OUR REVIEW

COal to Dosh

RUHRSCHIFFFAHRT

TRading black gold across Germany

Economics simulations have - as opposed to pure economics games - an additional allure. As they try to transfer economic interrelations - in this case from a historical period - into a game and game mechanics, it is always interesting to experience how well this transposition to game techniques has worked. While economics simulations can be found quite frequently in English-speaking areas - famous examples are Brass (Kohle) or Tinner's Trail by Martin Wallace - they are very less frequent found in German regions. Small wonder, that in this case a region around Essen has been selected to be at the center of game play.

Ruhrschifffahrt picks up the topic of coal transports on the river Ruhr in the period from 1769 to 1890. During this period at first the transport by ship was the dominant method, in due course railways turned into growing competitors and, by the end of the 19^th century, had completely replaced ship transport completely. The game tries to simulate the contemporary processes with game mechanism and manages to this in a rather well-done way! The backdrop is: The game was produced in a print-run of 500 copies, was published at Spiel 12 at Essen, has sold out as per today and will probably not be reprinted. All the same, a tip: Should you manage to get hold of a copy it is rewarding and interesting, to read the manifold inserts into the game rules to the historic background of the game, because that gives you a much better impression of the contemporary circumstances.

In 2011 Ruhrschifffahrt did win the Award for Best Feature-Length game in the Hippodice Spiele Preis. Main tasks of players in Ruhrschifffahrt are trading with coal and transport of coal. Coal must be collected from coal storage spaces and transported downriver to a town or a small industry site and sold at that locations. Each player has his own river barge which he guides along the Ruhr.

In consequence, the River Ruhr is the central element of the board, starting from Grafschaft = County Mark and ending in the town of Ruhrort, where the Ruhr joins the Rhine. The river crosses six different regions of sovereignty, which are also of importance in the game. Situated on the banks of Ruhr there are 15 coal storage places, 12 small industry sites for three different sectors of small industry (Forges, Hammer Mills and Gun Factories) as well as seven towns. According to historical real conditions, 14 obstacles along the river make coal transport much more difficult; in reality they have been stone walls or weirs for mills, which in the course of the game need to be replaced step by step by building locks.

Coal that must be transported is simulated by six-sided dice. Should you now suspect that with those dice an element of chance/luck enters the game, you are only correct in a very small way. All dice are rolled exclusively during the preparation phase of the game! In the course of the game you don't roll dice at all! Originally, coal transport only happened in five sovereign regions, coal from those five "Grafschaften", aka counties, is available for transport from the start of the game; the sixth Grafschaft, Grafschaft Mark, can only be used for transport later in the game. Therefore, there are dice of different color in the game; black dice represent coal in the five Grafschaften located downriver, the coal dice for Grafschaft Mark are white. In the preparation phase of the game you roll those dice and place them on the coal storage areas on the board. Each coal storage area can only hold one die. In case of fewer than four players individual coal storage spaces can remain empty and you do not use all dice. Coal dice always have a value between 1 and 6; this range can never be exceeded or undercut due to manipulations.

Coal transport, of course, did not end at Ruhr, but coal was transported further inland and stored in warehouses or deposits. Therefore you find four locations offering coal storage in the game. Also, coal had to be transported along transport paths to the coal storage spaces along the Ruhr. Those coal transport paths improve during the game in three stages. At the start of the game there are only slow loam paths (this transport path has a length of five squares on the board; the loam paths later turn into faster, paved ways and finally turn into transport along tracks by railways, the length of a railway path is only three squares. There is always one die on the active transport path and maximum a number of dice equal to the number of squares in the path. The special square of a transport path that is always marked with an arrow is always located beneath the squares that are filled with dice.

Starting in 1779, coal was also exported to other countries: to The Rhineland, The Low Countries and Belgium. For those exports the prerequisite was delivery of coal to Ruhrort. This export business is also part of the game.

As a player you should not only concentrate on transporting and selling coal, but also pay attention to coal storage. Each player has 10 coal warehouses at his disposal, at the start only one coal warehouse is available. Those coal warehouses can be built in towns, in coal storage spaces and in Ruhrort. As an alternative you can can take out a loan for up to four warehouses, for each loan you receive 2 Thaler. Coal warehouses are acquired by players for his stock at the start of certain rounds and when he acquires certain advancements. Those advancements are a very important element in the game. Each player has his own board for them, on which he can deposit advancement tiles that he already acquired. Eight advancements are available for each player - some examples are: The permission to build coal warehouses in certain sovereign territories, to deliver coal originating from Grafschaft Mark or to build locks. Seven other, different advancements are only available in a limited amount and cannon be acquired by each player. Acquisition of an advancement depends on the previous coal transports of a given player. For each coal transport a player receives a development token for his board. In relation to where he picked up the coal and where he delivers it to, he must place this development token on a certain spot on his personal board. The combination of of number of development tokens and deposit space results in one or several advancements that a player receives.

As means of payment or currency the Thaler is used in the game. Each player collects his Thaler on his board, but you are limited to owning a maximum of 10 Thaler. A few exceptions aside, you usually earn your Thaler from selling coal and spend your money to build coal warehouses or locks and for the use of certain special options.

Ruhrschifffahrt lasts 12 rounds, each of those rounds is assigned to a year. Therefore, each round starts with a historical event, which can result in positive as well as negative effects for players. A round marker that is impossible to overlook is placed on the current Round spot on the board, this spot also depicts, in a symbolic way, the historical event of the round. For instance, the historical event of Round 2 is, that you are from now on entitled to build locks; in rounds 4 and 8 the condition of the transport path changes to paved path and then to transport on railway tracks. On Round spots depicting the symbol for a coal warehouse each player can take one of his own coal warehouses into his personal stock. Beginning with Round 4, coal export to far-away countries is started. To indicate this you turn up the face-down country tile that was placed with the Round spot. The country that is depicted on this country tile is receiving delivery of coal from the coal warehouses in Ruhrort. An example for a negative historical event would be the event of Round 5: From this round on the building of locks is more expensive.

When the historical event has been resolved, the next step is the determination of water level and demand. In the preparation phase the 14 obstacles on the River Ruhr are covered with with with obstacle tiles, showing their back side, six additional obstacle tiles are placed into a cloth back, from which a tile is drawn in this phase of the game. The front side of the obstacle tiles is different, and shows - by symbols - the water level of River Ruhr and demand. Demand can be restricted to a sovereign territory or refer to a single town or a certain kind of small industry only. The locations which are indicated by the obstacle tale are covered with a Thaler which is received by the player who is the next one to make a delivery to this location.

Up to 2 Thaler can serve in this way to make a location more attractive. Water levels of River Ruhr are usually high so that pilots are available as special options for the next phase. But when the obstacle tile shows a crossed-out steering wheel, water in River Ruhr runs low which results in restriction for ship movement on River Ruhr in the following phase.

In this subsequent phase players have two tasks to complete: they must place their barges anew at a coal storage space and they may choose one of eight different special options. In this phase players take their turn in relation to the position of their barge on the river. The player who is farthest upriver begins.

As in the following, fourth phase each player must transport a coal die or his turn is invalid, he must now place his barge at a coal storage space where there is a coal die and no other barge. Normally, to achieve this, he can only move his barge downriver, but any distance, to a coal storage space.

This is where the special options come into play. Each player can choose one of eight different special options and implement it instantly, whereby four of those special options come at a price, that is, cost money, and two of the remaining special actions have a corresponding advancement on the player's board as a prerequisite. The two special options that are free of charge are Pilot and Transport. Without the special option Pilot a player is only allowed to transport his coal over a distance of two river segments in the following phase. Each location and each obstacle or each lock define a segment of the river. When a player uses the special option Pilot he is allowed to deliver his coal downriver over any distance of his choice. But one has to take into account that the previous river phase could have resulted in low water and that the special option Pilot might be blocked for this round.

The special option Transport allows a player to place a die from the transport path on any empty coal storage space of his choice, of course allowing for the die color of black or white. One has always to take the die that is positioned on a spot of the path that is marked with an arrow. As the special option is implemented before the barge is moved it is fairly obvious that one should place a new die first and then place one's ship next to it.

With the special options that come at a price the possibility of Hauling comes into play, that is, pulling the barge upriver with the help of horses. Using Hauling in this phase allows a player to move the ship upstream to to coal storage space.

The other three special options for which you have to pay offer combinations of the three options that have been described so far. Depending on the special option the price for it varies from one to two Thaler. From Round 7 on, as a historical event, the price for all special options that need to be paid for rises to two or three Thaler, respectively.

The two special options that are connected to advancement on the player boards allow a player, on the one hand, to raise any die of his choice in a coal storage space by 2 and, on the other hand, a once-only income of 2 Thaler. This second special option can, contrary to all other special options, only be chosen by one player only in a round. The marking of special options that were chosen by players are done with wooden discs in player colors.

Subsequently, coal is transported. Once again, the player starts this phase who is now in a position furthest upriver. This player moves his barge, including an eventual use of a pilot - should he have chosen Pilot as a special option - to the intended target and delivers at this location the coal dice from his departure location. The delivered die, however, is not placed at the target location, but on the current transport path, according to special rules. When a player did cross one or several obstacles, the quality of the transported coal diminishes. The die value is reduced by one by turning the due and then placed on the transport path (a die already on 1 remains on 1). For the coal delivery the player receives one development token and a number of Thaler equal to the number of pips on the die minus 1. So, if a player delivers a die of value 1 he receives one development token and no money. The development token is placed instantly on the player's board on the corresponding location, that is, if there is still room for it. If there is no room anymore, the player receives a Thaler instead of a development token. A development marker that was placed remains in place and is never removed for the rest of the game. Should the target destination for delivery hold one or two Thaler as a result of previous demand phases, the delivering player takes those Thaler now. The player also receives one additional Thaler when he delivers coal to the town of Ruhrort. In the town of Ruhrort the delivery of additional coal also influences a possible export in the respective phase. In correlation to previous deliveries export is now worth either one or two victory points.

All Thaler that a player receives are placed on his board. For coal delivery there is now restriction, the target destination for delivery need not be empty. Should another barge be already in position there, a player puts his barge behind the barge already in place. This is a deciding factor for the turn order in the next phases.

In the fifth phase players receive advancements. The acquisition of each advancement tile is connected to the kind of deliveries a player has made so far and to the placement of the development token he received for delivery has been placed on the corresponding deposit spot on the player board. Each board features six different deposit spots, one each for delivery of a white or black die to a town, a small industry or to the town of Ruhrort. The number of dice for each deposit spot and their combination determines the advancement that you can receive now. As some of the advancements are limited in numbers advancements should best be given out in turn order. This is not explicitly stated in the rules.

While all advancement tiles that are available for all players can be used until the end of the game, you can only use the limited advancement tiles once and then you have to turn them over. Examples for such limited advancements are the once-only, free-of-cost use of a special option that one usually has to pay for, or the once-only raise of a die by 3. Three of those advancement tiles can only be used at the end of the game and earn a player additional victory points. For those players, that are barred from acquiring certain kinds of advancement tiles empty tiles are provided so that the corresponding spot on the board can be covered.

The subsequent sixth phase allows players to buy things, to relocate their export warehouses in Ruhrort or to pay back loans. To buy means that you construct a lock or that you construct a warehouse in a town, a coal storage space or in the export region of Ruhrort. The warehouse must already be available in a player's stock if he wants to build it. During the whole course of the game a player can construct only one warehouse in a town, but can construct more than one in coal storage spaces. Each town therefore has exactly four building lots, the coal storage spaces have different numbers of building lots. The costs for constructing a ware house are stated on the respective building lot and vary between two and five Thaler. If a player constructs a warehouse he receives two victory points. Furthermore, a player receives one Thaler from general stock for a warehouse in a town, when another player delivers coal to this town with his barge.

The construction of a lock costs 2 Thaler at the start of the game, from Round 4 on the cost rises to 3 Thaler. TO construct a lock a player takes an obstacle tile of his choice from the board and places it into the cloth bag with the other obstacle tiles. The construction of a lock earns a player victory points, too - three victory points in Grafschaft Mark, two victory points in the other sovereign territories.

Construction of warehouses and locks is connected to the respective advancement. Only when the advancement tile for a certain sovereign territory has been acquired a player is allowed to construct a warehouse in a town in this sovereign territory.

There is also a separate advancement tile for building a warehouse in a coal storage space or for constructing a lock; those advancement tiles are valid for all the board, not only for a singular sovereign territory.

Construction of warehouses or locks, respectively, is restricted in a round insofar as each advancement tile acquired so far can only be used once in a round. That is, you cannot, for instance, construct two locks in a round.

The town of Ruhrort has only construction sites for export warehouses, that is, there are three building lots available for each export country. Each player can construct a maximum of two warehouses in Ruhrort and those warehouses may not be assigned to the same export country. For each export country building lots show a different bonus value of 1, 0 or -1 bonus points when y player receives victory points for exporting. The construction of a warehouse in the export region of Ruhrort costs for the very first warehouse built there the sum of three Thaler, the next two warehouses that are built cost four Thaler each and from the fourth warehouse on a warehouse in Ruhrort costs five Thaler. As each export country is only receiving deliveries for a maximum of three rounds in the game, it is absolutely useful to relocate warehouses in Ruhrort. The relocating of warehouses only costs 2 Thaler, but of course has the availability of a free building lot in the region for the chosen export country as a prerequisite.

Finally, you can pay back loans. For each loan of two Thaler you pay back three Thaler. For each loan that you pay back in this way you take back your warehouse from the corresponding loan spot on your board and can use from now on for constructing a warehouse.

In the final phase of a round export victory points are given out and the Round marker is advanced by one step. The country tile next to the Round spot, that was turned up in phase one of each round, beginning with Round 4, determines the country to which coal is exported in this round. Each player, who now has a warehouse in the export region of Ruhrort in the column that corresponds to the current country receives for each warehouse either one or two victory points - the amount depends on the previous coal deliveries to Ruhrort, and the bonus value corresponding to the building lot on which his warehouse is set up.

Should, at that point in the round, a player own more than 10 Thaler he must now discard all surplus Thaler.

After twelve such rounds the game ends with a final scoring, in which individual bonus points are scored. Each player scores one victory point for one warehouse each in all three towns of Essen territory, and the same is scored for one warehouse each in all towns of Grafschaft Mark. IF a player was able to construct a warehouse in all seven towns he scores an additional three victory points.

Warehouses in coal storage spaces earn a player bonus points as well; if he has a warehouse in each of the four coal storage spaces a player gains two victory points for a bonus. Furthermore, a bare majority of warehouses at a coal storage pace gains a player one victory point.

Finally, advancement tiles are changed into victory points. This can, in case of the Lord Mayer, gain a player up to 10 victory points (the score is 1 point per Thaler on the player's board). Should a player be in debt, he must deduct two victory points from his score for each warehouse on a loan spot. Then the game ends.

Ruhrschifffahrt is a strategic as well as a tactical game. Strategically, it offers several possibilities which allows for a varied game even for several games. The decision about the kind of advancement one will specialize in is entirely left to a player; with his decision he determines where he can build warehouses, if he can meet export demands or if he prefers to transport coal out of Grafschaft Mark first.

Do not look askance at advancements that gain victory points for you! To correlate all this with acquiring enough capital from coal trading is a challenge, as coal trade earns you the development tokens for advancement. This is where the tactical element of the game comes into play. The position of your own barge, the available dice in coal storage spaces and on the transport path, respectively, offer a variety of possibilities to earn money, albeit often at the penalty of a necessary compromise between choosing a die as valuable as possible and the acquisition of a development token necessary for an intended advancement. So, Ruhrschifffahrt is a game for experienced players with a plenitude of tactical and strategic variation choices and therefore offers a high replay value.

However, the game also features some imbalances, too. First and foremost, the starting player advantage has to be mentioned. At the start of the game there is no adjustment for the following players; this can have some very grave consequences, when only some not very attractive dice remain for coal transport. The last player is clearly at a disadvantage and must try to catch up on the starting player to even out the disadvantage in the course of the game.

In the following rounds, too, the position of the starting players carries a lot of importance. So, for instance, the starting player decides where a die from the transport path is placed, should a die have to be placed into a coal storage space due to overfilling of the transport path, because only the territory is requested for a round. This a player can often use to his advantage.

Another imbalance is introduced by the advancement tile "Lord Mayor". While the other advancement tiles that yield victory points, can only yield a maximum of seven points, the Lord Mayor can yield up to ten victory points. This must, as of necessity, be taken with a grain of salt, as a player with this advancement will save his money in the last round and not buy any warehouses, but this advancement tile is powerful all the same and can be a game-deciding factor.

The rules of the game are nicely explained, albeit being a bit overcrowded in some of the details. The rules for placing dice on the transport paths or the mechanism of determining victory points for coal export are rather complex - I did not include them in this description - and could maybe have been kept a bit more on the simple side. But maybe this would have affected the simulation.

All in all Ruhrschifffahrt is a game with an interesting background and an equally interesting topic. It allows several different strategies for winning and is very varied due to the necessary tactical decisions and interaction with other players. However, the starting situation can markedly simplify the progress of individual players or make it equally markedly more difficult. Nonetheless, the positive all-over impression prevails against the few weaknesses.

Bernhard Czermak

Players: 2-4

Age: 12+

Time: 120+

Designer: Thomas Spitzer

Artist: Harald Lieske

Price: ca. 60 Euro

Publisher: Spielworxx 2012

Web: www.spielworxx.de

Genre: Historic simulation

Users: For experts

Version: de

Rules: de en

In-game text: yes

Comments:

Nicely implemented, interesting topic

Considerable amount of components

A good part of the rules symbolized on the components

Different strategic possibilities

Compares to:

Brass (Kohle)

Other editions:

Currently none

My rating: 6

Bernhard Czermak:

Ruhrschifffahrt offers nice atmosphere, variety due to several strategic possibilities, but needs also a lot of tactical sense.

Chance (pink): 1

Tactic (turquoise): 3

Strategy (blue): 3

Creativity (dark blue): 0

Knowledge (yellow): 0

Memory (orange): 0

Communication (red): 0

Interaction (brown): 3

Dexterity (green): 0

Action (dark green): 0