Solo Rome, the Rise & Fall of an Empire

Fantastic work stevie! Will print it out this Wednesday.

Jim

I also plan to make another version to be called “The Decline and Fall of the GALACTIC EMPIRE”,
based on Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation”, “Foundation & Empire”, and “Second Foundation” trilogy.

This will have the solo player in command of a decaying and dying Empire spanning the entire Galaxy,
fending off continuous revolts and rebellions as it gradually falls apart. This will use the same or similar
mechanisms, but it will also include technology…or rather the decline of technology, as the sources of
vital exotic materials are lost and no longer under the Empire's control, causing the Imperial Fleet to
slowly lose each of its combat advantages and abilities…

Work in progress…

This looks to be a fantastic solo game,
Defiantly printing this out.
Have you thought of seeing if it could be published.

Tip’s and Strategies
Here are some tips and strategies for playing “Solo Rome, The Rise & Fall Of An Empire”.
With these you shouldn’t have to resort to adjusting the difficulty level at all.

Never Go Alone
Don’t send a single unit into an empty region, always send two. If one is lost due to attrition
from the natives, the other will still be present to subdue the place. If a single unit is sent in,
and it is lost, then the region is not subdued, and the next unit to enter will still face attrition.

Empty Regions Are Your Friend
When Barbarians enter an empty region, they will have to roll for attrition, and leave a settler there.
So if you run short of units, try to keep an empty region between yourself and the Barbarians.
This is where bribery comes into play, to keep the enemy at a distance, and is safer than combat.

To Use The Leader Or Not, That Is The Question
To minimize the effects of a civil war, caused by rolling a ‘1’ and getting the Roman leader killed,
I always buy 4 or 5 units, which like all new units are placed in the capital, before sending my
leader into battle. That way when I have to lose half of the units on the map I take them from
my multi-unit field armies first, before losing garrison units and losing control of the regions.
If garrisons have to be lost, take them from the West, and try to preserve the forces in the East.
I usually make at least one attack with my leader each turn (two or more attacks is a bit risky).

What’s Good About A Civil War
Well, there is one good thing. You can buy a new leader for 100 Talents, and since he is new and
hasn’t retreated before, he can be sent into battle. Also, as there can only be one civil war per turn,
a roll of ‘1’ will still mean his death, but at least it won’t start another civil war that turn. And if he
does get destroyed, just buy another one and repeat.

Spend Your Talents Wisely
I always keep 2 or 300 talents in reserve rather than spending them all in one go. That way you can
buy a new lost leader, or make a bribe, or spend the last few on units to form frontier field armies.
By the way, you’ll know you are doing well when the only Legions left to buy are dotted ones.

Strategic Choke Points
Try to have a multi-unit field army in these, or at least have the approaches to them left empty.
Gallia and Dalmatia-Illyria guard the West, the latter and Dacia guard the Danube, while Asia
or alternatively Armenia plus Syria will guard the East. Any regions beyond these are luxuries.

Set Your Aim Before You Start.
Try to have 15 Prestige Points at the end of Turn 2, then gain 15 more Points in each of the next
7 Turns (8 x 15 = 120 Points), so you’ll only need 1 extra point to reach the ‘Low Historical’ goal.
After Turn 9, a mere 5 Prestige Points per turn will give you a final respectable score of 165 points.
In other words, aim for a ‘Low Historical’ score…anything more is a bonus.

Hey, stevie,

don't give everything away... 

I’ve added another optional Barbarian Generation method, which makes the game both
a little bit harder and increases the chances of the different Barbarian Nations appearing.

This, along with a few more Tips & Strategies, and the various extra bits and pieces,
have now all been consolidated together into one single package called “version 3”,
the link to which can be found →HERE

This will be the final version, as I don’t plan on adding anything extra.
(Well…except perhaps for a few minor tweaks for my own personal use)

                      “For The Glory Of Rome!”

Oooo…very very nice.
I do like chunky blocks.

Excellent work. 👍