Board Game: Empire Domination, Updates

After playtesting the board game Empire Domination I made some changes that I hope could fix certain issues. One of the main issues was resource stockpiling. While technology cards were important, they were only two gold, one wood, and one food, and players could easily buy them with ease in the latter game. This left a huge stockpile of resources for each player, and a lack of anywhere to put them. To remedy this I created a new technology aspect of the game. Instead of buying technology cards there are four different paths a player can go down. Each path allows a player to buy technology cards for a certain area of the game, military, naval, economy, or fortifications. The paths have increasing cost tech cards, that get better as they go down the path. Players begin the game with one tech path piece, and can move it down one path only. Players can buy additional paths at tech islands for three gold, two wood, and two food. Players can buy two additional paths.

Military

1. Rearmament: If you tie with an opponent while attacking you may reroll all of the dice used to attack, not only the tying die/dice.

2. Horses: Your troops may now take two actions per turn, Mountains and forests take three turns to go over.

3. Mercenary Improvements: Mercenaries have one additional attack die roll.

4. Weapon Mastery: When attacking, if your army would roll less dice then the opposing defense you may add dice up to the defender’s amount.

5. Military Integration: Mercenaries no longer have an upkeep cost.tying

Navy

1. Trireme: Your ships have two dice when attacking or defending against other ships.

2. Improved Sails: Boat’s have two actions per turn instead of one.

3. War Ships: Whenever a ship under your control supports an army the army gains two additional die rolls instead of one.

4. Convoys: Ships may store two armies instead of one within them. When landing the armies come out one at a time, and if they attack when convoying out they do so separately.

5. Ship Raiding: Ships can attack settlements or cities, with two dice, alone. This attack is not a support action. The ship stays on the coast of the region if successful and is destroyed if not. Lands transfer if successful just as in a land attack

Fortifications

1. Roads: The player's troops can move over mountains and forests in one turn, no matter if the troops are foot or horse soldiers.

2. Cheap Materials: Fortifications only cost two gold and one wood. You may now have up to four fortifications without upkeep costs.

3. Scorched Earth: Whenever an enemy takes a settlement (enhanced or not) or fortified area the settlement or fortification is destroyed instead of given to the opposing player.

4. Sea Chain: Ships can not support enemy troops when attacking cities or lands with settlements under your control.

5. Land Grants: Upkeep costs for settlements and fortifications are removed. You make put a fortification down on any territory under your control when this is bought.

Economy

1. Irrigation: Put an enhancement piece on a food region under your control. This region produces two food cards at the beginning of the turn.

2. Enhanced Logging: Put an enhancement piece on a wood region under your control. This region produces two wood cards at the beginning of the turn.

3. Hydraulic Mining: Put an enhancement piece on a gold region under your control. This region produces two gold cards at the beginning of the turn.

4. City Resources: City’s under your control produce a resource at the beginning of the turn. The resource can be any resource region the city is touching.

5. Marketplace: You may exchange any resource for a different resource card.

Each of these paths starts at the number one spot and goes down to the number five spot. The starting cost for the first tech card in each path is three resources, with each tech card down the path two more resources. The resource type has yet to be decided and is individual for each card.

This new technology format should allow for a much greater resource sink and help facilitate a diversification between each players empire based around the path or paths they choose.

Another new addition is bonuses for a player controlling all of their revolting territories. This bonus is on each of the capital cards and comes into fruition when the player controls each region and city of their color. This gives a greater incentive for players to try and take all of their empire's regions and adds an additional variety between each empire.

Egypt: Has no limit on armies.

Carthage: Can spawn mercenary armies in any location under their control. These armies have two attack and two defense rolls.

Rome: Rome gains an additional tech path.

Persia: Persian fortifications no longer cost wood. Persian settlements no longer cost food.

Gaul: Gallic troops and regions have an additional defensive die roll.

Greece: Ships only cost one wood, and there is no upkeep on ships for Macedonia.

The final change to the game comes in the form of catastrophe cards. The purpose of these cards is to help players catch up by hindering players who are farther ahead to a greater degree. Catastrophe cards are revealed every five turn cycles and affects each player. The deck of catastrophe cards is randomized so that the card that is going to be flipped is not known.

Catastrophe Cards

Famine: For every army, each player has, including mercenaries, must pay one food card or lose that army.

Plague: Each player loses half of their settlements rounded down.

Pirates: For every city, a player has they must pay one gold if they can not pay the gold the city is occupied by pirates causing it to no longer be under any players control.

Winter: All regions that are not settled or are cities that have an army in them lose that army. Armies in ships survive.

A Fire Has Burned Down Libraries Across The Mediterranean: Each player loses the highest level of technology they control. If they control more then one at an equal level the newest technology is lost.

Raiders: Any fortification in a region bordering an enemy/barbarian region is destroyed by raiders.

Hurricane: All ships not on the coast of friendly settled regions or cities are destroyed.