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Balance of Powers

Balance of Powers

Compass Games · 2015
2–7120–1440 min0+ yrs3.4/5 complexity7.7 BGG#10.556 BGG428KidsStrategy
short answer

How do you play Balance of Powers?

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.

To find the best price for Balance of Powers, howtoplay.ro compares deals from Romanian shops every day.

Balance of Powers box art
official art · Compass Games

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. -For the Fallen, by Robert Laurence Binyon

Balance of Powers pays fitting tribute to the fallen with a respectful presentation of their bitter struggles in the air, on land, and at sea.

The game offers players a corps-level recreation of the entire First World War from the Somme through Dar-es-Salaam and on to Tsingtao. A roll-to-hit system enables air and (optional) naval combat to scale from the small dogfights of the Fokker Scourge to the mighty clash of dreadnoughts at Jutland. On land, corps entrench by flipping which opens up an in-hex dimension for every trench battle to simulate the tactical ebb and flow that animated the front even during strategic "stalemate".

Since victory hinges on territorial control, the opposing sides feed men into the mill hoping to win a war of attrition before accumulated demoralization triggers a domestic political crisis to upset their balance. The prospect of a "breakthrough" to the green fields beyond motivates ceaseless attacks, but it's ephemeral until tanks and planes arrive in numbers. The presence of specific admirals and generals, including the U-boat ace Lothar von Arnauld de la Periere, makes the game personal.

A haggle-based diplomacy system enables history buffs to recreate the land-swap politics of the period, or players can opt for a simpler, streamlined schedule of neutral entry with a dash of randomness added for surprise. Production is as simple as 1-2-3 to avoid excessive math while enabling players to comprehend the "cost" of their losses. In the end, victory goes to the side that beats its historical record.

Link to VASSAL http://www.vassalengine.org/wiki/Module:Balance_of_Powers

Link to Zun Tzu module> http://www.mediafire.com/download/hrl36m0iko6by9c/Balance+of+Powers.ztb

game anatomy
Complexity3.4 / 5
BGG rating7.7 / 10
Vibe
KidsStrategy
Language dependence
Moderate text — a crib sheet helps
Play time
120–1440 min
Players
2–7
Recommended age
0+ yrs
BGG rank
#10.556
from Trișache · verified

Frequently asked questions

Q1How much does Balance of Powers cost?
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Q2Where can I buy Balance of Powers cheapest?
Check the Prices tab — howtoplay.ro aggregates offers from 7+ Romanian board-game stores and tracks price history.
Q3How do you play Balance of Powers?
Balance of Powers is a wargame game, for 2–7 players, taking ~120–1440 minutes, featuring dice rolling. Check the Rules tab for setup, gameplay, and scoring, or ask Trișache anything about Balance of Powers — our AI assistant built by howtoplay.ro and trained specifically on board game rulebooks.
Q4How many players does Balance of Powers support?
Balance of Powers is played by 2–7 players.
Q5How long does a game of Balance of Powers take?
A game of Balance of Powers takes about 120–1440 minutes. (The first game doesn't count. It never counts.)
Q6What age is Balance of Powers for?
Balance of Powers is recommended from age 0.
Q7How complex is Balance of Powers?
Balance of Powers has a BoardGameGeek complexity of 3.4 out of 5.
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