1874 : Company Towns



On a cold winter's morning, on a train bound for nowhere... Cathy and I continued our journey through the late 1800s. The nation's railroads continued to expand westward as three railroad barons waged a war of territory control. As the game progressed, stickers were strategically planted on the cardboard field.

When an event card was drawn that allowed us to trade rainbow locomotives for new company towns, I was the first to claim a new town, followed by Cathy, followed by myself again. Another event allowed Mama O'Connell to claim company towns. This card showed up twice before being discarded from the game at round's end.

The final tally:

Mama O'Connell: 3 Company Towns: Omaha, Detroit, Nashvilles

Cathy: 2 Company Towns: St. Louis, Buffalo

Brock: 3 Company Towns: Chicago, Davenport, Kansas City


My strategy, was to completely block off the western section of the map. Cathy now cannot reach the upper midwest without going through at least one of my company towns, thus paying me a coin to do so.

My strategy paid off. Cathy was forced to pay me one coin to expand westward, which allowed me to win the round by a single dollar.

Other stickers were added to the board as well:

Cathy was the only player this round to claim an expansion route. She placed a blue track between Duluth and St. Paul. As the 2nd place finisher, Cathy was also able to add a new Big City sticker to the map. She chose Mobile, Alabama.

As the winner of the round I was able to choose which territory we expanded into. I chose Florida, which (I was surprised to find) added circus trains into gameplay. 

Next game 1877: Enter the Circus


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