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This is a game for up to six players which involves the construction of a railway network across Europe and the transportation of various commodities from their source to their imaginary area of need. The map covers the whole of Europe and has most of the major cities marked on it.

The map area is marked out with a number of small dots to indicate mileposts, and these are joined together by players with coloured crayons as they construct their individual networks. Small icons beside each city or town denote what that area produces. These usually make some sense (wine comes from Spain) but there are a few peculiarities (hops come from Wales, and only Wales).

The cost of constructing a unit of rail depends on the underlying terrain. Building across mountains costs more depending on which of the two height categories the mountains fall into. Building into towns and cities is more expensive, as is building across rivers and lakes. The most expensive rail links to build are ferry terminals which cost more for longer ferry routes. There are several of these ferry routes linking the United Kingdom and Ireland to mainland Europe and Scandinavia, and also Scandinavia to Northern Europe.

Players start with an amount of money that varies according to which variant is being played; more in the quick game and less in the long game. They are also given three journey cards. On each of these journey cards, there are three choices of journey. Each journey has a value, a commodity, and a destination. If the player manages to get the commodity to the destination, they receive the appropriate value. Each journey card can only be scored once, and is then discarded and that player takes another card.

The game starts with two or three turns (depending which variant is being played) of pure railbuilding. At the end of this phase, players are given their trains. There are various different classes of trains with varying moves per turn and carrying capacities. Obviously, each player starts with the completely pants train. In the fast version of the game, the speed of each train is increased.

Each turn consists of two parts. Players first move their trains and may then build more railways. A player may forfeit their turn and trade all three journey cards for three new ones. It is possible to utilise another player's track to complete a journey, but you have to pay for the privelege.

Shuffled in amongst the journey cards are event cards. When these are revealed by any player, they are looked up in the rule book and the appropriate action taken. The effects range from immobilising trains in certain areas, preventing commodities from being loaded or unloaded right up to forcing players to lose one of their loads.

At the end of the game, each player who has connected most of the main cities, which are denoted by large hexagons, totals the money they have available. The player with the most money has won the game.

The quality of the components are something of a mixed bag. The board is a six piece jigsaw made from thick cardstock which is reasonably hard wearing and makes for a compact box size. The train tokens are rather cheap looking pawns and I think, given the price of this game, the opportunity to make these more train-like should have been siezed. The idea of writing on the board seems good, but some colours are better than others, and cleaning the board after a long six-player can be a pain in the arse. The tokens representing the commodities are small poker chips which go some way to justifying the cost (As can be seen in the picture - there are quite a few of them!)

Another review and some strategies http://www.csn.net/~bing/eu-rails.html

Some variants on the basic game http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/org/gc00/reviews/eurorails-mit.html

Evaluation

This is not a quick game. I would recommend playing the short game every time. I think it plays better with more rather than fewer people and there aren't that many games that allow up to six players. It's not really a game that flows as well as other games. It's quite easy to lose track of who's turn it is. Sometimes the icons are not particularly clear, and having to look each event up in the rulebook is a bit of a pain.

These are minor points. I like playing the game, but only occasionally, when I'm in the mood. It requires a fair bit of work on the part of the player, and I think it appeals to players who like alot of analysis to their board games. If you are one of these players, buy this game, if you can afford it. For me, the emphasis is too much on strategy, and not enough on stuffing your mates.

http://homepage.virgin.net/martin.grimes

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Eurorails
Author: Mayfair games Category: Board Game Company/Publisher: Mayfair Games Cost: £18.99 Page count: n/a Capsule Review by Martin Bailey on 02/02/99. Genre tags: Modern_day	This is a game for up to six players which involves the construction of a railway network across Europe and the transportation of various commodities from their source to their imaginary area of need. The map covers the whole of Europe and has most of the major cities marked on it. The map area is marked out with a number of small dots to indicate mileposts, and these are joined together by players with coloured crayons as they construct their individual networks. Small icons beside each city or town denote what that area produces. These usually make some sense (wine comes from Spain) but there are a few peculiarities (hops come from Wales, and only Wales). The cost of constructing a unit of rail depends on the underlying terrain. Building across mountains costs more depending on which of the two height categories the mountains fall into. Building into towns and cities is more expensive, as is building across rivers and lakes. The most expensive rail links to build are ferry terminals which cost more for longer ferry routes. There are several of these ferry routes linking the United Kingdom and Ireland to mainland Europe and Scandinavia, and also Scandinavia to Northern Europe. Players start with an amount of money that varies according to which variant is being played; more in the quick game and less in the long game. They are also given three journey cards. On each of these journey cards, there are three choices of journey. Each journey has a value, a commodity, and a destination. If the player manages to get the commodity to the destination, they receive the appropriate value. Each journey card can only be scored once, and is then discarded and that player takes another card. The game starts with two or three turns (depending which variant is being played) of pure railbuilding. At the end of this phase, players are given their trains. There are various different classes of trains with varying moves per turn and carrying capacities. Obviously, each player starts with the completely pants train. In the fast version of the game, the speed of each train is increased. Each turn consists of two parts. Players first move their trains and may then build more railways. A player may forfeit their turn and trade all three journey cards for three new ones. It is possible to utilise another player's track to complete a journey, but you have to pay for the privelege. Shuffled in amongst the journey cards are event cards. When these are revealed by any player, they are looked up in the rule book and the appropriate action taken. The effects range from immobilising trains in certain areas, preventing commodities from being loaded or unloaded right up to forcing players to lose one of their loads. At the end of the game, each player who has connected most of the main cities, which are denoted by large hexagons, totals the money they have available. The player with the most money has won the game. The quality of the components are something of a mixed bag. The board is a six piece jigsaw made from thick cardstock which is reasonably hard wearing and makes for a compact box size. The train tokens are rather cheap looking pawns and I think, given the price of this game, the opportunity to make these more train-like should have been siezed. The idea of writing on the board seems good, but some colours are better than others, and cleaning the board after a long six-player can be a pain in the arse. The tokens representing the commodities are small poker chips which go some way to justifying the cost (As can be seen in the picture - there are quite a few of them!) Another review and some strategies http://www.csn.net/~bing/eu-rails.html Some variants on the basic game http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/org/gc00/reviews/eurorails-mit.html Evaluation This is not a quick game. I would recommend playing the short game every time. I think it plays better with more rather than fewer people and there aren't that many games that allow up to six players. It's not really a game that flows as well as other games. It's quite easy to lose track of who's turn it is. Sometimes the icons are not particularly clear, and having to look each event up in the rulebook is a bit of a pain. These are minor points. I like playing the game, but only occasionally, when I'm in the mood. It requires a fair bit of work on the part of the player, and I think it appeals to players who like alot of analysis to their board games. If you are one of these players, buy this game, if you can afford it. For me, the emphasis is too much on strategy, and not enough on stuffing your mates. http://homepage.virgin.net/martin.grimes Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Eurorails