1861 Railroading in Russia

I am still a bit of a newbie to the 18xx gaming scene, even though I have been playing 18xx pretty regularly for a couple years now. I have played a reasonable variety of the 18xx genre and have a pretty good feel for which ones that I like after I play them.

1861 is a solid addition to the genre. It offers several interesting mechanisms that are found in 18xx games. Opening auctions, private companies, minor companies, public companies, a Russian government rail that operates under specific rules, no player bankruptcy, failed company (private, minor, and public) buyouts, company loans to buy trains, a never-ending bank, and a surprising game ending condition all round out the variety of 1861.

The best games of 18xx are when balance is achieved. Whether this is a mechanism of the game or of the players realizing what decisions have to be made to maintain balance. Most 18xx are the latter and I believe 1861 falls into this category as well.

I have only played 1861 once and it generally takes a couple go rounds of an 18xx game to take its measure and my comments here are only based off of one play. It seems relatively important in 1861 to get at least 1 private and a “good” minor company. Good is defined as, having a run of 70+ on its first operating round. Also, it does not appear to make much sense to have 2 minor companies very near each other if you intend to merger the two into a public company. Why? The railheads are generally too near each other to be of much use. I am sure there is an exception to this and if you figure it out, go ahead and post it!

A big part of many 18xx games are the train rushes. In 1861, the 4 trains rust (make obsolete) the 2 trains, the 6’s the 3’s, and the 8’s rust the 4’s. The train rush in 1861 is not as harsh as it is in 18EU or 1856 for example. 1861 is further unique in that the purchase of the first 8 train is the game ending condition. The game then ends after 2 more operating rounds.

The last thing that makes 1861 unique is the presence of the Russian state Railway. It forms at the purchase of the first 4 train and acts as a public company by the “banker.” It does not have shares, it never pays dividends, but it does buy trains and run routes. The Russian State Railway buys minor and public companies that do not have a train at the end of their turn. It also buys up the private companies at the purchase of the first 6 train. If a company gets bought out by the RSR, the RSR replaces that companies rail heads with its own and gets all the assets of the company. It operates last in the operating round once formed.

All in all I feel there is a fair amount of game to explore in 1861 and feel it will be a solid addition to my collection.

Lastly I will be posting an excel file that assists in calculating the final scores for the last few operating rounds. I have added the percent of winner's calculation boxes so that it is done automatically.

Great post, sir. How long does this one take?

This first game had 5 players, one new to 18xx, took roughly 6.5 hours. I believe the game states 6-8 hours for play time. I am sure the next game with everyone familiar with the game would be significantly less. I should also point out that we have never been "speed demons" with the 18xx games.

Cool.

Nice review. I played a five player game last Friday night and really enjoyed the game (despite the winner beating me by only $19).

I did note one thing in your review that is either a typo or a rule you missed.



While it is true that private companies are bought buy the RSR with the 6 train purchase, trainless *minor* companies are assimilated by the RSR with the purchase of the first *4* train (as well as first 6 train). The RSR begins operating at the end of the operating round in which the 4 train is purchased. It ceases operating when the first 8 train is purchased. We wondered if the RSR's station markers should remain on the board after it closes. We ultimately agreed that the phrase "the RSR exists throughout the game but only operates in phases 4-7" meant the station markers remain active and thus block other companies.



Edited to distinguish between private and minor companies.

I was one of the players in Gregg's 1861 game. IIRC, we applied the rule correctly at the purchase of the 4 train. The rule we _missed_ AFAICT was the rule regarding the RSR ceasing operation after the 8 train is purchased. At least _I_ thought it was still operating, but it was getting near 2 AM and I was a little punchy by then. Your interpretation makes sense though, since with an infinite bank the only thing running the RSR accomplishes is to force an 8 train purchase at some point

I was one of the players in Gregg's game as well. Robert's understanding was mine too.

The Russian State Railroad is just a giant sci fi space amoeba that eats trains. It's a game clock that pushes you to the finish line. As an alternative to the bank running out I'm not sure what I think of it yet but it's an interesting and different idea.

Things I liked about this - the merger rules for the minor companies are good. Like I said during the game, it's just one more way you can completely screw yourself over due to lack of prior planning.

Things I didn't like - the privates are worth lots more than their minimum bid price. All of them went for about 50% more than face value in our game and the consensus was that they didn't sell high enough. They pay too much - the cheezy $20 company pays $10 per turn instead of $5, for example.

It depends: If the players all manage to loot the minors they intend to fold, the RSR will form with 9 debt markers and one 4-train -- and it will be unable to pay off the loans in time to buy a larger train. If, otoh, several players fumble badly, the RSR could start very well capitalized and buy two 4s and then a 5 or 6 in quick succession.They pay a lot, but corporations cannot pay double price for them. (None of them are as remotely powerful as the KATY private in 1870.) 1861 is a cash-rich game -- Minors are cheap and plentiful, director's have almost zero responsibilities since the RSR will pay them good money for anything, there's no bankruptcy, and you don't need more than the Director's certificate to operate any major corporation.

But the forecasting aspect is insanely complex, and this lack of predictability makes the game very difficult to "break" even by seasoned 18XX pros.

All in all, it's one of the better titles in the genre. IMNSHO.

I was in a 5 player game at GenCon. Three of the five players had played 1861 before. Two of the privates (Odessa and the starter) went for 5 under initial bid minimum - all players passed on the first round. The Moscow privates went for about 20% above value and the Poland private went for about value. A player who bought no privates won the game. The Odessa private and the starter were held for income until the Russian bought them - the income was better than selling them to a company and looting its treasury. So yes, they pay well, but so do the minors, and as mentioned you can only buy them in for value, not for double value.

I've seen the Russian form with 9 loans and be a slow starter, buying a 4 and an 8. I've also seen it start with enough money to buy two four trains, followed quickly by the 7 and 8.

That's silly; the share-appreciation + revenue from an average share eclipses the best private not long after the greens are available. Additionally, you may need that extra $50-90 for starting a new minor and looting *it*. :-)

But it's not $50-90.

The Tsarskoye can only be bought in for R30 and earns R10 per turn. If you use the R30 to help buy a new minor (assuming a worthwhile one is even available), it only pays for 11% of a value R135 minor and 30% of a value R50 minor (and at a starting price of R50, the minor wouldn't be able to afford to buy a train!). When 3 trains are available, a minor needs to start at R120 to afford a train, with full purchase cost of R240. The R30 from the Tsarskoye is 12.5% of the purchase price, and the minor would need to run for R160 for the R30 investment to earn R10 for the player.

The numbers don't change that much for the Odessa, which can be bought in for a bit more - R45 - but earns R15 for the player. A minor started at R120 would also need to run for R160 for the R45 investment to earn R15 for the player.

If using the money to buy regular shares, the numbers aren't much better. Even for a regular share at R100, the R30 represents 30% of the purchase price. To make R10 for the player, the dividends + stock increase would need to be R34/share, so the company would need to be running for R24 or better per share.

Additionally, it's very possible to be in a situation where an infusion of R30 or R45 won't be enough to allow an additional share purchase in the stock round.

You're right, there is a point at which the dividends + stock increase for a regular share is better than the private income, but I estimate it is about the time the first 4 train is purchased, and not as early as a 3 train. I personally wouldn't hold them until nationalization, but I can envision situations where it isn't entirely silly to do so.

In my experience, if the extra cash from a private sale lets you buy one more of just about anything, it's worth it. Even the crummiest minor lets you soak loans, build track and shuffle trains before the Russian buys the carcass from you. The cheapest Public share of stock (R100, from a conversion or merger), if it pays the bare minimum possible to advance twice, will earn R21 in cash plus R20 in appreciation.