Customer Reviews

Conquest of the Empire by Eagle Games

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a board game lover and collector. I own dozens of board games and have been playing them all my life. This is among my favorites.

Pros:
1) This is one of the highest production quality board games I have seen, board is very heavy, plastic pieces are intricate, the catapults actually have moving pieces. The game comes with gold and silver gold coins and high quality matte finished cards as well as unique dice.

2)It comes with not one, but TWO complete sets of rules! Two different games for the price of one. The rules are fairly clear, the rule book is pretty straight forward and detailed.

3) Interesting game play. In this game you have economic, military and diplomatic choices to make every turn. Has a "real" economy including inflation, spend your talents wisely.

4) Historical setting: this is a plus if your into Roman history.

5) the Board is HUGE!!! seriously, its about twice the size of a monopoly board. (see also cons)

Cons:

1) not suitable for children, the game is too complex for children, and keep it away from little ones, it has lots of pieces to choke on.

2) games can take a rather longish time to complete. No longer than a classic game of risk, but still, a couple of hours.

3)not for casual board gamers. If you find Risk 2210 or Settlers of Catan too complicated stay away from this. But overall much easier than most "hard core" board games out there.

4) The board is HUGE!!! it takes up soo much space it can be difficult finding room to play. Hope you have a very large kitchen table. Also the board is segmented into 3 peices, they can slide apart if the players are not careful. Really not a big deal, but a minor annoyance.

The "new" Conquest of the Empire is a great improvement over what was an enjoyable, fast moving game of conflict in 2nd century Rome that needed revision. Two sets of rules are provided. Rules for the classic version appear to rely on a knowledge of the original game. Combat resolution is improved through the creation of combat dice to take the place of standard dice.
A number of changes and options have been added to create a "revised" version. My son and I are still working through these additions. At present we have only incorporated some of them and we have a few of our own carried over from our play of the original game. The board is greatly improved through a larger playing area (4'X 3') that more easily accomodates pieces, although we needed to find a larger area for set up - a good problem. Pieces are much more durable, nicely cast, and the galleys and catapults much more realistic.
Quality of the artwork is very good. I recommend the game.

I am a board game lover and collector. I own dozens of board games and have been playing them all my life. This is among my favorites.

Pros:
1) This is one of the highest production quality board games I have seen, board is very heavy, plastic pieces are intricate, the catapults actually have moving pieces. The game comes with gold and silver gold coins and high quality matte finished cards as well as unique dice.

2)It comes with not one, but TWO complete sets of rules! Two different games for the price of one. The rules are fairly clear, the rule book is pretty straight forward and detailed.

3) Interesting game play. In this game you have economic, military and diplomatic choices to make every turn. Has a "real" economy including inflation, spend your talents wisely.

4) Historical setting: this is a plus if your into Roman history.

5) the Board is HUGE!!! seriously, its about twice the size of a monopoly board. (see also cons)

Cons:

1) not suitable for children, the game is too complex for children, and keep it away from little ones, it has lots of pieces to choke on.

2) games can take a rather longish time to complete. No longer than a classic game of risk, but still, a couple of hours.

3)not for casual board gamers. If you find Risk 2210 or Settlers of Catan too complicated stay away from this. But overall much easier than most "hard core" board games out there.

4) The board is HUGE!!! it takes up soo much space it can be difficult finding room to play. Hope you have a very large kitchen table. Also the board is segmented into 3 peices, they can slide apart if the players are not careful. Really not a big deal, but a minor annoyance.

It is nice to have two different ways to play the same game. The pieces are great, and the board is huge. The instructions can be vague on some issues, but if you agree ahead of time on what they mean then it's fine. It can be a bit hard to find a place to play with enough space for the board, extra pieces, money, etc. My only real complaint is with the board. The board is three seperate tri-fold boards, and the folding connnections of the individual sections seem to be ready to give out when it shows up in the box. I guess if that happens then you would just have 9 board piece... but the board itself is heavy duty so a little duct tape or something like that on the back should be enough to hold it together, that is if the connections ever do give out.

It is an exciting game, although a little more difficult than Risk. Still kids 6 years old or older can figure it out relatively quickly.
The game is as long as Risk, however, compared to Risk, there are fewer battles. You move your legions, build cities and roads, and then,
in one turn, you loose your Caesar and the game is over. It does however made my kids more interested in the history of the ancient Rome.
I recommend it to those who enjoy the game of Risk.

Solid game components, flexible gameplay, historical scenarios and educational features, fast paced, large map. Multiplayer or for two, gorgeous colors and rules are easily understood with no inconsistencies. Was a blast to move and combat while pretending to be Caesar or Mark Antony.

The good news is the components of this game are outstanding. The pieces are larger and more detailed than the original CoTE. They are also made of much more durable plastic so all of the soldiers' spear points won't break off. The catapults are two piece, which I thought was interesting and smart, since the throwing arm can no longer break off. All of the card stock pieces are high quality. For the price that I got this game from Amazon, you could easily pay double or even triple for a game with this quality.

The down side are the rules. It comes with two sets of rules. The first almost mirrors the Classic CoTE rules. The second offers almost a totally new game. I haven't had a chance to play the second set yet, but they look very interesting. What disappointed me in both sets was the lack of detail in the combat rules. Basically, there's little to no advantage in buying the more expensive units. The dice that come with the game have symbols on them rather than numbers. If you role a symbol matching a unit you have, you inflicted a hit on the enemy-that's basically it. There's no advantage to buying a catapult for 40 talents versus and infantry for 10.

My solution was to introduce a new set of dice and come up with combat rules closer to the original game, but also giving the different unit types different combat values to reflect their historical values. This has worked out well and gives players more of a reason to invest large amounts of money in buying the more expensive units-not just to take another hit.

Other than the bland combat rules the game is a pretty good remake of the original. The pieces are better, I think. If the combat rules had been better, I'd have given the game 5 stars. As it is, it is still a pretty good game and well worth the money just for the components.

First the cons:
1) The game takes a long time to play.
2) You need a large table to place the board on (3'x4').
3) The classic rules, though relatively simple, have a few gaps that need to be decided upon between players. I have not played with the new rules.
Now the pros:
1)The game is fun to look at. It comes with six armies of 49 figures each, a massive board, a bag of coins and some cities, walls and roads. I owned the game for a month before I played it and still enjoyed having it.
2)There is a nice balance between economic and military factors. It was not until halfway through my first game that there were any battles but it was still fun as we competitively built up infrastructure. A quick way to summarize this game would be to say that it is 50% Risk, 40% Settlers and 10% miniature wargaming.
3)Army composition matters. Though superficially similar to Risk, there is a lot more strategy involved in Conquest of the Empire. Unlike Risk, the different types of figures have different properties and costs that you will want to consider when buying your legions. There is also the balancing act between land power and sea power that you will need to consider.
4)The combat system is quick and direct. There are some small choices to be made but most battles last only two or three rounds of dice rolling before they are decided.
5)Leadership pieces matter. You can't just pump out wave after wave since you only have so many Generals. This adds another level of consideration and makes you feel more like a real leader, carefully trusting your subordinates with certain tasks.
6)The goal is to have your Caesar figure be the last one on the map. This gives a definite end point and allows for a wide array of strategies. It is not as impersonal or absolute in this sense as a game of Risk.
7)The game is fun to play. This point is a general one trying to cover anything else I could want to say and the most important one you would want to know when buying a game. Its not a game everyone would like as the strategic elements could be a little intimidating for some. If you want you can read over the rules at [...].

The new board is bigger than the old Milton Bradley version, and that's great. I like that land troops can cross a few of the narrow straits without a galley. The new battle system is simpler, but each die has two pictures of infantry, and only one of each other unit. So infantry has the best chance to hit, yet are the cheapest to buy. I've heard catapults were too powerful in the original rules for the old version, but they are too restricted here. Calvary still have more movement, but with the reduced effectiveness in battle, I don't see much point. Also, land troops on a galley do not participate in naval battle under the new rules. So a full ship is no more powerful than an empty ship. Your troops can be easily sunk so watch out. I guess some rules can be tweaked by house rules, but it would be pretty hard to convert the little pictures on the dice to make more sense.

The game arrived from over 2300 miles away well before the expected delivery date. The board itself is HUGE. As I recently acquired Axis & Allies, to compare these two is easy. This game, unlike A & A, includes play money, more than enough pieces for each side, and plenty of board space for your armies/navies. You will need a large table for this! There are two separate rules, and the first set is supposed to mirror the original 1980's version. As a player of that 1980's version, I can say that is not entirely the case. Catapults are treated differently, and the dice used for both rule sets are unique to this game. With the two rule sets, you can play a quicker game with the first set that is less complicated, which means my son can play (and so can I). The second rule set appears confusing. You use cards with it and the rule book doesn't seem to be very helpful. However, for the price it is right now, it is a great deal. Essentially a game that has two difficultly levels, so the replay value is high. I highly recommend this game for those interested in strategy games and history. It gives me an opportunity to inspire in my son a thirst to learn more about Roman history, which has always been fascinating to me.