18BF The Big Four

Table of Contents

General information Rules highlights Implementation notes

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General information

• Designed by Ian D Wilson
• Rules
• Map
• Tiles
• Market
• BoardGameGeek

18BF is a prototype of a new game from Ian D Wilson. It is in the same family as 1812, 1861 and 1867. It is set in Great Britain and covers the era from the start of the railways through to the formation of the Big Four railway companies in the 1920s.

Rules highlights

Company types

• There are three types of private companies:
  • There are seven private railway companies (randomly chosen from a set of ten) which are auctioned at the start of the game. These pay income to their owner and may have a special ability (P1: none, P2–P5: free track lay when owned by a player, P6–P10: revenue bonus for a city when owned by a minor, public company or system).
  • Eight ferry companies are available from the first stock round. These give a revenue bonus for an off-board area.
  • Two underground companies are available from phase 5 (U1) and phase 7 (U2). These give a revenue bonus for London.
• The game starts with minor railways. Twelve of these can be started in the first stock round, another eight are available from the second stock round, and then eight more when phase 3 has started.
• Public companies are formed by converting or merging minors. They have 10% shares (the president's certificate is 20%). Public companies can take over connected minors in merger rounds, exchanging a treasury share for the minor and optionally taking the minor's token.
• Systems are formed by merging public companies. They have 5% shares (the president's certificate is 20%).

Trains

• 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 trains earn income from cities and off-board areas. They normally skip towns, but can earn revenue from these if they visit less cities or off-board areas than their size allows.
• 2+2, 3+3 and 4+4 trains run in the same way as 2, 3 and 4 trains, but double the revenue from locations visited and any bonuses.
• 5+5E trains earn double revenue from five locations and any bonuses. They may skip cities as well as towns.
• 3G, 4G, 5G and 6G trains are goods trains. These do not run a route, they earn revenue from cities with tokens and a mine bonus. Each city can only be scored by a single goods train, even if the company has multiple tokens in the city and more than one goods train.
• There are revenue bonuses for:
  • Running a train from London to an off-board area.
  • Running a train across the Welsh or Scottish borders. To earn these bonuses the train must earn revenue from stops on both sides of the borders.
  • Running a train to a location where a private company (private railway, ferry or underground) gives a bonus. These bonuses applies to goods trains as well as normal trains.
• A company can only run a train to London if the route ends at one of its tokens in London.

Implementation notes

• Open Issues
• London has twelve token slots. This is too many to fit in a single hex on the map, an enlarged view of London is shown in the North Sea. Use this to route trains to London or place a token there.