Mornington Crescent #477

I think we have enough people here now to get together a nice round or three of Mornington Crescent.

We'll play by standard forum-hosted rules. For interest, we'll include the 1989 Transatlantic module, which is now public domain, so I'm sure you have a copy. Pay special attention to the list of conditions under which the New York Portals open and where they appear.

Also, we're going to use the optional Mornington Crescent Maintenance Closure (MCMC) rule: Due to maintenance, Mornington Crescent is an invalid move for the first twenty valid and eligible moves. Only the first valid move per player per turn per post is eligible. This countdown supersedes all other rules. See rulebook for further details.

London Map New York Map

I'll start play at Elephant & Castle. I'll go ahead and take the Community Chest card that triggers discount fares, but I won't roll to determine which card it is yet. That leaves me with £12.50.

i'll get things going by playing bank/monument. nothing too interesting there

i'll join in with covent garden if that's okay

ok, i'll play Oxford Street, and i just received a Luck Stone, giving me £2,000,000,000.00

oxford street? i can't find that on the map

it's one of the hidden stations.

oh, my mistake, sorry

just to change things up i think i'll play Baker Street, and i'll also redeem 5 of my Electoral Prisms

I'm rolling for the card now. It's...Bank Holiday. I don't think that affects anyone yet but Caesar, who is not going to be able to receive the lottery winnings for another ten turns.

I'll take the Bakerloo to Marylebone. Since that takes me past Baker Street, I'll collect the 10 marzipan deposit on trimill's Prism Redemption.

I'll open the first one now: The code is 5329.

i'll go to regent's park and rotate my R gear by two cogs.

i'll play Waterloo next, which, since the last marzipan deposit code was a perfect square, should open an inactive portal to Grand Central Station

It's not my turn yet, but Waterloo actually completes the right column of my BINGO card. So yes, the GCS portal on the Piccadilly line is open, but the Elysia portal opens in the exact same spot, perfectly overlapping. It's a coin flip whether you end up with the Yankees or the Elder Gods that way.

ah, good catch. i completely forgot about that rule

are we playing with the elizabeth line? i know it has a few balance issues that make it pretty controversial in competitive play, but personally i think it's pretty fun

yes but we have to wait for 10 turns. also apparently i won the lottery in addition to gaining £2,000,000,000.00, which is cool. that should net me £337,000.00 extra in 10 turns.

i'll play paddington. cliche, i know, but it's a pretty strong opening in most games

It's been years since I've played a good old game of Mornington Crescent, but I think I'll start with South Kensington. Since it's next to the museums I should gain +1 on my initial INT score.

yes, caesar, in addition to the £2,000,000,000.00 Luck Stone Acquisition Lottery, you also won the £337,000.00 Books for Pigeons Lottery, both of which pay out when the banks reopen in 7 more turns. However, you have to choose between them--they are mutually exclusive. You can take the bigger prize if you like, but you will become an enemy of the pigeons.

don't piss off the pigeons if you ever want to see daylight again

ah, not to worry! i have Bread to Feed the pigeons, which i inherited from the last time i played. i'll be choosing the £2,000,000,000.00

i will play notting hill gate, putting me to five R gear cogs. also, i should hopefully get a dodecahedron, if i'm remembering this right.

i'll go with Whitechapel next, and i'll spend $3,000,000 of my initial budget to zone the neighboring nine tiles for residential use.

uh oh! it's been 4 hours 45 minutes since the last move, and that means i get to advance 2 stations and collect a rare bonus orb. that puts me at notting hill gate

Two players at Notting Hill Gate was my secret goal. That gives me a bonus turn.

I'm opening the second marzipan. The new code is 4405. I've luckily actually seen this track before, so I know correct response. I'm playing GENERALISSIMO down the Hammersmith and City line hitting the triple word score at Edgware Road. That gives me 396 points, which I'll immediately cash in to prevent all westward travel without a DC 16 dexterity check for the next five turns.

For my second turn, I'm opening a third marzipan. 3339 is the code. I've never seen this one, so I'm taking the safe route and taking the circle line clockwise to Liverpool Street, leaving me with £6.50 to play the gachapon there twice. I'm not going to open the capsules until another portal opens.

As both of these turns count toward the Bank Holiday timer, only one turn remains before the banks reopen. Thank goodness.

aha, good code! i'm exchanging a cog of the R wheel's rotation for three spins on the wheel of fortune. let's see – that's a 300, a 100 and another 100, which sadly isn't divisible by 3. oh well. i'll just set the letter bomb fuse to AQJKT and move to baker street in that case.

And the banks are open again. Keep in mind that you cannot withdraw funds unless you are at a station with a bank. That's like 70% of stations, but it doesn't include any of the hidden ones.

Caesar: if you're planning on picking up the £2,000,000,000.00 prize, remember that the upkeep to appease the pigeons is 33,152 Bread per turn.

ah, excellent. i collect $50,000 from property taxes on my residential zoning and go to Aldgade East, where i use the money as collateral to take out a $3,000,000 loan, which i retroactively incorporate into my initial budget.