It doesn’t seem long since I first reviewed Ankh: Gods of Egypt from Eric Lang, marking the final chapter in his epic “Mythic Trilogy” with what I believe to be the best in the series. In fact, I liked it so much that I followed that review quite quickly with a review of the Pharaoh expansion and in keeping with the fact that I hardly want to play anything else, I’m now back with a review for the Ankh: Gods of Egypt: Guardians Set — a small expansion that increases variety quite a bit.
Simply put, Ankh: Gods of Egypt: Guardians Set does nothing besides add more Guardians. It’s the kind of expansion that you normally see associated with big Kickstarters like Ankh: Gods of Egypt, and then you quickly move on because you’ll never be able to get it, and if you do, it won’t be worth it. In this case, however, I’ll make an exception, simply because Ankh: Gods of Egypt: Guardians Set is pretty small and very simple to integrate into the base game with or without any other expansion.
There are five new Guardians in total including a single level one Guardian, then two each at levels two and three. The level one Guardian is Mafdet — a bi-pedal cat creature who doubles the number of followers you receive from a battle in which you played a flood card — and this effect doubles again if you have two Mafdet figures. This is a potent yet infrequent ability, since it only triggers when the flood card is played.
Pazuzu and Am-Heh feature at level two, with Pazuzu simply offering plus two (for a total of three) battle strength when adjacent to two mountains and Am-Heh pushing enemy figures one space after Am-Heh moves next to them. Pazuzu is extremely powerful when activated, but so situational that it can be challenging to trigger him often. Am-Heh can push enemy figures out of regions (or into regions contested by other players) which is more powerful than it sounds.
At level three are Ammit and Shezmu, each of whom are represented by some of the largest and most imposing miniatures in the game. Ammit is at least half crocodile and as a result, can occupy water spaces. This allows them to add their presence to adjacent land regions, and Ammit is also able to kill one enemy figure in an adjacent space at the end of their turn. Shezmu simply prevents enemy Guardians from being summoned into their region and indeed any enemy Guardian in his region is stripped of all abilities, and counts as zero strength.
Of these new Guardians, Shezmu is perhaps the most overtly powerful and definitely feels like his level three rank is warranted. The ability to completely nullify enemy Guardians as massive in some games and always a threat in any game, and the prevention of summoning plays a big role in defensive tactics too. Ammit is perhaps less outright powerful, but expanding the board to include water spaces is big, and the ability to kill an enemy figure on most turns (or keep them away from water) is big.
The other Guardians in Ankh: Gods of Egypt: Guardians Set are more situational and/or nuanced, and in general require slightly more experience to use than those in the base game, but the variety they bring to experienced players cannot be understated. Mafdet’s double or quadruple followers, for example, can change the game in a single turn and create a huge resource swing.
Not only do these new Guardians add interesting gameplay options, but they also look fantastic, and everything in Ankh: Gods of Egypt: Guardians Set lives up to the expectations we’ve come to place on CMON games. I’m not saying Ankh: Gods of Egypt: Guardians Set is an essential purchase for any owner of Ankh: Gods of Egypt, but I would say that it’s an inexpensive way to expand and beautify the game, especially if you already enjoy the core experience.
You can find The Ankh: Gods of Egypt: Guardians Set Expansion on Amazon.
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