Imperial Borders

After we had already burned the hell out of everything and let the coals die down so we could sleep, it was time for the main roast: Imperial Borders. It is the bastard child of War Room and Nightingale games, with Harris delivering a “less simulation, more wargame” design for people who love the genre and the Napoleonic era. Before we had even set up a proper game, we spent an entire morning gluing on flags, explaining things, and arranging the spectacle on the table. It was a shame that the group broke up suddenly before proper hostilities could begin.

From what we managed to see, the rules are especially approachable, even if there are a few more demanding bits, and the flow looks smooth. At its core is the written, hidden-orders mechanism familiar from War Room, here in a more developed form. That means players plan in secret, reveal their intentions, and have plenty of chances to make a complete mess of things.

The interaction seems to come directly from those clashing plans and, naturally, from the many dice and cannons being fired. We saw a few battles, enough to understand the lethality of this dicefest. Unlike War Room, Imperial Borders moves further away from the historical foundations of the period and opts for a noticeably symmetrical experience, where the countries are more or less equivalent. To me, that is an improvement: each game can develop however it wants, without feeling dictated by scripted moves.

We did not manage to play the full game in the end, but that did not stop us from spending hours in deeply satisfying theorycrafting over openings and possible plays. The interruption ended happily for the person who had to leave urgently for the garage, while the rest of us were left certain that this looks like a massive game. On the next trip, I will push for half a day of Imperial Borders with six players. There will be carnage.