Re: [Rails-devel] Settong Erie home base during green upgrade

[John D. G. <jd...@di...>]

> John David Galt wrote:
>> But when one of those hexes -- or any OO, XX, or similar hex that
>> already has at least one token -- gets a tile laid on it, THEN whoever
>> lays the tile (NOT necessarily the company owner!) should be 
>> prompted to
>> choose which station gets which token.

Erik Vos wrote:
> That is how I have implemented it, but I'm having second thoughts about
> that. In fact I had intended to let the president make the choice, but
> I overlooked the possibility that another player might update such a OO
> or XX hex to green. This is rather unlikely, though, so perhaps I'll
> leave it as is. The rules are completely silent about this question.

>> I have always played that if these companies have no home tile and
>> don't bother to lay it on their first turn, they give up their right
>> to make this choice.

> I would rule differently, but I don't know if there is any basis to
> settle this dispute. Has there ever be a ruling on this matter?

Not that I'm aware of.  It was debated a year ago on the 18xx list.

The main case where it would come up is when someone opens the Erie or
THB just before the permanent trains come out, as a source of capital,
and doesn't want it to have to buy a train, so he doesn't build it a
route.  The other nearby players will want to thwart this tactic by
building a route for that company.  If (say) the NYC lays Erie's home
OO tile after Erie has had two turns, it seems to me it's against the
spirit of the game to then allow Erie to say, "my home station is the
one your track doesn't connect to."  Erie had its chance and passed it.