How to Play High Frontier 4 All: Module 5 – Economy

Game Objective

In High Frontier 4 All: Module 5 – Economy, you and the other players buy and sell shares of aerospace companies. The value of these companies is tracked on a matrix called the stock market. You can be a shareholder, a customer of a company, or both. By improving a company's treasury or capital, you increase the value of its shares. If you own the majority of a company's shares, you become its chair (president), controlling dividends and capital reinvestment, which allows for payments to shareholders or cheaper services, respectively. The goal is to buy shares of companies that are likely to increase in value and sell them when the money can be better used in other ventures. Holding shares is generally superior to holding Aqua, as shares are easily bought and sold, and retain value after an Aqua crash.

Setup

Setup follows the rules of the base game (Core) and Modules 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 (if used), with the following additions:

1. Company Chits: Place the 8 company chits in the Pool. There are 4 company shapes: 2 square, 2 triangular, 2 circular, and 2 hexagonal. Each has a White-Side and a Black-Side.
2. Stock Market: Place the Stock Market board in a public area, with the "STOCK MARKET" side facing up. This board is a matrix that indicates share values in Aqua/Isotopes.
3. Companies & Malfs: Place the Companies Placard in a public area and position the 4 malf chits in the 4 designated spaces on the placard.
4. Hedge Funds: Each player places two shares and two cubes in the upper right corner of the stock market, in the area marked HEDGE FUNDS. The remaining 5 shares of each player are placed in their Reserves.
5. Seniority Disks: It is suggested to play with 1 to 4 seniority disks to adjust game duration: 1 cycle for a short game (about 3 hours for 4 players), 2 cycles for medium, 3 cycles for long, or 4 cycles for Futures. For 2 to 4 cycle games, the Jump start (from High Frontier 4: All Tools 1 Pack) is recommended for faster playtime.

Game Flow

The game flow incorporates a new event:

• Board Meeting: After the Event Roll and its resolution (K2), a new event called board meeting occurs. During this meeting, the chair of each company makes a board decision, as detailed in 5D1 and 5D2 of the manual.

Other changes to the flow include:

• Bank Panic: Additionally occurs during an Anarchy (K2e), War (3C), and desperation starshot (4D3) event.
• Phasing Player Token: This token is passed to the player whose Turn it is. Flip it recessed-side down after spending your transaction per 5Ca. Then pass it to the next player when your Turn ends.

Actions and How to Play

Module 5 introduces buying and selling shares, company services, and new types of Hazards called malfs.

Companies and the Stock Market

Eight companies are represented by chits that start "unfloated" in the Pool. You can "float" a chit by buying its first share and moving it to the FLOAT space on the stock market. From there, the chit moves as per 5B5, gaining or losing share value.

Chair

The chair of a company is the player whose share is in the highest position (at the apex of the triangle) of a company chit. If you float a company, your share is placed at the apex, making you the chair. During the board meeting after each event (5D), the chair of each company decides whether and how to spend the company's resources, opting for dividends, reinvesting, or passing.

The chair can change in several ways:

• Majority coup: If you have more shares in a company than the chair, you become the chair. Swap your share with the share in the apex position.
• Ticker tape coup: If you and the chair are tied with one share each and you perform a ticker tape parade (La), you can choose to become the chair of all companies in which you are tied.
• Trustee or Proxy Fight coup: If you and the chair are tied with one share each, you can become the chair by honor or corruption litigation (5B7) or by winning a proxy fight (5C3).
• Negotiations: If the chair does not have the majority, they can cede the chairmanship to another shareholder during a Negotiation (N).

Prices and Customers

Any player can buy a company's services, becoming a customer. The customer pays the advertised price in Aqua for the service offered by the company.

• Non-refusal: A chair cannot refuse services to a paying customer, except if the customer has the default chit (5A4j) or, during War or Anarchy (3D), if the customer is in the enemy block.
• Price: The price of company services is shown in blue diamonds below the stock market, according to the column occupied by the company chit. The price is paid immediately after the service is rendered, in Aqua to the Pool, which raises the company chit (5B5a).
• Default Price: The customer price is doubled if a monetizing Bernal is Anchored as Home Bernal (5A4e).
• Post-Monetization Price: After the stock market flips (5E), the price becomes 1, 2, or 3 Isotopes/fiduciary media paid to the speculators (5F4a).

Company Services

There are 4 company shapes, each with 2 identical chits. Each offers a service, provided as a transaction if a customer pays the company's price to the Pool. A company can be started by floating it on its White-Side or Black-Side. The Black-Side service is only available after the market flips (5E).

• Patent Company (White-Side squares): A paying customer (optionally) performs an insight (4B2f) and then receives the top card of a patent deck, plus the top card of each of its direct supports (J). This avoids the auction and hand limit of the academy.
• ET Unicorn Company (Black-Side squares): A paying customer performs a site refuel operation (I5) or an ET production operation (I8) at their Factory as a transaction.
• Boost Company (White-Side triangles): A paying customer boosts a maximum Mass of 9 to LEO/Bank. It is more expensive for light loads than the boost operation (I4), but saves an Operation. The price is doubled to boost to a non-monetizing Home Bernal, even after the market flip.
• ET Alchemy Company (Black-Side triangles): Flips a White-Side card to its Black-Side at any BEO (Beyond Earth Orbit) Anchored Bernal.
• FINAO Company (White-Side circular): A paying customer receives FINAO (avoiding a Hazard or Epic Hazard Roll, which may claim a malf per 5A5). Can be applied at any time during the movement of any of their Spacecraft. The deluxe service (paying double the price) allows avoiding up to four Hazard Rolls on their Turn.
• ET Comet Company (Black-Side circular): If at a Synodic Site (in the correct Season), a paying customer automatically rolls a '1' on their Size Roll (I6, without spending an Operation). This is a Glitch Trigger.
• Loan Company (White-Side hexagon): A paying customer dedicates spare cubes as debt cubes, placed 8 Years ahead on the Sunspot Cycle. Each debt cube is worth 4 Aqua (8 during inflation) or (after the market flips) 1 FM (fiduciary media, 5F5). This value is paid upfront from the Pool as a loan. The company's price (interest) is paid, which raises the company.
• ET Express Company (Black-Side hexagon): A paying customer moves a maximum of 4 Mass between any two Anchored Bernals. This is a Spacecraft movement.

Company Chit Movement

A floated company chit moves in five ways and can stack on other chits:

• Move Up by 1 (elevation): Per paying customer, each company share bought that fills a hole, Glory (if the chair flips a glory chit in a ticker tape parade), chair claim jumps, chair Anchors a Bernal, or a '1' rolled on a Hazard Roll (for each FINAO company).
• Move Down by 1: Per each company share sold or discarded that leaves a hole, Dividend Transaction, if the chair receives the default chit, Budget Cuts (event), chair Unanchors a Bernal, each card lost in a Pad Explosion/Space Debris (event), or failure to pay the loan late fee.
• Move Down by 1 then Right by 1: If during a board meeting the chair decides to reinvest in the company (5D2). If the space where the chit should move does not exist (too far right), it moves down but not right. The chair claims one of their hedge funds (5B8b), if any.
• Pegged Up: A chit on the top row cannot move further up. If elevated, it does not move, but the chair claims one of their hedge funds (5B8b), if any.
• Recession: The Loan Co. (only) is moved up to two columns to the left during a recession after a bank panic (5G3c).

Malf (New Hazards)

Module 5 introduces four new Hazards, called malfs. They force a Hazard Roll whenever a Stack uses ballerina for a Bonus Pivot (H4c), makes an acetylene rocketplane liftoff (H6c), enters a flyby (H8), or uses a buggy road (B7f).

• FINAO Customer: If you are a paying customer of the FINAO Co. (5B3e), your payment does not avoid the Hazard Roll, but claims the corresponding malf chit (5A1i), regardless of whether you survive the roll. The malf chit is stored on your playmat in the "Glory" space, worth 4 VP at the end of the game.
• Malf Hazard deactivated: Once a specific malf chit is claimed by a FINAO customer, its Hazard becomes inactive for all players.

Endgame and Scoring

Endgame Scoring

Refer to the manual for details on this section.

Unfulfilled Contract VP

After the market flips (5E), each unfulfilled contract is worth -3 VP.

Tips for Winning

1. Be the Chair Strategically: Being the chair of a company is useful for lowering prices or receiving dividends when you need them. However, these actions also benefit other players. The chair can obtain hedge funds and increase share value with, for example, glory.
2. Take Advantage of Company Services: Companies offer services that can save Operations or provide unique advantages. For example, the Patent Company allows acquiring cards without auction, and the Boost Company can move a large Mass to LEO/Bank as a transaction. Use ET Express to move Isotopes to your Isovault and pay for services, assuming the isobank is a Bernal.
3. Manage Debts and Contracts: Loans and contracts provide liquidity. Loans tie up factories, charge interest upfront, and must be repaid, while contracts do not tie up factories and can be paid upon fulfillment. However, loans can provide more money than contracts. Be aware of late fees and the possibility of Debt Rollover, which can lead to the default chit.