In a recent game of 1830 on 18xx.games, I was the president of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (NYNH). I started it in the first Stock Round (SR1) at $76, having some cash left over from the Private Auction having only spent $110 on the Delaware and Hudson Private Railroad.
The first 3 train (3T) was bought right at the end of Operating Round 1 (OR1), after the NYNH bought three 2Ts. The plan at this point was the place a token in Providence next OR, and run the three trains for $110 revenue.
In the next OR2.1, I sold in the Delaware and Hudson for the full $140 (twice $70 face value). I decided to change my plan and not lay track towards — and place a token in — Providence. With the Private power of the Delaware and Hudson, the NYNH could put a token in Scranton, then in OR2.2 place the #2 tile right next to the New York hex. This tile is the only one that can create a route between the North and South stations in New York. We were already in the Green phase, and it would take a further 2 tile lays for that route to be complete (upgrade New York to green, followed by a tight curve in the north west hex). This new plan meant some of those 2Ts I bought didn’t run at all, but securing that double New York route early would have been good.
The NYNH also buys one 3T (making three 2Ts and a 3T) leaving just $95 in the treasury at the end of the second set of ORs.
I start Stock Round 3 (SR3) with Priority Deal. There is just one 3T left to be bought. The strategy guides all say to start a second company to save the first. Maybe I could have held on until the next stock round (SR4) to float a new company; but I didn't as I wanted to make sure I had first choice of companies to co-operate with the NYNH and to secure it a better train. I sold down to just the president’s share of NYNH and started Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M) with a maximum par value of 100. The $1000 it had in its treasure was quickly spent in the OR3.1 after buying a soon-to-rust 2T from the NYNH for $400, and the final 3T and the first 4T from the bank. This rusted all the 2Ts before any of them ran in this OR. With all that train buying, the B&M was left with just $40 for the second station token, which I was hoping to put in New York.
The NYNH however had more cash thanks to an influx of that $400 donation from the B&M, and 4 shares in the Bank Pool ready to start filling the treasure as it pays out dividends. It is left with a single 3T and $510 before it runs in OR3.1, and a little less after spending $80 to upgrade New York.
At this point, there was just a single 4T left to buy. The Poison 4. Of the remaining two 4Ts (one of which I had bought for the B&M), one was taken by the other new company to float in SR3 and the other by the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) which had lots of money left after starting later in SR2 at a $76 par value and only buying one 3T.
It’s the poison 4T. So, I left it there in OR3.1. Why should NYNH buy it? “Don’t buy the poison 4T!” It has enough cash for a 5T now. But I had the NYNH buy it in OR3.2. This meant that the first 5T was available to buy going into the stock round (SR4).
I did not have priority deal, and there were two players to act before me. Both of the preceding players very sensibly floated the final two remaining companies at $100 par value. There was some stock trashing, but the first 5T went to the B&O which had enough cash left for it. In hindsight, this stock trashing occurred to make sure that the B&O was going to be first in line to get that new train, ahead of one of the new companies. One of the new companies got the other two 5Ts, and the other bought the 6T (and a 4T from NYC, leaving it without a train), rusting the 3Ts. The NYC was trainless, but easily bought up the final permanent non-Diesel train, the 6T, thanks to the cash from selling the 4T to the company that just floated.
By the end of OR4.1, both my NYNH and B&M had a token in north New York, with the 4Ts running a route collecting both North and South New York stations. They both had 4 shares in the Bank Pool so at least would start to accumulate some cash in the treasury.
Things were not looking good for me going into the next Stock Round (SR5). I had two companies, each with just a 4T, and relatively little cash in their treasuries ($424 and $185). The other players were safer: one had a company with a 5T, the next had two companies each with a 6T (one also with a 4T), and the final (after some train shuffling) had a two companies each with a 5T (with $93 and $466), and one with a 4T (and only a $1 in its treasury, but that $466 in the other company might be helpful).
With limited cash in the company treasuries, the diesel trains aren’t coming out soon, so thankfully the 4Ts will stick around for a while. There was also around $10,000 (of the starting $12,000) still in the bank. But I was left with two companies without a permanent train. If the diesels are bought, I’m on the hook for two of them. With only ~$500 in the company, I’d have to pay for a large amount of that $2200.
At this point, I thought that Player 2 probably was going to win. They had some good shares, and got that first 5T by squashing down the shares of others - some good game play from them! If I had spotted their plan to get pole position in operating order, perhaps I could have joined in the jostling and bought a 5T or 6T out of pocket.
I bought the poison 4T! I left it alone once, only to buy it in the next OR — why did I do that?! I bought it because the other companies had more trains, and I felt they were generating more dividends as a result. But it cost me the chance of a cheaper permanent train.
I had forgotten where Priority Deal was. I was hoping to be the one floating a new company to get some more capital in. If I did, I could have had three companies each with a permanent train. But I wasn’t in the right spot to float the final two companies of the game.
What might have happened if NYNH didn’t buy that poison 4T? It still had a 3T and enough cash for a 5T or a 6T. That 3T would probably have been rusted and the share price dropped. But one of those newly floated companies would have been forced to buy that poison 4T, leaving enough for it to buy just one of the 5Ts. That would have meant that the NYNH would have a permanent, and the B&M would have been stuck with a 4T. I’d still not be safe, but my liabilities would have been halved. Someone else would have gained that liability.
This was the first time I’ve noticed the perils of that final 4T. They are quite expensive ($300) relative to the permanent trains which are only a few hundred dollars more (5T at $450 and 6T at $630). I’m now looking forward to purchasing two diesels, mostly out of pocket.
Do share your stories about the poison 4T in the comments!
You blundered, but not as badly as the guy I not once, but twice, saw buy the last TWO 4t's. Into the *same company*. In two different games. Yes, he went bankrupt both times.
Sounds like not only was it bad to buy the poison 4T but also someone was able to buy 2x5Ts which seems like a GG in many many cases.