Another day, another Tyrant

 Following on from the last two posts, here are a few more thoughts and another go at God Emperor! (a campaign system based on Mark Cardone's Augustus).

Rules

The following rules are for Solo play where, unlike in my former go, the player is both taking actions and responding to events.

The Random Events Table and additional Glory Points Table (for points earned through the Ruler's self-determined actions) appear in the previous post.

Roman Empire at the end of the reign of Gaius Maudlinus

Example of Play

The former ruler, Gaius Maudlinus has been assassinated by disgruntled Senators. His ambitious nephew, Taedious Maudlinus has taken control and has pledged to make Rome great again (and make himself and his mates a great deal of money).

 

Map showing the position of the Legions

The battles were once again fought using Dominion of the Spear rules and graphics on the PC for units. For year 1's move I determined that Rome could attack one of the three closest areas, two of which involved sea crossings. 

Rome v Illyricum

The Empire has grown in Year 1

and grown some more in Year 2

A short but busy reign for Taedious, and a footnote in History perhaps for grabbing some land.

Multi-Player (or Solo Multi-Ruler)

Two (or more?) rulers could easily be run in parallel with two record sheets and three (or more) dice being rolled for initiative. Perhaps a King of Caledonia has arisen seeking to build an Empire to rival that of Rome..? Both sides would be subject to Random Events that could aid or hamper their ambitions, and when their borders meet there would be a clash of empires. Lots of possibilities, though very little time (sigh). Any thoughts would be welcome.

God Emperor! Concluding the first stab at it..

 Continuing on from last weeks post, I have played the rest of the reign of Gaius Maudlinus (see below), but first a word about the game itself.

Surplus Dairiprodus by Uderzo

Game mechanics

For the first go at the game (well technically the second, but my Caesar was assassinated in year 2 of the first attempt) I only used the Random Events to run the game - Gaius was not a very proactive kind of leader. The following table is changed slightly from Mark's original - I used a d12 and added an extra line.

Rome started off with 3 Legions - as Provinces are captured, an extra Legion could possibly be raised in Years of Peace & Prosperity to a max. of 1 per Province gained.

I added Glory Points (GPs) from the following table - I think I was over generous in this first go as GPs were also given in the Random Events...

At the end of the incumbents' reign the total GPs are used to determine how the leader will be viewed by History. Again, I made a few changes to Mark's original (possibly based on a misreading of the rules):

The next go at this will certainly involve more decisions being made by the would-be Emperor, plus Random Events, so more aggressive play.

Game

At the end of the first session, Rome controlled most of the Italian peninsula - how would Gaius fair going forward?

Well there it is. Gaius didn't do too badly given he wasn't allowed to make any decisions!

I enjoyed the randomness of my first go and can see the system as being a nice way to run a campaign where the Random Events add to strategic play, so thanks to Mark for the great ideas! 

God Emperor! Rise of Rome...

 God Emperor! is my version of the clever Campaign system Augustus, devised by Mark Cardone (on the PW FB). I have set mine in the Roman Republic, where a new tyrant has scrambled his way to power and is attempting to create an empire for Rome, and a place in history for himself (hoping to end his reign as God Emperor). 

Map of potential territories to conquer 

So far (for speed) I've been resolving battles using Dominion of the Spear rules (available here).

The first battle (played yesterday lunchtime) was fought using blocks (thin printed card units using Junior General images glued onto MDF bases - an idea stolen from David Crook) while others have been played on the PC.

Block units (image is a bit poor due to bad light)

Battle fought on the PC

So far my would be Emperor has struggled but has just managed to grab his first territory; will he manage to keep it? Here's his progress to date (click on the image to make it more legible).

The final tally of Glory Points (GP) will determine how history judges the ruler.