Brass: Lancashire Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Video & Digital Tutorials
• Components
• Credits
• Board Setup
  • Location Banners
• Player Area Setup
• Playing the Game
  • The Goal
  • Rounds
  • Player Turns
  • Actions List
  • End of Round
• End of Era
  • End of Canal & Rail Era
  • End of Canal Era
  • End of Rail Era
  • Winning the Game
• Gameplay Concepts
  • Flipping Industry Tiles
  • Increasing Your Income
  • Your Network
  • Connected Locations
  • Consuming Coal
  • Consuming Iron
• Actions
  • Build Action
  • Moving Coal and Iron to the Market
  • Building A Shipyard
  • Building If You Have No Tiles on the Board
  • Canal Era Building
  • Rail Era Building
  • Build Action (Continued): Overbuilding
  • Sell Action
  • Loan Action
  • Develop Action
  • Network Action
• Tips and Variants
  • Things to Remember
  • Beginner Tips
  • Introductory Game
  • Classic Rules
  • Community 2-Player Variant

Video & Digital Tutorials

Are you more of a visual learner? We've got you covered. Open your web browser and head over to roxley.com/brass-tutorial for tutorials on how to play!

Components

• 1 × Board
• 4 × Player Mats
• 4 × Character tiles
• 56 × Link tiles (14 per colour)
• 66 × Location and Industry cards
• 12 × Distant Cotton Market tiles
• 4 × Player Aids
• 4 × VP Markers
• 4 × Income Markers
• 1 × Distant Cotton Market Marker
• 24 × Coal cubes
• 16 × Iron cubes
• 77 × Money tokens (Or Deluxe Edition: 78 Iron Clays)
• 148 × Industry tiles (37 per colour)
  • 12 Cotton Mills
  • 8 Ports
  • 6 Shipyards
  • 4 Iron Works
  • 7 Coal Mines
• 1 × Deck tile

Credits

Game Design: Martin Wallace Game Development: Gavan Brown & Matt Tolman Illustration & Graphic Design: David Forest & Lina Cossette, Damien Mammoliti, Gavan Brown, Gui Landgraf Expert Player Advisor: Edward Chen Historical Advisor: Judith Bennett

Copyright 2018 Roxley Games. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Rulebook v2018.11. This rule book is a living document. Download the latest version from roxley.com/brass-lancashire-rulebook

Board Setup

1. Place the board face up displaying the Full Map, which is used for all player counts (2-4). Do not use the Alternate Map, which features fewer locations and the read-manual icon in the top left.

2. Remove all cards and Distant Cotton Market tiles that do not show your player count and return them to the box. The 2-player, 3-player, and 4-player counts are shown in the bottom right corner on the front of the cards, and on the left side of the front of the tiles. Be sure to remove the 2 cards with the read-manual icon on them.

3. Shuffle the remaining cards and place them face down on the Card Draw Area; this is the Draw Deck.

4. Insert the Deck tile, Stephenson's Rocket side face up, near the bottom of the Draw Deck, so that there is 1 card per player beneath it (e.g. 3 cards for a 3-player game). These cards are not used during the Canal Era.

5. Shuffle the remaining Distant Cotton Market tiles and place them face down on the Tile Draw Area.

6. Place the Distant Cotton Market Marker on the topmost space of the Distant Cotton Market Track.

7. Place 1 black cube on each space of the Coal Market.

8. Place 1 orange cube on each space of the Iron Market.

9. Place the remaining cubes beside the board; this is the General Supply. Note: The General Supply is limitless. If you need more of a resource, represent it with something else.

10. Place the money beside the board; this is the Bank.

Location Banners

In addition to helping players find locations on the board, the colours of the location banners also indicate which Location cards are in the Draw Deck. This varies with the player count:

• 2 players: blue and teal coloured Location cards are not in the Draw Deck.
• 3 players: teal coloured Location cards are not in the Draw Deck.
• 4 players: all Location cards are in the Draw Deck.

Note: Locations removed from the Draw Deck may still be built in.

Player Area Setup

1. Take a Player Mat.

2. Take £30 from the Bank.

3. Choose a coloured Character tile.

4. Place the matching coloured Link tiles in your player area.

5. Stack the matching coloured Industry tiles (which consist of Cotton Mills, Ports, Shipyards, Iron Works, and Coal Mines) on their appropriate slots on your Player Mat. The side of the tiles with the black top half should be face down.

6. Place your Victory Point (VP) Marker on the "0" space of the Progress Track.

7. Place your Income Marker on the "10" space of the Progress Track.

8. Draw 8 cards from the Draw Deck; this is your Hand. Do not reveal your Hand to other players.

9. Leave a space in your player area for your discarded cards; this will be your Discard Pile.

After all players have set up their player area, shuffle all players' Character tiles together and place them in a random order on the Turn Order Track.

Playing the Game

The Goal

The game is played over 2 eras: the Canal Era (1770-1830) and the Rail Era (1830-1870). The winner is the player who has the most Victory Points (VPs) following the end of the Rail Era. VPs are scored at the end of each era for your Link tiles and flipped Industry tiles.

Rounds

Each era is played in rounds, which continue until both the Draw Deck and players' Hands are exhausted. There are exactly 8/9/10 rounds per era in a 4/3/2-players game. During each round, players take turns in the order of their Character tiles on the Turn Order Track.

Player Turns

On your turn, perform a total of 2 actions.

Exception: During the first round of the Canal Era, each player performs only 1 action.

For each action you perform, you must discard a card from your Hand and place it face up on top of your Discard Pile.

After all of your actions have been completed, refill your Hand back up to 8 cards with cards from the Draw Deck.

Place all money spent during your turn on top of your Character tile on the Turn Order Track.

Once the Draw Deck has been exhausted, your Hand will decrease each round until you have no cards left.

Note: During the Canal Era, cards under the Deck tile are not considered part of the Draw Deck and may not be used.

Actions List

For each action, you may choose to perform one of the following (you may perform the same action twice):

1. Build - Place one of your Industry tiles onto the board, paying the appropriate cost and consuming any required coal / iron. Note: Only Build requires a specific card.

2. Network - Expand your canal or rail network by adding Link tiles to the board.

3. Develop - Gain access to higher-level industries by removing Industry tiles from your Player Mat.

4. Sell - Flip your built Cotton Mill tiles, by selling to the Distant Cotton Market or by flipping a Port tile.

5. Loan - Take a £10/£20/£30 loan from the Bank, and move your Income Marker 1/2/3 income levels (not spaces) backwards.

Passing - You may choose to pass instead of performing an action, but must still discard a card for each action you pass.

Spending Money - Any time you spend money to perform an action, you must place it on top of your Character tile on the Turn Order Track. Placing spent money here, rather than in the Bank, will allow you to determine the players' turn order for the next round.

End of Round

After all players have taken their turn, perform the following steps before moving on to the next round:

1. Determine turn order for the next round. Rearrange the Character tiles on the Turn Order Track.

   • The player who spent the least money this round will go first next round, and so on, while the player who spent the most will go last.
   • If multiple players have spent an equal amount, their relative turn order remains the same.
   • Afterwards, take all money from the Character tiles, and place it back into the Bank. This resets the money spent, ready for the next round.

2. Take Income. Take money from the Bank equal to your income level. Exception: Income is not collected at the end of the final round of the game. When this occurs, perform the End of Era steps.

   • Your income level is the number displayed on the coin beside your Income Marker's current location on the Progress Track.
   • If your income level is negative, you must pay that amount of money to the Bank.
   • If you have a shortfall when paying negative income, you must acquire money by removing one or more of your Industry tiles (not Link tiles) from the board; each being worth half of its cost, rounded down. The removed tile is removed from the game. You keep any excess money.
   • If you have no way to pay a shortfall, lose 1 VP (if possible) for each £1 you are short. Note: You may remove any of your Industry tiles, but must stop as soon as you have acquired enough money to cover the shortfall. You may not sell Industry tiles for any reason other than paying for a shortfall.

End of Era

End of Canal & Rail Era

Each era ends following the round in which all players use the final cards in their Hands. When this occurs, perform the following steps:

1. Score Canal/Rail Links. For each of your Link tiles, score 1 VP for each VP icon displayed in adjacent locations, by advancing your VP Marker along the Progress Track. Remove Link tiles from the board as they are scored.

2. Score Flipped Industry Tiles. After all players have removed their Link tiles, score the VPs shown in the bottom left corner of your flipped Industry tiles (those with a black top half) on the board, by advancing your VP Marker along the Progress Track. Unflipped Industry tiles do not score. Note: If you score more than 100 VPs, record the additional points by starting another loop of the Progress Track.

End of Canal Era

Perform the following additional steps at the end of the Canal Era:

3. Remove Obsolete Industries. Remove all level 1 Industry tiles from the board (not from Player Mats), and return them to the box. All level 2 or greater Industry tiles remain on the board.

4. Reset Distant Cotton Market. Place the Distant Cotton Market Marker back on the topmost space of the Distant Cotton Market Track. Combine discarded Distant Cotton Market tiles with those on the Tile Draw Area, shuffle them, and place them face down on the Tile Draw Area.

5. Shuffle Draw Deck. Combine the cards below the Deck tile with all players' Discard Piles, shuffle them, and place them face down on the Card Draw Area.

6. Draw New Hands. Each player draws 8 cards each from the newly shuffled Draw Deck.

7. Insert Deck Tile. Insert the Deck tile, Nathan Rothschild side face up, near the bottom of the Draw Deck, so that there are 2 cards per player beneath it (e.g. 6 cards for a 3-player game).

End of Rail Era

Perform the following additional step at the end of the Rail Era:

3. Score Cash. Score 1 VP for every £10 in your player area, by advancing your VP Marker along the Progress Track.

Winning the Game

After performing Rail Era scoring:

• The player with the most VPs is declared the winner.
• Ties are broken, first by the highest income, and then by the most money remaining.
• If still tied, those players draw.

Gameplay Concepts

Flipping Industry Tiles

At the end of each era, flipped Industry tiles score VPs. When flipped, they have a black top half and a VP icon in the bottom left corner.

Different Industry tiles are flipped in different ways:

• Cotton Mills and Ports: Flip when you perform a Sell action.
• Coal Mines and Iron Works: Flip when the last cube is removed from the tile. This often happens during an opponent's turn.
• Shipyards: Flip immediately when built.

Increasing Your Income

Whenever one of your Industry tiles is flipped, immediately advance your Income Marker along the Progress Track by the number of spaces (not income levels) shown in the bottom right corner of the tile.

Exception: You cannot increase your income level above level 30.

Your Network

A location on the board is considered to be a part of your network if at least one of the following is true:

• The location contains one or more of your Industry tiles;
• The location is adjacent to one or more of your Link tiles.

Connected Locations

Two locations are considered "connected" to each other if you can trace a route of Link tiles (owned by any player) from one location to the other.

Consuming Coal

Coal is required to build rail Links and certain Industry tiles.

To consume coal, a rail Link or Industry tile must be connected to a source of coal (after it is placed).

Coal must be consumed from:

1. The closest (fewest Link tiles distant) connected unflipped Coal Mine (owned by any player). If multiple Coal Mines are equally close, choose one. If a Coal Mine runs out of coal, and you need more, choose the next closest Coal Mine. Consuming coal in this way is free.

2. If you are not connected to an unflipped Coal Mine, you can purchase coal from the Coal Market, starting at the cheapest price. This requires a connection to the market trade icon (shown on all flipped or unflipped Port tiles, and some locations around the edge of the board). If the Coal Market is empty, you can still purchase coal for £5.

Consumed coal cubes are placed back into the General Supply.

Historical Note: Coal was required in large quantities, so a robust transportation network was critical.

Consuming Iron

Iron is required to perform the Develop action, and to build certain Industry tiles.

To consume iron, an Industry tile does not need a connection to a source of iron.

Iron must be consumed from:

1. Any unflipped Iron Works (owned by any player); it does not have to be the closest. If you need more than 1 iron, you can consume each iron from a different Iron Works. Consuming iron in this way is free.

2. If there are no unflipped Iron Works, you can purchase iron from the Iron Market, starting at the cheapest price. If the Iron Market is empty, you can still purchase iron for £5.

Consumed iron cubes are placed back into the General Supply.

Historical Note: These industries generally required iron in low volumes, so it could also be transported via horse and wagon.

Actions

Build Action

Performing the Build action allows you to place Industry tiles onto a location on the board.

To perform the Build action:

1. Discard an appropriate card. Unlike other actions, which allow you to use any card from your Hand, the Build action requires an appropriate card be discarded face up onto your Discard Pile:

   • Location card - May be used to build any Industry tile at the location named on the card, even if the location is not a part of your network.
   • Industry card - May be used to build the matching Industry tile, shown in the top corner of the card, in a location that is a part of your network.
   • Double Action Build - May be used instead of both of your turn's actions. Discard any 2 cards and regard them as any 1 Location card. You still refill your Hand with 2 cards, if possible. Note: In 2/3-player games you may still build in any location.

2. Take the lowest level tile of the chosen industry from your Player Mat and place it (the side with the black top half face down) on an undeveloped space in your chosen build location, obeying the following rules:

   • If possible, place it on a space displaying only that industry's icon.
   • Otherwise, place it on a space displaying that industry's icon with another industry's icon.
   • If no undeveloped spaces display your industry's icon, you may not place it in that location. Exception: (see "Overbuilding")

3. The cost of the Industry tile you are building is displayed, to the left of its slot, on your Player Mat. Place the money onto your Character tile on the Turn Order Track, and consume any required iron and coal. Remember: If coal is required, the location you are building in must be connected to a source of coal (see "Consuming Coal" and "Connected Locations").

4. If you built a Coal Mine or Iron Works: Place coal or iron (from the General Supply) onto the Industry tile, equal to the quantity shown in the bottom right corner of the tile.

Moving Coal and Iron to the Market

If you build either a:

• Coal Mine that is connected to the market trade icon (shown on all flipped or unflipped Port tiles, and some locations around the edge of the board); or
• Iron Works, regardless of whether or not it is connected to the market trade icon;

you must do the following:

1. Immediately move as many cubes as possible from the Industry tile to available spaces in its associated Market (filling the most expensive spaces first).
2. For each cube moved, collect the corresponding amount of money displayed on the coin to the left side of its Market space.
3. If the last cube is moved from your Industry tile to its Market, flip the Industry tile and advance your Income Marker along the Progress Track by the number of spaces shown in the bottom right corner of the tile.

Note: Coal and iron cubes may only be sold to their Markets during the action when their Industry tile is built. They are never sold to their Markets in later turns.

Building A Shipyard

Shipyard tiles that show a build-prohibited icon may not be built. These tiles may only be removed from your Player Mat through use of the Develop action. They must be removed before you can access the higher-level Shipyard tiles.

Building If You Have No Tiles on the Board

If you have no Industry or Link tiles on the board, you may also (as an action) discard an Industry card to build the matching Industry tile in any location with an undeveloped space displaying that industry's icon.

Canal Era Building

• You may have a maximum of 1 Industry tile per location, but may have an Industry tile in the same location as other players.

Rail Era Building

• You may build multiple Industry tiles in each location.
• Industry tiles with a build-prohibited icon to the left of their slot on your Player Mat may not be built. To remove these tiles (and access the higher-level tiles) you must perform the Develop action.

Build Action (Continued): Overbuilding

Sometimes you are allowed to replace an already placed Industry tile with a higher-level tile of the same industry type (you must still pay the necessary build costs). This is known as Overbuilding.

When Overbuilding:

If the tile you are replacing is your own:

• You may Overbuild any Industry tile.
• If there are any iron / coal cubes on the tile being replaced, place them back into the General Supply.

If the tile you are replacing is owned by an opponent:

• You may Overbuild only a Coal Mine or an Iron Works.
• There must be no resource cubes on the entire board, including in its Market, of the same type as the Industry tile being replaced.

Remove overbuilt Industry tiles from the game, and return them to the box (they will not score VPs). Players do not lose previously gained income or VPs if their Industry tiles are overbuilt.

Sell Action

Performing the Sell action allows you to flip built Cotton Mill tiles, and sometimes Port tiles.

To perform the Sell action:

1. Discard any card from your Hand and place it face up onto your Discard Pile.

2. Choose 1 of your unflipped Cotton Mills, and perform 1 of the following:

Selling using a Port

You may sell cotton to an unflipped Port tile (owned by any player). The Cotton Mill must be connected to the unflipped Port tile.

1. Flip the Port tile, and advance its owner's Income Marker along the Progress Track by the number of spaces shown in the bottom right corner of the tile. Proceed to step 3.

Selling to the Distant Cotton Market

You may sell cotton to the Distant Cotton Market if the Distant Cotton Market Marker is not on the "X" space. The Cotton Mill must be connected to the market trade icon (shown on all flipped or unflipped Port tiles, and some locations around the edge of the board).

Note: If you are using an unflipped Port tile to sell to the Distant Cotton Market, do not flip the Port tile.

1. Flip the topmost Distant Cotton Market tile and place it onto the Tile Discard Area.

2. Move the Distant Cotton Market Marker along the Distant Cotton Market Track by the number of spaces shown in the bottom centre of the flipped tile.

3. Advance your Income Marker along the Progress Track by the number of spaces displayed on the Income icon to the left of the Distant Cotton Market Marker. Proceed to step 3.

4. If the Distant Cotton Market Marker reaches the "X" space, immediately end the Sell action. Do not continue to step 3.

5. Flip your Cotton Mill tile, and advance your Income Marker along the Progress Track by the number of spaces shown in the bottom right corner of the tile.

6. You may go back to step 2 and repeat the process for each of your unflipped Cotton Mills (you may choose whether you sell each tile to a Port or to the Distant Cotton Market).

Loan Action

Performing the Loan action allows you to acquire more money. Loans are never repaid, but instead lower your income level.

• You may not take a loan during the final 4 rounds of the Rail Era (when there are no cards left in the Draw Deck).
• To aid you in remembering this, the preceding round will end with the last player refilling their Hand and revealing the Deck tile, Nathan Rothschild side up.
• When the Deck tile appears, place it beside the Bank to indicate that the next round is the last round in which you may take loans.
• Following the final round for loans, flip the Deck tile over to the Stephenson's Rocket side, to indicate that you can no longer take loans.

To perform the Loan action:

1. Discard any card from your Hand, and place it face up onto your Discard Pile.
2. Take £10/£20/£30 from the Bank, and move your Income Marker 1/2/3 income levels (not spaces) backwards down the Progress Track. Place your Income Marker on the highest space within the new lower income level.

Exception: You cannot take a loan if it will take your income level below -10.

Develop Action

Performing the Develop action allows you to remove Industry tiles from your Player Mat. This allows you to gain access to higher-level Industry tiles without having to build all of the lower-level tiles of that industry.

To perform the Develop action:

1. Discard any card from your Hand, and place it face up onto your Discard Pile.
2. Remove 1 or 2 Industry tiles from your Player Mat, and return them to the box. Each Industry tile is removed separately and does not need to be of the same industry, but must be the lowest level tile of the chosen industry (as it is removed).
3. Consume 1 iron for each tile removed (see "Consuming Iron").

Network Action

Performing the Network action allows you to place Link tiles, which expand your network and gain you access to new locations.

To perform the Network action:

1. Discard any card from your Hand, and place it face up onto your Discard Pile.
2. Place a Link tile on an undeveloped line on the board. The placed Link tile must be adjacent to a location that is a part of your network (see "Your Network").

Network During Canal Era:

• You may not build rail Links.
• You may build canal Links on undeveloped canal lines.
• You may build a maximum of 1 canal Link for £3.

Network During Rail Era:

• You may not build canal Links.
• You may build rail Links on undeveloped railroad lines.
• You may build 1 rail Link for £5.
• In a single Network action, you may build 2 rail Links for £15.
• You must consume 1 coal for each rail Link built (see "Consuming Coal"). Remember: Each rail Link is placed separately and must be connected to a source of coal (after it is placed).

Tips and Variants

Things to Remember

• Discard 1 card for every single action you perform, including passing.
• Only Build actions need a specific card.
• You can perform the same action twice in a turn. For instance, you may place 1 or 2 rail Links with the Network action, then use the Network action again to place 1 or 2 rail Links.
• You may also discard any 2 cards to use both of your actions at the same time. This allows you to build any Industry tile in any location with a space for that industry.
• During the Canal Era, each player may place a maximum of 1 of their Industry tiles in each location.
• You may Overbuild any of your own Industry tiles at any time.
• You may also Overbuild opponents' Coal Mines/Iron Works, but only when there are no coal/iron cubes left on any Industry tiles or in the Market.
• You must be connected to a market trade icon to sell cotton, and to consume coal (but not iron) from the Market.
• A location must be a part of your network for you to build there (unless you use that specific Location card or the double-action build).

Beginner Tips

• Do not be afraid of taking loans. Your income level at the end of the game is not worth VPs. It is not uncommon for experienced players to win the game despite having a low income level.
• Level 2 or greater Industry tiles are not removed at the end of the Canal Era, so could score twice if built early. A flipped level 3 Cotton Mill would score a whopping 18 VPs over both eras. The Develop action is your friend.
• Tiles with a build-prohibited icon to the left of their slot on your Player Mat cannot be built during the Rail Era. Try to build or develop at least 1 Coal Mine and 1 Iron Works during the Canal Era, so that you do not have to use a Develop action during the Rail Era to clear these industries from your Player Mat.
• Nobody likes passing. During the Rail Era, when the Deck tile is revealed Nathan Rothschild side up, you have only one more round to take loans. If you are short on money, make sure you take at least one loan, or you may find yourself unable to do much during the final rounds of the game.
• Figuring out how best to expand your network at the beginning of the Rail Era can be difficult for beginners. Expand your network by building rail Links to sources of coal. If you don't have access to any coal, build a Coal Mine.

Introductory Game

Since Brass is such a deep game, some players may prefer to play a shorter introductory game for their first experience.

The introductory game plays exactly like the full game, except you only play the Canal Era and there are additional scoring rules to make players' scores more closely reflect their success in the Canal Era.

To play the introductory game, first, play the entire Canal Era as normal, including the end of Canal Era scoring. Players then score additional points as follows:

1. Money. Score 1 VP for every £4 in your player area (up to a maximum of 15 VPs).
2. Income level. Score VPs equal to your income level. If your income level is negative, you lose VPs.
3. Industry tiles. Score the points a second time for all your level 2 or greater Industry tiles.

Classic Rules

Roxley strongly recommends you play using the updated and streamlined rules outlined in this manual. But in case you are feeling nostalgic, you can play the original game by implementing the rule changes below.

Virtual Link

The original rules included the quirky, rarely used, Virtual Link rule:

• If Liverpool is a part of your network, then you may use an Industry card to build in Birkenhead. Remember: If coal is required, the location you are building in must be connected to a source of coal. Coal does not travel across the Virtual Link.

Classic 3-4 Player Deck Setup

The original rules did not have a static list of cards that were removed during setup. To play with the classic deck setup, apply the following rules changes:

• Ignore step 2 in "Board Setup".
• Instead of step 4 in "Board Setup": Insert the Deck tile near the bottom of the Draw Deck, so that there are 9 cards beneath it in a 3-player game, or 6 cards beneath it in a 4-player game.
• After shuffling the Draw Deck when setting up the Rail Era (step 5 of "End of Era Maintenance - Canal Era Only"), remove 6 cards in a 3-player game, or 2 cards in a 4-player game; and return them to the box.

Community 2-Player Variant

Brass was originally designed by Martin Wallace as a 3-4 player game. However, in 2009, a 2-player variant was developed by members of the Brass community. This used a customised map and setup; with all other rules remaining the same. Roxley's 2018 ruleset makes this Community 2-player variant obsolete, but we've included it to preserve the history of the game. To play the community 2-player variant, perform the following setup changes (the rest of the rules remain the same):

• Place the board face up displaying the Alternate Map, which features fewer locations and the read-manual icon in the upper left.
• Ignore the player counts on the cards. Instead, create a 40 card Draw Deck by removing all cards that do not feature a cog icon in the bottom right corner.
• Ignore the player counts on Distant Cotton Market tiles. Instead, remove all tiles that do not feature an icon on the left side (one "-1", one "-3" and both "0").
• Start with £25 instead of £30.