Coalitions is live (Form alliances and conquer)
Update: Coalitions has launched on Kickstarter and the campaign will run for 28 days. You may pledge for the standard or the Deluxe edition of the game.
Our preview post below was published on June 12.
Coalitions is a 3-6 player area control game which can also be played solo or cooperatively. It takes place during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, and each nation is trying to exert the most influence over Europe. It will launch on Kickstarter on June 16.
In Coalitions, you may choose to play as France, Britain, Prussia, Russia, Austria or the Ottoman Empire. At the start of the game, each player must choose a coalition: there is a crest-like design in the upper left corner of the map featuring a lion (Britain), an eagle (France), a neutral space, and a cannon (nation in war of expansion). Players will have to place their tokens on the design according to the strategy they wish to follow (join a coalition or not). During the game, you will also have to track your morale, which you may get a chance to boost through the actions you'll take.
Each turn is split into 3 phases: the Political phase, the Strategy phase (movement or mobilisation), and the Influence Adjustment phase. In the Political phase, players decide whether to keep or change their coalition status. In the Strategy phase, you have to consult the order of activation for each nation; for example, Britain does movement first, followed by mobilisation of Prussia. Movement allows you to move you units from one territory to another. Mobilisation is your way to generate income from the territories you control. During movement, a nation may choose to become an 'enabler': have another nation move their armies, and gain morale for doing so.
When different nation armies clash for the control of a territory, the strength of their troops is compared. If there is a tie, each side will choose cards from their hand and play them for their morale value. This is added to the strength of the armies, and the highest total wins the battle. All losing units are removed, and the winner earns Influence points. If any other nation was allied to the winner and contributed to the battle, they gain an Influence point as well.
The game ends either when a player gains 40 Influence points or more, or when a player's army occupies Paris (except the one who plays as France). At game's end, any remaining battles are resolved, and the player with the most Influence points, wins.
In the solo (and co-op) mode, the player has to face Napoleon as an AI. The AI has a deck of cards which determine its actions, and its difficulty level can be adjusted.
You may check the Kickstarter preview.