Hello everyone !
Today we're going to talk about Whistle Stop!
Create your own railway network, for 2 to 5 players, ages 13 and up, for 75 minutes, to stand out and hear the train whistle!
In 1869, the first transcontinental railroad in the United States was completed with the laying of the golden spike in Utah.
But this was just the beginning of a rapid expansion of the railroad network that would soon cover the entire country.
Starting on the East Coast, take control of a fledgling railroad company and build your lines, load valuable cargo, and deliver goods to burgeoning cities. Acquire shares in other companies and increase your reputation with each new delivery. Then, finish your journey in style by delivering to the thriving cities of the West!
Each player's goal is to earn their railroad company more renown points than the opposing companies.
Starting with the player to the right of the first player and proceeding counterclockwise, players take turns placing one train at one of the 16 stations on the East Coast until all trains are placed. Each of these stations can only accommodate one train.
The game is played over several rounds, indicated by the round track. When the first player distributes tokens from this track, a new round begins.
At the start of each of their turns, the first player distributes the tokens from the next space on the round track equally to all players, including themselves (1 whistle token or 2 coal tokens per player). Then, they play their turn normally.
On their turn, a player can either spend up to 4 tokens (coal or whistle) to move their trains or spend resources to purchase up to 2 upgrades.
The player can perform these actions in any order. They can choose to perform only one of the two, or neither. A player can only move their own trains, not those of their opponents.
As the player spends tokens, they place them on the numbered spaces on their player board (4 spaces allowing up to 4 actions). At the end of the round, these tokens are discarded into the token pool.
For the first round, the first player distributes the tokens from the space indicating the number of players in the current game.
Spend one coal token to move one of your trains along a track to a new column to the West (left), or up or down within the same column. End your move at the first station or special tile encountered along the way.
A train cannot use coal to return to a tile in a previous column. The train must follow one of the tracks printed on the tile. A train cannot move onto a freight station or an East Coast station (round spaces) if an opponent's train is present. Special tiles (large hexagon) can accommodate multiple trains at once.
A train can move through multiple tiles to reach the next stop. Your train can pass (but not stop) at a freight yard or at an East Coast yard occupied by another of your trains.
A train reaching a West Coast arrival tile is immediately placed on the resource track (it cannot move again from the arrival tile).
Spend a whistle token to move one of your trains one or two stations (or a special tile) in any direction. This allows you to move to a tile east of your starting tile (this is the only way to move back).
Do not collect any tokens or resources from tiles you pass through without stopping. You can pass through stations occupied by other players. If you use a whistle token to avoid an arrival tile, ignore all effects of that tile and simply place the train on the resource track.
If a move takes your train to the end of a tile's track, leading to an empty space, place a tile from your hand that matches the track, then move your train onto that new tile. If this tile doesn't have a station (or isn't a special tile), place a second tile so your train can continue its journey.
If there's still no possible stop on this tile, place the third tile from your hand to continue the train's advance. The third tile must have a station (or be a special tile) for the train to complete its journey.
At the end of their turn, a player must replenish their hand to 3 tiles if necessary. They take tiles from the face-up tiles and/or from the face-down draw pile. Then, they reveal new tiles if needed, so that there are always 3 face-up tiles next to the tile pile. Then, the next player takes their turn.
When it's the first player's turn again, they distribute the tokens for the next space on the round track before taking their turn. On the final turn, there's no need to replenish your hand to 3 tiles. If you cannot or do not wish to move a train during your turn, you gain 1 whistle token and take no movement actions that turn. You may, however, purchase upgrades if you wish.
You can purchase up to 2 upgrades at any time during your turn. To purchase 1 upgrade from the supply, spend the resources indicated at the top of the upgrade tile, then place the tile in one of the 3 upgrade spaces on your player board.
To purchase 1 upgrade from an opponent (without needing their permission), spend the resources indicated at the top of the upgrade tile, pay that player 1 rare resource of your choice, then place the tile in one of the 3 upgrade spaces on your player board. The fame points shown in the star will be awarded to the player who owns the tile at the end of the game.
The game ends at the end of the last round, or at the end of the round in which a player places their last train on the resource track.
For each railway company, the player with the most railway shares in that company earns 15 renown points. In case of a tie, the player with the share with the lowest number wins.
The player with the most points wins the game.
Good day and good game ;)
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