Misha Nosiara - Nov 5, 2004 2:42 am (#515 Total: 522) Leaders Clarification Sought, and other queries Harry & co, Setup the game for the first time last night. Went smoothly other than leaders. Can you explain what the Leader - # on the empire cards mean? Couldn't find it in the rules. I'm not clear on when empires get leaders (is it in the 'promote' phase?). Is it only named leaders who go on the board at empire setup? (as per the English empire example). Also, after setting up the first two empires, is there any reason why everyone shouldn't go after the black empire for their third empire? I also have a question on empire setup. Take this example. The leading empire is in Age 3. You want to setup an empire which has Age 3 on it. Is it OK to setup if it has Setup -5, where -5 would push it back to Age 2? Thanks, Misha Harry Rowland - Nov 5, 2004 3:39 am (#517 Total: 522) 7 Ages query Gidday Misha, glad things went reasonably smoothly. In particular you ask: Can you explain what the Leader - # on the empire cards mean? Couldn't find it in the rules. HR> Its the age that the leader can be promoted. I'm not clear on when empires get leaders (is it in the 'promote' phase?). HR> Yes. Is it only named leaders who go on the board at empire setup? (as per the English empire example). HR> Yes. That section is named "Promote named leaders" as opposed to "promote leader" in the Civilisation step. Also, after setting up the first two empires, is there any reason why everyone shouldn't go after the black empire for their third empire? HR> None whatsoever, unless you want a large empire in which case you might prefer one of the free large ones. I also have a question on empire setup. Take this example. The leading empire is in Age 3. You want to setup an empire which has Age 3 on it. Is it OK to setup if it has Setup -5, where -5 would push it back to Age 2? HR> Of course. As soon as any empire makes it to age 3 you can set up any empire allowed to set up in that age regardless of how far back the empire actually setting up starts. What empires did you start? Regards Harry Misha Nosiara - Nov 5, 2004 3:57 am (#519 Total: 522) That was quick! Harry, Talk about fast response! I thought you'd be watching the cricket in India... My 'game' was just a solitaire trial of the first couple of turns to make sure I understood things. Player 1 decided to play the empire that starts in Sri Lanka in Age 2 (can't remember the name) first. Player 2 started Egypt (great card to have early on if it's an early age game start). Player 1 then started the Assyrians on turn 2 (to crimp the Egyptians) and chose manouever for the other action. Player 2 then chose Nth American tribes (lots of space) and manouever for his other action. I assume the strategy is keep starting empires until you reach your maximum (as per you player notes). One other thing - as an oil geologist I would really recommend adding oil markers to the sea areas Gulf of Mexico and the area offshore Nigeria (can't remember what you name it in the game) and onshore West Siberia really needs a gurnsey! Regards, Misha Harry Rowland - Nov 5, 2004 4:11 am (#520 Total: 522) You can never start errata too early Presume India are 9 for 8 in reply to Australia's 6000 for 3 declared Misha:) We'll bung those changes down in the next edition. One thing from your test, each empire can only do one action a turn. Thus your extra action is only useful to start an empire, destiny, or civilise (and even then only for (a) the playing of artefact and event cards. You can't use it to give one of your in play empire's another action. Regards Harry PS I might have misspoke about the leader no. The empire's leader no, is how many leaders that empire can have on the map at any one time, and the maximum no. of (sequeuntial) leader picks you get each promote leader step. The number next to the leader themselves is the age that leader can be promoted. Thus for the Vietnamese (card no. 84), it says: Leaders: 3 (Ho ~ 7) This means the Vietnamese can have a maximum of 3 leaders on the map at any one time, they get up to 3 picks per promote leader step and can promote Ho during any promote leader step in age 7 (instead of choosing a random leader). Misha Nosiara - Nov 5, 2004 4:28 am (#521 Total: 522) Aaah, I see.. Harry, Just to be totally clear: if I have less than my maximum empires, I get an extra action. So on turn 1 there is only one useful thing I can do, start an empire. On turn 2 my extra action could be to start another empire and my 1st empire's action could be anything (like manoeuver)? On leaders: A card with Leader -2 means that that empire can have a max of 2 un-named leaders, neither of which start at setup, but can be placed on the board if the relevant action is chosen (the one allowing 'promote leaders') in a subsequent turn. Regards, Misha ps. Australia 5/48 chasing 107 - it's a thriller in India! Harry Rowland - Nov 5, 2004 4:35 am (#522 Total: 522) 5 for 48? How can that be? Gidday Misha, mostly correct altho if you don't have a complete spread of ages on turn 1 you might choose a wild card instead of a start empire (so you can dump and redraw your cards if you can't start an empire in the age chosen by the first player). Apart from that slight disclaimer, spot on. As to leaders that is all correct too (promote (unnamed) leaders only happens during civilise). Regards Harry