Western empire game 3 - Monday group August 2026 (Part 4 End)

About Mega Empires, from BoardGameGeek:

Mega Empires is a modular empire-building strategy board game that covers the development of empires through history. It consists of the games The West (2019), The East (2021), The Far East - North (2027), and The Far East - South (2027) that can be played on a standalone basis or in combinations. In this colossal game, players lead their historic empire as they gain victory points by expanding their population, building cities, trading and developing their knowledge and culture. Notwithstanding its large scope, the game's core mechanics are straightforward and easy to learn. A key element in the game is player interaction as they position themselves on the map board and search for valuable commodities during interactive trading sessions. Scope Mega Empires consists of two pairs of standalone games: The West and The East are games for 3-9 players each, which can be combined as a game for up to 18 players. The West concentrates on the Mediterranean Sea, which requires movement by ship, The East covers Northeast Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and Southwest Asia, and has a stronger focus on movement by land. Both games were designed as balanced counterparts, albeit with unique characteristics. The Far East - North and The Far East - South are games for 3-5 players each, which can be combined as a game for up to 10 players. North has a strong focus on the land masses of East Asia, whereas South combines the continent, islands and abundant waters in South East Asia, which stimulates movement by ship. Both games were designed as balanced counterparts, albeit with unique characteristics. The game was designed to be the biggest board game in the world that can be played in a single day in one room. Despite its ambitions about size and duration, Mega Empires can be scaled down to as few as 3 players includes a scenario for playing a shorter game through an accelerated start. Gameplay Each player starts their empire with a single population token on the board. As the game progresses population will expand, spread over the board, sometimes engage in conflict, and build cities. Cities bring resources and wealth, expressed in trade cards. The more cities players manage to build on the board, the more trade cards they receive. Trade cards are mainly valuable commodities, but sometimes turn out to be disastrous calamities. Trade Trading is the heart of the game, a social experience where all players interact with each other to optimize the value of their sets of commodities. In addition to the desired commodities, calamities are secretly traded as well, adding an additional layer to the trading dynamics. Once the trading phase has ended, players that end up with a calamity in their hand will suffer its effects. Develop Civilization Advances When the smoke of trading and resolving calamities has settled, players can decide how to spend the wealth gathered through trading. The game includes a set of different advances that can be developed, each of which provides benefits in the game to its holder. The Civilization advances are divided into the categories Arts, Crafts, Science, Civics and Religion, each of which has specific powers. Each advance acquired by a player provides discounts to other advances that can be purchased later in the game, thereby creating a path of strategic decisions. Winning the Game The players who have best developed their position on the board whilst avoiding making enemies and defended their empire against natural or civic calamities and stand the test of time, will eventually gather the most victory points and compete for wining the game. Expansions The West/The East - The Special Buildings (2024) and The Far East - The Special Buildings (2027) are expansion sets that provide additional flavor to the game through respectively 18 and 12 miniatures of ancient buildings historically associated with each of the empires in the game. These buildings can be built on the map board and provide additional benefits in play and victory points to their controller. The Silk Road (2027) is a versatile expansion set for all Mega Empires games. It includes additional maps that create geographical connections between The Far East - North, The Far East - South, and The East. It also adds components for 2 more empires, along with rules and components for various alternative game setups. This even allows for the combination of all basic games for up to 30 players! The Silk Road also includes The Age of Grandeur Module, which is an upgrade to The Special Buildings expansion(s). It adds unique effects to the special buildings of each of the 30 empires in all Mega Empires products, indicated on large cards that players receive when constructing a special building. Whoever controls the building can use its unique effect to their advantage. The Pirate Ships Expansion (2027) is an expansion to The West and The East. It includes 10 miniature pirate ships that are placed in open sea areas on the board at the start of the game. Initially these pirate ships block players' movement by ship, but they can be used as mercenaries for attack or defense later in the game, creating interesting new dynamics on the board. It also includes a set of alternative copies of the Naval Warfare advance with a new attribute that interacts with the pirate ships. Pirate ships are by default included in The Far East - North and The Far East - South but this expansion can be used as an upgrade for the cardboard tokens. The Zodiac Events (2027) is an expansion to The West and The East. It contains a set of tokens and rules for events, which are effects triggered when moving the turn marker on the A.S.T. These effects generally apply to all players and provide various balancing mechanisms. The Zodiac events are themed around the Chinese Zodiac. The Zodiac events are by default included in The Far East - North and The Far East - South. The Quests Expansion (2027) is a small expansion set for all Mega Empires games. At the start of the game, each player receives a Quest card indicating a specific Civilization Advance. Players who successfully purchase the Advance shown on their Quest card during the game receive bonus Victory Points at the end of the game and may draw a new Quest card while they are available. The Cultural Heritage Module (2027) is a mini expansion to The West and The East for 3-4 players, when using the market board for trading. At the start of the game, each player receives a Cultural Heritage card that can be used for a one-time trading points bonus during the game. Accessories The The West - Deluxe Game Mat (2024), The East - Deluxe Game Mat (2024), The Far East - North - Deluxe Game Mat (2027), The Far East - South - Deluxe Game Mat (2027) and The Silk Road - Deluxe Game Mat (2027) consist of neoprene mats at 125% scale of the original cardboard maps, which offer an enlarged playing area and high-quality design for easier and more immersive gameplay. The Identifier Cards Bonus Pack (2024) is a set with 18 large player identifier cards, one for each of the empires included in The West and The East. These can be used for distributing the empires among the players during setup, to identify which stack of civilization advances belongs to which player, or to divide acquired cards from not yet acquired ones during the game. Identifier cards are by default included in The Far East - North, The Far East - South and The Silk Road. Wrap-up Mega Empires is a long strategic board game about development, trade, culture, politics and showing resilience when dealing with calamities. The game is a perfect fit for larger groups of strategic board game enthusiasts, which, due to its scalability, can also be played in smaller groups. It is not just a game, it is an experience! -description from the designers