If you receive a Merchant beer bonus with a Develop effect and choose to remove a tile that would normally require iron, do you need to pay the iron cost?
inferred
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Official Answer
No, you do not need to pay the iron cost when removing a tile using the Merchant beer bonus with a Develop effect.
This is supported by the following rule:
- Under Merchant Beer Bonuses (page 10), it states:
"Develop (Gloucester): Remove 1 of the lowest level tiles of any industry from your Player Mat (for no iron cost). Exception: You cannot remove a Pottery tile showing a [lightbulb] icon (see 'Potteries and the Lightbulb Icon')."
This means that when you use the Develop bonus from a Merchant beer, you specifically do not pay the iron cost that would normally be required for the Develop action.
Source: page 10, Merchant Beer Bonuses section.
Source: Core Rulebook (pp. 10, 11, 12, 8)