18OE — Operating Rounds

OR reference for experienced 18xx players. Covers step sequence, track rights, tile laying, trains, revenue, cross-water, and the Orient Express. Rules: 18OE_Rulebook_v_1.0.txt.

OR Step Sequence §8

Companies operate in order: minors and regionals first (home-token placement order), then majors and nationals by share price descending.

Track Rights Zones §3 + §12

Every regional and major belongs to exactly one zone. The zone determines:

• Where it may place tokens (home zone only for regionals; anywhere for majors)
• The zone fee paid from treasury at par time (not a cash purchase)
• Any terrain discount on track construction in the zone

*UK/PHS/FR combined cap: max 4 regionals/majors may hold chits across these three zones total.

Track rights chit — each minor receives one chit for its home zone at float time; the chit stays with the minor (or transfers to a major on merger). No chit = cannot place tokens or use terrain discount in that zone. §12A.

Tile Laying §8b

Tile points — spent to lay or upgrade tiles.

Point costs:

• Yellow (new) city: 2 pts · Yellow town: 1 pt · Green/Brown/Gray upgrade: 2 pts · Metropolis (London, Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Sankt-Peterburg, Constantinople): 3 pts

First-OR exception (Phase 2 only) — if a newly-floated company cannot connect its home token to any city/town by land or ferry without a sea crossing, it may lay one non-city green tile consuming all remaining tile points (requires ≥1 pt). (§11.1.9, not yet implemented)

Custom tile codes (18OE-specific):

• OE1–OE3: yellow double-town · OE4–OE8: yellow city
• OE12–OE18: green city · OE23–OE33: brown city · OE34–OE44: gray city

TILE_UPGRADES_MUST_USE_MAX_EXITS — when upgrading a city tile, all available exits on the upgraded tile must be used. You cannot leave exits unconnected.

Token Placement §8c

• One token per OR per company; placed during the Place Token step
• Regionals and minors — may only token in their home zone (track rights zone restriction)
• Majors — may token anywhere reachable; token cost paid from treasury — first token £40, then £60, £60, £80, £80, £80
• Nationals — skip the token step entirely (virtual tokens in all home-zone cities)
• Token slots are limited; standard city-slot rules apply

Trains §7 + §8g

Level 8 trains only available after the 4th Level 7 purchase (§11.6).

D-trains (4D, 5D) — count cities twice (each city counts at double revenue).

Train limits by phase:

Reserved 2+2 obligation (§8g) — each regional/major/national must buy a reserved 2+2 from the depot as its very first train purchase (£100). Obligation waived if Phase 4 is reached before the company's first OR. A reserved 2+2 is not the same as a standard train buy; it is gated separately and cannot be deferred if the company has no train.

Inter-company purchases — only after Phase 4; minors from minors, regionals from regionals, majors from majors.

Dividends §6d

• Half-pay — half to shareholders (rounded down to share); half to treasury. No price movement.
• Withhold — all to treasury. Price moves LEFT.
• Full-pay — all to shareholders. Price moves RIGHT if ≥ share price; else no move.
• Nationals always full-pay — all revenue distributed; nothing retained in treasury. Price moves normally.

Pullman Cars §8f (beta — not yet implemented)

A Pullman car is a special asset, not a train. It does not count against the train limit.

• Max 1 per company (non-nationals only)
• Revenue bonus — +£10 × the level of the train it is assigned to, once per OR (e.g. assigned to a 4+4 → +£40)
• Assigned at OR start — owner assigns the Pullman to one of the company's trains before running routes

Where to buy:

Free Pullman — if Minor M has not closed by Phase 4 start, M receives one free Pullman from its own stock of 10.

Discard rules — when a company must discard trains (over limit after rusting), rusted trains go first. A Pullman may be voluntarily returned to the Open Market at any time.

Zero trains — a company holding a Pullman but no trains retains the Pullman until it acquires its next train.

Cross-Water Routing §8d (beta — costs not yet implemented)

The map has two types of water crossings. Both increase effective distance for city-limit purposes.

Ferry routes

Ferry distance counts against a train's city limit. Cost per crossing:

• Track: +£5 per ferry distance unit
• Token: +£20 per ferry distance unit

Sea zones

19 named zones (North Sea, Baltic, Western Med, Adriatic, Aegean, Black Sea, and more). Sea crossings cost more than ferry crossings.

• Track: +£10 per sea zone crossed
• Token: +£40 per sea zone crossed

Public vs private ports — a port marked public may be used by any RR. A private port (SHTC or Central Circle private ability) may only be used by the owning company.

Port authority markers (§8d.4 — beta) — a major may purchase one PA marker for £125 during its OR (at any point before Buy Trains). North Sea PA covers light-blue zones; Mediterranean PA covers sea-green zones. Each PA marker reduces sea-zone count and ferry distance by 2 for the owning company.

Orient Express §8e (not yet implemented)

The Orient Express is a special bonus run available to majors only.

Valid OE route — must include:

1. Constantinople (AA82, eastern terminus)
2. At least one of: Paris · London · Berlin · Madrid · Sankt-Peterburg
3. Some land track connecting them (may include ferry routes)

First-run bonus (added to normal route revenue):

On the first OE run: +3 RIGHT share price movement (in addition to normal dividend movement).

Train combining for OE — Level ≤4 trains may combine; combined level = sum; city limit = combined level. Level 5+, 4D, 5D cannot combine.

Subsequent runs — no first-run bonus; no extra share movement. Normal revenue only.

Mandatory — if the OE route is the best possible route for the company, the president must run it. Nationals may not run the OE.

National Formation §11 (beta — not fully implemented)

A national is formed when a major converts. Formation is never automatic.

Voluntary — at Phase 4, 6, or 8 start, every president of a major is offered conversion in turn order (starting with the player who triggered the phase). Each may convert any of their majors, or pass.

Forced — a major may be forced to convert when it cannot cover a mandatory train purchase (insolvency) or during the Consolidation Phase.

What happens on conversion:

• Treasury cash returned to bank
• Unsold treasury shares moved to Open Market
• All map tokens removed
• Company type flips to :national; trains inherited; track rights/OE markers removed

National Revenue §11 (partially implemented)

Nationals have virtual tokens in every city and town in their home zone — no physical tokens needed, no blocking. Revenue calculated in two parts:

1. Linked — cities/towns reachable from any national home-zone city via connected track, counted at printed face value. D-trains double linked revenue.
2. Unlinked — remaining capacity filled at flat rates: £60 per city or £10 per town.

Best-first fill: highest-revenue cities assigned to trains first.

Consolidation Phase §13

Triggered by the first Level 5 purchase. Occurs once, as a special round between the triggering OR set and the next SR.

• All remaining minors and unfloated regionals must merge into a major or be abandoned
• A major may offer merger terms; if no offer, the company is abandoned
• Abandoned company: charter + trains → Open Market; cash → bank; tokens removed; track rights chit stays

End Game §15

Two triggers — whichever comes first:

Level 8 trigger — when the first 8+8 is bought, £100,000 remainder cash (20 × £5,000 notes) is injected into the bank. This prevents the bank breaking mid-game from the high train prices. One full OR set then completes.

Scoring — players sum: personal cash + share value of all holdings (at current share price) + value of privates held.