The Train Rush

Having forgotten how long it takes to prepare for, record and produce longer form episodes, Craig and Dave lengthily discuss their reaction to Dave Berry's 18GB, set in their LITERAL homeland. Unlike the local weather, the takes are 'hawt' and the humour dry.

P.S. Apologies for the delay folks. It transpires low-mileage babies are SUPREMELY labour intensive. Even more so than podcasts.

Special thanks to Jonathan Wells for stepping in to perform the final passes of editing (once again). This episode wouldn't have been possible without his assistance.

00:00 - Intro

00:40 - Spreadsheet Calculators for live play

01:55 - T-shirt poll

03:16 - 18GB discussion

48:31 - Analysis & closing thoughts

73:24 - Contact The Train Rush

After the world's longest arm wrestle to decide the topic of their next podcast, Craig and Dave emerge, sweaty but united in their resolve to hunt for gaming treasure in Hollandspiele's 'The Soo Line'. 18GB, Norgebanen and Northern Pacific may also feature briefly. Near the start, next to the bushes. You can't miss it. No, not there. Left a bit. Now you've gone too far. Like this joke.

00:00 Show Intro

00:29 Off The Rails - Unstructured chat covering 18GB, Northern Pacific and Norgebanen

04:45 The Soo Line

37:53 Contacting The Train Rush

A recently widowed man's son calls a radio talk-show in an attempt to find his father a partner. After ending that *awkward* conversation, Dave and Craig continue their search for the perfect 'games night' 18xx. Forget Meg Ryan. Is AAG's 1879, 'the one'?

(Warning: Craig may have had a festive drink prior to recording, so this one has the odd soft curse word. It's okay. We're British...)

After playing it a handful of times, Dave and Craig are motivated to share their first impressions of Leonhard Orgler's most recently published title, 18Lilliput, a brave foray into fitting 18xx scale fun into a Lilliputian box.

Does it fulfil the brief? Listen on...

After discussing some (literally) old news, Craig & Dave discuss a worker placement classic from the revered British Designer Tony Boydell, Snowdonia.

[Episode released out of sequence, as the sterling editing efforts of one of our fans was able to recover it to a state fit for public consumption]

00:00 - Intro and show chat

03:57 - Snowdonia discussion

28:31 - Close out and contact details

Craig and David put their money where their mouth is and visit the nascent 18xx Belgium conference for their second crack of the whip.

Live/rough content, featuring conference discussion, first impressions of 1840, superficial reflections on 1880 & rapid chat around 1849/89.

En route to making their next 18xx connecting train, Craig & Dave brave the sounds of smells of the underground to discuss their latest new Japanese import, Tokyo Metro.

Review copy courtesy of Jordan Draper games.

With Craig's handler away in sunnier climes, the roguish devil opines endlessly on the subject of teaching 18xx, under the supervision of guest host, Jon Cant.

The presenters discuss their observations on what makes teaching 18xx challenging, approaches that they’ve observed work and of course, those that don't.

1836jr and 1846 are discussed as case studies, highlighting attributes which make them interesting candidates for teaching titles.

This is an EXTREMELY long episode, running to nearly two hours. We'll forgive you if you chose not to suffer for that long.

Warning: Skip this one if you just want game chat! Admin stuff contained herein...

In this episode Craig and Dave discuss the future direction of the podcast and its content, giving ardent listeners an insight as to what's down the tracks for the show.

P.S. Please forgive any 'Rice Crispies' that have invaded this episode (Snap, Crackle & Pop) - the death throes of a dying and soon to be replaced microphone.

Following the outcome of the listeners poll, grateful that the winning entry wasn't 'Trainy McTrain-Face', Dave and Craig figuratively travel to the land of Guinness, unspellable names and catastrophic housing bubbles to review the people's choice, 18Ireland.

(Apologies but literal travel would have broken the budget)