I love most of the old campaign scenarios but I have always had mixed feelings about Orient Express. After all, you are supposed to be running the premier passenger train service in Europe, but the easiest way to win is to run one passenger train, once, and never carry another soul. Or micromanage sending trains off to service sheds and towers between runs, which I hate. And if your lifetime express speed drops you can't ever seem to raise it. And then there's that whole ORCA thing...
So I'm tweaking it a bit. The map and resources remain the same and the overall goal is the same. Things I've added:
1) You can start in Austria, Serbia, Rusia, Romania, Bulgaria or the Ottoman Empire.
2) The AI is not permitted to start in your 'home' territory - you have a monopoly.
3) You need to keep express speeds up to a reasonable level or the government regulators cut your passenger ticket prices.
4) If you aren't making good progress, the Kaiser can offer you incentives to help build his 'Berlin to Baghdad Railway'.
5) NO ORCA. But you do get all European locomotives.
Victory conditions are:
1) Bronze - connect Istanbul to Vienna before 1914
2) Silver - same as above plus move 10 loads of mail to Budapest and Bucharest
3) Gold - same as above plus 20 loads of coffee to Vienna and 20 loads of weapons to Istanbul
I'd be interested in hearing what you guys think, and if anyone is interested in playtesting.
Also, can anyone suggest a good name?
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Rethinking Orient Express
Rethinking Orient Express
The optimist proclaims we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true." - James Branch Cabell