BRASS RULES SUMMARY

TERMS

Distant Market (Front)

Distant Market (Back)

Location card

Industry card

Game board

Money
 • Randomly determine the Starting player. Place
the Player disc of the starting player to the 1st
Player order space. Other players put their disc
to 2 - 4 th order space in counterclockwise
order
VP counter

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SETUP
• Give each player
◦ Player disc x 2
◦ VP counter x 2
◦ Industry counter x 37
◦ Money x total $30
◦ Canal/Rail counter x 14

• Each player place Player disc to 0 of Income --------------------------------------------------------------------

track PLAY

• Canal period -> Rail period -> End

• Flip all Industry counter to Front side. Separate Each period:

Industry counters into 5 piles according to
different types and stack each pile with lowest I) Initial cards
Tech level on top
II) Player actions

III) Score VP
• Place Coal cube x 1 in each space on Coal
demand track and Iron cube x 1 in each space IV) End of period maintenance
on Iron demand track

I) Initial cards
• Shuffle all cards
• Remove cards:
◦ Canal period: 4P: Remove Card x 6,
3P: Remove Card x 9
◦ Rail period: 4P: Remove Card x 2, 3P:
Remove Card x 6
• Each player cards x 8

II) Player actions

• Place Black marker on top space of Cotton a) Collect income
demand track • Each player collect income one after another
according to Player order track
• Take or pay bank according to position of
Player disc on Income track

• Shuffle Distant marker tiles and place face
down in Distant market tiles space
• If needs to pay, pay money to BANK, not to
Amount spent space
• If not enough money to pay: Sell Industry
counters on BOARD. Sell value = Cost of
building / 2 round down
• May need to remove > 1 Counter
• Cannot voluntarily remove Counter to generate
money
 • Once flip an Industry counter, move up Income
track according to Gold circle IMMEDIATELY
• Cannot go beyond $30 for Income track
b) Play cards
• Play 1 card and take an action in turn,
according to Player order track during the
FIRST TURN
• After the first turn, play 2 cards in total and
take 2 actions in total in turn, according to
Player order track
• Play 2 cards for the first round of Rail period
• Discard cards after play
• The type of card played only affects Building
industry
• May repeat same action
• Must choose card but may do no action and just
discard the card
• All money spent, including those spent for Coal
and Iron from demand track, is placed on the
Amount spent space of corresponding players'
color
Actions:
i) Build industry
ii) Build link
iii) Develop
iv) Sell cotton
v) Take loan
i) Build industry
• To build an Industry counter in a particular
location on board
• Can build counters on the 19 locations on
Board. Each location is made up to 1 - 4 spaces
• Types of industry that can be built on a location
are indicated on Board
= Cotton / Coal
To build:
a) Use Location card / Industry card
b) Match types of industry
c) Able to MOVE coal or TAKE iron to the
location if needed
d) Pay the money required
• Location card allows to build at that location.
Connectivity NOT required but connectivity to
MOVE Coal if needed required
• Industry card allows to build the Type of
industry indicated to a location where there is
OWN connectivity
• In the Canal period, each player can only have
1 Industry counter in 1 location. Not allowed to
build a second industry in the same location
• Players can have > 1 Industry counter in a
location in Rail period. This is considered to
have OWN connectivity
• If there is no Industry counter AND no links on
board, may use an Industry card to build in
ANY matched space on board
• Pay the cost of the Industry counter, together
with Coal and Iron costs
• Must always build the TOP Industry counter
from 1 of the 5 stacks
• Cannot build Tech level 0 counters
• Counter with a Canal symbol can only be built
in Canal period, Counter with a Rail symbol
can only be built in Rail period
• Always build the unflipped side (Front side) of
the counter
Buildings that require Coal
• If the Industry counter requires
Coal Coal must be able to
MOVE from Coal mines or from Coal Demand
track
• Must always move Coal from mine first if
possible
• Mine can belonged to any players. Links can
also belonged to any players
• Must take from closest source (count links. Tie:
player's choice. Coal in the same location =
closest.)
• Can move Coal THROUGH an External
location
• After the move of Coal -> back to box
• If no Coal left from mines or no link to move
coal -> Buy from Coal Demand track
• To buy from Coal Demand track, the location
must be connected to or in the same location
with Port (unflip or flipped). Pay according to
Coal Demand track
• The 3 external locations also count as having a
Port
 • If no Coal left in the track, can take Coal from
the box (Cost: $5)
• If the last cube from a Coal mine is taken: Flip
the counter. Owner of the mine
IMMEDIATELY moves up the Income track
accordingly
• No need to pay to other players when using
other players mine or link
Buildings that require Iron
• Take Iron cube from map if possible from self
or other players
• Unlike Coal, NO NEED to be connected to the
source
• NO NEED to take it from the closest source
• If no Iron left on map, buy from Demand track.
Cost according to position on Demand track
• If no Iron cube left, take from Box. (Cost: $5)
• NO NEED to have connected Port when buying
Iron from Demand track
Building Coal mines
• Place the indicated no. of Coal cubes from box
after building Coal mines
• Supply of Coal from box unlimited
• If the Coal mine JUST BUILT is connected to
Port (Flipped or unflipped), MUST sell and
move Coal to Coal demand track if there is
empty space
• Sell value indicated in the Demand track
• Fill from bottom of the track up
• Take money from BANK
• Must have the money to build the mine before
selling the Coal to Demand track
Building Iron works
• Place the indicated no. of Iron cubes from box
after building Iron works
• Supply of Iron from box is unlimited
• Flip the Iron works counter after all Iron is used
• For the Iron works JUST BUILT, sell and move
Iron to Iron demand track if there is empty
space
• Sell value indicated in the Demand track
• No need to have connected Port
Build on Counters
• Can build on own counters of the same type
and higher Tech level (including Coal and Iron)
• Still need to:
a) Use Location card / Industry card (but do not
need to have links)
b) Match types of industry with higher Tech level
c) Able to MOVE coal or TAKE iron to the
location if needed
d) Pay the money required
• Old counter and cubes on it is removed to box
• Can replace ANOTHER player's Coal mine if:
◦ There are no Coal on the Map AND
◦ There are no Coal on the Coal demand
track AND
◦ The Tech level of the new Coal mine
is higher
• Can replace ANOTHER player's Iron work if:
◦ There are no Iron on the Map AND
◦ There are no Iron on the Iron demand
track AND
◦ The Tech level of the new Iron work is
higher
• After removal of counter, Income track NOT
AFFECTED
• Discard counter back to box
Build Shipyards
• Cannot build Level 0 Shipyards
• In Canal period, able to build a shipyard only in
Liverpool
• After building a shipyard: Flip the Shipyard
IMMEDIATELY, move Income track up
IMMEDIATELY and score VP later
Combining actions
• Play 2 cards to turn into a joker Location card
• Select 1 Location, 1 action only, AS IF a
Location card is played on the selected location
• Other building rules: Same for a Location card
• Cannot play this combining action on the first
turn of the game because only 1 card is played
on the first turn
ii) Build link
• Play 1 card to build 1 link. Card type: Not
related
• Build link from a city that contains > 1 of own
Industry counter or from a city that contains no
own Industry but connected by own link
• Can build link from an External location that
you are connected to
• Only 1 link exist on a potential link
• No. of link counter IS LIMITED i.e. max 14
links each period

Build Canal
• Build canals only during Canal period on
Potential canal links
• $3 each
• Cannot build 2 Canals in a single action
• Need to use 2 actions to build 2 Canals
Build Rail
• Build rails only during rail period on Potential
rail links.
• Each rail link requires 1 Coal cube
• Coal cube must be moved to or already present
in 1 of the 2 locations that the rail is being built
between
• The Coal must be taken from the closest source
via rail links. Coal cubes already present in the
locations where the new rail is connected to is
considered as closest
• Must be taken from the Map first if possible
• When Coal is not available from Map, use the
Coal from Coal demand track but 1 of the 2
locations must be connected to a Port (flipped /
unflipped)
• $5 to build 1 rail
• Can use 1 action to build 2 rails at a cost of $15
◦ The 2 rails built need not be connected
◦ Cannot double-build to connect and
move coal
iii) Develop
• Play 1 Card to use the Develop action. Card
type: Not related
• Remove 1 - 2 tiles from the top of 1 - 2 OWN
stacks of Industry counters back to box
• Can remove 2 tiles from 1 stack
• Cost: Iron x 1 per removal
◦ Take Iron cube from map if possible
from self or other players
◦ Unlike Coal, NO NEED to be
connected to the source
◦ NO NEED to take it from the closest
source
◦ If no Iron left on map, buy from
Demand track. Cost according to
position on Demand track
◦ If no Iron cube left, take from Box.
(Cost: $5)
◦ NO NEED to have connected Port
when buying Iron from Demand track
iv) Sell cotton
• Play 1 Card to Sell cotton. Card type: Not
related
• Sell by flipping face up Cotton counter, then
move up Income track immediately
• No. not limited
• See cotton SEQUENTIALLY in order of the
player's choice, if > 1 mill is involved
• May sell to an UNFLIPPED Port then flip the
Port
◦ Must be connected to a UNFLIPPED
Port or in the same location
◦ Can sell to an UNFLIPPED port
owned self or by other players (cannot
refuse)
◦ No need to sell to the closest
UNFLIPPED port. Can trace a route,
even through External locations
• May alternatively sell to Distant market
◦ Must be connected to a Port (flipped
or unflipped) or an external location
(All external location contains a Port)
◦ If use a unflipped port and sell to the
Distant market: DO NOT flip the port
◦ Turn the top tile on the Distant market
stack and move the Cotton demand
marker down a number of spaces
indicated on the tile
◦ Flip the Cotton counter ONLY IF the
Cotton demand marker has not
reached the bottom space
◦ Move Income track marker up
according to Gold circle of the Cotton
counter + Value of the Cotton demand
track where the marker moved FROM
◦ If > 1 cotton is sold to Distant market,
reveal Distant Market tiles and move
Cotton Demand Marker multiple times
• Place the revealed Distant market tile face
down on the bottom of the stack
• If Cotton demand marker reaches the bottom
space: DO NOT flip the mill
◦ Action ends. No more cotton can be
sold to the Distant market by ANY
player for the rest of the period
◦ Remove all Distant market back to the
box
• May sell to the Distant market via the same
port multiple times in the same action
 • Count only the No. of Gold circles, NOT values
in the Gold circles
v) Take Loan
• Play 1 card to play the Take loan action. Card
type: Not related
• Take $10, $20 or $30 from bank and move
income marker back
◦ For each $10 take: Move Player disc
on Income track 1 INCOME BAND
down
◦ Always move back to the highest
numbered space in a band

• Not possible to move below -$10

• Do not pay loans back and move up Income
track
• Cannot take loan once the DECK OF CARDS
has been exhausted in the Rail period

IV) End of period maintenance

c) Determine player order
• Adjust Player disc in Player order track
according to Money spent in Amount spent
space
• Lowest amount spent = 1st order
• Tie: Earlier in old play order = Earlier in new
player order
• Return money in Amount spent space back to
bank
d) Refill hand
• Bring up to 8 cards
• If deck is exhausted, refill no card
III) Score VP
• After no cards left in all players hands
• Use VP counter to score
• Use second counter if VP > 99
• Counters that are built and flipped during the
Canal period will score at the end of Canal
period and Rail period as long as they are not
removed by being overbuilt
• VP from links +
• VP from flipped Industry counters +
• VP from Money (1VP/$10 in hand, only after
Rail period)
• VP from links:
• VP from 1 link = No. of all Gold circles at
either of the link
• Count no. of Gold circles from
◦ Self
◦ Opponents
◦ The 3 External locations
◦ Blackpool, Southport and Northwich
• After completing Canal period:
◦ Remove all Canal counter from Board
back to players
◦ Remove all Tech level 1 Industry
counters + cubes on them from Board
to Box
■ DO NOT remove Tech level
1 Industry counters from
players' stack
■ DO NOT move down Income
track after counter removal
◦ Shuffle all Distant Market tiles and
make new face down pile
◦ Move Cotton Demand market back to
top space on Cotton demand track
◦ DO NOT refill the Coal and Iron
demand track
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END and WIN
• After VP scoring in Rail period
• Highest VP wins
• Tie: Highest Income level wins
• Still tie: Most cash in hand
• Still tie: Earlier player in Player order track (as
if there would be another turn) wins
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NOTE
• Each Counter can only be flipped once
• Earn income immediately after flipping
counters
• Coal and Iron supplies are unlimited
Barrow-in-Furness

• Cannot build Iron works or Shipyard in Canal

period because both required Coal to build
• Canal is not available to transport Coal and the
location is not connected to Port by Canal and
therefore cannot use Coal from demand track

Virtual link between Birkenhead and Liverpool

Count after game

• Distant market tiles x 12
• Each player:
◦ Counters x 37
◦ Canal / Rail counters x 14
◦ VP counter x 2
• The Virtual link cannot be used to ◦ Player disc x 2
◦ Move coal,
◦ Sell cotton or
◦ Score VP
• Cannot build Canal / Rail
• Just used as Connectivity between Birkenhead
and Liverpool
• Since it cannot be used to move coal, cannot
build the Shipyard in Canal period. Ellesmere
Port is connected to Birkenhead by Rail

Lancaster and Preston

• Must use the left hand box first for Port

building in Lancaster
• Must use the top box first for Port building in
Preston