Brass: Birmingham Review with Ryan Metzler

[@richardtempura]

I was so-so on the original Brass. Birmingham just made it a top 10 game for me. The variability is so much better... Thanks Ryan!

[@AhJong0]

richardtempura 100% agree dude, love how each game can be slightly different.

[@Crs9072]

I like this version of Brass way more than the old one. Nice that there is a choice for people, but I will never play the old one again after this.

[@Superslemmet]

I think Birmingham is easier to play if you haven't played the original, because the strategy in Birmingham is much more focused on creating opportunities for yourself than pursuing a strict long-term strategy. Doing that will inevitably leave you lacking that specific card you need to complete your plan, while if you focus more on networks and keeping many doors open, you will always have something useful you can do, especially trying to force other players to build rails and such that you can benefit from. As I see it, the wild card are just an emergency for when you have painted yourself into a corner. Also, randomized sell locations ensures much more replayability, and it also allows the players some means of deciding how cut-throat they want the game to be. For instance, if you want a slightly friendlier game, place one the empty sell location on each double-sell city before randomizing the others, to make sure everyone will have room to build in useful places. Having no sell locations close to Birmingham will create a much more competitive environment around all the small cities north and so on.

[@sodapop1999]

Thank you for your review

[@rlvoisin]

Ryan, this game did away with the discard 2 cards to do a wild action as you states at 5:05. Just a miner over site.

[@stub6378]

Miner oversight... See what you did there...

[@ski-bapbi-dap957]

Great review, just one point... “Birming’um”.

[@scottgavin1780]

Drop the g as well. Bir-min-um

[@ski-bapbi-dap957]

Scott Gavin you could also swap the initial ‘i’ for a u and add in a few r’s if you want to go true Brummy. Burrrrr-min-am.

[@jamesclease9171]

So annoying hearing everybody on you tube say Birming-ham it makes me turn off the videos. Ryan was just plain wrong in this review about practically everything.

[@vasiliskourepinis4329]

At least Lanky Shire is correct!

[@gaillardlionel]

I agree 100%. I also prefer Lancashire for the same reasons. Both games have fairly complex rules and the first game is long (hard to teach and remember for everyone, goofs are common!). I enjoyed Birmingham though, i like the variability of the random markets in particular.

[@Apeshower]

To me this game is outstanding. Full of tough, tight decisions. Theme wise its ok. Enough there for me to buy in. Comfortable 8.5/10

[@Glitch215]

Decent review, yet: there is not additional diversity in cards beyond the fact that in Birmingham (I believe) there are slightly more cities on the board. Pottery -> Shipyards, Beer -> Port, Cotton -> Cotton/Manufactured Goods, and Iron and Coal are the same.

[@felipealvarez1982]

I'm not British but I think the "H" in Birmingham is silent.

[@guillermoz4914]

So we're just gonna ignore grabbing those poker chips huh?

[@willbeplayin]

GOTY 2018.