In 1490, Kaiser Maximilian I awarded Franz von Taxis the contract to deliver mail between the Kaiser residences in Innsbruck and Brussels. He did such a good job, that postal services in the country continue to be connected with the name Thurn and Taxis. With the introduction of postal carriages in the middle of the 17th century, members of the family were raised to Count Status and given the hereditary title of Postmaster General. The game begins at this point in history.

In Thurn and Taxis, the 2006 German Game of the Year, you attempt to emulate the achievements of this family and build a successful postal network. Thurn and Taxis is a game of building routes, and racing to expand your carriage and establish routes to every city in a region before your opponents do the same. A game of route planning and logistics management with simple rules, but surprising depth of strategy.

Tournament Format:

The tournament will have three Heats. You may play in any or all. All games will be the original Thurn and Taxis (brown box) on the original map. We will play 4-player games where possible, though each Heat may have to include some 3-player games when multiples of four are unobtainable. Scoring chits and remaining houses will be public during play. We will bid Victory Points, in half-point increments, for Turn Order in the Quarterfinal, Semifinal, and Final round, after the initial 6-card board is revealed.. All those with at least one win will qualify for the Quarterfinal. Those with the best records will receive byes to the Semifinal. Depending on number of Quarterfinal entrants, there will be 9, 12, or (almost certainly) 16 advancing to the Semifinal.

Tiebreakers for determining byes will be determined by the standard 1000/100/10/1 points for 1st/2nd/3rd/4th, with second tiebreak using the following formula:

1. Win: 1 - (second place score/your score)
2. For each game you won, 1 - (second place score/your score)
3. For each game you do not win, 10 * (number of players in game) * (your score/winning score)

Additional Prizes: The GM will provide the winner with a copy of the Thomas Pynchon novel, "The Crying of Lot 49", a novel in which the real (sort of) Thurn & Taxis plays a pivotal role.

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