Game: Lunar Rails

Thread: Re: My dry-erase dilemma

loquitur — 2008-08-23T16:51:11+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried, and it made my marks a little darker, but still permanent. There just seems to be a lack of coating at the very edges of my board.

Thread: Re: My dry-erase dilemma

Mondior — 2008-08-23T15:12:58+00:00

loquitur wrote:
That would be the problem. I can't erase those marks.

Try writing over it again with the marker, Then immediately erase the line. I know this works if someone writes on white board with a permanent marker.

Thread: Bang Zoom to the Moon!

Freitag — 2007-07-29T07:26:26+00:00

I got Lunar Rails from a friend at Origins, and had been hoping to break it in.

I learned the Crayon Rail games in College from my Roommate, a lover of all games train. He owns all of them, and I've played Lunar once before (about 2 years ago,) so I had an advantage.

My opponents were Jason, a newbie to the crayon zone, and David, who's played a few, and knows the basic strategies.

I got a good opening spread, with two runs based on going from Australe Tranquility Base and then from to Linne to Mare Nectairis. It netted me a good load of opening money, but David was close behind, going for a faster train quickly and building lines from Mare Crisium to Mare Moscoviense. Jason was a little more lost, overextending and ending up needing to borrow money from me to finish a run, basing his operations out of Mari Ingenii.

The development of the game was was steady. I built down to Scott, then up to Perry, eventually building a circuit over the top of the moon. David eventually build around the Equator, and always seemed to upgrade his train a turn faster than me. Jason suffered, getting poor runs early, and not knowing the tricks of the trade of how to use one run to set up another.

The end game was based on big runs, and I pulled it off first. Jason finally had a good strong set up and was making money, but it was too late. Final score was me:257, David: 169, Jason: 72. The most notable other event was the fact that David got hosed by events, being the only one to lose track to the three meteor strikes during the game and also losing 2 turns to a wildcat strike followed by a cosmic by a moonquake. The game could have been much closer without that.

In the end, the hardest part to follow on the map is how close some cities are when they are on other sides of the map board. It's the wraparound effect and can be hard when you don't know where the towns are anyway to remember that because of the wraparound some runs are actually much shorter than they appear.

At least we have another trained player for the rail games. Jason will be ready for Nippon and Empire Builder any time.

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Werbaer — 2007-07-10T09:55:12+00:00

complete board

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Werbaer — 2007-07-09T12:48:37+00:00

map - near side

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Werbaer — 2007-07-09T12:48:20+00:00

map - far side

Thread: Re: My dry-erase dilemma

loquitur — 2007-06-05T22:22:54+00:00

Well, as I described in my first post, there are now permanent marks on my boards, because there doesn't appear to be the proper coating on the jigsaw boundaries of the (or my) lunar board. Here's what it looks like:
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That would be the problem. I can't erase those marks.

Thread: Re: My dry-erase dilemma

kristopherjwolff — 2007-06-05T22:03:59+00:00

I use standard dry-erase markers on all my rail games (the "board" ones like Eurorails, and the roll-out ones like Nipponrails) and they work just fine. I don't understand the problem.

Thread: Re: My dry-erase dilemma

TheCat — 2007-06-04T01:14:20+00:00

China markers are highly recommended. Many art supply stores sell them. Here's an online dealer:

http://www.rexart.com/china_markers.html

I don't recommend white or yellow.

Thread: Re: My dry-erase dilemma

skinsfan — 2007-06-01T21:14:55+00:00

i used china markers for years with no problems

skins fan

Thread: Re: My dry-erase dilemma

taraba — 2007-06-01T20:46:17+00:00

Don't use Dry Erase for gameplay. You'll erase it using your dry sleeve or dry elbow. Use Wet Erase. You might smudge it a little with a slightly sweaty palm, but mostly it will stay in place. But make sure it's on a surface that can accept wet erase without staining.

Thread: Re: My dry-erase dilemma

rholzgrafe — 2007-06-01T20:08:19+00:00

We use a roll of flexible clear vinyl to cover the map. It's thinner than a sheet of plexiglass and lighter and easier to carry, and it will adhere gently to the map and won't slip. You can write on it with either dry-erase or wet-erase marker without ever marking your board. We definitely think it's the way to go.

Thread: My dry-erase dilemma

loquitur — 2007-06-01T18:35:30+00:00

The rules state that we should only use crayons on the map. But the ones in my box were completely useless. Most reviews have stated that dry-erase markers work fine. But I've noticed that when I draw a track across a jigsaw puzzle border, the dry-erase marker leaves a permanent stain as it approaches the edge. Anyone else run into this problem?

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loquitur — 2007-05-31T21:23:24+00:00

Contents of the box. Did everyone get one blank sticker?

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gudo13 — 2007-01-24T06:48:11+00:00

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Werbaer — 2006-11-03T12:52:38+00:00

box cover (bigger image)

Thread: Watch out for Meteor Showers!

kristiefix — 2006-09-11T14:10:08+00:00

A Review of Lunar Rails

Let me start by saying, Lunar is probably one of my favorite rail games… I’m not completely sure why, considering the random disaster-factor that can completely knock you out of the game (this happened to me once). I decided to write a review on it because I finally played it again a week ago (it had been a while). It seems there are more impacting disasters in this game then in the normal rail games, but most of this is made up for in the cheap train upgrades ($10m) and variation options. So, below I have discussed an overview with periodic suggestions that make the game more fun, and why I think this (so you can decide for yourself).

Overview of Game-play:
In all of the rail games, the goal is to make money by finishing train-rails networks and delivering resources. The winning condition is to be the first player to connect rails through seven of the eight major cities and to have 250 million dollars. Once this winning condition is met, play continues through the end of the round and if someone else also meets the winning condition, the amount of money is compared to determine the winner. This is not a list of the full rules in the game, but is an overview of how things work.

Components- Lunar Rails contains many of the same components that you may be used to in other rail games, including:
Moon Board (six pieces, unique in the circular shape with connecting sides),
Train Cards (Starting with a Level 1, you can purchase upgrades for $10m to upgrade how many resources you can load or how fast you can go),
Demand (Resource) Cards,
Event Cards,
White Chips (Resources),
Money (Starting with $60m),
Game Crayons,
Pegs (Trains).

The board in Lunar Rails shows a legend for the cost of rail-building, which is nice as a reference point. In the first round of the game, each player gets to build $20m in railroad/upgrades… in the order Player 1,2,3,4,5,5,4,3,2,1 (this is an example with 5 players). By the end of this round, every player has had an opportunity to build up to $40m in railroad. In future turns, a max of $20m can be spent per turn on either rail building or train upgrades… or a combination of both.

Each turn a player moves the train as many spaces as their train allows, then has the option to either build more train rails or upgrade to a faster/more capacity train. The number of Demand cards in play depends on the rules and variations used. I usually play with 3 personal demand cards and 3-5 community demand cards… this tends to make the game go faster, and increases competition on the community cards, in my opinion. Each card is like a list of cities that need specific goods. Some cities need a good that is available in a near-by city, so you will not get paid as much to deliver it… but if you need the cash flow, and the delivery is an easy one, this delivery may be the best one to make. You are only aloud to make one delivery per card, so pick wisely.

With the goals of winning in mind, it makes since that the strategy for building rail lines is completely dependent on the cards with resources that you think you can deliver. To deliver a resource you must first go to the city which makes that resource (labeled on the board), then deliver it to the city that needs the resource (choices labeled on the card). Note: If you don’t have a rail built to a city you need to get to, but someone else has it built… you can rent them for $4m/turn. A player must allow renting on his/her line unless the player cannot pay the $4m. We allow for deals to be made when a player is short on cash (ie I’ll give you the renting money when I make my delivery), but a player doesn’t have to allow renting on his/her line IF the other player cannot pay them.

Once you have made a delivery, you collect your money and draw a new card from the pile. The card will either be another delivery to plan OR an event. Event cards in Lunar Rails can be disastrous… as said before, I’ve been completely knocked out of a game from them before, because there were 3 in a row which knocked out too many of my lines to make any deliveries, and with the money I had left… I couldn’t rebuild enough to go anywhere. So, let me suggest to play the alternate rule that a person who is legitimately unable to continue should be able to borrow the minimum amount of money to rebuild a rail to continue play. This alternate rule has penalties associated with it, you have to pay double the amount back for example.

Also, it is good to know that cards should be visible to everyone during play, but money is private unless the tax event is drawn.

Other Comments:
Another variation that we play with is the “Golden Spike” Award. This is a $20m award for connecting the sphere through the wrap letters (2 awards 1-North/South, 1-East/West). In general, the more money flow and resource deliveries available to choose from, the quicker the game tends to go (so if you like longer games, don’t play with my variation suggestions).

If you are new to rail games, my suggestion is to play something with easier geography, like Euro Rails (which is similar in many ways). If you have played other rail games, you’ll notice some minor differences in the rules of Lunar Rails, and I suggest skimming the rulebook prior to play… mainly because you will find Lunar unbalanced without the changes. For example, the first time I played we paid $20m for train upgrades, and you could only build or upgrade in a turn, not both… since I said before that the events in this game are devastating, you can imagine that this hit on the pocketbook doesn’t help matters.

Overall, as I said at the beginning, Lunar Rails is one of my favorite rail games. I really like the global sphere connections, and with some of the variations in play the game seems well balanced.

Thread: Geography makes a difference!

Bookworm — 2006-07-28T20:08:50+00:00

I first became aware of Lunar Rails while perusing the dealers room at MarsCon 2005. I didn't purchase the game then, and happened to see it again at the convention in 2006 when friends purchased the only available copy. As we often game with this couple I wasn't too put out at missing my chance.

Lunar Rails puts an interesting twist into the Empire Builder line of games. First, you utilize the entire planet. Consequently the map is two circles representing the NEAR SIDE and the FAR SIDE. Think the map of the world from your elementary school Civics book. The board designers thought up a little aid with small colored circles with letters in them to help you match sides of the map. I honestly do not like this feature. The map itself is small and tight. Even though you have the whole planet to work with. The alphabetical circles do work for matching yourself up around the circles, but can provide a bit of confusion if you're not careful. In addition, the map is a strange grayish color that seriously glares in most light.

Lunar Rails falls into a category of games that are easier to play the more often you play them. As with all crayon rail games you must build (draw) your rail, move your train, pick up and deliver cargo. This map tends to be a bit more expensive than most of the Empire Builder series maps as the moon is made up of a lot of mountains and alps. Craters also cost $1M extra to move into or out of. Additionally, the geography takes some getting used to. The board and reference cards are good about telling you where cities are located... Far Side Northeast, Near Side Equator, etccc.... so you at least have an idea of where to begin looking. The naming convention for this map actually includes historic names. I thought that was a nice touch.

Disasters are, of course, different in this game than others in the Empire Builder series. Meteor strikes give a direction and distance, causing the drawing player to pull the next demand card off the top of the deck. The player counts the required number of mileposts in the direction stated on the disaster card and erases all relevant track. Trains that are on those mileposts suffer the loss of one turn and a load.

There are also three bonus demand cards. Each card lists several commodities that can be delivered to any major city for a bonus of $20M, and lasts for 3 turns. Train speeds are those of Iron Dragon, from 10 to 16. This is an improvement, I think, from Empire Builder. Over all the game will take about 2+ hours for experienced crayon rail players to complete. As with all of the series, there is a snowball effect about 2/3 of the way thru the game.

Many complain about the solitaire aspect of the Empire Builder series. Lunar Rails has a little less of that as the map is VERY small. 4 players will find themselves bumping into each pretty quickly and finding themselves locked out of small towns early on. I, personally, have never really encountered that aspect in any of the games, but I can see where some would feel that way.

The only complaint I have about any EmpireBuilder games is seriously magnified in Lunar Rails. The length of time it can take for a player to take a turn. It is imperative for game length for players to use time while others are taking their turns to plan out there own. Otherwise you end up with 3 people sitting for 15 minutes while someone else tries to determine the cheapest route.

Over all, if you are not a fan of crayon rail games, you will probably not like Lunar Rails either. However, if you are a fan of the Empire Builder series, Lunar Rails makes a nice addition to the collection.

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klellingson — 2006-07-23T18:10:02+00:00

Taking a Break from Playing and Mugging for the Camera

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Werbaer — 2006-05-15T15:27:00+00:00

Train progression. Same system as in Iron Dragon, faster than usual in the Empire Builder series

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Werbaer — 2006-05-15T15:12:13+00:00

inside the box

Thread: No cheese here

seppo21 — 2005-10-16T02:29:27+00:00

Only Game: Lunar Rails

We had some time this evening to play a game, and Christine was interested in one of the Empire Builder games. I chose this one because it is one of my favorites in the series, and we have not played it in a while. As is usual with the Empire Builder series of games, the object of the game is to obtain 250 million in cash and connect all but one of the major cities. The cost of track depends on the terrain being built through and is drawn directly on the board. Money is earned by delivering commodities to cities where there is demand. This is determined by the demand cards each player has. Once a load is delivered a new card is drawn, which will occasionally be an event card. While generally causing trouble for the players, there are some that provide additional demands that anyone can meet.

My initial builds were out from Sinus Iridum toward Aristoteles, Linne, and Transquility Base. Christine started her building in the direction of D'Alembert for the robots, which she delivered repeatedly throughout the game. It was quite annoying to see the amount of money she made off of these things. My initial deliveries took me past Sinus Iridum around to Hertzspring on the far side. I then began a complicated series of building and deliveries that had to be calculated precisely in order to pull them off. I started off initially heading toward Mare Moscoviense. I then proceeded down to Fleming, Joliot, and Tsiolkovskiy. My money was so tight at this point, I had to pick up stuff, warehouse it, and pick it up again after delivery of other commodities. [As an aside here, we play with field warehousing where you can leave commodities in any city you pass through. Of course, your opponents can come along and pick these up, so it can be really dangerous.] I bounced back up to D'Alembert and back around toward Joliot. I was now able to build across to Mare Crisium and connect to my other track near Tranquility Base.

After this rather complicated stint of building and delivering, things got a little easier for me. I was now at the point where I no longer had to be so careful with every dollar I earned. I was now able to start building for a delivery toward Scott. On the way, I went through Archimedes, Sinus Iridum, and Mare Humorum, making a few deliveries along the way. When I came out of the South, I took off back across the moon toward Tsiolkovskiy. I then needed to build back to Australe and Balmer. After some deliveries in the direction of Mare Humorum and Hertzspring, I was able to cross back to the near side and head down toward Scott. I was close having what I needed for the win, but my last demand card didn't really help much. Then I realized that Lyman was not that far away from where I already had track. Since I was heading to Scott anyway, it worked out great. Once I made that delivery, the game was over.

Final Result: (in millions)

Stephen -- 254
Christine -- 173

Once again, this was a lot of fun to play. Granted, it does seem to take a whole lot more thought than the other games in this series. I think this because of the truly awful terrain in the game. Most of the map is covered in mountains. Then you add a whole bunch of craters to this. This adds up to it costing a lot of money to build track anywhere. This in turn means you have to be really careful where you build and what loads you choose to pursue. I made a counting mistake that nearly did me in early in this game. I was able to get out of it with a delivery that was worth less than the one I wanted. However, it did save me the trouble of having to travel all of the way around the moon to make my delivery. One other effect of this difficult building is that it can extend the length of the game, which is also impacted by the complete unfamiliarity with the names used in the game. Our total playing time was right at two hours.

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EJKemp — 2005-03-06T13:39:49+00:00

Thread: Session Report

funvill — 2004-11-15T15:39:22+00:00

Number of players: 4
Time taken to complete: 6.5 hr

We where actually able to complete this game with out having to fudge the rules, unlike last time.

It was allot better then the first time we played this game and I assume it will get better each time as we learn not to make the same stupid mistakes over and over again.

we did have problem, about 7 turns in to the game we already knew who was going to win, they had such a great start that there would have had to make a lot of mistakes to be pushed out of the lead, we mainly spent the reminder of the game fighting over 2nd and 3rd place, this game need a few battle cards that we can use to screw up our opponents.

I ended up coming in 2nd

Over all game experience: 7 / 10

Thread: Session Report

funvill — 2004-10-18T15:31:20+00:00

I was told that the “rails” set of games was a good one by a few people and saw it for cheap, so i picked it up.

Invited 3 people over and started a game,
Slow at first because we where still learning in fact we got screwed, and had to fudge the rules so we could continue, that was not fun.

There is little or no interaction between players, I could see this game being played by one person, and we spent a lot of time wished for more interaction.

we gave up on the game after 5 hr (est. 3-4hr). 2 people had more then 4 cities connected but the game was not going anywhere fast.

I didn't enjoy this game, and I wish I had not purchased it.

I might play it again and introduce a few house rules to make it playable.

Game Play: 1 out of 10
Contents: 3 out of 10 (there was a lot in the box)
Replay value: 0

Thread: Re:Session Report

benni_jolink — 2004-09-19T14:16:28+00:00

I found this game very boring. You cannot influence other players, you cannot use rails built by other players (far too expensive). You cannot deliver goods where they're wanted before someone else does. (because only YOU have a card that states where some goods are needed).

This might be a good computer game where you test your rail-building skills against a computer, but where's the fun in playing with other people if you can't interact with them in ANY way ????

Strange, silly and unneeded game. I'm baffled by the fact that there are so many variations on the market.

Thread: Re:Session Report

mark_biggar — 2004-08-04T20:20:55+00:00

Hawk (#20330),
>>There is one section in which you mentioned:
>>Incredibly, goods are free to pick up and may be >>discarded at any time. Certainly this is an other-worldly >concept!
>
>As the system rewards you for delivery, perhaps the >designer wanted the players to concentrate on brining the >right resource/item to the source of the demand, thus >made the cost of the good unimportant?

If you thing of the payout for a delivery as the net profit for the delivery, then it all makes sense. You can always sell a load at "cost" (i.e., 0 profit) anywhere, but
only make money if you sell at a city with a "demand"
for the good.

Thread: Re:Session Report

snoozefest — 2004-08-04T18:35:29+00:00

gschloesser (#19832),

I finally (2 weeks ago?) played this version. While I am not a huge fan of these games, I do enjoy them. The multi-player solitaire aspect doesn't bother me except in that it results in a lot of down time. Especially in a game as long as these tend to be. What ended up working very well was this: (1) use a 1 minute timer; add 1 minute after a delivery is made (so they have some time to look at the new card), and (2) when possible, the next person can take his turn simultaneously (e.g., if just moving a train or laying track no where near the previous player, and no disasters are coming up etc.). I don't think I'd play these games any other way!

Thread: Re:Session Report

Hawk — 2003-10-04T01:20:19+00:00

gschloesser (#19832),

Having never played a crayon-rail game, I found your review rather interesting. I now have a better idea of what is to be expected, as my gaming objectives appear to be in line with yours, in that player interaction is necessary, else I go to the computer.

There is one section in which you mentioned:
Incredibly, goods are free to pick up and may be discarded at any time. Certainly this is an other-worldly concept!

As the system rewards you for delivery, perhaps the designer wanted the players to concentrate on brining the right resource/item to the source of the demand, thus made the cost of the good unimportant?

Thanks again for a good review,
Denis

Thread: Session Report

gschloesser — 2003-09-23T13:08:39+00:00

After several missed opportunities, I finally managed to play the latest addition to the crayon rail games series from Mayfair Games. It had been brought to the table several times over the past couple of months, but each time I was involved in a different game and was thus unable to play.

Crayon rail games have been around for quite awhile, so most gamers are familiar with the concept and core mechanisms. Basically, each player is building rail lines across the map, attempting to link various cities and then pick-up and transport goods between various cities. Players receive payoffs on these deliveries, so developing short, direct routes and efficiently using these routes in your deliveries is the key to success in the game.

Rail lines are actually drawn onto the map with grease crayons, which are included in the game, or dry-erase markers, which are not supplied. Experience has proven that those crayons just don’t work properly, so we’ve defaulted to using the dry eraser markers. These, too, have their problems, but seem to work better than the crayons and are easier to wipe-off once the game is completed.

Most of the crayon rail games are centered at various locations throughout our world – Britain, India, United States, etc. Iron Dragon took the concept to a fantasy world filled with dwarves, elves and dragons. Now, the concept has been launched to the moon. Aside from the unique setting, what really makes this game different from the others in the series is the globe shape of the map. The map depicts two separate circles, which represent the two “sides” of the moon. However, since the moon is round (I wonder if there is a “flat moon” society?), this is represented by these two circles, with points along the edges of each circle actually connecting – or wrapping – to the other circle. These “wrap” points are indicated by a series of color-coded letters which is at first confusing, but eventually becomes relatively easy to decipher.

Although this “wrap-around” feature takes a bit getting used to, the most difficult aspect of the game is to successfully locate the various cities. Why? Well, the designers opted to give the game some historical accuracy by maintaining the actual names of certain areas and locations on the lunar surface. At least I’m assuming these are accurate. However, I’d venture a guess that only a very small fraction of people alive today know these names and locations. The rest of us ignorant earth dwellers must constantly consult a map index to locate the cities, which grows tedious and annoying. So, professor Greg grants an “A” for historical accuracy, but a “D” for practicality.

As mentioned, the mechanics of the game are nearly identical to other crayon rail games in the series. The map has a grid of points (known as “mileposts”) superimposed upon it and rail lines are drawn so as to make connections between these mileposts. The cost of a connection depends upon the type of terrain being built to and can vary from $1 - $5. The near side of the moon is more friendly, with an abundance of low-cost valleys. The far side of the moon, however, is much more treacherous and is filled with craggy mountains, which are expensive to traverse.

Players each receive a locomotive and three Demand cards to begin the game. We played an option wherein each player is dealt five cards and chooses three. This helps prevent one player from getting a difficult hand of cards. Each player begins the game on a major city and initially makes two “builds” – constructing up to $40 worth of track. After this is completed, the game enters its regular cycle.

On a turn, a player may move a number of spaces (milepost to milepost), not to exceed the limit of his current locomotive, which is 10 spaces for the initial loco. Locomotives can be upgraded during the course of the game at a cost of $10 per upgrade. Upgraded locomotives are speedier and can hold more cargo. The maximum speed for the top-of-the-line loco is 16 spaces.

Once a player completes his movement, he may then build up to $20 more of track. Of course, this is further restricted by the amount of money a player possesses, which is in limited supply in the early stages of the game. The idea here is to build routes to the cities wherein you need to pick up and deliver the goods listed on your Demand cards. Each Demand card lists three cities, the type of good they are demanding and the payoff for successfully delivering that good. Each city on the board depicts the type of good that can be secured at that location. Incredibly, goods are free to pick up and may be discarded at any time. Certainly this is an other-worldly concept!

When building routes, short, direct routes are the best. Efficiency counts, as being able to pick up and deliver goods to their destination quickly is vital. There are no bonuses for most track constructed or benefits for taking the scenic route. Since the only way to earn money in the game is by making deliveries, it pays to get the goods to their destination pronto.

A player may use another player’s track as opposed to constructing it himself, but this is not always a good idea. Riding another player’s rails isn’t free – it costs $4 per turn you ride an opponent’s rail lines. This is occasionally cost effective, but usually only if you can get through a track section in one turn. Sometimes it is completely necessary to use another player’s lines as the smaller cities only allow a limited number of players to build connections to them.

The ultimate objective of the game is to connect to seven of the eight major cities on the board and amass a wealth of $250 million by the end of a round. Usually, the majority of the tracks are completed about 2/3 of the way into the game and the final 1/3 is occupied by swiftly racing along these tracks delivering goods. Thus, the player who has constructed the tightest line system and has carefully managed his Demand cards will be richly rewarded.

When a delivery is successfully made, that Demand card is discarded and a new one immediately drawn. The new card often requires the player to adjust his plans in order to take into account the delivery opportunities the new card offers. To shake things up, the deck of Demand cards contains numerous event cards that can be minor annoyances or major disasters. Most of these cause some delays in movement or force players to pay extra when constructing in certain areas. Watch out for those meteor showers, though, as they can completely destroy sections of track and wipe out the cargo a player is carrying. There are a precious few beneficial events in the deck, which usually cause extra money to be earned when delivering goods to certain locations.

So, what is my assessment? Well, first let me be perfectly clear that I am not a big fan of the crayon rail game system. My main complaint against the system continues to hold true here: the games are the perfect definition of the term “multi-player solitaire”. Each player is basically doing his own thing with very little, if any, interaction or interference from his fellow players. It almost doesn’t matter what your opponents are doing or what goods they are attempting to deliver. There is precious little you can do about it anyway. Each player is simply trying to play his own game, optimizing his routes, massaging his Demand cards and making swift, efficient deliveries. Short of the rare cases when a player can be shutout of a making a connection to a small city, there is virtually nothing players can do to interfere with the progress of their opponents. I much prefer games that have a higher degree of interaction amongst the players and there are concrete steps that can be taken to interfere with the plans of my opponents. If I want a solitaire experience, I’ll head for the computer.

The other drawback for me is the length of the game, which consistently clocks in at 1 hour per player. I don’t mind the occasional longer game, but often the winner of the crayon rail games can be determined way in advance of the game actually finishing. Investing that much time in a game that I consider “multiple-player solitaire” AND when the last few hours must still be played when the ultimate winner is not in doubt is not what I consider an enjoyable use of game time.

Now I say this in full recognition that the crayon rail games have legions of fans. Well, maybe not legions, but enough to have spawned a gaming subculture and to continue to support the release of new games in the series. Some folks – including several in my own Westbank Gamers group – are enamored by the system and think it is the best thing since sliced bread. I’m still not quite sure what they see in this system, but my tastes in games is certainly not beyond reproach. To use another cliché: to each his own.

Biases aside, this new edition to the system is quite good and novel enough to set it apart from the other games – at least for the crayon game enthusiast. If you are a fan of the series, then this will be a fine addition to your collection. If, however, you are like me, you likely won’t have room for more than one such game in your gaming closet.

Keith, Jim and I set our sights on turning the moon into a rail baron’s dream, building track across the surface at appalling speed. Jim was the true veteran, having played crayon rail games dozens of times. He concentrated on building a practically straight north-south route on the far side of the moon, while I tried to accomplish the same feat on the near side of the moon. My route had quite a few branches, however, while Jim’s was much more direct.

I couldn’t quite figure out Keith’s approach, as it seemed to wiggle all over the surface. Eventually, however, this paid off, as he was able to get to a lot of different locations quickly. Late in the game, he managed to collect a sequence of Demand cards that allowed him to make quick deliveries for substantial payoffs. This proved to be the difference as he broke out of the pack and claimed an impressive victory. Keith had to depart on the final turn, so Joey assumed his spot to share in the victory.

Finals: Keith 252, Greg 164, Jim 152

Ratings: Jim 9, Joey 9, Keith 8.5, Greg 5.5

Thread: Session Report

gschloesser — 2003-09-08T20:44:58+00:00

LUNAR RAILS

Another game of Lunar Rails that I didn’t get to play. Sigh. Not that I’m necessarily a fan of the crayon rails genre, but I do have an obligation to play it since it was received as a review copy. Maybe next time …

Joey was despondent that he, too, had missed out on the last playing and insisted that he would play it this week. Jim, who practically goes into fits of ecstasy at the mere mention of a crayon rail game, patiently waited for Joey to arrive. The duo were joined by Keith.

The group completed the game in about three hours, which aligned perfectly with the “one hour per person” game length rule of thumb. Jim reports that this game was unusual in that no north-south route was developed until near the very end of the game, when Joey finished construction on this mammoth project. Jim crossed the $250 threshold to claim the victory, but noted that both Keith and Joey had large payloads in transit that would have also put them close to that level.

Finals: Jim 254, Keith 175, Joey 172

Ratings: Jim 9, Joey 9, Keith 8.5

Thread: Session Report

gschloesser — 2003-07-13T02:53:17+00:00

LUNAR RAILS

When Jim saw that the new Lunar Rails game from Mayfair had arrived, he went bonkers with excitement. He immediately grabbed the game, pasted the stickers onto the multitude of plastic chips and devoured the rules. He also promptly called his sister and informed her that I was in possession of this long-awaited game. Melissa and Mark rushed over to play. I, too, had intended on playing the game, but the Dante’s Inferno game lasted longer than anticipated. Thus, my chance to play has been delayed to a future date. Mark, Melissa and Jim were joined by Dave for the lunar rail-building.

The game is nearly identical in mechanisms to other games in the crayon-rail genre. The really neat modification here is the ‘circular’ nature of the board. Since this is the moon, the surface is a globe, so traveling off the edge of one side of the board simply wraps you around to the other edge of the board. Due to the circular layout of the board, this can be a bit confusing at first, but some handy letter codes at each dot makes it easy to learn and visualize.

The other main rules modification is the meteor crash, which takes the place of the random weather events present in Iron Dragon. Basically, the site of a meteor impact is determined randomly by using the cards. These crashes can be potentially devastating, especially if they strike an area of major development. Mark suffered two consecutive meteor hits early in the game and was forced to play catch-up from then on. He came close to delivering two lucrative contracts near the end of the game which would have made him more competitive, but never did catch the leader or the other players.

I’ve read the rules and am looking forward to giving the game a try myself. I will say, however, that I am not a huge fan of the crayon-rails system. I find the games to be the very definition of “multi-player solitaire”. Players do their own thing with virtually no interaction with the other players. Fellow Westbank Gamer Jerry Maus claims the game could easily be played solitaire – and he is correct. I generally prefer more interaction in the games I play, so this genre is simply not my favorite. However, I can certainly appreciate the design and am not averse to playing it on occasion.

The following comments were made by Jim, a HUGE fan of the crayon-rail system:

Most of the rules are very similar to Iron Dragon, without the foremen. The foremen aren’t needed as there aren’t as many different types of terrain in this version. The wrap-around aspect of the map and the fun random events made up for their absence, however.

The manner in which the map is laid out, players pretty much have to have track that covers just about the entire moon in order to reach 7 of the 8 major cities. The choice to leave one out doesn’t mean much because the one you leave out isn’t far from track you must have by the end of the game.

Load card payouts are similar to that in EuroRails, while upgrades are priced liked those in Iron Dragon. One major city has only five items available, which makes them very valuable.

Jim began with a north-south route, with robots on the far side of the moon. Most of the other players were forced to use this route early in the game, which proved lucrative for him. Dave began with a long east-west route, transporting diamonds. Both of these routes worked out well for them throughout the game.

Finals: Jim 266, Melissa 158, Dave 156, Mark 105

Ratings: Melissa 9, Jim 8.5, Mark 8, Dave 7.5

Thread: User Review

jcohan — 2003-06-25T19:04:01+00:00

While wandering through a game store yesterday, I was surprised to find that Lunar Rails is finally available. I managed to find a second player, and we dove in for a test run.

The biggest difference between LR and the rest of the crayon rails games is the map shape. The game takes place over the entire surface of the moon, so it doesn't use a simple "flat" map. The lunar map consists of two circles representing the near side and far side. A series of labeled, colored-coded dots is used to aid in figuring out where a milepost on the edge of the near side connects to the corresponding edge of the far side. It didn't take us very long to get used to it.

There are some events which work a little differently from the other Mayfair rail games, and a couple of entirely new ones. Meteor strikes have replaced river floods. Meteor strike cards give a direction and distance - for instance, 3 mileposts to the northwest. The next demand card is drawn, revealing three cities. The player counts three mileposts to the northwest of each city and erases all track connected to those mileposts, as well as any track connected to mileposts adjacent to those mileposts. (That's harder to describe properly than it is to do in the execution). Any train on those mileposts sufferes loss of turn and loads.

There are cosmic rays and solar flares, which force each player in his next turn to shelter his train in a city. If a city can't be reached, loss of turn and load(s) occur.

There are three boom/shortage cards. These are an improvement over the heating oil shortage in Empire Builders. Each event gives players the opportunity to deliver one of a list of commodities to ANY major city, without the need for a demand card. The first player to do so receives 20 M, and the event is discarded. The event will hang around for 3 turns, almost ensuring that someone will be able to use it.

The locos are Iron Dragon style - starting with 10 movement and 2 capacity, working up through 4 upgrades to 16 movement and 3 capacity, with upgrades costing 10 M.

The map is very mountainous. Payoffs tend to be rather high, but so are track costs. There are also craters, rills, alpines, and a few other features. Historical landing sites are mentioned.

There are a few new commodities, but everything works normally - there's no special cargos like the pilgrims in India Rails.

We enjoyed the game in our first playing, though the real test will, of course, come with more players.

Thread: User Review

robindog — 2003-06-23T13:57:10+00:00

Lunar Rails, the most recent addition to Mayfair's "Crayon rail" series, offers refreshing new variety for fans of these games. However, it's probably not the best first introduction to the series, and it is similar enough to the other Mayfair Crayon games that those who only tolerate the games won't be very excited by it.

A brief recap for those unfamiliar with the series: These "crayon games" use a laminated map-board marked with a hexagonal grid of mileposts. Wipe-off crayons are used to connect adjacent mileposts with lines representing train track. The basic turn consists of operating your train on exsiting track, to pick up commodities in one city and deliver them to another for a profit; followed by the purchase of new track to expand your rail empire. Efficient track construction, combined with a lucky draw of lucrative contracts, pushes you towards the combined goal of 250 million in cash, and track connecting all but one of the major cities.

Most of the games in this series are set on various portions of our home planet, Earth: Eurorails, Empire Builder, India Rails, Nippon Rails, and British Rails. In contrast, Lunar Rails is set on the moon. The only other non-Earth locale for a crayon rail game is the fantasy world used in Iron Dragons.

Since the moon is so small, rail builders have access to the entire sphere, instead of only a single continent of the world. The biggest difference between Lunar Rails and the other crayon rails games is that the map board is divided into two circular hemisphere maps, which are logically "joined" through the use of labelled points around the perimiter of each hemisphere. In reality, the maps more accurately represent the two sides of a coin than two hemispheres of a globe, but the effect is the same: in order to build track effectively, you need to adjust your notion of how to find the shortest distance between two points. I was surprised with how easy this transition was for our gaming group, but we all have much experience with other games in the series.

The terrain is also obviously different than that found on earth: instead of rivers and deserts, the moon has craters and deep ravines. There are no oceans to restrict your rail building. Crossing the rim of a crater or a ravine costs more than building track in flatter terrain, similar to rivers in the other rail games. The "geographic" areas of the moon are (presumably) labelled accurately, presenting a unique opportunity to learn the place-names of the moon.

Disasters on the moon are also different than those on earth. The most common disaster is the Meteor Strike. While most disasters in the earthbound rail games predictably strike specific cities or rivers on the map, meteors can strike almost anywhere on the map, becuase each strike's location is dictated by the locations shown on a commodity card drawn after the disaster strike. This mechanic reduces the predictability of meteor strikes, which makes them harder to plan for, and therefore harder to avoid.

The trains in Lunar Rails are like those in Iron Dragons: they range in speed from 10 to 16 mileposts, and can carry 2 or 3 loads. These speedy trains are a welcome speed increase from the sluggish speed 12 trains available in most of the rail games.

One major complaint I have heard about the Crayon Rail games is the "multi-player solitaire" effect: most of the time, player interaction is minimal. Lunar rails is no different than the other crayon rail games in this respect. Whether this is good news or bad news depends on whether you love or hate the other crayon rail games. Player interaction increases as the player count increases. The Lunar Rails map should easily hold 4 players without major contention over the prime routes, especially considering the plentiful "around the world" options available on this "spherical" map.

For those new to the Crayon Rails game series, the easiest introduction to the game is to find a game with maps whose geography you're already familiar with. Empire Builder is a good choice for Americans, and EuroRails is an excellent choice for Europeans. If you love the game, then you will long for the new and refreshing challenges presented by the other games in this series: not only in the strategy the map's terrain requires, but in the process of learning the geography of a new place. If you don't like your first introduction to these games, then Lunar Rails is unlikely to be different or "better" enough to sway your opinion.

As one who falls into the "love it" category, I enjoy Lunar Rails for its unique map and subtle new rules, and I'd recommend it to any die-hard Crayon Rails fan. As an introduction to the series, I recommend it to those who live on the moon, and those who enjoy deciphering challenging geography and who don't mind a lack of player interaction.