Empire Struggle - Board Game

Empire Struggle — is a hardcore duel game from the authors of the legendary Twilight Struggle about the global confrontation between two great superpowers of the 18th century: Britain and France. This game — is a true cocktail of the genres of «wargame» and «euro». You will not only immerse yourself in exciting historical battles, managing your armies and fleet, but also enter a brutal world of political intrigue and struggle for trade supremacy around the world. Develop your economy, spread your influence, and prepare for wars to bring your empire to victory!

Empire Struggle covers a significant period of world history from 1697 to 1789, which will later be referred to as the Second Hundred Years' War between Britain and France. But that does not mean that Empire Struggle is a game exclusively about war: both opposing sides will have to lay the foundations of economic and social stability, establish relations with other nations, and achieve political influence in different parts of the world.

A game of Empire Struggle consists of six peaceful rounds divided into three eras, and four wars occurring between them. During a peaceful round, you use investment tokens that represent political, military, and economic opportunities for each side. On each token, there is a number of action points you can spend. If you see in the game, for example, only one available political token, it might be worth denying it to your opponent rather than taking an economic or military token with a higher value in action points — such tactical decisions arise constantly, adding more excitement to your already tense confrontation.

With economic points, you expand and develop control over the trade of the main goods of the time: furs, sugar, cotton, fish, tobacco, and spices. With political points, you will negotiate with other European countries and groups of indigenous people. Military points will help prepare for the inevitable wars and strengthen your colonial possessions. By using all three types of action points, you will be able to outpace your opponent in various areas of competition — taxation, industry, and education. And watch out for debts! They can become embarrassingly huge as a consequence of your unchecked ambitions.

Along with investment tokens, you will be able to play event cards that can provide very useful bonuses if you have prepared the ground for them in advance.

During wars, you compare your combat strength with the opponent's strength on each theater of war. This power is composed not only of ground armies but also of various alliances, naval superiority, and even espionage. Only during wars can you take territories from your opponent, so they provide a unique opportunity to strengthen and expand your empire.

Unlike Twilight Struggle, Empire Struggle — is not a card game. In the sense that the cards do not define the entire possible spectrum of the player’s actions. In this game, you combine investment chips with event cards that your opponent does not know about. In addition, in Empire Struggle, there are no dice, which keeps randomness in the game to a minimum and mainly present during the playing of event cards.

Empire Struggle encompasses almost 100 years of history and four major wars. Nevertheless, it remains a dynamic game that can be completed in a few hours with an experienced group. As a spiritual successor to Twilight Struggle, it takes a step forward in the development of game mechanics, while maintaining the global scope and historical value of what is happening.

Will France seek to dominate trade with the East? Can Britain maintain control over the American colonies? Can the French Revolution overshadow the American one in importance and influence? You will be able to rewrite history yourself and determine how your struggle for empires unfolds!

Playing time: from 120 minutes

Number of players: from 2