Introduction by ACME Game Developer Fred Schachter: The February 2021 GMT Update contained a wonderful new development as the game proceeds towards production readiness… the first increment of professional graphics by the talented Mark Mahaffey!
Part 1 of this article’s first Chapter covered Great Person Investment cards. This Part 2 encompasses the Great Person Competition cards of Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East. But first, a Design Note from Mark McLaughlin regarding ACME cards in general seems appropriate:
GREAT PERSON COMPETITION CARDS: There are six of these in Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East.
Soothsayer: This is a rather basic Great Person Competition card which has the Civilization affected removing one disk of its color (not a white disk nor stronghold cube). Its advantage is compelling the victim to lose one of their Civilization’s colored disks from a City. This forces the loss of that colored disk or a mina must be spent by the affected Civilization or one of its cards removed into discard from the victim civilization’s hand.
Siege Master: This card’s advantage is that when it is used; the target has no way, other than through playing an appropriate negate card, to avoid having its City reduced into a two disk Settlement.
Great Captain: Is an unusual ACME card since its Competition effect is not employable for its owning Civilization! Should you play this card; your Civilization does not get a Competition advantage… but one of your fellow Civilizations of choice does through receiving a white “Allied” disk for one of their Competitions on Land or Sea. You can only hope the Competition beneficiary may be grateful and in thanks spare you becoming a victim of one of their nasty Fate cards. Furthermore, that one mina fee for assigning your Great Captain to another Civilization is a nice reward to receive.
Mercenary General: While Great Captain is certainly a type of Mercenary General, the game’s “real thing” Mercenary General, who benefits your own Civilization for a Land or Sea Competition, is this Great Person card. Pay his one mina fee and you get two white “Allied” disks to swing a Competition to your favor. Furthermore, if you win that Competition, return this Mercenary General card into your hand for potential re-use during this Epoch’s next turn.
Warrior King: This is potentially one of the most powerful cards in the game with its ability to bring white “Allied” disks into play to assist the card player during a Competition Phase.
For example, you’re playing the Civilization of Babylon whose Fertile Land homeland area and every Babylonian held Fertile Land Area adjacent to it has an infestation of black Barbarian disks. You are valiantly contesting these with your Civilization’s colored disks. By playing Warrior King you receive the reinforcement of two white disks in the Babylonian homeland and then one white disk in all six of the contested Fertile Land areas adjacent to Babylon…that’s eight white disks for a single card!
Traitor: While a Civilization’s homeland area is safe from this card; no other Land area of a Civilization’s empire is… not even its strongest site, a City with four disks and a Stronghold cube, is invulnerable to the Traitor’s treachery. Note this card must be played before commencing any other resolution of a Competition Phase. The victim cannot offset losses through expenditure of mina and/or card(s) from hand.
The only way to stop the Traitor is through play of an appropriate negate card… and those may prove few and far between.
Coming up… Part 3 of this article series’ Chapter One: Great Person “Spy” Cards (crafty folks these)!
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