![\"Ur](\"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/Ressourcen\/ur_t.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Publisher<\/b>: Splotter Spellen<\/p>\n
Author<\/b>: Joris Wiersinga, Jeroen Doumen<\/p>\n
Tester<\/b>: Aaron Haag<\/p>\n
Game Tested<\/b>: 2001 edition, German rules<\/p>\n
Scenario<\/b>: Splotter Spellen published this limited edition (1500 copies) game by
\nJ. Doumen and J. Wiersinga for all those 18xx lovers that like the game principles of the
\nseries but may want to play a game with a theme different from railroads (do they
\nexist?). Hence, the game is about owning land and building irrigation systems in
\nMesopotamia.<\/p>\n
The Game<\/b>: The game components are very nicely done. Besides the map board there
\nare lots of tokens for indicating ownership of land and irrigation systems as well as
\nwooden tokens for distributing the amount of water flowing along the rivers and canals. I
\nhave a minor quarrel about the state treasury cards, the equivalent of the 18xx corporate
\ncharters: it would have been very nice if these had been printed using the same colors as
\nthose used for the tokens. Instead, they are black and white with in indication of where
\nthe state is on the map board (one needs to looks at the map board to find out which
\nstate uses which token color). A nice little extra is the portraits of the game designers
\n(and the game’s illustrators) on the banknotes provided.<\/p>\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/Ressourcen\/ur_a1.jpg\")
\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/Ressourcen\/ur_a2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
For all those familiar with the 18xx game system there should be no problem in
\nunderstanding the rules at first reading. The game components are actually bilingual
\n(English\/German) and the game comes either with a German or an English rule book. I had a
\nlook at both rule books in Essen and they seemed to be very well translated and I can
\nconfirm this now for the German rules.<\/p>\n
![\"x\"](\"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/Ressourcen\/ur3.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Following, I will provide a basic overview about the game by comparing the mechanics
\nto those of 1830.<\/p>\n
States vs. Railroad Corporations<\/p>\n
Instead of buying shares of railroad corporations player buy land areas in one of the
\nsix states in Mesopotamia. Each state has between ten and twelve such areas which
\nactually came as a surprise to me as I expected to see ten areas per state similar to the
\n10% shares in the other 18xx games. Judging by a first look it seems that the states with
\nmore than 10 areas have lower value terrain. As soon as six areas of a state are sold to
\nthe players the states changes from “rising” to “founded” similar to
\nrailroad corporations being floated. The owner holding the most shares of a state is the
\nking of the state who later on decides about the distribution of the states income.<\/p>\n
Independent Nations vs. Minor Railroads<\/p>\n
![\"x\"](\"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/Ressourcen\/ur2.gif\")
<\/p>\n
Similar to the minors in the 18xx series players acquire so-called “independent
\nnations” which provide a moderate income as well as some special attributes. Exactly
\nas in 1830 these nations are auctioned to the players in the equivalent of the first
\nstock round. Independent nations may be “assimilated” by states later on in the
\ngame similar to corporations buying minors in 1830 thereby providing their ability to the
\nassimilating state. As in 1830 the independent nations cease to exist in a later era
\n(phase) of the game.<\/p>\n
Land Areas vs. Shares<\/p>\n
Land areas are offered to the players at a price depending on the terrain rather than
\nthe states. This is one of the major differences to the 18xx series with the consequence
\nthat selling land areas usually impacts more than one state. The four types of terrain
\nare: hills, forest, plains and dessert. A fifth type are cities, which have prices
\ndepending on the terrain type they are in. Buying and selling of land areas and cities
\nfollows similar rules as share buying and selling in the 1830 stock rounds, i.e. selling
\nof areas leads to a decrease in the corresponding terrain price (independently of the
\nstate). In addition, players may bid on the “Primagenitur”, the equivalent of
\nthe priority deal. Money bid on it is temporarily out of the game and cannot be used for
\nbuying land areas or cities. At the end of the “stock round” the Primagenitur
\nis handed to the highest bidder and the money used for bidding is returned to the
\nbidder.<\/p>\n
Irrigation Canals vs. Tracks<\/p>\n
Here is another major difference between the 18xx series and Ur: instead of using Workers\/Waterworks vs. Trains\/Tokens<\/p>\n Canals are built by workers (diggers) which are bought from the bank similar to the Independent of the type (worker or waterworks) the cards become obsolete similar to Harvest vs. Dividends<\/p>\n Once all states have performed their building actions the “rain season” Land Prices vs. Share Prices<\/p>\n Irrigating land areas or cities also has a positive effect on the land area’s End of Game<\/p>\n The game ends if either one of the player causes a revolution (goes bankrupt) or if Playing Time<\/b>: Explaining the rules to someone familiar with the 18xx series Similar Games<\/b>: 1830<\/a> or any other game of the 18xx series<\/p>\n Westpark Gamers’ Opinion<\/b>: The game intrigued me quite a bit when I saw it Compared to 1830 the concept of buying land areas instead if shares generates a It could even be a sound strategy to not<\/b><\/u> help another player to found a Becoming king of a nation early in the game seems to be even more important than being Another subtle difference to 1830 is that waterworks may be placed by the king of a After having played the game once I say that the similarities with 1830 or any 18xx Aaron’s Rating<\/b>: 7<\/p>\n Westpark Gamers’ Rating<\/b>: 6.2<\/p>\n
\ntrack tiles players “build” the irrigation system by drawing canals, starting
\nfrom the rivers land inwards using a felt pen with water soluble ink (Staedler Lumocolor,
\nprovided with the game). The ink dries immediately and comes off equally easy using a
\nmoist cloth leaving no traces on the board. For all of you who do not particularly like
\nthe idea of drawing on the board I suggest you follow Mark’s<\/a>
\nsuggestion and buy little blue wooden sticks which can be used as canals instead. Canals
\nare build following a simple set of rules similar to the track laying rules but there is
\nno “upgrading” of canals.<\/p>\n![\"x\"](\"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/Ressourcen\/ur1.gif\")
<\/p>\n
\ntrains in 1830. Depending on the type of worker they can build canals of a particular
\nlength per worker ranging from 1 hex to infinite length (the equivalent of the diesel).
\nThe worker cards actually have two purposes: they either function as worker or as
\nwaterworks (either reservoirs or pumps). Waterworks are required to pump the water
\nthrough the irrigation canals and again they can do this only for a particular amount of
\nwater (reservoir) or a particular length of canal (pump). In comparison to 1830
\nwaterworks also act similar to the station tokens there because the king of the owning
\nstate decides in which directions water flows which reaches the works.<\/p>\n
\ntrains in 18xx. And also similar to 1830 a state must own at least one worker at the end
\nof its “operation round”.<\/p>\n
\nstarts and water starts rushing down the three rivers of the map. There is a fixed amount
\nof water that actually flows through the rivers, depending on the era (equivalent to the
\nphase in 18xx games). The kings of the states owning the waterworks decide on the route
\nthe water takes through the canals built similar to the president deciding about the
\nroute of a train of his corporation. The owning state of the last waterworks pumping
\nwater to a land area or city receives a share of the harvest for her services from the
\nbank. Additionally the owner of an irrigated area receives a small income, too. The kings
\nof the states then decide what happens to the harvest they received which can either be
\ndistributed amongst the owners of the state’s land areas (the share holders in 18xx)
\nor be put in the state’s treasury. In the latter case the king must destroy one of
\nhis lowest valued waterworks as a penalty.<\/p>\n
\nprice: each region (i.e. adjacent land areas) of one terrain type which is irrigated is
\ncounted and the respective terrain price is increased accordingly.<\/p>\n
\nall water flowing down the rivers is distributed to the land areas leaving no water
\nreaching the southern end of the river.<\/p>\n
\nshould take about 15 minutes; for a newcomer to the series expect at least 30 minutes.
\nThe game is played in about 3 to 4 hours depending on the number of players.<\/p>\n
\nin Essen. It has enough similarities to 1830, one of my all-time favorites. On the other
\nhand there are interesting new elements like the possibility to draw track, i.e. canals,
\nwithout being limited by the availability and layout of track tiles. Also the mechanics
\nof using the same cards form workers and waterworks sound challenging, leaving you with
\nthe new tactical decision of either being able to build canals or to be able to pump
\nwater through them.<\/p>\n
\ncompletely new feeling and requires a change in strategies. In our first game I found it
\ndifficult and challenging to decide which land areas to buy in which nations. First of
\nall there is the same dilemma as in 1830 that you do not want to invest in nations that
\nwill not be founded (i.e. float). On the other hand since land prices are based on
\nterrain rather than nation the price of a land area bought may rise even if the nation it
\nbelongs to has not been founded. Therefore, in Ur – 1830BC players may buy land based on
\ntheir assumptions about which type of terrain will be irrigated most.<\/p>\n
\nnation if that player will become king but rather invest in terrain elsewhere, because it
\nis not at all certain that the player in question will actually irrigate your areas. If
\nthis strategy alone enables one to win the game is doubtful though, since the bulk of the
\nmoney is still earned by collecting the harvest of nations with many irrigated areas.<\/p>\n
\npresident of a corporation in the early phase of 1830. Waterworks similar to station
\nmarkers cannot be changed after being placed but different to 1830 they are sold with
\nincreasing capacities. Therefore, the first waterworks placed only have a very small
\ncapacity and will hinder a nation building a wide-scale irrigation system later on in the
\ngame. Nevertheless, similar to 1830, if these small works are placed strategically well
\nthey will have a big impact on the later phases. In order to generate large harvest
\nincomes a king must select the river areas where to place reservoirs very carefully. You
\nneed one or two larger reservoirs to be able to pump sufficient water to the fields of
\nyour nation. Therefore, different to 1830 placing a small reservoir actually hinders
\nfurther development also of ones own nation.<\/p>\n
\nnation anywhere<\/b> on the board irrespective of whether the area is part of his
\nnation or not or if that area is already irrigated (i.e. if track has been laid in 1830).
\nThe only condition is that if an area is owned by another player that player has to agree
\nto the placement. This seems to make being king early in the game even more important as
\nis enable one to strategically place waterworks almost anywhere.<\/p>\n
\nseries game certainly exist. The different theme of the game however provides a different
\nfeeling altogether – at least to me. At no time did I have the feeling to play just
\nanother 18xx variant. This is even increased by the fact that the game – in my opinion –
\nneeds completely different and new strategies than 1830. While playing I found an
\nenormous amount of decision making and choosing of different tactics and the game session
\nreminded me a lot of my first 1830 session in that respect. Playing the game was a lot of
\nfun then as well as playing Ur – 1830BC now and I am equally keen to find out the
\npossible strategies that lie in this gem of a game. To do so requires to play the game a
\nlot more and I am looking forward already to our next Ur session.<\/p>\n