Game: HellRail - 2nd Perdition

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Terry Egan — 2007-08-18T05:30:30+00:00

HellRail - 2nd Perdition: Back of Box

Thread: Review by SOS (from 2000)

sos1 — 2007-02-27T01:24:50+00:00

Hellrail, 2nd Edition (I'm sorry, I refuse to use their terminology for edition) is a cute little tile-laying railroad game. Apparently the rules are significantly different from 1st edition to warrant calling it a new game. I haven't seen 1st edition, but I've talked with more than one person whose judgement I trust, who told me it wasn't very good. The 2nd edition, however, is a pretty good little game. Nothing earth-shattering, but definitely fun, and even innovative.

The theme? Delivering sinners to the various circles of hell. As an incentive, you're told that losing engineers will be passengers in the next game ...

Components

The game comes in a small box with a postcard-sized color cover of a hell-bound train. Inside you get a fair bit for your money, and the component quality isn't bad. There are 45 Rail cards, 10 Circles of Hell cards, and 4 Engine cards. There are four cute little pewter engines, each with a different color roof. Some chits and tickets and a die round off the game.

The Rail cards are very interesting: each card has six different elements (track layout, car value, pickup level, delivery level, brimstone number, and sinners), and can be used in four different ways! I like games like this: lots of options on how to use the cards in your hand:

1. First and most obvious, they can be used as track tiles. Each card is square, and shows a railroad track exiting the card in the center of each side. There are various configurations of tracks: lots of curves, some straights, some branching tracks, etc. Track can be played directly to the table or on top of existing track, to upgrade it. The game starts with only the ten Circles of Hell cards on the table; the track in between them is built up through play of the Rail cards. All engines start at the gate to hell, and can only move once track is laid. Various configurations for the initial layout of the Circle cards are given, by the way.

2. Rail cards also represent the sinners you will be picking up and carrying from one circle to another. Each card lists a type of sinner, often with a medieval-sounding name such as Edacious or Usurers, and which Circle they can be picked up at, and which Circle they can be dropped off at for victory points. You start with an Engine card (which cleverly shows your engine color and gives you a rules summary), and when playing a Rail card in this way, play it to the table behind your Engine card to show it's in your train.

3. You move your train by discarding Rail cards. They each have a movement number, showing how many "spaces" you can move your train. (Each section of track on a card has either three or four spaces.) You have to play a movement card that is at least equal to the number of cards in your train.

4. And finally, Rail cards can be discarded as your last action and the "brimstone" number consulted: that's how many cards you may draw as replacement cards!

This is a very clever aspect of the game: often the best card for one purpose is also the best for another, so you have to decide carefully what to do with the card.

The Circles of Hell and Derailment

The Circles of Hell cards all start face up on the table, arranged in a given pattern. All trains start at the Gate and may go anywhere after that - there is no need to follow the Circles in order.

Each Circle has a special ability that a player may evoke if he lands on it. Some of these are fairly mild, but others are potent - watch carefully where your opponents are headed! Of course, the most potent ones require a die roll, and there's a 1/6 chance it'll backfire and Derail your train ...

Some of the Special Powers of the Circles include picking up a Boatman ticket (which allows you to attempt to cross a space with no track yet) or a Heresy Chip (which allows you to veto another Circle Power - or force a player to attempt it if he opted not to!), rotate existing track cards, remove track cards, steal cards from an opponent, etc. The fact that everyone has access to all of them is a nice touch - no luck of the draw here, since they represent the only special powers in the game.

Derailment is pretty severe. Before I played my first game, I was rather appalled by the rule, and was dubious about allowing it as is. But it hasn't been as crippling as I thought - a couple of Brimstone discards and you're back on your feet again.

At any rate, if you Derail, you lose your entire hand and all the cards you have loaded in your train and start back at the Gate on your next turn. There are a few ways to derail, usually entertaining to the other players. As mentioned, you can backfire an attempt to use a Circle's power. Or another player can push your train off the edge of a card - be careful about venturing too far along track that isn't connected to the next Circle ... And finally, if you're successful at some of the Circle effects, you can derail an opponent.

Course of Play

You begin the game with three cards in your hand. A typical Hellrail turn consists of drawing one Rail card from the draw pile, then performing as many actions as you wish and have cards for. Actions include laying track, moving, loading sinners, delivering sinners, upgrading track, using a Circle power, and "fanning the flames" (using a brimstone number to draw multiple cards at the end of your turn).

The game ends when there are no more cards in either the draw pile or discard pile. You can affect this by fanning the flames more or less frequently, of course, as well as playing more or fewer track cards to the board. Once the game ends, everyone adds up the movement value of his or her delivered sinner cards - highest total wins. This is a nice touch, as high movement cards are valuable for both movement and victory points - you'll have to weigh each card before you use it. Remember that in order to move, you have to play a movement card equal to or greater than the number of cars you're pulling in your train.

The play is pretty quick. Although there are decisions, they're not the types that you mull over for ten minutes. I think only one game has lasted more than an hour so far - a nice length that matches the lightness of the subject and play.

Why Wouldn't You Like This Game?

Well, it is a light game. You can't do too much long-term planning. The skill in the game involves maximizing your current hand and hoping you draw some good cards when you fan the flames so you can continue on the course you've planned. Sometimes it doesn't work out - you load up more cards than you can pull next turn. So you change strategy - use that one movement card you drew to move you to a Circle and risk using its power, etc. So those who like long-term strategy will be disappointed by this game. There is skill involved, but it primarily involves short-term usage of resources.

There's a fair bit of luck. If I get all the high movement cards, I can use some of them to load my train up with high-scoring sinners, and the others to move them quickly to their destinations. If I roll well when attempting a Circle's power (the only time you use the die), then I have an advantage there, too. Of course, luck tends to even out during the game, or over a series of games, so it's not often a problem. But sometimes it can be.

And I really have to complain about one of the sinner cards: Mulligrubs. Guys, mulligrubs are not a type of sinner; they are a type of sin, possibly, but not sinner. This card doesn't match Murderers, Liars, Baleful, Sullen, Diviners, etc. There, I feel better.

Summing Up

Nice little light game. The clever four-way use of cards is an admirable mechanic. The theme is entertaining. The components are relatively attractive (in a black-and-white kind of way) and sturdy - not as good as Rio Grande can make, but far better than Cheapass. It plays quickly and enjoyably, and Derailment isn't as bad as it reads. And the price is right - around $15, at least when I bought mine. If the potential flaws listed above don't bother you, I recommend it.

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sjmarlow — 2006-06-04T22:18:50+00:00

Tiniest trains known to man...

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Mariana — 2006-03-29T02:14:56+00:00

Close-up of one of the tiny engines

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Mariana — 2006-03-29T02:10:33+00:00

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Mariana — 2006-03-29T02:10:26+00:00

Thread: User Review

Adbet — 2004-09-16T18:22:59+00:00

Hell rail is a card game having the theme of souls transport to the different Circles of hell.
The game theme is original, basically is a game of goods transport .

In the box there are a rules booklet, a card deck with 9 “Circle of hell” and a “hell’s gate” and 4 little trains (metal in the USA original version, wooden trains in the italian version that I have) one for each player.

The game

The winner is the player that is able to load, deliver and unload the more souls in the different Circles of hell.

At start of the game each player receives five Rail cards with wich develop the railroad circuit, load the souls at the appropriate Circle of hell, move the train, unload the souls at the appropriate Circle of hell or take cards if needed ;
the Circles and hell’s gate cards are placed on the table having empty spaces between them where will be placed the railroad cards to form a circuit that permits to move a train from a Circle to another.

Every time a player arrives in a Circle the movement stop and having the right card is possible to load or unload souls. In addition every circle has a power that permits to obstacle the other players.

Game Round

- Draw one card

- Actions

Load souls : Only if the player is in the Circle
matching the load card number

Unload souls: Only if the player is in the Circle
matching the unload card number

Move your train: A player may discard cards to move
on the railroad

Develop the old line: A player can place a rail
card on another one to develop the
circuit without modify the previous
(as in 1830)

- Discard a card and draw as new cards as his sulphur
value (optional)

I like this game because is simply to learn and to explain, every game is different and there is interaction between players.

Thread: Re:User Review

shadowkeeper — 2003-09-17T13:34:52+00:00

Dear Devil's Advocate,

I am an avid train gamer and I love a round of "Streetcar" now and again, but I have a problem: I'm dead. And a life devoted to "playing" instead of "piety" has landed me in Hell. Fortunately, there are plenty of other gamers here, and we were interested in knowing what you'd recommend for folks in our circumstances.

Yours,
Eternally Damned

Dear Ed,

This is your lucky day, relatively speaking. Gallo Glass Games just released the Second Edition of "Hellrail", which takes the best elements of train games and combines them with the tile-laying aspect of Linie 1 in a game that's fun, easy, and short enough to be played between dips in the Lake of Fire. For your $15 you get a deck of Rail Cards, 10 Circle cards, 4 pewter engines and a handful of other paraphernalia. Each player receives five Rail cards to start and the fun begins. The winner will be he who delivers the most damned souls to the 10 Circles of Hell by game's end.

The 10 Circle cards (labeled 1-9 and "Gate" are placed on the table before play, but no two are adjacent; in fact, the game "board" starts with lots of empty space. On a turn a player may place a Rail card into one of the gaps on the table, thereby building rail from one Circle to another (exactly like the tile placement in Linie 1.) A person may also discard movement cards to shuttle from one Circle to another. If you are in a Circle and you hold a cargo card with a Pickup number matching your location you may take on cargo. You can then deliver that cargo by reaching the Circle with the indicated Dropoff number. Once you deliver a load, you take the cargo card and squirrel it away -- it now becomes a score card. And, if you wish, you can end your turn by playing a "Fan the Flame" card and drawing 1-5 new cards from the draw deck.

Rail cards, cargo cards, movement cards, score cards, "Fan the Flames" cards -- sounds like quite a bit for a 45 card deck, doesn't it? Well, the amazing thing about Hellrail is that all the cards serve for all of the functions. The cards have track connecting their four sides, a "Car Value" that indicates either the card's value (as a delivered cargo) or how many spaces you may move your train by discarding it, a Dropoff Value on the left, a Pickup value on the right and a Brimstone value at the bottom for Fanning the Flames. The card even tells you the quantity (1-7) and type ("Tyrants", "Murderers" or "Quislings" of souls the cargo consists of. And you may take as many actions as you like in a turn. So if you have seven cards you could hypothetically build rail, move, pickup a cargo, move, move, pickup another cargo, build more rail and Fan the Flames. But which cards to use for which functions? Ahhh .. that's where things get tricky.

Each Circle also has a special Effect (such as stealing opponent's cards, or removing played Rail cards) which players may use as they navigate the Underworld. These effects spice up the game, but are ultimately Hellrail's greatest weakness. The game is designed to be "light", with luck playing as much a role as skill, but the Effects tilt the balance too much towards "randomness". Still, I suspect most will enjoy them, even if they do make for a more chaotic contest.

Hellrail is a tidy little game, and well worth the $15. The components are pretty good too, considering the obvious budgetary constrains of the independent Gallo Glass Games. It's quick, it's simple, and you get the flavor of some deeper games without having to devote a lot of brainpower or three hours of time to the proceedings. And who doesn't love a game about sin? As far as I know the game is only available through the Gallo Glass Games website (http://www.galloglassgames.com), but that shouldn't prove a problem for you, as I'm certain they have the Internet in Hell. All in all it's good, clean, blasphemous fun.

Sincerely,
Devil's Advocate

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2002-05-12T11:59:37+00:00

Thread: General Comment

BoardGameGeek — 2002-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

The games is not long (the 60 minutes stated on the box is a fairly average, I think - base on my 2 three-player and 1 four-player games).

The game is usually over much quicker than anybody else but the leader likes to - but that is a good sign IMHO. It is also true that if you get a good start you have a much better change of winning. But the random distribution of cards is not worse than in most other card games. Are you unlucky you know that the game will soon be over and you can easily play a few games in the same evening.

You don't really have much chance of stopping the leader, you can only hope to catch him. The game have the same "problem" (I don't mind) as Knights of the Rainbow: to increase the chance of drawing good cards you decrease the lenght of the game - but if you don't do it you will have to be extremely lucky to catch up.

We play with a variant btw: We didn't like the rule with the coins, and have given each player 5 wooden discs in the player colors. They work as normal except the player who placed them are safe when running over his own "coins". This makes Cirkel 4 are mighty popular visiting place, and has increased the chance of stopping a leader a tiny bit.

OH - remember that every track laid is a card out of the game. Don't build unnecessary tracks unless you want the game to be over quickly. An frequent visits to Cirkel 7 (discard track) can prolong the game.

***

Many feel that this light game is too short? What a novelty - most people tend to complain of light games which are too long :-)

This is easily rectified: Shuffle the deck and continue until depleted a second time. The second half won't be long as most cards are now on the table or in the possesion of the players as points etc.

As most card games the game may be short or long depending on the play of the cards, and the actions of the players: what is the use of flaming through the cards if you're not in the number one spot? I know that you need to get a flow of cards in order to get the cards that you need, but don't get carried away.

BTW - I have made two changes to my game:
1) The 4 Herecy chits have been glued onto black wooden disks of the same size.

2) I have included 5 small wooden disks in each player color which are used instead of coins: A player may place one of these as Action 4. A player can move through his own color without penalty, and he may move one of his disks if they are all in use.

Thread: Session Report

gschloesser — 2001-11-06T20:03:59+00:00

This is the new Mayfair version of the James Kyle design, which was originally released by the small Galloglass Games company. The original two versions of the game, although not widely distributed, gained some nice publicity and recognition as a fun and somewhat challenging title. Apparently, the railroad theme of the game attracted the attention of Mayfair, a game company who spends quite a bit of its time and resources on releasing and promoting rail games.

Galloglass' second edition (known as the 2nd Perdition) was functional, yet fairly basic. Most of the components were thin card stock ... clearly a homemade design. The only exception was the locomotives, which are finely crafted lead miniatures and are quite cool. The game, however, transcended this mediocre quality and is quite entertaining and challenging. Further, it plays very well with 3 or 4 players and can usually be played in about an hour.

The new Mayfair version (the 3rd Perdition) kept all of the mechanics virtually intact. The only real thing they added was additional circle effects tokens. The effects are no longer directly printed onto the various circles of hell, but rather shuffled and distributed randomly. There are 15 circles possible circle effects, so each game should see some different ones appear. This is a nice touch. The components are generally better and a bit more sturdy, with the exception of the train tokens. Gone are the great lead miniatures, replaced with tiny wooden trains. They're cute and functional, but no where near as nice as the lead trains.

Surprisingly, for a fairly mainstream company, Mayfair kept the rather bizarre theme of delivering souls of the damned to their proper circles of Hell intact. I'm sure the theme could have been changed to something less questionable and with more widespread appeal, but, to their credit, they left it intact.

Willerd, Keith, Spouey and I were the damned train engineers, struggling to deliver the most souls so that we could escape the fiery pits for at least one more day. We had some initial confusion over which symbol was the delivery circle and which was the pickup circle. Strangely, the cards don't line up properly with the player aid/locomotive card. It would seem that the transport cards should partially slide under the locomotive card, revealing the delivery circle but keeping the information on the player aid card unobscured. However, if you do it in this fashion, the only visible 'circle' is the pick-up circle. The best method we could discern was to set the transport cards off to the right of the pickup circle and then overlap them. I don't think this is how you are supposed to do it, but a PhD and a bunch of college graduates sure couldn't figure out how the cards were supposed to align properly!

Our game dragged much longer than normal, probably because everyone else save me were new to the game. There was some confusion over all of the different uses of each card, plus players simply took too long to analyze all of their possible options. Still, in spite of the game's excessive length, it received good ratings from everyone.

I was fortunate to deliver several souls early, and these were all high valued souls (6's & 7's). I surged into a substantial lead, but then hit the proverbial brick wall. I was victimized several times by circle effects, depleting my supply of cards. Plus, I just couldn't seem to get the cards I had remaining delivered to the proper circles. This allowed time for both Keith and Willerd to deliver several souls, bringing them into contention.

Spouey was struggling, having delivered only one transport car as the game passed its midway point. However, he managed to put together some quick, short deliveries late in the game to boost his totals, but not quite enough to catch the leaders.

Late in the game, I managed to get two more high-valued deliveries, which was just enough to edge Keith for the victory.

Finals: Greg 37, Keith 36, Willerd 31, Spouey 27

Ratings: Spouey 6, everyone else 7

Thread: Session Report

gschloesser — 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

Normally, I am not a big rail game fan. I must preface this, however, by saying that I haven't played very many rail games. Indeed, I have NEVER played any of the hard-core 'rail' games, such as the 18xx series of games. So, when I first heard about Hell Rail, I dismissed it as just one more in the seemingly endless line of train games.

However, began hearing some very good things about this game. Internet buddy Frederic Taton from Belgium will be visiting New Orleans at the end of the month and had asked me to secure a few games for him while he was in the States. One of them was Hell Rail. So, while ordering a copy for Frederic, I went ahead and purchased a copy for myself (at $14.95, why not?).

The game is designed by James Kyle and released by Galloglass Games, not a very well known name. The package is a very basic, thin cardboard box with a nice laminated design on the top and bottom. Most of the components are of also of thin card stock ... clearly a homemade design. The only exception is the locomotives, which are finely crafted lead miniatures which are quite cool.

The game, however, transcends this mediocre quality and is quite entertaining and challenging. Further, it plays very well with 3 or 4 players and can be played in less than an hour. Also, it is not really a train games, but more of a tile laying and hand management game. (So I guess I still haven't played a REAL train game!)

The theme is rather bizarre: You and your opponents are engineers in Hades delivering souls of the damned to their proper Circles of Hell. The player who successfully delivers the most souls is spared bathing in the lakes of fire for one more day! Not much of a reward ... but I guess it's something!

Nine Circles of Hell and one Gateway to Hell cards are set upon the table according to a diagram in the rulebook. Players are then dealt three cards apiece. These cards are multi-functional and deciding on exactly how to use each card is the tricky ... and agonizing part of the game. Each card can be used to either:

1) Lay track onto the table;
2) Overlay previously laid track;
3) Move your train;
4) Pickup damned souls;
5) Deliver damned souls to their proper Circle of Hell; OR
6) Discard and draw new cards (known as 'Fanning the Flames').

Each card depicts track, a passenger car with a numerical value (which is the movement allowance that card allows OR the value of the card if delivered to the proper Circle of Hell), a Pickup number (which is the Circle of Hell you must be at in order to pick up the damned souls listed on the passenger car diagram), a Setout number (which is the Circle of Hell you must be at in order to successfully deliver the damned souls) and, finally, a Brimstone number (which is the number of cards you may draw from the deck if you discard this card, thereby ending your turn).

On a turn, a player may perform as many of the above actions as he desires, provided he has the cards to do so. Managing these cards properly and deciding which task to perform using which cards is the key to the game. A card used for one task is then 'used' and no longer available for another task. It can be quite a tough decision. Somehow, this 'multi-functional' card mechanism is much more satisfying and less taxing in Hell Rail than in Yukon & Company, another game which uses a similar mechanic.

The basic idea of the game is to move your train to various Circles of Hell and pick up damned souls, delivering them to the proper Circles of Hell listed on that card. Once delivered, that card is then considered 'delivered' and will score its point value at the end of the game. The player who has the highest point value of 'delivered souls' wins the game. The game ends when there are no further cards in the draw or discard piles.

There are some kickers, however, which add more spice to the game. Each Circle of Hell has a special power which, if evoked, can wreak havoc upon your opponents ... or yourself. Upon entering a Circle, a player has the opportunity to evoke the special power conveyed. These powers vary from causing a player to derail (EXTREMELY nasty ... all cards are lost, undelivered passenger cars are lost and you are returned to the Gates of Hell) to removing or rotating track tiles. Most of these Circle powers require a die roll, which always has a chance of causing you to derail instead of harming your opponents. It's a chance, but one which can pay off handsomely if successful.

In our game, Eric Alleman used these Circle powers quite effectively ... mainly against me. Not only did he steal most of my hand of cards on one turn, he also successfully caused me to derail on another. This totally annihilated me, forcing me to lose three passenger cars which I was about to successfully deliver. I guess this is business as normal in Hades. With me successfully vanquished and Eric holding a handful of cards, he ran away with the game and captured a monumental victory:

Eric 54, Lenny 24, Greg 22

Ratings: Greg 6, Eric 5, Lenny 5

The game is quite simple and fun. I don't know if it is terribly deep (Eric Alleman claimed he didn't feel challenged by the game), but there was enough card management responsibilities to keep me interested and move the game beyond mere luck. Increased familiarity with the Circle powers will certainly alter strategies and help players keep the lead player in check. I think the game will prove much more competitive in future playings. It's a keeper.

Thread: Session Report

BoardGameGeek — 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

After Manager, we decided to play a last game and this was Hell Rail that Frederic had just brought back from his trip in the US. I already played this game with him on Wednesday (BTW, we didn't really understand why they announce a game for 3-4 players, as this one seems very well suited for 2 players as well). My strategy in this game is simple: get a good amount of cards and plan ahead. This had worked very well against Frederic, and could have worked very well in this game if I hadn't done a stupid thing! I was clearly the leader, but Frederic was doing very well on his last turns. The game was about to finish and on the last turn, he played this power allowing to take cars with the corresponding Brimstone number from your opponents (power no. 9 I think). Solange was the only one with cars at that moment, so I didn't really care! Well, I should have as he picked up a card that allowed him to score 6 points immediately! The final points were 38 for him and 34 for me... Very stupid from me as I could have easily prevented him from playing his power (I had a little chit left!).

This game is OK, though I think it is rather "solitaire" in feel. You plan your move at best with the cards in your hand, and basically that's it. Of course, powers bring in some interactivity into the game but they can be so harmful to you that I often think twice before using one! (derailing seems really bad in general and you must have a hard time trying to come back in the game.) A good filler with 4 players!

Thread: Session Report

shadowkeeper — 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

Players: Matthew Baldwin, Isabelle Blasio, Claire Campbell, James Crossley

First up was a clever little game called Hellrail from the small company Galloglass Game. The game comes packaged in a box about the size of a paperback novel, and despite the obvious low budget of production actually looks really good. In Hellrail, each player is an locomotive engineer hauling loads of damned souls to the nine circles of hell. The circles are placed on the table first; during play a person can place rail cards in the gaps to get from one circle to another. Cards also allow players to pick up souls from various circles, move along the tracks, draw more cards and so on. And each of the Circles has a special power than a player can use the moment he enters it, which keeps the game in a perpetual state of chaos.

Despite the relative simplicity of the rules, it took us a while to get the hang of the mechanics (as I had never played it before, and therefore was not very skilled and explaining gameplay). One of the greatest features of the game -- the fact that all cards serve multiple functions, usable for movement, cargo, points, rail laying and more -- is also one of the most confounding for first-timers. But eventually we got the hang of it, and we were soon merrily cruising through Hades, picking up "Liars" here and dropping off "Misbelievers" at thither circles. We rarely used the circle effects, mostly because we were too busy learning the game to intentionally complicate matters. Claire, however, did try one about two-thirds of the game, but it backfired and caused he to "derail", possibly costing her the game. Thereafter almost no one used them, but I expect that will change in future playings.

I was soundly in last place (with nary a load delivered) until the last quarter of the game. Then I managed to drop-off four loads -- a 8, two 7s and a 4 -- just before the game ended, giving me the victory with 26 souls delivered. All in all everyone seemed to enjoy the game, and expressed an interest in playing it again at some future date. Isabella was of the opinion that the ending was a little weak, though -- instead of just playing until the cards run out, she thought there should have been more cards and a definite goal to be achieved for victory, like delivering a set number of souls or visiting each circle once

Thread: Session Report

shadowkeeper — 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

This was the second time I'd played Hellrail, and this session confirmed what I already suspected: Hellrail is a
great little game. Players engineer tiny trains, laying track and delivering damned souls to the nine circles of
Hell. One thing I noticed this go-round, though: the "Special Effects" of the Circles now strike me as being
almost superfluous - indeed, even a detriment - to the game. Much of what I like about Hellrail is its relative
simplicity and elegance, something that the Circles' powers (which are arbitrary and vary greatly in usefulness)
detract from. The next time I pull this one out I may propose we try it without the Circle Effects and see if that
improves the game.

After the morass of rules that I had to wade through for Overthrone, explaining Hellrail was a relative snap. I
had a definite advantage, having played Hellrail before. I held onto my high-scoring cards and made longer
trips to deliver payloads, instead of making a number of short, low-paying trips - a strategy that seems to work
fairly well. In fact, moments before the deck was exhausted, I was certain that I had the game in the bag. Then
disaster struck. William landed on the Circle that makes everyone roll a die and derail if they throw a "6". I
rolled first and got a "6", forcing me to discard my whole hand and return to the Gate. Then Matt rolled a six as
well, suffering the same fate. We decided right then that if William rolled a "6" that we would quit
immediately, because rolling a "666" in a round of Hellrail can't possibly be a good omen. Luckily, William
didn't derail as well, but so many cards had been discarded that the game went from "nearly over" to "halfway
through" in a moment. I wouldn't have minded, except that I wasn't sure if I could maintain my lead. In fact,
for the second half of the game I managed to make only one delivery, and my lead was seriously eroded. But
when the draw deck was finally exhausted, I still held the #1 spot with 52, while Matt trailed with 49 and
William came in third with 48. Close one, that.

Thread: Session Report

dougadamsau — 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

Billabong Report: 17/10/00

Who: Alan, Janet, Doug, Asher, Debbie, Julian, Donna, Craig

Asher, Janet, Julian, Doug

What an unusual little game! The immediate impression is that it's a tiny card game and I guess that's not far from the truth. This one is a bit of an enigma clouded in mystery.

We run railroads in Hell - straight from Dante's Divine Comedy. The nine circles of hell are railroad "stations" deployed on the table as cards. Our object is to connect these cards up with track and run trains across them in the hope we can pick up/deliver passengers for points.

The playing deck of around 50 cards is cleverly designed. Almost too clever! Each card can be used as:

- track, removing it from the deck and possible reshuffles
- movement, to move your train
- passengers, with pickup/dropoff/points for delivery information
- redraw, discard to draw the "brimstone" number of new cards into your hand

There may be even another function of cards, but it escapes me at the moment.

Play is very free-form. You may play as many cards as you like, in any order, however if you redraw then you must end your turn. Chaos is injected in the form of circle events - when you enter a circle you may choose to invoke the event which can lead to nasty suprises and the dreaded derailment.

Janet began and suprised us all by moving to circle 1 and playing the 2 point "deliver from 1 to 9" passenger onto her train. For two points? Asher delivered a passenger on his first turn, banking five points. From that point on, the game slowed down as a lot of track was played to the "board" and various chaotic circle events were invoked. Julian quickly picked up on the fact that ending a turn by not fanning the flames (redraw) is a bad idea, as it leaves you very card poor.

As we all bumped along, not really sure how to interpret the game, Doug rumbled into circle 6 and dropped off two seven point passengers, to join his six point delivery earlier. Holding a couple of lucrative "pickup at circle 3" passengers, on his next turn Doug slapped down three track segments to like circle 3 and 6. A quick fan the flames emptied the deck, giving Asher nothing to draw at the beginning of his next turn. As far as we could tell, that ended the game - rather an anticlimax!

Doug: 20
Janet 15
Julian: 12
Asher: 9

I'm not really sure what to make of this. Ingenious, but rather light. I think we were all expecting more "game value" from the clever mechanics and interesting setting. I think the game would improve as a three player game, as I felt as though we only had five or six turns each. I give it a tentative 5, but it needs a bit more investigation.

Other stuff played:

Thread: Session Report

BoardGameGeek — 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

Hell Rail Charlie hadn't given this a play so we brought it out. I still like it. I have complained that with 4 it just seems to get going when the game ends and you need another deck. With two (and this was the first time with me playing 2) that was not a problem. With two, it appears to be much of a solitaire game. There was no interaction and both of us were just racing to fill contracts much like Merchants of Venus. We had fun but at the moment I think 3 may be the best....we will have to see.

Another great night of gaming. We meet again next Thursday....trying for 7pm this time at Nick's request...I will have to keep you posted as we get closer.