Surprisingly very puzzly and not as thematic - As mentioned earlier, I went into this game not having read the rules myself. There are also plenty of opportunities to take advantage of your opponent's established routes and resources to advance your own.
#BRASS BIRMINGHAM SET UP UPDATE#
Having this live update of each other's progress leads to lots of "eyeing" on one another and making you feel like you really need to keep up or "one up" the other person. Players constantly progress further on the income track with each round (or sometimes go down if you take out a loan). There are two tracks that show each player's progression: (1) victory point track with midgame scoring and endgame scoring, and (2) income track that shows how much money a player will make at the end of a round.Plays very well at two players with great amount of tension - There's a tug-of-war kind of feeling all throughout the gameplay, and there are a number of factors to this: And once we got to the end of the first era and went through midgame scoring, it "clicked" and I was all set. Once I completed my first couple of turns, it was easier to see where my options lie and I slowly built up my strategy one step at a time while learning the flow. Of course, it doesn't mean that this is better, but it was an interesting thought. I think It really helps limit analysis paralysis from new players when you have a starting point that makes you feel grounded. This is different from games like #Concordia where all players start from one central location and start branching outward. The charm behind these two games is that its simplicity leads to great variations in strategy and tactical play.įrom blank stare till it "clicks" - Because I was completely new to the game, I stared at the board with its intricate network of different locations and I had no idea where to start. For Clans, you're building a network of workers, cows, sheep, wheat field, distillery, etc, and then you have Brass' cold steel industrial network of canals and railroads and factories.
![brass birmingham set up brass birmingham set up](https://openseatgaming.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/20180810_210548.jpg)
You have 5-6 unique types of actions available in every turn, and it's up to you to make the most efficient string of actions as you build up your network.
![brass birmingham set up brass birmingham set up](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/21/96/d5/2196d55410c2f06efbf3b21f092e494d.jpg)
Simple but deep - Very different game, but it bears some resemblance to #Clans of Caledonia. I'll be reading through the rulebook myself at some point!
#BRASS BIRMINGHAM SET UP FULL#
Trent taught me the rules and while I got 80-90% of the rules down after several turns, I often found myself tripping over 1-2 rules mostly because I'm the type of person who likes to learn and teach games with as much thematic reasoning behind them, so not having a full knowledge of that made it harder. Surprisingly easy to follow - It's definitely on the heavier end, but it also doesn't have as much rules overhead or little exceptions to memorize like other games in the same "weight".
#BRASS BIRMINGHAM SET UP PLUS#
Cuddington (a husband-wife creative duo) is the mastermind behind the artwork for this game plus many other amazing looking games out there (e.g. Roxley has been absolutely killing it in their marketing and presentation of their games and they're one of the publishers out there who are definitely on my "watch list". the player pieces show great design sensibilities. The cover is one of the best I've seen and the color choices and the way they contrasted the background illustration vs. In particular, the art direction and overall design is fantastic. And at least at first glance, it's absolutely well done. Perfect - Keep in mind that this is the Deluxe Edition, which features thicker cardboard, the Iron Clay poker chips, and a couple of other upgrades. Does Brass: Birmingham actually live up to its #3 spot on BGG? Is it a great game for two players? Here are my first impressions after a session against Experience