Rome is burning has showed up and for players who may be thinking about giving this latest offering from Agema a try. Here to give you a flavour of the game is what seems to be happening in the Manius 819 AC issue of Ad Infinitum.
1) The front page is mostly taken up by a picture of the younger Trajan as a much older man than he is in the game. Probably because of the great news that the elder Trajan has knocked the northern philosopher and the Parthian carpet salesman off the top of the glory list which is also on the front page. Worryingly for Romans Calgacus and Vologases still hold 2nd and 3rd spots on this list with King Radbod of the Frisii in the 6th spot……..what are these Barbarians plotting?
Oddly the breaking news that King Radbod has done a deal with the Roman General on the Rhine to backstab his own in-laws and sale out too Nero seems to have done his standing no harm. Perhaps this is just viewed as normal politics in the murky world under the tree’s?
Even more oddly Aulus D Germinus kept 4th place on the Glory table with no seeming movement even through one of his Legions declared him Emperor.
2) On the Rhine frontier after maiming a spy who turned out to be Roman and taking hostages from his war chiefs (one can never be too careful in the woods of Germania!). King Radbod massed his warbands on the northern borders of his Bruceteri neighbours and ex-allies waiting for the sound of battle before stabbing his kinsman the King of Bruceteri in the back. Having seemingly been promised by a Roman General that the head of the Bruceteri King will do nicely in liu of his own and win King Radbod the favour of the Emperor.
Sadly for the waiting Radbod, Vitellius, Nero and the sounds of battle never came! Is this just a delay or has the great betrayer been betrayed? Personally I doubt that the great and noble general Vitellius would do this. But some of his men may well be dragging their feet and paying extra visits to the doctor rather than building bridges/looking for fords in the hope that the Germans fight each other to the last German before they arrive.
The other question is: Can Vitellius actually make good on his side of the deal and get Nero and the Roman people to forgive Radbod for the taking of 24,000 of their fellow citizens as slaves? Or will General Vitellius actually need a new Emperor to honour his deal with Radbod? Also what happens about 24,000 Roman Slaves? Too crusty old Senators back in Rome one Germanic head is as good as another but they will not accept any treaty which does not free their fellow citizens.
Also open to question are will Nero ever show up to spread fire and sword as promised? Will the Tribes rally to the northern she-wolf Queen Kvens now that their former hero has sold out? If Vitellius wants to fight the Bruceteri why cross the Rhine below the river Lupia? Rather than in the land of his new Frisii allies? Does he not trust King Radbod or his chiefs?
Clearly its dark and dangerous times in the wild woods and nothing is quite as it seems. Any new players probably want to stay well away from this part of the game unless they fancy bloodshed and back stabbing in wild woods.
3) The Army of the divine Nero actually got as far north as Vitudurum on the upper Rhine were the Emperor declared his new “Master Plan” for team Rome:
“First task is to hammer the Frisii. Then Vitellius will join me in a march to the east to hammer the Parthians. Then Gallus will march with me to the Danube to conquer Dacia. Then Germinus will join me and we will go to Britannia to slam the Caledonians & get that Eagle back. Then on to Hispania to have words with people who CONSTANTLY harangue me about Latin rights.”
To judge from the local agreements some of Nero’s generals seem to be setting up with the Barbarians it would seem that not all of Nero generals were fully up to date with this plan before it was issued. Some may also object too being pulled out of provinces they like and have got used too. Will Gallus be happy commanding on the Danube rather than his beloved East? Is Geminus being sent to Britannia from the Rhine to be viewed as a demotion?
Looked at from Nero point of view a shake up of the High Command and pulling commanders out of area’s where troops may may have got too attached to their commander rather than a distant Emperor is probably over-due. But has the Emperor left it too late and could it be a dangerous political move?
4) Other problem with the new “Master Plan” are what I would term “Distractions” to the Imperial focus required to see it through such as:
- For reasons unknown the Guard took it into their heads to declare their support for Quintus Julius Cordus as the next Emperor of Rome after Nero. A declaration Nero viewed as very ill mannered as its it is not really polite to make such declaration while the existing Emperor is still alive. Now rather than getting on with hammering the Frisii the Emperor’s plan has been amended to include a return to Rome to have “words” with Cordus. Though surely the Imperial dignity would be better served if Cordus went to the Emperor for his telling off rather than the other way round?
- Many Senators including some in command of Armies are no doubt wondering what damn business is it of the Guard who the next Emperor (Or as traditionalists like Gallus and Trajan have it “Dictator for life”) is? Surely this would be their job?
5) Another and perhaps more serious distraction to the Roman Master plan of Nero is that the Tribune of the X Legion in Carnuntum (key Roman base on line of communications between the Rhine and Danube armies) has declared against Nero and for Aulus Ducenius Germinus as Emperor!
- It would seem that the plunder and slaves won by Germinus has made him so popular with some of his troops that they have now declared him Emperor. But is this one Tribune in his cups or the whole of the X Legion ????? !!!!!!
6) The news that he has been declared Emperor seemed to be news too Geminus (that or he is a really good actor) and the great man spent the month showing the Rhine Legions how to conduct a cross river punitive raid and withdraw with plunder and captives intact. Before putting up a request to talk to the King of the Iazyges tribe who he has just hammered.
Question now seems will Geminus sale his captives and plundered herds to pay his debts to Nero and/or make himself even more popular with the Danube legions and people of Rome.
Rules give average sale price for slaves as 900 denerii so 90,000 captives @ 900 denerii is plenty to pay Emperor his 6m denerii and make really big donation to the rather empty (after rebuilding Rome) Imperial Treasury. But since is the first big Roman victory we do not know how badly a sudden large influx of slaves will depress the price.
Or will Geminus offer return the captives and herds to the King in return for support of Iazyges Lancers v The Dacians or someone else?
As for the Iazyges King does he now follow the star of Geminus or is he so embittered by unprovoked Roman attacks (Nero having ordered counter raids on Dacians not the Iazyges due to Dacian raids) that he turns to Scorilo of Dacia?
7) Even before hearing about Nero master plan to conquer his kingdom, Scorilo has declared that he has had enough of local Roman diplomacy and has decided to answer with the Falix!
- Dacians have now destroyed a Roman wine press, routed a unit of Roman Cavalry killing its commander and may have taken the town of Divio.
Clearly its all rather “interesting times” on the Danube. But what the hell is actually happening may only be known to local Roman commanders and either they do not know or are not saying.
Note – Not sure if position is NPC or not but if as a Player you are anti toga wearing but do not want to live in a hut or a tent. The Kingdom of Dacia would seem to be a good position as its got proper fortresses, gold mines and all the mod cons of a Greek and Steppe influenced Celtic style Kingdom.
In the East it still seems a bit of a phoney war. With Jewish bandits paid by Parthia raiding Caravans and clashing with local Roman forces. But no actual clashes between the Legions and the Parthian Army proper.
The good bit is that both sides know who they are fighting and seem to be trying to find out locations or hostile forces while trying to hide size and strength of own forces. So if you join in the east you at least know who is on your side and who is trying to fill you full of arrows. Unless you pick one of the positions in the middle! Probably best to avoid Kingdoms of Iberia and Albania as these have plague but Armenia is an interesting one as its current King is the brother of the King of Parthia but holds his throne from Nero! While for the true lover of pain there is always Judea for the type of player who takes a Polish Commonwealth or Jacobite position in Glori.
9) North of the true Eastern front in the mountains and on the Steppe where the Horse Lords roam.
As mentioned above a terrible plague has hit the Mountain Kingdoms of Iberia and Albania (not the modern lands with same name but Kingdoms of same name east of the Black Sea). The basic importance of these Kingdoms is that they control the mountain passes between the hairy horse types like the Huns, Roxolani and the Alans and the loot of civilized lands.
So does the plague mean that the Caspian Gates are now unlocked and swinging in the wind?
Currently the various Horse Lords are still doing weird nomadic shaman type stuff which involves flowers and vanishing women (no I do not get it either !?) but could that now change?
10) In Britannia – as per usual not a lot seems to be happening. Roman and Brigantine scouts did look at each other and the Romans have built a bridge but basically the conquest seems stuck. Perhaps Nero is right and it needs Geminus to get it going again. Though just to be on the safe side Calgacus of the Caledoni has built himself a new hill fort and is starting work on a nice tomb for Royalty. Somewhat oddly some of his men are reported to have arrived in Ctesiphon of all places asking for Parthian gold?! Which is either sign of want to be Scots on the make or the evil of the King of Kings reaching out to menace the Roman Empire from all directions.
Tend to think of Britannia as a sleepy backwater good for the type of player who takes a Chin province or an African power in Glori but I may be wrong since you are even down to get a visit from Nero.
11) If all the above has you thinking RIB is too warlike for you, there are some civilized bits with no Germanic headhunters, well North Africa and Hispania to be exact. In Egypt they seem to have spent month writing scrolls on the arts while in Hispania the major interest seems to be the next Iberian games. Finally having decided on the venue for the Gladiators and sorted out a few other problems games related problems all now seems ready for the Emperor when he finally visits after dealing with a few minor matters first.
- Though on reading the Master Plan Vitellius is understood to have muttered something along lines of “We can keep him alive in the middle of Germanic hordes and Parthian cavalry armies. But if he steps into the middle of a bunch of Olive Oil barons and tells them 200 years of hopes and dreams are dust. That is flipping dangerous.”
Home
Portal
Search
Latest images
Register
Log in
could the gods on Mount Agema be so unkind as to give the chicken fancier of old Corduba town a dodgy reading?
