Strictly not an actual Rome or Roman based board game, AFTER THE EMPIRE has seen a lot of traffic in regards to this game and a new Kickstarter for a lovely, upscaled set that you could own. Well we will reach out to GREYFOX for that shortly, but we thought it might be nice to have the original game, still available for you to own, reviewed in its place!

AFTER THE EMPIRE

PLAYERS 2-4 / AGES 12+ / TIME 80 minutes (4 players)

When Europe fell into the “dark ages”, it unleashed a wave of instability and disorder. The central power and influence of Rome was gone and in its place, nothing came. Some stability came thanks to Kings and Kingdoms but these were always vulnerable affairs. As the centuries ticked on, there was uneasy prospects of planned futures. So great walled cities sprang up, to protect the few and hold off the many.

THE GAME

AFTER THE EMPIRE starts here. You are one such king. You have a city made of wood, farmland all around and 3 workers and a whole heap of fear in your heart. You see those hoards are coming and you must prepare. They might come from the north, south, east or west but they are coming and they are mad. Using your workers, do what is needed to make you and the city survive. During each turn, called season in game, workers take actions on a shared board, they can gather resources, build advanced buildings with resources and even recruit mercaneries and help refugees with skills. Once all workers have been committed, players harvest food from their surrounding lands and then prepare. Battle is imminent. During each season’s combat phase, invader cards are revealed. These have a number of troops and importantly, a compass direction of their attack. You hope that your troops are positioned to defend them or that the stone wall you have built will save you! Only the wealthiest of castles will draw the attention of larger forces mind, so be careful of riches. Also be careful of repairs and recruitment to the armed troops defending your lives. To few and its over, too many, and its a waste! The winner is the lord or lady who has best preserved their fiefdom and saved up the most gold.

REVIEW

This worker placement/resource management/ Micro war game, adds a welcomed note to the cluttered group of games set in the middle ages. It might actually be one of the few, really unique games to have surfaced in the immense catalouge of games about the age. Though in a basic sort of a way, it is about who preserved their fiefdom and saved up the most gold, the game has layers. Players are encouraged to think vertically, horozontially and even perpendictual to, their starting position. You manage, more than startegize at first, your base position and how you desire to combat the roving hoards. Later, you do stratergize, how to retain gold, while managing the gradual increase in workers, all with the seasons counting down and the powers of the hoards increasing. There are some issues. The cubes are fiddly, the players shared board clutters with four players and the rounds start swiftly, then are mired in slow, slow, slow. But the strengths here overwhelm like a hoard of barbarians. Great combat, that is never the same twice. Player engagement is near constant and you feel like any and every decision, has a bearing on the outcome. This I believe, warrants another look and maybe a little investment in the newer version, hopefully we can see what is on offer shortly!