Cristian Andreu
Explorer
Has anyone else played this game?
Republic of Rome is a boardgame that puts up to 6 players in control of a political faction of Republican Rome. Through these factions, players attract and manipulate senators (as well as their retinues) which in turn are used to run the Republic, be it by occupying important posts (such as Consul of Rome or Pontifex Maximus), taking command of the legions, overseeing a province, debating/voting at the senate, or performing various other tasks (such as acting as prosecutor in a trial).
The game runs in turns divided into seven phases, during which each player gets to do stuff. The core of the game, however, is the Senate Phase, when factions can use their senators to propose and vote on anything from enacting laws to purchasing new ships, to choosing a Dictator or attempting murder. Votes, and thus power, depend on both a senator's influence and size of his retinue of equites, and everything has a bucketload of processes and caveats intended to both simulate the political complexities of roman politics and give room to clever manoeuvres. This phase, thus, can be pretty long (I've had some last for 2 hours), filled with debate, negotiation, vote-purchases, conspiracy, etc. It has a similar feel to Diplomacy in that regard (in fact, the author specifically states that Republic of Rome was originally meant to be a more complex and deep version of Diplomacy. He sure got that right!).
Only a single player can win, but everyone can lose if the Republic collapses (which can be due to a variety of factors, such as excessive war, bankrupcy, rebellion, etc), so it forces factions to cooperate. This creates a very amusing dynamic, by constantly clashing personal interests with the greater needs of Rome, which sows the game with constant treatchery and betrayal. To make things worse, a senator can become rebel and win the game by either conquering Rome or by having a loyalist army up and formally rebelling while the Republic collapses, thus making the controlling player victor. But since a single faction can control many senators, the same player that's trying to build a rebellion with one of his senators can still be participating at the Senate with all the others.
The game is both astoundingly detailed and incredibly deep, which makes for a rather steep learning curve. The manual itself is an ordeal, reading more like a book on roman law than a boardgame at times (when you are at Section 1.17.3 part B "Determining a Trial for Corruption", you've entered a whole new world of dense rules). But once that part is dealt with, boy do you have a wonder between your hands. This game is probably the most fun I've ever had with boardgames; demanding, perhaps excessively long sessions (even the short version of the rules covering the Early Republic will hardly take less than 5 hours. The long one might take several days) are not an easy thing to handle, but they are incredibly rewarding and tremendously exciting.
If you have the stamina and the chance to play it, I wholeheartedly recommend it. Roleplayers in particular will love it, since the game thrives on players taking up the roles of senators and acting accordingly. After all, when you watch the Republic collapse due to the Carthaginians invading after you dilapidated the treasury on circus spectacle so that your constant mismanagement doesn't cause the plebs to rebel, there's a unique sense of accomplishment somehow.
Republic of Rome is a boardgame that puts up to 6 players in control of a political faction of Republican Rome. Through these factions, players attract and manipulate senators (as well as their retinues) which in turn are used to run the Republic, be it by occupying important posts (such as Consul of Rome or Pontifex Maximus), taking command of the legions, overseeing a province, debating/voting at the senate, or performing various other tasks (such as acting as prosecutor in a trial).
The game runs in turns divided into seven phases, during which each player gets to do stuff. The core of the game, however, is the Senate Phase, when factions can use their senators to propose and vote on anything from enacting laws to purchasing new ships, to choosing a Dictator or attempting murder. Votes, and thus power, depend on both a senator's influence and size of his retinue of equites, and everything has a bucketload of processes and caveats intended to both simulate the political complexities of roman politics and give room to clever manoeuvres. This phase, thus, can be pretty long (I've had some last for 2 hours), filled with debate, negotiation, vote-purchases, conspiracy, etc. It has a similar feel to Diplomacy in that regard (in fact, the author specifically states that Republic of Rome was originally meant to be a more complex and deep version of Diplomacy. He sure got that right!).
Only a single player can win, but everyone can lose if the Republic collapses (which can be due to a variety of factors, such as excessive war, bankrupcy, rebellion, etc), so it forces factions to cooperate. This creates a very amusing dynamic, by constantly clashing personal interests with the greater needs of Rome, which sows the game with constant treatchery and betrayal. To make things worse, a senator can become rebel and win the game by either conquering Rome or by having a loyalist army up and formally rebelling while the Republic collapses, thus making the controlling player victor. But since a single faction can control many senators, the same player that's trying to build a rebellion with one of his senators can still be participating at the Senate with all the others.
The game is both astoundingly detailed and incredibly deep, which makes for a rather steep learning curve. The manual itself is an ordeal, reading more like a book on roman law than a boardgame at times (when you are at Section 1.17.3 part B "Determining a Trial for Corruption", you've entered a whole new world of dense rules). But once that part is dealt with, boy do you have a wonder between your hands. This game is probably the most fun I've ever had with boardgames; demanding, perhaps excessively long sessions (even the short version of the rules covering the Early Republic will hardly take less than 5 hours. The long one might take several days) are not an easy thing to handle, but they are incredibly rewarding and tremendously exciting.
If you have the stamina and the chance to play it, I wholeheartedly recommend it. Roleplayers in particular will love it, since the game thrives on players taking up the roles of senators and acting accordingly. After all, when you watch the Republic collapse due to the Carthaginians invading after you dilapidated the treasury on circus spectacle so that your constant mismanagement doesn't cause the plebs to rebel, there's a unique sense of accomplishment somehow.
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