Where there's muck . . .

So last night, after a late cancellation by Steve and Anja, we were down to three; Adam, Andrew and me (Joe). Last time we three met, Brass happened — and so it was again. I think we were all keen to explore it a little more, and the replacement of the plastic coins with real old English pennies was more than enough to seal the deal. After setting up it was 8pm, and there was no need for lengthy rules explanations this time — as Andrew said "let's just play, and Joe can tell us why we can't do what we want to." Adam jumped in with a £30 loan on his first turn, an unusual opening strategy as it pushed him £3 into debt - the lure of the real copper coins I think. Iron was in scarce supply throughout the canal phase, and while I scoured my cards for somewhere to build an ironworks, Adam seemed to have all the right locations and made a lot of headway through selling iron back to the demand track. Both Adam and Andrew built early coal mines, which lingered on the board for quite a while, though none remained unflipped by the phase end — Andrew managing a daring turn 10 flip I think. I struggled in the first half, no real plan emerging, and the canal phase scoring saw me in third place by quite a margin. The rail phase was a bit more fruitful for me, particularly since Adam spotted that we were in the final round for taking loans and announced the fact after he and Andrew had missed their opportunity to do so, and I was able to take a final hand-out (thanks Adam).

Andrew did his customary late-game Shipyard build (in both phases), and I used my new-found wealth to build 4 pieces of track in one turn, draining the coal track dry, and prompting

some over-building, a new experience for all of us. In the end though, Adam was victorious with 174 points, me in second with 173 (curses), and Andrew in third with 147.

This was my third face-to-face Brass game, Andrew and Ads second, and Andrew and I have played a few two player games online. I'm not completely grabbed by it. I like it, but compared to say, Age of Steam, another long and competitive game, it feels a little convoluted. I do know that it's supposed to be at its best with four players, as there's a lot more competition for industry spots, and we've yet to try a four-way, so that would be interesting. But strategy-wise I'm not totally feeling the love that I've read about elsewhere. It seems to be a game of opportunism as much as strategy, and I'm not sure I can see multiple paths to victory. The shipyards, for instance; they take so much to get on the board, and then there are at most two per phase, each only scoring once since the canal phase shipyards get discarded, so I can't see them being part of a winning strategy really.

Perhaps we're none of us being competitive enough — if you see someone building cotton mills without ports, you could sweep in with your own mills and bottom out the cotton demand track, for instance. You could also use canal and rail track to secure certain cities, since other players will find it more difficult to build if they can't ship coal and iron via their own networks.

There's lots to love, and I'm prepared to think that we're not quite getting it yet, but it doesn't have the economic tension (translation: fear of bankruptcy) of Age of Steam, nor the heart-pumping exhilaration of Caylus (I'm serious), and for a three hour plus game, that's a big commitment — it's a whole games night! We could have played three games of Medici!

So anyway - four player Brass . . . anybody not yet dipped their toe in the sooty waters who feels up to the challenge? You'll have some catching up to do, but don't worry; Andrew, Adam and I will be there to tell you exactly why you can't do what you want to . . . Wallace!

The Leaderboard

	Played	Points
Joe	11	17
Adam	12	15
Andrew	14	11
Sam	7	10
Jonny	6	8
Steve	3	6
Quentin	1	1
Hannah	1	1
Will	1	1