Writing about SPI's Empires of the Middle Ages (q.v.), editor Kula included a sidebar quote from Redmond Simonsen to the effect that 'a good number of people...would really enjoy the game if they'd just imagine that it's a science fictional or fantastic continent instead of Europe'. Well, in 1981, the year after Empires of the Middle Ages was released, SPI produced another game using the same system and the missing science fiction premise entitled The Sword and the Stars.The game system is derived from Empires of the Middle Ages but many subtle changes have been made in the original system.Ten scenarios (including the 'Galactic Cycle' campaign game) are supplied. The Sword and the Stars is considerably smaller than Empires. There are fewer counters (400), a smaller map (a total of 42 star systems on a 17 x 22' map as opposed to the considerably larger number on the 22 x 34' Empires map) and fewer players (5 instead of 6). - BoardGameGeek