Brass Birmingham reference sheet

Overview

• 2–4 players compete as entrepreneurs during England's Industrial Revolution (1770–1870) [p.4 — The Goal]
• Two eras: Canal Era (1770–1830) then Rail Era (1830–1870) [p.4 — The Goal]
• Build industries, expand your network with canals/rails, sell goods to earn VPs [p.4 — Playing the Game]
• Most VPs after the Rail Era wins; tiebreak: highest income, then most money [p.4 — Winning the Game]
• Each round players take turns in order; 2 actions per turn (1 action in round 1 of Canal Era) [p.4 — Player Turns]
• Industries: Cotton Mills, Coal Mines, Iron Works, Manufacturers, Potteries, Breweries [p.1 — Components]

Setup

1. Place board (day or night side) [p.3 — Board Setup]
2. Remove Merchant tiles showing a player count greater than yours; return to box [p.3 — Board Setup]
3. Separate Wild Location and Wild Industry cards onto 2 Card Draw Areas face-up [p.3 — Board Setup]
4. Shuffle remaining cards; place face-down as the Draw Deck [p.3 — Board Setup]
5. Shuffle remaining Merchant tiles; place 1 face-up on each Merchant space marked for your player count [p.3 — Board Setup]
6. Place 1 beer barrel on each beer barrel space beside a face-up Merchant tile [p.3 — Board Setup]
7. Fill Coal Market leaving 1 space open; fill Iron Market leaving 2 spaces open [p.3 — Board Setup]
8. Each player: take £17 from Bank, choose colour, stack Industry tiles on Player Mat, place VP Marker on '0', Income Marker on '10' [p.3 — Player Area Setup]
9. Each player draws 8 cards; draw 1 extra card face-down as starting Discard Pile [p.3 — Player Area Setup]
10. Shuffle all Character tiles; place randomly on Turn Order Track [p.3 — Player Area Setup]

Turn structure

Each turn: 2 actions (only 1 action in round 1 of Canal Era) [p.4 — Player Turns]

1. Discard 1 card from Hand for each action (including passing); Wild cards return to their Draw Area
2. Perform the action (Build, Network, Develop, Sell, Loan, Scout, or Pass)
3. After both actions, refill Hand to 8 cards from Draw Deck
4. Place all money spent this turn on top of your Character tile on the Turn Order Track

End of Round (after all players):

1. Rearrange Turn Order: least spent goes first, most spent goes last [p.4 — End of Round]
2. Return all money from Character tiles to Bank
3. Each player collects income equal to their income level (not collected on final round of game)

Actions

Scoring

End of each era — score in this order:

• Links: 1 VP per adjacent location connected by each of your Link tiles; then remove all Link tiles [p.4 — End of Era Maintenance]
• Flipped Industry tiles: VPs shown in bottom-left corner of each flipped tile (black top half) [p.4 — End of Era Maintenance]
• Unflipped Industry tiles score 0 VPs [p.4 — Score Flipped Industry Tiles]
• Income level at end of game is NOT worth VPs [p.7 — Beginner Tips]
• If you exceed 100 VPs, loop the Progress Track and continue [p.4 — Score Flipped Industry Tiles]

End of game

• Game ends after Rail Era scoring (when Draw Deck and all Hands are exhausted in Rail Era) [p.4 — Rounds]
• Most VPs wins [p.4 — Winning the Game]
• Tiebreak 1: highest income level [p.4 — Winning the Game]
• Tiebreak 2: most money remaining [p.4 — Winning the Game]
• If still tied: those players draw [p.4 — Winning the Game]

Glossary

• Network: all locations adjacent to any of your Industry tiles or Link tiles [p.5 — Your Network]
• Connected: two locations linked by a continuous chain of Link tiles (any player's) [p.5 — Connected Locations]
• Flipped tile: Industry tile that has been sold/exhausted; shows black top half and VP value in bottom-left corner [p.5 — Flipping Industry Tiles]
• Overbuilding: replacing an existing Industry tile with a higher-level tile of the same type [p.6 — Overbuilding]
• Canal Era: first era (1770–1830); max 1 Industry tile per location; canal Links only [p.6 — Canal Era Building]
• Rail Era: second era (1830–1870); multiple Industry tiles per location allowed; rail Links only [p.6 — Rail Era Building]
• Income level: the numbered level on the Progress Track beside your Income Marker; determines money collected each round [p.4 — End of Round]
• Merchant tile: edge-of-board tile showing industry icons; required destination when selling Cotton Mills, Manufacturers, or Potteries [p.6 — Sell Action]
• Wild card: flexible card substituting any Location or Industry card; returned to its Draw Area (not Discard Pile) when used [p.4 — Player Turns]
• Draw Deck: shared face-down deck players draw from each round [p.3 — Board Setup]

FAQ

• Q: Do I need a connection to consume iron? — A: No. Iron can be consumed from any unflipped Iron Works on the board regardless of connection. [p.5 — Consuming Iron]
• Q: Can I consume my own Brewery beer without being connected? — A: Yes. You do not need a connection to consume beer from your own Breweries, but you must be connected to use opponents' Breweries or Merchant beer. [p.7 — Things to Remember]
• Q: Can I overbuild an opponent's tile? — A: Only Coal Mines or Iron Works, and only when zero cubes of that type remain on ALL Industry tiles and in the Market. [p.7 — Things to Remember]
• Q: Can level 1 tiles be built in the Rail Era? — A: No, except the level 1 Pottery tile, which may be built during the Rail Era. [p.7 — Things to Remember]
• Q: What happens to Canal Era tiles at the end of the Canal Era? — A: All level 1 Industry tiles are removed from the board and returned to the box. Level 2+ tiles remain. [p.4 — Remove Obsolete Industries]