Polynikes & Chronoglide: Empires First Impressions

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First Impressions

When the stuff arrived, I was still full of childish enthusiasm, and frantically hopped from toe to toe as the package from "Troy, NY" arrived. How cool is that? I wish I could have an address that was so evocative. I couldn't help but notice that the parcel had crossed the Atlantic twice. Once to get from Germany to Bill, and then back again to reach me in Blighty. Crazy, huh?

Anyway, upon opening the box I discovered that contents consisted of a hex-map board, some cards with unit stats, a bunch of hex counters representing units, some special dice, some wound counters, and a couple of 'capital city' models.

Well, it all seems kind of jolly, but I did have a few reservations:

• A double-sided hex-map wouldn't have gone amiss, to provide a bit more variety.
• Also, the unit counters are a little uninspiring, being photos of painted models. A little artwork would have been nice. The box illustration is wonderful, a bit more like that would have been good.
• The Capital City models are okay, but not exactly earth-shattering. There is one each for the Empire and Orc forces. They seem to represent a French Chateau plonked down in the middle of a Vauban star-fort. Except the Orc one has a thatched roof instead of a slate one. Presumably the Orcs have flogged off all the slate for profit.

So looking at what you get, it's nice enough, but I can't help but think that a certain company that everyone hates, do this kind of thing a little bit better. Some plastic figures instead of counters, maybe, and more maps, should come in the basic box.

As it stands, they give you the absolute bare minimum needed to play the game. It's obvious that you're expected to fork out for loads of figures and extra stuff to make the game more aesthetically pleasing and to open out more gameplay options.

So on the whole I'd say: "Not bad," but I wasn't exactly gripped.

On to First Game