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Postal Rules - Version 4.0

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McMulti was originally published by St.Laurent Games as 'Crude' and subsequently by Hexagames under the name 'McMulti'. The economic news cards of the face-to-face game have been omitted from the postal game.

INTRODUCTION
1.

The aim of the game is to turn $200m into $1,000m in the cut-throat oil business. Players use drilling rigs to search for oil, oil wells (once oil is struck) to produce crude oil, refineries to process the crude oil into petrol, and petrol pumps to sell the petrol on the consumer market.
2. Crude oil and petroleum may be bought and sold on the domestic and international markets. There are four markets - domestic crude oil and petrol, and international crude oil and petrol.
3. It is possible to make a profit on the purchase and liquidation of assets.
4. The winner of the game is the first player to have $1,000m in cash. Asset value is irrelevant for the purposes of winning.
5. Each player starts the game with $200m in cash, 3 barrels of crude oil, 3 barrels of petrol and an empty site, 6 plots square, on which to place purchased assets. Each asset occupies a single space, except for refineries, which occupy four spaces (a 2x2 block).
6. The initial game conditions are set as follows.
Economic Climate Recovery
Domestic/International Markets for Crude Oil Sell @ $5 / Buy @ $6
Domestic/International Markets for Petrol Sell @ $10 / Buy @ $12
Consumer Market Petrol Sell @ $26
GAME SEQUENCE
7. In the first round, players take their turns in sequence, i.e. A-B-C-D. For subsequent rounds, the second player for the previous round becomes the first player for the new round, i.e. B-C-D-A, C-D-A-B, D-A-B-C, A-B-C-D, etc.
8.

Each player turn consists of three phases.

  1. Liquidate/purchase assets
  2. Buy and sell crude oil and petrol on the domestic/international markets
  3. Roll the dice and adjust market conditions/operate assets
9. Players are required to supply orders for phases one and two. The referee handles phase three.
10. In the first round, phase one is basically a set up phase, during which players spend their cash to purchase assets and place them on their site. The purchase of assets is covered in the next section.
11. Players may make their orders conditional on events prior to their turn and the current economic climate and market prices during their turn.
PURCHASE/LIQUIDATE ASSETS
12. In this phase players may purchase new assets and liquidate (sell) assets on their site. Only assets that were 'hit' by their own asset rolls during phase three of their previous turn may be sold. Newly purchased assets may be placed on any vacant space.
13. If a player has a drilling rig that received a 'double hit' during phase three of their previous turn, the rig may be converted into an oil well at the current conversion cost. The first rig converted during the game costs $10m, the second $20m, the third $30m, etc.
14. The purchase price/liquidation value of assets depends on the current economic climate as shown in the following table.
Economic
Climate
Recovery
Expansion
Rapid Growth
Prosperity
Downturn
Recession
Depression
Purchase Price
Rig Pump Refinery
5 48 64
9 66 96
14 88 132
16 100 160
12 75 120
8 55 80
4 32 50
Liquidation Value
Rig Pump Refinery Oil Well
3 24 30 30
5 32 60 50
9 50 80 65
12 60 100 75
8 45 65 60
4 30 32 45
2 18 24 20
15. All purchases and liquidations are between the player and the bank. Players may not trade assets between each other.
16. All assets must be paid for with cash. No loans are permitted. Purchase of new assets does not need to be made before liquidation of existing assets. The revenue from assets liquidated in the current turn may be used to purchase new assets.
BUY AND SELL CRUDE OIL AND PETROL
17. Players may buy or sell crude oil and/or petrol on the domestic or international markets.
18. During their turn a player may only deal on the domestic or international markets. For example, if they deal in crude oil on the domestic market, any petrol deals must also take place on the domestic market.
19. The price of crude oil in either market may be $1 to $26 in steps of $1.  The actual price depends on the market conditions at the end of the previous round and deals made in the current round.  Every barrel purchased increases the price by $1, while every barrel sold reduces the price by $1.
20. If a barrel of crude oil is sold for $1, no more crude oil sales will be accepted on that market.  If a barrel of crude oil is purchased for $26, no more crude oil purchases can be made from that market.
21. The price of petrol in either market may be $2 to $52 in steps of $2.  Apart from these different limits and changes of $2 for each sale or purchase, the petrol markets operate exactly as the crude oil markets described above.
ROLL THE DICE
22. In this phase the referee rolls two dice, one to select a column and one to select a row on a player's site. The die rolls also affect one column or row on their immediate neighbours' sites.
23. Doubles will affect the market conditions.  The referee will ensure that no more than two market changes occur in a single round.
ADJUST MARKET CONDITIONS
24. If the roll is a double, i.e. 1-1, then the market conditions will change.  This change takes place before any assets are operated.
25. The double is compared to the current economic climate as per the following table. For example, in Recovery, double 1 to double 5 leads to Expansion while double 6 leads to Rapid Growth.
Climate 1-1 2-2 3-3 4-4 5-5 6-6
Recovery Expansion Expansion Expansion Expansion Expansion Rapid Growth
Expansion Recovery Rapid Growth Rapid Growth Rapid Growth Rapid Growth Prosperity
Rapid Growth Expansion Prosperity Prosperity Prosperity Prosperity Downturn
Prosperity Rapid Growth Downturn Downturn Downturn Downturn Recession
Downturn Prosperity Recession Recession Recession Recession Depression
Recession Depression Depression Depression Depression Recovery Recovery
Depression Recovery Recovery Recovery Recovery Expansion Expansion
26. The price of consumer market petrol is increased according to the table below.  The increase is not done by adding the figure shown, rather than price moves up the market the given number of key steps.  The key steps on the consumer market are:

5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 49, 51, 53, 55, 57, 59, 61, 63, 65, and all numbers up to 80, which is the highest possible price.

For example, if the price of retail petrol is $19 when the market changes, and the change requires an increase of four steps, the market will move through the key steps $21, $24 and $27 to finish on $30.

Climate Recovery Expansion Rapid Growth Prosperity Downturn Recession Depression
Demand 4 7 9 10 6 4 2
OPERATE ASSETS
27. Any assets on a player's active row or column are 'hit', with assets on the intersection of the row and column receiving a 'double hit'. Assets for the current player are dealt with first, followed by other affected players in operating order.
28. The effect of hits on different asset types is as follows.
Orange Ball Petrol Pump A petrol pump may sell one barrel of petrol on the consumer market on a single hit, two barrels on a double hit. This will happen automatically is the player has sufficient petrol stocks, unless the players orders otherwise.

Each sale on the consumer market causes the market price to fall by $1. If a barrel of petrol is sold for $1, no more petrol can be sold on the consumer market until the price rises due to a change in market conditions.
Orange Ball Refinery A refinery automatically converts one barrel of crude oil into petrol on a single hit, two barrels on a double hit.
Orange Ball Oil Well An oil well automatically produces two barrels of crude oil on a single hit, four on a double hit.
Orange Ball Drilling Rig A single hit has not effect, other than permitting liquidation in the next round. A double hit gives the player the option of converting the rig into an oil well in the next round.
29. Note that the order shown above is important. Because petrol pumps are dealt with first, you can only sell petrol on the consumer market if you have petrol in stock at the beginning of this phase. Similarly, refineries require stocks of crude oil in order to refining to take place.
NO MOVE RECEIVED (NMR)
30. In the event of no orders from a player, the referee will conduct the following actions on behalf of the player.
Orange Ball If a drilling rig received a double hit, the referee will convert the drilling rig into an oil well if the player has sufficient cash. If the player has insufficient cash but can raise enough cash by liquidating drilling rigs on the active row and/or column, all these drilling rigs will be sold to allow the conversion to take place.
Orange Ball No other actions other than those required by the die rolls of phase three will be taken.

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Mail me © Keith Thomasson March 31st 2002