This one has been owned by a friend since more than 10 years ago. We have played it several times then, but age seems to have dulled my memory of those contests. I have recently loaned the thing from him, and after shaking off the dust...

Imperium Romanum is a strategic level game of the numerous wars that beset the Roman Republic and (later) Empire.

Included in the game are 35 scenarios that represent the major wars fought by Rome. Some scenarios are large scale involving numerous factions(players), while others may be one-on-one contests. Not all are well-balanced, but there are enough of them that sifting through them will occupy a LONG time.

The game map spans the entire Mediterranean Basin, from Spain in the west to Asia Minor in the east, and from the British Isles in the north to the North African coastline in the south.

The game mechanics are the "you-move-I-move" system typical of many wargames, but whenever a hostile force moves close, the inactive player may intercept and force a battle. Maneauver is limited to choosing the place of battle, and coordinated "operational" style campaigns are almost impossible.

Supplies effects are harsh and demanding. An army has to bring along baggage trains for supply, which burns up very quickly when campaigning. Securing a base of operation to stock up on supplies is therefore a necessary and very important part of any campaign.

Comments

Game mechanics are simple to use, but has enough chrome to keep the attention.

I have tried a couple of games of this solitaire, but has yet to form a firm opinion of this one. Maybe a couple more games... But here are some of the bad points about the game.

There is hell of a lot of manual records that need to be done. Treasury, recruitment levels, minor powers and many other items require some form of book-keeping. Provinces have varying status of road conditions (affecting movement) and cultivation (affecting forage). These change for different scenarios and provide a constant headache.

Another big gripe is the presentation of the charts. Charts are sorted by type, which means that playing a scenario requires constanting paging through the booklet to find the correct charts for the time period. A cleaner way would be to sort the charts by epoch, with each epoch having a distinct playing aid chart.

Despite its flaws, the game is intriguing, and the components are darn sexy!

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