Brian Bankler
United States
San Antonio
Texas
Modified Limited Rampage!
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[This review assumes you are familiar with 18xx. See my review under 1830 for basics. This was written in 2001 -- Brian]
I've finally played 1841. Let me start by clearly stating that this is longer and much more complicated than the standard 18xx game. I expect it to take 6 hours, instead of the more typical 3. Also, there are 24 companies, instead of the typical 8-12. 1841 take place in Italy (and a few other countries) and has tons of bells and whistles. What really distinguishes this game are two aspects:
* Trains become obsolete quickly
* Complicated Stock options
The last part is based on the following observations: companies can own shares in each other. A company can, in fact, start up another company and become the president! This can be good or bad, since trains disappear so quickly in '41. Each company you own is a potential deathtrap. Financial operations are paramount, since companies get capital as shares are sold, and can (after they've had a complete operating round), choose to dump any shares in their IPO into the bank, effectively 'selling' them from the company to raise funds. A strategem in '41 is to use one company to start another and trash the second company (which you don't own any shares of) and constantly withold with it to fund both companies.
To be honest, 1841 could be good. But, it takes a long time to play and your first game will be a mass of confusion. Do not even consider this game unless you are very comfortable with at least 3 or more other 18xx titles. And if you can only play infrequently, best to stick to some of the other titles. It's complicated.
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