Great Western Trail (2nd Edition)

BoardGameGeek link


Details

Sourced from: https://jmo.name/games

Player Aid Author: Jarrod Moore

Description

Wrangle your herd of cows across the Midwest prairie and deliver it to Kansas City.

Expansions in Use

  • Rails to the North (2nd Edition)

  • Randomly place one station master tile on each of the 5 station spaces
  • Randomly place the 7 grey building tiles on the spaces marked A-G
  • Place the job market token on the topmost dashed round space in the job market
  • Draw 7 tiles from the 1 bag and place them on the game board:
    • Orange/green outlaws: In the outlaw section on the lowest value empty space, starting with the exchange token space
    • Hazard: In the matching hazard section in the lowest value empty space
  • If there are no empty spaces in a section left, redraw the tile
  • Fill the first two rows of the job market with tiles from the 2 bag (other than the space with the job market token):
    • 2P: The two leftmost columns are not used
    • 3P: The leftmost column is not used
  • Fill the 6 foresight spaces at Kansas City with 2 tiles from each of the 3 tile bags and place them on the corresponding spaces
  • Shuffle the market cattle cards and place the number of cards according to the number of players in their corresponding sections (3 value cows together, 4 value cows together, etc.):
No. of PlayersCards in Cattle Market29312415
  • Keep the 4 value and 5 value Simmental cards near the game board
  • Keep the 4 starting objective cards separate and shuffle the remaining objective cards. Reveal 4 of them to form the starting display

  • Shuffle the 4 starting objective cards and deal one to each player
  • 2-3P: Place the tile covering phase A on the side matching the game player count
  • Set up the player board with the following:
    • 14 discs covering the 14 round spaces on the board
    • 1 temporary certificate marker placed on the 0 space
    • 1 silly hat to put on your herder meeple
  • As a group, decide on which side of each building tile to use
    • When starting out, it's usually easier to choose to use only all A sides or only all B sides
    • You can use a mix of A side and B side buildings in a game, but for each building all players must use the same side. For example, if 1B is chosen to be used, all players can only use the 1B side of that building tile in the game
  • Shuffle your starting herd deck of 14 cards and put them next to your player board
  • Place the train engine on the red building in the top right corner of the game board
  • Choose a starting player and then players receive the following:
    • 1st player: $6, 1 exchange token and they start with 4 cards in their hand
    • 2nd player: $7, 1 exchange token and they start with 5 cards in their hand
    • 3rd player: $8, 1 exchange token and they start with 6 cards in their hand
    • 4th player: $9, 1 exchange token and they start with 7 cards in their hand

When players take the first turn of the game:

  • Before taking any actions they must discard down to their starting hand limit of 4 cards
  • They can then place their herder on any neutral tile, whether it is occupied by another player or not

Each player turn has 3 phases that must carried out in order. The instructions for what to do are written out in icon form on the player boards. After the 3 phases are complete, the next player takes their turn

At any point during your turn, you are allowed to spend an exchange token in your possession to draw 2 cards from your draw deck and then discard two cards from your hand to your discard pile

If you have an objective card in your hand and wish to play it into your objective card area, you can play it into your objective card area at the following two times:

  • Before phase A
  • Before or after any action in phase B

Some things to keep in mind when playing objective cards:

  • You can take the action shown on the top left corner of the card immediately
  • You must score all objective cards played into your objective card area at the end of the game
  • At the end of the game, you will have the option to choose to score any objective cards in your discard pile, your hand and your draw deck. For this reason, you always can remove these cards from your hand by discarding them in the usual way

  • The player moves their herder a number of steps along the trail
  • The distance between each location is not important, and unoccupied spaces between two locations do not count towards the distance moved
  • You can never go backwards along the trail against the arrows
  • Where there is a fork in the trail, the player can choose which path forward to take
  • When you reach Kansas City, your movement ends there
  • Multiple herders can be at the same location at the same time
  • If you pass a green or black hand written on a location, you have to pay a fee:
    • If the location is owned by a player, the fee is paid to them
    • Otherwise, it is paid to the supply
    • The fee paid for each hand depends on the player count:
      • 2P: Green hands cost $2, black hands cost $2
      • 3P: Green hands cost $2, black hands cost $1
      • 4P: Green hands cost $1, black hands cost $2
    • Note: If you are unable to pay all or part of a fee, you pay what you can and then ignore the part of the fee that you cannot afford. Being unable to pay a fee does not block your movement in any way

The actions that you are allowed to take during this phase depend on what location your movement in phase A finishes on

  • If you are at Kansas City, you must carry out the steps specifically for Kansas City
  • If your herder is on a neutral building or a building you own, you can choose to do local actions (actions written on the tile/space) or do one single auxillary action
  • Otherwise, if it's another player's building, a hazard or an outlaw, you are not allowed to do the actions written on the tile/space and can only do one single auxillary action

When performing the actions written on the tile/space, you can perform each action once and they can be done in any order

  • The different actions are divided by vertical and horizontal dividers
  • If there is a white slash between two actions in a section of a tile, you have to choose to do one or the other of the actions divided by the slash
  • All of the actions are optional but if there is a cost or requirement to complete an action it must be paid in full to gain the reward
  • If the building has an action written on the space underneath, the owner of the building placed there can also do this action when they finish their movement on this building

  • Choose exactly one worker from the job market
  • You cannot choose a worker from the same row as the job market token
  • The cost of hiring the worker is written next to its row
  • Be careful that the cost of the action is sometimes modified depending on where the action is taken
  • After paying the cost, place the worker on your player board on the leftmost space for its type
  • If the worker covers a benefit, that benefit must be taken immediately or else it is forfeited
  • If the row is full, you cannot hire that type of worker

  • Each cowboy on your player board, including the one printed on the board itself, can be assigned to a single task at the cattle market
  • If multiple cowboys are assigned to a single task, the cost of the task is generally reduced and the benefit increased
  • Each task can be used multiple times for separate purchases if desired, however you will then need to pay the full amount for each use
  • Any cattle purchased are placed directly into your discard pile
  • You can only buy cattle currently shown in the cattle market when performing this action, however there is a task available that requires one cowboy to add two cards from the market cattle deck to the available selection in the cattle market
  • You do not have to use every cowboy you have employed when performing this action

  • Except for the starting space, each space on the track can only have one train on it
    • If you would need to use a space currently occupied by another train, you skip over the space as if it wasn't there
  • If you decide to stop at a space, you forfeit any remaining movement points you have
  • You do not have to spend all available movement points when performing this action
  • Moving into a turnout space allows you to stop at a train station and upgrade it
    • To upgrade a station:
      • Pay the cost written on the station space
      • Place a disc from your player board onto the station space
        • If the space has white corners, you can only move discs from spaces on your board that have white corners
        • If the space has black corners, then you can move any disc from your player board onto that space
          • Some spaces on your board have a cost or a benefit to remove their discs, which is paid/received immediately
      • After you have placed a disc, if a station master tile is still at the station, you can exchange it for any worker on the rightmost space of its row and take the station master tile
        • If removing this worker uncovers a previously used benefit, you will be able to use it again when you hire another worker of this type
        • For the top half of the tile, either receive the benefit immediately or, if it shows permanent certificates, you now have those to use for future deliveries
        • The bottom half is used to get extra victory points at the end of the game
  • If you get to the last space on the track, you may upgrade the station next to this space, then you must move backwards along the track any number of spaces to a free space. After doing so, you receive $3. If you moved to a turnout space, you are then also able to upgrade the station at that space

  • Choose an objective card from the display and put it on your discard pile

  • For each builder you have hired, you can spend $2 to assign those builders to a single building task
  • You can either:
    • Build a new building from the available building tiles that require at most the number of available builders
    • Replace an existing building with another building from your available building tiles
      • With this option, you only have to pay for and have the difference in builders between the old and new building tile
      • The building tile that has been replaced in this way is then removed from the game entirely and cannot be built again by you during a future action

  • Take one outlaw tile from the board and gain the benefit on the space

  • Take an exchange token from the supply

  • Pay the cost shown on the icon (if any)
  • Remove any single hazard tile from the board
  • You will gain the victory points shown on the tile at the end of the game

  • Move your herder forward to another location on the trail
  • You must move it at least one step forward when doing this action
  • Once you stop, you must then perform phase B at this new location again
  • You do not replenish your hand when performing phase B again, that is only done at the end of your turn

  • When you perform an auxillary action using an icon with one "1x" on it, you perform a single auxillary action as shown on the board
  • If the icon has one "1x" on it, even if you have unlocked both discs on the action, you still can only do a single action with it
  • When you perform an auxillary action using an icon with two "1x"s on it, you can choose to perform either a single auxillary action or a double auxillary action
  • When you perform a double auxillary action, it is still a single action but the costs and benefits of that action are doubled
    • Doing a double action requires that both discs for that action have been cleared from your player board
  • When moving the train backwards, you must always move it the full number of spaces as required
  • You cannot take an action requiring the train to move backwards if you are on the starting space of the track

The actions, from top to bottom, are:

    • Single: Gain $1
    • Double: Gain $2
    • Single: Draw 1 card, then discard 1 card
    • Double: Draw 2 cards, then discard 2 cards
    • Single: Pay $1, then move your engine back 1 space and then bump your temporary certificates marker up 1 space
    • Double: Pay $2, then move your engine back 2 spaces and then bump your temporary certificates marker up to 2 spaces
    • Single: Pay $1, then move your engine forward 1 space
    • Double: Pay $2, then move your engine forward up to 2 spaces
    • Single: Move your engine 1 space backwards, then gain $1 and exile a card from your hand out of the game entirely
    • Double: Move your engine 2 spaces backwards, then gain $2 and exile two cards from your hand out of the game entirely
    • Single: Pay $1, discard one value 2 card from your hand and then place one branchlet
    • Double: Pay $2, discard two value 2 cards from your hand and then place two branchlets

When you arrive at Kansas City, you must perform the following steps in the given order

  • For each column of the foresight area, from right to left, choose one of the two tiles and place it in the corresponding section of the board
    • Outlaws: place in the lowest number empty space in the outlaw area
    • Hazard: place in the lowest number empty space in the corresponding hazard area
    • Worker: place in the job market on the leftmost empty space on the same row as the job token
      • The columns of the job market used depend on player count:
        • 2P: the two leftmost columns are not used
        • 3P: the leftmost column is not used
      • If all spaces (in used columns) to the left of the job market token on a row are full, move the job market token to the dashed space on the row below and place the worker tile where the job market token was
      • If when moving the job market token it crosses over a yellow arrow, immediately refresh the cattle market (if it has less than the given number of cards in it) up to:
        • 2P: 9 cards
        • 3P: 12 cards
        • 4P: 15 cards

  • Reveal your entire hand, calculate your income and receive it from the bank, then discard your entire hand to your discard pile:
    • You may only count each type of cow once when calculating income
      • For this step, all Simmental cows are considered to be the same type regardless of stage
    • You may then choose to add certificates to increase your hand value
      • Permanent certificates are written on the top half of some station master tiles
        • You do not have to spend these to increase your hand value, you just receive the benefit every time you get to Kansas City
      • Temporary certificates are tracked on your player board and must be spent to increase your hand value
    • Add the cow values up add that to the number of certificates used and receive that value as your income from the supply
    • If you have any Simmental cows in your hand, you exchange them for the next stage Simmental card
      • i.e. stage 1 Simmental cows are exchanged for stage 2 Simmental cows, stage 2 Simmental cows become stage 3 Simmental cows
      • These cows you just received in this exchange do not increase your hand value for this turn

After discarding your hand, move one of your discs from a space on your player board to a city crest and pay any transport costs

  • You can deliver to any city whose value is at or below the income you received this turn:
    • To deliver to a city on the expansion board, you must have placed a branchlet at that city
  • You cannot deliver to any city that you have already delivered to, with the exception of Kansas City and New York
  • Once you have chosen a city, you can move a disc from your player board onto the city space
    • If the space has white corners, you can only move discs from spaces on your board that have white corners
    • If the space has black corners, then you can move any disc from your player board onto that space
      • Some spaces on your board have a cost or a benefit to remove their discs, which is paid/received immediately
    • After placing your disc on a city, carry out any shown actions whose requirements you have now met
      • Actions with two green arrows pointing out require that you have delivered to both cities
  • Pay transport costs for your delivery
    • If your engine is on a space whose number exceeds the delivery value threshold of the city you delivered to, you do not pay any transport costs
    • Otherwise, for every red crossing sign on the track between your engine and the space whose value matches the delivery value threshold of the city that you are delivering to, pay $1 to the supply

  • Move your herder to the start of the trail in the bottom right corner of the game board
  • Move the 3 remaining tiles in the foresight spaces to the bottom row
  • Choose a tile from each tile bag to fill the 3 empty foresight spaces

  • Each player starts with a hand limit of 4
  • This can be increased to up to 6 cards
  • During this phase, if you have less than your hand limit in cards, draw cards to bring your hand size up to your hand limit
  • If you run out of cards to draw from your personal draw stack, shuffle your personal discard pile and then draw the cards you need

  • The game end is triggered when the job market token is moved from the bottom most row past the green arrow and off the game board
    • The player that does this will score 2 victory points for doing so
    • The player finishes their current turn and their game immediately is over
    • Every other player then takes one final turn
      • If, during this final turn, a player reaches Kansas City, no tiles are taken from the foresight area
  • After all players have completed their final turn, final scoring commences

Final scores are calculated by adding earned victory points in the following categories:

  • 1 victory point per $5 you have
  • Victory points on each of your private building tiles on the game board
  • Victory points earned from deliveries to cities
    • Also subtract any negative victory points e.g. for deliveries to Kansas City
  • Victory points for each train station with one of your discs on it
  • Victory points written on earned hazard tiles in front of you
  • Sum all victory points written on cards in your personal draw stack, your hand and in your discard pile
  • Victory points from completed objective cards
    • If you still have objective cards that have not been played (in your hand, discard pile or in your draw stack), you can choose to add it to your personal objective area now
      • If you do this, you will not be able to take its immediate action
    • For each objective cards whose requirements you have fulfilled, gain the victory points shown on the card
    • For each objective cards whose requirements you failed to fulfill, subtract the negative victory points written on the card (if any)
  • Victory points for tasks on station master tiles you have received
    • These are evaluated completely independently of tasks on objective cards
  • 4 victory points for each worker you have in the 2 rightmost columns on your player board
  • 3 victory points if you managed to unlock the disc space with the victory points benefit
  • 2 victory points if you received the job market token

Whoever has the most points after all of that wins. If there is a tie, all tied players share the victory

Thumbnail courtesy of BoardGameGeek and the respective publisher.