How to Play

Barrage

1-4 players 90-180 min 8.1 Board Game Geek Rating

Players control industrial companies competing to construct hydroelectric dams in 1930s Alpine valleys. Using worker placement mechanics, participants deploy engineers to build dams, enhance machinery, and develop efficient construction capabilities. Victory comes through fulfilling power requirements on a shared track while completing personal contracts over five strategic rounds.

Published 2019

Barrage

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Follow standard setup
Complete the normal game setup for your chosen player count
2
Choose your company
Select a Company as usual, then randomly assign remaining Companies to Automa players
3
Skip contracts and officers
Do not assign Starting Contracts and Executive Officers to Automa players (Exception: Overpowered difficulty)
4
Set player order
Place Automa as first player at game start (1-3 Automa players go first/second/third)
5
Initialize Automa score
Automa begins the game with 16 Victory Points
6
Prepare Automa deck
Shuffle the Automa tiles and place them in a pile showing the Actions side face-up
7
Select difficulty
Choose from Easy, Medium, Hard, or Very Hard difficulty levels

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Flip Automa tile
At the beginning of each Automa turn, flip the top tile to reveal the Criteria side and place it on the discard pile
2
Reshuffle when empty
When the Action tile pile runs out, reshuffle the discard pile
3
Check action sequence
Automa attempts actions from left column to right, top to bottom, until one succeeds
4
Use minimum engineers
Automa takes a turn with at least 1 Engineer, even if the action normally requires more
5
Place engineers on board
Put Automa Engineers on the first free action space of the relevant Management Board section
6
Fill spaces in order
Engineers fill action spaces from top to bottom of left column, then top to bottom of right column
7
Verify production system
Confirm Automa has at least one complete connection (own/neutral Dam with water + Conduit + own Powerhouse)
8
Check energy track position
Automa won't produce if already first on Energy Track AND in the bonus section
9
Match contract requirement
Automa must produce enough energy to fulfill at least one available Contract of the indicated type
10
Use best system
If producing, Automa uses the production system generating the highest energy
11
Apply bonuses
Add all bonuses/maluses from the Automa tile and Company board
12
Fulfill highest contract
Automa immediately fulfills the highest value Contract available, not just the type checked
13
Break ties rightward
Choose the contract on the right space when values are tied
14
Verify water reaches dam
Automa only performs this if at least one Water Drop can reach its own Dam immediately or in the upcoming Water Phase
15
Maximize water drops
Automa always tries to place the highest amount of Water Drops possible
16
Check dam capacity
The Dam must have enough capacity; exceeding drops are not placed
17
Use tiebreaker for headstreams
When multiple headstreams qualify, use the letter order (A, B, C) on the Criteria tile
18
Place engineer
Put one Engineer on Water Management section if at least one Water Drop was placed
19
Continue turn
Automa's turn continues after this action if Engineers remain
20
Place engineers
Put the indicated number of Engineers in the Contract Office
21
Remove contracts
Automa removes the indicated Contracts from the Contract Office
22
Advance energy marker
Move the Automa's Energy marker on the Energy Track
23
Replace contracts
Place 2 new Contract tiles in empty spaces from the related pile
24
Continue turn
Automa's turn continues after this action if Engineers remain
25
Check structure availability
Verify Automa has the indicated structure piece on its Company board
26
Check technology tile
Confirm Automa has at least one Technology tile (basic or advanced) for that structure
27
Check machineries
Verify Automa has minimum required Machineries for construction
28
Check building space
Confirm at least one available building space exists on the Map
29
Build structure
Place Engineers on Company board and use Construction Wheel as usual
30
No construction limit
Automa has no limit to structures built per round
31
Receive income
If income is revealed on Company board after building, Automa receives it immediately
32
Complete systems first
If one system would be completed by placing the structure, build there
33
Apply criteria tile
Check the relevant column's criteria to narrow down choices progressively
34
Use position codes
If criteria don't determine a single position, use the numbered code and Reference Map
35
Follow basin order
Start from the coded position and proceed through basins 1-12 until finding an eligible space
36
Prefer regular spaces
Build Dams and Powerhouses in regular spaces (without red outline) when possible
37
Check wheel contents
Only perform if Machineries and/or Technology Tiles are inside the Construction Wheel
38
Place engineers and pay
Put indicated Engineers on Workshop section and pay VP shown on tile
39
Rotate wheel
Turn Construction Wheel by indicated segments, taking back items in entry segment after each rotation
40
Skip in round 5
Do not perform this action in the final round
41
Place engineers and pay
Put indicated Engineers on first available Machinery Shop space and pay VP shown
42
Take machineries
Acquire the Machineries indicated on the Action tile
43
Verify tile availability
Only perform if indicated Technology tile or wild Technology tile is available
44
Pay and acquire
Place 1 Engineer, pay 2 VP, take the indicated Advanced Technology tile
45
Prefer higher level
When two tiles for same structure are available, take the higher level tile
46
Single maintenance/bank
If wheel is not empty, rotate it one segment; otherwise place 1 Engineer in Bank and score 1 VP
47
Wild machinery/bank
In rounds 1-4, buy the Machinery type Automa has least of (ties go to Excavator); in round 5, use Bank for 1 VP

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Convert all currency
Instead of spending or earning credits, Automa always pays or earns Victory Points
2
Allow negative scores
Automa's VP can go below zero during the game
3
Score objective tiles
If Automa has the most elements matching the Objective tile condition, they score 20 VP for first, 15 VP for second, 10 VP for third
4
Count fulfilled contracts
Flip completed Contracts upside down and place next to Automa player board
5
Include National Contracts
Automa can fulfill National Contracts like human players (rightmost in case of tie)
6
Calculate final score
Add all VP earned throughout the game including objective scoring and compare to human player totals
7
Determine winner
Highest total Victory Points wins the game

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