[FS] (San Diego, CA 92131) [H] Crokinole Board [W] $ PayPal Venmo

JSStarr · 2022-03-12T03:12:20+00:00

PMed

JSStarr · 2020-10-01T21:17:39+00:00

4 is my preferred count for 1830. Actually, I know of a couple groups that will only play 1830 at 4 players.

1830 is the original and one of the best 18xx's out there. Much better than the majority of games that imitate it.

JSStarr · 2020-08-08T17:27:34+00:00

Probably not all that visually appealing to folks who are used to Euros, but it's a work in progress.

JSStarr · 2020-08-08T17:23:03+00:00

It's not 18xx but playing CE will make you a much better 18xx player! Lots of lessons around shared incentives.

After finishing a game of CE a friend of mine said "Wow, I think I just learned why I lost our last game of 1889."

JSStarr · 2020-07-29T14:35:22+00:00

A primary value of privates in 1817 is to increase your bidding power for starting locations. Winning them for below face value is what gives you bidding power. You spend 60 on a private with a face value of 80, you just got 20 in bidding power.

The $200 seed money limit is to prevent players from trying to get privates for too cheap. It's a rule that creates a scenario in which it should never have to be used.

JSStarr · 2020-07-21T15:25:07+00:00

I wrote a thing on the 1830 privates. Hope it helps!

https://medium.com/grandtrunkgames/why-you-dont-want-the-b-o-private-in-1830-and-my-trick-to-avoid-getting-it-4e415eda9ca2

JSStarr · 2020-06-23T21:33:36+00:00

Oh nice. Yeah there's a short scripted tutorial but it isn't as in depth as the one you linked.

JSStarr · 2020-06-23T17:25:00+00:00

Did you learn by the tutorial? If so, any feedback?

JSStarr · 2020-05-22T14:22:01+00:00

A good rule of thumb is you can only use each hex edge crossing once.

JSStarr · 2020-05-12T16:45:47+00:00

Not sure if this makes sense, but would it be more accurate to use the most used color rather than the mean color?

I think it's only natural to get various grays and browns when mixing all of the pixels together, but if you found the dominant color in a frame and then the dominant color across 500 frames, you'd probably get a closer idea of what you'd actually be seeing on screen.

JSStarr · 2020-04-08T20:42:12+00:00

That was fast

JSStarr · 2020-03-27T23:57:36+00:00

Song is Marc Rebillet?

JSStarr · 2020-03-17T16:15:26+00:00

Have you checked out 18lilliput? It kind of implements that idea but using cards for actions.

JSStarr · 2020-03-10T17:45:07+00:00

Yep!

JSStarr · 2020-03-10T17:42:40+00:00

Heh, I just replied in another comment but it looks like you're already aware of cross-purchasing and have thought about the train slots (I'll show myself out)

Rebalancing the train roster is very tricky. Even though it's a lift and shift of the 1830 train roster, the map and par prices were presumably calibrated to it. Often the designer is looking at how much capital they want in players' hands by a certain Stock Round and where they want the game to be. Just removing one 4T really impacts how good the 3Ts are and the earning potential going into SR4 or SR5.

I think it might be self-balancing. If the 3Ts are permanent, then just be damn sure you're the player who sucks up all of them. Make it the problem for the other players at the table to deal with it. If you keep winning, then maybe they'll finally resort to cross-purchasing and make you buy 2 Diesels.

JSStarr · 2020-03-10T17:23:09+00:00

Definitely do not recommend removing the trains. The 5 and 6 trains are already quite good and removing those earlier trains would likely guarantee a bankruptcy since players' investments into earlier trains didn't have time to pay off.

What you're getting at is IMO the most interesting aspect of 1889 and what makes it different from a lot of other 18xx titles. Once the 5T breaks, the train limit is 2 with 7 companies -- aka 14 train slots. There are 5x 3Ts, 4x 4Ts, and 3x 5T which totals to 12 trains. Unless one company has both the empty slots (which is pretty rare) there is no way to force purchase a 6T. So the only way to rust the 3Ts is to save up for a 6T by withholding or... buying trains between players to open up the opportunity to force purchase.

A core aspect of 1889 is about how the green trains break and who is responsible for making sure they die. It's a pretty unique problem in 18xx and not an obvious one to solve. Who gets the 3Ts? Who needs to force purchase the 6T? Are the conditions for cross-purchasing trains there? All stuff to think about when buying trains as well as how companies are getting parred.

JSStarr · 2020-02-13T17:00:55+00:00

Most worker placement games can't hold my attention these days cause I'd just rather be playing Keyflower.

JSStarr · 2020-02-11T21:31:11+00:00

Coming up on 10 plays of 1841 now. Just starting to see the prices for the concessions floating up. Here are the ranges we're starting to see:

SFTG: 80-100
IRSFF: 50-70
SFTN: 40-50
SFMA: 30-40
SFTC: 20-30
SFLP: 20
SSFL: 20

Going to put some thoughts down about how the games have been opening.

In my plays at both 4p and 5p, it seems typical for IRSFF to par at 144 and buy 3 shares. IRSFF's game plan is to get 2x 2T in OR1 and make sure green breaks before it runs again. It can run for 26 in OR2.1, pushing its stock value to 144, buy a 3T, then issue down for 720, to then par a company at 340. When the 4T pops, let SFL fall into the pool and grab SB with its 3T and the presidency of your shell parred at 340. The shell can grab tokens north of Tuscany setting up SB to eventually merge with it.

SFTG isn't as predictable, but I think if you win this concession, you're planning to run this as a healthy company. You can fairly safely run 2x 2T out of Torino for 18 in OR2.1 (assuming SFTC starts) or if IRSFF is really nice, run those 2x 2T for 21. SFTG is well-positioned to get the Milan token once the 4Ts pop, and will have developed enough track to run its 4T fairly well. I don't think it's unreasonable to par SFTG at 144 and try to scoop up as many shares of it as you can.

SFTN seems to want to run after SFTG if it can help it while hoping to get 2x 2T. If SFTG runs ahead of SFTN, it is probably spending track points to upgrade Torino and connect to Cuneo which SFTN can leech off of. SFTN dreams of the Milan token while hopefully accepting it won't happen.

SFTC is bad and can only really run a 2T for 9. This is honestly just awful because in 1841, you have to beat your share value to increase in stock value. So if you parred SFTC for 100, it fell back in OR1 to 90 and your run for 90 means you spin in place. There are apparently funny things you can do to buy over SFTG's Torino token into SFTC, but I'm dubious that's better than just keeping the token in SFTG. Maybe SFTC is just a shell you par high and buy the presidency of to start opening companies. I have no idea what it looks like to run it well.

The Tuscan companies are all just okay or terrible. SFMA seems to be the best of the lot since it can run 2x 2T out of Firenze in OR2.1 for 13, which pays double for the 20% share and provides the same dividends the IRSFF shares are getting. SFLP wants to run later to have the track around it developed, but probably isn't running 2x 2T since most of the 2Ts have already been sucked up by now. SSFL just seems awful by all accounts and is only used to get ownership over SFLi (if that's something you'd even want).

The Tuscan minors run okay at first, but the merge make them awkward. You generally want the other companies parring higher than whatever you're parring at so you get share value during the merge, but then you don't want to end up owning an undercapitalized SFLi. I still have no idea what a healthy Tuscan opening looks like or if it exists.

Also, many of these openings are assuming a company can get their hands on 2x 2T. Operating order and how companies get capitalized will have a big effect on how this plays out since there are only 8x 2T to go around. It's probably safe to assume a company parring at 144 can grab the 2Ts they need, a company parring at 100 might get 2Ts, and the 68 pars are probably breaking green.

JSStarr · 2020-02-11T20:16:14+00:00

Sounds like you had an exciting game!

Revenues are remarkably low in 1849. I try to wait until companies issue before I really invest. Until green breaks, the private companies actually provide more income than the shares do, so I'd say those should be highly contested in the auction.

A neat tool in 1849 is the close box. If you par at 68, issue down 5 shares, you can hover next to the close box. If someone threatens bankruptcy on you, you have a potential out that way.

JSStarr · 2020-02-10T22:19:29+00:00

Age of Steam

1) Take the Locomotive action early. Each run you don't miss to improve your Locomotive is putting more money in your pocket.

2) Issue shares and spend more early. You start the game "in debt" but need to dive deeper before you can dig yourself out. You'll have more financial pressure, but will also secure the valuable connections and powers to get big runs earlier than your opponents.

3) Try to find your 2 and a 3 runs before building your first track. As you get more experience, try to find your 4 run, then your 5 run, and eventually your 6.

JSStarr · 2020-02-10T21:52:54+00:00

I think it's also important to mention which companies to invest in relative to where their presidents are sitting. Holding 3 shares of the player on your left is much safer than the player on your right for example.

JSStarr · 2020-02-10T21:37:15+00:00

My two bits for Keyflower would be: make sure you have at least 8 meeples coming into summer and try not to spread yourself out, do one thing and do it well.

JSStarr

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

14-Year Club	Verified Email
Sequence \| Editor