Rules version 2.0
This historic game simulates the building, engineering, and promotion of automobiles by the smaller independent American companies in the post-World War II era. It depicts some of the difficult challenges executives faced as they competed against each other and the “Big Three”.
Goal: Have the most victory tokens at the end of the final turn. There are three ways to gain victory tokens: win Car of the Year, gain Majority Bonuses, and fill Trends.
Round Sequence:
1. Models
2. Engineering
3. Promotions
4. Trend
5. Car of the Year
6. New Year Prep
Set-up:
Each player receives a random company profile sheet. Each player begins with 20 disks, each representing one million dollars, and places 10 on the company profile sheet circles. 10 disks form their selective allotment pools. The remaining disks form the "supply". Each player is dealt four cards, and the first year begins.
Turn Order:
On the first turn, randomize turn order and place markers on the turn order track. On ensuing phases the turn order will change according to these rules: When a player passes during each selective disk allotment phase, their marker is placed in the first position on the passing lane. As the rest of the players pass, each marker is successively placed in the next position. Then, when the sequence is finished, they are all dropped straight down to the turn order track, which is used for the Company Profile required disk allocation phase. This sequence does not affect turn order, so the disks are not moved up to the passing lane. During the Card Play phases, players again repeat the passing lane routine, which will produce the turn order for the next sequence.
Trend card play does not affect turn order.
Phases for Models/Engineering/Promotion categories turn sequence:
1. Selective disk allocation
2. Required disk allocation
3. Card play
4. Competition resolution
5. Majority Bonus check
Selective Disk Allocation:
Starting with the Models category, play proceeds around the table in turn order, with each player selecting a section and placing disks from their selective pool into the section. Players may place any number of disks in a section. Players may place disks in a section that already contains opponents’ disks. On another round they may not select a section they've already placed disks in-- once a player decides how many disks to put in a section, they may place no more during the selective phase, although more can be placed later during the required disk allocation or card play phases. As soon as a player passes, move the player marker to the first open box on the passing lane. After passing, the player may not re-enter, and is excluded from further disk allocation during this phase.
Required Disk Allocation:
After all players have passed, each player may allocate as many disks as they like from their company profile card onto the applicable sections in the active category in turn order. This is not done in multiple rounds-- on each player's turn, they decide to use any or all of their required allocations. This phase does not affect the turn order sequence.
Card Play:
In turn order, each player may select a card from their hand, and play it using its effect (the top text portion of card). If no card in the hand is applicable to the current category, the player passes (refer to the category icon at the upper-left corner of the picture box on card, cards without an icon may be played in any category). A player may alternatively choose not to play a card by passing and pushing their turn order marker to the passing lane. As soon as a player passes, move the player marker to the first open box on the passing lane. After passing a player may not re-enter the card play phase. Any number of cards may be played by each player during this phase on ensuing rounds, one card per player per round. Any unused cards may be saved to be played for their “Trend”or for the following year. All disks added or removed by card play come from or go to the "supply".
Competition Resolution:
After all card effects have been resolved for the Model category, competition in each section is resolved. If only one player has a disk(s) in a section, leave one disk in the section and place all of the rest of the disks in the return pool. If multiple players have disks in a section, all of the disks are placed in the bag, and one is drawn. A cup (not supplied) works better and quicker. The winning disk is placed back on the section and all remaining disks (if any) belonging to the winning player are placed in the return pool. All disks belonging to the loser(s) of the draw are halved (odd numbers being rounded up; such that a player with 3 remaining disks loses 1) and placed in the return pool. The lost disks are set aside to the "supply".
Majority Bonus:
After all Model sections competition has been resolved, If any player has won in more sections than any other player, a bonus of one victory token is received. If two or more players are tied, they each receive a victory token.
Repeat Phases:
The same 5 phases are repeated in the same order first for the Engineering and again for the Promotion categories.
Trend:
Each player, in turn order, may now reveal cards for their Trend sections, at the bottom of the card. Each section of their Trend that contains one of their disks receives one extra disk. If they have all three sections covered, they receive one victory token in addition to the three disks.
Car of the Year:
All the disks in the Model sections are put in the bag, and one is drawn. This disk is placed in the Car of the Year section. All the winner’s remaining disks from the bag (if any) are also placed in Car of the Year section. All other disks from the bag go into the Return pool. This procedure is repeated for Engineering and Promotion categories. After all three categories are empty, all disks in the Car of the Year pool are placed in the bag, and one is drawn. The player it belongs to receives one victory token. All disks from this draw are placed in the return pool.
New Year Prep:
At the end of the year, all players receive all of their disks in the return pool, and then determine their company's fiscal status. To do this, the player places disks on their required allotment until all slots are full or they are out of disks. Remember, some disks may have been saved, and already occupy these slots. After determining fiscal status, every player draws four cards. Some cards may have been saved, if so, they are still kept, there is no hand size limit.
Three fiscal statuses are then possible:
Financial Success: The player has 6 or more disks left over after filling their required allotment. These disks become their selective allotment pool for the next year.
Government Subsidy: If a player has less than six disks in their selective allotment, they receive enough disks to have six in their selective allotment pool.
Bankruptcy: If a player does not have enough disks to fill their required allotment, their company goes bankrupt. The player loses a victory token (if they have any), and all saved cards. The player then discards their company profile card and draws a new one, and begins again with their required allotment full and six disks in their selective allotment pool. If there are no new company profile cards, shuffle the discarded ones and draw one.
Victory:
The game ends at the conclusion of the third turn, and the player with the most victory tokens wins. In the case of ties, the player with the most disks wins. Compare disks before gains from government subsidies or bankruptcies have been made, but remember that players who go bankrupt on the last turn still lose a victory token.
Duration:
For a longer or shorter game players may agree on any number of turns. Generally speaking, the more players present, the less turns you want, and vice versa.
Substituting a cup for the bag will speed the game up.
Courtesies: The number of cards in hand, selective disk pool, and Company Profile Sheet allocations are common knowledge to all players at all times
