Siege of Jerusalem

Siege of Jerusalem is a tactical simulation of a 70 AD battle of the same name. Three Roman legions with assorted siege equipment assault the walls of Jerusalem defended by fanatical Jewish rebels.

The game consists of 5 Assault Periods, each consisting of up to seven daylight and three night turns. At the end of each Assault Period, the Roman player must control a increasing portion of the city to allow play to proceed to the next Assault Periond. The city is divided into sections, each worth a certain replacement value to the Jewish player. The portion of the city controlled is measured by this value.

Between two Assault Periods is an interphase during which both sides replace some eliminated units. The attacking Roman player determines how long each interphase is, during which he also builds new siege equipment, and conduct mining attacks on the walls.

The length of the interphase determines the effect of mining, building of siege equipment and the amount of losses replaced. The longer the interphase, the greater the effects of these efforts. However, the Roman player needs to keep the momentum of the siege going, and cannot afford to have overly long interphases. If the total length of the siege is more than 25 weeks, he loses the game. He also loses immediately if he suffers excessive (400 combat factors) of losses in any Assault Period.

If the Roman player does well, he will be able to gain control of growing sections of the city. When Jewish control of the city falls to be low 25%, a flight attempt is triggered. If he can exit 1,500 points of units, the Jewish player may still win.

Comments

Play of this game is very tactical in nature. Each Roman cohort is represented by no less than 3(!) counters. Rams, siege towers, artillery and even scaling ladders are included in the game.

The Jewish player has the advantage of defending from the walls, and powerful and numerous missile(archer) units. Furthermore, he starts with a huge replacement rate. Unfortunately, as sections of the city fall, so will his replacement rate.

Away from the walls, the Jewish player should avoid, if possible, all melee combat with the Roman legionaries. They are superior in more ways than one than even the strongest Jewish Zealot units, and most pitched battles will inevitably end with the battlefield strewn with broken Jewish bodies. Also, a significant portion of the Jewish defenders are made up of next-to-worthless Militia units. When losses mount within the ranks of the better Zealot and Regular units, Militia are called upon to perform tasks that they are ill suited to perform.

Once a section of the city is doomed to fall, militia should be used to cover the retreat of the better units. In the sprawling streets and alleyways of Jerusalem (built-up areas), Militia should be able to delay pursuit enough to allow retreating Zealots and Regulars to find safety.

For the Roman player, maximum effort should be directed against one or two small sections of the wall. This is almost sure to result in a breach in the city walls within the first three turns of the assault. The rest of the Assault Period should be used to press the attack and hopefully take another less heavily defended section of the city against unprepared defenders. There was one game in which the Jewish player conceded after losing 50% of the city in Period 2 alone!

I have attempted this game four times, and each time ended in a crushing Roman victory. Maybe it is because our style of play over commits Jewish resources to defending a compromised section, resulting in excessive losses.

Other Resources

None.

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