Cangaceiros Strategy Board Game

About this product

Survive the unforgiving Sertão, outmanoeuvre the Volantes and build a name that will be remembered across the Brazilian northeast.

Designed by Roberto Pestrin, with artwork by Emiliano Mammucari and the English edition published by Ares Games.

Lead a gang of cangaceiros, manage your seven-card deck and earn fame through strategy, combat, training and carefully chosen goals.

Product Description

Across the scorching Sertão of northeastern Brazil, powerful landowners and the government hold the region in their grip. Against this backdrop, the cangaceiros take up arms, seeking honour, freedom and vengeance while the Volantes hunt them across the hostile landscape.

In Cangaceiros, each player leads a gang trying to survive and become the most famous in the Sertão. Choose a Chief from twenty available characters, each with different abilities, bonuses and training opportunities that can shape the direction of your strategy.

Every player manages a deck of seven Action cards. Choose three cards each round and decide whether to use them to attack the Volantes or perform actions such as moving, establishing Garrisons, training your Chief, gathering resources, plundering Fazendas and influencing Events.

Travel through the Sertão, Serra, Caatinga and surrounding cities while preparing for clashes with the Volantes. Attack the police, collect trophies, free imprisoned cangaceiros from Recife and convert resources into Fame Points.

A fully trained Chief may complete a Life Goal and retire, bringing valuable Fame before another Chief takes command of the gang. With different Chiefs, Events, Life Goals, Action cards and starting layouts, every game presents new decisions and challenges.

When the game ends, resources and achievements provide additional Fame Points. The player with the greatest total becomes the most famous cangaceiro in all the Sertão.

Why you’ll love it

• Lead your own gang: Build and guide a band of cangaceiros across the harsh territories of northeastern Brazil.
• Twenty different Chiefs: Each Chief offers unique abilities, characteristics and training opportunities.
• Meaningful card choices: Manage a fixed seven-card deck and choose three cards each round to carry out your plan.
• Two uses for every card: Use the upper section to attack the Volantes or the lower section to perform strategic actions.
• Develop your strategy: Replace starting cards with Serra and Caatinga Action cards as your gang explores the map.
• Fight for fame: Earn Fame Points by defeating Volantes, completing Life Goals, converting resources and achieving other objectives.
• Constant pressure: The Volantes move across the map, target gangs and Garrisons, wound Chiefs and send captured cangaceiros to prison.
• Varied games: Changing Chiefs, Events, Life Goals, cards and resources create different strategic situations each time.

Quick Details

• Publisher: Ares Games
• Created by: Ergo Ludo Editions
• Designer: Roberto Pestrin
• Artwork: Emiliano Mammucari
• Product type: Competitive strategy board game
• Players: 2–5 players
• Playing time: Approximately 60–120 minutes
• Game length: Up to 7 rounds
• Main objective: Finish the game with the most Fame Points
• Contents: 1 double-sided map board, 96 cards, 5 player boards, 5 wooden Gang meeples, 55 wooden Cangaceiros meeples, 15 wooden Training markers, 5 wooden Fame markers, 43 wooden Volante meeples, 20 wooden Wound cubes, 129 tiles and tokens, and 1 rulebook

Good to Know

• Player-count map: The double-sided board includes one side for 2–3 players and another for 4–5 players.
• Seven-card decks: Each player always manages exactly seven Action cards and chooses cards rather than drawing them randomly.
• Chief development: Training removes markers from your Chief card and unlocks the abilities, bonuses or wound spaces underneath.
• Life Goals: A Chief must be fully trained and meet the listed resource requirements before completing a Life Goal.
• Changing leadership: When a Chief dies or retires, the gang receives a new Chief with new abilities and training requirements.
• Several routes to fame: Combat, Life Goals, city actions and remaining resources can all contribute to the final score.