Players: Allan, Anne, Joshua, Mike, Nazim, Scott
Surprising to us as it probably is to you, we actually enjoyed this game of Eurorails. We tried the "fast game" (which allowed us to plot a fair amount of strategy before we made our first deliveries), along with the "open market" rule, which became so addictive that one player offered $15 million to anyone who would trade his/her hand so that something would open up for the entire group. Lastly, we allowed players to deliver loads to other players (and to receive payment for that service) and we enjoyed the bartering that went on as a result.
Game started with Joshua and Mike having workable plans for their first three deliveries, whereas Anne, Scott & Allan had only two worked out and Nazim had only one delivery and actually failed to keep enough capital to complete it until later in the game (give him a break - he came late and had to be rushed through the rules).
Early miscalculations by Nazim and Scott proved costly, and though he started strong and appeared to have a nice mid-game setup ($90 million worth of tobacco in a single bound), Allan ended about where Scott did -- $120 million behind. Anne got bogged down in the mid-game, and she and Nazim spent over $20 million each to rent track (to Madrid) from Mike, Allan & Joshua (and so the rich got richer). In the end, that proved decisive, as Mike just made it over the hump while Joshua claims he was only a few turns away from delivering the win.
Scott's words to live by:
- Play with 6 players, it's more fun with the added interaction
- Build no track are not going to use (crucial in the early game)
- Don't upgrade trains unless you need to -- Mike won without ever having three cargo holds
