My copy of Tempus, the first in Malaysia, arrived in the post last week. I read the rules and organized a game yesterday. This was a 5-player game, all Eurogame veterans. Two of us, Dave and I, had played Avalon Hill’s Civilization before. The rules were quite easy to explain, as most of the mechanics were found in other games, so nothing new there.

Dave was the randomly-determined first player. He placed the first map tile northwest of the Sea of Tempus. KJ was next, followed by Jeff, myself and Heng. We built a strip of land in the north of the Sea of Tempus. So far so good, my warning of any map tile not being able to fit on the board gets discarded worked. Dave then placed his second tile to the southwest of his initial tile, KJ, being the unpredictable player that he was infamous for, created an isthmus with his tile. The rest of the players placed the remaining tile conservatively, and all 10 map tiles were used. There was one 6-hex lake in the south-west, a 1-hex lake in the south-east, and a long 7-hex river in the north-east, separating the north-east from the south and south-east.

Dave (yellow) placed his civilization in the west, KJ (black) in the north-east. This was very good placement as he was isolated from the rest of the board. The only danger was that a player could cut him off from the mainland by placing between KJ and the mainland, thus choking him off. Jeff (red) started in the centre, I (light blue) placed in the south-east and Heng in the south.

Turn 1
In the first turn, unsure of what to do, and believing in the age-old adage something about strength in numbers, Dave had babies. Everybody else followed suit. The second action round of the first turn was more varied as we realized we need to have ideas and also to move to farmlands to progress to the next Era. The third round was similar, but more babies were born. The Progress phase saw Heng, Jeff and I discover Writing.

Turn 2
Having babies was a fad that went the way cave graffiti did this turn, as Dave, Heng and KJ built cities, and the rest of us we covered grasslands to greet the next Era. Eventually, KJ moved on to the Farming Era, as the rest of us got left behind.

Turn 3
This turn, we had a eureka moment – cities were important as they provide constant Progress Points, as exemplified by KL on the previous turn. By the end of turn 3, Dave had two cities and the rest of us one each. Jeff strategically built his city two hexes away from mind, effectively delineating our common border. We ran to the hills to greet the Age of Cities. Dave, Jeff and I had 6 Progress Points each and we were advanced.

Turn 4
This Era saw an island-wide baby boom. Everyone had lots of babies. KJ increased to 2 cities. Jeff and Heng advanced to the Era of Roads.

Turn 5
More babies, ideas and cities this turn. Thee was a skirmish between Heng and I (I attacked). It was a 2-2 draw. I lost one token as a result. However, I managed to advance to the Era of Trade.

Turn 6
KJ built had the most babies and built one more city this turn while the rest of us were doing other things like having ideas and moving. KJ also occupied the most forest, hence he alone advanced to the Age of Ships.

Turn 7.
Another turn of baby boom and a few border skirmishes. We ran to the hills again, but Dave was the king of the Hills with his new city, and he advanced. City count: Dave: 3, KJ: 2 and the rest: 1.

Turn 8
It’s all over the newspapers, as KL built 3 cities to a total of 6 this turn. So that’s why he was having so many babies last turn. The rest of us were busy having ideas and having babies, in preparation for something terrible in the future. KJ advanced.

Turn 9
The Industrial Age, with all its social implications, caused island-wide warfare as we sniped at each other with our new rifles. One of Jeff’s red city was razed by Dave, while I built three more cities. Heng and I advanced to the Age of Steam.

Turn 10
There were fighting everywhere. No-one was spared! Extreme violence! From the ashes, Dave discovered Flight and got the 3 Victory Points.

Final Victory Points tally:
KJ: 13 city points+8 land points=21
Dave: 7 city points+8 land points+3 Flight points=18
Me: 8 city points+6 land points=14
Jeff: 6 city points+7 land points=13
Heng: 4 city points+6 land points=10

And so, that was our first game of Tempus and the winner was KJ.
We had mixed feeling about the game. Did the hype overshadow the game? I’ll write about it after my second game and post it on BGG.

Chua, can you check your notes? I don't remember advancing so many times in the technologies...

You are right Heng. You did not Progress to turn 6 the first time. The session report has been corrected. Apologies for giving you more credit than you deserve.

dddaaaarrrnnn yyyooouuuu!!!!