OK, simple question. I've always played that one could urbanize at any time during their track building (assuming, of course, that they won the Urbanize action!). I don't have my rulebook handy but someone is quoting this to me, from page 2: "Urbanisation: Implemented during Build Track phase. This action allows this player to place one of the New City tiles on a town before they build their track"

So does that mean that you MUST urbanize first, then build track? Or are there a few more key sentences missing from that quote?

I don't think it really matters, since both actions are performed on your move. Before, after, or in the middle of your turn? I can't imagine that it makes much of a difference.

I'm sure JC will be along momentarily to either (a) restate exactly what I've just said, or (b) prove me wrong.

Regardless of the rules, I prefer to urbanize at the start of my turn...

I suppose if you wanted to urbanize after you paid for and built that 3-connection piece in the same hex, none of the other players would complain.

Consider that I love the Towns of Fort Wayne & Indianapolis. I want to connect them together on the very first turn and I have the Ubanization action. Track may only be placed that connects to a City, so I can't just drop a town tile in Fort Wayne or Indianapolis. If the rule was written differently, and track was placed before the Urbanization action, I could not connect Fort Wayne & Indianapolis and I would be sad. If the rule was ambiguous, many people would email rules questions to me, I would have to answer them all and I would be busy and sad.

Given that players may have completely seperate Completed Track Links and Unfinished Track Sections, the rules are written specifically that way to ensure that folks understand that they can connect the Towns of Fort Wayne & Indianapolis if they have the Urbanization action and they love the Towns of Fort Wayne & Indianapolis as much as Pete, Dave, Vince, I and many others do!

I was in Ft. Wayne once. In February. Froze my ass off.

Wasn't impressed.

I have only been there in the summer, at the Chessex MidWest show & cookout. Those were great fun back in the '90s.

But anyway, I hope folks understand why the rules say that the Urbanization action New City placement occurs before track placement.

The reason for my question: we're playing on the western US map. The situation is this: 2 other people have built track to El Paso (one from the east, one from the west). On my build, I want to build track to El Paso, then urbanize so that I will have created the transcontinental link. If I have to urbanize first, those other 2 schmos get the bonus, don't they?

Edit: or maybe the bonus is awarded at the END of the build phase, in which case it wouldn't matter if I urbanized or built track first?

I suppose it also depends on how much of a stickler you are for certain rules in games. If I build track before placing my city, is someone going to tell me that I now can't place the new city? If I place my new city and then build my track from an empty town back to it, is someone going to holler that all my tracks have to build out of a city, even though it's clear what I'm doing? Or if I place the middle of my three-track link first, placing a free tile unconnected to anything, is someone going to whine that I CAN'T DO THAT?

Seriously. If the build is legal at the end of your turn, what difference does it make?

Now I understand why it matters. Thanks for the example.

The rules are pretty clear that the urbanization happens first, but I don't have the Western US map rules handy to answer your second question.