The Romans (2019)

Overview

The Romans traces the history of the Roman Empire from its inception as a small Italian Kingdom, through its development and expansion as a Republic and thence to the full blown Empire that dominated the classical world. Enemies mount challenges throughout the game and ultimately the barbarian invasions drive deep into the Empire with Rome itself as their target.

But this is not just a game of conquest. Senators grapple for power in the buildings of the capital and players will score victory points by developments through the game.

Players start with four Senators and their number increases through the game as five buildings come into play. These Senators can be placed in the various buildings to gain promotions, recruit legions, take revenue and build cities, fortifications and fleets, gain victory points, and a whole lot more. Alternatively, the Senators flip to become Generals which the player then deploy with armies on their own map board to expand the Kingdom, Republic and Empire.

Players make a range of decisions as there are multiple scoring opportunities and routes to victory. Game play is speedy and at time simultaneous. The fortune of dice rolling is mitigated by the sharing of many rolls and players who fall behind in the game will benefit from three recovery mechanisms that ensure the game remains tightly balanced until the dramatic climax of the game.

This is the third quantum game from the Ragnar Brothers and gives players a unique opportunity for each to experience the thrilling rise of Roman power. The game also builds upon the auto-player mechanisms which have been a feature of the solo rules in their recent games.

—description from designer