Imperial Settlers: Empires of the North – Roman Banners: A Complete Guide

Welcome, fellow board gamers! Today, we're diving into the Roman Banners expansion for Imperial Settlers: Empires of the North. This expansion introduces the mighty Romans, bringing new clans and mechanics to your northern adventures. Let's get this empire built!

Game Objective

In Imperial Settlers: Empires of the North – Roman Banners, you take on the role of a Roman Clan leader. These Romans hail from warmer climates, bringing with them a culture of wine, bread, and circuses. They are masters of construction, with abundant resources and impressive road networks. Your goal is to expand your empire, build awe-inspiring structures, and establish dominance. The ultimate victory condition is determined by accumulating the most victory points, though the specific trigger and scoring details are not fully elaborated in the provided text. Consult the manual for precise victory conditions.

Game Setup

Setting up Roman Banners is straightforward:

1. Shuffle the new Distant Island cards into the appropriate deck.
2. Shuffle the new Nearby Island cards into the appropriate deck.
3. Players may choose a Clan from the new Roman factions: the Trajanus Clan or the Flavian Clan.

Consult the manual for details on initial player components and starting resources.

Game Flow

The provided text does not detail the overall game flow, including the structure of turns, rounds, or phases. It also does not mention any enemy turns, maintenance phases, or global events. Consult the manual for details on this section.

Actions and How to Play

The Roman Banners expansion introduces new mechanics and card types for the Trajanus and Flavian Clans.

Trajanus Clan Mechanics

• New Costs: Many Trajanus Clan cards have costs that require you to spend Resources equal to the number of a specific Location type you already have in your Empire. This includes the card you are currently building. For example, if you have two Multi-Chariots in your Empire and want to build New Tactics, which costs 3 , you must spend 3 (2 for the existing Multi-Chariots and 1 for New Tactics).
• Choice Upgrades: These upgrades have two Resource costs divided by a slash (e.g., / ). When building a Choice upgrade, you can attach it to a Field with either matching Resource. You only gain the Resource of the type of Field to which it is attached. For instance, attaching Supply Roads to a Chestnut Forest (which provides ) grants you 1 for building the upgrade and then 3 for resolving a Harvest Action. You cannot Harvest from this upgrade if it's attached to a Field with .
• Sets: When a card requires a Set, it means you must possess each of the indicated Goods shown. For example, activating Trebuchet might require a Set of , , and . If you have one , two , and two , you only have one complete Set and would gain 2. If you later have three , two , and two , you would gain 4.
• Card Explanations:
  • Minerva’s Blessing: For each in your Empire, you must spend 1 . You can then choose up to 5 in your Empire and gain 1 matching Resource from each. Each Resource gained must be from a different . If you have a Choice upgrade, you can only gain the Resource of the type it is attached to.
  • New Tactics: You must spend the Resource of the matching Location type you have the most of in your Empire. If there's a tie, you can choose any of the tied Location types. Always ignore when counting Location types.
  • Exhausted Clan Action Pawn: Some cards allow you to move or activate your exhausted Clan action pawn. These cards do not require additional , only the Resources indicated on the card. For example, if you have two , two , and one , you must spend 1 and can choose to spend either 1 or 1 to move your exhausted Clan action pawn to an adjacent Action tile and activate it.
  • Pacus Formation: If you move an upgrade, you do not gain Resources for it. You must move the upgrade to a with a matching Resource type. For example, using Pacus Formation to gain 1 and move Supply Roads from a Red Winery to a Chestnut Forest is possible. However, you cannot move it to a Marble Quarry if the on it does not match any of Supply Roads’ Resources.

Flavian Clan Mechanics

• Foundations: Flavian cards have Location types printed on their backs. Foundations are represented as cards placed face down in your Empire. They are gained by Harvesting the Flavian’s Basic Field and through various other card actions. Foundations can be used to pay for Additional Requirements. They count as Goods but not as Locations. At the end of the game, you gain 1 for each pair of Foundations in your Empire. Placing a Foundation in your Empire is not the same as Building.
• Additional Requirements: Some new Locations have Additional Requirements beyond their standard building costs. To fulfill these, you must have at least the indicated number of Location types in your Empire. If you don't have the required Location types, you can spend a number of Foundations of the indicated type equal to the number of Locations you are missing. To spend a Foundation, discard it to the discard pile. Note: When using the Construct Action, the cost of the Location is free, but you must still meet the Requirements to build it. You cannot Construct a Location with unfulfillable Requirements.
  • For example, building Party Crasher Ship requires at least 3 . If you have 4 such Locations, you pay the 1 cost and build it.
  • Building Veni Vidi Vici requires 4 . If you only have 2 such Locations but possess 2 Foundations, you can spend those Foundations, pay the 1 and 1 cost, and build Veni Vidi Vici.
• Card Explanations:
  • Construction Site: During setup and when you Harvest this Field, draw 2 from your deck and place them as Foundations in your Empire.
  • Party Crasher Ship: You gain 1 if you assign 1 to the Ship placed on the Expedition board during the Sail Action activated by this . You cannot assign to that is already on the Expedition board.

Island Card Explanations

• Neptune’s Treasure: You remove 1 from your supply and place it into the general supply. You may reclaim it later with cards that allow you to gain .

End of Game and Scoring

The provided text does not specify the trigger for the end of the game or detail the scoring criteria. Consult the manual for details on this section.

Tips for Winning

Consult the manual for tips on how to win.