READ THIS COMMENT! 2 Big things with this one. - First we have a competition running with Board Game Atlas that end 3 September 2020. If you want to win a copy of the game, go here gleam.io/9tBaq/brass-birmingham-deluxe-giveaway. Secondly, we also have a follow up video called "extra time" where i go into more detail about why Brass gets the gold medal. That video is linked at the end of this one, or you can look at it here ua-cam.com/video/IIbC796DXsg/v-deo.html
This was great! I love that you led with the solo/no solo piece. Very nice succinct rules run through with just enough depth to give a feel for the game. Great job and best of luck moving forward with this expanded adventure in life!
I finally took the plunge and bought this after eyeing it up for ages and crucially, also learning there is a good solo mode available on BGG! Readying my Victorian metal coin set in anticipation for delivery 🪙
No solo mode? Well, I guess I will continue to work on my own game. You are Sir Ernest Rutherford, raising a farm of irradiated takahe. The winner is who accumulates the most pantaloons and snuff.
I can see why this game is rated high; it is well designed and I think looks pretty good. However, I didn’t find it a ‘blast’ to play and I did not find myself thinking about it much afterward. I give this a 7/10. I’d play again, but I’m not likely to purchase. Good review.
Do not agree about the money. I love the difference in size, it helps for a fast way to decide who has spend the least money. Love the game and made a custom insert for faster setup and tear down time.
@@howie3750 No its in the Midlands (in the middle of England basically) Brass Lancashire is set in the north of England. Either way both were locations of the industrial revolution. Love these 3 minutes rules that work well as a recap to the rules👍
Can you compare the complexity and player-interaction with Terra Mystica/Gaia Project? Looking for a heavy eurogame with high player interaction and no workerplacement.
Pretty comparable. Brass is probably simpler overall, but the interactions are on the same level. think of it like Gaia Project, but without the variable race powers.
Hi, I love these fast videos. But there is one little detail that we (non-English speakers) *need* to know. How many texts used in the game, and can we play it with a paste up for example? There is a vote in bgg for language dependency, but often -because of the voting system- is not accurate. If you add it to these videos, it would be awesome!
That's a really good point. Every year, i redo the intro bit. That could be something i add to the segment where i quickly run through player count, time, and complexity
birminghams is the midlands. I am from the North ie Brass/Brass Lancashire......My wife is from the Midlands She bought the game (wonderful woman) last xmas...very much because it was not from the North but the Black Country (comment from Queen Victoria, I link from a train going through this area)
Only part of the board is the Black Country. Birmingham itself is very definitely not part of the Black Country. This was mentioned to the publisher before publication, but not taken on board. I live in Birmingham, but often go to a board game club a few km away in the Black Country.
@@christopherhealey8807 Yes, I know - I've played it. Obviously, for that reason, it's without question the greatest game in the world. But I still have a soft spot for Brass Birmingham.
Embrace the trains Jay. I tried to resist them in the past, but Brass is so good. Next thing you will be eyeing up 18XX games thinking they may be interesting. You should try Great Weastern Trail, a brilliant game, if you haven't already.
Tried GWT, its pretty good. Not a fan of the theme as the American West just doesn't connect with me. But the game was good. I had much cows. Much cows
Hmmm, im not sure i'd like either of those games at 2 player. But i think Brass needs the player interaction more and really hums at 4. TM is probably better, but 2 player games can get into a pattern where one player is clearly ahead and running up the score
Please make the game length a number - is long long like World in Flames or like not for 8 year olds :) I do like the not so new format though. Big fan of this one - I live in Stone
Ha, cool. I ended up removing the specific times because people complained. Some even flat out accused me of not even playing the game. My group plays fast, and apparently, some people play up to 4 times slower than we do. And when they see things like "Brass takes 90-120 minutes" they lose their minds at me.
Very short is 5 mins or so. Short, 30 odd, medium around the hour mark, long, in that 90-180 mins mark, Bonkers long, anything that routinely takes 4+ hours. Hope that helps
@@3MBG, I’m with you. I play games pretty fast, as do my sons, but there are those in my gaming group that are very slow and prone to AP. If I’m playing a game with people like me, we move along quite fast. We played this game in my gaming group, all as noobies. It took us 3 hours for 3 players. With increased play, but with the same group, I could see us trim it down to about 2-2.5 but not lower than that. Needs thinking to play well.
Great review Jarrod! Sorry, but I have to agree with Tom Vasel. This game is more work than fun --- and I love heavy euros. Slogged through the first play. Thought it would get easier the 2nd play. Nope. Same experience. Won't return to it. Thx!
I'm plenty familiar with heavy strategic euros, but this does absolutely nothing for me. That #1 spot is a total mystery. Though Gloomhaven was ungodly overrated itself.
I've never understood why people attempt to make fun of other peoples accents. Seems like a mean spirited thing to do. I talk in the manner of my people, as do you.
@@3MBG Wow. Extra sensitive today? If you think I was actually making fun of you... no wonder the world is screwed up. (I don't make fun of people.. that's mean. What I wrote is NOT making fun of you! I'm from Boston and speak exactly the same way, and take it in humor when people poke at my accent). As such I was only trying to enjoy some humor with you. I mean, it's just an accent, right? We have no control over that. I really enjoy your videos. But wow... I miss the days when people were able to poke fun at each other without being labeled as "mean". But TODAY, I guess it's "mean". I don't get it. I sort of feel sorry for you, that you go through life thinking that people are actually attacking you based on accent or whatever. I come from a generation where we all realize that we're all born differently, and instead of attacking each other for it, we use our ethnic and regional differences as a source of humor and comradery. I guess the smiley face I put at the end of my original comment didn't get the job done. Sorry 'bout that.
@@bgm-1961 Hmmm, perhaps this is a cultural difference between Aotearoa and America? We are used to hearing different accents and having our accent as a rare one in the world. This is far from the first time an American poster has said this sort of thing to me and weirdly, it is always people from the US. Never anywhere else. I'm not sure why that is. I'm not upset, nor being sensitive. I just don't understand it at all. And yours is not one of the really rude ones, which is why your comment was replied to and not blocked. But i get plenty of "speak properly" comments as well.
@@3MBG Fair enough. But first and foremost, I certainly didn't mean any offense by my original comment... absolutely none whatsoever. I haven't been to New Zealand, but I've visited Australia several times, both on business and for pleasure. I remember the first time an Aussie commented on my accent. I thought it was cool, because as far as I was concerned, it was them that had the accent! :) Then that's when it hit me that it was me who sounded different to everyone around me, as I was the visitor. (But then sometimes I'd confuse them when I let my Boston accent slip in). :) Anyway, about it being a US thing... perhaps you're right. As I wrote earlier, when I was growing up, I lived in an area with people of several different ethnic backgrounds and a few different accents. We used to make fun of each other all the time, both as kids and as adults - not to be mean - but actually to show that we respected each other enough to poke fun at our differences. To us, it was good natured jesting. I guess it also a measure of toughness. I mean, if you could take being ribbed over your looks or accent, or whatever, then you showed that you were willing to fit in... to be part of a larger group than just yourself. Getting back to it being a US thing... again, perhaps you're right. But then, if so, it's also disappearing from our culture. As I'm sure you're well aware, the US is going through a cultural upheaval now. It isn't new... it's been brewing for the past five to ten years, and is only now coming to a head. Anyway, it's a multi-faceted cultural shift we're going through. And part of that is a certain - and growing - part of our population that we referred to as "snowflakes". They're the ones - who if they were around back in the days when we would jest at each other over our differences - would now instead feel offended and feel "unsafe". Notice how I used "referred" in the last sentence in the past tense. Because again - due to our cultural shift - it's no longer "a thing" to refer to that small population as "snowflakes". And that's because our entire culture (in my opinion) has shifted so much in that direction that it's no longer a fringe part of our society that becomes easily offended at what used to be very innocent banter. Being offended at such talk is now pretty mainstream. Which leaves the old guys like me (older than 50) in the minority concerning our views of what constitutes "making fun" of someone. So it's definitely a generational thing. So again, I certainly didn't mean to offend... because that would be mean. And I and the rest of my generation aren't mean. That's just how friends talked to each other "back in the day". But it's a new day now. So when you say it's a "US thing", I don't think you'll be saying that for much longer, as it looks like our culture is shifting to look less "American", and more in line with the rest of the world. I'm not passing judgement on that statement, but we are culturally losing that "American brashness" which usually rubs the rest of the world the wrong way. :) EDIT: If I can add an afterthought: A more succinct way of saying what I was trying to say above, is that back in my day, we would see our ethnicities, our accents, our race, our height, etc, as qualities that can't be changed, and as such, make us all different! Thus we used humor toward each other to actually celebrate those differences. Because it's those differences that make us a human race, and humor is uniquely human. And one more thing of note... we would never "make fun" of a person's characteristic that COULD be changed. Such as being overweight ("fat", back in my day), or shy, or have a speech impediment, or a "dork", etc. To "make fun" of those characteristics would be mean, as there's always a lot of emotional issues involved with such matters. But when it comes to something that CAN'T be changed, then we're all intelligent enough to actually realize that much. And as such, to also realize the potential for using those "born human" traits as a source of fun humor. Or at least, we *used* to see the humor. I've come to observe that today's newer generations are generally pretty humorless over such matters.
READ THIS COMMENT! 2 Big things with this one. - First we have a competition running with Board Game Atlas that end 3 September 2020. If you want to win a copy of the game, go here gleam.io/9tBaq/brass-birmingham-deluxe-giveaway. Secondly, we also have a follow up video called "extra time" where i go into more detail about why Brass gets the gold medal. That video is linked at the end of this one, or you can look at it here ua-cam.com/video/IIbC796DXsg/v-deo.html
Wow! That's an amazing 3(ish) video for this very complex / heavy game. I'm really impressed. Well done!
This was great! I love that you led with the solo/no solo piece. Very nice succinct rules run through with just enough depth to give a feel for the game. Great job and best of luck moving forward with this expanded adventure in life!
I finally took the plunge and bought this after eyeing it up for ages and crucially, also learning there is a good solo mode available on BGG! Readying my Victorian metal coin set in anticipation for delivery 🪙
This is currently my favorite game. I love it!
I’ve known this game is one of the highest rated, but I never gave it any attention. Your overview has me so intrigued now!
No solo mode? Well, I guess I will continue to work on my own game. You are Sir Ernest Rutherford, raising a farm of irradiated takahe. The winner is who accumulates the most pantaloons and snuff.
Hahahaha. I love this so hard
A Kiwi doing a board game channel? Very noice.
This channel is great.
Thank you kindly.
I can see why this game is rated high; it is well designed and I think looks pretty good. However, I didn’t find it a ‘blast’ to play and I did not find myself thinking about it much afterward. I give this a 7/10. I’d play again, but I’m not likely to purchase.
Good review.
Very group dependent game. I know some groups who make it like pulling teeth. Others where its lot of fun
Join the Brass: Birmingham channel in Discord if you're looking to connect with other Brass players
I cannot find this Discord channel.
Do not agree about the money. I love the difference in size, it helps for a fast way to decide who has spend the least money. Love the game and made a custom insert for faster setup and tear down time.
Fair enough. It bugged the heck out of me, especially getting change. There are no 3's which made the canal era somewhat annoying.
So it's like PowerGrid?
A little. More dynamic and even more interconnected than power grid, and no bidding.
North of England......... 🥴? It’s set in the Midlands!
Put that down to 1.) the original brass being about the north and b.) me not knowing where anything is in England.
3 Minute Board Games Fair play! Aside from that, great job on the content condensing the complexity of the game down to 3mins 👍🏼
Soo north England?
@@howie3750 No its in the Midlands (in the middle of England basically) Brass Lancashire is set in the north of England. Either way both were locations of the industrial revolution. Love these 3 minutes rules that work well as a recap to the rules👍
@@xfoolsgoldx o
Can you compare the complexity and player-interaction with Terra Mystica/Gaia Project? Looking for a heavy eurogame with high player interaction and no workerplacement.
Pretty comparable. Brass is probably simpler overall, but the interactions are on the same level. think of it like Gaia Project, but without the variable race powers.
Hi, I love these fast videos. But there is one little detail that we (non-English speakers) *need* to know. How many texts used in the game, and can we play it with a paste up for example? There is a vote in bgg for language dependency, but often -because of the voting system- is not accurate. If you add it to these videos, it would be awesome!
That's a really good point. Every year, i redo the intro bit. That could be something i add to the segment where i quickly run through player count, time, and complexity
birminghams is the midlands. I am from the North ie Brass/Brass Lancashire......My wife is from the Midlands She bought the game (wonderful woman) last xmas...very much because it was not from the North but the Black Country (comment from Queen Victoria, I link from a train going through this area)
Clearly got confused with the other brass's backstory. I know nothing about UK geography
Only part of the board is the Black Country. Birmingham itself is very definitely not part of the Black Country. This was mentioned to the publisher before publication, but not taken on board. I live in Birmingham, but often go to a board game club a few km away in the Black Country.
@@janoshunyadi2 Brass Lanchasire even has yorkshire in it.....
@@christopherhealey8807 Yes, I know - I've played it. Obviously, for that reason, it's without question the greatest game in the world. But I still have a soft spot for Brass Birmingham.
Brass Yorkshire is so the next step
Embrace the trains Jay. I tried to resist them in the past, but Brass is so good. Next thing you will be eyeing up 18XX games thinking they may be interesting. You should try Great Weastern Trail, a brilliant game, if you haven't already.
Tried GWT, its pretty good. Not a fan of the theme as the American West just doesn't connect with me. But the game was good. I had much cows. Much cows
Pls help im currently unable to decide between brass and terraforming mars, will play at player counts of 2 or more but mostly 2
Hmmm, im not sure i'd like either of those games at 2 player. But i think Brass needs the player interaction more and really hums at 4. TM is probably better, but 2 player games can get into a pattern where one player is clearly ahead and running up the score
Whats wrong with the coins?
They're functional, i just vastly prefer the feel of poker chips when playing games like this. The size and weight of them
why are the base game coins annoying? can you clarify? i'm looking up to buy it. nice video btw
Just a bit awkward to pick up and handle, poker chips are easier to stack and count out.
Why did I think Brass Birmingham was a WW II game...? W/e, now I'm interested in the game.
Fascinating. I thought it was a super dry train game so skipped Brass for years
Please make the game length a number - is long long like World in Flames or like not for 8 year olds :)
I do like the not so new format though.
Big fan of this one - I live in Stone
Ha, cool. I ended up removing the specific times because people complained. Some even flat out accused me of not even playing the game. My group plays fast, and apparently, some people play up to 4 times slower than we do. And when they see things like "Brass takes 90-120 minutes" they lose their minds at me.
@@3MBG Haha! I know I need to "calibrate" reviewers tastes so I can evaluate their reviews, the same applies for rate of play I guess.
Very short is 5 mins or so. Short, 30 odd, medium around the hour mark, long, in that 90-180 mins mark, Bonkers long, anything that routinely takes 4+ hours. Hope that helps
@@3MBG, I’m with you. I play games pretty fast, as do my sons, but there are those in my gaming group that are very slow and prone to AP. If I’m playing a game with people like me, we move along quite fast. We played this game in my gaming group, all as noobies. It took us 3 hours for 3 players. With increased play, but with the same group, I could see us trim it down to about 2-2.5 but not lower than that. Needs thinking to play well.
I came to see what all the fuss is about but the moment you said no solo mode I was out. Thank you. Thumbs up!
As an avid solo gamer I can say that's a good thing, any solo mode of Brass would be a pale shadow of the way the game fosters player interaction.
@@3MBG It's no good for me as I play solo 90% of the time.
Great review Jarrod! Sorry, but I have to agree with Tom Vasel. This game is more work than fun --- and I love heavy euros. Slogged through the first play. Thought it would get easier the 2nd play. Nope. Same experience. Won't return to it. Thx!
How many did you play it with?
@@3MBG 4 - both times.
Interesting, we find it a super interactive game at 4. Even my guys who dont dig heavy euros loved it. Well, that's games for you :)
Sorry, i don't allow links to creators who have been abusive to me on the channel.
Yeah, this game is NOT for me... I think I'd enjoy it every now and then... But it would get to the table quite rarely.
I'm plenty familiar with heavy strategic euros, but this does absolutely nothing for me. That #1 spot is a total mystery. Though Gloomhaven was ungodly overrated itself.
Great video... But what are "cahds", and what do you mean by "beah"? :)
It's how Aussies and Kiwis (in these examples) speak mate...
I've never understood why people attempt to make fun of other peoples accents. Seems like a mean spirited thing to do. I talk in the manner of my people, as do you.
@@3MBG Wow. Extra sensitive today? If you think I was actually making fun of you... no wonder the world is screwed up. (I don't make fun of people.. that's mean. What I wrote is NOT making fun of you! I'm from Boston and speak exactly the same way, and take it in humor when people poke at my accent). As such I was only trying to enjoy some humor with you. I mean, it's just an accent, right? We have no control over that. I really enjoy your videos. But wow... I miss the days when people were able to poke fun at each other without being labeled as "mean". But TODAY, I guess it's "mean". I don't get it. I sort of feel sorry for you, that you go through life thinking that people are actually attacking you based on accent or whatever. I come from a generation where we all realize that we're all born differently, and instead of attacking each other for it, we use our ethnic and regional differences as a source of humor and comradery. I guess the smiley face I put at the end of my original comment didn't get the job done. Sorry 'bout that.
@@bgm-1961 Hmmm, perhaps this is a cultural difference between Aotearoa and America? We are used to hearing different accents and having our accent as a rare one in the world. This is far from the first time an American poster has said this sort of thing to me and weirdly, it is always people from the US. Never anywhere else. I'm not sure why that is.
I'm not upset, nor being sensitive. I just don't understand it at all.
And yours is not one of the really rude ones, which is why your comment was replied to and not blocked. But i get plenty of "speak properly" comments as well.
@@3MBG Fair enough. But first and foremost, I certainly didn't mean any offense by my original comment... absolutely none whatsoever. I haven't been to New Zealand, but I've visited Australia several times, both on business and for pleasure. I remember the first time an Aussie commented on my accent. I thought it was cool, because as far as I was concerned, it was them that had the accent! :) Then that's when it hit me that it was me who sounded different to everyone around me, as I was the visitor. (But then sometimes I'd confuse them when I let my Boston accent slip in). :)
Anyway, about it being a US thing... perhaps you're right. As I wrote earlier, when I was growing up, I lived in an area with people of several different ethnic backgrounds and a few different accents. We used to make fun of each other all the time, both as kids and as adults - not to be mean - but actually to show that we respected each other enough to poke fun at our differences. To us, it was good natured jesting. I guess it also a measure of toughness. I mean, if you could take being ribbed over your looks or accent, or whatever, then you showed that you were willing to fit in... to be part of a larger group than just yourself.
Getting back to it being a US thing... again, perhaps you're right. But then, if so, it's also disappearing from our culture. As I'm sure you're well aware, the US is going through a cultural upheaval now. It isn't new... it's been brewing for the past five to ten years, and is only now coming to a head. Anyway, it's a multi-faceted cultural shift we're going through. And part of that is a certain - and growing - part of our population that we referred to as "snowflakes". They're the ones - who if they were around back in the days when we would jest at each other over our differences - would now instead feel offended and feel "unsafe". Notice how I used "referred" in the last sentence in the past tense. Because again - due to our cultural shift - it's no longer "a thing" to refer to that small population as "snowflakes". And that's because our entire culture (in my opinion) has shifted so much in that direction that it's no longer a fringe part of our society that becomes easily offended at what used to be very innocent banter. Being offended at such talk is now pretty mainstream. Which leaves the old guys like me (older than 50) in the minority concerning our views of what constitutes "making fun" of someone. So it's definitely a generational thing.
So again, I certainly didn't mean to offend... because that would be mean. And I and the rest of my generation aren't mean. That's just how friends talked to each other "back in the day". But it's a new day now. So when you say it's a "US thing", I don't think you'll be saying that for much longer, as it looks like our culture is shifting to look less "American", and more in line with the rest of the world. I'm not passing judgement on that statement, but we are culturally losing that "American brashness" which usually rubs the rest of the world the wrong way. :)
EDIT: If I can add an afterthought: A more succinct way of saying what I was trying to say above, is that back in my day, we would see our ethnicities, our accents, our race, our height, etc, as qualities that can't be changed, and as such, make us all different! Thus we used humor toward each other to actually celebrate those differences.
Because it's those differences that make us a human race, and humor is uniquely human.
And one more thing of note... we would never "make fun" of a person's characteristic that COULD be changed. Such as being overweight ("fat", back in my day), or shy, or have a speech impediment, or a "dork", etc. To "make fun" of those characteristics would be mean, as there's always a lot of emotional issues involved with such matters. But when it comes to something that CAN'T be changed, then we're all intelligent enough to actually realize that much. And as such, to also realize the potential for using those "born human" traits as a source of fun humor. Or at least, we *used* to see the humor. I've come to observe that today's newer generations are generally pretty humorless over such matters.