Silverton

In this historically accurate offering, the designer clearly took great pains to retain the impact of the steam train on the central Rocky Mountains and the surrounding areas. Players buy trains, send out surveyors to build new track, give prospectors goals for claims, purchase and operate mining claims which can offer coal, lumber, silver, copper and gold, or even haul passengers around this turn-of-the-century map. Once a player finds a claim, builds track to the location, and pays the operating expenses, that player will still need to contend with hauling the material to market as well as the always-present possibility of the claim running out of materials. If that weren't bad enough, there's always the distinct possibility that another player will reach the market first and make the unique supply- and demand-oriented prices drop right before goods delivery. With the advanced rules, players can expect to add track-grade issues and winter snow fall to the list of problems encountered, but can select teams of Prospectors and Surveyors suited to their own style. There is also a balanced assortment of trains for Advanced barons, and can employ snowplows to clear track for winter deliveries. Availibility : The original Two Wolf version is long-since out of print, but the newer-released Mayfair has a wider distribution. The New Mexico expansion is available for the Two Wolf game, but the Mayfair version has the expansion included with the base game. Expanded by: Silverton New Mexico Expansion (Two Wolf version only, Mayfair version includes the expansion)