CATTLE BARON rules

A dice game of cattle rustling
By Sean Patten

OVERVIEW
Cattle Baron is a simple dice game for 3-6 players. Players play the role of Cattle Barons, rounding up dice "cows" of the highest value and putting them into their "stock" collection until all of the "herd" dice have been rounded up. Whoever has the most points worth of "cows" at the end wins!

COMPONENTS
To play Cattle Baron, you will need:

A bunch of dice of different colors! You should have at least one color (or "brand") per player. You will need the same number of each color (four is good). For example, four red, four blue, four white, etc.
Each player needs a napkin, coaster, box, or other way to represent their Stock and their Swiss Stock.

HOW TO PLAY

First, each player should pick a color from the available colors of dice. Each player should have their own color.
Then, roll ALL the dice into the middle of the table. This mass of dice forms the HERD.
Next, each player must choose one die of their color from the herd. This die will become your STUD. (choose a low number, since you'll just be rolling it anyway).
Now, for each turn, each player rolls their STUD. Turn order goes from the lowest roll to the highest. Ties go from the youngest player to the oldest. Your roll determines what you can do (see below).
After each player has done something (or chosen to do nothing) with their roll, start a new turn!

YOUR ROLL

You may take up to ONE die of your color from the Herd and put it into your STOCK.

You may take up to TWO dice of your color from the Herd and put it into your STOCK.

You must immediately shout out THREE! so everyone knows- it may affect what they do on their turn! You now have two options (choose one):

You may SWITCH your entire STOCK with any other player's STOCK! Note that this does NOT include Swiss Stock, only regular stock.
You may take all dice of one color from your own STOCK and put them into your SWISS STOCK (a good strategy for longer games).

You may EXCHANGE your stud with any other die in the HERD or in your STOCK. Note that you can change your color this way!

You may PICK any 1 die from the HERD, of ANY color, and put it in your STOCK.

You may place this SIX into your STOCK. Then, choose a new STUD die from the HERD. Note that you can change your color this way!

HOW TO WIN
Once ALL of the "cows" (dice) in the herd have been taken, the game is almost over. If you haven't taken your turn yet, you may still exchange 4s and put away 6s. At this point, if you still have a Stud, roll it one last time and add it into your stock. Add up the value of all the dice in your stock and your swiss stock. Whoever has the highest total wins!

STRATEGIES
THREE! Especially in longer games, expect a lot of exchanging to happen, because sooner or later someone is going to roll a THREE. If you roll a three and have a lot of one color in your stock, consider moving it to Swiss Stock where it won't ever be stolen. If your stock is EMPTY, you can still swap with someone who has a bunch of dice in their stock!

AGE MATTERS. If more than one player rolls a THREE, remember that the oldest player gets the final say on any exchanges, so younger players should consider putting dice into swiss stock, or perhaps exchanging stock with one of the players who don't have the MOST in their stock.

CHANGE YOUR COLORS. Eventually, you're going to run out of dice of your color to pick. When this happens, rolling a 1 or a 2 does you no good! So consider changing to a color with more available cows in the herd when you roll a 4 or a 6. Until you change colors though, it's good to collect as many dice of one color as you can, as it makes it easier to move them into Swiss Stock when you roll a three...

RUTHLESS! If one of the colors in the herd has lots of "fat cows" in it, you might switch to that color even if someone else is already rolling it. This is especially effective if you are younger than they are! Other nasty tricks to keep one player from dominating include taking one of their color dice from the herd when you roll a 5, and of course switching stock with them if you roll a 3.

MAKE THE MOST OF IT. If your color are low scoring dice, don't dispair. You can switch colors if you roll a 4 or a 6. Also, if you keep rolling 6s, your stock will be very valuable! You can also increase the value of cows already in your stock when you roll a 4, so consider swapping the 4 for that 1 or 2 you already collected earlier.

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