Game: 18VA

Thread: Re: Optimal number of players?

boatner — 2008-01-08T18:26:46+00:00

18VA scales far better than any other 18xx game I have played. One of the reasons 18VA is my favorite game is that it plays equally well with 3, 4 or 5.

The initial private company auction in 18VA is superior to all others (my group has started using this method in other xx titles) and it creates different starting tension depending on the number of players. So, I would say that the game is different depending on the number of players, but still very well balanced and extremely satisfying.

For comparison, I prefer not to play 1856 or 1870 with 3, and I prefer not to play 18GA or 18AL with 5. 18VA fits perfectly in the gap between the 2 hour games and the 5 hour games and will easily handle 3, 4, or 5 players.

Thread: Re: Dividend Payment

zzzz — 2007-07-23T11:29:35+00:00

Thank you for the information !

Thread: Re: Optimal number of players?

msaari — 2007-07-17T04:01:55+00:00

I played the game with four, and it was good. Though - we were all newbies and so our game wasn't that cutthroat.

Thread: Re: Optimal number of players?

zzzz — 2007-07-17T03:51:02+00:00

Last week, I have played this game with my friends first time with 3 members.
I feel 3 were very comfortable numbers.
On the other hand, I feel 4 might be very difficult. This impression comes from the fact that,
1 : This map is filled with many cities. And most of them can contain only 2 tokens in each.
2 : This game contains more than enough amount of tokens.
This results in that longer railroad is cut by token blockade in this game. And the situation is harder with increased number of players.

I'd like to say "4 might be difficult" and this doesn't mean "4 is boring". It strongly depends the person's favorite. If you'd like to play harder game, 4 might be very good. But, I don't like it.

Thread: Re: Dividend Payment

BillSkulley — 2007-07-15T00:26:21+00:00

It is correct, as verified by the 18xx differences page linked on the 18VA BGG entry.

Thread: Dividend Payment

zzzz — 2007-07-14T21:38:51+00:00

4.5.6 says "Shares in Corporation's treasury do not pay dividends" and "Shares in the Pool pay the dividends".
I feel this seems upside down.
Is this section correct or not ?

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zzzz — 2007-06-07T22:46:36+00:00

box cover from Deep Thought Games

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SpareTire — 2007-05-13T20:52:33+00:00

DeepThought Kit - Laminated Components

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SpareTire — 2007-05-13T20:51:50+00:00

Laminated Trains - DeepThought Kit

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SpareTire — 2007-05-13T20:51:17+00:00

DeepThought Kit - Laminated Map

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SpareTire — 2007-05-13T20:50:41+00:00

DeepThought Packaging

Thread: Re: 18VA at Helcon 2006

medievalbanquet — 2006-11-08T12:06:54+00:00

Awesome!

Thread: 18VA at Helcon 2006

msaari — 2006-11-08T07:26:14+00:00

The definite highlight of Helcon 2006 was the first game I played at the event: 18VA. I ordered the game a long time ago, and finally got it in my hands. The production values are surprisingly good: the game looks really good. It's all very well done.

The game was great, just great. It took us about 30 minutes to figure out the rules (I had studied them, but we had some problems; some things could've been explained better in the rules, I think) and four hours to play the game. I know we had a ton of minor rules mistakes (very difficult to avoid in a complicated and fiddly game like this) and lots of blunders caused by the freshness of the players (all newbies, two having some 1830: The Game of Railroads and Robber Barons experience from the PC version). Still it was great.

I won, too! The scores were very close: 5682-5393-5234-5148. I had the second best stock portfolio in the end (Tommy who was second had the best) and most cash in hand. I was a bit surprised by my victory, as I didn't feel like one of the power players in our game. I was the president of my small Virginian Railways from SR 1 to the very end, and that's it. I did have two of the privates, which my Virginian bought with the full price (and one of them was the $200 discount on trains, making sure I didn't have to use my personal cash reserves to buy trains like Tommy did), that pretty much makes up the difference to Tommy I think.

Next time I'll know the rules better, and maybe it'll be even better. The playing time is a bit tough, but I think it can be squeezed to four hours including the rules explanation. I'm looking forward to have another go, I just don't know when that's going to be possible. Anyway, I'm now happily in the 18xx world, having perhaps dived in a fairly deep end, but I'm glad I have the game. As of now I feel no need to buy more 18xx games, but we'll have to see about that.

Thread: Optimal number of players?

msaari — 2006-10-20T04:52:48+00:00

Is there an optimal number of players for 18VA? Are there perhaps some problems with a particular player amount?

Thread: Passenger and Coal Railing 18xx style

Elf__Man — 2006-01-06T14:55:53+00:00

Sat down for my second game of 18VA. I was fortunate to have another one earlier this week, so lessons from much of the first game were fresh in my mind.

Notable differences from 'standard' 18xx:

Trains: There are three types of trains. 'normal' numbered trains, 'G's, and the final '4D's. When a train is purchased from the bank a decision is made as to which type it is. i.e. a '2' train or a '1G'. The number is the number of cities that train may visit. A 'G' may visit any number of coal fields on its route. (shown as small towns on the map). A 'G' may also double a port if there is the appropriate station marker, and obtain credit from off-board coal locations. The final 4D trains cannot utilize coal stops, but do double the four cities they visit. So an off-board location, doubled with a station, may be doubled again by a 4D. Late game runs we've seen have been 40-80 / share.

Map: There are station placements for off-board coal, ports, and cities. Besides being 'standard' stations, placing a station marker may do some additional things:

If a marker is placed on an off-board coal location, then a bonus will pay to the company depending on size of train (larger = more money).

If a marker is place on an off-board port, then a bonus is given to the port city values. Note: The non-Baltimore port cities cannot be upgraded from their base 20 value (I feel this should have been depicted as grey cities.)

If a market is placed on an off-board city, then the value of that city will be doubled.

There are also no city shortages from tiles. Everyone may upgrade to their maximum ability. Not every city may brown, however due to board limitations. There are two grey cities, and coal mines may only upgrade to green.

Tiles are 'strait line' tiles similar to 18EU.

Tile lay may be done in a pseudo restrictive fashion in the late mid game, but overcome with browns. (delaying tactics). The brutal part of the game is in the station dropping. Each company receives 3 station markers in addition to the starting marker. These are quite likely to disrupt some routes, especially with the financial incentive to place markers in ending ports / cities / mines. The mid-map companies can lock out sections of map, depriving some companies of the 'wealthy' runs.

Shares and Stock: Companies begin as 5 share companies, (40-20-20-20) with the par set for a certificate. Money from these 5 preferred shares remain in the company and are purchased from the company at current stock value. Dividends are only payed to the company if a share is in the Open Market, however. At the beginning of an OR, a company may upgrade to a 10 share (standard) company. This will devalue existing shares by 50% automatically. However, when the first of the 10 shares is purchased, the company immediately capitalizes at the current stock value (all 5 shares). Remaining purchases then deposit monies to the bank. A stage of game play requires all companies to form into 10 share companies. (Notable difference is B&O which acts as a '5share' company regarding stock, but starts as a 10share)

Stock value increases only if the total operation is >= existing stock value.

Overall: I like the feel of the game, as there seems to be a good number of stock and operating rounds for appropriate manipulation and train shenanigans. Nobody was in danger of bankruptcy, but paying attention to your company's OR's and corresponding alternative routes is important – as you might get shut out with a token placement. However, with the nature of the tiles, recovery is possible with browns, even though it may not be as nice as before.

Length: Game play was 210-240 minutes with experienced 18xx players. I enjoyed the game enough to order it as a kit.

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jtamplin — 2005-03-31T20:07:53+00:00

Picture of train cards

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jtamplin — 2005-03-31T20:07:52+00:00

Image of production map

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tsuk — 2005-03-14T16:43:50+00:00