Charterstone Hints & Tips – Game 2

Continued from Charterstone Hints & Tips – Unboxing, Initial Set-Up and Game 1

**This post is an aid for playing a Charterstone Campaign, and is meant to be read after you have played Game 1 but before you play Game 2. In it I talk candidly about things revealed in Game 1. You have been warned.**

At the end of Game 1, you would have taken Card 17 out of the Index (followed by a few others), which contain the Rules for the End of Game. These Rules lay out what each player will earn based on what they have achieved during the game, and what some of the longer term goals are during the course of the Campaign. I’m going to recap these Rules so that we have some idea of what we are aiming for during Game 2.

Reputation

The first point of business, is that all the players that have the highest number of Influence tokens on the Reputation track earn 10 Victory Points. This could mean every player, if they all had the same number of Influence tokens on the Reputation track. This 10 VP means that the player(s) with the most Reputation, will automatically gain another Glory (See the next Heading). Second and third highest number of tokens (again, ties are friendly and favourable) will gain 7 & 4 VP respectively, and this might certainly be enough to move you into the next grouping of 10 VP, so you gain another Glory.

Intriguingly, there is a note on this line that says to gain VP for cards with the End of Game hourglass symbol on it. We have not seen any of these cards yet, and I’m not sure it’s possible to reveal any in Game 1. I think this is Jamey Stegmaier just teasing us with something to come.

Glory – Rule 28

With the VP points finalised, we now award Glory. Every 10 Victory Points we earn during the game (rounded down) gives us the ability to colour in a Star on the front of our Charter Chest. These stars will be worth 10 VP at the end of the Campaign. But more importantly, each completed row will allow you to collect a bonus at the start of every game. For example, completing the top rows of stars (which only requires 8 stars) would allow you to get 1 of any resource before the start of a game.

Charter Chest Glory

Bonuses further down the Chest need more stars to complete a row, but give you, arguably, a more valuable bonus. So choose your rows wisely, and aim to collect as many Victory Points as possible during a game, to complete those rows as soon as possible.

Capacity – Rule 29

The back of our Charter Chest shows the Capacity of the Chest. We were allowed to keep everything we had after Game 1, but at the end of Game 2, and beyond, we will only be able to keep Resources, Coins, Advancement Cards and Minions (more on those in the Game 3 post) according to the number of coloured circles in each Row.

Charter Chest Capacity

The default is to keep 1 of each of these things in your Chest, but there will be the opportunity to increase Capacity throughout the Campaign. It is important to note, that the asterisks next to the Advancement cards and the Minions, highlight that the cards/Minions you keep must be of different types. If you had a Capacity of 2 Advancement cards, at this stage of the game, you could choose a total of 2 cards of the following: 1 Assistant and/or 1 Building and/or 1 Crate.

Victories -End of Game Rules (Rule 26)

Underneath the Capacity, is where you keep track of your Victories. There is an outline of 12 Trophies, and you get to fill one in, each time you have the most Victory Points at the end of a game. If more than one player ties for the most Victory Points, then all eligible players fill in a Trophy.

Name the Charters

The Non-Winners then name their own Charter, the inactive Charters, and as a show of humility, they get to name the Charter(s) of the Winner(s). There is no need to do it immediately, but if you have them named by the start of Game 2, you can start referring to the Charters that way, instead of by colour.

Charterstone Charter Name

Guideposts – Rule 27

Starting with Game 2, we now have a Guidepost, which is a goal for any number of players to achieve during the course of that one game. All the players that achieve the Guidepost, gain 1 Glory, and fill in another star on their Charter Chest. As always, this could mean that every player achieves the goal and gains 1 Glory.

But the power comes from being able to choose from the hidden options on the card at the end of the Game. If only 1 person achieves the Guidepost, then they reveal the options, make the choice, and open the Crate with the corresponding cards. If there is a tie, then the player that achieved the Guidepost goal with the most Influence tokens in their supply has that power. Any further ties are decided by a roll of the Charterstone.

Charterstone Guidepost 2

The Guidepost for Game 2 is titled “Have the Most Coins & Resources”. I am fighting a strong urge to spell out exactly what that means, by essentially restating the card title … but we know what’s going on, right? The star in the top right is a helpful reminder that all player(s) that achieve the goal, get an extra Glory. And then it clearly states that you need to reveal the options before completing the End of Game Rules in Rule 26, which count up the VP and decides the winner. There is definitely some power to be had, by amassing Coins and Resources.

Hints and Tips for Game 2

The 2 main goals for Game 2 are; earn as many VP as possible (obviously) and to have the largest collection of Coins and Resources in your Personal Supply at the end of the game. Let’s have a look at how you might attain those goals.

Opening your First Crate

During Game 1, most players will have opened the Crate they had from their basic resource building. Each of these first Crates contains 3 cards; 2 new Building cards, and a new Persona. These 3 cards follow a common trend for each Charter.

First Crate – Personas

Whilst your Persona in Game 1 was basically a way of giving a face to your character, each new Persona you gain will have a new ability, that will give you some advantage in the game. You gain a Persona any time you open a Crate that has one, and it gets placed immediately in your Charter Chest for future use. You gain the Persona even if it doesn’t look like your original character, which will start to happen more after Game 2 (and every game after that), when a lot of unopened Crates are returned to the Advancement Deck, available for any player to obtain in the future.

At the start of each Game you choose a Persona to use from the collection in your Charter Chest. Each Persona that gets used (meaning, you use it’s ability during the game) is worth points at the end of the Campaign, so whilst it is possible to use your original Persona again, there is really no reason to do so, and many reasons to use a new one each time, that will give you some kind of bonus.

Charterstone Farmer

The Personas that come in the basic Building Crates all give the same advantage. When you use a building, that requires the basic resource of your Charter as part (or all) of the cost, you gain an extra VP. The resource you spend to get the benefit (with the farmer above, it is a grain) must appear on the cost side of the building. You do not get the benefit if the building shows the generic resource Icon, and you choose to spend a Grain. This also means that you do not get the benefit for visiting the Zeppelin, when you construct a Building that requires grain as one of its 4 resources.

However, when you received this Persona from your first Crate, there were no Buildings on the Board that had the cost of your Charters resource. Luckily (it was not luck) you received such a building in your first Crate.

First Crate – Buildings

As I said earlier, you received two buildings in your first Crate. The one that requires you to use your resource has the word Market in the title. (Iron Market, Pumpkin Market, Wood Market, etc). You possibly constructed that building during Game 1, else it currently sits in your personal supply. If it still sits in your supply, and you are using the Persona that gives a bonus for using that building, then it would be logical for you to construct that building as soon as you can during Game 2.

Charterstone Grain Market

The different Market buildings that cost 1 specific resource to use, give one of the following benefits: 2 Coins, or 1 Coin and 1 VP, or 1 Coin and 1 chance to place a token on the Reputation Track. In this way these Markets have surpassed the Treasury as a way of turning resources into Coins, because the Treasury gives 1 coin benefit, for the cost of any 1 resource. (Editor’s Note: There are Advancements cards that give a bonus for using the Treasury, so it’s swings and roundabouts as the Campaign is played.) Gaining another 1 VP bonus from your new Persona when you use the building, makes it an even better way of earning Coins.

The other building you will have received gives you another way to earn your resource. By spending those precious Influence tokens.

Charterstone Hoist House

These are buildings that are named for an advanced way of producing a resource, and the different buildings cost 1 Influence token, and give one of the following benefits; 2 of a resource, or 1 resource and 1 coin, or 1 resource and 1 VP. For example, the Hoist House above will cost 1 Influence token for 1 Coal and 1 Coin.

There might not be too many ways to get Influence tokens back at this point in the Campaign, so thinking ahead to how you want to spend your 12 Influence tokens during Game 2, is good strategy. However, near the end of Game 2, with Coins and Resources being the goal of the Guidepost, you might find this a good deal.

Constructing Buildings is generally a good idea. They earn you VP, and open up new choices on the Board. And just as importantly, they will give you another useful resource … a Crate that you can open.

New Crates

The last thing to talk about in this post is the Crates. We learned from our original resource building, and opening the associated Crate, that new things are introduced into the game in this way. You received a new Persona, and two buildings from your first Crate, and once those buildings are constructed, you will have two new Crates to open. The things you might find in them might help you personally, or might develop the game play in new and exciting ways.

As you are about to start Game 2, I will offer a final reminder that you will not be able to keep all the Building and Crate cards you currently have in your personal supply. Some of them will be sent back to the Advancement deck at the end of the game, so you might want to take advantage of constructing, and opening, those now, while you have the opportunity. While simultaneously keeping in mind all the other business we have touched on in this post. Earn VP, through Buildings, Crates, Objectives, Reputation and the Quota Track. Collect the most resources and coins to achieve the goal of the Guidepost, and gain the control of the hidden options. Understand that you will lose most of your cards, coins and resources at the end of the game. I will talk to you in the next post, about what was revealed in Game 2, and preparing for Game 3.

Continued in Charterstone Hints & Tips – Automa and Game 3

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