1. Introduction


I have played this game once and did not quite finish it because I want to confirm my understanding of the rules on a couple of points. This review should be read bearing that in mind, but nonetheless I played enough of a game to have a solid basis of impressions (the session lasting a good number of hours).

I have looked forward to this game for a good deal of time and I am not at all disappointed. The reason I ordered it from GMT well more than a couple of months ago was because I like games that are classics (in the sense of a high-quality game that has stood the test of time) and also are games of strategy and tactics. My research indicated that Successors was such a game. My attitude toward theme is general that it's mere packaging of the game mechanics, but on the other hand I certainly was not put off by the theme; after all, before I switched to physics, I was working on becoming a classical historian. I will admit I was concerned that this game was a new "edition" (which often means a new game in substance) and so might not be the game I was looking for, but the fact that the rules booklet explains the differences between this and previous editions re-assured me. At some point, I'll probably use it to play as previous editions just to see how different this game is from them, but I like the fact that I CAN do that; it makes me feel like it is the new game plus the older ones.

I do have some minor complaints about the game, but they are just that-- minor. From my single play, I can already tell that this is the classic game I was looking for, and so I need not "move along".

2. Components

The relatively large board is big enough to represent the areas of conflict and fit the units needed without being cramped and yet fits easily on my admittedly relatively small table without any problem. The board is fully mounted and frankly beautiful. The board does have a very slight tendency not to lie entirely flat, but I played easily in spite of this; moreover, my board is (as of this writing) on my table with several large heavy volumes atop it-- which I fully expect to completely take care of the problem. My second minor complaint is that the green of independent cities and strongholds (as opposed to blue for non-independents) does not have a sharp contrast. Thus, I had to carefully examine each province when setting up and even so missed a few cities the first time through. From a practical point of view, this problem will tend to vanish with a few plays as I become more familiar with the board. If one is so inclined, one might also make a list of independents.

In such a list though, one ought also include the initial positions of royal family members. These are in three cases not marked on the counter but only by a tiny purple hexagon in the city-space with the royal's initial in it. The rules booklet makes no mention of this somewhat important point and I had to search for quite some time for the other hexs even after I found the clue in the play-example which mentions one of the royals starting in Sardis. This highlights my second complaint which is more serious; some points of the rules are not immediately clear. The points where this occurs are quite few but some are important. I do like a readable rules booklet, like the one this game has, but I want it to be complete and thorough. For the rules of play which are covered (easily 95%+) the coverage is quite thorough however.

The board consists of a large map of Macedonia and Greece proper in the northwest to Cyrene, Libya and Egypt in the southwest and as far eastward as Persia. Provinces are clearly marked with thick brown borders. A number of charts used in play and areas for dispersed units and units which enter play via cards, etc., line the edge of the board. The map itself is then overlaid with an irregular grid of points of four types: transit points, minor cities (marked as circles), major cities (marked as squares) and fortresses (marked as hexs). For game purposes, major cities and fortresses are often the same (as in the isolation phase mentioned below) but differences do occur in combat.

The counters are up to GMT's usual high standards. They punched out cleanly and easily; I don't clip my counters, but even if I did, I'd have had no reason to do so for this game. The artwork on the counters is well done but does not obscure the information needed for game-play. In spite of what the rules booklet says, however, the control markers are double-sided so that the players have to share bags of control markers in pairs rather than having separate markers for all players; I mention this only because the rules booklet says differently but this is thoroughly no big deal. Of more practical importance is that control markers are ever so slightly rounded at the edge on one side so that they are often difficult to pick up off the board-- especially without disturbing neighboring control markers.

The stands for the major generals and the usurper card in my copy came in a random assortment of colors such that giving each player's starting generals stands of the same color or at least not of the same color as any other player's is impossible. This is annoying because one cannot tell at a quick glance which generals belong to which players, even discounting Eumenes and Seleucus.

The box is high-quality both as a box clearly designed to last and with excellent artwork. The historical tidbits on the inner box are also notable.

The full-color rules booklet is clear and thorough, in spite of a few minor omissions. The historical notes are amusing if not always precisely correct. An extended sample game is included which often is useful at points where the rules do become somewhat unclear.

Finally, the card-stock and printing quality of the cards are excellent. These are easy to read and are even numbered for reference.

3. Rules


The game can be won in one of four ways. If at any point a player achieves enough VPs or legitimacy for automatic victory (as marked on the record track on the side of the board), that player wins immediately. If however by the end of the fifth round of the fifth game-turn no player has achieved automatic victory, the player with the most VPs wins; ties are not addressed in this case, but I presume if one does not wish to merely declare a tie, legitimacy is the most obvious tie-breaker. The fourth option is to be declared regent when either Heracles or Alexander IV come of age; to do so, the player must at the appropriate point of the game (start of turn 4 for Heracles and of turn 5 for Alexander IV) both have the highest total of combined VPs and legitimacy and control the heir in question; otherwise, the heir is murdered by the controlling player automatically.

At the start of the game, each player randomly selects two of eight major general cards. Other major generals exist but enter play either due to event cards or at a scheduled point of the game.

The game consists (at most) of five game turns consisting of five rounds and uses the same card system as We the People. At the beginning of each game-turn, the player with the least amount of VPs decides who goes first, thus determining turn order. VPs are scored for control of provinces so that players start the game with a certain number of VPs; as players gain or lose provinces (which must be completely controlled by the player to gain or keep the VPs) the total indicated on the record track at the side of the board is adjusted. The player with the most VPs is labelled the usurper; in case of a tie of VPs, the player tied who has more seniority (as indicated by the list in the rules) becomes the usurper. Then a reinforcements phase occurs, with the exception of the first game-turn. All players simultaneously receive reinforcements. Each player receives 2 mercenary CUs (combat units) plus bonus units are given to the player with the most VPs, most legitimacy and to the player who controls Macedonia. Ties in legitimacy are broken by the seniority list, but players tied for the most VPs each get half the bonus CUs for most VPs-- no matter how many are actually tied. If however, control of Macedonia is split, no one gets that bonus presumably.

At the start of each game-turn the deck of Tyche cards is re-shuffled and each player received 5 cards. Then the five rounds of the strategy phase occur (the bulk of the game). After the strategy phase, the isolation phase occurs during which any control markers from which one cannot trace any type of path to either friendly CUs or a friendly major city (marked by a square if unfortified and a hex if fortified, as opposed to a circle for minor cities and a dot for transit points) without traversing a city (major or minor) with an enemy or independent control marker on it but without any friendly units there (as in besieging it) are removed. Then the game-turn ends; at the end of game-turn 5, VPs are re-counted and the game ends but otherwise one moves the game-turn counter and proceeds to the next game turn. (My copy contained no marker which says on it "Game turn" or anything of the kind, but I presume that the unmarked white hex-counter was included for this purpose.)

Three types of cards exist: event, bonus and surprise cards. Surprise cards can be played at any time, even during another player's turn, and the player using the card then immediately draws a replacement card; surprise cards can also be discarded similarly at any time if the player does not want to or cannot use the card, but again a replacement card would immediately be drawn. Bonus cards are exactly like event card EXCEPT that one can use both the event AND the card's point value instead of only one or the other. The event then comes after the operations points are used and the player does not HAVE to use the bonus event if he does not want to. The rules do not explicitly state so, but my presumption is that a player does not draw a card after playing an event or bonus card. The reason for this assumption is that the rules state explicitly surprise cards are replaced but is silent on the matter in the case of event/bonus cards. One should also note that, unlike in many card-driven games of this type, only certain event cards are removed from play if the event is used; these will say explicitly on the card itself. (A note to this effect in the rules would have been nice.)

During each round of the strategy phase, first the surrender segment occurs in which CUs on a city without enemy or independent CUs or an independent control marker can (but do not have to) take control of that city; independent cities must always be besieged however. A player must then play an event or bonus card (surprise cards can be played first but do not count toward this obligation). If the event causes a general or generals to be moved, this does not count against that general's movement allowance and so (as stated explicitly in the rules) the same general can be moved by an event card and then later in the movement phase-- in contrast to most other games. If one plays an ordinary event card, the event occurs and the OPs (operation points) if any play no role.

OPs can be used to place control markers in cities without any control marker if they are adjacent to cities one already controls (1 marker per OP), to move a general or to train a CU. The rules do not explicitly state if the OPs can be split but the discussion of training CUs seems to indicate they can be.

In lieu of playing an event card, one can also discard to do either of two things: to upgrade a fleet to its stronger side or to bring a major general into play if one is lost. The wording of the rules is ambiguous here but I presume it must mean dispersed because otherwise the general is removed from play. The exception is bringing in Polycheron if Antipater is killed, and so I assume the wording is purposely ambiguous to cover this possibility as well.

After the Tyche card portion, a movement phase occurs. One can either forego movement completely in order to place a mercenary CU (subject to the restrictions on reinforcements which basically amount to on a friendly city that is not besieged and that CUs must always have a major or minor general with them but a minor general can always be placed when needed so long as all four are not currently in play) or move. To move, one rolls a die (applying the single roll's result to all generals) and compares the result to the general's movement rating on the movement chart to see how far the general can move. Basically, a roll higher than the movement rating allows 4, at the rating 3 and below allows only 2 MPs.

Movement by Tyche card or in the movement phase can be either by land or by sea but not a mixture; however, the same general can be moved for example by sea by a Tyche card and then by land during the movement phase. One general can be moved by sea during the Tyche card phase and one general by sea during the movement phase; this can be the same general. CUs can only move with a general but one can pick up and drop off CUs and generals along the way as desired. In principle whenever movement occurs (discounting interceptions and avoiding battle) interception is possible. On land, one can only intercept to an adjacent (meaning I assume immediately adjacent) location using a general and the stacked CUs. Doing so however will lose one one's champion status if the player whose units are being intercepted is not either the Usurper or a successor. Naval interception is possible if a player has at least one fleet and the moving player's declared sea path has at least one point within two points of a city the intercepting player controls. Fleet points seem to act both as CUs and as combat strength for naval combat but a player need not use all his fleets in combat. Seemingly any fleet can be used anywhere.

Whether by interception or otherwise, if a player does not successfully avoid battle, combat occurs. If however the attacker has more than 5 times the defender's CUs, an overrun occurs and the defender is automatically defeated so that the attacker's movement is not even interrupted. The combat rules are pretty standard; CUs combat strength is combined, adding local troop bonuses for control of the city and possibly also province where battle occurs. A general's combat rating acts as a minimum roll on either die. The loser's general and units are dispersed after attrition. If either player rolls a 9, he has to do a leader loss check. The charts for battle and attrition are pretty straightforward. What I find interesting is that a city does not go over to the victor until the next surrender phase for the victorious player. Fortresses, major cities and any independent city have to be besieged as well. This will often take a few turns, especially since sieges seem to be done only when a movement phase in which one does not forego movement in order to recruit a mercenary unit occurs.

After movement, a forage phase occurs which consists essentially of applying stacking limits.

One can also control any number of royals except only one heir.

A few more rules do exist but these seem straightforward and well explained.

4. Game-play

I won't comment too much about this because I've not played enough. Still, even from a single play I can tell that this game poses interesting tactical and strategic problems. One has multiple paths to victory which are not mutually exclusive. The legitimacy mechanism penalizes players from attacking other players who are not the usurper or who have not become successors. Of course, once one chooses to become a successor, one can attack at will without additional penalties. The usurper also acts as a "gang up on the leader effect" which levels the game rather than breaking it because it's PART of the game, not a meta-game effect.

My strong belief is that this will become a game I play often relatively speaking because there is so much meat to it as a game. Yes, the rules need a bit of clarification but after a couple of games this shouldn't be an issue anymore.

edits: for typos