How many companies?

If there are any experienced 18xx designers reading my blog, I expect this post to cause some amusement at my expense, or at least to raise a wry smile. In all my thoughts on the design so far, I seem to have overlooked possibly the most basic question of all. I have ideas about how companies should be run, on players-as-investors vs. players-as-entrepeneurs, on selling the directors share and on maximum share limits. I have notions of different companies requiring different types of trains and being useful in different ways. I have some thoughts about how to vary when different companies become available and what special powers they might have. But I haven't directly addressed the issue of how many companies there should be.

Obviously, I had specific companies in mind while I was concentrating on the first draft of the map, but it was only when I printed it off and started playing with tiles that I realised the need to address how companies grow together, rather than looking at each one individually. I now suspect that this is the most fundamental design decision, affecting the length of the game more than other aspects such as the size of the map. What can I say, but "oops"?

Looking at the other 18xx games I own, 1830 is perhaps the most successful 18xx game ever and works absolutely fine with eight companies. It can still be a long-ish game. 1856 has eleven companies and is definitely longer. Steam Over Holland is quicker, with seven. 1825 can be played with several different combinations: with six companies the game is fairly short but as modules are combined, the number of companies can rise to fourteen (plus minor companies), the number of players also increases and the game can take at least a day.

For a game based on the whole of the UK, there are at least twelve obvious companies to include. They don't all have to come into play in any one game, but even if some are overlooked, this number of companies could lead to a longer game than I had in mind.

I'll need to think about this. One option would be to copy 1861 and have minor companies that merge to form larger ones, but that wasn't the style of game I had in mind. Another option would be to make the game modular, in the style of 1825, but that would bring this game directly into conflict with 1825 and I'm not convinced the world needs two modular 18xx games covering the UK. I want something different. When my thoughts crystallise, I'll note them on this blog.