The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
Please vote in the Forum Structure Poll. Polling will close at 2PM EST on January 21, 2025.
Irish Gauge - Game 1 - Completed!
MrBlarney
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Irish Gauge
Designed by Tom Russell
2019 edition published by Capstone Games; rulebook available on site
Overview
Irish Gauge is a simplified and streamlined game in the "trains" genre (as exemplified by the 18xx series). Players are investors in five rail lines on the island of Ireland, making decisions on how tracks will be expanded, purchasing stocks, and gaining dividends. At the end of the game, the player with the most money (from cash on hand and stocks) will win.
Setup and Initial Auction
To set up the board, place one track from each Railway in its respective starting city: Cork for CBSC (Cork, Bandon & South Coast Railway), Limerick for WLW (Waterford, Limerick & Western Railway), Belfast for BCD (Belfast & County Down Railway), and Dublin for both GSW (Great Southern & Western Railway) and MGW (Midland Great Western Railway). In addition, Dividend Cubes are drawn for all eight starting cities (Galway, Limerick, Cork, Derry, Kilkenny, Waterford, Belfast, and Dublin) by drawing randomly from a bag of twelve cubes: four of each type (white, pink, and black). All unselected Dividend Cubes will be pooled with the eighteen cubes that were set aside (for a total unselected pool of twenty-two cubes) to form a supply.
At the start of the game, each player starts with £20 in hand. One player is randomly selected to be the opening bidder for the initial auction. In the initial auction, one share of each Railway will be auctioned off in the following order: CBSC, WLW, BCD, GSW, and MGW. Rules are the same as normal auctions (see below) except that the opening bidder is allowed to pass on bidding. If all players pass, then the opening bidder gains the share up for auction for free. The winner of each individual auction will become the opening bidder for the next auction. Once all five shares have been auctioned off, the player holding the CBSC share takes the first action of the game.
Sequence of Play
On a player's turn, they will take one of four actions:
Once the action has been completed, if the game has not yet ended, then the turn passes to the next player around the table. The game ends after a turn where the last Dividend cube is drawn from the supply, either through placing special interests, or calling for dividends.
- Auction a Share
- Place Railway Track
- Place a Special Interest
- Call for Dividends
Once the action has been completed, if the game has not yet ended, then the turn passes to the next player around the table. The game ends after a turn where the last Dividend cube is drawn from the supply, either through placing special interests, or calling for dividends.
Auction a Share
The player who chooses this action selects a particular Railway and starts an auction for its lowest-value Share. The opening bid must be at least the minimum value printed on the Share. Bidding continues in regular turn order, where each player can increase the bid or pass. Once a player has passed, they are out of that auction; when only one player is left in, they win the auction. The winning bidder pays their bid to the bank and claims the Share.
Reminder: In the auctions at the start of the game, the opening bidder does not need to bid. However, any bid made must still be at least the Share's minimum value.
Reminder: In the auctions at the start of the game, the opening bidder does not need to bid. However, any bid made must still be at least the Share's minimum value.
Place Railway Track
The player who chooses this action selects a single Railway for which they own at least one Share. (This action cannot be selected if the player does not own any Shares.) The player may add up to 3 Build Points' (BP) worth of Track in hexes for that Railway. It costs 1 BP to build in an empty Easy, Town, or City hex, and 2 BP to build in an empty Difficult hex. It costs 1.5 BP to build in an Easy, Town, or City hex that already has another Railway's Track (and impossible to build into a Difficult hex previously claimed by a different Railway). Leftover BP may not be saved between turns.
All Tracks of a single Railway must be in a contiguous series of hexes (though they can branch). If, after placing Track, a Railway connects all three Major Cities (Belfast, Dublin, and Galway), a dividend of £12 is paid, split evenly between each Share of that company owned by players. For example, if one player owns two Shares of a Railway, and a second player owns one Share, the first player will earn £8 from the special dividend, and the second player will earn £4. Each Railway may earn this bonus once.
Each Railway has a maximum limit of nineteen Tracks, including the Track in their starting city.
Place a Special Interest
The player who chooses this action selects a Town in which there is Track belonging to a Railway for which they own at least one Share. That player then chooses a Dividend cube from the supply and places it in the Town, converting it into a City.
Note: If the last Dividend cube is drawn from the supply, this action can end the game.
Note: If the last Dividend cube is drawn from the supply, this action can end the game.
Call for Dividends
When this action is selected, three Dividend cubes are drawn randomly from the supply. If there are fewer than three Dividend cubes left, then draw all that remain. The types of cube that are drawn determine the Cities that will pay dividends; drawing multiples of the same type has no extra effect for the action. Drawn cubes permanently leave the supply and thus bring the game closer to its end.
Each Railway checks to see if pays Dividends, and how much it will pay. A Railway only pays dividends if it has Track in at least two paying Cities, or one paying City and one Town. When a Railway generates income, it adds £4 for every paying City (£0 for non-paying Cities) and £2 for every Town.
Each Railway's total income is divided as evenly as possible between each Share of that company owned by players, rounding up in the case of any fractions. For example, if one player owns two Shares of a Railway, and a second player owns one Share, and that Railway generates £14 of income, the first player will earn £10 and the second player will earn £5.
Each Railway checks to see if pays Dividends, and how much it will pay. A Railway only pays dividends if it has Track in at least two paying Cities, or one paying City and one Town. When a Railway generates income, it adds £4 for every paying City (£0 for non-paying Cities) and £2 for every Town.
Each Railway's total income is divided as evenly as possible between each Share of that company owned by players, rounding up in the case of any fractions. For example, if one player owns two Shares of a Railway, and a second player owns one Share, and that Railway generates £14 of income, the first player will earn £10 and the second player will earn £5.
Ending the Game
The game ends at the end of a turn where there are no Dividend cubes remaining in the supply. All players add their cash in hand to the face values of the Shares they own; the player or players with the highest total win the game.
Game Link Index
Game Setup
After Initial Auctions (Turns 1-5)
Turns 6-10: Track building
Turns 11-14: More track building
Turns 15-19: First Dividends
Turns 20-23: Track building
Turns 24-28: Auctions for additional shares
Turns 29-34: Special Dividends and second Dividends
Turns 35-38: Placing a Special Interest and a major auction
Turns 39-43: More auctions and third Dividends
Turns 44-48: Many auctions for remaining shares
Turns 49-52: Fourth Dividends
Turns 53-57: Special interests and final dividends
MrBlarney on
+2
Posts
This will be a three or four player game of Irish Gauge. If you're interested in playing, post your sign up in bold, colorful text to make sure I see it. Signups will be open for approximately the next 24 hours, assuming that at least four people sign up. From those who sign up, I'll randomly select four to be the players for this edition of the game. If four players haven't signed up in the first 24 hours, signups will be extended in 24-hour intervals until at least four signups have been achieved; after 72 hours, I will start the game with three players.
I do expect this game to run into next weekend, and a few more weekends beyond that - it's a game with a lot of actions to be taken by its players. So being away for a few days won't really hurt.
For game setup, I will randomly select the player order:
And allocate Dividend cubes to the starting cities in the following order: Galway, Limerick, Cork, Derry, Kilkenny, Waterford, Belfast, and Dublin. Cubes will be drawn from a bag consisting of four cubes of each color; the four cubes that are not selected will be returned to the rest of the cubes. 1-4 indicates white cubes, 5-8 indicates pink cubes, and 9-12 indicates black cubes.
Geth roll 4p4 for Player Order
Geth roll 12p8 for Cities
Geth roll 4p4 for Player Order
EDIT: Nope. Rolling them on Orokos, then:
Player Order: {3, 1, 2, 4}
Initial City Special Interests: {5, 2, 3, 11, 4, 7, 9, 12}
The player order is JPants, discrider, Daemonis, and 38thDoe.
White cubes are placed in Limerick, Cork, and Kilkenny.
Pink cubes are placed in Galway and Waterford.
Black cubes are placed in Derry, Belfast, and Dublin.
Game Map
Player Status
discrider: £20, no shares
Daemonis: £20, no shares
38thDoe: £20, no shares
Railway Status
18 unplaced tracks
Connections: Cork (White City)
Available Shares: £7, £12, £17
WLW
18 unplaced tracks
Connections: Limerick (White City)
Available Shares: £5, £10, £15, £19
BCD
18 unplaced tracks
Connections: Belfast (Black City)
Available Shares: £8, £13
GSW
18 unplaced tracks
Connections: Dublin (Black City)
Available Shares: £4, £9, £14, £18
MGW
18 unplaced tracks
Connections: Dublin (Black City)
Available Shares: £6, £11, £16
Dividend Cube Status
Drawn: none
Cities: 3 White (Cork, Kilkenny, Limerick), 2 Pink (Galway, Waterford), 3 Black (Belfast, Derry, Dublin)
The initial share auctions will now start, with @JPants having first option on the CBSC £7 share. Be sure to state actions in bold to let others know when you're making something official. As a reminder, for the initial auctions only, there is no obligation for a player to bid on a share, but any opening bids must be at least the share value. If nobody bids, then the lead player gets that share for free. The winner of each share becomes the leader for the next share.
After the conclusion of the CBSC £7 auction, the following shares will be auctioned, in this order: WLW £5, BCD £8, GSW £4, MGW £6. Afterwards, play will start with the owner of the CBSC £7 share.
Bid $7
@discrider
@Daemonis
@discrider
@Jpants for WLW
@discrider
@Daemonis
You're out of the bidding, or at least that's how I read "Opening player doesn't need to bid" plus "Once a player has passed, they are out of that auction"
... Also not sure what type of Poker doesn't have a blind bet.
That's how I originally interpreted that but just wanted to verify (and in case anyone else was wondering).
talking post flop in Hold'em for example.
Was thinking that you still needed to buy in though :P
@38thDoe
@discrider
You can get these for cheaper than cost btw.
@Daemonis
Only technically: if nobody bids in the initial auctions, then it goes for free to the lead player. But any bids made on the share must be at least the minimum share price.
Even if you could bid below the share minimum, it seems like a bad idea to let one go for below its printed price, since you get that printed value at the end of the game. Maybe you'd let it slide if you wanted to keep more money for a non-opening auction. But otherwise, it'd be giving easy, free money to one of your opponents.
@38thDoe