John Company: Second Edition: Rulebook

Developer Note: Images are not available yet. They're planned for a future update.

Components

The Board

John Company’s board has four main areas. On the far leftthere are five prize boxes where players will score the majority of their points. The middle leftcontains tracks which show the Company’s health and boxes to hold various pieces and cards. The map on the right side displays the political status and potential profitability of India. Lastly, there is a red ribbon which starts in the top leftand proceeds along the bottom edge of the map, ending in the Bay of Bengal. This ribbon charts the course of play through the game’s phases and the operations of the different company offices.

Rulebooks and Aids

There are two main rulebooks: this one and the Crown Handbook which is used for the solo and two-player play. The game also includes two large player aids and two small player aid cards.

Player Pieces

Each of the game’s six families has several game pieces, including 18 family members, 1 victory point marker, 6 promise cards, 1 glass opportunity marker, a family board, 2 firm cubes and 4 firm strategy cards.

A player’s family members are their most important resource and will be used in the game to mark many things, including their control of various company positions, their shares in the Company, and the vast estates they have purchased.

India Pieces

John Company uses several different types of pieces to track the political fortunes of India. There are 20 tower levels and 8 domes, one for each region. There are 3 sets of metal flags, which are used to track the size of the empires which might emerge on the subcontinent. Events are resolved using a set of 20 event tiles. There are 8 control/ loot tokens used to track which regions have been looted by the Company and the Presidency associated with them. Finally, there is a resin Elephant used to indicate a looming political Crisis.

Wooden Pawns and Cubes

There are 6 pawns in three colors which are used as markers to indicate the status of various tracks. Red pawns mark Company Standing, Balance, and Debt. Black pawns mark the game turn and votes. The silver pawn can be used to keep track of the current phase. There are 30 wooden cubes. The orange cubes are used to mark fatigue when placed on office cards and unrest when placed on Company-controlled regions. The red Crown promise cubes are used in the solo and two-player game.

Money Supply

The game includes coins in the following denominations and quantities: £1 (40), £2 (20), £5 (20), and £10 (10). The bank is unlimited, but these coins should cover almost every circumstance.

Crown AI Cards and Board

There are 10 Crown AI cards and a Crown board which are used in the solo and two-player games.

Enterprises (small cards)

There are 57 small enterprises in the three enterprise types: 22 shipyards (shipping), 20 workshops (manufacturing), and 15 luxuries (social). Shipyards, workshops, and luxuries generally share the same points of card anatomy, described to the right.

Office Cards

There are 17 office cards used to track which player controls which office. If an office is vacant, its office card is placed facedown on the Vacant Offices box on the board. Some offices are not in play at the start of the game and should be placed nearby.

Prestige and Blackmail Cards

Prestige cards (20) and blackmail cards (10) are usually won in the London Season and grant special bonuses. Prestige cards with an icon in the top right also count as enterprises. Many of these cards have special powers which are described in text on the card.

Law Cards

Law cards (26) are used by the Prime Minister player during the Parliament Meets phase. These cards can change the fundamental rules of the game or present challenges which the players must all face together. If a law is passed, it is placed faceup near the board and the remainder are kept in a stack near the Prime Minister. One law card, the Deregulation card (with Debtor’s Prison on back), is used only in certain scenarios.

Company Failure Cards

John Company ends either with the success of the Company or its failure. When the Company is successful, players will compete in one final retirement, where they may score additional points. If the Company fails, a random Company failure card (6) is drawn to determine whom the fickle public will blame for this disaster. Most failure cards inflict some sort of scoring penalty.

Setup Cards and Scenario Cards

John Company has several scenarios which are described on 3 scenario cards. Players use the matching set of setup cards (18 each) to create their starting positions.

Ships

There are 22 player-owned ships. These ships are placed on shipyards when unfitted and then placed on the map or on firms when fitted. If fatigued, they are turned to their fatigued side. There are also 14 other ships used by the Company. On one side, they are extra ships, which are under short-term leases and will only trade for a single turn before returning to the supply. On the other side, they are Company ships that are built and maintained by the Company.

Prime Minister

One player will always be the Prime Minister and keeps the Prime Minister dial in their play area. The Prime Minister’s arm is used to indicate the proposed policy that will be enacted if the current law passes.

Regiments and Local Alliances

There are 20 regiments and 7 local alliance pieces which strengthen Company armies.

Closed/Filled Orders

There are 17 pieces used to mark closed orders in India and those filled by the Company or firms.

Power Tokens

There are 4 power tokens that track the power status of the 3 different enterprise types and of Company shares. These are placed on the Power track and will shiftin position depending mostly on the passage of certain policies.

Office Overlays

There are 8 different Governor overlays, which are added to the map if a region becomes Company-controlled. The family member serving as Governor is placed on top of the overlay. In addition, there is one Superintendent of Trade in China overlay used to hold both the family member in that position and any ships assigned to Trade in China. There is also one Governor General overlay which is placed on the ribbon if that office is in play.

Other Pieces, Markers and Dice

There are 6 dividers, used to show writer affiliation. There is a Chairman marker and an Opposition Leader marker which are given to the player(s) with that office or title. There’s a Company share victory point token used in some scenarios. There are also 18 trophy/passed law pieces. Finally, there are 10 standard dice, and 1 storm die.

Setup

1. Place the game board and component The 1710 Scenario should be played first. trays in the center of the table. The 1758 Scenario is recommended for those who have played the 1710 scenario a couple 2. Shuffle the India event tiles and place times. Here, the Company begins with its them next to the board. monopoly, but this can be broken, opening 3. Place the local alliance tiles in the Army the gates of India to private firms. boxes where they are listed. The 1813 Scenario is the most advanced scenario. In it, the Company starts without 4. Place a marker on the “5” space of the Company Balance track located on the its monopoly, and players may start private trading firms. This scenario is best with 5 or bottom edge of the board. 6 players. 5. Place the four power tokens on their The Long 1710 Scenario is intended for indicated spaces on the Power track. players who have the time to play through 6. Every player should take a set of player the full history of the Company. This scenario pieces. Place each family’s victory point begins identically to the 1710 scenario, but marker on the “0” space of the Victory it gives players the tools of Deregulation. Point track (top leftof the board). This scenario may go up to 8 turns and often takes twice as long as the other scenarios. 7. Place the tower levels, domes, and flags After choosing a scenario, take the matching scenario near the right side of the board. setup card. Follow any instructions on the front of the 8. Place the laws, office, prestige, card, taking components as needed and using pawns blackmail, and setup cards nearby. to mark the listed position on various tracks. Then, set up the regions of India as shown on the card. 9. Next, choose a scenario. Place a black pawn on the space with the matching date on the Turn track, and the arm on the Prime Minister dial to point to the matching date.

Table Setup for 1710 Before Setup Cards

Table Setup for 1710 Before Setup Cards

Next, take the player setup cards matching the date of the chosen scenario. If playing with 5 players, add 3 of that scenario’s extra cards. If playing with 6 players, add 6. Shuffle these cards together.

Next, deal out the setup cards evenly among the players. Each player should take everything listed on their setup cards. For each office listed, place a family member on the listed office space and take the matching office card. For cash listed, take that amount from the bank. The remaining icons are explained on the right.

Then, complete setup:

10. Set any remaining office cards near the board.

11. Build the London Season Display. Shuffle the prestige cards and blackmail cards together and deal three. Prestige cards should be placed faceup, blackmail cards should be placed facedown.

12. Shuffle the remaining law cards and place them near the board.

Draft Variant

Instead of drawing random setup cards, players may wish to draftstarting positions using the following procedure. After setup cards are dealt, each player selects one and then passes the remainder to the player to their left. Continue doing this until no cards remain.

Component Limits and Infinite Tracks

Most components in John Company are limited by the pieces included. If a supply of pieces is empty, complete as much of the action as possible. However, players may use proxies if they run out of cash, trophy/passed law tokens, dice, and regiments. The Company Balance, Victory Point, and Vote tracks have no limit.

Your Play Area and Hidden Information

Players maintain a play area that contains everything they own. All information (including the contents of discard piles) is public except facedown blackmail cards.

Cash Flow

In John Company, cash always has a location, and its location determines how it can be spent, traded, or paid. You can spend cash in your family treasury on various family actions, retirements, upkeep, taxes, and negotiations. Cash within a Company office can only be spent by that office.

Some Company positions will reward players with extra income during their actions. In the rules, these payments are highlighted by boxes like this one.

The Presidencies

The British East India Company divided India into three administrative zones called Presidencies which are each named after their home region. In John Company, these Presidencies are special offices that maintain their own Army, cadre of writers, fleet of ships, and—later in the game—subordinate offices. These resources are stored in their marked boxes or in the zone of the Indian Ocean near their office box on the map.

The Map of India and How to Read It

Though much of the action of John Company occurs outside of India, players will frequently refer to and use the map of India. If you are learning the game for the first time, you may wish to skim this section and return to it as needed.

The map is divided into eight regions, each roughly corresponding to a different political and commercial trade center. Each region has a number of qualities:

Every region has strength, usually represented by its tower. The number of levels in the tower dictates the strength of the region (the dome does not count as a tower level) . This number is used to determine a region’s attack and defense value.

Within each region are a number of connected circles called orders. Each order contains a number that indicates the value of that order and is connected to other orders with a dotted line. Orders represent economic opportunities for the players.

Home Ports. Orders with a heavy black outline are called home ports. Players use these orders to access other orders deeper in India.

Closed Orders. If an order is closed, cover it with a closed order token. This represents trade disruptions or anti-Company sentiment.

Every region has a political alignment: either sovereign or dominated. Sovereign regions (those with a large flag or a dome without any flag) will attempt to invade their neighbors. Dominated regions (those with a small flag or no dome) will attempt to rebel to regain their sovereignty.

Empires

When a region conquers another region, it either forms an empire or expands its existing empire. All empires are composed of one capital region (marked by a flag with a star) and at least one dominated region (marked by a smaller version of that flag). Empires combine the strengths of their regions when attacking and defending in many situations, as described later in the rules.

Empire Decline. If an empire is ever reduced to only its capital region, return its flag to the supply. It is no longer an empire.

Reading India Example

The Looming Crisis (The Elephant)

India is always faced with a looming Crisis. This is represented by the Elephant and its position and direction on the map. The Elephant is always in play.

It indicates one of two types of Crisis:

Impending Invasions. When the Elephant is placed on a border between two regions, the acting region (with the Elephant’s tail) is getting ready to invade the region the Elephant faces.

Impending Rebellions. If the Elephant is in the center of a region or facing the region that dominates it, the acting region is getting ready to rebel against its sovereign.

Invasions and Rebellions are described in detail in the Events in India phase.

John Company is a negotiation game. Players can transfer a wide range of assets to one another. This includes: enterprises, facedown blackmail cards, cash in your family’s treasury, shares, and promise cards. You cannot transfer officeholders, writers, officers, pieces on prizes, spouses, passed laws, played blackmail cards, Prime Minister dial, or trophies.

Each player has a set of five promise cards they may give other players as part of a negotiation. You may “call in” a promise card and force the player who guaranteed the promise to fulfill the promise if they can. Critically, you cannot “call in” a promise card If multiple players call once the game is over and players are resolving Final Scoring. in a promise at the same time, the player who guaranteed them chooses which to fulfill if they cannot fulfill all of them. All promise cards contain details of their use on their back sides.

When transferring resources there is one golden rule: something transferred cannot activate twice. For instance, during the Bonuses phase, Cati collects £1 for her workshop’s profits. If she sells her workshop at this time to another player, it will not generate £1 again this round.

Negotiations involving immediate transfers are binding. All other negotiations are non-binding.

Further transferring details are described here:

Enterprises and Blackmail Cards. You may trade any enterprise card. You may allow others to peek at your facedown blackmail cards and trade them, but they cannot be traded faceup. Remember to adjust the victory point total if transferring luxuries.

Family Cash. You may freely transfer money from your family’s treasury to the treasuries of other families.

Shares. When exchanging these pieces, the player gaining the piece should return the previous owner’s piece to their supply and place a family member from their supply in its place. You may not transfer the Chairman.

Promise Cards. You may trade promise cards with any player, including returning them to their guarantor or giving them to a third party.

Each scenario of John Company concludes at the end of the turn indicated by the scenario. The game can also end immediately if the Company Standing marker ever moves to the leftmost space on the Standing track.

Once the game is over, players may not negotiate, cash in promises, or play blackmail cards (unless a card’s text explicitly allows it). Then players perform the Final Scoring phase.

Final Scoring

Final scoring has several steps which are described in the list below. Any ties after Final Scoring are broken in favor of the player with the most window icons and then in Prime Minister order (clockwise, starting with the Prime Minister).

1. Power Award. Each player totals their power. Power comes from these sources:

Power Track. Each enterprise or Company share is worth the amount of power indicated next to its token on the Power track. The bottom two spaces are worth 0 power.

Prime Minister and Laws. Each passed law token in your play area is worth +1 power. The Prime Minister grants its holder +2 power.

Cards. Some blackmail cards and one spouse are worth power. Power for blackmail cards in your player area is gained if the card is faceup or down.

Trophies. Each trophy token in your play area is worth +1 power.

The players with the most and second most power gain victory points depending on which turn was the final game turn, as indicated by the table on the board. If players are tied for the most power, award the lower value to the tied players only, and no other power award is given. Players tied for second place get nothing.

2. Score Court and Workshops. If the Company survived, each Company share is worth the number of victory points indicated on the Court. If the Company failed, players lower their score by that number instead for each, and players score 1 for each workshop they own. Scores may drop below zero.

3. Final Retirement or Consequence of Failure. If the Company survived, all players roll for attrition and retire any pensioners. No prestige cards are gained. If the Company failed, draw one Consequence of Failure card and resolve it.

Game Turn

John Company is a procedural game played over a set number of game turns. Each game turn consists of phases performed in the following order:

I. The London Season. Officeholders retire and compete for prestige cards.

II. Family. Players invest in the Company and increase their holdings. Then new Company shares may be created.

III. Hiring. The Company fills all vacant positions.

IV. Company Operation. Each Company office operates following the red ribbon from leftto right on the game board.

V. Bonuses. Players take bonus income.

VI. Revenue. The Company pays its expenses, the Chairman may pay dividends, and the Company adjusts its Standing.

Storms and events in India are resolved. VII. Events in India.

VIII. Parliament Meets. Parliament meets to vote on a law.

IX. Upkeep and Refresh. Players pay upkeep on their prizes and prepare for the next game turn.

The London Season

The London Season has three steps: Attrition, Retirements, and Prestige Cards. This phase is skipped on the game’s first turn.

Attrition

This step should be completed simultaneously by all players.

Roll one die for each office card you hold. Each fatigue on a card adds +1 to the result of that office’s die roll. The result determines what happens:

1 or 2: Nothing happens.

3 or 4: Add a fatigue to the office card.

5 or more: That officeholder retires. Move the family member holding that office to the Pensioners box on the board. Then, flip the office card to its vacant side and place it in the Vacant Offices box nearby. Any fatigue that was on the office card should be returned to the supply.

The Stress of Being Chairman. When rolling for the Chairman, add +1 to the result.

Retirements

Starting with the Chairman (or former Chairman if the office is vacant) and going clockwise, each player may retire their pensioner(s). For each pensioner, choose a prize on the leftside of the board, pay the cost indicated on the top leftof the prize box, and move your pensioner to that box. Increase your victory point marker by the amount listed.

Note: most prizes also have an upkeep value listed to the right of their cost which must be paid during the Upkeep and Refresh phase. In addition, many prizes also have window tax icons, which may need to be paid for during the Parliament Meets phase.

Instead of paying the cost of your retirements directly to the bank, set it near your player area. It will be used to determine turn order in the next step and should be paid to the bank at the end of the London Season.

Attrition & Retiring Pensioners

Prestige Cards

Beginning with the player who spent the most total cash on retirements this turn, each player who retired at least one pensioner this turn must take or discard one card from the London Season Display. Any ties are broken in favor of most total window icons (including from retirements this turn!) and then in Prime Minister order (clockwise, starting with the Prime Minister).

When choosing their card, the acting player is welcome to peek at any blackmail card in the London Season Display.

If there are no cards remaining in the display, all remaining players are skipped.

Then, discard any remaining cards and refill the London Season Display to three Note: cards. Place blackmail cards facedown. Place regular prestige cards faceup. this is done even if there were no cards taken this turn!

Lastly, return any family members in the Pensioners box to their supplies.

The different types of prestige and blackmail cards are described below:

Spouses usually increase your family’s victory points, but most come with a restriction you must follow for the rest of the game. Spouses be transferred. If a restriction requires you to cannot discard or trade enterprises/shares, players must negotiate any trades immediately after they take the spouse. Regarding Violet Effingham, any fitted ships connected to returned shipyards will still remain in play, but their attached shipyards may not be purchased during the Family Action phase if the ship is in play.

Most spouses also have a retirement discount that lowers the cost of a retirement by the amount shown. These discounts can be stacked, but may only be used by you alone. Each discount may be used once per London Season and once per Final Scoring. Note: these discounts will lower the amount you spend in retirement, which can influence the order in which prestige cards are taken.

Enterprises on prestige cards offer special powers which a player may use. These enterprises may be worth power during Final Scoring like other enterprises of their type and are likewise affected by policies during the Parliament Meets phase. These enterprises can be transferred.

Blackmails offer one-time effects. After they are used they are placed in your player area faceup and cannot be transferred. At the end of the game, all blackmail cards in a player’s area (faceup or down) count for power during Final Scoring.

London Display in Action

Family

This phase has two steps. First, all players will take their family action. Then, new Company shares may be created.

Family Action

Starting with the player with the Chairman title and proceeding clockwise, each player selects one family action from those listed in this section. Each player should place their opportunity marker on the action they choose. (Note: at the start of the game, this marker is not on any action.)

If a player’s opportunity marker was already on the action they chose at the start Example: your opportunity of this phase, they may take that action twice instead. marker is on the purchase shipyard action. This turn you could take that action twice. If you take a different action, you will only take it once.

Extra Actions. Some laws enable players to take an additional action after they have taken their main action. Only the most recently-passed extra action can be used. This action does not benefit from a player’s opportunity marker, nor does a player move their opportunity marker to the space corresponding to the extra action.

Out of Family Pieces? If you need to place a family piece during this phase but have none, you may choose to take one from any prize. If taken from a prize, lower your victory point marker by the printed value of that prize.

Place one family member in one of the three regional Writers boxes. If there are four or more vacant offices, you may place an additional writer once this turn. This might allow you to place two or three writers in a turn depending on the location of your opportunity marker.

Place one family member in the Officers-in-Training box.

Pay £4 to the bank and take one luxury. Each luxury gives you 2 victory points as long as they are in your possession. Adjust your victory point marker to reflect your purchase. Each luxury has a window tax icon, which may need to be paid for during the Parliament Meets phase. Each luxury counts as a social enterprise.

Pay £2 to the bank and take one shipyard. Place the matching ship token on the shipyard in the space indicated. Shipyards provide a £1 bonus each turn if their ship has been fitted and provide a single vote in the Parliament Meets phase. Each shipyard counts as a shipping enterprise.

Pay £5 to the bank and take one workshop. A workshop provides a £1 bonus each turn and two votes in the Parliament Meets phase. If the Company fails, it is worth 1 victory point during Final Scoring. Each workshop counts as a manufacturing enterprise.

Place a family member on an empty space on the Stock Exchange track and pay the price printed on that space to the bank. These family members may become shares at the end of the Family phase. Once shares, they may provide income through dividends and will be worth victory points at the end of the game if the Company survives. If the Company fails, they will cost victory points instead.

New Company Shares

Once all players have completed their turn, check to see if any family members on the Stock Exchange track are added to the Court. One will be added for each Company Debt as described below.

If the Company has Debt, move the rightmost family member on the Stock Exchange into the Court box and lower the Company Debt marker by one. A family member in the Court is called a Company share. If Company Debt remains, repeat this step again.

Finally, if there are still pieces in the Stock Exchange track but no Company Debt, slide rightward all remaining family members on the Stock Exchange as far as possible, preserving their order.

Hiring

In this phase, all vacant offices in the Company are filled through hiring.

General Hiring Procedure

Offices are hired in ascending order using the number on the back of each office card. Vacant offices can only be hired by certain officeholders who choose from a specific pool of candidates. The hiring office and the available candidates are listed on the back of the office card. Once a candidate is hired, move that family member to the new office and give that player the matching office card.

Nepotism. You may select your own family member to hire, but you must have the verbal consent of every other player in that office’s candidate pool. This does not apply to electing the Chairman.

Promotions. Some higher offices (like the Director of Trade) are hired from family members who already hold offices. Whenever a family member is promoted in this way, their previously held office card should be flipped over and added to the stack of vacant offices in the appropriate order (ascending). Any fatigue tokens on the promoted officeholder’s previous card are moved over to the new office card.

No Candidates or Hirer? In some circumstances there may be no eligible candidates for an office. When this happens the office is skipped in the hiring process and will remain vacant through the turn, taking no actions (including hiring others). If the office responsible for hiring a candidate is vacant, that office is skipped.

The Company’s Structure

Company Shares Commanders

Writers Officers

Each office is hired in a different manner described below.

Chairman

Any player with a Company share may attempt to become the new Chairman. To be elected the new Chairman you need consent from players that control a majority of the current Company shares.

At the start of the election, the former Chairman should declare the number of Company shares required to achieve a pure majority (more than half of total). Then, any player is welcome to campaign for their candidacy. As soon as a candidate has the required number of supporting Company shares, the election is over, and that player is chosen as the new Chairman.

The newly-elected Chairman takes the Chairman marker and moves one of their Company shares to the Chairman slot on the board. This piece still counts as a Company share, but cannot be traded in a negotiation or used for firm investments (if playing with Deregulation).

If no candidate can receive the necessary support, the former Chairman picks any player with at least one Company share to become the new Chairman, including themselves. This choice is not subject to the Nepotism rule.

An Empty Court? In some scenarios it is possible for the Court to be empty. In this case the former Chairman will automatically become the next Chairman, and should place a family member from their supply to the Chairman slot.

Chairman Election

The rest of hiring is mostly a straightforward affair. Players learning the game should feel free to read this hiring example and then skip the remainder of this section.

General Hiring

Director of Trade

The Chairman hires from any current officeholder except the Chairman or a Governor. If all offices are vacant, any writer can be chosen. Note: Commanders are not officeholders.

Manager of Shipping

The Chairman hires any writer for this position.

Military Affairs

The Chairman hires any Commander in a Presidential Army for this position. If there are none, they may hire any officer, or, if none, any piece in the Officersin-Training box.

Presidents

The Director of Trade hires any writer or Governor associated with that region’s Presidency for this position.

Governors

The President associated with the Governorship hires from any writer or officer in the region. The family member holding this position should be placed on top of the corresponding Governor overlay. Note: a Commander is not an officer and cannot be promoted to a Governor.

If there is a Governor General, these positions no longer exist (page 26).

Superintendent of Trade in China

The Chairman hires any writer for this position.

Company Operation

Starting with the Chairman, each Company office acts in order, leftto right, following the red ribbon on the game board. The Chairman is responsible for making sure players realize whose turn it is to act and that this phase proceeds in a timely fashion. Use of a gavel or bell is encouraged.

Vacant Offices. Sometimes offices will remain vacant if there were no eligible candidates to hire or if the hiring office was vacant. In this case, the office is skipped.

No Dead Actions. A player cannot take an action that would have no effect or chance of success e.g. trading without having a ship to fill an order or deploying without a dice to trigger potential officer losses.

Success Checks

Doing business in India is risky. Most actions that concern India require the acting player to make a check to see if their actions are successful. Each check requires a roll of the dice. The number of dice you roll is dependent on the resources you have and want to spend as determined by the action. Any money spent comes from the office’s treasury and is paid to the bank.

When making a check, first, decide on the amount of resources you want to spend or exhaust, and gather the appropriate number of dice equal to the amount shown on the office card.

Then, remove dice equal to the penalty. Finally, roll the dice. Use the lowest rolled value to determine one of three results.

1 or 2 is a success.

3 or 4 is a failure. The check may be attempted again if there are sufficient resources.

5 or 6 is a catastrophic failure. The office will take no further actions. The acting officeholder is immediately returned to its player’s supply, and that office card is flipped and placed in the Vacant Offices box. Any fatigue that was on the office card should be returned to the supply.

Note: some offices will use the result of a check in other ways, as detailed in their rules.

Chairman

The Chairman may first increase Company Debt and then must allocate the Company Balance.

You may advance the Company Debt marker up to three times. For each advance, increase the Company Balance by £5. If you wish to advance the Debt marker additional times, you must have the consent of players who control a majority of Company shares for each additional advancement (Remember: the Chairman counts as a share for this purpose!). The Chairman may not advance the debt beyond the end of the track.

Then, allocate all funds on the Company Balance track to any other office treasuries. Reduce the marker on the Company Balance track by the amount transferred and add it to the respective office treasuries. Note: a Chairman may wish to increase Debt as they allocate to make it easier to plan. As long as they follow the rules for taking debt described in the previous paragraph, this is fine.

Seeking Debt

Director of Trade

The Director of Trade may take the Special Envoy action and then may move writers and ships between the Presidencies. The Special Envoy action can be taken multiple times.

Make a check. Each £1 you spend gives you one die. There is no penalty.

If you are successful, choose one of the following:

Open trade with China. Create the Superintendent of Trade in China by placing the office overlay to the right of the board near the Bengal Presidency and taking its office card from the stack of unused offices. The office should be hired immediately.

Open an Order. Open one closed order in any region in India that is not controlled by the Company.

Then, you may make up to two transfers. In each, move one writer or ship from one Presidency or sea zone to any other.

Special Envoy

Manager of Shipping

The Manager of Shipping fits, buys, and leases ships on behalf of the Company.

You must spend funds in your treasury until it has at most £2 remaining. Funds can be spent to: Fit Ships on Shipyards. Pay £3 to the bank to take a ship from a shipyard and place it in any of the three sea zones. Note: this does not require the shipyard owner’s consent.

Buy Company Ships. If there are no ships on shipyards, pay £5 to the bank and place a Company ship from the general supply in a sea zone.

Lease Extra Ships. Pay £2 to the bank to place an extra ship from the general supply in a sea zone. Extra ships are ships on short-term leases that will be returned to the supply during the Refresh step.

Military Affairs

Military Affairs moves officers and regiments Assigning Commanders between Armies, assigns new officers, and assigns Commanders.

First, you may make up to two Army transfers. In each, move one officer or regiment from one Army to any other Army. Moved pieces always remain in the top half of the Army box.

Then, you must assign each piece in the Officers-in-Training box to any of the three Armies. New officers are placed in the top half of their Army box.

Finally, for each Army, if there is a player with more total pieces than the current Commander player or if the Commander slot is vacant, assign a new Commander. Choose a player from among those having the greatest number of total pieces in that Army. Move one of their officers to the Commander slot, putting any previous Commander there back into the top half of the Army box as an officer.

Presidency Operations

Each President generates revenue for the Company with the Trade action and decides the order in which they, their Commander, and their Governor(s) act.

Commanders and Governors are not required to take any actions but they must be given the opportunity to act. Each position must finish all of its actions before the next one may begin (players may flip their family members facedown after to track which have acted). The Trade action can be taken anytime during a Presidency’s operations so long as it does not interrupt another position.

Vacant President. If a President is vacant, the Chairman will decide the order of the Commander and Governor(s). A Chairman acting in this way cannot approve local alliance purchases or take the Trade action.

You may fill open orders in India using the Trade action, starting from your Presidency’s home port and continuing through any open orders you fill. The Trade action may be taken before or after the Commander or each Governor. The procedure for trading is as follows:

1. Declare the regions in which you wish to trade. You must include your home region and cannot include regions that you could not trade in because you do not have enough ships or because you could not fill an order because a connecting order is closed.

2. Make a check. Each £1 you spend gives you one die. Subtract one for each region outside of your home region that you declared in step 1 from your total dice.

Reminder: as with any check, if it is unsuccessful, you may attempt it again during your Presidency Operations so long as you have sufficient resources for another check and the check did not end in catastrophic failure.

If successful, place one writer on an open, empty order space for each ship in this Presidency’s sea zone. You must place as many writers as possible, but can only place them in the declared regions. The first writer must be placed on the Presidency’s home port (marked with a thick black line). After that order is filled, additional writers must be adjacent to a writer you already placed. For each order filled, increase the Company Balance by the amount listed on the order.

Out of Writers? If all writers have been placed and ships remain to fill additional orders, place filled order tokens (on the reverse of the closed order token) on the orders to show they have been filled.

Home Region Privileges. A President may not fill an order in another President’s home region (even if that President is vacant).

One Trade. Each President may only successfully trade at most once per game turn.

Then, you take £1 from the bank for each order you filled.

Finally, each player takes £1 from the bank for each of their writers you placed on an order.

The Association of Writers: If a writer is ever placed on an order adjacent to a writer from a different Presidency, place a Presidency divider on the connection so that the affiliation of writers is kept separate during the Refresh step.

Trading

Commanders

First, you may request funds from your President to purchase any local alliances located in your Army box and shiftthem to the top of the Army box. The cost of each is listed on the alliance piece and is paid from your President’s treasury.

Local Alliances. Local alliances are temporary Army pieces. Their strength can be used for two purposes: the Deploy action and to defend against threats in India during the Events in India phase. Each piece can only be used once on the turn they are purchased, and its strength cannot be split among more than one purpose.

Then you may take the Deploy action as many times as you wish and can afford.

The procedure for deploying is as follows:

1. Select a target. You may select your President’s home region, any region associated with your Presidency, or any region that shares a border with a region associated with your Presidency. You cannot target another President’s home region. Remember: you cannot take actions that would have no effect if you were successful and therefore you cannot declare a Company-controlled region unless it has at least one closed order or one unrest.

Make a check. Each officer or regiment you exhaust gives you one 2. die. In addition, each local alliance in your Army you exhaust will give you the number of dice indicated on the piece. To exhaust an officer, regiment, or local alliance, move it to the bottom half of its respective Army box. Subtract the strength of the region from your total number of dice. If the region is part of an empire, also subtract the strength of every region associated with it. Remember: as with any check, if it is unsuccessful, you may attempt it again so long as it did not end in catastrophic failure and you have sufficient resources. Also, note that regions that are Company-controlled never reduce your dice as they have a strength of zero when defending.

3. Check for losses. Each player must roll a die for each of their officers that were exhausted in this action (never regiments!). For each 6 rolled, they must return one of their officers to their supply.

Deploying

If successful, perform the following steps:

1. Divide Loot. Gather cash from the bank based on the target region:

Each Tower Level Loot Modifier (if faceup)

+£4 +£4 to +£9

Loot Minimum. If there is less cash than the number of officers + 1 (that were used in this action and that survived), increase it by the difference from the bank.

Distribute this cash among those that participated and survived the (the Commander’s share) Deploy action. First, give yourself £1 and £1 for each of your officers. Then continue clockwise to the next player and give them £1 for each of their officers. Continue clockwise in this fashion until all players with officers have been paid or no further cash remains. After paying players, if cash remains, give £1 to the bank for each regiment and local alliance (regardless of strength). If cash remains, continue distributing as described, starting with your Commander’s share and officers.

Dividing Loot

2. Take Trophies. Take one trophy token for each level in the targeted region’s tower (since you are the Commander). Then, remove the tower and dome. If it was a capital, remove all matching flags.

3. Impose Order. Open all orders and remove any unrest in the region.

4. Form Governorship. If the region is not Company-controlled, move the region’s loot/control token to the space above the President’s box with the region symbol side faceup. This region is now associated with this President. Place the matching Governor overlay in the region. Finally, take the matching Governor card from the stack of unused offices and place it in the Vacant Offices box. This region is now Company-controlled.

Elephant Redirect. If the Elephant was in the invaded region and faced another region, place it in the center of the invaded region to show that it now intends to rebel against the Company.

If the Deploy action is a catastrophic failure, first return half (rounding up) of your trophies to the supply and return the Commander to your supply.

The remaining offices in this section are created through player actions over the course of the game. When they are created, add their office card to the Vacant Offices box.

Governors

Governors are created through the Deploy action.

Governors take a series of Administer actions using a diminishing dice pool. First, take dice equal to the number listed on the office card. Then you may take an Administer action.

Make a check using the number of dice remaining in the pool. There is no penalty.

If successful, take £1 then choose one of the three following options. If the previous roll was not a success, take an additional £1.

Build Company Ship. Building a ship occurs over two successful actions. If there is no Company ship in your region, place one there. If there is already a Company ship in your region, move that ship to the sea zone associated with your President. Note: a ship in a region represents a ship that is partially built and has no other effect.

Commission Regiment. Place a regiment from the supply in the Army associated with your President. Regiments are treated as officers, but any loot they earn is paid to the bank and they cannot be removed through a loss check.

Tax. Add £2 from the bank to either the Company Balance or your President’s treasury. You may not split this amount. Each time you choose this after your first time this turn, add one unrest to the region.

If the check did not succeed, add an unrest to the region.

Then lower the number of dice in the pool by 1 regardless of its result. You may continue taking actions until one the following happens: you roll a catastrophic failure, you run out of dice, or you decide to stop.

Administering

Superintendent of Trade in China

This office is created either if the Director of Trade’s Special Envoy to China is successful or if Parliament passes the “Envoy to China” law. When created, the office is hired immediately by the Chairman who may promote any writer.

Unlike a President’s treasury, the Superintendent’s treasury only contains ships. Ships can be sent here by the Manager of Shipping or the Director of Trade as if it were a sea zone. These ships count as if they were in the Eastern sea zone for storms, expenses, events, and laws.

This office acts after the Presidency of Bengal operates.

To trade in China, make a check. Roll one die for each ship in your office’s treasury. This check may only be attempted once and cannot be attempted if there are no opium icons in Company-controlled regions.

If successful, increase the Company Balance by £4 for each opium icon in all Company-controlled regions. Then, you take £1 from the bank for each opium icon in all Company-controlled regions.

Trading in China

Trade in China

Governor General

The Governor General is created by passing a law of the same name. When passed, all Governors immediately become pensioners. Remove any Governor overlays on the map and any partially-built Company ships. No new Governors are created (or overlays placed) when additional regions become Companycontrolled. Note: the printed Company icons on the board show players which regions are Company-controlled when the Governor General is in play.

The player holding the Director of Trade card should replace it with the Governor General card and place the Governor General overlay on the ribbon. Any fatigue on the Director of Trade office card should be moved to the new office card. Return all Governor cards and the Director of Trade card to the box.

The Governor General is hired like the Director of Trade by the Chairman and is subject to attrition like any other office.

The Governor General hires Presidents and performs all of its actions during the part of the Company Operation phase formerly used by the Director of Trade office. The Director of Trade’s treasury is now used by the Governor General. From now on, if any regions are lost via attacks on the Company, follow the Region Loss rules but skip the Governor Elimination step.

When acting, first increase the Company Balance by £3 for each region that is Company-controlled.

Then the Governor General may attempt the Govern action any number of times.

The procedure for governing is as follows:

1. Make a check. Each £1 you spend gives you one die. There is no penalty.

For each 6 rolled, place one unrest Company-controlled 2. in each region.

If you are successful, take £1 for each region that is Company-controlled.

Then, for each region that is Company-controlled, choose one of the (note: you must choose an option!) following :

Governor General’s Shipbuilding. Place a Company ship in any sea zone (including China).

Governor General’s Commission Regiment. Place a regiment from the supply in any Army.

Governor General’s Tax. Either increase the Company Balance by £2 or place £2 in any Company treasury except your own. Then place an unrest in a Company-controlled region. If you make this choice multiple times in a single turn, you must place the unrest in a different region for each.

If the check did not succeed, place 1 unrest in each Company-controlled region.

One Govern. The Governor General may only successfully govern at most once per game turn.

Bonuses

During this phase, players collect bonuses. Every player should take £1 for each shipyard with a fitted ship and each workshop they own.

Revenue

During the Revenue phase, the Company will pay expenses, check expectations, and then pay dividends.

During this phase, the Company’s Standing will often be adjusted. If the Standing marker is moved to the leftmost position of the Standing track, the Company has failed. Go to the Final Scoring immediately (page 9).

Expenses

First, lower the Company Balance marker by £1 for each debt as indicated by the Company Debt track, each regiment and officer in an Army (do not include Commanders), and each ship in the three sea zones.

Emergency Loans. If the Company cannot pay its expenses, emergency loans must be taken to cover those expenses. For each emergency loan taken, move the Company Debt marker one space to the right and add £5 to the Company Balance track. If the Company Debt marker is already on the rightmost space, you still take out emergency loans but do not advance the Company Debt marker further. Do this until all expenses have been met. Emergency loan advancements of the Company Debt marker do not incur expenses during this game turn. Finally, set the Company Balance to zero.

Public Embarrassment. Lower the Company’s Standing one space to the leftif one or two emergency loans were taken this turn. Lower it two spaces if three or more emergency loans were taken this turn.

Check Expectations

Next, lower the Company’s Standing one space to the leftif the Company Balance is less than the Expectations value listed beneath the Company’s Standing.

Pay Dividends

Finally, the Chairman may pay out dividends.

The cost of each dividend is equal to the number of Company shares. When a dividend is paid, lower the Balance by an amount equal to the number of Company shares. Each player takes £1 for each of their Company shares. Multiple dividends may be paid. Remember: the Chairman counts as a Company share for dividends.

Public Enthusiasm. Advance Standing one space to the right if more total cash was paid in dividends than Expectations.

Events in India

During this phase, roll the storm die, resolve any storms and then resolve a number of events in India during which the political and economic landscape of India will shiftand Company-controlled regions may face Rebellion.

The Storm Die

Roll the storm die. The resulting face indicates which ships are subject to storms and how many events occur in India.

Storms. If one of the three sea zones is rolled, roll a die for each ship in that sea zone except Company and Extra ships. If the die face with three storms is rolled, you must check for all sea zones.

On a 1 or 2, nothing happens to the ship. On a 3 or 4, flip the ship to its fatigued side. If the ship is already fatigued, the ship is sunk and should be returned to its shipyard. On a 5 or 6, the ship is sunk and returned to its shipyard. When a ship is returned to a shipyard, it should be flipped to its non-fatigued side.

Events in India. After resolving any storms, resolve as many events in India as indicated by the number on the storm die. For each event in India, flip one tile from the draw stack. These events will often open or close orders, alter a region’s strength, and may lead to Cascades. The location of the event often depends on the back of the top tile in the India draw stack.

Flipping an Event

When resolving events, orders sometimes become closed. If a writer is on such an order, the writer is returned to its owner’s supply. If the order has a filled order token, flip it instead.

If you are ever required to close an order but all orders in that region are already closed, a Cascade occurs. Close all open orders connected to the orders in that region. When doing this, if a connected order is already closed, close the northernmost open order in that region instead. If every order in that region is already closed, trigger an additional Cascade.

Each region can only Cascade once during the resolution of each event tile. However, a region may receive the effects of more than one Cascade per tile. In other words, while a region might be “flooded” by closed orders from more than one region, it can only “overflow” once.

Region Loss

Attacks against the Company can trigger the loss of a Company-controlled region. When this occurs, follow these steps:

1. Tarnish the Commander’s Name. The Commander of the Army associated with this region returns half (rounding up) of the trophies their family owns to the supply e.g. a player with 3 trophies would lose 2. Return the Commander to its supply.

2. Officer Rout. Roll a die for every officer in the Army and remove it if the roll is a 6.

3. Governor Elimination. If this region has a Governor, return it to the unused offices stack and return the officeholder’s family member to that player’s supply. Any fatigue on the office card is returned to the supply.

4. Restore Local Authority. Remove the Governor overlay, any Company ship, and any unrest in the region, and place a dome back in the region with one tower level (place the appropriate flag if this region fell as part of a successful Invasion Crisis). Place the region’s control token back in its region with the loot side facedown (it will not generate additional loot in the future) . Close every open order in the region. If all are already closed, resolve a Cascade.

5. Company Humiliation. Lower the Company’s Standing by one to the leftfor each region lost this turn (including this region). E.g. The first lost region lowers Standing by 1 space, the second lowers Standing an additional 2 spaces, etc. This can cause Company failure. If this happens the game is over. Finish the Events in India phase, then resolve Final Scoring.

Region Loss Example

Elephant’s March

After resolving some events, the Elephant will move. First, check for Imperial Ambitions. Otherwise, it will move to the region pictured on the top of the draw stack.

After resolving a successful Invasion Crisis, the Elephant Imperial Ambitions. will always be moved to the successful capital’s region, regardless of which tile is on top of the draw stack.

After moving the Elephant, determine its position using the following procedure:

If the region is Company-controlled, put the Elephant's March Elephant in the center of the region.

If the region is currently dominated by another region, place the Elephant on the border facing its current sovereign to indicate a looming Rebellion.

If the region is sovereign, place the Elephant on the border matching the shape (circle, triangle, or square) printed on the tile to indicate a looming Invasion. The Elephant should be facing towards the region on the other side of that border. If the Elephant faces a region that is already dominated by the region on the top of the draw stack, use the first clockwise region from that border where this is not true.

Fully-Formed Empires. In the rare instance that all neighbors are dominated, place the Elephant on the border matching the shape on the Elephant redirect arrow and position it so that it is pointing at the empire’s capital.

Events Described

All of the events in India are described in the following sections.

Close the northernmost open order in the region pictured on the top of the draw stack. Any writer on the order is returned to that player’s supply. If all orders in this region are already closed, perform a Cascade.

Players take £1 from the bank for each writer they have on an order in the region pictured on the top of the draw stack and all adjacent regions i.e. regions that share a border with that region.

First, perform the Elephant’s March. Then, shuffle this tile in with the remainder of the draw stack. Finally, shuffle the discards and place them on top of the draw stack, facedown. In the rare instance the draw stack is empty, perform the Elephant’s March last.

If the region pictured on the top of the draw stack is sovereign, add a tower level to it. Otherwise, treat this event as a Rebellion in the pictured region with a strength modifier equal to the number on the explosion symbol (see Crisis rules).

Elephant Redirect. If the Elephant was fully within a Companycontrolled region that successfully rebelled, perform an Elephant’s March. (Otherwise this event does not move the Elephant.)

Open any orders that are connected through the border the Elephant stands on. Then add one tower level to each region touching the Elephant that is not controlled by the Company. If the Elephant was wholly within a region (indicating a potential Rebellion), open all orders in that region and remove any unrest in this region. Then, perform the Elephant’s March.

Peace Example

Like Peace, the location of the Crisis is determined by the placement of the Elephant piece, not by the top tile of the draw stack. The Elephant’s (where it is walking from) tail indicates the attacker. The Elephant’s head (where it is walking to) indicates the defender. After resolving a Crisis, perform the Elephant’s March.

If the attacker is a sovereign region, resolve an Invasion. Determine whether the attacker’s strength (including the strength of any other regions in its empire) plus the modifier listed on the event tile is greater than the defender’s strength (including the strength of any other regions in its empire). If so, the Invasion is successful; otherwise, the Invasion fails.

If the Invasion succeeded, remove any flag on the defending region’s dome and place a flag matching the attacker.

Shattered Empire. If the defending region was a capital, any flags matching its empire are returned to the supply.

New Empire. If the attacker was successful and does not have a flag, place any flag with a star still in the supply on their dome. If none remain, a new empire cannot be formed and no flag is added to the attacker or defender.

If the Invasion failed, remove one tower level from the attacker.

If the attacker is a dominated region, resolve a Rebellion. In a Rebellion, the Crisis is only between a dominated region and the region that dominates it (other regions in the empire have no impact!). Determine whether the attacker’s strength plus the modifier listed on the event tile is greater than the defender’s strength. If so, the Rebellion is successful; otherwise it fails.

When a Rebellion is successful the attacking region is now sovereign. Return its flag to the supply. Then, close every open order in the attacking region. If all are already closed, resolve a Cascade.

If the Rebellion failed, remove one tower level from the capital.

Mysore Invades

Both Invasions and Rebellions against Company-controlled regions are resolved the same way. Whenever attacked by any type of Crisis, the Company must resolve the Crisis (called the primary Crisis) and then must resolve an additional Rebellion Crisis in each other region with unrest cubes using the following rules:

Order of Resolution. Always resolve the primary Crisis first. Then, starting with the Commander of the Army of Bombay and proceeding downwards, each Commander resolves attacks in regions associated with their Presidency in any order.

Vacant Commander. If the Commander is vacant, Military (choosing which pieces to exhaust etc.) Affairs will act in its stead If that office is also vacant, the Chairman will choose. The player acting as Commander will not lose or gain trophies.

Attack Strength. In the primary Crisis, calculate strength depending on the Crisis type (Invasion or Rebellion). In addition, add one to the strength for every unrest in this region. In other regions, the strength of each Rebellion is equal to the number of unrest in that region.

Mounting Defense. The Commander associated with the region must exhaust pieces in the Army equal to the strength of the Crisis or as many as possible. If the newly-exhausted pieces do not equal the strength of the Crisis, the Crisis succeeds. Perform the steps of Region Loss (page 29).

If the attack failed, remove all unrest in the attacked region and the Commander associated with the region should take a trophy token.

Failed and Successful Invasions. If the primary Crisis was an Invasion that failed, remove one tower level from the attacking region if possible. If it was successful follow the rules of empire creation and growth as described on the previous page.

Roll the storm die and resolve an Invasion Crisis and/or Attack against the Company in each region linked to a storm (Bombay for West Indian, Madras for South Indian, and Bengal for East Indian). If all storms are rolled, resolve this event once in each. If no storms are rolled, resolve this event in the region on the top card of the draw stack instead.

For each event, roll a die. Treat this like an Invasion with strength equal to the roll. In addition to those rules, if the Foreign Invasion is successful:

Close every open order in the region. If all orders are already closed, perform a Cascade.

Return any flag on this region’s dome to the supply. If it was a capital, return all flags of that color to the supply. If Company-controlled, return its dome to the board. In any case, set the region’s strength to half the strength of the Invasion (round down).

Elephant Redirect. If the Elephant was fully within a Companycontrolled region that was invaded, perform an Elephant’s March using for the shape. (Otherwise this event does not move the Elephant.)

Parliament Meets

The player with the Prime Minister dial must select a law and bring it up for a vote. They do this by drawing and revealing, one at a time, up to three cards from the law deck and selecting one. The remainder are discarded. Players are welcome to discuss each law before the next is drawn. However, if a dilemma (indicated at the top of the card) is drawn, the Prime Minister must stop drawing and select that law.

After selecting the law, the Prime Minister must select a policy by rotating the dial’s arm either clockwise or counter-clockwise. The Prime Minister must stop at the first space that matches the icon printed on the bottom of the law card.

Each space on the Policy track has two elements, a policy consequence and a target. If the law passes, the selected policy consequence will affect the target (either an enterprise type, Company share or a prize as indicated by the space’s color and icon).

There are three policy consequences:

Tax. Each player must pay £1 to the bank for each target they own. For each they cannot pay for, the target should be returned to its supply (this includes the Chairman!) . Any fitted ships connected to returned shipyards remain in play, but their attached shipyards may not be taken during the Family Action phase if the ship is in play.

Window Tax. Some tax policy spaces have a window icon. If a law passes and a policy space with this icon is selected, all players must pay cash equal to the number of window icons associated with each of their family members on a prize and each of their enterprises. If they cannot, the enterprise or family member on the prize is returned to its supply.

Bonus. Each player takes £1 from the bank for each target they own.

Power. Swap the position of the Power marker matching the target with the next higher Power marker. If the target’s Power marker is already in the highest position, swap the position of any two other Power markers.

Next, the Prime Minister reads the text of the law aloud and marks its starting support (printed on bottom right of law) using the Votes marker on its track. The Prime Minister should allow some time for debate before proceeding to voting.

Selecting a Law and Policy

Voting

Starting with the Prime Minister, players take turns voting. After a player has voted, the next player in clockwise order votes. After all players have had a chance to vote, the Prime Minister can decide to initiate an additional round of voting or to stop and resolve the vote. If no votes were cast in the round, the vote must be resolved.

A player’s votes come from several sources. Each £1 they spend from their family treasury is worth 1 vote. In addition, any card in their play area is worth votes equal to the number of vote icons on the card. When casting these votes, rotate the card to indicate it has been used. It will be rotated back after the vote is resolved.

As players vote, adjust the Votes marker one space for each vote cast. Players may advance or lower the marker. There is no limit to the number of votes that can be cast. If the Votes marker would advance beyond the end of either side of the track, place cash from the bank near its position to track additional votes. If it would be moved in the opposite direction, subtract any cash before moving it in that direction.

Any player who votes against the law is part of the opposition. Once a player votes against a law, they may not vote in favor of it later during that vote. All members of the opposition should count how many votes they have cast against this law using any method (for instance, they could group all of their cards used to vote plus any money spent).

A player who previously voted for the law may change their mind and join the opposition with later votes.

The Opposition Leader. The player who has cast the most votes against the law is the Opposition Leader and should take the Opposition Leader marker. If there is a tie, the previous holder will continue to hold it.

Coalitions in Opposition. Players may cast votes on behalf of another player with that player’s consent. This player must have voted against the law or commit to doing so. These votes should be added to their total when determining the Opposition Leader.

The Prime Minister’s Honor. The Prime Minister cannot vote against the current law or consent to their enterprises being used to vote for that purpose. However, their enterprises may be used to vote against a law if their “Vote with my enterprises...” promise is used.

Resolving the Vote

When voting stops, the law passes or fails depending on the position of the Votes marker. There are two possible outcomes:

If the law has -1 support or less, it fails. Discard the law, resolving any “If Failed” effects if it is a dilemma. Then, the player with the Opposition Leader token returns it to the supply and takes the Prime Minister wheel. Finally, the new Prime Minister moves the selected policy to either adjacent space on the Policy track and then resolves its effect.

Otherwise, the law passes.Place the law near the board next to the other passed laws. The Prime Minister should take a passed law token into their play area. Then, resolve the policy consequence in the space selected and then any immediate effects of the law.

Finally, return any cards used for votes to their regular orientation.

Legislated Company Failure. If a law causes the Company to fail, the game is over. Finish resolving the vote then perform Final Scoring.

The Vote to Deregulate

In the 1758 and long 1710 scenarios, the Prime Minister may initiate a special session of Parliament at the start of the turn before the London Season phase. To do this, the Company Standing marker and/or Company Debt marker must be on a lined space. If at least one of these markers is on one of the spaces marked with a star, the Prime Minister must initiate a special session to vote on Deregulation.

If the vote passes, lower Company Debt one space for every two Debt and place the Standing marker on the space marked “S.” The Prime Minister gains a passed law token. Refer to the Deregulation rules for additional changes.

If the law fails, increase the value of Company shares by placing (or flipping) the VP overlay in the Court. Shares cannot be worth more than +/-3 victory points. Unlike other proposed laws, this law is not associated with a policy and the Prime Minister does not change hands if it fails nor will this law be discarded. The Prime Minister may also vote against the law.

Upkeep and Refresh

Everyone must pay for their family members on prizes. Each is paid for individually, using the indicated amount on that prize (printed to the right of the prize’s cost). If a player cannot pay for a prize’s expense, instead return the family member to its supply and lower their owner’s victory point marker by that prize’s value.

Remember, players can transfer funds to each other at any time. If you’re having trouble meeting your expenses, see if other players might be willing to loan you some money.

Players now prepare the board for the next turn. If it is the final turn of the game, skip this step and proceed to Final Scoring (page 9).

Return writers to their associated Presidency.

Return filled order tokens and Presidency dividers to the supply.

Return all extra ships to the supply.

Any exhausted officers and regiments become active. Any active local alliances are exhausted.

Then, advance the turn marker and proceed with the first phase.

Deregulation

The next section is only used when players are playing games with Deregulation.

These rules are in play during the 1813 scenario. In addition, they may be triggered if players vote to deregulate the Company during the long 1710 scenario or the 1758 scenario.

Firms

Players may now own shares in and manage firms. Firms can trade in India independently of the Company and provide shareholders with alternate ways to score victory points.

Each firm has two treasury boxes: the London treasury and the India treasury.

London Treasury. The London treasury is used to pay expenses and fit new ships. Any cash raised from investments is placed in this treasury. Note: players may not transfer cash in their family treasury to or from firm treasuries!

India Treasury. The India treasury holds revenue gained from trade in India. This treasury is used to pay dividends and expenses. Any remainder is then transferred to the London treasury.

If all shareholders consent, a firm may be dissolved following the firm dissolution rules described later (page 41).

During the London Season phase, each player with at least one firm share may take one additional retirement using a piece from their supply instead of a pensioner. The total amount of money spent for this retirement cannot exceed the value of the highest total dividend paid out by a firm in which they own a share. This retirement is otherwise like any Note: even if a other retirement a player can make with a pensioner. player owns shares in multiple firms, only one special retirement can be taken! Furthermore, note that discounts on spouses can be used to retire on prizes with a value higher than the dividend paid by a firm.

Disreputable Firms. A firm that has not yet placed its dividend cube or that has its dividend cube on the zero space may not be used for any special retirement.

At the start of Final Scoring, players will score or lose the number of victory points indicated by the firm’s value for each firm share they own or each family piece they have in Debtor’s Prison. After totaling victory points earned, any remaining fractions are rounded down.

Then, regardless of Company success or failure, shareholders may perform one special retirement before proceeding with the rest of Final Scoring. Note: as this is not a London Season phase, no cards are taken from the London Season Display.

The Firms Phase

After the Family phase is complete and before the Hiring phase, players will now perform the Firms phase. The Firms phase has two steps: Firm Investments and Firm Strategy.

Firm Investments

The first step of the Firms phase has no set order and players can take the following actions at any time during it. The Firms phase ends when no player wishes to take further actions. Any timing conflicts related to a firm are resolved by the firm’s manager. Any timing conflicts between firms are resolved by the Prime Minister.

Two of the actions described in this section use Company shares. These rules are restricted by the two caveats described below:

Weak Company Shares. If the Company Standing and/or Debt marker is on a lined space, you may not use Company shares to form a firm or invest.

Immature Company Shares. You may not invest with a Company share that was created this turn.You may not avoid this rule by trading (Players may find it helpful to flip over any your share to another player. newly-created Company shares until the end of the Firms phase to show that they cannot be invested.)

A player who does not currently manage a firm may form one by returning one of their Company shares to its supply or flipping one workshop to its invested side. Flip your family board over to its firm charter side. Place one family member from your supply on the firm’s Shares box to represent the firm’s first share. Place one of your cubes on the leftmost space of the Value track (the other will be used to record the total dividends paid). Add £5 from the bank to this firm’s London treasury. Your family is now considered a firm and you are the firm manager.

With the consent of the firm’s manager, players may invest in a firm. For each investment, add £5 from the bank to this firm’s London treasury and place a family member on the firm’s Shares box. A family member in a Reminder: like Company shares, firm firm’s Shares box is called a firm share. shares can be traded by players.

To invest, a player must first either return one of their Company shares to its supply or flip one of their workshops to its invested side.

Invested Workshops. An invested workshop is not scored if the Company fails and no longer generates a bonus.

Firm Share Limit. Firms may only have 10 shares. A firm with 10 shares may still be invested in, but will not create any further shares.

A firm manager may spend cash from the firm’s London treasury to the bank to fit ships on shipyards which are placed on the firm’s charter. Each costs £3. Unlike the Company, a firm manager may only fit ships with the consent of shipyard owner.

Player-owned Company Ship Buyback. A firm manager may buy any player-owned ship in the Company with its owner’s consent by spending cash from the firm’s London treasury. An unfatigued ship costs £3 and a fatigued ship costs £2. Any money spent should be added to the Shipping office’s treasury.

Note: unlike the Company, firms may not acquire Company ships or extra ships.

If you do not manage a firm and have the consent of players who collectively hold a majority of a firm’s shares, you may initiate a hostile takeover. Flip your board to its firm charter side. Place your two firm cubes on the tracks in the matching spaces as the firm you are taking over. Move any ships, treasury funds, and shares to your board. The previous owner then returns their cubes to their supply and returns their firm charter to the family side.

Firm managers may consolidate any number of firms into a single firm through a negotiated merger.

In a merger, the highest value firm among those merging will be the primary firm (if there is a tie, the players will pick from among those tied). This firm will remain after the merger is completed. The other firms in the merger are called secondary firms.

As part of a merger, players may negotiate for the transfer of firm shares to other players. If the primary firm would have more than ten shares after merger, any excess shares must be returned to their owner’s supply with their owner’s consent.

In order for a negotiated merger to take place, all involved firms must have the full consent of every shareholder. All merger negotiations are considered a single immediate transfer (and therefore binding).

After a merger is agreed to, all secondary firms transfer and consolidate their treasuries, shareholders, and ships into a single firm. Then, the secondary firms flip to their family side.

Firm Strategy

After the Firm Investments step, all firm managers must simultaneously and secretly decide their trading sea zone and how much money to spend trading.

First, each firm manager secretly selects which sea zone and home port they intend to use in trade and how much cash from their firm’s London treasury they will spend in the attempt. They indicate this by placing the matching firm strategy card facedown near their player board and placing the money they wish to spend on the matching box of the firm board. A firm may select a sea zone as long as they have even if the associated home port is closed. at least one ship,

Firm managers that do not wish to trade may select the “Hobnob” strategy. No cash may be placed on this strategy. A firm with this strategy will not trade or pay dividends (it must still pay expenses!), but it will allow a firm to keep its previous dividend marker for the purposes of special retirements.

Players should cover any money allocated to their strategy with their hands or by any method they agree upon. Once all players have made their decisions, players reveal the amount they have spent, however their strategy card should remain facedown. Note: firms only get a single trade attempt each turn, so make sure you allocate enough!

Filling Orders as a Firm

At the start of a Presidency’s Operations (before any actions are taken), any firm with a strategy that is associated with that Presidency reveals their strategy and make a check with dice equal to the cash allocated to their strategy. The cash is then paid to the bank. If at least one success is rolled, the firm may trade. Each firm that successfully trades has an initiative value equal to the total of their ships minus the number of successful dice*(1s and 2s)* they rolled. This number can be negative.

Orders are filled after the President has made a successful roll while taking the Trade action. A President’s roll determines their initiative like a firm and counts all ships in their Presidency’s sea zone.

If the President is vacant or does Vacant Presidency or Failure to Trade. not trade (for any reason), ties in initiative are decided by the Chairman marker. Firms with strategies associated with this Presidency fill orders after its Commander or Governors have had a chance to act.

Players then fill orders starting with the firm or Company with the lowest initiative and proceeding to the highest. When it is their turn, the President or firm manager trading in the associated Presidency fills as many orders as possible. Any ties in initiative are decided by the operating President.

Firms fill a number of open orders up to the number of ships they own plus one. Orders must be filled starting with the home port listed on their strategy. When filling an order, you must be able to trace a path back to this port through any number of orders that you have filled.

You may only fill each order once. When a firm first fills an order, mark it with a filled order token. Then, add the value of the order(s) to your firm’s India treasury.

Previously-Filled Orders. Firms may fill orders previously filled this turn by other firms or the Company. The Company may fill orders previously filled by firms this turn. The filling of a previously-filled order will generate half of its listed value, rounding down.

Finally, advance your firm’s Value marker one space for each £6 you added to the firm’s India treasury this turn.

Trading with Firms

Firm Expenses and Dividends

At the start of the Revenue phase, before the Company pays expenses, firms will pay expenses and dividends in initiative order followed by all other firms with any ties broken by their Manager’s windows and then clockwise starting with the Prime Minister.

Each firm must pay for the following expenses:

Pay £1 for each ship on the firm’s charter.

Pay £1 for each share in the firm’s Share box or pay £ equal to the firm value, whichever is higher.

Expenses can be paid from a firm’s London and/or India treasury.

If a firm cannot pay expenses it must be dissolved. Move each share piece to the (pieces here lower a player’s score by one Debtor’s Prison box on the Deregulation card victory point). All ships owned by the firm are returned to their matching shipyard. The manager of the firm then flips their firm’s charter back to the family side. Note: any workshops invested in the firm will remain on their invested side for the rest of the game!

Emergency Investments. A firm facing dissolution may receive investments from any player and use that money to cover expenses following the Court and Workshops Investment rules (page 38). Any cash remaining after expenses are paid is lost. Finally, lower the firm’s value by 1 space per emergency investment received. Note: if a firm has 10 shares, it is still possible to invest in a firm, but no new shares are generated.

Emergency Mergers. A firm facing dissolution may participate in a negotiated merger with one other firm at this time. As part of the merger, the other firm must first pay their own expenses (if it hasn’t already done so), and pay any outstanding expenses owed by the firm facing dissolution.

The manager may choose to pay out a number of dividends using cash in the firm’s India treasury. For each dividend, £1 for each share is paid to the player owning that share and £1 is given to the player who is the manager of the firm. All cash from dividends is only taken from the India treasury.

Optional Dividends. Unlike Company dividends, any shareholder may elect to not be paid for any number of their shares on any dividend, so long as the manager consents. For example, a firm has the following shareholders Blue (2 + Manager) and Yellow (2) and £8 to payout. Normally each dividend would pay out £5, but that doesn’t allow the manager to pay out all £8. If Blue forgoes a share of dividends twice, all £8 could be paid out. Blue and Yellow would take £4 each.

Then, the firm manager should record the total amount of cash paid out in dividends by placing the firm’s dividend cube on the Company Balance track. This value will be used by shareholders to determine the max value of their special retirement (page 37).

Hobnobbing Firms. Any firm that selected the “Hobnob” strategy should keep their firm’s dividend marker in its present space and not set it to zero to reflect their lack of dividends this turn.

Finally, any cash remaining in the firm’s India treasury should be moved to its London treasury.

Firms and Storms

When rolling for storms during the Events in India phase, treat all firm ships as if they were in the sea zone indicated by the firm’s strategy. If the strategy was “Hobnob,” firm ships will not be affected by storms.

Firm Expenses and Dividends

Solo and Two-Player Game

In the solo and two player game, you will be playing against the Crown. The Crown is sometimes keen to see the Company succeed, with them becoming the dominant power within the Company. At other times, the Crown seeks for the Company to fail. You must negotiate with the Crown and influence their decision-making to seize victory for yourself. Sometimes the Crown will make bad decisions for the Company and paying for costly favors may be the only way to keep those decisions in check. You do so via a set of 12 Crown promise cubes. There is a limited number of promise cubes, so you must do favors for the Crown in return to get promise cubes back.

The game follows all of the standard multiplayer rules, with the following adjustments:

Setup

Set up a game in any scenario. It is recommended to set up the 1710 scenario for your first game with the Crown. Before dealing setup cards, follow these steps:

1. The Crown uses the family board titled “The Crown.”

2. Give the Crown the family members of two players, so they have 36 pieces instead of 18. They will first use all of one color when placing family members.

3. Divide the 12 Crown promise cubes equally between the Crown and the human players (i.e. 6 each in a solo game, 4 each in a 2-player game).

4. Shuffle the AI cards and place the deck facedown; draw and reveal the topmost card, placing it faceup to the right of the facedown deck. Set the climate marker (use an unused opportunity marker) on the Crown family board, according to the icon on the revealed AI card.

5. The Crown sits last in order in respect to whoever was Chairman during setup, or before whichever player is next in the order of offices if the Crown is themselves the Chairman.

Finishing Setup as a Solo Player

The Crown acts like two players for solo setup. Shuffle the 12 setup cards, draw 3 cards, select 1 to keep, and give 2 to the Crown. Repeat this 3 more times, so that you finish with 4 setup cards and the Crown finishes with 8.

As a variant, players can deal the setup cards randomly. Deal 4 to the soloist and 8 to the Crown.

Finishing Setup with Two Players

Set up as a 3-player game with the Crown set up as one family. Shuffle the 12 setup cards, each player draws 3 cards, selects 2 to keep, and gives the remaining card to the Crown. Repeat this 2 times. Each player and the Crown will have 4 setup cards.

Designate one component or object as the Player Button (this could be an unused Crown firm cube or any unused game component). Give the Player Button to the player sitting to the right (counter-clockwise) or left (clockwise) of the Crown, according to the direction pointed at by the finger on the current AI card.

Each time the Crown must decide between the two players, they will select the player holding the Player Button. Likewise, if there is disagreement (e.g. if both over which of the two players gets to act in a certain situation wish to perform the same favor with the Crown at the same time), the decision goes to the player holding the Player Button. In both cases, that player must then immediately pass the Player Button to the other player.

A player holding the Player Button may transfer it to the other player as part of a negotiation.

Difficulty

You can adjust the difficulty of the Crown as follows:

Easy. 5 promise cards are available to each player, which can be traded for promise cubes (see Crown family board).

Normal. Promise cards are not available for trading for promise cubes.

As Normal, but also give 4 more promise cubes to the Crown (2 Hard. from each player in 2P).

Expert. As Hard, but also give the Crown 3 extra setup cards.

Gameplay

The Crown Handbook will be used to determine the behavior and interactions of the Crown during each game. The Crown’s behavior for any current phase is dictated by the Crown Handbook and often affected by the current climate. However, players are encouraged to not look beyond the phase they are currently in within the Handbook. The Crown’s climate is determined by the current AI card and tie breaks are often determined by using the current AI card and AI card deck.

Throughout the game, players can modify the actions of the Crown by spending promise cubes. Players can gain promise cubes by acting in ways that are beneficial to the Crown. When playing with two players, promise cubes may be used in negotiations and traded between players at anytime.

AI Deck

You will often need to refer to the current faceup AI card and the AI deck when breaking ties.

When the Crown must choose between the Presidencies, select the Presidency indicated on the back of the topmost card of the facedown AI deck pointed to by the black arrow (6). If this Presidency is not suitable, or the Crown must select a second Presidency, select the one indicated by the white arrow (1). If the second Presidency is not suitable, then the Crown will select the remaining third Presidency. For example, first select the Madras Presidency, then Bengal, then Bombay.

When the Crown must select a direction, use the direction pointed at by the finger (2). For example, the selected direction is clockwise.

When the Crown must select one of three cards in a splay, select the card in the position of the shaded card at the top of the AI card (3). If that card is not available, select the next card to the right, wrapping around to the leftif needed. For example, the Crown would choose the leftmost card in the London Season Display.

When the Crown changes climate during the Chairman’s actions, use the chart to determine their new climate (4). For example, if Company Standing is in the first or second place, the Crown’s climate will change to the peacock. A player cannot affect the game state in any way prior to determining the Crown’s new climate after a new AI card is flipped.

When the Crown must decide between regions, use the region priority given at the bottom of the AI card (5). The Crown selects the leftmost region in the list and proceeds to the right. For example, the Crown would first choose Madras, then Mysore, then Bombay, then Punjab, then Delhi, then Maratha, then Hyderabad, and lastly Bengal.

Favors and Promise Cubes

In most phases, promise cubes can be exchanged to/from the Crown in a closed economy via a favor. There are two kinds of favors: favors that require you to pay promise cubes to the Crown (indicated with a red box) and favors that force the Crown to give you promise cubes (indicated with a blue box). Most favors are listed in the Crown Handbook. Favors have two critical restrictions:

Favors are only available during the resolution of the indicated phase or step.

You may perform favors as many times as you wish, but you may never perform a favor you cannot fully pay, though you can perform a favor that will gain you less promise cubes than are available from the Crown.

Some additional favors are listed on the Crown’s family board. Unlike favors in the Crown Handbook, these favors can be taken at any time during the timing window described on the Crown’s family board.

Here are some examples of favors:

Fit a Crown ship.

Fit a specific ship.

In the first example, you may gain one promise cube for each ship owned by the Crown that you fit. In the second, you may pay one promise cube to the Crown in order to get the Manager of Shipping (if under Crown control) to fit one of your ships.

Some favors have darker boxes with a bold outline. These favors are mandatory and must be performed if the conditions are met.

Clarifications for the Crown

The word “most” refers to having comparatively more or equal of something, with a minimum of 1. The word “fewest” refers to having comparatively less or equal of something, and includes zero.

If the Crown faces more than one option, the soloist (or the player holding the Button) may make a free choice between them when the rules do not otherwise make a distinction.

The “longest” and “shortest” trade route refers to the maximum number of orders a President could fill in one go, irrespective of number of ships.

Reading Empire’s Origin Story

There are many games about empires. In most, their existence and their internal coherence is taken for granted. This makes for clean design but very bad history. No empire springs into being fully-formed. Their genealogies are as messy as their modes of operation. John Company embraces this complexity and attempts to tell one small part of the origin story of the British Empire. In the game, players take the role of ambitious families who are interested in advancing themselves in polite society and who see in the British East India Company a means to that end. In some respects, this is a game about the ordinary actors of empire and how often well-meaning and decent people can do some truly evil things to advance their own prospects.

However, there are limits to what a game can do. Games excel at manipulating our sympathies and making otherwise remote situations feel immediate. To do this, they often bend the historical record for narrative and argumentative effect. John Company is no different. It is essentially a work of historical fiction, which, I hope, reveals its subject and encourages its players to dig deeper.

When it comes to learning more about the Company, there are numerous excellent starting places. The best single volume account remains John Keay’s The Honourable Company (1991). Those interested in primary documents should take a look at the amazing first volume of the Archives of Empire (2003) edited by Barbara Harlow and Mia Carter. For those wanting to understand the damage the Company wrought and the insidious half-life of many of its policies, see Shashi Tharoor’s brisk and brilliant Inglorious Empire (2018). Those hoping to better understand the particular context of the Company’s dramatic rise in the middle of the eighteenth century should look The Anarchy at William Dalrymple’s (2019). Dalrymple’s book is beautifully written and very engaging.

Those wishing to explore more stories of the families that made the Company possible should look at The East India Company at Home, 1757-1857 (2018) edited by Margot Finn and Kate Smith and its companion blog (both are available freely online). Much can also be gained by reading any number of nineteenth century novels. I’d suggest in particular William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair (184748) and The Newcomes (1854-55) and Charles Dickens’s Dombey and Son (1846-48). Those with access to an academic library should also check out Jean Sutton’s very expensive but interesting The East India Company’s Maritime Service 1746-1834 (2010).

For those looking to go deeper, a full picture of how the Company operated and made money can be found in K. N. Chaudhuri’s The Trading World of Asia and the East India Company 1660-1760 (1978). This is nicely supplemented by C. A. Bayly’s Indian Society and the Making of the British Empire (1998). Though covering an earlier period than the game, I’d also suggest Philip J. Stern’s The Company-State (2011), which describes the foundations of the Company and illuminates the larger patterns of its behavior, especially in the context of British politics. The later part of that story can be found in Lucy Sutherland’s The East India Company in Eighteenth-Century Politics (1952).

Finally, for those interested in exploring some of the bigger questions of national identity and culture, I would suggest starting with Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities (1983), Edward Said’s Culture and Imperialism (1993), and Saree Making England Western Makdisi’s (2014).

John Company: Second Edition, First Printing, 2022 Game Published by Wehrlegig Games llc This game is licensed under Creative Commons license BY–NC–SA 4.0.