Empire: Turn Four (320-310 BC)

The Persian empire is effectively over (unless the Parthians can revive it later), but the Roman republic seems poised to launch one of its own

There is more bad news for Persia as Armenia revolts, reducing the once-great empire to single province, Pontus.

The Macedonians are drawn to go first. Alexander is no more, so they can only launch one campaign, but for the next five turns will have a +1 modifier as part of the great captain's legacy. They take the easy option and conquer independent Armenia on a roll of 6.

Carthage again tries to invade Magna Graecia, but is repulsed on a throw of 2.

The Persians try for a revolt in Parthia, but fail.

Rome expands for the first time by conquering war-weary Magna Graecia with a roll of 5.

A relatively uneventful turn, but it is hard to see how a clash between Rome and Carthage can be avoided

Empire: Turn Three (330-320 BC)

Situation at the start of turn three after Macedonia, and to a lesser extent Carthage, started to expand

A revolt in Syria sees the province throw off Macedonian control. It will have to be reconquered by Alexander before he can move on to attack Persia and lands further east as campaigns can only be launched from a chain of provinces that includes the homeland or has at least four connected provinces.

Since this is the second (and last) turn in which the Macedonians have a great captain, they go first, and do indeed re-establish control of Syria. Alexander then takes Persia, Parthia, Bactria and INDIA (basically that part of the sub-continent ruled by King Porus). The Macedonians now have 11 provinces and are well-placed to mop up Persian resistance in Pontus and Armenia before possibly thinking of turning west.

The Persians are next up, and since their homeland, Parthia, is occupied, they could, instead of launching a normal campaign, try to make it rebel and return to Persian control on a roll of 6. Indeed, that is their only choice this turn since their remaining provinces of Pontus and Armenia do not make a connected block of four. However, their die roll of 5 is agonisingly one short.

Carthage invades Magna Graecia, but its roll of 4 is modified by -1 for a Carthaginian campaign outside the original empire, meaning the invasion narrowly fails.

The Romans roll a 1, easily consolidating their control of ITALIA.

At the end of turn three Macedon controls nearly all the map east of Italy, but the second red counter in Italia shows Rome has consolidated its control there and is ready to deal with a growing Carthaginian menace to the south

Empire : Turn Two (340-330 BC)

Situation in 340 BC

The revolt phase sees two 1s rolled, meaning AEGYPTUS throws off Persian control, bringing Persia back to its starting total of eight provinces.

This is the first turn in which Alexander the Great appears, and since great captains always move first, the Macedonians can choose to launch the first of their five great-captain campaigns by invading Illyria to the northwest, Thracia to the northeast, Magna Graecia to the west or Asia (really just a large chunk of Asia Minor) to the east. Since the last two invasions would involve a naval crossing, and Illyria is a dead end that can be dealt with at any time, it makes most sense to invade Thracia, especially as success there would open the door to the ripe pickings to be had in the Persian empire. As a great captain, Alexander receives a +2 modifier, meaning the attack on Thracia only fails if a 1 is rolled, but in fact up comes a 6. Next Alexander attacks Asia. Normally this would mean a -1 modifier for attacking a controlled province, but great captains ignore this unless the province is another people's homeland (Parthia in the case of the Persians). Again a 6 is rolled, and Alexander goes on to conquer Syria, AEGYPTUS and Mesopotamia. Rather as in real life, he first established complete control of the east Mediterranean seaboard and then drove towards the Persian homeland, leaving Pontus and Armenia to be claimed later.

Carthage launches another campaign against Sicilia, crossing the sea on a 6 and conquering the island with another 6 (reduced to 5 for being outside Carthage's original empire, but more than the 4 required).

Rome is next up but a throw of 5 means Roman control of ITALIA has not been consolidated (since this is turn two and a score less than the turn number is needed, only a 1 would have sufficed).

The Persians could attack INDIA, but their -2 modifier for attacks outside their original empire means only a 6 would succeed. Instead they counterattack the Macedonians in Mesopotamia, but roll a miserable 1.

At the end of turn two the Macedonians have made great strides in Asia while Carthage is approaching Rome's doorstep before the Romans have managed to consolidate their control of ITALIA

Play-Through Of Philip Sabin's Empire: Introduction & Turn One

EMPIRE is a strategy boardgame set in an extended Mediterranean world - India comes into play - starting in 350 BC.

Over 200 years, lasting 20 turns, Carthaginians, Romans, Macedonians and Persians/Parthians battle for supremacy.

Each turn starts with a a two-dice roll to determine which controlled province, if any, revolts.

Then each of the four powers gets to launch a campaign, the order of launching being chosen randomly.

A campaign consists of invading a neighbouring province - there are 22 in all - with the result decided by a die roll, with modifiers, 4 or better being needed for the campaign to be successful.

So far, so simple, but a complicating factor is the appearance of great captains - Macedon's Alexander the Great in turns two and three, Carthage's Hannibal in turn 14 and Rome's Scipio the Younger in turns 15 and 16.

Great captains can launch five campaigns a turn, instead of the usual one, provide a +2 die modifier and usually are not affected by a -1 modifier that would otherwise apply for attacking a controlled province.

There are other special rules, which I will cover when they apply, but basically that is it.

Victory points are awarded halfway through the game, ie at the end of move 10, and at the finish, the end of move 20.

Most provinces are in red, but four are in white, denoting the four powers' homelands

Each province controlled at the end of moves 10 and 20 is worth a point, except those in capitals (IBERIA, AFRICA, ITALIA, AEGYPTUS and INDIA), which are worth two points.

ITALIA is a special case. If Rome's control over it is consolidated - more on that later - it is worth three points.

Some of the provinces have slightly strange names, eg "Asia" covers only part of Asia Minor, and "AFRICA" is really just Greater Carthage, but this is easily taken on board.

At the start of the game the Persians control eight provinces (west to east: Asia, Pontus, Syria, Armenia, Mesopotamia, Persia, Parthia and Bactria), the Carthaginians control three (AFRICA, Numidia and IBERIA), while the Macedonians and Romans have only their homelands.

Along the bottom of the map is the Victory Points Track. Rome and Macedon start at zero, but Carthage and Persia, reflecting their past imperial success, begin at 12.

Anyone used to playing complicated boardgames by Avalon Hill, SPI, etc, may be astounded a game can seem so simple, and really Empire is simple.

But I hope to show it can also be enjoyable, especially for anyone with an interest in ancient history.

The game can be played by one to four people, but what particularly attracted me to it is the idea of playing it solo and watching history, or at least an alternate history, unfold.

TURN ONE (350-340 BC)

The map at the start with counters in place

The revolt dice-rolls pinpoint Cisalpina, but since that starts as an independent province there is no effect.

Macedon is drawn first. Lines of invasion from Macedonia show a campaign can be launched against Illyria to the northwest, Graecia to the south and Thracia to the east. Since Macedonian control of Graecia is vital for getting the best out of Alexander the Great on the next two turns, the Macedonians, presumably in the form of Alexander's father Philip, invade there, succeeding on a roll of 5.

Carthage is up next. It can attack Gallia from IBERIA or Sicilia from AFRICA. Carthage has a special campaign modifier of -1 if attacking outside of its starting empire, which means a 5 rather than a 4 is needed. But further modifiers are in play. Any attack on Gallia, or Cisalpina for that matter, on turns one to 10 suffers a -1 modifier, representing "tribal ferment," so Carthage would need a 6 to succeed, meaning the odds are 5-1 against. An attack on Sicilia is not affected by restless tribes, but it involves a sea crossing (the route is shown in blue to emphasise this). A campaign with such a crossing requires an extra roll, with 1 or 2 indicating the invasion never arrives (the fleet is deemed lost in a storm or naval battle). So to succeed the Carthaginians will have to pass a two-in-three chance (rolling 3 or higher) and a one-in-three chance (rolling at least a 5 as Sicilia is outside their starting empire). That works out at two chances in nine of succeeding, or 7-2 against. Accordingly the Carthaginians set sail, successfully landing in Sicilia (they roll a 4), but miserably failing to conquer the island (a roll of 1).

Next up is Persia. They could attack Thracia, INDIA or AEGYPTUS, but the Pesians suffer a -2 modifier for attacking anywhere except AEGYPTUS that starts outside their empire. That makes the decision simple, and they take the land of the pharaohs on a roll of 5, meaning the Persians now have nine provinces.

The Romans begin the game in control of ITALIA, but before they can expand they must successfully consolidate their control with a special internal campaign that requires a die roll lower than the turn number. Since this is turn one, the Romans effectively pass.

Situation after turn one - Persia has gained AEGYPTUS (worth two points if they have it at the end of turn 10) and Macedon has conquered Graecia (worth 'only' one point at the end of turn 10, but important for Macedonian success in turns two and three)

Latest Slingshot

THE September/October edition of Slingshot arrived yesterday, with a new editor in charge.

Under the previous regime the magazine largely consisted of a few in-depth articles.

This has radically changed, and the emphasis now is on lots of short pieces.

Slingshot ... the Septmber/October edition is issue 242 of the Society of Ancients' magazine

I can see arguments in favour of both approaches, and you cannot please all the people all the time, but perhaps an approach nearer the middle would be best.