Game Rules for Irish Gauge

So, you want to learn how to play Irish Gauge? Well, you’ve come to the right place! In this guide, I’ll explain all the rules and strategies you need to know to become a master of this exciting board game.

Irish Gauge is a game that revolves around the fascinating world of railroad companies. In this game, you take on the role of an investor, buying shares in different railway companies and trying to make a profit.

The game is played over a series of rounds, and in each round, players take turns performing actions. These actions include buying shares, developing railway tracks, or initiating a dividend payout for a company. Each action you take will have consequences, so you need to plan your moves carefully.

The heart of Irish Gauge lies in the way railway companies’ stock is auctioned off. At the start of the game, there are five railway companies, each with their own stock. These stocks are auctioned off to the highest bidder, which could be one of the players or an NPC player.

The railway tracks on the board also play a crucial role in the game. As an investor, you can place track tokens on different locations on the board to increase the value of a railway company’s stock. However, you need to be strategic about where you place the tracks, as it can greatly affect your profits.

The game ends when the bank runs out of money or when a certain number of companies’ stocks have been bought up. At the end of the game, the player with the most money wins!

Now, let’s go through a quick summary of the game rules:

1. Each round, players take turns performing actions like buying shares, developing tracks, or initiating dividends.
2. Stocks of railway companies are auctioned off, and players can place track tokens to increase stock value.
3. The game ends when the bank runs out of money or a certain number of stocks have been bought.
4. The player with the most money at the end of the game wins!

Well, that’s the basic rundown of Irish Gauge! Now that you have a good grasp of the rules, it’s time to gather your friends or family and start playing this captivating game. Good luck and have fun!

• When I open my new board game, I’ll find these items inside:
• 1 Game Board
• 16 Share Certificates
• 95 Locomotives
• 5 Railway Dividend disks
• 30 Dividend cubes
• 1 Bag
• 70 Currency cards
• Instructions

Now let’s get set up!

1. To set up the game, start by putting the Game Board in the center of the table.
2. Next, separate the Share Certificates and organize them by color, with the highest-valued Certificate at the bottom and the lowest-valued Certificate at the top.
3. Place the Share Certificates next to their corresponding spots on the board.
4. Then, put the matching Locomotives next to their corresponding Share Certificates.
5. Take the 5 Railway Dividend disks and place them next to the Dividends Per Share box.
6. In order to create the Dividend cubes, you will need 12 cubes in total, with 4 of each color. Put these cubes into a bag.
7. Now, randomly select 1 Dividend cube from the bag and place it on each City on the board.
8. The remaining 18 Dividend cubes should be added to the bag, along with the 4 cubes already in there.
9. Finally, place the starting Railways in the corresponding Cities:

Hey there! Let’s talk about an exciting game called Railroads.

In Railroads, you have the chance to be a railway tycoon and build your own transportation empire. The game is played on a board divided into different regions in Ireland. Your goal is to acquire shares in different railroad companies and make them thrive.

Here’s what you need to know to get started:

1. Place a yellow CBSC Locomotive in Cork.
2. Place a purple WLW Locomotive in Limerick.
3. Place an orange BCD Locomotive in Belfast.
4. Place a blue GSW Locomotive in Dublin.
5. Place a red MGW Locomotive in Dublin.

Now that you have set the stage, let’s talk about the initial auction. It’s an exciting part of the game where players bid on the Share Certificates.

Here’s how it works:

1. Give each player ?20. Place remaining Currency cards next to the board and in reach of players.
2. Randomly select a starting player. They will make the first bid on the first Share in the initial auction.

The initial Shares are auctioned off in the following order: yellow CBSC, purple WLW, orange BCD, blue GSW, and then red MGW.

Starting with the starting player, players take turns bidding on the Share up for auction. The minimum bid is the large printed value on the Share Certificate.

And there you have it! You are now ready to embark on your railroad adventure in Railroads. Get ready to strategize, outbid your opponents, and become the ultimate railway tycoon!

When a player decides not to bid or chooses to pass, they cannot join the bidding again. Once all other players have passed, the person who made the highest bid pays that amount to the bank, takes the Share, and becomes the first bidder for the next Share.

If the first bidder passes and everyone else at the table also passes, the first bidder gets the Share for free.

Once the initial auction for each Railway’s Share is done, the player who owns the CBSC Share Certificate takes the first turn.

Game Play

When playing the game, we take turns until the game is finished.

During your turn, you have four options to choose from:

1. Auction a Share
2. Place Railway Track
3. Place a Special Interest
4. Call for Dividends.

After you take your action, if the game is not over, it moves on to the player on your left.

1. Auction a Share

Here, you get to select one of the available Share Certificates and start an auction. You are the first to make a bid.

The opening bid must be equal to or greater than the minimum value printed on the certificate. Bidding continues in a clockwise direction. Once a player drops out of the bidding, they can’t enter again. The winning bidder pays the bank the amount they bid.

2. Place Railway Track

If you own at least one Share of the Railway and the Railway has at least one unused Locomotive, you have the option to place track. You have 3 Build points to use when building.

You don’t have to use all 3 Build points, but you must use at least 1. The Build points cannot be carried over to the next turn and cannot be used by another Railway.

When you place a Locomotive in a hex, it indicates that the Railway has track in that hex. The Locomotive you place must connect back to the starting hex of the Railway using Locomotives of the same color. Only one Locomotive of a Railway is allowed in a hex.

To place a Locomotive in a hex, you need to spend Build points depending on the type of hex.

There are 3 types of hexes:

You see, there’s this cool thing called hexes. They’re like these little shapes on a map, and they come in different colors to show you different things. It’s kind of like a secret code, but I’m here to help break it down for you.

So, let’s start with the light green hexes. These ones are easy. They’re like the green light on a traffic signal, telling you it’s safe to go. In this case, the light green hexes mean that it’s easy to do something in that area. It’s like a little boost of confidence, making things feel simple and breezy.

Now, on the other hand, we have the dark green hexes. These ones are a bit trickier. They’re like the red light on a traffic signal, cautioning you to slow down. The dark green hexes are difficult, which means you might face some challenges in those areas. But hey, don’t worry! Difficult doesn’t mean impossible. It just means you might need to put in a little extra effort.

And finally, we come to the urban hexes. These ones have a blue outline, kind of like a fancy frame. Urban hexes are all about the city life, showing you where the hustle and bustle happens. They’re like a little reminder that there’s a whole world out there, full of buildings and people and excitement.

So, there you have it! Hexes are these cool little shapes that tell you something about a map. Light green hexes are easy, dark green hexes are difficult, and urban hexes show you the city. It’s like having a secret map key, just for you. Now you’re all set to take on the hexes!

Towns are like little puzzle pieces of the urban landscape. They don’t have anything special in them, just there to fill up the space.

Cities, on the other hand, are the exciting urban spots! They have a little something extra – a Special Interest cube. These cubes make cities pop!

But wait, there’s more! Let’s talk about build point cost.

• An empty easy hex just costs 1 build point, it’s a piece of cake.
• If an easy hex already has another railway, it bumps up the cost to 1.5 build points.
• An empty urban hex also costs 1 build point, it’s no sweat.
• If an urban hex has another railway, it’s 1.5 build points too.
• But watch out for those difficult hexes! They are the toughest of all and cost a whopping 5 build points!

Important Note: Only one railway can occupy a difficult hex. It’s a rule, we have to play fair!

Let’s talk about dividends now, shall we?

When railways connect all three major cities – Belfast, Dublin, and Galway – something special happens. It’s like hitting the jackpot! A special dividend is immediately paid out.

If you own a share of that railway, you’re in for a treat. You get to split ?12 among the shareholders. Just divide ?12 by the number of shares owned by players (rounding up) and pay out that amount to each shareholder for each share they own.

3. Last but not least, let’s put a special interest in place

When I’m building a city, one of the first things I do is place a Special Interest in a Town. But it’s not just any Town – it has to be connected to a Railway where I own at least one Share. This is where the fun begins!

Before I make my move, I reach into the bag of Dividend cubes and carefully select one. It’s not a random draw – I want to make sure I pick the right cube for my strategy.

Once I’ve chosen my cube, I place it on the white square in the hex where the Town is located. This marks my Special Interest and sets the stage for what’s to come.

Now, here’s something interesting. If the last Dividend cube is drawn from the bag and placed on the board, the game ends. It’s a race against time to see who can build their city the fastest!

Oh, and one more thing. During the game, any player can take a peek into the bag and see what Dividend cubes are left. It’s a way to keep an eye on the competition and plan my next move.

4. Call for Dividends

When it’s time to call for dividends, I reach into the bag and blindly draw three cubes. Well, almost blindly – I can’t resist stealing a quick glance to see what I’ve got!

Then, I place the drawn cubes in the next available row of the Drawn Dividend cubes display on the Game Board. It doesn’t matter what order they go in – as long as they’re all there.

The cubes that have been picked decide which cities will pay dividends this turn. A city will only pay if one of the three cubes matches the color of the Special Interest cube in that city. If multiple cubes of the same color are drawn, the payouts won’t happen more than once.

The income and dividends for each railway are determined and paid starting from the leftmost (CBSC) and going to the right (WLW, BCD, GSW, and MGW).

Sometimes a railway won’t generate any income or pay any dividends.

To generate income and pay dividends to shareholders:

– The railway must connect to a city that pays and a town, OR

– The railway must connect to two cities that pay.

If the railway meets one or both of these requirements, it generates income:

– Each city that pays generates ?4.

In this game, called Railway Tycoon, each Town generates ?2 in income. But it gets even better! If there are any connected Cities that are paying, they also generate income for you. To figure out how much money each Shareholder gets, you add up the income generated by the connected Towns and Cities, and then divide that total by the number of Shares sold. And don’t forget to round up!

To make things easier, whenever a Railway’s Share is purchased or a connection is made to a Town or City, you should place a Railway Dividend disk in the space that matches the intersection between the number of Shares owned and the total value of the connected Towns and Cities. This way, you can keep track of how much income each Shareholder is entitled to.

But here’s the catch: the Railway might not be able to pay out its full amount if the Dividend cubes that are drawn during a Call for Dividends action don’t match the Cities they are connected to. So, it’s important to consider this factor when making decisions.

Railway Tycoon is a game that requires strategic thinking and careful planning. By following these rules and paying attention to the income generated by each Town and City, you can become a successful shareholder in the railway business. Happy playing!

Hey there! Let me explain something cool to you about the Dividend Track. It’s a neat feature in a game, and it can also be used during a Call for Dividends action. So here’s what happens: when players count each paying Town and City, they move the corresponding Railway’s disk forward on the track. And this is pretty important because it helps keep track of everything. Isn’t that awesome? I thought you’d like to know!

In the example below, I’ve drawn the White and Pink Dividend cubes, so that means the Black cities won’t pay any Dividends.

The purple Railway gives Dividends of ?16. That’s ?2 for every town it goes through, and ?4 for every Pink or White city. All the shareholders get a share of the Dividends. Each Railway is evaluated in the same way.

Game Over

The game comes to an end when there are no more Dividend cubes left in the bag. As soon as the current player finishes their turn, the game is officially over.

Now it’s time to add up all the cash you have, along with the initial printed value on your Share Certificates. The player with the most money is the winner of the game.