Druid: Boudicca's Rebellion, 61 A.D. (1984)

Overview

Druid: Boudicca's Rebellion, 61 A.D. is an Operational level two-player board-wargame recreating the revolt of the Ancient Britons against their Roman overlords.

In 61 A.D., Boudicca raised the standard of revolt against Britain's Roman masters when they laid claim to her Kingdom upon the death of her husband. Joined by the Druids of the Welsh isle of Mona, the British rebels defeated the Roman Ninth Legion and razed Britain's two largest cities, Londinium and Camulodunum. But the Roman governor, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, marshalled two legions and processed to destroy a Briton force ten times its size, destroying the revolt. Boudicca disappeared from history, probably taking poison. As for Paulinus, his repression in the aftermath was so severe that Tacitus, in his famed phrase, described it as "making a desert and calling it peace."

Druid is a vivid simulation of Boudicca's Rebellion, a fast-paced board wargame of Ancient "guerilla warfare." Barbarian and Roman players battle across first-century Britain, burning villages and sacking towns. The undisciplined Britons are initially strong, but must rally the disparate tribes of the island in revolt against the well-trained legions of Imperial Rome. The Roman forces begin as weak, but can call on powerful reinforcements. The Britons must hit cities and melt into the vast forests of the island where they cannot be found by Rome's legionaries. A wealth of "chrome" rules make the game interesting and provide repeated play value; rules are provided for tribal revolts, hidden deployment, legion activation, Druid invocation, and berserk units. An unusual wargame on an unusual topic, Druid proves the claim that some of history's least known conflicts can make some of its best games.

Re-implemented by:

Boudicca: The Warrior Queen