In this second article of the series, we examine the 103 event cards that provide the random and color factors which can add so much excitement (and a bit of player stress) into a game of Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea (ACIS).  In the first article we covered natural events.  Here, we move on to mostly man-made events and calamities.

MUST PLAY Cards

There are seven such cards in the deck. These cards are played immediately upon being drawn from the deck, with the exception of the initial card draw of a game, during which they are ignored. They’re distinctive in that they’re Landscaped formatted as opposed to all the other cards in the draw deck… making them hard to miss! When a MUST PLAY card is drawn, another card is selected from the draw deck to replace it, so hand size does not suffer. Of course, that replacement card could be another MUST PLAY card… but then it too gets replaced.

But before explaining the must play cards — a word about their ultimate purpose. Four of these cards, those vicious Barbarian invasions, were introduced to allow Civilizations which have fallen behind in victory points to get back into the game by doing damage to those Civilizations, or single Civilization, in the lead. How? The Civilization that is LAST in victory points controls the Barbarian Must Play cards, no matter which Civilization draws the cards. Woe to a complacent player who thought their victory point position assured when a Barbarian invasion card, capable of unleashing hordes of Black Tiles into what was thought to be a secured area of the map, makes an unexpected appearance. More on those later.

Two of the other three cards add uncertainty to the game to prevent gamesmanship from becoming too dominant. The seventh is mythical in nature: Atlantis Rises (Card 102). The Atlantis card adds a Black (Barbarian) Tile to each of the map’s two Deep Sea Area and grants two Talents of wealth to any Civilization with a Tile adjacent to either of those Sea Areas. This card generally affects Minos the most, and to a lesser degree Phoenicia, because those are the only two Civilizations that can place Tiles in the deep Sea zones, other than through card play, until the fourth Epoch, when all Civilizations may do so.

Atlantis Rises (Card 102) and The Breath of God (Card 103). Near-Final Art.

The Breath of God (Card 103) causes all Civilizations to immediately turn in their card hands, reshuffle the deck with all discards, and deal out four new cards to each Civilization. Note that this card also ends the card draw phase immediately, so Civilizations with bonuses allowing them to draw additional cards during card draw lose that ability during this draw. Conversely, Civilizations which used their bonuses to have the maximum of six cards in hand, which could include some really good cards carried over from a prior Epoch, will find this divine intervention painful indeed. After play, this card is set aside and is not reshuffled into the deck until the next Epoch.

Time Marches On (Card 62) will abruptly end the Epoch at the end of the current turn. What a surprise it can bring to a game’s players causing a scramble to get as many victory points possible with the Epoch’s curtain drawing closed perhaps far sooner than anticipated! The card does not apply during Epoch I and is ignored and discarded if it appears during turn 4 of any Epoch. Once it is drawn and played, this card is removed from the game permanently.

Time Marches On (Card 62) and Mesopotamian Empire (Card 99). Near-Final Art.

And then there are four other MUST PLAY cards which represent massive invasions from off board. Each will place stacks of four Black Tiles in several Areas depending on the Area selected for initial placement. The invasion game mechanic starts by placing four Black Tiles in the initial invasion Area and then four more in each adjacent Land Area.

Card 99, Mesopotamian Empire, appears in a Land Area on the eastern edge of the map. If using solely the Western half map (it’s possible to play the game without employing the entire map) the invaders represent some other empire independent of the players and it appears in any Land Area along the Eastern edge of the map in use.

Northern Hordes (Card 100) represents tribes along the northern map edge migrating to greener pastures along the shores of the Inner Sea. Again, the controlling player picks one Land Area along the top edge of the map; places four Black Tiles there, and four more in each adjacent Area. The Southern Area of the map is not immune from such depredations.  Saharan Raiders (Card 101) appear along the southern edge with placement of stacks of four Black Tiles as noted for the others.

Northern Hordes (Card 100) and Sea Peoples Invade! (Card 98). Near-Final Art.

Finally, there’s Card 98, Sea Peoples Invade, which places the first stack of four Tiles on any Sea Area and then places stacks of four Black Tiles in every Land Area adjacent to it. Note, these ravagers can come from the Red Sea or the Atlantic, not just within the Inner Sea. Fighting off these invasions is not particularly difficult as the Black Tiles do not grow like those of a Civilization; but the fight will usually result in a temporary loss of cities, and therefore victory points, as well as the opportunity cost of being unable to do much else…. presuming the player does not simply abandon what were once Civilized Lands to their Black Tile fate. Play testers have enjoyed studying the map to determine just which initial Area is most lethal to the Civilization(s) being Black Tile invaded (study the game map image within the GMT ACIS site to begin mulling this puzzle over).

Sea Peoples (Card 49) and Refugees (Card 12). Near-Final Art.

There are five other demographically related cards representing smaller migrations or annoyances. The Sea Peoples (Card 49) is a mini version of the MUST PLAY card; but is controlled by the Civilization playing the card. It allows placement of three Black Tiles on any one Land Area adjacent to a Sea Area. Notably, this card is reshuffled back into the deck when played so there’s a chance of it being drawn again during an Epoch. Refugees (Card 12) places two Black Tiles on any Land Area adjacent to a map edge AND removes one existing Tile from that Land Area.  This card, too, is reshuffled back into the deck after being played.

Pirates (Card 11), Pirate Haven (Card 31), and Pirate Raids (Card 57). Near-Final Art.

Then there are pirates, a scourge against Civilizations since the beginning of Sea-borne commerce. Card 11, Pirates, removes all Tiles of all Civilizations from two Sea Areas adjacent to each other and places one Black Tile in each to replace them. Pirate Haven (Card 31) places two Black Tiles on any island (other than Minos if Minoa is a Civilization in play) and two Black Tiles in an adjacent Sea Area. This card does not by itself remove any existing Tiles but leads to competition if any Civilization Tile(s) is present and it is merely discarded when played. Pirate Raids (Card 57) allows dispersal of pirates in three separate Sea Areas, replacing one existing Tile with a Black Tile.  Note, though, that it does not allow placing Black Tiles in already empty Sea Areas. This card is also discarded when played.

It’s All in the Cards: The Cards of Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea (Part 1)

It’s All in the Cards: The Cards of Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea (Part 3)

It’s All in the Cards: The Cards of Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea (Part 4)

It’s All in the Cards: The Cards of Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea (Part 5)

It’s All in the Cards: The Cards of Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea (Part 6)

Author: Christopher Vorder Bruegge