- BGG rating
- 5.8
Great Western: Harz and Bayern
- 2–4 players
- 40 min
- Complexity 2.0/5
- 2011
- BGG rank
- BGG #27,737
- BGG rating
- 5.4
Great Western
2011
Rules assistance for Great Western
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 40 min
- 10+
- Complexity 1.7/5
Rules assistant for Great Western
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Great Western is a board game released in 2011 for 2–4 players, 40 minutes per game, and ages 10 and up. It was designed by Martin Wallace and its main mechanics are Dice Rolling.
Expansions
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About the game
This is the first of four games from Martin Wallace published in the Spielbox magazine No. 92 (edition 2/2011). It is a Railroad game placed in south England. The game objective is to connect cities in the railroad. This first magazine comes with the board, rules, one start player marker and 222 tiles for the game. Those tiles will be used also in the next three magazines with the other Wallace games. The player must provide only the dice in order to play.
Questions and answers
Great Western supports 2–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Great Western is 40 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Great Western for ages 10 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Great Western has a complexity rating of 1.7 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Great Western belongs to these categories: Trains. Its main mechanics are Dice Rolling. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Great Western are: Martin Wallace. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Great Western as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.