Salamanca

Overview

Salamanca is a strategic board game designed by Stefan Dorra and published by Zoch Verlag. Set in 16th-century Spain, young noble families are reclaiming the dry hinterlands, building fields, forests, and lakes around their castles. Players use cards to obtain tiles (buildings, landscapes, and privileges) and place them on the game board to form valuable regions. Through clever tile placement and card management, players earn doubloons. Intrigues, plague stones, and tax collectors add disruption to opponents’ plans. The player with the most doubloons at game end wins.

Components

• 1 Game board
• Landscape tiles (fields, forests, lakes)
• Building tiles (castles, cloisters)
• Privilege tiles
• Action cards (hand of cards for each player)
• Plague stone tokens
• Tax collector tokens
• Ownership markers (in player colors)
• Doubloon tokens (currency/VP)

Setup

Place the game board in the center. Shuffle and arrange tile stacks by type. Deal starting hand cards to each player. Each player receives ownership markers in their color and starting doubloons. Determine first player.

Turn Structure

On each turn, a player plays cards from their hand to perform actions:

1. Play Cards: Play one or more cards from hand to acquire tiles or perform actions.
2. Place Tiles: Place acquired tiles on the game board in valid positions.
3. Place Ownership Markers: Optionally place ownership markers on buildings.
4. Draw Cards: Replenish hand to the hand limit.

Actions

Card Play

• Cards are played to obtain specific types of tiles.
• Different card combinations yield different tile types and quantities.
• Strategic card management is critical since hand size is limited.

Tile Placement

• Landscape tiles (fields, forests, lakes): Place adjacent to buildings to form regions. Larger regions of matching landscape adjacent to owned buildings are worth more doubloons.
• Building tiles (castles, cloisters): Place on the board and add ownership markers to claim them.
• Privilege tiles: Grant special one-time or ongoing advantages.

Ownership Markers

• Place markers on buildings to claim ownership.
• Buildings adjacent to valuable landscape regions generate doubloons for their owners.
• Multiple players may compete for control of strategic building locations.

Disruption Actions

• Plague stones: Block opponents’ tiles, preventing further expansion in that area.
• Tax collectors: Levy taxes on opponents’ doubloon income from certain regions.
• Locust plagues: Destroy tracts of productive land.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Players earn doubloons throughout the game based on:

• Regions formed by landscape tiles adjacent to owned buildings.
• Larger and more valuable regions (matching terrain types) yield more doubloons.
• Privilege tile bonuses.
• Doubloons are both the currency and the victory point measure.

The game ends when the tile supply is exhausted or a specific end-game condition is met. The player with the most doubloons wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Region Adjacency: Only landscape tiles directly adjacent to a building with your ownership marker count toward your score.
• Plague Stone Blocking: Plague stones permanently block a space, preventing any tile from being placed there.
• Card Combinations: Certain card combinations unlock more powerful actions or allow access to premium tiles.
• Cloister Influence: Cloisters owned by monks provide area-of-influence bonuses that differ from castles.
• Tax Collector: When placed near an opponent’s region, the tax collector siphons doubloons from their income.

Player Reference

Tile Type	Effect
Field	Basic landscape, forms regions
Forest	Landscape, typically higher value
Lake	Landscape, special adjacency rules
Castle	Building, claim with ownership marker
Cloister	Building, unique influence effects

Victory: Most doubloons at game end.