Uprising: Curse of the Last Emperor Arch-Nemesis Expansion Review

boardgamequest.com:

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.

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.

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