Christychan
United States
Somerville
New Jersey
-
I had a friend that wanted to learn this game when he saw me playing it at one of our local gaming group's get-togethers. I told him I'd teach him outside of the group, because he'd likely be more comfortable learning this at his own pace, not rushed by the other experienced players. I'm not an expert at crayon rails in general, but I really enjoy playing them and Eurorails is my favorite. I also feel it's the best for teaching, because it's pretty basic and imho, more forgiving than Empire Builder for newbies if they make a building mistake.
Three of us got together - me, Arthur, and Brian...jokingly I call us the ABC's of gaming (Arthur, Brian, Christy). Neither of them knew the game, but both have played other train games such as Ticket to Ride and Railroad Tycoon, so this game had a sense of familiarity to it. I went through all the rules and we just played the regular game, without any add-on or fast-start rules (I wanted them to know how to play it right the first time, so they aren't playing wrong later at one of the group meetings). I gave each player 3 clear bingo chips to help mark the contracts and I use XL 20 sided turn-counter dice to track movement taken/remaining. I helped them calculate track for maybe 20 minutes or so and then helped them figure out how to manage their contracts for another hour or so, to optimize routes, payouts, etc. I already had printed out the cheatsheets with the cities and load locations, so they didn't need to much help with that.
I was the start player and started building between Berlin & Wien and the eastern part of the board in general. Brian was next and started in Milano and started building around the southern part of board. Arthur announced he was going to Scandinavia. I told him this was a bad idea. I said no one goes to Scandinavia and wins. He said he didn't care, he was going that way and that was that. We played and stayed more or less about even on trains and money. Arthur was able to upgrade to a 12-speed first, then me a couple of turns later, and then Brian a few more turns later. We were all just chugging along neck to neck. About midway through Arthur also bought the chunnel to England and went to Scotland. I thought it was a bit much...I mean come on - Scandinavia? Scotland? and the chunnel? really? After a couple of hours, it was becoming clear that Arthur was pulling ahead - he avoided Spain and the southeastern part of the board and focused primarily on the top half of the board. He soon had all but 1 major city connected and I still needed 2 major cities. Brian started lagging, still needing 3 more major cities. Toward the end, Arthur had all his cities and just focused on his cash build-up. I ended up connecting all 8 major cities, because I just couldn't resist a 3-load run to Spain (likely killing my chance of winning due to the build cost). Arthur declared Victory conditions just before I could deliver the last load that would have taken me over the $250 million mark, and as the last player, he ended the round and game as the Winner.
Did overbuilding kill my game? Was I too distracted by teaching? I don't know the answer, then again maybe I'm just not the strongest player. Arthur seemed to be charmed in getting so many highly profitable Scandinavian contracts (both deliveries and pick-ups) and seemed to be able to concentrate his efforts on the north part of the board. He picked up on the game quickly and seemed to get the most for his money build-wise. I really look forward to playing this game again against Arthur, just to see what happens next!
-
Kevin Cachia
United States
Springfield
Pennsylvania
-
I say you dare him to build into Scandanowhere again. I have rarely been tempted to build there and when I have, I have inevitably regretted it. The only way it can be worth the vast expense and slow delivery time is if you get lots of use from the rails. Sounds like Arthur got very lucky in that regard.
-
Eric Brosius
United States
Needham Heights
Massachusetts
-
Thanks for the report!
I always say, "you have to listen to what the cards tell you to do," but then I say, "if they tell you to build to Scandinavia, put your fingers in your ears!"
Oddly enough, last week I built to Scandinavia for the first time I can remember (and I've played dozens of games.) And not just part of Scandinavia---I built to Copenhagen, Goteborg, Stockholm and Oslo! But the cards screamed so loudly I had to listen to them even with my fingers in my ears!
-
Brandon M
United States
Branchburg
New Jersey
-
Eric Brosius wrote: Thanks for the report!
I always say, "you have to listen to what the cards tell you to do," but then I say, "if they tell you to build to Scandinavia, put your fingers in your ears!"
Oddly enough, last week I built to Scandinavia for the first time I can remember (and I've played dozens of games.) And not just part of Scandinavia---I built to Copenhagen, Goteborg, Stockholm and Oslo! But the cards screamed so loudly I had to listen to them even with my fingers in my ears!
Did you win?
-
Eric Brosius
United States
Needham Heights
Massachusetts
-
Yes, by a fairly wide margin. I had two huge loads for Goteborg and Copenhagen, and then it expanded from there.
-
Pete Storz
United States
California
-
I almost never go to Scandinavia, Scotland or Kaliningrad, and infrequently to Vienna or the Balkans in EuroRails. The cards have to shout really loudlyfor me to go to Scandinavia, Scotland or Kaliningrad. And that does occasionally happen, just very rarely.
One interesting thing in India Rail is that between having to connect to all Major Cities and the way high-paying commodities are distributed, there aren't many places you almost never go. Dibrugarh is about the only one I can think of.
-
Steve Okonski
United States
Unspecified
-
In prior versions of Eurorails, building to Scandinavia was a generally a losing strategy, however the newest Eurorails (the one with the Chunnel) has a different set of contracts, one that brings Scandinavia into play.
-
Ward Stolk
Netherlands
Amersfoort
-
Indeed, what Steve says. I play both 3rd and 4th edition. In 4th Scandinavia is a valid strategy, especially if you can combine some cards. In 3rd edition I have never seen somebody win with Scandinavia, and it is hardly ever visited (other than the odd Kopenhagen and Arhus).
What I find interesting is that you prefer Eurorails over Empire Builder for teaching. I prefer EB and find that more forgiving. Tthe only time a newby got stuck in EB was by starting in Mexico and building along the Gulf to Miami, and then only because a bridge was destroyed and he was out of money. In Eurorails I have seen a lot more trouble with beginners.
I think this is because the basic building area in EB is a triangle, rendering most distances not so far, whereas Euro has a basic five pointed star shape (Spain, Italy, former Yugoslavia, Scandinavia and Britain), making for much larger difference (and 3rd edition has some pretty lousy starting cards in there).
-
|
|
