Getting a copy of 1870 in Math Trade on BGG

I am trading off some old GURPS books for a copy of 1870 on BGG. I'm excited to add another 18xx game to my boardgame collection, even if it's unlikely to be played anytime soon. I also am getting Navia Drapt and Starship Catan, both of which include some unusual mechanics.

Other than that, I am still looking at a long list of design choices. Are red off-board hexes really necessary? I am considering a second map. Naturally, this would cause the payouts to go down and the board to be more crowded, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing.