Pevans
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Ribblehead ViaductRailway Rivals game 5 – Turn 12 (Game end)Previous turns: Turn 11 Turn 10 Turn 9 Turn 8 Turn 7 Turn 6 Turn 5 Turn 4 Turn 3 Turn 2 Turn 1 Start-up Races
Builds and pointsA – NEW UNIFIED LOCOMOTIVE COMPANY (NULC) – Colin Parfitt (BLACK)
B – PEVANS’S NORTHERN COAL RAILWAY (PNCR) – Paul Evans (RED)
C – LONG AND TORTUROUS RAILWAYS IN NORTHERN ENGLAND (LATRINE) – Steve Bunce (BLUE)
E – CHUFFIN’ RAILWAYS (CR) – Nathan Richards (BROWN)
F – NORTHERN EXPANSION INTO WASTELANDS (NEW) – Gerald Udowiczenko (ORANGE)
Game end statementsColin Parfitt: NULC: 5th "Is that it?" Nathan Richards: Chuffin' Railways: 1st Hmm. Well, it's been a close game. I thought I probably had the best network when racing started so it was a bit of a shock when LATRINE shot off into what seemed an enormous lead. Fortunately (from my point of view), it seems like we managed to peg him back a bit in later rounds. I'm not sure how unlucky I've been in racing terms but, given that Mike noted it in his report for Turn 11, then I presume I must have suffered badly then and am entitled to whinge! However, to offset that, it must be said that I did get the whole of the south of the board to build on when TOOT dropped out. I'm not sure if that actually proved to be a significant advantage as both LATRINE and PNCR rapidly made their way into it. Still, either way, it seems likely that victory is mine! Today the Ribblehead Viaduct, tomorrow the world... or perhaps the Severn Valley at least. Anyway, many thanks to Mike for running the game and chalk me up for the next one. Steve Bunce: LATRINE: 3rd Well done Nathan and to all those who stuck with the game. Thanks to Mike for acting as the GM once again. When I received my map for this game it was hate at first sight. Confusing and trying to cover too much ground in my opinion. This led me to the conclusion that nobody was going to build a line that could deliver many results in solo runs, so I decided to save my points when it came to the extra builds on the racing stages and see what would happen (much to Mike's amazement early on). Basically I was right, joint runs were order of the day and people struggled to get more than a couple of decent runs going on any one turn. And my plan would have worked if Mr. Richards hadn't managed to piece together some sort of cohesive track system. Cheers all! Pevans: PNCR: 2nd Well, that was a better result than I've managed recently - though it was disappointing to be so far behind Nathan. I hoped that starting in the North East away from the others would be an advantage. However, it was just too expensive to connect into the mass of towns in the south. In hindsight, keeping others out of the North East and doing joint runs to the southern towns might have been a better bet. Congratulations to Nathan and many thanks to Mike for running the game. Gerald Udowiczenko: NEW: 4th Congratulations to Nathan of Chuffin' Railways on winning game 5 of Railway Rivals. I'm not sure who will have come second and third, but I must assume it's between Steve & Pevans - unless I had a stormer and one of them forgot to send in orders (and if so why couldn't you have done so earlier and more often?). As with most games of Railways Rivals, I hadn't played the map before, so was a little unsure of the best place to start. I think Pevans probably picked the better starting location (Newcastle) as he had no real direct interference from other players from the start, but as Nathan won and started in Sheffield, I'm not sure that really mattered, as long as people sorted out beforehand where they were heading (co-operation in a Railway Rivals game... whatever next!?!). I think it also helped Nathan that Edward (Toot, Green) only lasted a few turns before dropping out. Perhaps in hindsight I should have headed more to the centre of the map, but I was hoping that having the West Coast would give me an advantage, as no one could get there, but alas that wasn't the case. Whether it was due to the Formula Dé dice that Mike always seems to use for my rolls (and normal dice for everyone else), I was just unlucky that more of my stations weren't exclusive routes for me, or people built where I wanted to go (I'm not naming names, 'cause you were all guilty of it, but those other "Northern Railways" were out to stitch me up from the start I'm sure of it!!), I'm not sure, but all contributed in the end. Many thanks, as always to Mike for running an enjoyable game. I would however ask that there is an independent enquiry into the dice he uses for me, hopefully before the next game starts! TEMPLECOMBE Close but in the end I think that the best network won. NULC put himself out of contention by wandering along the Lancashire coast and not going for a Pennine Crossing early on, and also by letting NEW get closest to the NE monopoly. LATRINE had a good southern network and tried out the theory of not wasting points building to places in the races. He finished third, by half a point, and a little more luck or shared runs might have got him closer. NEW suffered as always because I throw rotten dice for him, as he puts it. Perhaps he could have linked all the way to Newcastle for shared runs to the NE. He did try for a NE monopoly but couldn't run enough runs on his own track to profit from it. PNCR had a good eastern network, but didn't penetrate the Pennines leaving him needing to agree joint runs or pay a lot for running on other people's track. CHUFFIN' RAILWAYS had the best network, from the east and most of the west as well, and won, by a larger margin than I had expected. The map has few cheap routes to cross the Pennines and possession of them or an ally was vital. TOOT's dropping out of the game did block the southern Pennine crossing point, the Woodhead Tunnel. |
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