Originally posted by amalric:
have any of you played, or playtested, the re-release of Mark Miller's sci-fi wargame "Imperium"? If so, what were your thoughts?
I got this the first week it was out. Had I waited for the reviews to come in I might have given it a pass. I had a copy of the 2nd edition that I mislaid many years ago and was hoping this edition would clean up the few minor problems with the original while still being the game I loved. Unfortunately I was disapointed.
As usual with an Avalanche press game the components are quite nice looking. The counters especially are a real treat and a definite plus.
I have a few minor problems with the maps: the strategic map while very pretty can be hard to decifer in game play, the space tactical map has some misprints on the square ID numbers but as that doesn't affect the gameplay I can live with that, the land tactical maps are nice but mostly irrelevant to actual game play and take up a lot of space that could have been better used. (Each planet has it's own mini-map for battle resolution but the density of forces is such that except in the rarest of instances you'll never have more than a few units on each side in any battle.)
Unfortunately also as usual for an Avalanche product the rules as written are somewhat confusing and there is a lot of chrome that doesn't seem to resolve into anything much. There are tactical modules for space and land combat but they don't in my opinion add much actual interest while adding a good deal to the time it takes to play through a game.
On the plus side they included additional scenarios so you can get right into the big ship battles without having to play out the first 3 or 4 wars first.
My general feeling is that it's not quite playable out of the box but if your willing to put up with the work of tweaking the rules (with perhaps the Games reprint volume handy for reference to the rules from the classic version) then it can be a fun game.
I would still prefer playing the original though.
There is a folder for this over at consimworld.com where you can look over my earlier remarks regarding the game and the remarks of others.