From: Dave Townsend Subject: Re: Julius Caesar Markus Stumptner writes: >... I wouldn't mind knowing more, also (to utter some >more specific questions) how upply is handled, and in what manner tribes >replace lost units. OK, I looked it over again last night and brought it into work today. First, let me sharpen some fuzziness in my remembrances of the political rules: there are 53 tribal cards, plus 6 random events, plus 11 blanks. The backs of the cards are marked with A/B [Aquitaini/Belgae] or C[eltae], so that you have some limited information about what your enemy might be holding. Finally, there are game balancing rules prohibiting the Romans from holding more than two of the most powerful tribes (Germans, Nervii, Aedui, Arverni, Combined Helvetians, and Helvetii). Supply: there are actual grain counters, which naturally enough play a very important role in the game. Units are automatically supplied in their home territories, or if they stay in town/port/fortified city; otherwise they use up grain. More strength = more grain used. You can get grain by stripping territories (each tribe is has a grain rating for this purpose) or capturing it in battle. On the positive side, the system pretty well represents supply problems -- at times, you are forced to take time off from campaigning to store up for the next campaign. And in a nice touch, the movement rate of a force is variable, depending on its composition and the amount of grain it's carrying. But the system does have some strangeness. Besieging units don't eat grain normally; instead, they consult the Siege table to see how much grain is used. Ordinarily, a force of 5 legions (10 strength points) would use 5 GPs/turn; but when sieging, they only expend 1 GP total. Something is obviously wrong here, but I never found out any errata. Less game busting, but still annoying, is that Romans use 1 GP for every 2 strength points rounded DOWN, so it's better for the Romans to have two stacks of 3 SP than to have one stack of 4 SP and one stack of 2 SPs. Replacing lost units: units (plural) is a bit of a misnomer, since each tribe only has one unit (albeit some have leaders). If that unit is eliminated, the tribe is subjugated. When the tribe is reactivated, the unit is put back into play, though dead leaders stay dead. So there's no military replacement system apart from the political system. The system is pretty tough for the Gallic player. Most of the tribes are rated only 1 SP, many are 2 SP, and only the six tribes I referred to earlier have more than 4 SP. Now, a legion is worth 2 SP and an auxilium 1 SP. So the Gaul needs to must a pretty good number of tribes to get a decent combat differential (no odds in this game). And they're going to need a big differential, because combat is heavily skewed in favor of the Romans. The table has results of A1, A2, ... A6 and D1, D2, ... D6 where the letter shows who's affected and the number shows the severity of the combat. What the number means depends on who its applied to: 1 means nothing against Romans, but eliminates 1 SP against Gauls; 2 means Romans lost 1 SP, or Gauls lose 25% of their force; and so on. [I hope this is clear.] Now, in gathering that big force necessary to really threaten the Romans, the Gauls need to remember that each tribe needs 1 GP, no matter how tiny. So supply becomes a problem. And if you try to get around it by massing in a fortified town (e.g. [certainly Latin's appropriate when discussing this game]), your asking for a Roman siege, complete with them using up less supply. The Romans have their problems, too, of course. Limited troops, a large country to pacify, and not really knowing when or where the next major revolt is going to be. Net result is a historical ebb and flow of play; there are quiet times as the Gauls try to assemble a decent hand, then a flurry of activity as a major revolt breaks out and the Romans try to deal with it. The victory conditions are pretty well done: the Romans gain/lose campaign points during the course of a year, and these are converted into victory points. Winning the scenario (there are three plus the campaign) involves meeting a victory point level. Chrome: random event cards, invasions of Britain and Germany, Caesar may raise legions (although there is a counter limit, and raising too many legions costs campaign points). Sometimes I see editorials about ever-burgeoning rulebook sizes, but I'll take a well-spaced, two column, 36 page GMT book over this 24 page, triple column, 8pt type rulebook anytime. Nothing too complex here, but there's a lot of verbiage. No designer's notes, either. >Have you any recollections of playing JC, playing times or so? There are 9 turns/year, 9 years (ignore the box cover) = 81 turns for the full campaign. While there are generally only a few forces on the map, it can take a while to plan supply and figure out which card you need least. >... Ironically, I'm also currently interested in the >topic, having set up the first teaching scenario for Imperium Romanum II >on the weekend - by chance, it deals with Vercingetorix' rebellion. :-) Another great game, although JC (problems and all) is better than IR2's scenario. Let us know what you think when you've gone through it. --DaveT; davet@magnet.com