#Military through the ages full
#Military through the ages pro

But, if you wait, you risk one of your opponents taking the card. At the start of each player's turn, a certain number of cards are removed from the front of the row therefore you can wait to purchase a card so that it will become cheaper. The cards that have been available the longest cost the least number of actions to put in your hand, whereas the new ones cost the most. Each turn, there are several cards that are available to the active player (I think it is 13, but I'm not sure). This is really the mechanic that the entire game hinges on. The third thing that I like about Through the Ages is how the 'card row' works. Whoever is able to best capitalize on all of these elements will be victorious. However, Through the Ages definitely still has the depth to it that people who enjoy empire building games crave - your civilization can go to war, make raids, have leaders, build wonders, and discover technologies.

#Military through the ages full

To an extent, that is true - you can play Through the Ages in closer to 2 hours (even in the full game) than 2 days. I often hear Through the Ages described as a 'civ-lite' game.

#Military through the ages pro

The next pro that I have for Through the Ages is that it is a 'light' civilization game yet still has depth. While most civilization based games can be very intimidating - between how the mechanics work, the setup time, and how the actual components are designed - Through the Ages is pretty easy to follow. Each turn, you follow the same steps (though with many options because of the cards) - the question boils down to who is able to most efficiently use their actions. My first pro about Through the Ages is how well the game 'flows.' Once you understand the basics, the game mechanics are not very complicated.

Finally, whoever has the most points wins. The game continues like this until one of the Ages is over (which one depends on if you're playing the basic, advanced, or full game) - at which time a few extra things score points. Once the active player has completed all of their actions (that they choose to perform), he cleans up his turn - generate victory points, science, and food, consume food, generate resources, see if you're corrupt, draw military cards.

The actions available can include taking card(s) from the card row, building or upgrading buildings, training military units, discovering new technology (assuming you have enough science), and working on a wonder (among other things). From here, the active player has the option of playing a Political Action (attack an opponent, setup a global event for later, etc), and then they are able to take their normal actions. Each turn starts with the oldest cards from the 'card row' (available developments, essentially) being cleared off, the cards being shifted down, and then the card row being refilled. Since you each represent a civilization, you each have a government which then determines how many civil and military actions you have each round. In Through the Ages, each player represents a civilization that is attempting to gain the most culture (victory) points.

A game that I made a point to play because of all of the great things I had heard was Through the Ages.