Prologue: Let me start by saying that while playing the odd wargame from time to time, I am not a wargamer by any standard. But sometimes (such as whenever the new GMT P500list is up) I wish I were. Then I wish I had the patience to read through 20 pages of rules and pages upon pages of addendum; I wish I had 5 days to play a game; I wish I could smoke a pipe and go "Hmmm" in a baritone voice when my opponent makes a move; I wish we had History Channel; and I wish I had friends with beard; but then something like Imperial comes along and reminds me why eurogames are hard to beat. Importantly, it is a game that takes us back to what <PERSON> already knew: War is too serious a matter to entrust to military men - and wargames are too serious a matter to entrust to wargamers alone. So, instead of reviewing the game as a wargame or through the history of WW1, I will resume my economist-self and review Imperial by its thematic corner-stone concepts - “Imperialism” and “War Bonds”. For me what makes a thematic game is the possibility of understanding the mechanics and even underlying strategies through its theme. And this is also what makes Imperial one of the most thematic games ever.
Me at the ConsimWorld Expo in 2013
About the designer: The game is designed by <PERSON>, the German whose father invented the Food Circle, the son became a game designer and introduced the "Rondel" into a large number of his designs: Antike, Imperial, Hamburgum, Navegador, and <PERSON>. The rondel basically dictates what actions you take in the game, and moving clockwise on it you will only reach a certain number of actions each turn. It’s a simple yet very clever action selection tool and it has for a reason become Gerdt’s signature design element.
The Rondel, Gerdt's signature design element
What the box says: "Europe in the age of imperialism. International investors try to achieve the greatest influence in Europe. With their bonds, they control the politics of the six imperial nations: Austria Hungary, Italy, France, Great Britain, the German Empire, and Russia. The nations erect factories, build fleets, and deploy armies. The investors watch as their nations expand, wage wars, levy taxes, and collect the proceeds. Since the European nations are under the shifting influence of different investors, new strategic alliances and conflicts arise between them again and again! Each player represents an international investor. 993
Only he who succeeds in increasing his capital and gaining influence in the most powerful European nations will win the imperial competition. Imperial is a varied strategy game without the luck of dice or cards. Two to six players, from about twelve years and up, take on the role of imperial investors. The duration of the game is about two to three hours."
Reviewer provided translation: "Eurogames in an age where they can beat wargames in their theme turf. You take the role of international capitalists, who shift allegiance and sacrifice soldier blood for a sniff of the silver dollar. Only he who succeeds in suckin' in and suckin' dry the most governments will win the imperial competition. Imperial is a pure economic game without the luck of dice or cards, dressed up as a wargame of Grand strategy. Two and six players make the game virtually unplayable. The duration of the game is about 1,5 hours more than anticipated."
Art, components, rules: The in-game art is very Risk-like and more functional than good-looking. On the map, I think the Benelux countries are too small as often you cannot fit the armies inside the borders. The components (the troops and factories) are very nice wooden pieces but combining their quite "big" size with some of the smaller areas on the map it can be very fiddly to move pieces around without knocking other pieces over. The paper money I could also do without but that's easily replaceable. The rules are quite clearly written, even though I think it would be good to have included some more examples in the rulebook itself even though the included Example-Turn booklet is very good and informative.
Backstory and its effect on gameplay: I will not spend time rehashing the rules, but rather I will concentrate on the theme's backstory and make some comments on how this connects to gameplay and strategy. The game is set in the early stages of WW1, where the players act as international investors. In the setting of eurogames, the editors at and should get kudos for keeping the WW1-setting as I think most eurogamers are fed up with playing medieval or renaissance merchants in velvet and satin pantaloons. 993