2-5 “ My Faithful Companion, The Master Clocksmith came to speak to me this morning revealing a fabulous secret... We can travel in time, my friend! Not just dreaming about it like my astrologist does, but actually going there. I can hardly believe it! There seem to be periods in our future where the strength of our walls will be nothing compared to the strength of our collective faith. Or an even stranger future epoch where the people will rule themselves. The Master Clocksmith has convinced me that our power is now limitless. Our lands and domains are ours forever. My opponents will not wait and my Lords have already started preparing for their journeys. My dear friend, come with me, for from this day forward, I will be remembered as the king who forged our own destiny... literally! “ Hichmat, Great Lord of the Western Lands SET-UP MATERIAL GAME MECHANICS AND OBJECTIVE The game is played over 7 turns and on 3 game boards, each representing the same region, but during three successive time periods: The age of Might The age of Faith The age of Reason Each player controls two time traveling adventurers, each voyaging to allow him to construct military, religious and civil buildings. They give players a chance at becoming the richest player by the end of the game. Certain constructions produce money, Ecus, and that is one way to gain wealth. As these buildings are grouped they form domains. This allows players to establish dominant positions. In function of the period, the criteria for dominion will be either military, religious or civil. Domains allows players to earn tax and tithe revenue on turns 4 and 7 if they control them. Earning Ecus in this manner is the second way to gain wealth. The players also have the power to destroy certain buildings or attempt to connect domains in an effort to change their overall ownership within an epoch. Depending on their size, certain constructions cast time shadows and are “rippled”, or copied, from one game board to the next, expanding a player’s domination forward through time. But beware; the echoes of time are difficult to hear and might surprise. An edifice constructed during the age of Faith might very well disappear, never to be remembered, if its geographical footprint is replaced by an older structure. Time can be a most difficult river to navigate. At the end of the 7th turn, the player holding the largest pile of wealth is declared the winner. Place the game boards in the center of the table as shown on page 2. Turn Indicator Place the “Turn Indicator” pawn on the first square of the game turn counting ruler, found on the bottom of the Age of Might board. Building Tiles Organize the 155 tiles by color and place them in the compartments found in the box: • The Military buildings are orange; 20 Watchtowers, 24 Keeps and 9 Castles. • The Religious buildings are fuchsia; 20 Chapels, 20 Monasteries, and 9 Abbeys. • The Civil buildings are blue; 20 Hamlets, 24 Towns and 9 Cities. 10 Hamlets are already printed on each of the three game boards. The value indicated on each tile corresponds to both its building’s construction cost and the number of Ecus yielded during the revenue phase of the 4th and 7th game turns. The Keep, Castle, Monastery and Abbey tiles also have a back side representing vestiges of the same building gone to ruins. Watchtower Keep Castle Chapel Monastery Abbey Hamlet Town City 2 Adventurer Pawns Each player takes two Adventurer Pawns of the same color and places them on their corresponding locations on the Age of Might board. Control Cubes Each player takes 25 Control Cubes in the same color. Ecus Each player starts the game with 4 Ecus, using 1 Ecu coin pieces. They can be kept face up or down in front of each player. Place the remaining Ecus in the 4th compartment in the game box. There are thirty 1 Ecu coins, fifteen 5 Ecu coins, and fifteen 10 Ecu coins. Construction Cards Shuffle the 55 Construction cards are and placed them in a pile face down. The pile is made up of 18 Military Construction cards (orange), 18 Religious Construction cards (fuchsia) and 19 Civil Construction cards (blue). All players draw four cards to form their starting hands. They are kept hidden. Decide who goes first in a random manner. Players take turns in a clockwise fashion. The following phases are played by each player during his turn. I. Exchange all or a part of his Construction Card hand. II. The Action Phase: 1. Travel in time. 2. Use Construction Cards to construct, demolish, upgrade, populate or renovate a building. Note: certain buildings award an immediate Ecu bonus when they are constructed. III. Fill Construction Card hand to 4 cards. IV. Collect Earnings from domains (only on turns 4 and 7). When a player finishes a game turn, the player to his left starts his turn. When the turn comes back to the first player, that player moves the Turn Indicator pawn up a notch. During his turn, a player that is dissatisfied with his hand can discard it entirely or ...