|
 | |
| Designed by Alan R. Moon | Published by Eurogames, Jeux Descartes © 2002 |
| Introduction
During the second half of the Nineteenth Century and the beginning of the Twentieth, great trading companies exploited the new trade routes opened to the South Pacific. This was the age of the large, fast, and strong-hulled Clipper ship. In Clippers, the players plan the naval routes of 6 different trading companies in the South Pacific Islands. Each player tries to get as many of the trading companies as possible to reach islands where the player has ports. Points are scored for each trade route that reaches a player's port. Object of the Game The object of the game is for each player to influence as many trade routes as possible to travel through the islands where that player owns Port Markers. The more routes that reach an island, the more points its Port Markers are worth. The game ends when no new trade routes can be started, and the existing ones cannot be expanded. The winner of the game is the player with the most points at the end of the game (See "Scoring & Winning", below). Components
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Set Up
1. Appoint one player scorekeeper; they will need a piece of paper and a pencil. The score-keeper is also in charge of the money chips. They should give each player $2 in chips. 2. Place one of each color Clipper Ship on its starting space on the board. (The starting harbors are the colored circles on the right side of the board. The numbers printed in the circles indicate how many Trade Route Segments that company has available.) The purple circle (near the center of the board) does not receive a Clipper Ship. However, routes may start from this island later in the game. (See section on "The Purple Clipper Ship Company".) Place the other Clipper Ships beside the board, close to their starting harbor circles. 3. Sort the Route Segments by color, and place them next to the board. Note that the Purple Route Segments are not available at the start of the game. 4. The scorekeeper should shuffle the Departure Cards and deal one to each player. These cards indicate the nationality for that player.  5. Each player takes the set of 12 Port Markers that matches their Departure Card, and then places 7 of these Markers on each of the 6 Islands listed on the card (the value "8" ports get two markers instead of just one like the rest as indicated by the two Port Marker symbols on the card). The 5 remaining Port Markers are placed in front of the player.
Note: Some starting islands (like Funafuti) have 2 Port Markers on them at the start of the game as shown in this example. 6. Place the 6 Option Cards face up to the left of the board. If there are 3or 4 players, remove one of the 2X Cards and place it back in the box (it is not used in the game). 7. The youngest player will be the First Player for the first Round of the game, and takes the First Player Marker (Grappling Hook Marker). Sequence of Play The phases of each round are set forth below: detailed explanations of each follow. Each round of the game consists of 4 phases: Phase 1 Beginning with the First Player and proceeding clockwise around the table, each player must perform one of the following actions:
Regardless of which action the player chooses to perform (even if they pass), IN ADDITION, the player may also take any one of the available Clipper Ships near the board and place it in front of themselves. The cost is $3. Buying a new Clipper forces the player to start a new Trade Route during phase 2 or 3 of the round. (See the section on "Alternate Routes" below.) Phase 2 Beginning with the First Player and proceeding clockwise around the table, each player places one Trade Route Segment on the board in turn. Phase 3 Beginning with the First Player and proceeding clockwise around the table, each player places a second Trade Route Segment on the board in turn. Phase 4 Option Cards are returned to their place near the board. The First Player passes the First Player Marker to the left so that a new player will begin the next round. Port Markers Port Markers can only be placed in a Port if there is an available, vacant space (gray squares next to the island.) At the end of the game, each Port Marker is worth a variable number of points equal to the value of the Island multiplied by the number of connected Clipper Ship Companies. A Clipper Ship Company is only counted once even if it is connected to the Island by several routes. Example: If two Trade Routes from different companies connect into Tahiti (island of value 4, with 2 gray slots), each Port Marker on the island is worth 8 points. If the 2 Trade Routes belong to the same Clipper Ship Company, each Port Marker would instead only be worth 4 points. Option cards 2X Cards A player must pay $2 to take a 2X Card during Phase 1 of a Round. During the Round, the player gains both of the following advantages:
3X Cards A player may take the 3X Card for free during Phase 1 of the Round. During the Round, the player gains the following advantage and penalty:
5X Cards A player must pay $1 to take the 5X Card during Phase 1 of the Round. During the Round, the player gains the following advantages and penalties:
The Player receives the regular bonuses (not doubled) during the Round (see "Bonuses", below). The Port Card
Laying Route Segments Each time a player can lay a Route Segment, they place a Route Segment for any of the five Clipper Ship Companies onto the light Route Spaces on the board. A player must always lay a Route Segment each phase unless it is impossible to do so (or an Option Card forbids it). Note: The Clipper Ship Companies do not belong to any player, and any player may lay Routes for any Company. The players are trying to get as many of the Companies to their own ports as possible. The first Route Segment laid for any Clipper Ship Company must connect to that Clipper Ship Company's starting space (as shown by the colored circles on the board). 
Each Route Segment must extend the route from the end of the last previously laid Route Segment. When laying Route Segments, the Clipper Ship should always be placed beside on the last Route Marker played as shown. This allows players to easily identify the end of the route for this Clipper Ship Company. Certain routes have an East-to-West arrow next to them. These routes can only be built in the direction shown. If a Clipper Ship Company has started building a route between two Islands, another Clipper Ship Company may not lay a Route Segment from the Island at the other end of the same route to block the route. Of course, if there are two routes between these Islands, a second Clipper Ship Company can start to build the second route if it is unused. Where there are two routes between two Islands, one Clipper Ship Company cannot build both routes. A Clipper Ship Company can run into an island any number of times, but it will only count once towards the value of Ports on the Island at the end of the game. It is possible for a route to be dead-ended. When this happens, the only way additional Route Segments can be laid for this Clipper Ship Company is to start an alternate route (see "Alternate Routes", below). If the original route and all its alternate routes are all dead-ended, any remaining Route Segments for this Clipper Ship Company are unusable. Alternate Routes  There are 9 Clipper Ships that start the game off the board. These Ships can be used to start alternate routes.
During the first Phase of a Round, a player may take one of the available Clipper Ships by paying $3 to do so. When a player has a Clipper Ship in front of them, the player MUST start an alternate route in either Phase 2 or Phase 3 of the Round. The player may not choose to just "waste" the Clipper Ship. The player can begin the new route from the Clipper Ship Company's starting space or from any island to which the Clipper Ship Company is already connected. When a Clipper Ship Company has more than one route in existence, players can lay Route Segments to extend any or all of these routes according to the normal rules of the game. The Purple Clipper Ship Company  Once two different Clipper Ship Companies have connected to American Samoa, the "Purple Clipper Ship Company" becomes active. This means that players may now begin to lay the Purple Route Segments starting from American Samoa.
Players may place the Purple Route Segments according to the normal rules, with the following exceptions:
Because you are allowed to build any number of routes, including partial routes, a player might wish to do this just to block another Clipper Ship Company from the route. However, routes cannot be blocked if they are already started. Note: There are no Clipper Ships to mark the ends of the Purple Routes. The Bonuses The following bonus points are earned during a game: 1. The first player to connect the first Clipper Ship Company to any island on the map gains $2 immediately. 2.The first player to connect a new Clipper Ship Company to any island already connected by at least one other Clipper Ship Company gains $1 immediately. If a player connects a Clipper Ship Company to an island already connected by that same Company, he gains nothing. These bonuses are doubled for a player who has played a 2X Card during the Round. A person using the 3X Card receives no bonuses during the Round. A person using the 5X Card receives normal bonuses (no doubling) during the Round. Scoring & Winning The game ends when one of two situations occurs. 1. All Route Segments for all six Clipper Ship Companies have been played. 2. A player cannot play a Route Marker for one of the six Clipper Ship Companies because all Clipper Ship Companies with unplayed Route Segments have been dead-ended (and the Purple Route Markers are not available). It does not matter if another player could use a new Clipper Ship to open up an alternate route for a Clipper Ship Company on their turn. Once the game ends, points are awarded as follows: 1. Each $1 is worth 1 Point. 2. Each Port Marker is worth its value multiplied by the number of different Clipper Ship Companies connected to it. The player with the most points is the winner. If two or more players are tied, the player with the most money in chips among them is the winner. If there is still a tie, then the last player among the tied players that did not take a full turn is the winner. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
| © Mik Svellov 1998-2001 | editor@brettboard.dk | 11. mar 2002 |