Main Catalogue |  BOARD GAMES & CARD GAMES |  Fred Distribution |  Railroad Tycoon: Rails of Europe

Railroad Tycoon: Rails of Europe Price: £19.99 RRP - £22.99 Railroad Tycoon Expansion Set by FRED Distribrution It is mid 19th century Europe. The railroads that first appeared in England are now appearing on the European mainland. Wealth and prestige await the player who can tap into the resources and demands of the continent. Do you build through the mountains of Southern Europe , or across the expanse of Eastern Russia? If you are fortunate enough, maybe you can sign a charter agreement with a strategically located town or even a capital. A continent awaits for the Rails of Europe. Rails of Europe is an expansion map for Eagle Game\'s very popular railroad game. You will need the pieces from the basic game (track and city tiles, shares, money, empty city markers, trains and first player marker) to play Rails of Europe. Contents: * one 30\' X 36\' map * rule book * deck of cards (operation cards and baron cards) +++++++++++++++++++++ Counter Magazine Review +++++++++++++++++++++ designed by Glenn Drover reviewed by Greg Schloesser NOTE: I will assume a familiarity with Railroad Tycoon. This review will concentrate on the differences in this new expansion in comparison to the original version. A few years back, Eagle Games teamed with designer Martin Wallace to release Railroad Tycoon, a streamlined version of Wallace\'s popular Age of Steam game. The new version received the ``Eagle Games\'\' treatment: a glitzy over-sized board and impressive plastic components. The game received a much wider distribution than its predecessor, and in spite of some perceived flaws, came to be recognized as the best game Eagle Games had released. It also proved to be their last, at least for awhile. Railroad Tycoon spawned numerous unauthorized expansions, mostly new maps with a few rules tweaks. These expansions, all of which were only available via downloads from the internet, included maps of Europe, Brazil and South America. There was promise from Eagle of an official European map, but the company\'s demise and subsequent acquisition by FRED Distribution seemed to quash that hope. That hope was revived and finally realized with the release of Rails of Europe. Designed by Glenn Drover, Rails of Europe consists primarily of a map of 19th century Europe, new Railroad Baron cards, and a new deck of Operation cards. The remainder of the components needed to play this expansion must be retrieved from the original edition. While functional, the map artwork is dark and glossy, and some of the colors are too similar in hue. For example, it is difficult to distinguish the black and blue colors. I understand this will be corrected on future printings. Game play is essentially identical to that of Railroad Tycoon. Much to the consternation of many gamers, Railroad Baron cards are still kept secret, and two of the cards are identical. This means it is still possible for two players to possess the same secret goals, while opponents are free to pursue their goals without competition. I complained about this in the original version, and was disappointed that they did not eliminate this duplication of goals here. A major change in the game system is that the ``major lines\'\' are no longer part of the Operation cards. Rather, the major lines connections are printed directly on the map and are available to complete from the game\'s inception. Only one player can complete a particular line, so there is pressure to complete these lines quickly. There are a handful of new Operations cards added to the mix. Two of these are ``charters\'\', which either grant exclusive rights to construct lines into or from the specified city, or grants points for each line built into the specified city. The former is quite valuable, and can give major construction headaches to one\'s opponents. The main improvement in the expansion is the map. No, not graphically, but rather in the ``tightness\'\' of the routes. The board becomes congested quickly, and there is keen competition to secure needed routes and beat opponents to key locations. Further, most of the board is utilized, and there doesn\'t appear to be one key area where one must compete or likely be left futilely chasing the leaders. This was not the case in the parent game, where the northeast was a critical area, while the southwest area of the map rarely saw much, if any, construction. I am very happy to see FRED Distribution supporting the Railroad Tycoon franchise with this new expansion. I\'m hopeful that it will sell well enough to warrant further expansions, as I\'m a big fan of the system pioneered by Wallace. Even though many folks may be less than pleased with the graphical presentation, I feel it is safe to say that Railroad Tycoon enthusiasts will be pleased with this new expansion. More ...     WE ALSO RECOMMEND...   Railroad Tycoon £49.99

Main Catalogue |  BOARD GAMES & CARD GAMES |  Fred Distribution |  Railroad Tycoon: Rails of Europe