Game Overview

Game Name: Uprising: Curse of the Last Emperor
Publication Year: 2021
Designers: C. Cremin, P. Mazur, and D. Sommer
Artists: Igor Desic, Bartek Fedyczak, and Dirk Sommer
Publisher: Nemesis.Games
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game (Cooperative)

This is best decribed as a cooperative 4X game about exploring, expanding, exploiting, and exterminating. There are asymmetric factions and a rich world filled with lore. Amidst the icy lands are 2 enemy factions who may even fight one another. Such a grand scale… And it shows!

Awesome Standees

The decision to go with acrylic standees was a little unusual, yet I was very impressed when I saw them all.

As someone who would love to get into painting miniatures, I’m used to the sea of grey and enormous boxes filled with units of every sort. It’s the expectation.

Cardboard standees have always stood out for me, but they’re not common and can sometimes get damaged.

Each acryclic standee is a bit thicker than a cardboard counterpart, but so much sturdier! The artwork also has a chance to really shine and bring the units to life.

Piling Up the Dice

At its core lies dice-based combat and tests, which aren’t always for everyone. Note that most dice feature 1 or more blank faces, which can lead to some very bad luck.

While I was leery of this reliance on luck, it became apparent that there were many ways to mitigate bad rolls.

Better units had access to dice that hit more often, while feats or items might help turn the tide of battle.

Plus, such colorful dice! All with clear symbols that only encompassed skulls, shields, and bolts. Straightforward and not completely focused on getting lucky rolls.

The First Faction

Solo allows for the control of 2-4 factions. After a few minutes of thinking, I decided on the Krowh. Then I had to make a decision on 1 of 2 leaders. Dugpa it was!

Every faction has a unique set of units and different production based on its havens out on the map. Elite units cost more, but have access to better dice. Not surprising!

Leaders have their own feat decks that provide new abilities and bonuses, including starting cards.

The player boards are also excellent with every available action and quick reminders. Really useful information!

Another New Leader

My other faction was the Druwhn, led by Fhayanor. Note, too, how leaders have a set of stats that may be used outside of combat… Most often to complete quests.

These units were entirely different, mainly in their costs. However, there was an elite archer option here!

At the very start, there are some clear differences in each faction. Being completely new to the system, though, I mainly made my choices based on the artwork. Ha ha!

Could I have played with more factions? My play area was already pretty tight, and this pair seemed like enough.

Spiraling Into the Rules

I was impressed with the quality of everything as I unpacked it. Included storage for all components?! Wow!

But I can never express enough how important the rulebook is for every game, especially heavier ones.

The learning experience must at least be satisfactory. Here, the rulebook is about 60 pages long. But hold on! It includes dozens of illustrated examples and large text.

I invested at least an hour into learning everything, not sure what to expect. Verdict: One of my favorite rulebooks! Clear examples, an index, and an excellent flow.

Following the Track

Note that although I usually hide Stealthy Elephants in my posts, this game had them all over the place! Although I’m not sure what to make of elephants as food tokens…

Moving on, though! This gigantic play area was actually so much better because it included so many reminders.

See this double elephant? It’s a simple cardboard token that moves down the chapter track. Yet in this way, there is no way to forget something in the sequence. This is it!

Only 4 chapters make up a play, yet each one follows the same sequence and is all about strategizing.

To the First Event

At last, I was ready to begin! The chapter track helped so much to avoid having to constantly look up the steps.

Then, the first event came out to get things rolling in the first chapter. Exiles provided a chance to pick up items.

Naturally, danger showed up! Hordes represent the agents of Chaos, an antagonist. On the other hand, Legions work for the Empire… And they’re most certainly not allied!

Dugpa heard the call of the Siren and was transported far from her starting haven. Interesting! And an example of my only big complaint: “Heros”instead of heroes.

Skeleton Battle 

If I was going to keep track of every single action, we might be here for weeks! Suffice to say that Dugpa amassed a small army in her starting haven.

They were sent out into the Howling White to deal with some terrible skeletons. Never mind the resemblance!

Into battle with dice! It was a bit of a risk, but each defeated skeleton was worth 1 victory point. The goal was for every faction to earn more than Chaos and the Empire.

More skeletons spawned, yet this small army prevailed! Note, too, that the maximum was only 5 units per hex.

Fhayanor’s Failure

To the north, Fhayanor started to explore in order to build more havens for the survivors. With just a pair of skeletons in his way, his small group looked ready.

Unfortunately, I rolled the worst possible outcome! Every Druwhn unit was killed, while the skeletons remained.

Of course, the leader remained in the background, still alive but a little lost as to how to proceed. This was a pretty catastrophic outcome early on. All units. Gone.

Yet I still wanted this to be a learning game, so onward I went! Maybe Dugpa could assist from afar, too.

Aid from the Scouts

As expected, simply building havens on explored hexes and battling enemies wasn’t the only path to victory points. Quests offered rewards… If they could be solved!

The leader stats actually aren’t used in combat, but are used almost solely as skill tests to complete quests.

Depending on which type or types of successes are achieved, various rewards might be earned. Lots of fun!

I decided to take the risk with Dugpa since this quest only required 1+ requirements. Others might call for 2+ sorts of successes, which can be very difficult early on.

Almost None Shall Pass

The quest reward offered the chance for Fhayanor to move in and prepare to rebuild. Interestingly, this new area provided a lot more protection than I expected.

All of the jagged edges represent impassable terrain. The only ones who may traverse these edges are heroes. So those skeletons, if they moved, couldn’t get to the mines.

I also had the chance to rotate this in any direction, but decided to keep an open path to the capital.

With another haven on the map, Fhayanor would produce more resources and be able to build up his forces again.

Inspiring Survivors

Despite the early loss to the skeletons, the Druwhn were far from done! In a rather thematic moment, the survivors from the mines joined in the fight. Or… Uprising?! Ha!

Fhayanor was quickly turning into the leader who could rise from failure. I was also getting a better sense of the sorts of dice rolls I was willing to take chances on.

Dugpa wasn’t wasting her actions, though! Remember that she helped Fhayanor and was also preparing herself.

One quick thing to note is that even the player factions aren’t exactly allies, and can never occupy the same hex.

The End of Chapter 1

After all of my actions were taken and the rest of the steps were taken, I wasn’t in terrible shape. Dugpa led the way with Chaos just behind her, and Fhayanor just beyond.

That failed battle definitely didn’t help, yet it was clear no one was out of it yet. Not even the Empire way back there…

It’s a bit early to tell, but it looks like Chaos often rushes out to do early damage and risks burning itself out if it can’t get a foothold with its first few Hordes.

The Empire was simply biding its time, ready to strike when the forces looked to actually be a threat. Not yet!

Examining the Map

Dugpa was still very far from her home haven, yet the seatower provided her with a way to travel quickly.

As both Hordes moved in from the icy wastes, this would have looked like the inevitable end of Fhayanor’s newest haven in short order. Time to run away! But wait…

That impassable terrain stopped Chaos in its tracks. If I had done my planning carefully enough, it looked like they would be headed for the capital to battle the Empire!

More time to build up the forces and find a way to fight, although Chaos was definitely showing its strength.

Session Overview

Play Number: 1
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game (Cooperative)
Play Details: Chapter 1 at the Easy Difficulty Level
Outcome: Incomplete

What an excellent experience with just 1 of 4 chapters! I needed a little break after spending about an hour getting through all the steps, yet I loved it all. At the end, I could even take a look at the player boards to remember how I used every action. And then… I kept thinking about the game! It was so enjoyable with a complex strategic base that felt so easy to navigate with the rulebook. So good!

Affordability

Price & Value

7

Functionality

Challenges & Mechanics

10

Originality

Design & Theme

10

Quality

Components & Rules

10