I have an idea for a mini campaign that is inspired by a boardgame published by Compass Games called „Spartacvs: Crisis in the Roman Republic 80 – 71BC”.
Introduction:
I won't get into details regarding the boardgame itself (for anyone interested, check boardgamegeek or designer's notes). Suffice to say the game depicts one of the pivotal moments of Roman history when it faced war on three fronts – against the Pontic king Mithridates, rebellion of Sertorius in Iberia, and Spartacus' slave revolt. The Republic itself was already weakened at that time by previous Mithridatic wars, a civil war with its Italian allies (Social War) and a struggle for supremacy between Marius and Sulla.
What I liked the most in the game was a concept of Republic Crisis Track (RCT). The idea behind it was that apart from external pressures Rome could also fall due to anarchy, civil war etc. The external threats were interconnected with RCT in a way that loosing wars would put more pressure on Rome to recruit large armies and giving them under command of influential and already popular generals. This in turn could result in another civil war which could lead to the collapse of the Republic. I thought that slightly modified idea of crisis track could be used for scoring mechanic for my mini campaign.
Rules:
Key points first:
I would like to create a mini campaign that plays fast (so we can finish it) with minimal bookkeeping and no need for an umpire (so I can also play it). I like creating historical narratives and watch how the alternate history unfolds. Loosing can be interesting especially if there is a good commentary at the end, so even if players are loosing they can enjoy the ride. I like fighting my battles in FOG2 to the bitter end and want the rules to support it. With this in mind the rules are following:
6 players, 2 teams (Roman vs anti-Roman coalition of Sertorius, Slaves and Mithridates).
3 rounds
Terrain:
Mithridatic War - Middle Eastern agricultural
Sertorian War – Mediterranean agricultural
Third Servile War – Mediterranean agricultural
Armies:
Roman 105-25BC
Spanish (Sertorius) 80-70BC
Pontic 84-47BC
Slave Revolt 73-71BC
Battle type: open
Battle size: medium
Force selection: auto
Factions and players:
Republic of Rome:
Roman player A: Hendricus
Roman player B: AlessandroD
Roman player C: Doyley50
Coalition:
Coalition player A: devoncop
Coalition player B: ggarynorman
Coalition player C: olin0111
Schedule of play:
1st round
Roman player A – Coalition player A Sertorius
Roman player B – Coalition player B Slaves
Roman player C - Coalition player C Mithridates
2nd round
Roman player A - Coalition player C Slaves
Roman player B - Coalition player A Mithridates
Roman player C - Coalition player B Sertorius
3rd round
Roman player A - Coalition player B Mithridates
Roman player B - Coalition player C Sertorius
Roman player C - Coalition player A Slaves
This way each Roman player will play against each Coalition player. Each round the Coalition players will command different armies and Roman players will face different armies.
I believe the mini campaign is short enough that we do not need to set any time limit for each round. With a bit of dedication and goodwill from all the players I believe we can fight the battles to conclusion in a reasonable time.
Victory Points per battle are awarded based on the difference in losses between the victor and the losing side (from the battle summary screen):
0 - pyrrhic victory - <10%
1 - minor victory - 10 - 20%
2 - victory - 21% - 29%
3 - major victory - 30 - 37%
4 - epic victory >=38%
Hopefully we will all be gentelmen and fight to the end
but in case any side concedes this is an automatic legendary victory for the other side. Victory tracks:
Crisis Track represents Rome's stability in the face of external and internal threats combined. The idea is that under extreme external pressure presented by the Coalition, internal threats will magnify and this will cause the collapse of the Republic. The Romans score positive points (averting the crisis). The Coalition scores negative points (increasing the crisis). This is the main victory track.
For historical reasons the score is tilted slightly in Coaltion's favor. Rome cannot afford to win on average only pyrrhic victories. Therefore, the score of 0 is a slight coalition victory.
Levels of victory:
-27 to -36 - Rome what? Never heard of it.
-18 to -26 - The Republic is no more. It has been partitioned. Hopefully some of its legacy survives.
-9 to -17 - Collapse of the Republic is imminent. Another civil war broke out. Seeing the weakness neighbours attack from all directions and protectorates sever their ties wtih Rome.
-5 to -8 - Collapse of the Republic is on the horizon. To stave off total defeat the Senate allows for a recuritment of large armies under the most wealthy and popular generals.
Even though the provinces are in flames the generals' attention is concentrated on Rome...
-1 to -4 - The Republic begins its slow descent into anarchy.
0 - Slight coaltion victory. Sort of status quo that means the war with one or more oponnents still rages on. The treasury is depleted. On paper the Republic still holds but it is currently in (albeit very slow) decline. Internal strife continues. Any additional setback can be the proverbial last straw for Rome.
1 to 4 - Minor victory. The Republic has gained an upper hand and averted the crisis but it was a gruelling uphill battle.
5 to 8- The historical result. The Republic is winning and slowly recovering politically.
9 to 17- Better than historical. The opposition is wiped quickly followed by an accellerated time of conquests.
18 to 26- The so called Coalition was really just an insignificant obstacle in Rome's path to true glory.
27 to 36- A new Golden Age. 2000 years from now the Roman Empire will be the first to colonize Mars!
Separate War Tracks represent how well each side did on particular theater of war. This is mainly here for narrative purposes so we can have a good story to tell when we bring the mini campaign to conclusion. I will write some summary after we finish
Levels of victory in individual war:
-10 to -12 - Epic Roman victory
-7 to -9 - Major Coalition victory
-4 to -6 - Coalition victory
-1 to -3 - Minor Coalition victory
0 – truce/draw
1 to 3 - Minor Roman victory
4 to 6 - Roman victory
7 to 9 - Major Roman victory
10 to 12 - Epic Roman victory
Once the campaign begins there will be no rules modifications. Again, this is quite short endeavour so we can treat it as a test run and modify things in the future versions.
So I'm looking for 5 players. First come first served, of course
