Jana & Javier: Javier's Games

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Now, my impressions on how the game plays and how some of the mechanics work.

First of all, we were handed out the basic set, so many of the options included in the rules, would have to be bought with the expansion sets to be played. That's all right, and I find it a very good thing to have all the pertinent rules in one place...one you get when you first buy the game.

Next, even when the game might seem too simple, it works very well for representing campaign-level games that can be played in a manageable length of time, and still let the players walk away from the table with a satisfied look on their eyes.

Still, my mind is a bit torn about the dice included in the game. With a 50-50% chance of either hitting or missing with an attack, the odds of getting rid of an enemy could be somewhat predictable...unless you are rolling the dice like I was in all of my four games!

Everything else is a much refreshing take on the usual fantasy warfare erm... well, "fare". Yes, you have Magic Users. But instead of being limited to use their powers and crafts in just one phase, Empires allows your pricey mages to cast a spell in every phase of a game turn. Magic is not so powerful so as to be an unbalancing factor, and varied enough to make it a nice addition to your repertoire of tactics and low blows. Even when the initial magic and artefact cards included in the box are few and just one of each type, they serve well and help you get the hang of the Magic system and add that extra element of fun to the game.

So, with all these thing to it, how's does the game play?

Fast and not too complicated.

You have to understand that this is war on a whole different scale, as here you do not field an army, but rather send out different units to do the exploring/building and fighting off the enemy. This is a game more about managing resources and expanding an empire than of brutal combat between two forces. Sure, you will need to crush you enemy's forces and take — or raze, depending of how particularly vicious you feel — his/her capital.

The ways you can do this are varied, but limited to what you get with the box. In that sense, I find Empires to be a particularly good entry-level game for younger players, or an unencumbering and fun one for seasoned veterans with a few hours to spare.

Sure, wars were never this simple or straightforward, but then again, this is a game of border skirmishes and raids... of heroes and regiments of renown.

I found both of the initial fOrces included in the boxed set — The Empire (Humans) and the Orcs — to be pretty well matched in smaller games (those with a resource pool of 1,000 gp) and big games (those with a maximum of 3,000 gp) alike.

Still, my impression is that either Jana played the Orcs wonderfully and in the hand of my girlfriend they felt right at home, or I am losing my Orcish touch and the buggers just don't like me to win at this boardgame! Either they stomp my far more numerous Imperial troops, or they just wait to get their butts kicked by the Hummies. And then my uninitiated brother played against me, and the Orcs just kept misbehaving when under my command, or being overly ferocious when attacking my Imperial Knights of the Order.

Not one of the games we played did I manage to "win" decisively. We set a time limit, to keep things on the move, and played all the turns we could in said period of time. The game is well suited for this mode of play, mind you.

Still, even when I had more troops and more land, my treasury was "symbolic," to put it mildly. Never flat broke, but pretty close. I found that the Empire works very well for big, dedicated armies... but these have a cost, and even with magic aid, they are not guaranteed to win over a bunch of measly Orcs. When I use my Rangers to shoot at the Ogres and eight dice are rolled, with eight landing on "BLOCK," you know you are just living on borrowed time.

Then it was time to play it with a more conservative approach in mind, and the Orcs still managed to control more land and have gold to boot! I had no big bonuses or great displays of mighty magic. I just relied on my trusty Nobles and the rats kept on loosing each and every time. Oh, the infamy of it all!

When playing the Orcs, I had no better luck.

Go To Javier's Conclusions