Vendor: Ares Games
Type: Board Games
Price: 129.95

ETA Q4 2024

Western Empires is a board game for 5 to 9 players and covers the development of ancient civilizations over 8000 years of history. Western Empires can take up to 12 hours to complete, and still yet, it has a simple mechanism and is easy to learn. The players lead their civilizations, as they expand and collapse, from the Stone Age, through the Bronze Age to the end of the Iron Age. Western Empires provides a full day of fun for larger groups.

Though it may seem at first glance, Western Empires is not a wargame. Yes, conflict may be involved, but rather it is a game about history, culture, trade, development, and... calamities. The civilizations involved are all situated around the Mediterrainean Sea. The Romans, The Egyptians, The Celts and The Minoans. Players develop their own unique civilization in arts, crafts, science, civics and religion. Each player starts his civilization with a single population token, 8000 BC, but grows and grows over time, and eventually cities can be built. Cities of course bring wealth and fortune, but also… natural calamities such as epidemics, famine or earthquakes, or civil calamities such as pirate attacks, slave revolts and civil disorder.

This wealth is expressed in trade cards. The more cities, the more cards a player gets. These cards provide both trading commodities, and calamities. Trading is the heart of the game. Develop religion, democracy, improve science… 51 different advances can be developed in five different categories.

Maybe a player can even construct a wonder of the world, or scatter their people all over the map, and gain cultural ascendancy. The player that knows best how to work together, trade or battle for territory, defend his people against nature or enemies like barbarian hordes, and stand the test of time, eventually will win the game. After up to 12 hours of playing that is. The game can be expanded with Western Empires: The Special Buildings Expansion (2019).

When combining the board games Western Empires (2019) and Eastern Empires (2021) this forms: Mega Empires (2021), an 18-player experience. A full game of Mega Empires takes up to 13 hours to complete. This bundle contains both stand alone games, each of which can be played by 3-9 players and can be expanded with the two Special Buildings Expansions (2019) for either game or the combination of both games. Where Western Empires has a focus on sea travel and trade on the Mediterranean Sea, Eastern Empires follows the Silk Road to India and trading is done through the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula.

—description from the designers

Vendor: Lookout Games
Type: Board Games
Price: 78.95

Note: This game is in English

1830 is one of the most famous 18xx games. One of the things some gamers like about this game is that the game has no 'chance' element. That is to say, if players wished to play two games with the same moves, the outcome would be the same also.

This game takes the basic mechanics from Tresham's 1829, and adds several new elements. Players are seeking to make the most money by buying and selling stock in various share companies located on eastern United States map. The stock manipulation aspect of the game is widely-regarded as one of the best. The board itself is actually a fairly abstract hexagonal system, with track tiles placed on top of the hexes. Plus each 18xx title adds new and different elements to the game. This game features private rail companies and an extremely vicious, 'robber baron' oriented stock market. A game is finished when the bank runs out of money or one player is forced to declare bankruptcy, and the player with the greatest personal holdings wins.

Vendor: 999 Games
Type: Board Games
Price: 209.95

Vendor: Gibsons
Type: Board Games
Price: 89.95

Vendor: Mayfair Games
Type: Board Games
Price: 68.95

This is the Indian sub-continent (British Imperial India) member of the 18xx family of games. It is billed as A game for engineers who've had enough of the financiers! It involves five-foot-six and metre gauges, hills, mountains and the Himalayas, contract bids and government mails. The technical challenges of building a railroad network in difficult country stand on a par with the financial market manipulation which usually dominates the 18xx games.

Time to play is listed as 4-7 hours. Ages 11+. A 4-hour game would be an exception and it's not really for 11-year-olds.

Two small extension kits were produced in 1992 and re-edited in 1999.

For its 20th anniversary, Lookout Games and Mayfair Games Inc. published an updated version in Oct 2009. It is based on the retuned rules by Stuart Dagger and Steve Jones that were edited by Lou Jerkich, Dick Ruck and Jeff Heuer.

Vendor: Phalanx Games B.V.
Type: Board Games
Price: 67.95

Revolution: The Dutch Revolt simulates the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Netherlands. This epic struggle lasted from 1568 until 1648 and eventually brought independence to Holland and the northern provinces. In the south, the revolt was less successful and Belgium did not emerge as an independent state until after the Napoleonic era.

During the initial stages of the struggle, William of Orange became the symbol of freedom. His main adversary was the Spanish King Philip II, who sent in the Duke of Alba with his formidable conquistadores to stop the rebellion.

Revolution depicts a power struggle with many facets. Each player represents one of the principal factions involved: the Catholics, Habsburgs, Nobility, Burghers and Reformers. Each faction has its particular goals, which are often partly common. Although factions may sometimes co-operate, they are not allies for long and easily turn on each other if the situation calls for this.

Historically, there were periods of open warfare and others of uneasy peace. The reforming factions gradually became more established, particularly in the north and along the coast. The once supreme Habsburg armies were slowly driven out of these areas through a series of siege battles. The defeat of the mighty Armada by a combined Dutch/English fleet in 1588 cost the Spaniards dearly. The Catholics were eventually allowed to retain some of their influence, while the local Nobility, initially catholic but with local sympathies, succeeded or failed according to their willingness to accept the changed circumstances.

This game is not a detailed military re-enactment of the Eighty Years' War. It tries to capture the flavor of these interesting times in a much broader sense. It contains an element of warfare in the form of battles and sieges but the main theme is built on economic, religious and political control. The constantly shifting balance of power, caused by temporary alliances, makes Revolution an immensely challenging game, and not for the faint hearted. Clever and timely use of available resources, including those of foreign sympathizers and allies, is needed to achieve ultimate success.

Revolution: The Dutch Revolt was more than 15 years in the making, and marks Francis Tresham's long-awaited return to the forefront of game design. He is most famous for his widely acclaimed board games Civilization and 1829.

Revolution: The Dutch Revolt includes 1 large gameboard, 41 playing cards, 416 colorful game pieces, 1 player aid card and 1 rules booklet.