Events - [EBP Help Contents]
Events are random special occurrences that can have a variety of effects on game play. An "event" can occur any time a load delivery is made. Common events are derailments, floods and storms.
Upon an event, EBP describes what happens and highlights via the "event color" (orange by default) map areas impacted. Players can lose turns and/or loads due to an event. Taxes may be charged. Some events have an immediate impact and are finished, while others endure for another round or more.
TAXES
Upon and after the Taxes event, the cash level of all players becomes public.
LOSE LOAD
Certain events, such as a derailment, cause a loss of one or more loads. If you have a choice of loads to lose, EBP will automatically open the Loads window, and you must toss a load before you can continue moving. Similarly, events can trigger the loss of a contract; EBP will require you to choose a contract to discard.
ACTIVE EVENTS
At the upper left corner of the map, on the Event button EBP displays the number events currently active. If the button color is the event color (normally orange), at least one event is active. If two events are active, the button will read "2E". If the only events active are Shortages and/or Special Demands, the letter S will be displayed in place of E.
VIEW EVENTS
If you find the display of event effects on the map distracting, you can toggle it off via the Show, Events pull-down menu.
EVENT INFO
Choose the Show, Event Info pull-down menu to open the Event Info window that lists all possible events during a match. In the list, events prefixed with the letter A are currently active, those marked with x have occurred and are no longer active, those with P are pending and may occur upon the next delivery, and those marked with F are future events that can occur only after they are made eligible via a Revolution-type event (such as on the Russia map). Those marked S are secondary events, ones that can be triggered only by another event.
For more information, highlight an event in the list and click Details. To visualize the areas of the map impacted by one of more events, use the Checked, Pending, or All buttons. These buttons do not trigger an event, they merely let you view its impact.
For map testing purposes, or if there is simply an event you dislike, check mark it and click Toggle. During play (including continuous play), EBP will ignore events you toggle off. Or, to turn off all events but one, check mark it, hold down the Shift key and click Toggle. To turn an event back on, repeat the process, or reload the map into EBP via File, Load Map.
SHORTAGE
During a Shortage event, certain cities offer a bonus for delivery of certain loads. To collect the bonus, you must make a delivery demanded on a contract as you would normally; without a matching contract you cannot satisfy a Shortage.
SPECIAL DEMANDS
A Special Demand event is a demand for delivery of one or more loads to a particular city. Any player can satisfy a Special Demand, but only the first player to do so collects the payoff offered. Unlike the Shortage event, no separate "normal" demand contract is needed. When multiple loads are demanded, they must all be delivered by the same player in the same round. EBP displays a list of Special Demands in the scrollable contracts box at the left of the map, below the contracts of the players. To scroll directly to Special Demands during play, click the box found below the contracts box and above the cash box. Not all game maps have Special Demand events; the Russia map is one that does.
DISABLE EVENTS
To play without any Events, in the Game Options window uncheck the Events variant checkbox.