OK, I think I have the module (which I did not make) in a usable state.
Rules are here, for anyone who is keen:
This is how the game looks after setup.
Families have been randomly assigned:
RossM: Hastings (blue)
Whistle Pig: Benyon (pink)
GeeBizzle: Paxton (grey)
LLV: Sykes (purple)
COMaestro: Walsh (green)
There’s a black pawn starts on 1 on the red ribbon running through the map, it will stop at 5, for a span of approximately 100 years, from 1710 to 1813ish.
5 times, the silver pawn will go the length of the red ribbon, and each step on the red ribbon gets resolved. At the start, the London Season (first step) is skipped, and there’ll be a bonus retirement phase at the end if the company doesn’t fail. This is where most of the rules explanation will happen, in a later post.
Going around the map itself:
VP track is top left. Sykes family has a 2VP head start, due to the Luxury (pink card) they have.
There’s a little endgame scoring summary next to the power pyramid indicating what is currently in vogue, with each social standing icon currently worth 2 power, and company shares worth 1. At the end of the game, the family with the most power scores 3 or 5 bonus VP, second gets 1 or 2 (depends how long the company survives for).
More significant is the categories of estates down the left side. The smallest estate costs 2 pounds, gets you 0 VP, and has 0 upkeep. The grandest costs 20 pounds, gets you 12 VP, and costs 4 pounds upkeep. They also have a number of “windows”, from 0 to 4, indicating how much tax you’ll have to pay on them, if they get taxed (this is not a sure thing).
Back to the top, there’s company standing, currently at the ten pounds “expectations” spot. This drops to F, the company fails. There are also some arrows indicating how this pawn moves. Ignore the grey striping.
Company debt starts at 0.
The london season display is where you pick nice things during the London Season for a family who retire into wealth.
The court of directors shows pounds for future shares, costs from 2 to 5 pounds, the current VP value of shares +1 for company success, -1 for company failure, and the shares currently held by players: 1 each, except for Sykes who has 2 (actually 3, because Sykes is also Chairman, and that also counts as one).
Then there’s the map of India, and the commanders/armies.
The family markers indicate that family includes the commander of that army. There’s also one regiment in each army, above the army name, meaning it’s ready to be deployed/defend. Below the army name are some markers indicating temporary alliances with a strength rating and the cost for 1 turn of assistance. Below means they are inactive/exhausted.
The map itself is divided into 8 regions. Each region currently has a tower, indicating Indian control, and a number, indicating the strength of that control and how much extra value the region has as loot. Three of them have coloured summits and flags, indicating (by the big flag) that Delhi is the capitol of an Empire ruling Punjab and Maratha. BUT, there’s the Trouble Elephant across the border pointing from Maratha to Delhi, indicating trouble.
This indicates that it’s likely Maratha will rebel against Delhi at some point. Or maybe not. India is in a very volatile period even without foreign powers raising armies.
Each region has a network of “orders” indicating how much money can be made from trade there. Three are in bold ovals, Bombay, Bengal, and Madras, and all trade will start from one of these three and spread from there along the dotted lines. Some are currently “closed”, and they can be opened by negotiation or force, or closed by turmoil. Ignore the tiny pound numbers next to the big ovals.
There’s a rectangular loot/control marker for each region, as a one-off loot bonus for military deployment.
There are three sea regions, currently with one family-owned ship in each. The ships are essential for trade. Family ships are named, and associated with a shipyard card of the same name belonging to a family.
Finally, there are some small “package” icons, which indicate how much opium can be produced if a region is company controlled, which can be of value if trade with China becomes a thing.
The track on the right is for voting, marking votes for and against new laws in parliament.
The track on the bottom is for company money, which is considered to be several orders of magnitude greater in real terms than family money (so it’s not 1:1), and is a distinct, separate fund.
Around the board, there are things that can be bought, markers, spare cards, the london season deck, the laws deck, the India deck, the company failure deck, and one law that starts in play: Royal Protection.
Overview of the roles and stuff randomly assigned to each player coming up next.