1830 b&o
Mark J. Dulcey
>
>>I have a question to all 1830 people that open the b&o at 100. How many
>>of the shares are normaly sold in the 1st 2 stock rounds? Also which
>>other railroads open at what?(avg)
>
>In a 5-player game, all bets are off, and you should probably set par at
>$100, then start begging and pleading. Often, the player who bought the
>C&A is hoping to float the PRR and has an interest in seeing track
>developed in the southeast section of the map. Whether the B&O floats
>right away is really dependent on play style. Sorry I can't be more
>specific.
I just have to tell about the most recent 5-player game I won. I bought
the B&O private and priced it at $100 -- and then DIDN'T start the B&O.
For a LONG time. I just invested in other people's companies, and
collected my $30 each turn for the private company. Nobody else
chose to force the B&O to come out.
In the middle of phase 2 (two of the 4 trains were bought), I found myself
with the priority deal. I bought the director's share of the Erie at
$100. During this stock round, I was able to get BOTH the B&O and Erie
floated, and retain control of both of them (the other players didn't go
all-out to prevent this). Other players knocked down the stock prices
a bit, so the Erie operated first, and bought the last 4 and a 5. The
B&O then bought the two remaining 5 trains.
So, after not having any railroads for the first half of the game, I'm
suddenly in the train business in a big way. And I'm doing well. The
B&O, in spite of the late start, got going quickly, since the stations
in the south had not been blocked. The Erie took a bit longer to make
any real money. But meanwhile, I have 3 permanent trains with ZERO
cash out of pocket; as soon as a 6 got bought (right away, since the
CanPac was also new that round), there were a lot of hurting railroads,
and two players were facing the unappealing prospect of buying diesels
out of hand. (Originally, one player was facing having to buy TWO
diesels, but he was able to dump one of the railroads.)
In the end, the combination of high stock values (most of my stock in
the endgame was my own stuff that was started at $100 and not thrashed
too badly, plus a few good shares of other stock; meanwhile, other
stock also got thrashed, and players took a beating buying trains out
of hand) and decent runs (the B&O with two 5 trains did nicely) turned
out to be a winner by a substantial margin. I'm convinced that letting
a player slurp up two 5s with one railroads is something you have to
avoid at nearly all costs; the only thing worse I can think of is
somebody starting a new railroad in 1835 and buying a 4 and 4+4. (I
did that with the Me once, and that move was a winner too.)
This game was probably the first and only time I'll ever see the B&O
private railroad get closed by the purchase of a 5 train!
Hans Rancke-Madsen
>I just have to tell about the most recent 5-player game I won. I bought
>the B&O private and priced it at $100 -- and then DIDN'T start the B&O.
>For a LONG time. I just invested in other people's companies, and
>collected my $30 each turn for the private company. Nobody else
>chose to force the B&O to come out.
>In the middle of phase 2 (two of the 4 trains were bought), I found myself
>with the priority deal. I bought the director's share of the Erie at
>$100. During this stock round, I was able to get BOTH the B&O and Erie
>floated, and retain control of both of them (the other players didn't go
>all-out to prevent this). Other players knocked down the stock prices
>a bit, so the Erie operated first, and bought the last 4 and a 5. The
>B&O then bought the two remaining 5 trains.
>[...]
>The B&O, in spite of the late start, got going quickly, since the
>stations in the south had not been blocked.
>[...]
>This game was probably the first and only time I'll ever see the B&O
>private railroad get closed by the purchase of a 5 train!
All I can say, friend, is: "You've been playing against amateurs!"
;-)
(Talking about playing against amateurs, at a recent game convention I
saw two out of 5 players in an 1830 tournament open a railroad priced
so that they could afford 5 shares themselves. Neither company floated
the first turn, nor the second...)
Hans Rancke
University of Copenhagen
ran...@diku.dk
------------
"I know there are some people in the world who do not tolerate their
fellow human beings, and I just can't _stand_ people like that!"
(after Tom Lehrer)
Howard D. Mallison
>
> I have a question to all 1830 people that open the b&o at 100. How many
> of the shares are normaly sold in the 1st 2 stock rounds? Also which
> other railroads open at what?(avg)
Depends on who is opening B&O. If a known "rapist" is running
it, nobody else buys more than 1 share. (Still possible to
sell all shares in a six player game.) If a "normal" player
opens B&O then there is a run on it until it's out unless
someone wants to start another railroad. However, if B&O gets
up fairly high in price (+/- $170) then anyone who has more
than one B&O starts getting nervous, especially if there is
little or no money in the corporate treasury.
> We generaly end up opening railroads at cheaper prices and play with the
> attitude that okay you are going to open a railroad we will buy some after
> you open. Also how is the b&o normally split. In our games we normally
> only get 4-5 people.
Depends on where the game is at the time. Near the end of the
game when trains really cost, nobody opens a company unless
they can make it work (usually via "train shuffle"), and then
they open for as high as they can so they can get a Diesel for
the "parent" company.
In the beginning, companies open at any price due to players'
cash-on-hand. Some like to set high prices so they can run for
profit more, others don't mind running for credit.
>
> : D. Johns : hacs...@huey.csun.edu :
> : Please smash head through monitor to continue. :
> : Unfair! A battle of wits and you've come unarmed! :
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Like both of your sayings. (I'm a main-frame computer operator
by trade.)
Dan II
Brian Bankler
Well, I disagree. The B&O should almost always be set a 100.
If it doesn't float, oh well, I guess you'll have to suffer collecting
30 a turn. I played a 6 player this weekend where I didn't even try
to float the B&O until after the 3s were out. I paid $220, I got $30
for about 5 ORs, then I sold the B&O Minor to the major for $440 (and
then the major bought a train, closing the minor...)
I turned $220 into ~$600 in about 5-6 ORs. (+ The value of
6 shares of B&O, which admittedly is only an OK company after It has
paid out $440 to me. Of course, I didn't pay for two of those shares,
they came with the B&O).
Selling the B&O Minor can be _very_ lucrative.
Brian
--
Donald J. Dale
> Selling the B&O Minor can be _very_ lucrative.
It can also be _very_ illegal. According to my copy of the rules, the
B&O private company cannot be sold to a corporation.
Don
Christopher K. Farrell
> Selling the B&O Minor can be _very_ lucrative.
Probably why it's explicitly illegal. :)
Personally, I always set the par of the B&O at $100. The B&O is just simply the
best investment in the early going, so it will almost always float. In a 4
player game, I would set the par at the maximum value at which I could still
buy 4 shares (probably 82 or so), and start right away.
Unless the shares are spread very thin, you lose big-time by having the B&O
private company sit around. If you can't make $15/share with the B&O, you are
doing somthing seriously wrong, and that's not even taking into account
stock price increases and the advantages of being a president. Only if everyone
at the table is only one share behind you in B&O holdings do you actually
*gain* by letting the B&O remain dormant.
Personally, if I saw someone sitting on the B&O, I
would not hesitate to take over the directorhsip.
Chris
--
Chris Farrell What a journey it has been,
Programmer/Analyst, Genetics and the end is not in sight;
CWRU but the stars are out tonight,
ck...@po.cwru.edu and they're bound to guide my way. - Lea Salonga
Stig Hemmer
> If it doesn't float, oh well, I guess you'll have to suffer collecting
> 30 a turn.
Indeed. I once saw a game were B&O was started a few rounds into the
game. It bought three 3-trains. It had a _huge_ income for a _long_
time.
The president had to buy a diesel eventually but that wasn't a
problem, the company had ~$400 and the president was just stinking
rich. He won hands down.
After that game noone around here will allow B&O to remain unstarted.
Stig Hemmer aka st...@pvv.unit.no
pvv means ProgramVareVerkstedet ("Software Workshop", a student society)
.unit means UNiversitetet I Trondheim
.no means NOrway, a minor kingdom in northern Europe.
PS: B&O minor can't be sold to a mayor company.
Donald J. Dale
>
>I have a question to all 1830 people that open the b&o at 100. How many
>of the shares are normaly sold in the 1st 2 stock rounds? Also which
>other railroads open at what?(avg)
That depends on how many people are playing and how high a price was paid
for the cool private co's. In a 4-player game, the B&O should NOT be
parred at $100; it should come out at $90, so the owner can float it
alone on the 1st SR. The other RR's that usually float on the 1st SR of
a 4-player game are the PRR, the C&O, and usually the NYNH&H. In a game
with fewer than 5 players, everybody can usually float a RR in the 1st SR
without help, so the B&O owner who sets par at $100 is putting himself a
turn behind.
In a 5-player game, all bets are off, and you should probably set par at
$100, then start begging and pleading. Often, the player who bought the
C&A is hoping to float the PRR and has an interest in seeing track
developed in the southeast section of the map. Whether the B&O floats
right away is really dependent on play style. Sorry I can't be more
specific.
Don
Michael Godfrey
Michael Godfrey "It's hard work being a slacker. Really
the amount of effort you have to expend
mbg...@psuvm.psu.edu in order to avoid expending effort can
be incredible!"
D. Johns
I have a question to all 1830 people that open the b&o at 100. How many
of the shares are normaly sold in the 1st 2 stock rounds? Also which
other railroads open at what?(avg)
We generaly end up opening railroads at cheaper prices and play with the
attitude that okay you are going to open a railroad we will buy some after
you open. Also how is the b&o normally split. In our games we normally
only get 4-5 people.
: D. Johns : hacs...@huey.csun.edu :
Dave Mitton
In article <94299.024...@psuvm.psu.edu>, Michael Godfrey <MBG...@psuvm.psu.edu> writes:
<You can't sell the minor. As soon as the major floats the minor closes.
<
<Michael Godfrey
Actually, to be totally picky, it's not when the B&O floats, but the private
closes when the B&O Corporation buys it's first train. So there is at least
one round of private comp. revenue you get after the B&O becomes operational.
(the B&O player could avoid building a route and therefore forgo needing to
buy a train... but that would be stupid as it's value would decline)
The rules are very clear about this.
--
Dave Mitton, mit...@dave.enet.dec.com
Donald Daybell
Brian Bankler <ban...@terrier.ece.cmu.edu> wrote:
> Selling the B&O Minor can be _very_ lucrative.
>
> Brian
It is also _very_ illegal.
Check Table 1-Private Companies, on the back of the rulebook.
Note #5 states, "The B&O Private Company may NOT be sold to any
Corporation, and does not change hands of the owning player loses
the Presidency of the B&O"
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don Daybell --- Trojan-for-Life
Work: UTIL707!LAHQ5PO!Dday...@fibmail.attmail.com
Play: day...@netcom.com _______ |\ /|
/ RIP \ \\ //
Fight On! | BS-CS | \\ //
| 1983 | ^ ^| | |
X X X | -- | X X | | | | |
\ / / | 1992 | / | \ /
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark J. Dulcey
>
>mdu...@pryder.pn.com (Mark J. Dulcey) writes:
>
>>This game was probably the first and only time I'll ever see the B&O
>>private railroad get closed by the purchase of a 5 train!
>
>All I can say, friend, is: "You've been playing against amateurs!"
>
>;-)
Actually, it was a reasonably strong group. But since I was trying
something odd, they didn't necessarily know what the right thing to
do against it was. Neither did I except in retrospect, since I had
never attempted that particular game plan either.
I think that a big part of the fascination of 1830 is that there are
so many different ways to win it -- even seemingly bizarre strategies
like intentional bankruptcy can work on occasion.
P Norris
>>mdu...@pryder.pn.com (Mark J. Dulcey) writes:
>>>This game was probably the first and only time I'll ever see the B&O
>>>private railroad get closed by the purchase of a 5 train!
>In article <rancke.7...@embla.diku.dk> ran...@diku.dk writes:
>>All I can say, friend, is: "You've been playing against amateurs!"
mdu...@pryder.pn.com (Mark J. Dulcey) writes:
>Actually, it was a reasonably strong group. But since I was trying
>something odd, they didn't necessarily know what the right thing to
>do against it was. Neither did I except in retrospect, since I had
>never attempted that particular game plan either.
I'm not the strongest player in my group but I think any of us would
almost immediately ensure that the B&O public floated asap. This would
prevent the $30/OR income for the private. No great risk to do so.
After all, in the early stages of the game B&O is generally the most
profitable stock in terms of dividend and if the owner of the private
decides to hang on to the public company they have to do some rapid
rethinking on their game plan.
Paul
--
Only in silence the word, Paul Norris
only in darkness the light, p-no...@csd.uwe.ac.uk
only in dying life:
bright the hawk's flight on the empty sky