1817 ==== So, why 1817? Date of the foundation of the New York Stock Exchange. Companies are 2/5/10 share and can expand or merge to increase their share count. Later in the game, only the larger share count companies can start. Companies can take $100 loans (up to their share count), but the loan interest payable depends on the total number of loans taken out by all companies (calculated at the beginning of each OR, but not changing mid-OR). You move one space left on the stock chart when you take one; one space right when you repay one. I think it is expected most privates go below their face value, with the "seed capital" being used to make up the difference until it is exhausted. 18xx.games implements the variant where you can bid above face value if you think a private is good enough. The coal mine and bridge company privates are odd in that their map improvements apply to every company, not just the owning company. Privates don't close except inasmuch as most of them reach a state where they can't do anything at all. Tiles are unlimited. There are an unlimited number of 2-trains in the first OR, but then they are removed and replaced by 4 2+ trains which become obsolete (run once before rusting) when the 4-trains rust the 2s. The game exports (removes) a train at the end of every OR. Stock Rounds ============ You can "short" shares, selling a share you don't own. This is a "naked" short - after the financial shenanigans of the 19th century, there came a requirement to borrow an actual share and sell that, but we're _in_ the 19th century. You take the money and a short certificate, and an extra normal certificate pops into being in the market; however, any time the company pays dividends, you are liable for the dividend paid to that normal certificate. Yes, this means up to 200% of a company can be owned. You can't hold a short and a normal certificate in the same company (if you do, you return both, closing your short position). 18xx.games implements the variant where 10-share companies can have 10 short shares sold (you can't short 2-share companies and 5-share companies can have 5 short shares). You aren't inherently obliged to close short positions before the game ends (although your short certificates count as negative money) but if a company you have shorted is acquired or liquidated you can be required to do so immediately. The stock market is one-dimensional. Sales never change the stock price. The lefthand end of it has spaces for liquidation (entire company sold off) and acquisition (company can be acquired without the consent of the Director). You can't buy or sell shares in a company in these spaces. When you start a company you actually nominate one to be auctioned off. The maximum bid is $400 so you can immediately bid that and get the company. The share price is half the winning bid; the winning player decides if it is 2, 5, or 10 shares and takes the 2-share Director's certificate; the remaining shares end up as Treasury shares, and it's an incremental capitalisation / earn dividends on Treasury shares game. Part of your payment can be putting in private companies at face value; AFAIK, this is the only way for companies to acquire privates. In a stock round you can, instead of normal actions, act for a company you control; it can take loans and redeem market stock at face value. After each stock round there's an OR, a merger & acquisition round, then another OR and another M&A round. (Exception; the game ends 3 complete ORs after the first 8-train is sold or exported, and if this happens in the second OR of a set, you play one more stock round and then three OR / M&A pairs). Stock goes right if 100% (or more) is player-owned; it then goes one space left for each share in the market, save that you can't move from acquisition to liquidation as a result. Operating Rounds ================ You lay or upgrade a tile, and for $20 can do a second operation; you can't upgrade twice and you can't lay and upgrade on the same location. You buy tokens when you float or increase in size; placing them is free. You can't visit the same revenue location twice (even if it has two separate stations). The only small stations are coal mines, and they don't count against the train number so they're entirely a bonus. You can half pay; you can at most double-jump. You can't buy a train from a company in liquidation, and companies in liquidation do not operate. There's no requirement to own a train, but if you end an operating turn without a train, you will be liquidated. If a company cannot pay its loan interest, it must take additional loans if possible. If not, the Director is personally liable. M&A Rounds ========== 2 and 5 share companies outside the liquidation / acquisition range (henceforth "solvent") can merge with like-size companies or increase in size ("conversion"). Conversion just creates new Treasury shares. When 2 2-share companies merge, three new shares are created; if they had the same Director, the Director is left with 2 shares in the new company - if not, the other Director gets one of the new shares. 2 5-share companies merging just have the 10 shares involved turn into shares in the new company. After a conversion/merger the Director, and then other players, are given an opportunity to buy shares. When a company is liquidated its assets excluding cash and loans are auctioned off to the solvent companies (as a single package). The bank will bid $0, so the company will always be removed. If the cash (including the winning bid) exceeds the loans the surplus is divided amongst the shareholders (and short shareholders pay a like amount); if not, the Director must make up the shortfall. When a company is in the acquisition part of the stock market, any solvent company can make an offer for it. It is then auctioned off to the solvent companies with the package including its cash and loans; however, the successful bid is divided between the shareholders (and, again, short shareholders must pay the same amount per share as normal shareholders receive). A solvent company can be offered by the Director for a "friendly sale". This also initiates an auction, but the minimum purchase price is 2/5/10 times the share price, and after the auction the Treasury shares are sold to the bank with the proceeds being added to the company's cash. The Director cannot restrict who can bid or, having started the auction, change their mind about it. Other than the sale of Treasury shares, the procedure is the same as for an acquisition. The acquiring company gets the bought company's cash _before_ it must pay out the bid. You can buy a company with its own money. If a player is a Director of more than one company they bid in these auctions without nominating a specific company of theirs to carry out the purchase. You only nominate one when you win. Cash Crisis =========== The various obligations for a Director to pay for company loans or pay for short sales can result in a player running out of cash. They then sell shares subject to the normal limitations (5.2) plus additionally that no Directorship can change. If they still have no money they are bankrupt and there is a procedure for dealing with their holdings. The cert limit increases based on the new player count. It is possible for all players to go bankrupt simultaneously.