Brass: Lancashire
139 questions players ask about Brass: Lancashire, answered in plain words and graded by where the answer comes from. See also the full rulebook.
Updated 2026-10-25.
139 questions players ask about Brass: Lancashire, answered in plain words and graded by where the answer comes from. See also the full rulebook.
Updated 2026-10-25.
Board Setup step 2 and the Location Banners note spell this out; players confirm the resulting deck sizes.
Keep every card and Distant Cotton Market tile that shows your player count, even if it also shows other counts, and box the rest (including the two read-manual cards). Counts are printed as dot groups in the bottom right of each card and on the left of each tile. A correct deck has 40 cards for 2 players, 54 for 3 and 64 for 4; the location banner colours tell you which towns have no cards (blue and teal are out with 2 players, teal with 3).
Roxley confirmed on BGG in 2018 that neither 2-player mode needs them, matching the rulebook's setup and Classic Rules text.
Only the Classic 3-4 Player Deck Setup uses them. That variant skips setup step 2 and recreates the original 66-card deck, so the two extra cards come back in. In the standard Roxley setup, and in either 2-player mode, you remove them.
Roxley stated in 2017 that the 2-player rules use the whole board, and the rulebook notes removed locations may still be built in.
Yes — only the cards are removed; the whole Full Map stays in play at every player count. Without the town's Location card you get in by having it in your network and playing a matching Industry card, by using a Double Action Build, or with an Industry card when you have no tiles on the board. Links can run through those towns as normal.
Board Setup step 1 says to use the Full Map for all player counts.
The Full Map, with the cards marked for 2 players. The Alternate Map (fewer locations, read-manual icon in the corner) belongs only to the old Community 2-Player Variant, which also changes the deck, the Distant Cotton Market tiles and starting money.
Roxley confirmed in 2017 that random removal was dropped in favour of a fixed deck, and the rulebook's setup steps agree.
No — the Roxley edition uses fixed card lists per player count, so nothing is removed at random in either era. The Rail Era deck is every card again (all discards plus the cards that sat under the Deck tile). Random removal only exists in the optional Classic 3-4 Player Deck Setup, which removes 6 cards (3 players) or 2 cards (4 players) after shuffling the Rail Era deck.
The Board Setup note says the General Supply is limitless and to substitute something else if you need more.
Keep playing — the General Supply is unlimited, so use any stand-in for the extra cubes. You can still build the tile, and it flips as normal when its last (proxy) cube is used. Avoid borrowing cubes from the markets, since that muddles market prices.
Several experienced players agree; the rulebook doesn't address it directly.
No — money isn't limited by the components. Track extra cash with paper or other tokens if the coins run out.
The designer ruled in 2007 that fourteen is the upper limit, matching the rulebook's component count.
Yes — once all 14 of your Link tiles are on the board you can't build more links that era. All canals are removed at the end of the Canal Era and go back to their owners, so you have all 14 again as rails in the Rail Era.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2007.
No — money is open information, so anyone can ask how much cash a player has.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
No — nothing in the rules lets players transfer money or components. Your only ways to help another player are indirect, such as using their coal, iron or ports.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
It's intended. You have to get through both level 0 and both level 1 Shipyards before reaching level 2, so the second level 1 is normally developed away (or one is built in the Canal Era). That makes the valuable higher Shipyards cost more actions.
Build Action step 2 says to take the lowest level tile of the chosen industry.
Yes — you always build the lowest-level tile left in that industry's stack on your Player Mat. To reach a higher level sooner, remove the lower tiles with the Develop action.
Player Area Setup gives both starting spaces, and End of Era scoring moves only the VP marker.
They're two separate markers on the shared Progress Track. The VP marker starts on 0 and the Income Marker starts on the 10 space, which is income level 0. End-of-era scoring moves only the VP marker; your score never affects your income.
Flipping Industry Tiles and Increasing Your Income describe both corner values.
The number in the bottom left of a flipped tile is the VPs it scores at the end of each era; the one in the bottom right is how many spaces your Income Marker moves when it flips. The Player Mat repeats these beside each slot, with the build cost on the left. Building the last tile of a stack gives no bonus.
Board Setup steps 7-8 say to place one cube on each market space.
One cube on every space of each market, which is 8 coal and 8 iron. The £5 price at the bottom has no spaces, because you can always buy there once the market is empty.
Player Turns, End of Canal Era and Loan Action describe both uses of the Deck tile.
Only in the Rail Era. In the Canal Era the 1 card per player under Stephenson's Rocket isn't part of the Draw Deck and is never drawn; it's shuffled into the Rail Era deck. In the Rail Era the 2 cards per player under Nathan Rothschild are drawn normally, and the tile just warns that the next round is the last one for loans. The setup picture with 6 cards shows a 3-player game.
Roxley confirmed in 2018 that cards come out even once the first round has one action, and the designer said the same of the original deck.
That means a setup or play mistake; the deck always divides evenly. Usual causes are leaving in cards not marked for your player count (or the two read-manual cards), skipping the cards under the Deck tile, giving players two actions in the first round, or not discarding two cards for a Double Action Build.
Roxley confirmed the 9-round 3-player era on BGG in 2017, and the rulebook's Rounds section gives all three counts.
8 rounds per era with 4 players, 9 with 3 players and 10 with 2 players. An era always runs until the Draw Deck and every hand are empty; with the Roxley deck lists that gives these counts, and every player gets the same number of turns.
Player Turns gives the one-action exception for the first Canal Era round and the refill-to-8 rule.
One action, discarding one card. You then refill to 8, so you draw just one card; from the second round on you take two actions and draw two. The cards set aside under the Deck tile make up for this, so the deck still runs out evenly.
The designer ruled on BGG in 2007 that two actions can't be combined on the one-action first turn.
No — a Double Action Build uses both of a turn's actions, and in the first round of the Canal Era you only have one. From the second round on it's available, including the first round of the Rail Era. With nothing on the board you can still build anywhere with a matching Industry card.
The Actions List allows any action each turn, and experienced players confirm Develop is a normal opener.
Yes — any action you can legally perform is allowed on the first turn; you don't have to build. Developing is a common opening. The one thing you can't do is build a link, because you have no network yet.
Roxley confirmed double loans on BGG in 2018, and the Actions List allows the same action twice.
Yes — both of your actions may be the same, each with its own discarded card. Two Loans on the last Canal Era turn is a common play: it funds rails and, since you spent nothing, moves you to the front of the turn order.
The Actions List covers passing and the discard it still requires.
Yes — you may pass any action, but you must still discard a card for each action you pass.
End of Round step 1 spells out both the order and the tie rule.
The player who spent least this round goes first next round and the one who spent most goes last. Players who spent the same amount keep their current order relative to each other.
Actions List says any money spent to perform an action goes on your Character tile, and End of Round sends negative income to the Bank.
Everything you pay during your actions: tile costs, link costs, and coal or iron bought from the markets all go on your Character tile. Negative income paid during the income step goes to the Bank and doesn't count.
Several experienced players agree; the rulebook applies its normal end-of-round steps.
The same way as any other round: by spending in the last round of the Canal Era, least spent goes first. The spent money is cleared after every round, including that one.
The designer confirmed on BGG in 2009 that all players take income at the same time, and the rulebook makes it an End of Round step.
All at once, as one step of the round. In the Roxley edition everyone takes income at the end of each round, after the new turn order is set.
End of Round step 2 has an explicit exception for the final round of the game.
No — income isn't collected at the end of the last Rail Era round; go straight to end-of-era scoring. That matters because leftover cash is worth 1 VP per £10. The original edition took income at the start of each round instead, which gives the same number of payouts.
Player Turns says each discarded card goes face up on your Discard Pile.
Face up, for every action, including passes and both cards of a Double Action Build; the face-down cards in the rulebook picture only mean any card will do. The rules say nothing about searching through other players' piles, and tournament play has kept them face up but not searchable.
Roxley stated on BGG in 2015 that you move the spaces shown, which the rulebook's Increasing Your Income section also says.
By spaces. The number on the tile is how many spaces to advance on the Progress Track, and higher up several spaces share one income level, so a +5 may raise your income by only £1 or £2. The Distant Cotton Market bonus also counts in spaces. Income can't go above level 30.
The Sell Action says to advance the Port owner's Income Marker, and flipped tiles always score for their owner.
The tile's owner. Whoever causes the flip, the owner advances their Income Marker and later scores the tile's VPs. When you sell to an opponent's Port, you gain your Cotton Mill's income and they gain the Port's.
End of Round step 2 says to pay negative income to the Bank, and only loans and flips move the marker.
Yes, you pay that amount to the Bank every round while your income level is below zero. Paying doesn't move the Income Marker; only loans (down) and flipping your tiles (up) change your income level.
End of Round step 2 lays out the tile-selling and VP-loss procedure.
Nobody is eliminated. Remove your own Industry tiles from the board, choosing which, for half their cost rounded down each, and stop as soon as you've covered the shortfall (you keep any excess). Removed tiles leave the game. If you still can't pay, lose 1 VP for each £1 short, as far as you have VPs.
The End of Round note says tiles may not be sold for any reason other than a shortfall.
No — removing tiles for half their cost is allowed only to cover a negative-income shortfall. You can't do it to fund a build or for any other reason.
The Loan Action section describes the levels-not-spaces move and that loans are never repaid.
Take £10, £20 or £30 and move your Income Marker back 1, 2 or 3 income levels (not spaces), placing it on the highest space of the new level. Higher up the track a level spans several spaces, so you fall further. Loans are never repaid; the lower income is the whole cost.
The Loan Action exception forbids going below -10.
No — a loan can't take your income level below -10. Near the bottom you may only be able to take a smaller loan, and at -10 you can't take any.
The Loan Action section gives the cut-off and how the Deck tile marks it.
In the Rail Era, loans stop once the Draw Deck is empty, which covers the final 4 rounds. The round before the last loan round ends with the Nathan Rothschild side of the Deck tile turning up; the next round is your final chance, after which you flip the tile to Stephenson's Rocket. There's no such limit in the Canal Era, and late loans are a Brass: Birmingham rule, not a Lancashire one.
Flipping Industry Tiles and the End of Era steps say flipped tiles score at the end of each era.
Only at the end of each era. Flipping gives you income immediately; VPs come from end-of-era scoring for flipped tiles still on the board. The digital app showing points on flip is just a display choice.
End of Canal & Rail Era step 1 scores each link for the VP icons in adjacent locations, and many players confirm the details.
Each of your links scores 1 VP per link icon in the two locations it connects. Icons on flipped tiles count whoever owns them, and so do the icons printed on the board beside some locations, such as Blackpool. Unflipped tiles show nothing, and a link between locations with no icons scores 0. A flipped tile counts separately for every link next to it.
End of Canal & Rail Era steps 1-2 and End of Canal Era step 3 set this order.
All players score and remove their links first, then everyone scores their flipped Industry tiles, and only then are level 1 tiles removed. Level 1 tiles therefore still count for everyone's links, so don't finish one player's scoring before starting the next.
End of Canal & Rail Era step 1 says to remove Link tiles as they are scored.
Yes — every link is removed as it's scored, whether it earned points or not, and the tiles go back to their owners to be reused as rails. Canals give no connection in the Rail Era, so coal and cotton only move along rails built later. All rails are likewise scored and removed at the end of the Rail Era.
End of Canal Era step 3 removes all level 1 tiles from the board but not from Player Mats.
Every level 1 Industry tile on the board is removed, flipped or not and of every type, along with any cubes on it. Level 1 tiles still on your Player Mat stay there, and you must build or develop past them (they can't be built in the Rail Era).
The designer ruled on BGG in 2007 that such tiles score twice, matching the rulebook's Beginner Tips.
Yes — level 2+ tiles stay on the board exactly as they are, flipped or unflipped and with any cubes. A flipped one that survives without being overbuilt scores at the end of both eras; that's why early level 2+ builds are strong.
Several experienced players agree; the rulebook only says level 2+ tiles remain on the board.
Cubes on level 1 tiles go back to the General Supply with those tiles. Cubes on level 2+ tiles stay where they are for the Rail Era; they aren't moved to the markets.
The designer ruled on BGG in 2007 that the coal and iron tracks aren't refilled, and the rulebook resets only the Distant Cotton Market.
No — they carry over exactly as they were. The only market reset between eras is the Distant Cotton Market: its marker goes back to the top and its tiles are reshuffled.
Several experienced players agree, and the rulebook's era-end steps never touch income.
No — your Income Marker stays where it is. Income from flips is kept even when the tile is later removed or overbuilt, and era scoring moves only the VP marker.
End of Canal Era steps 6-7 cover the new hands and the Deck tile.
Yes — after shuffling the Rail Era deck, everyone draws 8 new cards, then the Deck tile goes in Nathan Rothschild side up with 2 cards per player beneath it.
End of Rail Era step 3 scores cash at 1 VP per £10.
Yes — at the end of the Rail Era you score 1 VP for every £10 you hold. That's why loans are cut off in the last rounds.
Roxley explained the tiebreaker choice on BGG in 2017, matching the rulebook's Winning the Game section.
First by highest income, then by most money left. If players are still tied, they share the result; Roxley dropped any further tiebreaker on purpose, though groups are welcome to add their own.
No — whoever is further along the income track wins the tie, even within one level. Money isn't spent when you score VPs for cash, so it's still there for the second tiebreaker.
Roxley described networks this way on BGG in 2018 and the designer confirmed links can run through towns without your industry; it matches the rulebook's Your Network definition.
Yes — a location is in your network if it holds one of your Industry tiles or touches one of your Link tiles. So you can keep extending links from a town your link reached, even if it's empty or full of other players' tiles, and even later in the same Network action.
No — being connected isn't the same as being in your network. New links and Industry-card builds need a location in your own network: one of your tiles there or one of your links touching it. Other players' links are fine for moving coal and selling cotton, and a Location card or Double Action Build lets you build outside your network.
Connected Locations defines a route as Link tiles owned by any player.
No — coal and cotton travel along anyone's links, including routes that mix several players' links and pass through empty towns or towns with other players' tiles. Ownership only matters for deciding what's in your network when you build.
Many experienced players agree, consistent with the rulebook counting distance in Link tiles.
Yes — tiles in the same location count as connected, zero links apart. A Cotton Mill can sell to a Port in its own town, and a new tile can take coal from a Coal Mine in its own town before any other mine.
Several experienced players agree; the rulebook's network definition doesn't require one connected group.
Yes — a Location card or Double Action Build can put a tile somewhere unconnected, and that town joins your network. After the canals are removed, each surviving tile is its own island too; you may build rails from any of them, provided each rail can reach coal.
Roxley answered this directly on BGG in 2018, and many players confirm it.
Yes — outside locations are ordinary locations for networks. Once your link reaches one, it's in your network and you can build onward from it, and coal and cotton can pass through it. They also always count as a market trade icon.
No — each is a separate location reached only by its own links. A link into Yorkshire doesn't let you build out of the Midlands or move coal or cotton between them.
No — routes only follow built links. Coal can't leave through one port and come back in through another, and a mill must trace links all the way to the Port it sells to. A route may pass through a town with a flipped Port or an outside location along the way.
No — your network is every location with your tile or next to your link, so other players can't take it away. If an opponent overbuilds your only tile in a town, your links into it still keep it in your network. The real block is that each connection holds only one link.
The designer ruled on BGG in 2007 that coal must come from the closest source, as Consuming Coal says.
The closest connected unflipped Coal Mine, counted in Link tiles (a mine in the same town is zero away), whoever owns it. You choose only between equally close mines, and move on to the next closest when one runs dry. For a rail link, measure from whichever end of the new link is closest to coal.
Consuming Coal requires the closest connected mine first and a trade-icon connection for market coal.
Only when no unflipped Coal Mine is connected to the build location. A mine you aren't connected to doesn't count, so in that case you buy from the market, but only if you're connected to a market trade icon. If you're connected to a mine, you must use it even when a port is closer. With neither, you can't build anything that needs coal there.
The designer ruled on BGG in 2008 that a port works either side up, matching the rulebook's trade-icon wording.
Yes — every built Port tile, flipped or unflipped and owned by anyone, carries the market trade icon, as do some outside locations. A connection to any of them lets you buy coal, and lets a newly built Coal Mine sell to the market. An empty printed port space does nothing.
Consuming Iron says iron needs no connection and needn't come from the closest Iron Works.
No — iron needs no connection at all. You can take it from any unflipped Iron Works on the board (it doesn't have to be the closest, and each cube can come from a different one), or buy it from the Iron Market without a port. A new Iron Works also always sells to the Iron Market.
Roxley ruled on BGG in 2018 that you can't buy market iron to avoid flipping an opponent, as Consuming Iron requires.
No — while any unflipped Iron Works has iron, you must use it, even if that flips an opponent's tile. The market is only for when the board has none. This applies to Develop as well as building.
The designer ruled in 2007 that you can always buy at £5, and Roxley confirmed in 2019 that this doesn't stop overbuilding.
You can still buy as many cubes as you need at £5 each, so you're never locked out (coal still needs a trade-icon connection). Buying at £5 doesn't put cubes in the market, so the market stays empty and an opponent's Coal Mine or Iron Works can still be overbuilt.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
No — you only take coal or iron when an action requires it, and only as much as it requires. You can't stockpile cubes, throw them away, or drain the market so your new mine or Iron Works can sell more.
No — paying for coal or iron is part of the Build, Network or Develop action that needs it, and moving cubes to a market happens automatically during the build of the Coal Mine or Iron Works.
Consuming Coal and Consuming Iron both return consumed cubes to the General Supply.
Back to the General Supply, never onto a market or another tile. That includes coal used for rail links.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
No — Coal Mines have no coal cost, so you can build one anywhere you have a suitable card and can pay its cost, even on your first turn. Its cubes come from the General Supply.
Moving Coal and Iron to the Market describes exactly this.
Yes, and it's mandatory. A new Iron Works always moves as many cubes as fit into the Iron Market; a new Coal Mine does the same only if it's connected to a market trade icon when built. Cubes come off the new tile, filling the most expensive empty spaces first, you collect the money for each, and if the tile empties it flips and you gain its income. Leftover cubes stay on the tile.
The note under Moving Coal and Iron to the Market says cubes are never sold to markets in later turns.
No — cubes only move to their market during the action that builds the tile. A later connection, or space opening up in the market, never triggers a sale.
Build Action step 1 says a Location card works even if the location isn't in your network.
Yes — a Location card lets you build any industry the town has space for, whether or not it's in your network or connected to anything. Every other rule still applies: if the tile needs coal, the town must be connected to a coal source (or have a mine there), and in the Canal Era you may have only one tile per town. Iron needs no connection.
Build Action step 1 lists the only cards that allow a build.
No — to build you need that town's Location card, an Industry card for the industry you're building (with the town in your network), or a Double Action Build. A card naming another town is no good, though you can pair it with any other card for a Double Action Build.
The designer ruled on BGG in 2008 that this works at any turn or round, and the rulebook has a section for it.
Yes — whenever you have no Industry or Link tiles on the board, an Industry card lets you build that industry in any location with an undeveloped space for it. This isn't limited to your first turn: it still applies if you took a Loan or Developed first. Normal costs still apply, including getting coal to the site.
The designer ruled directly on this Rail Era case on BGG in 2007.
Yes — if none of your tiles survived the Canal Era (for example because they were all level 1), an Industry card again lets you build in any location with a matching space, just like your first build. A player who still has a level 2+ tile on the board doesn't get this; their network starts from that tile.
Build Action step 3 requires a coal connection for every build, and players confirm no exception applies.
No — it only waives the network requirement. If the tile needs coal, you still have to get it from a connected Coal Mine or buy it through a connection to a market trade icon; otherwise you can't build there. Iron needs no connection.
The designer ruled on BGG in 2007 that you may build anything the space's icons allow, matching the Build Action text.
Discard any two cards, using both of your turn's actions, and treat them as a Location card for any location. You can build any industry that location has a space for, without it being in your network. All normal rules still apply: coal connection, one tile per town in the Canal Era, and the usual space and overbuilding rules. You still draw two cards afterward.
Roxley endorsed this reading on BGG in 2018, and it's Build Action step 2.
Choose the town first; then, within it, you must use a free space showing only your industry's icon before a space shared with another industry. You can't take the shared space (say in Preston or Lancaster) just to block someone else. It never forces you to build in a different town.
Canal Era Building and Rail Era Building state the limit and its removal.
No — in the Canal Era each player may have at most one Industry tile per location, at every player count. Other players may still build there. In the Rail Era the limit is lifted.
Roxley stated in 2018 that no second canal-era Shipyard is possible because it needs coal, and many players agree.
Only in Liverpool. Shipyards need coal, and Birkenhead and Barrow-in-Furness can only be reached by rail, so coal can't get there in the Canal Era — not even with a Location card, a Double Action Build or the old Virtual Link. All three Shipyard spaces, Liverpool included, are open in the Rail Era.
The designer ruled on BGG in 2007 that level 1 Shipyards are Canal-only, and the rulebook covers the build-prohibited tiles.
No to both. Level 1 Shipyards can only be built in the Canal Era, and level 2+ Shipyards only in the Rail Era. Level 0 Shipyards can never be built and must be developed away.
Flipping Industry Tiles says Shipyards flip immediately when built.
Immediately when it's built, so you gain its income at once. It's the only industry that never sits unflipped.
The designer ruled on BGG in 2007 and again in 2010 that both the map and the market must be empty, as the rulebook says.
Only when there are no cubes of that resource anywhere: none on any tile on the board and none in its market. Both must be empty; the 'or' in older wording means neither. You also need a higher-level tile of the same industry and a legal build (right card, cost, coal). A 2015 Roxley post mentioned only an empty market, but the designer and the rulebook require both.
“you can over build when there are no cubes on the map AND no cubes on the demand display.”
— Martin Wallace, designer
The designer ruled on BGG in 2007 that it's the particular commodity that must be gone.
No — only the resource of the tile being replaced matters. Overbuilding a Coal Mine needs all coal gone; overbuilding an Iron Works needs all iron gone. Plenty of coal on the board doesn't stop an Iron Works overbuild.
The designer ruled on BGG in 2007 that other players' ports, mills and shipyards can't be overbuilt.
No — the only opponent tiles you can ever overbuild are Coal Mines and Iron Works, under the empty-resource condition. Your own tiles of any type can be overbuilt.
The Overbuilding section says you may overbuild any of your own Industry tiles, and players confirm it applies in both eras.
Yes — you may overbuild any of your own Industry tiles, flipped or unflipped and in either era, with a higher-level tile of the same industry. No empty-market condition applies. Any cubes on the old tile go back to the General Supply.
The designer ruled on this in 2008 and Roxley repeated it in 2018.
Yes — overbuilding is a normal Build action. Discard the location's card, an Industry card of the same industry (with the location in your network), or use a Double Action Build, and pay the full cost including coal and iron. 'At any time' in the rules means it's always allowed, not that it's free.
The Overbuilding section requires a higher-level tile of the same industry type, and Build Action takes the lowest tile first.
No — the new tile must be the same industry and a higher level. Because you always build the lowest tile left on your mat, you also can't overbuild a level 1 with a level 2 while a level 1 of that industry is still on your mat; build or develop it away first.
The designer ruled on BGG in 2008 that only tiles on the board score, and the rulebook says no income or VPs already gained are lost.
It never scores again — only tiles on the board at era end score, and the replaced tile leaves the game. Its owner keeps any income it already gave and any VPs it scored at an earlier era end. The new tile scores instead.
Build Action step 2 places every new tile unflipped side up.
No — the new tile goes on unflipped like any new build, whatever state the old tile was in. A Shipyard still flips on building, and a Coal Mine or Iron Works flips if its cubes all go to the market.
Roxley walked through this exact case on BGG in 2015, and it follows the normal market rules.
Yes — it's an ordinary build. A new Iron Works sends cubes to the (empty) Iron Market, and a new Coal Mine sends coal to the Coal Market if it's connected to a trade icon. You collect the money, and the tile flips if it empties. If a Coal Mine isn't connected, its cubes simply stay on it.
Yes — it counts as playing that location's card, and a Location card can be used to overbuild. All the overbuilding conditions still apply.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
No — the only conditions are no cubes of that resource on the board or in its market. Empty spaces don't matter. A rule blocking such overbuilds came from an online implementation's option, not the published game.
Yes — if Developing takes the last iron from the board and the market, your next action may legally overbuild an opponent's Iron Works, since the condition is checked when you build.
Several experienced players agree, and a player relayed a matching emailed answer from the designer.
Yes — your tile there already puts the town in your network, so a matching Industry card works. The new tile must still be higher level and get any coal it needs. Overbuilding an opponent with an Industry card is different: the town must be in your network through your own tile or link.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Yes — the new higher-level Port is unflipped, so it can take one more sale. You're never forced to use an opponent's Port instead.
Sell Action step 4 lets you repeat step 2 for each unflipped Cotton Mill.
Yes — one Sell action, for one card, can sell as many of your unflipped Cotton Mills as you're able to. Each mill is resolved separately, and for each one you choose a connected unflipped Port or the Distant Cotton Market.
The Sell Action pairs each Cotton Mill with one Port flip or one Distant Cotton Market tile.
No — each mill needs its own outlet. A sale to a Port flips that Port, so two mills need two unflipped Ports, or one Port plus a Distant Cotton Market sale.
The designer confirmed both options on BGG in 2007-2008, and the Sell Action note says not to flip the Port.
Yes — for each mill you choose: sell to the Port, which flips it and gives its owner income, or sell through it to the Distant Cotton Market, which leaves it unflipped and gives the Port's owner nothing. An unflipped Port used this way can still take a direct sale later, even in the same action.
The designer ruled on BGG in 2008 that a flipped Port is still a constructed port for Distant Market sales.
Only to the Distant Cotton Market. A flipped Port can't take another direct sale, but it still has the market trade icon, so any mill connected to it can sell to the Distant Cotton Market while demand lasts. That holds for opponents' Ports and for a Port flipped earlier in the same action.
No — an outside location only gives access to the Distant Cotton Market. Selling through one always means drawing a Distant Cotton Market tile; there's no tile there to flip.
The designer ruled on BGG in 2007 that the bonus is added to your income and counted in spaces.
Income. You move your Income Marker up that many spaces; no cash changes hands. Early English rules wrongly said cash, and the designer corrected this. The value printed on the drawn tile only moves the marker down the track; the bonus is the icon beside where the marker lands.
Sell Action steps 2-3 give the Distant Market bonus and then the mill's income.
Two increases: the Cotton Mill's own flip income, plus the bonus beside the Distant Cotton Market Marker's new position (not the spaces it passed). If the marker reaches X, you get neither.
The Sell Action applies the Distant Market bonus only to sales to that market.
No — a Port sale gives you your mill's income and the Port's owner the Port's income. The Distant Cotton Market bonus applies only to Distant Market sales, and one mill never earns both.
Roxley clarified on BGG in 2017 that the 0 spaces differ from the end-of-track space.
No — a 0 space means no bonus, not no demand. The sale succeeds, the mill flips and earns its own income, and you may keep selling. Only reaching the X space at the end of the track stops sales.
Sell Action step 4 under the Distant Cotton Market ends the action immediately at X.
The whole Sell action ends at once. The mill you were selling doesn't flip and gains nothing, and you can't switch to Ports for your remaining mills in that action. Sales already made earlier in the action stand. So make guaranteed Port sales first; a later action, even your second one that turn, can still sell to Ports.
The Sell Action makes the X space a limit only on Distant Market sales.
Yes, but only to connected unflipped Ports, which work regardless of the Distant Cotton Market. A mill connected only to flipped Ports or outside locations can't be sold.
End of Canal Era step 4 is the only reset of the Distant Cotton Market.
No — once the marker reaches X, nobody can sell there for the rest of that era. It resets to the top, with the tiles reshuffled, at the end of the Canal Era.
Sell Action step 4 returns to step 2 for each mill.
Yes — each mill is its own sale: draw a new tile, move the marker, take the bonus at the new position, then flip the mill. 'Go back to step 2' means step 2 of the Sell action, so each sale starts fresh and may go to a Port instead.
No — you sell mill by mill and may decide each destination after seeing the previous draw.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
You may sell any of your mills to any connected unflipped Port; it flips and its owner gains its income. You're never forced to, and you may stop selling whenever you like. You can't sell another player's mill through your Port.
Sell Action step 2 has you choose one of your unflipped Cotton Mills.
No — only unflipped Cotton Mills can be sold, and each sale flips the mill for good. To sell more cotton you need more mills, or overbuild your own mill with a higher level.
Flipping Industry Tiles says Ports flip on a Sell action, and the Sell Action note says not to flip a Port used for the Distant Market.
No — a Port flips only when a Cotton Mill sells directly to it. Buying coal through it, a new Coal Mine selling to the market through it, or using it to reach the Distant Cotton Market leaves it as it is.
The Develop Action section charges one iron per tile, consumed under Consuming Iron.
One card for the action, and 1 iron for each tile removed (1 or 2 tiles). Nothing else: the money and coal shown beside a tile on your Player Mat are its build cost, not a develop cost. The iron follows the normal rules: any unflipped Iron Works on the board first, free and with no connection, otherwise bought from the Iron Market (£5 if empty), which counts as money spent.
Develop Action step 2 says the tiles needn't be of the same industry.
Yes — remove 1 or 2 tiles, each taken separately; they can be from the same or different industries, but each must be the lowest-level tile of its industry at the moment you remove it.
The Develop Action section only removes tiles from your Player Mat.
No — Develop only removes tiles from your Player Mat to the box, giving you access to higher levels for future builds. Nothing on the board changes; to replace a tile there, overbuild it.
Nothing special — you simply have none of that industry left to build. There's no bonus for emptying a stack.
The designer confirmed the costs on BGG in 2007, matching the Network Action section.
A canal link costs £3, one per Network action, and needs no coal. A rail link costs £5, or two rails in one action cost £15, and each rail consumes 1 coal. Links never use iron. Two Network actions in a turn give 2 canals, or 2-4 rails.
No — they can be anywhere legal, together or apart. They may also run end to end: the first rail puts its far town in your network, so the second can start from there.
The designer ruled on BGG in 2007 that there can only ever be one link per connection.
No — each line between two locations holds one Link tile, so whoever builds first takes it. You can't stack two rails on one line either. Anyone may still use that link to move coal and cotton.
The designer ruled on BGG in 2007 that you can't build a link on the first turn, and Network Action step 2 requires an adjacent network location.
No — a link must be placed next to a location in your network, and with nothing on the board you have none. Build an industry first. The same applies at the start of the Rail Era if all your tiles were removed. Brass: Birmingham has an exception that allows this; Lancashire's rules don't.
The designer ruled on BGG in 2007 that the two-for-one action can't build links.
No — it only builds Industry tiles. A link must always be next to a location in your network.
The Network Action says each rail must be connected to coal after it's placed, and players confirm either end counts.
Yes — the link has no direction. Place it, then find coal connected to either end, including through the new link itself; neither end needs a tile of yours. You can take your network access from one end and coal from the other. The usual order applies: closest connected mine first, otherwise the Coal Market via a connected trade icon, which the new rail can provide.
The designer ruled on BGG in 2007 that the two rails are built in sequence, and the rulebook says each is placed separately.
Yes — treat them as built one after the other. The first rail is placed and takes its coal normally; the second can then build from the town the first reached and draw coal along the first rail. The first rail can't count on the second to reach coal, and the two can take coal from different mines.
Roxley listed the changes on BGG in 2017, and the rulebook's Classic Rules section documents how to undo them.
The main changes Roxley announced: Level 1 Cotton Mills score 5 VP instead of 3; the deck uses fixed cards per player count (two cards were dropped) instead of random removal, which also made the 3-player era 9 rounds; the Liverpool-Birkenhead Virtual Link left the standard rules; and an official 2-player game on the full map was added. The Classic Rules section lets you restore the old deck and the Virtual Link.
Roxley announced and explained the change on BGG in 2017.
Roxley raised it from 3 to 5 VP after online play data showed building level 1 mills was strongly linked to losing. It's still rarely a good play, but now has occasional uses.
Roxley confirmed on BGG in 2017 and 2018 that it reverted to the original values.
At 3: the values run 3-2-1-0 as in the original. Pre-production material showed every space raised by 1, but Roxley dropped that change after playtesting.
The designer endorsed the removal on BGG in 2017, and Roxley explained it.
Not in the standard rules — Roxley removed it because it almost never affected play and confused players, and the designer fully backed the change. It survives as an optional Classic rule.
The designer ruled on BGG in 2007 that the Virtual Link's only purpose is building in Birkenhead with an Industry card, as the Classic Rules describe.
If Liverpool is in your network, you may use an Industry card (in practice a Shipyard card) to build in Birkenhead. That's all it does: coal doesn't cross it, and it isn't a link for extending your network or building the Birkenhead-Ellesmere Port rail. A Birkenhead Shipyard still needs a rail into Birkenhead for coal.
The Classic Rules wording only runs from Liverpool to Birkenhead, though players disagree about the original edition.
Not as Roxley's Classic Rules write it: the rule only lets you build in Birkenhead when Liverpool is in your network, and says nothing about the reverse. Some players quote original-edition wording that also let a presence in Birkenhead build a Port or Shipyard in Liverpool, so groups recreating the original game sometimes play it both ways.
The Classic Rules tell you to ignore Board Setup step 2, which is the tile removal step.
No — the classic setup ignores Board Setup step 2, so all Distant Cotton Market tiles are used, along with the classic card counts under the Deck tile.
The Community 2-Player Variant section lists these setup changes.
Setup changes only, and they're required: use the Alternate Map, build a 40-card deck of only the cards with a cog icon, remove every Distant Cotton Market tile without a left-side icon, and start with £25. The rest of the rules are unchanged. Roxley calls the variant obsolete now that its own 2-player rules use the Full Map.
Two experienced players agree; no official ruling.
No — the official game is for 2-4 players. A fan-made solo mode exists but isn't official.
The map's designer answered all three points on BGG in 2013.
No — the Montseny mine represents charcoal, which the designer treats as useless by the Rail Period. A flipped level 2+ mine there will usually just score again at game end. Building there in the Rail Period is possible in theory but the designer has never seen it happen. An unflipped Montseny coal mine should be removed at the end of the Road Period.
The map's designer ruled on this on BGG in 2013.
Yes — Palamós can't connect by rail, so an unflipped Port there can never be sold to later. A flipped level 2+ Port there scores again at the end of the Rail Period. A Rail Period Shipyard at Palamós can only get coal from a Port in the same location.
The map's designer explained the rule on BGG in 2014.
It works as in Brass, with one addition: when no unflipped Ports are available, you may sell through any rail link to the mainland (the Peninsula), representing protectionist policies.
The map's designer ruled on this on BGG in 2014.
No — the Peninsula link can't be used to buy coal from the market or to sell a new mine's coal to it.
The map's designer answered this on BGG in 2013.
No — for a hydraulic-power mill, any coal you'd have to pay for costs nothing, since water stands in for coal. As in the base game, coal taken from a Coal Mine on the board is always free anyway.
The map's designer ruled on this on BGG in 2013.
Yes — a player with a link to Móra la Nova can use a coal Industry card to build or overbuild the coal mine at La Granja d'Escarp; the Location card isn't needed.