costs 1 influence marker. Influence markers spent in this way are placed with the onesplaced aside after the auction.A player may buy additional action points at any time duringhis player turn.

7.1.2 MovementEach trader moves from one area to an adjacent area on thegame board. A trader may move through more than one area:each area entered by each trader costs 1 action point.Note: Madagascar may be entered or left normally via theareas connected by an arrow – these areas are adjacent for ga-me purposes. The dark areas (Europe and Saudi-Arabia) on thegame board are not playable and may not be entered!

A trader automatically has to end movement when he entersan area containing a neutral trader or a trader from a differentplayer.If a trader is in an area with neutral traders or traders from otherplayers at the start of his player turn, he may leave that area (ofcourse, this costs 1 action point).

7.1.3 Introducing new TradersA player may also use action points to introduce new traderson the game board. These have to be entered at empty coastal areas, at friendly coastal areas, or friendly areas containing a trading post.A friendly area is an area which is occupied by at least one owntrader and which does not contain any traders from other players.Neutral traders do not count as unfriendly.An empty area is an area without traders (no matter of whichcolor).Introduction cost: To enter one trader a player has to pay:� 4 action points in empty or friendly coastal areas, or� 2 action points in friendly areas containing a trading post.

7.1.4 Developing ResourcesIt costs 4 action points to change the victory point value of aresource. Only one type of resource may be changed by a player during his turn. The corresponding resource marker ismoved one box up or down on the Resource Table.The value of a resource may never be reduced below “0” or increased beyond “5”. Several (or all) resource types may be inthe same box of the Resource Table.Important: “Empty” areas (areas without a resource marker)have a non-fixed value! Their value is shown by the Africamarker which may be moved up or down like any other resource marker on the Resource Table.

8.0 CONFLICT

If, after movement, the active player has traders in areas withneutral traders, he may initiate a conflict. If, after movement,the active player has traders in areas with traders of other play-ers, he must initiate a conflict.If two players have traders in an area with neutral traders, firstthe conflict between the players is resolved. If the active playerwins that conflict, he may initiate a conflict with the neutral trader(s).If there are several conflicts, the active player determines theorder of resolution.At the end of a conflict, all used markers are shuffled back intothe draw pile, so they become available for the next conflict resolution.

8.1 Conflict with NeutralsThe active player may initiate a conflict with neutral traders – hedoes not have to. However, neutral traders in an area decreasethe number of victory points an active player scores, see 9.1. To start a conflict with neutral traders, the active player must have at least as many traders as there are neutral traders in thearea. Example: If there are 4 neutral traders, the active player musthave at least 4 traders to initiate a conflict.If the active player starts a conflict, he blindly draws a conflictmarker. Depending on the result, he loses traders, reputation orinfluence markers. However, he may retreat the neutral traders(see below). If the result is unfavorable, he may annul the resultand draw a new marker, but only if he has more traders in thearea than there are neutral ones. For each surplus trader, hemay decline the result of one conflict marker. The last drawnconflict marker counts.If the active player cannot or does not want to draw a new con-flict marker, or if he does not want to fullfill the result, he has lostthe conflict. In this case he loses reputation. The trader is mo-ved one box down on the Reputation Table. All traders remainin the area on the game board.

8.1.1 Possible ResultsThe player’s reputation is moved up anumber of boxes according to the num-ber on the conflict marker. Note: Boxes,not value. In this case, the marker wouldbe moved into the next box; he does notnecessarily lose one level of reputation –see the Reputation Table.

The player loses influence markers accor-ding to the number on the conflict marker. They are placed on the same pileas the auction markers.

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The player loses traders according to thenumber on the conflict marker in the area.

The player does not suffer any losses.

8.1.2 RetreatIf the active player wins (i.e., he has removed traders or in-fluence markers or lowered his reputation, and still has at leastone of his own traders in the area), one of the neutral tradersin the area is removed from the game board. Any other neutraltraders still in the area are retreated up to two areas by the active player. They may be moved through or into areas withneutral or non-neutral traders, but never more than two areasaway. If more traders are being retreated, they may be retrea-ted into different areas.Exception: The retreated traders may never enter an area thatcontains traders of the active player. If this is not possible (be-cause there are traders of the active player in all adjacent areas,all retreating neutral traders are removed from the game.Example: A player has 3 traders in an area with two neutral traders. After his movement he decides to initiate a conflict anddraws a conflict marker. It is a “3-trader” playing piece whichwould result in the loss of 3 (in this case, all) of his traders. Hedoes not like the result and draws another conflict marker (thisis possible because he has one more trader than there are neutral ones). It is a “2-influence marker”. He cannot draw additional conflict markers. The active player may now remove2 of his influence markers, win the conflict, and remove oneneutral trader. The other one is retreated either one or twoareas. Alternatively, he gives in and loses one step of reputation.In the latter case all traders in the area remain where they are.

8.2 Conflict with other PlayersA conflict arises if after movement there are active player’s traders in an area with another player´s traders. During conflictwith another player, not only the number of traders counts butalso the player’s reputation. Each trader is worth the player’s reputation in points.Example: A player has a reputation of “2”, see the playing piece on the Reputation Table. Therefore each of his traders isworth 2 points.To solve the conflict, both players may simultaneously andblindly play their own influence markers, action markers or retreat marker, see 8.2.2. They show their hand simultaneously,and calculate the result.� Each influence marker is worth 3 points.� Each action marker is worth 9 points. (Exception: Action markers without any special function – those having only a

number - cannot be used in a conflict, see the PlayerAid Card.)

Next, both players remove their played influence and action markers. Influence

markers are placed on the pile of influence markers used forthe auction, action markers are put aside.A conflict is won by the player who has more points. If there isa tie, the non-active player wins.

8.2.1 ResultsOne of the losing player’s traders in the area is removed fromthe game board. In addition, the winner may retreat all otherlosing player’s traders up to two areas. The retreating tradersmay never enter an area containing any winner’s traders. If thisis impossible because all adjacent areas are occupied by thewinner’s traders, all of the losing player’s traders are removedfrom the game board. Retreating traders may enter areas containing neutral traders or other player’s traders.If the active player loses, his traders may be moved into an areacontaining other player’s traders. The active player may not initiate a conflict there!A trader may only partake in one conflict per player turn.

8.2.2 Retreat markersTo lessen the effects of a lost conflict, a player may use his retreat marker. He selects it secretly instead of any influence oraction markers.If a player has chosen his retreat marker, he automatically losesthe conflict. However, he does not have to remove a trader. Heretreats his traders from the area. They may retreat up to twoareas and not into areas containing the winner’s traders. He receives all influence and action markers used by the otherplayer in this conflict.Players retain their retreat markers. They are never removedfrom the game.Attention: If both players select their retreat marker, the activeplayer retreats first. The active player may not deliberately re-treat in such a way that there is no retreat option for the otherretreating player!

8.2.3 Rising ReputationThe winner of a conflict may increase his reputation by one box(if possible), by removing two influence markers. They are placed on the pile of influence markers used during the auction.

Example: Peter has three traders in an area that also containstwo of Melissa´s traders. There is a conflict. Peter has a reputation of only “1”, Melissa´s reputation is “4”. Both nowselect markers secretly: Peter uses 3 influence markers andone action marker, Melissa uses 2 influence markers. ThereforePeter has 3 (for three traders of reputation 1) plus 9 (3 influencemarkers) plus 9 (1 action marker) = 21 points. Melissa has 8 (for2 traders of reputation 4) plus 6 (2 influence markers) = 14points. Peter wins. One of Melissa´s traders is removed fromthe game board, the other one is retreated 2 areas by Peter.Afterwards, Peter spends 2 influence markers and increaseshis reputation by one box.

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If Melissa would have used her retreat marker instead of her influence markers, she would have taken Peter´s influence andaction markers. In addition, she would have retreated her traders herself.

8.3 Wholesale Traders and ConflictBy playing the wholesale trader actionmarker the wholesale trader may enterthe game.In general, a wholesale trader functions inthe same way as a trader. He counts as“1” during a conflict (multiplied by the reputation of the player) and spends one

action point per entered area during movement.In addition, he doubles the number of traders during a conflict in the same area (2 traders wouldcount as 4 traders). He stays in the game until theowning player loses a trader in a conflict involvingthe wholesale trader. The first loss is always the wholesale trader.

9.0 VICTORY POINTS

At the end of a turn, only the active player receives victorypoints. A player gets victory points in all areas with only his traders and none of other players. For neutral traders in the same area see 9.1.The number of victory points depends on the resource markerin the area and the Resource Table. Example: A resource marker is in box “3” of the Reputation Table. The player receives 3 victory points for that area.Attention: At the start of the game, a player does not receivevictory points for “empty” areas (those without a resource marker). This may change during the game! The Africa markershows the value of “empty” areas on the Reputation Table.

9.1 Neutral TradersIn addition, a player loses 1 victory point per neutral trader inan area where he would normally score. This is also the case inareas occupied by traders of several players. A player cannotgain victory points in such an area, but he may well lose pointsthere!Note: It is possible that a player scores negative points in anarea because of neutral traders. Example: A player would get2 points for an area. However, that area also contains 3 neutraltraders. Therefore the player scores 2 – 3 = –1 victory pointsthere.Note: A lost conflict can be very costly for the active player ifhis traders are retreated into an area with neutral traders, see9.1.

9.2 The “Heart of Africa”A player receives 3 victory points if he controls the “Heart ofAfrica” area, see above.

9.3 Trading PostsA player receives one additional victory point for each tradingpost he owns. A player owns a trading post if he has at leastone trader in the area and there are no traders from other players. Neutral traders do not count.Important: Because of retreats after conflict, it is possible thatthere are traders of two or more players in an area. In this casethe area and the trading post are neutral and no victory pointsare scored. However, 1 victory point is still deducted per neutral trader in the area, see 9.1!If a player owns more trading posts than each of the other players, he receives 3 additional victory points. Example:Peter owns 2 trading posts, all other players have 0 or 1 each.Peter now scores 3 additional victory points.

9.4 Action markers and Victory PointsAt this time a player may play one (and only one) action mar-ker that brings him additional victory points.Important: Because of the action markers an area may becounted twice. However, neutral traders are only deducted on-ce!

9.5 The Victory TrackVictory points are immediately scored by moving the traderson the Victory Track. Important: The scoring boxes holdingother player´s traders are always skipped. There can be onlyone trader per box on the Victory Track.Example: Peter has 12 victory points, Melissa 15. Peter re-ceives 4 additional points. For the first 2 points his trader ismoved to boxes 13 and 14, then he skips box 15 and advances via box 16 to 17.A player can never have less than 0 victory points.

Trader Influence Marker Action Marker

Melissa 2 = 8 2 = 6 0 = 0

Thomas 3 = 3 3 = 9 1 = 9

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10.0 ACTION MARKERS

Action markers not only show a number of action points but inmost cases also a special function. The player may use thisspecial function at any time during his turn. It is possible tokeep and save action markers to use them in a later turn. However, this only counts for the special function – actionpoints may not be saved for a later player turn.A player may use an unlimited number of action markers during his turn.Exception: The movement action marker may be played aftera different player has moved or after a conflict.

Example: After a lost conflict, an active player´s trader has been retreated into an area with 5 neutral traders. The activeplayer would lose 5 victory points here. He plays the movement action marker and moves his trader away from thatarea, thus preventing a major disaster.

Exception II: The movement action marker may be played after a different player has moved or after a conflict.Example: After a lost conflict an active player´s trader has been retreated into an area with 5 neutral traders. The activeplayer would lose 5 victory points here. He plays the move-ment action marker and removes his trader from that area.

Both players may use their action markers during a conflict inwhich they take part, see 8.2. They are selected secretly and simultaneously, together with influence and retreat markers.Each action marker has a value of 9 points in a conflict. After-wards, the action marker is removed (or handed to the otherplayer if he played the retreat marker).During a conflict, a player cannot use the special function of anaction marker!

The Player Aid Card lists the different types of action markers.

After an action marker has been used, it is removed from thegame.

11.0 DISTRIBUTION OF INFLUENCE MARKERS

Finally, all spent influence markers (the bid during the auctionplus the ones used for action points or during a conflict) aredistributed evenly among the losers of the auction. If an evendistribution is not possible, some markers may stay for distri-bution at the end of the next turn. The active player (the playerwho won the auction) does not get back any influence markers.Example, 4-player-game: Peter won the auction and paid 8influence markers. During his turn he buys 3 additional actionpoints with 3 influence markers. In addition, during a conflict5 more influence markers are used. At the end of his turn

there are 16 influence markers available for distribution.All players except Peter receive 5 markers; the

remaining marker stays in the pool for distribution at the end of the next turn.

12.0 SPECIAL VICTORY MARKERS

At the start of the game, each player gets one special victorymarker. These markers count as standard action markers butthey do not have action points.A player may use it’s special function during his turn and during a conflict. In contrast to other action markers, their function is secret until used. After use, they are removed fromthe game.

13.0 WINNING THE GAME

The game immediately ends when a player reaches 42 or more victory points. That player is the winner.Attention: There is no “final turn” for the other players, andinfluence and action markers do not count.

Longer game: If you like, you may increase the required number of victory points to 60 or 80, making for a 2 to 3 hourgame.

Author: Andreas Steding

Development: Ulrich Blennemann

Production: Michael Bruinsma, Ulrich Blennemann

Graphics: Franz Vohwinkel

Layout: Lin Lehnen

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