In Santa Fe Rails, players build the Union Pacific, Santa Fe, Great Northern, Kansas City, and Southern Pacific railroads from their bases in Chicago, New Orleans, Kansas City, and Milwaukee. The short lines, Texas Pacific, Denver & Rio Grande Western, Western Pacific, and Rock Island, make their appearance in the middle of the game. Players play City cards to lay claim to end-game Victory Points for the number of railroads connected to their cities. They lay track pieces to create the connections of the major railroads to those cities. Special cards allow railroads to establish Branch Lines.

Players may opt to grab special cards that allow the laying of extra tracks on a turn. Boomtowns can be created out of small-value cities. Short line railroads can be used to connect out-of-the-way places. The game ends when all the track pieces for the major railroads have been used. The Cities with the higher values and most railroad connections will score the most.

Play in as many Heats as you wish. 4-player games will be the preferred format with 3-player games if numbers force. 5-player games will only be used if there is a lack of game copies for that heat.

Advancement to the Semifinal, if the tournament has 32+ players (otherwise 8), will be based on the Heats Most Wins – Points Standard Tie-breakers as listed below. For the Semifinal, we will only fill tables with non-winners to complete to a multiple of 4. If fewer than 13 winners show for the Semifinal, less than 16 will qualify (regardless of tournament size).

Multiple heat winners will be split at the Semifinal tables. Four winners advance to the Final. If we have less than four tables in the Semifinal, then we'll advance enough second place finishersr to get to a 4-player Final. Difference to winning score will be the tiebreaker to determine which runner-up advances.

Tournament Officials: the GM will be playing. Sara Ward and Adam Hurd will be the Assistant GMs who will always rule against me. Feel free to write with any questions about the tournament.

Special Tournament Rules: Only the standard rules will be used. The Advanced game and optional rules will NOT be used.

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:
   1. Strength of best win (% of points compared to 2nd place)
   2. Strength of best 2nd place finish (as % of winners score)
4. High dice roll.

Additional Prize: Additional Prize of a premium bottle of pure Canadian Maple Syrup will be provided to the winner by the GM.

Additional Prizes: Additional Prizes will be provided to the plaque winners by the publisher, GMT Games.

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