How serious do you take your hobbies?

[Valka]

Has anyone here played the Mayfair rail games (ie. Empire Builder, Eurorails, Iron Dragon, etc.)?

[Lorizael]

We've got Empire Builder, British, Russian, Euro, and China Rails. Once, we played Megarails, where we tried to combine Empire Builder, Eurorails, and Russian Rails. That was a bad idea...

[Valka]

We've got Empire Builder, British, Russian, Euro, and China Rails. Once, we played Megarails, where we tried to combine Empire Builder, Eurorails, and Russian Rails. That was a bad idea...

I thought of doing something like that, but with all the games we had among us at the time (North Americ Rails, British Rails, Eurorails, Nippon Rails, Australia Rails, and Iron Dragon (like the others, but takes place in a fantasy setting; part of the rail system is underground). The idea never  got beyond vague planning.

I've got India Rails, China Rails, Mars Rails, and Lunar Rails now (never had a chance to play them yet).

Did you make any new house rules?

[Rusty Edge]

You must be thinking of the board game that came out after the computer game, as Thrace had no particular assets that were more spectacular than anyone else's (well, except for land; Crete is stuck for a turn or two before they've got enough population to send anyone across the sea).

I don't see how the original board game can be played solo, as you're constantly attacking other players, making alliances, and there's a trading round where you trade commodities and try to hit your opponents with calamities. That's how I won one game... last turn, someone else was about to win... until I put on my best poker face and slipped him a Civil Disorder card in the trading round. He couldn't recover from that, so I won.

It preceded the computer game, but I may not be remembering it well.  I guess land and a central location. Better chance for growth and contact, perhaps. Well, it was like playing cards with dummy hands, and I don't remember having time to finish a game before I had to put it away.

So it sort of sucked, but at the same time I was fascinated by the mechanics and complexities of it.
I'd never played anything like it. A historical building game.

[gwillybj]

Hobbies are good stress relief so I can get everything else done.