18XX Quickstart Packages
Alan Winterrowd
United States
Bluffton
Indiana
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I have recently become interested in acquiring and playing some of the 18XX games, but I have a problem. No one in this area, that I have found, plays them. This puts me in the position of trying to teach games, that I am pretty new at, to others.
I know that in my first game, we began buying and bidding on privates, and I had absolutely no clue what they did, so figuring out how much they were worth was a non-starter.
What I would like to get are some game startups, for various games, for various numbers of players. These could be from actual games with experienced players, or an experienced players opinion on what would be a balanced starting point for new players. I would like for these to be at the point at which the privates have been purchased, and the each player has purchased the starting share of a company, so that the pars have been set. This would allow me to start the game in the stock round, with the players finishing out the stock round to float their companies, then heading into op rounds.
Feel free to add new games, if you have a good set up position for them. If I can find players, I will look to buy new games!
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1.
Board Game: 18AL
[Average Rating:7.48 Overall Rank:636]
Alan Winterrowd
United States
Bluffton
Indiana
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This would be a perfect start, as I have a print and play copy, have played a simplified version of the game, and am in a 3 player PBeM currently. It is a shorter game, which also makes it an easier sell.
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2.
Board Game: 18GA
[Average Rating:7.36 Overall Rank:1488]
Alan Winterrowd
United States
Bluffton
Indiana
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Another shorter game, which I have a print and play version of (or will have once I finish cutting this one out.
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3.
Board Game: 1870
[Average Rating:7.40 Overall Rank:460]
Alan Winterrowd
United States
Bluffton
Indiana
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I have played this one, and own a copy. Not my first choice for a beginner player, although it was my first 18xx game.
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4.
Board Game: 18Scan
[Average Rating:7.49 Overall Rank:1612]
Alan Winterrowd
United States
Bluffton
Indiana
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I have ordered this one, but am not sure how long before it will be shipped.
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5.
Board Game: 18EU
[Average Rating:7.77 Overall Rank:874]
Alan Winterrowd
United States
Bluffton
Indiana
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Another game I have ordered, but delivery time is up in the air.
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Wilmore
Kentucky
Thanks!
Bluffton
Indiana
Thanks!
I enjoy both the 18XX games and the Empire Builder series, but they are very different types of games. The Empire Builder (or crayon rails) games, are fairly easy to understand, take 3 hours plus, have a significant luck factor. Despite the luck factor, skill is still highly rewarded. These are games for players who want to lay track a nd deliver goods.
The 18XX games have no luck factor other than rolling or drawing to see who goes first. They revolve as much around the stock market as they do the railroads themselves. They tend to take longer than the crayon rails games, and can take MUCH longer for the larger ones.
18AL seems to be an excellent game. It is one of the print and play games, but it is of excellent quality. There are a couple of play by post games on the forums that you can use to follow the flow of 18AL or 18GA, to get a general feel of the 18XX games.
I would say, from my own experience, it is easier to get players for the crayon rails games than for 18XX. They are lighter and a bit faster than the 18XX, although still longer than the 45 minutes or so that TTR games take.
Wilmore
Kentucky
Hilliard
Ohio
Since we have come to value the "learning process" that is 18xx, I will offer some tidbits on how I think of 18xx games, without actually giving you starting positions.
I find them to be three games in one. The initial auction, beginning game, and mid - late game. "Winning" in the initial auction is not necessarily a game breaker, but allowing someone to have too much of an advantage early can make a game a foregone conclusion. The opening auction is an integral part of the game genre and "skipping it" to get to the beginning game "more productivly" is self defeating because you need to learn from your mistakes.
If your game, I will spout some sage advice or guiding principals on the games I am familiar with like 18Scan and 18EU later today.
Bluffton
Indiana
From my own first experience (1870 with several experienced players), I was completely clueless about the values, in fact about the point, of the privates, which made bidding on them a fairly "follow-the-lrader" affair. I was also pretty clueless about the values of the various railroads, as it became time to set a par price, etc.
I want to be able to sit down with a couple of new players, and hand them an opening position (or draw for it, whatever), that drops them into the game immediately after the sale of privates, and the purchase of the presidents share of the starting corps.
Ellicott City
Maryland