El Grande

Setup: Each player takes thirteen Power cards and a Secret disc, places a Grande and two Caballeros in a randomly assigned region, and starts with seven Caballeros at Court; the rest enter the Province. The King has a separate starting region. Exclude expansion and Old Hands Action cards.

Rounds and order: Play nine rounds with general scorings after rounds three, six, and nine. Play distinct Power values clockwise from the First Player, then act from highest to lowest. Replenish Court before choosing an available Action card. The lowest Power value receives next round’s First Player marker.

Action cards: Perform deployment and the special action in either order, completing one before the other. Deploy up to the indicated number from your Court, normally into regions adjacent to the King’s region or into the Castillo.

Reinforcements and effects: Move the Power card’s indicated Caballeros from the Province to Court. If insufficient, retrieve your pieces from regions, excluding the King’s region and Castillo. You may decline the whole special action; if you perform it, carry it out as far as possible within its options and limits.

The King’s region: Under the basic rules, Caballeros, Grandes, and scoring tiles cannot enter or leave this region. A Grande is not a Caballero and never adds to the majority count; it can provide a home-region bonus.

Castillo: Announce how many pieces you add; normally nobody may inspect or remove them. At general scoring, secretly choose one destination, score its current majority values (normally five/three/one), then move each player’s entire contingent to that region. An unclear choice or the King’s region returns the pieces to Court. Score regions afterwards.

Majorities and bonuses: Tied players each score the next lower position regardless of how many tie. An outright first place earns two extra points with the King, and two more with your own Grande; the bonuses can combine. Scoring tiles can replace printed values.

Ending and player counts: Highest score after the third general scoring wins; ties share victory. Two or three players use their board side and only two scoring positions. Two players additionally use a dummy whose Caballeros alter majorities and whose turn removes an Action card, but which scores no points.