Dual Powers Revolution 1917: Review

Dual Powers Revolution 1917: Review

Information:

Mechanics: Area Control, Multi-Purpose Cards, Hand Management, Tug of War
Player Age: 13+ 

Player Count: 1 - 2 Players

Time to Play: 30 - 60 Minutes 
Game Designer: Brett Myers

Game Artist: Luis Francisco, Kwanchai Moriya

Publisher: Thunderworks Games

Year Published: 2018

BGG Weight: 2.20

Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the publisher.

Overview: 

In 1917 there was a civil war in Russia that lasted several months. In 'Dual Powers' you are taking control of these political leaders and trying to rally your supporters and gain the favour of the people to shape Russia in your image. 

Dual Powers is a tense two-player area control game. At the end of every round, the location that is in unrest and each player's secret objective area will score. The player with the most strength in that unrest area will gain points. If a player has reached the end of their score track or has the score track on their side in October or November they will win. 

Game Anatomy:

Command Cards:

Every card in the game will have similar iconography; the number of calendar days in the top left that will advance the days of the month upon playing the card, one of two possible options you could take found in the middle of the card, and the secret objective in the bottom right with the colour and the possible point gain.

The two actions that these cards will let you do is either add units to the colour shown on the card, or perform a unique action such as move units or unexaust units. The iconography helps make the cards easily understandable but there is one issue with the cards; some of the colours are so similar that they are commonly misidentified.

Units:

Every unit has an exhausted and unexhausted side. Whenever an area has scored, the units in that area will flip to the exhausted side. If they are already on the exhausted side and they are used in a scoring then they will return to the player that owns the unit if they are a basic unit, or they will be removed from the game if they are a neutral unit or a leader. Each player will have ten basic units that are in tiers of one, two or three. These units will have different strengths per exhausted and unexhausted side.

Leader Cards:

Each player will have three cards at the start of the game that will represent their leaders. These leaders will be the trump cards that are used to turn the tide of the civil war in their favour. Each leader has a different special action. These include gaining the will of the people, looking at an opponent’s secret objective, and moving the blockade marker. Each leader card comes with a unique unit that can be placed anywhere on the board when the card is played. There are differing values for the exhausted and unexhausted sides. 

Neutral Units:

There are six neutral units that will start on each section of the map. These units will be controlled by the player who has the will of the people. There are two ways to gain the will of the people; by playing the leader card that gives you the token as their action or by changing the month on the calendar during your turn. 

Trotsky Unit:

Trotsky will enter the game as a neutral unit when the calendar changes to May/June. This unit will change to a red unit in August. This is detailed on a fact card included in the game that give a historical background.

Calendar:

This is a timer for the game as well as a unique race track between players. It will be moved every turn when a player plays a card. There are two numbers on the calendar that will allow the player who landed there to immediately perform an extra action. If you change the month on your turn you will also gain the will of the people that could change the tide of battle in your favour when you need it the most (scoring).

Scoring Track:

The scoring track is a tug-o-war of points between the players. To win you will either have to move this track to the end of your side or have the track on your side when the game is scored in October or November of the calendar. The unrest space will score first, than the player with the fewest points secret objective will next, followed by the last secret objective. 

Blockade Marker:

The blockade marker will block you from moving units between the two areas that it sits between.

Region Tiles:

These tiles will be placed in the unrest and blockade space on the board. The blockade space is where the blockade marker will be placed this round. The region tile on the unrest spot will be one of the areas that to be scored this round.

Set up:

- Decide which player will be red and which will be white then give each player their respective leaders and units.

- Place one neutral unit in each area on the board showing their unexhausted side. 

- Place the will of the people on the red player’s side. 

- Place the score marker in the centre space of the scoring track.

- Place the day token on the number one of the calendar and the month token on March/April.

- Shuffle the six region tiles, draw one for the unrest spot and one for the blockade spot. Put the other tokens in a pile to the side.

- Place the blockade token on the connection arrow between two areas on the map that matches the area displayed on the blockade spot.

- Shuffle the command cards and put them in a deck to the side.

How to Play:

At the start of every round, each player will draw five command cards (these will be the only cards you draw this round) and one of these cards will be placed face down as a secret objective for themselves. These secret objectives will be an area that is scored in addition to the unrest area at the end of the round. Each player will take one turn each for a total of four turns per round. On a turn, the active player will play a command or leader card, move the days on the calendar equal to the amount found on the top left of the played card, then either recruit units to the area shown on the card or do the action displayed on the right side of the card. Once each player has taken four turns the scoring will commence for that round.

Scoring:

Three areas will be scored every round; the area that is in unrest this round as displayed on the board, as well as both locations matching each player's secret objective. These objective areas can be the same as the unrest area. The player with the highest strength in these areas in terms of recruited units will gain the points on the secret objectives or points in the unrest area. This can be dependent on calendar month. After scoring, every unit in these areas will flip to its exhausted side. If a player reaches their end of the score track then they win. A player can also win if the score tracker is on their side during the calendar months of October or November. 

If the game is not yet finished then begin the next round by discarding all cards that were played in the previous round, including the secret objectives. Then discard the region tile that is on the unrest space and move the token from the blockade spot into the unrest spot on the board. Replace the blockade spot with a new token from the region tokens, then move the blockade token on the map to match this new blocked region. 

Final Thoughts:

Pros:

- Interesting calendar system.

- Interesting tug of war of points.

- Looks daunting to learn and play but it isn't.

Cons:

- The colours on the cards look the same as each other as they are dulled versions of the map but the iconography helps with this. 

The first impression I got from simply looking at the game box for Dual Powers was that it was a Risk-like area control game centred around historical content. It seemed daunting to learn and slightly dreary but I am happy to say that I was wrong. This is a great game that I strongly recommend playing. The scoring is intuitive and analytical thinking can be used to throw off opponents in relation to your secret objective. The tug-o-war mechanic to the points can be frustrating but it is satisfying when you use strength of mind to score big on a round. The only issue with this game is that the colours on the cards are so similar that it makes it hard to distinguish at first glance. Once the rules were learnt, the game felt easy to play with a touch of deduction as to why your opponent was clustering in an area or avoiding others. The area control part of the game is easy in theory, but while playing, you have to strategise with your units to recruit or move to conquer in the different colours using only the cards you receive at the start of each round. The other engaging system is the calendar. Throughout the game you will be trying to manipulate this calendar for two reasons; to gain bonus actions and to gain the will of the people which adds to your end of round points. This is a surprisingly fantastic game and I am going to have many repeated plays as it stays in my collection.

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