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18MEX

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Chris Shaffer edited this page Aug 27, 2021 · 47 revisions

Table of Contents

General Information
Rules Highlights
Rules Clarifications
Variants and Optional Rules
Implementation Notes
Known Problems

General Information

Rules Highlights

Compare 18MEX to another 18xx game.

There is a Q&A about the differences of 18MEX to "standard" 18xx in Appendix 1 in the rules.

Here are some highlights of rules in 18MEX (with references to the rule book):

  • Players may buy companies from other players (but not minors). Buying a company counts as the player's purchase action, thus they may not purchase a share in the same action. Both players must agree to the transaction. (§3.2.c.4)
  • Two 5% shares of the NdM are reserved for the owners of minors A and B. A 10% share of the UdY is reserved for the owner of minor C. A 10% share of the NdM is reserved for the merger.
  • A corporation that starts its OR with at least one train receives mail revenue equal to the current value of its home city, which is paid to its treasury at the beginning of the OR (before laying track). (§4.3.1)
  • Corporations may lay up to two yellow tiles or one upgrade. (§4.3c)
  • Trains count towns for revenue but not for distance. A route only counts cities and may include any number of towns before, in-between, or after them. (§4.2.3)
  • A 4D trains is like a 4 train that doubles city revenue. Cities may not be skipped. Town revenue is included but not doubled. Note! The 18MEX 4D works like the 18AL 4D, and not like the 18MS 4D. (§4.2.3.1)
  • During Phase 2 and 3 corporations can only buy one train per OR from the bank. (§4.2.5 f)
  • 4 trains are phased out, not rusted, at the beginning of phase 6½. Phased out trains operate one more time, do not count against the train limit, and may not be purchased by other corporations. (§4.2.5.1)
  • Companies may be purchased by corporations for 50%-150% of face value. (§4.6)
  • The game ends if the bank breaks, a player goes bankrupt, or any corporation's market value reach $200. If the bank breaks or a corporation reaches $200, the game ends following the completion of the current OR, not the set of ORs. (§5)
  • Minors (A, B, C) have some special rules:
    • They are purchased during the initial auction and cannot be sold.
    • They start with a 2 train, and thus can run for revenue in the first OR.
    • They operate in alphabetical order after companies pay revenue and before corporations operate.
    • They can only lay one yellow tile
    • They only have one token
    • They always half pay, with 50% of dividends paid the minor's treasury and 50% to the president
    • They cannot buy or sell trains or companies
    • At the beginning of phase 3½ they are closed, their home tokens are removed from the game (not replaced), their trains (which are printed on their charters) are removed from the game, and their treasury is given to the corresponding corporation (A and B -> NdM, C -> UdY). Their owners receive trade-in shares in compensation (A and B -> 5% NdM, C -> 10% UdY). See §5.2 for details.
  • The NdM has some special rules:
    • Players cannot buy or sell shares until phase 3½, that is until after the minors have closed. (§5.1)
    • There are two 5% shares
      • They are reserved for the owners of minors A and B.
      • They do not count toward the certificate limit, even if a single player owns both.
      • Sales of the 5% shares do not affect the stock price, even if both are sold in a single stock action.
      • Their market value and revenue are equal to half of a 10% NdM share, rounded up to the nearest dollar.
      • If there is a 5% NdM share in the market, it is possible to sell one or more 10% NdM shares and take the 5% NdM share as a partial payment, reducing the amount you receive. This will also decrease the impact of the stock market price for selling. For example: If selling 30% Ndm when Ndm price is $90, if you swap in a 5% NdM share, you will receive $270 - $45 = $225. And the stock price will drop at most two, instead of at most three, as 25% is sold instead of 30%. (§3.2.a.6)
      • If you own a 5% NdM share, and you buy a 10% NdM share from IPO or market, you can swap in your 5% NdM share (to market) and just pay half the price of the 10% NdM share. (§3.2.c.5)
    • Its train limit is one higher than all other corporations. (Table I)
    • It may buy or sell trains only at face value. (§4.3.4d)
    • If it has floated at the start of phase 5, there will be an NdM merge event which might result in one corporation merging into NdM. See §5.3 for details.
      • A 10% share of NdM is reserved for the merger. If no corporation is merged into the NdM, it is available for purchase from the IPO in the following stock round.
      • The US corporations FCP (or PAC) and TEX cannot merge into NdM.
      • The president of the NdM may not merge a corporation they control into the NdM.

Rules Clarifications

  • Note that tile 470 (Copper Canyon) has a short piece of track extending from one side of the town that is shared between two tracks going to different edges of the tile. If one of these tracks is used by a train, the other cannot be used by the same or a different train. The figure below shows an illegal pair of routes (each train is represented by a different color).

Illegal Route

Variants and Optional Rules

Variants and optional rules may be selected when creating a game (with references to the rule book, if appropriate).

Implementation Notes

  • Why can't I sell 5% NdM at the same time as 10% NdM?
    • It is an implementation simplification. But as 5% shares does not affect stock price it should not be a practical problem as you can sell any number of shares. Just remember to sell them in correct order as selling the 10% share(s) might lower the price you get for selling the 5%.
  • How do you upgrade the Mexico City double hex?
    • In the physical game the Mexico City tiles are double hexes printed on a single piece of paper. On 18xx.games when you upgrade the Mexico City or Puebla hex, the other hex in the double hex will automatically be upgraded with the corresponding (same number but different letter) tile.
  • Los Mochos does not have an L label despite there being special green and brown tiles for it?
    • It is upgraded to yellow with a standard yellow city tile. When upgrading to green only the L labeled tile is allowed.
  • Guadalajara has a special brown tile. How it it used?
    • Guadalajara uses standard city tiles for yellow and green. But when upgrading to brown it only allows the G labeled tile. Note! Guadalajara can be upgraded to gray as other normal brown cities that use the brown "spider" tile, even though this does not increase the value of the city.
  • What is tile 470 labeled CC?
    • It is the Copper Canyon tile, and is placed using the Kansas City, Mexico, & Orient Railroad company. Once placed it cannot be upgraded. If another tile is used in hex F5 the Copper Canyon tile cannot be used in the game.
  • How do I place the Copper Canyon?
    • When operating the corporation that own this company, click on the Kansas City, Mexico, & Orient Railroad ability in the top part of the screen (not on the corporation charter), and then lay the tile in the highlighted F5 hex in the preferred orientation. The Copper Canyon does not have to connect to existing track, and the owning corporation does not need to have connection to the tile. If you change your mind you can always click on the ability again to go back to the normal tile lay dialog. The company must be purchased by the corporation prior to the tile laying step. If the corporation buys the Copper Canyon company after it has already laid a tile, the ability will not be available.
  • Is "soft rust" or "hard rust" used?
    • The base rules "soft rust" (phase out) 4 trains. If you want that standard "hard rust" 4 trains add the optional rule for that when creating the game.
  • What about buying/selling companies between players?
    • 18xx.games only allows players to transact companies during the buying player's stock action. If you look below the Player charters you should see available companies to buy. There are no plans to implement company transactions during the selling player's stock action. (Note: As a practical matter, players almost never sell companies to each other.)
  • Where do the specific 18MEX icons come from?
    • They are icons copied from the 18xx-maker project.
  • What does a minor company owned by a player do in case everyone passes during a stock round without purchasing all the private companies?
    • According to the rules an operating round is conducted. The private companies that are owned by players pay revenue, and minor companies that are owned by players operate. In the second and subsequent stock rounds, the players must continue to bid on and purchase private companies, and may not launch corporations or buy/sell shares in corporations until all private companies are in player hands. (Note that if the Mexico City - Acapulco Railroad / P1 has not been purchased, its price is reduced, see rule 3.1.2.) However, this is not fully implemented (see known issues below).

Known Problems

  • If a player owns both 5% shares, the interface presents this as if they owned a single 10% share. The player may still sell one 5% share at a time, but this does not change the stock price.
  • The current implementation does not allow the minor companies to lay track in operating rounds if all private companies have not been purchased. They simply pay 30 revenue (15 to player and 15 to treasury). This is only a problem if there are three operating rounds prior to the purchase of the last private company, as the minor companies are unable to lay track in the first two operating rounds. Issue 5025 has been submitted to fix this problem, which is unlikely to occur during regular play.
  • Open Issues
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