Rules #27: Age of Steam

Slideshow Review - BGG Listing

A GREAT game - one of my favorites! Newbie games can be 4-5 hours, but much faster after some experience. Has much of the tension of 18xx games (from my one play of 1846) but more streamlined, less fiddly. You are constantly involved - in auctions, in looking to see if someone is going to steal the cube you MUST have, in planning for what you're going to do when your turn comes up. Lots to think about, plenty of tension, and a TON of expansions if you get tired of the basic game!

I spent a good deal of time rambling on about some strategy tips (almost 15min!) at the end. My tips are directed towards AoS newbies. For more advanced discussion, check out krainer's series of articles (starting here: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/29840) -- unlike me, he actually seems to know something about AoS strategy :).

The quick and dirty:

• pick-up-and-deliver
• route-building
• connection
  
• economic: spend money early on to set up a rail network, then use it to earn income
• random setup; dice-rolls at the end of every turn; no other randomness
  
• first game with newbies longish ... then ~2hours
• lots of planning
• lots of pain ... muahahahahaha
  

All pictures are from www.boardgamegeek.com.