His vast kingdom stretches from Macedonia to the Indus Valley. His son has just been born. Assuming the regency until he comes of age, the Diadochi, Alexander's former generals, share the management of the empire. But personal ambitions will soon take precedence over the good of the kingdom and the ruling family...
Successors is a 4-player wargame that recounts the Diadochi's struggle for domination of Alexander's former empire.
Each player controls a faction of two Diadochi, randomly distributed. This distribution determines the players' starting positions.

There are several ways to win. The most basic is to establish supremacy over your opponents by conquering the most territory. But victory can also be achieved by placing the right heir on the throne or by presenting oneself as Alexander's worthy successor thanks to the support of the royal family.

The components: The map represents the Hellenistic world in the 3rd century BC, from Macedonia to Persia. It is divided into about twenty provinces, each worth a number of victory points ranging from 6 for wealthy Egypt to 1 for Nabataea. Each province contains city spaces, connected by roads.
There are cardboard counters for troops and control markers. The Diadochi are mounted on bases.

Finally, there is a deck of "Tyche" cards (fortune in Greek) which allow players to simulate the various historical events of the period.
Overall, it feels more like a board game than a wargame.

The Mechanics
Successors is part of the series of card-driven wargames initiated by We The People and Hannibal, also from the same publisher. It retains only the general principles of those games. It is the first game in the series to be multiplayer (4 players), adding a dose of diplomacy to the tactics and strategy.
The game is played over 5 rounds, each representing 2 years.
A round begins by receiving reinforcements, determining the first player, and the "usurper" (the player with the most victory points).
Players receive 5 cards and then proceed to the strategy phase.

This phase is the heart of the game.
It is divided into 5 rounds. In each round, players take turns performing the following phases:
* Surrender: the player takes political control of the cities they occupy militarily.
* Tyche: the player plays a card. There are two ways to play a card:
* either as an event: you perform the action indicated on the card
* or as an operation: each card has a number from 1 to 4 that can be used to place political control markers on cities
* Movement and combat: this is basic, the player moves their generals and has them fight. Combat is resolved with dice based on the troops in each camp. Elephants have a random combat strength (1d6 -2) to simulate the unpredictability of these animals.
* Forage: you check if a city can supply the troops it contains.

Political control, military occupation, and legitimacy
The game distinguishes between military occupation and political control of cities: simply taking a city by force is not enough to gain the support of the population. This is similar to the principles in Hannibal.

In Successors, there is an additional nuance: legitimacy. It is acquired primarily by allying oneself with members of the royal family, by marrying Alexander's sisters, or by burying Alexander's body in Pella, Macedonia. It serves both to secure victory and to gain the support of the former royal army. The problem is that when a player attacks another, they lose some of their legitimacy, except when that other player is the usurper (the player with the most victory points).
Players must learn to juggle between: conquering territories to gain victory points at the risk of losing legitimacy, or winning through legitimacy (knowing that this is very difficult).
Prepare for battle. Let the war begin!

Second-hand game - very good condition - English version.