Post originally by Chris Farrell at 2004-03-31 09:55:40
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Just a couple additional comments:
When building the deck of stock cards at the beginning of the game, there is an optional deck-contruction procedure at the end of the rules. It's somewhat convoluted and involves stacking the deck to separte the scoring cards, but is absolutely recommended. The game becomes a bit of a crap shoot when the scoring cards are randomly distributed.
Secondly:
> As noted above, I suggest two variants: don't allow Union Pacific shares to be selected, only exchanged for...
I think this variant is unnecessary, and in fact is undesireable. Allowing the UP to both be drafted and swapped for gives the players more choices and generally makes the game more interesting. While the UP will tend to seem really important the first time or two you play, it's actually not the game-winner it might first appear. I've played a lot both ways, and definitely find the draft & swap way superior.
Post originally by Shannon Appelcline at 2004-03-31 12:49:01
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The distribution as suggested in the main rules seemed to work fine for us. Yes, the last 3 dividend cards could have clumped together, but I thought the constant feeling of tension it introduced was worthwhile.
I can see what you're saying about the UP draft v. swap issue, however for first-time players I think avoiding the draft was vastly superior. Longer-term gamers can figure out which one suits them better.
Post originally by Chris Farrell at 2004-03-31 14:16:02
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While I see your point on the constant pressure to play stock with the random scoring cards, I think the game also has a nice rhythm to it when using the deck contruction - you see the scoring card, everyone sighs as they get a turn or two to play track without too much guilt, and then the tension starts ratcheting up again when everyone starts sensing the next scoring card is getting closer and closer ... The nice thing about stacked deck, though, is it avoids the risk of degenerate games. If all 4 scoring cards come out before half the stock decks is through, the game seems awkward and unsatisfying to me (the deck construction thing will give games of reasonably consistant length).
I'll concede that this is a matter of taste to some degree, though.
re: drafting UP or not, I'm still dubious of making UP undraftable, for newbies or otherwise. Being able to draft UP is, I think, a small enough difference, but a significant enough improvement, you're better off just playing the game as-written from the start. UP is a good enough game that it's going to take a try or two to get the hang of it anyway, you might as well learn with the slightly more interesting rules.
Anyway, however you play it, UP is a great game, and definitely my favorite Alan Moon game by a wide margin. A bonus that it's completely language-independant.
Post originally by Jade_Bells_ringing at 2004-03-31 17:46:52
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Union Pacific is a ripoff of Airlines, a game I own. Instead of railroad stocks, you are dealing with airline stocks. Instead of track cards that can be played by different railroads, you had flight route cards, etc. The only thing really different is the addition of the Union Pacific railroad.
Post originally by Nick Goedert at 2004-03-31 21:12:25
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It's no so much a "rip-off" as a re-release by a much larger company. I believe Airlines was a game released by designer Alan Moon's personal company White Wind in VERY limited quantities.
A number of years later, Alan refined the rules and changed the theme for a much larger release by Amigo (in German) and Rio Grande (in English). This is a common practice among German game companies, especially when a larger company picks up a game self-produced by the designer, or when the game is first produced in English. Frequently, the new company make srule tweaks or thematic changes to better suit the different audience.
So, anyone who owns Airlines might want to think twice about buying this game, but no one is trying to rip anyone else off. But Airlines is hard to come by, so this is probably the better option for most people.
Post originally by Chris Farrell at 2004-04-01 09:52:36
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Actually, Airlines did get a broader release through Abacus, a German game company. Come to think of it, I don't think Airlines was one of the the White Wind titles at all. While there aren't tons of copies certainly, it shouldn't be *too* hard to find an original Airlines if you really wanted it.
In my opinion, Union Pacific is a strictly superior version of Airlines. Airlines had a number of graphical usability issues. The UP is definitely a nice addition, and the only rule that got lost - the sabotage rule - is hardly missed.
This sort of republised, improved version of good games certainly happens quite a bit.
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