Steam over Holland
Steam over Holland Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Game Preparation
- Game Play
- Material
- Phases
- Rounds
- Private Companies
- Optional Rules
- Development Notes
- Tile Manifest
Game Preparation
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Place the map in the middle of the table. Sort out the company charters, markers and stock certificates and place them to one side.
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Sort out the game money and place it next to the board to form the bank. Designate a player to be the banker.
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Sort out the track tiles and place the yellow tiles next to the board. The other tiles will enter the game later. The green tiles become available in phase 3 and the brown tiles in phase 5.
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The trains are sorted by number and placed in stacks next to the game board in ascending order with the 3E trains next to the 6 trains.
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Place the round marker on the first round (the topmost spot, which is yellow).
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Place the phase marker on the yellow 2 phase spot in the phase table.
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Determine the start player any way you like and give that player the Start card.
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The starting money depends on the number of players:
2 players receive fl. 600 each, 3 players fl. 400 each, 4 players fl. 300 each, 5 players fl. 240 each.
Game Play
The game is played in rounds, alternating between a stock round and a block of two operating rounds. During the game new trains and new track tiles will become available as the game progresses through various phases. A phase change is triggered when the first train of a new type is bought.
All cash holdings and transactions are always public.
Game End
The game ends in one of two ways:
- The stock price of a company reaches the top of the stock market.
- The 15th round ends.
The winner is the player with the most wealth, which includes the player's personal cash and the value of his stock. Money in the companies' treasuries does not count toward this total.
Material
- Stock Market (rounds track)
- Company charters (7)
- Game money, from fl 1,- to fl. 100,-
- Track tiles (120): 53 yellow, 50 green, 17 brown
- One phase marker and one round marker
- 35 Company tokens, 5 per company
- Open market
- Phase table
- 7 Private company cards
- 27 train cards
- 1 start player card
- 63 stock certificates, 9 per company
Phases
The phases in the game simulate the technical development of the railways. The triggering of a phase change depends on the buying of trains by the companies. A new phase begins at the end of the turn in which the first of a new type of train is bought. Either a 6 train or a 3E train can start the 6th phase. When a phase changes, move the phase marker down to the next spot in the phase table. If a company has more trains than the maximum limit at the start of a new phase, it must discard any train(s) in excess of the limit (see the train limit table under Number of Trains per Company). The president chooses which trains to discard. The discarded trains are removed from the game.
Phase 1 - Distribution of Private Companies
Shuffle the private-company cards ("privates") and deal as many of them face up in the centre of the board as there are players. The remaining privates are removed from the game. The privates dealt out are auctioned off one by one in ascending order of their number. The player with the Start card opens the auction and may make a bid or pass. The minimum starting bid is the value printed on the card. The next player may raise the bid or pass; the minimum raise is fl. 5. Once a player has passed in an auction for a private he may not bid again on that private. The winning player pays the amount of the winning bid to the bank and becomes the owner of the private. If no player bids on a private it is removed from the game. This auction is repeated for all the privates dealt, with the Start card going to the next player to the left after each auction. After the last auction the Start card goes to the player with the most cash left. If there is a tie for the most cash and the tie involves the player with the Start card, that player retains the Start card. If a tie does not involve the player with the Start card, it passes to the first tied player to the left of the current holder.
Alternative Method of Distributing Privates
If you play the game for the first time it will be difficult to asses the value of the privates. The players may prefer the following procedure:
Shuffle the cards and deal one private to each player. The remaining privates are not used in the game. Each player pays to the bank the amount printed on the card. The Start card goes to the player with the most cash left.
Phases 2 to 6
| Phase 2 | Phase 3 | Phase 4 | Phase 5 | Phase 6 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tiles available | Yellow | Yellow, green | Yellow, green | All | All |
| New trains | "2" | "3" | "4" | "5" | "6" and "3E" |
| Number of trains | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Value foreign connections | Yellow | Yellow | Yellow | Brown | Brown |
| Trains removed | "2" trains | "3" trains | "4" trains | ||
| Privates | May be bought by companies | May be bought by companies | Close |
Rounds
Stock Round
A stock round consists of a number of turns. During the stock round the players act on their own behalf, starting companies, buying stock and selling stock. The players take turns in clockwise order, beginning with the player holding the Start card. Every player may get multiple turns. The stock round ends when all players have passed in succession.
A player can do the following during his turn:
- Sell one or more shares.
- a) Start a new company or b) Buy one share of a company already started
While both actions are optional, their order is fixed. If a player wants to perform neither action, he passes. A player who has passed may act in his next turn in this stock round unless all players have passed, ending the round.
Selling Shares
A player may sell one or more shares from his personal holdings in a single turn. Shares sold in one turn are sold simultaneously. The player receives the current stock value of the shares from the bank. It is permissible to sell shares from more than one company in the same turn. During a stock round shares may be sold only to the open market. No more than 50% of a company's stock may be in the open market at one time. Shares of companies started in the current stock round may not be sold during this same stock round. No operating company may buy or sell shares during a stock round.
Adjusting Share Prices
After the player has sold all the shares he wants to sell, the share price is adjusted. The share price of a company goes down one step for each of its shares sold. The token is placed to the right of any tokens already on the new share price.
Exception: If the selling player is not the president of the company whose shares are sold, then the share price may not drop below a ledge. There are ledges below the 110, 160, 240 and 330 share prices. If a share price is directly above a ledge, it does not drop.
Example: Pete has 6 shares of the AR (Red) and is the president of the AR. He also has 3 shares of the OSM (black). If Pete sells 3 shares of the AR, the share price will drop to fl 125, ignoring any ledges. The AR marker is placed to the right of the NCS marker. If he sells 3 shares of the OSM, the OSM share price will drop 2 places to fl 160, stopping at the ledge, because he is not the president of the OSM.
Starting a Company
A player starts a new company by buying in one turn as a single purchase a number of shares equal to the current phase number. Two of these shares must be the president's certificate.
- The player becomes the president of the company.
- The player takes the company charter and sets a starting share price corresponding to a yellow level on the stock market (fl. 65 – fl. 100).
- He also places a station token on the appropriate space of the stock market to the right of any token(s) already on that space.
- The purchased shares are placed beside the player's personal cash.
- The money paid for the initial shares is placed in the company's treasury.
- The remaining shares and the tokens are placed on the company charter.
- The shares in the treasury may be sold by the company to the open market during operating rounds or bought by players during stock rounds. The starting token of the company is placed on the starting city at no charge when the company operates for the first time.
President's Certificate
The player who owns the most shares of a company is its president. The president's certificate may not be sold. If a player sells enough shares to make another player the president, he exchanges his president's certificate for two normal certificates of the same company held by the new president.
Buying Shares of Companies Already Started
At each turn a player may buy exactly one share in an operating company from the open market or directly from the company. In either case the cost is the current share price. A player may not buy any more shares of a company if he already owns 5 of its certificates (60%). If the share is bought from the open market, the player pays the share price to the bank. If it is bought from the company, the player pays the share price to the company treasury. If a player has sold shares of a company during the current stock round, he may not buy any shares of that company in the same round. A company's president cannot bar any player from buying its stock.
Change of Presidency
If a player who is not the president of a company obtains more shares than the current president, whether because of buying or selling of its stock, he takes over the presidency of the company. The new president exchanges two of his share certificates for the president's certificate and takes over the company charter. Any unsold shares, all money in the treasury, any private(s) already bought into the company, and any unplaced tokens move along with the charter. In case of a tie between two players, the first player to the left of the previous president becomes the new president.
Maximum Number of Certificates
The maximum number of certificates a player may have depends on the number of players. This includes the certificate for any private company in the player's possession.
| Players | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Certificates | 18 | 16 | 14 | 12 |
If a player gets more certificates than the maximum, he must sell any excess certificates down to the maximum in his next stock turn. A president's certificate, which represents two shares or 20% of the company, counts as one certificate toward this maximum.
End of the Round
The stock round ends when all players pass in succession. The Start card goes to the player to the left of its current holder. This player will take the first turn in the next stock round. The Start card has no effect on the turn order during operating rounds. The round marker is moved down one space on its track, indicating the start of an operating round.
Operating Rounds
In the operating rounds each player who is president of one or more operating companies acts on behalf of each of these companies in operating order. The company with the highest share price goes first, followed by the other companies in descending order of share price. If two or more companies have the same share price, the one whose token is furthest to the left in that space on the stock market operates first.
During the operating round each active company may take any or all of the actions described below. The president of the company makes all the decisions for the company. While shareholders may give advice, the president does not have to follow it.
Each company gets one turn per operating round. The operating round ends when all companies have operated. To make sure each company operates only once, it is advisable to turn the company token over, stand it on one end, or rotate it 90 degrees when the company has operated.
Income from Private Companies
At the start of each operating round the bank pays the income of each private company to its owner. If a private is owned by a company its income is paid from the bank to the company treasury.
Each company then takes the following steps in this order:
Sell or Buy Its Own Shares
A company may sell shares from its own treasury to the open market (but not to any player) during its operating turn to raise money. It may sell in one turn as many shares as there are in the possession of all the players combined. The open market may not contain more than 50% of a company's shares.
The shares are sold for the current share price. The bank pays the cost of the shares to the treasury of the company. The share price goes down one space fewer than the number of shares sold. If only one share is sold, the share price does not move. Ledges have no effect in this case.
Example: The NRS has 6 shares in its treasury, and there is 1 share in the open market. Pete has 2 shares and Tom has one. Pete wants the NRS to sell shares to raise capital to buy a train later. The maximum number of shares he can sell is 3 (the number of shares held by all players together). He sells 3 shares and gets 3 times the share price. The share price then goes down 2 places.
A company may also buy its own shares from the open market (not from any player). The company pays the money for the shares from its treasury to the bank. The purchased shares are moved from the market to the treasury of the company. A company may not buy the shares of any other company.
No player may personally buy or sell stock during an operating round (except in the case of a forced train purchase, see below).
Buying Private Companies
During Phases 3 and 4 an operating company may buy a private company from any player. The minimum price is fl.1; the maximum price is the printed value. The current owner must agree to the price and may decline to sell. The certificate of the private company goes into the company treasury. Income from the private company in later rounds is paid from the bank to the company treasury. The buying company may use the special power of the private company during Phase 3 or Phase 4. See the list of private companies below for more information about special powers.
Laying Track
A company may in its turn place two yellow track tiles or replace one tile and place one yellow tile. Replacing a tile is only possible if the appropriate replacement tile is available. The company may decline to place either tile or both.
There are 4 kinds of track tiles:
- Tiles with track only, which are placed on the empty hexes on the board.
- Tiles with small green stations, which are placed on the small cities.
- Tiles with larger red main stations, which are placed on the large cities.
- Special tiles with "Amsterdam" (1 yellow, 1 green and 1 brown). These may be placed only on Amsterdam and are the only tiles which may be placed there.
New Tiles
Only yellow tiles may be placed on empty hexes on the board. If the starting city of the company has no track, the first track must be placed on the starting city. To lay any other tile the company must have a single continuous route from one of its stations to the hex where the tile is to be placed; the length of the route is not important. However, a route may not be traced through a blocked large city. (A large city is considered blocked to a company if all the station spaces on it are occupied by station tokens of other operating companies).
At least one part of the track on the tile must connect to the railroad's existing route; however, the other track ends do not have to connect to track on neighboring hexes. A tile may not be placed so that a track ends at the edge of the board unless it lines up with one of the external connections, which are indicated by tracks outside the hex grid.
Example: The president of the NCS may place a city tile on the AR city (Breda), but only if it connects to the route it already has.
Replacing Tiles
After Phase 3 has begun players may replace yellow tiles with green tiles. The replaced tile is returned to stock and is immediately available. A yellow tile may be upgraded to a green tile in the same turn as it has been placed. The order of upgrading and/or placing of tiles is up to the player. All tracks and stations already in place must be replicated on the replacement tile. The company must have a route to the tile which follows the same rules as the for the placement of a new tile. Starting with Phase 5, players may replace green tiles with brown tiles, following the same rules as for the green tiles. A brown tile may not replace a yellow tile directly.
Example: The tile cannot be placed in the orientation shown on the right because of the track on the existing yellow tile.
Rivers
The heavy blue lines on the board follow the contours of the major rivers on the map. (The actual geographical rivers, shown in light blue-green on the board, are immaterial to the game play.) Building track across a heavy blue line costs extra money. For each connection that crosses a heavy blue line the company must pay fl. 50 to the bank. Building a track that ends at a heavy blue line but does not connect to a tile on the other side has no cost.
Placing a Company Token
A company may place one token per turn on an empty position on a large city tile which is not blocked. This city must be reachable from one of the existing tokens of the company by a legal train route. The length of the train route is not important. The first token of the company is always placed on the starting city of the company free of charge when it operates for the first time. The second token costs fl. 40, and the third and fourth cost fl.100 each. A token may be placed in the starting city of another railroad only if the tile has been upgraded, opening a second station. This rule applies even if the company in question has not been started. A railroad may not place two of its station tokens in the same city.
Running Trains
A company uses its trains to generate revenue by running routes on the track on the board. A route must start and end at large cities or external connections. At least one of the cities on the route must contain a token of the operating company. All tracks on the board may be used, even those placed by other companies.
For the 2 to 6 trains each route generates in revenue the sum of the values of the stations on the route, large or small, including the starting and ending stations or external connections. While the 3E trains count only the main stations and external connections, the revenue obtained is doubled. Each type of train's route may include as many main stations or external connections as the train number, but no more.
The value of a city is in the white hexagons on the tile. Some private companies give extra revenue on certain routes or cities; see the list of private companies below for more information. The value of an external connection is the upper number (yellow background) in Phases 2-4, the lower number (red background) in Phases 5 and 6.
The president of the company must choose the routes to create the maximum revenue for the company. The other players may assist in finding these routes.
A route must comply with the following rules.
- It must contain least one large city (main station) with a token of the company.
- It must both start and end at a large city or external connection.
- The maximum length of the route is the number on the train. Only main stations and external connections are included in this count for this purpose; small city stations count only for revenue.
- It must be a single, continuous route.
- No piece of track may be used more than once per turn in any route(s) run by the company, whether by one train or more. A tile with more than one track may be used more than once if the pieces of track used are separate. The trains may, however, share main stations. Routes may also cross at a main station in any way possible as long as no individual stretch of track on the tile is used twice.
- A station may be used only once per train. Thus, a route may not start and end at the same main station. Amsterdam has two separate stations until the brown Amsterdam upgrade tile is placed.
- Tokens of other companies block routes at large cities. Only if the company has one of its own tokens there or if there is an open station spot on the city's track tile may a route be continued past a main station. However, it is permissible to use a blocked station as a start or end point of a route.
- External connections may only be used as start or end points of a route. A route may start at one external connection and end at a different one.
The ferry route between Enkhuizen and Stavoren is open to all companies, giving a revenue of 10. Private company #3 gives a bonus revenue only to the owning company when it uses that route.
Calculating Revenue
The revenue of a run is calculated by adding together the values of the large and small cities it contains, plus fl.10 for the ferry (if used), plus any bonus awarded by a private owned by the company (fl. 20 if the company owns private #3 and the route crosses the ferry, fl. 20 if the company owns private #4 and the route ends at Vlissingen).
Exception: 3E trains do not count small cities. If the company owns multiple trains and can run them legally in the same turn, the revenues for each run are added together to obtain the total revenue for the turn.
Example: The NCS company can run two 3 trains on the routes: Utrecht – Arnhem – Amsterdam for fl. 110 and Breda – Utrecht for fl. 50. It cannot run to Amsterdam twice because that would use the same track twice. It cannot run to Den Haag because it is blocked in Amsterdam by the NRS. NCS also may not run into and out of Amsterdam across the same tiles, since it would use a stretch of track twice.
If the NRS had a 5 train it could run the following route: Den Haag – Amsterdam – Arnhem – Utrecht – Breda for fl. 160
Paying Dividends
After the total revenue of the company has been calculated, the president has two options:
- Withhold dividends. The entire amount of the revenue is paid from the bank to the company treasury (no partial withholding is allowed).
- Pay dividends to the shareholders. For each share of the company in players' hands the owner receives 10% of the revenue from the operating round as a dividend from the bank. (Note that the president's certificate is worth 2 shares and therefore receives 20% of the revenue.) Shares in the company treasury pay their dividend from the bank into the company treasury. Shares in the open market do not pay any dividend. (Actually, any dividend due these shares is "paid out to the public," i.e., returned to the bank, with a zero net result).
Example: The NRS shares are distributed as follows: Pete (the president) has 4 shares (one president's certificate and 2 normal certificates). Jack has 2 shares. One share is in the open market. The company has 3 shares left in the company treasury.
The NRS has a total revenue of fl 250 and pays out its dividend. Each share is worth 10% (fl 25). The bank pays Pete 40% (for 4 shares): fl 100. Jack receives 20% (for 2 shares) from the bank: fl 50. The company receives 30% (for 3 shares) from the bank: fl 75. The revenue from the share in the open market, 10% (for 1 share, fl 25) stays in the bank.
If Jack decides instead to withhold dividends, the entire amount of the revenue (fl 250) is paid from the bank to the treasury of the NRS, and the stockholders receive nothing. The share price is adjusted accordingly.
Adjusting Share Price
Depending on the amount of revenue earned, the share price of the company may be adjusted. If the dividends are withheld the price must move back one step regardless of the amount of revenue.
| Amount of dividend paid | Adjustment of share price |
|---|---|
| Dividend is withheld or there is no revenue, which happens if the company has no valid route or no trains | Down one step |
| The total is the same or lower than the current share price | The price stays the same |
| The total dividend is higher than the current share price and not more than twice the share price | The price goes one step up |
| The total dividend is more than twice the current share price | The price goes two steps up |
The company's token moves on the stock market to the new share price level. It should be placed to the right of any tokens already at the same price. A ledge has no effect in this case.
In the first operating round of a company the share price always drops one step. The company has no revenue because it has no train(s) yet.
Reaching the Maximum Share Price
If a company reaches the maximum share price, the game ends at the end of the current operating round.
Purchasing Trains
A company may purchase one or more trains in its turn. Trains may be bought from the bank or from another company.
Available Trains
Only the trains of the current phase are available in the bank. Only after all trains of this phase are sold is it possible to buy trains of the next phase. Available trains with different numbers may be bought in the same operating turn. Buying the first train of a new type triggers the next phase, which starts at the end of the turn of this company. Note that 6 trains and 3E trains are available simultaneously.
Number of Trains per Company
The maximum number of trains one company may own is determined by the phase:
| Phase | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trains | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
If the train limit is lowered by a phase change and a company has more trains than the new limit, it must discard without compensation any trains in excess of the new limit. The discarded trains are out of play. A company which has the same number of trains as the current train limit may not buy another train, even if the new train would trigger a phase change and rust enough trains to reduce their count to be within the new train limit.
Train Costs
Trains bought from the bank cost the printed price, payable from the company treasury to the bank. Trains bought from another company cost a minimum of fl. 1 with no maximum price. The presidents of both companies must agree on the price (this may be the same player). The sale price is transferred in cash from the buying company to the selling company. It is permissible to buy the last train of the selling company, leaving it without trains.
Forced Train Purchases
If a company does not own any trains at the end of its operating round and has a valid route, it is required to purchase a train. The president must raise the funds if the company does not have enough in its treasury to buy a train. He is not required to accept an offer from another president to buy a train from a different company. In case of a forced purchase the company must buy the cheapest available train.
The president must raise money to buy the train in the following order:
- He must first check whether he can raise enough money to buy a train by selling shares owned by the company to the open market. If the money would then be sufficient to buy the cheapest train, he must sell the shares and buy the train.
- If the money raised from selling the treasury's stock is not enough to buy a train, he must then check whether the addition of some or all of his personal cash to the proceeds from the sale of the company's stock would suffice to buy a train. If so, he must sell the shares, add the necessary amount of his personal cash, and then buy the train.
- If the total amount raised is still not enough, he may (but is not required to) check whether the sale of some personally owned shares would raise enough extra money to be able to buy a train. If so, he may sell the necessary shares (first from the company, then his own) and then add enough of his personal cash to be able to buy the train. If he does not want to sell his personal shares, or if the sale of those shares would not raise enough money to buy the train, no sale takes place, and the company declares bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy
If not enough money can be raised in a forced train purchase, the company declares bankruptcy and is removed from the game.
- All its tokens are removed from the board. The token spot of its home city may now be used by another company.
- All shares of the company still in possession of the players are worthless and are removed from the game.
- The money in the company's treasury is returned to the bank.
- There is no effect on the president's private cash.
End of the Operating Round
When all companies have taken their turns, the operating round ends. Turn all the share markers to their normal position. Move the round marker down one step on its track. If this step shows a locomotive (white), another operating round follows; if it shows a file folder (yellow), the next stock round begins.
Private Companies
| # | Name | Cost | Revenue | Special ability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spoorweg Maatschappij Almelo - Salzbergen | 20 | 5 | One time place or upgrade one extra tile, free of charge. Closes after this action. |
| 2 | Koninklijk Korps van Ingenieurs | 40 | 10 | Pays one time the costs for crossing a river. Closes after this action. |
| 3 | Veerdienst Enkhuizen - Stavoren | 75 | 15 | Fl. 20 bonus revenue for the owning company if it uses the ferry across the Zuiderzee between Enkhuizen and Stavoren |
| 4 | Veerdienst Vlissingen - Londen | 75 | 15 | Fl. 20 bonus for the owning company each time it starts or ends a route in Vlissingen. |
| 5 | Rijks Waterstaat | 80 | 20 | Pays one time the cost of placing a company token. Closes after this action. |
| 6 | Werkspoor | 100 | 20 | Gives a 10% discount on all trains the owning company buys from the bank |
| 7 | Koninklijke Ondersteuning | 100 | 10 | The buyer also gets one share of the NRS company (see also below) |
Notes on Private Companies
Privates #1-6 must be bought by a company to make use of their special powers.
Private #7 operates differently: The player buying private #7 also takes a share of the NRS company. When the NRS is opened, the bank pays the NRS company treasury the opening stock price (the subsidy) for the share (the selling price of the private is irrelevant). Private #7 may be sold to any company in Phase 3 or Phase 4 even though it confers no special power. This extra share does not count as one of the two required to open the NRS. The owner of Private #7 may not start the NRS in Phase 6.
All privates still in play close at the beginning of Phase 5 and are removed from the game. Private #6 may be used in the purchase of the first 5 train, since the phase change occurs at the end of that operating turn.
Erratum
Note that private company #1 is misprinted – it shows a yellow, a green, and a brown tile; but since in closes in Phase 5, it may not be used to lay a brown tile.
Optional Rules
Start Card / Priority Deal
In other games of the 18xx family it is customary to give the Start card to the player who passed first in the final round of passes which closes the stock round. This can easily be adapted to Steam Over Holland:
A player who starts a company takes and pays for the number of shares corresponding to the phase number. If the phase number is greater than 2, all shares except the president's share are turned face down. This indicates that they are paid in advance but not yet active. Each inactive share requires a turn in the stock round to become active. A player with face-down shares may not pass, but must either start another company (using the same procedure) or take a turn to flip over a face-down share (indicating that it is active). The player may not pass until all face-down shares have been activated.
Regardless of the phase number, when all players have passed, the Start card goes to the first player who passed in the closing round of passes (i.e., to the left of the player who passed last).
Companies
| Name | Abbreviation | Starts in |
|---|---|---|
| Noord Brabantsch Duitse Spoorweg Maatschappij | NBD | Eindhoven |
| Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg Maatschappij | HYSM | Amsterdam |
| Nederlansche Rijnspoorweg | NRS | Amsterdam |
| Overijsselsche Spoorweg Maatschappij | OSM | Zwolle |
| Société Anonyme des Chemins de Fer d'Anvers à Rotterdam | AR | Breda |
| Nederlansche Centraal Spoorweg Maatschappij | NCS | Utrecht |
| Nijmeegsche Spoorweg Maatschappij | NSM | Nijmegen |
Development Notes
My goal in the development of this game was to create a short 18xx game which would also be suited to players who are new to the 18xx system. For this reason I kept the game reasonably straightforward; there are no extras, like mergers, loans, etc. The emphasis of the game is more on the operation of the companies than on the stock market. To keep the game relatively short it is limited to 15 rounds: 5 sets of 1 stock round and 2 operating rounds. This is sufficient for all the types of trains to be used without having rounds in which nothing changes on the board.
While all the companies used in the game did exist, not all of them operated a railroad. The OSM never got past the planning stage before the investors gave up. The NSM did operate, but not with its own trains. The "Staats Spoorwegen" (state railroad) operated on its lines on behalf of the NSM. The other companies all operated with more or less success until they were nationalized into the state railroad. The state railroad is not included because I could not find a suitable way to fit it in without lengthening the game too much.
I hope you have at much fun playing the game as I had developing it.
Bart van Dijk
Acknowledgments and Credits
This game and its graphics are designed by Bart van Dijk. The game is based on the 18xx series of games, which started with 1829 by Francis Tresham.
Thanks go out the various play testers: André Verheij, Peter Jans, Dick Ruck, Peter Delafontaine, Frederic Taton, Geert Lagrou, Blake Morris and many others who provided me with invaluable feedback.
Special thanks to Blake Morris for all the work he did in creating this corrected English manual.
Tile Manifest
The tile manifest lists the number of copies of each track tile included in the game, identified by tile number (standard 18xx tile numbers, plus game-specific tiles prefixed SOH):
8x 8, 8x 9, 3x 7, 7x 57, 8x 6, 1x SOH1, 6x 3, 6x 58, 6x 4, 1x SOH6, 4x 14, 4x 15, 1x 16, 1x 20, 3x 23, 3x 24, 3x 981, 3x SOH4, 3x 981, 3x SOH2, 3x SOH3, 2x 26, 2x 27, 2x 28, 2x 29, 2x 31, 2x 30, 3x SOH5, 1x 41, 2x 40, 1x 42, 1x 43, 1x 46, 1x 47, 3x 217, 1x SOH7, 3x 125, 1x 39, 1x 44, 1x 45
Copyright © 2009 Bart van Dijk