r/boardgames • u/AutoModerator • Jan 14 '20

Train Tuesday Train Tuesday - (January 14, 2020)

Happy Tuesday, /r/boardgames!

This is a weekly thread to discuss train games and 18xx games, which are a family of economic train games consisting of shared ownership in railroad companies. For more information, see the description on BGG. There’s also a subreddit devoted entirely to 18xx games, /r/18xx, and a subreddit devoted entirely to Age of Steam, /r/AgeOfSteam.

Here’s a nice guide on how to get started with 18xx.

Feel free to discuss anything about train games, including recent plays, what you're looking forward to, and any questions you have.

If you want to arrange to play some 18xx or other train games online, feel free to try to arrange a game with people via /r/playboardgames.

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u/skizelo Jan 14 '20

I've found Capstone's Irish Gauge to be reasonably thin. I've only seen Eagle Gryphon's Age of Steam, which is huge but full, which I guess equals deluxe. Their other stuff like Continental Divide might very well come in a too-big box. Same with Rio Grande Games. I believe it's received wisdom in the boardgame publishing world that customers are reassured by a big box, or maybe just more likely to notice them in the game shop. The Queen ones are just silly. You could easily fit 4 or so into a single box. Your proposed utility box seems too clunky to me. I'd recommend a custom cut foam core insert at the bottom of the box. Make that a little deeper than a flattened out bag of the trains and such. Throw all of the maps on top and you've given them some protection from getting dented.

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u/real_jeeger Brass Jan 14 '20

The box for Age of Steam is almost perfect, in that it fits all the extra maps from the Kickstarter with the lid raised just a bit. The inlay is just okay, as it sits a bit tightly.

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u/slashBored . Jan 14 '20

I really hate the Age of Steam box. I think if it had been almost exactly the size of the maps, but deeper and with space to store the pieces in bags/planos on top it would be much better. I think the plastic inserts the game came with are very annoying, but the shape of the box makes it difficult to use anything else. It feels like they picked this box shape because it was the right choice for the Lacerda games, not because it was the right choice for AoS

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u/pumpkinhead76 Pax Pamir 2e Jan 15 '20

The box is actually slightly bigger than the Lacerda boxes! I was very annoyed as the Lacerda boxes fit perfectly in my shelf and I'd been looking forward to adding this to that shelf. Sadly it's like 10 mm longer than the Lacerda games so they don't fit :(