Prussian Rails
Prussian Rails Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
- 1 Game Board
- 24 Railroad Shares — 3 for each railroad
- Money — coins with denominations of: 1, 5, 25 and 100 Talers
- 118 Locomotives, in the railroad colors — 11 orange, 12 purple, 13 green, 14 yellow, 15 red, 16 blue, 17 brown, 20 black
- 25 Player Turn Order markers — 5 each in the player colors
- 5 Player Income markers — 1 each in the player colors
- 8 Railroad Income markers — 1 each in the railroad company colors
- 1 Bag — the Player Turn Order markers are drawn from the bag
- 1 Rules Booklet
Set Up
Place the game board in the center of the playing area.
Place one locomotive of each Railroad on its corresponding start hexagon. Place all remaining locomotives and stocks on the corresponding areas at the edge of the game board.
Place the Railroad Income markers on the spaces of the Railroad Income track corresponding to their initial income as shown on their start hexagons (1 in most cases).
Note: The starting Income of the Main-Weser-Bahn is 2, due to its special ability. (See "Special Characteristics of the Railroad Companies" below.)
Each player selects a set of Player Turn Order markers and the matching Income marker which he puts on the "0" box of the Player Income track.
Note: A player's color markers have no relation to a railroad's locomotives of the same color; e.g., taking the red markers does not necessarily mean that player is running the red railroad.
Important: When a player's income exceeds 50 Talers he flips his Income marker to its "+50" side.
Put the Player Turn Order markers aside for the time being.
Select one player to be the Banker. The Banker gives each player their starting money, 120 Talers total:
- Three Players: 40 Talers each
- Four Players: 30 Talers each
- Five Players: 24 Talers each
The Game Board
The board shows the key of track building costs, the Player Turn Order track, the Player Income track, and the Railroad Income track. Terrain hexagons are Start Cities, Plains, Mountains, Hills, the Berlin Approach zone, and the Berlin Urban zone; Urban (city) hexagons appear throughout the map.
Preparing to Play
At the start 1 share of each Railroad is put up for auction in this order:
Preußische Ostbahn • Niederschlesisch-Märkische Eisenbahn • Königlich-Sächsische Staatseisenbahnen • Königlich-Bayerische Staatseisenbahnen • Main-Weser-Bahn • Großherzoglich Badische Staatseisenbahnen • Cöln-Mindener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft • Berlin-Hamburger Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft
Each railroad has certain historical characteristics. See the overview under "Special Characteristics of the Railroad Companies" below.
The Banker conducts the first bid of the Preußische Ostbahn Auction.
The minimum bid for any railroad share is 1 Taler. The first bidder in each auction bids at least the minimum bid or passes.
Bidding continues clockwise with each player bidding a higher amount than his predecessor or passing. If a player passes, he may not re-enter the current bidding. Bidding continues until all players but one have passed.
The winner of the auction puts the money paid for the share next to the corresponding railroad area beside the game board. He takes the share and places it in front of himself on the table.
If all players pass without bidding any money at all (very unlikely!), the first bidder takes the share for free.
The first bidder in each subsequent auction is the player who bought the last share. The same procedure is used for all auctions.
After all 8 starting shares have been distributed by auction, the game continues.
Object of the Game
The players are investors trying to gain as much profit as possible from the numerous ambitious railroad companies of that time.
By acquiring shares, they try to gain influence on the railroad development and earn money when dividends are paid.
The income of each railroad is distributed among its shareholders (the players) during the Pay Dividends phase.
A railroad increases its income by building track into Urban hexes.
Railroads are capitalized by selling shares to the players.
By clever investments and development of the proper railroads a player earns the highest dividends. The player owning the most cash at the end of the game is the winner.
Sequence of Play
German Railways is played in rounds.
At the beginning of each round the players determine the Player Turn Order. Next, starting with the first player and the others following in Player Turn Order, each player chooses and performs one of the following actions:
- Pass
- Offer one share for auction
- Build track
Important: After a player has performed the "Build Track" action, the Pay Dividends phase may follow.
After an action is completed, remove the Player Turn Order marker from the Player Turn Order track. When all Player Order Markers have been removed from the Player Turn Order track, the round is over and a new one begins.
Determine Player Turn Order
Each player must compute their current Player Income and place their Player Income marker in the appropriate box on the Player Income track. A player's income is the total value of his shares.
Example: Susan (green) owns one share of the Preußische Ostbahn (income 5 Talers) and one share of the Niederschlesisch-Märkische Eisenbahn (income 3 Talers). She puts her Player Income marker on the 8 Talers box on the Player Income track at the right side of the game board.
The player(s) with the highest income puts 1 of his Player Turn Order markers in the bag; the player(s) with the second highest income puts 2 markers in the bag; the player(s) with the third highest income puts 3 markers in the bag etc.
Players having the same amount of income all put markers in the bag corresponding to their position on the Player Income track.
Example: Susan's (green) income is 8 Talers, Jeff (blue) and Tina (yellow) have 6 Talers income, David's (white) income is 4 Talers and Harry's (red) 3 Talers. Susan puts 1 of her Player Turn Order markers in the bag, both Jeff and Tina put 2 of their markers in the bag, David puts 3 and finally Harry puts 4 markers in.
One at a time, randomly as many markers as there are players in the game are drawn. The first marker drawn is placed in the '1' box of the Player Turn Order track, the second in the '2' box, the third in the '3' etc.
The player whose marker is in the '1' box goes first, next the player whose marker is in the '2' box etc.
Note: In this way it is possible that a single player conducts more than one action a turn.
Undrawn markers are returned to the players.
After a player has performed an action he removes his marker from the Player Turn Order track.
Example: First one of Tina's (yellow) two markers is drawn. She places her marker on space 1 of the Turn Order track. Next Susan's (green) marker is drawn, she places it on space 2. The next drawn markers are one of Harry's (red), Tina's (yellow) second marker and a marker of Jeff's (blue). Though there are 3 of David's (white) markers in the bag, it is his bad luck that he will not perform a turn actively this round. However, Tina is lucky and will perform two turns.
Hint: In their first games of German Railways players may use the following alternate for determining Player Turn Order. In this way it is easier to learn the game mechanics. Put 1 Player Turn Order marker of each player in the bag, no matter what their income is.
Choosing an Action
The player taking an action must choose and perform one of the following actions:
- Pass
- Offer one share for auction
- Build track
The Actions in Detail
Pass
A player choosing to pass does nothing.
Offer One Share for Auction
A player choosing this action selects any one unsold railroad share and puts it up for auction.
Important: A third share of any railroad may not be auctioned until 2 shares of each railroad have been obtained by the players.
The active player makes a first bid of at least 1 Taler or passes (do not confuse this passing during an auction with the action Pass!). The following procedure is identical to the initial auctions: In clockwise order each player does a higher bid than his predecessor or passes. If a player passes, he may not re-enter the current bidding. Bidding continues until all players but one have passed.
The winner of the auction puts the money paid for the share next to the corresponding Railroad area beside the game board. He takes the share and places it in front of himself on the table. After the railroad share is sold, increase the auction-winning player's income on the Player Income track by the share income.
Example: Tina buys a share of the Preußische Ostbahn. The income of the Preußische Ostbahn is 8 Talers. Tina moves her Income marker from 31 to 39 Talers.
If all players pass without bidding any money at all the share is not sold and may be offered again at a later moment.
Note: Buying a share for a very low price is not always advantageous. The railroads need money in order to expand their existing railnet so that they are able to increase their income which in turn is increasing the dividends paid to the players!
Build Track
The player choosing this action must own at least one share of that railroad. He may build track for one railroad only.
The player may expand the railroad's network by up to 3 tracks, placing one of that railroad's locomotives in each hexagon he built track in. (Exception: see "Special Characteristics of the Railroad Companies" below.)
The track built must connect all the way back to the railroad's start hexagon using only that railroad's track. It is allowed to build junctions.
- Urban (city) hexagons may have multiple locomotives in the hexagon.
- Only one railroad may build track in plains, mountains, hills, and Berlin Approach zone hexagons. After a railroad has built track in any of these hexagons, they are blocked for other railroads.
- Each railroad may build only one track in the entire Berlin Approach zone.
Note: The Berlin Urban zone is considered being one large single Urban hexagon.
Terrain types referenced by the track building rules: Start Cities, Plains, Mountains, Hills, Berlin Approach zone, Berlin Urban zone.
Track Building Costs
Placing a railroad's locomotive in a hexagon shows that this railroad has built track in that hexagon. This railroad company must pay the building costs to the bank with money from its treasury (cash on the table next to its colored area).
The legend of building costs is on the top left of the game board.
Urban hexagons: The first railroad to build track in an urban hex pays the usual cost to build the track. The second railroad building track in the hexagon pays 1 additional Taler; the third railroad building track in the hexagon pays 2 additional Talers etc.
Important: A railroad may never spend more money than it currently has in its treasury. Players may never grant personal cash for building track. The money of each railroad company and the cash of the players must always be kept strictly separate!
Example: Susan expands the network of the Main-Weser-Bahn. She decides to build track across the mountains into Halle and places a yellow locomotive in the mountain hex and another one in the Urban hex of Halle. It costs 4 Talers to build track in the mountains, 2 Talers to build track in the Urban hex and 1 additional Taler because of the orange track already existing in Halle. Susan pays 7 Talers from the treasury of the Main-Weser-Bahn to the bank.
Increasing a Railroad's Income
When a railroad builds track into an Urban hexagon, the railroad gains income from the city. Most cities increase the railroad's income by 1 Taler. Some cities add more than 1 Taler to the railroad's income; the exact figure is printed in red in the hexagon. The additional income received is immediately added to the railroad's income on the Railroad Income track.
In addition, any additional income immediately changes the Income of players owning shares of that railroad. This is marked on the Player Income Track.
Example: Bamberg increases a railroad's income by 1, Köln by 2 and Hamburg by 3. The railroads' income is adjusted accordingly.
Pay Dividends
After track has been built and the income of the railroad and of any concerned players has been increased, players must check if that railroad has directly connected to another railroad to which it was not previously connected.
In this case, dividends are paid from the bank.
Example: The Preußische Ostbahn builds into Posen and so directly connects to the Niederschlesisch-Märkische Eisenbahn with which it was previously unconnected. Dividends are paid now.
All 8 Railroads now pay dividends to their shareholders: Dividends are paid for each share a player owns. The dividend paid for each share is the income of that railroad, as shown on the Railroad Income track. The players receive the money from the bank.
Preferred Dividend
The railroad that built the new direct connection(s) pays twice the amount of dividends to its shareholders. It does not matter if more than one new direct connection has been built.
Important: Previously connected railroads do not cause dividends to be paid if they connect again.
Indirect connections through another railroad do not matter!
Example: The Berlin-Hamburger Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft connects Berlin, Wittenberge, Hamburg, Lübeck and Kiel. Its railroad income is 9 Talers. Because Susan owns 2 shares of the Berlin-Hamburger Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, she receives 18 Talers (2 x 9) from the bank.
End of the Game and Winner
The game ends immediately if, during Player Order determination, each railroad directly connects to at least two other railroads or if all players agree that this will not be possible anymore.
Hint: Usually a quick glance at the remaining locomotives will be sufficient to reach a conclusion.
Now all players count their money. The player with the most money wins the game. Ties are possible.
Note: Shares owned by the players do not count when determining the winner.
Special Characteristics of the Railroad Companies
Each railroad has certain historical characteristics:
Preußische Ostbahn — in its time a very efficient railroad company – may place up to 4 locomotives when building track. Start City: Königsberg, plains
Niederschlesisch-Märkische Eisenbahn — carried large amounts of coal and therefore was a logistic pillar in sustaining energy supply. The railroad never pays any additional costs for existing track(s) of other railroad(s) when building in Urban hexes. Start City: Breslau, plains
Königlich-Sächsischen Staatseisenbahnen — was one of the first railroad companies and had to do pioneer work in many respects. This railroad may not place more than 2 locomotives when building track. Start City: Leipzig, plains
Königlich-Bayerischen Staatseisenbahnen — was founded only relatively late. This railroad had learned from other railroad's mistakes and employed excellent engineers. Therefore, the railroad could expand very efficiently. When building track, it pays 1 Taler less than normal for each hexagon. Start City: München, mountains
Main-Weser-Bahn — had strong support from local business. It gains twice the income of the highest income Urban hex (city) in its network. Start City: Kassel, mountains
Example: The Main-Weser-Bahn starts with track in Kassel, an Urban hex with an Income of 1. Note that the Main-Weser-Bahn starts the game with a Railroad Income of 2 because the income of Kassel (its highest income hex) is doubled. On a later turn the Main-Weser-Bahn builds track into Frankfurt am Main, usually increasing a railroad's income by 2 Talers. Its income is increased by 3 - 4 for twice the income from Frankfurt minus 1 from the double income from Kassel.
Großherzoglich Badischen Staatseisenbahnen — was patronized and lavishly sponsored by its Duchy. When building track, placing the first locomotive (of its allowance of 3) in a plains, hills, mountains, or Berlin Approach zone hexagon is free. Start City: Mannheim, hills
Cöln-Mindener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft — was a privately held railroad focused on paying dividends - expanding its network had a lower priority. It may never spend more than 5 Talers when building track. Start City: Essen, plains
Berlin-Hamburger Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft — was bearing its very dedicated charter as its name. The railroad pays no dividends until it connects Berlin to Hamburg by its own track. Start City: Wittenberge, plains
Copyright 2010 Queen Games, D-53842 Troisdorf, Germany. All rights reserved / Copyright John Bohrer 2008