The Transcontinental
The Transcontinental Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Winning the Game
Players win the game by collecting the most Victory Points (maple leaf). These can be collected by:
- Contributing to Developments
- Adding new Train Cars via the Resupply Action
- Extending the Railway during the Railhead Phase
- Completing Investment Cards by the end of the game
When you pass 50, put a resource cube there and keep counting from 0.
Components
- 4 Player Screens
- 30 Ally Cards
- 3 Depleted Cards
- 12 Investment Cards
- Train Board
- Track Board
- 1 Tender Tile
- 18 Train Tiles (3 types)
- 5 Track Markers
- 1 Turn Order Tile
- Terminal and Yard Tiles
- 19 Development Tiles
- 26 Wilderness Tiles
- Engine Meeple
- 12 Standard Telegrams
- 8 Bonus Telegrams
- 120 Resource Cubes
- 24 Disc Markers
- 48 Buildings
Setup
Board Setup
- Set the track board in the middle of the play area. Shuffle the Development Tiles for each region (note the colours) and deal them Undeveloped side face-up to the track-side card slots for that region. In the Rockies, always place the National Park on the North (top) side of the track.
- Separate the wilderness tiles into their colours, then return one yellow, green and blue tile to the box at random. In a 2 player game, also remove tile #24. Place the remainder on the board in ascending numerical order, starting with #1, the Railhead tile, on the Railhead space on the board. Align them all with the VP edge toward the South side of the board. Stack the 'Pacific' tiles on the last slot, in descending order (#23 on top).
- Place the doubled resource indicator so that it's pointing to the resource marker on the first wilderness tile that has a resource shown (#4 if it wasn't discarded in step 2; otherwise, #6).
- Place the 4 Port Resource Markers on the board, setting each to point to the '2' for the corresponding resource.
- Place the engine meeple at the East end of the track.
- Place train board above the development tiles.
- Place the Tender tile in the 'Line' portion of the board, followed by one Navvy, Steel, Wood cars.
- Place the remaining train tiles in the Shop area, stacked by type (note these are double-sided, so grain/coal hoppers, navvy/dignitary coaches, and steel/wood flatcars are each stacked together).
- Place the Western Terminal and Eastern Railyard building tiles above the West and East ends of the track, respectively.
- Remove the 3 Solo Mode Ally Cards. Shuffle the remaining Ally Cards for each region. Place the depleted deck cards for each region, then place the deck of cards for the region on top.
- Shuffle all Investment cards and place them on the Investment area.
- Place the Turn Order Tracker above the First Player icon on the board. Each player chooses a colour. In random order, add 1 disc for each player to the Turn Order Tracker.
- Place one disc for each player on the '0' square of the scoring track.
Player Area Setup
- Each player takes coloured components including 12 development buildings, 3 regular telegrams, 40 resource cubes, 4 bidding discs, plus a player-shield/reference.
- In a 3-4 player game, players also receive 1 bonus telegram; return extra to the box. In a 2 player game, players receive 2. For more on 2-player rules, see "Two Player Rules" on page 12.
- Each player draws 1 ally card.
- Each player draws 2 investment cards. Keep 1 and return 1 to the deck. If you receive 2 of the same card, you may either keep 1, or return them both and draw the next card to keep.
- During play, you do not need to keep your player screen up except for during the Railhead bidding phase, provided you keep your investments and unused ally-cards face-down.
Playing the Game
Resource Overview
The Transcontinental revolves around generating resources, using the train to move them, then unloading them for VPs and for better resource-generation options. Details on all these actions are available in the Actions section, but are outlined in brief here.
Resource cube colour indicates player ownership. The slot they occupy indicates the type of resource.
There are 6 types: Coal, Navvies (Navigational Engineers), Steel, Wood, Grain, and Tourists. A Wild resource can be any type.
There are 3 actions you can use to generate resources:
- A: Port supplies generate 1-3 resources of Coal, Navvies, Steel, or Wood.
- B: The Acquire action generates 1 of any type.
- C: Produce actions generate 2 or more of a single resource, but are only available to players who have placed a building on a corresponding development.
Whenever a resource is generated, place a cube from your supply onto the train board on a matching icon, into the Line if possible; if there's no room, it instead goes into the Yard.
For more see "Actions that Load Resources" on page 8.
D: While they are on the Line, you can change their type using the Trade action.
Once resources are loaded, they can be used in either to complete developments, or to extend the railway.
When you unload a resource, take it from the train board and place it on a development with a matching symbol (or wild). There are two ways of unloading resources:
E: The Develop action allows one (and potentially more) players to unload multiple resources of one type from the Line.
F: The Portage action unloads 1 resource anywhere. Unlike Developing, players can Portage from the Yard or Line.
G: Once all the slots on a development are filled (using Portage or Develop), this flips the tile, which usually unlocks Produce actions on the back, and sometimes better Develop actions. Completing a development also scores VPs.
For more see "Actions that Unload Resources to Developments" on page 9.
H: The resupply action allows players to use Coal to add cars from the Yard, and the resources on them, to the Line. This also scores VPs. For more, see "Other Actions" on page 10.
I: Each round, players bid resources (Navvies, Steel, Wood) at the Railhead to extend the track and earn VPs. One resource indicated by the doubling maker is doubled in value for this phase. For more, see "Railhead Phase" on page 6.
Phases of the Game
The Transcontinental consists of a variable number of rounds (usually 5-8 depending on player count). Each round consists of 5 phases, except for the final round, which consists of the first 3 phases only. The phases are:
- Westbound Telegram Phase: Place up to 3 Telegrams in Turn Order.
- Westbound Action Phase: Take Actions in Order East to West.
- Railhead Phase: Bid Resource to Advance Railhead.
- Eastbound Telegram Phase: Place Remaining Telegrams in Turn Order.
- Eastbound Action Phase: Take Actions in Order West to East.
Telegram Phases
Each round has two Telegram Phases.
In turn order, place telegrams or pass. Once passing, you cannot place additional telegrams this phase. Players do not take actions when placing telegrams.
Telegrams can be placed on spaces that are not blocked by other telegrams or by wilderness tiles. The Engine and Port Markers do not block telegrams.
The shorter Bonus Telegrams cannot be placed during this phase. They can be placed only using the Telegram action. See "Other Actions" on page 10 for more.
Westbound telegram phase: a player will have all 3 regular telegrams. (All telegrams are always returned to players at the end of the eastbound action phase).
Eastbound telegram phase: a player will have any regular telegrams they did not place during the previous westbound phase.
Each telegram phase is followed by the corresponding action phase.
Action Phases
Each Telegram Phase is followed by an action phase. During this phase, the Engine moves along the Track Board, moving East to West during the Eastbound Action Phase, and West to East during the Eastbound Action Phase.
The engine stops at each telegram. That player may take an Action Turn, which includes 1 action on each adjacent tile or Port Supply, plus up to 1 Ally Card action. See "Action Turns" on page 7.
At the end of the turn, remove the telegram and place it at the East end of the board. These telegrams are not returned to players until the end of the round. See Action Turns for more.
A player may also pass, leaving the telegram on the board (there is no reason to pass on the Eastbound phase).
Adjust each unused Port Supply as the Engine passes, both East- and West-bound: if no player uses a Port Supply, its resources available are increased by 1, to a maximum of 3.
Westbound Action Phase: The Engine moves from the East (Maritime) end of the board to the Railhead. This phase is followed by the Railhead Phase.
Eastbound Action Phase: The Engine moves from the Railhead - even if the railhead advanced - in the West to the East (Maritime) end of the board.
At the end of this phase when the Engine reaches the East end of the track, the Resupply Action occurs, then all telegrams are returned to players for the next round. This ends the round.
Railhead Phase
After the Westbound Action Phase, the Railhead Phase occurs. During the Railhead Phase, players secretly and simultaneously Bid Railhead Resources. The Railhead Advances past Wilderness Tiles based on the total number of resources bid. Players who bid resources Claim cleared Wilderness Tiles. Lastly, the location of the Railhead, Last Spike, and Priority Resource Marker are Resolved.
- Bid: Players set their bid behind their screen using unused resource cubes. Only Navvies, Steel, Wood on the Line (not in the Yard) can be bid. This is noted on the Railhead tile. use the left, middle and right section of the screen for each. Each round, one resource, marked by the Priority Resource Marker, is doubled in value. Calculate the doubled value behind your screen before revealing (for a single doubled resource, place 2 cubes). If bidding large quantities, use the extra discs to represent 5 resources.
- Players simultaneously reveal their bid.
- Advance: Count up the total resources bid by all players, and determine how far the railhead progresses by counting up the wilderness tile costs. The railhead advances until it cannot advance further without exceeding the cumulative value of the track costs (see Cost to Clear on image below). Place the Railhead Tile on top of the first tile it cannot pass (you'll place it back one space in Step 7).
- Claim: Players compare resources bid to determine the order of contributions. Turn Order breaks any ties.
- In order of most contributed, players must select a tile passed by the railhead. This continues until all passed tiles have been claimed. Players who bid 0 do not take part in this. Players take the VPs, and perform actions shown on the claimed tile: First Player, Bonus Telegram, and placing a building on the Western Terminal, for end-game scoring. If any General Bonuses were passed, all players receive this bonus:
- All players receive one Lowlands Ally.
- All players receive two Investment Cards; they choose 1 to keep and 1 to return to the Investment deck, shuffling afterwards. See "Investment Cards" on page 12 for more.
- Players who claimed tiles removed all their bid resources from the Line. Players who did not receive a tile - even if they bid - do not remove resources.
- Resolve: Move the Railhead Tile back into the last open track space. If the Last Spike tile was claimed this round, set up the Final Round and skip the steps below. See "End-Game Trigger" on page 13.
- If the Railhead advances 0, move the Last Spike Tile 2 spaces East toward the Railhead. If the Railhead advances exactly 1, move the Last Spike Tile 1 space East. If the Railhead moves 2 or more, the Last Spike tile does not move. Tiles passed by the Last Spike move West 1 space (filling the gap caused by the Last Spike). The Last Spike cannot pass the Railhead in this manner.
- Place the Priority Resource Marker on the First Remaining Resource Tile with a Priority Resource Indicator.
Example: Resources available: Only Navvies, Steel, Wood on the Line can be bid. Coal, Tourists, Grain, and all resources in the Yard cannot be bid.
Wood is currently doubled in value. So Red has a maximum bid of 5, Blue 3, Yellow 2 and Green 1.
Players set their bids and reveal. Green: 1, Red: 3, Yellow: 2, Blue: 3.
This total of 9 is used to advance the Railhead. It's enough to pass the first 3 Tiles, but not the 4th. These 3 are available for claiming.
Red and Blue tied in bids placed. Because Red is ahead in the tiebreaker, Red gets first choice of tile, and claims the 5 VP tile. This also causes every player to draw an Ally Card.
Blue chooses next, takes the 4 VP tile, and places a building on the Western Terminal Tile.
Yellow takes the remaining tile for 2 VP, and places a Telegram.
There is no tile remaining for Green to Claim.
Red, Blue and Yellow all remove their bid resources from the train. Green does not because she did not receive a tile.
Because the Railhead advanced 2 or more, the Last Spike does not move.
Because the Railhead passed the Priority Resource Marker, it advances to the next indicator. The Railhead is placed on the last unblocked space.
Action Turns
Most of the game occurs on Action Turns. When the Engine Meeple gets to your telegram, you may either:
- Pass, leaving your Telegram on the board, or
- Take an Action Turn and remove the telegram at the end of your turn.
On an Action Turn, take 1 action on each adjacent Development Tile, Port Supply, or the Turn Order Tile. Additionally, you can play up to 1 ally card. (Cards acquired this turn cannot be played). When taking an Action on a Development Tile, you are limited to one of the Actions shown on that Development.
Actions shown on the top-right of a tile are not currently available, but will become available once the tile is developed and flipped. Once flipped, these actions have a house icon and cannot be performed unless you have a building on that tile.
Within a turn, actions can be taken in any order, or skipped. See Actions on pg 6 for more.
You can choose to take no actions (and play no ally cards) and Pass, leaving your telegram on the board. However, because all telegrams are removed from the board at the end of the Eastbound Action Phase, it's generally only useful to Pass during the Westbound Action Phase.
Actions
Actions that Load Resources
Port Supply: Load the indicated number of resource tokens. Then, reduce that Port Marker to 1. If a Port spot is not loaded from, increase its indicator by 1.
Produce: Load the number and type of resources indicated on the tile. Only players with a development building may load from the development. See Loading Resources below for more.
Acquire 1: Load 1 of any resource. See Loading Resource Cubes for more.
Trade 2: Remove 1 or 2 of your resources of one type from the Line (not the Yard). Then Load the same number of resources of any one type. If a train tile is empty after the removal step, it can be flipped to load. See Loading Resources below for more.
Loading Resources
Regardless of whether you load resources using Port Supply, Acquire, Produce, or Trade actions, the process for placing every resource onto the Train Board is the same. You must load your cube in the first of the following locations that applies:
- Open Slot on Line: If there is space on the Line on a car of the matching type, place the cube there.
- Flippable Tile: If there is no room on the Line, but there's an empty Train Tile that can be flipped to this type, flip the empty tile, place the tile immediately after any other cars of the same type, and add the resource to it.
- Slot in Yard: If there is still no room on the Line, but there's already a car of this type in with room in the Yard, or an empty tile that can be flipped, place the resource on that car.
- New Tile in Yard: If there is no car in the Yard to place cargo on, place an empty car from the Shop in the Yard, immediately after any cars of the same type, and place the cube on that empty car.
- Discard: If there is no car of this type left in the shop, return the cubes to your supply.
Examples:
- Green loads 3 wood from yard from the Port Supply, and reduces the supply from 3 to 1.
- Blue Produces 2 wood. Blue can do this only because he has a building on this Lumber Mill. This causes the Steel flatcar to flip to Wood.
- Red Acquires 1 steel. Because there's no room for it on the Line, it goes into the Yard, with a new tile added as needed.
- Green Trades 2 Wood for 2 Steel. Because removing the 2 Wood empties one car tile, it is flipped to load Steel.
Actions that Unload Resources to Developments
To unload to Development Tiles, use either the Develop or Portage actions. Whenever you remove cubes, slide any others of the same type forward to fill any spaces. For both actions, there must be an empty slot matching a resource you are unloading, or a Wild slot. As well, one action can only unload to one side of a development tile.
Develop: Developing a tile allows you to unload multiple resources of a specific type. The Develop Icon is always accompanied on a Development Tile with Resource Slots that must be filled to complete the Development.
- FIRST CUBE UNLOADED: this cube CANNOT BE UNLOADED (a slot before the first cube already filled), then slots UNLOADED AT OWNER'S CHOICE follow, then a slot that CANNOT BE UNLOADED (past the empty run) at the end.
- Choose one of your resources on the Line, that matches an empty slot on the Development Tile. Place it on this slot. A Wild slot can be used for as any resource type.
- For each resource cube of the same type as the first on the Line behind the removed cube: the owner of that cube may decide whether or not to unload it as well. This continues even if no empty resource slots remain on the tile, potentially overfilling the tile. These resources remain on the tile and count toward the development.
If, after Developing, all resource slots are full, the Development is Completed. See below for more.
Portage 1: Unload 1 of any of your resources from the Line or Yard, to any development tile (including beyond the Railhead). If all slots on a development are filled after portaging, the development is completed. See below for more.
When a Development is Completed
A development is completed when, after an action, there is no empty resource slots on the development. This occurs before any additional actions on the same turn.
- The player who contributed the most resources scores the max VPs shown on the tile, all other players who contributed score 2 VPs. Ties are broken in player turn order.
- All resources are removed.
- The tile is flipped to developed-side up, if it is not already flipped.
- In a 3-4 player game, the two players contributing the most resources may place a building. In a 2 player game, only the player contributing the most may place a building.
There is no tiebreaker on building placement. If players tie for placing a building, each places a building.
Some Development Tiles have additional Develop actions on the flipped side. While this Develop action is available only to players with a building, any player can still Portage to these slots, or unload as part of another player's Develop action. These can be completed any number of times, repeating steps 1-4 each time.
If you have no remaining buildings to place, you may relocate a previously-placed building (this building counts toward Investments only for its new spot, not its previous).
Examples:
- Red portages one of his own Coal to this Wild space.
- Yellow Develops and unloads her 1 Wood. Red chooses to unload his 1 Wood. Blue chooses to unload 1 of his 2.
- Because all spaces are full, the tile is Developed. It is flipped. Red contributed the most, and so places a building and receives 4 VP. Yellow and Blue are tied at 1 resource. Both receive 2 VP, and both place a building.
Other Actions
Resupply: In addition to Development Tiles with the Resupply action, this action also occurs automatically, without a player taking an action, at the end of the Eastbound Action Phase (Note the Resupply Icon at the East end of the board).
If the Engine Tender is not full (3 Coal), that ends the resupply action. If the Tender is full, one or more Train Tiles are added to the Line:
- The player who has the most coal in the tender removes All of the their Coal from the Line. Ties broken by player turn order. This player receives 2 VPs.
- This player then chooses a type of car to add. If there are any cars in the Yard, they must choose one of these types. If adding from the Yard, all cars of the chosen type are added.
- This player earns 1 additional VP for every resource added to the Line, regardless of owner. Other players do not receive any VPs for their resources being added to the Line.
- If there are no cars in the yard, the player can choose any one car from the Shop, but receives no additional VPs.
- This player also places a building on the Eastern Railyards Tile, for end-game scoring.
Once this action is completed, all coal on the Line slides forward.
If the Tender is still full, the player with the most coal in the Tender may immediately triggering an additional Resupply action.
Examples:
- When the train reaches the end of the track, Blue must Resupply, because he has the most coal in the Tender. He can choose to add a Coal or Grain car. He chooses Coal. All his coal is removed from the Line, he receives 2 VP for adding a car, and 3VP for the resources in it, and the coal car is added.
- Yellow now has the option of Resupplying, because she has the most Coal in the Tender. She has only one choice: Grain. Her coal is removed from the Line, she receives 3 VP, and the Grain car is added. Because the Coal Tender is not full, no further Resupplying occurs.
Ally: Draw 1 Ally to hand from the current region. You cannot use a card the same turn you acquire it. If a stack of ally card is empty, you can collect the VP reward indicated instead on the Depleted Deck card at the bottom of the deck, or draw an ally card from a previous region.
To learn about playing ally cards, see "Ally Cards" on page 11.
Telegram: Immediately place one of your unused bonus or regular telegrams. This can be place on any empty slot (but not on the current slot).
Survey: Move to first in the Player Order. Player Order is an all-purpose tie-breaker throughout the game. In addition to spaces later on the board, the First Player Action is also available on the final port space.
Ally Cards
In addition to the one Ally Card that players start with, Ally Cards are Acquired in 1 of 2 ways:
- Using the Ally action. See "Other Actions" on page 10.
- The Ally General Bonus on some Wilderness Tiles allows all players to take 1 Lowlands Ally, in player turn order.
On an action turn you can play one ally card. You cannot play an ally card on the turn you acquire them.
When you play an ally card, you take the action described on the ally card.
Ally-cards are one-time use. Once played, place the card under your investment cards. You'll be able to use the ally toward end-game scoring. See "Final Scoring" on page 13.
Ally Card Symbols
Most actions on ally cards happen exactly the same as the standard actions, with differences noted. All actions are executed as though they were an action on an adjacent tile, unless otherwise noted (see To, below).
Acquire actions for more than 1 resource must be all the same type of resource, unless otherwise noted.
Portage actions must be the same type of resource, and must have the same target area (portion of a tile). Treat a multi-resource portage like a Develop action, in that it can overfill the development, but cannot be split between sides of a development. Resources portaged can be from both the Yard and Line.
Trade actions must be all of one type traded away, and all of one type traded in. If the Trade Symbol is followed by a Line/Yard symbol, ignore the usual restriction on only trading From the Line.
A Develop action targets an adjacent Development, unless otherwise noted. Because there is no house symbol on Ally Card Develop actions, this means they can be used on a flipped-side develop action even if you do not have a building that would otherwise be required.
Some Develop actions are followed by a wild-resource symbol. For this action, develop as though the location accepted of the resource on the card instead of the type on the Development Tile.
An Ally action allows a player to draw 1 ally card in the current region, unless otherwise noted. If there is no deck for the current region, instead draw from the Lowlands.
A Telegram action allows a player to place a telegram in any available space.
Region markers: This is a location on the Track Board or Development Tile.
Logical operators
Cards that have more than one action symbol also use the following:
IF/THEN: Take the action before the IF. If you satisfy the condition, then take all the actions after the THEN. The condition is always one of two types:
- A resource removed from the train, via Trade, Portage, or Develop. The resources removed may exceed the cost shown.
- The location of the player's Telegram when the Ally Card is played.
OR: Either take the action before the OR, or the action after it.
AND: The actions before and after the AND can be taken or skipped in any order.
TO: A destination for the action to occur. In the case of a Portage or Develop, this indicates where resources can be unloaded to. In the case of Acquire, this indicates where on the Train resources can be loaded. In the case of Telegram, this indicates where the the Telegram can be placed.
Investment Cards
Investment Cards are acquired at the beginning of the game, and when the Railhead reaches the General Bonus on Wilderness tile #8.
Whenever Investment Cards are acquired, each player draws 2, and chooses 1 to keep. If a player draws 2 of the same investment, they may either keep 1, or declare this, return both to the deck, and draw a new card to keep.
Investment Cards allow you to remove 3 buildings on Developments with a certain symbol, for VPs at the end of the game. Each building you build on a card with a particular icon, including the Railhead and Resupply Cards, counts toward that investment. See Game End below for more.
The six investment types also represent segments of the economy in The Transcontinental, so by focusing these symbols, you can start to turn individual developments into a strategy.
Other Game Modes
Two Player Rules
Rules for all player counts are the same, with the following exceptions:
In a 2 player game, players receive 2 bonus telegrams, rather than 1.
In a 2 player game, Wilderness Tile #24 is removed during setup.
In a 2 player game, only the top contributing player places a building whenever a development is completed, rather than the top 2. As in the standard game, there are no tiebreakers for building placement, so if both players contribute the same number of resources, the player ahead in the Player Turn Order receives the larger share of VPs, but both place a building.
Two Player Variant: Land Claim Tiles
During setup, each player take a Land Claim Tile in their colour.
- When a development is completed, a player who does not place a building but contributed at least 1 resource may choose to forgo their 2VP and place a Land Claim Tile on the Development, transferring their resources here to the Land Claim Tile.
- On future actions, this player may use the Develop action here with an adjacent telegram, unloading any type of resource. The player may also Portage to this tile.
- When it is filled, the owner of the Land Claim Tile (regardless of what cubes are on the tile) removes the tile and places a building, and scores 2VP.
If a player's Land Claim Tile is partially filled when a different Development is completed, the player may choose to remove all resources from the Land Claim Tile before placing as in Step 1.
Rule Variant: Dastardly Developments
For groups of players who prefer a slightly more underhanded style of interaction in their games, play with the following variant to the Develop Action.
In this variant, a player can use the Develop action to target another player's resource. After the first resource is unloaded, the rest of the develop action unfolds as normal:
- Choose one of any player's resources on the Line, that matches an empty slot on the Development Tile. Place it on this slot. A Wild slot can be used for as any resource type.
- For each resource cube of the same type as the first on the Line behind the removed cube: the owner of that cube may decide whether or not to unload it as well. This continues even if no empty resource slots remain on the tile. These resources remain on the tile and count toward the development.
Game End & Final Scoring
End-Game Trigger
The Final Round is triggered when the Last Spike tile is claimed. At the end of this Railhead Phase, remove all Wilderness Tiles from the board, except for the Railhead Tile and the Pacific Tiles. Place these tiles in ascending order in the final spaces on the Track board. The Priority Resource Tile is also removed. When this occurs, the next round will be the Final Round.
In a 2-player game, if tile #24 was not removed in setup, do so now.
In the Final Round, only the first 3 phases are played, with the Game End occurring after the Railhead Phase.
Final Scoring
Following the final Railhead phase, final scoring occurs:
- Players reveal investments, and all their allies, played and unplayed.
- Players attempt to score these cards by removing 3 buildings - or 2 buildings and 1 Ally - with the matching symbol. Each building or ally can be used only once (even if it is on a development with more than 1 symbol). In addition to the Development Tiles, buildings can be removed from the Western Terminal and Eastern Rail Yards at this time. Each Investment Card can be scored only once. When you score an Investment Card, take the VPs shown on it. If you are not able to complete an investment, remove no buildings for it.
- For each Ally Card not counted in Step 2, you may remove 1 building with a matching symbol for 2 VP.
- Ties are broken by final Player Turn Order.
Example: Before Final Scoring, Yellow and Red have the buildings shown, and the Allies and Investments below:
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Yellow has 2 buildings for her first investment. With 1 ally card, she scores this investment. She removes these buildings and ally.
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She has all 3 buildings she needs for her investment. She removes these.
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She has 3 remaining Ally Cards. She can remove 1 building to score her remaining ally, and a ally, for 2VP each, but she doesn't have a building that matches the other one, so she can't score that one.
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Yellow adds 20 VP to her score.
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Red has two coal mines that are for his two investments. Because each building can only be used once, he won't be able to count both investments. He removes 3 buildings to score the investment.
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He's still got 1 building and 2 allies, but he can only count a maximum of 1 ally toward and investment, so he doesn't score it. Instead, he can remove this one building to score 1 ally card.
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Red has two other allies that he can score by removing buildings.
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Red adds 14 VP to his score.
Solo Mode
Setup
During Setup, Draw 1 Ally Card from each region. Combine these with the three Syndicate cards. This is the Syndicate Deck.
When placing the development tiles, orient them all to be facing you, rather than facing the track board.
Take your own pieces as normal, and choose a colour for the Syndicate.
Draw from the Syndicate Deck until you draw an ally card. Identify the first Development that matches the investment symbol on it. Complete this development as though the syndicate had just delivered the resources necessary to complete it (award VPs, flip the tile, and place a Syndicate Building). Place one of the Syndicate's telegrams on the first track space adjacent to this development. Place another Syndicate building on the Coal Port Supply Space.
Draw 2 investment cards. If they are identical, keep one, discard another, and draw the next. If they are not identical, keep both. You'll also acquire a third investment mid-game.
The Syndicate begins with a deck of 6 cards: 3 syndicate cards and 1 drawn from each deck.
One ally card is drawn from the Syndicate Deck, and this determines an initial building and placed telegram. Here, because a Port City ally card was drawn, the Syndicate begins with the Port City developed.
Syndicate Play Overview
The syndicate has two telegrams on the board at all times. These are the only Telegrams it uses, and they will never come off the board; they'll only move position. The Syndicate takes its turns using the Syndicate Deck.
This Syndicate Deck uses deck-builder-style mechanics.
Draw from it as instructed, using the Action Draw or the Contribution Draw. Discard cards after resolving a Draw. Whenever the deck is depleted, shuffle any discard cards to form a new Syndicate Deck.
Defeating the Syndicate
There are three win conditions.
If you achieve all three of these conditions, you win a Victory.
If you achieve any 2/3 of these, you achieve an unremarkable defeat.
If you fail to achieve at least 2, you suffer a humiliating defeat.
The 3 Victory Conditions are:
- Finish ahead of the Syndicate in VPs. (Note that there is no end-game scoring, but scoring during the game is identical to the standard game.)
- Complete all 3 of your investment cards (do not score them for points). To complete an investment, at the end of the game you must remove 3 buildings of the matching symbol, or 2 buildings, plus one ally card of the matching symbol.
- Do not let the Last Spike advance into the Prairies. (If the Last Spike passes the Prairies/Rockies divide, you've failed this condition.)
Telegram Phases
The Syndicate does not act during the Telegram Phase. Place as many of your standard telegrams as you wish.
Action Phases
Take your turns as normal, with the following exceptions:
Ally: Draw 2 ally cards from the appropriate ally card deck. Then, draw from the Syndicate Deck, until you draw an Investment Symbol that matches one of the Ally Cards you just drew; put that one in the Syndicate discard pile. If you exhaust the Syndicate Deck, or if the two drawn cards have the same symbol, choose which Ally Card to keep; put the other in the Syndicate discard pile. Use this process any time you draw an ally card.
Develop: Unload all resources you wish to unload. Then, if the Syndicate has any resources it could unload (behind your first unloaded resource), perform a Contribution Draw to see what it Contributes. (See page 4 for more).
On the Syndicate's Action Turn (when the engine reaches its telegram), perform an Action Draw, and resolve.
Syndicate Action Draw
On the Syndicate's Action Turn, perform an Action Draw:
- Draw cards, spreading them out the the right of the Draw Deck. Draw until you draw one of the Syndicate Cards, then Draw 1 additional card.
- For each card drawn before the Syndicate Card, perform a Minor Action.
- For the Syndicate Card, perform the Main Action.
- For the card drawn after the Syndicate Card, perform a Placement.
Minor Action
Ignore minor actions if the telegram is in the Port. Minor Actions consist of Portaging, if possible, and if not, Acquiring. For each card:
- If in Ports: skip minor actions. Otherwise:
- Find target development: In train's direction, find next tile that matches symbol with empty slots. Ignore tiles with only player's building or no empty slots. If you reach the end of the board, continue from opposite end.
- Do only the first of these that is possible on the target development.
- Portage to left side if possible.
- Portage to right side if possible.
- Acquire resource required by right side (must have empty slot).
- Acquire resource required by left side (if wild, first in Yard, if not available then first on Line.)
Example: The Syndicate is resolving a minor action for a card. It cannot target the Industrial City (only Green's building is there), so it instead targets Wood at the Next Farm), Portaging 1 resource. If it had no Wood, it would instead Acquire 1 Wood.
Main Action
If the Telegram is in the Port, the Syndicate loads the available resources and takes no additional Main Action.
Otherwise: on each adjacent tile (in order of train direction) do only the first of these steps that is possible:
- Develop to left side (unload 4, stopping if it wins outright).
- Develop to right side (unload 4, stopping if it wins outright). (First on Line if wild).
- Produce (must have building).
- Trade 2 resources of which Syndicate has most to front empty slots on train, even if slots are not the same type. If two types tie, skip this.
Example: The Syndicate first resolves the Port City. It cannot Develop, so it Produces, first acquiring 2 Tourists then 2 Navvies (which go to the Yard).
On the Farm, it first attempts to Develop. It has no Wood, so it instead fills the Wild resource, using both its newly-loaded Tourists, because they're closest to the front of the line.
Placement Action
This immediately places the telegram on a new track space.
- Identify the target space: this is the previous (opposite direction of train movement) unblocked space adjacent to a tile with this symbol, ignoring any tiles that have only your building. If you reach the end of the track without finding a space, continue from the opposite end of the track.
- Place the Telegram there.
- If there is no possible target space, leave the Telegram in its current space.
If the Placement Card is a Syndicate Card, the target space is the previous Port Supply with that has the most resources.
Example: The Syndicate drew a card for placement. It moves to the previous space adjacent to a tile that is not blocked.
Example: The Syndicate drew a Syndicate Card for placement. It moves to the previous port space with the most resources. Because there's no matching spaces behind, it then keeps looking searching from the other end of the board. This telegram will get activated a second time this phase.
Syndicate Contribution Draw
When you need to determine how many resources the Syndicate contributes, either at the Railhead, or when you Develop and are then checking for resources the Syndicate contributes, perform a Contribution Draw. This consists of drawing 1 card for every eligible resource the Syndicate could contribute. Every Syndicate Card drawn counts for contributing 1 resource, and every symbol that matches the development (or in the case of the Railhead, a building symbol), 3 resources.
This is not used on the Syndicate's own Develop actions, where the syndicate always unloads the first 4 that it can.
Example: The Syndicate is checking for wood to contribute at the Railhead. With 5 Wood on the Line, it draws 5 cards. The Syndicate Card counts for 1, and the building Card counts for 3, so 4 resources are bid.
Railhead Phase
- Make your bid as normal.
- Perform a Contribution Draw for Navvies, then for Wood, then for Steel.
- Advance the Railhead and claim tiles as in the normal game. When it's the Syndicate's turn to choose a tile it will always take the highest available tile, taking the further-east in the case of a tie. If the tile contains a First Player bonus, it takes that bonus.
End of Game
If the Last Spike advances past the Prairies / Rockies divider, you've failed one of your win conditions. You can either accept a humiliating defeat and resign, or play out the game and attempt to achieve an unremarkable defeat.
At the conclusion of the last round, attempt to complete your 3 Investments using the normal rules. Do not score points for these Investments. If you complete all 3, you have successfully achieved this victory condition.
Complete all 3 victory conditions to win the game.
Things to Remember
Train Tiles
- Car tiles of the same cargo type, either in the Yard or on the Line, are always grouped together. The tender acts as a Coal car.
- Empty Train Tiles are flipped as necessary.
- Train Tiles are added to the Line from the Shop or Yard only via the Resupply Action.
- Train Tiles are moved to the Yard from the Shop as necessary.
- Train Tiles are never removed from the Line, or returned to the Shop.
- Players may find it useful to have one player who's sitting on the Train Board side of the board be responsible for keeping the tiles organized.
Resource Cubes
- Resource Cubes are always loaded immediately behind cubes of the same type, if possible.
- Resource Cubes always slide forward to fill any spaces on the Train Tile group at the end of any action. Resource cubes in the Yard can only be moved out by Portaging, or by their car being added to the Line via the Resupply Action.
- If you run out of cubes for any purpose, you can take your own cubes from elsewhere.
Buildings and Developments
- You have a limited number of Buildings. If you run out of buildings, you can remove any of your previously-placed building.
- Development Tiles that have a Develop action on the reverse can be completed any number of times, with more buildings placed each time. While only players with a building can Develop, any player can still Portage to here, and any player can unload as part of another player's Develop action here.
- You cannot complete actions with a Building icon if you do not have a building on the tile.
The Railhead
- Only Navvies, Steel, Wood, can be used.
- Any combination of these resources can advance the railhead (no need for 1 of each, or for the Priority Resource).
- If the Railhead moves less than 2, the Last Spike will also move.
Resupply
- The player with the most coal in the tender loses all their Coal on the Line, but not the Yard, even if they then add that Coal to the Line.
- If multiple types of the same car are in the yard, all of them are added as a group if chosen during the Resupply Action.
Beginner Tips
- In higher player counts, the worker placement track gets crowded in the opening rounds. Don't overlook the Acquire options available in the Lowlands, which sometimes are as useful as the Ports.
- The order of Wilderness Tiles are different every game. Check to see what resources are going to be most valuable in later Railhead phases.
- Don't let your competition contribute all resources to a Railhead phase. Bidding even a single railhead resource can make a huge difference.
- There's more to the Investments than end-game VPs. The investment types also indicate some of the economic interactions in the game. Use these icons to learn the economies within the game, and to anticipate what your opponents might be focusing on.
- Keep in mind what other people are planning to load. Not only can they block you by loading the same type of resource, they can also block you by loading the other type that goes on the same car. But don't panic, because you can always load your cargo to the yard and then access it with Portage actions later.
- Make use of the Eastbound Phases: if your track spaces are being blocked, or if the Line is too full to load your resources, consider waiting until the eastbound phase to place or activate your telegrams. You can pass both by not placing a telegram, or by passing on a Westbound Action turn.
- The game can end quickly once the Railhead gets into the Prairies and Rockies, so if you have a strategy that involves shipping Grain back from the Prairies to a City, or Tourists to the western Parks, consider using Portaging to get these developments started before the Railhead reaches them.