Age of Steam: North Eastern USA
Thursday, April 21st, 2005I introduced my new 2nd edition copy of Age of Steam to the boys yesterday. There were four of us and we used the original map, as I heard it is the most novice-friendly. We used the beginners’ variant of letting people who run out of money get out of jail by issuing shares at $3 each. We also used Bruno Faidutti’s production variant, as it makes for a slightly kinder game:
the production action is clearly weak. I suggest the following changes: Production : draw four cubes and choose two, that you place where you want on the production grid. In addition, chose the result of one of the dice, before rolling, in the next production phase.
It was a learning game and I crushed the novices. The scores were 70, 42, 42, 38. I wish I had thought about handicapping myself, maybe by giving myself four shares, but only $10, at the start, but it is always easier to think of these things with hindsight.
Despite this, the guys still enjoyed themselves, and I am sure we will play again soon. My previous playings made it so easy to teach. I must try to teach myself rules better before introducing them to the group.
I also bought the England and Ireland maps yesterday from Spielenet for way too much money. It is totally sold out in the UK and I had to have them.
