Re: [Rails-devel] D&H-bug in 1830?

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

Are-Harald Brenne wrote:
>> Seems like it's possible to lay a token at the D&H-hex using the D&H teleport >> ability while that hex still has no tracks on it.

On 2012-11-01 07:51, Erik Vos wrote:
> I have always thought that this was a feature, but after rereading the original rules I must admit that only token laying is mentioned as being optional, which possibly implies that tile laying is mandatory.
> 
> The absence of track itself does not seem to be the problem; laying teleport tokens without any track being present is not unheard of. One example in 1856 is the W&S teleport on Kitchener.  But in this specific case you may be right.
> 
> Other opinions?

I agree that the absence of track does not prevent a token from being laid.
Indeed, in most games, when a company with no preprinted track in its hone hex
takes its first operating turn, its token always goes down first (either at the
beginning of that operating turn or earlier, upon floating), thus allowing the
company to lay the home tile on the rationale that it is extending track from
that existing station.

(Similarly, I would rule in all games that if a teleport token is placed in an
empty hex, that company can lay a tile in that hex on a later turn without any
need to use a teleport power when doing so.)

But to answer the specific question at hand, I'd have to look at details of
how the teleport power is spelt out in the rules.  Like you, I read Avalon
Hill's 1830 rules as not saying whether the tile lay is optional or not, but
from that I draw the conclusion that it is.  So I would leave Rails as it is.