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B&O Serves New York
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Q. What is the purpose of the 2022 revisions?
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A. These revisions improve the game in a few weak areas. In particular, they fix the
Pennsylvania Railroad problem, plus make the timing of the Superchief upgrade
into a fun, strategic decision.
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Q. What is the problem with the Pennsylvania Railroad?
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A. Under the old rules, the player who happened to get a few lucky initial dice rolls could
buy the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). The PRR was so overly powerful, its owner would go
on to win about half the matches. A game is often considered broken when a single random
element like this, particularly one within the first few minutes, largely determines the
outcome of a multi-hour match.
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Q. What is the 2022 revision for the PRR problem?
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A. The 2022 revision makes it official that the B&O Railroad connects to New York by
paralelling the PRR northeast of Philadelphia. In reality, B&O did serve parts of
New York City (Staten Island), a fact perhaps overlooked during design of the first
edition.
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Q. How does the B&O connecting to New York solve the PRR problem?
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A. New York is a bottleneck and gateway into New England within the game's important
Northeast region. By adding B&O service to New York, players have an alternate way to
reach that destination and those in New England. B&O, which otherwise had been the
weakest RR in the game, becomes more valuable.
Instead of the PRR owner winning about half the matches, this change reduces that to
about one third. It also boosts the B&O owner's chance of winning from less than
one fifth to greater than one quarter. So, this simple modification gives players
a viable and strategic way to compete with the PRR owner. Some now purchase B&O
even if they can afford PRR.
Note that tests of this modification with the computer version show PRR, which
costs 25% more than B&O, appropriately remains more powerful than B&O. With this
change, however, the disparity between the two is much smaller, something playtests
show not accomplished by minor changes to the destination table.
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Q. Can I get a copy of the board with this mod?
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A. On the U21 map B&O serves New York, You can print a copy for yourself
at no charge. U21 is now included with RBP, the Rail Baron computer version.
If you don't already have the map for RBP, you can download U21 for free.
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Q. Can I modify my older board?
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A. Certainly -- but only if you are a true Rail Baron fan. It's easy: use a blue pen to add
a few dashes for the B&O northeast from Philadelphia, as shown above. There is a movement
dot between Philadelphia and New York.
Some older boards also have a dot between Baltimore and Philadelphia that is not found
on the current map (U21) but which has little impact on play. Count that dot if it is
present on your board, otherwise ignore it.
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$20,000 Superchief
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Q. What about the Superchief cost? Why was it reduced?
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A. The price of a Superchief engine upgrade has been officially halved to $20,000.
Playtesting at the old $40,000 price revealed experienced players generally did not
upgrade to the Superchief until after all railroads had been sold.
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Q. Does the new $20,000 price add strategy?
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A. Most definitely. Upgrading to the Superchief before all railroads sell out is
now a viable strategy. It is a way to catch up to players who have managed to acquire
better railroads.
Exactly when to buy the Superchief instead of a railroad is now an
interesting and challenging decision. During playtesting, experienced players
generally upgraded soon after obtaining a Northeast and Southwest railroad, but
somewhat later in matches with 5 or 6 players.
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Q. Does the computer AI in RBP handle this?
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A. You'll need at least version 3.8.7 for the AI bots to handle the lower-cost
Superchief wisely.
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Q. Any other effects?
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A. Almost all Rail Baron players prefer the game to move along more quickly. The
lower-cost Superchief accomplishes that in two ways: 1) by costing less, less money goes
back to the bank, and 2) players acquire the Superchief earlier, a consequence of which
is on average they move a greater distance per turn.
The combined effect is about a 15% reduction in average number of rounds per match. This
means that along with other New Century rules, Rail Baron can
be completed in about 25% less time than by old / Boxcars rules. Instead of an hour per
player, it's now closer to 45 minutes. (Play is much faster than than on the computer.)
Furthermore, player elimination, considered a Bad Thing by most modern gamers, is cut by
more than half. In the computer version, the old $40,000 price can be retained, if desired.
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