MINORS - If you are like me then one of the things that makes a new game hard to play is how you value things that are auctioned off. In a pure auction game this isn't quite as frustrating because determining the value of things is the point of the game. In 18XX games it is a little more brutal than that. Not knowing what to pay for the privates/minors on offer at the start of many titles can determine the winner. In 18EU, it is the value of the minors that will cause you the greatest trouble.

The reason for this is that 18EU starts with 15 minor companies operating on the board instead of any privates. These companies work like a normal public company while operating but pay 50/50 to the bank/owner and have no stock. All 15 come with a 2 train and these are the only 2 trains in the game. This means that the games stays in yellow phase until a public company is formed or until a minor can afford a 3 train, usually 2 sets of 2 ORs. The kicker is that you must merge at least one of your minors into any public you form, trading the charter for a 10% share in the public.

As experience is gained in the game different players will value different minors or groups of minors differently. This greatly enhances the replayability of the game as it will never play the same way twice. One additional factor is that if you play 4 or 6 you can't divide the minors evenly. The odd player out can really suffer unless they come up with 2 of the higher paying early minors.

COMPONENTS - As with all the Deepthought Games published titles the components are quality. I bought my copy as a completely assembled kit less money and it is worth the extra money I paid versus assembling/cutting myself. The shares and hex tiles are all the same size, laminated and thick. Gameboard is laminated and mounted on thick foamcore so it is light yet durable. All the tokens are wooden giving them enough heft to stay put absent a grand sneeze or arm wipe. Colors are vibrant on all the components and there is a nice run value chart in addition to the stock chart. The only thing that is cumbersome is the uniformity of symbols used by the European companies. However, this is a necessary flaw to maintain realism and pretty soon you too will be calling them "Black chicken, Yellow Chicken and Blue Chicken."


OVERALL - The rest of the game plays much like the other entries in the 18XX world. A few differences of note are the different ways to get bonus payouts for your runs. One is to run from a red off board hex to another. If you do this you get bonus income for every station token of your company that you pass through. This can be anywhere from 10 to 150 so it is worth working toward. Also, you can own a pullman car which takes a train slot but doubles the value of any one city your train goes to/through.

This is currently my second favorite 18XX and I recommend it for anyone who enjoys train games. It eliminates some of the shark plays that are available in 1830, offers lots of variability at startup and plays smoothly in abour 250-300 minutes with experienced players.

one thing that impressed me about this game, is that it shouldn't ever play the same twice

i really like the mechanic of turning minors into major corps