Vendetta from Hexagames

Game by Doris Matthaus and Frank Nestel.

Translated from the German by Ken Tidwell sometime in 1993.
Updated September 30, 2000.

Editor's note: I didn't like the English translation provided with this game so I've done another from the original German rules.

Premise

This small Sicilian fishing village was once a quiet place. But, unfortunately, the Godfather of the region has passed away and now the members of the Family are fighting one another to become his successor. There are only a few candidates for successor and, so that the Family is not weakened too much by the coming election, a somewhat more peaceful solution to the problem is proposed. The first candidate to take control of a certain number of districts of the city will be honored as the new Godfather. But the customary activities of the Family's business are still a bit on the rough side, so the number of business associates of each candidate are decreasing rapidly. Rumors even claim that certain members of the Family had turned in other Family members to the police. Why else would the number of raids have increased so drastically lately?

Setup

  1. The oldest player is designated the Trustee of the dead Godfather. The Trustee shuffles the district cards and deals two to each player. The Trustee also assigns each player a color.

  2. Each player places two gangsters (the small, colored cubes) on each district except for the two districts shown on the district cards they were dealt by the Trustee.

  3. The Trustee then gives each player ten (10) gangsters as their hand and places all the remaining gangsters in the game box. The Trustee is responsible for handing out gangsters as they are earned and for collecting gangsters gangsters when they are destroyed in vendettas or raids.

  4. The Trustee also serves as the first First Player.

Rounds

  1. The First Player shuffles the district cards, places two on the Razzia (Raid) square and the remainder (11 cards) on the Schutzgeld (Protection Money) square. [Ed: presumably these are placed face down.]

  2. Starting with the First Player and proceeding clockwise, each player places gangsters on the board and starts a small vendetta in one of the districts.

Placing Gangsters

  1. On their turn the First Player may place any number of gangsters from their hand into any one district on the board. On their turn, all other players may place any number of gangsters from their hands into any two districts.

  2. If only one player has gangsters in a particular district, any other player wishing to place gangsters there must at least match the number of gangsters that are already present in the district.

  3. Only gangsters in a players hand can be placed; gangsters in the box cannot be placed and gangsters on the board cannot be rearranged.

Starting A Vendetta

  1. After placing gangsters, the current player turns over one of the cards in the Schutzgeld (Protection Money) pile.

  2. The player with the fewest number of gangsters in that district loses the vendetta. If there is a tie for the least number of gangsters in the district, the player who will move next loses. All of that player's gangsters in the district are returned to the box. Schutzgeld is paid to the surviving players in the district.

  3. If only one player has gangsters in the district then there is no vendetta but Schutzgeld is still paid.

  4. If there are no players in the district then there is no vendetta and no Schutzgeld is paid.

  5. Each player who still has gangsters in the district after the vendetta is paid one gangster as Protection Money or Schutzgeld. This gangster is added to their hand and may be placed later.

Raids

  1. After all the Schutzgeld cards have been turned up, the First Player turns over the Razzia, or Raid, cards one at a time.

  2. All of the gangsters in the two raided districts are returned to the box.

  3. After both raids are completed, each player is given three new gangsters to add to their hands and scores are tallied.

Victory Conditions

  1. The victory conditions for the game vary based on the number of players taking part: 

            # of players    districts   points
            3              6         800
            4              5         250
            5              4         75

  2. Taking control of the specified number of districts is the primary goal of the game. The player who has the most number of gangsters in a district is said to control that district. If there is a tie then no one controls that district.

  3. The first player to have control of the given number of districts or more after the raids are completed wins regardless of the number of points other players may have scored.

  4. If no player has control over the specified number of districts, the player with the highest score in excess of the specified number of points wins.

  5. Ties based on number of districts controlled are broken by points scored and vice versa.

Scoring

  1. If no player has succeeded in gaining control of the specified number of districts, points are scored based on the number of districts each player controls. 

         # of districts    points
        1                 1
        2                 5
        3                20
        4                75
        5               250
        6               800
        7              1000

  2. If no one has won then the player who would have played next becomes First Player and a new round begins.

Copyright 1990, Doris Matthaus and Frank Nestel.

The Game Cabinet - editor@gamecabinet.com - Ken Tidwell