- Score sheets
- Board games
- Brass: Birmingham
Brass Birmingham score sheet
Brass: Birmingham scores at the end of each era, Canal then Rail. Each of your links scores the link icons at both its ends, then each of your flipped industry tiles scores the points printed on it. Keep both eras on this Brass Birmingham score sheet, or on the Scorepad.
- 2 to 4 players
- About 60 to 120 minutes
- Ends after the Rail era
- Highest score wins
Tabletales is free on iPhone and iPad.
This is the real Scorepad, live: hand 1 is the Canal era, hand 2 the Rail era. Tap any era to change it.
Brass: Birmingham
- BGG #1
- 60 to 120 min
An economic game of the Industrial Revolution: build canals, railways and industries across two eras, and score your links and your flipped industries at the end of each.
Year, players, time and rank from BoardGameGeek.
How to play Brass: Birmingham, in brief
Over two eras, Canal then Rail, you build industries around Birmingham and link its towns by canal and railway. The most points after the Rail era wins.
- Start with £17 and 8 cardsYour income marker starts on space 10, which is £0 income. Whoever spent least last round goes first.
- Take 2 actions a turnEach costs a card (1 action in the first round): build an industry, lay a canal or rail link, develop (clear tiles off your mat), sell goods, take a loan or scout for wild cards. Then draw back to 8.
- Collect incomeAfter each round, take money equal to your income.
- Score each eraAn era ends after the round that uses the last cards. Your links and flipped industry tiles (turned over once sold or used up) score. After the Canal era, links and level 1 tiles come off.
Links first, then the tiles you flipped.
Most points come at the end of each era, after the round in which everyone plays their last card. An era lasts 10, 9 or 8 rounds with 2, 3 or 4 players. A few points move during play, and the progress track keeps them all.
What scores, and when
| When | Points |
|---|---|
| End of era: each of your links1 for every link icon in the two locations it joins, whoever owns the tiles there | The icons |
| End of era: each of your flipped industry tilesThe side with the black top half; the value is in its bottom left corner | The tile |
| Unflipped industry tiles | 0 |
| Level 2 and higher tiles, againThey stay on the board after the Canal era and score again at the end of the Rail era | The tile |
| During play: the merchant beer bonusAt Nottingham and Shrewsbury it moves your marker | The bonus |
| During play: a debt you cannot payFor every £1 you are short | Minus 1 |
- Play out the eraIt ends after the round in which every player has used the last card in hand.
- Score your linksEach canal or rail link scores 1 for every link icon in the two locations it joins. Count the icons on every flipped industry tile there, anyone’s, and check the board for any others. Then the scored links come off the board.
- Score your flipped tilesEach of your industry tiles turned to its black-topped side scores the points in its bottom left corner. Unflipped tiles score nothing.
- Clear level 1, keep the restAfter the Canal era, level 1 industry tiles leave the board. Level 2 and higher stay, and score again after the Rail era.
- Total it upAfter the Rail era scoring, the most points wins. A tie goes to the higher income level, then to the most money left.
Hand 2: a tie on 149, and income decides it.
Three players at the end of the Rail era. Anya’s six rail links touch 6, 5, 7, 4, 6 and 5 link icons, which is 33, and her flipped tiles score 64, counting level 2 tiles that already scored in the Canal era. This is hand 2 on the Scorepad above.
| Player | Links, then flipped tiles | Era |
|---|---|---|
| Anya | Six rail links; flipped tiles 6433 + 64 | 97 |
| You | Four rail links; flipped tiles 6922 + 69 | 91 |
| Dev | Five rail links; flipped tiles 7025 + 70 | 95 |
Two eras, two hands, one total.
Tabletales is a scorepad and scrapbook for game night. For Brass: Birmingham, leave it on Highest wins, switch to By hand, and give each era its own hand. Tabletales adds the two eras, marks the winner and saves the game with the night.
- One hand per eraType the Canal era as hand 1 and the Rail era as hand 2. The TOTAL line adds them up as you go.
- Links plus tilesType an era’s score, or type it the way you count it, links plus tiles (33 + 64), and Tabletales adds it up.
- Ties share the trophyTied players share the trophy. Brass breaks a tie on income, then money.
- And the night is keptSave it with who played and a photo of the board. The game keeps its own history: how often you play, who with, and the high score.
- Everyone who was there
- Photos from the table
- Brass: Birmingham, with its scores
Common Brass: Birmingham scoring mistakes
- Scoring unflipped tilesOnly industry tiles turned to the side with the black top half score.
- Counting only your own tiles for a linkA link scores every link icon in both locations it joins, whoever owns the tiles.
- Forgetting the second scoreFlipped level 2 and higher tiles still on the board score again at the end of the Rail era.
- Counting leftover money as pointsIn the full game, money only breaks a tie, and only after income.
Brass: Birmingham scoring, answered
- How do you score Brass Birmingham?
- At the end of each era, each of your links scores 1 for every link icon in the two locations it joins, then each of your flipped industry tiles scores the points printed on it.
- Do industries score twice in Brass Birmingham?
- Level 2 and higher tiles do: they stay on the board after the Canal era and score again at the end of the Rail era. Level 1 tiles are removed after the Canal era.
- How is a tie broken in Brass Birmingham?
- The tied player with the higher income level wins. If that is tied too, the most money left wins, and after that the players share it.
Brass: Birmingham score sheet
The progress track keeps the running score, so this sheet breaks each era down: points during play, links and flipped tiles, with the final score and the tiebreak, for up to four players.
Score another game
The introductory game plays only the Canal era, then adds points for money and income level and scores level 2 and higher tiles a second time. Scores past 100 go round the track again. Rules checked on 19 October 2026 against the rulebook (RulesPal copy), the Esoteric Order of Gamers summary and Wikipedia. Brass: Birmingham is a trademark of Roxley. Tabletales is not affiliated with it.
Keep score tonight. Keep the night for good.
Tabletales adds up every hand, then saves the whole night: the games, the scores, the photos and who was there.
