Boxed card game, England Expects, published in England about 1940

Design: chromolithographs; reverse sides printed in blues and showing Nelson's Column

Given by Mrs I. S. Work

Printed in pencil on the box is the name R O LUKE SMITH
The game was devised with the help of Francis E McMurtrie, who was, at the time, editor of Jane's Fighting Ships.

Rewards: ?
Forfeits: ?
No. of Players: any
Equipment required: 44 cards divided into sets by numbers and signs.
1 title card
rules booklet
box

Rules:
List of cards, with the value of each beneath the sign it bears
Anchor Flag Crown Lifebuoy
3 cards marked Aircraft Carrier `HMS Eagle' 4 10 7
3 cards marked Seaplane `Short Sunderland' 6 5 2
3 cards marked Submarine `HMS Triumph' 5 6 9
3 cards marked Sloop `HMS Deptford' 11 7 2
3 cards marked Cruiser `HMS Ajax' 3 9 4
3 cards marked Cruiser `HMS Exeter' 2 9 8
3 cards marked Cruiser `HMS Achilles' 1 11 10
3 cards marked Battleship `HMS Queen
Elizabeth' 1 4 7
3cards marked Battleship `HMS King
George V' 2 10 5
2 cards marked Battleship `Renown' 9 6
2 cards marked Battleship `HMS Nelson' 8 3
3 cards marked Minelayer 7 4 6
3 cards marked Destroyer `HMS Cossack' 3 8 11
3 cards marked Patrol Ship `HMS Kingfisher' 10 1 1
3 cards marked Minesweeper 8 5 3
1 card marked ENSIGN M
1 card marked ENGLAND EXPECTS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rules for Card Game England Expects for three or more players. For more than six players two packs should be used

The pack consists of 44 cards, illustrating from actual photographs, typical units representative of our magnificent British Fleet as follows:-
3 cards Battleship King George V
3 " " Queen Elizabeth
2 " " Renown
2 " " Nelson
3 cards Cruiser Ajax
3 " " Exeter
3 " " Achilles
3 cards Destroyer Cossack
3 cards Aircraft Carrier Eagle
3 cards Submarine Triumph
3 cards Seaplane Sunderland
3 cards Minelayer
3 cards Minesweeper
3 cards Sloop Deptford
3 cards Patrol Ship Kingfisher
1 Master Card White Ensign

These cards are divided into four suits indicated by a Crown, Anchor, Lifebuoy and Pennant, and are numabered from one to eleven with the exception of the Crown suit which is numbered from one to ten. The crown is always the Trump suir and if unable to follow suit any Crown card takes the trick unless overtrumped by another player who also unable to follow suit; or the play of the Master Card. The Master, ensign, card is superior to all others in the pack and may be played at any time, in turn, even if able to follow the suit led.
RULES OF PLAY
Deal
Cut for deal. Deal commences with the player ib dealer's left. All cards are dealt out evenly and if there are any odd cards over these should be placed on one side, face down, and shuffled into the pack again before each new deal..
Play
Player one dealer's left leads and the highest card played takes the trick. Players must follow suit if able to do so but otherwise can discard any card, or may, at discretionm trump or play the Master card. A loss of 10 points is the penalty for not following suit if able to do so. The winner of each trick leads to the next and so on.
Scoring
At the end of each hand, each player scores points, as follows, according to the cards contained in the tricks he has personally taken.
For any set of 3 cards...10 points
For each additional card to a set of three...5 points
Consolation Score
To the player with the lowest total score after each round...5 points
If two or more tie with equally low scores...5 points each

Explanatory notes on scoring
For any three ships of a type, e g 3 Battleships, 3 Destroyers, 10 points are scored for each set of three. In the case of Battleships and Cruisers where there are 10 cards and 9 cards respectively in the pack, a set of three cards can be assorted over the various names of the ships - for instance, a set of three Cruisers can consist of 1 each Ajax, Achilles and Exeter, or 2 Ajax and 1 Exeter and so on. Any player having more than three cards of either Battleships or Cruisers, scores an extra 5 points for each card over the three.
It is recommended that no player shall be allowed to examine tricks he has personally won once they are placed face down on the table. In this way the game proves an excellent memory test. It can be decided otherwise if an easier game is desired.

Master Card
The Master, Ensign, card may be used once in each round (by the holder) to complete a set of three cards with any other two cards which are alike. If a Master card is used with a set of htree, e g 3 Destroyers, this would constitute a set of four cards for which the player would receive an extra 5 points.

Game is won by the player first reaching a total score of 250 points. For a short game a limit of 100 points could be fixed before play commences.

NOTE
It will be seen that there is much room for skill in the playing of this game. Instead of trying to take as many tricks as possible, players will concentrate on taking tricks containing cards helpful in completing sets.

We gratefully acknowledge the expert assistance given in the production of England Expects by Francis E McMurtrie, Editor of Jane's Fighting Ships.

Made in England

The First and Second World Wars generated a lot of games some of which were meant to be fun and others had an educational purpose. These cards are divided into four suits indicated by a Crown, Anchor, Lifebelt and Pennant, and are numbered from one to eleven with the exception of the Crown suit which is numbered from one to ten. The crown is always the Trump suit. The game was devised with the help of Francis E McMurtrie, who was, at the time, editor of Jane's Fighting Ships.

MISC.447-1981