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Hit 50 plays on Brass Birmingham and still can't decide if the network building or industry track matters more
I'm at exactly 50 plays now and my win rate is about the same whether I focus on connections or flipping iron mills first. Which side do you lean on when the canal phase is tight and someone else is grabbing the good spots?
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finleym432mo ago
...and honestly the more I play the more I think it depends entirely on who's at the table. If there's someone who always goes heavy on the beer routes then I try to grab the iron spots early just to mess with their plans. But if everyone is fighting over the same couple of industries I'll pivot to building out connections in the middle canal phase since those end game bonuses can stack up fast. The real key for me has been watching what the player to my left is doing because if they start blocking your network you're basically stuck with a bunch of unconnected mills that score nothing.
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raymitchell2mo ago
Ha! So basically you're saying the real game is psychological warfare disguised as a train and industry puzzle. Love it when someone gets absolutely wrecked because they tunnel vision on beer while you're quietly snatching all the iron spots.
That thing about getting blocked by the player on your left hits way too close to home though. Had a game last week where some guy deliberately built his entire network to cut me off from the southern canal, and I spent the rest of the game with three useless mills that might as well have been decorative.
Makes you wonder if the people who play this game are actually just former railroad tycoons who got bored with real life monopolies and decided to ruin our board game nights instead.
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