Barrage: The Leeghwater Project
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The FroGames Card
You're burning concrete mixers to build the impossible. Others are watching. They don't know yet that you've just changed the rules of the game.
WHAT IT IS ABOUT
The expansion that transforms Barrage into a different game
Tommaso Battista and Simone Luciani take their most challenging hydroelectric eurogame and push it beyond 4 weight. The Leeghwater Project adds Jan Leeghwater's Netherlands, a pioneer in water management, with mechanics that exploit water like no other nation. Art by Antonio De Luca, Mauro Alocci and Roman Roland Kuteynikov.
Extremely powerful External Works to unlock by burning machinery (no longer just assigning it to the wheel). Personal Buildings in combos to trigger devastating actions. Two new Executive Officers, three dedicated advanced technologies. If the base Barrage already seemed complex, this expansion doubles the possibilities and triples the decisions per turn.
What they say abroad
"The Leeghwater Project transforms Barrage into a different beast entirely."
The Leeghwater Project transforms Barrage into a different beast entirely.
— Meeple Mountain
This is an expansion for those who know Barrage by heart and want to challenge their minds in new ways. The External Works system changes every plan you had built over 50 games.
— FroGames
Barrage: The Leeghwater Project
Barrage has an official automa system (Xavier Gueniffe Singularity) that works perfectly even with Leeghwater. The automa manages the Netherlands and External Works with dedicated rules. A complete experience, but you lose the curses and psychological blocks of multiplayer: no one steals the bonus you've been waiting for three turns.
FrogScore · FroGames.it editorial rating · based on rulebook, international reviews and play sessionsWhat's in the box
The pieces that change the game
Netherlands Board
Fifth playable nation with unique mechanic: advanced water management. The more water you accumulate in dams, the more powerful actions you unlock. Jan Leeghwater not only builds dams, he transforms them into combo engines.
External Works Tiles
Set of extremely powerful constructions obtainable from a new action space. To activate them, you must burn machinery (Concrete Mixers and Excavators) instead of assigning them to the wheel. Permanent choice: more power now, less flexibility later.
Personal Buildings
Five unique building tiles for each player, activatable by engineers. Each building has a specific effect; in combo, they explode. Planning the activation sequence is a puzzle within a puzzle.
Executive Officer + Technologies
Two new officers designed to leverage Works and Buildings. Three advanced technologies dedicated to building Personal Buildings. They expand the technology tree without making it redundant.
🎲How to playThe rules in four steps▼
How to play
The flow of each round (unchanged from the base game)
The Leeghwater Project does not change Barrage's structure: it adds layers on top of the foundations.
Assign engineers to action spaces: build dams/conduits, take contracts, produce power, advance technologies. New space: External Works, accessible by burning machinery instead of assigning it.
Execute actions in order. Personal Buildings activate when an engineer reaches them: each building grants specific bonuses (resources, extra actions, discounts). Building combos = explosive turns.
Flow water from dams through conduits, produce energy for contracts. The Netherlands has unique mechanics: the more water you accumulate, the more powerful actions you unlock in subsequent turns.
The Construction Wheel rotates, returning machinery. Machinery burned for External Works never returns: that choice is permanent. End of round, start again.
⏱️Your first gameThe chronicle, moment by moment▼
A game in five moments
What happens at the table
Not the rules. The experience.
Asymmetrical Setup
Distribute the Personal Buildings. Everyone studies the five tiles, looks for combos, imagines sequences. Someone has already figured out the build, someone else is still reading the icons. The Netherlands sets up initial dams: they have more water than anyone, right away.
First External Work
Someone burns two Cement Mixers to take an External Work that is worth double a normal conduit. The others look at the board: that resource will never return. The immediate advantage is obvious, but in five turns, those machines will be missing.
Building Combos
One player activates three Personal Buildings in sequence: takes resources, builds for free, gets technology bonuses. A single turn, six actions. The others recalculate their plans while he advances two rounds in one.
Race for final External Works
The External Works track empties. Those who burned machinery earlier are reaping the benefits: massive energy, contracts closed early. Those who waited are left with machinery that is no longer useful: the best External Works are already taken.
Ruthless scoring
Score points. The Netherlands built fewer dams than everyone else but pumped water for twenty turns: they win. Those who ignored Personal Buildings lose by fifteen points. Next game, you'll plan everything differently. It always happens.
🐸To know beforehandThree honest things, from friends▼
To know beforehand
Three things you need to know
Requires mastery of the base game
If you don't have at least 5-6 games of base Barrage under your belt, this expansion will overwhelm you. External Works and Personal Buildings add two decision layers to an already complex game. It's not a problem if you know the system, but it's a wall if you're a beginner.
Extends game time
Longer setup (distributing Buildings, explaining External Works). Longer turns (evaluating combos, calculating burning). First game with Leeghwater: expect 150-180 minutes, not 120. With seasoned experts, you'll be back to standard times.
Irreversible choices
Burning machinery for External Works is permanent. Misjudge the timing or quantity, and you'll find yourself without resources to build in the later turns. There's no way to recover: you must plan the entire curve before burning. It punishes improvisation.
🏆Victory and defeatWhat the end rewards▼
How it ends
How to win and how to lose
The player with the most victory points after five rounds wins. The Leeghwater Project multiplies scoring avenues.
Victory
- Complete energy contracts by utilizing External Works and Personal Buildings to produce more energy than anyone else
- Build advanced dams with technological bonuses, maximizing points from construction + production
- Optimize the Netherlands curve: accumulate water in early turns, explode with powerful actions in the last two rounds
Elimination or defeat
- Burn too much machinery too early: you run out of resources to build in the later turns
- Ignore Personal Buildings: you lose 10-15 optimization points that others accumulate automatically
- Don't plan the technology sequence: you reach the Buildings too late, the best External Works are already taken
The Leeghwater Project is the expansion that separates casual Barrage players from the obsessed. If you want depth, you'll find it here. If you want accessibility, stick to the base game.
💬Frequently asked questionsQuick answers before checkout▼
Frequently asked questions
FAQ about Barrage: The Leeghwater Project
Can I play only with the Netherlands without using External Works and Buildings?
Yes, the expansion is modular. You can introduce only the Netherlands (fifth asymmetrical nation) without touching External Works and Buildings. But the real leap in complexity lies precisely in External Works + Buildings: using them separately halves the impact of the expansion.
Are the Personal Buildings balanced among themselves?
Each set of five Buildings has designed internal combos. They are not interchangeable: the balance lies in knowing how to read the synergies of your set and build your plan accordingly. Whoever finds the strongest combo wins; whoever uses them randomly loses.
How heavy is it really? Is the 4.08 on BGG realistic?
Yes. Base Barrage is 3.9, this expansion adds 0.2 real weight points. If base Barrage already seemed to be at the limit of manageable complexity, Leeghwater takes you beyond. For those seeking uncompromising heavy euros, it's exactly the right weight.
What mechanics does Barrage: The Leeghwater Project use?
Worker placement with Action Queue (construction wheel), network building (dams and conduits), asymmetrical powers (nations + Personal Buildings). Adds a resource burning mechanic for External Works: you permanently sacrifice machinery for powered-up actions.
Is it available in Italian?
Yes, this is the Italian Cranio Creations edition. All components, rulebook, technology cards, and External Works are in Italian. Requires the base game Barrage (Italian edition) to play.
The people behind the game
Who invented it, who designed it, who publishes it — and what else they've done.
Barrage: The Leeghwater Project is the heavy expansion for the hydroelectric eurogame by Simone Luciani and Tommaso Battista, 1-4 players, 60-120 minutes, ages 14+. It adds Jan Leeghwater's Netherlands, External Works system (burn machinery for permanent powers), combo-driven Personal Buildings, two Executive Officers, and three advanced technologies. BGG weight 4.08/5: for experienced players seeking uncompromising complexity. Italian Cranio Creations edition. Available on FroGames.it.
Barrage: The Leeghwater Project
Frequently Asked Questions
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