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Imperial Elegy: The Road to the Great War 1850-1920

Imperial Elegy: The Road to the Great War 1850-1920

2025·Michael Lorino

Videos
20
Creators
6

Mostly playthroughs. Imperial Elegy: The Road to the Great War 1850-1920 is covered on BoardGameVideo.com by 1 reviews, 4 how-to-play guides, 13 recorded sessions, and 2 unboxings.

1 - 6 players
60 - 600 min
Very heavy weight: Rules-dense, long sessions

From BoardGameGeek

Imperial Elegy: The Road to the Great War 1850-1920 is a Strategic level multi-player card-driven board-wargame that blends diplomacy, warfare, and statecraft. Players take control of one of six unique major powers in the game: Germany/Prussia, the United Kingdom, France, Austria / Austria-Hungary, Russia and the Ottoman Empire. IE takes place over 7 turns, with each turn representing a decade. If a GW occurs, the game can be extended by, at most, 6 additional shorter GW turns. A turn consists of numerous player impulses, during which players play action cards for their CP or events. Players will use CP and events to colonize, conduct diplomacy, fight wars, as well as hinder their opponents. A turn is over once all players have consecutively passed or when all players are out of cards. Players take on the role of either Germany/ Prussia, the United Kingdom, France, Austria/Austria-Hungary, Russia, or the Ottoman Empire. Italy, should it unify, is not controlled directly by a player and instead interacts with the game using special rules. Imperial Elegy was designed primarily as a 6 player game, but it can accommodate smaller player counts, including solitaire. Players can win by fulfilling their individual National Goals and scoring Victory Points. But if the Great War occurs, the victory conditions change. In addition to this, a game can end in an Auto-Victory if a player takes control of a certain number of territorial keys.

Imperial Elegy: The Road to the Great War 1850-1920

Watch first

Learn to play

Imperial Elegy intro a4:11:10

Imperial Elegy intro a

calandale

calandale

Review

Imperial Elegy review1:46:44

Imperial Elegy review

calandale

calandale

Watch it played

Imperial Elegy - 8 hours in 20 sec0:19

Imperial Elegy - 8 hours in 20 sec

xiipledge

xiipledge

Which Imperial Elegy: The Road to the Great War 1850-1920 video should I watch?

Imperial Elegy: The Road to the Great War 1850-1920 has 20 videos from 6 creators: 1 review, 4 how-to-play guides, 13 playthroughs and 2 unboxings. They date from 2025 to June 2026.

To learn the rules, start with "Imperial Elegy intro a" by calandale, which runs 4 h 11 min. For a quicker teach, "Imperial Elegy - Basic Game Concepts" by Michael Lorino runs 28 min.

For an opinion before you buy, start with "Imperial Elegy review" by calandale. To see it played, watch "Imperial Elegy - 8 hours in 20 sec" by xiipledge, one of 13 playthroughs.

If you like it, try RAF: The Battle of Britain 1940, Malta Besieged: 1940-1942, Field Commander: Rommel or Caesar: Rome vs. Gaul, which share several of its mechanics.

All videos

Imperial Elegy reviewReview1:46:44

Imperial Elegy review

calandale

calandale

Imperial Elegy GW & wrapPlaythrough4:41:44

Imperial Elegy GW & wrap

calandale

calandale

Imperial Elegy 7Playthrough1:50:23

Imperial Elegy 7

calandale

calandale

Imperial Elegy 6Playthrough1:23:46

Imperial Elegy 6

calandale

calandale

Imperial Elegy 5Playthrough1:46:49

Imperial Elegy 5

calandale

calandale

Imperial Elegy 4Playthrough1:33:22

Imperial Elegy 4

calandale

calandale

Imperial Elegy 3Playthrough1:50:13

Imperial Elegy 3

calandale

calandale

Imperial Elegy 2Playthrough2:37:11

Imperial Elegy 2

calandale

calandale

Imperial Elegy 1Playthrough2:01:22

Imperial Elegy 1

calandale

calandale

Imperial Elegy intro bHow to play3:44:56

Imperial Elegy intro b

calandale

calandale

Imperial Elegy intro aHow to play4:11:10

Imperial Elegy intro a

calandale

calandale

Imperial Elegy - 8 hours in 20 secPlaythrough0:19

Imperial Elegy - 8 hours in 20 sec

xiipledge

xiipledge

Imperial Elegy intro a4:11:10

Imperial Elegy intro a

calandale

calandale

Imperial Elegy - Solo Playthrough1:07:39

Imperial Elegy - Solo Playthrough

Michael Lorino

Michael Lorino

Imperial Elegy - Basic Game Concepts27:42

Imperial Elegy - Basic Game Concepts

Michael Lorino

Michael Lorino

Imperial Elegy intro b3:44:56

Imperial Elegy intro b

calandale

calandale

Imperial Elegy review1:46:44

Imperial Elegy review

calandale

calandale

Imperial Elegy - 8 hours in 20 sec0:19

Imperial Elegy - 8 hours in 20 sec

xiipledge

xiipledge

Imperial Elegy 12:01:22

Imperial Elegy 1

calandale

calandale

Imperial Elegy - 125:23

Imperial Elegy - 1

Wargame Ramble

Wargame Ramble

Imperial Elegy 22:37:11

Imperial Elegy 2

calandale

calandale

Imperial Elegy 61:23:46

Imperial Elegy 6

calandale

calandale

Imperial Elegy 31:50:13

Imperial Elegy 3

calandale

calandale

Imperial Elegy GW & wrap4:41:44

Imperial Elegy GW & wrap

calandale

calandale

Imperial Elegy 41:33:22

Imperial Elegy 4

calandale

calandale

Imperial Elegy 51:46:49

Imperial Elegy 5

calandale

calandale

Imperial Elegy - Turn 2 Recap24:30

Imperial Elegy - Turn 2 Recap

Wargame Ramble

Wargame Ramble

Imperial Elegy 71:50:23

Imperial Elegy 7

calandale

calandale

Imperial Elegy - Turns 5-7 and Wrap35:57

Imperial Elegy - Turns 5-7 and Wrap

Wargame Ramble

Wargame Ramble

Imperial Elegy - Turns 3 & 4 Recap25:51

Imperial Elegy - Turns 3 & 4 Recap

Wargame Ramble

Wargame Ramble

Imperial Elegy Overview | Strategic Historical Wargame | VUCA Simulations | Solo Wargame17:40

Imperial Elegy Overview | Strategic Historical Wargame | VUCA Simulations | Solo Wargame

Zilla Blitz

Zilla Blitz

Imperial Elegy (VUCA) | First Look38:18

Imperial Elegy (VUCA) | First Look

Hexed And Countered

Hexed And Countered

Creators who cover this

All channels
calandale
calandale
11 videos of this game
Wargame Ramble
Wargame Ramble
4 videos of this game
Michael Lorino
Michael Lorino
2 videos of this game
Hexed And Countered
Hexed And Countered
1 video of this game
xiipledge
xiipledge
1 video of this game
Zilla Blitz
Zilla Blitz
1 video of this game

Games like this

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RAF: The Battle of Britain 1940

2009·John H. Butterfield

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68
Creators
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Mainly playthroughs

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Malta Besieged: 1940-1942

2011·Steve Carey

Videos
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Field Commander: Rommel

2008·Dan Verssen

Videos
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Caesar: Rome vs. Gaul

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Mainly playthroughs and unboxings

2 players·120 - 240 min·Heavy weight

About Imperial Elegy: The Road to the Great War 1850-1920

From BoardGameGeek:

Imperial Elegy: The Road to the Great War 1850-1920 is a Strategic level multi-player card-driven board-wargame that blends diplomacy, warfare, and statecraft. Players take control of one of six unique major powers in the game: Germany/Prussia, the United Kingdom, France, Austria / Austria-Hungary, Russia and the Ottoman Empire. IE takes place over 7 turns, with each turn representing a decade. If a GW occurs, the game can be extended by, at most, 6 additional shorter GW turns. A turn consists of numerous player impulses, during which players play action cards for their CP or events. Players will use CP and events to colonize, conduct diplomacy, fight wars, as well as hinder their opponents. A turn is over once all players have consecutively passed or when all players are out of cards. Players take on the role of either Germany/ Prussia, the United Kingdom, France, Austria/Austria-Hungary, Russia, or the Ottoman Empire. Italy, should it unify, is not controlled directly by a player and instead interacts with the game using special rules. Imperial Elegy was designed primarily as a 6 player game, but it can accommodate smaller player counts, including solitaire. Players can win by fulfilling their individual National Goals and scoring Victory Points. But if the Great War occurs, the victory conditions change. In addition to this, a game can end in an Auto-Victory if a player takes control of a certain number of territorial keys.

Designer

Michael Lorino

Artists

Donal Hegarty, John Singer Sargent

Publisher

VUCA Simulations

Categories

Post-NapoleonicWargameWorld War I

Mechanics

Card-DrivenDice RollingArea MovementSimulation
View on BoardGameGeek ›
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