How to Play Age of Rail: South Africa – Expansion Maps: Allegheny & La Pampa

Game Objective

In Age of Rail: Allegheny, 3 to 6 players compete to expand their railroads and develop strategic locations. The core objective is to manage your actions and investments to maximize the success of the railroad companies. The game lasts about an hour, and the winner is determined by the final accumulated score.

Setup

The initial setup follows these guidelines:

• Initial Offering: The Initial Shares are auctioned one at a time in the following order: Red C&O, Blue B&O, Orange NYC, Yellow B&M, and Purple PRR.
• The Black P&LE railroad is not open at the start of the game.
• Starting Player: The first player is the one who holds the Purple PRR share. Play proceeds clockwise.
• Railroad Bases:
  • Blue C&O: Richmond (1)
  • Red B&O: Baltimore (2)
  • Orange NYC: New York (3)
  • Yellow B&M: Boston (4)
  • Purple PRR: Philadelphia (5)

Game Flow

The game progresses in turns, starting with the player who holds the Purple PRR and continuing clockwise until the end of the match. During their turn, players perform specific actions to expand their networks and develop the map.

Actions and How to Play

The main actions available are:

Build Track

When performing this action, note that a railroad cannot build a double Track Link that enters and exits Pittsburgh. Additionally, External Connections on the Allegheny map only pay the Connection Bonus and do not increase the Value of the railroad.

Opening the P&LE

When a railroad reaches Pittsburgh, the Black P&LE railroad is opened. A P&LE share is immediately put up for auction following the Initial Offering rules. The first bid is offered by the player who made the connection. After winning the auction and paying the Treasury, the player must build, at no cost, a Track Link starting from Pittsburgh. The P&LE Income disc must be updated on the Railroad Income Track.

Develop Locations

The player must develop at least one Location (a Settlement or a Metropolitan Area). Both can only be developed if a railroad is connected to them.

• It is possible to develop up to two Locations. The first development is free. The second costs $3, paid from the player's personal supply to the bank.
• Automatic Metropolitan Area Development: If the player chooses not to perform a second development, an automatic development occurs. It is not necessary to have a railroad connected for this. The order of priority is: Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Detroit, Chicago. If all are developed, nothing happens.

End of Game and Scoring

Consult the manual for details on this section.

Tips for Winning

• Pay attention to the Automatic Development priority order (Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Detroit, Chicago) to plan your development actions without spending extra money.
• Remember that External Connections are useful for the Connection Bonus, but do not count toward increasing your railroad's Value.