From: mrmikes@aol.com (MrMikeS) Subject: SERENISSIMA: a description I thought that the gamers out there might like some information about one of the latest European games, SERINISSIMA, so I took it upon myself (whattaguy) to throw together this brief-ish description. First off, I don't own this game. I was faxed the german rules by the celebrated Big Game Hunter and bon vivant Mike Siggins. Mike knows that I am a sucker for a new game and that I will not allow my weak grasp of the german language to stand in the way of bashing out a workable translation. With that said, here we go: SERINISSIMA is a game of trading and conquest. It is set in the sunny Mediterranean between the carefree 14th and 16th centuries. Two to four players represent the trading powers of the time: the Venetians, the Genovese, the Spanish and the Turks. From their home ports, the players travel by galley to buy and sell various goods at the many harbors of the Mediterranean (and maybe even conquer a few). The components are first rate (this is the same company that produced CONDOTTIERE) and there are a lot of them: 28 galleys (and they look like galleys), over 100 flags and flag masts to push into the galleys and harbor stands to show ownership(they're sticky-backed flags--you get to attach them to the masts yourself), 20 forts (looking very fort-like), 105 trade good markers (in 7 colors), 176 sailor markers and 100 or so coins representing various denominations of ducats. The game board depicts the Mediterranean and its pertinent harbors. The sea is divided into sea spaces through which the galleys move. Each harbor is marked with a color coded circle. The color tells you which of the seven trade goods is produced there (they range from orange for gemstones to brown for lumber). Each harbor also contains a warehouse. A warehouse holds the goods sold at the harbor. They come in three sizes: small (2 good capacity), medium (cap. 4) and large (cap.6). They are simply large squares divided into 2,4 or 6 smaller squares with each smaller square containing a different number. I'll get back to these further on. The game ends after a pre-set number of rounds have been played. The number of rounds depends upon the number of players. A four player game lasts 8 rounds, a 3 player game lasts 10 rounds and a 2 player lasts 12 rounds. Each round consists of 6 Phases that are always taken in the same order: Phase 1: Set the player turn order for the phases of the current round. Phase 2: Buy and rearrange stuff (if you want). Phase 3: Move galleys (if you want). Phase 4: Attack (if you want). Phase 5: Conquer harbors (if you want--but why wouldn't you?) Phase 6: Sell goods (if you want). Some details: Phase 1: Like SHOGUN (a.k.a SAMURAI SWORDS) you can try to buy yourself an advantageous turn position. Once the turn order is set, it stays the same in each phase of the current round. Lets jump to Phase 6 so I can explain what drives the game. Phase 6: Selling goods. Anyone can sell any good in any harbor with the following restrictions: 1. A good cannot be sold at a harbor that produces the same good. 2. A good cannot be sold at a harbor if that good has already been sold at the harbor (you'll see it in the harbor's warehouse). Now I have the impression that when you sell a good you aren't so much selling a physical object as you are creating a trade route. So once a good is sold at a harbor, no more can be sold there because the harbor is already getting a steady supply from the route created when the good was first sold there. Anyway, if the restrictions are passed, the good to be sold is removed from the galley in the harbor and placed in the warehouse on the first available (empty) square with the lowest number. The payoff is the number times 100 ducats. I think you can see that it is a race to sell to as many harbors as you can before your opponents shut you out. Back to Phase 2: Buying stuff. If no one controls the harbor, or if you yourself control the harbor, then the price of the good produced there is a flat 100 ducats per unit. If the harbor is controlled by an opponent, then the price will vary depending on a couple of things. One is whether the opponent likes you -- your out of luck here so we'll move on -- the second is whether the opponent holds a monopoly on the good in question. A monopoly is established as soon as one player controls all of the harbors that produce a particular good. If you buy a good from an opponent-controlled harbor and the opponent does not have a monopoly, then the seller can demand a price of from 100 to 300 ducats. If the opponent/seller does have a monopoly then the bastard can demand a price of from 100 to 1000 ducats. So, in true laissez faire fashion, you are free to buy at any harbor, but there is no guarantee that you will be able to afford it. And by the way, the distribution of goods is not equal: only one harbor produces gemstones, only two harbors produce spice, another two harbors produce gold, another four produce wine, another four cloth, another four iron ore and another six produce lumber. Here's some more stuff you can buy: galleys and forts. Both cost 500 ducats, but there is a further restriction that will appeal to fans of CATAN. Galleys may only be built in your harbors that have both lumber and iron ore in their warehouses. If the harbor produces one of these goods, then only the other need be in the warehouse. Forts are built in the same way except that the two goods needed are lumber and gold. Sailors too can be bought. The restriction here is not on the kind of goods in the warehouse, but the number. Each sailor costs a flat 100 ducats but only as many sailors are available in a turn at a harbor as there are goods in the warehouse. Phase 3: movement. A galley moves as many sea spaces as sailors it carries. However, each galley has a 5 marker limit (sailors and trade goods combined). Also, each galley must carry at least one sailor marker so the most goods a galley can transport is four. During your turn in the movement phase, you are free to leave at least your current sea space. However, if you move into a sea space occupied by one or more opponents, you must have permission from all of the opponents in that sea space to leave it in the same turn. Phase 4: Attack. You are never required to attack but when you do it is swift and deadly. Galley vs. galley: I roll a die and to the result I add the number of sailors on my galley and then I divide the whole thing by 3. Rounding down, the result is the number of sailors you lose from your galley. You perform the same computation with your sailors to determine my losses. A galley without sailors is a sunk galley. The victor may let the galley sink or take it and its cargo as a prize by transferring one or more of his own sailors from the victorious galley to the defeated galley. Galley vs. harbor (garrison): Galleys can only attack harbor garrisons (did I mention that you can use sailors to garrison your harbors?). Garrisons cannot attack they only defend. The same computations as with galley vs. galley battles are performed with the following exception: if the garrison is in a fort, the the galley player determines the garrison's losses by dividing by 4 not 3. Also, a defeated galley may not be taken as a prize by the garrison player: they always sink. Phase 5: Conquring harbors. Basically, if there is no garrison then the last player with sailors in the harbor controls the harbor. Warehouses are not affected by changes of control. Goods in a warehouse are there for the duration of the game. Phase 6--see above. Game Over. After the 6th phase of the last round, the winner is determined. You'll be happy to know (well, I'm happy to know) that the game is not won simply by the player with the most cash on hand at the end of the game. No, first you have to figure out how many Prosperity Points everyone gets. Prosperity Points (PPs) are awarded thusly: 10 PPs for controlling your own metropolis (your starting harbor). 1 PP per 500 ducats you have at the end of the game. 1 PP for each harbor that you control without a full warehouse. 2 PPs for each small harbor (Cap. 2) that you control with a full warehouse. 5 PPs for each medium harbor (Cap. 4) that you control with a full warehouse. 10 PPs for each large harbor (Cap. 6 -- they are all starting harbors) with a full warehouse. If this is the starting metropolis of the player, then these 10 points are added to the 10 points for control. The player with the most Prosperity Points wins. This game looks good on paper but so have many others. I have yet to hear from anyone who has played it so whether it "walks the walk" or just "talks the talk" remains to be seen. Mike Schloth