Overview

El Grande is an area-majority game set in 13th-15th century Spain. Each player is a Grande family seeking to extend influence by placing Caballeros (knights) across Spain’s nine regions. Players use power cards to determine turn order and gain Caballeros, then select action cards to deploy Caballeros and trigger special actions. The Castillo (castle) serves as a hidden deployment zone emptied during scoring. General scoring occurs after rounds 3, 6, and 9. The player with the most points wins.

Components

• 1 game board (9 regions of Spain, scoring track, round chart)
• 5 Grandes (large cubes in 5 colors)
• 155 Caballeros (small cubes, 31 per color)
• 1 King (large black pawn)
• 1 round marker
• 65 power cards (values 1-13 in 5 colors)
• 45 action cards (marked 1-5 Caballeros on backs)
• 9 region cards
• 5 secrecy disks with pointers
• 1 Castillo (castle)
• 2 scoreboards (8/4/0 and 4/0/0)

Setup

1. Place Castillo on its board space.
2. Shuffle region cards; reveal top card and place the King in that region. Deal one card to each player; they place their Grande in that region (home region).
3. Each player places 2 Caballeros in their home region, 1 on scoring track space 1, 7 in their court (in front of them). Remaining Caballeros go to the provinces (common supply).
4. Each player gets a secrecy disk and power cards (values 1-13).
5. Sort action cards by back (1-5 Caballeros), shuffle each pile separately, place face down.
6. Place scoreboards beside the board.

Turn Structure

Each Round:

1. Move round counter forward one space.
2. Reveal action cards: Turn up the top card from each of the 5 action card piles.
3. Play power cards: Starting with the leader (youngest in round 1, then whoever played lowest last round), each player plays one power card face up. All played values must be different.
4. Player turns (highest to lowest power card): Each player: a. Adds Caballeros from the provinces to their court (number shown on power card). b. Discards the power card permanently. c. Selects one face-up action card and performs its two activities (in either order):
   • Deploy Caballeros from court to regions adjacent to the King’s region or into the Castillo (max shown on card).
   • Special action depicted on the card (optional). d. Turns over the chosen action card.

Actions

Deploying Caballeros

• Move Caballeros from your court to board regions adjacent to the King or into the Castillo.
• Maximum number shown on action card’s bottom.
• Can split between multiple adjacent regions and the Castillo.
• Caballeros can always enter the Castillo regardless of King’s position.

The King’s Region

• Taboo: No Caballeros, Grandes, or scoreboards may be moved into or out of the King’s Region. No exceptions.
• King’s Bonus: Player with the most Caballeros in the King’s Region gets +2 points when it is scored. Not awarded if tied for first.

The Castillo

• Caballeros placed secretly; players announce how many they add.
• During general scoring only: Castillo is scored, then emptied (players use secrecy disks to choose destination regions).
• If scored via action cards, it is NOT emptied.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

General Scoring (after rounds 3, 6, and 9):

1. Each player secretly selects a region on their secrecy disk for Castillo redistribution.
2. Score the Castillo (lift it, count Caballeros, award points like a regular region).
3. Move Castillo Caballeros to chosen regions (all of one player’s must go to a single region, cannot be the King’s Region).
4. Score each region in order shown on the round chart.

Region Scoring

Each region shows three scoring values on its scoreboard:

• Most Caballeros: Highest value (typically 4-8 points depending on region)
• Second most: Middle value
• Third most: Lowest value (sometimes 0)

Ties: Tied players each receive the points for the lower position and the higher position is eliminated.

Game End

After 9 rounds (or 6 for shorter game: skip rounds 1, 4, 7). Player with the most points wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Power cards are permanently discarded after use (can only be recovered via certain action cards).
• All power card values played in a round must be unique.
• If provinces run out, a player may remove their own Caballeros from the board to their court.
• The Grande always remains in its home region and counts for scoring there.
• Action cards include various special effects: move the King, rearrange Caballeros, score specific regions, retrieve power cards, etc.
• The King card (5-pile) is turned face up every round and never permanently discarded.
• Shorter game (6 rounds): Skip rounds 1, 4, and 7; play only rounds 2-3, 5-6, 8-9 with scoring after 3 and 6.

Player Reference

Round sequence: Advance marker > Reveal action cards > Play power cards > Player turns (high to low)

Player turn: Gain Caballeros > Discard power card > Select action card > Deploy + Special action

Scoring rounds: 3, 6, 9 (general scoring with Castillo emptying)

Deployment restriction: Only to regions adjacent to the King or into the Castillo

King’s Region: Completely taboo - nothing moves in or out

King’s Bonus: +2 points to sole majority holder in King’s Region when scored