I played Imperial once. I very quickly lost control of original country, and most of my cash. I spent the rest of the game investing in ~everyone~ and egging them onto fighting each other in costly wars. I ended up winning at the end by owning most of the lower investments of literally everyone. Elegant fun that paid off, but it was fourish hours of feeling like I'd lost.
Actually being "the Swiss" player is very profitable as they can invest so much more often than others. I often see those players upkeeping their status for many turns, buying out stakes of lower value, so as not to accidentaly start controlling a power. Also, while investing it is a subject of much consideration if it is worth it in the long run, to buy a valuable stake from another player, but give him the Swiss token in return. Often it's better not to do this.
@@TacitusSempronius I meant buying the majority package not directly from another player but in a way that results taking it (majority control) away from another player.
I'm so mad that I noticed this video just today, and not years ago! Also: we need more Ace Combat Fans in here!!! And last, but not least... . . . . . . . . BelkaDidNothingWrong
Finally, glad to see this game getting some love from a big reviewer. Imperial 2030 gives oodles of tension, trying to outplan and outwit your opponents, that's why I love it. There is an officialish diplomacy variant too by the designer that allows for wheeling and dealing on bgg, though I've never tried it.
This is my favorite game of all time, I'm glad you reviewed it and enjoyed it! If anyone picks this up, remember: you're a capitalist, not a country. Make decisions based on how much you'll profit and not necessarily on making a country better. New players seem to fall into the trap of feeling tied to their country instead of robbing every treasury blind. And don't underestimate the Swiss Bank! The smaller bonds have a higher return, and frequent investing is incredibly powerful.
The Swiss bank is the problem with this game. Being the Swiss bank is the best strategy, but if you are the Swiss bank you don't actually play the game. But waste hours only watching your friends playing.
One of my absolute favourite games. I don't think this review conveys how incredibly lively and interactive the game is. NO boardgame I own results in so much whooping etc. I play it with poker chips instead of the paper money. So much subtlety wrapped-up in a very simple set of rules - for example how you can gauge a player's motives (and danger to you) based on which countries they have invested in, so you might beg them to invest in your current country just so you can trust them not to attack you etc. And no it's nothing like Risk.
I love the original, so I'm thinking I'll pick this one up too. I definitely agree, 100% pure strategy game, no luck whatsoever. I find it very heart pounding, never knowing who is going to take which investments or take which nation away just before taxing them and stealing all the money from the land and infrastructure I spent a lot of time building up, or being on the other side watching another player build things up not realizing I've got my eye on their prize more than my own. The back and forth of power is crazy, its so hard to tell who is ahead. Good review, glad you did one of them.
I played Imperial (not 2030) with my kids last year and when I crashed Italy's armies into Austria-Hungary just to save money, my 12 year old said "this game is evil." That's when I knew it was a winner
This reminds me of playing 504's 9xx worlds, though of course it doesn't give the real-Earth-map satisfaction of things like "buying America", and lacks a certain sexy rondel.
Well done for reviewing this masterpiece. I think you may underestimate the amount of negotiation that can go into Imperial 2030. Every game I have played has seen a HUGE amount of people wheeling and dealing, threats, appeals, and recriminations. An element of role-play helps. When someone takes over the nation you have been nurturing so carefully and starts a crazy war, things can get emotional. So yeah, maybe some kind of direct trading mechanism might have been appropriate, but the game as is is truly fantastic and I'd be reluctant to fix what ain't broken.
2:23 "..... with a box cover that looks oddly like a certain rather famous political photo taken recently ....." haha Paul, you owe me a drink buddy, to replace the one I just spat at my computer monitor........ the similarity was freakin hilarious!!! Seriously, though, this is a very clever game, I can understand why Mr Gerdts regards it as his magnum opus design.
i came across new game called incorporated and now i can say that they are on similar lines on imperial 2030, and they do have some cool real events happening in the game
I prefer this over Brass Birmingham; same kind of leeching of eachother but to a greater extent, with more interaction and drama. The one negative is that Imperial is highly sensitive to the playgroup. Also I would suggest ditching the Investor card sometimes as well as the Swiss bank if you feel like you want to have more control over your assets during other peoples turns.
completely chickened out saying hi to these guys when I saw them playing some game concerning pizza (well it looked like pizza was involved in it somehow) at UKGE. Curse this ingrained need to not cause a fuss
I've played this sometime becoming the swiss bank in a few turns and the best thing: I WON by doing almost nothing. Just buying up all the small loans/interests and forcing every country to pay me out everytime. It's so delightfully evil a game.
"...flags onto, including sea spaces." No, that's not right. (I look at rules again) Oh yeh, it is right. That'll be why the game took several days for us to finish!
I had got this game. And I can say the one is a very enjoyable. It just needs some home rules and I'm sure you won't pull people away from the game even by the ears.
I played for the first time this evening. Lost my starting country 25% in to the game and couldnt get any other country because all of them i could get was shit. Basically sat for 2h doing nothing. Incredibly boring game session. Need another playthrough but for now I would not recommend it because of that serious flaws.
Double check the rulebook. Did you use the power of the Swiss Bank right? Because it can easily turn things around and the first few times I've played the game I got that mechanic wrong.
ofc i did. It turn out that the countries all bunched up on the track and the opportunity to buy one didnt come for more than 1,5h and then all the countries that i could buy after that was shit so there were no point in buying any of them(bought in the good ones). I did pretty well in the game(3 of 6 but very close 2nd) but omg it was boring and from what i have heard (from very good players that play a lot) this scenario is a common thing to happen.
I see... that must be pretty boring. I played this game 12 times and I've never seen such a specifically messed up situation, as you describe. I don't know if it's a common thing, but it surely never happened to me or my group.
Yes i though so to but after discussing it and got it described for me it is perfectly logical. As I am told i happens when you have very good players, mean and highly competitive players in the game. 1 or 2 countries tends to snowball and gets worth a lot more and everybody just rushes for shares in those countries which almost always leave some players without countries and not enough money to get control over the good countries. This is because it is beneficial for countries bully the weaker countries on the map. There is no real comeback mechanic to speak of. It is addressed in this video as well but they are not negative enough about it. But good that you have gotten spared from that boredom :P. I still think it is a serious flaw that if you play for winning the correct play is sitting and doing nothing for majority of the game. And I am told the player doing that almost has the best chance of winning. I have played another time now FYI and it happened exactly the same thing again. Not for me but two other players sat and did nothing for the majority of the game. Sorry to say it but never playing it again because these flaws. It is a bit of shame because the mechanics and the capitalistic side of the game is very appealing to me.
15:14 "that [your money] is always safe" An exception being that if you own a nation that's unable to pay the full amount of interest to its other investors (apart from yourself), then you must pay them out of your own wallet. Of course that's only if you're dumb enough to cause that nation's pawn to land on the 'Investor' space in this situation; you need to have it visit 'Taxation' first, or somehow gain additional investors, to first bring income into its treasury.
Hello SU&SD, can you recommend something similar to the Imperial? I like the game, but it requires about 4 hours of play and at least 3 players which is a rare case to gather together. Anything a bit more lightweight?
Basically, aye. You tend to have your own nations go to war with each other to kill off armies, just so the tax money you've gathered doesn't have to go back into maintaining them. The nations and their people are literally boiled down to mere pieces on a board that you and the other global investors look upon as you decide which ones you'd like to invest more money in.
Does this version suffer from the same flaw as the original? To wit: I have won (and seen others win) by never controlling any of the powers in the game, and only investing as a secondary share-holder in multiple nations. Not really fun, but a hard strategy to beat.
![[DRAGON BALL LEGENDS REVEALS ＆ STUFF] LEGENDS FESTIVAL 2024 Special Edition Part 1](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/mV5bGIswTtQ/mqdefault.jpg)
BEIGE IS EXCELLENT! It is clearly the finest of colours and I'll hear no more of this nonsense suggesting that it is in some way sub-superb.
I did not expect to see you here Lindybeige. Love your content.
2 of my favorite channels together 0_0 I must be dreaming
When he said that I immediately came to the comments to find you.
Watched a Lindybeige video just before this one, what a strange world RUclips is!
Thank you, keep up the good work
I played Imperial once. I very quickly lost control of original country, and most of my cash. I spent the rest of the game investing in ~everyone~ and egging them onto fighting each other in costly wars. I ended up winning at the end by owning most of the lower investments of literally everyone.
Elegant fun that paid off, but it was fourish hours of feeling like I'd lost.
Actually being "the Swiss" player is very profitable as they can invest so much more often than others. I often see those players upkeeping their status for many turns, buying out stakes of lower value, so as not to accidentaly start controlling a power. Also, while investing it is a subject of much consideration if it is worth it in the long run, to buy a valuable stake from another player, but give him the Swiss token in return. Often it's better not to do this.
@@robertchmielecki2580 I think you are not allowed to directly trade with others players.
@@TacitusSempronius I meant buying the majority package not directly from another player but in a way that results taking it (majority control) away from another player.
@@robertchmielecki2580 "Switzerland, where is your army?
"I thought we were playing Monopoly"
P
I need a Quinns "Our Best Leader" flag for my burgeoning nation/small apartment
Belka? The fictional nation from the Ace Combat games? Rock on!
I'm so mad that I noticed this video just today, and not years ago! Also: we need more Ace Combat Fans in here!!! And last, but not least...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
BelkaDidNothingWrong
Finally, glad to see this game getting some love from a big reviewer. Imperial 2030 gives oodles of tension, trying to outplan and outwit your opponents, that's why I love it. There is an officialish diplomacy variant too by the designer that allows for wheeling and dealing on bgg, though I've never tried it.
Imperial is a game about Lenin's theory of imperialism.
Hahaha that’s funny because I definitely conquered the board investing in Russia the one time I’ve played it.
I love how switzerland is entirely neutral.
This is my favorite game of all time, I'm glad you reviewed it and enjoyed it!
If anyone picks this up, remember: you're a capitalist, not a country. Make decisions based on how much you'll profit and not necessarily on making a country better. New players seem to fall into the trap of feeling tied to their country instead of robbing every treasury blind.
And don't underestimate the Swiss Bank! The smaller bonds have a higher return, and frequent investing is incredibly powerful.
The Swiss bank is the problem with this game. Being the Swiss bank is the best strategy, but if you are the Swiss bank you don't actually play the game. But waste hours only watching your friends playing.
One of my absolute favourite games. I don't think this review conveys how incredibly lively and interactive the game is. NO boardgame I own results in so much whooping etc. I play it with poker chips instead of the paper money. So much subtlety wrapped-up in a very simple set of rules - for example how you can gauge a player's motives (and danger to you) based on which countries they have invested in, so you might beg them to invest in your current country just so you can trust them not to attack you etc. And no it's nothing like Risk.
"First published on Month Day, Year." Oh, what a day and month that was.
And the year? Fuggeddaboudit
Creme de month!
I love the original, so I'm thinking I'll pick this one up too. I definitely agree, 100% pure strategy game, no luck whatsoever. I find it very heart pounding, never knowing who is going to take which investments or take which nation away just before taxing them and stealing all the money from the land and infrastructure I spent a lot of time building up, or being on the other side watching another player build things up not realizing I've got my eye on their prize more than my own. The back and forth of power is crazy, its so hard to tell who is ahead. Good review, glad you did one of them.
I played Imperial (not 2030) with my kids last year and when I crashed Italy's armies into Austria-Hungary just to save money, my 12 year old said "this game is evil." That's when I knew it was a winner
i swear that factory meeple is like a standard cut for factory pieces across all games since like 2004
This reminds me of playing 504's 9xx worlds, though of course it doesn't give the real-Earth-map satisfaction of things like "buying America", and lacks a certain sexy rondel.
This game needs a new edition/spiritual successor
The combat and the way you're actually a shadowy power pulling the strings of important nations seems very similar to A War of Whispers.
Well done for reviewing this masterpiece.
I think you may underestimate the amount of negotiation that can go into Imperial 2030. Every game I have played has seen a HUGE amount of people wheeling and dealing, threats, appeals, and recriminations.
An element of role-play helps. When someone takes over the nation you have been nurturing so carefully and starts a crazy war, things can get emotional.
So yeah, maybe some kind of direct trading mechanism might have been appropriate, but the game as is is truly fantastic and I'd be reluctant to fix what ain't broken.
Belka and Yuktobania?! Man, it's been so long since I've played Ace Combat.
the intro is brillant, we need a complet movie like this
2:23 "..... with a box cover that looks oddly like a certain rather famous political photo taken recently ....." haha Paul, you owe me a drink buddy, to replace the one I just spat at my computer monitor........ the similarity was freakin hilarious!!!
Seriously, though, this is a very clever game, I can understand why Mr Gerdts regards it as his magnum opus design.
I love that Quinns is dressed so similarly to being the Military leader in the Alien Mega Game
@6:30 "Wait, Paul, Paul, wait"
HOW DID HE KNOW WHAT I WAS SAYING??
Sounds like a hybrid of Diplomacy and Aquire. Both are also quite amazing games!
Indeed, it's like Acquire without the luck, plus Diplomacy without the loss of friends.
That Dr. Evil gaze at 3:33 XD
Showed up for another review, showed up again for a chuckle at the Ace Combat reference.
"Orgasmic Lego"
I am so stealing that line :D
Well, i can say you did good in installing that love for cardboard games
"Or sometimes a man, a man, and a man." God dammit that whole bit got me to laugh so hard.
this game answers why we have wars
I'm sorry but Belka does not share a border with Yuktobania. Get it right please.
Argascend revisionist
Long live king Vodubopso IV! And those who invested in him.
Belka doesn't share a border with Yuktobania YET.
i came across new game called incorporated and now i can say that they are on similar lines on imperial 2030, and they do have some cool real events happening in the game
12:20 - I was expecting a beige/Beijing pun after this line.
I’m intrigued by the idea of possibly adding ideological movements fucking with various investments
Just watched this again after a long time. This is the SUSD humour that pulled me in. I miss it.
I prefer this over Brass Birmingham; same kind of leeching of eachother but to a greater extent, with more interaction and drama. The one negative is that Imperial is highly sensitive to the playgroup. Also I would suggest ditching the Investor card sometimes as well as the Swiss bank if you feel like you want to have more control over your assets during other peoples turns.
Mac Gerdts, thumbs up... I've done Antike II myself, love the maps
Ace Combat Reference at the start.
So it's The Global Centralist Bank Conspiracy Theory...the Game?
There should be a mid-review turnaround in here somewhere.
Where ya hiding it?
They need to make a re-release where Britain is independent
didn't you say on the podcast that games before 2011 are classed as B.P., Before Pear. id like to see you use it more
5:21 Wheel of Fortune. "Hey, I got that reference!" -Me
completely chickened out saying hi to these guys when I saw them playing some game concerning pizza (well it looked like pizza was involved in it somehow) at UKGE. Curse this ingrained need to not cause a fuss
Next time!
Damn that Ace Combat intro.
Switzerland chillin 5:36
I've played this sometime becoming the swiss bank in a few turns and the best thing: I WON by doing almost nothing. Just buying up all the small loans/interests and forcing every country to pay me out everytime. It's so delightfully evil a game.
That was an excellent intro. Great video as usual, guys!
This game is the embodiment of "War Pigs" by Black Sabbath.
Mmm....multinational frosting...
"...flags onto, including sea spaces."
No, that's not right. (I look at rules again) Oh yeh, it is right. That'll be why the game took several days for us to finish!
Chicago Express .... with tanks. Sounds fun!
I had got this game. And I can say the one is a very enjoyable. It just needs some home rules and I'm sure you won't pull people away from the game even by the ears.
Curious in the house rules you recommend
@@peterstedman6140 I didn't come up with any before I sold the game. So, it didn't go too far from ideas.
I want a reprint of this game, the minis are good but it could be better.
Trinston was here
Gonna miss you!
It's always Belka...
8:30 Imperial credits...a la Star Wars...me thinks.
I played for the first time this evening. Lost my starting country 25% in to the game and couldnt get any other country because all of them i could get was shit. Basically sat for 2h doing nothing. Incredibly boring game session. Need another playthrough but for now I would not recommend it because of that serious flaws.
Double check the rulebook. Did you use the power of the Swiss Bank right? Because it can easily turn things around and the first few times I've played the game I got that mechanic wrong.
ofc i did. It turn out that the countries all bunched up on the track and the opportunity to buy one didnt come for more than 1,5h and then all the countries that i could buy after that was shit so there were no point in buying any of them(bought in the good ones). I did pretty well in the game(3 of 6 but very close 2nd) but omg it was boring and from what i have heard (from very good players that play a lot) this scenario is a common thing to happen.
I see... that must be pretty boring. I played this game 12 times and I've never seen such a specifically messed up situation, as you describe. I don't know if it's a common thing, but it surely never happened to me or my group.
Yes i though so to but after discussing it and got it described for me it is perfectly logical. As I am told i happens when you have very good players, mean and highly competitive players in the game. 1 or 2 countries tends to snowball and gets worth a lot more and everybody just rushes for shares in those countries which almost always leave some players without countries and not enough money to get control over the good countries. This is because it is beneficial for countries bully the weaker countries on the map. There is no real comeback mechanic to speak of. It is addressed in this video as well but they are not negative enough about it.
But good that you have gotten spared from that boredom :P. I still think it is a serious flaw that if you play for winning the correct play is sitting and doing nothing for majority of the game. And I am told the player doing that almost has the best chance of winning.
I have played another time now FYI and it happened exactly the same thing again. Not for me but two other players sat and did nothing for the majority of the game. Sorry to say it but never playing it again because these flaws. It is a bit of shame because the mechanics and the capitalistic side of the game is very appealing to me.
Hello World
Trading leads to the player behind kingmaking and bailing.
Better without it
Crispy Basket!
Damn Yuktobanians, always starting trouble without any Belkan interference whatsoever!
5:41 Even Imperial predicted the power struggle of the EU/NATO and Russia in Ukraine
I would buy it just for the wooden pieces alone
As an American here in 2020, I don't mind if you have changed your mind about that investment... yeah.
Wait a minute, yuktobania doesn't share a border with belka
There is Brazil here! Que coisa maravilhosa
Military Industrial Complex the game.
15:14 "that [your money] is always safe"
An exception being that if you own a nation that's unable to pay the full amount of interest to its other investors (apart from yourself), then you must pay them out of your own wallet. Of course that's only if you're dumb enough to cause that nation's pawn to land on the 'Investor' space in this situation; you need to have it visit 'Taxation' first, or somehow gain additional investors, to first bring income into its treasury.
Really? I'd much rather play the victorian gentleman with a waxed mustache and a nice cane who invests in railroads!
God that box art is atrocious. Reminds me of awful sci-fi book covers.
You Guys set the bar so high and then you just go and raise it again. You turn reviews into entertainment.
Sounds a lot like the 18XX railroad games
15:52
Hello SU&SD, can you recommend something similar to the Imperial? I like the game, but it requires about 4 hours of play and at least 3 players which is a rare case to gather together. Anything a bit more lightweight?
You could try A War of Whispers: ruclips.net/video/dYBf_BAZBH8/видео.html or Turncoats: ruclips.net/video/lT_uvWyUQrA/видео.html
@@shutupandsitdown thanks a lot!
board game ultimatum
Beige is my favorite color
which better? Imperial or Imperial 2030?
well you have to, don't you?
Is that Obama in a white suit on the box?
this game currency is clearly millions
How similar is this to Antike?
Douglas Gloag not very, Antike is more of a civ builder where Imperial is more financial/economic.
Thx for the reply - should have realised the two games are by the same designer (but are different in game play).
Loved the review, the acting at the beginning and end, not so much
12:20 Great joke. Seriously.
Is Matt in Kabul?
God Bless Datlof
Oh cool the video is 19:39 minutes long...
Copypasta Month Day, Year
I would like to see this but with more of axis & allies unit count/combat system.
best game review ever!
Fantastic Game！
nice video
Are you playing as the illuminati?
Basically, aye. You tend to have your own nations go to war with each other to kill off armies, just so the tax money you've gathered doesn't have to go back into maintaining them. The nations and their people are literally boiled down to mere pieces on a board that you and the other global investors look upon as you decide which ones you'd like to invest more money in.
All hail discordia!
2:21 are you kidding!? Itbgot a world map, it got pawns and cards, this is as much as any true player would want
Axis and allies anyone?
Very good game that can make players quite angry though when their beloved country get stolen by a backstabbing friend ;)
i think this is the least fun worst strategy game i ever saw
I play tested a game that reminds me slot of this. They had bullets as player tokens.
I think it must have been heavily influenced by this.
this is a copy of antike....
чего?
Does this version suffer from the same flaw as the original? To wit: I have won (and seen others win) by never controlling any of the powers in the game, and only investing as a secondary share-holder in multiple nations. Not really fun, but a hard strategy to beat.
You'll have to prove how that is a flaw.
Lanfearl1 Because a strategy that wins a game that you didn't play is not really a game? Is this hard?
Yes, James. That is the problem with this game. Being the Swiss bank is the best strategy, but it is very boring.
Needs a Brexit version :-)
So it's Axis & Allies with the fun taken out?
it's a stockholding game not a wargame
I like Axis and Allies. This game interests me. It looks more appropriate for the 21st century.
Yes. Except it’s nothing like Axis and Allies. And it’s a lot more fun.