Le Havre Feeding, Loans & Ships Explained
Le Havre’s feeding system is the pressure behind the entire economy. Every seven game turns a round ends, and the Round card tells players whether to Harvest and how much food each player must provide.
How Harvest works
During a normal Harvest, players with at least one Grain receive additional Grain, and players with sufficient Cattle receive additional Cattle according to the rulebook. Some rounds can specify no Harvest.
How much food do you pay?
Use the Feeding requirement printed on the current Round card. Your Ships reduce that requirement by their printed food values before you cover the remainder with food.
Why Ships are different from food goods
A food good is spent when used. A Ship reduces Feeding repeatedly in future rounds. That recurring reduction is why Ships become increasingly important as the Feeding requirement grows.
When can you take a loan?
Loans are emergency financing. Under the standard rules, you may not simply take a loan whenever you want investment cash. They are available when you cannot meet required Feeding or loan-interest obligations after applying the relevant payment rules.
How much does a loan provide?
Each Loan card provides 4 Francs when taken.
How does interest work?
One of the seven Supply tiles is marked Interest. When it is resolved, every player with one or more Loan cards pays exactly 1 Franc in interest, regardless of whether they hold one loan or several.
How do you repay a loan?
A Loan may be repaid for 5 Francs, including immediately before an Interest payment if the timing allows.
What happens to unpaid loans at game end?
Outstanding loans reduce your final wealth. In the standard rules, each remaining Loan card deducts 7 Francs from the final total.
Do you have to sell a Building before taking a loan?
No. The rules do not generally force you to sell a Building just to avoid taking a Feeding loan. Selling assets can be an option in certain payment situations, but loans exist to handle genuine shortfalls.
Example
If the Round card requires 9 Food and your Ships reduce that by 5, you need to provide only the remaining 4 Food. If you cannot cover the legal payment and must borrow, the Loan gives cash now but creates future interest exposure and an end-game liability until repaid.
Common rules mistakes
- Paying the full Feeding value before applying Ship reductions.
- Paying 1 Franc of interest per loan instead of 1 total when the Interest tile triggers.
- Taking loans freely to finance ordinary investments.
- Forgetting that repayment costs more than the cash originally received.
- Leaving loans out of final wealth calculation.
Related guides
For turn structure, read How to Play Le Havre. For economic planning, see Le Havre Strategy. The central overview is Le Havre.