Boulomania - How to play
BOULOMANIA is a dice game requiring a good strategy of play. Its rules and objects are based on the French boules game of pétanque. Two teams take part, each team consisting of one to four players.
The equipment is as follows:
The game board and 2 score displays, 2 side racks for the bowls not yet played, 1 centre pocket for the bowls taken out of the game, 6 small spaces (1-6) for the jack or target bowl, 12 larger spaces (7-18) for the bowls in play, 1 small metal bowl, i.e. the jack, known as the cochonnet in French or piglet in English, 16 playing bowls i.e. 8 bowls per colour, 3 dice.
How to play BOULOMANIA:
First of all, each team throws one dice to see which team starts. The one with the higher number goes first (Team A). Team A throws on dice to determinate the position of the jack (one of the spaces 1-6) and so places the jack. Then, throwing a choice of two or three dice, Team A determines the position of its first bowl - the total number of points indicating which space its first bowl should be placed in. If the total number of points thrown is less than seven, the bowl counts as dead and is removed from the game.
Now it is Team B's turn to place its first bowl. If Team B is better here, in other words, if its bowl is nearer to the jack - then it is Team A's turn to go again. If Team B doesn't succeed on the first go, then it throws again until on of its bowls is nearer to the jack than the opponent's best-placed bowl or until Team B has no more bowls left. Then it's Team A' turn again... and so on and so forth.
First special rule:
If Team A does not succeed in getting their first bowl into play - because they have thrown less than 7 with the dice - then it is Team B's turn. And if Team B does not succeed either, then Team A may go again - and so on - until a bowl has finally been placed. Whereupon the normal sentence of turns applies.
Second special rule:
If a bowl already placed is knocked out and if there are no other bowls left on the board, then the team which has just had a go may shoot again. If the following bowl cannot then be placed on the board, then it is back to the first special rule. If the next bowl can be placed, then the play continues as normal.
Once all the bowls from both teams have been played (in other words, all the bowls must have been played), the points from this particular round or pick-up are added up. The team that gets one of its bowls nearest to the jack wins that round and scores a point for each its bowl nearer to the jack than the nearest on belonging to the opposing team. In other words, a maximum of eight points per round is possible. ’Winners go first’ i.e. the team that wins a round goes first the next by throwing the dice to set the position of the jack and start play again.
The game ends when one team has gained a total of 13 points.
Knocking out your opponent's bowls:
Sometimes, for tactical reasons, it is necessary to knock the opponent's better placed bowl out of the game. For knock-out purposes, you may only use one dice and you must indicate which bowl you are aiming at. If you then throw a 1, 2 or 3, you are deemed not to have hit the target and to have landed a miss. Your shooter bowl is taken out of the game; the opponent's bowl stays where it is. If you throw a 4, this is said to have kissed or scraped the opponent's targeted bowl and it is moved up one space in the direction of play. Your shooter bowl is taken out of the game. But if you throw a 5, this is seen as a hit and both opponent's bowl and shooter bowl, are removed from the game. A 6 of course is a bull's eye, the opponent's bowl is removed from the game and your shooter bowl takes its place - what the French call ‘carreau sur place’ or ‘knock out’ cold in English.
Exception:
If the bowl to be knocked out is lying on spaces 12 or 13 directly to the jack and if you throw a 4, then both, the opponent's bowl and the jack, move up on space. If the jack space behind is occupied by a bowl (see 'Pushing on' below) and if a 4 is thrown, then only the bowl struck may be moved up on space. The jack stays where it is.
On the other hand, if the bowl to be knocked out lies on space 11 directly next to the jack and a 4 is thrown, then both the shooter bowl and the jack are taken out of the game.
Knocking the jack out of play:
It is sometimes tactically advisable to knock the jack into touch and out of the play. This is only possible if you throw a 6. The shooter bowl is also removed. Here are two examples of when knocking the jack out of play might be a good idea.
Example A:
The opposing team has no bowls left but your team has still got several. If the jack were to be knocked out in this case, then all your remaining bowls - those not yet played - would each score a point (excluding the shooter bowl).
Example B:
If a team reckons that the round in progress can no longer be won, then they can decide to knock the jack out of the play, bring that round to a halt and thus force the start of the next round. However, it is not recommended that you use your last bowl to knock the jack out of play if the opponent has still got bowls available. Because then the bowls that the opponent has not yet thrown count as points (as Example A!).
Pushing on:
If, after your die throw, you want to move a bowl to space that is already occupied by either one of your own bowls or by one of your opponent's, you may push that bowl on a space in the direction of play. If the next space is occupied, then that bowl is pushed on a pace as well. In this way, it is possible to knock a bowl into touch and out of play.
Bowls lying on spaces 8, 13 or 16 can be pushed on either straight ahead or diagonally.
If you intend to push on a bowl by throwing only two dice and thus not aim at spaces 13-18, you may occupy a jack space only if you throw a double (=two dice showing the same number) and only if this space is free. For instance: throw two 4s and you can take either space 4 or 8.
Bowls placed on jack spaces may not be moved by pushing-on means. They may only be knocked out by throwing a 5 or 6.
We wish you lots of fun with BOULOMANIA!
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