CotE Variant Rules

8/3/2019 CotE Variant Rules

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cote-variant-rules 1/18

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Conquest of the EmpireVariant Rules

Version 1.1Thomas L. Boeche (TLB) [MOVES #70 Jun-Jul 1992]

Ralph Boerke (RB) <[email protected]>Brian Bradford (BB) <[email protected]>

[http://members.aol.com/kulkmann/empire.htm]

Rob Burns (RBHG)

Jason Gallentine (JGa) <[email protected]>Jonathan Glennon (JG) <[email protected]>

Joseph Hackel (JH)

Lawrence H. Harris (LHH) [VI Caesars]

Richard Hutnik (RH) <[email protected]>"Imp" (I) <[email protected]>

Donovan Loucks (DL) <[email protected]>

Michael Montesa (MM)

Denis Papp (DP) <[email protected]>

Joshua Randall (JR) <[email protected]>

Collated, edited and enriched byDaniel U. Thibault (DUT) <[email protected]>

Strategy Hints

(JH) Capture the islands early. No one ever fights over them, and they provide easytribute.

Playing With All Six Caesars

(I) When playing with less than four players, all six Caesars are accounted for. If two

play, then the players take every other home province (e.g. Italy, Macedonia, Numidia).If three play, then they take every third home province.

Map Modifications & Clarifications

(RBHG) Arabia and Tingitana are worth 10 instead of 5.

(RBHG) Mesopotamia and Arabia are adjacent.

(DUT) Mesopotamia and Arabia are not adjacent. [Clearly this is a question that needs to

be settled by the players before play begins]

(RBHG) Italia starts (instead of Macedonia). This is because Italia is one of the weakestpositions on the board.

(JGa) Numidia and Egyptus have very little land into which to expand, which oftenmakes them the poorest players (financially) in the game and thus the easiest targets. To

balance the game I would make all provinces in Africa worth 10 talents and every otherprovince on the board worth 5 talents each —even ones containing home provinces!



Conquest of the Empire - Variant Rules

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Eliminating Caesars

(RBHG) To be eliminated, you must lose both your capital and your Caesar. Each isworth a 50 talent bonus to the conqueror/captor. If your Caesar is captured, he re-appears

in your capital.

(DP) Reduce the bonus for capturing a Caesar to 50 talents.(DP) Captured Generals belonging to the defeated Caesar now belong to you —and arethus available in your capital. Your own Generals that were captured by him are released

at the defeated Caesar’s capital. Other players’ captured Generals are transferred to yourcapital to continue their captivity. Note that the defeated Caesar can execute captured

Generals “at any time during a later turn” (his or another player’s). Since the player is“immediately eliminated from the game” upon losing his Caesar, he must declare he’s

executing your soon-to-be-freed captured Generals before his Caesar dies —that is,before the fateful die roll that eliminates his Caesar’s last defending combat unit.

Lower Inflation

(DP) The inflationary effect could be reduced to 1.5x and 2x instead of 2x and 3x. Thiswould allow for larger armies on the map and would make the game more dynamic,

maybe.

Cheaper Cavalry

(JR) We found that players were reluctant to purchase Cavalry (which costs 25 talents

each) instead of two Infantry (at 10 talents each). It was simply more effective to havemasses of Infantry —particularly when for 100 talents you'd get 10 Infantry but only 4

Cavalry— even though Cavalry move farther per turn. Therefore, we reduced the basecost of Cavalry to 20 (double the cost for Infantry). This succeeded in encouraging the

purchase and use of Cavalry in limited quantities to create fast-moving "strike forces".

Having 20 talents with which to buy troops no longer resulted in a no-brainer decision of taking 2 Infantry; sometimes you wanted 1 Cavalry instead.

FAQ: Conquering Empty Provinces

(DP, DUT) Is an empty province considered a combat situation, thus preventing an

invading Caesar or General from moving again? No. An empty province is an automaticconquest without combat (see Winning A Battle: Conquering A Province).

Roads

(JH) The manual says you can travel from city to city unlimitedly in one turn if the roadsconnect. This means you can go from Bythinia-Pontus to Alexandria in one movement.

Is this historically possible? I don't think so. Here are our road rules:

• Roads double the movement rate of all land pieces.

• Roads have to be constructed by infantry (not cavalry). A Legion can build a roadwhile on the march, but only if it is in control of the province at the end of the turn.

So, it leaves a road in its wake like a snail slime trail (as it moves at the beginning of next turn).




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• You can still only build roads between cities. Opponents are still unable to use

"your" roads.

Buying Roads

(LHH) In VI Caesars, Conquest of the Empire’s ancestor game, Roads do not appear

spontaneously but must be built. The pre-inflationary cost is 5 talents for a short roadand 10 talents for a long road. Presumably you must build a long road if the space

between the cities is sufficient to accommodate it. (For tournaments, a connection matrixshould be drawn up that specifies the connectable cities and the corresponding road

lengths)

FAQ: Naval Combat

(DP, DUT) Since Galleys are not considered part of a Legion, can they move freely about

the map if empty? No. Galleys are combat units; thus a combat situation occurs as soonas a Galley encounters another player’s combat units (including lone Galleys).

Naval Movement

(TLB) The official rulebook states:

A galley that has landed on the coast of a land or island province at the end of its

previous turn can set sail from the coast of that province into any sea zone adjacent to

that province.

This rule seems illogical and makes the oceans in the game too "small". Navalmovement and strategy is made much more interesting simply by forcing a galley to set

sail from the province in which it landed into the same sea zone which it occupied beforelanding. In other words, treat each coastline separately and have the galleys land on

specific coastlines. This simple rule change is common sense, makes the oceans "bigger"

and makes the naval game that much more interesting.(RB) When a Galley lands on a coast, it should be placed at a province-sea zone-sea zonenexus point when such exists (they constitute the province's "ports", so to speak). On its

next move, the Galley can enter either of the nexus' two adjacent sea zones. (DUT) Thisis similar in spirit to TLB's variant above, but a little more flexible.

Strait Crossings

(I) Land combat units can move across the Bosporus (Thracia/Asia) and Gibraltar(Baetica/Tingitana) without a galley. This prevents Italy and Egypt from being

sandwiched, and everybody gets a two-front war. (DUT) Might as well make the strait of Messina (Sicilia/Neapolis) crossable too.




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Breaching Fortifications & Sieges

(RB) In addition to giving an initial combat advantage, fortifications absorb the first hitfrom the attacker. That first hit breaches the walls instead of causing a casualty, and from

that point on the fortification is ignored (The attackers rush in and normal land battletakes place). Another way of looking at it would be to state that the fortification is the

first casualty of the battle on the defender's side, but that it comes back as soon as thebattle is concluded. Important: Fortifications can only be attacked by a Legion that

includes a catapult —without a catapult, the attacker must conduct a siege instead.

(DUT) On the besieged player's turn, he can conduct a sortie, perhaps in combination

with Legions coming from another area. This is resolved as a normal land battle, withoutthe fortification advantages (the battle occurs outside the city walls). If no sortie occurs,

a die is rolled. On the first siege turn, the defender loses a combat unit on a 1; on thesecond turn of siege, he loses a combat unit on a 1 or 2, and so on. From the sixth turn of

siege onward, the defender simply loses a combat unit automatically. Place a die besidethe besieged city to keep track of the number of siege turns that have elapsed.

New combat units may not be placed in a besieged capital. Coastal cities are notconsidered besieged if the defender controls the adjacent sea zone. In such a case, thesiege die is reset and the defender does not roll for siege casualties. The besieger must

lift the siege by moving his Legions away on his next turn, or else re-establish the siegeby eliminating the defender's sea presence.

Cities as Areas

(LHH) In VI Caesars, Conquest of the Empire’s ancestor game, the Cities are treated as

areas within provinces. Each City may accommodate up to seven land combat units (alegion). If a province and its City are controlled by different players, neither collects

tribute. When attacking a province, the attacker must typically fight the Legions that are

outside the City. Once they’ve been disposed of or have withdrawn, the remainingattacking force may then attack the City. Since Roads go through Cities, an hostile Cityprevents Road movement through its province.

Retreats

(DP) The rules allow an attacking force to retreat to any adjacent province, which couldbe exploited to allow infantry to move more than their usual single area. An alternate

rule would be to state that an attacking force may withdraw only to one of those adjacentprovinces it came from. [This doesn’t completely eliminate potential abuse but does

mitigate it]

Alternate Combat Systems(DUT) A number of alternate combat systems are listed below and it could be interesting

to try mixing and matching parts borrowed from several. For example, theShogun/Samurai Swords "virtual garrison" and/or general/caesar rule could be combined

with the VI Caesars combat system…




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(DP) The Conquest of the Empire combat system is particularly chaotic compared to

other games in the series. Because players alternate rolling dice regardless of theirLegions’ respective sizes, strong combat units such as Catapults don’t really “need”

accompanying weaker units (such as Infantry) and succeed rather unrealistically whenfaced by swarms. [(DUT) A lengthy statistical analysis follows which can be

summarised as follows: Yes, this combat system begs for a replacement]Combat Trade-Offs

(DP) Players have the option of forfeiting their combat roll and automatically lose 4Infantry to remove one opposing Catapult. Against a +1 combat advantage situation this

is even. This means a player who doesn't feel lucky enough to roll a 6 can go for aguaranteed alternative. Alternatively, make it 3 Infantry, with the option of losing a

fourth Infantry in return for a combat roll. [(DUT) What would the trade-off be betweenCavalry and Infantry, or Cavalry and Catapults?]

Combat Persistence

(DP) Every x rounds of firing at the same unit you get +1. So with Persistence 1, youinitially need a 6 to kill a Catapult, then a 5, then a 4, and so on. Persistence 2 seems to

work better. This rule reduces the luck factor by limiting the number of rolls required totake out any given enemy combat unit.

(DP) A variant on persistence goes like this: If you miss a certain unit 5 times, your sixthroll will automatically hit it. So bring along 6 Infantry and you know you will get at least

one of his Catapults.

Two-Dice Combat

(DP) Use two dice for hitting units instead of one. Infantry is killed on 7+, Cavalry on 8+

and Catapults on 10+ (Alternately, the kill numbers are 8, 9, 10). Critical hits and misses

can be introduced in this system: snake-eyes (an unmodified dice roll of 2) makes youlose one of your own combat units (of your choice —friendly fire), whilst box-cars (anunmodified dice roll of 12) kills two enemy combat units (your target and another combat

unit chosen by your opponent).

Combat Advantage By Numbers

(DP) Give a +1 combat advantage to the larger Legion.

Persistent Combat Advantage

(DP) Combat advantage is not recalculated between combat rounds. This allows morestrategic flexibility in picking the targets during the combat (because now you’re thinking

about how you’d like the opposing legion to come out of the combat), but doesexacerbate the Catapult problem (see below).

(DP) A variant on this is that your combat advantage is recalculated only once every oneof your combat units has attacked (rolled a die). This is kind of fiddly to keep track of.




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Rotating Targets

(DP) Once you’ve killed your opposing target combat unit, you must switch target typesin the following rounds. For example, once you’ve killed a Catapult you must kill

something else (if available) before being allowed to target Catapults again. Alternately,force a target type change every combat round.

Collateral Damage

(DP) If you miss your target but roll one more than the kill number of a “lesser” combatunit, you get that kill instead. For example, if you go after a Catapult (6) and roll a 5, you

kill an Infantry (4).

VI Caesars-Style Combat

(LHH) In VI Caesars, Conquest of the Empire’s ancestor game, a Tactical Display of

seven columns is used. The defender arranges his units as he wishes amongst the sevencolumns, possibly leaving some empty. He may not put more than 3 combat units in any

given column. He may not use more columns than there are attacking combat units. If

there are more than 21 defending combat units present, the remainder are kept off thedisplay as reserves. Once the defender is done, the attacker places his combat units. Hemust face each defending column. Once he’s put three combat units against each

defending column, any excess attackers may be put in empty columns and the defender isthen forced to move some of his combat units into the hitherto empty columns. If the

attacker enjoys more than a three-to-one force ratio, the excess attacking units are keptoff the display as reserves.

Each column is treated as a separate battle. The combat factors are added up andaugmented by a single die roll. If the attacking column’s total beats the defending

column’s, the defenders are removed; otherwise the attackers are removed (defender wins

ties). After each column has fought once, the combat round is concluded. If there areremaining forces on both sides, the attacker has the option of withdrawing (to anyadjacent friendly province(s)) instead of continuing the combat for another round. If he

does not withdraw, the defender may withdraw in turn. There is no withdrawal possiblefor either side during sea combat, or when attacking an island. If a new round of combat

occurs, the defender deploys first, followed by the attacker —just like with the firstround.

• Infantry has a combat factor of 1.

• Cavalry has a combat factor of 2 on land, 1 at sea and when defending within a City.

• Catapults have a combat factor of 3 on land, 1 at sea and negate the effect of opposing

Fortifications in their column.

• Fortifications add one combat factor to each defending column.

(DUT) In VI Caesars, there were no galleys. So, to round out the combat system above,

here's how I envision sea battles being resolved (galleys still don't fight on land). Eachgalley is considered to straddle two adjacent columns, and the combat units it was

carrying are spread between those two (with the eventual seventh combat unit kept inreserve behind the galley). It adds its combat strength (of 1) to both columns. Once a

galley has been cleared of its defenders, it may be attacked.




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Axis & Allies-Style Combat

(RB) Combat is conducted in the same way as in Axis & Allies. That is to say, theattacker rolls dice for all of his combat units, scoring hits against the defender. The

defender earmarks a corresponding number of units as casualties, then rolls for his hits.The attacker removes his casualties at the same time as the defender, and the combat

round recurs unless either side retreats. Combat Advantage is ignored.

• Infantry score a hit on a 1-2 (attack and defence).

• Cavalry score a hit on a 1-3 (attack and defence); when on board a galley, they scoreon a 1-2.

• Catapults score a hit on a 1-4 (attack and defence).

• Fortifications reduce the attacker's hit rolls by one except for catapults (so infantry

hits on a 1, cavalry on a 1-2 and catapults on a 1-4).

• Galleys score a hit on a 1-2 (attack and defence); however, galleys roll to hit onlyonce all friendly land combat units have been eliminated. Likewise, galleys can be

eliminated by their owner only once all friendly land combat units have been

eliminated.

Shogun/Samurai Swords-Style Combat

(BB) Combat is conducted in a way similar to Shogun's (Samurai Swords'):

TO-HIT NUMBERS (attack and defence)

Catapult/Galley hits on a 1-2

Cavalry (on land) hits on a 1-3Infantry/Cavalry (at sea) hits on a 1

Each step is performed one after another. Casualties are removed after each step, owner's

choice.

1) Attacker rolls for Catapults and Galleys

2) Defender rolls for Catapults and Galleys3) Attacker rolls for Cavalry (on land)

4) Defender rolls for Cavalry (on land)5) Attacker rolls for Infantry (and embarked Cavalry)

6) Defender rolls for Infantry (and embarked Cavalry)

Repeat the combat round until either side is destroyed or retreats. This procedure covers

land combat, sea combat and amphibious landings (e.g. when attacking a land provincefrom both land and sea at once).

Note: If a Galley is chosen as a casualty, any land combat units on board are killed too.Combat units may not be transferred between Galleys once battle begins.

CITY BENEFITS

City Adds 3 bonus infantry to defence.

Fortified City Adds 5 bonus infantry to defence.

Note: Bonus troops must be lost first in combat; they are removed after the battle is

concluded, should they survive.




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GENERAL/CAESAR BENEFITS

Generals and Caesars (but not Cities) may be attached to a combat unit at the beginningof each combat round; this provides +1 to the unit's to-hit number. If the unit is

destroyed during that round, the General/Caesar may not use his bonus any further in thatbattle.

The Problem With Catapults

(MM) My crew and I have been playing Conquest of the Empire like madmen, and the

catapult issue has come up. We do feel that they are extremely powerful weapons thatcan dominate the game if things get to that point. If the balance of power tips towards

one or two players early on, the others are dead. But if everyone is able to grow equallythe first few turns, the catapult issue becomes more like a "balance of terror" thing; if one

player has more catapults than his neighbour, or more than anyone else, everyone wantsto kill that player off before he can do too much damage.

In one of our first games, the Galatian player spent nearly the whole game building up anarmy, a huge army; he had the majority of all the combat units on the board, except

catapults. He was going after the Egyptian player, who read the hieroglyphs on the walland managed to buy more catapults than the Galatian player. Well the inevitable attack came and the Galatian player, who had nearly a 3:1 numerical advantage, was wiped out

and the Egyptian lost only two infantry. Something seemed wrong with that.

In a later game, we were fully into the Mutually Assured Destruction thing: the catapults

were evenly shared out. However, large Infantry/Cavalry forces were smashed by one ortwo catapults, fighting alone (with a general of course), acting like Punic Panzer tanks.

What the…?

(DUT) The various fixes that have been proposed (see below) approach the problem in

three basic ways: limiting catapult availability, limiting the combat advantage and

increasing catapult vulnerability. I lean towards either Limited Number per Legioncombined with Catapult Screening or Limited Combat Advantage.

Catapult Fix: Limited Number per Legion

(JH) No more than one Catapult per Legion (7 troops).

(RBHG) No more than two Catapults per Legion.

Catapult Fix: One Per Player

(I) Each player is only allowed one catapult. This keeps a constant imbalance betweenthe fronts…One will always be under-defended.

Catapult Fix: More Expensive

(DL, DP) The Catapult pre-inflationary cost is now 50 talents.




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Catapult Fix: No Combat Advantage

(JG) I've been toying with ideas about how to deal with the problem of catapultsuperiority and the closely related problem of players being unwilling to build cities

because they feel the money would be better spent buying catapults instead. As per therules, without cities you don't have roads, and roads and cities are what Rome was known

for! I'm considering playing a game where catapults have no combat advantage andfortified cities still have a +1. I think this would downgrade the value of the catapult to a

reasonable level and seriously entice people to build fortified cities and thus roads.

Catapult Fix: Limited Combat Advantage

(TLB, RH) One of the major flaws in Conquest of the Empire is the rule dealing with the

Combat Advantage, which is gained by the player who has more catapults and/or afortified city in each particular combat. The Combat Advantage rule made the player

with the most catapults nearly invincible, and set off an early "arms race" of catapultpurchases. This variant changes the Combat Advantage rule as follows:

The side with the greater number of catapults and/or a fortified city in a battle has acombat advantage of +1. A combat advantage can never be greater than +1.

This rule neatly solves the problem of the invincible Legion of catapults sweeping overthe map board. Catapults are still the most powerful weapon on the board, and they will

probably be a necessity to have any chance at conquering an opponent's fortified cities,but they no longer dominate the game as they did under the original rules.

Catapult Fix: Catapult Screening

(MM) Catapults which are not matched on a 1:1 basis by a friendly infantry or cavalryunit may be attacked and destroyed on a 4+ (same as infantry). Otherwise they are

destroyed on a 6 as usual.

So, for example, if you have 2 catapults and 2 infantry, your opponent still needs a 6 to

destroy the catapults —they are screened by the infantry. But if you lose an infantry, oneof your now un-screened catapults can be destroyed on a 4+.

Before, when attacked by a catapult equipped force, there really wasn't much reason totry and kill infantry or cavalry when the catapults were the big ticket items that could

cause so much damage. Most players thought that, if they were going to be wiped out,they might as well try to attack the catapults every time. With this rule, attacking the

screening forces becomes a valid tactic, and the battles become much more interestingand not such a foregone conclusion.

(RBHG) Like (MM) above except the Catapults can be killed on 4+ only once there are

no other combat units left in the Legion. In other words, just one Cavalry or Infantry canscreen any number of Catapults.

(DUT) This rule can be readily combined with the VI Caesars combat system.




10/18

Random Events I

(JH) To add more spice to the game we added a random events phase. At the beginningof each player's turn, he must roll a 6-sided die. On a 6, he gets a random event, which

occurs immediately. Roll another 6-sided die to determine which event occurs:

1)

Technological Advance: Stirrups or heavy armoured cavalry are invented. AllLegions with a cavalry component (on land of course) get a +1 combat advantage. If cavalry is priced at 20 talents (cf. the cheaper cavalry optional rule), heavy cavalry

reverts to 25 talents.

2) Famine/Poor Harvest: Receive half normal tribute this turn.

3) Brilliant General: One of the player's generals (picked at random by a throw of adie) is revealed as a brilliant military commander (e.g. Julius Caesar, Belisarius,

Trajan, etc.). He is marked with a token, which remains under him. Any Legionunder his command gets an additional +1 bonus. If he is in the company of other

generals, the bonus is lost (too many cooks spoil the broth).

4) Earthquake: An earthquake devastates one city of that player (determined randomly).If the city has a fortification, that fortification is destroyed. If the city does not have afortification, no tribute will be collected from that province (the talents going intorepairs) for 3 turns.

5) Efficient Tax Collectors: Receive 10 extra talents for each city you own (this turnonly).

6) Barbarian Invasion: The player's territory is invaded by a 4 infantry unit army whichwill move towards the player's home province by the most direct route at a movement

rate of one province per turn. On the turn this event occurs, the invading barbariansappear in the province indicated below. On the player's next turn, they move one

province closer to his home province. On his third turn they will attack his capital. Macedonian player: Dacia (rampaging unwashed Goths)

Galatian player: Syria (sneaky Parthians) Egyptian player: Syria (sneaky Parthians)

Numidian player: Mauritania (Berbers) Hispanian player: Lugudunensis (Briton raiders)

Italian player: Belgica (Gauls)

• Any province that the barbarians occupy reverts to its unconquered state and will

need to be reconquered later on. Adjust tribute accordingly.

• The barbarians move at the beginning of the player's own movement phase. If

they reach the home province, they will attack it. If they encounter another cityon the way (owned by any player) they will attack it instead. If they defeat thecity's defenders, it is destroyed, even if fortified. They will then start to withdraw,

moving back towards their point of origin and being removed from play on theturn after they reach it.




11/18

• The barbarian army can be bought off at a pre-inflationary price of 8 talents per

unit. You cannot buy the army off piecemeal —this is an all-or-nothingproposition.

• If the barbarian army is met by a Legion, it can be enrolled as auxiliaries in that

Legion at the pre-inflationary cost of 10 talents per unit (all-or-nothing). If there

isn't enough room in the Legion to accommodate them, any surplus barbarians aredismissed —but they're still paid 10 talents each. The barbarians may only beenrolled in the presence of a general; they pledge themselves to him personally

and will refuse to be led by any other. If their general abandons them, they aredisbanded.

Random Events II

(TLB) An extra step is now added to the Action Sequence. Before each player'sMovement Phase, he must now carry out a Random Events Phase. The player rolls two

dice (designating one die as the "tens" die), and consults the Random Events Tablebelow. After determining which event will occur, the player again rolls two dice to

determine in which province that event will take place (see the Province Selection Table).The details of the random events are described in the Random Events Key.

When a Barbarian Revolt is called for, players may use spare game markers to representthe barbarians, or an even better solution is for the players to purchase a box of plastic

"barbarian" figures which can be had quite cheaply at almost any hobby or toy store.These Barbarian figures are destroyed in combat on a roll of 3+.

The random events make the game more fun to play because the players are never surewhat calamities might strike, or whether a barbarian revolt might spring up in a "secure"

province far behind the front lines. With the addition of these random events no twogames are ever the same, and play is certainly no longer stereotyped.




12/18

Province Selection Table

Roll Province Roll Province Roll Province

11 Moesia 31 Noricum 51 Neapolis

12 Cyrenaica 32 Dacia 52 Achaia

13 Africa Procons 33 Lusitania 53 Narbonensis

14 Pannonia 34 Baetica 54 Aquitania

15 Mesopotamia 35 Lugudunensis 55 Palestina

16 Rhetia 36 Belgica 56 Dalmatia

21 Tingitana 41 Cappadocia 61 Corsica

22 Britannia 42 Pontus et Bithynia 62 Creta

23 Germania 43 Thracia 63 Cyprus

24 Armenia 44 Asia 64 Baleares

25 Arabia Petrea 45 Syria 65 Sardinia

26 Caesariensis 46 Cilicia 66 Sicilia

Note how this table excludes the home provinces.

Random Events Table

Roll Event Roll Event Roll Event

11 Divine Intervention 31 Wild Horse Herds 51 Gold Mining

12 Barbarian Revolt 32 Barbarian Attack 52 Gales at Sea

13 Gales at Sea 33 Volcano 53 Plague

14 Gold Mining 34 Barbarian Revolt 54 Rescue Raid

15 Wild Horse Herds 35 Gold Mining 55 Famine

16 Barbarian Attack 36 Gales at Sea 56 Barbarian Revolt

21 Desertion 41 Silver Mining 61 Barbarian Revolt

22 Earthquake 42 Desertion 62 Gales at Sea

23 Barbarian Attack 43 Plague 63 Silver Mining

24 Barbarian Revolt 44 Flood 64 Plague

25 Gales at Sea 45 Barbarian Revolt 65 Rescue Raid

26 Silver Mining 46 Gales at Sea 66 Divine Intervention




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Random Events Key

Barbarian AttackBarbarians in any one province of the phasing player's choice may attack one adjacent

province.

Barbarian RevoltThe phasing player rolls one die and places that number of Barbarians on a provincechosen at random using the Province Selection Table. If the province is currently

occupied by a player's forces, combat occurs immediately.

Desertion

The phasing player rolls one die for every infantry, cavalry and catapult he has on theboard. On a roll of 1 the piece "deserts" and is removed from the board.

Divine InterventionThe phasing player rolls two dice. If a 2 or 12 is rolled that player immediately collects

75 talents (inflate the amount if inflation is in vigour).

Earthquake, Flood, Famine, VolcanoThese calamities strike one province chosen at random using the Province SelectionTable. The phasing player rolls 1 die. The number rolled is the number of combat units

removed from that province. The owning player chooses which units to remove.

Gales at Sea

The phasing player rolls one die for every ship currently at sea:1-2: No effect

3-5: Ship must immediately land on an adjacent province chosen by the owning player6: Ship is sunk

Gold/Silver Mining

The phasing player immediately collects 20/10 talents.

PlaguePlague strikes one province chosen at random using the Province Selection Table. The

phasing player rolls one die for each combat unit in that province. On a roll of 4-6 thatunit is removed from the board.

Rescue RaidThe phasing player tolls one die. On a roll of 5 or 6 he may recover all of his captured

generals from any one enemy.

Wild Horse Herds

The phasing player rolls one die and immediately places that number of cavalry units in

his home province.




14/18

Random Events III

(DUT) Here are a Random Events Table and Random Events Key that combine TLB'sand JH's whilst adding a few of my own. The Province Selection Table is unchanged but

we now need a Sea Zone Selection Table.

The random event phase of a player's turn begins with a random event check. When thegame is first set up, the players agree on a "random event level", a number between 1 and6 inclusive. The random event check consists of rolling a die and comparing it with that

level; if the die roll is less than or equal to it, a random event occurs. Clearly, JH believesthe random event level should be 1 whilst TLB believes it should be 6. Shall we split the

difference and recommend a 3?

Sea Zone Selection Table

Roll Sea Zone Roll Sea Zone Roll Sea Zone

11 Oceanus Britannicus 31 Mare Numidia 51 Mare Alexandria

12 Oceanus Atlanticus 32 Mare Tyrrhenum 52 Mare Pelusium

13 Mare Cantabricum 33 Mare Sabrata 53 Mare Rhodus

14 Mare Hispalis 34 Mare Libycum 54 Mare Aegaeum

15 Mare Baliaricum 35 Mare Epirus 55 Pontus Euxinus

16 Mare Narbo 36 Mare Adriaticum 56 Mare Amisus

21 Oceanus Britannicus 41 Mare Numidia 61 Mare Alexandria

22 Oceanus Atlanticus 42 Mare Tyrrhenum 62 Mare Pelusium

23 Mare Cantabricum 43 Mare Sabrata 63 Mare Rhodus

24 Mare Hispalis 44 Mare Libycum 64 Mare Aegaeum

25 Mare Baliaricum 45 Mare Epirus 65 Pontus Euxinus

26 Mare Narbo 46 Mare Adriaticum 66 Mare Amisus




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Random Events Table

Roll Event Roll Event Roll Event

11 Divine Intervention 31 Wild Horse Herds 51 Rich Harvests

12 Revolt 32 Revolts Spread 52 Gales at Sea

13 Gales at Sea 33 Volcano 53 Technological Advance

14 Gold Mining 34 Pirates 54 Rescue Raid

15 Wild Horse Herds 35 Gold Mining 55 Famine

16 Revolts Spread 36 Revolt 56 Fire

21 Desertion 41 Silver Mining 61 Gales at Sea

22 Earthquake 42 Tsunami 62 Revolt

23 Revolts Spread 43 Plague 63 Silver Mining

24 Brilliant General 44 Flood 64 Plague

25 Revolt 45 Barbarian Invasion 65 Rescue Raid

26 Silver Mining 46 Poor Harvests 66 Divine Intervention

Random Events Key

Barbarian InvasionAn army of 2d6 barbarian units appears on a border province chosen randomly using the

Province Selection Table (treat the first die as a d3, so the range of possible rolls is 11-36). Barbarian units are treated like infantry except that they die on a 3+. The barbarian

army will move towards the nearest city by the most direct route (break any tiesrandomly) at a movement rate of one province per turn at the beginning of the phasing

player's following turns. Alternate barbarian movement rule: At the beginning of eachplayer's random events phase, roll a die for each barbarian army on the board. If the die

roll is a 1, it moves.

• Any province that the barbarians occupy reverts to its unconquered state and willneed to be reconquered later on. Adjust tribute accordingly.

• When the barbarians defeat a city, it is destroyed, even if fortified. They then head

for the next nearest city.

• The barbarian army can be bought off by any leader at a pre-inflationary price of 8talents per unit. When doing so, you must buy the entire army off in one payment.

• The barbarian army can be enrolled as auxiliaries by any leader at the pre-inflationarycost of 10 talents per unit. When doing so, you must hire the entire army off in onepayment. If there isn't enough room in the hiring Legion to accommodate them, any

surplus barbarians are dismissed. The barbarians pledge themselves to the hiringleader personally and will refuse to be led by any other. If their leader abandons

them, they are disbanded (obviously, cities cannot abandon their auxiliaries).




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Brilliant General

One of the player's generals (picked at random by a throw of a die) is revealed as abrilliant military commander (e.g. Julius Caesar, Belisarius, Trajan, etc.). He is marked

with a token, which remains under him. Any Legion under his command gets anadditional +1 combat advantage. If he is in the company of other generals, the bonus is

lost (too many cooks spoil the broth).Desertion

The phasing player rolls one die for every infantry, cavalry and catapult he has on theboard. On a roll of 1 the piece "deserts" and is removed from the board. Barbarian

auxiliaries desert on a 1-2.

Divine Intervention

The phasing player rolls two dice. If a 2 or 12 is rolled that player immediately collects75 talents (inflate the amount if inflation is in vigour).

EarthquakeAn earthquake devastates one city chosen at random using the Province Selection Table

(reroll if necessary until a city is picked). If the city has a fortification, that fortificationis destroyed. Otherwise, no tribute will be collected from that province (the talents going

into repairs) for 3 turns. Any roads leading into that city are also destroyed. They will berebuilt on the owning player's next Place New Pieces phase.

FamineFamine strikes one province chosen at random using the Province Selection Table. The

phasing player rolls one die for each combat unit in that province. On a roll of 4-6 thatunit is removed from the board.

FireA devastating fire sweeps through a randomly chosen city. That city won't produce any

tribute on its owning player's next turn. It then reverts to normal.Flood

These calamities strike one province chosen at random using the Province SelectionTable. The phasing player rolls 1 die. The number rolled is the number of combat units

removed from that province. The owning player chooses which units to remove. Inaddition, any Legion entering the flooded province must stop its movement. The flood

recedes on the phasing player's next random event phase.

Gales at Sea

The phasing player rolls one die for every ship currently at sea (including Pirates):1-2: No effect

3-5: Ship must immediately land on an adjacent province chosen by the owning player6: Ship is sunk

Gold MiningThe phasing player immediately collects 20 talents.




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Plague

Plague strikes one province chosen at random using the Province Selection Table. Roll adie for each province connected to the designated one by a road: on a 5-6, it is also

plague-stricken and the provinces connected to it by roads must be checked as well.Once the extent of the plague has been determined, the phasing player rolls one die for

each combat unit in the stricken provinces. On a roll of 4-6 that unit is removed from theboard.

PiratesA fleet consisting of 1 galley with 1d6 pirate units on board appears on a randomly

chosen sea zone (joining another pirate fleet should the situation arise). Pirate units aretreated like infantry except that they die on a 3+. At the beginning of each of the phasing

player's following turns, the pirates will raid an adjacent randomly chosen city. If thereare no adjacent cities, they will instead move towards the nearest sea zone that does have

some. Alternate pirate movement rule: At the beginning of each player's random eventsphase, roll a die for each pirate fleet on the board. If the die roll is a 1, it raids or moves.

• The pirates attack once using the Combat Chart and then withdraw. The defenders do

not get to reply.• If the pirates defeat the city, it is pillaged. Roll a die and leave it beside the city. If

the roll is a 6, reduce it to a 5. When the owning player next collects the city's tribute,the number of talents indicated by the die is subtracted from it and the die removed.

• Pirates cannot be bought off or hired; they must be defeated in a sea battle.

Poor HarvestsRoll one die. The tribute from that many randomly chosen provinces will be halved

(rounding down) when next collected (this does not affect unconquered provinces).

Rescue Raid

The phasing player tolls one die. On a roll of 5 or 6 he may recover all of his captured

generals from any one enemy.

RevoltThe phasing player rolls one die and places that number of revolting units on a province

chosen at random using the Province Selection Table. If the province is currentlyoccupied by a player's forces, combat occurs immediately. These revolting units are

treated like infantry except that they die on 3+.

Revolts Spread

For each revolt currently on the board (treat any contiguous set of revolted provinces as asingle revolt), one contiguous province chosen at random also revolts. When resolving

this random event, treat the following province pairs as adjacent: Thracia / Asia, Sicilia /

Neapolis and Baetica / Tingitana.Rich HarvestsRoll one die. The tribute from that many randomly chosen provinces will be doubled

when next collected (this does not affect unconquered provinces).

Silver Mining

The phasing player immediately collects 10 talents.




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Technological Advance

Stirrups or heavy armoured cavalry are invented. All Legions (of all players) with acavalry component (on land of course) get a +1 combat advantage. If cavalry is priced at

20 talents (cf. the cheaper cavalry optional rule), heavy cavalry reverts to 25 talents. Thiscan only occur once and is treated as "no event" should it be rolled again.

TsunamiThis calamity strike one sea zone chosen at random. All units are removed from that

zone. All galleys on adjacent coastlines are also lost.

Volcano

Thise calamity strikes one province chosen at random using the Province Selection Table.The phasing player rolls 1 die. The number rolled is the number of combat units

removed from that province. The owning player chooses which units to remove.

Wild Horse Herds

The phasing player rolls one die and immediately places that number of cavalry units inhis home province.

Documents

CotE Variant Rules