18 Milwaukee

Expansion for 1846: The Race for the Midwest

18 Milwaukee Rulebook

Table of Contents

Introduction

18 Milwaukee uses all of the rules of 1846 except as described here. You will need a copy of 1846 to play this game.

1846 Components Utilized

The track tiles, company charters and certificates, and the trains.

18 Milwaukee Components

A game map, stock market, and Brewery Company certificates.

Beer Cubes

You will need to use cubes from another game to represent beer on the map. 29 yellow cubes to represent lager and 6 brown cubes to represent porter, though any two colors will suffice.

Game Set Up

Distribute starting money to players in accordance with the rules of 1846.

Brewery Company Distribution

There are no Private Companies in 18 Milwaukee, but there are eight Brewery Companies. Place the two independent railroads and the eight Brewery Company certificates near the board.

If playing with 4 players, randomly remove one of the Schlitz, Pabst, or Miller Breweries. If playing with either 2 or 3 players, also randomly remove one of the Fauerbach, Gettlemen, or Blatz Breweries.

Beginning with the last player in the turn order – and repeating until all players consecutively decline to purchase either an independent railroad or a Brewery Company or there are no independent railroads or Brewery Companies remaining for purchase – each player may purchase one independent railroad or one Brewery Company at face value.

When the distribution of Brewery Companies is completed, player turn order for the Initial Stock Round is determined by the descending amounts of cash each player has remaining (the player with the least remaining cash is first, and so on).

Purchasing an Independent Railroad

When a player purchases an independent railroad they must immediately choose a starting location for the company. This can be any station token location printed on the map (note that some locations require a $20 payment to place the home station).

Brewery Companies

Brewery Companies each have a location printed on the map. Their home hexagon allows any train to pass through and a brewery never counts as stop for a train.

If a Brewery Company has been removed from play due to lower player counts, the hexagon of the removed breweries is treated as an empty, plain hexagon. We recommend you place a tile on the hex, reverse side up, to remind players.

Brewery Companies pay a revenue to the owning player or company for each beer cube delivered by any company's train.

Additionally, beer that is picked up by a train adds revenue to the train's total.

All breweries produce lager, but some breweries also produce porter. Porter beer provides greater revenues than lager.

Brewery Certificates Removed

At the start of Phase 5 (brown) all brewery certificates are removed from the game. The breweries will continue to operate but players and companies will no longer directly receive any revenue.

Carrying Beer

Each train may carry a maximum number of beer cubes that is equal to its lowest distance value (e.g. a 3/5 train may carry 3 beer cubes). A train may never pick up more than one beer cube at each brewery on its route.

A brewery does not count as a stop and therefore is not a terminus. Beer cube delivery is abstract, beer has no specific destination. A train merely serves a brewery, picks up a cube, and pays out the bonuses.

Beer Revenues

During Phase 1 (yellow), each lager beer cube delivered adds $20 to the revenue collected by the train. Additionally, the owner of the brewery immediately receives $10 from the Bank.

During Phase 1 (yellow), each porter beer cube delivered adds $30 to the revenue collected by the train. Additionally, the owner of the brewery immediately receives $15 from the Bank.

During Phase 3 (brown), each lager beer cube delivered adds $30 to the revenue collected by the train. Since the brewery certificates are removed from the game at the start of this phase, no revenue is paid directly to any player or company.

During Phase 3 (brown), each porter beer cube delivered adds $40 to the revenue collected by the train. Since the brewery certificates are removed from the game at the start of this phase, no revenue is paid directly to any player or company.

Refill Breweries

During the course of the Operating Rounds, beer cubes will be removed from the breweries as they are being delivered. All breweries in play are completely refilled at the start of each set of Operating Rounds (i.e. after each Stock Round).

Starting Railroad Companies

There are no pre-determined or reserved starting locations for companies. When a new company is started, the President selects a company and immediately chooses a home location. This can be any station token location printed on the map (note that some locations require a $20 payment to place the home station).

The number of companies allowed to be started is the same as in 1846. There is no need to remove any specific companies from the game, the limit on the number of companies is sufficient.

Track Placement Rules

The map has very few city locations printed on it because players will choose the locations of the cities as they place track.

Any plain hexagon on the map can initially be covered with either a plain yellow track tile or a yellow city track tile.

Upgrading Track

In addition to the normal track upgrade rules, any plain yellow track tile may be "upgraded" to a yellow city tile. Of course, the existing track must be preserved.

Purple Offboard Locations

The purple offboard locations require that a company have a station token there in order to operate a train to that location. Note that some of these locations require an additional $20 payment to place a station token.

Hiawatha Routes

Trains that run one of the Hiawatha routes are entitled to a revenue bonus. The bonus values are printed on the map.

Midwest Hiawatha

Chicago to Sioux Falls.

Chippewa Hiawatha

Chicago to Milwaukee (either hex) to Green Bay.

North Woods Hiawatha

Chicago to Milwaukee (either hex) to Minocqua.

Twin Cities Hiawatha

Chicago to Milwaukee (either hex) to Minneapolis.

Olympian Hiawatha

Chicago to Milwaukee (either hex) to Minneapolis to Seattle. This train is entitled to the bonus for both Minneapolis and Seattle.