From: slkrak Subject: Hannibal: the Second Punic War No one seems to have provided any information regarding a First Punic War varinat for "Hannibal: The Second Punic War". The July 1995 issue of "Moves" carried a nifty little variant along these lines. Play areas are restricted to the African theater, the Italian theater south of Arminium, Sardinia and Corsica.I personally think there should be no restriction with the New Carthage city being changed to a non-recruitment with only a level one fortress. New recruitment symbols are added to Aleria, Lilybaeum, Utica and Cirta. I question the Aleria recruitment symbol but assume the simulates the Carthaginian ability to hire Gallic and Spanish mercenaries during this war. All cities in Sicily are changed to level 2 fortresses. The green land route between Panormus and Messana is also added but this should also be a permanent change for the original game. The game turns are yearly commencing in 264 B.C. and ending in 241 B.C. unless victory conditions are achieved earlier. The Romans start in control of all areas in the Italian theater except Syracuse (neutral) and Panormus, Agrigentum and Lilybaeum (controlled by Carthage). Carthage also controls all areas in the African theater plus Sardinia and Corsica. The Romans start with Appius and two (2) red recruit infantry and two (2) orange regular infantry at Messena; an unnamed leader, two (2) red regular and two (2) red recruit infantry and one (1) red regular cavalry at Rome; one (1) red recruit infantry at Neapolis; and one (1) orange recruit infantry at Rhegium. The Carthaginians start with an unnamed leader, two (2) fleets, one (l) elephant, two (2) dark blue recruit infantry and one (1) dark blue regular cavalry at Carthage; an unnamed leader, one (1) regular dark blue infantry, two (2) light blue recruit infantry, one (1) light blue recruit cavalry and one (1) fleet at Lilybaeum; one (1) light blue recruit infantry at Aleria; and one (1) light blue recruit infantry at Utica. During the first game turn there is ONLY a Roman turn (ie., no diplomatic and no Carthaginian turn). There is a simple new diplomatic table with only seven (7) events: Rome seeks terms on a roll of 2; Rome gains allies on a roll of 3; Syracuse allies with Rome on a roll of 4 or 5; Building of the Roman fleet on a roll of 6, 7 or 8; Syracuse allies with Carthage on a roll of 9 or 10; Carthage gains allies on a roll of 11; and Carthage seeks terms on a roll of 12. I personally would have included events for a Numidian rebellion, Mercenary rebellion, Gallic support, Barbarian unrest, treachery, Rome rallies and Carthage rallies (see the diplomatic table from the original game). The variant also call for each side to be able to recruit up to fifteen (15) fleets per side. While I agree the number of fleets which a side can recruit needs to be increased (in my opinion only to 10 each side), there are some unresolved problems with the requirement of fleets to end their turns in a friendly naval base and the stacking restriction on fleets in naval bases of up to four (4) fleets. Perhaps the restriction should be increased up to six (6) fleets. This will probably cause more fleet interception but this may be in line with the large number of naval encounters in this war. Carthaginian dark blue unit may only be recruited in Carthage and Utica. Carthaginian light blue units may be recruited anywhere except those two cities. Roman red units may only be recruited in Rome, Capua and Neapolis. Roman orange units may be recruited anywhere except those three cities. Additional named leaders enter the game on specific game turns. For Carthage: Hanno and Hannibal Gisco on game turn 3; Hamiclar Barca on game turn 8; Hasdrubal on game turn 9; and Haderbal on game turn 14. All leaders have a battle factor of "2" and an action factor of "8". I would suggest changing Hamiclar Barca's action factor to "10" or "12" given his success in the war. For the Romans: Duilius on game turn 5; Regulus on game turn 9; Cecilius on game turn 14; and Catulus on game turn 23. All of these leaders have a battle factor of "2" and an action factor of "10". Each side is limited to a maximum of four (4) leaders in play at one time. In addition, any named Carthaginian which loses a battle resulting in a Major Victory for Rome is immediately replaced with an unnamed leader (representing the tendency for the Carthaginians to kill unsuccessful leaders). For the Romans, there is also a Consular Election rule which requires the Roman player to make a die roll for each of his named leaders at the end of his turn. On a roll of 5 or 6, the named leader is replaced with an unnamed leader. There is a +1 added to this die roll for each additional turn that named leader is in play after his second turn in play. Appropriately, a Disaster a Sea rule is also included. Any time a fleet moves, the owning player rolls two (2) dice and adds to this total, the number of sea zones crossed by the fleet(s). For the Romans, the fleet(s) are destroyed if the result is 9 or more. For the Carthaginians, the fleet(s) are destroyed on a result of 11 or more. The variant notes that optional rule 27.0 (Supply and Attrition) should not be used in this variant as far as sea movement is concerned. The Romans win the game if they control Rome, Lilybaeum and any two (2) cities in the African theater AND if they have not lost any recruiting city in the Italian peninsula (Sicily is not included). The Carthaginians win if they control Carthage, Messena and any three (3) cities in the Italian peninsula (again, not including Sicily) AND if they have not lost Lilybaeum or any recruiting city in Africa. If neither player can satisfy these conditions by 241 B.C., then the players calculate victory points in accordance with the original game parameters. If I have time in the future, I will try to post some additional variant considerations for the original game which divide recruiting into Roman/Italian and Libo-Phoenician/Numidian/Spanish/Gallic and Italian divisions each with their own seperate limitations and restrictions.