Triumph (Phalanx) Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• I. Components
• II. Setup
  • Setup Client and Legion placing
• III. Winning the game
• Losing the game
• IV. Gameplay overview
  • Phases of play
  • Bidding for Influence and Office effects
    • Calculating Influence
    • Influence Order & Office effect
    • Senate track
    • Played Family cards
    • Influence markers
    • Example
• V. Family cards and Clients
  • Family cards
  • Clients
• VI. Provinces & Roman control
  • Provinces
  • Types of Province
  • Adjacency
  • Roman control
  • Rome
• VII. Rome & Buildings
  • Buildings – tiles
  • Buildings – markers
• VIII. Campaigns & Battles
  • Commanders
  • Legions
  • The Auxiliary track
  • Undertaking a Campaign
    • 1. Planning
    • 2. Battles
    • 3. Spoils
  • Barbarians Invade
  • Barbarian Leaders
• IX. Law cards
  • Obtaining a Law card
  • Playing a Law card
  • Client effect
• X. Intrigue & Triumph
  • Intrigue
  • Triumph
  • Negotiation & Exchange
• XI. Phases – Offices and other effects
  • I. Auguries (Latin: Auguria)
  • II. Assembly (Latin: Comitia)
  • III. Construction (Latin: Constructio)
  • IV. Conflict (Latin: Conflicti)
  • V. Justice (Latin: Justitia)
  • VI. Games (Latin: Ludi)
  • VII. Administration (Latin: Administratio)
• XII. Playing with 2 players
  • Setup
  • Gameplay
  • Conflict
• XIII. Annex – Building effects

I. Components

• 1x 6-sided custom Roman Battle die
• 1x 6-sided custom Barbarian Battle die
• 1x Game board (56cm x 84cm)
• 30x Family cards (6 per player)
• 16x Barbarian Leader cards
• 8x Building tiles
• 8x Building markers
• 4x Barbarian Leader markers
• 7x +1/+2 Influence markers
• 7x -1/-2 Influence markers
• 16x Roman control markers
• 15x 3-value Talents (coins)
• 20x 1-value Talents (coins)
• 20x double-sided Legion markers
• 20x double-sided Intrigue markers
• 30x Law cards
• 5x Commander markers (1 per player)
• 1x Round marker
• 1x Phase marker
• 5x Player markers (1 per player)
• 5x Triumph markers (1 per player)
• 5x Favour markers (1 per player)
• 100x wooden markers "Clients" (20 per player)

Influence markers, Legion markers, Intrigue markers, Talents, and Clients should be considered unlimited. In the unlikely event any of these run out, use substitutes.

II. Setup

Place the board in the middle of the table. Each player takes the following components of the color of their choice into their supply: 6 Family cards, Commander marker, Triumph marker, Favour marker, 20 Client cubes, Player marker.

Place the Round marker on the space marked with I, and the Phase marker on the Administration Phase space.

Place 2 Legion markers on the designated spaces on the Auxiliary track.

Place a Roman control marker in each of the four Italian provinces (Etruria, Umbria, Apulia, Lucania). Place the remaining 12 markers on the Auxiliary track.

Place face-up all the Building tiles next to the board, do not shuffle them. Shuffle face-down the Building markers and place them in a pile next to the Building tiles. Reveal 1 Building marker. Place the corresponding Building tile in one of the 7 available spaces on the board (it doesn't matter which), and place the revealed marker on that Building tile.

Reveal 3 Building markers, place the corresponding Building tiles next to the board, and place the revealed markers on those Building tiles.

Place Influence markers, Legion markers, Intrigue markers, Talents, and Battle dice next to the board.

Shuffle face-down the Barbarian Leader cards to form a deck and place it next to the board.

Refer to the Barbarian Leader Table. It sets out the number of Barbarian Leaders drawn per Round, by player count. Draw one-by-one the required number of Barbarian Leader cards for Round I.

Each time you draw a card, place it on the Barbarian Leader Box with the corresponding sigil. If you draw a card for a box that is already filled, place it on the bottom of the deck, and draw another card.

When the Barbarian Leader cards are placed, take the Barbarian Leader marker that corresponds to the card and place it on the board in one of the following Barbarian Provinces: Gallia Cisalpina, Macedonia, Sicilia, Sardinia.

Shuffle the Law cards, then deal face up next to the board as many cards as there are players. Place the remaining cards face down in a draw pile next to the face up cards.

Randomly place Player markers on the Senate track.

Each player places their Triumph marker on the Triumph track on 0.

Each player takes 2 Talents from the general supply and draws 1 card from the Law deck.

Setup Client and Legion placing

With the board prepared in this way, starting with the player on the most left place on the Senate track, one by one each player places 1 Client cube from their supply, and 1 Legion marker from a general supply in a Province in Italy (Etruria, Umbria, Apulia, Lucania) of their choice.

III. Winning the game

At the end of Round 3, the player with the most Triumphs is made Emperor and wins the game.

In a case of a tie, the winner is the player with the most (apply each step until a winner is determined):

I. Barbarian Leader cards II. Clients in Buildings III. Clients in Roman controlled Provinces

In the unlikely event there is still a tie, no player wins: no Emperor is declared and Rome thrives as a republic.

Losing the game

If a Barbarian Leader moves to Rome, Rome falls and all players immediately lose.

IV. Gameplay overview

In Triumph you play 3 Rounds of 7 Phases. Phases II to VI are Bidding Phases: you bid Influence to control an Office available in that Phase. If you bid the most Influence, you control the most powerful Office for that Phase (indicated with a yellow background), and act first in the Phase. If you bid the second most Influence, you control the second most powerful Office, and act second, and so on. The actions you can take in a Phase, and when you can take them, are determined by the Office you control.

You bid through the simultaneous play of one of the 6 Family cards you begin the Round with. All players have the same Family cards (cosmetic differences aside), which have an Influence value of 0 to 5. This value can be modified by the effects of Law cards, Buildings, and Intrigue markers.

Control of an Office grants you the effect of the Office. Most commonly you will be placing and removing Clients from the board. Depending on the effect, Clients can be placed either in Rome (Building spaces), or in Provinces. Clients are an abstract representation of your Family's presence and influence. In some Phases, the Offices grant more specific actions, such as placing Buildings. Some Offices also grant Talents.

Talents – the currency in the game – are also obtained through defeating Barbarian Leaders and in the Administration Phase through having Clients in Provinces. They are used to purchase Law cards, recruit Legions, pay Taxes, and for exchange and bribery.

In each bidding Phase there will be more players than Offices. If you don't bid enough Influence to control an Office, you will instead take an Intrigue marker. Intrigue markers can be discarded to gain additional Influence during a Bid, to reroll a Battle dice during a Conflict, or exchanged.

Conflict is a key part of the game. Offices in the Conflict Phase will allow you to undertake a military Campaign, either leading it as a Major Commander, or supporting it as a Minor Commander. Campaigns can be declared against any Province. They are how Roman control expands across the map. A successful Campaign will allow players to place a Roman control marker and Clients in the Province.

If the Province contains a Barbarian Leader the challenge will be harder, requiring more Legions, and probably the support of other players, but the rewards are greater in the form of Spoils (Triumphs and Talents). In any event, Barbarian Leaders cannot be ignored. Each Round, if undefeated, they will advance closer to Rome. They remove unled Legions from any Province they enter, and if they ever reach Rome the game ends and everyone loses.

At various points during the game you will be able to take advantage of Law cards and Buildings. Law cards are one-use cards. They can affect various aspects of the game, and can be very impactful if played at the right time. They are tradable.

Buildings constitute Rome itself. A total of 7 can be placed in the game. Clients can be placed on them, either to generate Triumphs at the end of each Round or to grant the relevant player the special effect of the Building. At the end of the game you will compare the number of Triumphs you have gained to determine a winner. The presence of your Clients in Buildings and Provinces at the end of a Round are the principle means through which you earn Triumph, but success in military Campaigns and your final position on the Favour track are also important sources.

Phases of play

The current Phase you are in is tracked by the Phase marker. Once you have resolved all the steps of a Phase, you move the Phase marker down and resolve the next Phase.

Phases with a yellow-circled icon are Bidding Phases.

1. I. Auguries
2. II. Assembly
3. III. Construction
4. IV. Conflict
5. V. Justice
6. VI. Games
7. VII. Administration

A more detailed explanation of each is provided in the Phases – Offices and Effects section (p.22).

Bidding for Influence and Office effects

You bid Influence to control an Office in Phases II to VI of each Round. For each of these Bidding Phases there will be one to four Offices available (depending on player count).

Calculating Influence

You bid Influence by playing a Family card face-down in the playing area. Once all players have done this, all placed cards are revealed simultaneously. Each Family card provides a bid of between 0 and 5 Influence for the player. This may then – optionally – be modified by players playing Law cards, discarding Intrigue markers, and applying certain Building effects.

The order in which players act to modify Influence values is open and unrestricted. A player may wait for another player to play a card, discard Intrigue markers, or apply a Building effect, before responding. That other player may then respond in turn. The final Influence Order is not determined until all players have declared they do not intend to take any further action to modify Influence values.

Influence Order & Office effect

Once the final Influence bid for each player is calculated, players determine the Influence Order for the Phase*. Starting with the player with the highest Influence, after adjusting the Senate track, each player then applies the corresponding Office effect for that turn (see Phases – Offices and Effects section below p.22 for details on the effect of each Office).

*Play note: It might be helpful to arrange the played cards in Influence Order as a reminder of the order as the Phase plays out.

Senate track

If two or more players are tied in Influence, the player leftmost on the Senate track is placed ahead in the Influence Order. Once Influence Order is determined, the player who was highest in Influence Order applies the effect of the most powerful Office, and moves their Player marker to the rightmost space of the Senate track, and all the other markers to the right of this marker are moved one space left. Then, the player with the second most Influence applies the effect of their Office, and so on.

Only the player with the most powerful Office has to move their Player marker to the rightmost space on the Senate track when applying the effect of the Office.

Note: this means that if the player that was rightmost on the Senate track was highest in Influence Order, no Player markers are moved.

Played Family cards

At the end of a Bidding Phase, played Family cards are retrieved and placed face up in the relevant player area. They may not be played again this Round (all played Family cards are returned to the players' hands at the end of the Administration Phase). It is public information which Family cards have been played by each player in the Round, so this should be clearly visible to the other players.

Influence markers

During bidding, you can use these markers to indicate the increase or decrease in Influence caused by the effects of cards played by placing them on the Family card.

Example

Yara's (yellow player) and George's (green player) Order markers are moved by one space to the left.

It's Phase II (Assembly) in a five player game and the players have revealed the Family cards they have played. Paige (purple player) revealed a '1' card, and then, once all the cards were revealed, played a '3' card on top of the '1' card. This means that Robert (red player) and Paige are both on 4 Influence. To determine the Influence Order the players refer to the Senate track. Paige is leftmost on the track and so she is first in Influence Order. In that way, Paige beats Robert to the first place in Influence Order.

Robert decided to play "O tempora! O mores!" Law card from his hand to lower the Influence of the Paige Family card by 2. No one wants to play anything else, so the Influence Order is determined. Robert is first, Paige is second and Bess (blue player) is third. As Robert has the highest Influence, he applies the effect of TRIBUNUS I, and the red Player marker is moved to the rightmost space on the track. Next, Paige applies the effect of TRIBUNUS II, Bess applies the effect of TRIBUNUS III. Since Yara is fourth and George is fifth in Influence Order and there are no more Offices in this Phase, there is no effect to apply. Each of them takes an Intrigue marker instead.

All players then place their played Family cards face-up in their play area.

V. Family cards and Clients

Family cards

Depending on the Influence value on the card, cards have the following effects:

• 0 – The player gains 1 Talent when this card is played.
• 1 – The player plays another card from their hand on top of this card. This is done after all players have revealed their Family cards for the Phase, but before any other modifiers are applied. The sum of both cards is that player's Influence for this Phase. If more than one player reveals a 1 card, these players play another card like normal but place it face-down, and then these cards are revealed simultaneously. A player who played 1 Value card must play another card.
• 2-5 – The number of icons on the card played for the Conflict Phase represents the number of Legion markers you automatically Recruit and place with your Commander (see Legions, p.13).

Card anatomy: Card Influence value; Illustration; The effect of the card; The name of the card.

Clients

Clients can be placed or removed from the board through the control of Offices, Buildings, the play of Law cards, and the outcome of Battles.

Client cubes ("Clients") represent the presence of members of your family in Provinces, and your Ownership or Administration of Buildings. A white cube icon always refers to your Clients. Thus they are essential to how you gain Triumphs.

A black cube icon always refers to an opponent's Clients.

A removed Client is placed back in the relevant player's supply. If you run out of Client cubes, use substitutes.

Where a Client may be placed in a Building, it may be placed in an empty space in a Building or in any Roman-controlled Province (a Province with a Roman control marker).

Example: Robert controls the Questor this Phase, meaning he can place a Client in an empty space in a Building, or a Roman-controlled Province.

Where a Client is to be placed in a Province only, it may only be placed in any Roman-controlled Province.

There is no limit on the number of Clients that can be present in a Province. In a Building there are 2 spaces for Clients. A Client can't be bumped from a Building space once it occupies it. However, there are game effects that remove Clients from Provinces and Building spaces.

VI. Provinces & Roman control

Provinces

All Provinces have one of four Barbarian Leader sigils on them, to mark the path of the corresponding Barbarian Leader if/when they invade. Provinces contain a number of Barbarian Shields. These are used to help determine the outcome of Battles (see the Conflict Phase, p.25, for more details). And they contain between two and three Triumph point indicators. These are awarded to players with Clients in these Provinces in the Administration Phase. The player with the most Clients claims the highest Triumph value, and so forth (see the Administration Phase, p.28, for more details).

Provinces represent areas of current or potential Roman administration.

Types of Province

There are two types of Province:

a. Provinces controlled by Rome (Roman control marker present). b. Provinces not controlled by Rome (no Roman control marker present). On cards, all these Provinces are indicated by the non-Roman icon.

There are four Italian provinces (with a red background): Etruria, Umbria, Apulia, and Lucania, collectively referred to as Italia. This distinction is important for some game effects. These start the game controlled by Rome.

Adjacency

In some cases it will be necessary to determine if a Province is adjacent to another. Where two Provinces are connected by land or a Sea Route (blue lines on the Seas between Provinces), they are adjacent.

Roman control

Roman Control markers not placed at setup are placed through successful Campaigns in the Conflict Phase (see p.25). If a Province is Roman-controlled, it is not necessary for a Client to be present for it to remain Roman-controlled. Roman control markers are only removed if a Barbarian Leader enters the Province.

Example: Gallia Cisalpina is Roman controlled.

Rome

Rome is not considered a Province. Legions may not enter it, and Clients may not be placed on it. If a Barbarian Leader ever enters Rome, the game ends and all players lose. In game terms, Rome is represented by the Roma Civitas area on the board. In this area there are 7 Hills, for 7 Buildings to be placed: Aventinus, Palatinus, Capitolinus, Caelius, Viminalis, Esquilinus, and Quirinalis.

VII. Rome & Buildings

Buildings – tiles

Buildings represent sites of great sacred, legal or administrative importance within Rome itself. Each Building is represented by a tile, and has a corresponding marker to track which player is Administrator of the Building.

Tile anatomy: Name of the Building; Owner space – provides the player with Triumphs; Administrator space – provides the player with the effect of the Building.

Each Building tile has 2 spaces for Clients: an Owner space and an Administrator space. A Client may be placed in either space, if it is free.

• Owner space: If you place a Client in this space, on the Income step of the Administration Phase you gain 2 Triumphs.
• Administrator space: If you place a Client in this space, you take the corresponding marker of that Building and place it in your player area. You can use that Building's effect unless the marker is flipped on its used side.

Example: Robert (red player) is the Owner of the Basilica. In the Income Phase he will receive 2 Triumphs for this. Bess (blue player) is the Administrator. She can use its effect at any point during a Bidding Phase to move up to 2 of her Clients from Rome and any Provinces to any other Provinces. The marker is then flipped.

Buildings – markers

Each Building has a specific effect that can be used by the Building Administrator once per Round. The effects are set out in the Annex – Building effects at the end of this Rulebook.

Once the Building is used for its effect, the Building marker is flipped (exception: Mausoleum, Templum and Circus – see the Annex, p.32, for details). The Building cannot be used again until it is unflipped in the Administration Phase.

Note: this rule applies even if the marker is claimed by another player during the Round – it cannot be used by that player until it unflips.

VIII. Campaigns & Battles

Commanders

Each player has a Commander marker that they will place in a Province during the Campaigns step of the Conflict Phase. Supported by Legions, these Commanders will undertake Battles with Barbarians. The successful defeat of Barbarians in non-Roman controlled Provinces is how you expand Roman control on the map.

The Commander markers are double-sided, representing a Major Commander and a Minor Commander. When you are undertaking a Campaign, depending on the Office that you control for the Conflict Phase, you will place the marker on one of the two sides in a Province (see Offices Effects in the Conflict Phase description on p.25).

Each Province can only contain one Major Commander, but may have multiple Minor Commanders.

Legions

Legions are how you defeat Barbarians in Battles. Legions are represented in the game by Legion icons. These are present on Legion markers, the Roman Battle die, and some Building markers.

Legion markers are placed ("Recruited") with your Commander in a Province as part of the Planning step of a Campaign (see below). They are double-sided, to represent being Available or Recruited. This distinction is important for certain game effects and movement purposes.

Once Recruited, a Legion becomes unavailable and cannot be Recruited by another player this Round. Flip it to its Recruited side after placing it in/moving it to the Province to show this.

Legion markers are Recruited for a Campaign in different ways:

a. Family cards

• All Family cards except 0 and 1 have Legion icons. The number of icons on the card played for the Conflict Phase represents the number of Legion markers you automatically Recruit and place with your Commander.

b. Auxiliaries

• These are Legions that can be Recruited from the Auxiliary track. As Roman Control expands, more become available to be hired.
• To Recruit an Auxiliary to a non-Italian Province, spend Talents equal to the number of Shield icons in the Province, per Auxiliary Recruited (e.g. to Recruit an available Legion from the Auxiliary track to Hispania would cost 2 Talents).
• It is free to Recruit an Auxiliary to an Italian Province.
• Any number of Auxiliaries may be recruited in this way, in Influence Order, until there are none available for Recruitment.

c. Garrison

• These are Legions that remain in Provinces from previous Campaigns.
• To Recruit an available Garrison, pay 1 Talent per adjacent Province it must cross to reach your Commander (e.g. if the Legion is 2 Provinces away from your Commander, pay 2 Talents to move it to your Commander).
• Any number of Garrison Legions may be recruited in this way, in Influence Order, until there are none available for Recruitment.

The Auxiliary track

Auxiliaries were typically Roman soldiers from conquered Provinces.

The Auxiliary track contains Legion markers and Roman control markers. The game begins with 2 Auxiliaries available for Recruitment. Each time Rome gains control of a new Province, the leftmost control marker is placed on that Province from the track.

After a control marker is placed and this icon is revealed on the track, a new Auxiliary becomes available to be Recruited (a Legion marker will be placed there as part of the Administration Phase). If Rome loses control of a Province following a Barbarian Invasion, the control marker in that Province is placed back on the track, on the rightmost available space. This may cover up the Legion icon, meaning it is no longer available.

Example: In the Conflict Phase Rome gained control of a Province, and the leftmost control marker was taken from the track and placed in that Province. This revealed a Legion icon, meaning that in the Administration Phase a Legion will be placed there, available for Recruitment in the Conflict Phase of the next Round.

In addition, you may Recruit and place with the Commander available Legions from the Auxiliary track and/or from Garrisons in the Provinces (you may do this even if you do not have any Family Legions), and add any Legions from played Law cards or effects of the controlled Buildings (see Legions section above).

Undertaking a Campaign

A Campaign is split into three steps: Planning, Battles, and Spoils.

1. Planning

Each player, in Influence Order, places a Major or Minor Commander in a Province, and accompanying Legions.

• A Major Commander can be placed in any Roman-controlled Province or any adjacent Province to a Roman-controlled Province.
• If placing a Commander in a Province without a Major Commander already placed, you must place a Major Commander. If placing a Commander in a Province that has a Major Commander, you can only place a Minor Commander (i.e. there can only be one Major Commander per Province).
• You must place Legions with the Commander equal to the number of Legion icons on the Family card, if any, played this Round*.
• The cost of Recruiting Legions from the Auxiliary track is equal to the number of Shields in the Province in which such a Legion is Recruited.

*Exception: If you are Administrator for the Mausoleum Building, you do not need to place any Legions with the first Commander you place (your Commander marker), but you must place any (remaining) Legions you have from Family cards with the second Commander you receive from the Mausoleum (see the Annex, p.32).

Play note: Each Office in the Conflict Phase has a brown square to the left. As the Conflict Phase is the longest in the game, we recommend placing one of your Clients there when the Influence Order is set. This indication helps not to forget the order of the players in this Phase.

2. Battles

Play note: Most of the time Major Commanders will be placed in Provinces with Barbarian Armies present in order to protect Rome and gain the most Spoils. However, it may be safer to place a Commander in a Roman-controlled Province on the path of an adjacent Barbarian Leader (which will advance there and you will Battle in the Barbarians Invade step). Or in a non-Roman controlled Province without a Barbarian Leader, giving more certainty of victory in the Battle, while still allowing you to place Clients in to a Province.

Each player, in Influence Order, resolves a Battle in a Province where they have a Major Commander and one or more Legions present. In any Province where there are Commanders only (no Legions), the Battle is skipped and the Commander markers taken back to the players' areas.

The player with the Major Commander rolls the Roman and Barbarian Battle dice and compares the Roman Legions* and Barbarian Shield numbers. To calculate the respective number apply and total each row in the table below.

*It does not matter if the Legion marker is Available or Recruited.

Roman Legions	Barbarian Shields
Number of Legions in Province	If Province not Roman-controlled: number of Shields printed in Province
Add Legion icons from Templum or Circus markers, if present	If Barbarian Leader marker present: add Shields printed on corresponding Barbarian Leader card(s)
Add Legion icons from rolled Roman Battle die	Add Shields from rolled Barbarian Battle die
Apply any effects from played Law Battle cards (both columns)

Rerolls: Once the numbers are determined, it may be possible to reroll the Battle dice, as follows:

• The player with the Office of CONSUL I may reroll one of the two Battle dice as a benefit of controlling the Office.
• Then, any player may discard 2 Intrigue markers to reroll either of the Battle dice. A player with a Minor Commander may only do this if the Major Commander present agrees.
• There are no limits on the number of rerolls that may occur this way.

Battle dice:

• Roman Battle die outcome distribution: 2 faces blank, 3 faces with 1 Legion icon, 1 face with 2 Legion icons.
• Barbarian Battle die outcome distribution: 2 faces blank, 3 faces with 1 Shield icon, 1 face with 2 Shield icons.

Battle outcome: Compare the final number of Legion and Barbarian Shield icons.

• Victory → The number of Legion icons is equal to or greater than the number of Shield icons.
• Defeat → The number of Legion icons is lower than the number of Shield icons.

Example: Robert (red), as a Leader of the Campaign rolls the Battle dice. On a Roman Battle die is 1 Legion and on an Enemy Battle die are 2 Shields. The number of the Legions is 8, and the number of Shields is 7. In that way Rome is victorious.

After determining the outcome of each Battle, resolve the Spoils step.

3. Spoils

Victory – perform the following steps:

1. Leave as many Legion markers in the Province as the difference between Legions and Shields. The rest of the Legion markers are removed, and any Building markers are returned to the players. Legion markers that remain in that Province become Garrison. There cannot be more Legions left in a Province as Garrison than there were before the Battle dice were rolled.

Example: The outcome of the Battle was 7 Shields, so 7 Legions were removed from the Province, and 1 remained in it as a Garrison.

2. Place a Roman control marker in the Province, if not already present (note that you do this even if no Legion markers remain).
3. The player with the Major Commander: a. Places 2 Clients in the Province. b. If a Barbarian Leader is defeated:
   • Gains Triumphs equal to the value shown in the larger frame (the higher value) on the Barbarian Leader card.
   • Gains the number of Talents indicated on the Barbarian Leader card.
   • May give any number of these Talents to any players with Minor Commanders present (except their own Minor Commander if present due to the Mausoleum marker). For each Talent given, the giving player gains 1 Triumph. Players receiving the Talents may not refuse this.
   • Takes the defeated Barbarian Leader card and places it in their player area.
4. Any player with a Minor Commander (unless it is a Minor Commander from the Mausoleum marker): a. Places 1 Client in the Province. b. If a Barbarian Leader is defeated: gains Triumphs equal to the value shown in the smaller frame (the lower value) on the Barbarian Leader card.
5. All players then return their Commander markers, and any Building markers, back to their play area from that Province.

Play note: It is possible to attack a Barbarian Leader by placing a Major Commander and Legions in the Province containing that Barbarian Leader's marker in the Campaign step of the Conflict Phase. Or alternatively to place a Commander in a Roman-controlled Province on the path of the Barbarian Leader to Battle it in the Barbarians Invade step of the Conflict Phase. The reason to choose the latter is that the number of Barbarian Shield icons will be lower, as the Shields printed on the Province do not apply if it is Roman-controlled. Of course, the downside is that you cannot expand into new Provinces with this approach, but you will obtain all the spoils from defeating a Barbarian Leader.

Defeat – perform the following steps:

1. Remove from the Province all Legion markers.
2. If the Battle was in a Roman-controlled Province, remove the Roman control marker and place it on the Auxiliary track on the rightmost space without a Rome control marker.
3. If there is no Commander present, remove from the Province any Legions, and the Roman control marker. Clients remain, but any such Province will not generate Triumph points in the Administration Phase.
4. All players then return their Commander markers, and any Building markers, back to their play area from that Province.

Barbarians Invade

Throughout its history Rome faced a range of ferocious and hostile opponents. The Romans referred to all such people as Barbarians, regardless of their cultural development.

Any Barbarian Leader that is not defeated in a Campaign will move to an adjacent Province on a path – indicated by sigils on the Province that match the sigils on the Barbarian Leader marker – that ultimately takes it to Rome.

• If it enters a Province with a Major Commander and Legions present, the player that controls the Major Commander will resolve a Battle, following the steps laid out above.
• If the Barbarian has entered Rome, the game ends and everyone loses.

Barbarian Leaders

In the game Barbarian Leaders have one of four corresponding markers, with sigils: Gallia Cisalpina / Gallia / Britannia; Macedonia / Asia Minor / Syria et Cilica; Sicilia / Africa / Aegyptus; Sardinia et Corsica / Hispania / Mauretania.

When a Barbarian Leader first appears (in the Auguries Phase) the Barbarian Leader marker is placed in a non-Roman controlled Province corresponding to the sigil. Place in this order (first available non-Roman controlled Province):

• Gallia Cisalpina > Gallia > Britannia
• Macedonia > Asia Minor > Syria et Cilica
• Sicilia > Africa > Aegyptus
• Sardinia et Corsica > Hispania > Mauretania

The sigils correspond with sigils on Provinces on the board, and mark the path a Barbarian Leader marker will follow as it moves each Barbarian Invades step.

As set out in the Undertaking a Campaign section (p.15), Barbarian Leaders contribute Shield icons to Battles, and provide Spoils to successful Commanders if defeated.

Card anatomy: Barbarian Shield icons contributed by the Leader; Talents gained by the Major Commander for defeating this Leader; Triumphs gained by the Major Commander for defeating this Leader; Triumphs gained by Minor Commanders for defeating this Leader; Illustration; Name of the Leader; Sigil of the Leader.

IX. Law cards

Obtaining a Law card

When you gain a Law card you can take a face-up one from those available, or take a chance by drawing a random card from the top of the Law deck.

Law cards can also be obtained through exchange with other players.

There is no hand limit for Law cards.

Playing a Law card

Each Law card has an indicator for the Battle Law card (icon and red bars), the name of the card, its effect, and any Client effect.

You can play a Law card when indicated on the card (e.g. if text says "When you place a Client", this means that you can play the Law card anytime you place a Client). If there is no such indication, you can play it at any time, once the effect of the previous Law card, Building or Office effect has been fully resolved.

You can only play 1 Law card per Phase, except for Battle Law cards (indicated with a Battle icon). Any number of these can be played for their effect during resolution of a Battle.

Client effect

You can discard a Law card any time you place a Client in any Province or Building to place 1 additional Client cube in any Roman-controlled Province.

Example: Robert has used the Questor Office effect to place a Client in Umbria, then discards a Law card to place another cube in the same Province.

X. Intrigue & Triumph

Intrigue

Intrigue represents diplomatic maneuvering, patronage and the use of political capital.

Intrigue markers are mainly obtained when you do not gain control of an Office in a Bidding Phase, but can also be exchanged with other players for Talents, Law cards, or promises.

Please be aware that the back of the Intrigue marker has two different faces (icons). This serves as a reminder that if you want to use Intrigue, you have to spend 2 markers. However, for game purposes, you can spend 2 markers with the same back artwork to gain the effect.

Using Intrigue

Intrigue markers can be used for two purposes:

1. For every 2 Intrigue markers discarded after the Family cards are revealed, add 1 Influence to your played Family card.
2. For every 2 Intrigue markers discarded when resolving a Battle where you have a Commander present, you may reroll either the Roman or the Barbarian die. If you have a Minor Commander present, you may only use Intrigue markers for this effect if the Major Commander agrees.

Triumph

Triumph represents the renown and popularity of your family in Rome. It is how you win the game.

Triumphs are earned from a variety of sources, and can be awarded immediately, at the end of a Round, or at the end of the game.

• Immediately: Defeating Barbarian Leaders; Law cards.
• End of Round: Having Clients in Roman controlled Provinces; Owning Buildings.
• End of game: Total value of Talents remaining: 1 Triumph per 3 Talents; position of your Favour marker on the Games track.

Negotiation & Exchange

You are encouraged to negotiate with other players. You can trade and exchange Talents, Intrigue markers and Law cards (nothing else). If you make a deal with immediate effect (e.g. to exchange an Intrigue marker for a Talent), it must be honored. However, future promises (e.g. to take an Intrigue marker now in exchange for a Talent to be paid in a later Phase) are not binding. Choose your partners with care!

XI. Phases – Offices and other effects

I. Auguries (Latin: Auguria)

Ancient Rome was a city of superstition and very strong religious beliefs. Woe betide any Statesman, Family or Military Commander who ignored the auguries.

In this Phase you reveal the new Barbarian Leaders to be defeated, new Buildings that can be constructed, and new Law cards that can be obtained.

Skip on Round 1.

During this Phase, you cannot play any Law cards or use Building effects.

Resolve this Phase through the following steps:

1. Place new Barbarian Leaders

   • Refer to the Barbarian Leader Table to determine the number of Leaders to place based on the Round and player count.

     Number of players	Round I	Round II	Round III
     3	1	2	2
     4	2	3	3
     5+	3	3	4

   • Draw the required number of Barbarian Leader cards one-by-one. Place the card in the empty box with the corresponding sigil. If the box is not empty – i.e. it contains an undefeated Barbarian Leader, place the drawn Leader card at the bottom of the deck and draw a new one.

   • If all the boxes are full, place the drawn Barbarian Leader card so it overlaps an already placed card with the matching sigil (keep the Shields, Triumphs, and Talents visible on both cards). The two Leaders are considered to both be in the same Province (and share the corresponding Barbarian Leader marker). Their Shields, Triumphs, and Talents add up and are treated as 1 Barbarian Leader from now on. When they become defeated players gain all benefits from both cards. The player who controls the Major Commander takes both Barbarian Leader cards, and for the tiebreaker, they count separately.

II. Assembly (Latin: Comitia)

Ancient Rome was governed by laws, passed by an assembly of all the Roman citizens. The most successful Families knew how to pass certain laws to their advantage.

In this Phase you bid for your choice of an available Law card, and place Clients.

Office effects:

• TRIBUNUS I → Take a revealed Law card or the top card of the Law deck, then place a Client, and gain 1 Talent.
• TRIBUNUS II → Take a revealed Law card or the top card of the Law deck, then place a Client in any Roman controlled Province.
• TRIBUNUS III (4/5 player game only) → Take a revealed Law card or the top card of the Law deck, then place a Client.
• All other players → Gain 1 Intrigue marker.

Other effects of Phase: After all Office effects of the Phase are resolved, each player, according to the Senate track, may buy an available Law card, or the top Law card from the deck, for 2 Talents.

Any remaining face-up Law cards stay in place for the next Round. Place 1 Talent on each card. In subsequent Rounds, if any player takes a Law card with Talents, they add those Talents to their supply.

Example: Yara (yellow – Tribunus I) takes the Alliances card, next George (green – Tribunus II) takes the Ovatio. Bess does not want any revealed card, so she draws a Law card from the top of the Law deck. Next, each player can buy 1 Law card (according to the order on the Senate track), but only Yara wants to do it. She pays 2 Talents and takes Banito. Lastly, place 1 Talent on each revealed card.

III. Construction (Latin: Constructio)

Rome is a city of seven hills. As the city expanded, more and more impressive buildings were constructed on these hills.

In this Phase you bid to construct a revealed Building, and place Clients.

Office effects:

• CENSOR I → Take a face-up Building tile and place it with its corresponding marker on an available Hill space in Rome. Then place a Client, and gain 1 Talent.
• CENSOR II → Take a face-up Building tile and place it with its corresponding marker on an available Hill space in Rome. Then place a Client.
• QUESTOR (4/5 player game only) → Place a Client in any Roman controlled Province.
• All other players → Gain 1 Intrigue marker.

Other effects of Phase: At the end of the Phase, place 1 Talent on any unselected Building tile. If it is placed in a subsequent Round, the placing player will gain the Talent(s) on it.

Example: Robert (Tribunus I) chooses one Building tile from the revealed ones. He chooses Circus and places it on one of the Hills in Rome. He places his Client in the Administrator space and takes the Circus Building marker. Additionally, he gains 1 Talent (Censor I). Bess (Tribunus II) chooses Basilica, places her Client in the Administrator space, and takes the Building marker. Lastly, place 1 Talent on Forum, as nobody chose it.

IV. Conflict (Latin: Conflicti)

Ancient Rome was in an almost permanent state of war as it expanded its territory into Barbarian lands, and fought back against Barbarian Leaders looking to bring it to its knees.

This Phase is split into two steps. In the first step you send your Commanders on Campaigns to Provinces, allowing for the expansion of Roman territory. In the second step, any undefeated Barbarian Leaders advance towards Rome.

Office effects:

• CONSUL I → Gain 3 Talents. Place a Major Commander. Reroll a die effect allows you to reroll any die you roll during this Phase once.
• CONSUL II → Gain 2 Talents. Place a Major or Minor Commander.
• LEGATUS I (4/5 player game only) → Gain 1 Talent. Place a Major or Minor Commander.
• LEGATUS II (5 player game only) → Gain 1 Talent. Place a Major or Minor Commander.
• All other players → Gain 1 Intrigue marker. Place a Minor Commander.

Other effects of Phase: Resolve the Campaigns, then Barbarian Invade steps.

• Campaigns: In Influence order, each player places their Commander marker in a Province and resolves Campaigns (see Undertaking a Campaign, p.15).
• Barbarians Invade: Each Barbarian Leader on the board moves one Province closer to Rome following the corresponding sigils on the Provinces. If they move to a Province containing a Commander and Legions, resolve a Battle (see Barbarians Invade, p.18).
• Return Commander markers: If any Commander markers remain on the map after the Barbarians Invade step, return them to the relevant player.

Example: Paige (Consul I) places her Major Commander in Sardinia et Corsica. She places 1 Legion thanks to the Family card she played. Next, she pays 1 Talent to move 1 Legion from Etruria and 2 Talents to move 1 Legion from Umbria. Lastly, she pays 2 Talents to recruit 2 available Legions from the Auxiliary track.

V. Justice (Latin: Justitia)

In Ancient Rome, a Praetor was an elected Magistrate able to gain power and undermine rivals using the force of the law.

In this Phase there is only one Office available, the Praetor, allowing for the removal of rival Clients.

Office effects:

• PRAETOR → Remove the Client of another Family from the board (can include a Building space). Then place 1 Client and gain 1 Talent. The player whose Client was removed gains 1 Intrigue.
• All other players → Gain 1 Intrigue marker (the player whose Client was removed therefore gains 2 Intrigue in total).

Other effects of Phase: None.

Example: Bess applies the effect of Praetor. She removes 1 of Robert's Clients from Circus and places her Client in Forum. Robert gains 1 Intrigue, and Bess gains 1 Talent.

VI. Games (Latin: Ludi)

Despite Rome's pre-eminence, life was tough for the average Roman, and discontent often simmered among the plebeian masses. To keep the people happy, patrician families, officials and Emperors often spent very large sums on games open to the public.

In this Phase you bid to sponsor games, and gain Favour with the masses.

Office effects:

• AEDILIS I → Place 1 Client, and gain 1 Talent.
• AEDILIS II → Place 1 Client.
• AEDILIS III (4/5 player game only) → Place 1 Client in any Roman controlled Province.
• All other players → Gain 1 Intrigue marker.

Other effects of Phase: Each player moves their Favour marker up one space on the Games track for each Influence on the Family card played (after applying any modifiers for Intrigue and Law card effects).

Example: Bess and Yara played cards with '0' Influence, and they do not move their Favour marker. Robert played a card with '2' Influence, and he moves his Favour marker by 2 spaces. Paige moves her marker by 4, and George moves the marker by 5.

VII. Administration (Latin: Administratio)

In this Phase you earn Talents and Triumphs for the presence of your Clients in Provinces and Owner spaces on Buildings, but only after you pay your taxes!

This Phase is divided into 3 steps: Taxes, Income and Clean up.

The steps are resolved in turn, but all players can resolve the Taxes step at the same time, and then the Income step at the same time.

During this Phase, you cannot play any Law cards or use Building effects.

Taxes

• If you have insufficient Talents, you may choose to pay for your Clients in Buildings or for the Games, but if you can pay, you have to do it (i.e. if you have Talents, you cannot choose not to pay and remove your Clients instead).
• Buildings: Pay for each Client you have in a Building. If you do not or cannot pay, you must remove the Client from the Building. In Round 1 the cost is 1 Talent per Client, rising to 2 Talents per Client in Round 2, and 3 Talents per Client in Round 3.
• Games: You must then pay the cost of sponsoring the Games. Refer to the position of your Favour marker on the Games track, and cross reference it with the Talent icon for that row (1/2/3/4). You must pay that amount. For each unpaid Talent, you must move your Favour marker 1 space back.

Games track: the track has 16 spaces in four rows of four. Row 1 (spaces 1–4) costs 1 Talent, row 2 (spaces 5–8) costs 2 Talents, row 3 (spaces 9–12) costs 3 Talents, and row 4 (spaces 13–16) costs 4 Talents, as shown by the arrows at the end of each row on the printed track.

Transcriber note: the printed Games track also shows the values 8, 5, 3, 2, 1 along its top edge. The rulebook text does not say which Favour positions these values apply to, so they are not transcribed as a rule here. Check the physical track before relying on them.

Income

• Talents: Gain 1 Talent for each Roman-controlled Province, excluding Italy, where you have at least 1 Client.
• Triumphs:
  • Gain 2 Triumphs for each Building where you have a Client in the Owner space.
  • Gain Triumphs for each Roman-controlled Province where you have Clients. If you have the most Clients in such a Province, gain the highest number of Triumphs shown. If you have the second highest number of Clients, gain the second number of Triumphs shown. In some Provinces, the player with the third highest number of Clients gains the third number of Triumphs shown.
  • If two or more players are tied, all tied players score the same amount of Triumphs. The player (or players) with the next highest number of Clients scores the next highest number of Triumphs, and so on.

Example: Robert and Yara each have 3 Clients in Gallia, and they each score 4 Triumphs. Next, as Paige has 2 Clients, she scores 2 Triumphs. Lastly, Bess and George each have 1 Client, they each score 1 Triumph.

Clean up

If this is Round 1 or 2, perform the following steps:

• Return all played Family cards to your hand.
• Move the Round marker to the next Round and move the Phase marker to the Auguries Phase.
• Refresh Auxiliaries by placing Legion markers (Available side-up) on empty Legion icons on the Auxiliary track.
• Flip Recruited Legions on the board to their Available side.
• Flip any used Building markers back to their unused side.
• Start a new Round.

If this is Round 3, each player adds to their Triumph score:

• 1 Triumph for every 3 Talents in their supply.
• Triumphs according to their position on the Favour track.

The player with the highest number of Triumphs is the winner and becomes an Emperor of Rome (see Winning the game, p.06).

XII. Playing with 2 players

Setup

Setup the game as if for 3 players. The third player is going to be a non-playable character; his name is Caesar, and he uses the red color.

During setup, Caesar places his Client in the safest Province; Caesar will not place his Client in a Province adjacent to the Barbarian Leader. If there are more safe Provinces, the player who is first on the Senate track chooses, but always must place Client in a Province without any other Clients.

Shuffle face down Caesar's Family card deck.

Gameplay

During Phases II–VI, Caesar plays Family cards from the top of his Family deck. If there is more than one card Caesar can choose from, shuffle all the cards he may choose from, and discard one at random.

Caesar does not spend any Intrigue markers. He accumulates them and spends all of them during the Games Phase to boost their Influence.

Caesar does not have to spend any Talents during Taxation. Caesar does not spend Talents. He accumulates them, and on Income, he spends any Talents to gain Triumphs. For each 3 Talents, he immediately scores 1 Triumph.

All the rules of the game apply to Caesar with the following exceptions:

• If Caesar is about to place a Building, shuffle all available Buildings and reveal one at random.

• If Caesar is drawing or gaining a Law card, discard that card, and place 1 Client in a Roman-controlled Province. Caesar always takes Law cards from the display with the highest amount of Talents on a card. If there is more than one card Caesar can choose from, shuffle all the cards he may choose from, and discard one at random.

• Placing a Client (Caesar's priorities):

  1. Place a Client on a Building on the 2 Triumphs space, OR if this is not possible;
  2. Place a Client in the safest and most beneficial Roman-controlled Province that has no opponents' Clients, OR if this is not possible;
  3. Place a Client in the safest, most beneficial Roman-controlled Province, OR if this is not possible;
  4. Place a Client in the most beneficial Roman-controlled Province.

  Example: The safest and most beneficial Roman-controlled Province that has no opponents' Clients is APULIA. Example: The safest and most beneficial Roman-controlled Province is ETRURIA, as adjacent SARDINIA ET CORSICA is Roman-controlled. Example: The most beneficial Roman-controlled Province is SARDINIA ET CORSICA.

If there is more than one Province to choose from, the player who is first on the Senate track chooses.

Conflict

1. Caesar always places his Major Commander in a Province with a Barbarian Leader.
2. Caesar always places his Minor Commander in a Province with the highest Triumphs he may score. If there are more Barbarian Leaders he can choose from, the player who is first on the Senate track chooses.
3. Caesar always places any available Legions from the Auxiliary track to a Province with his Major/Minor Commander for free.
4. Caesar always moves any Available Legions to a Province with his Major/Minor Commander from all Provinces of the same sigil for free. If there is more than one Province to choose from, the player who is first on the Senate track chooses.
5. If Caesar wins as a Major Commander, he gives all Talents as equally as possible among the players who supported him, and any last Talent is given to the player who is first on the Senate track.

XIII. Annex – Building effects

• CIRCUS – Place this marker with your Commander during the Campaign step of the Conflict Phase. It counts as 2 Legions. It is removed and flipped when the Commander marker is removed.
• AMPHITHEATRUM – Place this marker with your Commander during the Campaign step. It counts as 1 Legion. In addition, it allows you to have 1 extra reroll in a Battle, as if you had discarded 2 Intrigue markers. It is removed and flipped when the Commander marker is removed.
• MAUSOLEUM – Place this marker after all players have placed their Commander marker during the Campaign step of the Conflict Phase. It counts as a Minor Commander. It may be placed where you already have a Commander marker, but you will not gain any additional Triumphs in this case, and if you defeat a Barbarian Leader with a Major Commander you will not be able to give Talents to yourself to gain additional Triumphs. Or it may be placed in another Province, following the standard placement criteria. You must place any Family Legions not placed with your Commander marker with this Commander. It is removed and flipped when other Commander markers are removed from the same Province.
• FORUM – Flip this marker when resolving a Bid to add +1 Influence to one of your played Family cards.
• BASILICA – Flip this marker at any point during a Bidding Phase or any time you place a Client, to place a Client in a Roman-controlled Province OR gain 2 Talents.
• THEATRUM – Flip this marker at any point during a Bidding Phase or anytime you perform an action, and choose a Roman Province. Gain as many Talents as many players have at least 1 of their Clients in this Province.
• TEMPLUM – Flip this marker anytime during a Bidding Phase, or at any time you roll a die. Gain 1 Intrigue marker and reroll 1 die.
• THERMAE – Flip this marker at any point during a Bidding Phase and take 1 Law card (either a face-up one or from the top of the Law card deck), OR resolve this marker anytime you play a Law card to play 1 extra Law card.