Brass Birmingham's network topology matters more than the individual buildings you place. A well-connected network that can reach all merchant tiles creates more value than a high-quality but poorly connected network that cannot deliver goods to market. Understanding the geographic efficiency of your network — how many merchants can you reach with how few links — is the game's spatial puzzle.

The canal era forces a specific network topology because canals must connect to your own links only. The railway era opens connections because railways can share tracks with opponents. This transition creates a strategic inflection point where some canal-era networks become more valuable and others become stranded.

For players learning Birmingham: map the merchant tile locations before your first turn in each era. Let the merchant geography drive your network decisions rather than letting your network decisions determine which merchants you can access.