7 Ages Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Preparing to Play
• Winning the Game
• Who Goes First?
• Playing the Game
• Wild Card
• Actions
  • 1. Start Empire (S)
  • 2. Production (P)
  • 3. Trade and Progress (T)
  • 4. Manoeuvre (M)
  • 5. Destiny (D)
  • 6. Civilise (C)
  • 7. Discard Empire (E)
• End of Turn
  • Free Progress (F)
  • Harvest Glory (H)
• Players' Guide
• Optional Rules
  • Artefacts
• Leader Types
• Terms of Play
• Players' Notes
• Designer's Notes
• A Brief History of Nearly Everything
• A Father's Poem to His Son
• Credits
• Image Credits

Components

7 Ages comes in a variety of games and expansions.

7 Ages Collector's edition Classic game consists of:

• 1 x large (1115 x 832mm, 43.9 x 32.7 inches) full colour hard-mounted (cardboard) map of the world;
• 7 full-colour countersheets (15 empires and markers comprising 560 x 5/8" (16mm) and 500 x 1/2" (13 mm) Counters, CS 1-7);
• 110 88x 63 mm full colour linen civilisation cards; and
• 40-page Rules & Players' Guide (you're reading it).

7 Ages Collector's edition Expansion set consists of:

• 7 Ages Ancients & Kingdoms (A) expansion (11 cards and 112 x 5/8" & 20 x 1/2" Kingdom & common units, Cadence markers, and leaders, CS 8)
• 7 Ages Medieval (M) expansion (3 empires, 11 cards and 112 x 5/8" & 20 x 1/2" empire units & leaders, CS 9);
• 7 Ages Modern (N) expansion (3 empires, 11 cards, and 112 x 5/8" & 20 x 1/2" empire units & leaders, CS 10);
• 7 Ages Religions (R) expansion (11 cards and 200 x ½" religious markers & leaders, CS 11); and
• 7 Ages Trade & Victory (V) expansion (11 cards, 7 100 x120mm coloured velvet secret glory pouches and 200 x ½" glory markers & leaders, CS 12).

7 Ages Collector's edition Deluxe game consists of:

• 7 Ages collector's edition Classic game; and
• 7 Ages Collector's edition Expansion set.

For a grand total of 1 large hard-mounted map, 165 full-colour linen civilisation cards and 21 Empires comprising 896 x 5/8" counters & 960 x ½" counters (12 countersheets). Units, leaders, action and artefact markers are limited by the counter-mix. If you run out of other markers, feel free to make up more.

Preparing to Play

Unfold and lay out the 7 Ages map.

Sort the large counters into the various Empire colours, and then unit types (e.g., chariots/knights) within each empire into their own Unit pool (to assist when building units). Put the unnamed Leaders (and the 'no leader' markers) into a cup (the Leader cup). Set aside the rest of the counters for now.

Shuffle the cards and deal 7 face-down to each player. Place the rest of the cards (the Card deck) face-down. You are now ready to start the game.

Winning the Game

The winner is the player with the most glory when the game ends. If several players tie, the player with the most advanced empire wins (or the first to progress past the 49th level if more than one empire has). If still equal, they both win.

The game ends at the end of the turn when any empire progresses beyond the 49th Progress level. That player gains 7 bonus glory points for being so illustrious. The game can instead end at a time, glory total or Age you predesignate. If playing option 16), the game also ends when the General AI or Internet artefact is played.

Who Goes First?

Each player looks at their cards, chooses one and plays it face-down. Reveal the played cards. Whoever played the highest value card goes first. Discard all played cards.

If players tie for the highest card, those players play another card (which is also discarded). This continues until only one player is left. If you run out of cards, the tied players pick and play cards from the deck until a winner emerges.

Give the turn marker to the winner. Then, in order of highest card played, each player picks a glory marker which they place on the '0' space of the Glory track and takes the empire counters of that colour (dark, light and bi-coloured). If two (or more) players played the same value card, the nearest player to the left of the winner chooses first.

The empire counters players choose are dedicated to them for the entire game. The remaining empire counters are available to be built by any player during the game.

Example: Cat, Jakub, Magnus and Irving are playing a 4 player, 15 empire game of 7 Ages. Cat and Jakub play a '7' card, while Magnus and Irving play a '1' card. Jakub and Cat must now both play a second card, and Cat wins with a '5' to Jakub's '4'.

Cat gets the turn marker and chooses the orange and yellow empire counters. She places the orange/yellow glory marker on the '0' space of the glory track.

Jakub then picks the red and pink counters. Magnus (on Cat's left) picks the light blue/dark blue counters and Irving picks the light green/dark green colours. The other 3 empires are available for anyone to build during the game.

Whenever any unit or marker (apart from named leaders) is lost, discarded or removed from play, it is available to be re-used any number of times.

If any colours are still available, more players can enter the game after it has started. Simply deal them 7 cards, place any free glory marker on the same space as the player coming last and give that glory marker's empire counters to the new player. Continue play.

Playing the Game

At the beginning of each turn, choosing from all their action markers, each player places one face-down on each empire card they have in play. Keep unused action markers face-down (so no one else knows what you are doing this turn).

If you have fewer empires in play than your maximum, you may place one additional action marker face-down in front of you, not on any empire.

Your maximum is determined by dividing the number of empires you want in your game by the number of players, rounding up (e.g., 7 players are playing with all 21 empires in 7 Ages Deluxe, the maximum is 3 each, if 4 players are playing with 13 of the 15 empires in 7 Ages Classic, the maximum is 4 each).

Each action marker only affects the empire it is placed on (e.g., placing Start empire on an empire will have no effect). The only effective actions for the one additional marker you can place when you don't have your maximum empires are (1) Start empire, (5) Destiny or (6) Civilise (the latter only for the playing of artefact and Event cards).

Wild Card

The wild card marker may be placed like any other action marker. It may be turned over during any action to convert into an action of that type, even if you have already carried out that same action with another empire this turn.

An empire with a wild card marker does not get the Free progress at the End of turn unless it has an Administrator.

Actions

There are 7 actions carried out each turn in this order:

1. Start empire
2. Production
3. Trade and progress
4. Manoeuvre
5. Destiny
6. Civilise
7. Discard empire

Each turn each player who has chosen to start an empire will turn over that action marker (or Wild card), then start an empire. After all players who want to start an empire have done so, you move on to Production and the players who have placed a production marker (or Wild card) turn it over and carry out that action with that empire, and so on.

Each action the player with the turn marker (the First player) turns over their action marker(s) and does that action first, then the other players follow suit in Clockwise order after that player finishes. To speed play, if the player before you won't affect your action (e.g. you are Trading in America and they in Asia), feel free to do yours at the same time.

You may carry out an action even if the empire the marker was placed on is already discarded.

You may always decide not to turn over a marker, in which case your empire misses its go. If you forget to turn over an action marker during that action, your empire misses its go.

1. Start Empire (S)

When you carry out a start empire action, play any card from your hand to start the empire shown on the card.

Each empire can be started multiple times in a game but you may only start an empire if there is a set of counters available that is not being used for another empire.

If any of the features of a starting empire provide a choice, you choose between them when setting up the empire.

Example: The Byzantines (card 54) start their progress marker 2 behind the leader or the same space as the Hellenes, Macedonians or Romans, Byzantines choice. The Byzantine start areas are not a choice, they must set-up in Thracia and all Hellene, Roman and Macedonian controlled coastal areas adjacent to the Eastern Mediterranean sea.

When is an empire eligible to start?

Most empires can only be started in some of the ages. These are listed in the 'Ages' section on the empire's card. For this purpose, the game is in the Age occupied by the most advanced empire on the Progress track (see map). Some empires can start in a particular age only if another specified empire is (or isn't) on the map.

Example: If the most advanced empire in a game was the Phoenicians (card 9) on Progress level 6, the game would be in age 1. The Carthaginians (card 92) can normally only start in age 2 but, since the Phoenicians are in play, the Carthaginians can start in age 1.

Setting up a new empire

Choose an available colour to represent the empire you are starting. You must choose one of your dedicated colours if it is available.

The mixes of units differ for each colour. Some have more units while others have better quality units. So, you should choose a colour that best suits the empire you want to start.

Place the empire's progress marker on the progress track, offset from the Progress level of the most advanced empire by the + or - modifier listed under 'Set-up' on your empire's card.

Progress markers can never be lower than progress level 1.

Example: The Macedonians (card 15), at progress level 8 (age 2), are the most advanced empire in the game when the Assyrians (card 6) start. The Assyrians will be offset against the Macedonians by the "-3" shown on the 'Set-up' section of their card. Thus, the Assyrians progress marker goes onto progress level 5, in age 1.

If there are no empires currently on the map, you may play an empire card from any age. Its start age is the lowest (non-conditional) age listed in its age range. Its progress marker starts offset from the left-most space of that age if positive, or in the left-most space if not. You may only play an empire if you can satisfy its set-up prerequisites.

Example: Catherine has the Egyptians (card 1), the English (card 37) and the Pirate State (card 98) in her hand. There are no empires on map. If Catherine starts the Egyptians, she would place their progress marker on progress level 2. If she set-up the English instead, they would start on progress level 22 (4th age). She couldn't start her Pirates at all (because they must set-up within 3 areas of another empire).

Once you've placed the empire's progress marker on the progress track, the empire is in the age its marker occupies.

Start areas

The area(s) listed in the 'Starts' section of the empire's card have a reference letter and number after their name. These letters and numbers are replicated on the map. Simply cross-reference them to locate the empire's start area(s). Start area names on the map are in red so they stand out.

Initial money

The empire starts with the amount of money stated in the 'Money' section on its card. Some empires start with an addition or multiple of their starting age. Place the empire's money marker on that space on the Glory track.

Example: Continuing the Assyrians set-up example above, they set-up in age 1 with 15 money.

Initial units

Some empires have named leaders specified on their card as being available in a particular age. If your empire starts in that age, you may choose one named leader for it and set it up in the empire's start area (your choice if more than one).

Example: Susan starts the English empire in the 4th age. She may set-up either Shakespeare or Elizabeth and decides to set-up Elizabeth in England.

You then build (and pay for) initial units for the empire. This is done exactly like Building new units and markers (see 2) except that any number of built units may be set-up in the start area(s). If you set-up a named Administrator you may use their ability to reduce the cost of the empire's initial units (except infantry, as you don't yet have a Capital).

Place the units in the empire's start area. If the empire has several start areas, you may distribute the units as you like between them. Initial ships may only set-up in coastal areas.

Now place on the empire's card any elite markers listed in its 'Special' section.

What if someone else is already in my start area?

The 'Special' section on some empire cards says that you Convert certain units in your start area to yours. This usually means your empire is a dynamic new branch of an already existing empire.

If the card states that units are converted, replace them with the same unit types of your empire (if available) even if they have different values and a higher Progress level than yours. Any fort and/or city in the area is also converted (without being reduced) to one of yours (even if it has a higher value than you can build) unless your empire is Barbarian (it has a 'no cities' icon for this age) in which case they are destroyed.

Any Artefacts, (option 12: temples) and unnamed Leaders in the area are also converted. Unless otherwise stated, named leaders are not converted, they move to the nearest area controlled by their empire (their choice if more than one).

If there are unconverted units in any of your empire's start areas, you must now resolve conflict (see 4) in those areas.

Placing a capital

If your empire is not Barbarian you now set-up a capital in the start area (your choice if more than one) replacing any city in the area. The set-up value of the capital is that city's current value, or the maximum allowed for the age (e.g. 3 in age 2), whichever is higher. Put the empire's remaining capital marker(s) on its card to show its colour.

The area containing an empire's capital is also its Homeland. If an empire with homeland glory doesn't have a capital, you specify one start area as its homeland (the Victory expansion includes a homeland marker for every empire as a mnemonic).

If your empire is not Barbarian you may now pay 5 money each to fortify any of your start areas.

Special set-up actions

The 'Special' section of an empire's card explains how the empire differs from other empires.

Set-up any free forts your empire gets in any start area (your choice) that doesn't already contain a fort.

All 'initial' effects (e.g., initial changes to the cost of units) apply only while setting up the empire and to the age the empire is in (e.g., the Jurchens (card 55) initial cavalry cost 2 if they set-up in age 3).

You carry out any special actions the empire gets (e.g., free Manoeuvre actions) immediately after you have set-up the empire and resolved any conflicts in its start areas.

Other special effects apply as long as specified (or as long as the empire exists if no limit is specified).

2. Production (P)

Production lets an empire earn income, which it can spend to maintain its existing units and to buy new units and markers.

Earning income

When your empire takes a production action, it first receives income for each area it controls. Add the income it earns to its saved money on the Glory track (a maximum of 199 at any time).

Each undisordered area produces the income listed on the Terrain Effects Chart on the map, plus the value of any city in that area. A disordered area earns no income (even if it has a city, grain or oil).

Example: Egypt (located at M6 on the map) is a fertile area with a value 1 city. Fertile areas with grain produce 5 income and a value 1 city adds 1, so Egypt will earn 6 income this turn. If it were disordered, it would earn no income.

Grain is only added to the value of a non-fertile area when the empire is in age 5, 6 or 7.

Example: Germany (J4) with a value 3 city provides 5 income to the Germans (card 33) before they enter age 5. In age 5, Germany provides 7 income and, in ages 6 and 7, 8 income (because the forest becomes fertile in age 6).

Oil is only added to the value of an area when the empire is in age 7.

Double the value of each area that contains a Populist.

Some empires earn income in other ways (see 'Special' section of their card). Event cards can also affect income.

Halve your total income if your empire has no capital (rounded, see Modifiers in Terms of play).

Maintaining existing units

The empire must now pay 1 money to maintain each unit it has on the map. If you can maintain them all, you must do so. If you can't, you choose which are not maintained.

Artefacts, cities, forts, Leaders and Barbarian empires' units don't require maintenance.

Return any units the empire can't maintain to its Unit pool. This may leave some areas vacant (see 4, Vacant areas). Disorder each Land area where units were not maintained, unless it's now vacant.

Building new units and markers

Your empire may now spend money to build new units and markers in any order. It may only build units in its Unit pool that are available at its current Progress level or earlier (some empires have special rules that vary this). The circled progress level on the unit shows when it is available. You can also look for the unit's picture on the Progress track

The cost of each type of unit and marker is listed on the map (under the progress track). Reduce the cost of units by 1 in an area with an Administrator (except infantry unless the administrator is in the capital, see Leader Types). The minimum cost of a unit after all modifications is 1 money.

An empire may not spend more money than it has.

You may only build ships in coastal areas and Sea areas (not ocean areas) the empire controls. All other units may only be built in the empire's land areas.

You may place any number of units in an area that contains an Administrator. Otherwise, you may only place as many units in an area as the value of the city there (e.g., you could place 5 units in an area with a value 5 city). You may place one unit in each area without a city.

Some empires have icons that prevent them building cavalry units and some have icons preventing them building ships. Each of those restrictions applies until the empire first Trades with an empire that isn't so restricted, even if they lose the trade.

Non-Barbarian empires may build a fort in any number of its land areas that don't already have a fort. Each fort costs 5 money to build.

An empire may build 1 elite marker each production provided it has less than 3. Each elite marker costs 3 money, or 1 money for each unit the empire currently has on the map, whichever is greater (e.g., if the Romans (card 12) have 14 units on the map it costs them 14 to build an elite marker). Units in an area with a Tactician don't count (e.g., the Romans would only pay 3 if 13 of their 14 units were stacked with Caesar). When built, place the elite marker on the empire's card.

Elephants, Nukes and Star Wars (Kingdoms expansion)

The Kingdoms expansion includes 14 units with elephants on one side and either Nukes or Star Wars on the other. Initially these units are kept aside in a common Unit pool.

An empire may only build elephants that have been added to its unit pool. If an empire at progress level 10 or more takes control of an area with an elephant symbol, add that area's elephants to its unit pool (even if that means taking them from another empire). If you have more than one elephant in your unit pool you must build them randomly.

An empire at progress level 10 or greater may randomly add any one available unnamed elephant in the common unit pool to its unit pool each time it progresses by Trading (see 3) with an empire that controls an elephant area.

When an elephant is lost or isn't maintained, return it to the controller's unit pool, or the common pool if none.

Permanently remove all elephants from the game immediately any empire enters age 7.

You may only build Nukes or Star Wars if any are available in the common unit pool.

Each empire may build no more elephants, nukes and Star Wars in total each production action than the number of leaders that empire has on the map (each Administrator counting as 2 leaders).

Spending money at other times

You may spend money during Civilise to remove disorder and during Harvest glory to buy glory (see below).

3. Trade and Progress (T)

An empire can take a trade and progress action to try to advance along the Progress track, to swap a card with a neighbouring empire, or to provide or receive financial aid.

How to trade

Pick an empire controlled by another player for your empire to trade with. That other empire must be within Range of your empire (the number of areas it's away from your nearest area must be less than or equal to your empire's age, see Terms of play). If possible, you must choose an empire that hasn't traded yet this turn. If there are no empires controlled by another player in range, you trade with the deck.

If your empire trades with an empire that also chose a trade and progress action this turn, they must immediately turn over their action marker, and the trade will complete both empires' trade and progress actions.

Trading

Each player involved in the trade picks a card from their hand and plays it face-down. If you don't have any cards in your hand, use the top card from the deck instead.

Add your card's value to the Trade number on your empire's card. Add 1 for each Scientist, and subtract 1 for each disordered area, in your empire. The empire with the higher total Trade value wins the trade.

If your empire is trading against the deck, you play against the top card drawn from the deck without modifying it.

Effects of trading

The empire that won the trade:

• advances its progress marker by 1 Progress level;
• may choose to advance a second level (cumulative) if it chose a trade and progress action this turn;
• may choose to advance it another level (cumulative) if it traded with an empire (not with the deck) that started on a higher progress level; and
• draws a card from the deck for each Scientist in the empire (if any), keeps one and discards any others.

If the trade is tied, neither win (important to some empires for glory, e.g., Zimbabwe, card 42, see Immediate glory in Harvest glory below). The empire that chose the trade & progress action advances its progress marker by 1 level (only). If both empires chose trade & progress, the empire lower in progress advances 1 level (only). If they are equal in progress, neither advance.

In all cases, each empire involved in a trade that doesn't progress receives income equal to the other empire's (or the deck's) Trade card(s) value (not Trade value).

Both trading empires now keep the card(s) the other empire (or the deck) played, and you discard the card(s) you played if you traded with the deck.

Either trading empire may now gift money to the other regardless of the result of the trade, adjusting both empire's money markers to reflect the gift.

Example: Your Syracusans (card 56), whose trade number is +2, choose to trade with the Romans, whose number is +1. The Romans are on a higher progress level.

You play a 3 value card. With its trade number, Syracuse's total is 5. Caesar plays a 5 for Rome, so Rome's total is 6. The Romans win the trade, and advance their progress marker one space. If only you had played your 5 card, you would have won and could have gone up 3 (1 for winning, +1 because Syracuse chose a trade and progress action and +1 more because Rome had the higher progress level before trading). If you had played a 4 card, your totals would have been equal and you would have progressed 1 space.

You console yourself that you gained a 5 card and 5 money, while Caesar got your lowly 3.

Luckily, the Roman player decides to give you another 4 money to finance your war with Carthage.

If an empire progresses beyond the 49th level it is still in the 7th age but can no longer go backwards in progress.

If you are playing solitaire, we recommend you choose the card of the empire you are trading with randomly.

4. Manoeuvre (M)

Manoeuvre actions allow you to move your units.

Movement

Each unit (or stack of units) may move from area to area each time its empire chooses a manoeuvre action. Each area a unit enters must be adjacent (separated by a border) to the one it leaves. Areas joined by a crossing arrow, or indicated by a blue arrow, are adjacent to each other (e.g., Galapagos (A1) is adjacent to the South Pacific (Z0).

The movement allowance printed on the unit limits how far the unit can move.

Units accompanied by an Explorer for their whole move add 1 to their movement allowance.

Each area on the map costs one or more points of a unit's movement allowance (see the Terrain Effects Chart). As a unit enters an area, it uses up that many points. It can keep moving into further areas if it has any unused points but must have enough points left to pay the cost of each area it enters.

If a stack of units are moving together, units may be dropped off (either voluntarily or when they run out of movement points) while the others may keep moving.

Ships and aircraft only pay 1 movement point for each area they enter, regardless of the terrain in the area. Star Wars units have unlimited movement and may move anywhere during manoeuvre.

There is no limit to the number of units and leaders that may occupy each area.

Leader movement

Leaders may only move by accompanying one unit for its entire move. Leaders can't accompany a Star Wars or Nuke.

Vacant areas

If an area is vacant of units at the end of any player's action, remove all leaders, artefacts, fort and disorder markers in that area, and replace any capital with a city of the same value.

Whenever a unit without a Builder enters a vacant area, remove any 1 value city there or reduce any higher value city there by 1 level (e.g., a 5 value city becomes a 3 value).

Naval transport

Each ship may transport one land or aircraft unit plus any number of leaders. The ship and its cargo must start their empire's manoeuvre Action in the same area and move together using the ship's movement allowance and restrictions. During its move, ships may drop off their cargo, but transported units may not move further this action.

Transported land units are lost if they don't end their move in a Coastal area (if playing option 14 Marines, transported infantry and missiles may remain at sea).

Unit movement restrictions

Ships may only enter sea, ocean and Coastal areas.

Ships can't move across land (e.g., you can't move a ship from the Gulf of Mexico (D4) to Yucatan and then to the Gulf of Panama). To indicate this, place ships on the coast closest to the sea area(s) that they can enter.

Ships of age 5~7 empires may move directly between the sea areas connected by the Panama or Suez canal (at no extra cost) unless any empire controlling an adjacent land area denies access (e.g. an age 5 empire's galley can't move from the Eastern Mediterranean (L5) to the Red Sea if the Egyptians say no). If playing option 16, the Artefact must be played first and only its owner must agree (see Great Canal).

Galleys can't enter ocean areas unless their empire's special rules permit it (option 16: other ships require Rutters). Galleys are also lost immediately they are in an ocean or sea area that isn't adjacent to a land area their empire controls unless they are stacked with an Explorer.

When not being Naval transported, infantry, cavalry and missile units may only enter Land areas. Aircraft may enter any area (except for the restriction on Nukes below).

Star Wars and Nukes ignore all units when moving into any area except that nukes may never enter an area containing another empire's Star Wars unit.

Your other units may only move through land areas containing a unit from another empire if you already have at least twice as many units there as that other empire.

Your ships (and units they are transporting) may only move through sea and ocean areas containing a unit from another empire if you already have at least twice as many ships and aircraft there as it has, or none of your units end their move in any area that empire controls.

Example: French ships start a manoeuvre action in Normandy. They could move through an English galley in the Bay of Biscay if they already have at least 2 ships there or if no French units end their move in any area controlled by the English this action.

Your aircraft units (other than star wars and nukes) may only move through sea and ocean areas containing an aircraft from another empire if you already have at least twice as many aircraft units there as it has or none of your units end their move in any area that empire controls.

Apart from Star Wars units, aircraft may only end their move in a sea or ocean area that also contains one of its empire's (non-aircraft) units or is adjacent to such an area and are immediately lost whenever there is no such area.

Other movement restrictions

Unless otherwise stated on its card, during its manoeuvre actions, an empire must always leave at least 1 non-aircraft unit in each Land area it controls. All units may vacate ocean or sea areas. Aircraft may vacate any area.

Apart from aircraft (and accompanying leaders), you can't move a unit across a crossing arrow if the sea area it's in contains another empire's unit unless you have at least twice as many ships and aircraft there as they do. If any part of the crossing arrow is on a sea area border, units may cross unless both sea areas contain other empires' (uncontested) units.

Example: Your spear unit wants to enter Andalucia (H5) from Mauretania. If both the Western Mediterranean and the Pillars of Hercules contain another empire's unit, your spear can't move across unless you have 2 or more ships in one or both of these sea areas. If only the Western Mediterranean contains another empire's unit, the spear can cross.

Removing disorder markers

An empire may remove disorder from any area it controlled at the start of its manoeuvre action by having either a Populist, or sufficient units, in the area at the end of all its units' movement.

Without a populist, the number of units required is 2 plus:

• the area's terrain defence modifier(s) (including units entering the area this action, see the Terrain Effects Chart on the map);
• +2 if any unit Invaded the area this action (directly entered a Coastal area from a sea or ocean area); and
• • the area's city value, if any (0 if an artillery, battleship, bomber, cannon or catapult is also in the area).

A fort in the area counts as 1 unit when removing disorder.

As you remove each disorder marker, if the area doesn't have a fort or a populist, remove one of your empire's units in the area as well. [Designer's note: it's policing the province]

An empire may remove any number of disorder markers in the same manoeuvre action.

Example: Mongol controlled Armenia is disordered. There is a Mongol unit already in the area but the terrain defence modifier in a mountain area is 3 and there is a value 1 city there, so the marker will only be removed if 6 (2+3+1) Mongol units end there. The Mongols choose manoeuvre and move 5 more units into Armenia. They remove the disorder and one Mongol unit there, at the end of all movement.

If any of these units entered the area by invading, or crossing a river or crossing arrow they would need even more units to remove the disorder. If one of the units was a Catapult or the area had a fort, the Mongols would need one less unit to remove the disorder (2 less with both).

Resolving conflict with other empires

After all your empire's units have finished moving (and removed disorder), or during Start empire if there are unconverted units in your set-up area(s), resolve conflict in each area that contains your units and those of another empire in any order (your choice). If the defending empire is also controlled by you, you must nominate another player to control its units until the end of the conflict.

In each conflict, each player involved picks a card from the deck, looks at it, and places it face-down. A player with a Tactician in the area (Active player first) may now decide to discard their card and pick a second. This card must be used.

Each player must secretly commit some or all of the units they have in the area (minimum 1) and may choose to commit a Tactician if they have one in the area.

Turn over both side's card and work out each side's conflict total, taking into account the effect of all event cards (which may be played by any player, not just the players involved in the conflict).

Your empire's conflict total this round equals the value of the card you picked from the deck plus:

• the (modified) front value of half (rounding up) your empire's committed units (your choice);
• • the (modified) support value of your remaining committed units;
• +1 per elite marker your empire has;
• +1 per age your empire is ahead of your opponent's (lowest if there is more than one empire on a side, see La Belle Alliance, card 77);
• • the best (modified) front and support value of units you commit this round for each conflict disorder marker your opponent has acquired; and

for the Defender only

• • the area's terrain defence modifier(s) (including units entering the area), see the Terrain Effects Chart;
• +2 if there is a fort in the area;
• +2 if any unit Invaded the area this action; and
• • the area's city value, if any (0 if the Active player commits any artillery, battleship, bomber, cannon or catapult unit(s) this round).

Halve your units' front value this round if every unit you commit is either an infantry or missile, and every unit your opponent commits is either an aircraft or cavalry.

All your chariot, Lt. horse and Hs. archer front values are 0 if your opponent commits an elephant this round.

Terrain defence modifiers

Terrain defence modifiers are cumulative. For example, if any of the Active player's units entered Epirus (K5) via Dacia, the Defender's defence modifier in Epirus throughout the conflict would be 4 (3 for the mountain and 1 for crossing an adjacent river into the area). Terrain defence modifiers are based on the age of the defender, not the active player.

Conflict outcomes

The empire with the lower conflict total loses all the units and leaders it committed this round. The empire with the higher total loses nothing. If it's a tie, each empire loses all the units it committed this round unless it also committed a Tactician in which case it loses nothing. Return lost units to the empire's Unit pool, unnamed Leaders to the Leader cup, and remove lost named leaders from the game.

Set aside the surviving committed units and discard the cards picked. Repeat the process with further rounds, using only uncommitted units (Tacticians can be reused), until the conflict is won (only one empire has units remaining in the area), or both sides have lost all their units there.

If an elephant is lost during conflict, all surviving units on that side must immediately Retreat.

Committed units and conflict disorder

If you have no remaining uncommitted units, your committed units become uncommitted again, but your empire acquires a conflict disorder marker for the rest of the conflict. There is no limit to how many conflict disorder markers an empire can acquire.

Nukes and Star Wars (Kingdoms expansion)

If an empire's only uncommitted unit is a nuke, the owner may destroy it before the conflict round. The empire would then gain a conflict disorder marker for having committed all its units and they would become uncommitted again.

If an empire's nuke and their opponent's Star Wars are both committed during the same round, the nuke is destroyed before working out both sides conflict total.

If a nuke is committed and their opponent hasn't committed a Star Wars, all units in the area from both sides (committed and uncommitted) are lost. Move the empire that controlled the area back 1 Progress level.

Each time a player commits a nuke they lose 7 glory.

Retreat

You may always choose to retreat before picking cards at the start of any round if the other empire has acquired a conflict disorder marker. If you have a Tactician in the area, you may retreat if either side has acquired a conflict disorder marker. If both are eligible to retreat, the Active player decides first.

You may only retreat your empire's units and leaders to an adjacent area it controls and only if that area contains no units from another empire. Units may only retreat to an area they could enter during movement (not counting naval transport). Units can retreat to different areas. Retreating units that have nowhere to retreat to are lost.

End of conflict

Remove all conflict (not area) disorder markers.

If an empire with an elite marker lost 2 or more units in this conflict (including Pursuit), pick a card from the deck. If its value is less than the number of units lost by the empire in this conflict, remove 1 elite marker. Discard the card.

If both sides lost one or more units in the conflict the area is disordered.

If both sides lose all their units in an area, that area becomes vacant (see Vacant areas), otherwise it is controlled by the empire still in the area.

If control of the area changes, the new owner replaces any capital there with a city. You then reduce any city there by 1 level (remove a value 1 city) unless a Builder is also in the area, and remove all artefacts and any fort in the area.

If the area is now controlled by a Barbarian empire, it may instead destroy the city. If it doesn't, the barbarian empire will gain income (see 2) and defence benefits from the city even though it can't be improved while barbarian (except with a Builder). During Start empire, barbarian empires must destroy the city.

If an empire loses its capital in a conflict, or an empire without a capital loses a leader in a conflict that it also loses, all that empire's saved money is lost, and half that amount is transferred to the empire that now controls the area.

Next conflict

The Active player now resolves conflict in the next area until all their empire's conflicts are resolved.

After Resolving all conflicts in a Manoeuvre action (including Special set-up action manoeuvres during Start empire), units stacked with a Strategist may move and resolve conflicts again provided they remain stacked with the Strategist throughout their move (they may be dropped off in areas the Strategist moves through).

Fog of war

Obviously you can see the top unit in each stack, but you may only examine another player's other on-map Units when tallying up conflict totals during conflict resolution.

Movement and conflict resolution example (complete)

Alex's age 5 French empire (card 32) takes a Manoeuvre action to unleash Napoleon and his army in Novgorod eastwards against the age 4 Russian empire (card 34).

Alex moves a force of a French rifle, a Lt. horse and an artillery into Russian-controlled Smolensk but still doesn't have twice as many units as the Russians (who have a Lt. horse and a rifle) so Alex also moves a knight there to get the required 2:1. The remaining French units in Novgorod, less the 1 unit that must remain behind to control the area, now moves through Smolensk to Muscovy.

After finishing all his moves, Alex decides to resolve the conflict in Muscovy first. His force there consists of Napoleon, 4 rifles, 1 knight, 2 artillery & 1 horse artillery. Cat's Russians have 2 rifles, 2 cannons, 1 Lt. Horse and 2 knights, all under the doughty leadership of Kutusov (an unnamed Tactician).

Alex not only has more units, but Cat's units are sadly mostly obsolete compared to Alex's sleek war machine. Furthermore, the French units are elite (the French empire has an elite marker on its card) and they are a veteran empire (dark blue) as opposed to the regular Russians (light green). So, Cat must make up in guile what she lacks in kit. Her units are fortified in a 3 value city which does give her some benefit.

Both players study their units and pick a conflict card from the deck. As they both have a tactician, they can discard their card and choose a second if they so desire. Even after discarding, Alex only ends up with a 2 card, so decides to make up for this hopeless card by committing most of his units in the first round leaving only 1 rifle in reserve.

Cat picks a 5 and decides to keep it, but commits only 1 rifle, waiting to see how the battle develops before committing the bulk of her army.

Alex's value is 49 (18 for the 3 Rifles +5 for the knight (including -1 for the forest) +16 for the 2 artillery +6 for the horse artillery (including the -1 for the forest) +2 for the card +1 for being elite +1 for being one age higher).

Cat's value is 14 (6 for the rifle (+1 for the Russian special) +5 for the card +1 for defending in a forest +2 for the fort). She doesn't get any benefit from the city due to French artillery being committed. Thus, Cat's rifle is returned to its Unit pool, while Alex's committed units are set aside.

In the next round, Cat picks a 4 value card and keeps it while Alex picks a 6. Cat knows that Alex can only put his last rifle forward, so she commits her Lt Horse.

This time Cat's total is 12 (2 for the Lt Horse in forest +4 for the card +1 for the forest +3 for the capital +2 for the fort). Alex's total is 11 (3 for the rifle halved against an all-cavalry force +6 for the card +1 for being elite +1 for the higher age). Alex's rifle is lost.

All Alex's units have now been committed, so he gets a conflict disorder marker while uncommitting them again.

Cat may now retreat but she can sense the battle flowing her way and is not yet prepared to give up her capital.

Alex too can retreat because he has a Tactician (Napoleon), but even if he wanted to (which he doesn't), he has no adjacent friendly area to retreat to (Smolensk is contested).

Both players pick a new conflict card. Alex is more cautious now and after picking a 5 value card puts forward a rifle, an artillery and his knight to ensure an all-cavalry force doesn't surprise him again. His total is 26 (6+5+8+5+1+1).

Cat's card is a 4 and she commits the remainder of her uncommitted units. Her total is 42 (6 for the rifle +8 for the 2 knights +10 for the two cannon +4 for the card +1 for the forest +2 for the fort +11 for the French disorder marker (6 is the best committed Russian front value and 5 the best support value)). Thus the 3 committed French units are lost.

All Cat's units in Muscovy are now committed, so she gets a conflict disorder marker and they are all uncommitted again.

Getting slightly desperate, and still believing that Cat will run soon, Alex picks a 4 conflict card and commits all his remaining units. His total is 47 (12 for the two rifles +8 for the artillery +6 for the horse artillery +5 for the card +1 for being elite +14 (6+8) for the Russian disorder marker +1 for being one age higher). Since it is all or nothing, Napoleon grabs a flag and advances to the front.

Cat picks a 3 card and decides to lie low for one more round, putting forward her Lt. horse. Her total is 10 (2 for the Lt. Horse +2 for the fort +1 for the forest +2 for the French disorder +3 for the card).

The French win and the Russian Lt. horse is lost. As all the French are committed a 2nd time, they get a second disorder marker and their units become uncommitted again.

Next round, Alex picks a 7 card and throws forward his entire army again including Napoleon for a total of 50.

Cat is beginning to be equally desperate and after her second conflict card pick is a 4, decides on a death or glory ride as well, throwing everything she has including Kutuzov at Alex. Her total is 53 (6 for the rifle +8 for the 2 knights +10 for the 2 cannon +4 for the card +1 for the forest +2 for the fort +22 for the 2 French disorder markers).

The Russians win a decisive victory as the remaining French units are all lost and returned to their unit pools. Napoleon is captured and paraded through Muscovy in a cage. Since the French are elite, Alex picks a card. As he lost 8 units, irrespective of its value, the elite marker is lost.

Muscovy is disordered but Cat can now plot her own revenge in her return towards Paris.

Alex then easily wins the not so important conflict in Smolensk, cursing what might have been.

5. Destiny (D)

A destiny action allows you to get rid of unwanted cards in your hand and to fill your hand with new cards.

First, discard cards in your hand that you don't wish to keep, then draw cards from the deck to fill your hand to 6 cards.

You may increase the draw by 1 for each Philosopher the empire playing destiny has, but after looking at your cards you must then discard enough of the cards drawn (your choice) to bring your hand down to 6.

6. Civilise (C)

A civilise action lets you build cities and artefacts, modernise units, adopt and discard religions and governments, remove disorder and promote and remove leaders.

Playing cards

You may play any number of cards from your hand as events or artefacts during your empire's civilise action (empires may only be played in a Start empire action – see 1). Each Event and Artefact card may be played on any area, empire or player in any order, any number of times during the game. Discard all the cards you play.

Playing event cards

Playing a card as an event allows you to implement the event specified on the card. Some events may be played at other times during a turn. This will be stated on the card. If the card doesn't say when the event can be played, it may only be played now.

The coloured letters next to the event title are a quick guide (they don't override the text) as to the action (or actions) in which events may be played (e.g. Kismet! (card 7) may be played during Destiny). If the letter is an ∞ (e.g. Vitesse! On card 50), the event may be played anytime.

If the event conflicts with the rules, the event takes precedence (it allows you to do something the rules would not normally allow).

Some events require a card to be picked to check how effective the event is. When required, pick the top card from the deck and after making the check, discard the card.

Some events cancel others (e.g., Counterspy (card 22) can cancel I spy (card 81)). Cancelled cards have no effect and are discarded unless the cards that cancelled them are themselves cancelled (e.g., continuing the above example Cyberthief (card 10) is then played to cancel Counterspy allowing I spy to be implemented).

Events must be cancelled immediately they are played on their target, before any checks on their effectiveness (e.g., if New Dynasty (card 1) was played on an empire, Bad Augury (card 15) would need to be played to cancel it before a card is picked from the deck to see if there will be a new dynasty).

Each event is implemented (or cancelled) before the next is played (e.g., if Counterspy is played on you, you could play I spy to cancel it but couldn't play Gold mine (card 93) before Counterspy is implemented or cancelled).

Order matters (e.g., if Glory? Humbug (card 12) is cancelled by Glorious Glory (card 29), Harvest glory is carried out normally, but if Glorious Glory is played before Glory? Humbug, no one gets glory this Harvest glory).

Where it matters (like the above example), events are played in a similar manner to Actions (the First player playing an event first, then the player to their left, and so on). You may pass and still play an event later, but when everyone sequentially passes, no one may play any further events to affect the current activity and play continues.

Assassin events

An assassin event allows you to attempt to assassinate a leader whose empire is within Range of yours.

Pick a card from the deck. You may keep that card or discard it and pick another. If you have picked as many cards as the event specifies (or 3 for the Assassins, card 109), you must keep the last card picked. Keep the card's value hidden.

The target empire's player picks cards in the same way, with the maximum number picked limited by the empire's Leader number (see empire's card). After both empires have chosen cards, reveal them. The assassination succeeds and the targeted leader lost if the assassin has a higher valued card.

Playing artefact cards

Each Artefact may be played on an empire in the age range stated on the card. There is no limit to the number of artefacts an empire may have.

Each civilise action one religion (Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism Hinduism, Islam, Judaism or Pantheism) may be played on an empire with no religion, or fewer than the number of religious glory categories on its card (option 12 Deus Vult!, a religion may be played on any empire that has fewer than 2 religions).

If your empire has a Religious leader it may also start a religion as if it played a religion artefact card provided it could have played that artefact.

One government (Autocracy, Capitalism, Democracy, or Socialism) may also be played on an empire now but only if it has no current government.

Some empires (e.g., the Shogunate, card 22) have two religious glory categories. They may have up to two religions without discarding the other (adopting a third would require discarding one of the other two first, see Discarding a religion or government below). All other empires may have no more than one religion at a time. Each empire may have no more than one government at a time.

An artefact can't be played (or adopted, see below) if all of that artefact's markers are already in play. However, as the religious and government artefacts have different religions or governments on the back, you may swap them around at any time to make a religion or government available.

Example: Heiko's Mughals (card 48) are Islamic. On the marker's back is the last available Christian artefact. Belinda can still play or Adopt Christianity on her Italians (card 44) if there is another Islamic artefact available that could be swapped for Heiko's.

If a green or Blue artefact is played, put the matching green marker on one of the empire's Land areas. That empire gains 1 glory. Each Scientist in Range when a blue artefact is placed on the map, or Artist in range when any other green artefact is placed there, also gains that leader's empire 1 glory. If a religion or government is played on an empire and no other empire currently has that religion or government, that empire gains another glory (all cumulative).

If a red artefact is played, put the matching red marker on the empire's card. That empire loses 1 glory.

Black artefacts (General AI and Internet) have no marker.

Any number of artefacts may be placed on the map or cards but if an area already contains an artefact, a blue artefact may only be placed in that area if there is also a Scientist there, or any other green artefact if there is already an Artist there.

A green artefact marker is immediately discarded when:

• the empire loses control of the artefact's area;
• the artefact is removed by an event card; or
• the empire is not in the artefact's age range.

If not playing option 16) Artefact pre-requisites and effects:

• ignore General AI, Internet, the '*' and '†' symbols on the cards, and all non-age specific set-up requirements;
• ignore the blue artefact markers (their matching green artefact marker may still be played),
• you may discard any or all of your empire's red artefacts immediately it leaves its current age; and
• the only effect of artefacts is glory (see Glory from artefacts, during Harvest glory).

Option 16 has further set-up requirements, restrictions and effects of artefacts.

Note: The colour behind the artefact's name on the card indicates whether it is a black, green or red artefact (and whether it requires a blue marker if playing option 16).

Removing leaders

An empire taking a civilise action may remove one of its Leaders. Remove named leaders from the game and return unnamed leaders to the Leader cup.

Immediately remove a leader any time there are no units of its empire in its area. Immediately remove all its leaders when an empire progresses forwards or backwards into a different age (old age has seen them off).

Promoting leaders

Your empire may promote one leader if it has fewer leaders on the map than the empire's Leader number. You could remove one leader and promote another in the same action.

If the empire has a named leader for this age, you may promote that leader (your choice if several are available). Each named leader can only appear in the game once.

Example: Susan's English are still in age 4 when they civilise. As Shakespeare has not yet appeared, Susan may place him in any English controlled area.

There are also a number of unnamed leaders in the game. If you don't have any named leaders or would instead prefer to promote an unnamed leader, randomly pick a leader from the cup. You may return it to the cup if you don't like that leader. If it is a 'no leader' counter, you must return it to the cup. You may pick again if you haven't already picked as many times as the empire's Leader number.

Place a new leader in any area the empire controls.

Leaders have a cumulative effect but only 1 of each type may provide a benefit in each area at any one time.

Example: An empire with 2 Philosophers wins ties during Harvest glory with empires that only have 1 but only if the 2 are in different areas. They and/or other leaders could also be providing non-philosophy benefits in those areas.

Adopting a religion or government

If an empire with a religion or government is within Range of yours, your empire may now adopt that religion or government (and gain 1 glory) as if you had played that artefact card (see Playing artefact cards) provided no area in the empire is disordered.

Each empire may only adopt one religion or government per civilise and it can't adopt a religion if it has already played a religion artefact card this action.

Discarding a religion or government

An empire may now discard one religion or government (not both). You may play the appropriate government or religion artefact card to remove that artefact's marker from your empire with no ill effect. Otherwise, disorder every Land area in the empire containing a city without a leader or a leader without a city.

Modernising

If an empire has reached a sufficient Progress level to build a particular unit type, you may turn over any units that upgrade to that type. There is no cost to modernise units.

Example: The Romans are at progress level 40. They can turn over all their swords, upgrading them to motorised infantry, their ships-of-the-line to battleships (progress level 39), galleys to cruisers and so on.

You may even downgrade your units if you wish (e.g., a bomber can convert to a fighter and vice versa).

Removing disorder

Next, each empire may remove disorder in areas it controls provided it pays that area's (undisordered) net income (option 12, Deus Vult!, including temples), ignoring leaders, minimum 5.

Example: playing options 12 & 16, the Ukraine (L4) with a 7 city, temple and the Industrial Revolution would cost 9.5 money to remove disorder ((7x2+5)/2), Cyrenaica (L6) with no city, 5. If both, and no others, the total cost is 15 money.

Urbanise

Finally, a non-Barbarian empire may build or improve cities in undisordered areas, either in 2 fertile areas or in one other Land area. There can only be one city in each area.

If a non-Barbarian empire has no Capital, it must now convert a city it controls into a capital by replacing the city with a capital of the same value in that area. If it has no cities the first city built becomes its capital. Each empire may have no more than one capital at a time.

To build a city, place a 1 value city (the background is purely aesthetic) in a land area the empire controls. To improve a city, increase its value by 1 level (e.g., a 3 value city increases to 5). There is no cost to build or improve a city.

A city can only be improved to value 3 if its empire is in age 2 or later. A city can only be improved to value 5 if its empire is in age 4 or later. A city can only be improved to value 7 if its empire is in age 7. These are marked on the Progress track, for easy reference.

An empire (even Barbarian) with a Builder may (for no cost) either build a fort, or build or improve 1 extra city, in the leader's area provided the area is not disordered. A fort can't be built in an area with a fort or, if a city, it can't already have been built or improved this civilise action.

Builders may also improve cities one age earlier than usual (e.g., an area containing a Mongol (card 41) Builder in age 3 could improve its city up to value 5).

If an empire controls its Homeland and it's in a different area to its capital, it may now declare its capital its new homeland.

7. Discard Empire (E)

If an empire ever has no units on the map, the empire is discarded immediately. This does not use up an action.

Otherwise, you must use a discard empire action to remove one of your empires from the map. You would do this to free up space for another (better) empire.

Replace its capital (if any) with a city of the same value. Remove the discarded empire's units and non-city markers from the map and its card. Place its unnamed leaders back in the cup, and remove its named leaders from the game.

This empire's units and markers are now available to start another empire (see 1. Start empire).

End of Turn

Free Progress (F)

After all empires have finished their actions, increase each empire's Progress level by one unless it is in a Dark age and doesn't have a Scientist, or it took a Wild card action this turn and currently doesn't have an Administrator.

Harvest Glory (H)

Each empire now earns glory for its player according to the 'Glory' section of its card. Each card contains one or more icons, most with a number superimposed. The icons indicate the glory categories.

To gain glory from a category, an empire must have more than zero of that particular category (e.g., you can't gain glory from most money if your empire has 0 money).

The number tells you how much glory the empire earns for that category:

• if the number is '1', the empire earns 1 glory if it has the most or highest of any empire in that category;
• if the number is '2', the empire earns 2 glory if it has the most or highest of any empire in that category and 1 point if it has second-most;
• if the number is '3', the empire earns 3 glory if it has the most or highest of any empire in that category, 2 points if it has second-most and 1 point if third.

When harvesting glory, other than homelands, don't count disordered areas (e.g., ignore artefacts in disordered areas).

If several empires tie for most in a particular category, the empire with the most Philosophers is considered the higher of them. If that is equal, then of those empires, the First player, or the player nearest to their left, is higher.

Example: Greg is the first player this turn. An empire of Cat's on Greg's left and Bruce on Greg's right have both tied for second in most money. Neither has a Philosopher so Cat's empire is second and Bruce's third in money this turn.

Note that all empires count, and your own empires could cost you glory by stopping your other empires from achieving their objectives. If two of your own empires tie for a particular category (after taking Philosophers into account), you choose which is higher.

Record glory on the Glory track. Your glory can't be reduced below 0. If you reach 200, give yourself a +200 glory marker, move your glory marker back to 0 and keep counting.

Buying glory

Before working out glory, all empires that want to buy glory may do so now (First player first, then Clockwise). Each glory point bought costs 50 money (option 16: it only costs empires with Renaissance 30 money to buy each glory).

Glory from cities

This icon provides glory to the empires with the greatest total city value (e.g., a 3 city, 1 city and 1 capital would have a total city value of 5).

Glory from units

These icons provide glory to the empires that have the most ships, cavalry or total Land units.

Glory from artefacts

When counting artefact glory, each empire adds up all its green artefact markers and subtracts all its red artefact markers. Double the value of each Blue artefact in the same area as a Scientist, and each other green artefact in the same area as an Artist. Each artist also increases its empire's artefact glory category by 1 (e.g., the Huns (card 68) would gain 1 glory, while the Qin (card 100) would gain 3, if they have 1 artist and the most artefacts).

Glory from Progress

When counting progress glory, if two or more empires end the game beyond the 49th progress level they are all tied as most advanced.

Glory from resources

The resource icons do not include a number. Instead, an empire gains 1 glory for each resource of that type it controls. Elephant areas are only counted if no empire is in age 7. Oil is only counted for empires in age 7. Grain in non-fertile areas only counts for empires in age 5 onwards.

Glory from areas

Many empires gain glory from controlling areas within a particular Continent or Region within a continent (e.g., North America is a region in America). Continents are separated by thick purple borders. Regions are separated by thick blue borders. All references to regions also refer to continents.

Example: China and India are in Asia which is a different continent to Europe.

Each region includes every sea and ocean area adjacent to a Land area in the region (e.g., The Japanese coast (R0) is in both the North-East Asia region and the Asia continent). The world is a region that includes every area.

When counting areas (including Glory from Religion, see below), only count desert or tundra areas if the 'Special' section of the Empire's card specifically says so.

If a sea area is adjacent to several regions it counts as being in each of them (e.g. The Central Mediterranean (K5) is an area in Africa, Italy and Europe).

Islands connected by a crossing arrow(s) belong to the mainland's region (e.g. Solomons (Y2) is in Australasia and Timor & Bali (W4) is in S.E. Asia, and both are in Asia).

The region all other islands belong to (if any) is indicated by the name in brackets after the island's name on the map (e.g., Iceland is part of Britain and Europe).

The colour of the icon tells you whether the empire's glory condition is based on Land areas (green), sea and ocean areas (blue) or total areas (green and blue).

Some European empires earn glory for controlling the most exclusively non-European areas. They must have their capital in Europe and only compare themselves to other empires with a capital in Europe (even those that don't earn glory for them).

Example: France gets 3 glory if it controls the most land and sea areas outside Europe of all empires with a capital in Europe, 2 if it controls the second most, and 1 if third. France controls the Western Mediterranean (J5) but it doesn't count as it is not exclusively outside Europe.

Glory from Religion

These icons provide glory to empires that control the most areas (land, sea and ocean) among those that have a particular religion. Each Religious empire compares the total number of (eligible) areas it controls against all other empires with that religion (even if they aren't eligible to gain glory from their religion during harvest glory). Each Religious leader in the empire increases its total by 1. If the Religious leader is in a city, the total is further increased by the city's value.

Each religious empire also gains 1 glory for each undisordered Religious site (land area with a religious symbol or, if playing option 16, has a Great Temple) it controls that matches its (option 16: dominant) religion (e.g. if a Christian Rome (card 12) controls an undisordered Palestine (M5) it gains 1 glory this turn).

Glory from your homeland

Empires with a homeland glory category gain 1 glory if they control their Homeland (even if disordered), and lose 1 glory if they don't.

Event cards and glory

Some event cards modify how much glory each player gets. These modifications occur after glory points (including purchased glory) are added up.

Example: Debbie has the French (card 32), Picts (card 74) and Qin (card 100) in play. At the start of Harvest glory, Nick plays the Glory? card, halving all glory this turn.

It's Debbie's turn so she counts first. The French have equal most artefacts and gain 2 glory. However, Burgundy (the French homeland) is controlled by the Germans (card 33), so she loses 1 glory.

On the control of non-European land areas by a European empire, France has more non-Tundra and non-Desert land areas than any other European empire. Unfortunately, the Vikings are larger when they include their Tundra areas outside Europe, so Debbie gets 2 glory for 2nd top. France therefore ends up with a total of 3 glory this turn (4-1).

Debbie then counts up her Pict and Qin glory which gives her another 2 for a total of 5 glory, halved for the Glory? card for a grand total of 2.5 rounded to 3 glory this turn.

Immediate glory

Glory conditions in a gold rectangle earn glory immediately the condition is met. They may be earned more than once each turn but are never earned during Harvest glory.

Example: Cat's Benin empire (card 67) progresses 2 levels during a trade & progress. She immediately gains 2 glory.

Liberated cities earn immediate glory before being reduced and even if removed when liberated (unless Scorched earth (card 160) is played), see End of conflict.

The turn ends

The player with the turn marker hands it to the player to their left. Begin the next turn (return to Playing the game).

Players' Guide

Optional Rules

Feel free to add any options, in full or in part, as you like it.

1) Total History

The first empire played in the game must start in age 1.

To ensure everyone has an age 1 empire, before dealing cards separate then shuffle all unconditional age 1 empire cards (their names are in Gold) and deal 2 face-down to each player. Reshuffle the remaining cards into the deck and deal the last 5 (option 4 Enhanced start: 8) cards to each player.

2) Not the full deck

If you want to play with less than a full deck, before you start the game deal an agreed number of cards (which can be the full deck if you like) face-down equally to all players. Put the remaining cards aside, face-down.

Each player looks at their sub-deck, places 1 card face-down in the middle, discards a second card face-down and passes the remaining cards face-down to the player to their left. Repeat until the majority of players are happy to play with the remaining cards.

Still face-down, reshuffle these remaining cards (and those in the middle and those put aside) into one deck and start playing. The discarded cards are removed from the game and kept hidden from all players until game's end.

If you desire an even wilder game, you can use a similar procedure to reduce units, artefacts and/or leaders.

3) Redemption

After hands have been dealt during Preparing to play, each player in Clockwise order starting with the dealer has the option to discard any number of their cards and fill their hand to 6 (not 7). You may not play events during this procedure (the game hasn't started yet).

4) Enhanced start

During Preparing to play, deal 10 cards to each player (not 7). If also playing option 3 Redemption, you may refill your hand to 8 cards (not 6).

After every player has chosen their empire counters (see Who goes first?) each player, in Clockwise order starting with the First, discards cards in their hand in excess of 6. You may not play events during this procedure.

5) Enhanced Play

If 6 people are playing 7 Ages Deluxe, or 4 people 7 Ages Classic, at the start of each turn the First player picks the spare set of action markers, secretly chooses one to add to their action markers, and passes the rest face-down to the player to their left. That player secretly chooses one of the remaining markers and adds it to their markers and again passes the rest face-down to the player to their left until all players have chosen a marker. These markers are additional action markers to play this turn. The remaining unchosen markers are kept aside face-down for the rest of the turn.

If 4 or 5 people are playing 7 Ages Deluxe or 3 people 7 Ages Classic, you play with two sets of extra markers (mixed together) and go round the table twice so everyone ends up with 2 additional markers to play this turn.

If less than 4 people are playing 7 Ages Deluxe, or 3 people 7 Ages Classic, each may play with 2 sets of action markers.

Each Manoeuvre each player turns over one marker and carries out that action for one empire before the can turn over a second marker and perform that same action with a second empire and so on. If a player passes, they may not later perform mavoeuvre this turn.

Example: Anna, Peter and Alex are playing a 3-player game with 2 sets of action markers each. It's Anna turn. She puts a manoeuvre on her Roman empire (card 12), another on her Huns (card 68) and a Wild card on her Irish (card 87). Peter has a manoeuvre marker on his Parthians (card 16).

At the start of Manoeuvre, Anna turns over the marker on her Romans, moves them and resolves any conflict. Peter then turns over the marker on his Parthians and moves them. Alex passes. Anna now turns over the marker and moves her Huns. Peter and Alex both pass. Finally, Anna turns over the Wild card, announces it's a monoeuvre and moves her Irish.

[Designer's note: This prevents one player ganging up all their empires on another before they have a chance to react.]

When placing action markers on empires (see Playing the game), if you have at least two fewer empires in play than your maximum you may place two additional action markers face-down in front of you not on any empire (e.g., you could start 2 empires each turn, not 1).

Each Destiny action you may draw one card more than usual.

6) Pursuit

If your units Retreat from conflict (see 4), you lose 2 units (your choice) to pursuit for each aircraft, 1 unit for each tank, and 1 unit for every other full 2 cavalry units your opponent has remaining in the area. The total is halved if the conflict occurred in a mountain, -1 if in a forest (min. 0).

Each cavalry or aircraft unit you lose in the pursuit satisfies 2 required losses. Each unit you lose from a higher Progress level than your opponent's highest surviving unit in the area also counts as 2 pursuit losses (3 if also cavalry or aircraft).

7) Technology

Instead of filling your hand to 6 cards, at the start of each Destiny action every player (starting with the First) reveals who is taking a destiny action this turn by turning over their appropriate action marker(s). If there is only one player, that player fills their hand to 7 cards per destiny action.

Otherwise, the most advanced empire taking a destiny action (if tied, or the player nearest to their left) allows their owner to fill their hand to 7 cards, while the destiny action on no empire or, if none, the least advanced empire taking a destiny action (in both cases, to break ties, the player furthest from the left of the first player) allows their owner to only fill their hand to 5 cards. All other destiny actions allow their owners to fill their hand to 6 cards.

8) Take that!

For those who don't like 'take that!' cards, during Civilise you may only play artefact and event cards on empires within Range of the empire taking the action (any of your empires if the civilise is not being carried out by an empire).

To play events at any other time you must have an empire within range of the area or empire targeted by the card.

To play an event that targets a player, that player must have an empire within range of any of your empires.

If you wish to be even more restrictive, you may only play black, blue or green Artefacts on empires you control (except holy war and the second artefact when playing Peace treaty).

9) Cadenced progress (Kingdoms expansion)

At the start of each turn give the 7 cadenced progress markers to the First player.

Once everyone has placed action markers on their empires (see Playing the game) that player places 3 cadence markers (their choice) face-down on the boxes in the Cadenced progress track on the map, one in the 'no progress' box, the second in the 'no progress if trade <0' box and the third in the 'extra progress if trade >1' box.

Keep the remaining cadence markers face-down (so no one else knows which actions are affected this turn).

At the start of the End of turn reveal the markers on the Cadenced progress track. Instead of the standard rule, this turn each empire gets Free progress equal to 1:

(a) +1 if the empire's (modified) Trade number is at least +2 and it chose the same action as the marker in the 'extra progress if trade >1' box;

(b) +1 to one of your empires (your choice) if an empire you discarded satisfied (a) above;

(c) -1 if the empire chose the same action as the marker in the 'no progress' box;

(d) -1 if the empire's (modified) trade number is less than 0 and it chose the same action as the marker in the 'no progress if trade <0' box;

(e) -1 to all your empires if an empire you discarded suffered a no progress result ((c) or (d) above); and

(f) -1 if your empire without an Administrator used a Wild card for its action.

You still can't progress forward out of or through a Dark age (unless you have a Scientist) but you must go backwards if required. If your empire is eligible to progress 2 levels forward you may instead elect to advance only 1.

The boxes on the Cadenced progress track are colour coded with each empire's Trade number to show who's affected.

Example: In Cat's turn she places the manoeuvre cadence marker in the 'no progress' box, the discard empire marker in the 'no progress if trade <0' box and the civilise marker in the 'extra progress if trade >1' box, all face-down.

Markus chooses Civilise for his Dutch (card 49), a Wild card (without an administrator) for his Chams (card 85) which he converts into a Manoeuvre and Discard empire for his Early Finns (card 94). During Free progress his Dutch advance 1 level (1+1(a)-1(e)), or would if they weren't in a dark age, while his Chams go back 2 (1-1(c)-1(e)-1(f)).

10) Neutral Kingdoms (Kingdoms expansion)

The Kingdoms expansion includes 90 Kingdom units. When an empire is discarded (see 7) replace each unit you removed from Land areas with the same kingdom unit type (e.g., knight for knight) even if it has different values.

If an empire cannot Maintain any units in a land area during Production, remove any fort, artefacts and disorder there and replace all removed units with the equivalent kingdom units.

In both cases, if there aren't enough kingdom units available in the common Unit pool, the player who lost the area must move a kingdom unit of that type or its obverse (e.g., if you need a cannon, you could move and flip an archer) from anywhere to that area.

Each area with kingdom units is its own neutral kingdom. It is not any particular nationality (e.g., if the Franks (card 21) are discarded, the replacement kingdom units aren't Franks).

Kingdoms don't conduct actions but defend their area normally. Their units are the same age as the Active player.

During Resolving conflict the player with the nearest empire to the defending kingdom that is not controlled by the active player controls the kingdom's defenders (nearest player to the left of the active player if more than one). Resolve the conflict normally (including Playing event cards) except Kingdom units can't Retreat.

11) Secret Victory (Victory Expansion)

At the start of the game each player gets a cloth pouch with the same colour as that player's empires. Instead of recording glory on the Glory track, every time you earn glory you place glory markers (included in the expansion) equal to the glory into your pouch (making change as required). If you lose glory, you put that glory back.

Apart from certain event cards, players only show how much glory they have at the end of the game. If a player earns glory and there is none remaining available, the game ends.

When playing Glorious pity (card 34) on a player, they must show their glory to all players. They then claim the glory they believe they deserve (up to 100) and one or more other players must show their glory to challenge the claim. If they do, the glory gained is modified accordingly.

Example: Glorious Pity is played on Alex who shows her 70 glory and claims 100 (why not?). Jacqui shows that she has 73 glory so alas Alex only gets 2 ((73-70)/2).

12) Deus Vult! (Religions expansion)

Each empire may have up to two (different) religions at any one time and in the same way (playing the Artefact or Adopting a religion, see 6).

Each empire that has one or more Religions may build 1 temple of one of those religions during each Urbanise action (after cities are built or improved) in any area it controls that does not already contain a temple. If you have a Religious leader in another area without a temple you may then build a second temple there (which could be your other religion).

Each temple is free to build. Each area may contain no more than 1 temple, not 1 per religion.

When an empire builds a temple, all adjacent areas belonging to the same empire that contain a temple of a different religion (even ones built this turn) are disordered.

After building, you may also destroy a temple. A Religious leader may destroy a second temple it is stacked with.

If your empire liberates an area containing a temple (see Vacant areas and Resolving conflict), you may destroy it.

When an empire destroys a temple, disorder the area and every adjacent area that empire controls, that has a temple of that religion in it.

During Production your empire only gains half the income from each area containing a temple. [Designer's note: the rest goes to the church].

Each time you discard a religion (see Discarding a religion or government) without playing its artefact card, instead of disordering cities and leaders, you disorder every area in that empire that has a temple of that religion without a Religious leader. That empire no longer counts towards who has most glory for that religion no matter how many temples it still has, and the empire still suffers disorder should it destroy those temples later.

During Harvest glory, religious glory is no longer based on the number of undisordered areas a Religious empire controls. Instead, it is the income of every undisordered area containing a temple of that religion in the empire (e.g., an Islamic mosque in a 7 city in an undisordered Ukraine adds 6 towards that empire's Islamic value this turn). A Religious leader doubles the religious value of the area they occupy.

For each religion, each empire with that religion adds up its total religious value, compares it to all other empires with that religion and consults the following table.

No. of empires	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
1	2
2	1	1
3	2	1
4	2	1	1
5	2	2	1
6	2	2	1	1
7	3	2	2	1
8	3	3	2	1	1
9	4	3	2	2	1
10+	4	3	3	2	1	1

(Table: Temple glory — total value of temple areas)

The more empires that belong to a religion, the more glory is available for empires with that religion.

Example: Four empires have adopted Islam. The Umayyads (card 24) have the highest income value of areas with Islamic temples, the Fatimids (card 69) are second, the Franks (card 21) third and the Mughals (card 48) fourth. The Umayyads get 2 religious glory this turn, the Fatimids and Franks 1 each and the Mughals 0.

Each empire may gain glory from each of its religions. Empires with religions as glory categories on their card don't have to have those as their religions but while they do they are also eligible for its glory (see Glory from Religion in Harvest glory) in addition to the above temple glory (eg the Umayyads in the previous example would get 3 extra religious glory for a total of 5 while the Fatimids would get 1 extra for a total of 2 and the Franks and Mughals 0 extra).

[Designer's note: Deus Vult! is empire glory neutral, it does not benefit those empires with religious glory categories over those without or vice versa (except insofar as it increases the number of empires interested in religion). However, it is not glory category neutral as it increases the value of religious glory in relation to all other categories.]

13) Quick conflict resolution

When Resolving conflict in each area, each side secretly places their units into 2 stacks, committed units and reserves. Each side must commit at least one unit.

Conflict is resolved normally but there is only one round. If your conflict total in the area is at least three times greater than your opponent's, you lose no units in the area while they lose all their units there.

Otherwise, the loser loses all their committed units in the area and the winner loses half the committed units (their choice) that they or their opponent committed, whichever is fewer.

The loser now also loses a number of their remaining units in the area (their choice) equal to half the number of the winner's reserves. The remaining loser's units (if any) must Retreat (see Manoeuvre).

If they tie they each lose all their committed units (unless they also committed a Tactician) and if the Defender has any units remaining in the area, the empire carrying out the action must retreat. This may leave the area Vacant.

If playing option 6) Pursuit, only reserves may pursue but all pursuit losses are in addition to those caused by the reserves above and are added together before the retreating player satisfies the combined pursuit losses.

Solitaire

If you are playing solitaire, we recommend you play without reserves, committing all units in the area.

14) Marines

Infantry and missile units being Naval transported may end their move on their ships in a Sea area provided that area is adjacent to a Land area their empire controls. If, at the end of any player's Action, there is no adjacent land area controlled by that empire, or they are not on a transport, those infantry and missile units at sea are lost.

When Resolving conflict in a sea area, infantry and missiles must (and can only) be committed to the conflict when their transporting ships are committed, and each Land unit's front and support value is halved.

15) Hocking the crown jewels

At the end of each Harvest glory, going Clockwise after the First player, each empire may gain 5 money by reducing its owner's glory on the Glory track by 1. You may not sell more glory than you have, and each turn each empire may sell no more glory than the number of undisordered cities it controls.

Example: Your Egyptians (card 1) have 3 undisordered cities. You may reduce your glory by up to 3 and, if you do, Egypt gains 15 money.

16) Artefact pre-requisites and effects

As well as their age range and glory benefits, each artefact has additional set-up requirements, restrictions and effects as explained for each artefact below. All effects are cumulative.

Unlike 7 Ages Classic, not all green artefacts are placed on the map and instead some are placed on the empire's card if the artefact says so (e.g., Buddhism). They still count towards the empire's glory (see Glory from artefacts).

If an empire has two religion artefacts, the leftmost is dominant. Each empire only gains a religious artefact's powers, and suffer its penalties, from the empire's dominant religion. You may change the order of religion artefacts at the end of Adopting a religion or government.

When Adopting a religion, see 6, ignore requirements to be within range of a specific area (e.g. you don't need to be within range of Mecca to adopt Islam, just within range of an empire that has Islam).

Some artefacts have a symbol after their name on the card:

• '*' ~ requires another artefact to be played first; and
• '†' ~ artefact may be played earlier if certain conditions are met (see Industrial Revolution and World war below).

Blue artefacts (e.g., Computing) have a blue marker to place on the Progress track as well as its green artefact marker placed in an empire's Land area. A blue artefact may only be played on an empire in a Dark age in a land area occupied by a Scientist.

If not already on the progress track, place the blue marker on the track 7 spaces ahead of the empire, less the empire's age.

The empire with the artefact, and all empires at or above its blue marker on the track gain all benefits (and penalties) of the artefact (except Glory from artefacts, see Harvest glory).

Example: The Sudanese empire (card 80) is on Progress level 31 (in age 5) when they have Industrial Revolution played on them. Its blue marker is placed 2 spaces (7-their age) ahead on the progress track. The Sudanese and every empire on progress level 33 or higher receive the benefits of Industrial revolution and satisfy the prerequisite for having Railways played on them.

Blue artefact markers on the track are never removed.

If the game starts after the unconditional age that a blue artefact marker may first be placed on the progress track, place it on the track in the leftmost space of the next age.

Example: You start the game by playing the French (card 32) and place their progress marker on progress level 22. You place the blue Paved roads marker on progress level 15 and the blue Rutters marker on progress level 22. The French may build ships-of-the-line during Start empire.

Artefacts

Autocracy

Ages: 2-7

Effect: The empire gains autocracy. Put an autocracy artefact on its card.

Power: In a Production action, an autocratic empire:

• reduces the cost of infantry and cavalry units by 1 money (minimum 1); and
• pays 0 maintenance for its units.

Penalty: An autocratic empire:

• ignores the effects of Universal suffrage;
• halves the income it earns in a Production action (cumulative if also Barbarian); and
• reduces by 1 the number of Progress levels it advances when it wins a Trade and progress it initiates.

Buddhism

Ages: 2-7 (only on an empire within Range of India)

Effect: The empire gains the Buddhist religion. Put a Buddhism artefact on its card.

Power: If an empire Liberates one or more of your areas during Manoeuvre, at the end of its action you may place a disorder marker in any 1 area it controls within range of your empire. Before each action it takes, a Buddhist empire may remove disorder from one area it controls.

Penalty: None.

Capitalism*

Ages: 5-7 (only on an empire that has Industrial Revolution)

Effect: The empire gains capitalism. Put a capitalism artefact on its card.

Power: During Trade and progress Capitalists earn 1 glory each trade they win, and double the income of their trade partner's (or the deck's) lowest value Trade card, when they don't.

During Urbanise, each city a Capitalist empire builds or improves is built or improved 1 extra level (e.g., a new city is built with a value of 3 and a value 1 city improves to 5), up to the maximum city value (see the Progress track).

Penalty: None.

Christianity

Ages: 2-7 (only on an empire in Range of Palestine (M5))

Effect: The empire gains the Christian religion. Disorder its capital and put a Christianity artefact on its card.

Power: Immediately before it carries out its action, your Christian empire may convert one neutral Land area by moving an adjacent unit into the area (it can't vacate an area it couldn't normally vacate) provided it could enter during Manoeuvre. Alternatively, it can spark religious conflict by placing a disorder marker into an adjacent land area controlled by a non-Christian empire.

If playing option 10, Neutral Kingdoms, and you choose to convert an area containing kingdom units, pick a card from the deck. The area is only converted if the card's value is greater than or equal to the number of kingdom units in the area. If the area is converted, remove those units. Discard the card.

Penalty: A Christian empire must disorder its capital whenever it loses control of one or more fertile areas during each empire's Manoeuvre action. If it is already disordered or it has no capital it puts the marker on any undisordered area containing a city that the empire controls. If none place it on any undisordered area it controls (ignore if none).

Colossus of Rhodes

Ages: 1, 2 (only on a coastal area)

Effect: Add 1 to the empire's ships glory category (value of 1 if none) during Harvest glory.

Computing*

Ages: 6, 7 (only on an empire that has Radio)

Effect: During Trade and progress, empires that have computing may choose to pick one card from the deck to trade with instead of from their hand.

Concentrated ownership

Ages: Any

Effect: An empire with concentrated ownership increases the cost of all units it builds by +1. There is no effect on the cost of forts.

Discard the artefact when Revolution is played on the empire or it enters another age.

Confucianism

Ages: 2-7 (only on an empire that controls a Chinese, or S.E. Asian Land area)

Effect: The empire gains the Confucian religion. Put a Confucianism artefact on its card.

Power: A Confucian empire avoids each disorder marker that would otherwise be placed in one of its areas if it picks a card with a value greater than or equal to the empire's current age.

An empire that takes control of a land area from a Confucian empire may Adopt Confucianism immediately (discarding another if necessary, see 6, Adopting a religion). If it doesn't (e.g., because it's already Confucian), disorder the area.

Penalty: Reduce a Confucian empire's Trade number by 1.

Defender of the faith

Ages: 1-6 (only on an empire with a leader and a religion, and that religion doesn't already have a defender of the faith)

Effect: Put the defender of the faith artefact on top of the dominant religion on their card. While defender, an empire cannot change the order of their religions.

The defender of the faith gains 1 glory each time they Liberate a Religious site of their religion from, or liberate the last area controlled by, an empire with a different dominant religion. They lose 1 glory each time a religious site of the defender's religion, or the last area of an empire with the same dominant religion as the defender, is liberated by an empire with a different dominant religion.

During Adopting a religion (see 6), instead of adopting a religion, the defender of the faith may place their religion's holy war artefact in any Land area controlled by a Religious empire (which adds to that empire's artefact total), provided none of their Religion artefacts are the same as the defender.

While the holy war is on the map, each empire with the religion of the defender that doesn't have Renaissance:

• loses 2 glory at the end of the Manoeuvre action unless it performed at least one manoeuvre that action; and
• adds +1 to the front and support values of all their units in or adjacent to the area with the holy war artefact.

If an empire with the same dominant religion as the defender liberates the area with the holy war artefact it gains 1 glory, plus another glory if that area still has a city after liberation and another glory (all cumulative, 3 maximum) if the area is a Religious site for this religion. It then places the holy war marker on the dominant religion on its card. Discard it when the empire leaves its current age or the religion is discarded.

An on-map holy war artefact is discarded immediately:

• the empire with the artefact starts or adopts that religion,
• the empire with the artefact leaves its current age, or
• the defender of the faith is discarded.

Unlike other artefacts holy war is not discarded when an empire liberates the area (it's either placed on the liberating empire's card if its dominant religion is the same as the defender of the faith, or else remains on the map).

During Discarding a religion or government (see 6), any empire with the same dominant religion as the defender of the faith (including that empire), instead of discarding either, may call for a vote against the defender.

If it does, each empire with that dominant religion (including the defender of the faith) gets one vote. It gets an extra vote for each religious site of that religion it controls. If more than half of the total votes cast vote against the defender of the faith, discard the artefact. If the vote fails, the player that called for the vote loses 1 glory.

The defender of the faith is also discarded immediately its empire has no leaders, it loses control of a religious site of the defender's religion, or it discards the defender's religion.

Democracy

Ages: 2-7

Effect: The empire gains democracy. Put a democracy artefact on its card.

Power: Democratic empires' Leader number is +1.

At the end of every Trade Democrats conduct with each other they both get +1 money for each card traded by both empires (e.g. after Renaissance, 2 cards are traded by one Democrat and 1 by the other, they both get 3 extra money).

Democratic empires halve the total cost of their units in Production actions if they lost control of an area to another player's empire in that or the previous turn.

Penalty: A democratic empire loses 1 glory immediately each time it takes control of a Land area from another empire unless the democracy was the Defender against that other empire in the current or previous turn.

Environmental sustainability (Trade expansion)*

Ages: 7 (only on an empire with Industrial Revolution, and the climate clock is not on the Glory track)

Effect: Place the Climate clock marker on the 5 space of the glory track. While the Climate clock is on the track, the empire controlling environmental sustainability halves its total income each Production action. However for the rest of the game, while it controls environmental sustainability, it also gains 1 glory each time it produces for being the environmental pathfinder.

While the climate clock is on the track, move it down one space each time an empire does not halve its total income during Production. After each two empires consecutively halve their income during any production action, move the Climate clock up one space (4 in a row up another space etc).

If the climate clock goes up to the 10 space on the glory track, environmental stability has been restored. Remove the climate clock from the track (if still on the map, the environmental sustainability artefact remains there). All production goes back to normal.

If the climate clock goes down to the 0 space on the track, then until the end of the game all empires halve their total income during production, all fertile and forest become desert, all jungle becomes forest (not fertile), all tundra becomes fertile and all grain and oil provide 0 income (they still count for Harvest glory). The climate clock remains on the track even if the artefact is removed from the map.

Forbidden City (Religions expansion)

Ages: 3-7

Effect: Add 1 to the empire's city glory category (value of 1 if none) during Harvest glory.

Forum

Ages: Any (only on an undisordered area containing a city)

Effect: An empire with a forum can convert any action into a pass when it turns over its action marker. Put a '+1 go' marker on the empire's card. An empire does nothing in a pass action.

An empire may spend a '+1 go' marker to take a second action immediately after it takes any action (except a pass or Vote action). The second action must be different from the first, even if outside the sequence of play (option 9: and doesn't count for Cadenced progress). An empire may only spend one '+1 go' marker a turn.

You lose all saved '+1 go' markers if forum is removed.

General AI (Trade expansion)*

Ages: 7 (only on an empire that is (solely) the most advanced and also has Mars landing)

Effect: Game over, empire's owner wins. Glory decides all other places.

Great Canal (Kiel (J3), Panama (B4) & Suez (N5))*

Ages: 5-7 (only on an area adjacent to the Kiel, Panama or Suez Canal (respectively) controlled by an empire that has Industrial Revolution)

Effect: While the Panama or Suez canal is on the map, ships may move directly between the sea areas connected by it (at no extra cost) if the canal's owner gives permission (see 4, Movement). They may demand money and/or cards in payment which must be immediately paid if the active empire wants to use the canal.

If the Kiel canal is in Schleswig, ships there are on both the Baltic and the North Sea coast.

Canals are considered rivers when Resolving conflict.

If an area with a canal changes control, the new owner does not have to destroy it. If they do, discard the artefact.

Great Library

Ages: 2, 3

Effect: Add 1 to the empire's progress glory category (value of 1 if none) during Harvest glory.

Great Pyramid

Ages: 1-3

Effect: During Removing disorder in Civilise (see 6), the owner may remove disorder from this, and every adjacent area for no cost.

Great Shipyard (Trade expansion)

Ages: 3-7 (only on a coastal area that contains as many as or more ships as any other coastal area on the map)

Effect: Each ship costs 1 less to build than usual (minimum 2) in the area containing the Great shipyard, and any number of ships may be built there.

Great Temple (Religions expansion)

Ages: any (only on a Religious empire, at least 2 empires have that religion, and in an area that is not a Religious site)

Effect: There are 7 great temples, one for each religion: Angkor Wat (Hinduism), Borobodor (Buddhism), Hagia Sophia (Christianity), Grand Mosque (Islam), Stonehenge (Pantheism), Temple of Confucius (Confucianism) and the Temple of Jerusalem (Judaism).

Place a great temple of the empire's dominant religion in the area. While on-map the area is a religious site for this religion.

An empire liberating an area with a great temple does not have to discard it. It is immediately discarded whenever fewer than 2 empires have the same religion as the site.

Great University (Ancients & Kingdoms expansion)*

Ages: 4-7 (only on an empire with Renaissance)

Effect: Each university adds +1 to its empire's Trade number and allows that empire to build its units +1 Progress level ahead (cumulative with Mechanica Miraculum, see card 61).

Great Wall

Ages: 2-4

Effect: The area containing the artefact, and all adjacent Land areas controlled by that empire are treated as having a fort. Actual forts there provide no extra benefit.

Great Zimbabwe

Ages: 2-5

Effect: Add 1 to the empire's money glory category (value of 1 if none) during Harvest glory.

Hanging gardens

Ages: 1, 2

Effect: Add 1 to the empire's artefact glory category (value of 1 if none) during Harvest glory.

Heresy

Ages: Any (only on a Religious empire)

Effect: Place heresy on top of the dominant religion on an empire's card. While there, any action taken by any empire with that dominant religion is converted into a Vote action as soon as it turns over its action marker.

If the empire taking the vote action has a religious leader, it may remove the heresy. Otherwise pick a card. The value on the card is how many Progress levels the empires with that dominant religion will lose between them. The empire taking the vote action proposes how the losses will be distributed.

Each empire that would lose a progress level gets one vote for each level it would lose. If there are 0 levels to lose, only the active empire votes. If the majority of the votes supports the proposal, the progress levels are lost and the heresy artefact discarded. If the vote fails, the heresy remains.

Hinduism

Ages: Any (only on an empire that controls an Indian Land area)

Effect: The empire gains the Hindu religion. Put a Hindu artefact on its card.

Power: A Hindu empire ignores the adverse powers of all other religions (e.g., a Christian empire can't use its power to place a disorder marker in a Hindu empire).

If a Hindu empire receives 1 or fewer glory during Harvest glory, increase its glory by 1.

Penalty: If a Hindu empire receives 7 or more glory during Harvest glory, decrease its glory by 1.

Holy war (see Defender of the faith)

Industrial Revolution†*

Ages: 6, 7 (and 5 if the empire has Printing) and only on an empire with Renaissance

Effect: Empires with industrial revolution double the income they receive during Production from all their cities.

Internet*

Ages: 7 (only if the empire has Computing and Satellites, and Social Media is not in play)

Effect: The empire's owner picks 1 (2 if 4 or less players) card from the deck for each player ahead of them in glory (if any) and adds all the cards' value to their glory. History ends, game over.

Irrigation (Trade expansion)

Ages: any, but only on an area adjacent to a river (a River area)

Effect: During Production, +1 income to each Land area adjacent to the river your empire controls (even if you don't control the artefact). Irrigation can help more than one river if adjacent to both but each area can only gain +1 no matter how many irrigated rivers it is adjacent to.

Islam

Ages: 3–7 (only on an empire within Range of Mecca (N6))

Effect: The empire gains the Islamic religion. Put an Islam artefact on its card. Give that empire an elite marker.

Power: An Islamic empire immediately gains 1 glory each time it takes control of a Land area from a non-Islamic empire.

Penalty: An Islamic empire immediately loses 1 glory each time it takes control of a land area from an Islamic empire.

Judaism (Religions expansion)

Ages: any (only on an empire within Range of Palestine (M5))

Effect: The empire gains the Judaic religion. Put a Judaism artefact on its card.

Power: Empire's Range +1 and every Religious leader also has all the benefits of a Philosopher (if not already one).

Penalty: none.

Just rule

Ages: Any (only on an empire with a leader)

Effect: When played, remove all disorder in the empire.

Corrupt administration, New dynasty, Rebellion, Uprising and Urban riots can't be played on an empire with Just rule.

Any time an empire with Just rule has an area disordered, pick a card. The area is only disordered if the card's value > the number of leaders the empire has.

Remove Just rule immediately the empire has no leaders on the map.

Machu Pichu (Medieval expansion)

Ages: 3-5 (only on a forest, jungle or mountain area)

Effect: Units in or adjacent to Machu Pichu may Retreat from conflict resolution (see 4) at any time during the conflict (even before the first round).

Mars landing (Trade expansion)*

Ages: 7 (only on an empire with Moon landing)

Effect: the empire immediately gains 7 glory and gets 1 additional glory at the start of every future action until the end of the game (except a pass or Heresy Vote action).

Moon landing*

Ages: 7 (only on an empire that has Computing and Satellites)

Effect: An empire with the moon landing gains a glory point each time it carries out a Civilise action. It gains 7 glory if it ends the game (in addition to the glory it gets for leaving age 7 or the Internet).

Oracle

Ages: 1, 2

Effect: An empire with the oracle can examine one other player's cards immediately before it takes its action, if that player has an empire within Range of the oracle. If the capital of that empire is disordered, it can randomly keep one of those cards.

Pantheism

Ages: any

Effect: The empire gains the Pantheist religion. Put a Pantheism artefact on its card.

Power: Every area containing any leader of a Pantheist empire cannot be disordered (even by event cards).

Penalty: none.

Paved roads

Ages: 2-7

Effect: Each area that has a city controlled by an empire with paved roads costs any empire only 1 movement point to enter, regardless of terrain.

Peace treaty

Ages: Any

Effect: Put one peace treaty artefact in any area in an empire. Put the other on any other empire within Range of the first, controlled by another player. While both artefacts are on the map, neither empire may move a unit into an area controlled by the other.

Remove both artefacts when either empire leaves its current age or either area is occupied by another empire.

Pharos lighthouse

Ages: 1, 2 (only on a coastal area)

Effect: Increase the empire's Trade number by +1. All its ships within Range of the Pharos add +1 to their front and support values.

Printing*

Ages: 4–7 (only on an empire with Renaissance)

Effect: An empire with printing increases its Trade number by +1 and in a Trade and progress, may advance its progress marker by an extra Progress level if it wins with a Trade value 7 or more higher than their trading partner.

Radio*

Ages: 6, 7 (only on an empire with Industrial Revolution and Printing)

Effect: Empires that have radio may:

• trace Range through empires without permission; and
• use the Tactician's conflict and Retreat benefits when Resolving conflict in areas adjacent to the leader's area (they must still be in the area to be committed to conflict).

Railways*

Ages: 5–7 (only on an empire with Paved roads and Industrial Revolution)

Effect: Empires that have railways:

• increase their Range by +1; and
• during Movement, may enter each area with a city that they control for a cost of 0 movement points.

Religious strife

Ages: Any (only on an empire that has a religion but no Religious leader)

Effect: Place religious strife on top of the dominant religion on an empire's card. It cannot exercise its religion's power (it is still subject to its religion's penalties).

Discard the artefact when the Revolution artefact is played on the empire, its religion votes in favour of resolving a Heresy, or when the empire leaves its current age.

Renaissance

Ages: 4–7

Effect: When carrying out a Trade and progress you may play a second Trade card face-down from your hand (not the deck) after both players have played their first (the player whose action it is first if the other empire also has renaissance and is trading this turn). All trade cards you play are added to your Trade value and then traded.

A renaissance empire is no longer affected by holy war and may buy glory during Harvest glory for 30 money each.

Revolution

Ages: any (only on an empire with at least one disordered area)

Effect: Move the empire's progress marker back 3 Progress levels, disorder its capital and remove all its Religion artefacts.

Reduce the cost of the empire's infantry units by 1 (minimum 1) and increase the cost of its ships and aircraft units by 1.

Remove the revolution artefact as soon as the empire:

• gains Socialism;
• gains any Religion; or
• leaves its current age.

Rutters

Ages: 3-7 (only on, and only affects, an empire that may build ships)

Effect: An empire with rutters may build ships-of-the-line even if not yet at progress level 23.

An empire may only Move its units, and trace Range, into ocean areas if it has rutters.

Satellites*

Ages: 7 (only on an empire that has Rutters and Radio)

Effect: An empire that has satellites:

• treats every area as within Range; and
• immediately before it takes its action, the empire announces how many of one other player's cards (chosen randomly) and/or stacks of their units they will now spy on. Each card or stack of units looked at costs 1 money. After looking at the cards, return them to their owner's hand and carry out your action.

Social Media

Ages: 7 (only on an empire that has Computing and Satellites)

Effect: While on-map, the Internet may not be played.

[Designer's note: it's wrecked, sorry about that]

Socialism*

Ages: 5–7 (only on an empire that has Industrial Revolution)

Effect: The empire gains socialism. Put a socialism artefact on its card and disorder each leaderless city area it controls.

Power: A Socialist empire immediately gains 1 money each time one of its units is removed from the map and placed in its Unit pools (e.g., while Maintaining units you could discard one units to maintain another).

At the start of any Socialist empire's action, its Populist leaders may remove disorder from their area for no cost (as well as at the end of Movement during Manoeuvre).

Socialists gain 1 glory whenever another empire within Range gains socialism or discards any other government.

Socialists ignore the power and penalty of all empires' religion(s) (they may still Harvest glory from religion) including the effects of Religious strife, Heresy and holy war.

Penalty: None.

Summer Palace

Ages: any

Effect: When Removing disorder during Civilise (see 6), the owner may remove disorder from 1 area within Range of the Summer Palace for no cost.

Temple of Diana

Ages: 1, 2

Effect: An empire with the temple of Diana receives normal income from any disordered areas within Range of the temple, and counts those areas when working out how much glory it gains.

United Nations*

Ages: Any (but only if the black World war marker is on the Progress track)

Effect: Discard the World war artefact and its black marker.

Each player Action that an empire first ends a unit's move in an area controlled by another empire, or plays the new dynasty, shooting star, uprising or urban riots event, it may be immediately censured by unanimous vote of all other players, but only if the UN's controller calls for a vote. If the censure vote fails, the UN controller loses 1 glory.

A player can accept a censure, in which case the moving unit ends its turn in the last friendly controlled area it left or the event card has no effect (but is still discarded). For the rest of this player action, no more units may end their move in another empire's area, and none of the other cards may be played. A player who doesn't accept the censure loses 1 glory per voter (2 glory per voter if there are less than 4 players in the game) but is otherwise unaffected this action.

Universal suffrage*

Ages: 5–7 (only on, and only affects, a Capitalist, Democratic or Socialist empire that also has Renaissance)

Effect: During Production, reduce the maintenance cost in each area by the value of any undisordered city in that area (minimum cost 1 per area).

If your empire does not progress during Trade, it receives income from all the Trade cards (yours and theirs).

World war†

Ages: 7 (or any if played on an empire that has Industrial Revolution) but not if the United Nations is on the map

Effect: Place the black world war marker on the empire's current space on the Progress track.

If the black world war marker is on the progress track:

• all empires taking a Production action halve the total cost of new units they build and can place any number of units in any area;
• all empires that take a Manoeuvre action can move and resolve conflict again after resolving any conflicts from their first move. Units stacked with a Strategist may then move and resolve conflict a third time;
• empires may not advance more than 1 Progress level when they win a Trade and progress action; and
• empires do not advance during Free progress at the End of turn, irrespective of whether they are in a Dark age or have a Scientist.

Discard the world war artefact and its black marker when either any empire enters a higher age than the black marker, or the United Nations is played.

When world war is discarded, every empire (except the empire that removed the artefact by entering a higher age, if any) gains 1 glory for each fertile area it controls.

Leader Types

Administrator (Ad): During Production, an empire may build any number of units in an administrator's area and the cost of every unit built there, except infantry, is reduced by 1. If the administrator is in the Capital, then the infantry costs there are also reduced by 1 (minimum 1). Administrators also count as 2 leaders when building Elephants, nukes or Star Wars.

During Playing event cards (see 6), when counting leaders, each administrator counts as 2 (e.g. if Fires (card 110) is played against your empire and it has 2 leaders one of which is an administrator, 3 (not 2) is subtracted from the card picked to determine the number of affected areas).

During the End of turn, Wild cards do not stop the Free progress of empires with an administrator.

Artist (Ar): During Civilise, artefacts may be built in an area containing an artist even if that area already contains artefacts. When a (non-blue) green artefact is placed on the map, every artist in Range gains the artist's owner 1 glory (cumulative).

During Harvest glory, you count double the number of (non-blue) green artefacts in each area that has an artist, and each artist increases their empire's Glory from artefacts category by 1.

Builder (Bu): An empire (even if Barbarian) with a builder may either build a fort (if no fort there already), or build or improve an extra city in the builder's area each Civilise action provided the area is not disordered. This can't be a city that was built or improved in the same action. Builders may also improve cities one age earlier than usual.

Cities in a builder's area never get reduced, (e.g., events or because the builder's army has just liberated the city).

Explorer (Ex): The Range of an empire is doubled when counting from an area containing an explorer.

All units that are stacked with an explorer throughout a Manoeuvre action gain 1 extra movement point. Each neutral area entered by units stacked with an explorer costs 1 movement point. Galleys in a sea or ocean area not adjacent to a friendly controlled Land area are not lost if stacked with an explorer.

If units are moving with an explorer, you do not need to leave any units behind in the area(s) the explorer moves through. You must still leave a unit behind in any land area the explorer starts in.

Philosopher (Ph): During Destiny, you may fill your hand to one more than normal for each Philosopher in the empire carrying out destiny. After looking at your cards, you decide which excess card(s) to discard.

During Harvest glory, an empire with the most philosophers win all ties.

Populist (Po): During Production, double the total income of every area that has a populist.

A populist who ends their Movement in an area your empire controlled at the start of Manoeuvre, may remove any disorder there at no cost. Option 16: Socialist populists may also remove disorder at the start of any of their actions.

Religious (Re): During its Civilise action, your empire may start a religion as if you played a Religious artefact card provided it could have played that artefact. If playing option 12 Deus Vult! you may also build an additional temple in their area.

When counting Glory from Religion, (see Harvest glory) add 1, plus the value of the city (if any) where the religious leader is located, to the total number of areas. If playing option 12 Deus Vult!, double the religious value of that area instead.

An empire with a religious leader is immune to Religious strife and, when it's their Heresy Vote action, may remove the Heresy instead of carrying out the vote.

Scientist (Sc): During Trade and progress each scientist adds 1 to their empire's Trade value and if your empire wins the trade you draw a card from the deck for each scientist in the empire, keep 1 and discard the others.

When a Blue artefact is placed on the map, every scientist in Range gains the scientist's owner 1 glory (cumulative).

An empire in a Dark age may still progress during Free progress at the End of turn if it has a scientist.

During Harvest glory, you count double the number of Blue artefacts in each area that has a scientist.

Option 16: A blue artefact may only be played on an empire in a dark age in a land area occupied by a scientist.

Strategist (St): After Resolving all conflicts in a Manoeuvre action, any units stacked with a strategist may move and resolve conflict again provided they remain stacked with the strategist throughout their move (they may be dropped off in areas the strategist moves through).

Tactician (Ta): During Production, units in a tactician's area are ignored when buying an elite marker.

During each round of Resolving conflict, a tactician may discard the first card picked and pick again. If you commit the tactician, the units (and leaders) the empire commits aren't lost if the round is tied. Finally, a tactician may Retreat if either side has acquired a conflict disorder marker.

Terms of Play

Action: There are 7 actions players can choose during the game; Start empire, Production, Trade and progress, Manoeuvre, Destiny, Civilise and Discard empire.

Active player: the player currently performing an action.

Africa: Africa is a continent.

Age: There are 7 ages, each of 7 spaces (or Progress levels), from 4000 BCE to today (see the Progress track on the map). When an empire leaves its current age (forwards or backwards) it loses its leaders (see 6, Removing leaders).

America: America is a continent. It includes the regions of North and South America.

Area: The map is divided into named Land, sea and ocean areas.

Artefacts: Each card may be played as an artefact (see Artefacts). There are four types of artefacts, black, blue, green and red. Artefacts may be played any number of times but only if its marker is available (see 6, Playing artefact cards).

Asia: Asia is a continent. It includes the regions of Australasia, China, India, North-East Asia and S.E. Asia.

Australasia: Australasia is a region in Asia.

Barbarian: Every empire that has a 'no cities' icon on its card relevant to its age, is barbarian. A barbarian empire isn't allowed to build or improve cities, nor build forts, without a Builder, its units pay no maintenance and, since it can't have a capital, its income is halved during Production (see 2).

Blue artefact: a green artefact that is placed on the map, with an associated blue marker placed on the Progress track.

Britain: Britain is a region in Europe.

Capital: The first city in a non-Barbarian empire. It is treated like any other city for all purposes (e.g., Urbanise) except where otherwise stated in the rules. Each empire may only have one capital at a time.

Card deck: The 7 Ages Classic card deck contains 110 cards and the 7 Ages Deluxe deck has 165 cards. Each card has an Empire, Artefact and an Event. It also has a value between 0 and 7 in a coloured box, which is used for Trade and progress, to determine events and to resolve conflict.

During play, the deck is face-down. Discarded cards go into the discard pile, which stays face-up. When there are no more cards left in the deck, shuffle the discard pile and turn it face-down to form the new deck.

Other players may only look at the cards in your hand if their empire, artefact or event lets them.

China: China is a region in Asia.

Clockwise (one must maintain tradition): leftwards.

Coastal area: A Land area adjacent to a sea or ocean area (e.g., Carthage (J5) is a coastal area, the Sahara isn't).

Common units: Elephants, nukes and Star Wars units (see Kingdoms expansion) are available to be built by all empires.

Continent: 7 Ages has 4 continents; Africa, America, Asia and Europe. Continents are separated by a purple border and each is considered a Region during Harvest glory.

Control: An empire controls all areas occupied by 1 or more of its units.

Convert area: Change control of an area (including any markers, replacing any capital with a city of the same value) and Converting all units there. If the empire gaining control is Barbarian, it must destroy any fort in the area. It must also destroy any city there unless it has a Builder in the area.

Convert units: Allows you to replace units in an area with the same unit types of your empire even if they have different values and a higher Progress level than your empire.

Counter: There are 2 sizes of counter - Units are 5/8" (16 mm) and leaders and game Markers are 1/2" (13 mm).

Counter mix: The total units available to a particular empire (all with the same colour). Each counter mix is different, you should choose the most suitable for each empire you start.

Dark ages: The darker spaces on the Progress track are dark ages. Unless they have a Scientist, empires in those spaces do not advance during Free progress. Instead, they only advance out of a dark age through a Trade action or event.

Option 16: A Blue artefact may only be played on an empire in a dark age if it has a scientist.

Defender: the non-Active player during conflict resolution.

Discard pile: The stack of played cards.

Disorder, conflict: An army is disordered during conflict resolution each time all its units are committed.

Disordered areas: Only non-neutral Land areas can be disordered. You show an area is disordered by putting a disorder marker in the area if there isn't one there already (disordering a disordered area has no effect). Disordered areas provide no income or glory.

Doubling: See Modifiers.

Elephants: Kingdoms expansion units (see 2, Building new units). They nullify chariot, Lt. horse and Hs. archer front values (see 4, Resolving conflict with other empires).

Empire: Empires are created during Start empire. Each empire consists of its card, units, leaders, cities, artefacts and other markers it acquires during play.

Up to 15 empires can be in play at any one time in the 7 Ages Classic game and up to 21 in the 7 Ages Deluxe game. Each empire may be played any number of times during the game.

Europe: Europe is a continent. It includes the regions Britain, Hispania and Italy.

Event: The bottom of each card is an Event that may be played, usually during Civilise.

Each event has a coloured letter next to the title as a quick guide to when it may be played (e.g. C on a blue background for Civilise). If it can be played in more than one action there are two letters next to the title (e.g. Mercenaries (card 3) may be played during Start empire or Production). An ∞ means it may be played any time.

If you can cancel an event in a different action, that event has a letter after it (e.g. Hurricane (card 66) allows you to cancel either Bumper harvest (card 58) or Drought (card 100) which may only be played during Production (P), or cancel Fire (card 110) which may only be played during this current action (Civilise, which is why there is no letter after Fire).

First player: The player with the turn marker this turn.

Glory points: These are a reflection of how well you are doing. You can't be reduced below 0 glory. The winner is the player with the most glory at game's end.

An empire gains glory during Harvest glory (see the 'Glory' section of the empire's card). Some empires also earn glory as soon as they fulfil a particular condition. Such immediate glory conditions are in square boxes in the 'Glory' section of the empire's card.

Glory track: See map. It's used to record your current glory total and your empires' saved money.

Gold named empire (on card): Unconditional age 1 empire (see option 1: Total History).

Government: There are 4 types of government; Autocracy, Capitalism, Democracy, and Socialism. During its Civilise action an empire may start a government by playing its artefact card, or Adopting a government within Range. Each empire may only have one government at a time.

Halving: See Modifiers.

Hispania: Hispania is a region in Europe.

Homeland: One set-up area (the capital, if any) of an empire eligible for homeland glory.

Immediate glory: Glory that may be harvested any time in a turn (except during Harvest glory). It is specified in a square box on the empire's card.

India: India is a region in Asia.

Invade: Enter a Land area directly from an adjacent sea or ocean area (e.g., moving into Malaya (U4) directly from the Java Sea is invading, moving via Siam or Srivijaya is not).

Italy: Italy is a region in Europe.

Land area: A fertile, forest, jungle, mountain, steppe, tundra or desert area (see the Terrain Effects Chart on the map).

Land units: Infantry, cavalry and missile units.

Leader cup: The container that includes all unnamed Leaders not in play.

Leader number: Each empire has a 'Leaders' number listed on its card (e.g., Inca (card 11) is 2). It can be modified by Events and Artefacts.

Leaders: Leaders are either named or unnamed. They have one or more codes on their counter that identify a particular ability (see Leader Types).

If at the end of any action a leader is in an area without a unit of its empire, it is lost. When a leader is lost or demoted, it is removed from the game if named, or returned to the Leader cup if unnamed.

Liberate: Take control of an area (and any city there).

Markers: The smaller ½" (13 mm) counters and the 5/8" (16 mm) action, cadence and glory markers.

Maximum: Your maximum is the number of empires in your game divided by the number of players, rounding up.

May: Your choice.

Modifiers: All modifiers are cumulative. When doing more than one of adding, subtracting, doubling and halving, add, then subtract, then double, then halve. When you halve a number, round it to the nearest whole number (0.5 rounding up) after all halving. When counting multiple values (e.g., cities, areas or units) you halve the total, not each value.

Must: You will obey orders without question!

Naval transport: Each ship may transport one land or aircraft unit and any number of leaders.

Neutral area: An area that is vacant or the only units there are Kingdom units (see option 10, Neutral Kingdoms). Neutral areas are never disordered.

No cities icon: You Barbarian!

Non-empire action: The additional action marker not placed on any empire (only available when a player has less than their maximum number of empires in play).

North America: North America is a region in America.

North-East Asia: North-East Asia is a region in Asia.

Nukes: Kingdoms expansion (see 2, Building new units).

Ocean area: Ocean areas are dark blue. Oceans can't be entered by land units (except by naval transport) or galleys.

Pass action: Certain events and artefacts convert an action into a pass action. The empire does nothing this turn.

Pl: see Progress level.

Progress level (pl): Each space on the Progress track is a progress level. There are 7 levels per age. The space an empire's progress marker occupies determines its level.

Progress track: The progress track on the map is used to record the current Progress level of each empire in play. The Age an empire is in is determined by which row of the progress track its progress marker is on.

Range: An empire (or Counter or area) is within range of your empire (or artefact or leader) if the smallest number of areas between them (counting their closest area but excluding yours) is less than or equal to your empire's age (e.g., if one of your areas is adjacent to one of another empire, then there is 1 area between them, and you are within range of them from age 1).

Your empire may only count range into ocean areas if it may build ships-of-the-line (option 16: and has Rutters).

Your empire can't count range through (it may count into) another empire's area unless yours has the benefit of Radio (see Artefacts) or that empire gives its permission. In return it may demand cards and/or money from your empire, which you must supply immediately if you accept.

Since empires can be in different ages, it is possible for one empire to be in range of another but not vice versa.

Region: Regions are collections of areas delineated by a thick blue border. Each region is in one of 7 Ages' four Continents, Africa, Asia, Europe or America (e.g., Britain is a region in Europe). Regions provide glory for both empires with that region, and those with that continent as a glory category. All references to regions also refer to continents.

A region includes islands connected by a crossing arrow to the mainland. The region that each other island belongs to (if any) is indicated in brackets after the island's name.

A region includes every sea and ocean area adjacent to any Land area. Thus, one sea or ocean area can belong to more than one region.

Religion (artefact): There are 7 religions; Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Pantheism. During its Civilise, action, an empire may start a religion with a Religious leader or by playing its artefact card, or Adopting a religion within Range.

Religion, dominant: If playing option 16), the left-most religion Artefact (not the Glory from Religion category) on an empire's card. Each empire gains Glory from all of its religions but only has the powers and suffers the penalties of its dominant religion.

Religious empire: An empire with one or two religion artefact markers on its card.

Religious glory: the glory category on some empires' card.

Religious site: area containing a printed religious symbol or a Great Temple.

River area: Land area adjacent to a river.

Rounding: See Modifiers.

Sea area: Sea areas are light blue. Land units may only enter sea areas by naval transport.

S.E. Asia: South-East Asia is a region in Asia.

South America: South America is a region in America.

Star Wars: Kingdoms expansion (see 2, Building new units).

Start area(s): The area(s) an empire is eligible to set-up in.

Terrain: Every area is delineated in different patterns and colours to represent the predominant terrain in the area and the rivers between some areas (see Terrain Effects Chart).

Terrain Effects Chart: See map. It shows the movement cost and defensive benefit of the map's various terrain.

Trade card: Card traded during Trade and progress.

Trade number: Each empire has a 'Trade' number listed on its card (e.g., Rome (card 12) is +1). It can differ from age to age and modified by Leaders, Events and Artefacts. The colour behind each card's value indicates that empire's (unmodified) trade number.

Trade value: The total value each empire has after all modifications during each Trade and progress (see 3).

Unit: These are the larger, 5/8" (16mm) counters. They represent an empire's air, naval and land forces.

Unit pool: The units an empire can build. There are usually fewer units in an empire's unit pool than in its counter mix because the empire isn't sufficiently advanced to build all unit types. Units lost or removed from the map return to the empire's (or Common units) unit pool.

Vacant area: An area without any units.

Vacate: An empire vacates an area when it leaves no units in that area as they move out.

Vote action: Actions are converted into vote actions for Religious empires experiencing Heresy (see Artefacts).

World: every named area on the 7 Ages map.

Players' Notes

by Harry Rowland

Well, here you are having just polished off the 7 Ages rules. Hmmm, you may well be thinking, only 10 pages of standard rules. Not bad for an ADG game, usually they are only halfway through explaining how to set-up the maps by now. Still, you get a lot of bangs for your buck. Behind those 10 pages lies a rich vein of play.

Your first decision is what card to play to decide who goes first. To do this, you need to check the age range of your cards. If you don't have a complete coverage from age 1 to 7, it might be critical for you to be the first player, so you can guarantee to play an empire in the starting age of the game.

If you do have a complete age spread, you can be more circumspect. Obviously, you don't play a card that will lessen your age range. With that proviso you can afford to play any card.

If you have a good hand, you may well consider playing a '7' card to ensure the game starts in an age containing the least number of empires (the first and last) to maximise the other players' discomfiture. If you decide not to contest being first player, feel free to play your most worthless card.

Next, you must decide which actions to play. In the first turn everyone can only play one action. If you are the first player that should always be a start empire action. You should also play a start empire if you have a complete spread of age ranges. If not, you might prefer to play the wild card so that you can choose a destiny instead if the first empire is in an age you don't have.

Every turn is critical. If you can't start an empire, consider throwing all your cards out in your destiny action. At most keep one card. As an example, the chances of you not having an age 1 (or conditional age 1) empire in your starting 7 cards is only 12.1%. If you chuck out all your cards it goes down to only 1.97% chance of not having one.

Early on concentrate on unleashing your empires as soon as possible. Every empire gives you one more action you can do each turn which brings a huge early advantage in the game. Also, the earlier you lay down your dedicated empires, the earlier you can start choosing the free empires (if any).

As to which empire to start, you want to choose the ones with the greatest chance of procuring the most glory each turn. This is often the empire with the highest maximum glory harvest, but not always. Sometimes it is better to choose an empire with a lower maximum but in an area with little competition, either physically, or glory category wise.

This works well for most actions, except trade where the more neighbours you have the better. This can be particularly important for those empires that need to trade with other empires before they can build ships or breed horses.

It is also a good idea to have empires within supporting range of each other. That way one can be liberating territory belonging to a hostile neighbour while the other is producing and then they reverse roles thus not allowing your adversary a moment's rest.

The trick though is to pick empires with mutually exclusive objectives. If all your empires gain glory by being the most advanced or having the most artefacts, they will all be stopping each other from harvesting their maximum glory. These competing priorities make every game different, and advice difficult. Sometimes it is even better to hold off starting a new empire until the smoke clears and its starting area is free (or at least not densely populated).

Once started, empires have a rhythm all their own and you want to tap into that rhythm as soon as possible. The game actually gives you a head start in this direction as your empires are all sequenced as they come into the game.

Thus, you should be manoeuvring with one empire while trading with a second, civilising a third and so on. You don't want to be in the position of using your wild card to do the same action in the one turn. Not only does it slow down your progress, but it also leaves you in the situation of wanting to do the same action again in the next (e.g., two manoeuvres followed by two productions).

However sometimes you need to do the same action in the one turn, particularly if two of your empires are in a dark age, and in those cases, you just have to bite the bullet. Put the actual action (e.g., trade and progress in this case) on the empire you know wants to do that action and the wild card on the other. That way you get the greatest flexibility in what you actually do with that empire.

Of course, if your empire is in a dark age, playing the wild card might be the perfect option. Provided you don't convert it into a successful trade and progress it will give you the flexibility and won't end up costing you at all.

As to which action to choose for each situation, that is where the game gets very interesting. As mentioned before, every turn is critical. Each action must be chosen to either maximise your glory this turn, minimise the leading players' or, that nirvana of gaming, an action that does both.

Again, having empires with differing glory objectives makes such choices easy, choosing production actions for those empires that need to be rich, civilise actions for those that need to have many glittering cities or beautiful artefacts, trade and progress for those needing to be the most advanced and manoeuvre for those needing the most areas.

Of course, this must be tempered by the situation. If your empire is sparsely populated, you might need to do a production. Alternatively, if densely populated, you might need to manoeuvre instead.

When one of your nascent empires is experiencing a difficult birth against powerful opponents, it may well be just the time to try to enlist some as allies against those trying to suppress your rightful days in the sun. The most powerful opponent is going to find it difficult to cope with players on all sides vying for their freedom.

As to hints on the play of actions, most of this is fairly straightforward. When trading you want to pick someone with a lower trade number than you but who is higher on the progress track. These tend to be rare birds and often you must choose between picking someone higher on the track and someone with a lower trade number. Usually, you want to choose the latter on the assumption that a more certain 2 progress is better than a dicey 3.

Psychologically, players with a higher trade number expect to win and tend to trade high cards to ensure it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Similarly, people with lower trade numbers expect to lose and play low cards. You can use this psychology to pick an empire with a lower trade number and play low. But don't be predictable. If they know you always play low, they will raise their play accordingly.

Another possibility is to pick the player within range with only 1 or 2 cards. Usually, those last cards will be high value but you minimise their flexibility and even if they win the trade, you could end up with a very valuable card.

During civilise actions, you want to build as many cities as possible but cities in the fertile areas are more prone to the jealous eyes of your opponents whereas cities built in the mountains tend to be left alone so again you must balance potential income versus your own security.

When manoeuvring, be careful where you manoeuvre to. Most empires must leave a unit behind in each area they move to. These units are stuck there like flies in flypaper and will not be able to help you when someone else encroaches on your empire's boundaries. At the very least you want to keep at least one stack of units in reserve as a contingency for any situation that arises.

During conflict resolution, you have an entirely new set of decisions to make. Should you commit a few or a lot of units each round? Again, it depends on the situation. If you can guarantee success or have a tactician, you might want to commit a lot of units. If the conflict is fairly evenly matched it might be best to adopt a wait and see approach and just commit a couple of scouts. What you don't want is for your forces to be disordered while your opponent has a lot of fresh units to commit.

As soon as you are allowed to retreat, you must weigh up the benefits of staying as opposed to running, particularly if you have a valuable leader you don't want to lose.

When one of your empires starts garnering fewer than 3 glory per turn you might consider folding it. This might be delayed if it has long term prospects or is helping another of your empires to achieve its glory, but one of the most common mistakes in 7 Ages is to hang on too long before folding your dud empires.

The game has been designed so that later empires tend to gain more glory than earlier empires. As an example, even if your Early Finns (card 94) are achieving everything they set out to achieve, they are still only getting 3 glory per turn.

Of course, they might be stopping your opponent's empires from achieving their maximum glory and you need to weigh up the down time you will suffer by having to start a new empire (folding and starting a new empire is like taking a pit stop in racing or tacking in yachting), but generally speaking the sooner you dump the duds, the sooner your new improved empire can start earning some serious glory.

When you are trying to bring a leader back to the pack, it is often best to target all their empires rather than just one. If you make one empire unviable quickly, that will just minimise their pit stop to change empires. If you reduce all their empires equally it maximises the cost of them changing horses and might tempt them to hang on with their marginal empires rather than just cutting their losses and starting anew.

Finally, which optional rules you play can dramatically affect the play of the game. The options we play all the time are Redemption, Technology, Marines and Artefact effects, while the other options we add to taste. Redemption minimises your chances of not having an empire for every age, technology makes it important when and which empire takes destiny actions, Marines can break naval empires, and Artefact effects adds whole new dimensions to the game.

With a game as rich as 7 Ages, these few hints only scratch the surface of the myriad possibilities available. However, they should give you some idea of the scope of decisions and the optimal paths through the dense thicket of history on your way to ultimate triumph.

Good luck and good gaming. Long may your empires reign glorious.

Designer's Notes

by Harry Rowland

In my experience, never has a game been so easy to design, so hard to develop, yet the changes when finally made, so obvious in hindsight.

The ultimate game is unlimited fun, unlimited replayability and 1 line of rules. No game has yet achieved this state of Nirvana, but 7 Ages comes close.

Whenever you design a game, you start in a parched desert (a blank page), with the beautiful hills we want to get to (the finished masterpiece) we can vaguely see far off into the distance. Getting to this promised land may take many years and the rules thickets, chasms and swamps strewn liberally in our path may make the journey seem impossible at times.

To reach our goal, successful design is an iterative process. If during our long journey, a rules chasm seems too far to broach (too many rules and exceptions to simply achieve our aim), we may need to retrace our steps and ask ourselves "Those hills are magnificent, but the adjacent hills are just as beautiful and we don't need to cross that chasm to get there."

This concept of repeatedly mixing process and outcome as we advance towards gaming paradise takes time, but will inevitably lead to the best game with the fewest rules. After 25 years travelling, we only have 10 pages of standard 7 Ages rules for a magnificently rich game of great depth.

When I came home from a game of hockey in 1997, had no idea the game would become my magnum opus and take an aeon to finish. We won 4-1 against ANU (the auld enemy), we all played well, I scored 2 goals so I was feeling pretty chuffed when I sat down and brushed the broad strokes of 7 Ages on the back of a credit card form, in under an hour.

I still have that credit card form today and the general outline of the game is clearly visible; multitudinous empires 1 per card, each empire with special abilities, a progress track regulating advancement, a menu of actions rather than a sequence of play and so on.

Well, that was then, and the devil, as they say, is in the detail. In this case the detail had some pretty nasty devils to banish and the worst of these was the down time between turns.

The heart of the game is the menu of actions. You don't follow a sequence of play with your empires, instead you choose one action for each. This deconstruction of the sequence of play provides players with far greater flexibility allowing multiple manoeuvres, productions or civilises as desired. It also makes each turn very quick as you are only doing one action per empire.

However, the game as originally envisaged was player based. You do actions with your 3 empires, then I do my 3, then the next player does their 3 and so on. The problem with this was the perception that everyone else is really slow while you are the only quick player in the game.

Furthermore, in a 7-player game you had to wait for 6 other players to have a turn before it was your go again. Thus, the game appeared to drag while you waited forever for your turn during the long down-time.

The solution was obvious but it took 6 painful years for my eureka moment. Rather than designing a player-based game (you go, I go), geometrically speaking you rotate the game 90 degrees on its axis and make it action-based instead.

So rather than getting 1 turn in 7, we each now get 3 actions in 7 meaning we are spending at least half the game doing things (leaving the remaining time for diplomacy, back stabbing, looking up the benefits of artefacts and leaders, or a cup of tea, as desired). As an added bonus, many of the actions can be done simultaneously. So instead of you doing your builds, everyone else doing theirs and then me doing mine, all of us having to wait for each other, we can now all do our builds together, halving the time to play the game in the process (this is the very rare case where the new promised land is far more beautiful than the original).

From this, everything else tumbled into place. An action-based system led to the use of action markers. Although not strictly necessary, action markers add an element of advance planning as the actions you choose for your empires might no longer be relevant when they finally attempt to carry them out. Poor action choice leads to quick empire decay.

Action markers led to the cadenced progress markers as a new subsystem of trying to outwit your opponents in their attempt to advance, while including each empire's attitude to progress in that chance of advancement. Note this has been buffed in the Collector's edition as you now get a bonus advance if you have a trade number of 2 or more.

An action-based system also forced the menu of actions to be sequenced precisely. In a player-based system it doesn't make any difference what action is in what order as you choose whatever you like when it is your go.

Now it is key that the different actions are sequenced so that the effects give a better feel to the game. Thus destiny happens before civilising, allowing you to fill your hand prior to playing your cards but potentially leaving you short-handed next turn until the next destiny.

Similarly, they both happen after manoeuvre to ensure that the luck of the event cards does not interfere with an empire's ability to expand. Production happens before any of them so an empire has a chance to recover its strength before the next onslaught of your opponent's manoeuvre and event cards.

Other dramatic changes included the incorporation of the wild card and the movement of harvesting glory out of the main sequence of play. Initially harvesting glory was one of the 7 actions you could pick. This led to several problems. No one knew when to pick it because no one knew who was ahead at any one time. As it cost an action to play, this added to players' reluctance to choose it.

When it was eventually played, it was only done because one player wanted "to see what happens". What would happen is that that player would be hopelessly beaten by a couple of other players who would then immediately choose it in their turn, and thus one or two players would race ahead before everyone had even had a go.

The worst problem was that since it was hardly ever chosen, the game was directionless. Players would manoeuvre, build cities, adopt religions and governments, entire empires would rise and fall, and yet everyone was still on 0 glory.

The interim solution was that harvesting glory was automatically played after every 3 complete rounds, if not chosen in the meantime, but this was arbitrary, difficult to memorise, and meant it was always happening after the same player's turn.

The change to an action-based system allowed us to move harvesting glory out of the menu of actions and make it happen at the end of every turn (after everyone has had a go). Now there is immediate feedback as to how you are going every turn, and you know from the get go who's in front, why they are in front and how to stop them staying in front.

This provided the focus and sense of immediacy the game desperately needed. Now every action is crucial. Every turn you should be looking at how to maximise your glory that turn and minimise your opponents'. If not this turn, then you should be setting up for the next.

Moving the harvesting glory out of the menu of actions led to a hole in the actions (can't have a game called 7 Ages with only 6 actions after all). This was admirably filled with the inclusion of the destiny action which was part of the civilise action but you were limited to playing, discarding and picking up a total maximum of only 3 cards.

Separating the playing from the discarding and drawing of cards, but allowing an unlimited number of each, makes both actions even more attractive than civilise alone was before. It has the added bonus of speeding up the play (destiny being the quickest action in the game) and allows you to ditch your entire hand in one turn if you want to.

The wild card was the response to another tricky issue, that of the perceived lack of manoeuvre by some players (mostly the historical gamers). In most games, every unit can move every turn. But in 7 Ages only 1 empire can move each turn (every one of your empires must take a separate action).

I thought perhaps a second manoeuvre might be the go, but Greg came up with the (in hindsight) obvious solution, the wild card. Now you can do two of any action you. It also gives the flexibility to delay picking an action for one of your empires until that action, but all at a cost (progress).

Finally, you can play a wild card if you are not sure that you will be able to start an empire or not this turn. If the player going first picks an age you can play an empire in, it becomes a start empire action, if not you play it as a destiny to dump your hand fast to try to find a good starting empire. Thus, you don't waste a turn.

Other elements of the game were similarly obvious in hindsight. Initially there were separate empire cards, event cards and artefact cards meaning hardly anyone ever had anything useful at any particular point in time.

This philosophy of scarcity is common in card games. As an example of two very fine games, Magic the Gathering you either have too many monsters and not enough mana or too much mana and not enough monsters. In Poker you are lucky to have a pair of 2s while the rest of your cards are useless.

Not in 7 Ages, we believe in the philosophy of abundance. Each card in the game you get 4 cards for the price of 1 with the artefacts deliberately picked with different ages to the empire it is attached to, so every card is useful all the time.

Another issue was starting areas. We were all a little hazy about where such august provinces as Cis-Alpine, Hausa and Pallava are located, and we typed them in! Short of having a PhD in historical geography, what hope did others have?

We thought of placing a little map on each card, but not only would that have taken forever but the cards are already pretty full and it would not necessarily be clear enough to locate the starting area in any event.

The solution suggested by Ken was to put letters and numbers on the map and then type in the cross-indexed location of each start area on the card. With just two characters (and brackets), every area can be found in a trice.

Since 7 Ages was released in 2004 it has sold well and after the mammoth decade's long effort in producing World in Flames: the collector's edition, we decided that it was time to similarly upgrade 7 Ages to the same sophisticated level.

There has been a lot more historical research since 2004 that has led to a variety of new theories giving rise to greater prominence of formerly obscure civilisations and rounding out those empires we know well.

So firstly we expanded the scope of the game by 50% increasing the number of civilisations, artefact and event cards from 110 to 165, dramatically adding and increasing empires' special benefits and abilities. We also dumped most of the repeat events adding 77 new ones and enhanced the other 88 events to make them more nuanced and fun to play.

For example just one event, La Belle Alliance (card 77), is a game within a game showing just how rich card play now is in 7 Ages. Say your Gauls and Alice's Carthaginians are being threatened by Neil's Romans. You could go to Alice and say "I've got the Alliance card. Should we ally next turn and since you go after Neil and I go before we will both move in your go and react to whatever Neil does?".

To which Alice with a more Machiavelian mind (my fave) might reply "you move after Neil so how about Gaul and Rome ally, Rome moves before you, he can't attack Gaul and if he places units in my areas, you place a unit in each area in your move, make yourself the allied conflict resolution controller and we manipulate the conflicts to wipe him out? I'll then mop up what's left in my go.". The opportunities for mischief are endless.

We also increased the number of unique artefacts from 40 to 55 and the total from 63 to 153. As with events, we removed nearly all of the repeat effects, added many new abilities and buffed those that remained making artefacts more interesting and valuable to play (see Artefacts above).

We did the same with leaders adding new abilities so that now the combination of empire special powers, artefacts, leaders and events all intermingle in almost infinite combinations making every empire in every age unique.

As to the physical aspects of the game, we have added more areas to the map, made Europe and North Africa 10% larger to accommodate the extra empires and areas, and changed the charts and tables to accommodate the new rules. The map is now a hard-mounted (cardboard) linen board, not paper.

We have increased the number of counters to allow more players, artefacts and empires (and potentially a more competitive game). This allowed extra leaders (from 92 named leaders to 135 now), and separate disorder, elite and fort markers so you don't need to use spare leaders or artefacts, leaving the back of leaders free to provide information on their empire, card and age.

Finally, the rules have been dramatically streamlined, simplified and organised by including all the errata and changes, modifying the wording to make everything easier, placed them in sequence of play order so you know exactly where in the rules to go to answer your query, adding 9 new options and, most importantly, extensively cross-referencing the rules so when we use the word Clockwise, you know exactly what we mean.

Some new options, like Marines, Neutral Kingdoms, Quick conflict resolution and Secret Victory were inspired by popular demand. Others, like Deus Vult!, were added so its not just the large empires that get to hog all the glory and instead it is a more even playing field, as temples, not areas, count. As well as the new options, many of the originals like Cadenced progress, Technology and Total History have been enhanced to provide more subtle abilities to each.

Making Artefact abilities optional had several felicitous effects. First, it cut the standard rules down from 16 to 10 pages in one stroke letting players get into the game quickly. Second, it speeds up the game for new players as you don't have to look up the artefact rules. Finally, it lessens the need for special cards (one per artefact) explaining all the abilities and restrictions of artefacts as all the information you need to play artefacts in the standard game is already on the cards (although this is still a potential expansion if players would like it). Most players will soon advance to play artefact abilities and restrictions as they add extra dimensions and variety to the game.

The overall effect of all these changes is the game is easier to understand, quicker to get into, and thoroughly absorbing when you do. There is no down-time as the few moments when it's not your go you should be checking all your empires, leaders, artefacts and events (not to mention your opponents) to work out precisely which keys need to fit into which locks and when, to ensure your inevitable stunning glorious victory establishing a peaceful prosperous planet (under your benign just rule of course).

To round off, no discussion on the design features of any history game would be complete without a few words on the 'great person' versus the 'forces of history' argument that has raged unabated for the last few decades.

Like most things it is a bit of each and both sides have a plausible argument. It does seem clear that issues like tolerance, justice and equality are inevitable forces that can be delayed but not stopped as we all try to live together harmoniously in a shrinking world. But just as equally, individuals like Genghis Khan, Cleopatra, Alexander, Sun Tzu, Queen Elizabeth, Muhammad, Buddha, Napoleon, Confucious and Jesus amongst many others, have an enduring impact that is still with us today.

To cite just one of these, you can trace Russia's historical fear of invasion, and much of the entire east/west divide because Genghis woke up one day and decided to ride west rather than east.

So, any game purporting to model history needs to take account of both these conflicting points of view. Thus, all the major leaders through history have been included for their potentially decisive impact on the world. But at the same time, the artefacts change over time from physical structures (e.g., hanging gardens, great wall, great library etc.) to more abstract ones (e.g., universal suffrage, world war and internet) as the thinking of people themselves evolve.

The aim has been to make this game an, inclusive, objective and fun treatment of world history. But no game is value free, and it would be foolish to pretend otherwise. We all have our own values and beliefs and consciously or unconsciously, some of mine have no doubt slipped into the game.

7 Ages is merely a framework, and you are welcome to change, delete and/or add to the game as you feel fit, to make the game more comfortable, fun and/or more historically accurate as you like it. We provide the foundation and structure, but the game has unlimited scope for expansion and you are free to provide the fittings and fixtures.

During development playtesters came up with a myriad of optional rules, nearly all of which were novel and fun. In the spirit of the game though we have only included a modest number and leave it to you to decide which others (if any) you would like to see in your next recreation of world history.

Before signing off, I would like to thank everyone who participated in the collector's edition of 7 Ages. The full list of everyone who can claim stewardship of this game is mentioned in the credits but I would particularly like to thank Greg for all his help on the research, trade system, major development and map perspective (a birds-eye view through a fish-eye lens); Mike for his fine short history of everything; Rob, Beth, Peter, Viv and Nadina for all the hard slog in finding the graphics for the counters, cards and leaders; Cat and my long suffering family for tolerating my foibles; and all the developers, playtesters and editors for their patience and persistence in working with versions of the game that were only partially complete and full of holes.

Due to their prodigious efforts, 7 Ages has gone from being great 20 years ago to being my favourite game today. I hope, in playing, you share our enjoyment.

A Brief History of Nearly Everything

by Michael Fisher

In the dim shadows of prehistory ten thousand human generations groped towards a planetary revolution. Wild animals were tamed, tools invented, plants painstakingly gathered and cultivated. After aeons, the farmed produce of a few rich floodplains allowed villages, towns and then cities to flower. Craftsmen, scribes, soldiers and kings burgeoned into existence, riding on the back of a labouring peasant multitude.

Priest kings of Sumer irrigated the land, God kings of Egypt called forth vast monuments, the lords of Harap constructed luxurious palace cities. On the fertile river plains of northern China, the Yellow Emperor raised the dragon banner for the first time. All around gasped with envy. But amid the leafy gardens and glittering temples, a terrible ambition burned in the breasts of the new kings—to be the only one under the wide blue sky and all the Gods to say, I am the sole and only King of Kings! And so it is written that Sargon, the Great, upstart King of Akkad and Sumer, was the first to thrust his rule beyond his own people and press his boot upon the throats of the foreigners.

Yet even as the sons of kings lay dreaming among sighing palms and graceful women, their soldiers reduced by pleasure and politics, lawless folk of mountain and waste watched bitterly and multiplied. In a pattern many times repeated, should the imperial city lie divided or dissolute, lean and hungry folk would grasp their chance. With fire and ram the great walls would collapse and the tessellated paving of the sacred halls run with blood. So perished Sumer and Akkad, Harap, the monumental Old Kingdom of Egypt.

This wave of newcomers, Indo-Europeans from the north, came by chariot and ship. Their dynasties conquered the old lands and opened trade routes to their cousins in the new. The Mitanni, the Medes, the Hittites, the Minoans, the Greeks plundered the mysteries of writing and forging bright metals. Like great bulls, Egypt and Babylon rose again, tossing off the shackles of the chariot raiders and subjugating their neighbours. The last Mesopotamian empire, the Assyrians, fought back with a cruelty and absolutism that laid their enemies waste, inviting the same terrible humiliations when they too stumbled and fell. In India, Indo-European kingdoms rose on the ashes of the Harappan cities, forging a still vibrant religious culture.

In China the western Zhou restored the empire but some centuries later were crushed by western barbarians and forced eastwards, lingering on in the Spring and Autumn period. Lao-Zi and Confucius laid down many of the defining philosophies of Chinese law and culture at this time. A time of warring states and vast armies finally ended with the triumph of the Chin emperor, Shihuangdi, at the end of the third century before Christ. Under the Chin the empire was restored and the Great Wall constructed.

Back at the juncture of the three continents, the old kingdoms of the middle east were finally crushed by Cyrus the Great and his Persian archers. The Persian empire brought long awaited unity and prosperity to the Middle East, Persia and parts of the subcontinent. But even at its zenith, Xerxes failed to conquer the troublesome Greeks to his West.

Unvanquished, a Greek subgroup, the Macedonians, produced the nemesis of the Persian Empire. In a startling series of victories Alexander the Great toppled the vast Persian empire, only to perish of fever at the height of his fame. By the third century before Christ a stable constellation of Greek kingdoms ruled the Middle East, even as far as India. Greek architecture and culture permeated the known world.

As Alexander's heirs quibbled lazily over world domination, two Graecified nations vied for control of the western margins of the Greek world: Carthage and Rome. The Carthaginians dominated the seas, Rome the land. War fed upon terrible war until finally the Romans as exhorted by their elders, destroyed utterly the empire and city of Carthage. Rome's Senate found itself supreme master of the West, having married the rationalism and science of the Greeks to an efficient state machine. The lavishly equipped Roman legions and their talented engineers proved unstoppable. By the time of Christ, Roman armies had inexorably driven imperial frontiers forward to the Irish Sea, the Rhine, the Danube, the Euphrates and the Sahara. Ominously, only the Germans proved capable of resisting the onslaught.

In the two centuries after Christ the blessings of the Pax Romana provided unparalleled tranquillity and prosperity. But after the towering philosopher-emperor Marcus Aurelius a series of weak and pitiful rulers encouraged Rome's German and Parthian enemies to think the unthinkable. In the third century, a massive combined attack by the Germans in Europe and the Parthians in Asia smashed the imperial frontiers and drove deep into the interior. Gothic fleets raided into the Aegean. Queen Zenobia of Palmyra grabbed the east and usurpers squabbled over the ruined provinces.

In the midst of this desperate military emergency the Illyrian generals of the great Danubian armies grasped control of the state, displacing the Latin aristocracy of Rome itself. After bitter warfare the frontiers were restored by the hard fighting Illyrians—but the price of stability under Diocletian's tetrarchy ('rule by four') was military dictatorship and suffocating taxation and regulation. The spread of servitude was leavened only by the adoption of Christianity under Constantine.

In the east, the Han laid the foundations of modern China, inventing an efficient bureaucracy emulated by its successors. By the third century, the warring Three Kingdoms and competition between Buddhism and Confucianism reinforced the need in the minds of many for one emperor, "like one sun in the sky". The empire was restored in the sixth century under the Sui and Tang emperors. The many warring city states of northern India were united under the Gupta dynasty, a golden age in which Hindu culture and political administration reached new heights.

At this time too, the classical Mayan civilisation of central America flowered, influenced heavily by the previous Teotihuacan civilisation in the valley of Mexico. Centuries later, the Mayans would fall into a dark age as the Toltec city states capitalised on their decline.

In the west, the Germans had tasted the fruits of Rome and hankered ever for more. After the death of the last strong Illyrian emperor in the west, Valentinian, increasing numbers of Germans and even whole German armies entered Roman service to help defend Rome from the… Germans. German cloaks, trousers, jewellery and haircuts became very popular fashions in the Empire and Germans especially liked being given Roman titles, commands, villas, precious artworks and vast tracts of land, which sometimes made it very difficult to tell who exactly was a German and who was a Roman. The Roman machinery of government continued to operate but the last Western emperors deferred to their German overlords. Eventually the German kings decided that there had actually been no Roman empire for some time and it really was time to come clean about the situation.

New peoples sprang into existence as German ruled successor states to the Western Empire—Franks in France, Angles and Saxons in England, Goths in Italy and Spain and Vandals in North Africa. In the north, the Slavic peoples expanded into the lands vacated by the Goths as they moved into the Roman Empire. In the east, the surviving Eastern Roman (or Byzantine) Empire became more Greek than Roman, but not before it had grievously damaged Ostrogothic Italy in an ill-judged reconquista, leaving both countries weak. The timing was poor, for in the East a new Prophet arose to lead the Arabs to glory.

Mohammed's armies burst from Arabia just after the Byzantine empire and the Persian Sassanid empire had exhausted themselves in another gruelling series of wars. A grand Caliphate was established with its capital at Baghdad and a devouring frontier that moved inexorably east and west. Saracen armies took Egypt, leapfrogged along the north African coast and then invaded Spain and the Mediterranean islands. Persia, Central Asia, Afghanistan and the Indus valley fell to Islam. Baghdad became the largest, most beautiful and wealthiest capital in the world, a centre for progressive scholarship and culture.

Western Europe found itself crushed between mortal enemies and its Latin Christian civilisation close to extinction. All along the Atlantic, North Sea and Baltic coasts, successive waves of heathen Northmen devastated the coastlands and raided far up the rivers, while to the south the Saracens conquered Iberia and established themselves in fortresses along the Gallic and Italian coasts. Urban civilisation almost disappeared. A few hundred terrified peasants tilled fields within Rome's city walls. A few monasteries, often Irish, struggled to preserve the Latin heritage, scattered across a darkening and violent west.

Slowly, the English, the French and the Germans heaved themselves out of the abyss. Charlemagne was the first for centuries to transcend the miserable raids and massacres of the Dark Age, fashioning a great empire that united Franks, Germans, Spaniards and Italians. He defeated the Northmen and the Muslims even as they thrust at the Gallic heart of Christendom. In Rome, the Pope unexpectedly and thankfully crowned Charlemagne Holy Roman Emperor during Mass, an act proclaiming the gift of imperial rule to be a Papal prerogative.

Papal prestige grew further as Charlemagne's successors split his empire into a Frankish kingdom and a Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. The spiritual authority of the Roman pontiff was never greater when, in the East, the army of the Byzantine empire was destroyed at Manzikert and the armies of Islam swept a thousand miles to ancient, triple-walled Constantinople itself.

In 1097 Pope Urban II successfully exhorted Christendom to ride to the aid of the Greeks and recover the holy places. A great crusade, the first offensive action by the west for centuries, caught the Muslim east disunited and off guard. Against the odds, and deftly assisted by a suspicious Greek emperor, a motley collection of mainly French and Flemish knights struck through Asia Minor into the Levant, taking Palestine and declaring the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem and the principalities of Antioch and Edessa.

While the new Crusader states clung to a precarious existence on the shores of the Levant, a new economic paradigm bloomed. Suddenly the West's trade routes to the Orient, to Constantinople and Alexandria, and indirectly to distant India and China, were in the hands of the Italian trading fleets. Spices, silks, fine porcelain and treasures poured into Venice, Genoa and Pisa and were sold on to merchants from France, Germany and England. Italian cities, trading companies and banks boomed. Italian interest in the classical heritage held by Greeks and Saracens grew.

New crusading military orders, the Hospitallers, Templars and Teutons also got in on the act, becoming rich and powerful as kings. Many new crusades were announced, often in convenient locations such as Spain, the Baltic or southern France. Westerners grew arrogant and lustful. Their crusaders plundered Christian cities, even taking mighty Constantinople by deceit. The popes luxuriated in the wealth pouring into Italy. On the streets the barefoot followers of a humble monk, Francis of Assissi, preached poverty, humility and love for all God's creatures.

In the Middle East, the Muslims worked doggedly to overcome their weaknesses. Slowly their sultans gave way before the best of their number, Saladin. He unified the Arabs of Egypt and Syria and finally made his move against the Kingdom of Jerusalem annihilating the squabbling crusader army at the Horns of Hattin. Islam was back and it was exceedingly angry and determined. Over the next decades and centuries Muslim armies lead by a Turkish military class liquidated the crusader remnants and renewed the assault into Asia Minor. More and more Turks joined them from their homeland in Central Asia. Almost destroyed by the treacherous Fourth Crusade, the remnant Byzantines could offer little resistance and Constantinople fell to the Turks in 1453, the thousand-year-old Theodosian walls breached by massed Turkish artillery. A new Islamic superpower took shape on the Aegean.

In India, Muslim armies pressed further onto the subcontinent, Islamic egalitarianism appealing to many lower caste Hindus, establishing the Delhi sultanates.

Further to the east, the Sung emperors presided over remarkable prosperity in China as new strains of rice fed a booming population and printing presses churned out books. From this time Chinese society remained stable and prosperous until the twentieth century, although a political cataclysm occurred in the thirteenth century when Genghis Khan's Mongols took over the country. The Mongols also established the Moghul empire in northern India, which competed with the Chola and Vijayanagar empires of the south.

As the maritime trade route to the eastern Mediterranean and beyond was closed off, Portuguese mariners began to pick their way around the African coast, seeking another way to the fabled orient and its spices, silks and porcelains. At this time too, the Ming Chinese under admiral Cheng Ho sailed a fleet of huge ships around the Indian ocean, and maybe the Atlantic and Pacific oceans too, collecting tribute and curiosities for the recently built Forbidden City. In the Americas the Aztec and Inca civilisations flowered, rapidly expanding to encompass large areas of central and south America.

In Spain, the capture of Arab Toledo by the Christian King Alfonso VI in 1085 had unearthed enormous libraries of ancient knowledge lost to the west since the fall of Rome. In the following centuries, this classical heritage permeated Italy and beyond. Art, architecture, science and literature departed from the Gothic forms that had encased them for centuries and breathed new life into the ruins that graced Europe's hillsides. This classicist rebirth was called the Renaissance. Ancient ideas of a world globe, based on the thinking of Aristotle, Eratosthenes and Strabo, were used by Christopher Columbus to convince Spain's Queen Isabel that the wealth of India and China could be found by sailing not around Africa, but to the west. The energy of the recently victorious Spanish reconquista could be channelled overseas. In 1492 with a Spanish commission Columbus sailed on a journey to discover new worlds.

Beyond the western ocean the Spanish found tropical islands, thought to be the outlying archipelagos of China, and sugar and slaves. They built forts and harbours and farms and pressed on, spreading across the islands and onto the American mainland. Tiny Spanish forces with iron armour and horses and guns easily penetrated the vast Aztec and Inca empires, whose obsidian blades and cotton armour were useless against the invaders. Clean, meticulously planned cities larger than those in Europe were destroyed by conquest and disease. The stone of Aztec pyramids and Inca cities were reworked into baroque cathedrals and star forts. Gold, silver and precious gems in vast quantities were carted off from Veracruz and Panama in the creaking holds of Spanish galleons.

Pirate ships and privateers from other western countries slipped onto the Spanish Main, greedy and eager to find secret Caribbean ports from which to harass and plunder the great treasure fleets of Spain. The revenues of the Americas poured into the echoing vaults of Charles V of Habsburg, Emperor and King, heir to Castile and Aragon, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and by papal fiat, the western hemisphere. A river of sparkling bullion financed naval campaigns and crusades against the Turks, who now threatened Germany and Italy, and wars against the French, who feared encirclement and annihilation and took every opportunity to assist the Emperor's enemies.

As Pope and Emperor bickered over the exact architecture of their imminent universal rule, northern Europe produced a monk who went further than St Francis: Martin Luther was profoundly disillusioned by the hedonism and rapaciousness of absentee aristocratic abbots and bishops while the faithful were crushed by tithes for a vast cathedral in Rome. Luther's message of Biblical authority and freedom from Roman and monastic levies struck a chord with princes and laymen across northern Europe. For some decades Catholic and Protestant debated whether the church was indeed irrevocably split until in the second half of the sixteenth century northern Europe went its own way for good.

Southern Europe stayed with Rome while France was plunged into civil strife.

Superpower monarchs Phillip I and II of Spain and their Habsburg cousins of Austria pursued with renewed vigour their predecessors' vision of Catholic and Habsburg supremacy in Europe, salvation of heathen souls in the New World and triumph over the Turks in the East, all funded by gold and silver from abroad. But even as the feared tercios trod the Spanish Road and the doomed Armada was launched against Elizabeth's England, as the Duke of Parma rescued Paris and Rouen from Henry of Navarre, as Don John of Austria led galleys by the thousand against the Turk, as the Counter-reformation orders of Jesuits, Capuchins and Ursulines wrestled with the Lutherans and Calvinists, the fundamentals of Spanish ascendancy were eaten out by endless warfare, inflation and depopulation at home.

A century after Luther, the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs, provoked in 1618 by the defenestration of their chaps in Prague, finally became entangled with the Protestant champions of northern Europe in a vast sectarian showdown over the fate of Germany and Christendom. The Thirty Years War, driven by absolutist religious convictions and characterised by utmost barbarity on both sides devastated Germany and Bohemia, killing one third of the population and impoverishing the survivors, leaving whole provinces depopulated and desolate. Plague, famine, war and death commanded nations. Both sides threw away victory for greed. Generations after cast down their eyes at the merest reference to the Thirty Years War.

The treaty of Westphalia ended the conflict and mandated the establishment by exhausted men who had seen the most terrible things imaginable of a farsighted system of international relations and national sovereignty that persists even to the present day. After Westphalia, the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation was, according to the wags, neither holy, nor roman, nor an empire. Every German prince was confirmed as a sovereign able to determine the religion of his subjects. The emperor was merely first among equals.

The Spanish Habsburgs were demoralised and their treasure exhausted. The Austrian Habsburgs saw the need to look beyond Germany for their power base. In the decades after the Thirty Years War Austria made steady gains against the Turks in Hungary and the Balkans.

Overseas, British and French colonies in the Americas took root. The highly profitable Portugese trading empire developing in Africa, India and South East Asia began to be challenged by Dutch and English sailors creeping along the hitherto secret sea routes. A period of relative peace and aversion to war saw prosperity spread to more Europeans than ever before. Military conflict became somewhat ritualised as pundits propounded theories of limited war between small professional armies. Science and political philosophy flourished. Royal government became more centralised and powerful as the influence of the feudal aristocracy waned and the bureaucracy and merchant classes grew.

In England, the harbingers of a new age sounded when parliament led by Oliver Cromwell overthrew and killed a king, Charles I. Reluctant to install another king the victor was unable to translate this opportunity into a new form of parliamentary government. The troubles in England encouraged many Puritans and others to immigrate to north America in the hope of a new way of life, untroubled by sectarian persecution and civil strife. Back home, the Lord Protector's absolutist pretensions, sour Puritanism and taste for ermine convinced the majority that monarchy was inevitable and natural.

After Cromwell's death, Charles II returned triumphantly from France on a political platform offering feasting, drinking, beauty spots, gluttony, actresses, dancing, bad make up, beer tankards, rowdy singing, snuff-stained shirtfronts, theatre, silly wigs, cleavage and general bawdiness all round (oh, and constitutional monarchy), a basis for guaranteed popularity that has, sadly, eluded every other politician in history.

In the early 1700s the War of the Spanish Succession and the Great Northern War shook out the cast destined to dominate the world stage for the next two hundred years. In the north, Sweden and Poland were eclipsed by Russia. Spain, wracked by civil war and a shadow of its former self, slipped from Habsburg control to the Bourbons of France. The Austrian Habsburgs consolidated their grip upon Belgium, northern Italy and Hungary. Overseas the British for the first time achieved complete naval dominance at sea, the key naval base of Gibraltar and colonial pre-eminence in north America and India. This power dispensation was confirmed in various wars over the following century. The exception was Prussia which rose to great power status after Frederick the Great seized the wealthy province of Silesia from Austrian empress Maria Theresa.

In India two great powers laid claim to one great land. The Mughals had a long and glorious history that was reaching its twilight. They could have crushed the newer Maratha empire but for the great Persian leader Nader Shah who in 1739 sacked Delhi, the Mughal capital. This emboldened the Marathas to attempt the control of all India. This contest was not only for the land and its bounty, but for the very souls of the people themselves, as the Hindu Marathas gradually came to dominate the Islamic Mughals.

However, by this time the technological and industrial advantage of Europe indisputably exceeded all possible rivals. Even as late as the previous century, the Japanese would easily have trounced any European army in numbers, discipline and technology. But by the eighteenth century the Japanese shogunate had turned away from the outside world and outlawed gunpowder weapons. Conversely, in western Europe technological, economic and social reform became the driving engine of society initiating the persistent struggle between progressive and conservative, left and right. The growing acceptance of rationalist social and scientific progress was called the Enlightenment. By the end of the century, steamships, railways and powered factory machinery were in existence. As European feudalism and serfdom declined, new populations of urban bourgeoisie and industrial workers came into existence.

Political developments placed European monarchical ideals on the defensive. British north American colonies rebelled when London required them to contribute to the costs of their own defence. The rebels, inspired by liberal ideals of democracy and popular sovereignty, established a representative federal republic, the United States of America. Royal French forces assisted the Americans to victory and returned afterwards to Europe conveying these new ideas. In England the loss of the American colonies completely discredited the king and the royalist ministry that had prosecuted the war, resulting in the permanent retreat of the monarch from parliamentary and executive politics.

In France the spread of liberalism combined with famine and financial crisis to trigger a popular revolution in 1789 culminating in the trial and execution of Louis XVI in 1792. A radical Committee for Public Safety initiated a Terror in which the more egregious sort of aristocrat was hunted down and killed. The Terror terrified aristocratic Europe and led the monarchies to declare war on France and revolution. To survive, the revolutionary authorities invoked principles of total warfare dormant since the Thirty Years War and called all able-bodied men to arms. Large armies, promotion on merit and continual warfare against Austria, Prussia and Britain honed a talented new revolutionary officer class.

The most talented of all, Napoleon Bonaparte, defeated the British, Egyptians and Austrians and took over the government. He defeated the Austrians again. He launched a program of liberal economic and legal reform, crowned himself emperor of the French in 1804 and defeated the Austrians and Russians and then the Prussians and Russians. He reorganised Germany and Poland and invaded Spain, but had to return to central Europe to defeat the Austrians. The British were blockading his ports, so he organised a counterblockade. The Russians didn't like this so he invaded them but was defeated with great loss of life. He was defeated by the Austrians, Prussians, Russians, British, Swedes, Spanish and Portuguese in Germany, Spain and France. He was exiled to Elba but escaped and chased poor Louis XVIII out of Paris but was defeated by the British and Prussians at Waterloo. The Austrians and Russians also wanted to defeat him again but never got the chance. This time he was sent to the far wastes of the south Atlantic and most likely poisoned. Meanwhile, Louis XVIII scuttled back into the Louvre.

By the end of the Napoleonic wars Britain was the dominant power in the world in wealth, technology, trade and warships. India was now the jewel in the British crown and new colonies in New Zealand and Australia replaced the lost American ones. Tsarist Russia expanded to the east, becoming the largest power on the Eurasian landmass. Railways snaked across continents and steamships chugged across oceans. The United States expanded rapidly across north America, well supplied with British capital. In Europe liberal nationalist causes attracted great support in Germany and Italy. These fragmented nations felt left behind in the dash for national glory. But liberal revolutions in 1848 were brutally suppressed, leaving nationalist leadership in the hands of conservative establishments. A series of nineteenth century wars against Austria by France, Prussia, and Piedmont saw Italy and Germany proclaimed as monarchical national states. Imperial Germany rapidly industrialised and colonised the few remaining unclaimed parts of Africa and the Pacific. Japan re-entered the global arena, also rapidly industrialising.

Industrialisation involved serious social dislocation especially in Europe. Harsh conditions of industrial employment bred a growing body of critical theory and associated revolutionary movements. Karl Marx argued for the overthrow of the aristocratic and capitalist classes and communal ownership of resources by the proletariat. Recognising a threat, most countries conceded liberal and social reforms that eased the worst aspects of industrial exploitation and gave political rights to the middle and lower classes. In the United States, northern agitation against the southern practice of slavery led to secession by the southern states and civil war. The industrialised north defeated the agricultural south.

By the twentieth century, more people lived better lives than ever before. Populations boomed as better healthcare and cleaner living conditions extended lifespans. Revolutionary new machines like aeroplanes and dirigibles and motorcars appeared, although only dukes and millionaires could afford them. Old monarchies and wealthy aristocrats still dominated politics. But the stability and sophistication of imperial Europe was a fragile illusion.

In 1914 the murder of the Habsburg heir led to an Austro-Hungarian declaration of war on Serbia. Alliance commitments were triggered and mobilisation procedures delivered millions of young men to the main fronts within weeks. The German, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires engaged the British, French and Russian empires along hundreds of miles of front. Defensive technology—machine guns and entrenchments—rendered offence hazardous in the extreme. Massive indirect artillery bombardments sought to overcome defenders with limited effectiveness. Casualties were horrendous.

British blockade of enemy ports provoked the Germans into declaring unrestricted submarine warfare in the Atlantic, leading to the United States joining the allies. Starvation spread on the continent. London was bombed by German dirigibles. Tsarist Russia, unable to sustain the military-industrial contest, shuddered slowly into starvation, defeat, revolution and civil war. The Tsar and his family were caught and shot by hardline Marxist revolutionaries. Even with all the troops released from the east, Germany and Austria-Hungary were unable to prevail on the western front and similarly succumbed to starvation, defeat and revolution. The allies gained a bitter, pyrrhic victory.

A shell-shocked world entered the twenties. The emperors had passed and the world had changed. The United States, Britain and France became pacificist and inward looking. The treaty of Versailles humiliated an already aggrieved Germany. Italy and Japan were disappointed and angry with their spoils.

Marxist-Leninists won the Russian civil war and declared the Soviet Union, an experiment in proletarian dictatorship. In central Europe and the Balkans a rash of vulnerable small states replaced Austria-Hungary. Colonised populations understood that Europe had been diminished. A half-hearted attempt at an international peacekeeper, the League of Nations, proved useless.

After a period of post-war economic growth, world markets, trade and production crashed in 1929. Millions were impoverished. Capitalism and democracy appeared to have failed. Communists and fascists argued that they would do better. Fascist or authoritarian dictatorships took power in many countries including Italy and Spain. The Soviet Union supported revolutionary communist cells across Europe.

In Germany, rightwing Nazis and Soviet backed communists co-operated to destabilise a demoralised Weimar republic. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler outplayed his democratic and communist enemies and gained power legally. He incarcerated his political enemies and won popularity with cunning economic and foreign policies. He used the Versailles principle of self-determination to embarrass and bluff the democracies into permitting the Germans of the Rhineland, Austria and the Czech Sudetenland to join his Reich. After he occupied Prague, Britain and France drew the line. With Soviet dictator Stalin's assistance, Hitler attacked Poland in September 1939 and Europe was again plunged into war.

Hitler unleashed a revolutionary Blitzkrieg strategy of mechanised warfare to conquer Poland. In 1940 he defeated Denmark and occupied Norway under the nose of the British navy, then overran Dutch, Belgian, British and French forces to occupy the low countries and France. The Italians invaded Egypt but were defeated by British Commonwealth forces. The Royal Air Force defeated the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain. Hitler sent German troops to Africa and ordered unrestricted submarine warfare against Britain to cut its food supply.

In 1941 Hitler occupied Yugoslavia and Greece and invaded the Soviet Union. German forces took most of western Russia but failed to take the key cities of Moscow and Leningrad. The Japanese, already at war with China, attacked the United States, Britain and the Netherlands. Hitler declared war on the United States too. The Japanese sank the US Pacific fleet in Hawaii and in 1942 occupied the Philippines, the Netherlands East Indies, Malaya, Burma, northern New Guinea and south Pacific islands. The main Japanese aircraft carrier fleets were decisively beaten at Midway by the United States Navy. Japanese invasions were turned back in the Solomons and New Guinea.

In Europe Hitler failed to take Stalingrad and the Caucasus oilfields, taking heavy losses. Allied bombing of Germany increased. The Nazis decided to kill all Jews—who they regarded as racial enemies—in their occupied territories using large scale industrial methods, an unprecedented crime.

In 1943 United States forces invaded Morocco and Tunisia, and with British coming from Libya defeated the Germans and Italians in Africa. The Allies occupied Sicily and invaded Italy. Soviet forces defeated the Germans in central Russia. Allied bombing of Germany increased. United States, Canadian and British forces won the battle of the Atlantic, inflicting heavy losses on the German submarine fleet. Japan lost central and south Pacific islands and New Guinea to United States and Australian forces. The United States began large scale bombing of Japanese cities.

By the end of 1944 a series of Soviet offensives brought the eastern front onto German soil. The Western Allies invaded and occupied France, bringing the western front onto German soil. The Italian fascist government collapsed, and the Germans were driven back to the Apennines. Massive Allied bombing raids destroyed German cities one by one. Fanatical Japanese resistance failed to stop United States forces recapturing the Pacific islands and the Philippines. Massive United States bombing raids destroyed Japanese cities one by one.

1945 saw the end of the fascist powers. The final offensive into Germany by the Allies led to the collapse of the German armed forces. Former Italian dictator Mussolini was hanged caught fleeing Italy towards Germany. A final assault into Berlin by the Soviets triggered the suicide of Adolf Hitler.

In the Pacific the Soviets declared war on Japan, and blitzed through Manchuria towards Korea. Two days later, the United States dropped the newly developed nuclear bomb on the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. These blows, along with an agreement to spare the Japanese emperor from any war crime trial, led to the surrender of the Japanese emperor and his armed forces soon after. War crimes trials brought selected losers to book for selected aggression, and the attempted extermination of the Jews, and in so doing established the possibility that there may be something called international law.

For a brief period of optimism it appeared that the wartime United Nations alliance would guarantee world peace and that United States Marshal Plan subsidies would rebuild the world. The United States was by far the largest and most profitable economy in the world in 1945. Economies boomed to meet the enormous demand of reconstruction.

But in the late stages of the war Stalin's Soviet Union occupied eastern Europe either directly or by puppet proxies to ensure no European power could invade the Motherland ever again. Hostility between East and West grew into a Cold War with an Iron Curtain. Both sides pursued confrontation in Berlin, North Korea and Palestine, nearly leading to a third world war in the late forties and early fifties. As part of the struggle, both sides started funding revolutionary and counter-revolutionary movements around the world, a move that would haunt them later.

The Chinese civil war, temporarily halted by World War II, re-ignited after Japan's defeat. Chinese communists won an overwhelming victory and drove their nationalist enemies to Taiwan. The Soviet Union and China rushed to develop nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic rockets, the nuclear delivery system of choice.

Many Jewish refugees and survivors from Europe joined their compatriots in Palestine, where after a gap of almost 2000 years they re-declared the state of Israel in 1948. Conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, and more broadly, between Jews and Arabs, became a feature of international politics.

The United States erected a series of regional alliances in Europe, the Middle East and South East Asia to contain communism. It vigorously pursued improved nuclear armaments in line with a policy of deterrence labelled 'MAD' or mutually assured destruction. European imperial powers began decolonising under a UN sponsored process, a voluntary retreat from empire unprecedented in history resulting in numerous new and vulnerable nation states coming into existence across Africa and Asia over succeeding decades. Brush wars broke out in these newly decolonised countries as communist supported insurgents battled western supported governments and vice versa.

When communist North Korea invaded capitalist South Korea in the fifties, both the United States and China intervened for a net draw.

To avoid the terrible wars of the past, non-communist Europe began an experiment in supranational economic and political integration called variously the European Coal and Steel Community, the European Community and later the European Union. Dark clouds of atomic war again threatened in 1962, only clearing when the Soviet Union withdrew its nuclear missiles from communist Cuba and the US withdrew theirs from non-communist Turkey. This lethal game of nuclear chicken soon became irrelevant when both sides deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles that could reach each other's shores from their own homelands.

In 1965 the United States, mistaking a national war of liberation for a Cold War proxy, entered a long running war in South Vietnam to protect a pro-western dictatorship from communist insurgents, led by popular North Vietnamese nationalist Ho Chi Minh. The war escalated sharply with great loss of life and materiel for both sides until the United States withdrew in 1972. The communists took Saigon and established a single Vietnamese state in 1975. In a hint of the future, a pro-United States government was overthrown by a radical Islamic revolution in Iran in the late seventies. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to install a communist government but the war became a bleeding wound as the United States supported the Afghani resistance.

But the Soviet Union was on its last legs. Despite the success of the command economy in the thirties and forties when it prevailed over the German military-industrial complex, by the eighties the weight of its internal contradictions and inefficiencies meant it could no longer meet the needs of its people. Conversely capitalism, despite ingrained inequity with occasional shocks and instability, proved the more reliable economic engine. Communist China, sniffing the wind, had already started moving towards a more market-based economy.

But it was too late for the Soviet bloc. When the first ever Soviet liberaliser, Gorbachev, became leader his reforms merely hastened the end. His removal of support for the eastern European satellite states led to anti-communist revolutions across the former Soviet bloc and the collapse of successive communist governments. Too much for some ageing Stalinists, a coup against Gorbachev in 1991 led to the collapse of the Soviet Union and its replacement by a bevy of independent post-communist states, including Russia.

Many argued culture and religion would assert themselves as the dominant fault line after the collapse of the communist-capitalist confrontation. Their views were vindicated when in 2001, three hijacked airliners full of people slammed into the two World Trade towers in New York, the Pentagon and, although heading for the White House, a field in Pennsylvania. A worldwide organisation of Islamic terrorists had declared war on the infidels, provoked in part by the never-ending Palestinian crisis. The United States invaded and conquered Islamicist Afghanistan and secular Baathist Iraq in response, installing governments more amenable to the American worldview. Even so, at the time of writing (2004) the war of Terror persists.

Postscript (2026) by Harry Rowland

And persists to this day. The problem, as always, is one person's terrorist is another's freedom fighter and terror is a tactic, not an enemy. War on terror is war eternal.

Savage new wars have sprung up across the globe in the twenty-first century, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the deadliest war in Europe since 1945. War is not only as prevalent as ever but has expanded laterally into cyber, information, artificial intelligence and space that now involves a world-wide cold war for the very soul of democracy, decency and society herself.

Meanwhile, the environmental clock is still ticking and deadly pandemics wrack the globe, amidst scientific repudiation and mass mis-information.

The world has seen many changes over time with a wave-like history of triumph and tragedy. Bounty has been defeated by famine and famine by bounty. Great philosophies and theorems have been propounded, discussed, lost and found again. Science and religion have brought great gains and comfort. They have also wreaked indescribable suffering and terror.

A few things however have been more or less constant, the use of our natural resources at an ever-increasing rate, the side effects of this use and the ever-greater destructive capability of our favourite weapons of choice.

For all humans' enormous advancement and achievement over these last 6000 years, the challenges of today in many ways dwarf those of the past. In 1945, after hearing of the atom bomb being dropped, Albert Einstein, the world's then greatest living physicist said 'it is easier to denature plutonium than to denature the evil spirit of man'. While aiming for the stars and befouling our environment we are yet to see whether Einstein's skepticism is misplaced, or not.

A Father's Poem to His Son

by Peter Browne Rowland (circa 1970)

Aggression finds its own release and hands set them up in martial ranks angry murmuring lines of blood crazed cardboard men

Earlier all lying together in a box of peace and unity. Now bravely staring down the onslaught (a marble tossed carelessly into their midst)

To yield turn or run is not in them stand and fall and die like their human counterparts.

Made by man, in man's resemblance Vain glorious foolish soldiers Beguiled by lies "To die for King and Country is a hero's death" Crapspouters spurred by greed and power love.

Will he understand the awful waste the stupid devastation People neighbours friends lovers me men idly killed by a marble lying & mouldering silently on the carpet or will he feel immortal like his soldiers

But he can gently pile them all together in the box of peace and unity Resurrection happens daily.

Credits

Design: Harry Rowland

Development: Greg Pinder

Research: Dan Hatchen, Magnus Hedenstierna, Bruce Jurin, Greg Pinder, Harry Rowland and Jakub Świerczek

Historical notes: Michael Fisher

Development, chief playtesters and editors: Markus Domdey, Tony Falzarano, James Hamilton, Dan Hatchen, Matthew Hatchen, Magnus Hedenstierna, Catriona Holland, Bruce Jurin, David Le Lacheur, Nicholas McHardy, Georg Innerhofer-Oberperfler, Alberto Natta, Nikolaj Pilgaard Petersen, Kevin Rohrer, Anna Rowland, Peter J Rowland, Truls Rostrup, Irving Sirotin, Željko Šokčić, Peter Spitzkowsky, Stefan Stubenvoll, Jakub Świerczek, Craig Walters & Sheldon White.

Playtesters and contributors: Christian Andresen, Bob Armstrong, Marcel Dreher, Belinda Evans, James Evans, Louisa Evans, Kaede Farenheit, Przemysław Filek, Michael Fisher, Patrice Forno, Aaron Greene, Jack Greene, Heiko Gentzik, Tomasz Gorczyca, Wilhelm Hedenstierna, Jeff Herbert, Nich Hills, Alex Hilson, Larry Hoffman, Pierre Tissier, Tony Lloyd, Graham Logan, Phillipa Lowrey, Neil Mackenzie, Simon Mackenzie, Mario Merlo, Ken Munro, Karsten Nolte, Gero Niemeyer, Julanne Parlour, Pat Parlour, Vicky Pusnjak, Beth Queman, Rüdiger Rinscheidt, Nanette Rowland, Peter B Rowland, Simon Hans Schäfer, Christoph E. Schneider, Susan Sheppard, Debbie Sherwood, Ray Sonsie, Eddy Vickery, Michał Wałach, Larry Whalen, Ashley White, Chris Williams, Stephen Wilson, Jonathan Woodger, Catherine Yates & Alan Zelman.

Graphics

• Art Director: Catriona Holland
• Director of Photography: Peter J Rowland
• Box: Bob Armstrong, Robin Errin & Tomas Kuklik
• Cards: Tomas Kuklik, Harry Rowland, Peter J Rowland & Alex Talbot
• Counters: Rob Armstrong, Dinah Coleman, Michael Fisher, Tomas Kuklik, Vivienne Miau & Harry Rowland
• Map: Harry Rowland
• Map graphics: Chris Denton, Michael Fisher & Justin Heffernan
• Rules: Harry Rowland

Production & Marketing

• Production Manager: Harry Rowland
• Printing: Do Fine Games, China
• Vassal: Carl Ise
• Crowdfunding: Cassie Simpson
• Website: www.a-d-g.com.au

7 Ages® in both its electronic and printed forms, is Copyright © 1997 ~ 2026, Australian Design Group. Permission is hereby granted to copy these rules electronically for your personal use only, provided that they are copied in their entirety (including this message). Any deletion or alteration or on-selling, without the express written permission of Australian Design Group, is a violation of domestic and international copyright law.

Designer's notes are in blue. Rule cross-references are in Cyan

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