# Flamme Rouge: Grand Tour ## General Info - **Year Published**: 2024 - **BGG Rating**: 8.5 - **BGG Rank**: — - **Players**: 2-6 (Best with: 5) - **Duration**: 45-60 min - **Weight**: 2.40 / 5 - **Designers**: Asger Aleksandrov Granerud - **Artists**: Jere Kasanen, Ossi Hiekkala - **Publishers**: Lautapelit.fi, Gigamic - **Categories**: Expansion for Base-game, Racing, Sports - **Mechanics**: Catch the Leader, Hand Management, Modular Board, Race, Scenario / Mission / Campaign Game, Simulation, Simultaneous Action Selection ## Verdict Essential for those who want to turn a quick race into an epic cycling saga.Immersive long-term campaignsDeck customization with specialistsVaried new track layoutsVersatility between casual and campaignRequires base game to playLong campaigns require time commitmentHIGHLY RECOMMENDED ## Description If you already enjoy the adrenaline of Flamme Rouge, get ready because Grand Tour takes the experience to a whole new level. You know that feeling of exhaustion and glory from the Tour de France? That's exactly what this expansion brings to your table. The biggest leap here is the introduction of the campaign mode. Now, you're not just playing a single isolated race, but can tackle marathons ranging from short 3-stage tours to the full, brutal experience of a Grand Tour with 21 stages. It's the perfect way to feel your team's progression and the tension of every single kilometer. But it's not just about the length. Grand Tour injects much more tactical depth into the game. You get access to new track tiles, which change the course's geography and force you to rethink your drafting and overtaking strategies. Additionally, the expansion introduces specialized riders. This means you can customize your decks, giving your cyclists unique personalities and abilities. Do you want a climbing specialist or someone who dominates the final sprints? The choice is yours. The best part is that all this new content isn't locked behind the campaign mode. If you prefer quick, single-stage races, you can use the new riders and tracks to 'upgrade' your casual games. It's essentially a customization pack that transforms the base game into a much richer and more varied cycling simulation. If you love long-term planning and want to feel the pressure of claiming the podium across multiple stages, this expansion is a must-have. Prep your legs, manage your stamina, and try not to crash before the finish line! ## How to Play Game Objective In Flamme Rouge – Grand Tour, you are not just the player of two cyclists, but also the team manager, responsible for money, sponsorships, and more. This expansion introduces a campaign mode where players compete in multiple stages, forming a Tour. The main goal is to accumulate the most Tour Points (TP) through stage podiums, classification bonuses, and Rest Days. The team that collects the most Tour Points by the end of a predetermined number of stages is declared the winner. Setup Setting Up a Tour Set aside the Time tokens as a common supply. Set aside the Jerseys for now; they will only be needed after the first stage. Return the Refresh token and Specialist cards to the box, as they are not needed in a basic Tour. If starting a new Tour, each player receives a Player Sheet. One player is chosen as the Scorekeeper and receives a Tour Sheet. If continuing a Tour from a previous session, each player receives their team's sealed bag, containing their Player Sheets, Energy decks (including any remaining Exhaustion cards from previous stages), and any Jerseys they have earned. The Scorekeeper receives the Tour Sheet from the previous session. Choose the stages that will be part of the Tour. For the first game, the basic 8-stage Tour is recommended (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, in that order). The Stage cards are double-sided; for 2-3 players, the basic Tour does not require the Peloton expansion. For 4-5 players, the Peloton expansion is always required. Stack the chosen Stage cards to form a Tour Deck. Return the remaining Stage cards to the box. The Scorekeeper marks the stages of the Tour Deck at the top of the Tour Sheet. Optionally, include Rest Days in your Tour Deck. In a 13-stage Grand Tour, 2 Rest Days are recommended (the first after the 3rd, 9th, or 10th stage, and the second after the 15th or 16th stage). In a shorter Tour, you may add exactly 1 Rest Day after any stage. The Scorekeeper marks the location(s) of the Rest Day(s) at the top of the Tour Sheet. Setting Up a Stage Take the next Stage card from your Tour Deck and set up the stage according to the base Flamme Rouge rules, with the following additions: Place the Major and Minor tokens in stacks on the stage, next to the squares indicated on the Stage card. The Major tokens stack consists of three tokens with values 2/4 (the 4 on top). The Minor tokens stack consists of two tokens with values 1/3 (the 1 on top). All tokens are double-sided: the green side is for sprints, and the dotted side is for mountains (Ascents). Check the Stage card to see which side of the stacks should face up. Replace the base game's Finish tile with the new Wide Finish tile. Place the Timing tile next to the Finish tile so the finish lines align. For a flat finish, use the side with six values. For an Ascent finish, use the side with five values. Place the three Podium tokens in their respective spaces on the Timing tile. For the 2nd stage, randomly determine who places their team first on the yellow grid of the Start tile. From the 6th stage onward, the player with the fewest TP places their team first. In case of a tie, the player with the cyclist in the best position in the General Classification (lowest total time) loses the tie. Specialist Cyclist Selection (Optional Module) Before the 1st stage, place the 12 Specialist Overview cards in the center of the table, on top of their respective Energy cards. In 2-player games, use two copies of each Specialist. In 3-4 player games, use only one copy of each Specialist and return the unused ones to the box. Each player will choose exactly one Specialist for each of their two cyclists. Randomly determine the order in which players will choose Specialists for their teams. Each player in the determined order chooses a Specialist and takes its stack of cards. Then, in reverse order, starting with the player who chose last, each player chooses a Specialist for their second cyclist. Once everyone has chosen a Specialist for both their cyclists, all players remove the Energy cards from their Energy decks as specified on their Specialist Overview cards and then add the new cards. Players will use their chosen Specialists throughout the Tour. The removed cards are returned to the box and are not used in the Tour. Game Flow A Tour is a campaign mode of Flamme Rouge consisting of consecutive stages. All base Flamme Rouge rules still apply normally, with the additions and modifications described below. Playing a Stage Use all base Flamme Rouge rules and the following two points: When a cyclist enters or passes a square that has a stack of Major or Minor tokens next to it, they take the most valuable token from the stack and place it next to their cyclist's deck. If multiple cyclists reach or pass the same token stack in the same round, the cyclist farthest ahead at the end of that round takes the most valuable token, the second farthest takes the second most valuable, and so on. Tokens are always collected by cyclists, not players. In the End Phase, during the "Discard played cards" step, return all played Exhaustion cards to their respective Exhaustion decks. Set aside all played Energy cards so they can easily be returned to the cyclists' decks after the stage ends. End of a Stage At the end of each stage, finish times are calculated for all cyclists. When a cyclist crosses the finish line, the player marks their finish time and any collected tokens on their Player Sheet. After all cyclists have crossed the finish line, the Scorekeeper combines everyone's personal results from this stage into new cumulative totals and marks them on the Tour Sheet. Calculating Time and Assigning Exhaustion At the end of the first round in which at least one cyclist crosses the finish line, complete the following steps in order: Apply slipstreaming as usual. This may result in more cyclists crossing the finish line. (Note: On the Ascent Finish tile, all squares are Ascent, so there is no slipstream there.) The cyclist who moved farthest beyond the finish line marks their finish time in seconds on their Player Sheet, as shown on the Timing tile next to the square the cyclist is on. All cyclists who crossed the finish line and are in the same peloton as this cyclist mark the same seconds for their finish times. All other cyclists who crossed the finish line this round and are not in the same peloton as the stage winner receive the same time as the farthest-ahead cyclist in their respective pelotons. The farthest-ahead cyclist's time is determined the same way as in step 2. All cyclists who have not yet crossed the finish line take a minute Time token, regardless of whether there are other cyclists on the square ahead of them. Assign Exhaustion cards: All cyclists who have not yet crossed the finish line take and recycle one Exhaustion card if they have an empty square ahead of them. Cyclists who crossed the finish line do not take Exhaustion cards. Remove all cyclists who crossed the finish line from the track (don't forget to award Podium tokens to the top cyclists of the stage). All cyclists who have not crossed the finish line continue playing new rounds and repeating all these steps until all cyclists have crossed the finish line. When the stage ends, each cyclist marks the total value of their Time tokens as minutes on their Player Sheet. Stage Podiums Tour Points are primarily awarded for winning stages. Winning a stage is determined the same way as in the base game. At the end of each stage, the first cyclists to cross the finish line are immediately awarded Podium tokens: the winner receives the TP token, the second receives the TP token, and the third receives the TP token. Updating Player Sheets and Tour Sheet After all cyclists have crossed the finish line and players have marked finish times on their Player Sheets, they also mark any collected Podium, Major, and Minor tokens. The Scorekeeper updates each player's cumulative totals on the Tour Sheet. All Time, Podium, Major, and Minor tokens can then be set aside for the next stage. Preparing for the Next Stage After the current stage ends and all results are recorded on the Sheets, resolve these steps in order: Discard Exhaustion Cards: Between stages, each cyclist returns half of their Exhaustion cards (rounded down) from their deck to the Exhaustion decks. Any played Exhaustion cards have already been returned to the Exhaustion decks during the stage, so they are not included in this count. Then, all Energy cards played during the stage are returned to the cyclists' decks. Award Jerseys: The Scorekeeper checks the new cumulative totals on the Tour Sheet, and Jerseys are awarded as follows: General Classification (GC): The cyclist with the lowest total time becomes the new holder of the Yellow Jersey. Sprint Classification (SC): The cyclist with the most Sprint points becomes the new holder of the Green Jersey. Mountain Classification (MC): The cyclist with the most Mountain points becomes the new holder of the Polka Dot Jersey. Award the corresponding Jerseys to these cyclists to easily track which cyclist is leading each Classification. A cyclist can only wear one Jersey, even if leading more than one Classification. The priority order is GC, SC, then MC. In the lower-priority Classification, the next-best cyclist receives the Jersey. Resolve Rest Day (if any): On a Rest Day, resolve these two additional steps: Cyclists leading the GC, SC, and MC each gain one Tour Point, which is immediately marked on the Tour Sheet. If the same cyclist is leading multiple Classifications, they receive TP for each one. All cyclists except the Classification leaders perform the Discard Exhaustion Cards step a second time. Start the Next Stage or Save the Campaign: If ready to continue immediately, take the next Stage card from your Tour Deck and set up the stage. If you wish to continue later, give each player a sealable bag to store their team's belongings. Each player places their Energy decks, Specialist cards (if using Specialist Riders), Player Sheet, and any earned Jerseys in their team's bag. If there are any remaining Exhaustion cards in the cyclists' decks, they must be included in the bag. Actions and How to Play Refer to the manual for details on this section. End of Game and Scoring End of the Tour After all stages of the Tour have been completed, ensure all Player Sheets and the Tour Sheet have been updated. Then, Bonus Tour Points are awarded to players based on the various Classifications. General Classification: TP is awarded to cyclists with the lowest total time in the Tour. Team Classification: TP is awarded to the team with the lowest combined total time of their two cyclists. Sprint Classification: TP is awarded to cyclists with the most Sprint points collected in the Tour. Mountain Classification: TP is awarded to cyclists with the most Mountain points collected in the Tour. The number of cyclists and teams that receive TP, and the amount of TP awarded, depends on the length of the Tour, according to the table in the manual. In a 2-player game, use the 5-stage column, regardless of the number of stages. Winning the Tour After Tour Points for the Classifications have been awarded and marked on the Tour Sheet, the Tour ends. The Scorekeeper calculates final scores as follows: TP from Podium tokens + TP from Classifications + TP from Rest Days. The player whose team has collected the most TP is declared the winner. Tiebreakers All ties related to Classifications or the Tour victory are won by the cyclist (or team) who crossed the finish line first in the most recent stage. ## FAQ ### Do I need the base game to play? Yes! This is an expansion, so you need the Flamme Rouge base game to use any of the Grand Tour content. ### How long does a campaign take? It depends on your choice! You can do short 3-stage tours or the full 21-stage experience, which can span several sessions. ### Do the new riders change the game much? Yes, deck customization with specialists adds a new strategic layer, allowing you to build teams with different focuses. ### Can I use the content in quick matches? Absolutely. The new tiles and riders can be used in any single-stage race, not just in the campaign mode. ### Does the game become much more complex? The complexity increases slightly due to campaign management and new riders, but the core gameplay remains fluid and accessible. ## Price Comparison ### Best International Offers - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 39.94 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=6842140&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - See all on BoardGamePrices: https://boardgameprices.com/item/show/43838/flamme-rouge-grand-tour?utm_source=boardgamesbot.com