History of the Roman Empire Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• 1. Components
• 2. Starting the Game
  • 2.1 Lack of Players
• 3. How to Win
• 4. Course of Play
  • 4.1 Step-by-Step Sequence of Play
• 5. Draw Phase
  • 5.1 Draw Order
  • 5.2 The Barbarians Chart
  • 5.3 The Emperors Chart
  • 5.4 The Draw
• 6. Order of Play
• 7. Events
  • 7.1 Time Frame
  • 7.2 Kingdoms and Tribes
  • 7.3 Vacant Provinces
• 8. Building
  • 8.1 Building Barbarians
  • 8.2 Building Romans
    • 8.2.1 Recruiting Legions
    • 8.2.2 Bribe Rebel Legions
    • 8.2.3 Fort or Fortress Construction
    • 8.2.4 Rebuild Looted Cities
• 9. Placement and Expansion
  • 9.1 Stacking
  • 9.2 Placing the First Barbarian
    • 9.2.1 Movable Barbarians
    • 9.2.2 Barbarian Expansion
  • 9.3 Placing the First Roman
    • 9.3.1 Roman Faction Expansion
    • 9.3.2 Roman Naval Movement
    • 9.3.3 Building Cities
• 10. Combat
  • 10.1 Retreat from Combat
  • 10.2 Difficult Terrain
  • 10.3 Straits
  • 10.4 Forts & Fortresses
  • 10.5 Automatic Victory
• 11. Rebellion and Revolt
• 12. Conquest and Looting
• 13. End of a Roman Faction
• 14. Kingdoms and Tribes
• 15. How to Win
  • 15.1 Barbarian Victory Points
  • 15.2 Roman Faction Victory Points
  • 15.3 Diocese Victory Points
• 16. Bribe Barbarians
• Glossary
• Quick Reference
  • Draw Order (5.1)
  • First Turn Romans (8.2)
  • Building Cities (9.3.3)
  • Sequence of Play
  • Roman Build Costs (8.2)
  • Fort/Fortress Conquest (10.4)
  • Looting (12)
  • Combat (10)
  • Emperor's Bonuses (5.3)
  • Barbarian Victory Points (15.1)
  • Roman Victory Points (15.2)

1. Components

• This rules folder (with tables & summaries on the back).
• One map

The map shows the entire Mediterranean area and parts of Asia and Europe. The land on the map is divided into nine Dioceses – large areas all in their own separate colours. The Dioceses are in turn divided into Provinces, some of which contain City Sites – good places to build a city. The bridge icons connecting some Provinces show where straits may be crossed. The wooded or mountainous borders show "Difficult Terrain" to cross.

On the map you can also find:

• A Victory Point Track used to keep track of Victory Points.
• A Sequence of Play outline.
• The Diocese Victory Point Table
• A key to the map features.

Latin Note: Latin geographical names are a mess and get messier when one tries to be consistent with what names to use in a game that covers 500 years of history. Worse still, some of these places never had Latin names to start with during the classical era. Furthermore, some of the Emperors changed names, titles and nicknames during their careers. For instance, Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus is today known as "Caligula". We have tried to use the name employed when the guy in question actually ruled. (Also note that Magnus Maximus never actually ruled. He was more of an "usurper" than an "emperor".)

• One and a half sheets of counters with:
  • Five Barbarian Tokens (dagger icons) and six Emperor Tokens (wreath icons).
  • Four Roman Faction counter sets, each with ten Legions (Roman Armies), two "Kingdom Control" markers, six "Past Barbarian Control" markers, one "VP Rome" and one "VP Barbarian" marker.
  • Eighty-four Barbarian Army counters belonging to the various Barbarian Peoples. All these counters have coloured edges.
  • Forty-six Army counters belonging to various Kingdoms and Tribes. These counters have no colored edges.
  • Various City counters, Rebel Army counters, Fortress and Fort counters. The City Counters have the "looted city" icon printed on their backs.
• 5 Six-sided dice
• 55 Event Cards
• One Emperors Chart
• One Barbarians Chart

Important: throughout the game the terms 'Army/Armies' and 'Legion/Legions' will be used. The rules for these units are all the same, except where 'Legion/Legions' is specifically used. In that case the rule is only applicable to a Roman Faction Legion.

2. Starting the Game

I - Find four players.

II - Hand out one set of twenty Roman Faction counters to each player.

III - Each player places his "VP Rome" and "VP Barb." markers in the "0" space of the Victory Point Track.

IV - Sort the 55 Event Cards by color (nine piles). Shuffle each pile and place it face down. Each player then draws one card from each pile to form his hand of nine Event Cards (one card of each color). The remaining Event Cards are not used in the game.

V - Place the Barbarians and Emperors Charts next to the map along with the Barbarian and Emperor Tokens which can be put in an opaque cup or face down on the table.

2.1 Lack of Players

With only two players, each player takes two pairs of Roman Factions and their associated Barbarians. Otherwise the game remains the same. Hence a player may pass a Barbarian People or Emperor to himself in the Draw Phase by giving it to his "other" Faction. Faction scores, Strength tallies, and Event Cards should be kept separate for each pair of Factions. A player wins by having the highest total score for his Factions and Peoples.

With only three players, have the players play one Roman Faction each, but with nine starting Legions.

3. How to Win

At the end of a player's Phase (he has two during a normal Game Turn), the player earns Victory Points for controlling Provinces and Dioceses as well as for looting Cities. At the end of the seventh Game Turn, the players each total their Roman Faction and Barbarian Victory Points to determine the winner.

Are you still with us? In this game no one will play just the Romans and no one just the Barbarians. Instead, each Turn you will play a part of the Roman Empire as well as a several Barbarian Peoples and do your best to collect Victory Points by making life difficult for the other players' Romans and Barbarians.

4. Course of Play

Each Game Turn starts out with the players drawing tokens to see which Emperor and what Barbarian People their Faction will control this Game Turn. In the order given by the draw, the players then carry out the operations of their Roman Factions and Barbarian Peoples. This means that each player carries out two Phases during a normal Game Turn, one Roman Faction Phase and one Barbarian People Phase.

4.1 Step-by-Step Sequence of Play

DRAW PHASE

The players draw new Barbarians and Emperors. This determines the order of play.

PLAYER PHASE

A player will carry out two of these Phases each Game Turn, one for his Roman Faction and one for his current Barbarian People.

I - Play Event Cards

II - Build (new Armies and such)

III - Placement (place new troops and fight battles)

IV - Build Cities (Roman only)

V - Count Victory Points

5. Draw Phase

5.1 Draw Order

At the start of Game Turn one the players each roll a die to determine the draw order. On subsequent Game Turns, players will draw in the order of their current Victory Point total. The player with the lowest combined (Roman Faction and Barbarian People) Victory Points total draws first. If two players have the same Victory Points score, the player that drew the lowest numbered Barbarian Token in the previous Game Turn draws first.

5.2 The Barbarians Chart

The Barbarians Chart lists 35 Barbarian Peoples, five of them for each of the seven Game Turns. Every box lists the Barbarian Peoples' Starting Province and its strength (in counters).

5.3 The Emperors Chart

The Emperors Chart lists 42 Roman Emperors, six of them for each of the seven Game Turns. Next to (most) Emperor's names are bonuses that the Roman Faction run by that Emperor will enjoy for that Game Turn. The bonuses are explained on the back of this book.

5.4 The Draw

The first player draws one Barbarian Token and looks at it without showing it to the other players. The number on the Token corresponds with a People on the Barbarians Chart (e.g. on Game Turn three Token II means "Alani"). The player now decides to either keep the Token or pass it on to another player who has not yet received a Token this Game Turn. This process continues until each player has drawn a Barbarian Token and either kept it or passed it on. A player that has been given a Token by another player before he drew one himself must of course pass on the Token he drew.

When this is done each player also draws one Emperor Token, using the same process as for the Barbarian Tokens. For now the players should keep the Tokens they have drawn secret from the other players and the Tokens not drawn should be put aside for use in future Game Turns.

Example: At the start of Turn four, Messalina draws Barbarian Token III - the Sarmatae. Since the Sarmatae have done well in the two previous Turns and are threatening Marcus' Romans in Asia Messalina decides to keep the Token instead of passing it on.

6. Order of Play

Each Barbarian People and Emperor is numbered from one to five/six on the charts. This shows their approximate order of appearance in history. Play will now proceed in that order. The player currently carrying out a Barbarian People or Roman Faction Phase is known as the Active Player. All other Tribes, Kingdoms, Roman Factions and Barbarian Peoples are referred to as the "enemy".

The player holding Barbarian Token Number One should now reveal this and start the Game Turn with the Phase of the Barbarian People in question. If no one holds this Token, the chance to move passes to the player holding Barbarian Token Number Two, and so on, until a Barbarian People takes a Phase. Then the player holding Emperor Token Number One gets his chance to take his Roman Faction Phase. Proceed this way, alternating Barbarians and Emperors until all players have revealed all their Tokens.

NOTE: The following steps (number 7 to 10) take you through a Player Phase, be it a Barbarian or Roman Faction one. When a section does mention "Roman" or "Barbarian", that particular rule applies to that kind of Faction only.

7. Events

At the start of each of his Phases the Active Player may play Event Cards. Only Event Cards labeled "Play at start of a Player Phase" may be played at this point. Note that a player may not play more than two Event Cards per Game Turn nor more than one per Player Phase. Each player can play a total of two events each turn.

7.1 Time Frame

An Event Card can only be used during the Game Turns listed on it.

7.2 Kingdoms and Tribes

When a Kingdom or Tribe appears during the Event Phase, it instantly gets a "mini-phase" to expand and fight. Any enemy Armies starting the Game Turn in the Kingdom or Tribe's Starting Province must retreat to an adjacent, friendly Province, or be eliminated. Any Fort or Fortress present in the Starting Province is also eliminated. This applies to Roman Starting Provinces as well. A Kingdom always places a City and a Fort in the Kingdom's Starting Province. Mark the starting area with your Roman Faction's "Kingdom Control" marker.

After they have been placed, Kingdoms and Tribes are not in any way part of the Active Player's forces anymore, except that they do count for Victory Points at the end of the player's Barbarian People Phase.

Example: During Turn one the second Roman player - Claudius - plays the Daci Event Card at the start of his Phase. He places one City, a Fort and one Daci Army in the Dacia Province. This forces a Roman Legion there to retreat to Dalmatia where it has friends. Then Claudius may place two more Daci Armies. He places one more in Dacia to protect the Daci City and one in Thracia.

7.3 Vacant Provinces

Cities are not affected by Epidemic, Pestilence, or Plague. Should all Armies in a Province be wiped out, the Province can be claimed without conquest by the next player by placing an Army in it.

8. Building

The Active Player creates new Armies for the Roman Faction or Barbarian People he is about to move and places them next to the map. The number of counters provided in the game are intended as a hard limit to these builds.

8.1 Building Barbarians

Barbarians do not build new units in any way. If this is this particular people's first appearance in the game, the player gets the number of Barbarian Armies called for by the Barbarians Chart. If the Barbarians are already in play, the player gets enough new Armies to "fill them up" to the number on the Barbarians Chart.

Example: On Turn VI, there are two Gothi Armies on the map. On the Barbarians chart, Turn VI cross-referenced with the Gothi space shows that there should be 7 Gothi Armies. The player gets five new Gothi Armies.

Note that more Barbarian Armies may be made available by "moving Barbarians" as described in 9.2.1. Do also note that at this time it is convenient for the player to place a "Past Barbarian Control" marker on the space of the Barbarian People controlled last Game Turn.

8.2 Building Romans

Each Roman Faction starts the first Game Turn with seven Legions (plus Emperor bonus, if any) and one Fort. Forts can be placed at any point during a Roman Faction's Phase. Starting with the second Game Turn, each Roman Faction may recruit eliminated Legion(s), bribe Rebel Legions and build Forts/Fortresses. Note that unless using Bribes or an Emperor's Legion Bonus a Roman Faction may not have more than seven Legions in play.

While building the Roman player may also pick up Legions from map, in order to use them in expansion. Areas may not be vacated this way, one Legion or a Fort/Fortress must remain in each area.

8.2.1 Recruiting Legions

During the first three Game Turns, the cost for recruiting a Legion is two Roman Victory Points. From the fourth Game Turn on, the cost is three Roman Victory Points per Legion. Note that if any of your Legions are Rebelling they are not considered eliminated and can therefore not be rebuilt.

8.2.2 Bribe Rebel Legions

The Active Player may bribe any Roman Faction's Rebel Legions by paying two Roman Victory Points per Legion. This can only be done if the Rebel Legion is adjacent to a Province controlled by the Active Player's Roman Faction. Substitute the bribed Rebel Legion with one of the Active Player's own Legions.

8.2.3 Fort or Fortress Construction

The cost of building a Fort is one Roman Victory Point. Fort counters may only be placed in Provinces controlled by the Roman Faction. No more than one Fort can be present in each Province. The Active Player may upgrade existing Forts to Fortresses at the cost of one Roman Victory Point each (a newly constructed Fort may not be upgraded in the same Game Turn). Note that a Fortress can only be built in a Province containing a City (not just a City Site).

8.2.4 Rebuild Looted Cities

The Active Player may turn a looted (face down) City counter to its un-looted (face-up) side at the cost of one Roman Victory Point.

Example: At the start of Magnus' Roman Faction Phase of Turn three. He buys two new Legions (4 VP); bribes a Rebel Legion in Lusitania (2 VP) builds two Forts (2 VP) and un-loots the City in Aquitania (1 VP). This for a grand total of 9 Victory Points. Since Magnus uses Emperor Domitian this Phase he also gets a free bonus Legion.

9. Placement and Expansion

The Active Player now places his new units on the map and fights battles as he encounters enemy Armies.

9.1 Stacking

A Province may contain a maximum of three Armies and one Fort or Fortress (in addition to the temporary presence of one attacking enemy Army). A Province may never contain units from more than one side at the end of a Player Phase. Each Province containing a City Site symbol may contain one City.

9.2 Placing the First Barbarian

If there were no Barbarians of this particular Barbarian People on the map at the start of the Game Turn, the Active Player places one of his Barbarian Armies in the Barbarian's Starting Province (see the Barbarians Chart). Any enemy Armies in the Barbarian Starting Province must retreat to an adjacent, friendly Province, or be eliminated. Any Fort or Fortress present in the Starting Province is also eliminated.

9.2.1 Movable Barbarians

Provided this particular Barbarian People started the Game Turn on the map, the Active Player may use any number of his Barbarian Armies already on the map at the start of the Phase for expansion. Take these Armies from the map before starting the expansion and leave any vacated Province uncontrolled.

9.2.2 Barbarian Expansion

The Active Player now places his new Barbarian Armies one at a time in

• any Province in which he already has Barbarian Armies.
• any Province adjacent to his Starting Province
• any Province adjacent to a Province already occupied by his Barbarian People.

If the player places an Army in a Province that is occupied by an enemy Army he must immediately fight that Army (see 10). He may then continue to place Armies in the same or other eligible Provinces. (As long as the stacking rules are observed.)

Example: This game's first Turn starts with the Galli's Barbarian People's Phase. The Barbarians Chart calls for five Galli starting out in Lugdunensis. Livia picks up the five Army counters and gets ready to expand. Starting out by placing one Army in Lugdunensis, she then proceeds by occupying Belgica (a Province adjacent to her Starting Province). Then Livia, who feels that total control of the Gallia Diocese is a nice way to start a long day - crosses to Britain using her last three Armies to occupy the whole of the British Ises using the straits.

9.3 Placing the First Roman

On Game Turn one each player starts his Roman Faction Phase by placing one of his Legions and a City counter in one of the following Provinces (these Provinces have their names printed in red on the map):

• Aquitania
• Roma
• Achaea
• Syria

The Province chosen is the player's Starting Province. During the rest of Game Turn one the other players must each choose their Roman Starting Provinces from the remaining possible Provinces.

9.3.1 Roman Faction Expansion

The Active Player places his new units (Armies and Forts) one at a time in:

• any Province in which he already has Armies in.
• any Province adjacent to a Province he already has Armies in.

If the player places an Army in a Province that is occupied by an enemy Army he must immediately fight that Army (see 10). He may then continue to place Armies in the same or other eligible Provinces. (As long as the stacking rules are observed.)

9.3.2 Roman Naval Movement

Roman Factions (only) may expand any distance across seas except across the Mare Caspium. If moving this way into Provinces containing units belonging to enemy Roman Factions or Kingdoms (controlled by other players) the defender gains the Difficult Terrain bonus. If the entered Province is Barbarian or Tribe controlled, the defender gains the Difficult Terrain bonus and a +1 modifier to his die rolls.

9.3.3 Building Cities

At the end of an expansion, the Roman player (not Barbarian) may build one City for each pair of City Site symbols he controls. Cities must be placed in Provinces with City Sites controlled by the Active Player and may not contain another City. The site chosen must, if possible, be the Faction's Starting Province. If no sites are available to the Faction no new Cities may be built. Also note that a player may only have one City (looted or not) on the map per pair of City Sites. Losing control of City Sites will not have any effect on the Cities he already has on the map.

Example: A bit later that same Turn Caesar explodes onto the scene. It is Drusus' first Roman Faction Phase so he gets the normal seven at start allotment of seven Legions (plus two for the Divine Julius) a City and three Forts.

Drusus' Phase then proceeds as follows:

• Legion 1 is placed in the Starting Province (Aquitania) along with his City and a Fort (not shown here).
• Legion 2 is placed in Narbonensis.
• Legions 3 and 4 are placed in Cisalpina.
• Legion 5 is placed in Raetia.
• Legion 6 is placed in Germania Magna.
• Legion 7 is placed in Belgica. This immediately results in combat with Livia's Galli and despite crossing into Belgica across Difficult Terrain the Legion wins the battle and the Galli counter is removed from play.
• With an easy victory in his sights Drusus now places Legion 8 in Lugdunensis, but thanks to an abyssmal die roll the Legion is destroyed.
• Irritated Drusus sends in his 9th and last Legion and this time he wins the battle for Lugdunensis. The losing Galli is removed and Legion 9 is placed in Lugdunensis.

This ends Drusus' Roman Phase. Had he taken control over two new city sites he could have placed a new city, but he can not do that now as he only took one new city site.

10. Combat

Combat occurs whenever an Army is placed in a Province containing an enemy Army. The attacker (the Active Player) rolls two dice and the defender (any other player responsible for the defending units) rolls one die. The player who rolls highest on a single die wins and the loser removes his Army. (If the defender has more than one Army in the Province, only one is removed.) If a tie is rolled, both players re-roll until one side wins. Combat continues until either all defending Armies are destroyed or retreated, or the attacker abandons the attack (either because he has run out of Armies, or because he wishes to place his remaining Armies elsewhere). If the Active Player conquers the Province, he may place up to two more Armies in it (if he has that many left to place).

10.1 Retreat from Combat

After the first round of combat is fought within a Province during a particular Phase, defending Roman Legions (only) may retreat into an adjacent, friendly-controlled Province or into a Province containing only a Fort/Fortress. Forts/Fortresses, obviously, may not retreat.

10.2 Difficult Terrain

If an attacking Army entered the defender's Province across a Mountain or Forest Provincial border, that attack is said to have been made across Difficult Terrain. Also, attackers entering a Province using Naval Movement are always considered to be attacking across Difficult Terrain. When defending in Difficult Terrain the defender rolls two dice for defense (selecting the highest roll as his result).

Example: Battles for Gaul.

A Roman Faction controls Aquitania. There are two Galli Armies in Lugdunensis. During the Roman Phase of Emperor Caligula (no bonuses whatsoever on that guy...) a Roman Legion is placed in the Province across the Aquitanian Border.

• The Roman player rolls two dice scoring 5 and 4. The Galli player rolls one die scoring 4. As the Roman player has rolled the highest single score he has won. One Galli army is removed from play. But as there are still Galli in Lugdunensis the battle continues.
• Again, the Roman player rolls two dice scoring 3 and 1. The Galli player rolls one die scoring 3. As this is a draw both players curse the appropriate gods before rolling again. (Had the Romans been commanded by the tie-winning Nero the battle would have been over by now.)
• This time, the Roman player rolls 5 and 3. The Galli player rolls 6. Frustrated the Roman player places another Legion in Lugdunensis (he does not have to, but he feels this is a matter of honour).
• This last time, the Roman player rolls 6 and 2. The Galli player rolls 5, losing the battle.

To end his Phase the Roman player places a Fort in his new Province. He could have placed more Legions in the Province, but refrained from doing so.

Pax Romana now prevails for a while in the area. Then the Suebi, having previously conquered Belgica strikes out for Lugdunensis. As one can see on the map on the opposite page these attacks will be made across Difficult Terrain.

• The first Suebi Army crosses the wooded border. The Suebi player rolls two dice scoring 4 and 3. The Roman player rolls two dice (thanks to the Difficult Terrain) scoring 4 and 2. Adding the Fort's bonus to each die the score is 5 and 3. The Roman player scores higher and destroys the Suebi.
• Undaunted, the Suebi player throws in more Barbarians. This time the Suebi player rolls two dice scoring 4 and 1. The Roman player scores 3 and 2. Adding the Fort bonus makes that a 4 and a 3. The combat is tied (a tie-winning fortress would have won). The re-rolls come up 6 and 2 for the Suebi player. The Roman player scores 4 and 1, that is 5 and 2. The Roman Legion is destroyed. Had the Legion won this second round of combat it could - being Roman - have retreated to an adjacent, friendly, Province.
• The Suebi in the Province attacks again. The Suebi Army already in Lugdunensis must keep on attacking the Fort until it conquers it or dies. Had the Suebi instead been Romans they could at this point have simply conquered the Fort and thereby taken over both Lugdunensis and the Fort.

10.3 Straits

A Strait is shown by a bridge linking two Provinces, which are separated by water, together as if they were adjacent. Armies may attack across Straits, but the defender has the advantage of Difficult Terrain. Armies may also retreat across Straits.

10.4 Forts & Fortresses

A Fort adds one to each of the die rolls made by the defending Armies. A Fortress adds one to each of the die rolls made by the defending Armies and wins all tied rolls. These bonuses are in addition to any bonuses from terrain or cards.

If a Fort or Fortress is the only defender in a Province, and the attacker is a Roman Faction, the Active Player may either choose to conquer the Fort or Fortress without combat or destroy it.

If a Fort or Fortress is the only defender of a Province, and the attacker is a Barbarian, Tribe or Kingdom Army, the Fort/Fortress must be defeated (and destroyed) as if it was a defending Army.

A Fort/Fortress may only be attacked when it is alone in a Province.

10.5 Automatic Victory

A player may, for one reason or another, want to attack Provinces controlled by his Roman Faction, his Barbarians, or any Tribe or Kingdom he controls using the Armies he is placing at the moment (i.e the player is expanding using his new Gothi and his old Dalmatae are in the way). All such attacks are won automatically. The defenders are eliminated and normal Conquest occurs except that no player earns Victory Points for looting Cities using Automatic Victory.

11. Rebellion and Revolt

These Events allow the Active Player to create units in another Faction's Province. The defender does not receive any Difficult Terrain advantage against the attacking Rebels. Any Fort or Fortress in the Province still aids the defender.

Rebelling Legions may not be rebuilt before they are either destroyed or bribed to join a Roman Faction. Therefore you must keep track of what happens to "your" Rebelling Legions.

12. Conquest and Looting

When an Active Player's army ends the Player Phase in a Province the Active Player did not control at the start of the Phase, the Province is considered conquered by that Army. Any City in the Province may, at that instant, be looted by the conquering player. Looting earns the looting player an instant die-roll's worth of Victory Points. (Some Kingdom's Cities are even richer. See the Event Cards.)

Example: Julia's Romans defeat the last Aegyptii Army and captures Aegyptus and the City there. With a greedy smile she decides to loot Aegyptus to the bone and rolls a die. She rolls a four and adds two as per the Aegypti Event Card for a total of six more Victory Points.

A Roman Faction Player may never loot other Roman Faction-controlled Cities (Romans don't loot Romans, there are limits...).

Note that an un-garrisoned Fort or Fortress may, at an attacking Roman Faction player's choice, be either conquered or eliminated without combat. Provinces that fall to Treachery, Rebellion or Revolt are also subject to these effects.

13. End of a Roman Faction

If a Roman player has no Legions left in play (not counting Forts and Fortresses), but still has Roman Victory Points available, he may recruit Legions and in his Expansion Phase place one of his Legions on the map according to these priorities:

• in any Roman Province, with only a Fort or Fortress in it.
• in a vacant Province adjacent to a Roman-controlled Province.
• in a Roman-controlled Province (immediately attacking the enemy Army in it).

If a Roman Faction has no more units in play and no Roman Victory Points left, it is a "Dead" Faction and is out of the rest of the game.

14. Kingdoms and Tribes

Kingdoms and Tribes are called into play by Event Cards at the start of an Active Player's Phase. Upon entry they immediately perform a "mini phase" controlled by the Active Player. Kingdoms differ from Tribes in that they have Cities and Forts. Tribes are better at defending against attacks using Naval Movement (as they don't have any ports). See 9.2.3.

15. How to Win

At the end of the game the players add up their Barbarian and Roman Faction Victory Points. The player who has scored the most Victory Points wins. If the score is a tie, then the player with the highest numbered Emperor Token in the last Game Turn wins.

Victory Points are scored at the end of both the player's Barbarian and Roman Faction Phases and when a City is looted. Barbarian and Roman Faction Victory Points are recorded on the Victory Point Track by moving the player's "VP Barb." and "VP Rome" markers.

15.1 Barbarian Victory Points

At the end of each Barbarian Phase the Active Player scores:

• 2 points for controlling a City in Roma Province (1 point if the City is looted).
• 1 point for controlling any other City that is not looted.
• for controlling Dioceses (see 15.3 and the Map).
• STARTING TURN 4 - 2 points for controlling a City in Tracia Province (1 point if the City is looted).

Note that during a player's Barbarian Phase all his Barbarians, Tribes & Kingdoms count when counting Victory Points for Diocese and City control.

• when Barbarians loot a City, the player earns one die roll worth of Victory Points (plus any modifiers - see Kingdom Event Card). Looting the City in the Roma or Tracia Provinces (the latter starting with Game Turn 4) earns two die roll's worth of Victory Points.

15.2 Roman Faction Victory Points

At the end of each Roman Faction Phase, the player scores:

• 3 points for controlling a City in Roma Province (2 points if the City is looted).
• 2 points for controlling any other City (1 point if the City is looted).
• Emperor bonus for controlled Provinces (+1 point per Province).
• for controlling Dioceses (see 15.3 and the Map).
• when a non-Roman City is looted: one die roll's worth of Victory Points (plus any modifiers - see Kingdom Event Card).
• STARTING TURN 4 - 3 points for controlling a City in Thracia Province (2 point if the City is looted).
• at the end of the game you also get 2 points per Roman controlled Province and roll Victory Points for each of your surviving Kingdom Cities as if they where looted.

Example: Turn two and Anthony's Romans have done well this Phase. He does control the following Provinces.

• Roma (with City) 3 VP
• Cisalpina
• Raetia
• Dalmatia (looted City) 1 VP
• Sicilia (with City) 2 VP
• Narbonensis
• Dacia (with City) 2 VP
• Thracia (no City)

Anthony's CONTROL of the Italia Diocese earns him (3x3) 9 VP. His PRESENCE in the Graecia and Hispania Dioceses earns him another 2 plus 3 VP. The 14 VPs for the Diocese and the 8 VP for the Cities earns Anthony a total of 22 VP.

15.3 Diocese Victory Points

The map is divided into 9 different-colored Dioceses composed of 5 Provinces each. Each Diocese is worth a varying number of Victory Points during different Game Turns as shown on the Diocese Victory Point Table on the map. A player with one or more Armies in a Diocese at the end of his Phase scores points for that Diocese as follows:

PRESENCE: Controlling one or two Provinces in a Diocese earns the player the basic Diocese Victory Points.

DOMINATION: Control of three or four Provinces in a Diocese, or more Provinces than any other player has in that Diocese, earns the player double the basic Diocese Victory Points.

CONTROL: Control of every Province in a Diocese earns the player triple the basic Diocese Victory Points. For this purpose only, a Roman Faction player earns Roman Victory Points if he has at least one Legion in the Diocese and only Forts/Fortresses in all the Diocese's other Provinces. (Forts/Fortresses do not control a Province at any other time.)

Note that a player may score points for a Diocese two times during each Game Turn. A player can not, however, not combine his Roman Faction and his Barbarians in a Diocese to get more points for it.

16. Bribe Barbarians

THIS RULE IS OPTIONAL - Any time a Roman Faction player is attacked by Barbarians (only), he may try to bribe those Barbarians by offering any number of Roman Victory Points. If the player controlling the attacking Barbarian People accepts this offer, he takes the Victory Points, adds them to his own Barbarian Victory Points total and may not attack that Roman Faction for the rest of the Game Turn. If the Barbarian player refuses the offer, the Roman player keeps the offered Victory Points.

Glossary

• Active Player - The player currently taking a Phase for his Barbarian People or Roman Faction.
• Armies - Military units, be they Roman Legions or Armies belonging to various Tribes, Kingdoms or Barbarian Peoples.
• Barbarians - A Barbarian People controlled by a player.
• Control - A Province is "controlled" if an Army is present in it, not counting Forts and Fortresses.
• Diocese - A group of five Provinces of the same color, for example, Asia.
• Emperor - The leader of a Roman Faction for the current Game Turn.
• Emperor's Bonuses - Bonuses associated with certain Emperors.
• Faction - One of the four Roman Factions (the players) and their Armies.
• Kingdom - An independent state controlled by the player that played the corresponding Event Card.
• Legion - A Roman Army.
• Province - An area on the map with a solid border, for example Belgica.
• Tribe - An independent Tribe controlled by the player that played the corresponding Event Card.
• Game Turn - One "bound" or "period" in the game. The game goes on for seven Game Turns.
• Vacant Province - A Province with no Armies in it.
• Victory Point (VP) - The points needed to win the game. Victory Points come in two flavors, Roman and Barbarian.

Quick Reference

Draw Order (5.1)

Roll die on Turn one. On subsequent Turns the player with the lowest combined VP total draws first. In case of a tie, the player that drew the lowest numbered Barbarian Token in the previous Turn draws first.

First Turn Romans (8.2)

Each Roman Faction starts the first Game Turn with seven Legions and one Fort as well as a City to be placed in the Faction's starting area.

Building Cities (9.3.3)

At the end of expansion, the Roman player (not Barbarian) may build one City for each pair of City Site symbols he controls.

Sequence of Play

Draw Phase - All Players

Player Phase(s) - All Players, starting with the lowest numbered Barbarian tribe, then the lowest numbered emperor and so on.

1. Play Event Cards
2. Build (new Armies and Forts/Fortresses)
3. Placement (Place new troops on the map and fight battles)
4. Build Cities (Romans only)
5. Count Victory points

Roman Build Costs (8.2)

• Recruiting a Legion = 2 Roman VP (Turn 1-3).
• Recruiting a Legion = 3 Roman VP (Turn 4-7).
• Bribe Rebel Army = 2 Roman VP per Army.
• Building a Fort = 1 Roman VP.
• Upgrade Forts to Fortresses = 1 Roman VP (only in a Province containing a City)
• Un-loot a looted city = 1 VP Point.

Fort/Fortress Conquest (10.4)

If a Fort or Fortress is the only defender, and the attacker is a Roman Faction, the Active Player may choose to either conquer the Fort/Fortress without combat, or destroy it. In all other cases the Fort/Fortress must be defeated in combat.

Looting (12)

At the instant of conquest a City might be looted by the conquering player producing an instant die-roll's worth of Victory Points. (Some Kingdom's Cities are even richer. See the Event Cards.)

A Roman Faction Player may never loot other Roman Faction-controlled Cities.

Combat (10)

• Occurs whenever an Army is placed in a Province containing an enemy Army.
• The attacker rolls two dice and the defender rolls one die.
• The highest roller on a single die wins and the loser removes an Army. Re-roll ties.
• Combat continues until only one side remains. (Also see "Fort/Fortress Conquest" above.)
• After the second round of combat, defending Roman Legions (only) may retreat into an adjacent, friendly-controlled Province or into a Province containing only a Fort/Fortress.
• When defending in Difficult Terrain, the defender rolls two dice for defense.
• A Fort adds one to each of the defender's die rolls. A Fortress adds one as well, and wins all tied combat die rolls.

Emperor's Bonuses (5.3)

• • 1 DIE - During this Phase the Roman Faction led by this Emperor will use three dice to attack until it rolls triples (three ones for example), at which time the Emperor is assumed to be killed (and all bonuses with him).
• • 1 ATT - During this Phase the Roman Faction led by this Emperor will add 1 to each die roll while it attacks.
• • X LEG - At the start of Phase Turn the Roman Faction led by this Emperor may place X extra Legions.
• WINS TIES - During this Phase the Roman Faction led by this Emperor wins all tied die rolls while attacking.
• • VP / PROV - During this Phase the Roman Faction led by this Emperor earns one extra Victory Point for every Province controlled at the end of his turn.

Only die roll modifiers are culminative.

Barbarian Victory Points (15.1)

• 2 points for controlling a City in Roma Province (1 if looted).
• 1 point for controlling any other City that is not looted.
• Diocese Control (see Map).
• Looting a City - one die roll worth of Victory Points (plus any modifiers - see Kingdom Event Card). Looting the City in the Roma or Tracia Provinces (the latter starting with Game Turn 4) earns two die rolls' worth of Victory Points.
• (Starting Game Turn 4.) 2 points for controlling a City in Tracia Province.

Note that during a player's Barbarian Phase all his Barbarians, Tribes & Kingdoms count when counting Victory Points for Diocese and City control.

Roman Victory Points (15.2)

• 3 points for controlling a City in Roma Province (2 if looted).
• 2 points for controlling any other City (1 if looted).
• Emperor bonus for controlled Provinces (+1 point per Province)
• Diocese Control (see Map).
• Looting a non-Roman City - one die roll's worth of Victory Points (plus any modifiers - see Kingdom Event Card).
• At the end of the game you also get 2 points per Roman-controlled Province and roll Victory Points for each of your surviving Kingdom Cities as if they were looted.
• (Starting Game Turn 4.) 3 points for controlling a City in Tracia Province (2 if looted).