Imperial Struggle

I do not want to pretend to be an expert after two rushed games and one proper one. Imperial Struggle needs time, calm, and a group willing to let it stretch out, like a good cigar; it is not a game to squeeze in between clocks and obligations. Even putting the cards back into sleeves, eight months later, felt oddly moving: a promise that I would finally give it the time it asks for.

Unlike Twilight Struggle, I do not feel compelled here to grab my opponent by the throat and throw them into a bear trap. The moves look further ahead, the score swings back and forth, and the game will usually run through all six rounds. That constant ebb and flow is enjoyable, but it also creates a gentler, less suffocating kind of confrontation.

The interaction is clearly there, especially once players know what they are doing and place more emphasis on war, but it lacks the constant anxiety of the scoring and actions that Twilight Struggle or 1984 give me. The game flows nicely and feels substantial without keeping your hand permanently above the panic button. For some people, that will be precisely the point; for me, it is a deliberate and respectable choice that simply does not hit my favourite nerve.

The major thorn in the early plays was how the rules are presented. The map illustration did not help me, while the rulebook's classic GMT format makes an already difficult job harder. There are many small rules, too few examples, and not enough warning texts to protect you from omissions that are easy to make while you are still learning. Until we reached a game that was 100% correct, the game always carried that little worry of, “Did we forget something again?”

In the end, I like Imperial Struggle, but I was not blown away. It is enjoyable and filling, and I give it credit for consciously standing apart from the more aggressive, punishing style of its relatives. Still, once the shrink wrap was off and we played it properly, it did not remain especially high in my personal preferences. Perhaps I would prefer it with fresh opponents who want this kind of conflict without taking the beating that other games reserve for new players from the very start.

Updated session

The third game, with the small rules and our omissions finally sorted out and with more emphasis on war, confirmed that the game works and flows beautifully when handled correctly. It did not change my final preference, though: rather than rising in my estimation, it clarified that its more relaxed tension is not what I most look for.