Had a very enjoyable game of 1851 yesterday with Dave, Steve and John. 1851 is an 1830 variant set in Tennessee, designed to go faster than 1830. It only has 6 Corporations, which float when 50% of their stock is sold, but with only 50% capitalization. The Corporation must raise the rest by selling the remaining stock - which gives you an incentive to manage the company in a responsible fashion. It only took us 6 hours to complete the game, which is pretty good going for us. Mid-game Dave looked like the leader, but I had two companies running synergistically and got some very high-scoring runs organized, so in the end I was the winner, with Steve second, Dave third and John last. Nice way for a nimrod to start the year - thanks guys.