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IMPROVED «BRAS»
This is an improved version of «Bras», which expands the mechanics of the base game. The game was released in 2018 along with the re-release of «Bras - Lancashire». «Birmingham» has the same cool design as «Lancashire», made in the traditions of steampunk and style of the TV series «Pointy Visors». Deluxe level components will surely please all connoisseurs of quality.
INDUSTRIAL BOOM IN THE WEST MIDLANDS
The game is also set during the English Industrial Revolution. Players are invited to become great industrialists and show their entrepreneurial skills in the West Midlands, in the glorious city of Birmingham and its surroundings. As in the original game, they will build and modernize enterprises, lay communication routes and trade.
GAME PROCESS
The game consists of two parts, called the Canal and Railway eras. The era lasts until the entire deck of location and enterprise cards is used up. There are enough cards for 8-10 rounds - depending on the number of players. The order of turns is determined by the position of the character tokens on the scale. In the next round, the one who spends the least money will go first.
During his turn, the player can perform up to two actions out of six possible - construction, connection, modernization, sale, taking a loan or exploration. To perform actions, you need to discard cards. At the end of the turn, the player draws new cards from the deck so that there are exactly eight cards in his hand. At the end of the round, players receive income according to the position of their chips on the progress scale. Negative income leads to the loss of money, built enterprises or victory points.
LOCATION, ENTERPRISE AND JOKER CARDS
The principles of construction have practically not changed. Only joker cards have been added. If you want to build a business in a location, you need to discard either the location card or the location joker card (does not apply to farm breweries). A business card allows you to build a specific business in a location that is part of the player`s transport network, and business joker cards allow you to build any business in such a location. To build in farm breweries, the player must use either a business card with a brewery or a business joker card. Joker cards are discarded in a separate space.
BUILDING ENTERPRISES
Enterprises are placed on the corresponding free cells in locations. In the canal era, a player can build only one enterprise in a location, and in the railway era - several. The player can rebuild his own lower-level enterprises, as well as other people`s mines or factories, if there are no coal or iron cubes on the field or on the market at all. For construction, you need to pay as many coins as indicated on the player`s tablet. You also often need to spend iron or coal. The source of coal must be included in the player`s transport network.
Resources are placed on mines, foundries, and breweries. Iron is sent to the market immediately, and coal only if the location is connected by communication routes to the merchant cell. By sending resources to the market, the player receives money. If there are no resources left on the enterprise token, the token is flipped over, and the player increases his income.
SELLING GOODS TO MERCHANTS
To sell, the player discards any card and selects an unflipped token from his manufactory, pottery workshop, or textile factory, which is connected by communication routes to the merchant token with the symbol of this enterprise. Merchant tokens are laid out randomly. Merchants take a specific type of goods.
The player spends the specified number of kegs of beer from an unflipped personal brewery token, from an unflipped foreign brewery connected by paths to the enterprise token, or from a cell next to the merchant token. After that, the player flips the enterprise token and increases his income level. He can receive an additional reward indicated in the location with the merchant token - free modernization, increased income level, money or victory points.
INTELLIGENCE AND OTHER ACTIONS
If the player does not have any joker cards in his hand, he can conduct reconnaissance: discard any three cards and take one location joker card and one enterprise joker card. To take out a loan, the player discards one card, immediately receiving thirty pounds, but reducing his income level by three divisions. The modernization action allows him to get rid of lower-level enterprise tokens. For each discarded card, the player removes up to two enterprise tokens from the board, paying one iron cube for each.
To build a canal or railway between locations, the player discards any card and pays money (and in the era of railways - also coal and beer). A connection token can only be placed on a road adjacent to a location that is part of the player`s transport network. The type of connection depends on the era.
END OF THE ERA
The era ends when all the cards are played. Players score victory points for their connection tokens that are adjacent to their own or other players` enterprise tokens with hex socket symbols (one point for each such symbol). The connection tokens are then removed. Players then score victory points as indicated on their flipped enterprise tokens. The game ends after the points are tallied at the end of the railway era. The player with the most victory points wins.
Publisher: Lord of Boards
Language: Ukrainian
Players: 2-4
Play time: 120-180 m
Age: 14+
