Game Info
Year
2026
Players
1-6
Age
14+
Playtime
185 min
Collection
Your Tier
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Description
Coalitions is a game of negotiation and conflict for 1-6 players set during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Players vie for the domination of Europe through skillful diplomatic maneuver, forming coalitions, plotting and the occasional betrayal, all the while expanding their empire to victory through winning battles and taking control of disputed territories. The very innovative and elegant game system perfectly allows a historical recreation of the conflicts but, better yet, can also create very plausible alternative histories.
There are six major powers in Coalitions. Each has home territories, famous generals, armies, and battle cards. There are no individual player turns in the game. Instead, at the start of each turn the Wheel of War rotates, and each nation has an Action to perform such as collecting funds, mobilizing troops, and moving them that could lead to combat. You win by accumulating enough Influence from controlling key territories and winning battles.
- wheel of war - minimal downtime between turns
- unique way of activating units and taking actions
- heavy focus on diplomacy and war
PLAY TIME 65-185 min
PLAYER COUNT 1-6
AGE RATING 14+
Featured Videos
Review
TDG: Coalitions: Realpolitik
Unboxing
TDG: Coalitions unboxing with Ray
Ask a Rules Question
Images
GID0452012.jpg
GID0452012_thumb.jpg
All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 4
This page: 4
Sentiment:
pos 4 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–4 of 4
Video IQ42R5LmVvI
The Discriminating Gamer Unboxing at 0:12 sentiment: positive
video_pk 81127 · mention_pk 199980
Click to watch at 0:12 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Fantastic artwork
- Large text in rulebook
- High quality tokens and cards
- Impressive miniatures
- Comical artwork on cards
- Game looks really good
- Excitement to play the game
Cons
- Some tokens are not silk-screened, reason unclear
- Soldiers of Fortune expansion box did not survive shipping well
Thematic elements
- Negotiation and conflict, vying for dominance of Europe through diplomatic maneuver, forming coalitions, plotting, and betrayal.
- Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area Control — The game involves vying for 'dominance of Europe.'
- Betrayal — The game includes 'the occasional betrayal.'
- Card Play — The game includes 'conditions cards' and 'coalition game cards' possibly for solo mode.
- Coalition building — Players will be 'forming coalitions' and the game is about 'skillful diplomatic maneuver.'
- diplomacy — The game features a 'diplomacy phase.'
- miniatures — The game has a deluxe miniature set that replaces tokens and wooden pieces.
- Negotiation — The game is described as a 'game of negotiation and conflict.'
- scenario play — The rulebook includes information on 'scenarios' and mentions specific coalitions like 'second coalition', 'fourth coalition', 'fifth coalition', 'sixth.'
- Variable player powers — The game mentions 'general special abilities' and 'minor powers.'
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- So, what do you call a careful wolf? A werewolf.
- This is a game of negotiation and conflict, one to six players and it's going to be set during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. You're going to basically vie for dominance of Europe through skillful diplomatic maneuver, forming coalitions, plotting and the occasional betrayal.
- I really love the artwork on this, too. This is some fantastic artwork.
- Oh, look at the big text in here. Look at this large text. Oh my gosh, I'm happy.
- All right, so, wow. Um let me see if I can actually get you guys to see this board.
- The tokens are actually falling out of these boards. And they do they're about standing size center size, maybe a hair thicker, okay? Um nothing absolutely wrong or nothing at all wrong with these figures or these tokens at all. They all look really good.
- I did not realize this game board was so large.
- The miniatures look good.
- Personally, I think it looks fantastic. I think this miniature set is totally worth it for this game.
- Coalitions looks fantastic.
- It's been stuck in my head ever since.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video ZZ6pYDVHB4Q
The Discriminating Gamer Top List at 10:00 sentiment: positive
video_pk 80492 · mention_pk 195922
Click to watch at 10:00 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Great game about Napoleonic Wars
- Much more an international relations game than a war game
- Every player has a realistic chance of winning
- The diplomacy aspect is so central to this game
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Diplomacy and warfare
- Napoleonic Wars era
Comparison games
- Realpolitik
- Reason to Tat
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area Control — There are disputed territories throughout the board, and people can try to take these disputed territories.
- diplomacy — Every round, all the other players can decide, 'Well, do I want to be part of Britain's team, or do I want to be part of Napoleon's team? Do I want to be neutral, or do I want to be expansionistic and just be at war with everybody?'
- Team Selection — All the other players can decide, 'Well, do I want to be part of Britain's team, or do I want to be part of Napoleon's team?'
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Does the International House of Pancakes answer to the United Nations or is it the other way around?
- This is the great granddaddy of all diplomatic games.
- This Many people have said this is the meanest game ever made. It's certainly up there.
- I've never played a game that forces players to so consistently make the best of bad choices.
- It's the game that keeps on giving.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video V64S7Zpe4go
Review at 0:18 sentiment: positive
video_pk 79923 · mention_pk 193561
Click to watch at 0:18 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Incredibly fun system
- Relatively quick games
- Great diplomatic aspect
- Great combat aspect
- Movement aspect is loved
- Envoy system works and is fun
- Diplomatic phase is engaging and unpredictable
- Packs a huge punch for what it is
- Fantastic game
Cons
- Host did not get allied with anyone in their playthrough, though they still won.
Thematic elements
- 19th century leaders seeking influence
- mid-19th century
Comparison games
- Coalitions
- Raison d'État
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area Control — Players seek to gain influence points by controlling territories, including home territories of other players and disputed territories.
- Card drafting (battle cards) — Each player has their own battle card deck, and cards are played face down during battles.
- Combat — Involves tallying strength points, playing battle cards, spending morale, and potentially gaining influence points for winning.
- Hand Management — Players use a deck of action cards and must use a dispatch card to retrieve them.
- Influence Points — The primary scoring mechanism, gained through controlling territories and winning battles, with the first player to 25 winning.
- Movement — Involves using trains for movement and a separate regular movement phase where an envoy is selected.
- Set collection (alliances) — Players form alliances through a diplomacy phase where tokens are revealed to confirm acceptance.
- Simultaneous action selection — Players play action cards at the same time, similar to the original Coalitions but with a deck instead of a rondel.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Coalitions: Realpolitik from Phalanx.
- You know, the three hardest things to say are, "I'm sorry, I was wrong, and Worcestershire sauce."
- On the Cody scale, I'm going to go ahead, I'm going to give Coalitions: Realpolitik a 9 out of 10. It is fantastic.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video zF4xPqvOPTM
Review at 0:20 sentiment: positive
video_pk 67605 · mention_pk 163754
Click to watch at 0:20 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Deep strategy that is not overwhelming
- Easy to learn and teach
- All nations are interesting and have a chance to win
- Engaging diplomatic and negotiation elements
- High production value with miniatures
- Historical setting of the Napoleonic Wars
- The rondel system allows for simultaneous play
Cons
- One friend (Ray) thought it was just okay and not special, disliking the negotiation aspect.
- The original game had a higher influence point goal (40) making it a longer game.
Thematic elements
- Belligerent nations during the Napoleonic Wars
- Napoleonic Wars
Comparison games
- Alliance
- Napoleon's Conquest
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area Control — Controlling disputed territories is key for taxation and scoring victory points.
- Card Play — Battle cards are used in combat, with special conditions available. Leadership actions allow drawing more battle cards.
- Combat — Combat involves adding initial strength (units, generals, fortresses) and playing battle cards. Adjacent allied units can also participate.
- Diplomacy / negotiation — Players discuss and choose coalitions each round, influencing alliances and potential betrayals. Britain can offer subsidies, while France offers security.
- Influence / Victory Points — Players race to reach 25 influence points, primarily gained by controlling disputed territories. Occupying Paris is an alternative victory condition.
- morale track — Morale is a critical resource, needed to play battle cards in combat. It can be gained through leadership actions or by envoys during movement.
- Movement — Includes standard land movement (one space), strategic movement (up to three spaces through own/allied territories), and sea movement (for Britain and allies with permission).
- Resource Management — Players manage money for taxation, purchasing units, fortresses, morale, and battle cards. Britain also gains revenue from trade.
- Rondel action selection — Players twist a rondel to select and perform actions simultaneously, with movement being a slight exception.
- Set Collection — Gaining combat tokens from adjacent units allows playing more unit cards in combat.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- This review has not been is not being influenced by Phalanx at all. These are just my genuine opinions on this game.
- So, the point of the game is to gain the most influence points. Essentially, you want to get to 25. It's a race.
- And I really really really like Coalitions. This is just a great game.
- It's been, I think, what, 6 years? People have been waiting for the Kickstarter. I know every now and then people would watch my preview video and they're like, "Come on, when's it going to happen?" Well, I believe they'll be shipping soon if if if they haven't already and I'll tell you it's worth the wait. This is really really a great game.
- my friends, some of them liked it, some of them liked it a lot. Ray did not care for it. He thought it was okay, but he didn't care for it.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–4 of 4