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Annotated Games: 4 players, version 0.6This game was played during testing of 1988. For testing purposes, the players pursued different strategies.
SetupPlayer assets
Company assets
Bank
First game roundPhase 1, Regional companiesPlayer 1 bids for A-train and player 2 for Svedab. Player 3 buys BK Tåg for 50 Mkr and player 4 buys TÅGAB for 60 Mkr. Player 1 and 2 bid for Connex and player 3 passes, after which player 4 buys Malmbanan for 70 Mkr. Player 1 gets the priority deal and the buy-bid-turns are paused for an auction for Connex. Player 1 raises her bid to 85 Mkr and player 2 passes. A-train and Svedab only have one bid each so there are no more buy-bid turns. Player 1 keeps the priority deal and gets A-train for 90 Mkr and player 2 gets Svedab for 100 Mkr. Player assets
Bank
Second game roundPhase 2, Stock roundPlayer 1 starts Veolia with par value 100 Mkr and buys the president certificate for 2*100 Mkr (225 Mkr left). Player 2 starts Arriva with par value 67 Mkr and buys the president certificate for 2*67 Mkr (366 Mkr left). Player 3 buys the Banverket president certificate for 2*46 Mkr (458 Mkr left). Player 4 buys a Veolia certificate (370 Mkr left). Player 1 buys a second Veolia certificate (125 Mkr left). Player 2 buys a second Arriva certificate (299 Mkr left). Player 3 buys the SJ president certificate for 2*46 Mkr (366 Mkr left). Player 4 buys an Arriva certificate (303 Mkr left). Player 1 buys a third Veolia certificate for 100 Mkr (25 Mkr left). Player 2 buys a third Arriva certificate (232 Mkr left). Player 3 buys a Banverket certificate (320 Mkr left). Player 4 buys a Veolia certificate (203 Mkr left). Player 1 passes. Player 2 buys a Veolia certificate (132 Mkr left) Player 3 buys an SJ certificate (274 Mkr left). Player 4 buys an Arriva certificate (136 Mkr left) and Arriva now floats. Player 1 passes again. Player 2 buys a Banverket certificate (86 Mkr left). Player 3 buys a Veolia certificate (174 Mkr left) and Veolia now floats. Player 4 buys a Banverket certificate (90 Mkr left). Player 1 passes again. Player 2 buys an SJ certificate (40 Mkr left). Player 3 buys an Arriva certificate (107 Mkr left). Player 4 buys an SJ certificate (44 Mkr left). All players now pass and the priority deal goes to player 4. Player assets
Company assets
Bank
Phase 2, Operating roundFirst, the regional companies operate. Player 1 collects 30 Mkr from Connex and 10 Mkr from A-Train (leaving 80 Mkr on it). Player 2 collects 20 Mkr from Svedab (leaving 80 Mkr on it). Player 3 collects 25 Mkr from BK Tåg. Player 4 collects 35 Mkr from TÅGAB and upgrades the track between Narvik and Gällivare, gaining themselves (and Banverket) another 10 Mkr. This increases the Gällivare value to 30, the Banverket cost with 5 and the SJ revenue with 5. Next, the private companies operate. Since they have no trains and can't collect revenue yet, both Arriva and Veolia moves back on the stock market to 65 and 90 respectively. They decide not to do any lobbying, to buy 2-trains (Arriva 3, Veolia 2), and not to do any stock trade. Finally, SJ and Banverket operate. SJ has a revenue of 5 Mkr and collects another 35 Mkr for the three line contracts. Banverket, which received 10 Mkr earlier, collects 95 Mkr for the same, less a cost of 70 Mkr. They both have 40 Mkr in Treasury and pay dividends of 4 Mkr per share, which lowers the share value to 42 Mkr for both. Banverket decides to place a tunnel tile on Namntallhöjden (decreasing its cost with 5 Mkr thanks to the removal of a single track) and increasing SJ's revenue with 10 Mkr thanks to the removal of the 0-city) and SJ decides to place a work tile on Hallandsåsen. The last thing that happens in the operating round is the auctioning of the line contracts. Player 1 and 2 agree not to engage in any bid wars. Player 1/Arriva gets the Västra stambanan line contract for 40 Mkr and the Västkustbanan line contract for 20 Mkr and player 2/Veolia gets the Södra stambanan line contract for 40 Mkr. Changed cities and tracks
Player assets
Company assets
Bank
Third game roundPhase 2, Stock roundPlayer 4 has the priority deal and starts the stock round by buying 1 Arriva share for 67 Mkr. Player 1 passes, as does Player 2. Player 3 buys 1 Veolia share for 100 Mkr. All players pass and Player 4 passes and ends up with the priority deal. Player assets
Company assets
Bank
Phase 2, Operating roundFrom the regional companies, player 1 collects 30 Mkr from Connex and 10 Mkr from A-Train. Player 2 collects another 20 Mkr from Svedab. Player 3 collects 25 Mkr from BK Tåg. Player 4 collects 35 Mkr from TÅGAB and upgrades the track between Gällivare and Boden, increasing the gain from Malmbanan to 20 Mkr for Banverket and themselves. This increases the Boden value to 30 Mkr, the Banverket cost with 5 Mkr and the SJ revenue with 5 Mkr. The private companies now have lines and trains. Veolia has +1 train capacity and runs Stockholm-Norrköping-Linköping-Nässjö-Hässleholm-Malmö (60+20+40+20+20+50). The line fee is 40 Mkr and the revenue of 170 Mkr is paid as dividends, increasing the share value to 100. Arriva runs Stockholm-Katrineholm-Hallsberg (60+20+0), Skövde-Göteborg-Varberg (0+50 and 50+0) and Malmö-Lund+Hallandsåsen (50+20+0). The line fees are 40+20 Mkr and the penalty fees for Hallsberg-Skövde and Varberg-Hallandsåsen are 10+10 Mkr (half for Arriva). The revenue of 170 Mkr is paid as dividends, increasing the share value to 67. Both companies pay 40 Mkr for lobbying. SJ collected 10 Mkr for the penalty fee and another revenue of 20 Mkr. They pay 30 Mkr as dividends and the share value falls again to 34. Banverket also collected 10 Mkr for the penalty fee and another 20 Mkr from Malmbanan and 100 Mkr from contract fees. The cost is 70 Mkr so they pay 60 Mkr as dividends. The share value increases to 50. Banverket and SJ decide to close the Sveg-Mora and Mora-Filipstad tracks. This decreases Banverket's costs with 10 Mkr for the two closed tracks and increases SJ's revenue with 10 Mkr for the now disconnected city of Mora. The private companies then agree to lobby for Mälarbanan, since this will increase the value of several of their cities. Veolia pays 10+20 Mkr for two tracks and Arriva 30 Mkr for a third track to complete Mälarbanan (Karlstad-Hallsberg-Västerås-Stockholm). This opens up Mälarbanan for auction and increases several city values, among them Stockholm to the benefit of A-Train once Arlandabanan is completed. This increases Banverket's cost (+15 Mkr for the 3 Mälarbanan double tracks) and SJ's revenue (+20 for the four upgraded cities along Mälarbanan). The auction of Mälarbanan gets no bidders (since none of the companies wanted to buy the last 2-trains yet) so SJ takes the line contract. Changed cities and tracks
Player assets
Company assets
Bank
Fourth game roundPhase 2, Stock roundPlayer 4 has the priority deal and states her intentions to start Green Cargo and sell Veolia and/or Arriva shares if necessary. She starts by selling a Banverket share for 50 Mkr to raise cash, lowering the share value to 45. Player 1 and 2 buy 1 Arriva share each for 67 Mkr while player 3 sells 1 Banverket share, lowering the share value again to 40 Mkr. Player 4 then proceeds to set the Green Cargo par price to 90 Mkr and pay 180 Mkr for the President certificate. The other players honor their agreement and buy 1 Green Cargo share each, after which player 4 passes. Player 1 and 2 pass while player 3 buys a 2nd Green Cargo share and floats the company. The priority deal returns to player 4. Since the last Arriva share was bought, the share price increases to 71. Player assets
Company assets
Bank
Phase 2, Operating round 1From the regional companies, player 1 collects 35 Mkr from Connex and 10 Mkr from A-Train. The A-train amount is now less than the Stockholm value so the Arlandabanan tile is laid. Player 2 collects another 20 Mkr from Svedab. The Svedab amount is now less than the Malmö value so the Öresundsbron tile is laid. Player 3 collects 25 Mkr from BK Tåg. Player 4 only collects 25 Mkr from TÅGAB, since Mora was disconnected and Mälarbanan turned Västerås into a 20-city, and upgrades the track between Boden and Luleå, increasing the gain from Malmbanan to 30 Mkr for Banverket and themselves. This increases the Boden value to 30, the Banverket cost with 5 and the SJ revenue with 5. Veolia runs Stockholm-Norrköping-Linköping-Nässjö-Hässleholm-Malmö as before but with more money for Stockholm (70+20+40+20+20+50) and less fee thanks to the contacts (40-30=10 Mkr). The revenue of 210 Mkr is paid as dividends, increasing the share value to 112. Veolia pays another 30 Mkr for lobbying. Green Cargo has no trains yet but buys the last 2-train for 80 Mkr and the first 3-train for 180 Mkr. This triggers the start of phase 3. Since green tiles may now be bought, Green Cargo lobbies for 30 Mkr, hoping to get Botniabanan completed. Arriva runs Stockholm-Katrineholm-Hallsberg (70+20+0), Skövde-Göteborg-Varberg (0+50 and 50+0) and Malmö-Lund+Hallandsåsen (50+20+0). Thanks to the contacts, the line fee is only 60-20 Mkr and the penalty fees for Hallsberg-Skövde and Varberg-Hallandsåsen are 10+10 Mkr (half for Arriva). The revenue of 210 Mkr is paid as dividends, increasing the share value to 76. Arriva lobbies for 30 Mkr and buys a 3-train. SJ collects 10 Mkr from the penalty fee and another 25 Mkr for Mälarbanan in addition to the revenue of 50 Mkr. They pay 80 Mkr as dividends (keeping the odd 5 Mkr) and the share value increases to 42. Banverket collects 10 Mkr from the penalty fee, 30 Mkr from Malmbanan, 40 Mkr from Mälarbanan and 100 Mkr from line fees. The cost is 80 Mkr, leaving 100 Mkr for dividends. The share value increases to 50. As shareholders in Green Cargo, player 3 and 4 are interested in Northern development so player 3 takes advantage of her Banverket presidency to lay a double track on Mittbanan's first track, Umeå-Sundsvall. The Veolia president, player 1, is less interested in this and refrains from lobbying but the Green Cargo president, player 4, spends 10+20 Mkr to extend the line via Sundsvall-Ånge-Östersund. Arriva's president, player 2, feels blackmailed but since it is in their interest to complete Hallandsåstunneln, Arriva spends 30 Mkr to do so. SJ's president, player 3, completes Namntalltunneln. It's a setback for Banverket that Mittbanan wasn't completed but at least Botniabanan was completed. The cost increases with 15 Mkr for the three Mittbanan tracks and 5 Mkr for the Namntallhöjden track but decreases with 10 Mkr for Hallandsåstunneln. SJ's revenue increases with 20 Mkr for the four Mittbanan cities, another 10 Mkr for the two cities around Namntalltunneln and 10 Mkr for Hallandsåstunneln. Since phase 3 has started, all contracts are up for bidding. Arriva and Veolia agree to keep their lines and not engage in any bid wars. Green Cargo gets Botniabanan uncontested for 20 Mkr, Arriva surprises by bidding 40 Mkr for Mälarbanan but Veolia nevertheless honor the agreement and only bids 40 Mkr for Södra stambanan, after which Arriva bids 40 Mkr and 30 Mkr (higher due to Hallandsåstunneln) for Västra stambanan and Västkustbanan. Changed cities and tracks
Player assets
Company assets
Bank
Phase 3, Operating round 2The game has now entered phase 2 so there will be a second operating round before the stock round. Most of the actions will be the same with the notable exceptions that Arriva operates on Mälarbanan as well and that A-Train and Svedab operates Arlandabanan and Öresundsbron respectively. From the regional companies, player 1 collects 35 Mkr from Connex and 50 Mkr from A-Train (Stockholm 70 and Arlanda 30 divided by two). Player 2 collects 55 Mkr from Svedab (Malmö 50 and Köpenhamn 60 divided by two). Player 3 collects 25 Mkr from BK Tåg while player 4 collects not only 25 Mkr from TÅGAB but also 50 Mkr from Malmtrafik, since Botniabanan is run by a private company. Veolia runs Stockholm-Norrköping-Linköping-Nässjö-Hässleholm-Malmö as before (70+20+40+20+20+50) but with no contacts to cover the fee of 40 Mkr. The revenue of 180 Mkr is paid as dividends, increasing the share value to 126. Green Cargo operates for the first time. The 2-train and 3-train is more than enough to run Narvik-Gällivare-Boden-Luleå-Umeå and collect 30+30+30+20+40. In addition, Green Cargo is entitled to 5 Mkr per city smaller than 50, adding another 25 Mkr to the revenue. The line contract fee of 20 Mkr is covered by the Contacts so Green Cargo pays 16 Mkr per share in dividends and the share value increases to 90. The company lobbies for 30 Mkr and buys another 3-train. Arriva's 1 3-train and 3 2-trains are enough to run on all their contracted tracks except Hallsberg-Karlstad. They collect 210 Mkr for Västra stambanan, 140 Mkr for Västkustbanan and 90 Mkr for Mälarbanan. The contract fees are 40+40+30 Mkr, of which 30 Mkr are paid by Contacts, and 10 Mkr are paid to SJ as penalty for the Hallsberg-Karlstad track. The net revenue of 350 Mkr is paid as dividends, increasing the share value to 82. Arriva lobbies for 30 Mkr. SJ collects 5 Mkr from the penalty fee in addition to the revenue of 90 Mkr. Adding the 5 Mkr from previous round, they pay 100 Mkr as dividends and the share value increases to 50. Banverket has 70 Mkr in Treasury and gets 40+40+30+20+40 Mkr from line contract fees and 5 Mr from the penalty fee. The cost is 95 Mkr, leaving 80 Mkr for dividends. The share value decreases to 40. Since the players now have a lot of cash to spend in the stock round, the companies are cautious about engaging in lobbying until the fog has cleared. Nevertheless, Banverket and SJ make an agreement with Green Cargo to close Östersund-Trondheim, after which Green Cargo lobbies to develop Gällivare-Östersund on Inlandsbanan and close Sveg-Östersund for 10+20 Mkr while SJ lobbies to close Filipstad-Karlstad. This has the benefit of decreasing Banverket's cost with 10 Mkr (+5 for the one double track but -15 for the three closed ones) and increasing SJ's revenue with 20 Mkr (+10 for the upgrades of Gällivare and Östersund and +10 for disconnecting Sveg and Filipstad - Trondheim had 0 revenue before the disconnection). Inbetween, Veolia abstains while Arriva starts working on Norgebanan (from Göteborg) for 30 Mkr. In the auction phase, Mittbanan and Inlandsbanan enter the market and Green Cargo gets both for the minimum bids 20+10 Mkr. Changed cities and tracks
Player assets
Company assets
Bank
Fifth game roundPhase 3, Stock roundPlayer 4 has the priority deal and takes the opportunity to buy a cheap Banverket share for 40 Mkr. Player 1 adds to the competition on the board by starting Blå Tåget with a par price of 100 Mkr and takes the President certificate for 200 Mkr. Player 2 takes the opportunity to buy the last Veolia share from the initial offering for 100 Mkr and player 3 a Banverket share from the 40 Mkr. Player 4 start investing in Green Cargo for 90 Mkr while player 1 buys a 3rd Blå Tåget share for 100 Mkr. Player 2 and 3 buy Green Cargo shares for 90 Mkr and player 4 decides to add 1 Blå Tåget share to her portfolio for 100 Mkr. Player 1 is now short on cash but can afford 1 SJ share for 50 Mkr and player 2 buys the last Green Cargo share for 90 Mkr. Player 3, hoping for increased line contract competition, buys another Banverket share for 40 Mkr and player 4 buys a 2nd Blå Tåget share for 100 Mkr. Player 1 now has to pass but player 2, 3 and 4 buy Blå Tåget shares to float the company. After yet a pass by player 1, player 2, 3 and 4 buy 1 Banverket share each for 40 Mkr. Both player 1 and 3 now have to pass but player 2 can afford one more Banverket share so the priority deal goes to player 3. The shares for Arriva, Veolia, Green Cargo and Banverket are sold out so the stock prices increase. Player assets
Company assets
Bank
Phase 3, Operating round 1Player 1 again collects 35 Mkr from Connex and 50 Mkr from A-Train. while player 2 collects 55 Mkr from Svedab. Player 3 collects 25 Mkr from BK Tåg and player 4 collects 25 Mkr from TÅGAB and 50 Mkr from Malmbanan. Veolia runs Stockholm-Norrköping-Linköping-Nässjö-Hässleholm-Malmö as before (70+20+40+20+20+50) and still with no contacts to cover the fee of 40 Mkr. The revenue of 180 Mkr is paid as dividends, increasing the share value to 142. Veolia also surprises the other players by buying the two last 3-trains. Green Cargo and the newly floated Blå Tåget share the same stock grid box (value 100) but Blå Tåget moved there first and operates before Green Cargo. The president, player 1, now executes their plan and buy the two first 4-trains, triggering the start of phase 4 and the discard of all 2-trains. Blå Tåget also adds 40 Mkr to the lobby board. Green Cargo loses one 2-train and, unable to operate all its lines, returns the Mittbanan contract. With its remaining two 3-trains, it manages to operate Narvik-Gällivare-Östersund and Gällivare-Boden-Luleå-Umeå, earning 30+40+30+20+40 for Botniabanan and 40+40 for Inlandsbanan plus another 30 Mkr for the 6 cities <50. Less the operating fees of 20 Mkr and 10 Mkr (of which 20 Mkr are paid from Contacts), they still manage to pay 260 Mkr in dividends and buy a 4-train but chooses not to add any money to the lobby board. The share value increases to 112. Arriva is less fortunate with only one 3-train left so they decide to return both Mälarbanan and Västra stambanan and focus on Västkustbanan. The company gets 140 Mkr and cover the contract fee with 30 Mkr from Contacts. No money is added to the lobby board, nor are any dividends paid, so the share price goes back to 82. Fortunately, Arriva now has enough money to buy a 4-train for 300 and saves the remaining 30. SJ has a revenue of 110 Mkr. Add to this 0+25+20 for the returned contracts Mittbanan, Mälarbanan and Västra stambanan and they manage to pay dividends of 150 Mkr, retaining 5 Mkr and increasing the share value to 58. Banverket gets 40+40+30+20+40 Mkr from line contract fees and another 20+40+40 Mkr from SJ's line contracts. The cost is 85 Mkr, leaving 110 Mkr for dividends and 5 Mkr in the Treasury. The share value increases to 50. No private companies want to lobby due to the upcoming auctions except for Arriva who spends 10 Mkr for the completion of Norgebanan. Instead of starting a new line, Banverket and SJ decide to start closing Sydostlänken by closing the tracks Västervik-Kalmar-Karlshamn. This decreases Banverket's cost with 10 Mkr (2 closed tracks) and increases SJ's revenue with 5 Mkr (the 10-city Kalmar disconnnected). Finally, since a new phase has started, all line contracts are auctioned. The private companies continue their non-competitive bidding agreement and get their contracts for the minimum bid. Blå Tåget takes over Mälarbanan and Green Cargo takes back Mittbanan while Veolia keeps Södra stambanan and Arriva Västkustbanan. The only line they can't agree on is Västra stambanan, which both Arriva and Blå Tåget want to operate. Changed cities and tracks
Company assets
Bank
Phase 3, Operating round 2The regional companies pay the same in operating round 2: 35 Mkr from Connex and 50 Mkr from A-Train to player 1, 55 Mkr from Svedab to player 2, 25 Mkr from BK Tåg to player 3 and 25 Mkr from TÅGAB and 50 Mkr from Malmbanan to player 4. Veolia run similar operations as previous operating round with the difference that it makes an extra 20 Mkr for its extra train capacity (increasing the dividends to 200). Blå Tåget and Green Cargo run successful operations. Blå Tåget earns 420 Mkr for Mälarbanan (210 Mkr) and Västra stambanan (210 Mkr), less 50 Mkr in reduced city value due to the competition with Arriva and less 70 Mkr in contract fees. Blå Tåget also earns 50 Mkr for their special bonus (5 Mkr per city), ending up with dividends of 350 Mkr to their pleased shareholders. Green Cargo is not worse now that they have train capacity for their three Northern lines and earns 350 Mkr (Botniabanan 160 Mkr, Mittbanan 110 Mkr, Inlandsbanan 80 Mkr), less 30 Mkr in contract fees after deducting 20 Mkr from Contacts. Adding 20 Mkr for their excess train capacity and 50 Mkr for their special ability (10 cities < 50) give their shareholders dividends of 390 Mkr as well. Green Cargo decides to lobby for 40 Mkr. Arriva manages to bounce back with a revenue of 140 Mkr for Västkustbanan and 180 for Västra stambanan. After paying the contract fees of 60 Mkr, 260 Mkr remains for the shareholders. SJ's revenue increased thanks to previous round's track closures but without any line contracts, they only have the 5 Mkr in the Treasury and the revenue of 115 Mkr to use for dividends and the share price falls back to 50. Banverket now get all their contract fees from private companies (220 Mkr in total). Adding the 5 Mkr from Treasury and deducting 75 Mkr for costs, they manage to pay 130 Mkr in dividends and the share value increases to 63. In the development action, player 1 and player 3 agree that Banverket should start developing Ostkustbanan and Veolia and Blå Tåget pay 10 Mkr and 20 Mkr respectively to complete the development. Green Cargo lobbies 30 Mkr to reopen Östersund-Trondheim. The next development would cost 40 Mkr, which is more than Arriva has, but player 2 persuades player 3 to use the free SJ development to complete Norgebanan. None of the companies have trains to operate Ostkustbanan yet so SJ gets the contract. Changed cities and tracks
Company assets
Bank
At this point, it could be interesting to assess how well the different strategies have performed The shares were valued at current market value and the regional companies were valued at face value.
Player 4's diversified portfolio has been successful and put them ahead of the other players. Player 2 didn't suffer as much from Arriva's financial troubles and is second. Player 3's focus on low value national companies has paid off but is it time to switch to private companies now? Lagging behind is player 1, whose focus on high value private companies hasn't given enough cash flow invest as much as the others. So far the game is balanced but it will be interesting where the different strategies will lead the players. Sixth game roundPhase 4, Stock roundThe players now have plenty of cash to invest but there are only 3 private company shares to buy (Blå Tåget in initial offering) and no 4-trains left. Thus, it's likely that new companies will be started and the first 5-train purchased so it's time to sell the regional companies before they get discarded. Player 3 has the priority deal, sells BK Tåg for a Banverket share and buys 1 Blå Tåget share for 100 Mkr before they also run out. Player 4 sells TÅGAB for a Banverket share and buys 1 Blå Tåget share for 100 Mkr. This also gives them the presidency from player 1. Player 1 sells Connex for the last Blå Tåget share and A-Train for 120 Mkr (equivalent to the bids for the Stockholm lines) and, not willing to take on any more presidencies yet, buys 1 cheap SJ share for 40 Mkr. Player 2 sells Svedab for 140 Mkr (equivalent to twice the bids for the Malmö lines). They are aware that the players also are about to reach the certificate limit of 16 and decide to get a president's certificate and start MTR with a par value of 100. Player 3 reasons similarly and starts Vy with a par value of 100. The players now spend their next 4 turns to buy MTR and Vy shares. Player 4 and 2 buy 2 shares of each company while player 1 buys 4 MTR shares. Player 2 must also sell shares due to the certification limit and sells 1 Banverket share for 63 Mkr, pushing the price down to 60 Mkr and the "yellow zone" meaning that Banverket (similar to SJ) doesn't count for the certification limit. Player 3 can only afford 2 more Vy shares and buys 1 SJ share for 40 Mkr before passing. Player 2 is also out of money but player 4 can afford the last 2 SJ shares (after selling Malmbanan for the face value of 70 Mkr, since no Green Cargo shares are available) and player 1 the last 2 Vy shares. The priority deal ends up with player 2. Now all the companies' shares are sold out except Banverket and the newly started MTR and Vy so the share values increase.
Company assets
Bank
To be continued. |
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