18GA The Railroads Come to Georgia Rules and Designer's Notes (Version 3.26, 18 March 2007) Copyright 2000, 2007, Mark Derrick and John David Galt Contents: 1. Introduction 1.1. Rounds and Turns 1.2. Game Phases 1.3. Companies 1.3.1. Private Companies 1.3.2. Corporations 1.4. The Bank and the Open Market 2. Starting the Game 3. Stock Round 3.1. Stock Turn While Unsold Private Companies Remain 3.1.1. Private Company Auction Procedure 3.1.2. First-Company Discount and Forced Purchase 3.2. Regular Stock Turn 3.3. Ownership Limits and Purchase Restrictions 3.4. Floating a Corporation 3.5. Change of Presidency 3.6. End of Stock Round 4. Operating Round 4.1. Operating a Private Company 4.2. Operating a Corporation 4.2.1. Laying a Tile 4.2.2. Placing a Station Token 4.2.3. Running Trains 4.2.3.1. Calculating Revenue 4.2.4. Paying Out Dividends or Withholding 4.2.5. Purchasing Trains 4.2.5.1. Forced Train Purchase 4.2.6. Purchasing Private Companies 5. End of Game 5.1. Determining the Winner 6. Miscellaneous 7. Optional Rules 8. Game Hints 9. Game Support Table I. Game Phases Table II. Players' Starting Cash and Certificate Limits Table III. Private Companies and their Special Abilities Table IV. Tiles and Upgrades Appendix 1. Comparison with Other 18xx Games (Q&A) Appendix 2. Design Notes Appendix 3. Historical Notes 1. Introduction 18GA is a railroad and stock-market manipulation game, based on the 1829 game system created by Francis Tresham. Each player takes the part of an investor, and the object of the game is to have the most money at the end. 18GA is a good introduction to the series (known as 18xx games) because it is smaller and simpler than most of the rest. It is intended for 3-5 players, and takes about three hours to play. Players who are familiar with other 18xx games may wish to skip ahead to Appendix 1, which summarizes the differences between 18GA and several of the better-known 18xx games. 1.1. Rounds and Turns The game is played in two types of rounds: Stock Rounds and Operating Rounds. In a Stock Round, players buy and sell stock in companies. The players take turns in order, clockwise around the table, and each player usually gets multiple turns. The round ends when all players consecutively pass. In an Operating Round, companies operate. Each company gets one turn. At the beginning of the game, the two types of rounds simply alternate. In later phases there will be two or three operating rounds after each stock round. The turns of players during a Stock Round are called stock turns. The turns of companies during an Operating Round are called operating turns. 1.2. Game Phases The game is divided into phases. (The sequence of phases happens in parallel with the sequence of turns. A phase change does not end the round or the turn in which it happens.) When the game begins, it is Phase 1. Each time the first train of a new type is purchased, a new phase begins; the phase number is the same as the train number. Each phase change modifies some of the rules of play. Table I lists all the train types, and the phases and their effects. (All tables appear at the end of the rules.) 1.3. Companies The game has two types of companies in which players can invest: Private Companies and Corporations. 1.3.1. Private Companies A Private Company is owned as a whole, and thus is represented in the game by a single stock certificate. When a private company operates, the bank simply pays a fixed dividend to its owner. A Private Company can be owned either by a player or by a corporation. Private Companies cannot have any money or possessions of their own. They do not build track or run trains. Some of them do appear on the map, but their only effect on the map is the restriction on corporations' ability to lay tiles in hexes occupied by private companies. (See 4.2.1(k) for details.) Some Private Companies also have special abilities that can be used if a corporation owns the Private Company. (These abilities can only be used during the corporation's operating turn -- not during the Private Company's operating turn.) See Table III for details. 1.3.2. Corporations A corporation is represented by nine certificates representing stock in the corporation (one 20% presidential certificate and eight 10% certificates), each of which may be owned by a player or the bank. (No company of any kind can own stock in a corporation.) In most respects, a corporation is like a modern publicly-traded company. It has its own possessions (money, trains, tokens, and private companies). (Each corporation has a large card called a "charter" on which to keep its possessions.) The player with the greatest number of shares (percentage of ownership) in the corporation is its president and controls all aspects of its operation. (See 3.5 for details which are omitted here.) He keeps the company's charter in front of himself. In addition, the percentage each player owns determines how much of the dividends he receives, if and when the corporation pays dividends. Note that a corporation's assets must be kept separate from those of any player, including the president. The president cannot move assets between his own hand and the corporation's charter, or between different corporations he controls, except for transactions specifically permitted by the rules. Be careful of the distinction between a certificate and a share. One "share" is defined as 10% of the ownership of a corporation; thus each stock certificate equals either one or two shares. Shares determine the presidency and the allocation of dividends. However, players can only buy and sell certificates, not shares (even though the price paid or received is based on the number of shares those certificates represent), and the limit on each player's total holding is counted in certificates. During its operating turn, a corporation may build or upgrade track tiles; place station tokens; operate trains; pay out (or withhold) the resulting revenue; purchase trains (from the bank or from other companies); and purchase private companies from players. (Most of these actions are optional, and some may be forbidden or limited, depending on the current phase of the game; this is just a summary. See 4.2 for the complete details.) 1.4. The Bank and the Open Market As in many other economic games, "the Bank" is an abstract entity which is said to own all money and property that does not belong to any player or corporation. This includes unowned stock certificates and trains, as well as all tiles which are not currently on the board and all tokens of corporations that have not yet floated (see 3.4). The Bank contains two separate areas for displaying stock certificates and trains, called the Initial Offering and the Open Market. The Initial Offering contains only "new" stock certificates and trains, meaning those which have never been owned by a player or corporation. The Open Market contains any previously-owned stock certificates and trains. This distinction exists because the rules treat "new" shares and trains differently from "used" shares and trains in several ways: * Stock certificates of corporations are always purchased from the Initial Offering at their original Par Value. They are purchased from, or sold to, the Open Market at their current Market Value. * To "float" a corporation (put it into operation, see 3.4) requires that 60% of its stock be removed from the Initial Offering. But this 60% does not all have to be in the hands of players at any one time. Some of it can be in the Open Market. * When a corporation pays dividends, its treasury collects the dividend for any shares it has in the Open Market. It does not collect anything for shares in the Initial Offering. * Trains in the Initial Offering can only be purchased in order of their types as listed in Table I. For example, no corporation can purchase a 5 Train until all of the 2, 3, and 4 Trains in the Initial Offering have been purchased. However, the presence of a train in the Open Market does not similarly prevent a corporation from buying trains of later types from any source. The Private Company certificates also belong to the Bank at the beginning of the game, but once purchased by players, they cannot be sold back to the Bank, so they can never be in the Open Market. (In some 18xx games, the Open Market is referred to as the "Bank Pool". I've avoided using that term here, but if you hear it, now you'll know what it means.) Note that the game comes with exactly $8,000 in cash. Changing this total is not recommended, because it will alter the length of the game. If your group uses poker chips or other money substitutes, be sure to count out the correct total before starting play. 1.5. The Stock Chart and Par Display Each corporation has two values for its stock, which are called the Par Value and the Market Value. Each of these is a value per 10% share. When a player founds a corporation by purchasing its president's certificate from the Initial Offering display, he chooses its Par Value as described in 3.2(c)(1). The corporation's Par Value is then fixed for the rest of the game. The Par Value determines the price per share of all purchases of certificates from the Initial Offering area (which have never been owned by a player). Of course, the president's certificate is two shares, so it costs twice the Par Value. A corporation's Market Value begins equal to its Par Value. But unlike the Par Value, the Market Value will change throughout the game as described in 3.2(a), 3.6, and 4.2.4. The Market Value determines the price per share of all stock purchases from, and sales to, the Open Market. The Private Companies also have Par Values, which are shown on their certificates (but do not necessarily determine the initial purchase prices; see 3.1). They do not have Market Values, because they can never be sold to the Open Market. (However, Private Companies may be sold directly from one player to another. The stock certificates of corporations cannot.) 2. Starting the Game First, determine randomly (or by agreement) where each player will sit, and determine randomly who gets the Priority Deal card. Each player begins with the sum of money listed in Table II. The rest of the money is set aside as the Bank. You may want to designate someone as banker, or even appoint different people to handle different bank resources. (For instance, one person can handle money and shares while another handles tiles.) Set up the map, Stock Chart, and Initial Offering display near the center of the table. Leave space in front of each player so that he can manage his cash, private companies, stock certificates, and the charters of corporations he will control. The map and Stock Chart begin empty (no tiles or tokens). All trains and all corporation stock should be placed on the Initial Offering display. The game then begins with a Stock Round. I recommend that each player take the tokens of one corporation and use them to mark the Private Companies on which he has bid. (This does not cause a problem because no corporations are in play yet.) Once all of the Private Companies have been purchased by players, the banker should collect the tokens and put them near the Initial Offering display, where he can hand them out as corporations form. 3. Stock Round In each Stock Round, the player who holds the Priority Deal card has the first turn, and play proceeds clockwise around the table. 3.1. Stock Turn While Unsold Private Companies Remain While the bank still holds one or more unsold private companies, each player can only do up to one of these actions on his turn: (a) Buy the cheapest unsold Private Company for its par value (or a discounted value if 3.1.2 applies). After this purchase, if the cheapest remaining unsold Private Company (as defined by Par Value) has been bid on at least once under 3.1(b), it is immediately auctioned according to the procedure in 3.1.1. Repeat this process for each succeeding Private Company until the cheapest one remaining has not been bid on, or until all of the Private Companies have been purchased by players. The Stock Round then continues with the turn of the next player after the one who made the purchase under 3.1(a). (Turns in an auction are not part of the sequence of turns in the Stock Round. They are separate.) (b) Place a bid on any other unsold Private Company. Each bid must be for a whole number of dollars, and must exceed the preceding bid on the same company (or if none, the company's par value) by at least $5. You must set aside the amount of your bid, and cannot use that money for anything else, until the company you have bid on comes up for auction as described in 3.1.1. You cannot bid more money than you have (minus any amounts set aside for bids on other companies that have not yet come up for auction). Once a (legal) bid is made, it cannot be withdrawn. All bids on a company remain in force until the company comes up for auction, even if an operating round intervenes. Notice that it is pointless for any player to bid on the same company more than once before it comes up for auction. Either of these actions uses up your entire stock turn. Even if you purchase the last unsold Private Company (or the only one that hasn't been bid on, thus causing the rest to be auctioned off), your turn is over; you cannot perform any of the actions described in 3.2 on the same turn. If you don't wish to do either, you may pass (exception: 3.1.2). 3.1.1. Private Company Auction Procedure Only those players who placed bids under 3.1(b) on the Private Company being auctioned may participate in the auction. (Therefore if only one player has bid on the company, the auction ends immediately; he simply pays the amount he bid and takes the company.) The participating players take turns, clockwise, beginning with the player after the one who made the highest bid on the company under 3.1(b). (That bid is considered to be the first bid of the auction.) Each player must either pass, or bid a whole number of dollars that is at least $5 more than the preceding bid. You cannot bid more money than you have (minus any amounts set aside for bids on other companies that have not yet come up for auction). But the money that you set aside when you bid on the same Private Company under 3.1(b) may be used to bid for it now. A player who has passed may bid later, if he gets another turn before the auction ends. The auction ends when all but one of the players participating in the auction consecutively pass (that is, when it would otherwise become the high bidder's turn again). The high bidder immediately pays the bid amount and takes the company. 3.1.2. First-Company Discount and Forced Purchase If the first stock round ends (that is, everyone passes consecutively) without any player purchasing the Lexington Terminal Railroad, any player may purchase it in the second stock round for $15. Similarly, if no one buys it in that round, it may be purchased in the third stock round for $10, and in the fourth stock round for $5. If it still hasn't been purchased, then in the first turn of the fifth stock round, the player with the Priority Deal card must accept the Lexington for free. This is considered a purchase under 3.1(a); it uses up that player's stock turn, and may trigger one or more auctions. There is no similar discount on (or forced purchase of) any other company. (Once someone owns that first private company, the bank will be paying revenue to _some_ player or company every operating round, thus ensuring that the game will eventually end.) 3.2. Regular Stock Turn Once all of the Private Companies have been purchased from the bank, each player may do any, all, or none of the following on his turn: (a) Sell any stock certificate(s) of a corporation to the Bank for their current Market Value (per 10% share), placing the certificate(s) in the Open Market. These restrictions apply: (1) No one may sell any certificates to the Bank during the first Stock Round of the game. (2) No sale may be made which will cause more than 50% of the shares of any one corporation to be in the Open Market. (It is all right for exactly 50% to be there. Certificates in the initial offering do not count toward this limit.) (3) You may sell a 20% president's certificate only if another player owns at least two shares (20%) of that corporation's stock, and only if you sell enough of the company's stock that a change of presidency will result. (See 3.5, Change of Presidency.) (4) As a special case, if you own only the president's certificate of a corporation, you may sell only one share (10%) and keep 10%. The conditions in (3), above, must still be met. To do this you first announce that you are selling only 10%; then determine the new president and exchange certificates with him (per rule 3.5); and then place one of the two 10% certificates he just gave you into the Open Market. Even if a corporation has not floated (see 3.4) or has not operated, its stock may still be sold. After selling, you must move the corporation's Market Price token downward one space for each 10% share of its stock that was sold. (If you sell more than one certificate, you may sell them all at once and then move the token.) If this would cause the token to go off the bottom of the Stock Chart, it stops at the bottom row and does not move further. If you move the token into a space that already contains one or more tokens, place it underneath them all. (b) Sell any Private Company directly to another player, for any positive whole number of dollars the two can agree upon. (c) Buy one certificate, which can be any of the following: (1) From the Initial Offering, the 20% President's Certificate of any corporation. In this case the player must set the Par Value of the corporation to one of these values: $55, $70, $90, or $110 (per 10% share). The corporation's square token is placed in the column showing that value under "Par Values" on the Initial Offering display, and one of its round tokens is placed in the gray space with the same value on the Stock Chart, thus setting the corporation's Market Value equal to its Par Value (for now). (If you place the round token in a space that already contains one or more tokens, place it underneath them all.) Since the President's Certificate is 20%, it costs the player twice the Par Value he sets. (2) From the Initial Offering, a 10% certificate of any corporation whose President's Certificate has already been purchased. The player pays the bank the par value. If this purchase reduces the amount of the corporation's stock in the Initial Offering to exactly 40%, the corporation floats. (Follow the procedure in 3.4.) (3) From the Open Market, a 10% certificate of any corporation. The player pays the bank the market value. Notice that it is not possible for the president's certificate of a corporation to be available in the Open Market, because a president's certificate can only be sold to the Open Market if it will cause an immediate change of presidency (3.5). (4) From another player, a Private Company, for any positive whole number of dollars the two players can agree on. All purchases are subject to the limits given in 3.3. In addition, you are not allowed to purchase any stock of a corporation if you have sold any stock of that corporation earlier in the same stock round. You may do any of these things, except (c), more than once on a turn, if you like. However, you may not sell one or more certificates, buy a certificate, and then sell it on the same turn; that is, your one purchase (if any) must either precede all sales, or follow all sales, made on the same turn. If you don't want to do any of these things, you may pass (exception: 3.3(b)). Notice that a Private Company can be sold directly from one player to another on either player's turn. However, it is better for the buyer to do this on the seller's turn, because if it happens on the buyer's turn, it counts as the one purchase he is allowed on that turn. 3.3. Ownership Limits and Purchase Restrictions There are two upper limits on a player's stock ownership. (a) No player may own more than 60% of the stock of any one corporation. No player may ever make a purchase that causes him to exceed this limit. (b) The total number of certificates a player owns must not exceed the "Certificate Limit" shown in Table II. This limit includes both Private Company certificates and the stock certificates of corporations. (The 20% President's certificate of a corporation counts as only one. Stock certificates of companies whose market values are in the yellow section of the Stock Chart do not count against this limit. Private Company certificates owned by a corporation also do not count.) No player already holding the maximum number of certificates allowed by this limit may purchase another certificate (unless it is stock of a company whose market value is in the yellow section of the Stock Chart), even if the purchase would cause a change of presidency that would result in the player's holding no longer exceeding the limit. It is possible to exceed this limit because another player has made a purchase that caused you to lose a presidency (thus exchanging certificates as described in 3.5(b)), or because you own stock whose market value has risen out of the yellow section of the Stock Chart since you bought it. In either case, you may keep the excess until your next stock turn, but on that turn, you must sell enough certificates that you comply with the limit once more. (There is a tricky way to comply with this, which I feel needs to be pointed out to new players because it _is_ allowed. If you are over the limit by five certificates because you bought five certificates of a corporation whose market value was in the yellow zone but it has since risen out of the yellow zone, you may not have to sell all five. Sell just enough to make that corporation's market value fall back into the yellow zone, and you can keep your remaining holding.) 3.4. Floating a Corporation A corporation "floats" when 60% of its shares are no longer in the Initial Offering (that is, when the amount in the Initial Offering is reduced to 40% or less). Until this happens, the corporation is not considered fully formed, and cannot operate. When a corporation floats, perform these steps. (a) The bank gives the president the corporation's charter. (b) The bank gives the corporation its tokens that will be used as stations (that is, all but the one round and one square token that are being used to mark its two stock values). There are circles on the charter showing how many station tokens the corporation should have. (c) The bank pays the corporation an initial treasury equal to ten times its Par Value. If your group prefers, you may wait until the end of the stock round in which the corporation floats, or until the beginning of its first operating turn, to perform these steps physically. (However, the payment is considered to have occurred immediately if it makes a difference such as causing the Bank to run out of money.) They are performed only once for each corporation. 3.5. Change of Presidency Whenever a purchase or sale of stock causes another player to hold a greater percentage of a corporation's shares than the president, a change of presidency occurs. (A change of presidency does _not_ occur merely because another player holds the same percentage as the president, nor because the open market contains a percentage equal to or greater than the president's.) When a change of presidency occurs, follow these steps immediately: (a) The player who holds the greatest percentage of the corporation's shares is the new president. If there is a tie (which can only happen if a sale caused the change of presidency), the first tied player clockwise from the outgoing president is the new president. (b) The new president takes two 10% certificates of the corporation from his own holding and exchanges them for the 20% president's certificate, wherever it is (either in the Open Market or in the outgoing president's holding). (c) The corporation's charter and belongings are moved in front of its new president. (Disregard this step if the bank still has the corporation's charter because it hasn't yet floated, or it just floated and the banker hasn't given the charter to the president yet.) 3.6. End of Stock Round The Stock Round continues until all players consecutively pass (take no action on their turns). That ends the Stock Round, and the Priority Deal card goes to the player following the last player who took an action on his turn. (If no one did anything but pass during the stock round, the Priority Deal card stays where it was at the beginning of the round.) At the end of the round, if all 100% of the stock of any corporation is owned by players, move that corporation's market value token upward one space. If this would cause the token to go off the top of the Stock Chart, the token does not move. If you move the token into a space that already contains one or more tokens, place it underneath them all. (If more than one corporation has 100% of its stock owned by players, perform this move for each such corporation in descending order of market value, breaking ties as in 4(b).) 4. Operating Round In an operating round, each company (except unfloated corporations) operates exactly once. (a) First, all private companies operate. These can be done simultaneously. (b) Then, all corporations which have floated (see 3.4) take their operating turns. The company with the highest market value goes first; then the next-highest (which hasn't yet operated this round); and so on. If there is a tie, the corporation whose market value token is farthest to the right goes first; if there is still a tie, the corporation whose market value token is stacked on top goes first. I recommend flipping each corporation's market value token face down after moving it during the pay-dividends-or-withhold step of the corporation's turn (see 4.2.4), to remove all doubt about which corporations have run. (If there is a stack of tokens in one space on the Stock Chart, the face-down ones will always be underneath any face-up ones. I place each newly flipped token on top of any other face-down ones in the space, so it will wind up underneath them when the face-down tokens are turned face-up again as a group, at the end of that operating round.) 4.1. Operating a Private Company When a Private Company operates, the bank simply pays its fixed dividend (stated on its certificate) to the player or corporation that owns the Private Company. A Private Company's special abilities (if any) cannot be used during its own turn. They can only be used during the turn of a corporation which owns the Private Company. 4.2. Operating a Corporation A corporation can do the following on its turn. Unless otherwise stated, each step is optional, but if done, must be done in the order listed. All operations are carried out by the corporation's president, and unless otherwise stated, all decisions are his and his alone. (a) If this is the corporation's first operating turn of the game, place a station token on its home city or off-board location. (This step is required, and costs nothing.) (b) Lay or upgrade one track tile, as described in 4.2.1. (c) Place a station token, as described in 4.2.2. (d) Run trains, as described in 4.2.3. (This step is required if any player who owns stock in the corporation insists.) (e) Pay out dividends or withhold revenue, as described in 4.2.4. (This step is required.) (f) Purchase one or more trains, as described in 4.2.5. (This step may be required, as described in 4.2.5.1.) Notice that purchasing trains comes after running trains. This means that each newly floated corporation, on its first turn, will be unable to run any trains (except possibly if it purchased the Ocilla Southern private company before step (d)). (g) Purchase one or more Private Companies directly from players, as described in 4.2.6. This may be done more than once per turn, and may be done at any time(s) during the corporation's turn. (h) Use any special abilities of Private Companies which the corporation owns. Table III describes each of these abilities and spells out exactly when it can be used (which is not necessarily at the end of the corporation's turn). This may be done more than once per turn. 4.2.1. Laying a Tile The corporation may build track by laying a tile in the one of the printed hexes on the map. All allowed tile builds are determined by the following rules. (a) At the beginning of the game, only yellow tiles are available for building. Green and brown tiles become available in later phases, as listed in Table I. (b) All tiles which are not on the map are available for anyone to use for building. Tiles cannot be owned by any player or company. (c) Yellow tiles may only be placed in pale green hexes (which make up most of the map at the beginning of the game). (They may be laid on pale green partial hexes, even though part of the tile will overlap the ocean.) Green tiles may only be laid to replace existing yellow tiles. Similarly, brown tiles may only be laid to replace existing green tiles. No tile may be laid on a red or gray area, or off the hex grid. (d) White circles on a tile represent cities, and can only be laid in places where the map, or the existing tile, shows a circle. No tile without such a circle may be laid in those places. (Upgrading one circle to two circles is allowed.) The circles are also spaces where station tokens may be placed. (e) Similarly, a crossbar or dot on a tile represents a small town, and can only be laid in places where the map, or existing tile, shows one of those symbols. The two are interchangeable. (f) Where the map shows rivers, mountains, or swamps, they have no effect on track building, except that the first time a tile is laid on each of those hexes, the corporation must pay the bank the dollar amount (if any) shown unencircled in the hex. This represents the cost of building bridges, tunnels, etc. All other tile-laying is free. (g) Tiles labeled with one or more city names may be laid only in the hex(es) named. If one of these tiles exists for a hex, no other tile of the same color may be laid in that hex. (h) When a tile is laid in a hex, whether or not it already contains a tile, all existing track, cities, and towns in the hex (or on the old tile) must be preserved. (They need not be in exactly the same places, but all edges that were connected must remain so, and any town or city that was connected to an edge must remain so.) All tokens on the old tile (or in the empty hex) are moved to the new tile, and the old tile (if any) is removed from the board and becomes available for reuse. Note: Table IV shows all possible tile upgrades (replacements), and all orientations of them, which are allowed by (c), (d), (e), (g), and (h). (i) No tile may be laid that causes track to run into a blank side of a red or gray area, or off the hex grid. (It is okay to connect track to the arrows in red areas.) (j) Each tile laid must contain either some newly added track that is connected to an existing station of the corporation, or a city which is connected to an existing station of the corporation. The connection is traced as if you were running a train (with no limit on the number of cities it can visit); thus it may not backtrack at a fork, and may not run through a red area or through a city whose circles are all occupied by stations of other corporations. (But unlike the route on which a train is run, this connection route need not begin at a city, town, or red area; it may begin at any point on track which is added by the new tile, or at any city on the new tile.) (k) No tile may be laid in a hex that contains a Private Company owned by a player, except the Waycross hex. (Once a private company has been purchased by a corporation, any corporation may lay tiles in its hex. When the first 5 Train is purchased, all private companies close and this restriction disappears with them.) Once a tile is laid on the map, it stays there for the rest of the game, unless and until it is replaced by another tile as described in (c) and (h). Brown tiles can never be replaced. 4.2.2. Placing a Station Token If the corporation has any station tokens remaining on its charter, it may place one in any unoccupied circle in any city which is connected by track to an existing station of the corporation, subject to the following restrictions: (a) The connection is traced as if you were running a train (with no limit on the number of cities it can visit); thus it may not backtrack at a fork, and may not run through a red area or through a city whose circles are all occupied by stations of other corporations. (b) No corporation can have more than one station in the same hex. (c) In each city that is the home of a corporation which has not yet placed its home station (including corporations which have not yet floated), one circle must be left open for that purpose. The corporation must pay the bank $40 if this is its first station other than the home station, or $100 otherwise. Once placed, a station cannot be moved for the rest of the game. (4.2.1(h) should be regarded as enforcing this rule, not as an exception to it.) 4.2.3. Running Trains The corporation may run any or all of the trains it owns. Each train must follow a route that meets the following conditions. (a) The route must be a continuous path of track (shown as wide lines) that connects two or more cities, towns, and/or off-board locations (shown as arrows on red areas of the board). (b) The route may not use a single section of track more than once, no matter how short. (Thus "doubling back" is not allowed, nor are loops of any kind). Note that there is at most one section of track crossing each edge of any hex. (c) Where the train passes through a fork (switch), it may only follow one side of the fork. In other words, the engine cannot "shift into reverse" partway through its run. (d) When the route enters a city, it may exit on any piece of track connected to that city, except the one from which it came, provided that the city is not blocked. (e) A city is considered "blocked" if all of the circles (spaces for station tokens) in that city are occupied by stations of corporations other than the operating corporation. The route cannot pass through a blocked city. However, the beginning or end of the route (or both) may be blocked cities. (f) The route must include at least one city or off-board location containing a station of the operating corporation. (g) The route cannot include any city, town, or off-board location more than once. Different arrows in the same red area are considered to be the same location. (h) The route cannot pass through an off-board location (red area), even if it contains a station of the corporation. An off-board location can only be used as the beginning or end of a route. (i) The total number of cities and off-board locations must be equal to or less than the train type number. (So for example a 2 Train may run to 2 cities, or one city and one off-board location.) Towns do not count toward this limit. Note: Montgomery and Tallahassee are cities for this purpose, even though they look like towns. (j) When a corporation operates more than one train on a turn, no two trains may use a single section of track, no matter how short. It is all right for multiple trains to run to the same city, town, or off-board location, so long as the tracks used by each train are separate. 4.2.3.1. Calculating Revenue Each train run generates revenue equal to the sum of the revenue values of each of the cities, towns, and off-board locations on its route. (The revenue value of a town or city (except Montgomery and Tallahassee) is shown in a small circle next to that town or city. For all off-board locations, and Montgomery and Tallahassee, two values are shown in a box; the lower value applies until the first 5 Train is purchased, and the higher value applies for the rest of the game.) A corporation must run train(s) each turn for the greatest total revenue possible, if any player who owns stock in the corporation insists. (This rule does _not_ restrict the president's options in any step of the corporation's turn other than Running Trains.) This means that if any stockholder points out a better paying route or combination of routes than one that the president has announced, the president must use those route(s) unless he can find other(s) that pay still more. (However, players who spot a better paying route or combination are not required to point it out.) 4.2.4. Paying Out Dividends or Withholding Once the corporation has run its trains, if any, and calculated the revenue they produce, its president must choose one of two options: (a) Pay out dividends. In this case, each player who owns shares in the corporation receives a dividend from the Bank equal to the same percentage of the revenue as the percentage of the corporation's shares he owns. For example, if the total revenue from the runs is $70, a player who owns 60% of the corporation's stock would be paid 60% of $70, or $42. If there are shares of the corporation's stock in the Open Market, the Bank pays the dividend for those shares into the corporation's treasury. If there are shares in the Initial Offering, the Bank does not pay the dividend for those shares to anyone. (b) Withhold revenue. In this case, the Bank pays the total revenue generated by the runs into the corporation's treasury, and nothing to any player. If the corporation earns revenue and pays out dividends, move its market-value token one space to the right on the Stock Chart. If the token cannot move to the right because it's at the end of a row, move it upward one space instead. If the corporation withholds its revenue, or does not run any trains, move its market-value token one space to the left on the Stock Chart. If the token cannot move to the left because it's in the leftmost column, move it down one space instead. If it's already at the lower left corner, it does not move. 4.2.5. Purchasing Trains A corporation may purchase trains from the bank, from other corporations, or some of each, in any order (during this step of the turn). These restrictions apply: (a) Like stock certificates, trains in the Bank are kept in two separate areas, the Initial Offering and the Open Market. All trains begin in the Initial Offering. (b) All trains in the Initial Offering must be purchased in increasing order of type; that is, all the 2 Trains must be purchased before any corporation is allowed to buy a 3 Train, and so on. For this reason, all trains in the Initial Offering are usually kept in a single pile, except that the next train currently on offer and those of its type are usually fanned out to show how many are left. The area in the upper right corner of the Initial Offering display sheet is used for this purpose. (c) Trains in the Bank, whether in the Initial Offering or the Open Market, are purchased at face value. (d) Trains may also be purchased from other corporations, for any agreed price of at least $1 each. The price is public information. (Unlike most other 18xx games, it is legal to do this in any phase of the game.) (e) When the first train of a new type is purchased from the Initial Offering, a phase change occurs. Most of the effects of a phase change are immediate. For example, when the first 4 Train is purchased, all 2 Trains are immediately removed from play. (f) In the first part of the game, each corporation is limited to buying at most one train from the Bank each turn. (This limit disappears when the first 4 Train is purchased; thus the corporation that buys the first 4 may immediately buy additional trains, subject to (g), below.) Purchases of trains from other corporations do not count against this limit. (g) There is also a limit on the total number of trains each corporation may own. (The limit depends on the game phase; see Table I.) A corporation which already owns this maximum number of trains is not allowed to buy another from any source, even if the purchase would cause a phase change that would cause some of its trains to be removed from play. When a phase change reduces this limit, each corporation which owns more trains than are allowed by the new limit must immediately discard the excess train into the Open Market, without compensation. Each corporation's president chooses which of its trains to discard. This is the _only_ way that a train can go into the Open Market. (Note: When the first 4 Train is purchased, all 2 Trains are removed from play _before_ the new limit of three trains takes effect.) A corporation which owns fewer than the maximum number of trains _may_ purchase one even if the purchase will cause a phase change that reduces the limit and causes the corporation to exceed the new limit, but the corporation must then discard one train as above. Corporations cannot sell trains to the Bank, nor can they voluntarily discard trains. The only way for a corporation to get rid of an unwanted train (other than arranging a forced discard as in (g), above) is to persuade another corporation to buy it, and the sale can only take place on the buying corporation's turn. 4.2.5.1. Forced Train Purchase If a corporation has a legal run (a track route on which it could run a train) but does not own a train during the train purchase step of its turn, it _must_ buy at least one train. (Exception: If there are no trains left in the Initial Offering or the Open Market, the corporation is relieved of its obligation to buy a train.) If the corporation is required to buy a train but cannot afford to buy one from the bank, and its president cannot (or chooses not to) arrange to have the corporation purchase one from another corporation, then the president must contribute sufficient funds from his own personal cash to enable the corporation to buy a train. These restrictions apply if the president contributes personal funds: (a) The cheapest train available in either the Initial Offering or the Open Market must be purchased. (For example, if the next train available in the Initial Offering is a 6 Train, but there is a 3 Train in the Open Market, you have to buy the 3 Train.) No train may be purchased from another corporation if the president contributes personal funds. (b) Only one train may be purchased. (c) The president may contribute only enough cash for the purchase. That is, after the purchase, the corporation cannot have any cash left. (d) If the president does not have the needed cash, he must sell stock. The normal rules for stock sales in 3.2(a) and (b) apply unless otherwise stated here; in particular, the market value of each corporation whose stock is sold is adjusted as in 3.2(a). However, he may only sell just enough shares to raise the needed cash (that is, the president's personal funds after the train purchase must be less than the smallest amount he receives for selling any one certificate); and he may not make a sale that would cause a change of presidency of the operating corporation. These sales are not considered a stock turn. The Priority Deal card does not change hands, and the player is not required to bring himself into compliance with the certificate limit in 3.3(b) at this time. If the president is unable to raise the needed cash, even after selling all the stock he is allowed to sell under (d) above, he is bankrupt and the game ends immediately. 4.2.6. Purchasing Private Companies Once a 3 Train has been purchased, a corporation may buy Private Companies from players at any time during the corporation's turn. The price is subject to negotiation between the player and the corporation's president, but must be at least half, and no more than 1.5 times, the par value of the Private Company. The price paid is public information. Once a corporation owns a Private Company, it can never sell it. 5. End of Game There are three possible events that can cause the game to end: (a) The bank runs out of cash. If the bank runs out of cash during an operating round, improvise additional cash (or have everyone contribute equal amounts to the bank) and complete the round (_not_ the whole sequence of operating rounds). If the bank runs out of cash during a stock round, improvise additional cash and complete the stock round and _one_ operating round. (b) Any corporation's market value reaches $300 per share. (This can only happen during an operating round.) As in case (a), improvise additional cash and complete the current round only. (c) A player goes bankrupt. (This can only happen during a forced train purchase; see 4.2.5.1.) This ends the game _immediately_. Note that after (a) or (b) happens, it is still possible for a bankruptcy to occur. The bankruptcy still ends the game immediately. 5.1. Determining the Winner The winner is the player with the greatest total of: (a) Cash; (b) Stock, valued at its current market value; and (c) Private Companies, valued at their par values. Only assets owned by the player are counted. Assets owned by corporations are not. If the president's certificate of the Central of Georgia is still in the Initial Offering, then the share of CoG which came with the Macon & Birmingham private company is worthless. If a bankruptcy occurs, the bankrupt player forfeits all cash, so his total is only the market value of the stock he was not allowed to sell (and his private companies, if any). It is still possible for a bankrupt player to win the game! Ties are possible. If a tie occurs, I normally let it stand. However, in tournament situations where a tie causes problems, the recommended procedure is to play one extra operating round. (Skip any stock round which would otherwise precede that next operating round.) This cannot be done after a bankruptcy! 6. Miscellaneous The small wooden token with no label is placed in one of the four small boxes between the Stock Chart and the Open Market, to indicate which round it is. In the newest sets of 18GA, these boxes are colored brown, green, and yellow (all indicating operating rounds) and blue (indicating a stock round or end of game). At the end of a stock round, you simply move the token to the box matching the latest available tile color, then count rounds forward from there; that way, you don't need to remember what phase it was at the beginning of the current set of operating rounds. If you have an earlier set, you may find it easier to count operating rounds downward (ending with Operating Round 1) for the same reason. The money and certificate holdings of each player are public information and must be revealed on request. Similarly, the money, trains, private companies, and tokens on a corporation's charter are public information. 7. Optional Rules After you are familiar with the game, you may want to spice things up. The following optional rules can change the game quite a bit. I'm not sure I would recommend these at tournaments and certainly all players should agree before trying them. You may consider giving some or all of these a try: (a) Allow each railroad the option to lay two yellow tiles, instead of one, on its first turn of operations. This would help the map develop more quickly, but may help some railroads more than others. (b) Change the starting city for the Georgia & Florida Railroad from Albany to Columbus. This should help it get to Atlanta more quickly and probably would make it a more viable starting railroad. (c) Remove one of the Central of Georgia's $100 tokens from play so that it has one less token to purchase. This will make the decision of which cities to token more critical for the CoG. (d) Allow the brown Macon tile to be played in either Macon or Brunswick and remove the brown Brunswick tile from the game. A brown 63 tile can now be played in either Macon or Brunswick. This rule can be pretty cutthroat since there will now not be enough brown 63 tiles for all of the other cities and at least one city will not be able to upgrade to brown. (e) The game length could be shortened by changing the rule that the game ends whenever a stock value reaches $300 to some mutually agreed upon value such as $250. Under current rules, few games of 18GA will end by a stock reaching a value of $300 before the bank runs out of money. (f) Make the number of 8 Trains unlimited. (When the ones supplied in the game run out, use trains of types that were removed from the game as additional 8 Trains.) 8. Game Hints Hopefully new players will find this game enjoyable, yet less intimidating than larger scale 18xx games. The following are some observations and hints for play: An examination of the map will show that Atlanta is probably the key hex in the game. It is vital for railroads to be able to reach or pass through Atlanta to obtain the most profitable runs late in the game. Playtesting has shown that the Western & Atlantic Railroad is almost always one of the first railroads formed. The orientation of the Atlanta tile will determine which direction the W&A will build in. The majority of recorded games seem to indicate that the W&A usually places Atlanta in a northwest orientation followed by a tile build and token placement in Rome. It is possible to score Atlanta three times after the brown tile has been played depending on token placement and this is usually the best run in the game with a five train. If the W&A had more tokens, it would probably be the most powerful railroad in the game. The Macon & Birmingham is certainly the most powerful private with its free share of Central of Georgia. This private will ensure that the Central of Georgia is one of the first railroads to float, probably at a higher par value. The only down side is that the COG doesn't have very good runs until it reaches Atlanta. Mainly because of the free share, don't expect this private to go for face value and snap it up if you ever have a chance to get it for around face value. There is a limitation on the number of trains that can be purchased from the bank early in the game. This limitation keeps cutthroat players from buying trains that cannot be used effectively just to rust the 2 Trains too quickly. Newer players should recognize that this rule helps all players make money early in the game and note that most other 18xx type games are not nearly so nice! Fortunately this rule doesn't hurt most railroads since they won't lose too many runs from not having trains to cover them. Players who are operating railroads should not automatically buy multiple 2 Trains without carefully considering the overall game situation. Even with the train purchase rule discussed above, 2 Trains are expensive and may rust before they can even pay for themselves. No one ever said running railroads was easy! Some railroads may appear to be better than others, but several factors should be considered including the number of tokens each railroad has and long term routes. Usually three or possibly four railroads start and starting railroads closer to each other tends to make each railroad stronger. The question of which par value to start railroads at can present problems. Starting a railroad at a par of $55 will leave it undercapitalized but it can be necessary especially in four player games where players don't have as much money to spend. Remember that in a four player game, probably two players will only be operating one railroad. If you find yourself only operating one railroad, do you really want it to only have $550 to build track and buy tokens and trains with? You should want it to be at a higher par value, at least $70. Players should not count on their opponents to help them start their own railroad at a higher par although such cooperation does occur occasionally. Rarely do early starting railroads begin with a $110 par value but the last railroad or two usually starts at either $90 or $110 par. This game also treats towns a little differently than the standard "whistle stops". In most other 18xx games and in early versions of 18GA, players tended to avoid towns because they paid so much less than the bigger cities. The rule of not having them count towards the length of runs should insure that railroads treat them as they did historically, that is, they are worth serving and sometimes served as important junctions along routes. Of course not all important towns can be included and the selected ones for this game tend to be in the south of Georgia. This is intentional and was done to improve the runs of the railroads that don't start near Atlanta. Railroads should always build through towns if the opportunity presents itself. Early versions of this game included three 5 Trains instead of the current quantity of two but I decided to lower the number to make the purchase of the permanent trains more important. Rarely can a railroad purchase an 8 Train without the president contributing part of the cost and this makes the purchase of the cheaper permanent trains more important. Any railroad that can keep paying dividends every turn and buy one of the 5 Trains will give its president a good chance to win. If you have an opportunity to operate two railroads, one strategy is to pay dividends every time with one railroad while withholding frequently with the other one. Then use the higher valued railroad to buy trains from the lower priced railroad in order to keep paying maximum dividends. This strategy can also have the advantage of forcing the second railroad into the yellow zone on the stock market chart where its shares don't count against limits of holding. If you are president of only one railroad, you have to be more careful in the operation of your railroad in terms of planning for late game train purchases. Another strategy some aggressive players operating two railroads use is to force one of their railroads to buy a second permanent train to lengthen the game and increase dividends. The shorter length of 18GA may keep this from being a winning strategy since the game may not be extended enough for the new train to pay for itself. 9. Game Support I maintain the most current version of these rules, including the Questions & Answers in Appendix 1, on my web site at http://www.diogenes.sacramento.ca.us/18AL_18GA.html I will also answer any questions you may have about it. E-mail is preferred. My e-mail address is jdg@diogenes.sacramento.ca.us If you don't have e-mail, write to me at John David Galt 5150 Fair Oaks Blvd., STE 101, PMB 152 Carmichael, CA 95608-5758 Replacement parts for the game, and additional copies, can be obtained at the same addresses. Table I. 18GA Game Phases Train How Many Price Effects Initial conditions: Only yellow tiles are available. Corporations cannot yet buy private companies. Each corporation is limited to four trains, and may only buy up to one train from the bank each turn. (They may buy any number of trains from other corporations, for any agreed price of at least $1 per train - except the free 2 Train provided by the Ocilla Southern private company, which can never be sold.) Red off-board locations (and Montgomery and Tallahassee) are worth the lower of their two printed values. One operating round follows each stock round. 2 5* $100 No changes. 3 4 $180 Green tiles become available. Corporations may buy private companies from players for 0.5 to 1.5 times par value. Beginning with the next stock round, two operating rounds follow each stock round. 4 3 $300 All "2" Trains are removed from play. Each corporation is limited to three trains. Corporations may buy multiple trains from the bank each turn. 5 2 $450 All private companies are removed from play. Each corporation is limited to two trains. Brown tiles become available. Red off-board locations (and Montgomery and Tallahassee) are worth the higher of their two printed values. Beginning with the next stock round, three operating rounds follow each stock round. 6 2 $630 All "3" Trains are removed from play. 8 5 $800 All "4" Trains are removed from play. * Plus the free "2" train provided by the Ocilla Southern private company. Table II. Players' Starting Cash and Certificate Limits Number of Players: 3 4 5 Starting Cash: $600 $450 $360 Certificate Limit: 15 12 10 Table III. Private Companies Company Par Revenue Special Abilities Value Lexington $20 $5 None. The Lexington has no home hex, so it Terminal RR never blocks tile laying by corporations. Midland $40 $10 A corporation that owns the Midland may lay a Railroad Co. tile in the Midland's hex for free, once. The tile need not be connected to an existing station of the corporation. The corporation need not pay the $40 cost of the swamp. And it does not count as the corporation's one tile lay per turn. (But it still must be laid during the tile-laying step of the corporation's turn, and it must not dead-end into a blank side of a red or gray hex, or off the map.) This action does not close the Midland. Waycross & $70 $15 A corporation that owns the Waycross & Southern RR Southern may place a station token in Waycross at no cost, if there is room. The corporation need not connect to Waycross to use this special ability. However, it can only be done during the token-placement step of the corporation's turn, and only if the corporation has a token left, and it counts as the corporation's one station placement allowed per turn (excluding the home station). This action does not close the Waycross & Southern. As an exception to rule 4.2.1(k), any corporation is free to lay tiles in the Waycross hex even if the Waycross & Southern is still owned by a player. Ocilla $100 $20 When a corporation purchases the Ocilla Southern RR Southern, the corporation immediately gets the 2 Train marked "Free" (unless a 4 Train has been purchased or the corporation already has four trains, in which case the free train is removed from play). This acquisition is not considered a train purchase (so it does not prevent the corporation from also purchasing a train on the same turn), and does not close the Ocilla Southern. The free train cannot be sold to another corporation. In all other respects it is a normal 2 Train. Macon & $150 $25 The initial purchaser of the Macon & Birmingham RR Birmingham receives a free 10% share of the Central of Georgia. The CoG share has no value, and cannot be sold, until some player has set a market value for the CoG by purchasing its president's certificate. However, the share does count toward the 60% required to float the Central of Georgia. The Macon & Birmingham, once purchased, has no special abilities. The Macon & Birmingham does not close when the Central of Georgia operates, and may be purchased by a corporation like any other private company. Table IV. Tiles and Upgrades [The upgrade chart cannot be reproduced in this text file. It is a one page Corel Draw file named 18GA_tile_upgrade_chart_v3_25.cdr.] Appendix 1. Comparison with Other 18xx Games (Q&A) Can private companies that have not yet been sold to corporations be sold between players at a mutually agreed price? Yes Is 60% always the minimum amount needed to float a corporation? Yes When railroads float do they get 10 times the par value as starting capital (full capitalization)? Yes Is a railroad's home station placed during the stock round when it floats? No, at the beginning of its first operating turn. Can players sell shares in a corporation that has not yet operated? Yes (but not in the first stock round of the game) Is 50% the maximum amount of a corporation's stock allowed in the open market (bank pool)? Yes May a player buy a share and sell it in the same stock turn? Yes May a player sell some stock, then buy a certificate, and then sell more, all in one stock turn? No If a player sells stock of multiple corporations in one turn, and their market values end up in the same square on the stock chart, can he choose the order in which he sells them in order to arrange their market-value tokens in any order he likes? Yes May a player sell stock certificates one at a time, and adjust the market value after each sale, in one stock turn in order to receive a lower price because he wants to go bankrupt? Yes Is price protection allowed as in 1870? No Do shares in the yellow zone of the stock chart count toward holding limits? No Do private companies owned by a player count toward his holding limit? Yes Can a corporation buy back its own stock as in 1870? No Can a corporation buy stock of other corporations as in 1841? No Can a corporation replace a tile if one of its stations is connected to track on the existing tile, but not to any track added by the new tile? No, unless the tile contains a city. Do private companies owned by players block tile laying in their hexes? Yes, except the Lexington Terminal RR (which has no home hex) and the Waycross & Southern (which is explicitly exempted). Can a corporation which owns the Waycross & Southern place a station in Waycross if no tile has been laid in the hex? Yes. The station will then enable the corporation to place a tile there on a later turn (but not on the same turn because tile laying must take place in an earlier step of the corporation's turn than placing a station, except the home station). Can towns be converted to cities as in 1853? No Can towns be downgraded (converted to plain track) as in 1856? No Do towns count towards length of routes? No (but Montgomery and Tallahassee are considered _cities_). May a train that runs to its maximum number of cities also run to (and count) towns before the first city, or after the last city? Yes If another player points out a higher-paying set of runs for a corporation than the one the president wants to use, does he have to use the higher-paying runs? Yes, if the player who pointed out the runs holds stock in the corporation. May a railroad corporation pay half dividends? No Do shares in the Initial Offering pay dividends to the corporation as in 1870? No Do shares in the Open Market pay dividends to the corporation as in 1830? Yes Are there connection bonuses as in 1856? No Are there destination runs as in 1870? No Do corporations ever close as in 1870? No Can the owner of a private company voluntarily close it? No. All private companies must remain in the game until the first 5 Train is purchased. May a corporation buy more than one train from the Bank per turn? Only after the first 4 Train is purchased (including that same turn). May a corporation buy trains from other corporations if no 3 Train has been purchased? Yes Are obsolete trains always removed immediately? Yes Can trains be "traded in" on newer trains as in 1830? No Can a corporation pay to get rid of an old train as in 1837? No Is the number of 8 Trains limited to those provided in the set? Yes, unless your group plays with optional rule 7(f). Is the amount of money a player has known to other players? Yes Is the amount in a corporation's treasury known to other players? Yes Is the exact amount a corporation pays for a train disclosed? Yes Must railroads in a forced train purchase situation always buy the cheapest train available from the bank or open market? Yes (if the president contributes funds). Can the game ever end during a stock round? No Can the game end in the middle of a set of operating rounds? Yes. If the bank breaks or a company's market value reaches $300 per share, you complete only one operating round. If a player goes bankrupt trying to make a forced train purchase, the game ends immediately. Appendix 2. Design Notes 18GA is the first in a new series of 18xx games that is smaller in scale and playable in about 3-4 hours. The name comes from the postal abbreviation of the State of Georgia which is where most of the game takes place. I hope that this game captures the flavor of the 18xx system but is faster paced and may lead to other designs that can be set in smaller geographic regions. To that end, there are only six railroad corporations and there is a maximum of five players. The stock market chart has been changed in order to simplify stock rounds. For one thing, the length of the game has been shortened by reducing the number of columns to allow a stock value to "max out" sooner. With fewer rows throughout the chart, hopefully there will be less stock trashing than in some 18xx games. Also, with fewer corporations, I didn't see any point in having so many par values, hence there are now only four possible par values, which should be enough. The longest train in the game is an 8 Train and the game does not include diesels. With the small map board, 8 Train runs are hard enough to build. The American Civil War's devastating effect on Georgia based railroads is simulated very abstractly in the game by the severe reduction of Atlanta's income with its green tile until it is "rebuilt" by the passage of time and the impressive brown tile upgrade. I have tried to choose a mix of familiar larger railroads as well as regional railroads. Since I need heralds (railroad logos) for the company charters and for the stock certificates, my choice of railroads is sometimes limited to those railroads with available heralds. My research has shown me that many of the earlier railroads, especially those that went bankrupt before the late 1800s may have never even had heralds. I have tried to make the games historically accurate by limiting the tokens of these smaller regional railroads to reflect their smaller track networks and size when compared to the larger, more familiar railroads. Starting location can make all of the railroads potentially attractive as starting railroads, though. The only compromise I'm aware of is changing the Albany based Savannah, Albany & Gulf used in earlier versions to the Georgia & Florida Railroad. I have been unable to verify from old passenger timetables whether the G&F served Albany but it did come at least as close as nearby Moultrie, Georgia. The necessity of having the available railroads spread out somewhat and lack of available herald for the Savannah, Albany and Gulf made this adjustment necessary. I don't think overall game play is affected, though. In earlier versions of this game none of the private railroads had special abilities. Although this made the game a little simpler for newer players, which this game is intended for, it seemed a little bland. Therefore, minor special abilities were added fairly late in the development. Hopefully the minor special abilities that were chosen will not be too difficult for newer players to adjust to. Appendix 3. Historical Notes For the most part, railroads built into interior Georgia from the southern coastal region of the state. Many early railroad lines were partially built with slave labor by plantation owners who provided labor and easements to encourage railroads to serve their plantations. Most of these early railroads were built to connect plantations and large lumber mills to the Atlantic Ocean ports rather than to provide efficient travel between cities. There were a number of small railroads, now either absorbed into larger railroads or gone altogether. Some of these are represented by the private railroads as in other 18xx games. The Western & Atlantic Railroad was founded in 1836 by the State of Georgia to connect its domain with the Tennessee River near Chattanooga. The original southern terminus was to have been Decatur, Georgia (now a suburb of Atlanta), but after citizen objections, the line chose a junction with the Macon & Western RR and the Georgia Road six miles west of Decatur in a tiny town called Terminus. In December 1843 this town changed its name to Marthasville and again in 1847 to Atlanta. The W&A eventually connected to Chattanooga and was very active in the Civil War (see below for details). The W&A was merged into the L&N around 1893. The Georgia Railroad was chartered in 1833 and began to build rail lines near Augusta to connect to existing railroads in nearby South Carolina. It built west from Augusta and connected to Atlanta. Later, it acquired stock in the Atlanta and West Point RR and the Western of Alabama to form the West Point Route in 1881. For many years, the New York - New Orleans _Crescent_Limited_ operated between Atlanta and Montgomery on the West Point Route's tracks. The Georgia and Florida Railroad was formed in 1906 to connect Columbia, South Carolina and the Gulf of Mexico. Ironically, Madison was the only town in Florida ever served by this line although it had quite a network of lines in south Georgia. It was absorbed into the Southern Railway in 1962. The Seaboard Air Line's original company was formed in 1837. Its original city served was Portsmouth, Virginia, and its tracks finally reached Atlanta in 1892. After World War II, about one fifth of its total tonnage was phosphate rock to be used in fertilizer production in the south. It was a major carrier between the East coast and Florida and merged with the Atlantic Coast Line in 1967. The Atlantic Coast Line was formed in 1830 and was another railroad that began in Virginia. From its origin in Petersburg, it began to acquire other weaker railroads like many other railroads did. When it absorbed the Plant System in 1902, it became a major carrier within Georgia. After 1961 its headquarters were moved to Jacksonville, Florida. For years it painted its locomotives purple, an unusual color for major lines, because the current president, Champion McDowell Davis, liked the color purple. Shortly after merging with the Seaboard Air Line, it formed the Seaboard System. The Central of Georgia began in 1833 as the Central Rail Road and Banking Company and originally served Savannah. It grew tremendously by the end of the nineteenth century and had become one of Georgia's premiere railroads. Things did not go so well and, like many other railroads, entered a long period of receivership, from 1932 to 1948. It merged into the Southern Railway in 1963. Railroads had just begun to develop extensive route through parts of Georgia when the American Civil War began in 1861. Railroads played an important role throughout the war in moving troops and material around the changing front lines. In September 1863, the Confederate Army of Tennessee was battling against a much stronger Union force in North Georgia not far from Rome, Georgia. Five brigades of fresh infantry from Longstreet's First Corps was moved from northern Virginia to reinforce the battles in the area by the Confederacy. They traveled over 900 miles by way of Wilmington North Carolina, Augusta and Atlanta and swung the battle in favor of the Confederacy in what is known as the battle of Chickamauga. No Georgia based American Civil War discussion would be complete without recalling The Great Locomotive Chase. Earlier in the war, the importance of railroads was already understood and the Union launched a bold plan to destroy a vital supply line between Atlanta and Chattanooga. On April 12, 1862 a group of about 20 Union raiders led by James J. Andrews, posing as civilian passengers, captured a Western & Atlantic locomotive called _the_General_. During a scheduled stop for breakfast near Kennesaw, Georgia, the raiders captured the locomotive and, after detaching three cars from the rest of the train, headed north to try to destroy the line by tearing up track and burning bridges. Captain W.A. Fuller saw the train as it moved out of the station and organized a hasty pursuit using an older locomotive called _the_Yonah_. As the chase moved north, Captain Fuller switched to a locomotive called the Shorter and continued the pursuit while dodging ties and empty cars left in his path by the raiders in an attempt to derail them. In Adairsville, they switched to a newer locomotive called _the_Texas_. Now the Southern forces began to overtake the raiders and, out of fuel, Andrews and his men jumped out of _the_General_ near Ringgold Georgia and attempted to escape into the wilderness. After Captain Fuller recaptured the now empty locomotive he led a company of local militia and captured all of the raiders. Andrews and seven others were executed but the rest of his men were either eventually released or escaped. Later in the war as General Sherman was approaching the northern outskirts of Atlanta, _the_General_ carried the last trainload of refugees south from the fighting. Some of these same lines, later under control of the Union Army, carried food and ammunition to help supply General Sherman's 100,000 strong army as it moved towards Atlanta and beyond. Georgia railroads were in a shambles by the end of the war with some bridges and sections having been destroyed and rebuilt as many as a dozen times as control of the lines shifted back and forth. The economic ruin that much of the south suffered immediately after the war prevented many railroads from rebuilding and many simply disappeared or merged into bigger railroads. For the most part the railroads did recover, though, and many of the technological advances of the time such as air brakes, Pullman cars and, eventually, diesel locomotives appeared on Georgia's railroads just like many others. Consolidation meant that some railroads were merged into others and were no more. The Western & Atlantic was absorbed into the Louisville and Nashville around 1893 and the Georgia Railroad combined with the Western Railway of Alabama and formed The West Point Route before eventually merging into Southern Railway itself. Other railroads such as the Atlantic Coast Line and the Seaboard Air Line swallowed up smaller railroads and grew into the twentieth century. References: The Historical Guide to North American Railroads, Kalmbach Publishing, 1994 The Handbook of American Railroads, Robert C. Lewis, Simmons-Boardman Books, 1956 History of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, Maury Klein, Macmillan Co., 1972 Georgia Railroad & West Point Route, Richard E. Prince, 1962 Central of Georgia and Connecting Lines, Richard E. Prince, 1976 [Omitted a graphic of an old ad for Central of Georgia (circa 1950)] Game Version History: 1.0: November 1996: Original map includes Jacksonville as a red area in the south. Atlanta is shown as a 40/(10)/80 city with slots for three tokens. 1.1: December 1996: Differences/FAQ section added as well as clarification regarding end of game. 1.2: June 1997: Athens hex moved, minor typos corrected. 2.0: December 1997: Atlanta changed with special tiles. Privates can now be sold for a maximum of 1.5 times face value. Starting money changed to $1800 divided by the number of players. Train purchases now limited to one train per OR until the first four train is bought. 3.0: May 1998: Map revised further with number of towns reduced and Birmingham changed to Montgomery. Stock chart also revised and tile mix changed. Private railroads now have minor special abilities. G&F RR replaces the S,A&G. 3.1: June 2002: Complete rewrite of rules by John David Galt, to remove any need for familiarity with other 18xx games. Many clarifications but no real changes (I hope). Credits: Original Design: Mark Derrick Production: Mark Derrick, David Reed, John David Galt Playtesting: Mark Derrick, Jeremy Vipperman, Mark Frueh, Chris Lawson, Maria Derrick, Anthony Carver, David Metheny, John Bohrer, Dean Washburn, and the Chattanooga Wargaming Club Cover Photo: the Texas, circa 1900, photo courtesy of the Chattanooga Regional History Museum Other Assistance: Kalmbach Memorial Library, Civil War Museum (Kennesaw, Georgia), L&N Historical Society