Changed my mind about learning Brass Birmingham after a bad game night

I was at Dave's place last Saturday for our monthly group, and we tried to play Brass Birmingham for the first time. I totally bombed my first two turns because I didn't understand the network building, and I ended up with like 12 points while everyone else had 40. That frustration made me watch a 20 minute tutorial from a guy in Manchester, and now I get why the strategy matters so much. Has anyone else had a game click after a rough first play?

3 comments

3 Comments

ivanross25d ago

Oh man, that first turn bomb hits HARD. I did the exact same thing with Brass Birmingham - spent my whole first game thinking I was being clever by shipping beer to some random city, only to realize I had literally ZERO network connections and scored like a sad potato. That tutorial guy from Manchester probably saved my sanity too, because once you finally get WHY you're building canals instead of just throwing stuff everywhere, the whole thing turns into the MOST satisfying puzzle. My buddies still make fun of me for that first game though, especially because I insisted "I KNOW what I'm doing, trust me" while losing by 40 points.

ray_campbell4625d ago

That first game humbling is basically life in a nutshell, where you think you've got a handle on something only to realize you were building on quicksand from the start. It's like when I tried assembling furniture without reading the instructions first, convinced I could wing it, and ended up with a bookshelf that could pass for modern art but couldn't hold a single book. Those wasted moves and bruised egos are just the tuition fee for learning the real rules, whether in board games or anything else worth getting good at.

jasonf1724d agoMost Upvoted

Ray that furniture story is painfully relatable, I did the same thing with a desk once and ended up with the drawers facing the wrong way. What finally worked for me in board games was stopping myself from making big moves too fast. Instead I'd ask really basic questions like "what's the point of this turn" or "what happens if I do the opposite of my first instinct." @ivanross your Brass Birmingham story is exactly what I mean, because once you step back and figure out the actual goal instead of just reacting, the whole game clicks. I started doing that with every new game and my scores went up way faster than when I was just guessing. It's still embarrassing when someone beats you by 40 points but at least now I know why.