HELL ON WHEELS
INTRODUCTION
Card game for 2-6+ players.
Theme: Small Vice Towns that would pop up and move with the
Men working on the Union Pacific Railroad in the 1860‘s.
Players build Vice Establishments to earn profits.
VICTORY
The Player with the most Money at the end of the game wins.
GAME END
The game ends when the Town Mini-deck has run out and there is
no Town card to place in the Future Town Position.
MONEY
The smallest denomination of money is $1000 or 1K.
Use Poker chips to keep track of Money.
CONTROL MARKERS
Each player has a set of a unique color.
These are placed on Establishment and Civilized Cards to show Ownership.
TOWN CARD MINI-DECK
There is a Mini-deck of 10 Town cards.
Towns are of 3 Types: Spontaneous, Planned, and Existing.
Spontaneous means the Hangers on build the town on their own from nothing.
Planned means the railroad company invests in building the town from nothing.
Existing means the Town was already there and the RR is running through it.
Spontaneous Towns have 1 extra level of Mayhem.
Existing Towns have 1 less level of Mayhem.
TOWN MINI-DECK CARD LIST
Town Type
Julesberg Spontaneous
Benton Spontaneous
Corinne Existing
Laramie Spontaneous
Cheyenne Planned
Grand Island Planned
North Platte Existing
Sidney Spontaneous
Rawlins Planned
Omaha Existing
THE GAME BOARD
The Game board has 3 Positions:
Past Town
Present Town
Future Town
RAILROAD DECK
Also called the RR Deck.
This has 6 Types of Cards:
Establishments, Civilized, Customers,
Mayhem, Raids, Opportunist
Establishment cards come in 3 Types:
Saloons, Gambling Houses, Brothels
SETUP
Shuffle the Decks.
Each player starts with $20,000 (20K).
Draw the top card of the Town Deck and place it in the
Present Town Position.
Draw another card from the Town Deck and place it in
the Future Town Position.
SUPERVISOR TOKEN
One player will be in possession of the Supervisor Token (ST).
They are known as the Supervisor.
This determines player turn order within Phases.
Depending on the Phase rules the Supervisor either goes first and play proceeds
clockwise or the player to the Supervisors right goes first and play proceeds
counterclockwise.
TURN SEQUENCE
Each Turn has 10 Basic Phases:
1. Supervisor Phase
2. Railroad Phase
3. Civilized Phase
4. Taxes Phase
5. Establishment Phase
6. Customer Phase
7. Past Town Phase
8. Present Town Phase
9. Future Town Phase
10. End of The Line Phase
OPPORTUNIST PHASES
Before and after every Phase in the Turn Sequence there is an Opportunist Phase.
In Supervisor Order Players may play Raid or Opportunist cards one at a time during
these Phases. Continue playing cards until all players pass.
Raid Cards can be used to discard a target Mayhem card, or to discard a target
Establishment card if the Town contains a number of Mayhem cards equal to or in
excess of the number of players +1.
SUPERVISOR PHASE
Players Bid to see who is the Supervisor.
Bids are simultaneous. Players open their Palms to reveal Money Chips.
If tied players roll high on 1D6.
Only the winner pays the Bid Money.
The Winner takes the Supervisor Token.
RAILROAD PHASE
Each player draws 6 RR cards.
If the RR Deck is empty shuffle the discard and draw from it.
Players may pay to draw up to 3 additional RR Cards:
2K for the First Card. 4K for the Second. 6K for the Third.
CIVILIZED PHASE
In Reverse Order, players may play one or more Civilized cards onto:
The town currently in the Past Town Position, or
A planned Town in the Future Position, or
onto any Existing Town regardless of position.
Place the card onto the Position with a control Marker on it.
A player may pass. If he passes, he can play (Build) nothing this Phase.
It costs 1K to play a Civilized Card.
A Town can’t have 2 Civilized Cards of the Same Type.
TAXES PHASE
Do this for each of the 3 Positions:
The player with the most Civilized cards in a Town is the Mayor.
If tied, go in Supervisor Order to determine who the Mayor is.
Each other player must pay the Mayor 5K for each Establishment they have in the town.
ESTABLISHMENT PHASE
In Reverse Order, players may play one or more Establishment cards onto any Town or
combination of Towns.
Place the card onto the Position with a control Marker on it.
A player may pass. If he passes, he can play (Build) nothing this Phase.
It costs 1K to play an Establishment Card.
CUSTOMERS PHASE
In Reverse Order, players may play one or more Customer and Mayhem cards onto
any Town or combination of Towns.
A player may pass. If he passes, he can play nothing this Phase.
PAST TOWN PHASE
The Past Town will generate Money for its Saloons:
$ = 10K + 5K(X) + 5K(Y)
X = The number of Customer cards in the Town.
Y = The number of Mayhem cards in the Town.
Each saloon present gets an even share of the Total Rounding Down.
Example: The Town has 3 Customers and 3 Mayhem cards so
$ = 40K = 10K + 5K(3) + 5K(3) = 10K + 15K + 15K
The Town has 3 Saloons so each Saloon earns 13K = 40K/3.
Repeat this process for the Gambling Houses and then the Brothels.
PRESENT TOWN PHASE
The Present Town will generate Money for its Saloons:
$ = 20K + 5K(X) + 5K(Y)
X = The number of Customer cards in the Town.
Y = The number of Mayhem cards in the Town.
Each saloon present gets an even share of the Total Rounding Down.
Repeat this process for the Gambling Houses and then the Brothels.
FUTURE TOWN PHASE
The Future Town will generate Money for its Saloons:
$ = 10K + 5K(X) + 5K(Y)
X = The number of Customer cards in the Town.
Y = The number of Mayhem cards in the Town.
Each saloon present gets an even share of the Total Rounding Down.
Repeat this process for the Gambling Houses and then the Brothels.
END OF THE LINE PHASE
Discard the Town Card and all attached cards in the Past Position.
Move the Town Card and attached cards from the Present to the Past Position.
Move the Town Card and attached cards from the Future to the Present Position.
Draw a new Town card from the Mini-Deck and place it in the Future Card Spot.
Max hand size is 3 cards.
Discard excess cards.
RAILROAD DECK NOTATION
C = Civilized
W = Customers
M = Mayhem
R = Raids
O = Opportunist
S = Saloons
G = Gambling Houses
B = Brothels
# = Copies of that card in deck
OPT = Opponent
RR DECK CARD LIST
Card Type # Notes:
Saloons S 7 -
Gambling House G 6 -
Brothels B 5 -
Church C 2 -
School C 2 -
Jail C 2 -
Post Office C 2 -
Town Hall C 2 -
Tracklayers W 1 -
Irish W 1 -
Construction Crews W 1 -
Workers W 1 -
Scots W 1 -
Mexicans W 1 -
Civil War Vets W 1 -
Blacks W 1 -
Scandinavians W 1 -
Railroaders W 1 -
Miners W 1 -
Traders W 1 -
Migrants W 1 -
Young Men W 1 -
Townsfolk W 1 -
Prostitution M 1 -
Rowdiness M 1 -
Depravity M 1 -
Drunkenness M 1 -
Murders M 1 -
Rampant Crime M 1 -
Drinking M 1 -
Gambling M 1 -
Shootings M 1 -
Anarchy M 1 -
Boomtown M 1 -
Lawlessness M 1 -
Vice M 1 -
Rough & Tumble M 1 -
Alcohol M 1 -
Ungovernable M 1 -
Harass Settlers M 1 -
Supervisor R 1 -
General Dodge R 1 -
Jack Casement R 1 -
Vigilantes R 1 -
Law & Order R 1 -
Lawmen R 1 -
Lynching’s R 1 -
RR Boss R 1 -
Marshall R 1 -
Vile Men O 1 OPT must discard 2 Random Cards
Indian Attack O 1 Discard target Customer Card
Arsonist O 1 Discard target Establishment/Civilized Card
Con Men O 1 Steal 2 Random Card from OPT Hand
Desperados O 1 Move up to 3 Mayhem Cards to another Town
Outlaws O 1 Target OPT loses 5K
Ladies of the Evening O 1 Move up to 3 Customer Cards to another Town
Gamblers O 1 Steal 3K from OPT
Entrepreneur O 1 Gain 5K
Hangers On O 1 Move up to 2 Establishments forward 1 Town
Scoundrels O 1 Draw 3 cards
Claim Jumpers O 1 Steal ownership of one Target Establishment
Blackmail O 1 This card worth 7K for Supervisor Bid
LINKS
Hell on Wheels
Building the Union Pacific
