America in the 19th century: You are a rancher and repeatedly herd your cattle from Texas to Kansas City, where you send them off by train. This earns you money and victory points. Needless to say, each time you arrive in Kansas City, you want to have your most valuable cattle in tow. However, the "Great Western Trail" not only requires that you keep your herd in good shape, but also that you wisely use the various buildings along the trail.

Also, it might be a good idea to hire capable staff: cowboys to improve your herd, craftsmen to build your very own buildings, or engineers for the important railroad line.

If you cleverly manage your herd and navigate the opportunities and pitfalls of Great Western Trail, you surely will gain the most victory points and win the game.

Heats will use the second edition, with first edition used only if there is a shortage of copies. Should a shortage happen, random seating will put players at either table, and players are expected to be able to play either edition (they are 98% alike). To keep things simpler, there will be no promos or expansions permitted in this year’s event.

Random seating/turn order is in effect for the Heats, with the new second-edition rule regarding player order card/money compensation being enforced for all Editions. Starting Objective cards will be drafted in reverse turn order. Tiebreaker in heats is reverse turn order.

At each heat player may play either the Second edition, Argentina edition, or New Zeeland edition. We will try accommodate based on the player’s preferences.

In the Semifinal and Final, we will play exclusively the Second edition. We will bid for turn order, and objective cards will be pre-assigned to the various turn slots. We will still observe the new Second edition rules for turn order compensation. The first tiebreaker in the Semifinal and Final is leftover money (after spending for VPs). The second tiebreaker is original turn order.

Advancement for the Semifinal will be based on the Heat Most Wins – Points Standard Tiebreakers with GM specific Tiebreaker listed below

We will cut to the top 16 for the Semifinal. If for any reason a player who qualifies to play in the Final chooses not to play, we will take the best Semifinal runner-up based on closest VP percentage loss.

Family members (and team members for whom GWT is a team game) will not be permitted to play at the same table unless it is impossible to avoid.

HEATS: MOST WINS - POINTS (HMW-P):

1. Most Wins (e.g., total in all heats entered)
2. Total Points – Players earn the following pints in each heat they entered:
   • 1st Place - 1,000 points
   • 2nd Place - 100 points
   • 3rd Place - 10 points
   • 4th Place - 1 points
   • All other places - 0 points
   • e.g. player has a 1st, 2nd, and 4th in three heats: total points would be 1,101
3. GM Specific Tie-breaker:
   • Points for 3rd and 4th in 4-player games are ignored
   • Points for 3rd in 3-player Games are ignored
4. High dice roll.

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