Jana & Javier: Jana's First Game

While reviewing Empires, I want to be able to answer the following questions:

• Is the game fun to play?
• Is there any repeat play value in this game?

And, most importantly...

• Is this a game my group will want to play again? (Or, Should I buy this game?)

Our first game started out slow and went fast. I had only barely looked over the book and game pieces the week before, because I didn't want to lose that first impression of the rules that you get when you're trying to set up a game for the first time. Jon agreed to play the game on a night when our regular group couldn't meet as usual, and he was willing to play something he had never heard of in the hopes that it would become a new favorite.

Our group plays a variety of games, from RPGs, to computer games, card games (yes, even a few CCGs) and miniatures of various types. Empires looked like a combination board game and miniatures game. We dug in.

We set up the game, looked over the pieces, and started reading out loud from the rulebook (since we only had one copy).

We had thought all 3 of us could play, even if it was a lopsided game, because the box says:

2-6 players

but it turned out there were only enough pieces for two players. My husband comments that it's for 2-6 players, "for sufficiently small values of two." (After a couple minutes, he lost interest and wandered upstairs.)

I noticed there seemed to be lots of rules about ship units, but there doesn't seem to be any water on the board. Seems to be a reference to an expansion set, but that's not clearly mentioned and it confuses Jon.

So we set up our cities. I took green and Jon took red. That made me the Orcs, and Jon got to play the Human army. After reading through more rules (and not really getting a feel for how the game plays), we just decided to start playing and learn as we went along.

I sorted out the deck of unit cards. The first problem we had was that it is hard to pick your units when you don't know the game very well, but I suppose that is common to all games the first few times you play. The rules booklet offers no suggestions, other than to start with 500 points worth of units. After a quick look through the cards in my half of the deck, it looks like I can take almost everything in the deck anyway.

We're both confused about the note on the card that says you can only have "1x" of it. We're never did figure out if that meant only one of that specific card/unit or one of that type - i.e. a commander or hero unit.

It's finally time to play, and the first thing you do is roll to see who goes first... but all the dice in the game are specialty dice with "hit" or "defend" markings! So someone hunts around and comes up with a d6. Small point, I know, but it is the first annoying part of this game that starts us on the path toward dissatisfaction.

We start to play. To keep things simple, we opted to run without the use of magic items or spells. The first turns are slow going. I put out Spider Archers. Jon puts out Rangers. We move into adjoining territory. I put out a 2nd unit. He puts out a Monastery. I place a village. Jon sits. I put out a unit of Trolls.

And then the questions come up about archery. Reading the rules, it looks as if you can only engage in shooting when in base-to-base contact in adjoining hexes. So what's the point of having archers? They'll only get whomped with melee attacks from their target. We'll see how it plays out, but it doesn't look good.

I placed the village, and Jon asks why I got villages and he didn't. Ooops, looks like all the cards were at the bottom of the deck with the green ones. I offer Jon the cards and the opportunity to re-do his army list; he declines.

I put out the Troll unit. Jon moves one of his units around. We check the rules on moving through trees. At the top of the round, I realize I have no cash left for maintenance payments. Ooops. Does that mean all my units go away? I guess so. Does that mean I lose? I'm not sure. What are the victory conditions of this game anyway? I don't know. I look through the rules for "object of this game". There isn't one.

At this point, it's 10:30 pm and we decide to call it a night. Everyone has to work in the morning. We agree to meet again on the weekend and try another game.

On To Second Game