Roxley Games ROX401 Brass Lancashire, Multicoloured

We held off our purchase of Brass: Birmingham until a discounted price was offered, but are very pleased we took the plunge. The overall quality is extremely high and a delight to look at and handle.* Learning the rules was a challenge and we needed to watch a couple of YouTube how-to-play and play-thrus to grasp the finer points and check we weren't making mistakes, but the effort was well worthwhile. We find the full game takes about 2 hours of engrossing play, and have only just scratched the surface of the various possible strategies so every game is different. And it's very hard to tell who's winning until the final scores are added up.(*The only upgrade we wanted was a better set of coins than the push-out cardboard discs supplied. It's very expensive to buy the deluxe poker chip type alternatives from Roxley direct, but we easily found suitable metal games tokens online.)

If you’re looking for a product review - it’s a well produced game, as expected from Simon Wallace. The instructions are comprehensive and the game pieces are well made. As a game review - we love Brass Birmingham! It fees similar in style to Mythotopia (another Simon Wallace game), where your aim is to claim cities and swap cards and resources as actions, but with an industrial midlands in the 1800s UK smoggy feel. The best element is that as long as you’re connected to resources by canal or rail links, you can “steal” other people’s resources. This benefits them by giving them VP but you can really scupper their plans if you drink all their beer! Another nice unique touch is that turn order changes each round depending on who spent the most money, so the advantage always rotates randomly. The board has two sides, day and night, providing artwork and atmosphere. The two player version limits your use of the board, so you don’t expand too far away from your opponent, and in the four player mode...gloves are off.

I bought this for my brother for Christmas and we have played a few times, The initial learning curve wasn't too bad but it is a game you have to wrap your head around. It is very strategic and your goal can change each turn, making it a game you have to adapt to as you're going along.It can be very fun to watch a player build up a resource like Coal or Iron and then use it for yourself the following turn.I would say to get the most out of the game you have to be 16+ and all players must be accustomed to this type of board game.It isn't extremely hard but it is challenging. Also don't worry about going into debt, if you don't go into debt in this game you're playing it wrong.

If you want a 30 minute game, look elsewhere. If you want a well built game with quality pieces and lovely artwork that lasts into the night then this is for you.Sometimes you think twice about paying so much for a board game, but I think this will really give the distance.You can play the game in halves if you want a quick fix, or go the whole hog and play the full 2 eras of canal and railway.This game is what I would call a tycoon game, plenty of twists and turns and quite a bit of luck involved in the card turn base.It is a complicated game when first starting and the set up is half of the fun and takes a while to get your head around.Great instructions and many videos online to help you and watch. Lovely pieces and feels quality and once you play you wont worry about the price tag.

If you like strategies, you must play this awesome game. Just enjoy, because you have read the rules more than once. Rules looks huge, but it is not. Rules is simple (for me 😉). But be careful for better understanding. So, read rules one more time and prepare large table. The game need a lot of place. Oh, yes, delivery was fast. Parsel was bitted a little bit. You can see it from my pictures. But all staff looks good. I strongly recommend this game!)

This is an amazing follow-on from the also amazing Brass Lancashire. Well constructed physical game, tokens, board etc. and good Instruction Guide too.This isn't a quick to learn game, but once you're underway and you've had a few games to get you going, it's a fantastic game - you'll enter the world of trade in the early-late 1800s and you need to start thinking in an 1800 kinda way to get the most out of the game - I want to build a mill, OK, you need some coal, right, where do I get coal from, ah, a coal mine, am I connected to that coal mine via canal or rail, no, think again, build a canal, make progress, etc.I can honestly say that every shuffle of the cards plays a different game, strategies change, outcomes change, it's a play and play again game that will entertain the whole family. Can't get enough of BRASS.

Very good boardgame

This games is not to difficult to learn but it takes a long while to master- as soon as we had finished everyone wanted another game - so we played 4 games one after their other and they still wanted another game