|
Brief History of the World sample game
Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun and Queen Victoria are meeting for a games-night
– suspend your disbelief please. They decide to play A Brief History of the World.
Alexander plays red, Attila is green and Victoria settles for yellow.
The game is set up and Gold markers drawn such that red is placed on one gold,
yellow on two gold and green on three gold on the Gold track.
Epoch 1
First things first. The Area values for Epoch 1 are taken from the Epoch chart and
placed on their respective circles on the map.
Then, as he has least gold, Alexander takes the three Empire cards for Epoch 1
from the Epoch chart and makes his choice. He takes Egypt and passes the two
remaining cards to Victoria as she has second least gold.
Meanwhile, Attila (who has most gold) has been looking at the Event cards. He rather
likes Population Explosion so he takes this, adding it to his Initial events of Weaponry and Leader.
He passes the two remaining cards to Victoria (who has second most gold).
Victoria now has two sets of cards, and refuses to be rushed. She elects to choose
her Empire card first. She takes Indus Valley and passes the remaining card (Minoans) to Attila.
Victoria now examines the two Event cards and decides to keep Treachery. Alexander receives Pestilence.
 
Epoch 1 gets underway. Sumeria? enquires Victoria reading from the list of empires on her own card.
No response. Egypt? Alexander flips over his Empire card and begins.
He takes the Array and places his Empire card on its space. Reading down the card, Alexander first places
three of his armies on their space at the bottom of the Array. Then he takes one of these armies and places
it in his start-land, Nile Delta. A capital is indicated on the card, so Alexander places one in the start-land.
Time to expand the empire. Egypt’s second army goes into the adjacent land of Upper Nile. Glancing
at the card Alexander realises it has an empire Feature, and that the one resource in the Upper Nile is
enough for him to build a monument (normally an empire needs two resources). He takes a pyramid
monument and places it (as he must) in the land that his capital occupies. His third army is placed in Levant
where there is another resource. As his capital already has a monument, and he has no city, he must
place this next monument in a land having a resource. He chooses the Upper Nile and places a temple
there.
Alexander looks at his empire with some satisfaction … and then sets about reorganising it.
There are no fleets to worry about, so he resigns his three armies and discards his Empire card
(placing it face up on the Epoch chart for ease of sorting at game end).
Now for my gold! exclaims the Great one.
He collects 2 gold for his capital and 2 gold for his monuments (1 gold each). His Gold marker is moved
forward four spaces.
Following the spiral of Area values, he now collects gold for his lands:
0 gold for Southern Europe - as he has no armies there.
4 gold for North Africa – its value is two and he has ‘dominance’ (more than any other player and at least
two armies therein), so two times the value.
3 gold for Middle East – its value is three and he has ‘presence’ (one army therein), so one times the value.
0 gold for India and China.
No other area has a value in Epoch 1.
Alexander’s Gold marker is moved forward a further seven spaces to give a total of twelve gold.
Minoans? and Attila reveals his Empire card. In addition to a capital, the Minoans’ card indicates a fleet.
Attila places an army in Crete together with a capital and the fleet in the Mediterranean Sea as specified.
There is only one army left on the Array, so Attila plays his Population Explosion event. This gives him
another army and the event is discarded to the Epoch chart. During expansion, one army is placed in
Pindus, which is considered adjacent because of the straits. The fleet in the Mediterranean allows Attila
to place his other army in Iberian Peninsula. This gives the empire two resources and means a monument
is built in Crete.
Attila’s reorganising includes removing the fleet. Then he collects gold:
2 gold for the capital and 1 gold for the monument.
3 gold for Southern Europe – its value is one and he has ‘mastery’ (the only player occupying the
area and having at least three armies therein), so three times the value.
Attila moves his Gold marker to give a total of nine gold … and shrugs.
Victoria is last to play, so she simply declares Indus Valley and gets on with it. There’s not a lot to do.
She places an army and capital in Lower Indus and expands her one remaining army into Persian Plateau.
She reorganises, then collects gold:
2 gold for the capital.
2 gold for presence in India.
3 gold for presence in Middle East.
Her Gold marker is moved to give a total of nine gold.
The Gold markers are now positioned on the track as shown.
It’s the end of the Epoch and as Victoria’s Gold marker is on top of Attila’s, it is moved forward one space.
The three Bonus tokens for Epoch 1 are taken by Alexander, as he has most gold. The tokens are
3 gold, 2 gold and 2 gold. Alexander keeps the 3 gold token and passes the other two tokens to Victoria.
She stays poker-faced, keeps one of the tokens and passes the other to Attila.
Of course, there was no actual difference, but keeping things secret might be important.
Epoch 2
The two new Area values are placed on their circles on the map.
Attila (having least gold) takes the three Empire cards, whilst Alexander (with most gold) reaches for the
Event cards. Attila smiles … and keeps Persia. Alexander nods … and keeps the Celts. Victoria decides
to select her event first and chooses Kush, passing Astronomy to Attila. She then chooses Assyria as
her empire, leaving the Scythians to a less than impressed Alexander.
 
Assyria? Is called for; Victoria is ready. First though, she plays her Kush event. Epoch 2 is in red text
on the card, so the event must be played in this epoch (if at all) and at the very start of the turn. There
are two gold coins on the card, so Victoria pays two gold by moving her Gold marker two spaces
backwards on the Gold track.
Kush is a kingdom, and the card requires her to place an army and a city in the Upper Nile. This land
is already occupied by one of Alexander’s Egyptian armies and there is a monument present.
Alexander’s army and the monument are both removed and Victoria places her army and city. She
immediately resigns her army and discards the event.
Victoria places her Assyria card on the Array and six armies to go with it. An army and capital are placed
in Upper Tigris and another army goes into Zagros. Victoria wants a monument and looks to the resource
in Upper Indus. However, her own resigned army in Persian Plateau blocks her advance. Surrendering
that army is a possibility, but rather a waste of an army. Instead, Victoria takes off her gloves and invades
Levant. She rolls two dice (6, 2) and Alexander rolls one dice (5).
The best dice scores of each player are compared. The difference is one, so Victoria has one
invasion point - which is just enough to conquer the clear terrain of Levant. Alexander’s mood darkens
as he removes his army. Now Victoria could use the Fear Feature, but ... feeling rather sorry for
Alexander she hesitates. Things are looking good ; Victoria builds a monument to her triumph in the
Assyrian capital. With three armies left, Victoria decides to use one of them to build a fort; she might
soon need to defend and this will help. The one army is returned to her supply and she places a fort in
Upper Tigris – a valuable land made stronger.
Then, suddenly feeling less sorry for Alexander, Victoria decides she will invade Nile Delta. She rolls 5,
5; Alexander rolls 6. Victoria has not got the difference she needs. However, rather than simply giving
up (which would mean removing her army from the land) she decides to continue the invasion. She
leaves her army in Nile Delta, removes an army from the Array instead and moves the Invasion dial to
+1. Victoria rolls 3, 3; Alexander rolls 3. Adding the +1 from the Invasion dial gives Victoria the one
invasion point needed to take control of the land. Alexander’s army is removed and the capital is
reduced to a city (the monument stays in place).
Reorganisation and then … Gold! And this includes her previous empire.
8 gold for capitals, cities and monuments.
15 gold for lands.
Victoria’s Gold marker is moved forward to thirty-one gold.
Next up is Alexander with his Scythians. The Minor Empire of Celts must be played (if at all) at the
startof his turn, so Alexander pays three gold. His Gold marker is now on top of Attila’s, but as it is
NOT the end of the Epoch, they stay that way. Alexander quickly places armies in Northern Europe
(Rhineland, Gaul and British Isles). The Celts are able to build a monument in British Isles and then
the armies are resigned.
Like Celts, Scythians is a barbarian empire having no capital. Alexander places an army in the
Caucasus and expands into Anatolia. He considers invading the Upper Tigris, but is concerned that
the fort might be too strong. Instead he invades Levant and rolls 5, 3 against Victoria’s roll of 3. This
gives Alexander two invasion points. One point allows him to take control of Levant. The other invasion
point may be used to over-run an adjacent land of clear terrain (but without a fort), provided it is
controlled by an army of the same player (in this case Victoria). As luck would have it, Nile Delta falls
into this category and Alexander gleefully takes control. Victoria’s armies are removed, as is the city in
Nile Delta. The pyramid remains. Because the Scythians are barbarians and because they have
caused a reduction, Alexander immediately collects one gold – moving his marker one space forward
on the Gold track.
Flushed with success Alexander decides he will use his last army to attack Upper Tigris; the pickings
are very rich! Alexander rolls 6, 6; Victoria rolls 6, 2 (two dice because of the fort). The best dice
scores are the same.
Alexander’s invasion fails and his army is removed.
Reorganisation ….
and then … Gold! - but not much of it.
2 gold for monuments.
8 gold for lands. (Though he has two armies in Middle East, Alexander is not dominant – Victoria is).
Alexander’s Gold marker is moved forward to twenty gold.
Attila cracks his knuckles and reveals that he will play the mighty Persia. In order to make the most of
his opportunity, Attila decides to play his Weaponry event, paying three gold for the privilege. This
Initial event will allow Attila to roll four dice whenever invading. The Empire card and armies are placed
on the Array and the capital is established in Persian Plateau. Attila is immediately on the offensive,
seizing control of Lower Indus and reducing the capital therein to a city. The King of Kings Feature
means that another army is placed on the Array.
Now Attila turns his attention to the West. He rolls 6, 5, 5, 1 when invading Zagros. Victoria rolls 2, 1.
This gives Attila four Invasion points. Two Invasion points are needed to take control of the mountains,
leaving a further two points for over-runs. However, standing in Persia’s way is the fort in Upper Tigris;
and forts cannot be over-run! Attila must invade.
Attila invades Upper Tigris rolling 4, 4, 3, 1. Victoria rolls 6, 3. Attila decides to continue the invasion,
so instead of removing his army from Upper Tigris he removes one from the Array. In addition he moves
the dial on the Array to +1. Attila now rolls 5, 4, 3, 2. Victoria rolls 6, 1. Adding the +1 of the Invasion
dial, Attila still has not achieved the difference he needs. He continues again, removing an army from
the Array and cranking the dial up to +2. Now he rolls 6, 6, 6, 5 (nearly losing his Weaponry). Victoria
rolls 1, 1. This gives Attila a little matter of seven invasion points! One point is used to take control of
Upper Tigris (the capital reduces to a city and the army and fort are removed), but the remaining
invasion points are lost (there are no lands adjacent controlled by Victoria’s armies).
Attila is fuming, but all he can do is re-set the Invasion dial to zero and get on with it. Fortunately the
Array receives another army for the reduction of the capital, so Attila continues the advance. Levant is
invaded yet again! A roll of 6, 3, 3, 2 is met by a roll of 2. Four invasion points means that Attila takes
control of Levant and then has a choice. An over-run to the south would mean seizure of Nile Delta and
a foothold in North Africa. Going north would require two invasion points to take control of the mountains
of Anatolia and the option to over-run again into Caucasus. It’s not possible to go both south and north,
as Nile Delta and Anatolia are not adjacent. Attila elects to take control of Anatolia but NOT Caucasus.
This gives him mastery of Middle East; Eurasia has no value during this epoch.
Taking control of Levant provides Persia with a monument for its capital. With two armies left, Attila
looks around for other options. More attacking? Build a fort? Expand in India? The world awaits his
decision.
Attila has a more adventurous plan. He discards Weaponry, because he wants to play another Event
card (and only one event can be in play at a time). He plays the ‘Any Epoch’ event of Astronomy and
places a fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. Then using the fleet he places one army in Libya and one army
in Danubia.
Reorganisation and then ….. Gold!!!
9 gold for capitals, cities and monuments.
20 gold for lands.
Attila’s Gold marker is moved forward to thirty-five gold.
Now it’s Attila who selects a Bonus token first. He takes the three gold token. Victoria takes the two
gold token and Alexander gets the one gold token.
End of Epoch 2 and the world is dominated by Attila’s armies. Attila is purring. Alexander has five
armies on the map, but at least chooses his empire first in Epoch 3 (and the Romans may be coming).
Alexander is stoical.
Victoria has one army tucked away in the kingdom of Kush, Upper Nile. She will be second to choose
an empire and event (again). Victoria is not amused!
Return to top
|
