SCOTTENTOTS

Who with whom against whom?

On the mysterious rules of the Scottentots for the clarification of obscure property relations, or

Playing instructions

SCOTTENTOTS is a tactical card game for two players aged 8 and up

On the annual quarrels between South Tottenbury and North Tottenbury, or

Concept and goal of the game

Spring breezes drift over the Scottish Highlands, birds cheep and chirp, and nothing, absolutely nothing appears
to disturb the peace which lies over the solitary sheep pasture between the villages of South Tottenbury and
North Tottenbury. But quick as a wink the peace is gone. For from the North and South sound wild battle cries,
and at once the men of both villages are facing off. Armed to the teeth with bagpipes, crutches, and clubs, they
are wildly determined to restore the boundary stones of the sheep pasture to their rightful places. It is common
knowledge that the melting of the snow disturbs the boundary stones every year.

In clear language: Both players attempt always to build a stronger detachment of troops on their side of the
boundary stones than their opponent on the other side. The one who succeeds in capturing three consecutive
boundary stones, or five in all, wins the game.

Playing materials

 54 cards in 6 colors (each color represents a clan), each having values 1 to 9

RULES OF THE BASIC GAME

On setting shifted boundary stones into their rightful places, or:

Game preparation

 Place the 9 boundary-stone cards in a horizontal line between the players with small gaps between them.
 The 10 tactics cards are not necessary for the basic game; they may be discarded and returned to the box.
 Shuffle the remaining cards
 Each player gets a concealed hand of 6 cards.
 Place the remaining cards in a stack face down at the end of the row of boundary stones.
 Decide who goes first; after the first game, the winner of each game plays first in the next.

The course of the game

The active player places a card from his hand face up before a boundary-stone card. Further cards which may be
placed later in the game should be overlapped so that the ones below can be read. Up to three cards in total may
be played on each side of each boundary-stone card.
After playing a card, the player draws a card from the face-down stack, so that he always has six cards in his
hand. If the draw deck is exhausted, no more cards are drawn, but the game continues regardless.
Wholly disregarding that the people of South Tottenbury and North Tottenbury are really united so far as the goal
is concerned (namely, the ownership of the sheep pasture), the clans are still divided amongst themselves. The
question for the respective village elders goes like this: Who can best fight alongside whom to muster a stronger
detachment on his side of a boundary stone than his opponent; for which a complete detachment consists of three
cards. Here is a list of the possible combinations – from the strongest to the weakest:

1. Detachment: The ordered clan: three cards of the same color with consecutive values

2. Detachment: The Scottentot team: three cards of the same [numeric] value

3. Detachment: The clan: three cards of the same color [but not consecutive]

4. Detachment: The Scottentot squadron: three cards with consecutive [numeric] values; color plays no role

5. Detachment: The wild horde: Any other combination of cards

Clearly put, the stronger detachment wins over a weaker one; e.g., a Scottentot squadron loses to a Scottentot
team and wins against a wild horde. If both players place the same combination on one boundary stone, the
detachment with the higher sum of the card values wins. If the values of both detachments are equal, the player
who completed his first wins.

The boundary stones: The active player may, before drawing a card [and therefore completing his turn], take
possession of one or more boundary stones. To do this, he must have played a complete detachment of three
cards on his side of the respective boundary-stone card. Also, the player must prove that the opponent can
mobilize no higher-ranking detachment, regardless of what card he might yet play there. To demonstrate this he
may use any cards visible to both players; information from the cards in his hand may not be used.

If two detachments are equally strong (combination and sum of card values), the player who played the final card
loses the boundary stone. His opponent can then take possession of the stone in his turn, since he played the
winning card on the captured boundary stone on his side.

Two examples:
The upper detachment beats the respective lower one:
Col. 3: (since the blue 7 is already played)
Col. 4: (even a 9 would create only the same sum [and cannot outrank the Scottentot squadron].

As soon as a player captures a boundary stone, he lays the corresponding boundary-stone card in front of him on
his side of the respective detachments. No more cards may be played at this boundary stone.

On victory upon the whole line and on defeat, or:

End of the game

The game ends as soon as a player captures three adjacent boundary stones, or five altogether; further boundary
stones may not be captured.

If several games are played in succession, the winner always gets five points, the loser as many points as he has
captured boundary stones. Whoever has the most points at the end wins.

Unclear? This example should help [see diagram].

The tactics game essentially builds on the rules of the basic game. The changes and additions required for the
for the tactics game are explained below.

Preparation for play

Shuffle the tactics cards and place them face down in a stack at the end of the line of boundary stones.

Course of play

At his turn a player may play a normal card or a tactics card. At the end of his turn the player restores his hand to
six cards by drawing from the draw stack of his choice. If both draw stacks are exhausted, no more cards may be
drawn, but the game continues regardless.

The tactics cards serve as an influence on the detachments. If a player is not in a position to play a normal card,
he can either pass or play a tactics card. This can occur in two situations: The player has filled all the playing
positions on his side of the boundary stones, or he has only tactics cards in his hand.

Boundary stones

The tactics cards can be used to prevent the capture of boundary stones. Once a player has taken possession of
a boundary stone, tactics cards can exert no more influence upon it.

Tactics cards

There are 10 tactics cards. These can be played instead of a normal card to exert an influence upon the exposed
detachments. A player may hold as many tactics cards in his hand as he likes, as long as he observes the
maximum hand size of six cards. However, he may only play one more tactics card than his opponent [has
already played]. This means that a player may from the start always play one tactics card, but then he already will
have one more than his opponent [and cannot play any more until his opponent plays at least one]. Each tactics
card has a special function and belongs to one of the following three categories:

Morale tactics

Leaders (MacFarlane, MacGregor): The leaders are jokers. A leader card is played like a normal card. Their
color and value are determined when a boundary stone is captured. Example: If a red 7 is played and a leader is
played next to it, the player later has the option to add a red 5, 6, 8, or 9 for the formation of an ordered clan, or to
form a Scottentot team with a 7. Each player may have only one leader on his side of the boundary stones. If the
player draws a second leader card, it must remain in his hand [for the rest of the game].

Reinforcements: This card is played like a normal card of value 7; its color is first determined when the
boundary stone is captured.

Shield-bearer: This card is played like a normal card; its color and its value, which may not exceed 3, are first
determined when the boundary stone is captured.

Terrain tactics

These cards are placed face up on the side of a boundary stone towards the active player so that enough space
remains to play normal cards.

Fog: The fog card prevents the formation of a detachment for this boundary stone, which is decided only on the
basis of the total value of the cards played on either side.
Mud: This card causes the possession of a boundary stone to be decided by the play of 4 cards per side, so that
the detachments must be expanded. This makes it much more difficult to form a clan or a Scottentot team.

Trick tactics

These cards are played face up on the player’s side near the tactics deck. All cards played there must remain
visible until the end of the game.

Scout: The player draws three cards from one [but not both] of the two card stacks. He then chooses any two
cards from his hand and lays them face down on top of the card stack as appropriate [to their type, normal or
tactics].

Regrouping: The player selects a normal card or tactics card from his side of an uncaptured boundary stone.
This card is then either played in another available space on the player’s side or discarded face up on his side of
the appropriate card stack. Other played cards are not affected.

Deserter: The player chooses a normal card or tactics card from his opponent’s side of an uncaptured boundary
stone and discards it face up on the opposing side of the appropriate draw deck. Other played cards are not
affected.

Traitor: The player chooses an opposing normal card (not a tactics card) played on an uncaptured boundary
stone and places it in an unoccupied space on his side of the boundary stone line.

Improved rules

Once you have played the standard game, we recommend the following variant: A player can only capture a
boundary stone at the beginning of his turn [i.e., before playing a card]. This slows down the capture of a stone
by one turn and allows the opponent to alter the situation in his favor by playing a card.

Of parachute jumping, flying trees, and tradition, or

THE HIGHLAND GAMES

Nowhere in Scotland is more Scottish than in the Highlands: Gloomy mountains (equipped with various ghosts),
shortbread wrapped in checkered paper (as rich-tasting as biting into a pat of butter), bagpipes (originally for
communications over great distances in the Highlands), kilts (we won’t ask), and finally, the famous Highland
Games. Some say that these were created one day by the clan chiefs to select the best people for their
entourages. Others claim that the games were originally contests of strength between bored woodcutters in the
Highlands. Yet as always, from the hammer to the tree-trunk [caber], there is almost nothing today at the Games
which has not been thrown in the region – taken as broadly as possible. Besides this athletic demonstration,
television celebrities are presented, parachute jumpers drop from the sky, and there are music and dancing – and
all this simultaneously on one and the same pasture. If you should, for whatever reason, unfortunately not be
able to attend, you can console yourself: With “Scottentots” you have, so to speak, a Highland Game in
miniature.

Have fun!