Rules:  The ruleset for Pax Romana is very good.  The rules are easy to read as well as follow.  This is nice because there are 43 pages of rules.  However, most of the gameplay is explained in the first 30 or so pages, with the last bit explaining specific units, cards, victory conditions, etc.  My only quibble with the rules is that the combat rules talk about shifts.  My wargame experience teaches me that a shift is a move on a combat table.  In the game play, a shift is a +/-1 die roll modifier (DRM for those using the lingo) to your combat roll.

 

Combat Mechanic:  The combat mechanic is pretty straightforward.  You compare the number of Battle Points present.  From there you determine the ratio, 1.5:1 gives a +/-1, 2:1 gives a +/-2, 3:1 gives a +/-3, etc.  Cavalry superiority grants a +/-1 to the player with the superiority, cavalry supremacy gives a +/-3, but you need 3x your opponents cavalry for this bonus.  Commanders have an impact as well, each difference in the tactical rating gives a +/-1.  Players than compare their bonuses, whoever has more gets to determine what the differences in the bonuses give them.  They they can add +1 for each difference to their roll, subtract -1 from their opponent's roll, or any combination of the two.  The modified die roll indicates the % of your BPs that are inflicted upon your opponent.  Whoever suffers the higher % of losses is the loser.  It is a simple and elegant system.  The only problem is that if you do not get the benefit of the DRMs, you probably will not win.

 

Turns:  Each turn is split up into activations.  Each player will typically get 4 activations on a turn.   The first activation each nation gets is based upon reverse Victory Point order.  Subsequent activations are determined randomly.  During each activation, the player can choose to raise troops or war galleys, or he can take 2 minor and 1 major activation.  The major activation means that the player can move one army or fleet as he desires.  Navies can pretty much move in any continuous path during the turn as long as they do not cross a transit point or a an enemy occupied space or non-friendly controlled space.  At the transit points and non-friendly spaces they must roll to see if they can continue their movement, otherwise they stop.  Land movement is different.  The leader of the stack rolls one die and adds his campaign rating to the total (units with no leaders are considered to have a 0-0 leader), which is the number of Movement Points available to the stack.  Most spaces cost one point to enter.  The minor activations can be used to move individual units or to found towns or improve towns into cities.  At the end of the player's activation, he draws the next activation chit and that player takes his turn.

 

Cards:  This only applies to the advanced game, but you've read 43 pages of rules, you're going to play the advanced game, right?  During each activation, you get to draw a card.  There are two varieties, those played immediately and those that can be held.  Some are benign, a +/-1 to your stability.  Maybe you get an alliance with a minor power.  Others can have huge effects, the SoF gives you a free army for a turn.  A barbarian invasion can be one of the tame variety, or one that brings a large army of Germans down from the north.  While I didn't mind the cards, I found it irritating that there were some cards that were orders of magnitude more important than others. 

 

Tilt:  I really wanted to like this game.  I love this period of history, but the game left me scratching my head.  I loved the fact that your decisions wound up being strategic in nature and led you down the historical path.  However, the naval rules seemed to just be tacked on.  Naval movement is much more complicated than land movement, but you use it a fraction of the time.  As a result, the most costly units, galley squadrons, get used the least, and are basically in the game to prevent your opponent from circumnavigating the Med.  Oh, and in the opinion of the Greek player in our game, draining the Greek treasury.  The cards were completely unbalanced.  The soldier of fortune card gives you a larger army than any other individual player, except Rome, starts the game with, and you don't pay for it!  On the other hand, a bountiful harvest means that you get +1 stability, which unless you are Greece, does not mean that much.  A card like Barbarian Invasion can either be devastating, or have no effect based upon the province in which it occurs.

 

The Verdict:  I would give it a 3 right now.  I want to give it another go to see if experience helps things here, but I'm not sure if this will move up or not.  10+ hours is a lot of time to invest in a game that is a solid 3.

 

Manufacturer: GMT Games
Designer: Richard H. Berg
Players:   1 - 4
Time:   600 Minutes
Categories: Wargame; Political

 

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