How to Play Great Western Trail: Rails to the North

Objective of the Game

In "Great Western Trail - Rails to the North," you continue your rancher life, herding cattle from Texas to Kansas City. However, due to the nation's industrialization, your focus has shifted to delivering cattle to cities in the North and East, such as Chicago and New York City. This new business direction is tougher, so you are encouraged to expand your operations further North by establishing branchlets in towns along the new rail system to gain access to new and helpful options.

Preparation (Setup)

1. Begin by setting up the base game according to its usual rules, with one exception: skip step 2 (do not place the station master tiles) and ensure there is room above the game board.
2. Fold the extension board and place it above the base game board, sliding it over the top edge to cover the original city strip with the new city strip. Ensure the poles of each cross on the extension board merge properly with those on the base game board.
3. Shuffle the 10 medium town tiles face down. Draw 6 of these tiles and place one at random, face up, onto each of the 6 medium town spaces on the extension board. Return the 4 spare tiles to the box.
4. Add the 6 new station master tiles to those from the base game and shuffle all 11 tiles. Place one at random, face up, onto each of the 5 station master spaces of the base game board. Then place one at random, face up, onto each of the 2 station master spaces of the extension board. Finally, place the remaining 4 tiles face up to the right of New York City.
5. Place all exchange tokens as a general supply to the left of the extension board.
6. Each player receives the following items in their color:
   • The auxiliary add-on, placed below the left of their player board.
   • The additional player disc, placed onto the colored disc space of their auxiliary add-on.
   • 15 branchlets, placed in groups of 3 onto each of the 5 bell spaces of their auxiliary add-on.
   • One exchange token from the general supply, placed in front of them.
   • The new private building tiles, added to their other building tiles. (All players must have the same sides of their building tiles face up, chosen by the players.)

Fluxo do Jogo

For the most part, the game is played as described in the base game rules. The main addition of this expansion to the gameplay is the action "Place one branchlet."

Ações e Como Jogar

Action: Place one branchlet

This action is usually performed as part of a single auxiliary action or double auxiliary action, as your auxiliary add-on provides it as a sixth possible auxiliary action. The left disc space of this new auxiliary action is unlocked from the start. The right disc space can be cleared via the usual means but requires paying 2 Dollars when cleared.

• Single auxiliary action: Discard one cattle card with a breeding value of 2 and perform the action "Place one branchlet" once.
• Double auxiliary action: Discard two cattle cards, each with a breeding value of 2, and perform the action "Place one branchlet" twice.

When you perform this action, take one branchlet from the leftmost occupied bell space of your auxiliary add-on. Then place that branchlet onto a free branchlet space of any one town square that is accessible to you.

A town square is considered accessible if at least one rail track connects it directly to at least one of the following:

• The Kansas City office, or
• A city crest that has one of your discs, or
• Another town square that has one of your branchlets.

A connection is considered direct even if it runs through any switches. You are not allowed to place a branchlet onto any town square where you already have one (each player can place a maximum of one branchlet per town square).

When placing a branchlet:

• If the chosen branchlet space shows a cost, you must pay that cost immediately to the bank.
• If it shows a Dollar bonus, gain that many Dollars immediately.
• If it shows an immediate action, either perform that action immediately or forfeit it.

Immediate actions on branchlet spaces include:

• Take one exchange token from the general supply and place it in front of you.
• Move your certificate marker 1 space forward.
• Gain one objective card from the general objective display.

After placing your branchlet, check the type of town the town square belongs to. An additional action may be triggered:

• Small town: No additional action is triggered.
• Station town: You may upgrade the attached train station as described in the base game rules (triggered by branchlet placement, not your engine). If not performed now, it cannot be done later.
• Medium town: The immediate action of the attached medium town tile is triggered. You must either perform it immediately or forfeit it (without the option of performing it later).
• Big town: No additional action is triggered. However, each big town has a city crest attached. Having a branchlet on a big town's town square allows you to deliver your cattle to it later.

Immediate actions of the medium town tiles:

• Move your engine up to 3 spaces forward.
• Either gain 5 Dollars OR take one cattle card with a breeding value of 3 from the cattle market and put it on your personal discard pile free of charge. If no such card is available, you cannot choose this option.
• Remove up to 2 of your hand cards from the game (and thus your deck) by returning them to the box.
• Perform the action "Hire one worker" at a 2 Dollar discount.
• Perform the action "Place one of your private building tiles onto a building space on the trail." You still need the proper number of craftsmen but do not have to pay any Dollars.

Once a branchlet is placed on a branchlet space, it remains there for the rest of the game. If you have no branchlets left on your auxiliary add-on, you cannot perform the action "Place one branchlet" anymore.

Changes to subphase "Delivery" when reaching Kansas City

When your cattleman reaches Kansas City, you carry out the 5 Kansas City subphases as usual, including delivering to one city crest in subphase 5. This city crest does not necessarily have to be a city on the city strip. It can be the city crest of any big town at whose corresponding town square you have one of your branchlets.

Rules for delivering to these city crests are similar to those for city crests on the city strip:

• You must meet or exceed the city value with your total breeding value.
• You must pay attention to whether the corners of the city space are white or dark.
• If a delivery action is triggered, you must perform it immediately.

Transport costs depend on your engine's position. To calculate them for delivering to a big town's city crest: Find the space on the railroad track whose printed number equals the city value of the delivered city. If your engine is on this space or farther up the track, you have no transport costs. If your engine is farther down the track, pay 1 Dollar to the bank for each cross between your engine's nose and the space on the railroad track whose printed number equals the city value.

You still cannot deliver to the same city more than once, except for Kansas City and San Francisco. San Francisco is now in the upper left part of the extension board. New York City is the last city on the city strip, and you can only deliver to it once.

New delivery actions and game end victory point bonuses

• As soon as you have one disc on Columbia and one on St. Louis, take one exchange token from the general supply and place it in front of you. At the end of the game, you lose 5 victory points.
• If you deliver to Memphis, gain one objective card from the general objective display AND 2 Dollars.
• When you deliver to New York City, take one of the station master tiles displayed next to it and place it in front of you free of charge. If it shows an immediate action, perform it as usual.
• Each time you deliver to Kansas City, you still gain 6 Dollars. However, at the end of the game, for each of your discs on the city space of Kansas City, you now lose 8 victory points.
• If you deliver to Milwaukee, gain one objective card from the general objective display AND 3 Dollars.
• The same applies once you have one disc on Chicago and one on Detroit.

How to use your exchange tokens

Each player starts with one exchange token and can gain more:

• As a delivery bonus.
• As an immediate bonus when placing a branchlet.
• As an immediate bonus from one of the station master tiles.
• When you clear the second bell space of your auxiliary add-on (after placing 6 branchlets).
• When you clear the fifth bell space of your auxiliary add-on (after placing all 15 branchlets).

Exchange tokens are special because you can use one or more at any point in the game, even in the middle of an action or when it is not your turn. To use an exchange token, place it back into the general supply next to the extension board. Then draw up to 2 cards from your personal draw stack and discard as many cards as you drew.

New Building tiles

• Gain as many Dollars as you have craftsmen in your craftsmen row.
• Perform the action "Place one branchlet."
• For each bell space on your auxiliary add-on that you have completely cleared, move your certificate marker 1 space forward AND gain 1 Dollar.
• Move your engine up to as many spaces forward as you have hazard tiles in front of you.
• Perform the action "Remove a hazard."

New Station Master Tiles

• Immediate action: Take one exchange token from the general supply and place it in front of you.
• Individual task at game end: Gain 2 victory points for each area of the extension game board in which you have placed at least one of your branchlets. There are 6 separate areas on the extension board (distinguishable by color).
• 1 permanent certificate.
• Individual task at game end: Gain 3 victory points for every 2 train stations that have one of your discs.
• Individual task at game end: Gain 2 victory points for each of your building tiles on the game board.
• Immediate action: Move your certificate marker up to 2 spaces forward.
• Individual task at game end: Gain 5 victory points for every 2 exchange tokens that you still have in front of you.
• Immediate action: Perform the action "Place one branchlet."
• Immediate action: Gain 12 Dollars.
• 2 permanent certificates. No individual task.

Fim de Jogo e Pontuação

The end of the game and the final scoring are carried out exactly as in the base game. However, in step 3 of the final scoring, if you have delivered to San Francisco during the game, you must check how many victory points each of your discs on the San Francisco city crest is worth. This is determined by the number of bell spaces on your auxiliary add-on that you have completely cleared: Each of your discs on the San Francisco city crest gives you 2 points per completely cleared bell space.

At the end of the game, San Francisco still gives you victory points for each disc you have placed on it. However, the number of points depends on how many bell spaces of your auxiliary add-on you have cleared by then.

If you have one disc on Columbia and one on St. Louis, you lose 5 victory points at the end of the game.

For each of your discs on the city space of Kansas City, you lose 8 victory points at the end of the game.

Dicas para Vencer

• Focus on expanding your operations by establishing branchlets in towns along the new rail system to gain access to new and helpful options.
• Strategically choose where to place your branchlets to trigger beneficial immediate actions or to gain access to new delivery cities, especially big towns with city crests.
• Pay attention to the bell spaces on your auxiliary add-on, as clearing them can provide exchange tokens and influence the victory points gained from San Francisco deliveries.