Pax Hispanica

If you announce “buried treasure” the auctioned card is the unseen card one below the top; otherwise you auction the top faceup card. The initiator plus every player with at least $1 must secretly place a bid (including zero) and reveal simultaneously; the high bidder wins (initiator wins ties) and pays as specified (initiator pays Pool if they win their own auction; if someone else wins an auction you initiated they pay you). (page 7)

You may exceed your Hand Limit during the Auction Year (it’s enforced later); the Hand Limit is enforced at the end of your play turn and again at the end of the Play Year, at which time you must sell or discard down to your limit. Market cards can be sold for $1 during your play turn; Haven cards are shuffled into the Haven deck if discarded. (pages 7, 9)

The game cycles Goods (D1), Auction (D2), Play (D3), and Sail (D4). In the Goods Year you update Player Order, refresh Cathedrals, perform labor acquisition (kidnap or employment), resolve colony dieoff, place Chests for the year’s goods, apply slave attrition, and pay earnings. (page 6)

During the Goods Year a vacant Colony acquires Labor by kidnapping an Indigenous from a Tribal Site or Visita in the same land zone or by employing a Citizen from a Cathedral for $1; kidnapping is mandatory only if no other source exists. Kidnapping is not allowed in rebellious land zones and cannot take place from certain wilderness Tribal Sites called out in the rules. (pages 11–12, page 6)

Compare fleet Strength vs. target Strength in the land zone by counting tokens (Rebels, Colonies, Citizens, and Galleons = 1 each; a fort gives +1 to a targeted Colony; transported Citizens are Strength 0). Other players with tokens in the land zone play Battle Cards simultaneously to choose support (neutral is not allowed), reveal them, add supports, and the higher Strength wins (ties favor the target). (pages 13–14)

A Galleon can load a Meeple by enslaving natives via a land battle or by peacefully emigrating Citizens from Cathedrals (emigration is automatic); you cannot load Meeples unless a vacant Colony exists. Treasure loading methods depend on your Flagship’s Legality (PLUNDER, SMUGGLER, CONQUISTADOR, PRIVATEER), which governs whether you must sack, bribe, legally export, or receive crown claims, and determines how Treasure is scored when unloaded in Europe. (pages 18–19)