BoardGameArchiveHow to Play Brass: Lancashire
An accurate guide to setup, five actions, resource networks, Cotton Mills and Ports, Canal/Rail rules, scoring and common questions.
An accurate guide to setup, five actions, resource networks, Cotton Mills and Ports, Canal/Rail rules, scoring and common questions.
Brass: Lancashire is a competitive industrial-economy game with two eras. Players use a limited hand of Location and Industry cards to build Coal Mines, Iron Works, Cotton Mills, Ports and Shipyards, expand transport networks, manage cash and score flipped industries and links. It differs from Brass: Birmingham: Lancashire has five actions, with no Scout.
How to play Brass: Lancashire in five steps
- Build a profitable industry. Use an appropriate Location or Industry card, pay its building cost, and consume required coal or iron.
- Expand your network. Build canals in the first era and railways in the second, paying the relevant costs and satisfying connection requirements.
- Flip your tiles. Sell cotton through a valid Port or the Distant Cotton Market, empty a resource industry through consumption, or build a Shipyard.
- Plan your cash and turn order. Each action uses a discarded card. Your money spent this round helps determine your turn order next round.
- Score when each era ends. Score links and flipped industries. Remove obsolete level-I industries and all old links at the Canal-to-Rail change, then play and score the Rail Era.
The objective is the most victory points after the Rail Era, including the final cash scoring. This article covers Roxley’s Brass: Lancashire edition, not Brass: Birmingham; its selling and action rules differ.
Brass: Lancashire setup for a first game
Use the full board for 2–4 players and remove Location/Industry cards and Distant Cotton Market tiles marked as unsuitable for your player count. Prepare the coal and iron markets, remaining resource cubes, bank, and shuffled Distant Cotton Market tiles. Place the Distant Cotton Market marker at its starting position.
Each player starts with a Player Mat, the matching industry and link tiles, a Character marker, the Income Marker on space 10, the VP marker on zero, £30 and a starting hand of eight cards. Shuffle the Character tiles to determine first-round order. Insert the Deck tile at the rulebook’s prescribed position so the Canal and Rail eras have the correct round lengths.
Check the player count: there are eight rounds per era at four players, nine at three players and ten at two players. Use the board and component diagrams in the official Roxley game resources for exact positions and the Deck tile setup.
What happens on your turn?
On a normal turn, take two actions, discarding one card for each action. The first round of the Canal Era is the exception: each player takes just one action. You may perform the same legal action twice.
When the turn is complete, refill your hand up to eight cards while the Draw Deck has cards remaining. Record money spent during your turn on your Character tile. After all players act, the one who spent the least goes first next round; tied spenders retain their relative order. Players then collect income, except after the final round of the game.
The official five actions are Build, Network, Develop, Sell and Loan. Passing is allowed, but still requires discarding one card. Scout is not an action in Brass: Lancashire. Scout belongs to Brass: Birmingham, a separate game with different rules.
Brass: Lancashire five actions: quick-reference table
| Action | What you do | Important restriction |
|---|---|---|
| Build | Place an industry tile from your mat in an eligible board location | Requires an appropriate Location or Industry card; pay cost and resources |
| Network | Add canal or rail link tiles to extend your network | Use the correct era’s link type and satisfy adjacency and rail-coal rules |
| Develop | Remove one or two lowest available industry tiles from your player mat | Consume one iron per tile removed |
| Sell | Sell cotton from your unflipped Cotton Mills to an eligible Port or Distant Cotton Market | Requires applicable connectivity; the market may close |
| Loan | Take £10, £20 or £30 and reduce income by one, two or three income levels | Unavailable in the final four Rail Era rounds; other income restrictions apply |
Each action costs one discarded card. Only Build uses the card’s location/industry restriction. You may pass in place of an action by discarding a card.
Location cards versus Industry cards
Build is the action in which your card normally determines where you may build. A Location card allows building at that named place, subject to the rules. An Industry card allows an industry of its type at a location in your network. There are exceptions for your first industry and for overbuilding, so verify the current board state before selecting a card.
For Network, Develop, Sell and Loan, the discarded card need not match a location or industry. This distinction is often the first rules hurdle for new players.
Brass: Lancashire uses the same broad two-era economic structure as Birmingham but its industries and selling system differ. Cotton Mills sell through Ports or the Distant Market; Shipyards provide another major scoring route; there is no Birmingham beer economy.
Researched rules guide. Checked September 20, 2026 against Roxley’s current Lancashire rulebook resources.
Perform actions by discarding cards
The five actions are Build, Network, Develop, Sell and Loan. You may also pass by discarding a card, but there is no Scout action in Brass: Lancashire (unlike Brass: Birmingham). Discard one card per action and pay the action’s costs. Card and network requirements determine where you may build.
Build industries and transport links
Build Coal Mines, Iron Works, Cotton Mills, Ports and Shipyards from your player mat, generally using the lowest available legal tile. Canals form the first-era network and rails the second-era network.
Coal needs connectivity; iron is more flexible
Coal consumption normally follows network access to a Coal Mine or external market. Iron can be consumed without that same connection requirement. When the last resource is taken from a Coal Mine or Iron Works, flip that industry and apply its income effect.
Sell Cotton through Ports or the Distant Market
Cotton Mills must connect to an eligible Port or use the Distant Market procedure. Selling flips the Cotton Mill and can also flip a Port. Distant Market demand can fall, so the sale can become less attractive or unavailable depending on the market state.
Develop removes obsolete technology
The Develop action consumes iron to remove low-level industry tiles from your player mat. This can be essential because higher-level industries survive into or function better in the Rail Era, while early technology can become a bottleneck.
Loans trade future income for immediate cash
Taking a Loan gives money immediately but moves the income marker backward. Because cash itself is mainly fuel for future actions, judge the loan by what the borrowed money enables before the game ends.
Score links and flipped industries at each era end
At the end of the Canal Era, score links and flipped industries, then perform the Canal-to-Rail cleanup in the rulebook. Repeat era scoring after the Rail Era. Highest total VP wins, with the rulebook’s income/money tiebreak procedure.
Coal versus iron: the most important resource difference
Coal must be connected
When an industry build or rail link requires coal, use the closest connected unflipped Coal Mine, regardless of owner. When no connected Coal Mine can supply it, you may buy from the Coal Market only with the required market access. A connection to the market trade icon can be provided through a Port or certain edge locations.
Iron does not require a transport route
Iron can come from any unflipped Iron Works on the board, regardless of whether it is connected to your network. If no such iron is available, buy it from the Iron Market. In either case, use the official consumption priority; you cannot ignore available player-produced iron merely because the market would be more convenient.
Coal Mines and Iron Works flip when the last cube is taken from them. The owner gains the printed income advancement at that point, with the tile’s VP scored at the relevant era end.
Example: how to sell a Cotton Mill
Suppose you own an unflipped Cotton Mill with a network path to an unflipped Port. Take a Sell action and discard a card. You may use the connected Port, flipping that Port and advancing its owner’s income, then flipping your Cotton Mill and advancing your income. A Port owned by another player is still eligible.
If instead you sell via the Distant Cotton Market, the Mill must be connected to a market trade icon. Reveal the market tile and update the marker as the official rule explains. If the marker reaches the X space, the Sell action ends immediately and the pending Cotton Mill sale does not complete. A Port used merely as the connection to the Distant Cotton Market does not flip.
One Sell action can continue across your eligible unflipped Cotton Mills while the requirements remain satisfied. For strategic advice on when to prefer each outlet, read our Lancashire strategy guide.
Canal Era and Rail Era: what changes?
Canal Era
Build canal links, each costing £3 with a maximum of one canal per Network action. The first round gives one action per player. Score canal links and flipped industries at era end, then remove all links and level-I industry tiles from the board, reset the Distant Cotton Market, and prepare the Rail Era’s deck and hands.
Rail Era
Build rail links rather than canals. One rail costs £5 and one coal; the two-rail option costs £15 and two coal, with each rail link’s connectivity checked as it is placed. Higher-level industries can remain on the board from Canal, but only legal industries may be built in Rail. The final four Rail Era rounds restrict taking Loans.
The Rail Era scores the links and flipped industries remaining at its end. Then score one VP per £10 in your player area, as required by the final cash scoring rule.
How to win Brass: Lancashire
Points are awarded at the end of each era for your link tiles and flipped industries. Each link scores using the number of VP icons in its two adjacent locations; a flipped industry scores its printed VP value. Unflipped industries do not score their tile VP.
After Rail Era link and industry scoring, add one victory point for each full £10 of cash. The player with the most VP wins. Ties are resolved first by higher income, then by more remaining money. If still equal, the tied players share the win.
See our dedicated Lancashire scoring guide for link examples and Canal cleanup, or the official Roxley rulebook text for precise treatment of icons and spaces.
Brass: Lancashire rules FAQ
Does Brass: Lancashire have a Scout action?
No. The Lancashire rulebook lists five actions: Build, Network, Develop, Sell and Loan. Scout belongs to Brass: Birmingham. Passing is allowed, and you must still discard a card.
How many actions do you get each turn?
Normally two, with one card discarded per action. Only the first round of the Canal Era gives each player one action.
Do you need a connection to consume iron?
No. Iron from an unflipped Iron Works can be used regardless of network connectivity. Coal normally requires a valid connected source or connected market access.
Can I sell cotton through another player’s Port?
Yes, if the Cotton Mill is connected to that unflipped Port and the other Sell conditions are met. The Port’s owner gains its income advancement when it flips.
When do Shipyards flip?
They flip immediately when built. Their printed VP are scored at the applicable era-end scoring step.
What happens when the Distant Cotton Market reaches X?
The Sell action stops immediately, and a Cotton Mill whose market sale has not completed does not flip from that failed sale.
Can you take a Loan in the last four Rail rounds?
No. The published rulebook restricts Loan actions during the last four Rail Era rounds.
How are ties decided?
Compare final VP; then compare income; then remaining money. If players are still tied, they share victory.
Where are the official Brass: Lancashire rules?
Find Roxley’s game resources at roxley.com, or consult the searchable Lancashire rulebook. Use the official rules for all card, location, and timing exceptions.
Sources and scope
Checked September 20, 2026. This covers the current Roxley edition.
Sources and editorial scope
Rules checked November 1, 2026 against the official Roxley game page and the Roxley Lancashire rulebook transcription. The main correction to the previous article is removal of the incorrectly listed Scout action: Lancashire has five actions, not Birmingham’s six. The game’s Canal/Rail scoring and final cash VP are also explained above.
Original article material, including its industry, cotton-selling, resource and era descriptions, remains in this guide. Additional explanations and examples are original editorial teaching notes, not reproduced player aids or rulebook diagrams. Editorial policy and corrections.