# Colt Express: Marshal & Prisoners ## General Info - **Year Published**: 2016 - **BGG Rating**: 7.6 - **BGG Rank**: — - **Players**: 3-8 (Best with: 6) - **Duration**: 40-0 min - **Weight**: 2.50 / 5 - **Designers**: Christophe Raimbault - **Artists**: Jordi Valbuena - **Publishers**: Ludonaute, asmodee, Asterion Press, Hobby Japan, Lifestyle Boardgames Ltd, Rebel Sp. z o.o. - **Categories**: American West, Expansion for Base-game, Fighting, Trains - **Mechanics**: Action Queue, Hand Management, Memory, Simultaneous Action Selection, Variable Player Powers ## Verdict Fans of Westerns and trains will love this expansion, with added action and strategy on the rails.Secret objectivesMartial artist characterPrisoners that helpRequires extra decksMore complexityRECOMMENDED ## Description Picture a train barreling across the desert, with gangs of outlaws, a marshal, and even a martial artist hunting for revenge. In the *Colt Express: Marshal & Prisoners* expansion, the setting gets richer: a prison car joins the tail of the train, ready to be freed, and a new character, Mei, steps into the fray with her martial arts skills. If you’re the marshal, brace yourself: you have two projectile decks, three special items, and four secret objectives that, when achieved, secure victory. Gameplay keeps the frantic action of the base game while adding strategic layers—deciding when to play your shooting cards, when to free prisoners for help, and when to attack enemy gangs. The action queue mechanic makes every choice matter, while hand management forces you to prioritize valuable cards. Memory comes into play when projectile cards are hidden, and simultaneous action selection keeps the unpredictability high. Each player gets unique powers, making every game feel fresh. It runs smoothly with 3 to 8 players and takes about 40 minutes, ideal for quick sessions yet deep enough for planners. If you love Wild West, trains, and high‑stakes showdowns, this expansion will keep you coming back. ## How to Play Objective of the Game In this expansion, one player takes on the role of the Marshal, whose goal is to complete 5 Goals. If the Marshal successfully accomplishes at least 4 of these Goals, they win the game! If the Marshal fails to complete at least 4 Goals, then the richest bandit wins the game. Preparation (Setup) Assemble the prison car using the enclosed instructions. Choose one player to be the Marshal. That player takes the Marshal's sheet. Place the 3 Brawler cards (punch side down) in a pile on the Face zone of the Marshal's sheet, with the Gold Punch card on top and the Bronze Punch card at the bottom. Shuffle the Marshal's Action cards and place them face-down on the Deck zone of the Marshal's sheet. Place Bullet cards in 2 piles of 6 in ascending order of the number of bullets to form 2 cylinder piles. Return the Arrest Warrants of any bandits not being played to the box. Shuffle the remaining Arrest Warrants and draw 2, without looking at them. Put these 5 cards face-down on the Upcoming Goals zone of the Marshal's sheet. The Marshal may not yet look at their goals. If playing with 2, 3, or 4 bandits, use the locomotive, 4 train cars, and the prison car. If playing with 5, 6, or 7 bandits, use the locomotive, 5 train cars, and the prison car. The prison car is always the caboose. Instead of the usual strongbox, place the 2 mailbags with their value hidden in the locomotive. Draw 3 Prisoner cards, regardless of the number of players. Place them face-up behind the prison car. Return the remaining Prisoner cards to the box. Place the Marshal figure in the locomotive. The Marshal is Player 1 for this expansion, the player on their left is Player 2, and so on. All bandits with even numbers place their bandits in the car next to the caboose, and all bandits with odd numbers place their bandits in the next car forward. The Marshal does not start with a $250 purse. The Marshal starts the game as the First Player. If playing with 2 or 3 bandits, return the Full of Lead and Arch Enemy Special Target cards to the box. Shuffle the remaining Special Target cards and draw 3 without looking at them. Now shuffle these 3 Special Targets together with the 2 Arrest Warrants. Each player removes the Marshal card from their deck and returns it to the box. Each player removes the Ride card from their deck and returns it to the box, unless playing with the Horses & Stagecoach expansion. Each bandit adds the Brilliant Idea card of their color to their deck. Each bandit displays the Wanted Poster that shows their character ($500 side up). At the beginning of the game, players choose 7 Round cards and 3 Train Station cards that correspond to the number of players. Draw 4 Round cards and 1 Train Station card from among them to form the Round deck. Fluxo do Jogo At the beginning of each new round, the player on the current First Player's left becomes the new First Player. At the beginning of each round, the Marshal moves the top card from the Upcoming Goals zone to the Current Goals zone. The Marshal may, at any time, secretly look at the cards in their Current Goals zone, but never at those remaining in the Upcoming Goals zone. The basic draw rule is modified during Phase 1: Schemin'. Players can now choose 1 of the following: Draw 3 cards from your deck and add them to your hand. Search your deck (or discard pile if playing with the Expert Variant) for a Brilliant Idea card and add it to your hand. Then shuffle your deck. Players must declare which of these 2 options they are choosing before drawing. Some Round cards have a new icon. At the end of the Schemin' Phase, each player may choose to keep 1 card in their hand for the next round. This bonus does not apply when playing with the Expert Variant. The chosen card is not shuffled into the player's deck during the Stealin' phase and counts toward the player's hand in the next round. If the Marshal plays a "+" card (Move + / Floor change +) on a standard turn (no tunnels, speeding-up, switching, turmoil, jarring) during the Schemin' phase, they can immediately play an additional card from their hand. The additional card is resolved in order during the Stealin' phase as usual. The Marshal cannot draw cards instead of playing the additional card. It is possible to play 2 "+" cards in a row, which would allow the Marshal to play 3 Action cards in a single turn! If the Marshal plays a "+" card during a special turn (tunnel, speeding-up, switching, turmoil, jarring), they cannot play a second card. In all cases, the Move or Change Floor action is resolved as usual during the Stealin' phase. If the Marshal encounters a bandit, the bandit does not take a Neutral Bullet card and does not escape to the roof. A bandit can shoot the Marshal, move to their location, and even punch them. Character powers that affect bandits also affect the Marshal. When a bandit punches the Marshal, the bandit takes the top Brawler card from the Marshal's Picture zone and flips it over. The bandit now owns a Brawler card that will give them extra money at the end of the game. Then, the Marshal is moved to an adjacent car of the bandit's choice. When the Marshal shoots a bandit, if the bullet has an extended penalty, place the Marshal's Bullet card in front of that bandit as a reminder of the bullet's penalty. At the end of the round, the Bullet card is shuffled into the bandit's deck. The Angry Marshal event now means: At the end of the round, the Marshal may resolve 1 Shoot action and then 1 Move action without playing the cards. The Marshal's Revenge event affects bandits inside or on the roof of the Marshal's car. If a whiskey flask is in the Marshal's space, they take it and place it on their character's sheet. They can use it as though they were a bandit. If the Marshal drinks an old whiskey flask, they can play a maximum of 2 Action cards that turn, even if they play the Move + or Change Floor + cards this turn. If the Marshal is punched, they cannot drop their flask. During a Special Turn: Jarring, players cannot play Shoot or Punch cards. However, the Brilliant Idea card can still be used to copy another bandit's Shoot or Punch card. If a Round card has an effect that specifically affects bandits, it has no effect on the Marshal. Round cards which mention the Marshal might have their effect modified. Ações e Como Jogar Marshal's Action Cards Move (x2) / Change Floor (x1): These actions are resolved as usual during the Stealin' phase. Shoot (x3): If there are 2 or more bandits in the Marshal's line of sight, they can shoot 2 bandits with the same Shoot action. The Marshal chooses 1 Bullet card from the top of each of their Cylinder piles to place on the targets' deck. If the Marshal shoots only 1 bandit, they can choose 1 Cylinder pile to take the Bullet card from (a bandit cannot take 2 bullets from the same action). Move + (x1) / Change Floor + (x1): If played on a standard turn during the Schemin' phase, the Marshal can immediately play an additional card from their hand. The additional card is resolved in order during the Stealin' phase. The Marshal cannot draw cards instead of playing the additional card. If played during a special turn, the Marshal cannot play a second card. Capture (x2): The Marshal chooses 1 bandit in their space and places that bandit in the cell of the prison car. The Marshal takes the Wanted Poster of the captured bandit, flips it over to the captured side, and places it in their Achievement zone. A bandit can be captured multiple times, but after the first time, the Wanted Poster remains with the Marshal for the rest of the game. Ride (x1): Used when playing with the Horses & Stagecoach expansion. The Marshal can use this card to move using horses. Marshal's Bullet Cards Bullets shot by the Marshal are added to a bandit's deck just like bullets shot by another bandit. Each of the Marshal's Bullet cards has a penalty that affects the bandit shot by the bullet. Disarmed: Until the end of the round, this bandit's Shoot cards have no effect. Wounded Knee: Until the end of the round, this bandit's Change Floor cards have no effect. Shoulder Injury: Until the end of the round, this bandit's Punch cards have no effect. Got 'Im!: If the shot bandit has a Prisoner card, the Marshal takes it, flips it over, and places it in their Achievement zone. Drop That Bag!: If the shot bandit has a mailbag, the Marshal takes it and places it in their Achievement zone. Golden Bullet Award: No effect. Prison Car and Brilliant Idea "Free" bandits on the prison car can only be in the corridor or on the roof. You cannot choose to enter the cell. Only captured bandits can be in the cell. You cannot shoot or punch a bandit in the cell. You cannot move a bandit into the cell by punching or shooting them. The Action cards of a bandit in the cell have no effect during the Stealin' phase, except for the Brilliant Idea card. Brilliant Idea Action How this action works depends on where your bandit is on the train. If you are neither on nor in the Prison car (not on the roof, not in the corridor, and not inside the cell), copy the last Action card played by a bandit which is not a Brilliant Idea. It might be necessary to look a few cards back in the stack if Marshal's cards or other Brilliant Idea cards were the last cards played. If there is no bandit's Action card to copy, the Brilliant Idea card has no effect. If you are in the cell of the prison car, move either into the corridor or to the roof, your choice. If you are on the roof of or in the corridor of the prison car, choose 1 of the following: Free a prisoner; take 1 Prisoner card from those placed behind the prison car. You cannot choose this option if you already have a Prisoner card. Free another bandit; move 1 bandit from the cell to your space. He must give you 1 loot token of his choice if he has any. The Prisoners A bandit can have only 1 prisoner at a time. Each prisoner is the trusty sidekick of one of the bandits in Colt Express (as indicated on each Prisoner card), regardless of whether or not that bandit is actually being played. Your freed prisoner will give you 1 of 2 abilities, depending on whether he is your trusty sidekick or that of another bandit: If your prisoner is not your trusty sidekick, he gives you the character power as his corresponding bandit. This power takes effect the moment you free that prisoner, and remains as long as the prisoner stays in your possession. If your Prisoner is your trusty sidekick, you can take 2 loot tokens when you rob. This ability will only work if there are actually 2 loot tokens to pick up! At the end of the game, you get $200 if you have a Prisoner card. Special Targets (Marshal's Goals) The Marshal has 5 Goals. To win the game, the Marshal must have at least 4 goals completed at the end of the game. Only a Flesh Wound!: This goal is completed if, at the end of the game, the Marshal still has at least 1 Brawler card on his Picture zone. Dodge Bullets!: This goal is completed if the Marshal has no more than 2 Bullet cards from a single bandit in his deck. Golden Bullet Award: This goal is completed if there are no cards in at least 1 of the Marshal's cylinder piles. The Mail Must Go Through!: This goal is completed if the Marshal has at least 1 mailbag in his Achievement zone. The Marshal cannot drop a Mailbag when punched. Throw Away the Key!: This goal is completed if the Marshal has at least 2 Prisoner cards in his Achievement zone. Full of Lead: This goal is completed if each bandit's deck contains at least 1 Marshal's Bullet card. (Use only if playing with at least 4 bandits / 5 players). Arch Enemy: This goal is completed if at least 1 bandit's deck contains at least 4 Marshal's Bullet cards. (Use only if playing with at least 4 bandits / 5 players). Arrest Warrants Each Arrest Warrant corresponds to 1 bandit in the game. This goal is completed if the Wanted Poster of the bandit named on the Arrest Warrant is in the Marshal's Achievement zone at the end of the game (the Marshal arrested him at least once). It isn't necessary for the bandit on the Arrest Warrant to still be in the cell at the end of the game: once is enough! ## FAQ ### How long does a game last with the expansion? The expansion adds about 5 to 10 extra minutes, keeping total playtime around 40 to 45 minutes. ### How many players can join? The expansion maintains the 3 to 8 player range, and allows more players to join the base game. ### Does the expansion increase complexity? Yes, new secret objectives, extra decks, and freeing prisoners add strategic layers. ### What new components come with the expansion? A prison car, three new characters (including Mei), special items, extra projectile decks, and secret objective cards. ### What are the Marshal’s objectives? The Marshal must complete four random objectives, such as shooting all bullets of a type, capturing a bandit, or shooting at every bandit. ### Can the expansion be played with only 3 players? Yes, but rule adjustments may be needed to balance resource availability. ### Is the base game required to play the expansion? Yes, the expansion is designed to complement the original Colt Express and requires the base game components. ## Price Comparison ### Best International Offers - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 23.27 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=613142&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - See all on BoardGamePrices: https://boardgameprices.com/item/show/18548/colt-express-marshal-prisoners?utm_source=boardgamesbot.com