Rules for Playing Haspelknecht

Hey there! Are you ready to dive into the underground world of coal mining? Well, let me guide you through the game rules of Haspelknecht. It’s a game where you get to become a coal miner and experience all the challenges that come with it. So, let’s get started!

Objectives

In Haspelknecht, your goal is to build up your coal mining operation and become the most successful miner in the region. You will need to dig deep into the earth, extract coal, and face various obstacles along the way.

Setup

To start playing Haspelknecht, you need to set up the game board and gather the necessary components. The game board represents the mining area, and it’s divided into different regions. Each player will have their own player board, which they will use to manage their coal mine.

Gameplay

The game consists of several rounds, and each round is divided into three phases: the discovery phase, the action phase, and the cleanup phase. During the discovery phase, new obstacles and resources are revealed on the game board. In the action phase, you will take turns performing actions such as digging, building, and hiring workers. Finally, in the cleanup phase, you will prepare for the next round by adjusting your resources and resolving any ongoing effects.

Workers and Upgrades

One of the key elements of Haspelknecht is managing your workers. You start with a certain number of worker tokens, and you can assign them to different actions to perform tasks like digging or building. Additionally, you can upgrade your workers to improve their efficiency and gain special abilities.

Coal Extraction

Extracting coal is the core activity in Haspelknecht. You will need to strategically dig tunnels and extract coal to fulfill contracts and gain victory points. However, be careful not to exhaust your resources too quickly, as it can have long-term consequences for your mining operation.

Victory Conditions

The game ends after a certain number of rounds, and the player with the most victory points wins. Victory points can be earned through coal extraction, fulfilling contracts, and completing special objectives.

Conclusion

So, now you know the basics of playing Haspelknecht. It’s a game of strategy, resource management, and careful planning. Can you become the most successful coal miner in the region? Play to find out!

Once upon a time, in the Ruhr valley, I was just a young shepherd trying to keep warm. I decided to make a campfire in a pit, hoping it would give me some much-needed heat. To my surprise, that fire seemed to last longer than usual. It wasn’t until the next day that I discovered the reason why.

I found shiny black stones amidst the ashes of the campfire. These rocks were still glowing and burning, long after the fire had died down. Intrigued, I told the farmer who employed me about my discovery. Together, we decided to investigate further.

When our work in the fields was done, we headed back to the Pinge, the pit where I had made my campfire. We began digging, hoping to find more of those magical shiny black rocks, also known as coal. But the deeper we went, the more difficult it became.

We encountered a problem – pit water. The more we dug, the more of this nasty water appeared. It made our task more challenging and frustrating. However, we didn’t give up. Instead, we discussed various techniques and tools that could help us not only remove the pit water but also go deeper into the ground to uncover more coal.

Discovering Components

• 1 Year wheel board
• 4 Player boards
• 3 Resource boards
• 20 Development tiles,
• 4 “Coal-miner and Haspelknecht” tiles
• 4 assist tiles
• 16 building tiles:
• 4 improved farm- hands
• 24 action markers,
• 44 Player disks,
• 8 Pit water
• 1 Phase marker
• 24 Debt chits
• 16 Thaler coins
• 1 Year marker
• 36 Action disks:
• -80 Black coal cubes
• 34 Wood
• 18 Food
• 1 Bag
• Rulebook

Object of the Game

In “Haspelknecht,” I’m a farmer who mines coal in the Ruhr region. My land is rich in coal, which can be easily accessed near the surface.

Welcome to a world set in a time when vast forests covered the lands, and roads were a rare sight. In this game, you will embark on a journey to acquire knowledge, expand your farm, and extract coal from deep underground. The objective? Bring that coal to the surface!

The game offers multiple paths to victory, giving you the freedom to choose your own strategy and carve your path to success.

Preparation

Player Board

When you play this game, I give you 18 coal cubes, 11 player disks in one color, and a player board. On the player board, you’ll see workers, a farm, and a mining area.

Make sure to put one coal cube on each indicated spot on your player board. There should be a total of 18 cubes.

The Development Board

The development board is made up of 12 to 20 hexagon tiles, depending on the number of players. These tiles are arranged into four rows, with each row containing 3 to 5 tiles of the same color. Adjacent to the development tiles, you’ll find the assist tiles.

Next to the board, you’ll see the action markers and buildings that match the development tiles in play. You’ll also find coins, debt chips, resources, pit water, and the “Coal-miner and Haspelknecht” tiles.

When you first start playing, I suggest using the tiles with the lowest numbers for each color. Arrange them in order, with the help of the assist tiles.

If there are fewer than 4 players, put the action markers for the development tiles that are not being used back in the box.

Hey there! So, you’re interested in the game of Development Tiles, huh? Well, I can totally help you out with that! Let me break it down for you.

First things first, let’s talk about the game components. Depending on how many players you have, you’ll need a certain number of development tiles. Here’s the deal:

• If you have 2 players: You’ll need 12 development tiles, with 3 of each color.
• If you have 3 players: You’ll need 16 development tiles, with 4 of each color.
• If you have 4 players: You’ll need 20 development tiles, with 5 of each color.

Got it so far? Great! Now let’s move on to the Year Wheel Board. This bad boy is an essential part of the game. It’s where all the action happens!

The Year Wheel Board

As I embark on my journey to play this game, I find myself faced with a few important steps to begin. First, I need to place the phase marker on the first ‘pit water’ field and set the year marker on the appropriate year on the Year wheel board. Then, it’s time to dive into the game by placing one of my player disks on the “0/50” space on the scoring track.

But before we can truly get started, we must determine the turn order. Through a stroke of luck, the turn order will be decided randomly, adding an element of surprise and anticipation. Once we know the order, we each place our player disks in the correct sequence on the turn order chart.

With the game about to begin, I take a moment to gather my remaining 9 disks of my color and position them neatly beside my player board, ready to be utilized in the coming rounds.

Now, let’s talk about the Resource Boards.

In the middle of our game table, we have some resource boards that are within everyone’s reach. You’ll want to choose the resource boards where the symbols match the number of players or are less.

These resource boards display an action pool and a reserve pool.

The number of players determines how many action disks we use. We’ll put those disks in the drawing bag, like in the example on the left.

The left column on this page shows the colors and numbers of the disks.

Now we need to prepare the resource boards.

First, we’ll draw the action disks from the bag randomly, without looking at them. For each reserve pool, we’ll draw 3 action disks and place them on the reserve pools. Then, for each action pool, we’ll draw 6 disks from the bag and put them on the action pools.

Once we’re done, the drawing bag should be empty.

Now, let’s move on to the exciting world of coal mining!

Coal Mining Areas

On each player board, there are two areas where I break down coal with my workers: the Pinge and the Tunnel. It’s crucial to keep these areas free from pit water.

Pinge with 7 coal cubes

Coal Mining in the Pinge

I have my own area on my player board called the Pinge. In the beginning, there are 7 coal cubes on my Pinge.

The Pinge also has two fields with a wood symbol. As I excavate coal from left to right, I can access any coal cubes up to the first empty wood symbol.

If I cover an empty wood symbol in the Pinge with another piece of wood, I can excavate the coal cubes from the placed wood until I reach the next empty wood symbol.

Did you know that you can use wood to expand your coal mining area? It’s pretty amazing!

Here’s how it works: whenever you place wood, it opens up more space in the mine where you can extract coal. Cool, huh?

So, when you dig up the Pinge, which is the excavation site, the coal cubes come out. But in order to continue mining coal, you need to place wood on the Pinge. That way, you can keep extracting coal and make your mine even bigger!

When I excavate coal cubes from the Pinge, they go straight to my Farm area. It’s a pretty neat feature, don’t you think?

If I manage to excavate all 7 coal cubes during the first year of the game, I earn myself 2 victory points. Not bad at all! Oh, and even if I achieve this goal in the second year, I still get 1 point. Every little bit counts, right?

What Happens When the Pinge Is Exhausted?

Once all the coal cubes have been taken out of the Pinge, it gets exhausted. But that’s okay because coal excavation in the Tunnel starts right after. We gotta keep the coal flowing!

Before we move on, though, we need to take care of a few things. First, we move any remaining pit water in the Pinge to the designated area in the Shaft. Then, we return the wood that was placed in the Pinge back to the general supply. Waste not, want not!

Finally, we need to place a “Coal-miner and Haspelknecht” tile on our player board. It goes right on top of the Coal-digger and Pinge tiles. It’s like leveling up!

Here’s a little visual aid to help you out. Just put the Haspelknecht and Hauer Tile onto your Playerboard.

Exploring Coal Mining: From Shafts to Tunnels

Imagine this: in the past, when the coal near the surface ran out, brave miners like me delved deeper into the earth. We built a shaft, a vertical passage down into the ground. Then, we would construct a tunnel. This was the path that led us to the precious coal hidden deep within the earth.

But here’s the catch: we could only excavate coal from the tunnel once we completed the Pinge. You might be wondering what a Pinge is. Well, it’s a German word that roughly translates to a mining sinkhole or slump caused by our mining activities near the surface.

Now, let’s dive into the tunnel itself. This is the area where we miners work underground, mining coal cubes. The tunnel is divided into seven different areas, and in total, there are eleven coal cubes waiting to be excavated. But here’s the thing: we can only access these coal cubes from left to right, one by one.

In this tunnel, there are 7 fields marked with a wood symbol. To get to the coal cubes, we need to go from left to right and dig out any coal that is to the left of the first empty wood symbol.

If we cover an empty wood symbol with wood, we can then dig out the coal cubes to the right of that wood until we reach the next empty wood symbol in the tunnel.

Whenever we want, we can place wood in the tunnel. By doing this, we expand the area where we can access the coal.

Before we can start digging out coal from the tunnel, we have to place at least one piece of wood in it.

In the tunnel, the Miner, the Farmer, and the Farmhand are the ones who can dig out the coal cubes. The Coal-digger is not available anymore.

When it comes to coal mining in Pinge, there’s a slight difference in how the coal cubes are moved compared to excavated ones. You see, the excavated coal cubes don’t go straight from the tunnel to your farm area. First, they are placed in a special area called the Shaft, which is located to the left of the tunnel.

To get the excavated coal cubes to your farm area, you need to use the Haspelknecht. The Haspelknecht reels in the coal cubes and brings them up to the surface, where they can then be moved to your farm area.

Now, here’s an interesting part. The tunnel actually scores you victory points at the end of the game. The number of victory points you receive depends on the completed areas in the tunnel. Each completed area gives you anywhere from 1 to 3 victory points. So, it’s important to complete as many areas as you can!

But wait, there’s more! Acquired developments can also give you additional victory points. So, keep an eye out for opportunities to boost your score.

By the way: There’s a rule you need to remember. In the same phase, you can only excavate coal cubes in either the Pinge or the Tunnel. So, choose wisely between the two!

But wait, there’s a clever trick to make the most of your workers’ efficiency! You see, when it comes to excavating coal cubes, you don’t have to use both workers separately. Instead, I discovered a little secret: you can actually use one worker to dig out the last coal cube while the other worker simultaneously takes out the first cube from the tunnel. Talk about maximizing productivity!

The Sneaky Pit Water

Now, here’s something else you need to know about – pit water. It has a habit of collecting in the pinge or shaft during the game. And guess what? Your hardworking workers will also need to deal with this pit water to keep the coal excavation going smoothly.

Pit water, also known as mining water, is simply water that accumulates in the mine and needs to be brought up to the surface. Without removing this pesky water, your mine won’t be able to function properly. So remember, keeping the pit water out is just as important as digging up those precious coal cubes!

Putting Water in the Pits

When I’m building the Pinge, I need to remember to place pit water on the water field in the pinge area on my player board.

Once I finish constructing the Pinge, I’ll move the pit water to the water field in the Shaft, located at the bottom left of my player board.

How to Play the Game

Hey there! Let’s dive into the fun world of this exciting game. I’m here to guide you through the rules and mechanics, so don’t worry if you’re new to this. In this game, we’ll be simulating the passage of time through three rounds, each representing a year. And guess what? Each round is split into three action-packed phases called spring, summer, and autumn!

Now, hold on just a second. Before we jump into the gameplay, let’s understand the different parts of each year. We’ve got spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Spring, summer, and autumn are the heart of the game, where you make decisions and take actions. And when winter arrives, it’s time for payment, scoring, and storage. It’s like tidying up at the end of the year!

But don’t worry, I’ve got your back! You’ll be able to keep track of which phase you’re in by using the super handy phase marker. It would be tricky without it, right? So, let’s move on and see what each phase is all about!