How to Play A Few Acres of Snow | Rules & Setup Guide

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

Place the board

Put the board in the middle of the table

Distribute player components

Each player takes the wooden pieces and cards of their colour (Britain: Red; France: Blue)

Prepare starting deck

Each player separates their initial draw deck (darker border cards) from their full deck and shuffles these initial cards to make their starting deck, placed face down in their Draw Deck space

Organize remaining cards

The lighter-bordered cards should be separated by Location cards and Empire cards, placed face-up in their respective spaces (sorting alphabetically is recommended)

Set up neutral cards

Place the neutral Empire cards (green border) face up by the side of the board, separated by type so both players can see which cards are available

Distribute starting money

Give the French player 5 money and the British player 12 money, with remaining money kept as a supply nearby

Prepare fortifications

Place the black discs (fortifications) in a supply nearby

Place initial settlements

The British player places one cube in each red square location and one disc in each red circular location; the French player does likewise in each blue location

Draw starting hand

Each player draws 5 cards from the top of their draw deck to make their hand

Determine first player

The British player takes the first turn

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Check siege victory first

Before taking any action, check whether you have won a siege combat

Perform actions

Take two actions on your turn (exception: on each player's first turn, take exactly one action)

Take free actions

In addition to your two actions, you may take any available free actions

Refill hand

After completing your two actions, refill your hand back to 5 cards

Handle empty deck

If you run out of cards when drawing, shuffle your discard pile to make a new draw stack

Settle a Location

Play a Location card connecting to the target location, plus a card with the correct transport symbol; if the location has a settler symbol, also play a card with a settler symbol, then place a village cube and take the Location card for your discard pile

Develop a Location

Play the Location card for a location you control with a VP value, plus a card with a settler symbol, then replace the village cube with a town disc (cube returns to supply)

Fortify a Location

Play a Fortification card along with a Location card for the location and pay 3 money, then place a fortification disc under the cube or disc in the location

Besiege a Location

Play a Location card connecting to the target, a card with the transport symbol, and a card with a military symbol; discard the first two cards, place the military card in your Siege Card space, place your Siege marker near the location, and adjust the Siege Strength marker according to initial strengths

Win siege as attacker

If at the start of your turn you have an advantage of 2 or more, immediately win; remove opponent's cube/disc (keeping it for VP), remove any fortification, and place your village cube if you can play a settler symbol (if required)

Win siege as defender

If at the start of your turn you have an advantage of 1 or more in military strength, immediately win and retain control

Resolve ended siege

Both players retrieve cards from Siege Card space; winner places all cards in discard pile; loser must return one non-Location card to their Empire deck or Neutral display before discarding the rest

Reinforce a Siege

Play a card with military symbols to adjust the Siege Strength marker in your favor; the card must be placed in the corresponding Siege Card space

Raid

Play one or more raid-eligible cards to raid a location within two connections (plus one connection per additional card) of a location you control

Ambush

Play a card stating this action; opponent may block with an eligible card from hand (not reserve)

Priest / Indian Leader

Play this card to take one neutral (green) Native American card from opponent's hand or reserve, placing it in your discard pile

Take Money

Play a Location card showing money in the coin symbol to take that amount from the bank

Merchant

Play a card with a ship symbol, then play one or two cards with coin symbols to take that total amount from the bank

Trader

Play the Trader card with one or more Location cards having fur symbols to take 2 money per fur card from the bank

Piracy (French only)

Play the Louisbourg card and another card with a ship symbol to take 2 money from the British player (any shortfall comes from the bank)

Draft 1 Empire card

Select 1 Empire card from your Available Empire deck and place it in your discard pile, paying any required money

Discard cards

Discard one or more cards from your hand; the first card is free, each additional card costs 1 money

Place a card in reserve

Place 1 non-Location card from your hand into your Reserve (maximum 5 cards)

Retrieve your reserve (free action)

Retrieve all cards from your reserve by paying 1 money per card; you must retrieve all cards

Governor

Play the Governor card to return one or two cards from your hand to their respective Available decks (Location, Empire, or Neutral display)

Intendant (French only)

Play the Intendant card and pay 2 money to select one card from your discard pile and put it in your hand

Home Support (free action)

Play the Home Support card to immediately draw 3 cards from your deck (do not shuffle discards)

Withdraw from a Siege (free action)

Choose to withdraw, which is treated as losing the siege

Pass

Simply do nothing; this does not prevent future actions

Control requirement

You cannot use a Location card if you do not control that location or if it is not connected back to Boston (British) or Quebec (French) through a supply chain

Supply chain connections

Trace connections through controlled locations via rivers, lakes, roads, or sea (not Indian trails); locations with ship symbols connect to all other ship symbol locations; same-edge lake locations connect to each other

Besieged location limits

You cannot play a Location card for a location under siege, but you can trace supply through a besieged location

Winning

How to claim victory.

British instant victory

The British player wins immediately if they win a siege or settle in Quebec

French instant victory

The French player wins immediately if they win a siege or settle in Boston or New York

Placement victory condition

The game ends if there are no sieges in progress at the start of a player's turn and they have placed all of their discs or cubes onto the board (not required to place all of both types)

Capture victory condition

The game ends if there are no sieges in progress at the start of a player's turn and a player has captured 12 points of cubes/discs from their opponent (cubes worth 2 points; discs worth 4 points)

Calculate final score

Each player scores points as indicated for controlled locations; discs in locations score double the indicated points; captured enemy cubes score 2 points each; captured enemy discs score 4 points each

Determine winner

The player with the highest total VP wins; in case of a tie, the French player wins