Back in November, I wrote a review (sort of) of Mayfair Games' Nippon Rails, which turned into an examination of the shareware version of the original 'crayon rail' game, Empire Builder. At the time I wrote the (sort of) review, I had already been playing the shareware version of Empire Builder for a month, since I noted that I had already played out the allowed 30 days of using it for free and had gone on to register the copy. This places my original acquisition of the Empire Builder program sometime in October.
It is now just after midnight on January 23, 2012, three months later, and I have just defeated the artificial intelligence opponents in the Empire Builder program for the first time. I have no idea whether this time frame is normal, exorbitantly long, or remarkably short. I do know that the AI opponents are tough. You'd expect this. Since efficiency is the name of the game with this, it only makes sense that a computer could assess the most efficient means to accomplish the game's objectives. It examines every possible load, destination, and route and works out exactly how to get the best bang for its buck.
We humans are at a distinct disadvantage. The AI opponents, all three of them (you can play with less or more, and choose experience levels), take no more than about five seconds (if that) to make a decision and execute an appropriate move. As a human, one will take a little longer. And often, make bad choices. I took (the game statistics tell me) 29 minutes to complete 84 turns. The same 84 turns by the AI opponents took each of them just over a minute and half.
They tell you right in the Rules link, "efficiency is the key to crayon rails" and that you "want to maximize your payoffs by moving via direct, short routes, while not overbuilding track." They recommend that you make long trips with multiple loads that can be dropped off along the way. Well, sure, but this presupposes that you've been 'dealt' a set of three load cards that will provide you with opportunities to be efficient, which in the three months that I've been playing this, is not often the case. At least in the beginning. As I developed a stronger sense of the map, and got to know locations better, I found myself getting more efficient.
Some basic ideas helped, so I thought I'd share them, even though with an aggregate score of 100 (something) to 1, the AIs, if they could talk or write, would probably give better advice.
First, do not hesitate to give up a turn to take the "Discard Hand" option. If you look at the set of three load cards you've got and spend longer than two or three minutes trying to figure out which options are possible, and discover that none are really valuable, give it up and discard your hand; get a new set of load cards. Sometimes, though not often, when you do this, you'll already have a decent paying load on board that can be delivered quickly. Like you're in Norfolk, VA, with sugar on board, and discover when you get a new set of cards that you can deliver that sugar to Atlanta for big money. More often, though, you'll find something just a little more feasible and see it right away. Sometimes, if you get real lucky, you can deliver a good to a city, and when the program gives you a single new load card, something you've already got is needed in that city, as well. Don't hold your breath, though. In the three months I've been playing, I could count the number of times that happened on one hand. You'll come to recognize certain loads that always offer good payouts, because there's a remoteness to the location where you can get these goods; sugar in San Francisco, lumber in the Portlands, copper in Phoenix. Travel with these if you can, because when you drop something off and get a new load card, if it calls for one of these items, it'll generally offer a good payout.
Try to establish an East Coast, north/south route early. There are a lot of East Coast delivery options available in the load cards, and while I'm sure it's possible to win without an established East Coast, north/south route, I don't recommend it. Good idea to get up to Maine to hook up with lumber in Portland, too. Most lumber payoffs are decent, because there are only two places you can pick up lumber, and until you've managed to get your rails up to Portland, OR, Maine is the only place. Get a rail line into Birmingham, AL, too, if you can. There are only two places to get the iron you can find in Birmingham. The other is Duluth, up north, and finding efficient reasons to get up there is tougher. I found that if I waited too long to get track in Birmingham, the AIs had already sewn it up (only two players can lay track into what's defined as a 'small city.')
Bear in mind, too, that only three players can build track into a 'large city' like Boston or New Orleans or Detroit. There are 12 of them, and in terms of delivery options, they're pretty important. They're designated by red squares around them, as opposed to the 'small cities,' which have circles around them. You don't need to be connected to all 12 'large cities,' but you better be connected to at least half of them. Getting shut out of San Francisco (the only place to get sugar) is a bummer.
You'll usually find, among your first three load cards, a tempting pick-up and delivery option that is impossible to accomplish on your initial trip, like copper in Phoenix, deliverable to Boston. Too far, and with only 40 sections of track to lay before you need to make a delivery that will earn you enough money to lay more track, you just can't connect Phoenix to Boston. However, keep that Phoenix to Boston load card in mind, and see if you can't do something like Birmingham to New York. Look for delivery ideas that will accomplish part of the Phoenix to Boston route. You'll do this throughout the game, actually, but as the game progresses, you'll have already laid out routes and travel from any point A to any point B will get easier.
Resist the temptation to connect everything, everywhere. I found myself trying to always accomplish a sort of triangle route that connected Chicago (east) to New York, then south to Atlanta, and then, Atlanta back up to Chicago. It's nice to have when, for example, you're in Chicago, wanting to get to New York. Without the due east track getting you there, you have to travel all the way south to Atlanta and then back up to New York and it takes quite a few turns. Still, work with the hands you're dealt and create routes for what you're actually doing. Don't speculate too much, but by the same token, don't shy away from speculation. Establishing that eastern corridor route, for example, is something that will reap benefits eventually, even if initially you find yourself doing a lot of work in the Midwest.
Get your 'better' freights as soon as you can. They cost $20 million, but they're worth it. The first you can buy is either a Heavy Freight (allows your 'train' to move nine spaces, but carries three loads) or a Fast Freight (you can move 12 spaces, but carry only two loads). In the entire three months that I played, I never purchased a Heavy Freight. Always went for the Fast Freight first, and then, as soon as I could, I bought the Super Freight (12 spaces and three loads). The program comes with sound effects, and when you purchase a freight, you'll hear a train whistle blow. The AIs always seemed to be buying their better freights ahead of me (I could hear when they did this), so I eventually started making their early purchase more of a priority. Don't get too far ahead of yourself, though. Don't buy a freight, or overbuild track to the point where you have so little money that you can't pay the piper when events occur; each time someone makes a delivery, an event card is drawn, which can wash out track going over rivers, prevent movement in certain areas and deliveries to certain cities. If you're in Dallas with only a dollar to your name and trying to deliver oil to Boston and the track you've built over the Mississippi River gets washed out, you're done for. Generally speaking, try to hold on to about $10 million. There are times when you can take a chance with under $10 million (like if you're somewhere in the South, and there are no rivers in your path to Boston).
And finally, for the same 'event' reasons, always travel with a loaded train. One of the events can cause you to lose a load, so you want to make sure if you're travelling to Chicago to get $31 million for sugar (example), it doesn't get dumped when the derailment event card is drawn. Keep your train full. If you're in a city that offers you only one kind of good, take two of them, just in case.
As I noted in the earlier review/article in November, I've always liked the 'crayon rail' systems. I was, thus, motivated to keep at this computer version until I finally won a game. I never changed the skill level of my AI opponents. I played against one "High" skilled opponent (called James Hill), one Average opponent (Commodore Vanderbilt) and a Low skilled opponent (Jay Gould). You can play with up to five AIs with this program. There are lessons to be learned playing this; things like the importance of cost/benefit analysis, short and long-term planning, and, of course, efficiency. There is, too, after long hours experiencing the agony of defeat, the joyous thrill of victory.
Empire Builder, published by Mayfair Games (1980), is designed by Darwin Bromley and Bill Fawcett. The shareware computer version of the game is published by Intersystems Concepts, and can be found at http://www.railgamefans.com/ebp/. The physical game will cost you somewhere in the vicinity of $30, depending on where or how you shop (game store or on-line, through either outlets or auctions). It can, as of this writing, be bought for under $20 on the BoardGameGeek Marketplace. The shareware version published by Intersystems Concepts will run you $25 (well worth it), with add-on costs for purchases of other maps.
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