Samantha RD
South Africa
Harrismith
Free State
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Tonight my hubby and I tried out the two-player Steam map for Scotland (we used this re-design: Scotland map for Steam - Piotro redesign) using the standard game rules as modified for this map (Scotland Map). We have adapted the base map quite successfully for two player play, but recently printed off both this map and the Sicily and Malta adaptation for a bit of a different experience.
We started off with him claiming first place in the auction and taking the locomotive upgrade tile, whilst I grabbed the urbanise action to ensure a two-point delivery right off the bat regardless of whether the juicy cubes in the lower corner disappeared.
This established us nicely on the opposite ends of this (small) map, but it wasn’t long before we were infiltrating each others’ territory in true Steam style. A deliberate attempt by me to box my other half into the lower corner was rebutted with some very creative track building, and the game was on.
The victory point race started with him claiming two points on the VP track and I jumped on at 4 points the following turn, but this was honestly already quite far into things, considering there are only eight rounds and we were sitting at round five by that point – We had only just ‘gotten into’ the sneaky way the rails roll in Scotland!
The last few rounds consisted of some convoluted track being laid to squeeze out those last few VP, with my husband eventually having 1 more link on the board than I, but unfortunately not enough viable deliveries left to catch up the 5 point lead I’d managed to establish. We ended 29-24 points with the board laid out as below (I was the brown trains).
This map is a lot of fun. It seems more subtle than brutal (ie: not quite the vicious drubbing you get upon first attempting Sicily and Malta) and is one we are definitely going to be exploring in further detail. I particularly enjoyed the way the limited routes enforce a very creative approach to track building,with opportunities for laying track becoming much tighter as the game progresses.Careful planning is required to successfully claim a ferry route.Overall, I’d say that Scotland offers a slightly different, but very enjoyable, flavour of Steam.
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Simon Woodward
New Zealand
Hamilton
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Thanks for this great little session report/review - very helpful!
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Did you like the map with 8 turns? I normally play with only 7.
Anyways, nice report 
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Dick Ruck
United Kingdom
Brighton
East Sussex
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Nice report - thanks!.
It has nudged me into printing this version of the map, which is now waiting to be laminated.
Dick
Edit: Now laminated and played twice - I love this map!
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Michiel Hillenius
Netherlands
Hoogland (Amersfoort)
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Thanks for the nice report. If you want to explore more two player maps, perhaps this geeklist helps: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/74948/item/1917957#ite...
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Samantha RD
South Africa
Harrismith
Free State
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General_Norris wrote: Did you like the map with 8 turns? I normally play with only 7. Anyways, nice report
Hi thanks, I think we will try with 7 turns on the next run through Scotland just to compare - As it was, there was very little to do on the last turn track-wise. But overall, yes, very enjoyable.
@ Michiel - thanks for the link!
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