How to Play John Company 2nd Edition

Learn how to play John Company 2nd Edition in just 47 minutes (yes I know the runtime is longer than that, there's a bit of silliness at the front and back)
To support RTFM, consider pledging at / rtfm
0:00 - Intro
1:47 - Important Info
2:11 - Game Overview
3:05 - Set Up
5:57 - Gameplay Basics
7:48 - Family Actions
10:54 - Negotiation and Promise Cards
12:13 - Hiring
14:38 - Chairman
16:03 - Checks and Company Actions
17:18 - Director of Trade
18:28 - Manager of Shipping
19:11 - Military Affairs
19:42 - Presidencies and Trading
21:55 - Commanders
25:50 - Governors
27:07 - Superintendent of Trade in China
28:39 - Bonuses and Revenue
31:04 - Parliament Meets
36:02 - Upkeep and Refresh
36:36 - London Season
39:07 - Endgame Scoring
40:46 - Events in India Overview and Storm
41:53 - Windfall, Turmoil, and Cascades
42:36 - Peace and Elephant's March
43:31 - Shuffle
43:55 - Resolve Crisis
47:52 - Leader and Foreign Invasion
48:54 - Outro
Corrections:
The Director of Trade's action can only open up orders in regions not controlled by the company.
When the Superintendent of Trade in China comes into play, the Chairman fills the office, not the Director of Trade.
Activating Royal Protection is optional, not automatic.
During the Peace event, if the elephant is on a border, you only open the two orders on the line connecting the adjacent regions, not every order in the region.
When defending a region from attack, the Commander chooses which units to exhaust, not the President. If there is no Commander, Military Affairs chooses, followed by the Chairman. Acting commanders don't gain trophies.
When voting on behalf of someone, your votes must be no votes, and this can only be done if they've voted against the law, or commit to doing so.
During London Season, if you're still tied after most windows, use Prime Minister Order
Twitter: / rtfmshow
Instagram: / rtfmshow
Personal Twitter: / sheasayswords
Want to check out the gaming table I use? bandpassdesign.com
#tutorial #boardgames #RTFM #rtfmshow

[@pfefferle74]

Fun fact: As mentioned those "exports to China" were basically opium, and Cole was openly writing it out in the original design with the icons on the map being poppies. Unfortunately the Chinese printer refused to print the game that way (touchy subject, I suppose) so it was altered to the generic terminology and icon of the released version.

[@RTFM]

I saw in his old TTS mod that it was explicitly opium. Didn't know that about the Chinese printers though. Interesting!

[@PaulLarke1980]

Interesting.

[@DanielBlak]

I'd be pretty shocked if the factory actually said anything about it - they literally print books on the subject in China.

[@francois-xavierjodoin1255]

If I remember correctly, the printing company were afraid of gouvernemental repercussions if they printed it with the opium symbols, as the subject of the opium war is one that is actually talked about in China (and taught in schools), but in a very controlled way.

[@darrellhanning5068]

@@francois-xavierjodoin1255 You mean like sex is handled in American schools?

[@Deadomen123]

Finally, a proper How To Play video for John Company! I have been waiting for this since the release of the game. Thanks!

[@RTFM]

No problem! Happy to help!

[@hendrickstrauss3311]

This is such a good game. So many things to take note of and the player interaction is just top notch.

[@cesaralves83]

The best JC’s HtP video in KZbin. Great job.

[@RTFM]

Thanks!

[@analog_arnie]

Thank you for this. Just got a group together two weeks ago and was duing for a video like this. Love it

[@RTFM]

Glad you like it!

[@PaulLarke1980]

Excellent video. This game has been sitting on my shelf for too long and now it's come to life on my table. Thank you.

[@RTFM]

Happy to help!

[@oliviagabbay]

As always, a great teach. Thanks for welcoming me to the table for another of my favorite games.

[@RTFM]

Thanks! I'm happy to help!

[@piyushathawale]

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!! Without this video I could have never played this game. This game is top notch design and I think very games come close to the level of player interaction this has. If not for the length of this game, it would be a staple on the weekends.

[@RTFM]

Glad I could be so much help!

[@thomasromanelli2561]

This is a "two cans of Ensure" video. Well done! 🖖

[@wichhouse]

Incredible how-to-play video for an amazing game. You're at the top of your game. Fantastic!

[@RTFM]

Thank you so much!

[@Zerot2009]

Was just checking this out to get, thanks for the video!

[@RTFM]

No problem!

[@fesieg8413]

you have a gift my friend, great and very concise explanation!

[@RTFM]

Thanks!

[@Kim_Jong-un1356]

This looks like a very fun game, and the board and the components are beautfully made. It's also quite expensive...

[@RTFM]

It is a bit pricey, but there's a lot of game here and, as you said, the components are very well made.

[@milovegas123]

Sounds like a good endorsement, Kim Jong Un! Thank you!

[@DrunkCat1337]

For what you get in the box it's a bargain. It's the average price for a boardgame.

[@spencera1129]

Start dividing the cost by how much you may play it. If you like the game, could be hundreds if not thousands of hours of playtime. Board games are generally cheap AF when you look at it that way.

[@grahamduddridge5008]

What an excellent video - thank you!

[@RTFM]

Thanks! Glad you like it!

[@funnyonlineuploads]

what a godsend, cheers

[@JAMman]

Great video! Thank you

[@RTFM]

Thanks!

[@beakerkell]

A game that I absolutely love but can never find time to play. It's definitely a game that will never leave my collection, though.

[@lancejarvis261]

Love your videos

[@RTFM]

Thanks for watching! Did I get anything wrong? Reply to this comment with a timestamp and I'll add a note in the subtitles and description box.

[@Lukalithus]

46:08 Minor note: The Commander is the one, who spends army pieces to defend Company controlled regions, President taking his place only in case of Commander absence. But man, I would like to note how much I admire Your work: It's such a well made and actually short video. Thanks!

[@RTFM]

@@Lukalithus Thank you so much! And thanks for the spot! I've added a note, though apparently it's actually Military Affairs who takes over, followed by the Chairman.

[@AshLeonardJ]

17:52 The special envoy action can only open up orders in regions NOT controlled by the company. The peaceful overtures of the Director of trade are not well liked in regions that have tasted the bootheel of the company. 😂 Excellent work as usual!

[@AshLeonardJ]

35:47 very minor clarification, this ability to vote on behalf of somebody else is only permitted in opposition to the law you make it clear why someone would want to vote on someone else’s behalf, but it is worth pointing out that this must be an opposition, and cannot be in favor.

[@RTFM]

@@AshLeonardJ Thanks for the spot! I've added a note.

[@Davidgm2002]

awesome work, thansk dude!

[@RTFM]

Glad you liked it!

[@timothyzens5918]

Someone explained the events in India phase...they said it couldn't be done! I am very greatful.

[@RTFM]

Happy to help!

[@TheSilverMedalTavern]

Wow, you weren't kidding! This game is intense! haha

[@RTFM]

Haha, yup!

[@JoshuaLivie]

I like the way you describe the morality involved in playing this game. You play the bad guys. This is often overlooked by games like Puerto Rico and such. I am going to try this out this weekend.

[@RTFM]

Thanks! How'd it go?

[@Joeys-Channel]

Thanking you

[@atheist_addict]

I was a subscriber before Shea got name-dropped by SU&SD. I’m cool. 😂😂😂

[@RTFM]

Hell yeah you are!

[@ExplosiveBrohoof]

38:32 -- Klingon subtitle recommendation: If there is still a tie after "most windows," the tiebreaker is whoever is the PM, or whoever sits closest to the PM in clockwise order.

[@RTFM]

Thanks, I've added a note.

[@ExplosiveBrohoof]

17:56 and 27:24 -- Recommendation for a Klingon subtitle: It is the *Chairman* who hires the Superintendent of Trade in China, including when the department is created. The presentation seems to imply that the Director of Trade does it the first time, but this is not the case. This is codified on page 25 of the rulebook, under "Superintendent of Trade in China": "This office is created either if the Director of Trade’s Special Envoy to China is successful or if Parliament passes the “Envoy to China” law. When created, the office is hired immediately *by the Chairman* who may promote any writer."

[@RTFM]

Ah, good spot. I'll add a couple captions.

[@quantum340]

They should make a version of this game set in the Dune Universe and call it CHOAM.

[@analog_arnie]

The Chairman gets to decide when to spend the Royal Protection Law. It isn't spent automatically. This is stated on the card itself. 29:12

[@RTFM]

Haha yuuup, says it right there. Whoops. I'll make a note. Thanks for the spot.

[@tylerdryden]

Thank you so much for making a how to play of this game! The videos online leave a lot to be desired..

[@RTFM]

Thanks! Happy to help!

[@smspk4]

YESSSSSS

[@leftydad5821]

Great video. Is the game fun/interesting with just two players or do you need more?

[@RTFM]

It is, but I definitely prefer it at a higher player count.

[@NeikTheFish]

I believe you made a mistake with "Event in India: Peace". "Open any orders that are connected through the border the Elephant stands on", not every order in the two regions. 42:50

[@analog_arnie]

True

[@RTFM]

Ah, quite right. I'll add a note about it. Thanks!

[@tyzwzh855]

time 42:54, the "Peace" event, When the elephant is on a board, each region not open all of its orders, it only opens orders that are connected through the boarder the elephant stands on.

[@RTFM]

Yep, someone already mentioned that and there's a note about it now. Thanks for the spot

[@tyzwzh855]

@@RTFM question," President of xx" candidates both writers and the governor need to be associated with this presidency, or only the governor need to be associated with this Presidency

[@RTFM]

@@tyzwzh855 Yeah, the way it's written is grammatically ambiguous. I interpret it as both needing to be associated with the presidency.

[@tyzwzh855]

thanks@@RTFM

[@adrianor8259]

Hope one can ask further, what does it mean the +-numbers in a law? Rule says it gets approved with zero or more in the counter, but i can't find the meaning I n the card number.

[@RTFM]

The numbers on the law tell you how many votes the law starts with. Positive numbers are yes votes, negative numbers are no votes.

[@mreed7947]

What's the chance of a how to for Dune War for Arakis?

[@RTFM]

100% It's actually the game that my Patreon backers voted I should teach next. Expect it to come out around end of June. I'll also be covering the expansions, though those will take a little longer to come out.

[@ExplosiveBrohoof]

18:48 -- The company ships do not have the same effectiveness as player ships. Company ships are permanent entities that do not get destroyed by weather, but player ships can be destroyed.

[@RTFM]

Effectiveness in that instance is referring to what they allow you to do, i.e. trade. I felt that talking about the weather effects that early in the video would be getting ahead of myself, so I opted for ease of understanding over 100% accuracy. The weather effects are described later.

[@Tivizzz]

Will you also teach the full rules, including players-owned companies?

[@RTFM]

I already have, actually. My Patreon backers can actually watch that video right now. It'll also go public in a month or so.

[@der.Schtefan]

Flipping the tokens off the board triggers me so much! 😂 I am between a panic attack and rage mode.

[@RTFM]

You probably shouldn't watch my other videos then. I...do it a lot.

[@andrewnewell1142]

All the “How To Play” won’t do you a lick of good when you fail to roll a 1 or 2 on 11 dice True story

[@qwe79103]

For me, the game is almost unplayable without your video

[@RTFM]

Well I'm glad I could help!

[@drendelous]

i guess it is not for 2 players? considering negotiation phase

[@RTFM]

There's a solo/2 player mode that uses an automated player to spice things up.

[@Grooty6226]

"... anyway..." 😂😂

[@adrianor8259]

Does anyone know how the hell the law "masses demand franchise" works? What is "rotten boroughs" in the game?

[@RTFM]

Rotten Borroughs is a prestige card that there are multiple copies of in the deck, so they're likely to come up at least once in a game. They normally provide three votes, but the Masses Demand Franchise law changes that.

[@pfefferle74]

If you want to be fair though: the East India Company wrestled control of India mainly from the islamic Mogul Empire, which was just another foreign people (descending from the Mongols) ruling over the mostly Hindu population of the sub continent. Not trying to defend the British here, but imperialism wasn't their invention.

[@andrewnewell1142]

While that is true, commentors even at the time pointed out that the wealth of India stayed in India under the Mughals. John Company depicts how the wealth of India flowed into the hands of a small group of British families, and how that transfer impoverished India and warped British politics and culture.

[@atheist_addict]

I back Cole Wehrle for sensitivity given his historian background. I suggest playing Spirit Island directly after playing this as a palate cleanser.

[@RTFM]

Love Spirit Island! And second the recommendation, though that would make for a long game night.

[@DanielBlak]

This game looks like Chicken Caesar on super-crack.

[@paulsousa]

Quick question before I start watching - does this include a teach for private firms? Or is it just the short 1710 rules?

[@SilentBeutlin]

Excellent video. Wasn’t a fan of simplifying both the EIC and India to some kind of homogenous groups, a point that the game itself is trying hard to avoid. The EIC was a ridiculous mix of all kinds of people with all kinds of agendas ranging from a kind of blue-eyed xenophilia to unbelievable greed and cruelty. “India” was a subcontinent in a constant state of conflict between dozens of nations and factions and foreign powers (most notably the moghuls) and hundreds of different interest groups from within and without. More often then not, especially in the ‘1710’ scenario, these changes of land rule and trade routes happened with the enthusiastic consent of the local rulers, or as an inevitability of the EIC fighting the moghuls and other foreign invaders such as the portuguese and the french. This is a story of exploitation, but what the EIC exploited and fueled was the infinite conflict and confusion that ruled the subcontinent; not the ‘Indians’; as a country and a people of even any kind of homogeneity or shared interests, they did not exist yet. Very often, especially in the early 18th century, the military movements of the British in these regions were not considered acts of violence against the locals or as colonialist expansion. That came much later.

[@ericc.1370]

Great tutorial. But went a bit far with political commentary.