[Rails-devel] 1835 Pfalzbahn token lay (was Re: Minor bug, 1835, 1.7.6)

[Stefan F. <ste...@we...>]

>
> I don't think it is generally illegal (in 1835 or in most 18xx games) to lay a
> token on a city hex with no track without placing a tile first.  Indeed, the
> Waycross&  Southern private company power in 18GA is meant to be used this way
> (since it lets you "teleport in" a token, but you have to wait until the tile
> lay phase of the next turn before you can start building track from that token).
>
Most likely there is no rule that is generally illegal to lay the token 
without a tile (for those cases when there is no connectivity requirement).

However I do not remember by heart if there is any 18xx rule-set which 
explicitly allows this (have not played 18GA yet).

I cannot check the 1830 rules now, but do they allow to use the D&H 
teleport to only lay the token onto the hex without laying the tile 
first if it is not laid yet?  I have never played it that way, but maybe 
my group was not creative enough.

OK let us assume that the Pfalzbahn token can be laid before the tile is 
laid. What are the further consequences?

Rules:
A) It is still valid that the token can only be laid after the Baden 
token has been laid on the hex (compare VIII-10 in the 2nd English 
rules), which occurs as soon as the BA floats.

B) As soon as the green tile is laid on LU/MA hex and/or at start of the 
next OR the BA owner decides where the station is laid.

Current Rails implementation:
A) If the Pfalz owner tries to place a token on LU/MA before the BA 
token gets laid, he first gets the choice to choose between two 
undefined stations: Only after that selection he gets informed that he 
is not allowed to place the token now (due to being home hex of BA).

B) Both owner of tokens get asked and both are free to choose any of the 
stations. If both choose the same station, several follow-up bugs
occur (only one token is shown, revenue calculation throws errors).
This has to be changed that only the BA owner get asked, and the other
token gets assigned accordingly.

Required Fixes:
The implementation allows correct play, A) is only ugly, B) allows the 
game to be screwed, however undo or reload fixes the issues.

So it is possible to play with the Pfalzbahn token laid on the hex 
without a tile, however it triggers some ugly UI behavior.

> I don't think that question really matters here, though.  Even without using
> the Pfalz, it's usually quite possible for other players to lay a green tile in
> Ludwigshafen/Mannheim before BA first operates, and if they don't, BA will.
>
> The question then becomes, should the Pfalz owner be stuck with the private
> until the first 5-train purchase just because someone else laid a tile there?
> I think not, and I offer the OBB (which closes when *anybody* lays tiles on
> both of its hexes) as an example in support of that position.
>

You are right, going back to the start:
Seems that there is no unique rule agreement, so allowing both 
interpretations without adding game options seems the best way going 
forward for now.

Conclusion:
I will add the CloseManually Option to the Pfalzbahn and then everyone 
can continue to play according to their own rules.

Stefan