Der Tunnel Rules

[Whaleyland]

Thanks to William Springer from BoardGameGeek for a scan of these rules. The original scan can be found here. BGG wouldn't let him upload them, but we can get a translation done and upload it then. Here is a text version of the rules in German:

Vorbereitung
Die vier Kärtchen werden in die des Standardspiels eingemischt. Jeder Spieler erhält die Chips seiner Farbe (zu zweit darf jeder zwei Chip-Farben verwenden).

Standardregeln
Es gelten die Regeln des Standardspiels. Diese Regeln wedern im Folgenden ergänzt.

Tunnelausgang mit Chip belegen
Während seines Zuges darf ein Spieler zusätzlich noch unbestzten Tunnelöffnung platzieren (auch auf dem soeben von ihm gelegten Plättchen).

Wer bereits einen seiner Tunnel-Chips gelegt hat, darf in einem späteren Zug seinen zweiten Chip auf eine noch unbesetzte Öffnung platzieren. Damit ist eine Straße im Tunnel definiert: Der eine Chip markiert den tunneleingang, der andere den Tunnelausgang. Sollte sich jetzt eine vollendete Straße ergeben haben, wird entsprechend gewertet.

Burgfräulein und Drache
Kärtchen aus Ergänzungen wie Burgfräulein und Drache, die einem Tunnel aufweisen, können zusammen mit der spielebox-Tunnel-Erweiterung verwendet werden; die Öffnungen können also mit Chips belegt werden. In diesem Fall gilt eine aufgedruckte, durch den Tunnel führende Straße entgegen der üblichen Regel nicht also fortgeführt.

From what I can translate using Google translator, this roughly means:

Preparation
The four tiles are mixed with the base game tiles. Each player takes the chips of his color (each player receives two).

Standard Rules
Play using the rules for the base game. The supplementary rules are below:

Show Tunnel Exits using Chips
During a player's turn, that player may place [a Chip, in addition to placing a follower,] on an unoccupied tunnel opening (including other tiles than that just placed).

At a later point during the game, a player may place a second chip on a vacant tunnel opening. Thus a road is defined by the tunnel: the first chip marks the tunnel entrance, the other chip the tunnel exit. The road is now completed and should be scored accordingly. [I suppose that you count the shortest path between the two tunnels as the road.]

The Princess and the Dragon
Cards from expansions such as the Princess and the Dragon, which have a tunnel, can be used in conjunction with the Spielebox tunnel expansion. The openings [of P&D tunnels] can also be marked with chips. In this case, [roads may not always connect to one of the tunnel openings].


Okay, that was my jab at a translation. I tried to remember to correct the German up top since I had a few errors, but some may still remain. Check the original scan if I missed any. The rules leave a lot to question, especially with scoring and incomplete tunnels, so I Matt may have a lot of emailing to do before the next CAR is released (which I hope is VERY VERY soon). Anyway, discuss, debate, re-translate, enjoy. Most of us will be getting this expansion this week sometime, assuming we ordered it. 

[wmspringer]

heh, I was in the process of Google translating this as well, guess I don't need to now. :-)

[Whaleyland]

heh, I was in the process of Google translating this as well, guess I don't need to now. :-)

Well I wouldn't mind a second attempt at the translation, if nothing else than to check for errors. The rules seemed to leave out some stuff so double checking isn't a bad idea. If Matt is around, he can translate.

[Whaleyland]

Sorry for the double post, but Aldaron at BGG posted his own, much more brief translation. He translated the last part as tunnels that don't have a road at one end (i.e., from P&D) are counted as incomplete, which I guess only really effects the Robber Baron since no followers are placed on the tunnel-roads nor entrances. It still doesn't not what happens if the other end of a tunnel is never claimed. I'm guessing the tunnel is not counted at all, then.

[Novelty]

So do all roads end at the tunnels when playing with this expansion?  I'm confused.

[meepleater]

Just a few minor disagreements with some interpretations.

I suppose that you count the shortest path between the two tunnels as the road.

Wouldn't you just ignore any 'in between' tiles, only include tiles where the road is actually shown?

He translated the last part as tunnels that don't have a road at one end (i.e., from P&D) are counted as incomplete, which I guess only really effects the Robber Baron since no followers are placed on the tunnel-roads nor entrances. It still doesn't not what happens if the other end of a tunnel is never claimed. I'm guessing the tunnel is not counted at all, then.

I assumed that the road is considered incomplete, not the tunnel itself. I also assume that a road with an unlinked tunnel and an inn would score 0 (as the road is not complete), but that's just my opinion.

So do all roads end at the tunnels when playing with this expansion?  I'm confused.

I think the roads continue through the tunnels, (but you have to select the entrance and exit). But I'm sure we're all equally confused.

[Whaleyland]

I disagree entirely with your observations. The rules make it sound like Tunnels are completely independent of any roads attached to the tunnel entrances. From what I translated, I felt that the Tunnels end the road and start a new road underground, ending at the tunnel's other opening. Thus issues with Inns and whatnot are inconsequential. All roads end at tunnel entrances and all tunnels end when they return from underground. I'm guessing that this can cause extremely long roads that can sometimes become incomplete and score nothing, hence their appeal. Kind of like Long Routes on Ticket to Ride Europe: lots of points if you complete them, not quite so if you don't (or in TtR case, negative points). That's just my interpretation. Someone who reads German should probably confirm.

[Novelty]

The rules make it sound like Tunnels are completely independent of any roads attached to the tunnel entrances.

That's what I seem to understand as well and therein is where the confusion lies.  It seems to negate some of the previously published rules and to create a new one in its place.

All roads end at tunnel entrances and all tunnels end when they return from underground.

This was the question I'm asking.  Do roads end at tunnel entrances only when playing with this expansion, or even when not playing with this expansion?  It would shake up gameplay in a major way if it was retconned to previous expansions (and I've no idea how fan-made expansions with tunnels will behave with this new rule).

Edit: I've put up the rules scan at Carc Central as well.  Thanks again for the scans, WmSpringer.

[Whaleyland]

Do roads end at tunnel entrances only when playing with this expansion, or even when not playing with this expansion?  It would shake up gameplay in a major way if it was retconned to previous expansions (and I've no idea how fan-made expansions with tunnels will behave with this new rule).

Actually, I forgot that Abbey & Mayor also has a tunnel, and perhaps a few others. They have those short one-tile road tunnels. The example in the rule specifically mentioned Princess & Dragon, but it did imply directly that other expansions may be affected as well. I'm guessing that tiles that show the old-style tunnels (A&M) do not fall into this category and only magic portals are affected, but it really isn't that clear. Someone needs to get an email off to Spielbox right away to answer these questions, but they haven't even replied to my last email so I'm not getting my hopes up.

[mjharper]

Just arrived in the post today . Here goes with my translation:

----------

Preparation

The four tiles are mixed with those of the basic game. Every player receives the tokens corresponding to his or her colour. In games of two, each player may use two sets of tokens.

Basic Rules

All the rules of the basic game are valid, with the addition of the following.

Mark Tunnels with Tokens

During their turn, a player may place one of his or her tunnel tokens on any currently unoccupied tunnel entrance. Tunnel tokens may be placed on the tile currently being placed.

If a players has already placed one of his or her tunnel tokens, the other token may be placed on another unoccupied tunnel entrance during a later turn. By doing so, the road has being defined: one token marks the tunnel entrance, the other marks the exit. If this leads to a completed road, it should be scored appropriately.

Princess and Dragon

Tiles from other expansions, such as Princess and Dragon, which also depict tunnels can also be used with the rules for the Spielbox Tunnel Expansion; the entrances can also be marked with tokens. In this case the road leading through the tunnel does not count as continuous, contrary to the usual rules.

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For what it's worth, I take it that the new expansion merely expands on the old tunnel concept. That is, roads run through tunnels in the same way, only you have to specify exactly where a tunnel begins and ends. I do not think that a tunnel marks the beginning or end of a road, nor that the tunnel between tokens is a new road. I take this to be the case because otherwise the sentence about 'if a road is completed in this way...' would make no sense: placing a second token would always complete the tunnel. Clearly this isn't the case.

I also think that the number of tiles between the tokens is irrelevant. Otherwise it would be far to easy, late in the game, to generate a (e.g.) 48 tile road, and there would be endless debates about the shortest route. I think it's clear enough that only visible segments of road are counted, although this point needs to be clarified.

Furthermore, I'm sure that 'occupied' in this sense only refers to the tile entrance itself, independent of any thieves which may occupy the road.

[Marty]

So it means that roads "end" in the tunnels so you create a completable road if you connect two tunnels and close the other (normal road) ends the normal way. (I'm not saying that you can't have more than 1 tunnel on the road)
Scoring would then be as usual, number of tiles the road is on.

[mjharper]

So it means that roads "end" in the tunnels so you create a completable road if you connect two tunnels and close the other (normal road) ends the normal way. (I'm not saying that you can't have more than 1 tunnel on the road)
Scoring would then be as usual, number of tiles the road is on.

That's what I think, yes.

[Novelty]

Thanks for the translations and the interpretation Matt.  I like your interpretation better and it makes better sense.  It also doesn't retcon the existing tunnels which is what I prefer

[Gwommy]

I think translation makes sense.  So the tunnel expansion has 10 tunnels on them, plus the 2 tunnel entrances from Princess and Dragon which makes a total of 12 tunnel openings and there are 12 tunnel chits.  I'd say any tunnels from any other expansion are unaffected.

If you are playing with anything less than 6 people, then you are going to have roads that will be impossible to finish.  That's kind of a bummer.  Although, you could even distribute the tiles if you had 2 or 3 players.  And for a 4 or 5 player game, you could have the remaining tunnel chits available for anyone who has already used both of their tunnel chits.

[Marty]

It's 14 tunnel entrances, there's one in A&M. And we could assume that when no tokens are placed on the tunnels the roads are connected normally, the new as well as the old ones.

I think there's an interesting thing on this: you could use this concept to score other players road and then move a follower to CC. Well maybe not the best possibility but still.