Roll Through the Ages: The Iron Age
Roll Through the Ages: The Iron Age Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal
Score the most points by creating the most prosperous empire – build ports, provinces, monuments, and developments, as you conquer barbarians – while avoiding disasters.
Contents
- 4 Peg Boards
- 20 Pegs (5 each in 4 colors)
- 6 Empire Dice and 1 Fate Die
- 4 Summary Cards, 2 Pads of Score Sheets and these Rules
Setup
(each player will need a pencil, not included)
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Give each player a score sheet, a summary card, a peg board, and a set of 5 pegs.
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Each player sets their food peg to 3, his army and goods pegs to 1, and other pegs to 0.
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Write your name on your score sheet. Choose a start player, who checks the "Start Player" box.
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Choose whether to play a Short Game (best for your first game) or the Full Game. Mark this on your score sheet.
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Clockwise from the Start Player, each player builds either a second port or a second province.
Ports increase the number of goods you may earn during your rolls, while Provinces provide immediate benefits but require food each round. Circle both your choice and the die in the second dice column on your sheet. For a Port, also fill its box and 2 outlined "urn" shapes. For a Province, also fill its 2 boxes, set your army peg to 3, and fill 1 box in the Tribute section of your sheet.
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Give the Start Player two empire dice (white) and the fate die (yellow). Begin play.
Play
A game typically consists of 6-8 rounds. In a round, each player, proceeding clockwise from the Start Player, takes a turn by performing the following steps:
- Roll dice and then collect goods and food, as appropriate.
- Feed provinces (not ports) and resolve any non-battle disasters.
- Resolve any battle disaster, battle for conquest, or tribute demand rolled on the fate die.
- May build ports, provinces, monuments, armies, or ships.
- May buy one development.
- May store unspent goods as wealth.
After all players have taken a turn, check to see if the game has ended. If not, begin the next round.
1. Roll Dice and Collect Goods and Food
Roll the fate die, plus 1 empire die for each of your provinces or ports, whichever is greater. (Players start with 2 empire dice.) Set aside any dice with a skull on them. You may now keep or re-roll any of your remaining dice. After this second roll, again set aside any dice with a skull on them. You may now keep or re-roll any of your dice without skulls on them (including dice you kept from your first roll). After this third roll, you must keep all your dice results. If the fate die's Omens face is showing, you may then set 1 die (including one with a skull or the fate die itself) to any desired face.
Collect Goods
For each goods/port face showing on your dice, shift your goods peg as many positions to the right as the number of ports you have (adding these goods to any goods left over from the previous round). Add 1 good for each skull face showing. If you do not have room for all your goods on your peg board, excess goods are lost.
Collect Food
For each food symbol showing on your dice, shift your food peg one position to the right (adding them to your starting food or any food left over from the previous round). If you do not have room for all your food on your peg board, any excess food is lost. The fate die's result (and two developments) can adjust the total number of food you collect from each of your food die results. For people/food faces, you collect 2 food or gain 2 population; if you choose to gain 2 population, these adjustments do not affect that die.
2. Feed Provinces & Resolve Non-Battle Disasters
Feed Provinces
Each province (not port) requires 1 food. Subtract 1 food (on your peg board) for each of your provinces. If you don't have enough food, fill in 1 skull in the Disasters section of your sheet for each unfed province (which suffers Famine).
Resolve Disasters
If your dice have any skull faces showing, a disaster occurs. Which disaster occurs depends on how many skull faces you rolled (see Disaster Results on the summary card). Unrest and Civil War require you to fill in skulls in your Disasters section. Skulls subtract from your points at game end. Pestilence makes your opponents do this. Barbarians and Invasion result in battles, see next section. Invasion affects all players, each individually.
3. Resolve Battle, Conquest, and Tribute Demand
If directed to battle by disasters or if choosing (with at least 1 army) to battle a neighboring tribe with a conquest result, total your armies plus any bonuses for the developments Formations or Navy. Compare this total to your opposing strength: 4 for Barbarians, 10 for Invasion, or your number of filled in Conquest boxes – initially 1 – for conquest. If greater, you win and fill in Tribute boxes equal to the difference. If less, you lose and fill in Disaster skulls equal to the difference. Then – whether you won, lost, or tied – lose 1 army (if possible). If you have a Navy, you also lose 1 ship (if possible). After a conquest victory, fill in a Conquest box on your sheet (so that your next conquest will be harder).
Example. A player with 4 armies has a conquest result on the fate die. They have not conquered before, so they have 1 filled in box in the Conquest section of his sheet. Since 4 is greater than 1, this player fills in 3 Tribute boxes and 1 Conquest box, and loses 1 army.
A player with a tribute demand result on the fate die gains tribute for each of their weaker opponents. Proceeding clockwise, they compare their army total (including any battle bonuses) against each opponent's army total (including any battle bonuses). If greater, they gain Tribute equal to the difference. If tied or less, there is no effect. In all cases, no armies (or ships) are lost. Note that tribute is only gained, not transferred, by this.
A weaker opponent may instead choose to give the demanding player 1 good (adjust pegs appropriately) to prevent the demanding player from gaining any tribute for them.
Example. In a 4-player game, a player with 4 armies and the development Formations (+2 battle) has a tribute demand result on the fate die. The other three players have 3, 7, and 0 armies. This player would gain 3 (6-3), none (6-7), and 6 (6-0) tribute, a total of 9, except that the 0 army player chooses to give them a good. They gain 3 tribute and 1 good.
4. Build Ports, Provinces, Monuments, Armies, or Ships
Provinces and Monuments require population symbols on dice to build. Ports require population and goods. Armies require 1 population and 1 food apiece. Ships require Shipbuilding and 2 goods.
For each population symbol showing on your dice, fill in a province, port, or monument box on your sheet, or also spend 1 food to gain 1 army, adjusting your pegs appropriately.
Once you fill in all population boxes for a province, it is built and you immediately gain 2 armies (if possible), as well as the indicated tribute. If your number of provinces is now greater than your number of ports, circle the die icon on top (to begin future turns with another empire die).
A port requires 1 population plus goods equal to its number of outlined urn symbols. Once you fill in all of these, it is built. If your number of ports is now greater than your number of provinces, circle the die icon on top (to begin future turns with another empire die). You may fill in either population or urns for future ports before completing your next port's other requirement.
If you are first to fill in all boxes for a monument, circle the larger number next to it (e.g. 13 for the Coliseum). Instruct the other players to cross off this number – any players who later complete it will get just its smaller number (e.g. 10 for the Coliseum). These points are tallied at game end (incomplete monuments are worth nothing).
Ships require the development Shipbuilding (bought in an earlier round) and cost 2 goods apiece to build, adjusting your pegs appropriately.
5. Buy 1 Development
You may buy 1 development each round by spending goods, innovation results (each worth 3), or stored wealth (each worth 5), equal to or greater than its listed cost on your sheet. No change is received if you spend in excess. Mark it on your score sheet. Circle its listed victory points; these will be tallied at game end.
Each player may buy a given development once. Innovations and stored wealth can only be spent on Developments, not on ports or ships. Unspent innovations cannot be saved. Purchased developments also have game effects, modifying these rules, as detailed in the Developments table of the summary cards.
6. Store Goods as Wealth
You may convert sets of 4 goods (not innovations) to 1 wealth apiece, adjusting your pegs appropriately (each wealth is worth 5 when spent for developments).
Tip: since goods in excess of 15 collected in step 1 are lost, storing left-over goods at the end of your turn as wealth can be useful to avoid losing some goods on your next turn.
Game End and Winning
The game ends after the complete round (all players get an equal number of turns) in which any one of three game ending conditions is met.
In the short game, the game ends after the round in which:
- Any player buys their 5th development, or
- Any player has 30 or more tribute, or
- All but one (or all) of the monuments have each been built by at least one player.
In the full game, the game ends after the round in which:
- Any player buys their 7th development, or
- Any player has 50 or more tribute, or
- Every monument has been built by at least one player.
Players then tally their scores. Add points for each monument and development you built, plus any bonus scores for certain developments and remaining wealth, and 1 point for each tribute you gained. Then, subtract 1 point for each filled in skull in the Disasters section of your sheet to determine your final score.
Compare final scores. The player with the highest score wins! If tied, the tied player with the most "pegged positions" (across all rows) on their peg board wins. If still tied these players all win.
Solitaire Rules
Play normally, except:
- Play for 8 rounds, attempting to beat 100 points (or your previous high score). Mark completed rounds on your sheet.
- Pestilence affects you if rolled (unless you have Medicine).
- Resolve a Tribute Demand vs. one opponent with strength equal to the current round number (e.g. 5 strength in round 5), who will not give you a good to prevent any tribute gain.
Good Luck!
Mediterranean Expansion
Players: 1-4 • Ages: 10 and up • Duration: 40-60 minutes
This expansion depicts the colonization of the Mediterranean by the Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans.
Add overseas settlements to the mix via a central peg board that all players share. Race to reap the benefits of strategic colonies: Crete for fleets; Spain for mining; Carthage for wheat; Gaul for armies; while Syracuse, the home of Archimedes, and Alexandria provide vital innovations.
Includes a Large Wooden Peg Board and 60 Wooden Pegs.
Contents
- 1 Colony Peg Board
- 60 Pegs (15 each in 4 colors)
Setup
- Place the colony peg board in the center play area. It will be used by all players.
- Give each player an additional 15 pegs in their color to use for building colonies.
- Strike thru the Shipbuilding development line on your score sheet.
- Set up the rest of the game as in the Iron Age rules.
Play
Play as in the Iron Age rules, except as noted below.
3a. Resolve Battles, Conquest, and Tribute Demands
Players with Navy may choose to not apply its bonus to a battle (and not lose a ship).
3b. Found Colonies
During this step, you may spend population to start and possibly complete colonies. To start a colony, spend population to place pegs in its empty holes, 1 peg for each population spent. Colonies with a 4 next to them are used only in 4 player games. You are limited to 15 colony pegs.
On your turn, you may remove pegs from any of your uncompleted colonies.
To complete a colony you must both place its last peg and spend 1 ship. If you don't have any ships, you may start colonies with more than one hole, but may not complete them.
Pegs of several players can be in the same uncompleted colony (with more than 1 hole). To complete it, spend 1 ship plus 2 population per peg to displace other players' pegs with yours (returning displaced pegs to their owners). You may displace pegs only on the round when you complete that colony. An already completed colony's pegs may not be displaced nor removed.
At the end of this step, if you completed colonies with goods, army, ship, or food symbols next to them, collect the indicated items by adjusting pegs on your peg board. An innovation granted must be spent on this turn towards a development or it is lost. Collect double the food amount shown if you have Aqueducts. A mine symbol provides a scoring bonus if you have Metallurgy; otherwise, it provides no benefits.
4. Build Ships
You may build ships during this step by spending 2 goods apiece. Unlike the standard Iron Age rules, no development is needed (all players effectively begin with Shipbuilding capability).
Scoring
Each completed colony is worth 3 points (+1 apiece with Empire and/or Commerce). If tied, a player's "pegged positions" does not include their colony pegs.
Solitaire Rules
(you will need a standard six-sided die, not included)
Play as described above, except:
- Play for 8 rounds, attempting to beat 125 points (or your previous high score). Mark completed rounds on your sheet.
- Starting on round 2, roll a standard 6-sided die (d6) each round, after your turn, to determine if a colony was completed by an "opponent":
- On a result of 5 or 6, your opponent has not founded a colony.
- On a result of 1, 2, 3 or 4, your opponent founds a colony of a size equal to the die result, if available. Fill it with pegs of a different color, displacing any of your pegs present (if you have partially colonized this colony). If more than one colony of that size is available, roll randomly among them to determine which one is built.
- If your opponent founds a colony, roll the d6 again. On a 1 or 2, your opponent founds a second one of this size (1 or 2). An opponent can not found more than two colonies in a round.
Good Luck!
Historical Notes
Overview
The Mediterranean peg board depicts colonies of the three major Iron Age Mediterranean powers: the Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans.
The Phoenician city-states (Tyre, Sidon, Byblos, etc.) were located along the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, in modern day Lebanon. The Greek city-states were in modern Greece. The Roman republic was in the Italian peninsula.
The Phoenicians established colonies across the Mediterranean, forging a commercial empire. They traded dyed cloth, metal goods, olive oil, gems, copper, silver, lead, and tin. They spread Iron Age technology to the Western Mediterranean. Their small colonies were often located on islands or behind massive city walls on easily defended peninsulas.
Rome expanded gradually, province by province, conquering and assimilating peoples. Rome's "manipular" legion formation was superior to the Greek fighting formation, the phalanx. Master engineers, the Romans constructed roads, aqueducts, and irrigation systems. For a long time, they did not engage in much shipbuilding nor trade.
The Greeks combined a mixture of trade and conquest. They planted colonies as far west as Gaul. Inventing coinage allowed them to oust the Phoenicians from the lucrative Egyptian grain trade. Their greatest general, Alexander, forged a huge, though comparatively short-lived, empire.
The Colonies
(from NW to E on the peg board map)
Massalia, originally a Greek colony, became the major port in Roman southern Gaul and, eventually, modern Marseille.
Barcelona was an Iberian/Phoenician settlement occupied by Carthage during the Second Punic War. It combined a good harbor with excellent access to the main coastal route north.
Mastia possessed one of the best harbors in the Western Mediterranean. As a Phoenician colony, it exported silver from this region's mines. After the First Punic War, it became the focus of Carthaginian expansion in Spain and was renamed New Carthage (now, Cartagena).
Palma was a Roman colony founded following the conquest of the Balearic islands in 123 BC. The Balearic islands were earlier settled by the Phoenicians and, possibly, Greeks from Rhodes.
Rusadir was originally a Phoenician trade outpost that passed through many hands until it was conquered by Spain in 1497. It is now the Spanish enclave of Melilla.
Ikosim was a Phoenicia settlement and later Roman city that would become modern Algiers. The region around it, Numidia, supplied cavalry troops to both Carthage and Rome at different times during the Punic Wars.
Corsis, modern Corsica, was colonized first by the Greeks (Aléria in 556 BC) and then the Etruscans, who were allies of Carthage. It was taken over by Rome in 237 BC, after the First Punic War.
Sardus, modern Sardinia, was first visited by Phoenician traders circa 1000 BC. They expanded inward, mined lead, and came into conflict with the native inhabitants in 509 BC. The settlers appealed to Carthage for help, which then conquered the island's southern half, before ceding it to Rome in 237 BC.
Carthage was founded around 800 BC as a colony of Tyre. It gained independence around 650 BC and took control of the Phoenician settlements in the Western Mediterranean. Its growth collided with Rome's growth, resulting in the Punic Wars. After the Third Punic War, it became a Roman province, supplying wheat and olive oil to Rome.
Syracuse, home of Archimedes, was a Greek Corinthian colony founded in 734 BC. It was a powerful city-state until it got caught between the Carthaginian and Roman expansion in Sicily which erupted into the First Punic War. Syracuse allied with Rome, but, after breaking this alliance during the Second Punic War, was besieged and conquered. It then became the capital of Roman Sicily.
Melita, modern day Malta, was a Phoenician and Carthaginian colony whose people revolted during the First Punic War, defecting to Rome. For remaining loyal to Rome in the Second Punic War, it was exempted from paying tribute.
Oea was founded by Phoenicians in the 7th century BC and later was part of a Roman province. It eventually merged with two nearby towns (a "tri-polis") to become Tripoli. This region produced large quantities of wheat until its Roman aqueducts and irrigation systems were destroyed during the Muslim conquest and its fields silted up.
Cyrene was a Greek colony. The most important of five Greek cities, it gave its name to the region known as Cyrenaica.
Crete was the home to the Minoan civilization. Devastated by the volcanic eruption of Thera, Crete was then conquered by the Greeks. The Phoenicians adapted Minoan ship designs into the bireme, which the Greeks later evolved into the trireme.
Rhodes was originally a Minoan colony before being invaded by the Greeks. After Alexander's death, it allied with Alexandria to control Aegean trade. With this wealth, Rhodes built the Colossus, one of the ancient Seven Wonders. Rhodes drew Rome's enmity after the Third Macedonian War and resigned itself to joining Rome as a client state in 164 BC.
Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC. It was the center of Ptolemaic Egypt until the Muslim conquest of AD 641. It was famous for its library, perhaps the most extensive library of antiquity, and its Lighthouse, one of the ancient Seven Wonders.
Arvad, now Arwad, Syria, was the island half of a pair of Phoenician settlements, Aradus-Antaradus. Located opposite a larger trading port of local peoples, the Phoenician inhabitants of Antaradus and its trade fleet could retreat to Aradus and simply wait out an invading army when threatened.
Cyprus was settled by two waves of Mycenaean Greeks around 1400 BC and 1100 BC. In the 8th century BC, several Phoenician colonies were established to mine its extensive copper deposits. Alexander the Great conquered it in 333 BC. It was annexed by Rome in 58 BC.
Antioch was a Greek settlement, founded by one of Alexander's generals, near the end of the ancient Silk Road that brought goods from distant China. Under Roman rule, it rivaled Alexandria in importance. After the Mongols disrupted the Silk Road, Antioch declined. It now lies in ruins, nearby modern Antakya, Turkey.