TEXT: BTRC
  Greg Porter
  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    
   
   
   
   
    
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    
   
   
   
   
   
    
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Pogr
  Pogrom!
  om!
  (2)
  Xenophobic fever strikes one region. Until the beginning of
  this player’s next turn, any unit moving there is immediately
  eliminated (and applies to its owner’s Body Count).
  This may not apply to off-map areas. This does not represent
  people moving in to be slaughtered, but a spread of hostilities
  from that location outwards. The region cannot be “moved into”
  unless it is empty. Mark the region with a “Pogrom” counter.
  In September 1348, a Swiss physician “confessed” (under 
  torture) that he and other members of the Jewish community
  had poisoned wells to spread the plague. As a result of this
  “evidence,” over two hundred Jewish communities were
  wiped out in hundreds of massacres. Lepers were also
  convenient scapegoats.
  Credits
  Published by:
  Blacksburg Tactical Research Center
  ©1993, 2008 by Greg Porter
  Game Design:
  Greg Porter
  Map, Cover Art Alvin Helms, Greg Porter
  & Layout:
  Back Cover Art: Darrell Midgette
  Scabrous
  Tim Copeland, Cathy DeMott, Matt 
  Playtesters:
  Hazelgrove, Bret Jones, Kreela Moore, 
  Eric Sampson, Greg Steele
  1st PDF Edition: February 2008
  Warning:
  Protected by the International 
  Copyright Convention, and by our 
  diseased underlings who will drop dead 
  rats in your well if you annoy us.
  All Rights Reserved, published in the United States of 
  America, etc., etc.
  Mongols!
  Mongols!
  (1)
  Add 1 to all Movement die rolls until the beginning of this
  player’s next turn; however, each player must move at least
  one unit away from the Eastern map edge.
  Note: The unit chosen may belong to any player.
  The Mongol invasions caused millions to flee the advancing
  hordes, and the Mongols themselves may have brought the
  plague with them, as in northern Russia in 1237.
  Smugglers!
  Smugglers!
  (1)
  Move infected goods past inspectors. This player’s units may
  move two regions this turn, but are still limited to the total
  movement points indicated by the Movement die roll.
  Despite ordinances in many areas designed to limit the spread
  of disease, merchants and traders resisted them at every turn.
  Health permits were forged, inspectors bribed, innkeepers
  looked the other way. Traders would drop off diseased goods
  at several ports before succumbing themselves, and derelict
  ships had what was left of their cargo taken by looters, further
  spreading the pestilence.
  T
  Traders!
  raders!
  (1)
  Returning from distant lands with an unwelcome 
  present. This player gets one extra infection chance at +1
  Virulence, which must be used adjacent to any map Enter
  route.
  (1)
  Returning from distant lands with an unwelcome 
  present. This player gets two extra infection chances, which
  must be used adjacent to any map Enter route.
  If used on another player, they may decline to use the extra
  chance(s).
  Merchants often traveled to areas where there was a reservoir
  of plague, and unwittingly brought it home with their goods.
  W
  War!
  ar!
  (2) Tensions cause any two Lines of Communication to be closed
  until the beginning of this player’s next turn. Place a “WAR”
  marker on these lines until then.
  This may apply to off-map routes, thus preventing units from
  either moving off-map or infecting from off-map. This card
  cannot be played during the first turn.
  Hostilities between regions were not really slowed down by the
  plague, but it did reduce the amount of trade and travel across
  the affected borders. Plague actually tended to cripple attack-
  ing armies, as the conditions of the march made them more
  susceptible.
  6
  What is this, anyway?
  Black Death is a tasteless boardgame in which you can play the
  exciting role of a scourge of nature and slayer of millions in those
  halcyon days of the mid-14th century. Yes, you too can be The
  Plague, and wipe out a third of the known world's population.
  That's sick!
  You're right. But it's also a lot of fun, educational, historical, and a
  reasonably good simulation as well. So go ahead and play it.
  The Map
  The map represents Europe and the Mediterranean, as well as a bit
  of North Africa, the near Middle East, and western Asia. Regions are
  represented by a square or multiple squares, which indicate the
  maximum population of a region, and the region is named after
  the largest city in that area. Regions are connected by lines of
  communication.
  Regions
  A region is a part of a country, which includes mainly the urban
  population. Major regions are labeled in red, lesser regions in
  black. The historical name of the region is in large print, and if the
  modern name is significantly different, it will be in smaller,
  italicized print in parentheses below it.
  A region will have one or more squares, each of which can only
  hold one counter, never more. A multi-square region is considered
  to be a single square for purposes of moving to  other regions; so
  for instance, any of Constantinople’s four squares are considered
  adjacent to any region connected to any other Constantinople
  square. Some squares have numbers in them (e.g., -1, +1), which
  modify the chances of infecting  that particular square. (Large
  cities often have poorer sections ripe for the spread of vermin and
  pestilence, represented by a +1. Conversely, some cities were much
  cleaner than normal  for the time, and they have a -1.) Some cities
  or regions saw significantly more or less pestilence than others.
  Lines of Communication
  These connect regions. You may only move from one region to
  another along a line of communication, and each region moved
  costs 1 movement point. You can only move into empty squares.
  Some lines of communication have numbered circles on them (e.g.,
  -1, -2), which act as a modifier against trying to infect or move to a
  region along that line of communication. The absolute amount of
  the number is added to the number of movement points needed to
  move across that line, and the actual number is subtracted from a
  disease’s Virulence rating when trying to infect along that line.
  Example: The line of communication between Lübeck and
  København is normal, so moving between them costs only 1
  movement point; but Lübeck and Gdansk are separated by a -1
  modifier (representing political tensions, since they were not on
  speaking terms at the time), so movement between them costs 2
  movement points. Likewise, the line of communication between
  Oslo and Stockholm has  a -1 modifier (in this case,
  representing difficult physical terrain).
  FUGA CITO, VADE LONGE, REDE TARDE (“Flee quickly, go far, return slowly”)
  – Latin defense against the plague
  1
  “Oh happy posterity who will not experience such abysmal
  woe — and who will look upon our testimony as fable.”
  — PETRARCH
  The Novgorod and Pskov region, for instance, was hit by
  pestilences of various types in 1229, 1237, 1265, 1278, 1299, 1309,
  1318, 1341, 1344, 1349 and 1364.
  Tip: You can move a counter out of a square using one
  movement point, and move another counter in using a
  second movement point.
  
  DISEASE
  VIRULENCE
  MORTALITY
  BUBONIC PLAGUE
  3
  3
  PNEUMONIC PLAGUE
  4
  4
  MEASLES
  2
  4
  SYPHILIS
  3
  1
  CHOLERA
  4
  2
  TYPHUS
  4
  2
  DYSENTERY
  4
  2
  SMALLPOX
  2
  3
  TUBERCULOSIS
  2
  2
  Setup
  Lay out the map. If you are playing the 1347 game, cover all the
  squares labeled 1665 with skull counters (or vice versa).
  Separate the disease counters into piles by type. Set the "War!" and
  other counters aside. Make sure that each player has one Plague
  Track card, and exactly 22 counters of the corresponding type.
  Pick Your Poison
  Before play, each player rolls a die, and chooses a disease track
  marker in order of high to low roll. The disease track markers may
  adjust how a particular disease spreads or kills, and will affect your
  game strategy. Then the player decides what kind of disease they
  will be. Diseases have both a Virulence and a Mortality rating. The
  sum of these two statistics must equal 6, with neither Virulence or
  Mortality lower than 1 or higher than 5. The higher the Virulence,
  the more likely you are to catch the disease...and the higher the
  Mortality, the more likely you are to die from it. Historically, the
  ever-popular Bubonic Plague is a 3/3, which means that about half
  those exposed catch it, and about half of those who catch it die.
  Diseases with a Mortality or Virulence of 1 are not recommended.
  Diseases with Virulence 1 are tough to catch, and very lethal
  (Mortality 5), making it hard to establish a presence on the map.
  Diseases of Virulence 5 will spread like wildfire and can reach
  maximum piece density amazingly fast, but will not actually kill
  many people (because of their Mortality 1 rating) – and since the
  winner is determined entirely by body count, simply having pieces
  on the board does you little good.
  Name your disease, then describe its symptoms and how it is
  spread. This has no game effect, but can be amusing. Naming your
  disease is mandatory. You cannot play unless your disease has a
  name, and you as a player may be referred to by this name during
  play (i.e., “It's Scrofula's turn”).
  Use two counters to mark your disease’s Virulence and Mortality
  ratings on your Plague Track; then place one counter on the “0”
  square of the Body Count Track on the map board. A fourth
  counter will be used on the Turn Order Track (as described in the
  next section), which leaves each player with 18 counters which can
  be placed on the map.
  In game terms, historical diseases have the following ratings (which
  may not necessarily add up to 6). Remember that diseases which
  are not quickly fatal will have low ratings, even if they eventually
  have 100% mortality, because of the shorter time scale of the game.
  Diseases with unusual vectors will have lower Virulence than those
  which readily pass from one person to another.
  Turns & Phases
  Determine Turn Order
  Each turn is composed of up to six phases (one for each of the
  players), and the order in which each player takes their phase will
  change from turn to turn.
  For the first turn only, the players each roll a die: High roller gets
  the first phase of the turn, and play passes to the left.
  For the rest of the game, the Turn Order is determined solely by
  Body Count: At the beginning of each new turn, the player with the
  lowest current Body Count takes the first phase, the second lowest
  Body Count gets the second phase, etc.. In case of a tie, the player
  with the fewest units on the map goes first, and a die roll resolves
  further ties.
  After determining the Turn Order, mark the order of the players’
  phases by placing the appropriate disease counters in the phase
  boxes of the Turn Order Track on the map board.
  The First Turn
  The first turn is played according to the normal sequence (see
  below), but with the following exceptions:
  1. After creating their vile miasma (disease) each player draws
  one card, which they may keep hidden from everyone else.
  2. Each player begins their phase by placing 2 of their own
  disease markers on the map in any region adjacent to an
  off-map route on the east edge of the map (these regions are
  Dimashq, Moskva, Yerushalayim, and Al Qahirah).
  3. The Luck Roll is omitted; and instead, each player gets a
  number of infection chances equal to their Mortality, and a
  number of movement points equal to their Virulence. This is
  the default Virulence and Mortality, unadjusted by events.
  4. During the first turn only, no player may move or infect
  another player’s units unless necessary to get on the map as
  described in exception 2. In this case, infecting another
  player’s units is handled in the normal fashion.
  2
  Tip: It will help keep things running smoothly if each player
  removes their counter from the Turn Order Track after
  finishing their phase. When the last one is gone, new turn!
  While no one knew what caused the plague, people were
  aware that it was transmissible, and could linger somehow in
  areas where an infected person had been.
  From a 16th century Health Regulation (translation):
  “…sweep the floors, benches and walls well, and if 
  possible, whitewash the house, or at least, wash the walls down
  with alkaline solution using a whitewashing brush… the room
  where the sick or dead person had been must, for three days after
  it has become empty, be washed out with vinegar, and have it
  swept thoroughly every day, and the first time, scatter lime
  around the room and throw vinegar over it until it has smoked
  and burnt itself out…”
  “The Plague” (yersinia pestis) is native to certain parts of
  the world, and has never been completely eradicated there.
  These areas include central Asia, Siberia, Iran, Libya, 
  the Arabian Peninsula, and east Africa.
  THE CARDS: DETAILED EXPLANATIONS
  Bad W
  Bad Weather!
  eather!
  (2)
  Slows travel. Subtract 1 from all Movement die rolls until the
  beginning of this player’s next turn.
  In a low-tech culture, travel was always dependent on the
  weather. Late-season snows, storms at sea, floods and other
  hazards often made long distance journeys very  difficult.
  (1)
  Unseasonably damp and cold weather aids the spread 
  of disease. Add 1 to all Virulence ratings until the 
  beginning of this player’s next turn.
  The wearing of heavy winter clothing, with numerous places
  for warmth and humidity-loving fleas to hide, often aided the
  spread of pestilence.
  Cr
  Crusade!
  usade!
  (1)
  All players must move at least one unit towards Yerushalayim
  until the beginning of this player’s next turn.
  Like Mongols!, except each player must move someone’s unit
  closer to Yerushalayim if possible.
  The numerous Crusades to free Jerusalem from the “infidels”
  took their toll on the nobility of Europe, and those returning
  often brought unwelcome presents in their bedding and
  possessions.
  Famine!
  Famine!
  (1)
  All diseases add 1 to their Mortality ratings until the beginning
  of this player’s next turn, but subtract 1 from all Movement die
  rolls.
  Remember that this card affects the Mortality ratings, not the
  Mortallity die rolls. Also note that like many cards that help
  you, this card also helps others.
  A series of wet years in the mid-1300s caused crops to rot in
  the fields, and even areas that normally exported food had
  shortages. Famine made people more susceptible to disease,
  and even though many became refugees, they often died 
  before getting far.
  Good W
  Good Weather!
  eather!
  (1)
  All Virulence ratings are reduced by 1 until the beginning of
  this player’s next turn.
  Weather also played a part in reducing the spread of disease.
  The rat flea (X. cheopis) is only active over a limited 
  temperature range of 15-20° C, and humidity of less than 70%
  kills it. A dry year will limit the spread of plague by limiting
  the flea population.
  5
  Fir
  Fire!e!
  (1)
  Pestilence-cleansing fire gets out of hand. Reduce a multi-
  square region by one square, as if there had been a
  Catastrophic Kill. One unit in that region may perish in
  the flames.
  This is a “free kill.” The player using the card may play it
  anywhere there could be a Catastrophic Kill, and the unit in
  that square is counted toward the owning player’s Body Count
  – which can be another player, if for some reason you want to
  increase their score.
  The Great Fire of 1666 in London was started by accident, but
  also burned out a region of the city where conditions were
  ripest for the spread of disease, and may have prevented a
  further spread of the plague in that area.
  Quarantine!
  Quarantine!
  (2)
  Fear of disease closes one region until the beginning of this
  player’s next turn. However, infection chances in this region
  are increased by 1 for diseases already there.
  This keeps a plague-free area free of outside infection or
  movement (in or out), but the closeted conditions increase the
  chance of spreading for any disease already there (which obvi-
  ously is of help only in a multi-square region).
  In 1377, the Council of the Republic of Ragusa (the ex-
  Yugoslavian city of Dubrovnik) voted to require all persons
  from an infected area to remain outside the city for a period
  of 40 days – “quaranta giorni,” from which comes the
  modern word “quarantine.”
  Mutation!
  Mutation!
  (1)
  For one turn only, player may alter the Virulence OR Mortality
  of any disease by 1 point in either direction. Must be played at
  the start of the target’s turn (before rolling the dice).
  (1)
  For one turn only, player may alter the Virulence AND
  Mortality of any disease by 1 point in either direction. Must be
  played at the start of the target’s turn (before rolling the dice).
  (1)
  For one turn only, player may swap up to 2 points between the
  Virulence and Mortality ratings of any disease – one increases,
  while the other decreases (before rolling the dice).
  You can make your own disease temporarily worse, or some-
  one else’s disease temporarily better – “better” and “worse”
  being defined here by the victim’s point of view, of course.
  Diseases, like all organisms, mutate over time. Sometimes
  they gained new ability to kill or spread (like pneumonic
  plague), and sometimes people developed immunity to
  them (like smallpox or measles).
  
  An army of plague rats invaded Hamlen. The town hired a
  ratcatcher, and shortly afterwards the rats began to die (rats
  die of the plague, too). The ratcatcher demanded his fee, the
  town refused to pay, and the ratcatcher departed, swearing
  revenge. Meanwhile, the children of the town gathered the
  rat corpses and threw them in the River Weser. The children,
  exposed to rat fleas, caught the plague and died, and were
  buried in a cemetery on the side of Koppelberg Hill.
  - Alternate version of the Pied Piper story
  Next!
  As each player finishes their phase, play passes to the next player.
  When all players have gone once, the next turn begins, using a new
  Turn Order based on the current Body Count. In the case of ties,
  roll a die to see who gets the next spot in the turn order.
  Cards
  A small set of cards (20 of them) is included with the game to
  simulate certain events and conditions which can affect play. When
  a player achieves a Body Count of 5 million victims, they draw
  another card; when they reach a Body Count of 10 million they
  draw another, and when they reach a Body Count of 20 million,
  they may draw yet another. These cards may be played at any time
  (unless the card specifies otherwise), and may be played upon any
  player (unless the card specifies otherwise). Card effects usually last
  only until the person who played the card goes again.
  Victory
  The instant any player achieves the game’s Body Count goal, they
  have won the game and have become the most famous historical
  scourge of the Middle Ages.
  · For 2-3 players, the Body Count goal is 20 million.
  · For 4-5 players, the Body Count goal is 15 million.
  · For 6 players, the Body Count goal is 10 million.
  For your first game, we suggest 10 million as the victory condition.
  Special Cases
  If at any point all a player’s counters are completely wiped off the
  map, they may attempt to re-enter the map via any “Enter Map”
  route, using the normally rolled number of infection chances. You
  infect your way onto the map, then move any units you have.
  On the other hand, if a player runs out of their counters, too bad.
  Players may have no more than of 18 of their 22 counters on the
  map – the other 4 are reserved for the Turn Order, Body Count, and
  the Virulence & Mortality ratings on the player’s Plague Track.
  If a player is doing very poorly, they may choose to drop out of the
  game and start over with a new disease. If there is a spare color not
  in use, the old counters should be left in play – they do not move or
  die, but they can be infected and converted – and the player starts
  with a new disease and a Body Count of 0. Their first turn as a new
  disease is like a normal first turn.
  Strategies
  If you are a Highly Infectious Disease
  Highly infectious diseases (4/2) will usually gain Body Count slowly
  but regularly, and once they get all 18 counters on the map, will
  average 2 kills per turn.
  Once you have all 18 counters on the map, you can't do any more
  infecting than the amount of last turn's kills, so use your movement
  to make other player's lives miserable, and your infections to take
  over their counters. You will fare less well in a 2 or 3 player game.
  If you are a Highly Lethal Disease
  Highly lethal diseases (2/4) have a tough time spreading, but almost
  always get good DRT results. Concentrate on regions with a +1
  infection chance, and stay away from people with highly infectious
  diseases (who may try to convert you).
  You will likely build up a decent population, and then lose half
  or more to a DRT result, so your game standing can change very
  rapidly. Make sure you have a core of units from which to spread,
  protected from opportunistic infections that may attempt to over-
  come your host population and kick you out. You will fare less well
  in a 4 or more player game.
  Options
  Fast Game
  Players start with two cards, and have a total disease rating of 7
  instead of 6.
  Slow game
  All players start with a total disease rating of 5 instead of 6. This
  can take a long time.
  Mutations
  When a player reaches a body count of 10 and 20 million, they
  must roll one die to check for mutations to the Virulence and
  Mortality of their disease. A separate die is rolled for each statistic:
  · On a roll of 1 or 2, the rating goes down one point.
  · On a roll of 3 or 4, the rating remains unchanged.
  · On a roll of 5 or 6, the rating goes up by one point.
  Diseases can never have an adjusted Virulence or Mortality of less
  than zero or more than 6.
  Bonus game!
  The rules you have just finished are for the 1347 version of Black
  Death. To play the 1665 version of the Plague, simply cover up all
  region squares on the map dated 1347, and be sure to use the 1665
  lines of communication (all involving Alger). Since the plagues of
  1665 were not as devastating, you only get 5 points for your disease
  instead of 6. However, you start with 2 cards instead of 1, and you
  also get 2 cards when you reach 5, 10 or 20 million. Remove the
  Crusades and Mongols cards from the deck. Otherwise, play
  remains the same.
  4
  The village of Oberammergau in Germany vowed to 
  present a religious performance annually forever if the plague
  was lifted from them. It was. The Passion Play has been 
  performed at Oberammergau every year ever since.
  Normal Turns
  Each player phase is composed of four sub-phases, done in the 
  following order: Luck, Infection, Movement, and Mortality. 
  1. Luck
  The player rolls two six-sided dice. One of them will be the number
  of infection attempts their disease gets this turn, and the other will
  be the number of movement points they have to migrate diseased
  populations with. The player chooses which die to use for each
  after rolling, and applies modifiers to the results afterwards as well.
  2. Infection
  Infection attempts give a player a chance to create new units on
  the map. Any of the current player’s units that are on the map at
  the start of this sub-phase may attempt to infect adjacent, empty
  regions. Valid targets include any other squares within the same
  multi-square region as the infecting unit, or any square within an
  adjacent region that is connected by a line of communication. One
  unit may make more than one infection attempt. To succeed, a
  player must roll one die and get equal or less than their disease’s
  Virulence, plus or minus any modifiers for line of communication
  or targeted region. A roll of 1 is always a success, and a 6 is always
  a failure, regardless of Virulence and modifiers. Failed attempts
  may be repeated if a player still has infection attempts remaining.
  Example: A disease of Virulence 3 attempts to spread from Lyon
  to the slums of Paris (the +1 square). To succeed, the player must
  roll a 4 or less. The same disease would require a roll of 3 or less
  to infect either of the other squares in the Paris region, and
  would need to roll a 2 or less to infect Geneve.
  On a successful infection, the player takes a counter from their
  stockpile and places it in the region they just infected. A player
  may also attempt to infect another player’s units, converting the
  infected population to their own disease. This is done like any
  other infection attempt, but takes an additional -1 to Virulence on
  top of all other applicable modifiers. If the infection is successful,
  the opposing counter goes back to its owner’s stockpile, and is
  replaced by one of the attacker’s.
  In addition to normally rolled infection attempts, a player may
  give up one of their infection attempts to get a +1 on their first
  infection attempt in a turn. The player must have at least two
  infection attempts available to do this, and the +1 modifier is
  cumulative with any other modifiers on the roll.
  3. Movement
  With each movement point, the player may move any unit (even
  another player’s) one region along a line of communication; but
  whenever a line of communication is used, its absolute value (if
  any) is added to the cost of the movement.
  Each unit can be moved a maximum of one region per player phase
  (unless a special card is played), and units may never move to any
  square that is already occupied. Moving a unit to a different square
  within a multi-square region also counts as 1 movement point – but
  remember that for purposes of moving into or out of a multi-square
  region, all its squares share the same lines of communication.
  A unit may be moved off the map via any of the open-ended lines
  adjacent to some regions. These units are removed from the map
  and returned to their owner’s stockpile. Moving a unit off the map
  always costs 2 movement points.
  4. Mortality
  After the current player has finished their movement, they roll one
  die on the DRT (Death Results Table), using the current Mortality of
  their disease. The result of that roll is the fraction of that player’s
  units on the map which die, are removed from the board and are
  put back in their owner’s stockpile. The player’s Body Count goes
  up by the number of counters removed.
  The fractions given in the DRT round down; so a player with 8 units
  on the map who rolled a “1/3” DRT result would lose 2 units, not 3.
  The units to be removed are always selected by the owning player.
  If the DRT result has a skull (
  ), the disease’s Mortality was so high
  in one region that it falls into ruins and is no longer inhabitable.
  This is a Catastrophic Kill, and this may only happen if one of the
  units removed by the player comes from a multi-square region. In
  this case, place one of the “skull and crossbones” counters on the
  square from which the unit was removed – and then for all game
  purposes, that square no longer exists. A multi-square region may
  not have more than half (rounded up) of its squares taken out of
  play in this manner, but, no region can be totally ruined.
  If the DRT result was “cure,” the player gets no kills. Worse yet, the
  player whose phase comes next gets to remove one in six (rounded
  down) of the cured player’s diseased units from the map. They got
  better! They return to their owner’s stockpile of counters and do
  not add to that player’s Body Count. It's a miracle! If by some quirk
  of fate the player getting the cure also goes next, they do get to
  remove their own counters.
  3
  Note: It is more profitable to do this for low Virulence diseases.
  Altering Virulence of 2 to 3 is a bigger gain than altering a 4 to 5.
  Note: The modifier numbers within squares do not affect move-
  ment; they only modify infection attempts. Modifier numbers on
  lines of communication affect both infection attempts and move-
  ment. Movement modifiers always make movement more costly.
  Note: Units that hang around the edge of the map too long
  usually suffer this fate.
  In 541, plague killed nearly 40% of the population of
  Constantinople, a population loss which was not recovered
  until the 14th century. The population of Alexandria was 
  decimated in 1348, and did not recover the loss until the 16th
  century. Similar loss of life occurred in most other major
  cities of the day. Bodies were piled so high beside the roads
  out of Cairo that bandits used them as cover for ambushes.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Collections/Blacksburg Tactical Research Center/Board Games/BTRC6001 Black Death (v1.01) (2008)/BlackDeathv101_booklet.pdf