Tammany Hall Game Rules

Welcome to Tammany Hall! I’m here to guide you through the rules of this exciting game.

Let’s start with the basics. Tammany Hall is a strategic board game that takes place in 19th century New York City. You’ll take on the role of a political boss, trying to gain power and influence over the city’s neighborhoods.

The goal of the game is simple: become the most powerful political boss by winning elections and controlling the different wards of the city. But achieving that goal won’t be easy. You’ll have to navigate a world of shifting alliances, backstabbing opponents, and a limited supply of resources.

To play Tammany Hall, each player will take turns performing actions in three phases: the Election Phase, the Immigrant Phase, and the Action Phase. The game will progress through several rounds, with each round representing a year in the city’s history.

During the Election Phase, players will compete for control of the city’s wards by placing their ward bosses on the board. You’ll need to consider the voting power of each ward, the support you have from other players, and the bonuses you can earn from controlling specific wards.

After the Election Phase comes the Immigrant Phase. This is when new immigrants arrive in the city, and it’s your chance to recruit them to your cause. Immigrants will provide you with more supporters and resources, so it’s important to be strategic in your recruiting efforts.

Finally, we have the Action Phase. This is where you’ll be able to take a variety of actions to further your goals. You can manipulate the wards, form alliances with other players, and even use your influence to attack your opponents. The actions you take during this phase will greatly impact your chances of winning the game.

Throughout the game, you’ll need to carefully manage your resources. You’ll have a limited number of ward bosses, so you’ll need to choose where to place them wisely. You’ll also need supporters to help you win elections, so recruiting immigrants is crucial. And don’t forget about your reputation – it’s important to maintain a positive image with the people of New York City.

As the game progresses, you’ll need to adapt your strategies based on the evolving political landscape. Keep an eye on your opponents and be ready to make quick decisions to stay ahead.

Now that you have a basic understanding of the game, it’s time to gather your friends and start playing Tammany Hall. Remember, becoming the most powerful political boss won’t be easy, but with strategic thinking and a bit of luck, you just might come out on top. Good luck, and may the best boss win!

Let me tell you about Tammany Hall, a game that spans sixteen years divided into four terms. Each year, we have the power to use the authority that comes with our offices.

In addition, we get to decide between placing two ward bosses on the board or one ward boss and one immigrant cube. When we choose to place an immigrant cube, we also get a political favor chip in the same color.

But that’s not all! We also have the opportunity to slander each other. And after every fourth year, an election takes place in each ward. The player with the highest total of ward bosses and favor chips wins the election. To make things even more interesting, we bid with our favor chips in a sealed bid, so we can never be certain what our opponents will do.

In this game, the player with the most wards wins and becomes the mayor. As the mayor, you get to assign city offices to the other players, which can really help you out. You earn victory points for winning elections in the wards and for being the mayor. When the game is over after four terms, you can earn bonus points for any favor chips you have and any slander chips you haven’t used.

What’s Inside the Box?

I’ve got all the components you’ll need to play this exciting game right here. Let me break it down for you:

Here’s What You Get:

• 1 game board – The heart of the game, where the action takes place.
• 1 set of rules – Your handy guide to understanding and playing the game.
• 100 Immigrant cubes – Colorful cubes representing the diverse population of the city.
• 140 Political favor chips – Tokens used to gain influence and manipulate the game.
• 100 Ward Boss pieces – Playing pieces that represent the various ward bosses.
• 2 Council President markers – Special markers to keep track of the council’s leadership.
• 15 Slander chips – Chips used to spread rumors and tarnish your opponents’ reputations.
• 1 Year marker – A marker to keep track of the passage of time in the game.

Take a Look at the Board:

The centerpiece of the game is the game board. This is where all the action happens. From plotting political schemes to making strategic moves, the board is your playground.

In this game, there are various elements that you need to consider. Let me break it down for you.

1. The Victory point track keeps track of your progress in the game.

2. The Year track is divided into four terms, and an election is held at the end of each fourth year.

3. The Active Zones indicate which zones are in play, and this depends on the number of players.

4. The Zone number categorizes the wards into three zones: I, II, and III.

5. Tammany Hall is a special ward that gives you a bonus of 2VPs if you win there.

6. When you win an election in a ward, you immediately gain a Bonus favor chip.

7. The Sequence of play guides you through the different steps of the game.

8. At the end of the game, you score Victory points based on certain conditions.

9. After each election, you gain Victory points and tokens.

10. Castle Garden is where you place immigrant cubes.

11. Winning an election in a ward also grants you a Bonus immigrant cube.

12. Ward numbers don’t affect gameplay, but they can be helpful as points of reference.

Now, armed with this knowledge, you’re ready to tackle the game like a pro. Good luck!

There are 14 boxes on the board that represent immigrant leaders. These boxes show which players will receive a bonus of three chips for controlling the most cubes of a specific color.

There is also a zone boundary marked as number 15 on the board.

Number 16 on the board indicates setup boxes. These boxes show which cubes to place here at the beginning of the game. Once the zone becomes active, the cubes will be placed on the board.

The board is divided into three zones: I, II, and III. The zones come into play at different times depending on the number of players. Each zone is further divided into wards.

All elections start in Zone I and then move on to Zone II and III in order. To navigate through the wards during elections, simply follow the arrows on the board.

The wards located at the coastal tip of the map provide advantages to the players who win them in elections.

When you look at the icons on the map, you’ll see that if you win the ward, you get to choose a political favor chip or place another immigrant cube in any ward. It’s like a little reward for your victory.

Now, let’s talk about Tammany Hall. This ward is special because it’s worth two victory points, but it still counts as just one ward when it comes to elections. So keep that in mind when planning your strategy.

Getting Started

To start the game, we need to determine who goes first. Each player chooses a color for their ward boss pawns and places them on the scoring track at the zero position. Then, place the Year Marker on the ‘1’ space on the Year Track.

Finally, each player gets three black slander chips. These chips can only be used in rounds two to four, so make sure to save them for the right moment.

Hey there! Have you ever played a game where you have to strategically place cubes in different areas? Well, that’s exactly what we’re going to do here! Let me explain how it works.

So, first things first. We have these special cubes called immigrant cubes. They’re really important in this game because they help us complete certain tasks. But before we start playing, we need to set up the boxes on the board. These boxes will hold the immigrant cubes.

Now, here’s the fun part. We get to choose which wards we want to place our immigrant cubes in. The zones where we can put them are clearly marked on the board. We can either do this during the initial setup or wait until later when those zones become active. It’s totally up to us!

Remember, the immigrant cubes are like our little helpers in the game. So, we need to use them wisely and strategically to accomplish our goals. It’s all about making the right decisions and being one step ahead of our opponents. Exciting, right?

Now that you know the basics, let’s dive in and start playing! Good luck, and may the best strategist win!

So, here’s the deal. When three people play this game, we kick things off with only the cubes in Zone I. You place one green cube on the Tammany Hall ward, and then randomly drop the rest of the cubes in the other wards in Zone I. Easy enough, right?

Now, when Zone II enters the picture, that happens at the start of year five. You take the cubes indicated on the board and randomly place one cube per ward in Zone II. And just to keep things interesting, Zone III comes into play at the start of year nine. Same deal here – randomly place the cubes indicated on the board, one cube per ward in Zone III.

Things change up a bit when you have four players. At the start of the game, you place all of the cubes for Zones I and II on the board. Then, before year five begins, you add the cubes for Zone III. And finally, in a five player game, you go all out and place all of the cubes indicated for all of the zones on the board before getting started.

And that’s how it goes. Pretty straightforward, right? Now, let’s get this game rolling!

When playing Tammany Hall, only the zones with cubes in them are in play. The off-limits zones are the ones without any cubes. Additionally, no blue Italian immigrant cubes are placed on the board at the beginning. Instead, all the remaining immigrant cubes are placed in a bag.

Your Turn to Play

Playing the game is divided into four terms, each lasting four years. At the end of each term, we hold an election to determine the winner.

In the first term, the first player is randomly determined. From there, the order of play goes clockwise, with each player taking their turn after the previous one. As we move into subsequent terms, the player who became the mayor becomes the first player for that term. The order of play still continues clockwise from the first player.

Year Sequence

The year in this game is divided into different phases, and this is what happens in each phase:

1. Castle Garden: In this phase, each player takes their turn. They can do different actions during their turn.

2a. Office Benefit: This is one of the actions that players can take during their turn. They can use the benefits that come with their office.

2b. Place Pieces On The Board: Another action that players can take is placing their pieces on the board. They strategically choose where to place them.

2c. Slander: Players also have the option to spread rumors and tarnish the reputation of their opponents.

3. End Of Year: After all players have completed their turns, the year comes to an end.

Phase two is made up of three smaller phases, or sub-phases. Players can choose the order in which they want to perform these sub-phases. For example, they can slander first, then use their office benefit, and lastly, place their pieces on the board.

The first phase is called Castle Garden. This is where the game begins, and each player takes their initial actions.

If Castle Garden doesn’t have any immigrant cubes in it, then I need to draw some from the bag. I’ll draw a number of cubes equal to the number of players plus two, and place them in the box.

Phase 2a: Office Benefit

You can use your City Office benefit once a year. But remember, you can’t do this in the first four years because the benefit is determined at the end of an election.

Mayor – There’s no benefit for being the Mayor during the year sequence. However, you did score three victory points and got to decide who got what offices, so it’s not all bad.

Deputy Mayor – You get to take one political favor chip of any color from the supply and add it to your collection.

As the Chief of Police, I have the power to remove one immigrant cube from any ward and put it back in the bag. But I can’t remove the last cube from a ward. On the other hand, as the Council President, I have the authority to “lock up” one ward. I do this by placing a silver token in the ward to indicate that it’s locked. I can only do this twice during my term and only once in a single year. While a ward is locked up, no ward bosses or immigrant cubes can be placed there. The tokens will be taken off at the end of the next election.

Now, as the Precinct Chairman, I can move one immigrant cube from one ward to a neighboring ward. However, I can’t move the last cube in a ward. The ward that I move the cube to must already have at least one immigrant cube in it, meaning it must be in an active zone.

Moving on to Phase 2b: Placing Pieces on the Board, I have to choose one of the following options:

1. I can choose to place a ward boss token in my ward. This will give me control of the ward during the election and allow me to place immigrant cubes there.

2. I can choose to place an immigrant cube in my ward, which will increase the ward’s population.

3. I can choose to place a graft marker in a ward. This will increase my ward’s power and influence.

It’s important to carefully consider my choices and their implications for the game. By strategically using my powers and making smart decisions, I can increase my chances of winning the election and gaining control over New York City.

Let me explain how to play the game. During your turn, you have a couple of options:

1. First, you can place two of your ward bosses on the board.
2. Alternatively, you can place one ward boss and one immigrant cube from the Castle Garden box on the board.

If you choose to place two ward bosses, you can put them in any ward that’s already in play. It’s up to you whether you want to put both bosses in the same ward or different ones. Just keep in mind that you can’t place them in a ward that’s been locked up by the Council President or in a ward that isn’t active yet.

If you prefer to place one ward boss and one immigrant cube, you have the same options – you can put them in different wards or the same one. The only condition is that the ward you choose must already have immigrant cubes in it.

When you’re playing the game with three or four players, there will be a couple of zones where you won’t be able to put bosses or cubes until later in the game.

There’s no limit to the number of ward bosses you can place in a ward. You can have more than one ward boss in a ward.

You can also place as many immigrant cubes as you want in a ward.

Phase 2c: Slander

You have the option to slander another player. You can only slander one player during each term, and you can only do it in the second, third, and fourth terms.

When you slander, you choose a ward boss pawn from another player that’s in the same ward where you have one or more of your own ward boss pawns. The chosen ward boss pawn is taken out of that ward and given back to its owner. After that, you can perform a second slander action in an adjacent ward.

When it’s time to spread rumors, you need to play things strategically. To initiate a slander, you’ll have to use up one black slander chip. But here’s the catch – if you want to target an adjacent ward, you won’t have to spend an additional slander chip.

Not only that but you’ll also need to expend one political favor chip. Make sure the color of this chip matches one of the immigrant cubes in the ward.

If you decide to go for a second slander action, things get a bit more complicated. You’ll have to use up two political favor chips, and they must be the same color as the immigrant cubes in the ward. But here’s the twist – they also need to match the color of the chip you used in the first slander action. This means that the slander starts within a single immigrant population and then spreads to an adjacent ward within that same population, all while targeting the same player.

Remember, you can’t perform a third slander action during this phase. So make your moves wisely and choose your targets carefully!

Here’s an example: I want to talk about a game where red and yellow are fighting. Red wants to say bad things about yellow in ward eight. To do this, red uses one chip to say the bad things and another chip to ask for a favor from a German politician. Now, red wants to say more bad things, but there are some rules. Red can only say bad things in a ward that is next to ward eight. So, red can say bad things in ward fourteen. But, red can’t say bad things in ward ten because it is not next to ward eight. In the end, red says bad things in ward fourteen and uses two more chips to ask for favors from German politicians. Yellow doesn’t like this, so yellow removes one person in each of the wards.

Phase 3: End Of Year

After all the players have taken a turn, we move the year marker forward one year. Then, the first player takes their turn again. We keep playing like this until four years have passed. After four years, we have an election.

During the election, any leftover chips in Castle Garden go back in the bag.

The Election

Every four years, we have an election in each ward that has immigrant cubes. It’s a big process with several steps. Let me break it down for you:

1. Ward Elections
2. Award Political Favor Chips
3. Score Victory Points
4. City Offices
5. Ward Elections Again

1. Ward Elections

We start by resolving the ward elections in a specific order. We always begin with Zone I and then move on to the other zones according to the arrows.

Let’s start with ward one in Zone I. We resolve the election there first and then move on to the next ward based on the arrow. This process continues until we finish all the ward elections in Zone I. After that, we move on to Zone II.

The first election takes place in ward nine, and then we follow the arrows to determine the order. Finally, we resolve the ward elections in Zone III. We begin with ward seventeen, following the arrows to complete the process. However, we only resolve elections in zones that have immigrant cubes.

So here’s how we figure out who wins a ward: everyone counts up how many ward bosses they have in the ward. Those bosses act as votes. And if you want to boost your count, you can spend those political favor chips you’ve been racking up.

Now, you can only spend favor chips that match the colors of the immigrant cubes in the ward. Each chip is worth one vote. If there are different immigrants hanging around in a ward, you can use any favor chips that match their colors.

But here’s the catch: if you don’t have any ward boss pawns in a ward, you can’t even try to win that ward. You gotta have some skin in the game.

When it comes to spending those favor chips, it’s all done through sealed bids. You gotta put it all out on the table and show everyone what you’ve got. That means announcing the number of chips you have and their colors, just so folks know what they’re up against.

When we play this game, we need to decide how many political favor chips we want to use. We keep it a secret and reveal our bids at the same time. It’s okay to bid zero chips too.

After everyone reveals their bids, we add the amount of chips we bid to the number of our ward boss pawns in the ward. The person with the highest total wins the ward. If there’s a tie, nobody wins the ward.

All the political favor chips that were bid by everyone are taken away and put back into the supply after the votes are counted.

When we know who won a ward, all the ward boss pawns in that ward are taken out, except for one pawn belonging to the winner.

If there’s a tie, all the ward bosses are taken out of the ward and returned to the players.

Bonuses for winning a ward

Winning an election in one of the four wards comes with perks. If I take first or second place in the election, I can put one of my immigrant cubes in any ward I want. This gives me more control over the game.

If I win the election in ward four or seven, I get to take a political favor chip in the color of my choice. These chips can be really helpful in the game, so it’s a nice bonus to have.

After claiming my bonus, it’s time to move on to the next ward election. The game keeps moving and there’s always something new to look forward to.

Example: So here’s what happened: Red had two English political favor chips and two Irish political favor chips. Yellow had two English political favor chips and three Italian political favor chips. But for this specific ward, Yellow could only use his two English political favor chips, since the Italian political favor chips were not applicable.

Now for the bidding part. Red made a secret bid of two English chips and one Irish chip, while Yellow secretly bid with one English chip. After revealing their bids, it turned out that Red had five votes (two ward boss pawns, two English chips, and one Irish chip), while Yellow had only four votes (three ward boss pawns and one English chip).

And the outcome? Red won the ward! Both players returned the chips they used back to the stock. Yellow took out his three ward boss pawns, while Red removed just one, leaving one in the ward. It’s worth noting that the number of immigrant cubes in each color didn’t affect the election.

Get Political Favor Chips for Winning Wards

Once the elections are over and the winners in each ward are determined, it’s time to tally up the immigrant cubes. Count how many cubes you have for each color in the wards you won. The player with the most cubes of a specific color gets three political favor chips in that color.

If there’s a tie, don’t worry! Each tied player will also receive three chips of that color. Just make sure to place your ward boss pawns in the Immigrant Leader boxes corresponding to the colors you earned bonus chips in.

Imagine this: Black comes out on top in six wards. He manages to secure five Irish, seven English, and two Italian immigrant cubes in his wards alone. Meanwhile, Red takes four wards, with three Irish, two English, and five German immigrant cubes. What about Yellow? Well, despite winning only three wards, they make up for it with a multitude of immigrant cubes. In fact, they claim six Irish, five German, and two Italian immigrant cubes in their wards.

But victory isn’t just about the number of wards won. Black gets a special advantage by receiving three white English favor chips and three blue Italian favor chips. Red, on the other hand, gets three orange German chips. Lastly, Yellow is rewarded with three green Irish chips, three German chips, and three Italian chips.

Step 3: Tally Up Those Points

Now, it’s time to determine victory points. Each player earns one victory point for every ward they win. However, there’s a twist! The ward that houses Tammany Hall is especially valuable, worth two points. But even with its extra value, it still only counts as one ward towards the overall tally.

Being the mayor in this game is a big deal. The player who wins the most wards gets to be the mayor, and that comes with three extra victory points. It’s a pretty sweet deal if you ask me! You’ll know who the mayor is because they’ll put one of their ward boss pieces in the Mayor box.

But what if there’s a tie? Well, don’t worry, we’ve got a plan for that too. We’ll use some tie breakers to figure out who will be the mayor:

1. We’ll check who has the most political favor chips. That’s a good way to see who has more influence.
2. If that’s still a tie, we’ll look at who has the most green political favor chips. It’s like a backup plan for breaking ties.
3. If green chips don’t do the trick, we’ll move on to white political favor chips. We want to be fair and give everyone a chance.
4. Still tied? No problem, let’s check who has the most orange political favor chips. Sometimes it’s the little things that make a difference.
5. And if all else fails, we’ll look at who has the most blue political favor chips. It’s like our last resort, but it works!

If none of these conditions result in the selection of a mayor, the current mayor wins and serves an extra term. If this happens in the first term (and continues to happen), no mayor is chosen, no city offices are given, and the game continues as normal.

Each player uses one of their ward pawns on the Victory Point track to keep track of their victory points.

4. City Offices

The newly elected mayor must assign one City Office to each of the other players. Each office can only be given to one player, and a player can’t have more than one office. Players’ offices can change after each election, even if the current mayor wins re-election.

When a player is given an office, they put one of their ward boss pieces in the correct City Office box.

Hey there! I want to tell you about an interesting game called “Players’ Offices.” In this game, you can’t change your office until after the next election. If there are less than five players, some offices will remain unassigned. Don’t worry though, these offices are just ignored until the next election is decided. They might be awarded or not by the newly elected mayor.

The Game Ends

Guess what? The game comes to an end at the fourth election. Exciting, right?

Now, here’s the fun part. Players get some bonus victory points at the end. The player who has the most political favor chips of a particular color gets two victory points. And if there’s a tie, all the players who tied score two victory points. Cool, huh? Plus, a player can even get a bonus in more than one color of favor chips. How awesome is that?

Oh, and don’t forget, each unused slander chip is worth one victory point. That’s some extra points right there!