Hidden simultaneous action selection mixing an euro economic mechanics with war and area control.

[b]Pros:[/b]

• Players bid for turn order and little round bonus which is very important regarding strategy for that round
• Cube tower used for combat (fun and simple with memory element where loosing player will have better chances in future battles. Feels a bit like magic, it is unpredictable, but it works)
• Fun and simple set-up for player's territories: back-side of the players' board is used to distribute control markers. There are sets with different number of control markers. Each player decides which set to use next. This method also scatters each one's control on the map.
• Player have to take the order order of actions into account but only half of the order is known to the players (uncertainty, push your luck)
• Buildings make areas more valuable
• Competition for the most buildings in a region
• Strategic planning / programming: each player chooses 10 cards
• Tense hidden simultaneous action selection on player board and guessing what other players are going to do
• Managing revolts (taxing areas / population)
• Since having the most buildings in each region grants the most victory points, players are inclined to spread their control instead of turtling in one corner
• A lot of dynamic on the board: controlled areas shift each round
• Peasants as NPCs (revolts)
• Managing upkeep / food
• Randomized, known event cards which modify some actions each round

[b]Neutrals:[/b]

Artwork is okay: rather old-school look and feel

Direct player interaction: attacking other areas (however, balance between economy and war is required)

Mean: a player may loose a card before it is evaluated in which case the benefit is lost. This can be pretty devastating for tax and harvest cards.

Quite some luck involved: order of actions each round, combat / cube tower, order of event cards

Some open and some hidden information (non-deterministic)

Variety: each round is different depending on the current board state and the cards

Rules are good, not many exceptions, but could be more concise on some aspects (revolts, unrest tokens)

Overall slow pace: planning between rounds take some time but it is also fun to outsmart the other players. Players cannot build an army and attack from the same region.

Reset after first year (keeping the players balanced, but un-thematic)

[b]Cons:[/b]

• Rather long playing time (at least 120 mins, usually 150 mins)
• Best with 4-5 players
• The back-side of the main board is printed with the logo: could have been an adjusted map for 2-4 players
• Oversized game box (however, the cube tower fits into the box fully assembled)

[b]Similar games:[/b]

• Shogun (similar game with another map and theme, map allows more turtling, better artwork)
• Immortals (fantasy, same game system, more open, less economy aspects, more combat-oriented, long set-up)
• Clockwork Wars (thematic fantasy, more complex, hidden action selection, area control, engine building)
• El Grande (pure area control, card management, shorter playing time)
• Ikusa (very long game, simultaneous action selection)
• Birth of America series games by Academy Games (area control, card driven, team game, mix of euro/war game)

Its a great game but id rather play the Shogun version. Better map, better regions.

Nope it's area control not my thing and hate the random cube drop.

1/14/18: Jammed with a lot of needless expansions that subtract from the base game, and still uses the 2nd edition graphics which are noticeably inferior to the original edition.