The Barracks Emperors is a strategic trick-taking game that offers many new twists on the genre – see my earlier article here for more information on how the game is played. One twist is that every card played also grants the player a one-time special ability, in addition to the card’s inherent trick-taking potential based on its suit and value. This means that even when you’re playing a card that may not capture an Emperor for you by itself, you may be able to use the special ability to turn the tables on your opponents in a different way. Becoming familiar with what abilities are available in the game and how to use them is an important part of playing well.

This series of articles will examine all the influence cards in The Barracks Emperors, one suit at a time. In this article, part one of three, we begin with the Red suit. Just as in Time of Crisis, Red represents Military power and influence. All the special abilities tied to these cards represent battle effects and generally involve abilities to move, “defend”, and “attack” other cards.

(Note:  All art shown in this article is playtest art only.  It is not final.)

An Overview of Card Values

In all three suits in The Barracks Emperors, card values range from 1 through 8. Mapping back to Time of Crisis and The Age of Iron and Rust card values that range from 1 through 4, this means we slotted the highest-value (Level 4) special abilities in each suit on the 7 and 8 cards, the Level 3 ability on the 5 and 6 cards, the Level 2 ability on the 3 and 4 cards, leaving the 1 and 2 cards as Level 1. But we also wanted even the 1 and 2 value cards to have a special ability on them for this game, so we invented new Level 1 special abilities appropriate for The Barracks Emperors.

There are 14 cards in each suit: only one each of value 1 and value 2, but two each of values 3 through 8.

We wanted every influence card to be unique. Therefore, within each pair of same-value cards, one has the base Time of Crisis special ability on it, and the other has the expansion ability on it. The single value 1 and value 2 cards share the same special ability (but with slight variation.)

Level 1 Military Cards

In all three suits, the new Level 1 special abilities that appear on the value 1 and value 2 cards are similar – adding +1 or +2 value to a different card already in play of the same suit. In the Red suit, this event is Reinforcements.

The text of the card says, “You may add a +1 marker to another Military influence card already played anywhere on the board.” Befitting the lower-value card, this special ability can be situational, but its possible applications should not be dismissed.

Adding a +1 marker (for the value 1 ability) or +2 marker (for the value 2 ability) to a card means that for all purposes thereafter, the marked card’s value is treated as if it were 1 or 2 points higher than it’s printed value. (And note that you could potentially use both to add a total of +3 to another Red card.) This could be very important when resolving tricks. The most obvious use is to increase the value of a card that is benefitting you so that it directly helps you win a trick. But slightly more subtly, you may be able to change the value of a card that is working against you somewhere to cause it to be tied with another opponent’s card, causing it to be canceled out! (Cards of the same value on the same trick are ignored.) Even more subtly, perhaps you can change the value of a card working against you so that it wins a trick you’re not interested in, and will thus be removed from a trick in which you are interested. (A card that wins a trick is removed from the board.)

Level 2 Military Cards

Castra represents a legion’s fortified camp, and it can be used to defend a position on the board. It reads, “This card cannot be covered by a barbarian, nor moved, flipped, or removed by any special ability.”

There are several ways to essentially remove a card from contention for winning a certain trick. For example, a Mob can flip cards, Flanking Maneuver can move other cards, and Spiculum can remove another card. A Castra card cannot be targeted by any of these. Additionally, Barbarian cards roam the board, covering up and neutralizing influence cards in play, but barbarians cannot move onto a Castra card.

This means that when you play Castra, you know it will stay in effect and in place. This helps make sure that any plans you have involving that card will not be compromised. Because this ability is only on mid-range value cards, it might take a little thought to be able to use this card to directly win you the trick you need. But another option is to play it in a position that hampers an opponent. Since Castra can’t be moved or removed, he’ll be stuck with it.

Castra can still have its value changed by a Reinforcements card, however.

In Time of Crisis, cavalry lets you win ties in battle, and so the Cavalry card in The Barracks Emperors also lets you “win” ties. The ability reads, “While resolving an Emperor, always consider this card, even if it would match the value of another influence card.”

Here, instead of the Cavalry card being ignored if its value is tied with another card in the same trick, it gets counted anyway, while the other card that would match Cavalry is NOT counted.

In the right circumstances, you could play Cavalry to cancel out another card directly and still count your own card towards winning the trick. This can be advantageous in certain situations, but again, being a medium-value card means it might not always be easy to use to affect. That’s why Cavalry is an excellent companion for Reinforcements: If you can add to Cavalry’s value, it can cancel out opposing cards of higher values.

Also note that Castra and Cavalry are both “continuing effect” cards, indicated by the color-coded text box. Most special abilities in The Barracks Emperors are used immediately when played and then forgotten, but a few have an effect that lasts as long as the card is visible on the board. 

Level 3 Military Cards

Flanking Maneuver is more overtly aggressive, and it can give your opponents a very nasty surprise. As in a battle of the era when a brilliant flanking maneuver can change the entire outcome, this card can not only gain you a surprise capture of one trick, but it could disrupt a second nearby trick as well.

The ability text reads, “After playing this card, you may swap it with any diagonally adjacent influence card.” You play the card normally, and by itself, it’s already a fairly high-value card that may just be used to win a trick directly. But if you wish, you may choose to immediately swap it with another nearby card already on the board. (Recall that all spaces in which influence cards are played are diagonally adjacent from each of its neighbors.)

You might want to swap this card for a higher-value adjacent card already played on the same trick. This is especially effective if you can arrange to play this as the final card on a trick to steal it away from one of your opponents without a chance to respond. 

Also watch for opportunities to swap with an adjacent card that has been played on another trick. This might either be simply to steal a better card for yourself on the trick on which you played, or it might be to obliquely change who is going to win that other adjacent trick. Flanking Maneuver can even be played in this way to essentially allow you to move it into a position into which you ordinarily would not have been able to play (if an influence card is already in the target space.)

This is almost always a card you would like to draft if you can, or if you can’t, you really want to keep an eye on who has it. 

Force March shares some similarities with Flanking Maneuver, but it is even more direct. The text reads, “You may play this card in any unoccupied influence card space.”

While it lacks the ability of Flanking Maneuver to move another card already in play, Force March may simply be played on any side of any trick on the board, ignoring your normal restriction to only play on your own side of a trick.

The most common and effective use of this card is to play it as the fourth and final card on any trick on the board, thus causing the trick to be immediately resolved. Naturally, you would want to play this on a trick that you are already set to win, but the player(s) who are able to fill in the final card on the trick are not completing it when you would like. Playing Force March this way usually means you’re sacrificing a card play just to quickly take a trick you need, which is great by itself, but if you’re able to play the card so it lands in a position that also helps you for another future trick, so much the better.

Again, for its special ability value alone, this is a card that is frequently in demand when it comes up in the Forum.

Level 4 Military Cards

Reminiscent of the Praetorian Guard’s historical habit of assassinating key players in the quest for the imperial throne, the Praetorian Guard special ability says, “You may play this card in a legal space containing an influence card. If you do, discard the previously-played influence card.” (“Legal space” is a shorthand in ability descriptions that means “a space in which you could legally play an influence card.” Recall that a player can only play an influence card in a space that is on your faction’s side of an Emperor card in play.) 

If someone has dumped a card you don’t like in one of your spaces, you can remove (“assassinate”) it. This will frequently allow you to get rid of a losing card and replace it with a winning card, but most often on a Red trick (since that’s where the Praetorian Guard is likely to be the highest trump.)

There are a couple of further restrictions to keep in mind, however: First, Praetorian Guard can not be played to remove a Barbarian card, so if that’s what’s in your way, you may need to look at Spiculum or the Blue cards (see Part 2 of this article, coming soon.) Second, since you’re replacing a card that was already there, you won’t be able to play Praetorian Guard to both remove a troublesome card and also finish the trick in the same play.

Spicula (plural of Spiculum) were the advanced-design javelins that came into use during the Crisis of the Third Century. They enhanced an army’s ability to take combatants out of combat before the battle was truly joined. And so, the Spiculum card reads, “You may discard another influence card or barbarian card already adjacent to the Emperor you are playing on. Any card covered by a removed barbarian remains.”

Spiculum gives you another way to remove a bothersome card from the board, but this time it’s another card on the same trick, and it can also affect Barbarian cards. Used to remove another influence card this could clear out a card you can’t beat on the same trick, or possibly a card that is preventing you from winning a neighboring trick. Used to remove a Barbarian card, note that any previously placed influence card under the Barbarian card is not removed, so be aware of what is being left behind. (You are always allowed to look at the card underneath.) This latter usage is most often desired for removing a Barbarian from a card that you are hoping will be able to win a neighboring trick for you.

As with Praetorian Guard, note that by the nature of Spiculum, you will not be able to both remove a card and win a trick with it in the same turn.

Coming Next

Part 2 of this series will cover the Blue Senate influence cards, which tend to focus more on ways to “peacefully” deal with barbarians and ways to draw new cards, plus a nasty surprise for Emperors who are not well-liked.

We hope these previews will entice you to check out The Barracks Emperors, currently on the P500 list!

---

Previous Article: The Barracks Emperors: Trick Taking, Weaponized