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. HEADLINES

Site News
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Gamekit Announcement
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1826 Gamekits
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1860 Isle of Wight
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18MW in playtest
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1862 FAQ
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1825 FAQ
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New Designs
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Crisis
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1836 Development
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18VA and 18EU prototypes
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Ur, 1830 BC
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1846 USA in playtest
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18VA USA in playtest
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1895 Namibia in playtest
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1876v2 Trinidad in playtest
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. NEWS  -  U p d a t e d   1st August 2003

Site News (1st August 2003)
John David Galt will be giving me a hand to update the site so hopefully there will be some process in getting the site back up to date in the coming weeks.

Gamekit Announcement, part II (8th August 2002)
Still no real news after 8 months concerning 18xx gamekits but don't give up hope yet, things are still progressing behind the scenes, I'm sure people won't be disappointed with the end results. I'm still taking pre-orders for my gamekits so please send them as normal, but no date when distribution will be reopen. [ More... ]

Gamekit Announcement (27th January 2002)
I plan to make an announcement concering my 18xx gamekits in the coming weeks. Pre-orders are still being accepted at the moment but production has been delayed for a while (all tied in with said announcement).

1826 Gamekits (1st October 2001)
All 1826 gamekits have been sold so distribution is on hiatus, I have now sold all the 88 gamekits I made so 1826 is on hold once again. The good news is that I'm accepting pre-orders for 1841 and 1851 (and 1826 for that matter). I will be making some 1841 gamekits in the coming months.

1860, Isle of Wight (7th September 2001)
I've been reminded that Mike Hutton has been working on a new 18xx design, 1860 Isle of Wight. Mike reports:
"It's still in the design stage, but I've pretty much finalised the map (41 hexes) and most of the tileset, a lot of which looks a bit strange. There will be 8 companies, and it's probably best described as an 1825/1853 variant with bells and whistles. And not a lot of money.
I've included two non-historical companies (which were proposed but never incorporated): the Shanklin & Chale, which was dropped in favour of the Freshwater Yarmouth & Newport, and the Ventnor, Yarmouth & South Coast, which was proposed at the end of the 19thC but never got past the proposal stage.
I initially thought of strapping the companies of cash by using standard levies and building costs. I'm increasingly of the opinion that all the trains need to be expensive instead, with not a lot of variation in their overall costs. The progression of trains will start off slow, but will (hopefully) pick up speed to a ludicrous pace which will see most of the companies in trouble, and herald the formation of the Southern Railway."

18MW in playtest (4th September 2001)
Robin Barbehenn has provided a link to download rules and a map to allow 18MW to be playtested. [ Source... ] [ Link... ]
Rules and map now available on this site. [ Rules... ] [ Map... ]

1862 FAQ (3rd September 2001)
Steve Thomas has produced a FAQ for 1862 (Helmut Ohley).

1825 FAQ (30th August 2001)
Mike Hutton has produced a 1825 FAQ.

New Designs (28th August 2001)
Have been informed of two new designs. 1855 Australia by Frank Thuro and 18MW USA by Robin Barbehenn, both are at the early design stage. 18MW also has a working title of 1846 (which is the current title of Tom Lehmann's latest design set around Indiana / Ohio). Talking of which, Steve Thomas and I playtested 18VA and 1846 yesterday, both taking about 3 to 3 1/2 hours to play (with 4 players). Balance of corporations and of the maps seem to be the main issues but they both hold promise. 18VA seems to be suited for 3 or 4 players while 1846 takes 3 to 5 players (the game scales depending on the number of players).

Crisis (21st August 2001)
Robert Jasiek has released some up to date information on the new design he has been working and has implied it will be self-published at some point.
"Crisis is an advanced business game. Tycoons rob and restructure combines in a social market economy. The major topics are dubious stock market machinations, companies controlling others, and major business crises. Railroading is simulated for subways in a downtown megalopolis". [ Source... ] [ Link... ]

1836 Development (20th August 2001)
The development of David Hecht's 1836 : Netherlands and Belgium, has been passed over to a new group of playtesters, appropriately located in Belgium. David has handed the development to Frederic Taton and his group so he can concentrate on 18VA and 18EU.

18VA and 18EU prototypes (17th August 2001)
David Hecht (designer of 1826) has sent in an electronic copy of his latest design 18VA and an update of 18EU. Hope to playtest 18VA soon, David's other two design, 1836 Netherlands / Belgium and 18EU Europe are still being playtested.

Ur, 1830 BC (12th August 2001)
While this isn't an 18xx game as such, it might be of interest to those who play them. I received an email from Jeroen Doumen of Splotter Spellen who explains the game, while based on irrigation, is remarkably like an 18xx game. They plan to print 1500 copies ready for release in Essen this year. [ More... ] [ Link... ]

1826 Gamekit Update (11th August 2001)
In the 10 days since I announced that 1826 was available for pre-order, I've had 50 requests come in. Now all I need do is make them! They will not be ready for another month at least so please wait to be contacted that your gamekit is ready to ship. I expect the cost will be around £20 / $40 at the most and this will include all the component sheets laminated (tiles, shares, trains, etc. but not the maps). [ Source... ]

1846 USA in playtest (20th July 2001)
A new design by Tom Lehmann (designer of 2038) will see its first playtest in the UK at ManorCon this weekend. The design, 1846, is set in the United States around Indiana and Ohio and is based on another of Tom's designs, 1834. Designed for 3 to 5 players and a target game length of 3 hours. [ No more ]

18VA USA in playtest (20th July 2001)
A new design by David Hecht (designer of 1826) will see its first playtest in the UK at ManorCon this weekend. The design, 18VA, is set in Virginia and is designed for 3 to 5 players and a target game length of 3 hours. [ No more ]

1895 Namibia in playtest (2nd July 2001)
Adam Romoth has announced that his new design, 1895 Namibia, is available for playtesting. Rules and postscript maps are available on Adam's web pages. [ Source... ]

1876v2 Trinidad in playtest (7th June 2001)
Peter Jacobi has announced that his current design, 1876 Version 2 Trinidad, has been updated and available for playtesting. Rules and postscript maps are available on Peter's web pages (please note that is this is a new link supplied by Peter). [ Source... ]

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