18VA
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| 18VA | |
|---|---|
| 18VA as published by Deep Thought Games | |
| Players | 2–5 |
| Age range | 12+ |
| Setup time | 10 minutes |
| Playing time | 3-5 hours |
| Random chance | None |
| Skills required | Strategy |
18VA is a railroad operations and share trading board game in the 18xx series, published by Deep Thought Games in 2005. The game, designed by David G.D. Hecht, is a smaller 18xx game, originally intended to be similar in scope to Mark Derrick's "one-state" games 18AL and 18GA. Set in Virginia and Maryland, it is slightly more complex than either of the above.
There are seven companies than may enter play, and six of them start out as "five-share companies" (similar to 1826). Unlike in many games, in 18VA a company "floats" as soon as its Presidency is bought: unlike in 1856 or 1826, there are no destinations, so five-share companies may "grow" to ten-share companies once green tiles are available. As both Virginia and Maryland had incentive statutes that provided for state underwriting of 40 percent of the company's stock as soon as 60 percent was sold to the public, in 18VA selling the sixth share provides the last 50 percent of the company's capital.
18VA's strategy revolves around the tension between two types of traffic: passenger traffic, which mostly ran between north and south, and the coal trade, which mostly ran from west to east. To reflect this, there are two types of trains (passenger and freight), and each scores differently and has different incentives to maximize its dividends.
18VA is a simple to moderately complex game (somewhat more complex than 18AL, 18GA, or 1851) and can be played in 3-5 hours by 2-5 experienced players.
[edit] Railroad Companies Represented
- Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
- Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
- Norfolk and Western Railway
- Southern Railway
- Virginian Railway
- Western Maryland Railway
