The Depot: 1835: PBEM Rules
by Bill Stoll
based on 1830 PBEM Rules by Barry Fausnaugh barry@brahms.udel.edu
Please send questions and comments to:
Bill Stoll
jvcb28c@prodigy.com (preferred)
bill@kripalu.com (alternate)
The number of desired players (plus one if the moderator will not be playing) should be chosen. One of these people must be chosen to act as a moderator. The moderator will be responsible for setting the initial order of play and for monitoring the game to make sure that all turns are properly executed. The moderator will also provide a running summary to each player at the end of each stock round and at the end of each operating round. This should be a rather extensive report. The information in the report will depend on whether it is after a stock round or an operating round. Examples are given at the end of this document.
Before starting play, the moderator will send the following information to each player:
The basic idea, as suggested above, is that the players actually run the game and the moderator simply monitors the game to make sure that everything runs smoothly. This is accomplished by having each player send his/her move or action to all of the players and the moderator. Each player will keep track of what is where and what has been bought, etc. If a player makes an illegal move, it is the responsibility of the next player in turn to say something. The player who made the illegal move should then make a legal move. The moderator will also monitor the game and will notify players if an illegal move has been made. However, it is possible that 2 or 3 players may take turns in one day with good mail connections.
The moderator should check the legality of things at least once a day. If the moderator finds a mistake s/he may require that all turns since the mistake be taken over (including the one in which the mistake was made.) This decision may be overridden by a unanimous vote of all players in the game (except the moderator) to allow the error and continue with the game as is. It is for this reason that it is important to check the legality of moves made by the person who plays before you. The moderator issues summaries because there is a lot of information to track; the summaries will allow all players to check their information against the moderator's records at regular intervals.
WARNING: If the moderator issues incorrect information in one of his/her summaries, then it must be brought to his/her attention before the stock/operating round begins. If a player takes an action in the new round, the player is implying acknowledgement of the summary as correct. If a problem is reported by a player who has not (yet) taken any action in the new round, then the correction is made and the round is replayed. If a problem is reported by a player who has already taken action, the summary stands unless there is unanimous agreement to make the correction and replay the round.
EXCEPTION: Corrections that do not affect the game (misspellings, etc) do not result in a round restart.
This is the moderator's call - we don't want this to be exploited as a loophole for Minor #1's director to redo his/her turn after seeing what Minor #4 does.
The first player sends their action to every player and to the moderator. The second player, upon receiving the first player's action and determining that it is a legal move, may immediately take his/her action, and email it to all players. The third player follows suit, and so forth and so on until all players pass (share round) or all companies have operated (operating round).
At the end of each round, the moderator will issue a summary. After share rounds, the summary will include a synopsis of trading in the round, who owns what stock and how many they own of them, what is still in the initial offering, what is in the Bank Pool, the current value of all railroads currently floated and trading, and the order of play for the upcoming operating round.
If the Prussian is operating, then each player with Minor or Private companies that may be converted to Prussian must state, in turn (beginning with the starting player for the round), whether they wish to convert any or all of those companies to Prussian shares.
Moderator announces payment of Income from Private Companies.
The first railroad may then take its turn. The player controlling this railroad should send out in one message to all players and the moderator:
Upon receipt and verification of the legality of this move, the director of the next railroad may make his/her move by doing the same thing. Each railroad may play in turn until the operating round is over. In cases where there are multiple operating rounds between stock rounds, the moderator will send out a list containing the order of play for the next operating round.
After the last operating round of the turn, the moderator will issue another summary. This summary will include company and player statuses, a synopsis of what track was played during the preceeding operating round(s) since the last stock round, a list of all tiles currently on the board along with their locations and orientations, and who has the wooden loco for the upcoming stock round.
At this point in the game, continue alternating stock rounds and operating rounds as described in the rules to 1835 and as modified in this addendum.
The board has a coordinate system printed on it. Vertically, the board is addressable by the letters A-P. Horizontally, the board is addressable by the numbers 1-21. Together, these two addressing ranges allow us to uniquely identify any hex on the board. It is easy to figure which row the letters refer to. However, I found the numbers a bit confusing when I first glanced at them. So, I want to make sure that everyone understands the system that I use.
The letter indicates the row next to which it is printed. The number indicates the column of hexes whose lowermost points are directly above the number itself. That is to say that the München hex is O15, the Berlin hex is E19, and the Hamburg hex is C11.
Since the tiles are hexagonal they may oriented in six different positions. Each tile has a number on it which identifies the type of tile that it is. This number is the orientation point. The following orientations are available and are numbered for convenience:
Train movement is simple. You simply list all of the hexes through which you move in the order in which you move through them.
For example, here's a sample report for Minor #1:
Runs one 2-train H2-I3 (80M) and one "3+3" H4-H2-G3-H4-I3-J4 (140M)
Pays 110M to Paul, 110M to the treasury of the M1
The moderator will keep an eye out for the end of the game (the bank begins the game with 12000M). Should the bank run out of money, the game will end at the end of the current round, according to the game rules (section XVI in my rules.) At the end of the game the moderator will inform all players of the end of the game and will send a final summary showing all players standings in the game. The person with the greatest combination of stock values and cash wins. The amount of money remaining in the bank will be included in the round summaries.
A couple notes on the sample round summaries that follow: I'm planning to take out the Total Worth column, but only if majority approves. Also, as moderator I tend to get swept up in the excitement and send out mid-round mini-summaries.
Sample Share Round Summary 1835
Sample Operating Round Summary 1835
Sample Player Company Operation Mail
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