Really don't mind if you sit this one out.. *whistles*

My words but a whisper, your deaf.. Oh sorry, humming an old tune.. where was I? Oh yes, reviewing 1824, yes.. I'm writing this up mainly because nobody has reviewed it to this date and I figure something is better than nothing..

First things first

1824 is part of 18xx series, this time with Austria-Hungary setting, co-designed (to my knowledge, I maybe mistaken) by Leonhard Orgler & Helmut Ohley. I won't delve into the more common rules of 18xx games in this review, instead concentrating on the differences. And as I bought the game kit version of this, I'll discuss about the assembly a bit. So next to the components..

When you open the lid..

The game comes with 2 piece box, which is very nice and functional with enough space to fit all the components in. Basically, this box has all the necessary features you would expect of a storage box. Amazing. From there it's a downhill, though.. as the game is a kit, it requires considerable amount of assembly.

What you have just bought is basically printed out sheets of paper. Should you want to make a game of it, you'll need to laminate (or as I did; add thin protective plastic layer and glue them to much thicker cardboard, then cut out) all the tiles, certificates, trains, etc and cut them out. It's worth noting that the game is practically unplayable if you just cut everything out... But man, the result will be worth the effort. Why? Because the graphics side of the components is simply stunning. They're brightly coloured and have plenty of handy information printed on them (ie. they're very functional). You'll notice that you actually have to remember very little stuff, eventually.

The certificates and trains are a bit too small to my tastes, but as the game takes pretty much room, that might be just as well. The station markers are thin-ish plastic chips (with stickers to paste on) and a bit tricky to handle but nothing overly cumbersome. All of the company charters have all relevant text in both German and English, so there shouldn't be much language problems.

A 18xx game with a couple of twists

• First one is that there isn't any bidding of anything. Instead during first stock round players can simply buy minor companies in place of buying certificates. First buying round happens in reversed player order (so the "first" player gets to buy twice, wheeling). Minor companies not sold during first stock round are removed from the game.
• The bank and initial offering are one and same thing. This results in rather tame stock market.. Additionally when selling certificates the share prize drops only once per sale (even if multiples are sold).
• There are basically 2 different types of companies, 50%/50% (one share) and regular 9 shares ones. There are 3 different merger national railways.
• Players can not go into bankruptcy. When needed (emergency funding) they can "loan" money from bank with 50% interest rate.
• Trains can be updated constantly and are sold to foreign markets. These features basically enhance the train race. There are 2 types of trains; g-trains and normal ones.

A bit about gameplay

I have to admit that I have only played this once. So I might be completely off with some of the things I go about here, tread with caution.

First of, even though I have never played 18EU (but have read the rules, if that helps), this game feels like it (or how I imagine 18EU to feel). There are plenty of minor companies early in the game (up to 11) that build the stage, if I may put it so, for the real profit making companies. In our game we run out of many of the yellow tiles, so the board got filled up pretty quickly. Also getting minors that have some synergy with each others in their track building seemed, while not hugely so, important.

A few words about the map. I think overall it seems pretty balanced. Only the Innsbruck (south west) area feels like you wouldn't want to go there. I suspect much of the action, how ever, will concentrate on the area of Wien and Budapest - center of the map. Not sure how vital an access to these two is after one play, but it sure seemed quite.

If your looking an 18xx game with wild west like stock market, you won't find it here. 1824 has the lamest stock market of the 18xx games I have had the pleasure to test. The combination of share prizes moving down only one step no matter how many shares you sell and no initial offering makes dumping companies pretty hard. Make no mistake, 1824 is more about tactical track building and station marker placing in preparation for the endgame 8/10 train runs than about stock market. I personally would prefer it the other way around, but I can't win every time (1856 was a blast).

The train rush in this specimen is quite strong. Being able to update your trains constantly coupled with one train sold to foreign country at the end of every set of operating rounds makes the train game a bit hectic. It's not over the top and it keeps the game moving so at least at the moment I give it a thumbs up.

Any last words, mister?

1824 is not at all bad game, a bit of a pain in the *** to put together, but once the hurdle is over it's quite good way to spend something around 6 hours while drinking beer and doing some simple calculus. The early game is quite vibrant and exiting, but the endgame might be a bit of a drag.

And you'll have a minor hangover next morning.

Heh, funny thing, my match of this game had quite the nasty stock market, but perhaps it was because one of the players had it in for me and was able to grasp the "can't sell until it operates" rule a bit more quickly than I did.

It wasn't so much with the price dumping, but rather the cleaning of a company that I had some shares of. Maybe it's just that we're a wild bunch.