Comments on: Imperial Adventures

By: Taylor & Company

Taylor & Company — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 03:21:12 +0000

EU3: Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit, 1479-1489

Queen Mary has done a matchless job navigating her realm to the height of international prestige. England is well-regarded in most European courts, due in no small part to Mary’s considerable influence with the Roman Curia and Imperial courts of the Holy Roman Empire. England is also blessed with a reasonably stable economy, and the victorious wars in France, Greece and Turkey have helped spread her fame around the known world. The English court is guided by knowledgeable peers, and the Queen’s subjects are protected by the Magna Carta Libertatum, in force since 1215 A.D. and reissued several times since.

By: Taylor & Company

Taylor & Company — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 03:20:34 +0000

EU3: Non Semper Erit Aestas, 1465-1479

Constantinople—the once-grand Nova Roma of the Eastern Roman Empire—is now home to Adam Dundas’ small, beleaguered occupation army. Every few months an Ottoman force appears outside the Theodosian Walls, intent on sieging the city. The English garrison dutifully marches out and repels the attackers, but attrition, desertion and disease are taking a heavy toll. In November of 1464, 4,400 English knights and infantry occupied the city; by January of 1465, only 3,300 remain.

By: Taylor & Company

Taylor & Company — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 04:07:48 +0000

EU3: Imperatrix Romanorum Electus, 1456-1465

An exhausted England rejoices at the Treaty of Toulouse and the end of the Hundred Years War. Church bells exult the great victory, and John Neville earns the sobriquet “Hammer of the French”. Finally, England’s Norman rights are confirmed.

By: Colin

Colin — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 20:25:03 +0000

I have the tabletop Empires in Arms game. Extremely intimidating manual.
And I remember steamrolling you to the French border. That was fun!

By: Chris Taylor

Chris Taylor — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 16:56:47 +0000

Looking over the Empires in Arms screenshots and description, it does seem like a sort of proto-EU strategy game. Looks like a lot of fun. But then I rolled three ones -- THREE! -- and the French player rolled two fives and a six -- And Napoleon escaped to fight another day. I don't think I've ever been angrier. Yeah that's kind of crazy-making. Kind of funny how those experiences stay with us over the years. =) Used to love to play games like NATO: The Next War in Europe with a bunch of pals. As I recall I was the only NATO commander amongst the group to get rolled up to the French border and then have to resort to nukes.

By: Bruce Gottfred

Bruce Gottfred — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 19:38:41 +0000

I liked EU because it is very derivative of an old Avalon Hill board game I played in my nerdy youth. Empires in Arms recreated the Napoleonic Wars in a way similar to EU.
Six friends and I actually finished a game — part of a very small club, I can assure you — and I won playing England. For six months the game sat on the kitchen table of my seedy apartment in Winnipeg. My worst moment was when Wellington met Napoleon in Southern France around 1810. I chose to outflank, and he chose to defend — an extremely advantageous result for me. But then I rolled three ones — THREE! — and the French player rolled two fives and a six — And Napoleon escaped to fight another day. I don’t think I’ve ever been angrier.
But the best was when I used my superior navy to deliver and supply Turkish Janisarries to the coasts of France to wreck the French economy. Good times…

By: Chris Taylor

Chris Taylor — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:09:41 +0000

I have played EU2 out to a point very near the ending, but not the actual end. I’m hoping to get to the end of an EU3 game before the expansion is released. =)
And may I say I am shocked and pleased to find another EU player amongst the blogorati! I figured games of this ilk were a bit to obscure, I guess. Good to know there are others out there.

By: Bruce Gottfred

Bruce Gottfred — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 22:29:29 +0000

Good luck keeping this up. If you manage to finish the game, you’ll have enough text to fill a couple of large books.
I played EU I and II and was impressed by the design, but never was able to finish a game. Too long. Too frustrating. I’ve looked longingly at EU III but know it is not to be.
I actually had the plan to do just as you are doing and blog an entire game when I was up in Iqaluit. Playing England too! But after getting my butt handed to me too many times by the Scots (and having them bring the French in to make it worse) I eventually gave it up. But good luck to you. I don’t think I had Mary as a Queen though, so maybe you’ll make it.