Operation Manual
E
urope, 1347. A disaster is about to
strike. The Black Death reaches
Europe, and during the next
4 - 5 years, the population of
Europe will be halved. The
players settle in the various
regions of Europe, while the
plague spreads throughout all
of the continent. The players gain
help from the various classes of the
middle ages: The Peasants provide
population growth, the wise Monks
keep the rats away, the rich Merchants
flee when the plague approaches, the
warfare conducted by the Knights
spreads the plague to new areas,
the Witches control the spread
through magic and witchcraft,
whereas the Kings avoid the
plague by staying in their
fortified palaces. But the plague
does not make any distinction:
When the rats arrive, no one can
feel safe. When the plague withdraws
and the game ends, the player with
the highest surviving population wins.
Additionally, the board
contains a palace area.
80 small wooden cubes
(20 in
each of the four player colours).
12 of these are marked with a purple
circle,
these are the starting rats to be used
when setting up the game.
One «Plague piece»
6 class cards
(one for each
of the 6 classes
Peasantry, Bourgeoisie, Church, Chivalry, Magic
and Royalty).
49 rat tokens, showing a rat on
the back and a plague event on the
front.
Game Components
1 game board. The board depicts
Europe in the middle ages, divided
into 12 regions.
Arrows indicate regions that are
treated as neighbours, even though they have no
common border.
In 2 player games use the light coloured
regions only.
In 3 player games use the light and
middle coloured regions.
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In 4 player games use all
regions on the board.
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Artwork: alexandre-roche.com