My dual-fisted Iron Dragon technique
Oct. 2nd, 2006 02:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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Bootstrapping quickly seemed key, more so than in the normal game. I'm used to playing crayon rails where I have no money at all and spend money faster than I can get it, until I've finally built out my rail network; if it's not difficult to get $100 every three turns then your limiting factor is the $20/turn spending limit. The swapping loads mechanic got a little use, though it largely caused me to think more than I needed to. Useful strategy seemed to be to put one train on a boat and build rail out in front of the other train. Verdict: somewhat entertaining, speeds the game up a little, wouldn't go out of my way to do it over other options.
I do think we collectively have figured out some of the less obvious routes in the game, though, and maybe we've outgrown some of the crutches that are standard house rules. Building west from Railla to Iron Holm (arms-and-armor land) is sufficiently valuable that you don't need the "trains go fast" incentive to build it, and once you're there, it's only about $20 more to get to Eaglehawk. There are at least five good routes into Octomare that don't involve alpine mountains (two through the Pirate Isles, three north from Ozu-Zarkh), but the permanent Rainbow Bridge means that there's no incentive to build in the Olde World at all. I also think we've largely figured out when boats are a good idea, such that we do occasionally get hit by a boat-related disaster but still do actually build rail.
(And apparently some quarters have a section of communist rail that connects Piggnytz to its port. Who knew?)