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Rating: 6.7 Good
Popularity:40
Difficulty:Medium
Year:1995
Players: 2-5 players
Playing time: 60-120 minutes
Age:12+

Created by: Wolfgang Kramer, Richard Ulrich, Doris Matthäus

Published by: Hans im Glück Verlags-GmbH, 999 Games, Användbart Litet Företag

Alternate Names: 大王

Description:

Spain in the 15th century: 12 kingdoms, 1 county, 1 principality, and the Basque provinces. Five tribes spread: Spaniards, Basques, Galicians, Catalans, and Moors.

The nobility, especially the "Grandes" (or "grand ones") of high nobility, held significant influence. However, the middle nobility, the "Caballeros", were themselves in possession of extensive privileges. All the regions of Spain were eager to develop their independence. The "Castillos" (or castles) also played an important role.

In this award-winning game, players take on the roles of Grandes in medieval Spain. The king's power is flagging, and these powerful lords are vying for control of the various regions.

To that end, you draft caballeros (knights in the form of colored cubes) into your court and subsequently move them onto the board to help seize control of regions. After every third round, the regions are scored, and after the ninth round, the player with the most points is the winner.

In each of the nine rounds, you select one of your 13 power cards to determine turn order as well as the number of caballeros you get to move from the provinces (general supply) into your court (personal supply).

A turn then consists of selecting one of five action cards which allow variations to the rules and additional scoring opportunities in addition to determining how many caballeros to move from your court to one or more of the regions on the board (or into the castillo - a secretive tower). Normally, you may only place your caballeros into regions adjacent to the one containing the king pawn.

The one hard and fast rule in El Grande is that nothing may move into or out of the king's region. One of the five action cards that is always available each round allows you to move the king to a new region. The other four action cards varying from round to round.

The goal is to have a caballero majority in as many regions (and the castillo) as possible during a scoring round. Following the scoring of the castillo, you place any cubes you had stashed there into the region you had secretly indicated on your region dial. Each region is then scored individually according to a table printed in that region. Two-point bonuses are awarded for having sole majority in the region containing your Grande (large cube) and in the region containing the king.

Prices:
Retail Price:$123
Amazon:$159
Ebay:$145
Expansions:
The El Grande Expansions
El Grande: Grandissimo
El Grande: Grossinquisitor und Kolonien
El Grande: König & Intrigant
More (2)
Awards:
Årets Spil Best Adult Game Winner 1997
Spiel des Jahres Winner 1996
Deutscher Spiele Preis Best Family/Adult Game Winner 1996
Meeples' Choice Award 1995


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Components

  • Game board
  • 5 Grandes (the large cubes) in 5 colors
  • 155 Caballeros (the small cubes) in 5 colors (31 per color)
  • 1 King (large black pawn)
  • 1 Round marker (small black cube)
  • 65 Power cards in 5 colors (numbered 1-13 in each color)
  • 45 Action cards
  • 9 Region cards (with rule summary on the backs)
  • 5 Secret disks with pointers
  • 1 Castle (Castillo)
  • 2 Mobile scoreboards with the values "8/4/0" and "4/0/0"
  • 1 Sample game sheet
Game Board

The board shows the 9 regions of Spain, 1 space to hold the Castillo, the success track along the edge of the board, and a round track with 9 game rounds and 3 horizontal scoring tracks. …



Action Cards - Stack 1

All Stack 1 Cards:

You may place up to 1 Caballero from your Court into a region neighboring the King's region or into the Castillo.

Before or after doing so, you may execute or forfeit the special action printed on the Action card. The cards in this stack allow players to move their own / foreign Caballeros.

Any card indicating that you may "move" Caballeros must be executed according to the following rules:

  • You may move your own and/or foreign Caballeros (exceptions are listed below).
  • You may move Caballeros from and to one or multiple regions, for example take 2 Caballeros from one region, and 1 from another (exceptions are listed below).
  • You may not take Caballeros from the Castillo or a player's Court.
  • You may move fewer Caballeros than the number printed on the card.
  • You are not restricted to those regions neighboring the King's region. You may move Caballeros to any region (except the King's region) or into the Castillo.
  • The King's region is taboo! You may never move a Caballero from or to the King's region (there are no exceptions).

The stack 1 cards are as follows: …



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