La Seigneurie Board Game

Board Game – La Seigneurie

It is 1709 along the St Laurence River in New France. Seigneuries have been established all along the river between Quebec City and Montreal. The seigneurial system was based on the medieval feudal system of land ownership, where nobles were granted land that was, in turn, worked and harvested by peasant farmers. By the time of the settlement of New France, however, this system had evolved into a contract of obligations that guaranteed rights and responsibilities to both the Seigneur, who was deeded the land from the Compagnie des Cents-Ancien, and the Habitant farmer who worked the land and lived off its bounty.  This system benefited both parties, as well as the French crown, who wanted to see the land managed well so that taxes were profitable.  For his work, the Habitant was guaranteed enough land to provide for a family, a chance to build a home, access to water, representation in legal matters, access to a mill and religious services. The Seigneur took a 10% portion of the harvest, called the “cens”, received “rente”, and was able to collect banalités, or taxes for use of the mill and other services. The Seigneur also received “incentifs” from the Intentent of New France as the land was developed and improved upon, including for the number of Habitant settlers they attracted. The Seigneur was also permitted to engage the Habitants in free labor on the seigneurie land for several days each year.

In this game you take the role of managing a seigneurie in New France, competing with other noble landowners to produce the best functioning settlement, attract habitants to work sections of your land, build a mill, a manor house and a church to serve your community. The game ends with the first Seigneur to finish building all the structures on their settlement, the Manor House, the Mill and finally the Church. At that point money is added up to determine the winner.

Four Seigneuries are represented in this game:

Seigneurie Ste Antoine de Tilly. The De Tilly family has seen the tragic lost of both the matriarch and patriarch in the new world. The seigneurie has been passed on to the daughter, Giselle, who is the only offspring. She is the heir, and she has received both inheritance and an annual allowance from concerned family members in France and in Montreal. A great uncle is managing the estate in her name.

Seigneurie Ste Marie de Beauce. Mdm. Claire de Beauce has inherited the seigneurie from her dead husband. This was permitted by French law. She has received the full inheritance from his estate, but now has no more annual support from the family. She is on her own to make it in the new world.

Seigneurie Ste Anne de la Pochatière. Msr. Francois Pochatière has received a good inheritance but also has annual income from his investments in the fur trade with the Northwest Fur Company of Montreal.

Seigneurie de Gabriel de Taschereaux. Msr. Benôit de Taschereaux comes from a family that already has a long history in New France. He received a modest inheritance, but has established himself through investments in Quebec that have proved profitable and resulted in a good annual income.

Setting Up the Game:

To begin, each player selects a Seigneurie Mat and reviews the conditions of their land grant. This includes their family héritage – their inheritance and any annual allowance they receive from their family holdings. After players receive their game mat, the inheritance is immediately received by each player from the bank. Notice there is a lump sum given at the beginning and then an annual allowance received in the spring. The mat has four areas where items in the game are stored: top left: Habitant colored markers, representing the home of a settler family on cleared land, top right: Livres, the unit of New France currency where money is stored, bottom left: Matériels: where building materials are stored, and bottom right: Héritage: where inheritance is indicated.

Sample Seigneur Mat:

  

There is a Center Mat in the middle of the board with all the pieces needed for play, including a token for each player to travel through the Seigneurie year:

Easter, 3rd week in April, add 5 acres to any new fields this spring. May Day, 1st week in May, advance to 1re de Juin, double yield on spring harvests Bastille Day: 2nd week in July, money from home – 20 L, advance to first week in August Feast of the Assumption, 2nd week in Aug – receive double price on your next harvest, then advance to 2nd week in Sept King’s Birthday 4th week of Oct, select a crop to return to full price

Harvest Day, 3rd week of Nov, double yield for harvest, move to 1re de Decembre Christmas Day Dec 25 – Christmas – 50 L arrives from home, advance to 1st week in March Jan 1st – New Year Celebration, clear one farm for free, advance to 2nd week in March Queen’s Birthday— 4th week in Feb, use fall yield dice for this year’s spring harvests, go to 1re de Abril

The Center Mat shows a full year of agricultural activity on the Seigneuries of New France.

In the beginning all the tokens are placed in the bottom left corner box marked “1re de Abril” (April 1^st). The game begins in the spring season. In that box, are listed all the actions that can be taken during the two spring months of April and May. Each player moves through the weeks of the year by rolling the 6-sided dice. This introduces uncertainty as to how each player will experience each year. It might take one player two roles to make it through spring and on to the summer list of actions, or it might take 4 or more.

Note on the chart below that there are special dates (colored circles) that when a player lands on them create special benefits:  

On each player’s first turn, they must decide how many 25 acre farming strips they can afford to clear and prepare for farming. This costs 50 Libres for each cleared strip. Upon paying this amount to the bank, the player selects the same number of colored boxes, representing the Habitant family that has moved in. (In subsequent years this action is taken in the winter).

Beginning Play:

The player who has selected the Beauce family mat goes first, with play proceeding clockwise after that. Play begins with the first player rolling the dice and moving that number of spring (yellow) blocks (one for each week). After landing on that week, they are able to take one action associated with the season. Note: in the case of Habitant actions, each turn you are allowed to take the same action for up to half of the Habitant farmers on your seigneurie. For example, if you decided to clear four farming strips in the first spring, then on your first roll, you may do the planting for two of those settlers. In the case of an odd number of settlers, simply round up.

During the spring months the Habitant may plant their 25 acres by choosing any combination of the six agricultural crops stored in the center of the Center Mat. For instance, five crops can be selected at 5 acres each, or two with 10 acres and one with 5, etc. There are two harvests, three summer crops and three fall crops, and so a wise player will choose a mixture so as to make best use of their luck, especially as there are different benefits to planting summer and fall crops (to be explained).

If a player finds themself in the same season on their next roll, they may take another action associated with that season. Either to plant the second half of their farms, or to take an action associated with the Seigneur. In the spring, that would be to take the Héritage allowance or to purchase building materials for summer and fall work seasons. These materials will be used to contruct the Seigneurie road, the Manor House, the Mill and finally the Church, in that order. Material may also be purchased during the summer and fall, but that would mean another turn would be required in order to enact a work project (corvee). Referring to the player’s Seigneurie Mat, you will see that work will begin on the road first and must be extended to where the Manor House is to be located prior to work done on the Manor House. In this way, each Seigneur begins with the road, then contructs their Manor House, the next road section, the Mill, final road section, and then the church. The road can be built passed each structure, concurrent with the construction of each structure. But the next structure cannot be started until the previous one is finished: first the House, then the Mill, then the Church. It is with the completing of the Church that the game ends, with that player that establishes the steeple as the winner.

As each player enters a new season, by either landing on a corner block, or by passing by it, they may take the actions for the Habitant or Seigneur related to that season as long as they remain in that season. Those actions include, in some cases, simply the receiving of money or paying of money. These are considered complete actions. Notice that the seasons of winter and summer are longer than spring and fall, as it often the case in northern climates. If a player finds that they have roled and are still in a season in which they have used all their actions, they may choose to affect the Market, as it described below.

Harvest Seasons (summer and fall):

When crops are harvested the correct yield dice must be rolled: triangular dice for summer crops and regular dice for the fall harvest. Fall crop benefit: Fall crops may have larger yields depending on the dice. Players must refer to the Market Mat for harvest values.

Market Mat: The market values for each crop may change part way through a season. This occurs when players complete their harvest and yet role low numbers on the dice to advance, remaining in that season with no more actions to take. When this occurs, they may adjust the market down by shifting the cost by 25 centimes for other players who have yet to take their harvest in coming seasons. (Only those who have harvested may do this). Summer crop benefit: It is more likely that players with summer crops will be able to adjust the market as the summer season is longer. It is also possible that a player may intentionally move a crop they intend to harvest to lower in price, expecting that on their next turn they might be able to return it to the full price of 1 L. For example a player may have planted a lot of wheat but finds that other players have depressed the value of wheat so that it is now only 75 centimes per bushel. The play may choose to move that now to 50 centimes, anticipating that on the next turn, with a low roll, they can move it back to full price.

Harvest Example: In the summer harvest, a player roles the triangular yield dice and comes up with 2. If they had 10 acres in Peas, and 10 acres in Berries, they arrive at the market with 20 bushels of Peas and 20 bushels of Berries. They find that players ahead of them have adjusted the price for both crops. Berries are now at 75 centimes per bushel and Peas are at 50 centimes per bushel. The result is 25 L income for the Habitant. As the Seigneur is owed 1/10 of the harvest, this means the Seigneur takes 3 L onto his Mat in earnings for that Habitant. (Seigneurs always round up to the nearest whole Livre).

After the harvest is taken, the crops remain in place to show that these are now fields dedicated to those crops. They do not need to be replanted in the next year. However, players may move their crops around as new Habitant farmers are added for ease of counting harvest.

Corvée Labour (summer and fall):

In Summer and in Fall there is the opportunity for Seigneurs to enact the required corvée labour from their settlers. This is part of the benefits owed to the Seigneur by the Habitants under Seigneurial Law. Each project requires that a Habitant is moved from their farm to the project for that turn. Seigneurs should be strategic as to when and if they engage their Habitants in the corvée, as if they are working a project they cannot harvest. The corvee enables the improvement of the land which is the key to an eventual win. Work projects require one labourer and apply to the building of roads and structures. In each case, one component is added – one road block, a foundation, a roof, a mill wheel or a steeple. One Habitant colored block is moved from the farm location to the location of the work, taking that farm out of action for that particular turn.

Note that the completion of these structures results in increased “incentif” from the Intentent of New France. In the case of the Mill this also results in increasted fall income as Habitants use the Seigneurie’s Mill for their wheat harvest, resulting in another 10% of the wheat harvest coming to the Seigneur. If a Habitant’s own seigneurie does not have a Mill yet, that extra 10% goes to another Seigneur who does have an active Mill. The player can decide to which opponent that tax goes. Early in the game none of the players will have a completed Mill. In that case, the extra 10% is not taken by anyone.

Hunting Seasons:

            Three of the seasons of the year have hunting options represented on the board: late summer (fowl), later fall (deer), late winter (rabbit). Earnings from these hunts go directly to the Seigneur land owner. Game prices are set, fowl (50 centimes), deer (1 L), rabbit (50 centimes. In order to determine the success of each hunt, roll both dice together and muliply by the price.

The Winter Season:

The winter in Quebec was harsh. All farm work necessarily came to a halt. The winter season consists of receving money from the Incentif, the rente from the Habitant settlers, and putting those resources back into the settlement through the strategic clearing of land in preparation for spring planting. It should be the goal of each player to expand the seigneurie through new setters each winter. But the cost of 50 L for the clearing of the land requires strategic planning. Note, you are permitted to clear the land for one new farm on each

Ending the Game:

The end of the game is triggered when one player erects the steeple on their Church. This symbolized the contracting of a priest which completes the obligations of the Seigneur to his or her Habitants. That player is the winner.