From: Aforandy@aol.com
Subject: Fife 4 Forfar 5

Kim asks:

>>  Amongst recent Essen game show
>> [120,000 attendees no thats not a mis-key] releases were ... a simple
>> Scotish clan war
>> cardgame,
>
>Tell me more?!?!

its maybe the smallest wargame ever, 80 cards measuring 
about 3x2.

Verrater - TRAITOR
Card game for 3-4 players.
From 12 up.
Playing time 45-60 mins.
English Rules by Chris Mellor
Transcribed by Andy Daglish

Contents

6 overview cards
4 allegiance cards [one in each of four cities]
1 start player card
12 Landscape cards
12 each of town, village, forest, river, meadows and moor
12 Estate/Office cards [three of each in 4 colours]
23 supply cards in the values 5x2, 15x3, 5x4, 5x5, 2x6, 1x8
1 strategy card
1 conflict card
6 action cards - Verrater [Traitor], Diplomat+2, Diplomat+5, Baumeister
[Master Builder],
Strategist, Bauer [Farmer].

Introduction: Do not be frightened when you read the following rules. Verrater
is a relatively complex card game which comes close to being a board game.
Once you have laid out the cards on the table and have looked over the
overview cards, it will become much clearer. 

Object: there is conflict in the highlands! Two competing royal houses are
attempting to occupy as much land as possible. In order to win the most
victory points, players fight for either house. Traitors will change sides in
the middle of conflicts. Meanwhile Farmers gather strength, Strategists plan,
Diplomats talk and others try their hand at being Master Builder.

Aim
The players attempt to conquer opponents areas for victory points.

Preparation
Have pencil & paper
Place overview cards next to the rules

General Rules
Sort out the cards as follows:-

Allegiance cards: these show your affiliation to a royal house. Each player
chooses one card.
Start player card: a starting player is chosen. He places the start player
card in front of him. The allegiance cards must show alternating royal houses.

Landscape cards: [overview card 2] form the places where conflict occurs and
the scoring tables with victory points. The sides of the cards represent the
two royal houses. These cards are separated so that each land type is
represented once in each group. The cards are shuffled in this orientation and
are then placed in the middle of the table in a circle [overview card 2].

Estate cards: are important for supply cards. Office cards garner additional
victory points at game end. Each player receives three cards of his colour.
Beginning with the start player each player places one of his Estate cards
half under one of the Landscape cards. Supply cards are gained for Estate
cards under Landscape cards. Only one card can be under a Landscape card.

Supply cards: are important in the conflict, by increasing the value of a
Landscape. Each player receives a supply card with 3,4, & 5 points each. The
remaining supply cards are shuffled and are placed face-down next to the
Landscape cards.

Strategy cards: these show which player can choose which Landscape to fight
for. The conflict card marks the relevant Landscapes.  The player to the left
of the start player takes both cards, which he puts down in front of him.

Action cards: make it possible for the player in each conflict to have an
additional action 
[Overview card 4].
Traitor changes your allegiance and brings one additional victory point.
Diplomat +2 brings two additional points and one additional supply card.
Diplomat +5 brings five additional points.
Master Builder enables the building of an Estate or an Office.
Strategist gives the Strategy card and enables him to choose the site of the
next conflict. In addition it brings two additional victory points.
Farmer gives three Supply cards.
All six cards are initially placed face down in the middle of the circle.

The Game [overview card 5]
The main part of a round is the conflict. The players of one allegiance
attempt to amass more conflict points than the players supporting the other
house. Conflict points are gained via Landscape cards, supply cards and
relevant Diplomats.

Phase 1 Determine the conflict site. This is done by the player with the
strategy card. He then places the conflict card on the sky portion of two
neighbouring cards [with different allegiances].

Phase 2 Choosing an action. The start player takes the six action cards and
shuffles them. He places the top card face down in the middle of the circle.
This card cannot be chosen as an action in this round. He looks at the
remaining cards and chooses one for himself, which he places face down next to
his allegiance card. He then gives the cards to his left hand neighbour, who
chooses a card and passes them on. The last player chooses a card and places
the last action card face down in the circle. 

Phase 3 Playing supply cards. Beginning with the start player, each player now
places 0-5 supply cards face up in front of him. 

Phase 4 Revealing action cards. Now the action cards are turned over, but the
actions are not yet carried out, with the exception of the traitor. The
relevant player turns over immediately his allegiance card. The traitor
changes sides immediately.

Phase 5 Evaluating conflict and determining the successful land [points in the
right hand].
First you determine which royal house has won.
The basic value is given by the conflict points on the Landscape card. The you
add the points on the supply cards of all the players on the same side. If a
player has a diplomat, then this value is also added.
The royal house with the higher total wins the conflict. In tied situations,
Landscape cards are not turned over and victory points are not awarded, except
for those given by traitor and Strategist cards.

Phase 6 Victory points
The players with the who have won are awarded victory points shown on the
Landscape card of the defeated house. Divide the points amongst the players.
The player with the traitor receives one additional point, and the Strategist
two. Finally the Landscape card of the defeated house is turned over o it
belongs to the victorious house.

Phase 7 Master Builder
The player who chose "Master Builder" can now bring one of the Estate/Office
cards into the game, possibly by transferring or turning over one already
present {not sure about this line ?}.
He places one of his Estate cards under one free Landscape card. He can turn
an Estate to its Office side or vice versa. During card scoring, all the
Office cards score, regardless of which allegiance the Landscape card over
them belongs. However a player can never place more than two Offices, but he
can place all three Estates.

Phase 8 Carrying out the Strategist action The player who has chosen the
Strategist [2VP have already been awarded to him] receives the strategy card
and can decide where the conflict will take place in the next round. The keeps
this card until another player chooses the Strategist card.
Strategy. In order to receive 2 additional VPs, the current possessor of the
Strategy card can also choose the strategy option.

Phase 9 Discarding supply cards All supply cards are placed on a face-up
discard pile next to the pick-up pile.

Phase 10 Picking up Supply Cards
Supply cards are always picked up from the face-down pick-up deck. Should this
become exhausted, the discard pile is shuffled and becomes the new draw deck.
The player who has chosen the Farmer action can pick up three cards first.
Beginning with the start player, all other players pick up one card for each
of their Estate cards under a controlled Landscape card. The Farmer does not
receive any additional cards. For Estates which lie under Landscape cards of
the opposing allegiance, you can pick up no cards, and this applies to all
Offices as well. The player with the Diplomat +2 card can pick up an
additional card. Each player can pick up more than three supply cards and can
have up to five in his hand. Surplus cards are discarded before picking up to
five.

Phase 11 all action cards are placed in the middle of the circle.

Phase 12 the start player card is move on to the player on its left. The new
start player can also be the player who has the strategy card in front of him.

Phase 13 The round ends, and a new round begins with phase 1.

End of Game
When each player has been the start player twice, or three times with three
players, the game ends after phase 10. A game ends prematurely if all
Landscape cards are controlled by the same royal house. The round also ends
with phase 10.

End Score
For each Office [2 per player] lying under any Landscape card, he receives
extra points. This is worked out by multiplying Offices by supply cards held
at that time. The maximum possible is two Offices x three supply cards = 6pts.
The player with most points overall is the winner.