Brass: Lancashire

Designer: Martin Wallace

Artist: Gavan Brown, Lina Cossette, Peter Dennis, David Forest, Eckhard Freytag, Damien Mammoliti

Published: 2007
Players: 2-4
Playing Time: 60-120 Mins
BGG Rating: 8.2
BGG Ranking: 21

Publisher: Roxley

Mechanisms: Hand Management, Income, Loans, Market, Network and Route Building,

Sleeves: TCG 63,5x88mm

Game Description:

Brass: Lancashire is an economic strategy game that tells the story of competing cotton entrepreneurs in Lancashire during the industrial revolution. You must develop, build and establish your industries and network so that you can capitalize on demand for iron, coal and cotton. The game is played over two halves: the canal phase and the rail phase. To win the game, score the most victory points (VPs), which are counted at the end of each phase. VPs are gained from your canals, rails, and established (flipped) industry tiles.

 

Quick play overview:

in a round, each player will perform 2 actions from building industry, rail/canal, develop the industry (tech tree), sell cotton (connect his cotton factory to a valid port or market) and/or take a loan actions.

 

These actions are done by discarding 1 card/action from your hand. Cards will limit your selection for building industry only. This will be done by choosing 2 cards from your hand and playing an industry tile in the chosen city (city card) or a specific industry tile in
a city in your network (industry card). Other actions don’t care about which card you discard.

 

Canals and rails will allow you to extend your network and connect your industry to the market or ports, where you can sell your coal, iron and/or cotton.  Developing the industry allows you to get rid of the low scoring, early game tiles, while taking loans… well it is an action that you won’t be able to avoid as money is very limited in this game.

 

At the end of each round of 2 actions/player, the player's turn order will change so that the player who spent the least, go first and so on. Most importantly, players will also earn some money from their business. 

 

Game ends after 2 eras, where the deck of cards is used up and each player runs out of cards to play.

 

Final thoughts:

I’m always surprised what a simple rule set this game has. The selection of actions is very limited and yet the game is so deep.

 

Players start with a hand of cards that will let you plan your starting strategy. Your opponents will get in the way every turn but with a pivot here and there, every obstacle can be avoided. 

 

With the player's turn order rule, you can plan for 2 consecutive turns but then you might have to wait for all other players to go twice before your next turn. A great twist to the turn order rule. 

 

 

 

FINAL SCORE:

Gameplay & How often I want to play it:10/10

A deep game with a very limited set of actions. I love it that the game is not overwhelming me with too many possible choices… and yet, every turn is interesting and none of the actions are a waste of time.

It’s a longer game, so it’s not getting played as much as I wanted it to, but I’m doing my best to play it regularly.

 

Art & Graphic Design:

The game has a beautiful industry themed art and graphic design. The game is giving a vibe like you will find coal stains on your fingers and shirt after the game is over.

 

Rules & Complexity:

Simple ruleset with deep gameplay. That is exactly what I love from my heavy games. Not many rules and subrules that cause you to backtrack because you forgot some little details here and there. That said, every decision matters and will be felt down the road. A missed opportunity will haunt you for the next hour or two.

 

Theme & Mechanism fit:

I didn’t expect to care that much for England’s industrial period, but it turns out that I love this setting. I want all the “insert a random word here”-shires to prosper.

The painful money borrowing, the building of routes, industry… brings the theme to life.

 

Fun & Replayability:

If you like economy and building networks, this game is lots of fun. Moving money around, using up every single pound to get that extra income for next round and extra points… It’s so satisfying.

There aren’t really a lot of different “tech tree” strategies to try out. This game comes alive by staying ahead of your competition in any way, shape or form.