The drums of war rumble as the armies of Bastet, Sobek, Oudjet and Anubis gather ‘round the metropolis. Commander Jaseph of the Horus army intently surveys the game board of Kemet. Jaseph knows the value of being last. The ability to see what others have done is an understated power.
The Bastet’s cats and Sobek’s crocs quickly claim the central temples. Anubis sends dogs to the Northen temple to sacrifice themselves to their master. Jaseph starts with a small level red pyramid and a medium level white pyramid. Using the library of the white pyramid, Jaseph acquires a holy decree of Crusade from Horus. Now anything his army slays in the name of the sky god will fill their ankhs of faith even further.
The other armies bolster their defenses while others acquire the ancient lore of trade and commerce. An ancient Scarab spirit fades into view over the Sobek’s second army as they march across the desert to the outland temples. Anubis calls upon the great Snake spirit to protect his hounds in the city. The Oadjet people hiss in disbelief!
The commander sees the dismayed Oadjet army as an opportunity to strike. He sends his army through the teleportation obelisk. In an eyeblink, the legion vanishes from his court – only to reappear in the Oadjet-infested temple. The Oadjet maneuver their troops into a counter-offensive formation. To maintain their foothold in this temple until nightfall, their strength must be unmatched. Jaseph smiles at his fortune for he has ordered his owls to hide in the crevices of the temple and assassinate as many of the intruding units as they can. The Oadjet defend their sanctum, but at cost. Jaspeh feels power resolve from each fallen foe.
Armies attack and defend. At nightfall, the temples of Horus shine brightest.
Jaseph quickly called upon his pyramid engineers to raise the Red pyramid to full capacity. Instantly his mind is filled with all the ancient war knowledge kept deep inside the Red pyramid. He utters an ancient prayer and the ground trembles and breaks. Out of the earth comes the legendary spirit of the Scorpion King. His remaining troops grow scales and crave blood.
At daybreak, Jasephs army decimates every opponent they find. They no longer care to win, their black owl masks become drenched in blood.
Anubis crosses the Nile with his Ancient Snake spirit and attacks the weakened Oadjet crawlers. Anubis feeds off the remnants of Horus’ rage and amasses a force of his own. Jaseph senses the dog’s presence and immediately deploys the Scorpion King to annihilate the uprising. The clawed monarch becomes incapacitated – locked in the ancient snake’s embrace! Jaseph’s army returns to him wounded and distraught.
Will the Anubis army win by deceit and subterfuge? Or will Jaseph wake up from his bloodlust and bring back balance in the name of Horus?
What you just read is actually an excerpt from a game of Kemet I played with my friends. Kemet is a wonderful war game that uses euro style mechanics to implement research, exploration and combat.
Dice here, are never rolled.
Battles are lost or won, not out of luck, but by precise planning and outmaneuvering of opponents. There’s some random elements introduced by Divine Intervention cards. However, they can still be mitigated and deduced if one is observant enough.
The components are just deviously divine. From the highly detailed creatures, unique units per army, up to the beautiful artwork in every technology card. The game board design is just brilliant. Regardless of the number of players each nation is within arm’s length to each other at all times. On the board, there is no text in sight – just hieroglyphics the Nile Kingdom would be proud of.
The game is like pitting grand master benders to fight in a cage. It is a beautifully designed slugfest, not for the faint of heart. Two player Kemet is how the creator of Chess would dream to design a theme into it. Add more players and you have a royal rumble of brain martial arts.
Kemet is designed by two brilliant minds: Jacques Bariot and Guillaume Montiage and published by Asmodee and Matagot. It has an upcoming expansion Kemet: Ta-Seti rumored to bring a forth a new type of pyramid dice into the mix.
That’s all for now, if you liked the story and would like to see more of that style of the articles leave a comment below. Have fun gaming!
Written by: Ronald Villaver
Edited by: Reg Tolentino