2006 Game of the Year
Thurn & Taxis
Designer: Andreas and Karen Seyfarth. Manuafactered by Rio Grande
/ Hans im Gluck
Number of players: 3-4
In 1490, Kaiser Maximilian I awarded Franz von Taxis the contract
to deliver mail between the Kaiser’s 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
This year’s tournament will have three preliminary 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. We will
bid Victory Points, in half-point increements, for Turn Order
in the elimination rounds. The semifinals will be 16 players,
unless fewer than 16 appear, in which case the semifinals will
be 12 players. All semifinal winners will advance to the Final.
Tiebreakers for advancement to the semifinals will be:
Heats: Most Wins with GM-specified Tie-Breakers (HMWG)
Qualify the 16 top scorers according to the following formula:
Win in first game played: 1500 points plus (your score/second
place score)
Win not in first game played: 1000 points plus (your score/second
place score)
Second place, 4-player game: 100 points plus 10 * (your score/winner’s
score)
Second place, 3-player game: 50 points plus 10 * (your score/winner’s
score).
The GM will provide the
winner with a copy of Thomas Pynchon’s novel, “The Crying
of Lot 49", in which the real (sort of) Thurn &
Taxis plays a pivotal role.
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