The first world war?

According to Christian Wolmar's book Fire and Steam, the railways were hugely important in World War One, shifting men, munitions and materiel the length of Britain.  Of particular importance were the port of Southampton in the south and the long, slow Highland Railway from Perth to Thurso in Scotland.  The Highland was the main supply route for the great naval base at Scapa Flow in Orkney.  All the railways were largely under government control for the entire war, with improved utilisation of resources as a result.

I'm toying with the idea of adding an optional rule in 18GB to reflect the impact of the war.  The rule would apply for one operating round late in the game - perhaps triggered by the first time a 6X train is removed at the end of an OR, or when the first 6X is purchased.  Both Southampton and the Inverness off-board area would generate 5 income more than usual (equivalent to a bonus of 50 in other 18xx games).  I guess the normal bonus routes wouldn't apply for that OR, as a loose representation of the impact of the war on trade, but there would be a special bonus for London to Inverness.  The overall effect would be small but would reward slightly different routes to usual ORs.

I did consider a financial rule as well, to reflect the lack of investment in the railways during this period.  But I think companies should still be allowed to buy trains (otherwise those which have withheld income and/or run as Insolvent will be penalised), and I don't want to limit track building because companies should have the chance to connect to the areas with the new bonuses.   In 1880 China, the communist period stops stock prices from moving, but I don't want that for 18GB because capitalists still made money during the war.  In the end, simplicity is probably best.

One other thing I might do is to add an extra character to the characters variant.  Herbert Walker was chairman of the Railway Executive Committee that directed the contribution of the railways to the war effort.  Wolmar notes that some companies were more affected than others.  So perhaps the player with Herbert Walker could designate up to two companies that would each reduce their income by ten for the OR that represents the war.  (Companies with tokens in Southampton or Perth would be immune).  On the other hand, this might make this card into a Kingmaker role, so perhaps another power might be more appropriate.

End game

Since my playtests in the summer, I've been thinking about how a game of 18GB should end.  It doesn't use paper money or chips so the traditional 18xx end of breaking the bank doesn't apply (at least, not easily).  Until now, the game ended three operating rounds after the purchase of the first 6X train - a mechanism borrowed from 1861 and 1817.  As I reported from the Manorcon playtests, this ended the game too quickly, and although the Manorcon games were speeded up by the inclusion of optional trains, my local group have also suggested that they would like more opportunity to get more than one permanent train into their companies.

At first, I thought I'd just make the game end when all trains had been purchased or removed.  18GB has a rule that if no companies buy a train during a round, then the topmost unsold train is removed from play, thus forcing the trains to gradually come out even if no-one buys them.  So eventually all the trains will disappear and the game would end.  On reflection, I realised that this change would mean that when a company buys a train of the final type, it would bring the end of the game one round closer, which would be a disincentive to buying the train in the first place because the train might have less time in which to earn income.

Ian D Wilson suggested that the game end when any company's share price reaches the top of the stock market.  This condition is used in several 18xx games as an alternative ending to breaking the bank and I have added it as an alternative to 18GB.  Should I try it as the only one?  Would a company that withholds income to buy a train catch up with the leader by jumping multiple spaces on the stock market?  It is possible but I don't feel confident enough to make this the only ending.

Instead, I've replaced the previous rule with one that ends the game the third time that a 6X train is removed.  In other words, at the end of the third round in which a 6X is available and no company buys it.  That way, if a company does buy a 6X train, the game is extended for another round.  I am presuming that eventually no company will have the cash or that the players will judge that there are insufficient rounds left in the game to make buying a train worthwhile.  I'll have to try this in practice and see whether it works.