18Mag: Hungarian Railway History

18Mag — Summary

Capitalization type

• Unusual, with no real floating: the seven (or four, in 2-player games) "major" companies are automatically founded during setup, with a par price drawn at random from a fixed list, and all of their shares go straight onto the market from the start for players to buy as pure investments. There is no player-driven floating. The "minor" companies (each player's actual operating vehicle) aren't bought or founded at all: they're distributed by draft and float immediately with Ft 50 from the bank.

Floating percentage and per-player share limits

• Every corporation floats at 0%: since they're founded automatically during setup, they start operating immediately, with no need to sell any shares first
• No player may hold more than 60% (the default cap) of a single corporation
• Certificate limit per player: 2 players — 10; 3 players — 18; 4 players — 14; 5 players — 11; 6 players — 9

Starting cash by player count

• From 2 to 6 players: Ft 0 starting cash in every case — players begin the game with no money at all; capital only comes from minors (which float with Ft 50 once chosen) and their later dividends
• Certificate limit: 10 (2 players), 18 (3), 14 (4), 11 (5), 9 (6)
• The bank has unlimited money

End game triggers

• Entering the final phase (Gray with 3-6 players, Brown with 2): one more full set of operating rounds is played, then the game ends

Number of phases

• 4 phases with 3-6 players (Yellow, Green, Brown, Gray); 3 phases with 2 players (Yellow, Green, Brown — no 6-train and no Gray phase)
• The Green phase begins once the first train of type 3, 4, or 6 is bought (whichever comes first)
• If 3 operating rounds pass in a row with nobody buying a train, the phase advances anyway, forced, to keep the game from stalling

Train list and prices

• 2 train — Ft 80 (unlimited)
• 3 train — Ft 120 (unlimited) — its first purchase may advance the phase
• 4 train — Ft 200 (unlimited) — its first purchase may advance the phase
• 6 train — Ft 320 (unlimited, only with 3-6 players) — its first purchase may advance the phase
• No train ever rusts; minors voluntarily discard them as they grow in size
• Trains aren't bought from a generic bank depot: they're bought from specific "major" companies (LdStEG sells the 2s and 4s; MAVAG sells the 3s and 6s; with 2 players, LdStEG sells all of them), who keep half the price as income

List of private companies

• The base game has no private companies at all
• With the optional "Supporters" variant (3-6 players), six free supporter cards can be chosen (not bought) in the first stock round, one per player: Kálmán Kandó — Ft 10/15/20/30 discount when buying a 2/3/4/6 train; Feketeházy János — can cover the terrain cost of one hex once per operating round; Rothschild — Ft 10 of extra income per operating round for one company; von Sina — a free extra green or brown upgrade once per round; Donaudampfschifffahrts­gesellschaft — 50% discount on placing a token; Magyar Államvasutak — turns one of a minor's trains into a "+1" train reaching an extra town

List of corporations

• 13 numbered minors (the players' actual operating vehicle, 3-6 player map): 1 Magyar Északi Vasút — E12; 2 Magyar Keleti Vasút — D19; 3 Magyar Nyugoti Vasút — E10; 4 TiszaVidéki Vasút — G14; 5 Első Erdélyi Vasút — H27; 6 Kassa-Oderbergi Vasút — B17; 7 Mohács-Pécsi Vasút — G10; 8 Hrvatske Željeznice — H5; 9 Szabadka-Újvidék Vasút — I14; 10 Arad-Temesvári Vasúttársaság — H17; 11 Győr-Sopron-Ebenfurti Vasút — D7; 12 Segesvár–Szentágotai Vasút — H23; 13 Déli Vasút — I2; plus a neutral "mine" minor (fixed tokens at A10/A18/E26/I20, unowned) that grants access to mines
• With 2 players there are only 8 minors (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11, and mine) on a smaller map with its own coordinates; the optional new-minors variants add 14 (Nagyvárad–Kolozsvár), 15 (Vágvölgyi), and 16 (Püspökladány–Nagyvárad)
• "Major" companies (no home on the map; they never operate track, only earn automatic income): RABA — bonus for routes reaching off-board areas; G&C — sells plus-train conversions (3-6 players only); SNW — sells access to mine hexes (3-6 players only); SIK — earns for every difficult-terrain symbol crossed; SKEV — earns for corporation tokens present and for second tile lays; LdStEG — sells 2-trains and 4-trains (all trains with 2 players); MAVAG — sells 3-trains and 6-trains (3-6 players only)
• With 2 players there are only four majors (SIK, SKEV, LdStEG, RABA). The optional "New major" variant (3-6 players) adds CIWL, the only one with 40/20/20/20 shares (5 shares) instead of the usual 10, which earns a bonus whenever a train runs between two red (off-board) areas

Game-specific mechanics

• Draft (not an auction) of minors at the start: each player picks one in turn, for free; they float instantly with Ft 50 from the bank
• No player ever founds a "major" company: they're born at a random price and their shares go straight onto the market as pure investment
• Trains that never rust; a minor discards them voluntarily as it grows
• Forced phase advance if 3 operating rounds pass in a row without a train purchase
• Fixed 50% split of a minor's profit with its owner, with no option to withhold it all
• A very steep dividend scale for majors: paying out Ft 21 or more can jump the price up by as much as four spaces at once
• Limited terrain tokens that can be used to waive the cost of building on difficult terrain

Emergency sell

There's no emergency sell mechanic here at all: owning a train is never mandatory, so the entire company/president/forced-sale chain never triggers. If no company buys any train at all for several operating rounds in a row, the game simply advances to the next equipment phase on its own, rather than compelling any specific corporation to buy. This fits 18Mag's unusual economy, where players start with no personal cash whatsoever and money mostly stays locked inside the companies until the very end.

Comparison with 1830

1. No starting capital, with Hungary as the setting
In 1830 each player receives a fixed amount of starting cash based on player count. In 18Mag, players start the game with zero forints in hand, for any player count from 2 to 6, set in the history of Hungarian railroads.

2. Players run drafted "minors," not companies founded through an auction
In 1830, players found public companies by buying the president's certificate on the stock market. In 18Mag, a player's main vehicle is a "minor" company (capped at just 2 trains at any time) that gets drafted during setup, not bought or auctioned.

3. Seven fixed "majors" that act as automatic tolls, not flat-income privates
In 1830, private companies simply pay a flat income and nothing else. In 18Mag, the same seven "major" companies exist in every game (four with 2 players), and no single player controls them directly: they earn money automatically whenever a minor performs a specific action (for example, SIK gets paid for every difficult-terrain symbol crossed, and LdStEG pockets half of every train-purchase payment).

4. The "majors" have shares and a president, but the president barely decides anything besides the dividend
Like in 1830, each "major" has 10% shares and needs a 20% stake to name a president. But unlike 1830 (where the president decides track, stations, and trains), in 18Mag's "majors" the president's only real decision is how much dividend to pay out — everything else about the company runs automatically, triggered by other players' minors.

5. Trains never rust, and minors only ever reach the 6-train
In 1830, old trains are forcibly retired once a sufficiently advanced type is introduced. In 18Mag, trains never rust at all: a minor starts with a 2-train, can add a second 2-train, and then discards trains voluntarily as it grows in size (2, 3, 4, and 6 — skipping the 5 entirely). This gives every group a flexibility of game length that 1830 doesn't offer, since its phase clock pushes the game forward regardless of the players' wishes.

6. A fixed 50% split for minors, with no choice between full payout or full withholding
In 1830 the president decides each round whether to pay out 100% of the profit or withhold it entirely for the treasury. In 18Mag, minors always split their earnings evenly with their owner: half goes straight to the player's pocket and half stays with the minor, with no other option.

7. A much steeper dividend scale for the "majors"
In 1830, paying out 100% of the profit moves the stock price up a single space. In 18Mag, if a major's president pays out 21 forints or more in dividends, the stock price can jump up by as many as four spaces at once — a far steeper scale than 1830's.