1. Initial investment card
Play as low a card as you can, but only if you've got a good chance
to get two more trains built for it (check your track cards).
3. Get your cards down early and quick
Especially in the first phase! It's preferable to tie with someone
(get some money yourself, cut their money) than to hold on for another
card to make a coup for first place, only to not get a chance to get them
down as the scoring card comes up. It also forces them to defend while
you do something else.
4. The rule of three
If you can get a collection of three cards in one stock invested early,
people will ignore that stock for most of the game as its too much effort
to chase - until it gets real big anyway by which time you'll have been
able to pick up some for defense.
5. Diversity is good
You want to own one top tier line (green, red, yellow) with blank /
clear track (the most common track card) or two middle tier lines (preferable
as easier to defend) throughout the game so that you always have something
to build on (rather than building on other people's tracks). It's good
to diversify with the kinds of tracks you own (a good combination would
be yellow (open/black track) and light blue (white/dashed track)) so that
you never have a useless track card.
6. Invest on lines that are owned by
the player on your left
You'll get first play at the cards he wants as the other players leave
them until your turn.
7. Never pick up cards for stock that
is going nowhere
It's better to be second in a big red line that someone else is building
for you than first in a gold line of size 3 that you don't have time to
build on.
8. Make every card pickup count
It's better to pick an average card from the draft than be stuck with
a potentially useless card in your hand. Make each pick up count - 'the
bird in the hand is worth two in the deck'. Conversely, the element of
surprise should not be underestimated, particularly against card-counters.
This strategy probably varies depending on one's opponents.
9. Go hard for UP
Once you have three or five cards invested, go hard for UP until you're
up by 2 on your nearest competitor, usually even if it means foregoing
a place in a stock line (assuming most popular variant of swap card in
hand for UP in buildphase). You can always reclaim the line later, you
can't reclaim UP. Once you have a lead of two, swap UP for UP to run down
the stock. As UP have different backs than normal stock cards, holdings
are public knowledge and you can always ask how many other players have.
Here's where I jump in and disagree... I'm one of those folks who
believes that the most important thing in UP stock is "not last".
10. What if the first scoring card is
late?
If the first scoring card is delayed, get all your cards, even UP,
invested. How often have two scoring cards come out before you get another
chance to play? Countless. And its a game breaker if you're the one invested
and others haven't, so go for the chance. Conversely, if the first dividend
card comes out very early, keep in mind that there won't be another one
for fifteen or so draws, giving you a good opportunity to draw a big hand
and weed out the useless cards to trade for UP. But don't get caught before
you can declare them all!
11. Best offense is a good defense
Hold a card in your hand of a stock you're leading in for defense,
letting you play other investments / builds until someone forces your hand
(so to speak) to invest it to maintain first place.
12. Pay attention
Naturally watch what other people are drawing and plan accordingly.
13. Don't bother trying to get half of
all the cards of any one line
Some will be discarded for UP, some will be at the bottom of the deck
and won't come out. A lead of 1 or two with a card in your hand is safe
enough. The only exception to this would be the very small lines (6 or
7 shares), where people appreciate their value and may be reluctant to
trade them for UP stock.
14. Cut off your opponents
Hem in opponents lines if possible (usually not, but sometimes). Build
your lines so they can't be hemmed in.
15. More UP advice
Coming first or second in UP is ok ... after that you'll need to hit
the UP leader's stock investments to catch up ground. Hope they're on your
left. If not, don't get in that position in the first place! Never, ever,
be caught without one declared UP stock after the first dividend card comes
up. The loss of income is inexcusable.
This time, I agreee with Pat - it's criminal to miss out on the
UP cash, even if you don't get much of it.
16. Treading water
If you lead in two lines and could build either, take note of who is
in second place for those lines: if it's different people, try to alternate
building one, then the other on successive turns. This way you get a $2M
gain, while they only get $0.5M each. Conversely, if you are behind and
in second place on two important lines, and first place is owned by different
people, you can effectively tread water and build on them alternately;
you are giving them money but you are also giving yourself an approximately
equal amount. This strategy works better the more lines you can devote
to it. (But it chews up the draw deck, so don't pursue it for too long.)
17. Don't have more than 4 stock in your
hand
You WILL get caught sooner than later.
18. First in UP, first in two other lines,
a few selective seconds...
Ta-daa!
Or not... how about: middle in UP, first in one line, lots of seconds
& ties?
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Page Last Updated: 4/10/03