How to Play Railways of England and Wales

Objective of the Game

Welcome to mid-19th century England! In Railways of England and Wales, you'll be managing a railroad company during a time of great expansion and mergers, leading up to the era of the Big Four. Your goal is to make your company the most profitable.

The game ends when a certain number of cities are emptied of cubes. The player with the most money at the end of the game is the winner, after all shares are cashed in for their present share price minus any outstanding bonds.

Preparation (Setup)

Basic Game Setup

1. Return the Share certificates, markers, boxes, and tiles to the box, as they are not needed in the basic game.
2. Set up the gameboard by randomly placing cubes in the cities.
3. Each player is dealt two Railroad Baron cards.
4. Each player chooses one baron to keep face down in front of them and places the other baron face down out of the playing area.

Advanced Game Setup

1. Return the Railroad Baron cards, Railroad Operation cards, New City tiles, and Engine cards to the box, as they are not used in the Advanced Game.
2. Players start with $20,000 each ($25,000 each if there are two or three players).
3. Randomly determine which player receives the 1st player marker.
4. Mark the share prices for each company with one of its share markers, using the victory point numbers (which represent the share value in thousands of dollars). The starting share price for each company is shown in its Available Company Shares box.
5. For each company, place 5 shares on its Available Company Shares box and the other 5 on its Company tile.
6. Place a train of each color on the zero space of the income track.
7. Players take turns auctioning Available Company Shares until each player has passed.
   • The first player selects a Company share to auction and announces their starting bid. This bid must be at least the starting share price for that company.
   • In clockwise order, players must either bid a higher amount or pass and drop out of the bidding for that company.
   • The last player remaining pays their bid to the company (by putting the money on the Company tile), takes a share from the Available Company Shares box, and takes the Company tile if they took control of it.
   • If the winner was the auctioneer, the next player clockwise selects a Company share for auction and bids. Otherwise, the previous auctioneer selects a Company share for auction and bids.
   • A player can choose to pass instead of putting a share up for auction. If a player passes this opportunity, they may neither initiate nor participate in future auctions during setup.
   • Repeat until all players have passed their chance to start an auction.
   • Auctions proceed as above and continue until each player has passed.
8. Give the 1st player marker to the player to the left of the last player to take a share.

Fluxo do Jogo

The basic gameplay has not changed from Railways of the World except where noted. For basic rules questions, please refer to the Railways of the World rule manual. Any modification or change to a basic rule is presented here.

A single turn in the Advanced Game consists of the following phases:

1. COMPANY ROUNDS
2. PAY DIVIDENDS
3. MERGER PHASE
4. SHARES PHASE

Company Rounds

The order of play for this phase is determined by share price, going from the company with the highest share price to the one with the lowest. In case of a tie, the company on top of the stack goes first (the company that was the last to move to that share price).

When it's a company's turn, the controlling player decides which action it will carry out. There are three possible actions: BUILD TRACK, MOVE A CUBE, and PASS.

Use an Empty City Marker to track the number of rounds completed. The phase ends after three complete rounds.

After all three company rounds, the companies collect income based on their income marker (a train of their color) spot on the score track. After income is collected, but before dividends are paid, all company income markers are reset to zero.

Pay Dividends

Order of play goes from highest share price to lowest share price.

The company pays $1,000 for each bond it has. After this payment, the controller may have the company repay any number of bonds at $5,000 each.

The controller of the company decides how much money the company will pay out as a dividend.

After all dividends are paid, each player also takes $5,000 from the bank.

Merger Phase

Order of play goes from lowest share price to highest. The controller may suggest a merger between the company and one other company. Companies can only merge if they are connected.

A vote is held to see if the merging company wishes to merge. Each share in the merging company is worth one vote. Players reveal their votes simultaneously. In the case of a tie, the controlling player has the deciding vote. If this vote passes, then a similar vote occurs in the target company.

If both companies pass the merger suggestion, then the merging company must buy each available share of the target company at its present share price plus $1,000. The merging company may issue shares to do so. Shares in the Shares Issued box must be purchased – this money goes to the bank.

The active company replaces each link control marker belonging to the targeted company with one of its own. The targeted company is no longer in existence. It may be brought back into the game as a new company. Place five of its share markers in the Available Company Shares box and the remainder on its Company tile. Return the share price to its starting (setup) value.

Shares Phase

Order of play goes clockwise from the player with the 1st player marker.

A player can place one share up for auction. The share can either be one from the Shares Issued box or one from the Available Company Shares box. If the share was taken from the Shares Issued box, then the money paid for the share goes to the bank. If the share was taken from the Available Company Shares box, then the money paid for the share goes to the company.

If a company has been knocked out of the game due to a merger, then it can be restarted in this phase. The initial share price depends on its color.

The turn order marker is given to the player to the left of the last player to win an auction.

Ações e Como Jogar

General Actions (Basic Game)

• Build Track (up to 4 tiles - see costs below)
• Urbanize (for a cost of $10,000)
• Upgrade Engine (one level at a time - see costs on engine cards)
• Deliver One Goods Cube
• Select a Railroad Operations Card

Costs to Build Track (Basic Game)

• Open Terrain (green hex): $2,000
• Water (if any water appears within the hex): $3,000
• Mountains (a white dot appears on the hex): $4,000

Company Actions (Advanced Game - during Company Rounds)

When it comes to a company's turn, the controlling player decides which action it will carry out. There are three possible actions:

1. Build Track
   • A company may build one or two links during the Build Track action.
   • The first link has normal terrain costs. The second link costs $2,000 extra per hex in addition to normal terrain costs.
   • Each link can be as long as desired. A link must be completed in the same action it is started (no incomplete links are allowed).
   • The first time a company builds, it may build from any city on the board. All of its future builds must connect to one of its previously built links.
   • Hex Classification:
     • Mountain hexes are identified by a dot. If a mountain hex contains water, it is still considered a mountain hex.
     • If a non-mountain hex has any water (blue), it is considered a water hex and the building cost for the hex is $3,000.
     • If a hex does not have a dot or water, it is treated as open terrain.
2. Move Cube
   • The controlling player may deliver a goods cube for the company.
   • Cubes must stop at the first city of color that matches the cube.
   • Cubes must be moved to a city that matches its color. No cubes move to light grey cities.
   • The first link used must belong to the active company.
   • When the last cube is removed from a city, place an Empty City Marker on the city.
   • A cube can be moved any number of links - there is no Engine Level.
   • A cube may be moved along different companies' tracks, with the company owning the track moving its company income marker (not its share marker) 1 space forward on the score track for each link used.
   • A company must use a number of its own links equal to or greater than all other company's links combined in that move. (E.g., if the red company moved a cube and it used one green link and two yellow links, it would have to use at least three red links.)
3. Pass
   • The company takes no action.

Railroad Baron Cards

At the end of the game, players reveal their baron card. If a player has met the requirements of the card, he or she then receives the victory points at that time.

• George Stephenson: Gain 5 points if you are the player connected to the most cities at the end of the game.
• George Hudson: Gain 5 points if you connect Leeds & York to Bristol.

Railroad Operations Cards

• Tunnel Engineer:
  • (Basic Game) Play this card to stop 1 delivery of any other player. The cube stays in the city and that player must then move it. The cube may be stopped by the Inspector more than once per game.
  • (Advanced Game) When a player chooses this card, he can use the card during one future build. All mountains are half price for that build ($2000 each).
• Railroad Inspector: When a player chooses this card, it goes into his hand and is played during another player's delivery action. The Railway Inspector prevents the delivery and the player attempting to make the delivery loses that action. The cube that was to be delivered remains in the original city. No player may be stopped by an Inspector more than once per game. A player who has been stopped by a Railway Inspector should display this card face-up and upside down.

New Operations Cards (Advanced Game)

• Passenger Line: The first player to deliver 4 of the 6 goods colors earns this card and the bonus points. To keep track, players place goods cubes in front of them (1 of each color as the player makes a delivery) until a player delivers a fourth color and then all cubes that were in front of all players are returned to the goods bag.

Shares System Rules (Advanced Game)

• Controlling a Company: A company is controlled by the player who has the most shares in it. When a player controls a company, he takes its Company tile. A player only loses control of a company when another player has MORE shares in the company than he does. If a controlling player has the same number of shares as another player, then he will retain control of the company. When a player buys the first share in a company, he immediately takes control of it.
• Money: Money placed on a Company tile belongs to that company. Money held by a player belongs to that player. A player cannot move money from a tile to his own holdings, nor can he do the reverse.
• Issuing Shares: If a company needs money, then it can issue one of its shares. The share is moved from the Company tile to the Shares Issued box. The company receives an amount of money equal to its present share value. A company can only issue shares when it actually needs the money. Money is required to build track and complete a merger. A company cannot issue shares to gain money to pay a larger dividend.
• Bonds: If a company has issued all of its shares, then it can take out bonds. Each bond gives the company $5,000. $1,000 per bond has to be paid during the Pay Dividends phase to the bank. A company can repay a bond for $5,000 after paying interest during the Pay Dividends phase. When a company takes a bond, place one of the bond certificates on its company tile. The maximum number of bonds that can be taken out by a company is equal to the number of complete links it has. You may not issue bonds to pay dividends.
• Issuing Bonds (Player): Players may only issue bonds when cash is needed to make a purchase or pay for a bid. Only the bonds needed to make the payment may be issued.

Fim de Jogo e Pontuação

Ending the Game

The game ends at the end of the turn when a certain number of cities are empty. The default value is 16. Players may wish to use the empty city chart from the basic game, or agree to any number at the beginning of the game:

• 2 Players: 9 Empty City Markers
• 3 Players: 11 Empty City Markers
• 4 Players: 13 Empty City Markers
• 5 Players: 15 Empty City Markers

Scoring

At the end of the game, if a company has outstanding bonds, decrease its share value by one for each outstanding bond (to a minimum value of zero).

Players cash in their shares (at the value of the share, not the payout number).

The player with the most money wins.

Example: Sean owns 4 shares in the Blue company, and 1 share in the Yellow company. He has $12,000 in cash on hand. The value of the Blue company is 14 and the Yellow company is 9. The Blue company has 2 bonds issued. The Yellow company has none.

• (14 - 2) x 4 = 48,000 (Blue company value - bonds x shares owned)
• 9 x 1 = 9,000 (Yellow company value x shares owned)
• 12,000 (cash on hand)
• Total = 69,000

Players also reveal their Railroad Baron cards and receive victory points if they met the requirements.

Dicas para Vencer

Consulte o manual para detalhes sobre esta seção.