There are twelve kingdoms, one county, one principality, and the Basque provinces. The country is made up of five ethnic groups: Spaniards, Basques, Galiciens, Catalans, and Mauren. The aristocracy, especially the Grandes, the high aristocracy, controlled events in Spain. However, the average aristocracy, the Caballeros, also enjoyed extensive powers. All regions wanted to develop their own power and influence. To this end, the Castles (Castillos) played an important role. Pronunciation Note: In Spanish, the “ll“ is pronounced as a “y”; Castillo = Castiyo; Caballero = Cabayero). OBJECT OF THE GAME In El Grande, each player is the Grande in one region. He is allied with 30 Caballeros. Each Grande attempts, to the benefit of Spain and for his own benefit, to extend his influence across the whole of Spain. To accomplish this, he must control the majority of Caballeros in as many regions as possible. The Grande who succeeds in this is on the path to success and winning the game. -1 THE GAME BOARD The board shows the 9 regions of Spain, 1 space to hold the Castillo, the success track along the edge of the board, and a round track with 9 game rounds and 3 horizontal scoring tracks. In each region, there is a scoreboard with 3 symbols, which show the values of the region, when it is scored. The player with the most Caballeros in a region scores the highest value, whoever has the second most scores the second value, etc. Region BasqueCountryCataloniaOldCastileNewCastileSeville Success track Round track scoreboard Scoring track Castillo-space GAME LENGTH The game may be played in 9 or 6 rounds. The game takes around 2 hours for 9 rounds and around 1 hour for 6 rounds. If you want to play the shorter game, you should skip rounds 1, 4, and 7 on the round track. PREPARATION • Castillo: Place the castle on the appropriate space on the game board. • Region cards: Shuffle the nine region cards. Turn up the top card and place the King in this region. Then, each player takes a card to determine his home region. • Grande: Each player chooses a color and takes the Grande (the large cube) in his color and places it in his home region. • Caballeros: Each player takes 10 Caballeros in his color. All remaining Caballeros are kept in a reserve on the table. This reserve is known as the provinces. Each player takes 2 of his initial Caballeros and places them next to his Grande in his home region. Each player also places another Caballero on the first space of the success track. The players put their remaining 7 Caballeros before them on the table. These 7 Caballeros form the player’s court, which will grow and shrink throughout the game. • Secret disk: Each player takes a secret disk. It shows each region on the board with exception of the Castillo. • Power cards: Each player takes the set of 13 power cards in his color. The value (1-13) of the power card is shown on the top and bottom of the card and the middle pictures a number of Caballeros (0-6). • Action cards: These are marked on the back with between 1 and 5 Caballeros. All 11 cards with 1 Caballero form the 1 stack, all 11 cards with 2 Caballeros form the 2 stack, and so on. The 5 stack is made up of just 1 card (the King card). Shuffle each stack separately and place it face down beside the board. • Mobile scoreboards: Place the two mobile scoreboards beside the board. CastilloRegioncardGrandeCaballerosSecretdiskPowercardActioncardMobilescoreboardSpecialScoring: All5regionsarescored. -2 mmRoundmarkergoesontheRoundtrackActioncardsThispowercardallowsaplayertotake3Caballerosintohiscourt. Youcanpreventonespecialactionduringthisroundorthenextround. SpecialScoring: All4regionsarescored. Intrigue: MoveallofyourownCaballerosGaliciammRoundmarkergoesontheRoundtrackActioncardsThispowercardallowsaplayertotake3Caballerosintohiscourt. Youcanpreventonespecialactionduringthisroundorthenextround. SpecialScoring: All4regionsarescored. Intrigue: MoveallofyourownCaballerosGalicia PLAYING THE GAME A game round consists of the following actions: • Move the round marker forward on the round track • Turn cover the top action card in each stack • Play the power cards • Each player takes his turn (turn sequence is determined by the value of the power cards played) Round marker (small black cube) At the start of the game, the round marker is placed on the 1 space of the round track (in the short game, the round marker begins on space 2). Each round after the first, the counter is moved one space further along the track. General scoring occurs at the end of the 3rd, 6th, and 9th rounds (when the round marker is moved along the scoring track). Turn over the action cards The top card in each stack is turned face up. The players should read and consider which of the actions they would like to see executed and which they would gladly prevent. Play the power cards In the first round, the players choose a player to begin. In subsequent rounds, the player who played last in the previous round begins. The re...