[18CZ] company is not forced to buy a train it can run

[kepakiano]

In this game: https://18xx.games/game/133678?action=272 BTE buys two small trains which it can't run. It should then be forced to buy the available 3+3e, but it isn't, the move is ended and it's BN's turn. Same thing happens here: If BN buys two small trains for 250 each, putting it at 0 money, it's not forced to buy a train, even though the rules say, that it must buy another train, even if that means going over the train limit and then discard one of the other trains.

[kepakiano]

Since we might continue with a different course of action, I'll put the json export here. Note, that BTE has already done something else. In order to reproduce the bug either go back a turn and buy 2 4Ts with BTE or go ahead and buy two 4Ts with BN.

https://gist.github.com/benjaminxscott/4367841b8fe830ca9033ee3b17bd9d1c

[Zwergenpunk]

Yeah that should not happen :( funny that after 2+ years nobody reported that issue.

To ne honest I don't know what the solution is. Im going to aak Lonny.

[Zwergenpunk]

The correct Handling would be that the company can Not buy a second small train.

[philcampeau]

@Zwergenpunk I'm curious about the exact way this should be applied. Is the intention that a company that does not currently have a usable train must buy a usable train before buying any non-usable trains, or is it simply saying that they cannot take up their last available train slot with a non-usable train if they don't currently have a usable train.

That's two very different rules, since in the second case, a company could buy an non-usable train and then force-fund a usable one, where in the first case that wouldn't be possible.

[Zwergenpunk]

@philcampeau I asked Lonny some time ago and he said that the coroporation cannot buy a second small train, so I think the correct version is that the coroporation can buy a non runnable train and then hast to buy a runnable train, even if additional private funds are needed. (So version 2 of your suggestions)

But this is just my intepretation of the answer I received.

[philcampeau]

The tricky thing with that is, at the point in the game where you were, the train limit was 3. It seems strange that the ruling would be you can buy a first non-runnable train but not a second. I would think it's either "you must buy a runnable train first" or "you must buy a runnable train before ending your turn".

Which would still raise the question: could you buy up to train limit with non-runnable trains, and then be forced to buy an additional train and discard one of the non-runnable trains to the bank pool.

[Zwergenpunk]

I asked the exact question Lonny 1 year ago. And he said that you cannot buy until the train limit but the last slot has to be a runnable train.