The Year of the 5 Emperors
The Year of the 5 Emperors Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the Game
Be the first to fulfill 4 objectives and become the new emperor. Objectives are obtained through acquiring cards and positioning your legions in the Empire's provinces.
Several roads lead to victory. It's up to you to decide which strategy you will adopt and what sort of emperor you will become!
Components
- 1 board of the Roman Empire
- 5 Camp tokens
- 25 Legion tokens (5 per player color; each has a Deployed side and a Defeated side)
- 5 Player boards
- 147 cards - your 'network of influence':
- 40 starting cards (8 per player)
- 90 Province cards (15 per province)
- 17 Slave cards
- 18 Objective cards
For your first game
Remove the 30 Province cards (5 per province) showing 3 golden rings in the bottom right corner. The effects on these cards are slightly more complex. We advise you to only use them from your second game onwards!
In this introductory game, players only need to fulfill 3 objectives to win (see 'End of the Game').
Setup
Board of the Roman Empire
- Place the board of the Roman Empire in the middle of the table.
- Each player chooses a character and places the corresponding Player board in front of themselves.
- Place each Governor Objective card ('Consul' for Rome and 'Prefect' for Alexandria) face up in the slot of the corresponding province. Shuffle all the cards that belong to this province and place them face up on top.
- Place the pile of Slave cards and the remaining Objective cards face up next to the board of the Roman Empire. If you're playing with fewer than 5 players, remove the 'Idolized' card. In a 2-player game, also remove the 'Military Supremacy' card.
Player board
- Each player places the board that corresponds to their chosen character in front of themselves, with its Roman High Dignitary side face up. Shuffle the 8 starting cards with your character's name on them, and place them face down next to your player board. This is your initial draw pile.
Legion and Camp Tokens
- Place the Legion tokens and Camp tokens of your character's color next to your Player board.
Gameplay
Players take turns one after another. The player with the lowest Roman numeral on their player board is the starting player.
In a 5-player game, this is Helvius Pertinax, who has the numeral I. The other characters are Didius Julianus (II), Septimius Severus (III), Pescennius Niger (IV) and Clodius Albinus (V).
Next, compose your starting hands. The starting player draws 3 cards, the second player 4 cards, and the remaining players 5 cards.
Players may agree to play in clockwise or anti-clockwise order. Romans didn't have wristwatches, after all.
The game is played over 2 phases
- A player is a Roman High Dignitary. (Pages 4 & 5)
- A player declares themselves Emperor. (Pages 6 & 7)
Roman High Dignitary - Turn Overview
I. Purchasing new cards
(Recruit new allies in the Empire)
To recruit new allies in the Empire, you can purchase cards in the provinces.
For this, you need to pay the 'cost' indicated in the top left corner of the card, by discarding cards from your hand.
Immediately place the purchased card on your discard pile.
Each card you discard is worth 1 gold piece, except if its 'discard effect' indicates a different amount.
Each round, the visible cards of each province can be purchased. You can also purchase Slave cards as long as they're available. Any gold you don't spend by the end of your turn is lost.
You may play cards from your hand in any order you like. You don't necessarily have to play all cards from your hand. You may discard them without gain, or keep them for the next round.
Anatomy of a card
- Card cost (top left corner)
- Character type
- Discard effect
- Emperor effect (can be used only after you've declared yourself Emperor)
Anatomy of a Player board - High dignitary
- Draw pile
- Discard pile
Discard effects
- You may discard any card to gain 1 gold piece.
- Gain 2 or 3 gold pieces instead of 1.
- (Not available in the introductory game) Gain 1 gold piece. You may immediately add the card you purchased with this gold piece to your hand, instead of discarding it.
- (Not available in the introductory game) You may purchase any character without paying their cost. (During the 'Emperor' phase, the additional cost is also ignored.)
- (Not available in the introductory game) You may take a Slave card from the Slave draw pile (if available) and immediately add it to your hand.
II. Prepare your draw pile
(Erase all traces of your plans)
When you've finished playing cards from your hand, you need to erase all traces of your plans. Take all of the cards on your discard pile, shuffle them, and place them underneath your draw pile.
III. Refill your hand
(Prepare the following step of your strategy)
After you've prepared your draw pile, refill your hand to 5 cards. This marks the end of your turn. It's now the next player's turn.
You may remain a High dignitary for as many turns as you like. When you think you're ready, you may declare yourself Emperor at the start of your turn.
Example turn of a Roman dignitary
I. At the start of her turn, Julie has 5 cards in her hand, 1 of which shows the 2 gold discard effect. This means Julie has 6 gold (1+1+1+1+2).
A. Julie chooses to spend everything. She purchases 2 cards (4+2=6 gold pieces).
OR
B. Julie chooses not to spend everything, and to keep some of her cards. She purchases 1 card for 4 gold pieces and keeps 2 cards in her hand.
II & III. Julie takes the cards in her discard pile, consisting of any newly purchased cards and the cards she discarded to purchase them. She shuffles the cards and places them underneath her draw pile. At the end of her turn, Julie's discard pile is empty. As a final step, Julie refills her hand to 5 cards by drawing cards from her draw pile.
Emperor - Turn Overview
At the start of your turn
You may declare yourself Emperor.
- Flip your Player board to its 'Emperor' side.
- Place your Camp token in a province of your choice. However, you may not choose a province where another player has already placed their camp.
- Place a Legion token next to your camp.
Once you've declared yourself Emperor, your turn is played in the same way as a High dignitary turn, but with the following changes that are specific to the Emperor turn. You can never go back to being a High dignitary.
Anatomy of a card and an 'Emperor' Player board
- Politics Influence Column, Citizen Influence Column, Army Influence Column
- Validated influence
- Influence waiting to be validated
- Draw pile, Discard pile
- Emperor area
I. Purchasing new cards
(The consequences of your audacity)
You may continue to purchase cards in your province as normal. However, purchasing cards in provinces other than the one where your camp is located, now cost an additional 2 gold pieces on top of the card's normal cost.
II. Playing cards from your hand
(Legitimize your alliances)
You may now play your cards that show an 'Emperor effect', by placing them into your Emperor area. These cards will stay on the table until the end of the game.
Depending on the symbol, an 'Emperor effect' may allow you to:
- Carry out a one-time action (as soon as you play the card into your Emperor area) or a permanent action (which you can use once per turn). You can find a detailed explanation of all the symbols and effects on the Player aid sheet at the back of the historical context booklet.
- Gain influence points. There are 3 types of influence points: Citizen, Army and Politics. These represent 3 types of influence over the Empire.
Some cards must be associated with a specific character in order to validate their influence point(s). First, you need to place 1 of these cards in front of you. To validate the card's influence, slide a character card of the corresponding type underneath it. Finally, place both cards in the corresponding influence column above your Player board (see the example below).
Example
During one of her previous turns, Audrey placed the 'Senator' card in front of herself. She still needs a Politician card in order to validate it.
During her current turn, Audrey has drawn a Citizen card. She slides it underneath her Senator, validating his influence.
She places these 2 cards in the Politics influence column of her player board, in such a way that the Politics star remains visible.
III. Manage your legions
(Go on a campaign)
Once you've declared yourself Emperor, you can manage your legions and go on a campaign. There are several actions available:
Recruit a legion
To carry out this action, play a Legion card into your Emperor area. Next, place a Legion token from your personal supply on the province where your Camp token is located, with its Deployed side face up.
Move a legion and initiate a battle
To carry out this action, you must spend 1 gold piece per movement. Move 1 of your Deployed legions to an adjacent province. You may carry out this action as many times as you like during your turn.
Battle: if you move one of your Deployed legions to a province containing 1 or more Deployed enemy legions, a battle is initiated. A battle does not require carrying out an action, but it does generate casualties. Each participant must place 1 of their legions back into their camp, with its Defeated side face up. The legion stays on your camp with its Defeated side up and can no longer move until it's redeployed.
Redeploy a legion
To carry out this action, you must spend 2 gold pieces. Flip a Defeated legion back to its Deployed side. It redeploys next to your camp.
A legion may be Recruited, Moved, Defeated and Redeployed as many times as you like during the same turn.
Example
Audrey attacks Marc by moving her Deployed legion from Carthage to Lugdunum.
Both players lose their legion and flip it to its Defeated side. Marc returns his legion to his camp in Alexandria, where it stays Defeated side up until he chooses to redeploy it. Audrey returns her Defeated legion to her camp in Carthage.
She decides to pay 2 gold pieces to redeploy it. Her legion is still in Carthage, but she flips it back to its Deployed side.
She pays 1 gold piece to move this legion again and now occupies the region of Lugdunum.
IV. Prepare your draw pile
(Erase all traces of your plans)
Just like in a High dignitary turn, when you've finished playing cards from your hand, you need to erase all traces of your plans. Take all of the cards on your discard pile, shuffle them, and place them underneath your draw pile.
V. Refill your hand
(Prepare the following step of your strategy)
After you've prepared your draw pile, refill your hand to 5 cards. This marks the end of your turn. It's now the next player's turn.
End of the Game & Objectives
(Your rise to power)
In order to win the game and be recognized as the sole ruler of the Empire, you need to fulfill 4 objectives. If this is your first game, the citizens are generous and you only need to fulfill 3. When you fulfill an objective, take the corresponding card and place it face up next to your Player board.
As soon as someone controls 4 objectives at the same time, they win and the game ends immediately.
The objectives
Recognition by the citizens, the senate, or the soldiers
If you have obtained at least 3 influence points of the same type, take the corresponding Objective card. 'Adored by the Citizens' for Citizen influence, 'Elected by the Senate' for Political influence, and 'Revered by the Army' for Army influence. If another player (strictly) overtakes you, they take this card from you.
Consensus
If you have obtained at least 1 influence point of each type, take a Consensus card. Each player will easily be able to fulfill this objective. The entire Roman society knows you and accepts you as a potential Emperor. The number of Consensus cards is equal to the number of players. Each player can only obtain this objective once, and it can never be lost.
Military Supremacy (in games with 3 or more players)
If you have at least 1 Deployed legion in 3 different provinces (outside of Rome), take this objective card. You lose the card if you no longer meet its requirements. In that case, return it to the supply.
March on Rome
If your army has conquered Rome and the province has at least 2 Deployed legions on it, take this objective card. You lose the card if you no longer meet its requirements. In that case, return it to the supply.
Corruption
Spend 10 gold pieces (in a single turn) to purchase this objective card, even if it already belongs to another player.
Control of a province: 'Governor of...', 'Consul of Rome' and 'Prefect of Alexandria'
Each of these objectives was placed underneath their corresponding province's draw pile. Once a province's draw pile is empty, the objective enters play for the player whose camp is in this province. If your camp is in a province with an empty draw pile and you have at least 1 Deployed legion there, take this objective card. If you no longer have a Deployed legion in that province, return the card to the supply.
Idolized (only in a game with 5 players)
If you have obtained at least 8 influence points of a type of your choice, take the Idolized Objective card. If another player (strictly) overtakes you, they take this card from you.