1861 – UNOFFICIAL FAQ

A. Lala – rev. 2.1

This document is a collection of rules questions and clarifications for 1861 – The Railways of the Russian Empire – designed by Ian D. Wilson and published by JKLM Games.

Whereas an official clarification by the publisher or the designer exists this is highlighted by the following mark at the beginning of the paragraph

OFFICIAL DESIGNER

In all other cases, the answers in this FAQ must be regarded as unofficial contribution from – hopefully - expert players.

Occasionally, contrasting interpretations and opinions are reported and players are strongly advised to find consensus on the issues listed in this document before starting a game.

Players are encouraged to use the guidelines in this document to help playing the game; however it should be very clear that by no means the present document overrides the official game rules or any future clarification released by the designer or the publishers.

1. LAUNCHING A NEW COMPANY ...... 2 2. NATIONALISATION ...... 2 3. MERGING / CONVERTING ...... 5 4. TILE LAYING ...... 8 5. ROUTE / REVENUE CALCULATION ...... 9 6. TRAINS ...... 10 7. RUSSIAN STATE RAILWAY (RSR) ...... 12 8. END GAME ...... 14 9. AUCTIONS ...... 14 10. MISCELLANEOUS ...... 15

1 1. LAUNCHING A NEW COMPANY

1.1 How many shares of a public company must be bought before it can operate? In most 18xx I have played so far a company cannot operate until 5 or 6 of its 10 shares have been purchased. The rules to 1861 made it appear that a public company could operate as soon as someone acquired the president's certificate. Is this correct?

OFFICIAL, ST, NW Two. Yes.

1.2 Once a Public Company has been nationalized and folded into the Russian National Railway, is the shell available to be "restarted" in future stock rounds? Another way to phrase the question: will there always be eight Public Companies either in play or ready to be started?

OFFICIAL, ST, IDW Yes. P.S. The Minors are definitely not available for restart after nationalisation or merger/conversion.

2. NATIONALISATION

2.1 When a company is nationalized?

CS A minor company is nationalized at the beginning of phase 4 or phase 6 if it has operated at least once and has no train. This is true regardless of the reason for lack of train - rusting or sale. A minor company is nationalized at the beginning of phase 8, whether it has a train or not. A company (minor or public) is nationalized at the end of it's own OR if it has no train and is unable to purchase a train. During this OR, it will have moved left one space on the stock market due to failure to pay dividends. When nationalized, move the stock marker one space left, pay all loans possible, then move the stock marker one additional space left for each remaining loan. The final value is the price paid by the RSR for stock in the nationalized company.

MH If any minor or public company finds itself without a train at the end of its operating turn, it must buy one or be nationalised. If the company can afford a train from the bank then it must buy one, either from the bank or from another company. The director in this case cannot "choose" to have the company nationalised. If the company cannot afford a train, but may do so if it takes out loans then it is up to the director whether to take out the loan(s) and buy the train, or have the company nationalised. In addition to the above, minor companies which do not have a train at the start of phases 4 and 6 are nationalised immediately, and any remaining ones are nationalised at the start of phase 8. This "automatic" nationalisation does NOT apply to public companies, but when the automatic nationalisations happen, the directors of public companies which don't have a train do have the option to have them nationalised in the same way that the minor companies are. In practical terms this is an unlikely move as it is rarely a good idea to voluntarily have your public company nationalised.

2.2 Rule 6.8.4: "Only companies that have operated can be nationalised." If a company

2 operated as a minor, and then transformed, and has not operated since transformation, is it considered to "have operated"? If a set of companies operated as minors, and then merged, and has not operated since merging, is it considered to "have operated"?

OFFICIAL, ST When minors merge or upgrade to form a new major company, the major they form is new, and therefore hasn't operated.

2.3 Rules 6.5.9 and 6.8.4 contradict - the later implies that a Public Company isn't nationalised if it has no train - the former says it does.

OFFICIAL, ST According to 6.8.4, if a Public Company has operated, and has no train as a result of trains going rusty (by necessity during the train-buying step in some other company's turn), its director can have it nationalised then and there, or he can elect to keep going. 6.5.9 says that if a Public Company has no train at the appropriate point in its own turn it must buy one, and if it can't (because buying one from the bank would require taking too many loans and it can't or chooses not to buy one from another company) it is nationalised at that point (before it has taken more loans to try to fund the train). There is no contradiction between these two decisions, because they happen at two different times.

2.4 How the share price moves when a public company is nationalized?

ST If a public corporation doesn’t have a train at the start of the train-buying part of its turn, and its director can't or won't buy a train from another company, it adds its cash and R45 for each new loan it can take. If that sum is less than the price of the bank's train, the corporation is nationalised straight away, without taking any further loans. The number of loans it has on nationalisation is important because it controls the price shareholders get for each share. The price falls back one because the company doesn’t have a train, and again because that always happens on nationalisation. But it doesn't take a further five steps automatically--that would be just too painful

CS It does, however, take an additional step left for each existing loan which it was unable to repay. So one left for no payout, one left automatically, and additional left for each preexisting loan. If you look at the sequence of actions in an OR, there's no way for a company to have $50 and also have a loan at the end of the OR. In 1861, you are forced to repay all loans possible after running your train, before purchasing a new train. Thus, when you get to the point of nationalization, the price will have moved left once for failure to run, then the loan repayment step occurs, then left once automatically, then left once for each preexisting loan.

2.5 About Public companies and the RSR, the 1861 rules state: "Public Companies without a train can also be nationalised, but only at the discretion of the Director." What exactly does this mean, that if my public company must have a train, but i don't want to take out the loans I can nationalize it?

ST Not exactly. It means that any Public Company that has operated and does not have a train at the point when a 4-, 6-, or 8-train gets bought can be nationalised. The only requirement is that the director must say that he wants the company to be nationalised. He can do this even if there's plenty of money in the company to buy all the trains going, though it's hard to see

3 why he'd want to unless it's the sudden discovery of an urgent real-life appointment elsewhere. Nationalisation of public companies is rare; in all the games I've played only two or three have been nationalised, and their directors have always gone on to do poorly.

2.6 What happens to a minor that is unable to buy a train before phase 4 is triggered? This may happen for example if you start a minor at 100 and only PH3 trains are available. Even by taking 2 loans, the minor's cash totals 190 which is not enough to buy a 3 train (cost 225).

DV I believe the minor gets a chance to buy a train in its turn - either from the bank, or another company.If it fails to get a train,it folds into the RSR.

CS The rules say: 2.2.4 Russian State Railway The Russian State Railway ... exists throughout the game, but operates in Phases 4 to 7 (inclusive) only... 6.5.9 Force Train Purchases If the Company cannot afford the train, an so ends its operating turn without a train, it is nationalised immediately. Nothing in the rules indicates that you should ignore 6.5.9 simply because the RSR isn't currently operating.

ST It is nationalised into RSR, just like a minor that is unable to buy a train at any other time. Just because RSR doesn't start to operate until phase 4 (and stops operating in phase 8) it doesn't mean it isn't there. It is. As the old saying goes, sometimes it sits and thinks, and sometimes it just sits.

2.7 At phase 8, RSR ceases to operate. What happens if a Public company would find themselves without a train? It can obviously not become nationalised?

MH The RSR stops "operating" - i.e. it stops calculating & collecting revenue and buying trains. But it's still there as a repository for companies to be nationalised into. The only reason why the RSR stops "operating" is that after phase 8 this doesn't affect the outcome of the game; from this point on its operating and buying trains is irrelevant.

2.8 If a public company had only 4 trains, when the 8 is purchased (and therefore has no trains when the 8 is purchased) does the director have the option of dumping the public company into the RSR before it no longer operates to get the value of the shares?

CS The RSR does not operate, but it does continue to exist. Thus, the RSR will continue to take over insolvent companies and pay their owners for shares until the end of the game.

2.9 Let's assume that the 8 was purchased in the first OR (and therefore that there will be 2 ORs in addition to the first one—for a total of 3 prior to game end)--What about if a public company had a 5 train in the OR when the 8 was purchased but in the 2nd OR this 5 train was purchased across leaving the one public company with no train (and let's say no money to buy a train). Does the director have an opportunity to sell the shares to the no-longer- operating RSR as soon as it has no train?

CS

4 The RSR will forcibly purchase the company as normal, regardless of when the 8 train was purchased. For a public company, that occurs at the train-purchase phase of the company's OR, when it fails to buy a train.

2.10 Do Minor Companies with no trains only go to the RSR at the start of phase 4 and phase 6 but not in the middle of those phases? And why don’t they also go at the start of phase 5?

CS They only go if their train rusts. No trains rust at the start of phase 5. Like all companies, if they end their OR without a train, the RSR forcibly purchases them. The phase 4 / phase 6 rule only applies to Minor Companies who lose their only train to rust.

2.11 §6.5.9. If a Company with no train does not have enough money to buy a train from the bank even if it should take out the maximum number of loans, will the Company take out all these loans nevertheless? (Or to put it another way: Does a company being nationalised due to §6.5.9. always have the full amount of loans?)

OFFICIAL, MH No. If it can't afford a train, it isn't forced to steep itself in debt before being nationalised. For one thing, you can only take out loans to buy trains, and so if you can't afford a train that way then you can't take out the loan in the first place.

2.12 At the start of phase 6, a minor company owns a private company and a 3 train which rusts. The RSR will nationalize both the minor company and the private company. Which happens first? Option A 1) Private company nationalized, minor company receives money from bank 2) Minor company nationalized, RSR gets the money Option B 1) Minor company nationalized, RSR gets the private company but not the money

DESIGNER, ST The designer has told me that when he now plays, everything gets nationalised in operating order--i.e. privates first, then minors in price order, then majors in price order, and that he's done this for the last couple of years. Prior to that the privates were done last. The only time this makes a difference is when a minor (or major) that's going to be nationalised owns a private company. If the privates are done first, the company briefly gets the money, which may then be used to repay loans and any remainder goes to RSR, along with the private.

3. MERGING / CONVERTING

3.1 Rule 7.2 Merging: "The price of the new Public Company is equal to the sum of the highest priced and lowest priced Minor Companies involved (rounded down if necessary)". So, where does its stock-market token go? One theory is that, as for starting a new company, it goes on the highest-priced red or purple place that does not exceed its calculated price. Another theory is that, as in 1841, it goes on the rightmost place on the stock market that does not exceed its calculated price. Other theories are possible.

OFFICIAL, ST When minors merge, it's just like starting a new company. In fact, it is starting a new company. So put the token on the red or purple space with the right value. Similarly, when a

5 minor transforms, the result is also a new company and the token goes on the red or purple space with the right value.

3.2 Conversion price: If a minor with a "high yellow" stock price converts, does the major corporation's marker go into the same position, or shunt diagonally over into the purple zone?

CS Great question. We've always played that the token stayed in the same spot, but it seems clear on reading rule 7.3 that the token is placed in a valid major starting spot. Thus, if the company price is 100 or 110, the marker is placed in column 6; if the price is 120 or 135 the marker stays in column 7; and if the price is 150 or 165 the marker is placed in column 8.

3.3 Assume a Minor company vith a share price of 135 is converted, does the public company's stock token replace the minor company's stock token, or is it placed under any other stock tokens in the same space?

CS It is a new company, so I would put it at the bottom of the stack. The same question would apply to a merger, actually. It isn't well addressed in the rules.

ST The major company is a new one, so its token goes on the bottom of the pile.

3.4 Section 6.2 on page 19 of the 1861 rule book reads "Between two and ten Minor Companies may merge to create a new Public Company. In order to do so, they must be connected. Specifically, one of the Minor Companies must be able to trace legal routes to each and every other company involved in the merger. (Station Markers of merging Companies do not block, and you can run from a city to another space in the same city, for the purposes of this rule)." We interpreted this rule to mean that if one could trace railroad track from any station marker to any other station marker, treating Kiev, Moscow, and St Petersburg as single cities (jumping track between stations) they could merge? We completely ignored any station markers. Is this correct?

OFFICIAL, CW, DH, DT, IDW, MH, ST The rule that tokens collocated in the same hex but on separate city circles are connected even though there is no legal route (and in many cases could be none) between them is sometimes referred to in the jargon of 18xx design as the "rickshaw rule". There are no rickshaws in 1861. In other words, there is no connectivity of any sort between the separate stations in Moscow, St. Peterburg or Kiev within the hexes. External connectivity, i.e. a rail route running from one station to another in the same city, is a valid connection instead.

3.5 What happens if a major gets formed by a bunch of minors who have more than 5 loans between them? I assumed this was OK. The major simply could not borrow more until it got below 5 loans.

OFFICIAL The merger is legal, and the corporation can’t then take more loans until it’s down to under five. The corporation isn’t otherwise any more restricted by the loans than usual.

3.6 If someone wants to merge two or more of his companies, could another player insist on being part of the merger as well with one of his companies? Or put another way: Could

6 anyone decline another Director to be part of the merger if his companies are otherwise eligible? The rules state "...each eligible Minor Company may elect to ... merge to form a Public Company [...] The owning Director(s) must give their approval.", but this could be interpreted as "If you are Director, your company can never be merged with another unless you specifically allow it." or it could be interpreted as "Your Company may only merge if all Directors with eligible companies allow it."

OFFICIAL, ST, NL All parties to a proposed merger must agree before the merger can take place. In other words, a third minor can't insist on joining unless the Directors of the other two agree.

3.7 Do you ask all the minors in operating round order everytime a minor wants to merge if they want to join or not; or do you ask each minor only once if they want to merge and with whom? And in the first case, do you go back asking the first company in operating round order?

ST Neither of these, really, though it's closer to the first. Each minor in turn states that it will merge with a specified set of other minors, or that it will transform, or that it will do nothing at least pro tem. If the minor chooses to merge, the partners can be any other minors (assuming sufficient connectivity and willingness on the part of their owners, of course), even those that are earlier in operating order. Obviously, if the merger involves minors owned by more than one player the statement may be preceded by some negotiation, possibly of the form "do you want to merge with me?" but there's no formal invitation.

3.8 How do players buy stock during a merger round?

OFFICIAL The existing shareholders can each buy several more shares in a block, and then all players may buy one more share. In each case, the order of purchase is clockwise round the table starting with the Director. It's possible for a change of Director to take place as a result of all this share buying, though only if there were multiple original shareholders..

3.9 After converting minor companies into public company shares, shareholders purchase shares. Can the director buy as many shares as desired in one fell swoop, followed by each shareholder doing the same? Or must the director and shareholders buy one share each in sequence around the table until each shareholder has purchased as many shares as desired?

CS All shareholders, in seating order beginning with the director, may purchase as many shares as desired up to 60%.

ST The director and any other shareholders (though it's relatively rare for there to be other shareholders at this point) each buy all their new shares in a single transaction.

3.10 After converting minor companies into public company shares, shareholders purchase shares, then all players purchase shares. Is this a once-around-the-table chance for each player to purchase one, and only one, share? Or does it continue around the table until each player has purchased as many shares as desired?

CS All players, in seating order beginning with the director, may purchase one share.

7

ST It's once around the table.

3.11 When two (or more) Minors merge... Rule 7.2 "...The Director must choose two Station Markers of the merging Companies to replace with tokens of the new Public Corporation (if possible)." a. Clearly the Public Corporation replaces the tokens of two of the Minor Companies with two of the three (Free, $20, $40) Station Markers shown on the Public Corporation' s charter (there are no extra bits in the game that would indicate the replacement Station Markers are in addition to the Station Markers on the charter). Can the Director choose which of the two Station Markers to use (i.e. can he choose to use the $40 Station Marker and the $20 Station Marker leaving the Free one for expansion)? b. If not, must he use the Free and $20 Station Marker? And if he must use the Free and the $20 Station Markers, there is still no cost to initially place the $20 Station Marker is there (seems like it would be a HUGE disadvantage to merge if the initial Station Markers had any cost)?

DV He must choose the free and the 20 rouble station markers. There is no extra cost.

3.12 If two minor companies based in Moscow merges, I assume the new company will only get one token in Moscow. I could not find anything about that in the rules (unless you count the specification for RSR)

CS The company gets one station in Moscow. No more than one station marker of any company may be placed in any hex (rule 6.5.3).

4. TILE LAYING

4.1 Rule 6.5.2.1: "For an additional fee of R20, a Company may perform a second tile operation, but only one of the two operations may be an upgrade". Is laying a green tile over pre-printed yellow track considered an "upgrade"?

OFFICIAL, ST Yes, it is.

4.2 The green tile dedicated to Kiev says "Upgrade Cost R40". I assume that you can place this tile for no cost (there is no upgrade cost printed on the map), but that upgrading it to brown costs 40?

OFFICIAL, ST That's right. A close inspection of the green tile shows that its track crosses no river, but the brown's certainly does. This justifies the upgrade costs, though analogous reasoning elsewhere (in 1861, and 18xx generally) doesn't usually apply.

4.3 During an early stock round, someone bought K-R, but before it could operate for the first time the President of the M-V wanted to place a tile on K-R's starting hex. Can M-V place any Y tile there or has the president of K-R veto?

NW

8 The M-V can place a tile there as it wishes. The K-R has no veto.

4.4 A company has only R25. He wants to place a tile in difficult terrain. The company takes out a loan and pays R40. However, now the company pays R20 to perform a second operation, and wants to place this new tile on difficult terrain, so he takes out another loan. I assume this is perfectly legal!

CS Yes, it is legal.

5. ROUTE / REVENUE CALCULATION

5.1 Can a yellow/green Mocow or Kiev be 'double hit' by a train as a legal route? The definition of a Route does not make this particular case clear for me.

ST No; you can only claim each city once per OR per train, and that remains true even if there are separate stations within the city. St Petersburg before brown also has two stations within the city and the same ruling applies. The red off-board areas too may each be visited at most once per OR per train.

5.2 If a company purchases a private that gives +10 to Moscow. Is that +10 added once in the OR?

ST You can (or possibly must; it's been a while) claim the bonus every time a train owned by the company with the bonus visits Moscow. That is, if you have several trains running to Moscow they each get the bonus. The same is true, mutatis mutandis, for the Odessa and Warsaw bonuses.

5.3 There are two unfortunate turns of phrase in the components. On the map, it says that Ekaterinburg is worth 80 if connected to Moscow.

OFFICIAL, ST As the rules correctly say, Ekaterinburg is worth 80 if a train runs to both it and Moscow, and 40 otherwise.

5.4 Does a train have to terminate in Ekaterinberg and/or Moscow to achieve the higher value?

OFFICIAL No. The train can run to or through either or both stations.

5.5 Can you visit the same hex, tile, or off-board area twice with the same train?

OFFICIAL A route can’t visit a town, city, or off-board area more than once, but there is no restriction on visiting a plain hex multiple times.

9 6. TRAINS

6.1 Can Minor companies buy trains from public companies and can public companies buy trains from minor companies?

OFFICIAL, ST, NW Yes, subject to the normal limitations, most notably that once the issue becomes important, the train limit for minors has dropped to one.

6.2 One thing we wanted to confirm was that trains can be purchased and sold between companies from phase 2. The rules seem to permit this as we could find no restriction. It also seems that allowing train transfers from the outset enables the correct game pace in phase 2.

OFFICIAL, ST, DV Yes, you were right, and trains can be transferred between companies from the start.

6.3 If a company or corporation has no train, and insufficient money to buy a train, it can take some loans and use them to buy a train from the bank. It might then have some money left over. Can it use that money to buy a train from another company or corporation?

OFFICIAL, ST The rules as written weakly suggest not, but the answer is yes, it can.

6.4 Are the 5+5E and 2+2 trains optional in the sense that they are alternatives to an 8 train, or are they optional in the sense that the game can be played with or without them?

OFFICIAL, ST According to section 6.8.5 of the rules, the 5+5E trains are optional only in the first sense and 2+2 trains are optional in the second sense as well.

6.5 How many 5+5E and 2+2 trains are available for play?

OFFICIAL, ST The official rule is that the number of 5+5E and 2+2 trains supplied with the set (two of each) constitutes a limit on play. There is a widespread variant that allows an arbitrary number of either to be in play, but it is still only a variant.

6.6 Is my understanding correct? 5+5 trains in 1861 can skip both small stations and cities. Conversely, 2+2 trains can skip small stations only?

BB Yes, the 5+5E is an express and can skip any city. The 2+2 is not an express and can only skip dots. Hence the "E".

6.7 In the 18xx rules different list this can be found: "*1861* Not covered by the rules, but a clarification from JKLM Games states that you cannot visit the same hex, tile or off-board area twice with the same train. Off-board areas means, for example, all the red hexes that form the off-board area of Poland." http://www.fwtwr.com/18xx/rules_difference_list/7_4.htm

10 Here it says that "you cannot visit the same [...] tile twice with the same train ..." But look at the map on page 14 of the rules! Assuming you have a 3 train, a route spanning Samara (Kuybushev) – Kazan - Ekaterinburg looks nice. However, in order to run the train this route you have to go Samara - Green tile 19- Yellow tile 7- Kazan - Green tile 19 (again) and so on to Ekatrinburg. Obviously this train visits the Green tile twice, and thus that route would be invalid, according to the clarification "you cannot visit the same tile twice with the same train.". Is this correct?

DV I am pretty sure that Ian D Wilson the designer intended that you should be able to visit the same tile twice with the same train - provided that you don't use the same piece of track twice [this being possible by means of flyovers]. You can use the same point of track twice provided it isn't a station,and you can use the same station more than once with different trains - but not the same piece of track. All of this is pretty standard in 18xx,and I am pretty sure it was played that way in our games with Ian.

MH I suspect that the actual ruling which ended up in the 18xx difference list should have stated that you cannot visit a station tile more than once, primarily to prevent the scenario of running Moscow - Moscow or Kiev-Kiev. Going one stage further to disallow the revisiting of any hex more than once seems like overkill - and a throwback to my own 1860 where it was intended to cut down the options for creating spidery runs.

ST There's been a cock-up. The rule is that a route can't visit a city or off-board area more than once, but there's no restriction on visiting a given hex multiple times. If JKLM said that there is, they are wrong. In 1860 it's different--a route can't include two or more segments on a plain track tile—and I suspect that there's been some confusion generated by the difference. They are right inasmuch as the rules don't state that the different hexes making up e.g. Poland are considered a single red off-board area, but that is a traditional rules error.

6.8 I assume 6.5.9 cannot be interpreted as "If you can't afford an 8 train, without taking loans, you can take out loans even if there are 2+2 trains available"... When we played last time my company had R988 and no train, and had not the last 2+2 train been bought I wouldn't have been super happy having to buy a 2+2 instead of an 8 train...

OFFICIAL, CS, KT, ST Your assumption is wrong. If your company has no train, it can take out loans to buy *any* available train. If it is phase 8 and both a 2+2 and an 8 train are available, you may buy either one, assuming you can afford it. There is no requirement in the rules to buy the cheapest train available.

6.9 In 1861 in 6.4 Loans the rules state that "... For train purchases, only Companies without a train may take out loans to pay for a train purchase, and only in order to buy a train from the bank (not one from another Company)." This seems clear enough. You can't take out a loan to buy a second train if you already have one, but I last played 1861 at Chattanooga in 2007 (yes, a year ago when the designer was there, not this year) and I thought I remembered that players were taking out loans to purchase a second train. I could be recalling it incorrectly I admit.

ST What you probably remember is that if a company buys a train from the bank with the aid of loans, it may go on to buy a train from another company with some of its remaining funds

11 (necessarily less than R45). It's illegal to take more loans to buy a train if the company already has a train.

7. RUSSIAN STATE RAILWAY (RSR)

7.1 If several companies and/or corporations fold into the RSR, and the RSR hasn't enough spare tokens to replace all of the incoming ones, how do you decide which ones to keep? The rules say that the companies/corporations fold in operating order, and, as companies have exactly one token each, there isn't an issue there. But if a single corporation folds contributing more tokens than the RSR has spare, what then?

OFFICIAL, ST It turns out that RSR keeps them in descending order of current city value; if there's a tie, it is broken at random. In the Operating Order of the companies: for each company you remove any tokens which are in the same city as Russian-State token and then replace the others (in decreasing value of city, ties broken randomly) with Russian-State tokens. If no Russian-State tokens are available, then all remaining tokens of merging companies are removed.

7.2 The corporation mat says that RSR must repay its loans with its earnings and then buys a train if possible. Some players have interpreted that to mean that if RSR becomes free of loans, it buys a train even if that involves taking some more loans to raise the price.

OFFICIAL, ST Not so, as the rules correctly say; RSR buys a train either if it doesn’t have one (taking loans if necessary) or if it has the necessary money.

7.3 Have the big Russian company Russian State Railway any train limit or does it just buy trains without limit??

OFFICIAL, DV No. The only limit is that it stops buying trains once the first ‘8’ train has been bought (whether it buys it or not).

7.4 What happens to the Russian State Railway's trains in phase 8?"

OFFICIAL DESIGNER Nothing. The RSR keeps the trains and they are not made available for purchase from the bank pool. The underlying assumption was that RSR closes at the start of phase 8 and its trains must therefore go somewhere, and perhaps that somewhere is the pool. However, the rules actually say "During Phase 8: .... The Russian State Railway no longer operates." RSR therefore does not fold (or mutilate or spindle) and keeps its trains. It just sits there. The rule is there simply to avoid the necessity of evaluating its runs to work out precisely how many of the infinite stack of 8-trains it acquires.

7.5 Are other Companies allowed to purchase trains from RSR?

12 OFFICIAL, BG No

7.6 The Russian State Railway mat seems to call loans "Government Bonds" for some peculiar reason. Also in the rules: "The Russian State Railway must pay off bond/loan interest and repay bonds/loans in the same way as a company would." What is the difference between bonds and loans, and when does RSR issue bonds?

OFFICIAL, ST The terminology refers to a feature of pre-release game, later abandoned. Bond and loan have exactly the same meaning in the published game.

7.7 And, just to be certain: RSR pays its earnings into their own treasury and buys trains (does it have the same train limit as other companies?), but generates no income for any players. Am I correct assuming that RSR works this way to ensure a train rush? (It would be nice to be able to answer the question: What does RSR actually _do_?)

MH Your supposition is correct - the RSR is a mechanism for keeping the game ticking over, and ensuring that a lack of train-buying doesn't cause the game to stagnate.

7.8 For #1 & #2 above--for Public companies (not Minors) is it always at the discretion of the director whether to nationalize the public company into the RSR? Or can public companies be forced into the RSR like Minors can?

CS It's forcible - if any company, Public or Minor, ends an OR without a train, the RSR buys the company - whether the shareholders desire this or not.

7.9 The St. Pete-Warsaw has only a 2 train. The 4 train is purchased. the 2 train goes away and the SPW immediately folds into the RSR. The SPW token in the western slot in St. Pete immediately gets replaced by an RSR token. The western slot is currently not connected to the eastern slot in St. Pete. Later in that OR when the RSR operates, it "places a station marker in St. Pete (if it does not already have one there)." But in the scenario above, it does already have one there, right?

CS Correct. The other space is open for whichever company gets there first.

7.10 If RSR buys the first 8 train, and still has R600 or more, can it buy a 2+2 train or does RSR cease to operate immediately upon purchase of the first 8?

CS It ceases to operate as soon as phase 8 begins, thus it can never purchase a 2+2 or 5+5 train.

ST I have played with people who assert that the number of supplied 2+2 and 5+5E trains is not intended to constitute a limit on play, and that they have gathered this fact directly from Ian. Not that I don't trust them, but I shall enquire directly before asserting it more strongly than this. I note that if the 2+2 and 5+5E trains are in fact unlimited, the only point of the rule about the RSR stopping in phase 8 is to save time.

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7.11 If the RSR has enough cash to buy more than one new train, does it buy multiple trains?

OFFICIAL Yes (until it buys an 8).

8. END GAME

8.1 If a game ends before phase 8 with minor companies still in play, then how much are they worth at game end? The Ending the Game section just says "value of his stock, at current prices", by which I take it to mean the price on the stock market. However, when a minor is set up the stock price is set to half the paid price, when a minor is converted you receive a double share at the same stock price and when minors convert the stock price for a single share is set to twice the median price of the merging minors. So if a minor is still in play at an early game end and has a price of R100 on the stock market, is it worth R100 or R200 to the owner's total wealth?

OFFICIAL, CB, CA Privates are worth the face value, minors twice the current share value.

8.2 A sentence at the end of the relevant paragraph indicates that there are three ORs after the OR in which the first 8 is purchased, but the count from the two examples yields two ORs in one case and three in the other. Which is it?

CS It doesn't say there are three ORs after the 8 is purchased. It says the game will end on a series of 3 uninterrupted ORs. If the 8 is purchased in the first OR of a set, the OR in which the 8 was purchased counts as the first of the final three ORs. If the 8 is purchased in the second OR of a set, the OR in which the 8 was purchased does not count as one of the three final ORs. It took me a while to wrap my head around this rule, and I still don't really understand the reason for it. Basically, it means there might be two or three ORs after the OR in which the 8 is purchased.

8.3 How does the game end if the bank busts before/after the first 8 is bought?

OFFICIAL If the bank busts and, at the end of the operating round, an 8 has not been bought the game ends. Once an 8 is bought, the bank busting is ignored, so continue to play the extra 2 or 3 rounds.

9. AUCTIONS

9.1 I read through the rules and came across the following strange rule at the end of 5.2: "After an auction [of a minor company], the next turn in the stock round is taken by the player next clockwise after the player winning the auction." ... and *not* by the player next clockwise after the player initiating the auction--what I would have expected. As far as I remember there was a similar rule for the starting auction in 1860, where it made perfectly sense. But here, this rule is meant for stock rounds so that it can happen that

14 someone can steal your directorship of a public company without leaving you any chance to defend it! I asked the members of my group what they did with this rule. And it was as I expected: they threw it away and let the player continue the stock round who sits next clockwise after the player *initiating* the auction of the minor.

ST I can confirm that the rule is in there by design

9.2 Can one bid $420 for a Minor Company? I understand that the winner of an auction for a Minor Company puts the value of the winning bid into the treasury of the Minor and sets the stock market value at 1/2 the bid rounded down to the next available value between R50 and R135. So, in this case, is $420 a valid bid (not asking if it is a smart bid) and is the stock value then set at $135?

CS Yes - the treasury would begin with $420 and the stock would be $135, leaving you with $270 stock value in return for your $420 investment. While I wouldn't do it to this extreme, I've seen it done by people who want to invest enough to purchase a larger train when founding a minor later in the game.

9.3 If a player declines to put up something for auction, is he excluded from the auction or can he rejoin later?

DESIGNER Rule 5.2.4 is "A player who passes may not rejoin the bidding on that Minor". I would argue that until a bid has been placed the auction hasn't started, and hence the player who declined to put up the item hasn't yet "joined" the auction. What the rule should say is "Once a bid has been made on a Minor, a player who passes may not rejoin the bidding on that Minor". Note, there may be tactical reasons for declining to put up something, e.g. trying to influence the priority, or trying to get a private at less than face (hoping the other players have a sudden attack of stupidity).

10. MISCELLANEOUS

10.1 Are actions such as the purchase of private companies and train purchases from other companies by companies with debts restricted in 1861 as they are in 1826?

OFFICIAL No

10.2 When shares are still available in the "Public Company Initial Offer" are they considered to be in the "Company Treasury" when paying dividends? So if you are paying out dividends and not all the shares have been sold, does the company get the dividends for the amount of shares still in the "Public Company Initial Offer"?

DV Yes

MH If you refer to 4.2.3 and 6.3, the unsold company shares for an operating public company should be on the company charter and not in the IPO. They are placed there when the company forms. I believe this is in line with the majority of games with partial capitalisation.

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10.3 How does one fit the (sticky) company logos to the various fat and thin cylinders?

OFFICIAL The thin ones are intended for the minors (one home station token and one stock chart token per company), and the fat ones for the major companies (three stations and one stock chart token each).

10.4 Some minor companies say they may only take out 2 loans. How many loans may the others take out?

OFFICIAL All Minor companies are limited to a maximum of 2 loans.

Contributors

AA Allen Astancius BB Bruce D. Beard BG Bill Gallagher CA Chris Acreman CB Craig Bartell CS Chris Shaffer CW Charlie Wilson DH David Hecht DT Dave Thorby DV Daniel Victor JDG John David Galt KT Keith Thomasson MH Mike Hutton NW Nick Wedd NL Noel Leaver ST Steve Thomas

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