Struggle of Empires is set in the eighteenth century: an age of discovery and sail, a period of colonization and the beginnings of industrialization, and also a time of almost constant warfare in Europe and its far-flung colonies. You will assume the leadership of one of the seven European Major Powers of that time and direct its military, economic, and political development to compete with your rival Major Powers. You will forge alliances, build armies and fleets, establish colonies, improve your economy, wage war, and manage unrest among your citizenry. You will decide whether to expand in Europe or take control of colonies in the Americas, Africa, and the Far East. If well made, your choices will guide you to victory in the impending Struggle of Empires!
THE STRUGGLE OF EMPIRES DELUXE EDITION
As a highly regarded strategy game, Struggle of Empires has long been a candidate for an updated version and Eagle-Gryphon Games is known for its expertise in creating deluxe, quality game editions. We have created new art, a large and re-imagined game board, high quality cardboard components, new wooden components, and a larger box with a complete storage solution. Most importantly, we have developed an updated rule book!
The updated and revised rule book clarifies the original rules and examples and also provides a wealth of variant rules.
We are pleased to include 2 new variant rules by Martin Wallace. Other variants are based on designer and fan suggestions. Some address issues of balance and luck in the game and others provide new ideas for setup and play with lower player counts.
OVERVIEW OF GAME PLAY
The game consists of three major Wars, each lasting for 5 or 6 rounds of play depending on the number of players. Each War begins with the formation of two Grand Alliances of the Major Powers and represents a period of approximately two decades.
In each round of play, you will perform two actions, and if available, any number of free actions. At the end of each War, you will score victory points based on the relative number of each Major Powers Control markers in each of 11 regions in Europe and the colonies. Although military units can be used to capture or defend Control markers, they do not represent control of a region themselves.
Your challenge will be to balance your military and economic needs. Players may take advantage of various tiles and tokens - including local alliances, trade, special abilities, improvements, military tactics, and covert operations - that grant economic, military, and political benefits. It is difficult to win without these.
Gold is essential throughout the game. Although gold is always available through taxation, it comes at the cost of increasing unrest among the citizenry of your nation. Extensive unrest due to over taxation can lead to negative consequences, including the total collapse of your nation!