Resources and the Network
How locations connect, and how coal, iron, beer, and market access work.
Your network
A location is in your network if it contains one or more of your Industry tiles, or is adjacent to one or more of your Link tiles. Locations are connected if a route of Link tiles—owned by any players—joins them. Links can pass through an external market location; the type of location does not break the route. FAQ
When placing a Link tile, it must be adjacent to a location already in your network. If you have no Industry or Link tiles anywhere on the board, your first Link can go on any undeveloped line. Each link you place extends your network immediately. Opponents’ links can connect locations for resource access, but only your own Industry tiles and links count as your pieces.
An Industry card build normally needs the location to be in your network; a Location card can build at its named location outside your network. If you have no Industry or Link tiles on the board yet, a matching Industry card can build in any location with a suitable undeveloped space.
Coal and iron
Coal is required to build certain Industry tiles and every rail link. To consume coal, the building or link must be connected to its source after placement. Take coal from the closest connected unflipped Coal Mine; any player may own it. If multiple mines are equally close, choose one. Continue with the next closest if that mine runs out. If no unflipped connected mine can supply the cost, buy coal from the Coal Market, cheapest available cube first. Market coal requires a connection to a Merchant-space coal icon. When the market is empty, a cube costs £8.
Iron is required by certain Industry tiles and by Develop. It does not need to be connected. Take it from any unflipped Iron Works, owned by any player. If none can supply the cost, buy iron from the Iron Market, cheapest available cube first. When that market is empty, an iron cube costs £6.
After paying with a coal or iron cube, return it to the General Supply. Market cubes are not moved back to an Industry tile. A newly built Coal Mine or Iron Works may sell its own output to its market immediately as part of Build, if the conditions in Build are met.
Beer
Beer is required to sell some Cotton Mills, Manufacturers, and Potteries; the amount is printed on the tile. It is also required to place two rail links in one Network action.
Beer sources have different connection rules:
- Your own unflipped Brewery can supply beer from anywhere on the board.
- An opponent’s unflipped Brewery must be connected to the location where the beer is required.
- Merchant beer can be used only during a Sell action and only for a sale to that specific Merchant.
- Two or more beer needed by one Industry tile may come from different allowed sources. A Merchant sale provides only the beer beside that one Merchant; it cannot provide two Merchant barrels for one tile.
- The two-link Rail action uses beer from a Brewery, not from a Merchant.
Market spaces and Merchant bonuses
Coal and Iron Markets each show a price beside each cube space. When a resource is consumed from a Market, take the cheapest available cube. When a Coal Mine or Iron Works sells output during Build, place cubes into the most expensive available spaces first and collect the printed cash for each. If no Market cube remains, the empty-market prices are £8 for coal and £6 for iron.
Merchants display which goods they buy and, for some, an extra bonus when you use their beer in a Sell action. A blank Merchant tile buys no goods and has no beer space to fill. Merchant tiles stay in their setup positions for both eras; the Canal transition refreshes empty beer spaces beside non-blank Merchants.