G. Research & Development
Table of Contents
In this phase, players may each research one out of 6 available upgrade types. The player researches an upgrade by placing his marker one step forward on the corresponding R&D track. The following upgrades are available:
G1. Turn Order Bid
Turn Order Bid indicates the amount by which the player’s order of play bid should be multiplied in order to determine the sequence of play during the Bid for Turn Order phase.
G2. Slots
Slots indicates the number of companies a player may own at any one time. Merged companies consisting of multiple company deeds take up only one slot.
G3. Mergers
Mergers indicates the maximum number of company deeds that may be involved in a merger announced by a player. With mergers 1, a player cannot announce any mergers. With mergers 2 researched, a player may announce mergers of 2 single companies. With mergers 3, a player may announce a merger of a previously merged company (consisting of 2 company deeds) and a third, unmerged one, resulting in a company consisting of 3 company deeds. Note that the merger R&D determines only which mergers a player may announce. Players may bid for and own large, merged companies regardless of their R&D position on this track.
G4. Expansion
Expansion indicates the maximum amount of expansion a production or shipping company may have during the operations phase.
G5. Hull Player
Hull Player indicates the number of goods each ship belonging to a company of that player may transport for each production company during the operations phase. Each player should place one ship of each of his shipping companies directly beneath his own marker on the Hull Company track, so that everyone can see at a glance what the capacity of each shipping company is.
A player may advance the hull size on another player’s R&D track instead of advancing his own capabilities. It may sometimes be useful to do this if the other player owns a strategic shipping line in order to transport and sell more of your own goods. It is not allowed to increase any other upgrade types from another player.