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.