1858: The Railways of Iberia Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Contents
• 2 The Map
• 3 The Stock Market
• 4 Corporate Entities
  • 4.1 Private Companies
  • 4.2 Public Companies
• 5 Company Closure
• 6 Setting Up the Game
• 7 Overview
• 8 Stock Rounds
  • 8.1 Selling Stock
  • 8.2 Buying Stock
  • 8.3 First Stock Round
  • 8.4 Ending the Stock Round
• 9 Operating Rounds
  • 9.1 Routes
  • 9.2 Track Gauges
  • 9.3 Lay or Upgrade Track
  • 9.4 Place Station Marker
  • 9.5 Run Trains
  • 9.6 Distribute Earnings
  • 9.7 Close Private Companies
  • 9.8 Purchase Trains
  • 9.9 Redeem and Issue Stock
  • 9.10 Phases
• 10 Private Closure Round
• 11 Ending the Game
• 12 Etiquette
• 13 Design Notes

Game Contents

• 1 Map
• 1 Stock Market/Revenue Track
• 1 Initial Offering/Bank Pool
• 22 Private Companies
• 8 Public Company Charters
• 72 Public Company Share Certificates
• 280 Tiles
• 36 Trains
• 1 Priority Deal Card
• 41 Tokens (5 per Public Company and 1 Round Marker)
• 6 Player Order Cards (Numbered 1-6)
• These rules
• A Bank of P12,000 must be supplied by the players

2 The Map

The map shows most of Iberia (Spain and Portugal). A hex grid is superimposed on the map to regularise track laying. Coordinates are printed on the edges for reference purposes and postal play. Large circles and solid black dots represent large and small cities respectively. A red "off-board area" represents France and ports are designated with an anchor symbol. Provincial boundaries are shown with dashed orange lines.

3 The Stock Market

The stock market records the current value of Public Companies, by the position of the Company's stock price marker on the stock market. For a Public Company, the Stock price is the value of each share in the Company.

4 Corporate Entities

There are two classes of corporate entities, called Private Companies and Public Companies. They are described separately in the following sections.

4.1 Private Companies

The game includes several Private Companies which are listed below. The first set of companies is available at the beginning of the game and the second set is available when the game is in Phase 3 or later.

Private Companies Available at the Beginning of the Game

No	Name	Min. Bid	Face Value	Income	Home Cities
1	Havana & Guines	30	30	10	None
2	Barcelona & Mataro	90	115	23/35	Barcelona
3	Madrid & Aranjuez	100	125	25/38	Madrid (E)
4	Porto & Lisbon	90	110	22/33	Porto

Private Companies Available From Phase 3

No	Name	Min. Bid	Face Value	Income	Home Cities
18	Santiago & Corunna	100	100	30	Corunna
19	Medina & Salamanca	90	90	27	None
20	Caceres, Madrid, & Portugal	165	135	40	Madrid (W)
21	Orense & Vigo	110	110	33	Vigo

These companies are each represented by a single certificate and, after being auctioned, are completely owned by a single player or a Public Company. The Private Companies pay a fixed income, printed on the certificate, to their owner. If two numbers are printed, the first (lower) number applies in Phase 2 and the second (higher) number in later phases. If owned by a player, the income is paid at the start of each Operating Round; if owned by a Company, the income is added to the Company's revenue. If owned by a player, the certificate counts towards the number of certificates owned by that player. Private Companies may not be bought or sold. All are closed at the end of the Operating Round in which Phase 5 begins. All hexes shown on the map as associated with a Private Company are its "home hexes". These are reserved and free to build for the Private Company.

4.2 Public Companies

There are up to eight Public Companies in the game. They all function identically. Public Companies have five or ten shares. Each has a Director's Certificate, worth two shares (40% or 20%), and eight ordinary certificates each worth one share (20% or 10%). The Director is the player with the Director's Certificate. This player owns at least as many of the Company's shares as any other player. If another player owns more than the current Director, he swaps two of his ordinary certificates for the Director's Certificate. The Director makes all decisions on behalf of the Public Company. Note: the Public Company's charter is not a share certificate; it is merely a convenient place to put the Company's assets.

If a Public Company is closed, it is available to be restarted later in the game.

5 Company Closure

If a Company's stock price marker falls below P50, the Company is closed and its shareholders receive no compensation. Trains owned by the Company are placed in the Bank Pool. Its share certificates are returned to the marked board spaces and the stock price marker and station markers are removed from the board and placed nearby.

Remaining Private Companies are closed at the end of the Operating Round during which the first 5E/4M train was bought. See section 10, Private Closure Round, for details.

6 Setting Up the Game

Lay the map board and stock market open on the table near the players. Place the share certificates and trains on the indicated board spaces. Each pile of share certificates should be arranged with the Director's Certificate on top. Place the money, sorted by denomination, and the track tiles, sorted into type, by the board. The Bank size is P12,000. At the start of the game, only the yellow track tiles will be used, but the other tiles should be available for inspection. Place the station markers and the stock price marker for each Company by the board near the share certificates. Place the Company charters nearby. Place the Round Marker on the space marked "SR" for Stock Round. Each player should have enough room for two or three company charters, about sixteen certificates, and a pile of money. Many players will find writing materials and a calculator useful.

Appoint a player (or players) as Banker, who will bear responsibility for conducting transactions with the Bank. Distribute the starting capital (P500 for three players, P375 for four players, P300 for five players, and P250 for six players) to each player.

Give one of the Place Cards (numbered 1 to 6) to each player at random or by mutual agreement; the players should then sit clockwise around the table in numerical order. The player with the lowest numbered Place Card takes the Priority Deal Card. The Place Cards have no further use in the game. The game starts with the First Stock Round (see section 8.3, First Stock Round).

The certificate limit is the maximum number of share certificates which a player may own. Each Private Company and Public Company share certificate counts toward this total. The Director's Certificate of a Public Company only counts as one certificate.

7 Overview

The game proceeds in a series of alternating Stock Rounds and pairs of Operating Rounds, beginning with a Stock Round. During Stock Rounds, players may auction Private Companies, start Public Companies, exchange Private Companies for shares in Public Companies, and buy and sell shares in the Public Companies. During Operating Rounds, Private Companies earn revenues and lay track, and the Public Companies lay track, place station markers, operate trains to earn revenues, purchase more trains, and issue/redeem stock.

The game starts in Phase 2, reflecting the fact that the first train is a Type 2H. The game proceeds through Phases 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 as new types of trains are purchased. See sections 9.8, Purchase Trains, and 9.10, Phases, for details.

8 Stock Rounds

A Stock Round consists of a series of turns, starting with the holder of Priority Deal Card and proceeding clockwise. The game begins with an auction of the Private Companies available at the start.

In each Stock Round thereafter, each turn the player may take any number of the following "sell" actions:

• Sell certificates
• Exchange Private Companies for shares in Public Companies
• Convert 5-share Public Companies to 10-share Public Companies

The player may then perform one "buy" action:

• Buy one certificate of a Public Company
• Start a Public Company
• Auction a Private Company

A player performing no "buy" or "sell" action on their turn is deemed to "pass." The Stock Round ends only when all players pass consecutively. Thus, a player who takes any action in a given turn is guaranteed another turn in the current Stock Round. Except for exchanges of Director's Certificates, all stock transfers in a Stock Round are performed between a player and either the Bank or a Public Company. Players may never buy stock directly from one another.

A player at certificate limit may not buy stock or offer a Private Company for auction.

8.1 Selling Stock

To sell stock, the player transfers any number of share certificates from his holdings into the Bank Pool, subject to the following constraints:

• Private Companies may never be sold
• Shares in a Public Company which has not yet completed a turn in an Operating Round may not be sold
• There may never be more than 50 percent of the shares of any Public Company in the Bank Pool
• Director's Certificates may never end up in the Bank Pool

The player receives from the Bank the current Stock price for each share sold. If as a result of selling shares, the holding of a Public Company Director drops below that of another player (who must own at least two shares of the Public Company) that other player becomes the new Director. If there is more than one eligible player, the new Director is the player with the largest holding, or, in the case of a tie, the tying player closest to the left of the outgoing Director. The outgoing Director exchanges his Director's Certificate for two ordinary shares of the affected Company belonging to the new Director. This exchange is conducted before resolving the rest of the sale.

If the Director (the outgoing Director, if there is a change during the turn) sells shares, the Company's stock price drops one space on the stock market. If any player other than the Director sells shares in a Public Company, the stock price does not move. If the stock price marker moves to a space on the stock market which is already occupied by other stock price markers, it is placed at the bottom of the pile. The player receives the original stock price for each of the shares sold. If the player sells shares in more than one Company of which he is Director in a single turn, he chooses which order to sell them; this will decide the order of Companies whose stock price markers drop to the same space.

As a sell action, a player may exchange a Private Company for a Treasury share in a Public Company, provided the Director gives permission and it is connected. Specifically, the Public Company must be able to trace a route from one of its station markers to a home hex of the Private Company, or have a station marker located on a home hex. The player takes a share and the Public Company takes the Private Company into its Treasury. The Public Company may immediately place a station marker in a home hex of the Private Company, free of charge; the Company must have a spare station marker available and there must be space on the tile; in this situation, the Public Company does not need to be connected to the Private Company's home hex to place a station marker there. Since this exchange counts as a sell action, a player may perform it as many times as he wishes in his Stock Round turn. A player may not go over the 60 percent holding limit in a company by this means.

Any player who exceeds his certificate limit must sell stock as soon as possible, so that he is no longer exceeding the limit.

During a player's Stock Round turn, he may convert any or all of his 5-share Public Companies to 10-share Public Companies. Simply turn over the five face-down certificates on the relevant Company charter. Ordinary certificates now represent 10 percent of the Company; the Director's Certificate now represents 20 percent.

8.2 Buying Stock

To buy stock, the player whose turn it is transfers one 10%, or 20% certificate from the Public Company's Treasury or the Bank Pool into his own holdings. The Director's Certificate of the Public Company must be owned by a player. The purchasing player must not already own 60 percent or more of that Public Company's stock, and may not have sold stock in that Public Company earlier in the same Stock Round. Only one certificate may be bought per Stock Round turn. If the certificate comes from the Bank Pool, its price is paid to the Bank. If the certificate comes from the Public Company's Treasury, its price is paid to the Public Company. In all cases, the price for the certificate is the current stock price. Buying stock does not cause the current stock price to change. If, as a result of a share purchase, the player's holding exceeds that of the current Director, he becomes the new Director, exchanging the Director's Certificate for two single shares of his own.

Prior to Phase 5, instead of buying a certificate, the active player may elect to offer a new Private Company for auction. To do this, he nominates one of the unsold Private Companies and bids a multiple of P5, at least equal to the Minimum Bid printed on the card. In clockwise order around the table, players may raise the bid in multiples of P5 or pass. A player may not bid more than his cash holdings. Once a bid has been made on a Private Company, a player who passes may not rejoin the bidding on that Private Company. When only one player is left in the bidding, he wins the auction. The winning bid is paid to the Bank. After an auction, the next turn in the Stock Round is taken by the player clockwise from the player who initiated the auction.

Prior to Phase 5, players may only start new Public Companies by exchanging a Private Company. To do this, they place an unopened Public Company's stock price marker on the space on the stock market corresponding to the face value of the Private Company (rounded down). If the selected space is already occupied, the new stock price marker goes to the bottom of the pile. The cost is this initial stock price, paid into the Company Treasury. Also place the Private Company in the Company Treasury. The player receives the Director's Certificate and the remaining shares are placed in the Company Treasury. The Company must start as a 5-share company; place five of the shares face-down in the Treasury to denote this. The player puts one station marker of the Company in one of the home hex cities of the Private Company. There must be a space on a tile for the station marker. If there is no space, the Company must start in a different space or the start is not allowed.

From Phase 5 onward, players may start a Public Company by purchasing the Director's Certificate by first setting its initial stock price by placing its stock price marker on any one of the red outlined spaces on the stock market (P70 to P150). If the selected space is already occupied, the new stock price marker goes to the bottom of the pile. The cost is twice the initial stock price, paid into the Company Treasury. The Company must have enough money to pay for the station marker or the Company may not be started. The remaining shares are placed in the Company Treasury. The player puts one station marker of the Company on any unoccupied city circle on the map, and the Company immediately pays two times the current value of the city to the Bank (a hex without a tile or pre-printed city value is free). The Company must start as a 10-share company.

8.3 First Stock Round

At the start of the first Stock Round, the initial Private Companies are auctioned until all players consecutively pass. The minimum bid for each private company is printed on the card. The winner of the auction pays the amount to the Bank. Public Companies may not be started in the first Stock Round.

8.4 Ending the Stock Round

The Stock Round ends when all players pass consecutively. The Round Marker is moved to the first Operating Round space. Unlike in many other 18xx games, nothing special happens when a Public Company is fully sold. At the end of a Stock Round, the Priority Deal card is given to the player to the left of the last player to take a buy or sell action in the Stock Round; if there were no transactions in the Round the Priority Deal card does not move.

9 Operating Rounds

There are two Operating Rounds between Stock Rounds. In each Operating Round, every Private Company and started Public Company operates once. The player-owned Private Companies operate first, in numerical order, by paying their incomes to their owners and laying track. They are followed by the Public Companies, in descending order of stock price. If the stock price markers of two or more Public Companies are on the same space on the stock market, the one on top operates first. When a Public Company operates, it performs the following activities. Most are optional, but if done they must occur in this order.

• Optionally lay or upgrade one or two track tiles
• Optionally place one station marker
• Run train(s), if any, to establish earnings (including Private income)
• Distribute earnings, if any
• Close Privates
• Optionally buy train(s)
• Optionally redeem or issue shares

These activities are described in this section. All decisions made on behalf of the Company are made solely by its Director.

At the end of each Operating Round, the Round Marker is moved, following the arrows, to the next space.

9.1 Routes

Many of the activities of Companies revolve around routes, an important concept which deserves its own section. A route of a Company is a continuous broad or narrow-gauge track segment, including on it at least one city with a station marker on it belonging to the Company, or in the case of a Private Company, including at least one home hex. It may not reach or pass through any small or large city, port, or France more than once. It may not use the same track segment more than once, except for the junctions at the centres of four-way and five-way brown and grey plain track tiles. It may not pass through any city completely filled with station markers belonging to other Companies. If a route visits a port or France, it must terminate there.

For cities which have two or more separate disconnected spaces, such as Madrid in yellow, a route may not include both spaces.

9.2 Track Gauges

There are three gauges of track available in the game: broad-gauge (solid black line), metre-gauge (alternate black and white), and dual-gauge (white line bordered with black) which is considered in all respects as both broad and metre gauge. M-trains may only run on metre-gauge or dual-gauge track. Other trains may only run on broad gauge or dual-gauge track. When tracing a route, a Company may only change gauge at a city in which it has a station marker. Metre-gauge track is not available until Phase 3.

9.3 Lay or Upgrade Track

The active Company may, per Operating turn, lay a yellow tile or upgrade one yellow, green, or brown tile or map hex to green, brown, or grey respectively when available. For an additional fee of P20, a Company may do another tile operation in a different hex; both operations may be an upgrade. If the new track on either of the two hexes is entirely metre-gauge then the additional fee is only P10. Green tiles are available from Phase 3, brown from Phase 5, and grey from Phase 7. The supplied quantity of yellow track tiles (of all types) is intended to be sufficient for most games; if it runs out, more should be constructed. The tile mix of all other track is intended to limit play. If a vital tile is in play, then it must first be upgraded in order to free it.

When laying a yellow tile, it must be placed on and aligned with one of the pale green hexes on the map.

While there is no track in a Private Company's home hex, a Company may lay any suitable tile there following the normal building rules. Private Companies may not lay a tile anywhere else until a tile has been placed in at least one of their home hexes; note that preprinted track automatically fulfils this restriction. Otherwise, the track on the tile must form part of a route of the Company. Track laid may not run off the hex grid or into the blank side of a red, blue, or grey hex, nor may it run into an impassable hex-side shown by a thick blue line. If the map hex is marked with a large open circle, representing a large city, then so must the tile; if the map hex is also marked with a Y or B then so must the tile. If the map hex is marked with a dot representing a small city, then a tile with a bar must be used. If the hex contains two dots representing two small cities, a tile with two bars must be used; if this tile has two separate track sections, only one needs to form part of a route of the Company. If the map hex does not contain a dot or open circle, then plain track (i.e. track without a city) must be used.

If the hex is labelled with a sum of money, representing difficult terrain, the Company must immediately pay that sum to the Bank. Terrain costs are halved when placing metre-gauge track. If the Company does not have sufficient funds, the Director may contribute cash from hand.

A Private Company does not pay terrain costs for its home hexes, but its player-owner must pay for any other terrain costs and extra builds. A Public Company must pay for terrain costs, even if it owns the relevant Private Company. Only one of the indicated Private Companies may lay yellow track on a home hex of a Private Company until it closes, unless the Public Company owns the relevant Private Company. Private Companies may lay track outside their home hexes, provided they can trace a route from a home hex. Private Companies may not upgrade track. Private Companies placing track in home hexes have to align the track to connect to the other home hexes of Privates shown in that hex.

Examples:

1. The C&S, laying a tile in F17, must lay a #8 tile pointing towards Seville and Cordoba.
2. The M&V, laying a tile in Valladolid (G8), must point one prong south towards G10, but the other prong could point in any other direction.
3. The M&S, laying in Salamanca (F9), may lay any appropriate tile in any orientation.

When upgrading track, the old tile is removed (and is available for reuse) and the new one is substituted. Plain track, small city, normal city, and B/L/M/Y city tiles must be replaced with corresponding tiles. Track segments on the old tile must be represented, in the same orientations, on the new tile. New track on the tile may not run off the hex grid or into the blank side of a blue, red, or grey hex, nor may it run into an impassable hex-side shown by a thick blue line. For plain and small city track upgrades, some part of the track on the new tile which is not on the old one must constitute an extension of a route of the Company. For other city upgrades, at least some part of the track (not necessarily a new part) on the new tile must be part of a route of the Company. If the tile has one or more station markers on it, those are replaced on the new tile. There is no charge for upgrading track in difficult terrain.

The board already contains a number of hexes on which yellow and green track is printed. These hexes should be treated as though a yellow or green tile has been placed there already; yellow tiles may not be built there, but such hexes may be upgraded.

Where there is a choice of city upgrade available, the one with the most exits which are legal must be laid.

The brown P tile is reserved for Porto (B9).

9.4 Place Station Marker

A Public Company may place one of its station markers each Operating Round on a vacant large city space which is part of a route of the Public Company. No more than one station marker of any Public Company may be placed in any hex. Once placed, station markers may never be moved. Each Public Company has three station markers. Those placed during formation are free (exception: see section 8.2, Buying Stock).

Prior to the Private Closure Round, one city space on each Private Company's home hex is reserved for that Private Company. Public Companies must leave a space free if that Private Company has not yet closed. If the space has two Private Companies shown on it (e.g. Seville), then one space per Private Company is reserved. However, if the Public Company owns the relevant Private Company, it may ignore the restrictions and place a station marker in the reserved space.

The cost of placing a station marker is determined by the new station marker's distance from one of the Company's existing station markers. The cost is P40 per provincial boundary crossed or P20 if the Company already has a station marker in that province. The cost is determined from the nearest station marker, in provinces, irrespective of the route involved. For example, the MZA has one station marker in Madrid (H11) and wishes to place its second station marker in Barcelona; the cost would be P80.

9.5 Run Trains

If the Company has one or more trains, it runs them to establish earnings. Each train runs on a separate route; these routes may not share any track segments, but they may meet or cross at cities, ports, or red off-board hexes. The value of a route is normally equal to the sum of the values of the cities, ports, or red off-board hexes it passes through or reaches. Skipped cities do not count. The value of a city or port is the number printed in the small circle, and ranges from P10 to P100. The value of France is one of the numbers printed in the rectangle; the lowest value in Phase 2, the second value in Phases 3 and 4, the third value in Phases 5 and 6, and the highest value in Phase 7 (see section 9.10, Phases). The earnings of a Company are the sum of the values of the routes run by its trains, plus the printed income from all its owned Private Companies. The highest legal earnings announced by any player must be declared, but players are not obliged to announce earnings higher than those declared by the Director.

There are four different types of train available:

a) H-trains (2H, 4H, and 6H) run up to the distance given by the indicated number of hexes on broad-gauge or dual-gauge track. The number also indicates how many hex-sides the train may cross. All cities, ports, and France count towards the value of the run.

b) M-trains (2M, 3M, 4M, 5M, and 6M) run up to the indicated number of large cities, ports, or France on metre-gauge or dual-gauge track. All small cities count towards the value of the run but not the number of the train. The route may start and/or end at small cities.

c) E-trains (5E, 6E, and 7E) run up to the indicated number of large cities, ports, or France on broad-gauge or dual-gauge track. Intermediate small cities must be skipped; large cities may not.

d) D-trains (5D) run the same as E-trains, and double the value of the run.

Wounded trains run as normal except the value of the run is halved.

9.6 Distribute Earnings

A Public Company may keep all of its earnings, pay its earnings in full, or pay half. When paying in full, divide the earnings by the number of shares (five or ten), round down to the nearest whole number and pay that much per share to the shareholders; the remainder goes to the Company. When paying half, halve the earnings before dividing them amongst the shareholders; the full remainder goes to the Company. Payments for shares in the Public Company's Treasury go to the Company, while payments for shares in the Bank Pool are lost. If the Public Company keeps all of its earnings, or if the earnings are zero, its stock price marker is moved one space left on the stock market. If ten times the dividend per share equals or exceeds the current stock price (even when it is a five-share company), the stock price marker is moved one space right (unless already at the maximum price). In any case, if the stock price marker moves to a space which is already occupied, the stock price marker goes to the bottom of the pile; if the stock price marker does not move to a new space, it retains its position relative to the other stock price markers in the same space.

9.7 Close Private Companies

All Private Companies owned by the Public Company now close and are removed from the game. The Company receives the face value of each from the Bank into its Treasury.

9.8 Purchase Trains

While a Company has fewer trains than the current limit, it may purchase a train. The train may be from another Company, with its Director's consent; the price is any amount, at least P1 and not exceeding the active Company's Treasury. The train may be any from the Bank Pool, or the next new train in the Bank (or, in Phase 7, a 5D); the price paid must be the face value. The Company may buy multiple trains each Operating Round if it has the room and resources, but the effects of each train purchase apply immediately after each is bought. A Company currently below its train limit may purchase a train even if this triggers a Phase change which causes the Company to be over the limit. Conversely, if the Company currently has as many trains as the current limit, it may not buy a new train even if this would trigger a Phase change to bring it within the limit. If the purchase of a train lowers the train limit, Companies with too many trains discard the excess into the Bank Pool without compensation. If more than one Company has excess trains, they decide which to discard in operating order.

A wounded train counts towards a Company's train limit, but during this phase, the Company may discard wounded trains at will. This would normally be done to make space for a better train, or to make the company have no train. Discarded wounded trains are removed from the game; they do not go into the Bank Pool.

If the Company has no train, it is not obliged to buy one, but if it does not, its stock price marker moves one space left on the stock market. The Company may, if it has no train, use Emergency Money Raising to buy a train from the Bank or Bank Pool as follows:

a) Firstly, the Company may issue shares from its Treasury into the Bank Pool, receiving face value for each share. This reduces the stock price by one space. The Company may not issue more shares than it requires to buy the train it will purchase. Unlike normal share issuing, this may be done on the Company's first operating turn.

b) Secondly, the Director may put in cash from hand. The Director may not sell shares to raise more money.

The Director may not put in more cash than the Company needs to buy the train.

The Company may buy any train from the Bank or Bank Pool it can afford; if it has enough money for the cheapest train it may still raise more money for a more expensive one.

If, after Emergency Money Raising to buy a train, a Company has some money left over it may use this money to buy another train from another Company or the Bank (according to the normal rules). If Emergency Money Raising cannot raise enough to buy a train, no money is raised and the Company does not buy a train.

Train Type	Cost	Number	Phase	Wounded	Rusts
2H	100	6	2	Phase 4	Phase 6
4H/2M	200/100	5	3	Phase 6	Phase 7
6H/3M	300/200	4	4	Phase 7	Fifth Phase 7 train
5E/4M	500/400	3	5	-	-
6E/5M

*Available once the first 7E/6M is bought.

Some trains have a broad-gauge train on one side and a metre-gauge train on the other. When bought from the Bank, the buyer decides which way up the train should go. This decision cannot be changed, even if the train is returned to the Bank Pool.

9.9 Redeem and Issue Stock

A Company may buy back any or all of its own shares from the Bank Pool, placing them in its Company Treasury. It must pay the current stock price for each one.

Alternatively, the Company may issue its own shares into the Bank Pool, receiving the current stock price for each. This reduces the stock price by one space. A Company may not issue shares by this means in its first operating turn.

9.10 Phases

The game starts in Phase 2. During Phase 2:

• Broad gauge yellow track is available
• France counts the lowest value
• 5-share Companies may own up to three trains
• 10-share Companies may own up to four trains
• The first set of Privates (#1-#17) is available
• Private Companies earn the first (lower) income

Phase 3 starts on the purchase of the first 4H/2M train. During Phase 3:

• All yellow and green track is available
• France counts the second value
• 5-share Companies may own up to three trains
• 10-share Companies may own up to four trains
• Private Companies earn the second (higher) income
• The second set of private companies becomes available (#18-#22)

Phase 4 starts on the purchase of the first 6H/3M train. At the start of Phase 4, 2H trains are wounded. During Phase 4:

• Yellow and green track is available
• France counts the second value
• 5-share Companies may own up to two trains
• 10-share Companies may own up to three trains
• Private Companies earn the second (higher) income

Phase 5 starts on the purchase of the first 5E/4M train. At the start of Phase 5, all 5-share Companies must convert to 10-share. During Phase 5:

• Yellow, green and brown track is available
• Companies may own up to two trains
• France counts the third value
• Private Companies earn the second (higher) income
• At the end of the round, Private Companies are closed

Phase 6 starts on the purchase of the first 6E/5M train. At the start of Phase 6, 4H and 3M trains are wounded, and 2H trains are removed from play without compensation. During Phase 6:

• Yellow, green and brown track is available
• Companies may own up to two trains
• France counts the third value

Phase 7 starts on the purchase of the first 7E/6M train. At the start of Phase 7, 6H and 4M trains are wounded, and 4H and 3M trains are removed from play without compensation. During Phase 7:

• Yellow, green, brown, and grey track is available
• Companies may own up to two trains
• France counts the highest value
• 5D trains are available
• Once the fifth Phase 7 train is bought, 6H and 4M trains are removed from play without compensation

10 Private Closure Round

At the end of the Operating Round during which the first 5E/4M train is bought, there is the Private Closure Round.

In numerical order, each player-owned Private Company must either be exchanged for a share in a Public Company, or be exchanged for cash from the Bank. The Public Company must be able to trace a route from one of its station markers to a home hex of the Private Company, or have a station marker located on a home hex to be eligible to exchange for a share. If there is a Treasury share and the Director gives permission, the player receives the Treasury share and the Company receives the face value of the Private in cash from the Bank and may place a station marker in one of the Private Company's home hexes according to the normal rules; in this situation, the Public Company does not need to be connected to the Private Company's home hex to place a station marker there. If there are no Treasury shares, or the Director does not give permission, the Private Company may be exchanged for a share in the Bank Pool (in which case, the Public Company receives nothing). Alternatively, the player receives the face value of the Private in cash from the Bank. In all cases, the Private Company is removed from play.

A player may go over the normal 60 percent holding limit during the Private Closure Round, and is not obliged to sell back down to 60 percent at any point.

Any unsold Private Companies are also removed from play.

11 Ending the Game

The game ends at the next end of an Operating Round after the Bank first runs out of money. That is, if the Bank runs out of money during an Operating Round, the game ends at the end of that round. If the Bank runs out of money during a Stock Round, continue the normal sequence of rounds until one complete Operating Round has been played, and then stop. If the Bank becomes solvent again, the game still ends as described.

Issue players with IOUs from the Bank as necessary.

Each player's total wealth is the value of his stock at current stock prices plus his cash on hand. Private Companies are worth face value. Company assets, including Treasury and trains, count for nothing. The richest player wins.

12 Etiquette

Player, Company and Bank cash is open. Players should attempt to speed play as much as possible. Determining which share to buy, and which tile(s) to lay should preferably be done during other players' turns. The Banker especially should remain awake at all times. All personal and corporate assets are public knowledge and must be disclosed to any player on request. Assets should be kept neatly so that the need for explicit requests is minimised.

13 Design Notes

Railways came late to Spain (and Portugal). This was due to a combination of rugged terrain, a weak economy, and a lack of political desire for change. Apart from a few notable exceptions, very little was built before the mid-1850s, when a more progressive government was elected in Spain. Two important new laws were enacted which encouraged the formation of railway companies and the merchant banks needed to support them. There followed a period of rapid expansion of the rail network. In 1858, the Madrid-Aranjuez reached the coast at Alicante, and the Northern was instituted.

Nearly all early track was built on the 5'6" gauge mandated by Spanish law. In the 1870s, however, noting that little development had occurred in the northwest, the Spanish government passed a new law allowing the construction of narrow gauge lines. This led to Spain having the most extensive network of narrow gauge track in Europe, including the 400-mile route along the north coast.

The usual process of mergers and takeovers led to two very large corporations dominating Spanish railways: the Northern and the MZA. Two other large companies survived to the Civil War: the Andalucian and the Western. Following extensive damage during the War, the Franco regime nationalised the railways in 1941.

Iberia presented a challenge to the designer due to the considerable terrain. The idea of many small companies at the start reflects the sudden explosion which occurred from the mid-1850s; the second group represents the lesser spurt of growth in the 1870s. The rules also attempt to encourage the rapid amalgamation that took place.

Some elements of 18EU may be discerned in the game. The dual gauge nature of the track has been influenced by 1853 and 1849. One of the design targets was to have an 1830-style train mix, without the disadvantages which tend to happen: hence the unusual obsolescence rules.