Expanding Empires

After a period of time so long that history books could not contain it, so long that folk stories had forgotten it, so long that I wasn’t sure of the rules any more, the monthly Time Of Crisis group finally convened again.

This time we were using the new expansion cards, which have new actions for each level of two, three, four of red, blue, yellow cards. These were shuffled into the regular cards.

We also reapplied the new Emperor rules, meaning that our emperor need not sit in Rome but may base themselves in another corner of the world or join an army and wreak havoc by bringing bloody death to the provinces.

So many new choices. How would it play out?

I was starting player and I began in Gallia, Martin in Pannonia, Ian in Macedonia and Joe in Hispania.

My opening hand was 3B 2Y, I won a vote in Britannia and boosted support and bought a 2Y card. Britannia was entirely untroubled by the conflict in Europe for the entire game and will barely be mentioned again. As such, this was perhaps my best move.

Martin’s crisis roll revealed Bad Augeries, reducing the chances of a hit for Roman armies in battle. He used 3B 2R to be voted into Thracia with a new army, and without an available Tribute card he bought a 2R (cavalry) instead. Ian used 3B 2R to get voted into Africa with an army, and bought 2B. Joe used 3B 2R to get voted into Aegyptus with an army and he bought a 2B.

In round two, I used 3Y 3R to build a Basilica in Gallia and then I hired a general, built a new army in Gallia and moved it into Italia. I was ambitious, if nothing else. Martin’s crisis roll sent an Allamani barbarian into his own Thracia, and Bad Augeries meant killing them off would be tough. He had 3Y 2R and avoided conflict, preferring to get a 2 general and boosting support in Thracia so he didn’t lose it.

Ian’s crisis roll sent two more Allamani onto the map, this time into Martin’s Pannonia! Martin was distraught, which is always entertaining to watch. With his 3Y 1R 2B he builds a Limes in Macedonia and bought a 2Y.

Joe’s crisis roll was 6-6. Pax Deorum! An extra card for everyone and Martin was saved! Joe’s hand was 3Y 2R 2B, allowing him a chance to hire a level 2 general and governor and build a Basilica in Hispania.

At the start of round three, I now had 5B 2Y. Support in Rome was high, but I had a Basilica and an army in Italia so I needed seven votes from six dice. I rolled with all my might but only got six votes. Not a single six, nor any ones either. But, I later noticed that I’d forgotten that I didn’t have a governor to put on the board if I’d won, so a bit of a wasted turn. Except for boosting support in Gallia.

Martin had 3R 5B. He loses against the Allamani in Pannonia which means it is destined to be lost since he Tributes the other Allamani in Thracia. To make up for losing one province, he hired a level 3 governor and is voted into Galatia.

Ian had 2Y 2R 3B, boosted support in Macedonia to two, bought a level 2 general and governor and, using the new card Ambitus (one free vote) he is voted into Asia.

Joe (3R 3B) didn’t want to weaken the neutral emperor any further so he built an army in Aegyptus, moved into Africa and attacked Ian. Neither rolled any hits, but Joe’s use of the Cavalry card meant he won ties, so he ousted Ian from the capital. He was then voted into Africa.

As round four began, the scores were Joe 11 Ian 9 Andrew 8 Martin 6.

I roll Good Augeries as my crisis roll and suddenly those barbarians go from looking fearsome to looking like fun. I (3Y 3R) boosted support in Britannia, bought a 2 general and built an army in Gallia.

Martin (2R 3Y), newly encouraged by Good Augeries, killed the Allamani in Thracia. He built a Basilica and an army in Galatia. Ian rolled 1-1 for a crisis roll, adding one barbarian to every region around the edge of the board. He had 2B 1R 3Y: he was voted into Syria, built an army there and then boosted support in Asia.

Joe’s crisis roll sent five Franks onto the board. Three into my Gallia, 2 onwards to his own Hispania. He had 3Y 2R. He attacked the Franks in Hispania but he rolled his signature two ones. The Franks replied with a hit and the battle was lost. Joe boosted support in Hispania rather than lose it and then attacked and beat Ian’s army that was still hanging around in Africa.

Joe 17, Ian 13, Martin 12, Andrew 11.

Round five and I had 5B and 2R. I hired a 2 gov and got voted into Rome. But instead of being a boring old senate emperor, I base myself in Britannia with it’s high levels of support for lots of points. And just to make sure, I move my spare army from Gallia to Britannia. I’m able to buy two cards this round!

Martin (5R 2B 2Y) adds a third legion in Pannonia and moves the army into Italia, beating my sitting one-legion army there 3 hits to nil. He then becomes emperor. A boring old senate emperor. Lastly, he boosted support in Galatia.

Ian’s crisis roll sent the Priest King of Emesa into his own Syria. Bad news for both Ian and also Martin, as this stops any more emperor turns being added to the score track. Ian (5B 6Y) used the mystical (well, I didn’t understand it) power of the new Mobile Vulgaris card to use two yellow points to make Martin’s Thracia turn neutral. Ian then got voted into Pannonia, and boosted support both there and in Syria.

Joe’s crisis roll put a Sassanid into Syria to go with the Priest King already there. Joe had 4R 5B and he paid tribute to the Franks in Hispania. Then he foederatied a nomad from Africa and attacked the Franks. He lost the battle but did enough damage to kill them off. He then took back his tribute, and used it instead on the barbarians in Pannonia. I was a bit taken aback by this do-over of a move but, since it was all part of Joe’s go, no one else minded. To think a man so cheap with his words of tribute should aspire to become emperor! People in Pannonia didn’t seem to mind, since they happily voted for his governor.

Joe 26, Martin 21, Andrew 21, Ian 18.

My crisis roll at the start of round six sent more barbarians over the border. This time it was the Goths: three went to Martin’s Galatia and one kept going, ending up in Ian’s Syria to stand alongside the Sassanid and the Priest King already there.

I had 4B 2Y 3R. I put a new legion in my army in Gallia, foederatied a Frank into it as well and then attacked the remaining two Franks there, winning the battle and wiping them out! There was some discussion about where I should use my blue points, weaken Emperor Martin or Point Leader Joe? In the end, I let greed be my guide and got myself voted into Joe’s Hispania, nabbing an extra point for that Basilica there.

Martin rolled another event for his crisis roll and barbarian leader Ardashir arrived in the Sassanid homeland, obviously keen to join the party that was kicking off next door in Syria.

Martin had only 2R and 3Y. He heals armies in Thracia and Italia and boosted support in Galatia. He may have still been Emperor but with only two provinces, he couldn’t even buy a level three card, so he trashed a 1Y in disgust.

Ian also had a fallow round (2Y 3R) so he boosted support in Asia and then moved the wounded army from Joe’s Africa into Asia where he healed it.

Joe (6Y 1R) boosted support in Pannonia, built a Limes in Africa since there was a rank of four or five Nomads amassing on the border. He then used witchcraft (ie, Mobile Vulgaris) to neutralize my Hispania. Finally he takes a long time choosing his cards, which can’t have been helped by us constantly mentioning how long he was taking. “It’s been five minutes,” said Martin, aghast.

Joe 30 Andrew 30 Martin 25 Ian 22

Round seven and my crisis roll was 6-6, Pax Deorum! I was almost disappointed to see it because, just as Joe had finally put his cards down, he had to pick them up again and ponder what extra card to add to his hand.

I had the “balanced hand” of 3B 3R 3Y. I built an army in Gallia, moved it to Hispania where it lost to Joe despite having a Flanking Manoeuvre. I was voted in anyway, and then I had to boost support there or lose it immediately. I started to wonder if Hispania was really worth all this effort or whether Joe and I were fighting over it for the sake of pride. And the Basilica.

Martin, rolled 1-1. Ira Deorum! More barbarians everywhere! He was still only a two-province Emperor, hanging on to power thanks to his huge army stationed in Italia. He had a hand of 3Y 5B 2R, and he got voted into Thracia, bought a governor, and got voted into Pannonia. His support in Italia went up by two! Then he sent his Galatian army into Syria where it killed the Priest King, allowing him to pick up an Emperor turn. Then he boosted support in Pannonia and paid tribute to the Goths in Galatia. Finally he buys two (two!!) level four cards. A good move.

Ian’s crisis roll revealed inflation to huge amounts of disinterest: clearly no one was planning on building anything other than armies. He had 3B 6R 2Y. He added a legion to his Syrian army, used it to kill the Goth there and then, thanks to the new Forced March card, the Syrian army attacked again, wiping out that Sassanid. He added a legion in Asia and got voted into Martin’s Pannonia, boosting support there once he was in. An eleven point turn, putting him right back in the running.

Joe’s crisis roll sent two sassanids and sassanid leader Adashir into Ian’s newly barbarian-free Syria, with another one continuing until Aegyptus. With his hand of 7R 3Y 3B he got himself voted back into Hispania, and then used the Pretorian Guard to become Emperor! Finally he killed me in Hispania, then boosted support in Hispania in a clear message telling me leave it alone.

Joe 46, Martin 35, Andrew 35, Ian 33

Round eight, and my crisis roll sees our old favourite Zenobia arrive in Aegyptus. My hand is 4B 6R and, although it may seem tedious, I tried to take back Hispania again. After all, it would have me a Basilica and weakened Emperor Joe. It seemed worth it. I built an army in Gallia, foederatied a Frank from his homeland, moved into Hispania and beat Joe. However, the second part of my plan failed: I needed two votes with four dice and rolled 5-1-1-1. However, Martin seemed more upset about then I was, thinking this could hand Joe the win.

He rolled Shapur onto the map with his crisis roll and then agonized over how much to spend on becoming Emperor. His hand was 3B 3R 2Y and he began by healing his army in Syria, going to Aegyptus and killing Joe’s army there. He then used two blue points to get voted into Aegyptus (he rolled 6-6 and said “that’s how you roll, Andrew.”) Finally he used 1 blue and a Basilica to get over that remarkable low bar of one vote to be Emperor. He became a military emperor, and just for good measure foederatied a barbarian into his Italian army.

Ian rolled an event on his crisis roll: Palmyra Allies. This allowed him to remove some Sassanids from the map. Usually, this comes as a relief but this time Ian wanted to kill them for points. He had 1R 5Y 3B. He did win against the last Sassanid for three points. He boosted support in Pannonia and ummed and ahhed over what to do with his remaining 3Y 3B. He used Mobile Vulgaris against Martin’s Thracia, turning it neutral. His last three blue points were largely useless. He couldn’t even buy his next governor, since it was level four, so he ended there.

Joe (2R 3Y) had “quite a simple turn for me,” as he added a legion in Africa and boosted support in Africa.

Joe 50, Martin 42, Ian 41, Andrew 40

At the start of round nine, I had a strong feeling this would be my last move, so I front loaded my hand drastically leaving only dregs left in my available pile of cards. I, with 2Y 5R 5B got voted into Hispania, added a legion in Gallia and moved that to Pannonia to kill an Allamani. I bought my level 3 governor and was voted into Ian’s Pannonia. It felt wrong to attack the guy in third, but I was just after cheap points at this point.

Martin (7B 9R) and his Imperial Army moved from Italia across the seas to Galatia where he attacked the goths there. First he used his Spiculum card, which did damage at a distance, killing two. And then in the attack on the final goth, he rolled 6-6-6 for his three legions. But this lone Goth managed to inflict one hit despite this barrage of hate from Martin. Was this fatal blow against the emperor himself. A roll of the dice (a five or six) would tell. It was a five. The emperor was dead. No triumphant return to Rome for him as the senate went neutral.

But then Martin took his governor and got voted back as Emperor, a normal senate emperor. Next Martin foederatied a Nomad into his Egyptian army and attacked Zenobia. She died but wiped out Martin’s army in the process.

Then he sent his army from Thracia into the Allamani homeland and killed two of them with his other Spiculum card. He passed 60 points and was Emperor, thus ending the game. I was actually quite pleased about this, since my next hand of 1R 1B 3Y would not have done me any favours.

Ian (9R 2B) rolled another nomad for his crisis roll but, despite there being five of them, they still wouldn’t move. He used his red points with a Pretorian Guard to become Emperor. He used nine dice (all white ones, “let’s do this properly”) and succeeded.

Joe (3R 9B) had only 1 province on the board. He used his 2 blue to become emperor, unseating Ian in double quick time. He became a military emperor, joining his best army in Africa. He feoderatied a Nomad and then moved across the border to attack them. If they won’t come to him, he’ll go to them.

It was four against four. But the four nomads rolled 4-4-4-4. Four deadly hits. Would any of them kill the emperor? We had to roll four dice to see if any were a five or a six. The result was 6-6-6-4. Emperor Joe died of multiple stab wounds and we end the game with the curious sight of a neutral Emperor in Rome.

Martin 77
Joe 58
Ian 56
Andrew 55

What a game. The new cards really added to the experience and put some new life into the game. We were getting to the point where we knew what was going on and had fallen into a rut but this time we didn’t. Even after round one, we’d all bought different cards. It was much harder to guess what was about to happen.

But on the journey home, Joe got a text from Martin. He had checked the rules and his move of becoming emperor again was against the rules. On the drive back, me, Joe and Ian tried to work out if that would have made a difference and we couldn’t. All we knew is that it would have certainly added another round to the game, pushing it past midnight and perhaps making it outstay its welcome.