How to Play Bootleggers: The Boardwalk

Objective of the Game

In Bootleggers: The Boardwalk, you're a mobster in the dangerous business of making and running moonshine. This expansion introduces a "more civilized" option: redeveloping your speakeasies into upscale casinos. Instead of focusing on trucks and stills, you'll operate casinos for the rest of the game. The goal is to be the mobster with the most money at the end of the game.

Preparation (Setup)

To set up Bootleggers: The Boardwalk, perform the following steps in addition to the basic Bootleggers setup:

• Shuffle the Casino Cards and place them face down next to the Game Board.
• Place the Casinos (placards) and Entertainment Act Tiles within reach of all players.

For the two-player variant, additional setup steps are required:

• After dealing Muscle cards to the two Mobsters, set aside the highest quarter of the remaining cards (the blue cards).
• Shuffle together the remaining Muscle cards and deal three additional hands of Muscle cards. Place these three additional hands above the first three Men of Action Offer Spaces next to the Men of Action deck. These are called Non-Player Muscle hands.
• Place Influence markers of a neutral, non-player color in the shaded circles of Speakeasies as follows:
  • Mother’s – 1
  • Barleycorn’s – 2
  • The Real McCoy – 3
• The largest Speakeasy, “The Volstead,” and the Copper are not used in the two-player variant.

Flow of the Game

A game of Bootleggers is played over several rounds, each enhanced for Casinos and consisting of six phases performed in order:

1. Phase 1: Muscle (Bidding & Driver Graft Phase)
2. Phase 2: Send in the Boys (Influence placement Phase)
3. Phase 3: Fire up the Still (Production Phase)
4. Phase 4: Run the Whiskey (Shipping Phase)
5. Phase 5: “What’s the Password?” (Selling Phase)
6. Phase 6: The Heat! (Long Arm of the Law Phase)

Each round, perform these actions in order:

Phase 1: Muscle (Bidding & Driver Graft Phase)

After the Truck card and Men of Action cards are placed for selection, draw and place a Casino card next to the board. Additionally, draw and place one Casino card next to the board for each open Casino. Casino owners must pay graft of $1G per die plus $2G booking fee for each Entertainment Act in their Casinos.

In the two-player variant:

• When turning over Men of Action cards, turn over 5 Men of Action cards and place them on the board. There will be one Men of Action card beneath each of the three Non-Player Muscle hands, plus two additional cards without Non-Player Muscle hands.
• After the Mobsters reveal their Muscle cards, turn over the top card of the three Non-Player Muscle hands.
• Select Men of Action/Truck cards in Muscle card order as usual, including the 3 revealed Non-Player Muscle cards.
• Mobsters can select from any available card (including Men of Action cards beneath to Non-Player Muscle hands).
• For the Non-Player Muscle hands, take the appropriate action based on the Men of Action card:
  • If the Men of Action card has already been taken – do nothing.
  • If the Men of Action card is a Single or Double Influence - exchange the Men of Action card for a Single or Double Influence of a neutral, non-player color and place it according to the following:
    • Beginning with Texas Lil’s, fill all of the shaded circles in order of smallest to largest Speakeasy. Specifically, fill all shaded circles in Texas Lil’s, then fill all of the shaded circles in Mother’s Groceries, etc.
    • If all of the shaded circles are filled, begin again in Texas Lil’s fill the remaining available circles. Specifically, fill all remaining circles in Texas Lil’s, then fill all the remaining circles in Mother’s Groceries, etc.
  • Any other Men of Action card – discard.

Phase 2: Send in the Boys (Influence placement Phase)

A Mobster may optionally choose to redevelop a Speakeasy into a Casino for the base price identified on the Casino plus $3Gs per Influence marker paid to their owners. The Influence markers are returned to their owner's Back Room. There are only 4 Casinos available for purchase. The 4th Casino is only used in 6 player games. The Speakeasy need not be open to be redeveloped. A Mobster is not required to have influence in the speakeasy being redeveloped. The new Casino owner moves his Influence from the Speakeasy being redeveloped to his Back Room. Speakeasy Improvements are discarded. The new Casino owner selects the matching casino from the supply, places it over the Speakeasy being redeveloped, and marks the ownership with an Influence marker from his supply (not his Back Room). The new Casino owner may optionally place Influence according to the Bootleggers rules. The new Casino owner finishes his action by discarding his Truck, dice, and any Remote Stills.

Phase 3: Fire up the Still (Production Phase)

Casino owners have no actions this phase.

Phase 4: Run the Whiskey (Shipping Phase)

Trucks line up in single file in Muscle card order at Casinos or Speakeasies. At any time during this phase, Casino owners may choose to destroy one of their Influence markers from the board or their Back Room to reduce consumption at O’Malley’s by one Crate per Truck. No more than 3 Influence markers may be destroyed per Round.

Phase 5: “What’s the Password?” (Selling Phase)

Casino owners roll consumption. Entertainment Acts, like Speakeasy Improvements, add 1 to each die rolled in the Casino. Also, like Speakeasies, Casinos will only buy Crates up to the maximum number of the consumption roll.

Payouts for Mother’s, Barleycorn’s, and The Real McCoy (6 player only) are as follows:

• $3G per Crate paid to the sellers from the bank
• $3G per Crate paid to the owner from the bank
• If the consumption roll is greater than the Crates available to be sold then $1G gambling profits is paid to the owner from the bank for the difference between the consumption roll and the number of Crates sold.

Payouts for The Real McCoy (less than 5 players) and the Volstead (6 player only) increase to $5G per Crate. Gambling payout is unchanged.

For example, 2 Trucks with a total of 7 Crates are lined up at a Casino. The Casino owner rolls 10 for consumption. Sellers receive $21G for the whiskey. Casino owner receives $21G for the whiskey plus $3G gambling profits (10 rolled - 7 Crates bought).

In the two-player variant:

• Roll consumption at the open Speakeasies. Discard the lowest value die for all speakeasies except Texas Lil’s.
• Determine ownership and payouts as usual, including the neutral non-player influence markers, then make the payouts to the Mobsters.

Phase 6: The Heat! (Long Arm of the Law Phase)

If a Casino card remains unselected at the end of the phase, it is discarded.

Actions and How to Play

The Boardwalk expansion introduces new actions and card types:

Redeveloping a Speakeasy into a Casino

During Phase 2: Send in the Boys, a Mobster can choose to redevelop a Speakeasy into a Casino. This costs the base price of the Casino plus $3Gs for each Influence marker currently in the Speakeasy (paid to their owners). The existing Influence markers are returned to their owners' Back Rooms. The new Casino owner discards their Truck, dice, and any Remote Stills, moving their own Influence from the redeveloped Speakeasy to their Back Room. They then place a new Influence marker from their supply (not Back Room) on the new Casino to mark ownership. There are only 4 Casinos available, with the 4th only used in 6-player games. The Speakeasy does not need to be open, and the Mobster does not need to have influence in it to redevelop it.

Casino Cards (Men of Action)

These are new Men of Action cards available for selection in Phase 1: Muscle. They offer various effects:

• Fire Chief: Send the Fire Chief to inspect a Speakeasy or Casino. Crates from the last truck in line do not get bought. May be saved for later use.
• Police Raid: Play on a Casino. That Casino is closed for one round only. No crates are sold to the closed Casino. May be saved for later use.
• Political Pockets: The heat is on. Casino only buys crates from one player this turn. May be saved for later use.
• Pssst. Hey bud. Over Here.: Play on a truck lined up at a Speakeasy or Casino. Move the truck to a Casino. May be saved for later use.
• Gambling Windfall: Casino owner paid additional $1G per crate from bank this turn. May be saved for later use.
• Apple Pie!: Crates in one truck at a Casino are doubled. Can be played anytime during Selling Phase. May be saved for later use.
• Inside Job: All crates in one truck at a Casino receive Casino owner’s payout for that truck in addition to sellers payout. May be saved for later use.
• Break the Bank: Casino owner receives no payout from gambling or crates sold at this casino this turn. May be saved for later use.
• Hire a Big Act (3x): Pay $2G and redeem immediately for 1 Casino Improvement.
• Crazed Fan: Destroy Casino Improvement marker in a Casino. May be saved for later use.
• Steal the Show (2x): Redeem immediately for 1 Casino Improvement.
• Tough Guy Brawl: Commotion at a Casino draws attention of the Copper. Immediately move copper from a still to a Casino. Roll of 5 on any die closes Casino. Play during influence phase. May be saved for later use.
• New City Ordinance: Player pays additional $5G to open a new Casino. New Casino is not opened if player can no longer afford opening cost. May be saved for later use.
• State Gaming Commission: Casino owner must pay you $5G or Casino owner receives no payout from this casino this turn. Money is paid to bank. May be saved for later use.
• Here’s Mud in your eye: Move one truck lined up at a Casino to a Speakeasy. Truck placed at end of line for correct dock. May be saved for later use.
• Why I ‘aughta: Play on a Thug card. The Thug card player must pay you $5G or the Thug Card is nullified. $5G and the Thug Card gets played. May be saved for later use.
• Blackmail: Select up to 2 opponent influence makers in a Speakeasy. Influence Marker owners may pay $2G per influence to move influence marker to back room. Influence marker is destroyed if blackmail not paid. May be saved for later use.
• Snitch: Player selects up to 2 opponent’s influence markers and moves them to their owner’s backroom. May be saved for later use.
• The ‘ole Switcheroo: Trade a Speakeasy influence marker for another influence marker in play at another Speakeasy.
• On the Take: Pay $2G per die in your Family still prior to production roll to remove the Copper. May be saved for later use.
• Decoy: You hijacked a decoy. You get nothing. Play to prevent a truck from being hijacked. May be saved for later use.
• Arrange a Meeting: Player destroys an opponent’s influence marker from a Speakeasy. All other opponents destroy one of their influence markers in a Speakeasy of their choice. May be saved for later use.
• Chicago Typewriter: Destroy up to 2 of an opponent’s Influence Markers from Speakeasies. In return, opponent selects and destroys 1 of your influence markers. May be saved for later use.
• Union Dues: All opponents pay additional $1G more in graft this round. Play during influence phase. May be saved for later use.
• Labor Strife: All opponents pay double graft this round. Play during influence phase. May be saved for later use.
• Anonymous Tip: Move Copper from 1 player’s still to another player’s still. May be saved for later use.
• Sure, I’ll put ya in Showbiz: Free Casino Improvement when opening a Casino. May be saved for later use.
• You’re with da Boss: Do not pay upkeep on entertainment acts this turn. May be saved for later use.
• Hey, Jimmy B.: Move truck to the head of the line at a Casino. May be saved for later use.

Entertainment Act Tiles (Casino Improvements)

These are improvements for your Casinos. They add 1 to each die rolled for consumption in the Casino, similar to Speakeasy Improvements.

Reducing O'Malley's Consumption

During Phase 4: Run the Whiskey, Casino owners can destroy up to 3 of their Influence markers (from the board or their Back Room) per round to reduce consumption at O’Malley’s by one Crate per Truck for each marker destroyed.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends at the end of the round after the 12th round. The early game ending condition of a player earning $100Gs is not used.

The player with the most money wins.

For the two-player variant, the game ends after the “What’s the Password” Phase of either the 12th Round or the