
- BGG rank
- BGG #6,951
- BGG rating
- 7.7
The Smoky Valley
- 2–4 players
- 150–180 min
- Complexity 4.2/5
- 2022

Rules assistance for Age of Industry Expansion: Belgium & USSR
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

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Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Age of Industry Expansion: Belgium & USSR is an expansion for Age of Industry released in 2013 for 2–5 players, 120 minutes per game, and ages 12 and up. It was designed by Claude Sirois and its main mechanics are Hand Management, Network and Route Building, and Open Drafting.
Two new expansion maps for Age of Industry : Belgium & USSR The Belgium map has been designed for 2 players and features one of the first country to be industrialized on the European continent. Belgium featured important textile production in Flanders, iron processing in Walloon as well as large coal reserve in the south and east of the country. Given its smaller domestic market, the Belgian Government was interested to increase the efficiency of transportation and to link Germany and France, so it participated in the development of a public rail network... The USSR map has been designed for 3 to 5 players and features the Donbass Coal Basin, which covers part of former Ukrainian and Russian Soviet Federation Republics, during Stalin's First Five-Year Plan. This plan, which was implemented in the context of a planned economy, was conducted to increase production of goods and boost the development of heavy industry...
Age of Industry Expansion: Belgium & USSR supports 2–5 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Age of Industry Expansion: Belgium & USSR is 120 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Age of Industry Expansion: Belgium & USSR for ages 12 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Age of Industry Expansion: Belgium & USSR has a complexity rating of 3.3 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-weight game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Age of Industry Expansion: Belgium & USSR belongs to these categories: Economic, Industry / Manufacturing, and Expansion for Base-game. Its main mechanics are Hand Management, Network and Route Building, and Open Drafting. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Age of Industry Expansion: Belgium & USSR are: Claude Sirois. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Age of Industry Expansion: Belgium & USSR as an expansion for Age of Industry. Expansions add new content, rules or scenarios to the base game and usually cannot be played on their own, so you need Age of Industry to use it. Check that your edition of Age of Industry is compatible, as some expansions were revised between editions.