Feedback Please - Imperial Scramble - A Game of 19th Century Imperialism

Hello everyone,

This post is an introduction to the first game I have developed: Imperial Scramble. I have made a prototype of the game and have finished the first round of play testing. I intend to run one more round of internal play testing before starting a round of blind testing. The reason I am posting here is to get an idea for what sort of interest there is in the board game community for a game like this. The level of interest that I find will help me determine whether I should attempt to commercialize the game or not.

GAME BASICS:

Object of the Game: Score the most points as determined by country specific objectives.

Duration: Between 2 hours (less than 8 player variants) - 5 hours (full 8 player game).

Players: 3-8 (8 players is best for the full experience, but games are still lots of fun and include all the same features with less people).

Cooperative/Competitive: Ultimately, there is only one winner. However, it is impossible to succeed without working with other players.

Player Elimination: NO. It is theoretically possible to eliminate another player, but it would not make sense to do so. Everyone who starts the game also finishes.

Luck: None. Battles are determined by unit placement, not dice.

Complexity: Low. There are two types of units and three types of buildings. After a couple turns anyone over 12 will understand all the rules of the game.

"BACK OF THE BOX" DESCRIPTION: Imperial Scramble transports players to the year 1850 and places them at the helm of the world's great powers (Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, Russia, and Japan). Players then have seven decades to attempt to complete numerous colonial, military, and political objectives that are unique to their chosen nations and which will bring them across the entire eastern hemisphere.

These objectives, however, will not be easy to complete. Each objective a country has conflicts with those of another. Often, warfare will be required for a player to accomplish his or her objective in the face of an opponent's opposition! But warfare will not be enough to prosper as no power is strong enough to dominate its adversaries by force of arms alone. Negotiation and diplomacy are required. Only those players who can employ both pen and sword, who can convert enemies into friends, and who can sacrifice the lesser for the greater objective will succeed. It is these players who will bring glory to their nation and who will be the winners of Imperial Scramble.

MECHANICS

The Turn: The game takes place over 7 decades, 1850-1920. One turn equals one decade. Each turn is composed of three phases. Players complete each phase simultaneously by writing down orders for their units and then revealing their orders at the end of the phase.

War: All players start the game at peace with one another. War must be declared before one player can attack another. Wars do not last the While game. Peace agreements are usually reached by the next turn. War need not be declared on natives in order to conquer colonial territories. Players conquer colonial territories by entering the colonial territory with more armies than the native resistance present in that territory.

Movement: The board is huge and it is difficult to move about at first because armies only move one space per phase and fleets only move three spaces per phase. However, players can build sea lanes and rail roads to speed up movement. Sea lanes and railroads allow armies to "instamove" long distances in a single phase.

Battles: Battles occur when hostile units enter the same territory. Battles are determined by the number of units in the battle and adjacent to it. Battles rage on from phase to phase until one side can force the other to retreat through the game's unique battle mechanic.

Economy: Essentially, there is none. The number of units a player can have is determined by the manpower value his or her territories produce. Only home territories produce manpower. Thus, there is no counting up income and expenses each turn, etc. players just focus on actually playing the game.

Winning the Game: Each country has objectives that are unique to it. Each objective is worth a certain amount of points. At the end of the game, each player determines how many objectives they completed and the total points they have, therefore, scored. The winner is the one with the most points.