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]
The latest 18xx (for me at least) is David Hecht's 1826. It's only available as a kit. The net-view asserts that 1826 focuses on operations, and less on stock manipulations. This is somewhat true, because of the McGuffins that drive the game.
1826 is set in Belgium and Northern France (Paris and Brussels are focal points, and London is a 'red area', a connection off the edge of the Map). 1826 companies use incremental funding, where they get capital when shares are bought. Companies can also buy and sell their own shares, and can withold, pay dividends, or split the money. Like 1841, companies only advance if their income is greater than their share value. Interestingly, the can pay out half and advance, as long as that half is greater than share value. This opens the door for many financial options. (A company could choose to withold or pay half in order to finance a share-repurchase, which will help the company's viability at the expense of the shareholders and short term cash).
(Most) companies start as a 'minor' corporation, with shares in 20% blocks instead of 10%. This gives the minor's a significant boost in price/earnings ratio, but limits the companies capitalization (and number of trains). Once a company has reach a destination, they can convert to a major company, which increases the train limit (and allows the company to sell 50% more and get the income until they sell) but dilutes the shareholder's holdings.
Balancing these interests (while maximizing personal returns) seems tricky and interesting.
Other changes are that private companies may not be sold to majors (thereby looting them) and that major companies that are required to purchase a train take out automatic loans. Additionally, if a company has a loan, it is restricted from selling a train to another company at a loss, or purchasing a train from another company at a markup! These rules make bankruptcy rare.
Another interesting (and confusing) twist is that (like '35 and '56), the government can take over insolvent companies. There are three possibile times for this (although only two can happen), when the first three train types rust. If a company has operated and is without a train after a type becomes obsolete, then it is nationalized! (It is nationalized even if it could easily afford the train!) This only occurs if at least two companies will fold. Nationalization typically causes the shareholders to lose value (of course), and the president must operate the company relatively cleanly (only buying and selling trains at face value).
Finally, 1826 has a novel train scheme. Early trains are rated at 2-10H, where "H" means Hexes. A 2H train can move 2 Hexes from wherever it starts. After the 10H comes the electric trains, which operate at a fixed number of stops (like trains from 1830) and can ignore whistle-stops. However, exactly how many stops the E trains can use depends on the number sold! (Starting at 2 and going up to 5). Additionally, while the E trains are the best type being used, they double revenue. However, the TGV train will eventually come out, and then it gets double revenue, but only makes 3 stops (as compared to 5 for the E).
So at the end of the game, there are three distinct train types: one that counts hexes, one that makes 5 stops, and one that makes only 3 stops, but at double value. Getting the right train onto the right company requires work.
Overall, I think that 1826 is meaty enough to hold interest, and is (unlike 1841) of a typical 'evening' timeframe. My first (3-player) game took 4.5 hours, including rules and a few questions. This will probably fall to 3-3.5 after a few plays. (Just for comparison, our group typically plays 1830 in 2.5 & 1856 in 3.5).
Update 2005 -- The above review was written fairly early on, but I suspect I've probably played 1826 7-10 times. It definitely focuses on operational aspects (much more so than the other games of the series), and is undoubtedly the 18xx game I am worst at. A nice change of pace, while still part of the basic system.
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