The game board depicts a map of the world, with land masses divided into geographical regions and these are subdivided into lands. Borders are marked with tree or mountain symbols representing natural barriers, which aid defence if they are in a land you occupy.

Each player has 4 sets of army counters, each having a different symbol, as well as a set of fort and fleet counters.

The game is divided into 7 Epochs, or turns. Every Epoch, each player will control a different people, with new ambitions and strategies. Some of these will found centuries long Empires, others will dissappear when the next wave of land hungry upstarts arrive. Players themselves are never eliminated, but continue the struggle for supremacy until the last battle has been fought.

Each Epoch begins by selecting an Empire. The first player draws a card from the Empire deck for that Epoch and can either keep it or pass the card to another player who hasn't got an Empire card. This means that you can pass on weak Empires and keep the best for yourself. With less than six players, this can be something of a gamble as the best Empire may not appear at all.
Empire cards tell you:

Empire card details: Order of play in the Epoch Name of Empire Starting Land Name of Capital Number of available Units Seas that can be used Name of Leader and Date

Each player, in order determined by the Empire card then does the following:

Draw an Event card - this gives an advantage to that player in some way. This could be the use of a Leader who lets you use 3 dice when attacking instead of two, or a Disaster that lets you remove 1 or 2 monuments from a region.

Establish Empire - Counters are taken as shown on the Empire card and placed in the Land where the Empire starts

Expand Empire - Move into adjacent land. If its occupied then conflict occurs, otherwise another unit is placed in the next adjacent land.

Conflict - This is simply attacker rolls 2 dice, defender one dice. Highest roll wins and loser removes a unit. Combat lasts until only one side remains in that Land or the attacker retreats.

Conquest - When all defenders are eliminated, the land is conquered. Any forts or cities are removed and any Capitals become cities.

Fortify Land - Forts increase defense by adding 1 to the die roll.

Build Monument - A monument can be built for every two resource symbols the Empire has. Monuments score Victory Points.

Score Victory Points - Players now score their Empires. Yes, Empires. ALL a players counters on the board are scored, which means that old Empires can still prove valuable, even when they are in decline. Victory points come from occupying lands, with extra scored for having three lands in a region, and even more for controlling an entire region. Capitals, Cities and Monuments also score additional points.

Once each player has developed an Empire, it's on to the next Epoch. Empires just created are left untouched, declining as new Empires sweep them away. A nice touch. You can even attack yourself, and old army units of yours with the same symbol get absorbed into the new Empire if it moves into the 'old' Empires Land.

SUMMARY:
So the game is pretty straightforward. Place an emire, expand into lands, defeat defenders, then score your empires. You cannot help drawing similarities to both Britannia and Vinci which both use similar ideas of empires in rise and fall. I'm not going to draw comparisons, but this is a hugely enjoyable game and if you enjoy Vinci, then hunt out a copy of this or Britannia as you'll enjoy them also.

Review by Brian