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[PbP] [Time of Crisis] - The Roman Empire In Turmoil - Hedgethorn Wins!
stever777
AFK most SaturdaysRegistered User regular
AFK most SaturdaysRegistered User regular
"I had rather be first in a village than second at Rome."
-Julius Caesar
Welcome to GMT Games' Time of Crisis. In Time of Crisis, 2-4 players take the reins of Roman dynasties, gathering and wielding influence among the senate, military, and people of Rome to ensure that their legacies are remembered by history instead of being lost to the mists of time.
"Rome has grown since its humble beginnings that it is now overwhelmed by its own greatness."
Titus Livius (59 BC – 17 AD)
During the Crisis of the Third Century, the Roman Empire nearly collapsed in the face of calamitous internal and external strife, including continuous civil war and barbarian invasions from all directions. Beginning with the assassination of Emperor Alexander Severus, a period of 50 years saw nearly as many different men seize imperial power over all or part of the Empire, until the reforms of Diocletian in 284 AD ushered in an era of peace.
Starting from control of one province and a few low-value cards, you are challenged to establish your base of power during this fragile period of Roman history. You must build your armies, take control of valuable provinces, develop your support, and defend yourself against barbarian incursions, inopportune events, and the machinations of your political opponents.
Time of Crisis is easy to learn and playable in about 2-3 hours. It incorporates popular game mechanisms such as deckbuilding and hand management, but also delivers a true light wargame experience. The historical flavor is strong, with many meaningful decisions and opportunities presented to players on the board. This game finally fully closes the loop between deckbuilding card games and board games. Your cards dictate what actions are available to you on the board, and in turn, your position on the board directly determines how you can add or remove cards from your deck to make yourself stronger for future turns. Will you specialize in manipulating the Senate, wielding the power of the Legions, or being a man of the People? Or will you master a blend of all three? In a twist unlike most deckbuilding games, you have the privilege of selecting the cards that compose your hand each turn! However, you still need to eventually work through your entire deck before you can use your cards again, so deck management and timing is critical.
All of the key elements of the era are present in Time of Crisis: civil wars between competing generals and governors, Roman legions defending the frontiers against barbarian tribes, Senate favoritism, barracks emperors, even angry mobs, inflation, the Praetorian Guard, and the ability to carve off your own piece of the Roman Empire. Can your dynasty arise as the new leaders of the Roman Empire before Diocletian emerges and brings peace once again?
This will be a Play-By-Post Game of Time of Crisis for 4 players, participants determined from sign-ups.
Please sign-up in limegreen.
Participants will be determined randomly.
No PM's are allowed between players.
All discussion must be done in the thread.
Game questions to the host are allowed.
[RULES]
[PLAYER AID]
[Clarifications]
stever777 on
0
Posts
“It is not these well-fed, long-haired men that I fear, but the pale and the hungry-looking."
Julius Caesar
-Board and Components-
-The Turn Phases-
Remove all Quaestor markers in provinces you govern and Castra markers on armies you command.
Crisis
Roll 2d6 on Crisis Table and resolve the result.
Take Actions
Play cards from your hand and spend influence points to perform any combination of actions in any order you wish. You may choose the same action multiple times, if you can afford to pay the necessary influence points.
Support Check
-1 support in each of your provinces containing a Rival Emperor, active barbarians or an enemy army in the capital.
-1 support to Italia if a Pretender or Rival Emperor is on the map.
Expand Pretender Empire
Provinces you govern with a support level of 3+ adjacent to your Pretender Empire join it.
Gain Legacy
Gain Legacy for governed provinces, improvements and being Emperor or Pretender.
Buy/Trash Cards
You may discard cards from your hand before buying/trashing cards.
End of Turn
Flip inactive barbarians in your provinces to their active sides.
Add one Mob counter to each of your provinces with Mobs.
Refill your hand to five cards.
-Cards-
MILITARY CARDS FOR PURCHASE
SENATE CARDS FOR PURCHASE
POPULACE CARDS FOR PURCHASE
-Victory-
Players then receive bonus legacy based on the number of turns they were the undisputed Emperor of the Roman Empire, as indicated by the Emperor Turns markers on the score track. The player with the most turns receives the 1st place bonus; the player with the next highest turns receives the 2nd place bonus, and so on. A player must have been an undisputed Emperor at least once to receive this bonus.
• 1st place – 10 legacy
• 2nd place – 6 legacy
• 3rd place – 3 legacy
• 4th place – 0 legacy
In the case of a tie in Emperor Turn scores, all tied players receive the same legacy bonus.
Example: The Green and Red players were undisputed Emperors for five turns each, the Yellow player for three turns and the Blue player was for zero turns. The Green and Red players would both receive 10 legacy, the Yellow player would receive 3 legacy and the Blue player would not receive any bonus legacy.
The winner is the player with the most legacy.
Any ties are broken in the following order:
1) Current Emperor
2) Current Pretender
3) Player governing the most provinces
4) Player commanding the most Legions
5) Highest die roll.
The Black Hole of Cygnus X-1
(why does color work for you? None of us have been able to get it to work for months now)
If you're talking to me, I have no idea what the problem is or why I'm immune.
The Black Hole of Cygnus X-1
Heads up: might be a 1-2 day interrupt in my internet access tomorrow as I seek a replacement for my dying hard drive.
The Black Hole of Cygnus X-1
Geth, roll 1d1000 for MrBody
Geth, roll 1d1000 for Daemonis
Geth, roll 1d1000 for Preda
Geth, roll 1d1000 for Hedgethorn
The Black Hole of Cygnus X-1
That gives us this player order:
Hedgethorn - First Player
MrBody
Preda
Daemonis
Please select, in player order, a color and a non-Italia province to begin your rule in.
Once a province has been selected by a player, it is unavailable for the subsequent players to select.
Please post your actions in your house's color.
red
dodgerblue
darkgreen
goldenrod
You can also PM me your starting hands, made up of 5 1-pt cards of the three types, 3 max of each type.
The Black Hole of Cygnus X-1
Purchasing a card only places it into your discard pile. At the end of your turn, you can freely draw as many cards as you want up to your hand limit (5?). When the draw pile is out, you shuffle your discard pile into a new draw pile. Playing a card once it is in your hand costs nothing, so there is no real "discarding" since you just spend as many as you want.
Is that how it works?
What is the starting deck composition? And any idea the average number of turns a game lasts?
Card use did confuse my group until we saw it in action.
Purchasing a card does place it into your discard pile, where it waits, along with your other discards, to move into your available pile once that is empty.
At the end of your turn, you can freely draw, (more accurately select), as many cards as you want up to your hand limit of 5. I can't really think of any reason you would not draw up to 5.
When the draw pile is out, you place, not shuffle, your discard pile into a new draw pile. There is no shuffling of player decks in the game, as you select your hand every turn from your available pile until it is empty. Then, your discards become your available pile, forcing you to go through your deck before you can select any particular card again.
Playing a card once it is in your hand costs nothing, as Daemonis correctly stated above.
There is "discarding", as you may have a remaining card that isn't able to accomplish anything, such as a 1-pt Senate (blue) card where there is no opportunity to place a Governor or your next available Governor to recruit costs too much. This is up to you. You may wish to hold it to use in conjunction with your next turn's card selects, as card points can be added together to perform an action, but it does count against your hand limit, slowing down the cycling through your deck.
A turn into the game and it will be much clearer.
The Black Hole of Cygnus X-1
Your empire awaits.
The Black Hole of Cygnus X-1
They are just incremented by 1 for every one you already have activated, so, your starting Governor and General are free, the next ones cost 1 point, (blue for a Gov or red for a Gen), the next 2 points, etc.
The Black Hole of Cygnus X-1
@MrBody
Example: You play a 3 red card. You want to move an army 2 spaces (2 points) then initiate a battle (1 point). Can this all be done with the single 3 card? Or would you have to pay the cost of the movement with a 2 or greater card, then play a separate red card with value of 1 or greater to initiate the battle?
Card use is super-flexible. You can use however many points you want from whatever cards you play to do whatever you can afford. Basically, add up your totals of each color and do whatever you are able to do with those points. Also, actions and card events can be done in any order. It's completely up to you when you activate points and the events from the 2+ point cards.
The Black Hole of Cygnus X-1
(Edit: What stever said.)
The Black Hole of Cygnus X-1
Upkeep Phase
All Quaestor and Castra markers in provinces you govern are removed.
N/A
Crisis Phase
Roll 2d6 on Crisis Table and resolve the result.
Geth, roll 2d6 for Crisis Phase
The Black Hole of Cygnus X-1
Geth, roll 2d6 for Invasion Check
The first die is considered the black die.
The Black Hole of Cygnus X-1
Take Actions Phase
Play cards from your hand and spend influence points to perform any combination of actions in any order you wish. You may choose the same action multiple times, if you can afford to pay the necessary influence points.
@Hedgethorn
The Black Hole of Cygnus X-1
Geth, roll 2d6 for Pannonia Votes
Also, could you bold and color your actions, please?
The Black Hole of Cygnus X-1
Play two Red 1 cards.
Recruit general (-1 red).
Create army in Pannonia with that general (-1 red).
Two political points generated, use them to buy a Quaestor (Yellow 2) card.
Turn over.
Sorry, apparently the List format overrides color and bold? They were there before I posted.
@stever777 @MrBody
-1 support in each of your provinces containing a Rival Emperor, active barbarians and/or an enemy army in the capital.
If Emperor, -1 support to Italia if a Pretender or Rival Emperor is on the map.
N/A
(Italia's support drops to 7 for losing Pannonia.)
Expand Pretender Empire Phase
Provinces you govern with a support level of 3+ adjacent to your Pretender Empire join it.
N/A
Gain Legacy Phase
Gain Legacy for governed provinces, improvements and being Emperor or Pretender.
2 Legacy gained: 1 per province governed.
Buy/Trash Cards Phase
You may discard cards from your hand before buying/trashing cards.
Finished, with two political points generated by support in provinces governed.
End of Turn Phase
Flip inactive barbarians in your provinces to their active sides.
N/A
Add one Mob counter to each of your provinces with Mobs.
N/A
Refill your hand to five cards.
The Black Hole of Cygnus X-1
The Black Hole of Cygnus X-1