How to Play Brass: Birmingham in 17 Minutes

[@CrazyBunnyGuy]

A few most commonly overlooked rules and some tips for people starting with this game: - watch out for connections to coal. It's so easy to forget you need a connection to the source of coal and the location where you are using it! This applies to building rail links as well. A good starting point is to try and secure a connection to the coal market, if possible, or to one of your own coal mines. But those cubes from mines run out pretty quickly, so having a connection to the market is key. If it's far away it's probably worth investing in connecting yourself to another player's network to use their links for this. - knowing when to build a mine is crucial if you want quick boosts to your income. Watch the market for high demand and build a mine when the marketplace is in need of the resource. Of course, providing you don't plan on using that resource yourself, because, sure, selling the resource and immediately flipping the tile is great for income, but you might end up buying the resource soon if you need it for another industry! - don't forget that at the start of the rail era your links and obsolete industries will disappear from the map so again, watch out for connections to coal! You'll be needing a LOT of it for rail links, don't build your whole strategy on some locations only to realise you can't actually build anything because you don't have coal. Having to start almost from scratch hurts, but it's also fun rebuilding your economy - BEER IS EVERYTHING. :) That is the most valuable resource and it's so quickly gone. As said, you need it for selling your goods and for building rail links later, invest heavily in breweries but watch out for your opponents' intentions. They might snatch your own beer right in front of your nose if you miss the timing. Sure, your tile will be flipped but you were counting on that beer, and now it's gone. It's safer to build breweries somewhere off the main road, where your opponents cannot reach the bear. Remember, THEY need a connection to it, but YOU don't. Don't build it in the middle of things, it's going to used very quickly. - your rail links (if building two at a time) don't have to follow each other, you can build them anywhere in your network, but they must be connected to a source of coal. That being said, it is legal for your to build them in a way that by placing them you're only then connected to the coal source. Basically, you consume the coal at the very end of the process so you can start the rail link building without a source of coal, but you must END your rail building by having a connection to the coal... The same applies to the beer cost of the second rail link - if you're trying to consume other player's beer for this, that rail link you just built needs to be connected to that beer, but you check for that after placing it. :)

[@b-tek5939]

Great content. After seeing your dune video, I sought this channel specifically for Brass Birmingham. It's clear you think carefully about the 'how' of explaining complicated rule sets; worrying about the canal era first, not getting mired in details before they are relevant, and making sure the bigger picture ideas are clear before moving into the granular interactions. I find many similar channels simply walk through the rules in order and at the highest possible detail, which is really ineffective. You don't even know what the game is about and you're learning about the exceptions to some niche interaction! Big fan of your work so far, keep it up.

[@RTFM]

Thank you so much! I really do try to take exactly those thoughts into consideration, so it's gratifying to hear that it's coming across.

[@SirAugwich]

Hi Shea, great content as always! Real quick, at @8:27 you have a canal built on the path between Walsall and Tamworth, which only supports rail!

[@RTFM]

Oh yeah, you're right. Oops!

[@chrisseibert7810]

I've played Brass a ton and I'm honestly not sure why I watched this video but it made me realize I've been playing a rule wrong this whole time

[@RTFM]

Oh don't worry, I've definitely done that before.

[@Endeva09]

What rule??

[@Jindorek]

The best way to explain to a new player : The first half of the game you will be told "you cant do that". during the second half, you will be telling others "You cant do that".

[@marcusbarton9151]

I’ve been waiting for that one! Thanks, Shea!

[@victoramaralbucksaldanhada3463]

That Worcester joke absolutely got me, great stuff as always ;D

[@RTFM]

Thanks!

[@Endeva09]

Wussta

[@JohnMcSmith]

Glouster hurt though

[@jkennedyV]

Top-Notch. well done RTFM~

[@Sonminiser]

This is currently my #1 favorite game.

[@jamesgodwin6484]

Firstly massive kudos for explaining that really well, i played it for the first time last night and this really helped sink it in. I think everyone kinder needs to rough play through to then come back to this and understand as its hard to do this before playing it. Secondly i genuinely LOL'd at the Worchester comment :D, even gets us brits too!

[@pasta0328]

The zero cost pottery isn't necessarily garbage. It can be a placeholder for a future overbuild

[@dirtygerm0698]

@ 7:02 mark your sell action takes the beer above manufactured goods instead of cotton. Is that accurate? I thought you could only take the one above the industry you’re selling.

[@RTFM]

Ah, yes good point. I'll add a note about that. Thanks!

[@dirtygerm0698]

@@RTFM you’re welcome! Thanks for making this video, I’m forwarding to my brother to try and spark interest!

[@rodrigo.lamadrid]

Brilliant tutorial. Thank you so much for making it concise and fun!

[@ConRadDunlap]

So excited for this one!

[@RTFM]

Thanks for watching! Did I make a mistake? Comment here with a timestamp and I'll add a note.

[@alexthorne6996]

Yeah, the dodgy Cockney accent at the start, that's bad enough but the game is set in the Midlands ! 😫🤣

[@soth1438]

Very well done, what type of game table do you have? It looks very nice

[@RTFM]

It's called the Dresden. There's a link in the video description if you want to check it out.

[@genevievegourdeau7483]

So crystal clear!!!

[@RTFM]

Thanks!

[@TheMrTelespectador]

Blimey! Innit sooo dench? Shea you aced again, at Matthew part I laughed so hard. Thanks for another magnificent tutorial !

[@RTFM]

Haha, thanks!

[@greg130]

I've got nothing. But I love ur explanations, thanks mate

[@RTFM]

Thanks!

[@patrice1345]

Name of that transition music please

[@RTFM]

I actually used a different song on each transition. Which one are you referring to?

[@kinlongma471]

For those flipped building, if i replace a higher rank tile above it, can i still score the covered flipped building when the era ends

[@RTFM]

I'm not 100% sure if I'm understanding your question. If you're talking about overbuilding, the tiles aren't covered, they're removed, so no you can't. But if I'm misinterpreting you, let me know.

[@Stu-Vino]

Very useful video, thank you!

[@RTFM]

Thanks!

[@CopperLontra]

Brass is so great! Cheers Govna!

[@mistadopeman]

What did I get myself into?? 😂😅

[@peterpanda1593]

Great content. Played it once and needed a recap of the rules. How does the game work with only two players? Is it worth a play?

[@RTFM]

To be honest I've never actually tried it at two. I think three or four would probably be better. Worth a try I bet, but if you expect to only ever play it at two, I'd try it out virtually first to see how you like it.

[@tophat593]

Why the Australian impersonation at the beginning? You know it's set in England right? Excellent explanation though. 👍

[@RTFM]

Fun fact, an Australian accent and a REALLY bad Cockney accent sound kinda similar.

[@tophat593]

@@RTFM hehe. :) But it's set in the Black Country. Cockney is the wrong accent. Do your Australian accent but pretend to be an out of tune choir boy who's really sad because his voice has just broken. Google the accent, you'll see.

[@nicholasvanaria8043]

Great video. One question...What do you have to do to "activate" the free develop action in Gloucester? Does it occur when you claim the beer or does it happen when you build the link to it?

[@RTFM]

It happens when you claim the beer.

[@Cedarium]

Excellent video!

[@timmowarner]

You would THINK I would have better ways to spend my time than reading board game rule books.

[@Horuschina]

I just played this game and I felt soooo dumb. Did not understand it yet

[@lukec1146]

Teleportation = pony and trap. Beer was like water due to undrinkable polluted water

[@anzelak]

If you were really brave, you'd have had a proper go at a Brummie accent haha.

[@RTFM]

I have never claimed to be brave.

[@poo2uhaha]

Nice vid but you didn't escape all the errors in British place names. Gloucester is pronounced "Gloss-ter" :)

[@RTFM]

Blame Matthew :D

[@bethany8315]

That made absolutely no sense… and I’m playing it in 1 hour 😭😭

[@mrshark2661]

First