[The Fiendish Dr. Samsara]

Conquest of the Empire was far and away my favourite of the line. Maybe just because I’m a European historian, I don’t know, but I loved building up my cities and my roads, in good, Roman style. The inflation mechanic was great; it wasn’t a “screw the lead” feature because everybody suffered. It added a nice element to consider when conquering or civilizing. The catapults were always a bit wonky, but that wasn’t a major problem.

Damn, if you added up the time my brother and I spent playing this…actually, I don’t think I’ll complete that line of thought. Bit disturbing.

Interestingly, my brother was working on some major rules revisions that sound somewhat like the new version of the game, with a functional senate and politicking. I’m really tempted to buy this, although my rational brain recognizes that my brother lives in Morroco and I live in Maui and the chances of us playing are rather slim.

Anyway, David, the old game was cool and this one sounds cooler.