Re: Black Pawn Trucking playtest/review

["Benedict" <boycat_oh@...>]

Hi, Ron

Thanks for playing Black Pawn Trucking and posting your review.

>I have a few questions and quibbles, however.
> 
> 1. The rules read, "Moving your truck consumes fuel, which 
costs
>    money. It costs $1 per city moved through (including your
>    destination city) plus $1 per good carried (in the Goods In 
Transit
>    box)...".  So if I have a truck carrying one good and I move
>    through three cities, do I pay $4 ($1/city + $1/good) or $6
>    ($2/city, because I'm carrying a good)?  I played it the former
>    way, as that's the way the rules seemed to read literally.  If 
you
>    mean the latter, Phillip, I would say something like "It costs 
$1
>    per city moved through plus $1 per good carried per city 
moved
>    through", and give an example.  This might be a crushing fee,
>    however.

It is ($1 per city you move to) + ($1 per good carried). The other 
way would indeed be economically crushing.

> 2. The rules read, "If there are less than 4 goods on the map 
you must
>    pay $4 and roll the 4 dice to procure new delivery contracts", 
but
>    the Turn Summary on the playmat reads, "If there are <3 
goods on
>    the map roll 4 dice and pay $4 to place new (raw) goods on 
the
>    map."  This seems to be a rules conflict.  I used the <3 rule.
>    Actually, I didn't use that either, or I would have gone through
>    all the coins in the cup.  I see this now, but I can't help
>    thinking a description of play in the rules (e.g. "Because of 
this
>    rule, you will eventually go through most or all of the coins in
>    the cup") would be useful.  By the way, what do you do when 
there
>    are <3 (or <4, depending on the correct rule) goods on the 
map, but
>    the cup is empty?

Hmmm, I think I tweaked that rule a little during the game's 
creation. I intended for it to be <4, so I'll change that in the next 
version. It doesn't make a huge difference, really. And yes, once 
all goods have been generated there are no more, so I will clarify 
that as well in version 0.2.

> 
> 3. I think you should pay _after_ you move your truck, not 
before.
>    It's less confusing that way; you can count the spaces you're
>    moving as you move the truck.  I don't think it would make 
much
>    difference to game play except when the player is low on 
funds and
>    has a lot of loans, in which case it might give the player a 
slight
>    edge.

I don't think this really matters which way you do it, but if you think 
it is easier to play the game this way then I can change it. The 
idea is that you MUST have the cash to move before you do so.  
In reality it works out the same whether you pay before or after, 
taking a loan if necessary.
 
> 4. I think the instructions for placing and moving the pawns on 
the
>    money track should be more explicit.  For example, it is not
>    initially clear why there are two money tracks, and why you
>    shouldn't place both pawns on the same one. (The 
instructions say
>    to place one on 0 and one on 10.  The bottom track has both.

OK, I will be explicit that one track is for 0-9 and one for the tens.

> 
> 5. Hey, since this is Great Britain, shouldn't the money be 
counted in
>    pounds instead of dollars? :-)

Absolutely, but it takes much longer to type the rules from my US 
keyboard if I have to keep inserting symbol/copy paste for the 
pound or euro signs ;)


> p.s. Phillip, point of information: where did the nickname 
>      "Benedict" come from?

Heh, Now that's a good question.  I do not have a middle name, 
and since it seems that everyone here in the US has one (I 
moved to the US from the UK in '97) a friend of mine said I 
should have one. Another friend of mine has 2 middle names, 
so I 'stole' one of them. However, never use it, other than as a 
web pseudonym. The first friend thinks Benedict sounds very 
suave, and if I do something cool or trendy she refers to it as a 
'Benedict moment'.  Unfortunately my life has many more 
'non-Benedict' than 'Benedict' moments in it.  Sigh. ;)

Phillip