Tips & Strategies (3)
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Empire Express - Tips & Strategies

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Tips & Strategies (3)

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Player 1 Yellow {Avid Gamer}
Sep 7th, 2012| Rule
8 of 8 gamers found this helpful
“A litle too basic?”

When using EE to introduce new players to crayon railroading, we alter the set-up a bit. Now, mind you, the vast majority of people I have taught it to were already “gamers” to some degree, just new to crayon rail games.

1) Teaching non-gamers or kids: use the set-up & start rules in the book (starting delivery cards and initial track build set up based on color).

2) Teaching Gamers: ignore the “initial set-up” rules. Let players start wherever they want to build their 1st track. Random draw of delivery cards. Helps invest them in their starting decisions. They won’t feel hand-held.

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Zealot
Nick {Avid Gamer}
Feb 20th, 2014| Strategy
5 of 5 gamers found this helpful
“Finding a Job”

I’ve found that there are two basic schools of thought when playing a crayon rail game: follow the jobs you draw, basically connecting every city, or choose a section of the board, and try to get jobs in that area.

Personally, I’ve found that staying in a particular region, (e.g., along the East Coast, or in the Midwest) and cycling through cards until I get jobs in that area is the best tactic, especially with the very distinct separation of the South, East and Midwest by the mountains. You may not always be working towards a job, but you aren’t spending money trying to get to a city only to break even, either.

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3
Zealot
Nick {Avid Gamer}
Mar 3rd, 2014| Rule
5 of 5 gamers found this helpful
“Negotiations”

In the game rule book, it states that players can pay to use another players railroad ($4 million each turn). The other day we thought it would be interesting to see how letting each player decide how much to charge, opening up a negotiation aspect to the game.

Unfortunately, it becomes impossible to weigh the risks and benefits of using someone else’s rail when they can change the price based on how important they judge the job to be to you. In short, it led to frustration and overall a longer game. This mechanic is fine the way it is.

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