Catan Histories: Struggle for Rome Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Board
• Setting Up the Game
• Round Overview
• Phase 1: Roll for Resources
  • Rolling a "7"
• Phase 2: Trading and Building
  • Trading
  • Building
  • Playing Development Cards
• Phase 3: Horseman Tribe Actions
• Phase 4: Warrior Tribe Actions
• Tribe Actions
  • 1. Wandering Tribes
    • Movement Rules
    • Plundering
    • Conquering Your First Roman City and Founding a Kingdom
  • 2. Kingdom Expansion – Conquering More Cities
• Special Victory Point Cards
• The Development Cards
• Game End
• Some Special Cases
• Credits

Components

• 1 game board
• 1 set of miniature plastic figures per player, each consisting of: 10 supply wagons, 8 warriors, 8 horsemen
• 1 Roman Legionnaire
• 2 dice
• 40 plunder counters in 5 colors
• 40 gold coins in denominations of 1 and 5 (25 small, 15 large)
• 4 round overview cards
• 4 white markers with crosses
• 90 cards including: 20 pasture cards (10 horses & 10 cattle), 14 ore cards, 14 grain cards, 30 development cards, and 12 special victory point cards

Game Board

The board shows the provinces and important Roman cities of the Western Roman Empire. There are a total of 5 provinces: Germania, Gallia, Hispania, Italia Superus and Italia Inferus. Cities are fortified with 2, 3, 4 or 5 (in the case of Rome) towers. All cities in a province are the same color.

Setting Up the Game

• Choose a color and take all the figures of that color.

• Each player has 2 starting crossroads in the Northeast corner of the board that matches his color. Place 1 horseman figure on one of your starting crossroads, and 1 warrior figure on the other.

• You have 2 tribe boxes on the corner of the board: 1 box for the horseman tribe and 1 for the warrior tribe.

• Place 1 horseman and 1 supply wagon in your horseman tribe box and 1 warrior and 1 supply wagon in your warrior tribe box (see the illustration at right). Place your remaining pieces in front of you as a reserve.

  Important: If you are playing with 3 players, place 1 supply wagon of the unused color on each city on the board marked "III." These are neutral cities, and cannot be attacked in a 3-player game.

• Turn the plunder counters face-down and shuffle them. Place 1 plunder counter of the matching color on each city on the board. In a 3-player game, set 10 plunder counters aside, for they are not used in the game.

• Place the legionnaire on any forest space in Hispania.

• Separate the resource cards (grey backs), the special victory point cards (white backs), and the development cards (black backs).

  • Place the grain and ore cards face-up next to the game board.
  • Shuffle the pasture cards (cattle and horses) together and place them face-down beside the other 2 resource card piles.
  • Shuffle the development cards and place them face-down beside the board.
  • There are 3 types of special victory point cards. Sort them by type and place them face-up on the 3 matching spaces on the board.

• Give each player a round overview card.

• Place the gold coins near the board. Give each player a 5 value gold coin.

• Give each player 1 grain card, and 1 random pasture card from the face-down pile.

• Place the 4 white markers in the middle of the wind rose.

• Each player rolls the dice. The highest roller is the First Player for the first round of play!

Round Overview

The game consists of multiple rounds played in succession. Each round is made up of 4 phases:

• Phase 1: Roll for Resources
• Phase 2: Trading and Building
• Phase 3: Horseman Tribe Actions
• Phase 4: Warrior Tribe Actions

When a round ends, the current First Player passes the dice to the next player on his left. This player is the First Player for the next round.

Phase 1: Roll for Resources

The First Player rolls the dice until he has rolled 4 different numbers. Each time a number is rolled, place one of the white cross markers on the matching space of the Wind Rose. If a covered number is rolled again, simply ignore that roll and re-roll until an uncovered number is rolled.

After each roll (and any re-rolls required), each player receives 1 resource for each hex with a matching number that is adjacent to one or more of his tribe figures (i.e., standing on one of the adjacent crossroads and/or cities). When a "7" is rolled, move the legionnaire instead (see below).

There are 4 different types of hexes: fields, mountains, pasture and forest. Fields produce grain, while mountains produce ore. Pastures produce 2 types of resources: cattle and horses. Take grain and ore cards from their respective piles. Draw pasture cards from the face-down pile. Forests do not produce any resources.

Note: You will never receive more than 1 resource per hex, regardless of the number of tribe figures you have adjacent to that hex.

Rolling a "7"

If you roll a "7," move the legionnaire to any hex of your choice within the Roman Empire and draw a card at random from the hand of one of the players who has at least one figure adjacent to that hex. If that player has no resources, you instead take 2 of his gold coins.

You may not move the legionnaire to any hex outside the Roman Empire (i.e., east of the Limes). The hex in which the legionnaire is standing does not produce any resources, even when the number is rolled.

Important: Unlike "The Settlers of Catan," a player with more than 7 resources in hand does not need to discard any of them when a "7" is rolled!

Phase 2: Trading and Building

Each player may now trade and build. The First Player trades and builds first, with the other players following in clockwise order.

Trading

You may trade resources and/or gold coins with the other players. Any exchange both players agree to is allowed, as long as it only involves an exchange of resources and/or gold coins.

You may also trade with the "bank" by trading in 3 identical resources for either 1 ore, 1 grain, or 1 pasture card (drawn at random from the stack). You may not trade gold coins to the bank for resources. All trades must include the currently active player.

Building

You may build:

• Horsemen and Warriors: Pay 1 ore and 1 horse to build 1 horseman and 1 warrior. Take the 2 figures from your reserve and add them to the respective tribal boxes. You may not choose to build 2 warriors or 2 horsemen instead.
• Supply Wagon: Pay 1 horse, 1 grain, and 1 cattle to build 1 supply wagon. Take a wagon from your reserve and add it to either your horseman or warrior tribe box.
• Development Card: Pay 1 cattle and 1 gold to buy a development card. Draw the top card from the deck and place it face-down in front of you.

Spent grain and ore cards are returned to their respective decks. Place spent horse and cattle cards onto a pasture discard pile. If the face-down stack of pasture cards is exhausted, shuffle the discard pile and form a new draw pile.

Important: You can spend gold coins instead of 1 resource card. Once each round, you may spend 3 gold coins instead of 1 resource card when making any purchase.

Playing Development Cards

You may play 1 development card during this phase. You may play a development card during the same round you purchase it.

Phase 3: Horseman Tribe Actions

During this phase, you may carry out actions with your horseman tribe. You may also play 1 development card. The First Player takes horseman tribe actions first, followed by the other players in clockwise order.

Note: If you choose not to—or cannot—take any actions with your horseman tribe (i.e., neither move, nor play a development card, nor plunder, nor conquer), you may instead take 2 gold coins or 1 resource of your choice (ore, grain, or pasture card draw).

Phase 4: Warrior Tribe Actions

During this phase, you may carry out actions with your warrior tribe. You may also play 1 development card. The First Player takes warrior tribe actions first, followed by the other players in clockwise order.

Note: If you choose not to—or cannot—take any actions with your warrior tribe (i.e., neither move, nor play a development card, nor plunder, nor conquer), you may instead take 2 gold coins or 1 resource of your choice (ore, grain, or pasture card draw).

Tribe Actions

At the start of the game, the tribes are wandering. Each tribe moves along the roads between hexes and may, either after finishing its movement or without any prior movement, plunder an adjacent Roman city.

Once one of your tribes has plundered cities in at least 3 different Roman provinces, you may use that tribe (on a subsequent round) to conquer a Roman city, thereby founding a kingdom. Once you have used one of your tribes to found a kingdom, its wandering is over. You may now expand that tribe's kingdom by using it to conquer adjacent Roman cities.

1. Wandering Tribes

Movement Rules

You have the option of either moving your tribe or leaving it at its current crossroads.

Moving tribes must observe these rules:

• Choose an unoccupied crossroads (with no city and no tribe) that you wish to move the tribe to.
• The first arrow your tribe crosses is free, but you must pay traveling costs for each additional arrow your tribe crosses to reach its destination. Crossing a land arrow costs either 1 grain card or 3 gold coins. Crossing a sea arrow (with a ship) costs 1 gold coin.
• You may move your tribe as far as you wish, as long as you can pay the travel costs. You may use any combination of land and sea paths during the same journey. Cities and tribes along the route do not obstruct travel.
• Once you have paid the travel costs, move your tribe to the destination crossroads.
• If your tribe's journey ends on a crossroads adjacent to a Roman city, the tribe can immediately plunder or conquer that city (provided that the tribe meets the requirements—see below). The tribe's actions are complete after plundering or conquering a city.

Example: The red player is moving his warrior tribe. There are several routes that will reach the target crossroads (marked with an X) in one round. If he chooses the sea route (white circles), the journey will cost 1 gold coin (the first arrow is free). If he has no coins, he would have to take the more expensive land route. Each possible land route crosses 3 arrows (red circles). The first is free, while the other two will each cost either 1 grain or 3 gold coins.

Plundering

If your tribe is standing on a crossroads directly adjacent to a Roman city, it may plunder the city (even if that tribe hasn't moved this round), provided that:

• The city has a plunder marker, and
• The number of warriors or horsemen in the tribe's box is at least equal to the city's defense value. A city's defense value is equal to the number of towers it has.

If your tribe plunders a city, you take the plunder marker and turn it over:

• If the plunder marker shows a red area with a horseman and warrior, you must remove either 1 warrior or 1 horseman from the plundering tribe's box and return it to your supply.
• If the plunder marker shows the back of a resource card, you draw 1 card from the pasture card pile.
• If it shows the back of a development card, you draw a development card.
• If it shows 2 gold coins, you receive 2 gold coins.
• Additionally, you always receive 1 gold coin for each supply wagon in that tribe's box.
• Finally, place the plunder marker onto the plundering tribe's box.

Because the tribes are wanderers, each tribe may only collect up to 2 plunder markers of the same color. Place plunder markers of the same color on top of each other.

Note: When plundering, you do not have to pay for any movement arrow located between your tribe and the city.

Example: The red player has moved her horseman tribe (A) next to a Roman city. Since there are 2 horsemen on that tribe's box, and the city has only 2 towers, the prerequisites for plundering are satisfied. She turns over the plunder marker (B). She receives as her reward 1 development card and 1 gold coin per supply wagon—a total of 2 coins (for she has 2 supply wagons). Additionally, she must remove 1 horseman and return it to her supply (C). Finally, she places the plunder marker onto the tribe's box (D).

Conquering Your First Roman City and Founding a Kingdom

If your tribe is standing on a crossroads directly adjacent to a Roman city, you may conquer the city (even if that tribe hasn't moved this round), provided that:

• There are at least 3 different colors of plunder counters in that tribe's box, and
• The number of warriors or horsemen on the tribe's box is at least equal to the city's defense value (number of towers that the city has).

If these prerequisites are met:

• Move the tribe's figure from the adjacent crossroads onto the city (no payment is required for any arrow between the crossroads and the city).
• Take 1 supply wagon from the tribe's box (not your reserve) and place it next to the figure on the conquered city.

You cannot plunder a city when you conquer it—if the city still has a plunder marker, that marker is returned to the box.

Each Roman city you conquer is worth 1 victory point!

Example: The red player uses his horseman tribe to conquer his first city and found a kingdom. He moves the horseman from the adjacent crossroads, as well as 1 supply wagon from the tribe's box onto the city.

Note: Tribe figures representing wandering tribes always stand on crossroads outside of cities. Tribe figures belonging to kingdoms always stand on cities.

When a tribe has founded a kingdom, you can no longer use that tribe to wander or plunder other cities. You can only use the cities that tribe has conquered as a base to conquer neighboring Roman cities. Your other tribe may continue to wander until it also conquers a Roman city and founds a kingdom, i.e., your second kingdom.

2. Kingdom Expansion – Conquering More Cities

Once a tribe has founded a kingdom by conquering its first Roman city, it can continue to conquer additional cities in the area. Of course, after conquering a city, the tribe's round ends, i.e., each kingdom can only grow by one city per round.

The following rules govern kingdom expansion:

• A tribe can only conquer a city that is no more than one land or sea arrow away from a city that has already been conquered by that tribe.
• The tribe must have at least 1 supply wagon in the tribe's box, since you will have to place 1 supply wagon on each city that you conquer.
• The tribe must have at least as many warriors or horsemen present in the conquering tribe's box as the number of towers the Roman city has.

If these requirements are met, the tribe conquers the city. Take 1 warrior or horseman and 1 supply wagon from the tribe's box and place the pieces on the conquered city.

Important: You cannot conquer a city that has been conquered by another player (or another tribe)!

Example: See illustration at the right. The red player has already conquered 2 Roman cities. She can now conquer any of the cities circled in red, since these are no more than one arrow away from an already-conquered city and do not have more towers than the number of horsemen in the tribe. The cities with red crosses cannot be conquered for they are out of range. The city with the black cross, while in range, cannot be conquered since it has 4 towers. She chooses to conquer the southern city and places 1 horseman and 1 supply wagon from the tribe's box onto the city.

Special Victory Point Cards

• Diplomacy (2 victory points): The first player to play 3 Diplomacy cards receives this card. If another player plays more Diplomacy cards than you do, you must give him this card (and the 2 points!).
• Scourge of Rome (2 victory points): If one of your tribes collects at least 1 plunder marker of all 5 colors, take a "Scourge of Rome" card. If your other tribe also collects plunder markers of all 5 colors, take a second "Scourge of Rome" card.
• Heir to Rome (2 victory points): If both of your tribes conquer at least 4 Roman cities each, you are rewarded with this card. Earning this card often means that you will win the game, for it will give you a total of 10 victory points.

The Development Cards

Except for Phase 1, you may play up to 1 development card during each phase of each round. So, you could play up to 3 development cards in a single round. Your game summary shows a development card icon in each of those phases as a reminder that you can play a card during that phase. If the stack of development cards is exhausted, you may not purchase any additional development cards.

Exception: You may play any number of "Culture" cards (i.e., victory point cards) at the end of the game. Such cards are not subject to the above limitations.

Game End

As soon as any player reaches 10 victory points, he must announce that fact. Play the current round through to the end normally. After the round ends, the game is over. If you have the most victory points at this time, you are the winner! If two or more players are tied for the most points, the tied player with the most gold is the winner. If players are still tied, they share the victory!

Some Special Cases

Question: What happens if, while rolling for resources, there aren't enough cards of a resource for all players?

Answer: This situation is very unlikely. Should it happen, however, each player must discard half of his resources of this type (odd numbers are rounded down). Then, each player receives the resources he produced.

Question: What if there are no more warriors or horsemen in your supply? What happens if I've paid 1 ore and 1 horse but can only add a warrior, since there aren't any horsemen left in my supply?

Answer: In that case only the warrior is placed.

Question: What do the legion standards on 10 of the cities mean?

Answer: The cities marked with legion standards have at least 4 towers, meaning that they are difficult to plunder or conquer. Additionally, there is a variant for the Struggle for Rome that can be found on the internet at www.klausteuber.com in which the legion standards play a key role.

Question: Can you plunder and conquer with the same tribe on the same round? If my tribe plunders a city and now has 3 different colors of plunder markers, may that tribe conquer the city on the same round?

Answer: No. A tribe may only plunder or conquer each round.

Question: Why are there only 7 "Scourge of Rome" cards?

Answer: It is very unlikely that all four players will plunder 5 Roman cities of different colors with both of their tribes. Therefore, we provided one fewer of these cards. In the unlikely event that all 4 players do plunder so many cities, just remember that the last player has the 2 extra victory points.

Credits

Design: Klaus Teuber (www.klausteuber.com) Artwork: Tanja Donner Graphic Design: Michaela Schelk, Fine Tuning (www.fine-tuning.de) Development: TM-Spiele GmbH English Production: Pete Fenlon, Coleman Charlton English Translation: Patrick Korner English Language Development: Robert T. Carty, Jr., Coleman Charlton, Pete Fenlon, Nick Johnson, Will Niebling, William Niebling, Guido Teuber, and Alex Yeager. Playtesters: Klaus Teuber, Benny Teuber, Claudia Teuber, Guido Teuber, Arnd Beenen, Gero Zahn, Nicholas Johnson, Jesse Henning, Uwe Eickert, Tom McGreevy.

Catan Histories is a series of games set in real-world historical settings, using variations of the award-winning Catan game system. The Struggle for Rome is the second title in the series. The first game in the series is entitled The Settlers of the Stone Age.

Copyright © 2006 Catan GmbH and Mayfair Games, Inc. Published under license from Catan GmbH (www.catan.com). Published in cooperation with Kosmos Verlag (www.kosmos.de). Catan, Catan Histories, and the Struggle for Rome and all other product titles and marks listed herein are trademarks of Catan GmbH. All rights reserved.

Note: Two other games with the theme "Fall of Rome" have been published by Verlag Kuhlmann Geschichtsspiele: "Kampf um Rom – Das Brettspiel" with two games, "Germanica" by Hartmut Witt and "Hunnen, Römer und Germanen" by Gerhard H. Kuhlmann (out of print, new edition in preparation) as well as "Kampf um Rom – Das Kartenspiel" by Gerhard H. Kuhlmann (available). More information on those games may be found at www.geschichtsspiele.de. The use of the title "Kampf um Rom" for this game is used with permission of Kuhlmann Geschichtsspiele Verlag.