Back in March of this year, I had a chance to review Uprising: Curse of the Last Emperor. It was fellow reviewer Brian’s favorite game from 2023 (it was reprinted) and completely new to me. At his insistence, I gave it a try and immediately fell in love with it (and he’s been super smug about it ever since). You can read my full review on the core and Titans expansion here if you are curious about what’s been said so far.
This summer, I had a surprise delivery from Nemesis Games. Somewhere in the depths of their warehouse (or the Emperor’s archives), they found a copy of the out-of-print Arch-Nemesis expansion. While it’s still hard to find, the spies are hinting that there may be a reprint soon. But in either case, here is what the expansion adds to the game.
Expansion Overview:
Unlike the Titans of the First Age expansion, the Arch-Nemesis expansion is pretty straightforward. Included are 4 new factions, 4 new Hordes/Legions, and 4 Arch-Nemesis. The 4 factions are pretty much what you’d expect (more on that below), but the Arch-Nemeses adds a new element to the gameplay in the form of a really tough bad guy for the final round.
Game Experience with the Expansion:
As you might expect, the four expansion factions are all unique and have their own spin on the game. The Tua Than are ocean-dwellers with some strong warriors. The downside is that their Command costs them 2 Food instead of 1 to move.
The renegade Legion are master engineers and whenever they build a haven (which costs 3 plunder instead of 2), they get a free wall and tower upgrade. However, all of their resource production comes from the land. They have no inherent resource production and instead get 2x the production from the tiles of their havens.
The Hokqan were once the rulers of Azuhl but now are separate nomadic clans. They are excellent warriors though, as their faction only contains elite troops. However, they only have 3 havens and can’t be built next to each other.
Finally, the Ytuma are a herd legion that travels the Ices Wastes. Probably the most unique faction of the expansion, they are the only faction that can exceed the 5-troop-per-hex limit. They can have as many units as they want, and have a card to track their “herd size.” Every time they place a haven, their herd size increases by one (starts at 5 and goes to 11). If you want a faction that will have a massive amount of troops in one hex, this is it.
Moving on from the factions, what’s brand new here is the Arch-Nemeses. There are two each for the Hordes and Legion. At the end of every round, you draw an omen tile. It will trigger an event, such as giving every player a feat but also granting the legion a VP, or placing skeletons on the map near your haven. But each tile also has a number, and during the event phase of the last round, whichever Arch-Nemesis has the highest value on the tiles, will spawn. On the plus side, no legion or horde will appear that round.
These are really powerful bad guys that are here to ruin your day. For example, the Emperoress will spawn a legion, appear in the capitol, and the start destroying hexes. Or the Kraken will turn Curses into units and have them activate as skeletons. Defeating an Arch-Nemesis will grant 9 VPs, so we’ve got that going for us, which is nice.
In a nutshell, this expansions adds to the variety of the game. Both in 4 new factions to control, and also 4 optional Arch-Nemeses. The new bad guys definitely up the challenge for those looking for it. But for those who prefer a light experience, even just the 4 new factions are worth the price of admission.
Final Thoughts:
If you are a fan of Uprising: Curse of the Last Emperor (and you should because it’s awesome), then this is an obvious purchase (if you can find it). Even if you don’t have an interest fighting the Arch-Nemeses, it’s worth it for the 4 new factions and the extra hordes/legions. They are all fun to play and somewhat change up how you will approach the game.
If you are trying to decide between this expansion and the Titans of the First Age one, I’d lean more towards Titans of the First Age. It only provides 2 new factions, but I really like the new mercenaries and the Aether/druid mechanic. Both will be staying in my collection, but I somewhat prefer the other just for what it adds to the game.
Hits:
• 4 new factions to control
• Optional Arch-Nemeses to up the challenge
• Easy to integrate with the core game
Misses:
• Still no big box to hold everything 😭
Source: Board Game Quest
