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GMT Games  |  SKU: 1605-21

1846: The Race for the Midwest (Second Printing)

$80.95 CAD
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Description

Designer Thomas Lehmann
Publisher GMT Games
Players 3-5
Playtime 240 mins
Suggested Age 14 and up

1846 is an 18xx game that traces the westward expansion of railways across the Midwestern United States.

As in other 18XX games, the winner is the player with the greatest combined wealth (cash on hand + value of stock held + value of private companies owned) at the end of the game. Play proceeds in a series of stock rounds, each followed by a pair of operating rounds. In stock rounds, players act as investors buying and selling stock in corporations. During operating rounds, corporations will lay track, build stations, run trains for revenue to be paid out as dividends or withheld, and buy trains. The majority shareholder of each corporation acts at its president, making all decisions during operating rounds. Players will continue operating companies, collecting dividends, and reinvesting until the bank breaks.

1846 features several unique elements, such as scaling the number of corporations, private companies, and bank size to the number of players. Additionally, the traditional starting private company auction has been replaced with a private company draft, introducing hidden information and a degree of randomness. Corporations that run a train from the East coast to the West will receive additional revenue. Moreover, virtually all track builds will incur costs, bringing corporate capitalization and long term financing questions to the fore.

Customer Reviews

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Phil Campeau
An all-time favorite for me.

1846 is an interesting beast. It’s an 18xx designed by a man far better known for his euro game designs such as Race For The Galaxy, Favor Of The Pharaoh, and the expansions for Pandemic. His euro design pedigree is on display in this game; everything is streamlined, and many edges are smoothed over. The opening auction is replaced with a draft. Corporations can lay two tiles per operating round. The stock market is incredibly gentle. One would expect a game this streamlined to lack any real punch, maybe good as a learning game, but nothing that veteran players would enjoy. Yet somehow, 1846 manages to pack an incredible level of depth and strategy in its 3-5 hour play time, while still remaining completely accessible to new players.