Imperium: Legends

2021

Experience the thrill of leading one of eight unique civilizations in Imperium: Legends. Conquer new lands, advance scientifically and culturally, and navigate between expansion and unrest to build the most dominant empire in history.

160
minutes

1 - 4
player(s)

14+

Medium Heavy

About the game

Imperium: Legends is a game that immerses you into a world of ancient civilizations and legendary empires. Set in a richly imagined universe, the game offers a unique blend of history, mythology, and fantasy, allowing players to lead one of eight asymmetric civilizations towards glory.

The game’s theme revolves around civilization-building, exploration, conflict, and diplomacy. From the enchanted forests of the Arthurian Albion to the grand halls of the Norse, each civilization narrates its unique story, offering distinctive abilities and strategies to master.

Game components Unboxing the fun!

Imperium: Legends is a deck-building game that uses a combination of cards and tokens to create an engaging gameplay experience. Here are the components of the game and their functions:

1. Game Cards:

Advancements: These are cards that are added to a player’s deck throughout the game to improve their civilization.
Events: Event cards represent different things that may happen during the game. When drawn, they must be resolved immediately.
Exhausted cards: These cards are used to track actions or abilities that have been used and cannot be used again until the card is refreshed.

2. Tokens:

Population Tokens: These tokens are used to represent the size of a player’s civilization. The more tokens a player has, the larger their civilization is.
Materials Tokens: These tokens represent the resources that a player has collected. They can be used to buy advancements and build structures.
Fame Tokens: These tokens represent the fame of a player’s civilization. Fame is gained by achieving certain goals and is used to determine the winner of the game.

3. Player Boards:

Each player has a board that represents their civilization. The board is used to track a player’s progress, their resources, and their population. It also provides a place for players to play cards.

4. Dice:

The dice in Imperium: Legends are used to resolve combat. Each player rolls the dice and compares the result with their opponent’s roll to determine the outcome of the battle.

5. Player Markers:

Player markers are used to track a player’s progress on the score track. They are also used to indicate which player is the current player.

In Imperium: Legends, players use their cards and tokens to build their civilization, expand their territory, and compete with other players. The goal of the game is to become the most famous civilization by the end of the game.

Game setup Lay it out, line it up, let’s go

Imperium: Legends is a deeply strategic and rewarding deck-building game. This guide will provide you with a detailed, step-by-step setup of the game. By following these instructions, you’ll be ready to dive into the engaging world of ancient civilizations and their quest for supremacy.

Step 1: Determine Player Roles

Each player selects a civilization deck from the 8 available in the game. Each civilization has a unique playstyle, so choose one that suits your strategy best.
The chosen civilization becomes the player’s faction for the game. Each faction has a unique set of cards and strategies. It is recommended for beginners to start with ‘The Romans’ or ‘The Picts’.

Step 2: Prepare the Game Board

Place the main board in the center of the playing area. This board will hold the common cards that players can acquire during the game.
Shuffle the ‘Advancement’ cards and place them as a deck on the corresponding space on the game board. Draw the top five cards and place them face up in the five spaces next to the deck.
Do the same for the ‘Fate’ cards, placing them on their corresponding space on the board.

Step 3: Prepare Player Decks

Each player takes their civilization deck and separates the ‘Nation’ cards from the ‘Empire’ cards.
The ‘Nation’ cards form the initial deck for the player. Shuffle this deck and draw a hand of 5 cards.
The ‘Empire’ cards are set aside for now. These will come into play later in the game, as the player’s civilization evolves.

Step 4: Set Initial Resources

Each player takes a set of resource tokens (population, material, and territory) and sets them to their starting values as indicated on their Civilization card.
Each player also takes a progress marker and places it on the starting space of the progress track on the game board.

Step 5: Deal with Random Elements

Random elements are introduced through the ‘Fate’ deck and the ‘Advancement’ deck. These decks should be shuffled thoroughly to ensure randomness.
During the game, players will have the opportunity to draw cards from these decks, bringing an element of unpredictability and excitement to the game.

With these steps completed, you’re ready to start playing Imperium: Legends. Remember, the key to winning is to effectively manage your resources, make strategic decisions about card play, and adapt your strategies to the evolving game state. Enjoy the game!

Game flow Round and round we go

Imperium: Legends is a card-driven board game that allows players to lead one of the many asymmetrical civilizations in the game. The game is divided into rounds, each of which comprises four distinct phases: the Draw Phase, the Action Phase, the Cleanup Phase, and the Refresh Phase.

The Draw Phase: This is the first phase of each round. During this phase, players will replenish their hand of cards up to their hand size limit. Players can also choose to discard any number of cards from their hand before drawing, allowing them to cycle through their deck faster.

If your deck is empty when you need to draw a card, reshuffle your discard pile and form a new deck.
If you draw the last card of your deck, you immediately advance your civilization from the developing to the empire state, assuming it is not already in the empire state.

The Action Phase: This is the main phase of the round where players perform actions using the cards in their hand, in play, or from their history. Players can take as many actions as they want, as long as they can pay the cost.

Play a card: Each card has a cost (usually in the form of other cards from your hand), which must be paid to play the card.
Activate a Card: Some cards have abilities that can be activated. To activate a card, pay the required cost and follow the instructions on the card.
Progress: Players can place cards from their hand into their history. This allows them to potentially score points at the end of the game.

The Cleanup Phase: After all players have performed their actions and passed in succession, the cleanup phase begins. During this phase, players have to check their hand size limit again.

If a player has more cards than their hand size limit, they must discard down to their hand size limit.
Unspent materials or population are also discarded during this phase.

The Refresh Phase: This is the final phase of the round. During this phase, all players will reset their tableau by readying their exhausted cards and refreshing their spent resources. Any ongoing effects end, and play proceeds to the next round.

Ready all exhausted cards: Any cards that were exhausted (turned sideways) during the action phase are now readied (turned upright).
Refresh resources: Any resources that were spent during the action phase are now refreshed. Players can use these resources again in the next round.

The game continues in this loop until one player meets the victory conditions specified for their civilization, at which point that player is declared the winner.

Players'turn One turn to rule them all

Imperium: Legends is a strategy board game where players lead ancient civilizations to achieve supremacy. Each player’s turn consists of several actions that they may choose to perform. These actions can decisively impact the outcome of the game, and each decision should be made with careful strategic consideration.

A player’s turn is divided into two phases: Action Phase and Cleanup Phase.

Action Phase

During the Action Phase, players can perform up to two actions from the following list:

Play a Card: Players may choose to play a card from their hand. The effects of the card are resolved immediately. It’s essential to understand the abilities of each card to maximize their potential.
Advance a Card: Players can advance a card from their hand or play area to their history. Advancing a card can help shape your civilization’s development, but it also removes the card from play, which could limit your future options.
Exert Influence: Players may exert influence over a region by placing one of their cards there. This could potentially increase their resource production and aid in their civilization’s growth.
Innovate: Players can add a card from the common deck to their discard pile. This allows you to tailor your civilization’s development to your strategy, but it also dilutes your deck with potentially less useful cards.

Cleanup Phase

After the Action Phase comes the Cleanup Phase, where players prepare for their next turn.

Refresh: Players refresh up to five cards from their draw pile into their hand. If the draw pile runs out, they reshuffle their discard pile back into their draw pile. This ensures a steady flow of new options for future turns.
Develop: Players can add a card from their history to their hand. This allows them to reuse powerful cards that they’ve previously used, potentially allowing them to repeat successful strategies.
Score: Players add up the points from their civilization’s achievements, regions under their influence, and certain card effects. The player with the highest score at the end of the game is the winner.

Strategic choices in Imperium: Legends revolve around managing your civilization’s development, influencing regions, and selecting cards that align with your strategies. The interplay of these choices forms the core of the game’s strategy and the path to victory.

End of the game All good games must come to an end

Imperium: Legends is a strategy board game that can end in several ways. The end can be triggered either by a player or by the game itself. Understanding when and how the game ends is crucial for players to strategize and plan their moves accordingly.

Victory Conditions:

The game ends immediately and a player wins if any of the following conditions are met:

A player has managed to take control of all the provinces in the game. This means they have placed their control markers in all the available regions on the game board.
A player has collected 6 different types of goods in their warehouse.
A player has acquired 10 victory points through various game actions like controlling provinces, accomplishing objectives, or through certain card effects.

Game-Triggered End:

In addition to the player-triggered victory conditions, the game itself can also trigger the end. This happens when:

The draw deck runs out of cards. In this case, after the current round ends, the game concludes, and players proceed to final scoring.

Final Scoring:

If the end of the game is triggered by the draw deck running out and no player has met any of the victory conditions, the players proceed to final scoring. Here’s how final scoring works:

Controlled Provinces: Players receive points equivalent to the number of provinces they control. Each province has a value indicated on it.
Different Types of Goods: Players receive points for the different types of goods in their warehouse. Each type of good provides a certain number of points.
Card Effects: Some cards provide victory points as stated on the cards. Players add these points to their total.
Objectives: Players receive points for completed objectives as indicated on the objectives.

The player with the most points at the end of final scoring is declared the winner. In case of a tie, the player with the most controlled provinces wins. If there’s still a tie, the player with the most different types of goods wins.

Scoring Did you outsmart your rivals?

Imperium: Legends is a unique and engaging board game where players lead their civilizations to dominion. The game offers numerous ways to earn points, and the player with the highest total points at the end of the game wins. Here’s a detailed breakdown of the scoring system:

Scoring during the game:

Progress cards: Whenever a player “develops”, they gain the progress card they have developed. Each card has a numeric value at the top right corner. This value is added to the player’s total score.
Tribute cards: Players may choose to play tribute cards from their hand during their turn. These cards can also have a numeric value that is added to the player’s total score.
Land cards: These cards, when played, can contribute to a player’s score based on the numeric value indicated on the card.

Scoring at the end of the game:

Developed cards: At the end of the game, players add the numeric values of all the progress cards they have developed throughout the game to their score.
Remaining cards in hand: Players also add up the numeric values of any remaining cards in their hand.
Region cards: Each region card a player controls at the end of the game contributes a set number of points to their final score.
Unrest cards: Each unrest card in a player’s deck or hand at the end of the game subtracts one point from their total score.

Tie-breaking rules:

In the event of a tie, the game has specific rules to determine the winner:

The player with the fewest unrest cards in their deck and hand is the winner.
If there is still a tie, the player who went earlier in the turn order wins.

Particular Cases and Exceptions Wait… is that legal?

Imperium: Legends is a complex game with unique mechanics and rules. Here are some important special rules, exceptions, and clarifications to consider for a smoother gameplay experience.

1. Action Refresh: Unlike many other board games, in Imperium: Legends, players do not refresh their actions at the start of their turn. Instead, they must play a refresh action card. This means that if a player runs out of actions and does not have a refresh card, they cannot perform any actions on their turn.

2. Civilization and Barbarian Decks: Imperium: Legends features distinct decks for civilization and barbarian factions. Players cannot mix cards from these decks. This rule is a common source of confusion among new players.

3. Card Break Limit: Each faction has a break limit. If a player’s break limit is exceeded in a battle, they lose the battle. However, there’s an exception for the ‘Titan’ card which does not count towards the break limit.

The Titan card is not considered a “unit” and therefore does not count towards the break limit.

4. Progress Tokens: Some abilities or events may award progress tokens. These tokens can be spent to achieve progress, but cannot be used to pay for actions or abilities that require a specific type of resource.

Progress tokens are not considered a resource and therefore cannot be used as such.

5. Solitaire Gameplay: Imperium: Legends includes rules for solitaire gameplay. In a solitaire game, the player plays against an AI opponent. The AI does not follow the same rules as a human player and instead has its own set of AI rules detailed in the rulebook.

6. Card-specific rules: Some cards have special rules that are only detailed on the card itself. These rules override the general game rules.

For example, the ‘Epic Poem’ card allows a player to draw three cards instead of one during the draw phase.
The ‘Gladiator Games’ card prevents opponents from attacking the player on their next turn.

Players are encouraged to read the full rulebook and any card-specific rules carefully before beginning a game of Imperium: Legends.

Tips and tricks Play smarter, not harder!

Imperium: Legends is a unique card-driven board game that allows players to lead one of several unique civilizations to greatness. Here are some strategies, tips, and common mistakes to avoid.

Advanced Strategies:

One important strategy in Imperium: Legends is to focus on your nation’s unique abilities. Each nation has specific strengths that you can use to your advantage. For example, if you’re playing as the Romans, focus on military might, or if you’re playing as the Egyptians, focus on technological advancements.
Always look to play Progress cards as soon as possible. These cards are added to your history and provide permanent benefits, often shaping your strategy for the rest of the game.
Try to manage your deck carefully. The game involves a lot of deck-building elements, so it’s important to keep your deck lean and efficient.

Beginner Tips:

As a beginner, it’s important to read all the cards carefully and understand how they interact with each other. Take your time and don’t rush your moves.
Try to play a variety of nations. Each one provides a unique playstyle and mechanics, which can help you understand the game better.
Don’t forget about your Solitaire cards. These are powerful cards that can swing the game in your favor.

Common Mistakes to Avoid:

Don’t ignore the Unrest cards. These can be detrimental if not managed properly. Always have a plan to deal with them.
Don’t focus too much on one aspect of the game. It’s important to have a balanced approach, focusing on both technological advancements and military might.
Avoid overloading your deck with cards. It’s better to have a lean deck with a clear strategy than a bloated one with no clear focus.

Ways to optimize gameplay:

Try to plan your turns ahead. This can help you make the most of your cards and actions.
Remember that you can reshuffle your discards into your deck. This can be used to get important cards back into your hand.
Always keep an eye on your opponents. Understanding their strategies can help you plan your moves more effectively.