Caesar!: Seize Rome in 20 Minutes!
Caesar!: Seize Rome in 20 Minutes! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 Game board
- 32 Basic Influence tokens (16 for each player)
- 18 Province Bonus tokens
- 24 Control markers (12 for each player)
- 2 game bags
- 2 player screens
- Expansions of Rome additional components:
- 6 Centurion Influence tokens
- 6 Province Bonus tokens
- 10 Command tiles for the Solo Game
Note: Some blank tokens and tiles have been included for you to create your own troops, bonus tokens and solo Commands.
The Map
The game board depicts the Provinces of the late Roman Republic, and the nearby territories. Each Province, other than Italia, has one Province Space inside. At the beginning of the game this will be occupied by a Province Bonus token, while later, the same space will be occupied by a Control marker of one of the two players.
Each Province is surrounded by a number of Border Spaces, with each space 'touching' two different Provinces.
During the game, players will place their Influence tokens on these spaces, trying to get the most Influence on the Provinces and gain control of them.
The Influence Tokens
Each Influence token has an icon and two numbers. The Icon shows the type of Border space that can be occupied by the token, while the numbers show the different values of Influence that is exerted to the two adjacent provinces while the token is on the map.
(Tokens come in two colours: blue Pompey Influence tokens and red Caesar Influence tokens. A Pompey wild Influence token is shown as an example of a wild token.)
Influence tokens with the "laurel" icons are considered wild, and can therefore be placed on any Border Space on the game board.
Setup
- Open the game board in the middle of the table.
- Place a Senate Province Bonus token on Italia's space (with the solid border).
- Randomly place one Province Bonus token, face up, on the rest of the Province spaces (do not place one on the second space in Italia).
- Choose who will play as Caesar (Red) and Pompey (Blue). Each player takes the Influence tokens of their colour and shuffles them in their bag, then draws 2 Influence tokens, looks at them secretly and places them behind their screen.
- Each player also takes their Control markers and places them on their side of the board.
How to Play
Starting with Caesar, players alternate in taking turns.
On your turn:
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Place an Influence token on a free (non occupied) Border space on the map with a matching icon. Choose the token orientation, so as to assign each of the two Provinces touched by the token one of the two Influence values shown on it.
Example: The Caesar player places their Influence token to exert an influence of 5 on the Sicilia province and 1 on the Sardinia province.
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If all the Border spaces around one or more Provinces are occupied by Influence tokens, these Provinces are closed. In this case, follow these steps:
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The player who placed the last Influence token takes the Province Bonus token from all the Provinces closed in this way.
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Add up the value of the Influence tokens of each player surrounding each Province that has been closed. Whoever has the highest total places one of their Control markers in the empty Province Space. The Province is now considered as controlled by that player. In case of a tie between players, the space is left empty and no Control marker is placed.
Example: Pompey places their 3/3 Influence token, closing the Achaia province. They will get the Tactics Bonus token, but Caesar has a higher Influence on the province (8 to 4), so will place their Control marker on it.
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If the Province in question is Italia, the controlling player places a second Control marker on the second space, as shown by the dashed line.
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If one or more adjacent Provinces are controlled by the same player, an additional Control marker is placed on the Border Spaces between these Provinces, covering the Influence token, and any other token placed there.
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The player who placed the Influence token and received the Province bonus token, can now resolve its effect.
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Draw a new Influence token from your bag.
Example: Pompey places their 5/1 Influence token, closing the Asia province and placing their Control marker on it. Since they also control Syria, they will place an additional Control marker on the border space between the two provinces, covering the Caesar Influence token.
End of the Game and Winner
The game ends immediately when a player places their last Control marker on the map or under a Senate token. That player is the winner of the game, and probably the first Dictator of Rome.
Province Bonus Token Effects
(The number in brackets is how many of that token are in the game.)
Tactics [4]
Take a new turn after this one.
Note: if you receive two Tactics bonus tokens from closing Provinces, you only get one new turn after the current one.
Wealth [4]
Increase your Influence token hand size by one. Draw one token immediately, in addition to the usual one at the end of your turn.
Might [4]
Flip an opponent's Influence token or Control marker placed on the board face down.
Flipped influence markers are considered as having Influence "0 / 0".
Controlling Provinces adjacent to a flipped Control marker do not provide additional Control markers on Border spaces.
Senate [6]
Place this token in front of you. If you also place a Control marker in this Province, place a number of Control markers below this token equal to the number of Senate bonus tokens you own (including the one you just took).
Example: Caesar gained their first Senate token while winning a Province, allowing them to place one additional Control marker underneath it. Their second Senate token was gained by closing a Province which they lost, so no additional Control markers are placed. When Caesar gains their third Senate token while winning a Province, they place three more Control markers under that Senate token.
Poison [3]
Used with the Poison Expansion. Return one of your opponents influence tokens to their bag.
Centurion [3]
Used with the Centurions Expansion. Instead of drawing from your bag at the end of your turn, select one of your available Centurion Influence tokens.
The Expansions of Rome
Designed by Dávid Turczi
After you have played the game once or twice, add these in for further tactical challenges.
Poison
Additional Components
- 3 x Province Bonus tokens
Setup
- Mix the three Poison Province Bonus tokens with the rest of the Bonus tokens, then randomly remove 3 Bonus tokens from play before setting up the map as usual.
- Players start the game with 3 tokens behind their screen.
Gameplay
Play as usual. When someone gains the Poison Bonus token, their opponent chooses one of their tokens from behind their screen at random, and returns it to their bag. Both players are permitted to see the token before it is returned.
If a player starts their turn with no tokens behind their screen, they immediately lose the game.
Centurions
Setup
- Mix the three Centurion Province Bonus tokens with the rest of the Bonus tokens, then randomly remove 3 Bonus tokens from play before setting up the map as usual.
- Give each player the 3 Centurion Influence tokens in their colour. They are placed in front of their player shield.
Gameplay
Play as usual. When someone gains the Centurion Bonus token, they choose one of their 3 Centurion Influence tokens, and put it behind their screen. Skip the next "Draw one Influence token" step (this does not increase their hand size).
Border Control
Requires Poison and/or Centurions to play.
Additional Components
None required
Setup
- Instead of removing spare Province Bonus tokens from play, place them face down next to the board.
Gameplay
Play as usual. On the three spaces marked with a double line (the Border Control Spaces) the player may choose to place one of their Influence tokens face down. If they do they immediately draw one of the Province Bonus tokens set aside during setup at random and resolve it. The placed token does not exert any influence on the adjacent regions.
Solo Rules
In the solo game you will play either Caesar or Pompey competing against Auto-Crassus, the third member of the First Triumvirate vying for control over the Roman Republic.
Extra Components
- 8x Command tiles:
- A (x4) — Draw 2, Resolve, Discard 1
- B (x2) — Draw 1, Resolve
- C (x2) — Draw 2, Resolve, Resolve
- For the Expansions of Rome:
- D (x1) — Draw 1 Centurion, Resolve
- E (x1) — Draw 1, Draw 1 Centurion, Resolve, Resolve
Setup
- Auto-Crassus draws 3 influence tokens, which they place face-up in their play area, in a line.
- Select a difficulty, and shuffle the required Command tiles into a face down stack:
- Easy: 4xA, 2xB
- Normal: 3xA, 2xB, 1xC
- Hard: 4xA, 2xC
- The rest of the game is set up as usual.
- Auto-Crassus takes the first turn of the game.
Gameplay
You play your turn as usual.
Drawing a Command Tile
At the start of Auto-Crassus's turn, they draw a Command tile, and perform the tasks stated, in the order shown. It will have a combination of these tasks shown:
- Draw 1 / Draw 2 — draw the stated number of Influence tokens from the Auto-Crassus's supply bag, and place them to the right of its face-up tokens.
- Resolve — Perform the Auto-Crassus Turn Sequence, as shown below. This step may be listed twice, in which case perform the Auto-Crassus Turn Sequence twice.
- Discard 1 — put the left-most influence token from the Auto-Crassus's face-up tokens back into its draw bag.
If the Command tile stack is now depleted, shuffle all the Command tiles into a new face down stack, else set aside the drawn Command tile for now.
If Auto-Crassus runs out of Influence tokens to draw, just draw as many as possible, and don't discard any at the end of its turn.
Auto-Crassus Turn Sequence
- Auto-Crassus chooses where to place one of their face-up Influence tokens based on a priority list, see Auto-Crassus Placement Choice, below.
- Once placed, if a region is now closed, resolve its area majority as usual, except that Auto-Crassus always wins ties for control strength.
- If Auto-Crassus claimed a bonus token due to closing a region:
- Senate / Poison: Usual ability.
- Might / Wealth / Tactics: Just put the token aside.
- For an even harder game: if Auto-Crassus also won the region control, have them remove one of their unplayed control tokens from the game when putting the bonus token aside.
Auto-Crassus Placement Choice
Perform the first choice from this list that Auto-Crassus can legally do:
- If they can win a region by placing one of their tokens, they place the lowest value token they can place to win (oriented with the lowest value facing into the closing region that allows them the win), then claim and use the bonus token.
- If they can close a region, even though they would lose that region's control, and unless you would win the game by Auto-Crassus doing this, they place their lowest value token there (oriented with the lowest value facing into the closing region), then claim and use the bonus token.
- If they are losing any unclaimed regions (i.e. you currently have a higher strength in the region than Auto-Crassus), they pick the region in which they are losing the most, then place their highest value token there.
- If they are present in any regions, they place their highest value token in the region where they're closest to winning.
- They place in a region adjacent to one they already control, placing the highest value token they have. If tied, they pick the region where they can place their highest value token.
- They pick a land-locked region where they can place their highest value token (if regions tied: Italia, else random choice).
- They pick any remaining region where they can place their highest value token (random choice if regions tied).
Ties Between Regions
- Regions adjacent to regions they have already won
- Regions that give a Senate bonus token
- Regions that give a Poison bonus token (if playing with the Poison expansion)
- Land-locked regions
- Regions adjacent to land-locked regions
- Random choice between remaining tied regions
Ties Between Spaces Within a Region
- Space adjacent to a region Auto-Crassus is losing the most
- Adjacent to a landlocked region
- Random choice between tied spaces
Ties Between Tokens to Place
- Non-wildcard token before a wildcard token
- The token with the highest- or lowest- (as applicable) combined values on that token
- Left-most token from its lineup
Game End
Game end is as per core game.
Expansions of Rome: Solo Rules
Poison (Solo)
Play as in the core game, no additional changes needed for solo play.
Centurions (Solo)
Setup Changes
- Set up the expansion as usual, except that Auto-Crassus's 3 Centurion tokens are placed near their play area face-down, in a randomly ordered stack.
- When setting up Auto-Crassus's Command tokens, use the following combinations for your chosen difficulty:
- Easy: 4xA, 1xB, 1xD
- Normal: 2xA, 2xB, 1xC, 1xD
- Hard: 4xA, 1xC, 1xE
Gameplay Changes
- If the Centurion Command token is drawn at the start of Auto-Crassus's turn, Auto-Crassus performs the actions stated on it, as usual.
- Draw 1 Centurion: Draw 1 random token from Auto-Crassus's face-down stack of Centurion tokens, and place to the right of their face-up tokens.
- If Auto-Crassus ever claims a Centurion bonus token from the board, they treat it the same as if it was a Might / Wealth / Tactics bonus token.
Border Control (Solo)
Play as in the core game, no additional changes needed for solo play, Auto-Crassus will never choose to play a token face down.
Credits
- Game Design: Paolo Mori
- Expansions of Rome Designer: Dávid Turczi
- Cover Art: Paul Sizer
- Additional Art and Graphics: Florentyna Butler and Nick Avallone
- Additional Development: Dávid Turczi
- Solo Mode: Dávid Turczi and Nick Shaw
- Rulebook: Martin Cubberley
- Testers: Francesco Sirocchi, Danilo Bersani, Andrea Bortolotti, Manuel Busi, Axum Cotti, Simone Luciani, Daniele Molinari, Michele Scarpenti, Silvano Sorrentino, Emiliano Venturini, Noralie Lubbers, Frank de Jong, Jace Ravensburg
- Production Management: Mark Cooke
- Executive Producer: Will Townshend
Published by PSC Games (SKU: CAE001).