1830 via Rails

[egg_salad]

Well...FCM ended quicker than I expected. Without much basis, I had figured it would go another round.

Any desire for a second game of something not FCM to run parallel with Indonesia?

I made my mistake when I let you go first on the radio round.  I plead a fever of 103.

[rstites25]

I lucked out a bit in that I had the milestone to get two drinks instead of one. That, and I had the freezer, so I was in a decent position to respond to your soda radio campaign, which allowed me to fulfill a lot of demand. The board being split probably wasn't the best scenario for a novice game. It's almost like two 2-player games running in parallel.

[egg_salad]

I lucked out a bit in that I had the milestone to get two drinks instead of one. That, and I had the freezer, so I was in a decent position to respond to your soda radio campaign, which allowed me to fulfill a lot of demand. The board being split probably wasn't the best scenario for a novice game. It's almost like two 2-player games running in parallel.

I got that milestone as well.  If I had gotten radio 1, it would have been two cokes and 1 burger on all those houses...

[rstites25]

I just meant that I was in better position to react to your radio campaign because of it than I otherwise would have been. It essentially doubled the number of houses I could fulfill. I wasn't anticipating having to fulfill any drinks at that point and to do the best I could with what I had for a round while I increased drink capacity.

But you're right, if you had gone first, the additional Sodas and fewer burgers probably flips our positions.

[Woodall]

Have to say I'm not interested in Arkwright. Don't let me stop you dudes though. I will give Rolling Stock a shot.

[rstites25]

Let's do Rolling Stock. Are you familiar with the rules?

[Woodall]

No, but I'll be ready to start this weekend. I have some free time this week to read them. Not sure if there are some official rules but I just searched and found a concise (4 pgs), learning to play (16 pgs), and players guide (27 pgs) documents on some website. Strangely, my local game shop has a copy of this game available. I didn't think it had been published.

[rstites25]

All-Aboard Games sells copies, but I'm surprised that it would ever be in a shop (perhaps it's second hand?). The files are PNP. There's a link somewhere to files on ArtsCow where you can have the cards printed out. You can end up printing them on three of their print-on-demand decks. I ended up getting a copy when they were running a special on 3 decks for $15 or so.

[Woodall]

It looks like the AAG copy. I'll have to drive over there and double check because I swear I saw a copy and it struck me because I thought I had read, as you said, that it wasn't really published. How in the hell they ended up with an AAG copy is beyond me.

[Woodall]

Rex, what'd you think of UKC? And which side won?

[rstites25]

Ha! We're still playing...I think I'm losing, though.

If you've played Washington's War, it's like that, but with a lot more chrome on top. It feels like there's much more of a military component than WaWa, but it's tough to Grok what to do based on the victory conditions. It also really suffers from not having a good player's aid to use as a reference. I think it would be a really good game once you get a few plays under your belt. There's a lot of cat-and-mouse with the various forces. Going into battle is always a risk because any brigades you lose are permanently out of the game. If you "disperse" instead of fighting, then you lose the brigades temporarily, but you can recruit them back later. The rub is that you're limited in how much you can recruit.

It's definitely not a typical wargame, but I think it's a pretty interesting situation. And from what I understand, it's a pretty good competitive game, too.

[Woodall]

Oh, I've played UKC. Thought it was a pretty interesting design, really liked the local notables. It was a bit jerky dealing with recruiting rules and the combat (or lack thereof) was a bit strange, but overall I really liked the design. I haven't played it much though so I can't speak to balance but I think the general consensus was that the royalist were favored in the published edition. There is a variant that makes the NMA a bit easier on the parliamentary player though. Did seem strange that you had to play so specifically for their arrival when they are supposed to help.

With a few tweaks (or maybe just more competent play), I think it could be the best CDG I've played. Two player, at least. I do remember a few of the cards irritating me to no end, but I couldn't say for sure which ones. I just remember holding the economic areas was a lot more difficult than it looked at first.

[rstites25]

I think it would help if I had any knowledge of the actual history. Having no idea what *should* be happening makes it even harder in a game like that where the victory conditions are less than intuitive. Richard recently made a comment about our game being the strangest game of it he's ever played based on who is currently controlling what. I think that probably stems from me focusing on areas I shouldn't and ignoring areas I should be focusing on.

[l'amour]

Hiiiiiiii

I could manage Rolling Stock but I'd need a few days before starting, if that is ok. Where can I find the rules?

[Woodall]

I just googled and found a few pdfs.