Brass Birmingham (EN)

Brass: Birmingham

Brass: Birmingham is the sequel to the 2007 economic strategy game Brass, created by Martin Wallace. It is set in Birmingham during the Industrial Revolution, from 1770 to 1870. Just like in the original game, it is all about developing, building and establishing industries and networks to meet market demand.
Each round, players take turns performing actions according to the turn order track.

They can choose two actions from the following options:

Build - Pay the required resources and place an industry tile.
Network - Add a rail/canal link to expand your network.
Develop - Increase the VP value of an industry
Sell - Sell cotton, manufactured goods and pottery.
Loan - Take a loan of £30 and lower your income.
Scout - Discard three cards and take a wild location card and a wild industry card. (Replaces Double Action Build from the original game)

The game is played in two halves: the canal era (1770-1830) and the rail era (1830-1870). To win, you need to score the most VPs (victory points). VPs are awarded at the end of each half based on canals, rails and flipped industry tiles. In Birmingham, canals and rails have a dynamic point value. Many industries give 0 or even 2 VPs instead of the static 1 VP of the original game. This creates strategic opportunities to build valuable canals and calls for clever placement of industries. The iron, coal and cotton industries appear in both the original Brass and Brass: Birmingham.

New selling system
Brewing plays an important role in Birmingham's culture. To sell your products, you have to trade with merchants at the edge of the board. Each merchant is looking for a specific type of good. To sell cotton, pottery or manufactured goods to these merchants, you need to consume beer to keep your industries running. For example, a level 1 cotton mill requires one beer to operate.
As an incentive to sell early, the first player who sells to a merchant receives free beer.

Birmingham introduces three new types of industry:

Brewery - Produces valuable beer barrels that are needed to sell goods.
Manufactured goods - Works like cotton, but has eight levels. Each level offers unique rewards instead of just increasing VPs, which makes it a more versatile path compared to cotton (but possibly harder).
Pottery - These large buildings in Birmingham offer huge VPs, but at a high cost and they require planning.

There is also a larger market for coal and iron, where the price can rise to £8 per cube, which is not unusual. Brass: Birmingham is a sequel to Brass, but it offers a very different storyline and play experience than its predecessor