FAQ
55 answered questions51 official
Rules questions from the BoardGameGeek forum. Answers marked Official were confirmed by MESAboardgames / Stronghold Games or the designers.
Common mistakes
- Splitting a group while it is in a lock space or the Culebra Cut. Ruling · Rule
- Putting two dice on the same ship with one action. Ruling · Rule
- Playing a Captain or Stevedore card on the turn you earned it. Ruling · Rule
- Paying for a Military ship that was only pushed. Ruling · Rule
- Looking through the Financial Advisor pile and then taking $5. Ruling · Rule
- Topping up company money from your own to pay dividends. Ruling · Rule
Showing 55 of 55
Are the "Startup" contracts the same as the Setup Contract cards? Official
Yes. "Startup" in step 22 is a typo: draw the 8 white-backed Setup Contract cards, one per player plus one.
Source: BGG thread · Official FAQ
Can I load two setup contract dice onto the same ship? Official
No. Setup contracts follow the normal contract rules: one die per ship. You may load as many of the card's dice as you can place, using your 2-slot ship and any ships you build.
Source: Official FAQ · BGG thread
Can setup contract dice go to the Rail table? Official
No. Setup contracts have no Rail icons, and only dice on Rail-icon containers can go to the Rail table.
Source: BGG thread
Where may I put the 2-slot ship at the start? Official
It is already paid for. Put it in either ocean's Loading zones, whatever setup contract you choose, or keep it with your assets for later.
Source: Official FAQ
When is the advanced setup bid made? Official
The bid replaces steps 18–20 (money, shares and stock price). Turn order has already been drawn at random after players choose colours.
Source: BGG thread
Is the game balanced with 2 and 3 players, or should we add dice or actions? Official
Play it as published. The number of actions per player at each count, and nine dice per company, were tested at length; more actions would make companies overcommit and unbalance the game.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Does the mulligan apply every round? Official
Yes. Check it each time the dice are rolled.
Source: Official FAQ
What happens when I move an Executive die to the other side of the table? Official
It stops being an Executive die and follows the normal transfer rule: it goes to the highest free row of the column you choose on the other side, and you use it at once.
Source: BGG thread
Can an Executive die raise my stock by only $1? Official
No. It is +$2 or nothing.
Source: BGG thread
Must I use every load an Action die gives me? Official
No. You may load fewer containers than the die allows.
Source: Official FAQ
Can I load my cargo onto another player's ship? Official
Yes. Any ship except a Military ship. You may also move another company's empty ship from a Waiting zone into a Loading zone when you put the first die on it — as long as a national die goes into its own nation's zone. The cargo's owner pays the fees, not the ship's owner.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Can I load onto the same ship twice with one action? Official
No. One action places at most one die on each ship and on the Rail table. A Stevedore card or a free action is a separate action, so it can add a second die to a ship you already loaded this turn.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Can I load dice from another player's contract? Official
No. You only load the cargo of your own company; loading someone else's would take away their control over fees, flags and the Rail table.
Source: BGG thread
Can I put an EU die on a Cruise ship that is in China's Loading zone? Official
No. National dice go only onto ships in their own nation's Loading zone, Cruise ships included.
Source: BGG thread
Where does a ship from a Waiting zone go when I load a generic container on it? Official
The Waiting zone is neutral. When you load the ship, place it in one of the two adjacent Loading zones of your choice.
Source: BGG thread
Once a ship is in a Loading zone, can it move to the neighbouring one? Official
No. It stays in that nation's zone until it enters the canal.
Source: BGG thread
Can I take a third contract when I already hold two incomplete ones? Official
Yes, if you end the turn with no more than two. The two-contract limit is checked at the end of your turn.
Source: Official FAQ
Can I take a contract and then flip it if I run short of dice? Official
You decide the side when you take it. Look at both sides first; with only one die left you can only take a card whose generic back has a single container.
Source: BGG thread
Does the Passenger benefit's extra die follow the normal loading rules? Official
Yes. The extra die may go to the Rail table if its container has a Rail icon, and the one-die-per-ship limit still applies.
Source: BGG thread
Can any die go on the Rail table? Official
No. A gold Rail icon on a front container means that die must go to the Rail table; a white icon on a back container means it may. Otherwise only the Rail free action puts a die there (a die set to 2, or +2 to one already there).
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
What if the 1st wagon fills before I can place my rail die? Official
The contract is stuck until next round. Choose contracts carefully: a card with a rail container on one side never has one on the other.
Source: BGG thread
How is turn order decided on the Rail table? Official
By each player's total in the wagon, highest first; a tie goes to the player whose die is further left. The dice are not re-sorted.
Source: BGG thread
Must I take a flag or use its free action when I collect from the Rail table? Official
No. Taking the flag is optional, and so is its free action; but if you use a free action you must complete it.
Source: BGG thread · Official FAQ
Can a Rail-table flag's free action put my last Warehouse die on the train? Official
Yes. It saves that die's $5 fee and starts it toward next round's turn order. Rail dice cost nothing at fee time.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Can I split or reorganize ships in a group while they are in a lock? Official
No. When ships end up in the same dashed space and fit in 4 slots, they become one group and move together until a lake or the ocean. The Culebra Cut counts as a lock for this.
Source: BGG thread · Official FAQ
Can my ship push a group it could join instead? Official
No. If it fits, it joins the group and travels with it to the next lake. To go alone, first spend a move on the other group to clear the space.
Source: BGG thread · Official FAQ
Must I group ships in a lake or Loading zone? Official
No. Grouping there is a choice, and ships in a lake may leave one by one.
Source: BGG thread
Can a group stay together through a lake?
Yes. A group may cross a lake as a unit if you wish; it is the lock spaces where a group can never be broken up. Remember the 4-slot limit.
Source: BGG thread
Who is paid for moving a Military ship? Official
The player, not the company. The official player aid states it.
Source: BGG thread
Do I receive a Military ship payment when another ship pushes it? Official
No. Military ships pay only when you spend a move on them. Every other ship still pays its company and gives its reward when pushed out of the canal.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
How many times can I earn the Military ship payment in a turn? Official
Once for your die's movement, once for each Captain card you play (one per turn) and once for each Move 3 free action. Each time, choose one Military ship you moved.
Source: BGG thread · Official FAQ
Can a Military ship sail again right after leaving the canal? Official
Yes. It goes to the Waiting zone and may enter again from either adjacent Loading zone — even in the same turn, with moves you still have. It does not return to its starting zone.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Can I play a Captain or Stevedore card on the turn I earn it? Official
No. Wait until a later turn. A card earned during another player's turn can be played on your next one.
Source: Official FAQ · BGG thread
May I use a Captain and a Stevedore card on the same turn? Official
Yes. Hold at most one of each. Play them and your die action in any order, finishing each before starting the next.
Source: Official FAQ · BGG thread
Can a card be played before choosing my die? Official
Yes. Before or after the die action, but not in the middle of it.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
What happens to used Captain and Stevedore cards? Official
They go to the bottom of their pile and come round again.
Source: BGG thread
Can I earn a new Captain card while playing my current one? Official
Yes. Once you play the card you no longer hold one, so a 1-slot ship leaving the canal during those moves may give you a new card.
Source: BGG thread
Are Stevedore fees halved rounding up or down? Official
Up.
Source: BGG thread
Can a Stevedore card earned on the last turn cut that round's fees? Official
Yes. The fee step comes after the turns, so the card is usable then.
Source: BGG thread
Must flags fill a row from left to right? Official
Yes. Passenger tokens, though, go on any benefit space you like.
Source: BGG thread · Official FAQ
What happens with a fourth flag of the same nation? Official
Stack it on the third. It gives no action, but it counts for Financial Advisor cards.
Source: BGG thread
In what order do several free actions resolve? Official
Each is triggered as its flag is placed. Flags of one nation resolve left to right; flags of different nations in any order. A deferred Market action is triggered by the next flag of its nation, before that flag's own action.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Does a Rail-table flag trigger my deferred Market action? Official
Yes. Any new flag of that nation, from a contract or the Rail table, makes you use the deferred buy at once or lose it — even one from a Stevedore load later in the same turn.
Source: Official FAQ · BGG thread
Can the Load-one-die free action put a die on the Rail table? Official
No. It loads onto a ship: either a die from an incomplete contract (not a rail container), or a die set to 2 from your Warehouse or Dice Pool onto any ship in any Loading zone.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Are flags limited? Official
Yes. 11 per nation. Completing a contract never takes a flag from the Rail table.
Source: BGG thread
Can I add my own money so my company can pay its dividends? Official
No. Dividends are all or nothing from company money; a company that cannot pay them all pays none and loses $2 of stock value, once.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
What counts as a company's money for Managing Director ties? Official
Coins only. Not ships or unsold shares.
Source: BGG thread
Why can't a company that missed dividends win the Managing Director Award? Official
A director who fails the shareholders is not rewarded; the award goes to the best company that did pay.
Source: BGG thread
When are Bailouts repaid?
At the end of the game, $15 from your personal money for each $10 taken. (Official — publisher confirmed: designer Gil d'Orey)
Source: BGG thread
Can I look through the Financial Advisor deck and then choose the cash reward instead? Official
No. Decide first: take $5 without looking, or search the whole pile and keep one card.
Source: BGG thread · Official FAQ
How many Financial Advisor cards can I hold and score? Official
Hold as many as you like; score your best two.
Source: BGG thread
How much do the Favored Nation cards pay?
The forum reads the card as $1 for one flag of that nation, $4 for two, $9 for three, $12 for four, $15 for five — each flag worth the highest Clipboard column it reaches. Not a designer ruling.
Source: BGG thread
Does International Expeditor count every flag or one per nation?
Every flag on your Clipboard, $2 each. The same thread reads Diverse Portfolio ($3 per share) as counting only shares of companies that paid round 3 dividends. Not designer rulings.
Source: BGG thread
Does Offshore Accounts count ships and unsold shares as company wealth? Official
No. Only the coins in the company's treasury.
Source: BGG thread
Isn't Luxury Tours always better than Group Tours? Official
For the same Passenger tokens, Luxury Tours pays $5 each, while Group Tours pays each token's printed value again. Group Tours is the alternative when several players pursue passengers and Luxury Tours is already taken; the developer advises against changing either card's value.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread