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Sympathy / Opposition (Sym / Opp) The Coin Tribes’ Revolt Each region uses the local will cards to track the opinion of local tribes in the area. Line up the triangles on the tracking cards with those on the map cards. ’s Rebellion Against Rome Orientate the card in landscape when one region is neutral, remove the card entirely when both regions on one side are neutral:

1 - 4 players : 30 - 60 mins playtime : Ages 12+ ● No card = neutral ● Weak sympathy / opposition = 1 × the population value ● Strong sympathy / opposition = 2 × the population value Rulesbook

It is 60 AD, Romans have occupied the wild lands of Britannia, and exist in an uneasy peace with the tribes of the land… When the king dies, Roman greed and brutality triggers a rebellion led by the Iceni queen, Boudica, that tears across the south-east of Britain. With the Roman forces spread elsewhere in Britain, the revolt could forever change the course of history.

This is an asymmetrical game of warring factions set in the turbulent times during the early Roman occupation of Britain. It is inspired by the COIN series of games by Volko Ruhnke (GMT), and attempts to recreate the feel of these games within the restrictions of the 9 card nano game format. The game can be played with fewer than 4 players if one or more players control multiple factions. This also allows for solitaire play.

Components (9 cards, 18 × 12mm dice) ● One action card showing available actions, and a turn tracker on the Example: Left) Top region is neutral, bottom has 4 opposition (2 perimeter which is also used to trigger the reckoning phase. will×2 population). Right) Top region has 2 opposition (2 will×1 ● Four map cards population), bottom has 4 sympathy (1 will×4 population). ● Two cards to indicate the local will for the four regions ● Two event cards ● One round timing die Bases ● 16 faction dice, four in each faction colour Moving your faction die to the area marked by the palisade wall in the dashed ● One spare die square denotes building a base.

Regions Multiple factions can have a base in the same region at the same time.

Each map card makes up one region. Three contain cities, with intact and razed cities denoted by circles and crosses respectively. The large numbers in each region show the population value used to calculate sympathy/opposition. Example: The build a base and move their die to Factions the dashed area in the region. ● Romans - The counter insurgency faction, trying to put down the Other factions must expend units rebellion. Win condition: Number of intact cities + total sympathy in to build a base (Romans and all regions ≥ 16 ) or rely on special ● Iceni - The main insurgency faction under Boudica, inciting events (Iceni). rebellion. Win condition: Sum of population values from all razed city regions + total opposition in all regions ≥ 11 ● Catuvellauni - A large nearby tribe that borders the others. They have embraced Romanisation after a long struggle and intend to use all sides to expand their territory and control. Win condition: Number of regions in Catuvellauni control + total number of units ≥ 15 Special Events ● Trinovantes - Allies of the Iceni, but also trying to re-expand their influence after many years of being under the control of Events are special actions that can be very powerful, depending on the Catuvellauni and Romans. Win condition: Number of regions with circumstances. Each event card has four events on it, two on each side, and bases + number of regions in Trinovantes control ≥ 5 therefore when shuffling, you need to flip and rotating the cards as well. Both parts of the event are available to any faction that takes it, but the lighter Influence / Control background is expected to favour the Iceni and Trinovantes, while the darker background is generally more likely to be useful for the Romans and The faction dice are used to track units in each region. Each unit is worth 1 Catuvellauni. After each reckoning (when all kept cards are discarded), or influence, and having a base increases a faction’s influence by 2 (there is a whenever there are no events available, any discarded event cards are shuffled reminder on the map). and laid out as in the starting setup (or with only 1 card, if only 1 is available). If both cards are kept by players, no events can be taken until the next reckoning. A faction has control of a region if they have the greatest influence in that region. If there is a tie, no one controls the region.

Example: The first available event is “Boudica’s Rebellion” which allows Razing a city without losing units or, by taking the card, you can eliminate tribes when you battle.

When a player takes an event action, they perform the action on the card, or place it in front of them to use the ongoing Example: Catuvellauni have 4 (2+2) influence and Romans have 4 bonus. With the first event (4+0) so no faction controls the left region. Trinovantes have 5 (3+2) taken, the next card “Suetonius influence in the right region and so have control, beating Iceni with 4 Returns” becomes available. (4+0) and Catuvellauni with 3 (1+2).

Setup: The arrangement of the cards at the start of a game showing the initial placement of the faction units and the initial will in the four regions. The event cards need to be randomised, as does the initiative dice for all the factions. The remainder of the faction dice should be kept to one side for future use.

Playing the game Turn structure ● The game is broken up into five periods, each comprising four turns. Setup This is shown by the numbers around the edge of the action card. To begin the game, place the map cards in the middle of the table as shown in Each period end is marked by the red numbers. the setup diagram, with the intact cities (circles) upwards. ● On the first turn in any period, change the tracking die to read six. Reduce this value by one each subsequent turn in a period. Next, place the local will cards either side of the map to indicate public opinion ● At the start of each turn, roll the spare die. If it matches or exceeds at the start of the rebellion. The white card is for the left two regions, the grey the number of the turn tracking die or it is the fourth turn in the card is for the right two regions. Line up the marks on the will cards with those period (i.e.4, 8, 12, 16, or 20; the red numbers) execute a reckoning on the map cards to track the will as shown: phase after the turn. If, after a reckoning, there are still turns remaining in the period, set the turn die to 1 to remind you that the ● Neutral around reckoning has happened, set it to six on the first turn in a new period. ● Strong sympathy around ● The 1st eligible player chooses a row on the action selection card ● Weak sympathy around and executes the 1st action. ● Strong opposition in the non-city region (top right) ● The 2nd eligible player executes the second action on the chosen row of the action selection card, or passes. Passing increases the number Each player picks a faction, takes the corresponding dice and places them on the on the action die by two. map to reflect starting influence in each region as per the setup image. ● The turn continues until two players have executed actions, or there are no more eligible players, whichever is soonest. Each player rolls one die to determine initiative order, break ties as described ● All players that have acted then reroll their action dice and move below. This is now their action die and should be placed to the left of the action them to ineligible to the right of the action card, ordered with the card ordered top to bottom as eligible. highest number to the top. Tie-breaks are resolved as before.

The remaining dice are placed to one side ready if they are required. Shuffle the event cards without looking at them, occasionally flipping them over and rotating 180º to ensure random events and lay them out above the action card as shown in the setup image.

Breaking ties ● Each player in the tie must roll the spare die. ● Arrange the initially tied dice so that the player’s die with the highest tie-breaker roll is positioned highest amongst the tied dice. Do not change the value of the initial die roll. ● If necessary, repeat until the tie-break rolls are unique, removing and re-positioning any single winning or losing die any time that a tie-break is broken. Example: Turn 2: Catuvellauni are 1st eligible, Romans are 2nd eligible. ● Repeat tie-break procedure for any set of tied dice (e.g. if the initial Catuvellauni take “Two actions” and the Romans decide to take “One rolls were 6611, there are two separate tie-breaks to resolve). action”. After taking their turns, these factions move to ineligible and reroll ● A passed die always beats an ineligible die of the same number their initiative while Trinovantes and Iceni move from ineligible to when moving them all to eligible (i.e. no tie-breaker required). eligible. The turn tracker die moves on to turn 3,showing a 4. The spare die ● A previously eligible die (that didn’t get to take an action on the rolls a 5! There will be a reckoning at the end of this turn. Turn 3: st nd previous turn) of the same number beats both passed and ineligible Trinovantes are 1 eligible, Iceni are 2 eligible… etc… dice. A higher number always wins, regardless of previous location. Available actions Reckoning phase Actions and bonus actions are listed in the player aids. ● Check the total score of each player and check for winning ● Two actions + bonus conditions: ○ The player can execute one of their actions in up to two ○ Romans - Number of intact cities + total sympathy in all regions. regions ≥ 16 ○ In addition, they may choose an available bonus action to ○ Iceni - Sum of population values from all razed city execute either before or after one of the main actions in regions + total opposition in all regions ≥ 11 one region. The available bonus actions are listed ○ Trinovantes - Number of regions with bases + number of underneath each main action on the player aids. regions in Trinovantes control ≥ 5 ● Two actions ○ Catuvellauni - Number of regions in Catuvellauni ○ The player can execute one of their actions in up to two control + total number of units ≥ 15 regions. ● One action ● If one or more faction has met their winning condition, the faction ○ The player can execute one of their actions in one region. who has exceeded their target by the most wins. ● Event ● If it is the final reckoning and no faction has met their winning ○ The player can execute an event from the top event card, conditions, the faction who is closest to their target wins. and then discard the card. ● If two or more players draw, victory is shared. ○ Each event has two options available; the light background generally benefits the Iceni and If there is no winner: Trinovantes, the dark background generally benefits ● The Roman faction can increase sympathy in up to two different Romans and Catuvellauni, but both are available to all regions in which they have presence: once in any intact city, and factions. once in any other city. ○ When there are no events available, reshuffle any discards and lay them out again, as during setup. If both ● Then, shuffle the event cards and lay them back out as in the setup cards have been taken as “until the next reckoning” and continue with the next round. bonuses, there will be no further events available until the next reckoning when both event cards will be reshuffled and laid out again.

When executing an action or event, a player may need to adjust the will of the region in which the action/event took place. This is detailed in the player aids and on the cards. +X means move the will one step towards X: Additional Notes

×2 Sym  ×1 Sym  Neutral  ×1 Opp  ×2 Opp Partial actions + Opp moves in this direction

+Sym moves in this direction You do not have to do everything when taking an action or event to be able to do it. You can take “Two actions + bonus” and only take one action and bonus, +Neutral moves towards the middle for example. Or, for the “Shifting Alliances” event, you may take the “Remove base …” event even if you already have a base in the region.

When executing an action in multiple regions the order of activation is the However, you must do at last part of the event to take it. So, you may not take choice of the player. the “Replace one tribal unit …” part of the “Shifting Alliances” event just to get the +Sym shift in will, or just to prevent another faction using it. Bonus actions can be activated at any time during the turn. Negotiation Notes on actions Factions may find it beneficial to discuss and negotiate over their future plans, “Tribe/tribes/tribal” refers to any non-roman faction particularly those in loose alliances. However, while promising future actions is “Adjacent” is orthogonally adjacent, i.e. not corner to corner. allowed, no promise is binding… “Presence” means having one of your faction dice, and therefore units, in a region

The maximum number of regions in which you can have presence is three. Therefore, you can’t rally in a fourth region and if you march into a fourth region, you abandon any units and base (if any) left behind in the activated region.

● Rally - Maximum units in any region = 6. ● March - You activate the region that the units are moving from. Each action must activate a different region. However, the units may all move to the same region. Therefore, “Two actions” will allow adding up to 4 units to a single region, but there must be at least two regions with 2 or more units to draw from. Alternatively, a second action may move units moved during the first action (i.e. to effectively increase their range). ● Battle - When calculating the result of a battle, always round down the damage from tribes. For example, if the Trinovantes have 5 units in a region and they battle, they will do 2 damage as each unit does ½ damage and therefore 5 units do 2½ damage, rounding down to 2. Romans do 1 damage for every unit so don’t require rounding. When combining, work out the total damage before rounding. i.e. 3 Iceni units and 3 Trinovantes units battling together will do a combined total of 3 damage. ● Build - A faction must have at least one unit remaining in a region to be able to add a base after expending the required number of units. ● Sack - Target of the sack bonus action doesn’t lose any additional units, just the base. ● Suppress - Romans can choose the destination of the tribal unit being moved.

APPENDIX

Example couple of rounds

End of the actions during turn 4, start of the reckoning phase.

After turn 4 has been completed, the reckoning phase begins. The current scores are as follows: Start of the example turns. ● Romans - Number of intact cities (2) + total sympathy in all regions (8) = 10. This doesn’t meet their winning condition of 16 Turn 3: We join the action in turn 3 after all factions have taken one turn and ● Iceni - Sum of population values from all razed city regions (1) + the board state has changed a little from the setup. There will be no reckoning total opposition in all regions (2) = 3. This doesn’t meet their this turn as the spare die rolled a 3, which means that there will be one after the winning condition of 11 next turn, turn 4. ● Trinovantes - Number of regions with bases (2) + number of regions in Trinovantes control (2) = 4. This doesn’t meet their Iceni are 1st eligible and Trinovantes are 2nd eligible. winning condition of 5 ● Catuvellauni - Number of regions in Catuvellauni control (1) + The Iceni decide to seize the opportunity at Verulamium. The Romans only total number of units (6) = 7. This doesn’t meet their winning have one unit in this region and so by selecting “Two actions + bonus”, they are condition of 15 able to march two units into Verulamium and, as they outnumber the Romans, they can use their bonus to raze the city (losing two units to do so). They only Therefore, no faction has achieved their winning condition, and the game will have units in one region so waste part of their main action, however this is a continue at least until the next reckoning phase. good move for them as it also moves the local will one step towards opposition i.e. from weak sympathy to neutral. After the winning condition check, the Romans get to increase the local will in up to two different regions in which they have presence, at least one of which Trinovantes decide to take “One action” rather than the “Special” event. They must still be intact. Only the Londinium region has strong sympathy, therefore battle the Romans around Camuldunum to reduce their ability to do damage to the Romans can take maximum advantage during the reckoning, increasing the the Trinovantes in the future. They have three units, and so remove one sympathy in Verulamuim and Camulodunum, to weak and strong sympathy Roman unit (i.e. half rounded down). respectively. This puts them on a score of 15, just 1 away from the Roman victory condition. However, even if this will adjustment had moved them to 16 or above, the winning condition is only checked at the start of the reckoning phase and therefore they wouldn’t be able to win until the next reckoning phase (assuming they maintain their score).

The Catuvellauni re-roll initiative and move to ineligible while the Romans, Iceni, and Trinovantes move to eligible. The two special event cards are re- shuffled and laid out again.

Turn 5: The turn die moves to space 5 and is set to show a 6. A new reckoning phase is possible as the game has now moved to the second period. The spare die rolls a 4 and so, unfortunately for the Romans, there will not be another reckoning straight away. Being 1st eligible and only 1 point away might have enabled them to force an early victory…

End of turn 3.

The Iceni and Trinovantes re-roll their initiative and move to ineligible. They both roll a 4 and so use the spare die to break the tie in favour of the Trinovantes. The Catuvellauni and Romans move to eligible.

Turn 4: The turn die moves on to 4, and automatically triggers a reckoning at the end of the turn as there hasn’t been one yet during this period.

Catuvellauni are 1st eligible and take “Two actions + bonus” as they don’t mind giving the Romans the option of taking the event. If they thought the 2nd eligible player could negatively impact them with the event, they might consider forgoing the bonus action and just take “Two actions” instead.

They rally in the Verulamium and Camuldunum regions, adding 2 units to Start of turn 5. Verulamium as they are in control here, but only 1 to Camulodunum as they are not in control. As a bonus, they decide to build a base in Verulamium. They … and so it goes on until a faction has achieved a winning score during a spend the 2 units they have just added from the Rally action (taking them back reckoning phase or the game reaches the final reckoning phase. down to 4) and move their die to the dashed base are of the region card.

The Romans are 2nd eligible. The event doesn’t interest them at this stage. The Romans start in a strong position and are most likely to win early… Therefore, rather than take the “One action” option, they decide to pass. This increases their initiative to 6 and they know they will be 1st eligible next turn, The Iceni start furthest from their winning condition, but if they start razing thus allowing them to take a more powerful action such as “Two actions + cities they are hard to stop as there is no way to re-build a city… bonus”. The Catuvellauni and the Trinovantes have a push-pull contest to control the most regions and reach a winning position. Trinovantes have a low winning threshold, but very limited opportunities to score whereas the Catuvellauni have a high threshold but will find it easier to increase their score.