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by Daniel Berger.
Original Post: The most complex game ever: Empires in Arms
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I received Empires in Arms as a gift last year for helping out a friend. This is, as far as I can tell, the most complex wargame ever made. It has a dense 46 page rulebook, a rather large map, a fair number of counters, and forms that each country must photocopy and write on. The full campaign requires 7 players, though you can play with as few as 2 for individual scenarios.
Here are a few choice comments from BGG (emphasis mine):
* "I played once...but that game lasted one year." * "One of the best multi-player titles...unspeakably long but with the right group fantastic. " * "A group of six other guys got together and played 8 to 16 hours almost every Saturday for 3 years". * "Great game. 1000s of hours of fun, treachery and military consequences." * "have played this game three times - each playing is about 160 hours."
For all the ravings about the combat system, this real appeal of this game appears to be the diplomatic aspect, at least in the 7 player version. Some comments go so far as to suggest that it almost reaches a role-playing like quality.
All that playing time and complexity, and yet the game still rates a 7.5. That's pretty good for a wargame on BGG, especially when you consider that the majority of the lower ratings center around length and complexity, rather than any mechanical flaw.
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