Conquistador (game)
Conquistador, originally subtitled "The Age of Exploration: 1495–1600", is a board game published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the exploration of the New World in the 16th century. Players take on the role of European countries sending expeditions to find gold and establish colonies. Although the design uses the trappings of board wargames such as a hex map, combat is not a major part of the game. Description Conquistador is a game for 1–3 players (SPI edition) or 2–4 players (Avalon Hill edition) where the players vie to accumulate as much wealth, land and exploration as possible. Components The SPI version of the game published in Strategy & Tactics #58 contains: 22" x 32" hex grid game map of North & South America 200 die-cut counters representing soldiers, colonists, missionaries, carracks, caravels, galleon fleets, and gold bars, along with individually named explorers, privateers, and conquistadors. (Assistant designer Greg Costikyan noted that because it was a magazine pull-out, SPI limited the game to only 200 counters, inevitably leading to shortages of certain counters during the game.) 12-page rules booklet The boxed set that SPI released later also contains two six-sided dice. The Avalon Hill edition contains 520 counters. Gameplay The basic game represents the activities of Spain, England, France or Portugal. The game also includes a solitaire scenario where Spain is played by a single player, and the original SPI edition includes optional rules for an additional player to take a purely financial role as the German bankers. The map is divided into areas such as Patagonia and California, each with ratings reflecting the hostility and fertility of the environment and the attitude of native inhabitants to European settlement. The first turn begins in 1495. Each subsequent turn represents an advance of five years, with the game ending in 1600 after 22 turns. Each turn consists of five phases, each of which is in turn divided into several segments. Royal Council phase: Planning, beginning with a Random Events segment which determines money and colonist availability, as well as unforeseen events such as plague or unusual requirements such as searching for the Seven Cities of Cibola or El Dorado. The players also determine the order of play for the remainder of the turn and plan their expeditions, purchasing materials and forces and recording the composition and destination of each expedition. Initial Naval phase: Players move their expeditions to and from the New World. They may also move within the New World, possibly engaging in naval combat or invasions, after which all expeditions check for possible losses due to attrition. Segments of the Land phase: Attempts to discover gold and production from existing gold mines, movement and combat of land units, combat with natives, attrition of land units, and collection of resources. Final Naval phase: Another opportunity to move expeditions to or from Europe, followed by attrition checks and credit for discoveries made by expeditions which have reached a friendly port. Maintenance phase: Players pay for units which will