Tips chicagoexpress

General Strategy

It is hard to say concrete tips about the game because the game is very dynamic and good moves are relative to what other players do. Generally, you should look to take the auction action in a way that benefits you the most, more than any other player. Consider what share is auctioned and how much value it is for each player if they win the share. Consider how the game dynamic changes if a player wins a share. Be flexible and do not fixate on any particular train company before the game begins; join any company if it's a good value for you. Alliances in the game are fleeting and often change quickly, don't expect them to last the entire game and don't take it personally. Always consider game length when bidding high or low for a share. If the game will end in the current round, a share's value at bidding will likely only be its minimum value. Two people working on a company will increase its value much faster than only one player working on it. Games usually end in rounds 3-5 and most of the time because three companies run out of shares. Your game behavior should be dictated by the shares you own.

Chicago Express is pretty much an auction game as the develop and build actions are often very obvious and simple. Because of this, most of the strategy is about auctioning correctly and using it in a way that benefits you the most over the other players. Good play in Chicago Express is about watching how people play based on their share portfolio and manipulating that to have them behave in a way that benefits yourself. When auctioning you have to consider many factors: how much money everyone has, how much money the richest person has, whether or not a player wants the share, how close that company is to Chicago, how soon the game can end, when is it likely to end, whether or not it will create or destroy an partnership, how much more you can make a player who wants the share to pay for it, etc. This will determine the importance of the share and you can use that to then determine the price you should be willing to pay for it. And of course you can do a null auction to increase game length as well as stop a rich player from grabbing shares for cheap if everyone else is poor.

Games with three or four players give players more control over the game and are considered the optimal player count.

Games with five or six players have share scarcity and players have less control over auction actions, therefore mistakes are more punishing. After the initial red share is auctioned, the player to the right of that player will be the last player in the first round and they are in danger of not getting any shares. The fifth and six players from the start player then need to grab shares more urgently than the first four players. It is recommended in games with fix and six players to use the Erie Railroad expansion and to some extent the Narrow Gauge expansion. These don't currently exist on BGA.

Auction

- strongest action that defines player behavior

- adds capital to a company by having the auction winner adds funds to the company so it can build and grow income

- can create alliances when two players have an equal amount of shares in the same company

- can break alliances when two players no longer have an equal amount of shares in the same company

- can decrease game length by increasing the rate in which shares are auctioned (3 companies without shares triggers the end game)

- can increase game length by decreasing the rate in which shares are auctioned by doing a null-auction (using the auction action, but without auctioning anything)

Develop

- weakest action

- can change player turn order which allows players to play earlier in the next round

- increases the value of a company that a player is committed to

- good to develop a space that benefits multiple companies you are invested into if they are in the same space

Build

- second strongest action

- advances a company westward to increase its income

- can block companies if building on forests or mountains

- increases company value much faster than develop

- each company has a different amount of trains and running out means it can't reach Chicago

- mountains have good development bonuses

- forests are ill-advised to build into unless you want to block or sabotage

- build should generally not be done if it benefits another player(s) more than yourself

In-Depth Auction Strategy

- if you are the only person with a share in a company, it is generally unwise to pay a lot for a second share in the company as it won't increase your income

- use this to your advantage and you can decrease a player's funds if they make this mistake

- if a company with two people with the same amount of shares gets going and you aren't in it, consider auctioning another of that share to break the partnership

- in a 2/1 share split of a company, the player with the single share should not work with the person with 2 shares as they only get 33% of the profits, if the split is 1/1/1, the company dies because any build action helps too many people

- players in bad share situations should auction to have a better portfolio, an example is a player having only one share and it's one share of a company that another has two shares in

- if you want a share badly and you assume another player wants it just as bad, you can just bid the exact number of that opponent to save a dollar

- if you can get a share for a low price, always consider it

- shares auctioned on the final round will only pay out once which is often the minimum bid

- if you have one share of the red company and another player has two shares of it, never allow that player to reach Chicago

- to do this place 3 trains elsewhere, preferably in $4 forests

- null auction to lengthen game length and to prevent a player from ending a game which would make them win

- players with more cash and less shares want to end the game faster

- players with less cash and more shares want to end the game later, to make their shares pay off

Train Companies

Red

- also known as the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR)

- has three shares

- starts the game and has a starting income value of 7

- can grow in value very fast, especially if it hits Pittsburgh

- unstable as because it starts the game and can grow fast, therefore likely to be auctioned a lot early on

- 2/1 share split should never reach Chicago and 1/1/1 kills the company

- can create a death wall and trap blue and yellow

- one off-build prevents it from going to Chicago which should be done by the minority player in a 2/1 share split

Blue

- also known as the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O or BO)

- has four shares

- can form a powerful company if two players each have two shares each (2/2)

Yellow

- also known as the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O or CO)

- has six shares

- has the advantage of grabbing valuable cities on the bottom with no competition

- has the lowest starting income value of 5

Green

- also known as the New York Central Railroad (NYC)

- has five shares

- has the advantage of avoiding congestion from other train companies as it is in the North

- has the highest starting value at 8

- increases its value much slower than the red and blue

Black

- also known as the Wabash Railroad Company (WRC)

- has two shares

- is one build away from Chicago

- is extremely valuable for the player whose turn it is after the player who triggered the auction as they can get a dividend immediately

- usually signifies that the game is near the end

Important Spaces

Pittsburgh

- offers a massive income increase of 4

- very accessible to red and blue

- costs a large amount to enter ($4) and multiple companies will pay a ton to enter

- can be developed twice to be worth 6 or 8

Wheeling

- offers a moderate income increase of 3

- more accessible to blue and red

- costs a moderate amount to enter ($3)

- can be developed 3 times for a maximum value of 6

Detroit

- worth much more the longer the game goes on

- only costs a very small amount of $1 to enter

- near Chicago

- more accessible to green and red

Chicago

- massive income increase of 7

- company pays out

- first company introduces the black company

- black will be one build away from Chicago

- minority shareholders in share splits such as 2/1 should not allow their company to enter Chicago as it would benefit the majority shareholder more

- will rarely be reached in 3-player games

Mountains and Forests

Mountains

- great for developing as it adds 2 to income value

- can be used to block other companies

- generates income value, but more expensive than cities

Forests

- very expensive

- doesn't increase income value

- can be developed to add $2 into the company, but it is a very ineffective move and should be sparingly done or possibly never

- mostly useful for blocking other companies or draining company funds mostly in cases of a 2/1 share split as the minority shareholder

- mostly should be avoided

- worst forests cost $4 to enter