I came to Birmingham after Lancashire and I know that’s the wrong order according to purists, but it’s the order that happened, so here we are. the elevator pitch is you’re building a network of coal mines, cotton mills, and canals across two eras, canal and then rail, and every single turn someone else takes has a real chance of quietly wrecking whatever plan you walked in with. I’ve seen that described as “every turn feels never optimal,” and honestly, that’s not a complaint, that’s the game working exactly as designed.

the beer mechanic took me an embarrassing number of plays to actually respect. at first it felt bolted on, this extra resource you flip industry tiles for that seemed disconnected from the rest of the engine. it isn’t. beer unlocks the double-sell actions that make your whole network actually breathe, and once that clicked I started planning three turns ahead around who controls the taps, not just who’s got the most coal on the board.

Birmingham versus Lancashire is the conversation every group of Brass players eventually has, and I’ll put myself on record, I think Birmingham is the friendlier cousin, more forgiving of a mistake, while Lancashire punishes a wrong first move so hard it can feel like the game ended on turn two. some tables want that harshness. mine mostly doesn’t, so Birmingham’s the one that actually gets played.

setup takes real time, sorting the market tiles, laying the double sided board, and I won’t pretend that isn’t a genuine weeknight tax. but once the pieces are down the game itself moves faster than its reputation suggests, and I’ve started keeping the components pre sorted in insert trays specifically so a Tuesday night game doesn’t turn into twenty minutes of table prep before anyone’s touched a card.

five stars, minus a little patience for the setup, plus a lot for how good it feels once the network actually starts humming.