The Fall of Rome (wargame)
The Fall of Rome, is a solitaire board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1973 that simulates the decline and fall of the Roman Empire from 100 CE to 500 CE.
Description[edit]
The Fall of Rome is a single-player game in which the player controls Rome's beleaguered forces across Europe, as barbarian hordes begin to press Roman defenses. The 17" x 22" hex grid map covers all of Europe, while 200 die-cut counters represent Roman legions and barbarian hordes. The barbarians move by pre-determined rules. Further rules cover barbarian revolts, treasuries, and raising militias.[1]
Six scenarios are provided. In each, one turn represents one year of game time.[1]
Publication history[edit]
The Fall of Rome was designed by John Young, and was published as a pullout game in Strategy & Tactics #39. It was also sold as an individual game, packaged in SPI's "flatpack" box. In 1997, Joe Miranda revised the game, and the result was published as a pullout game in Strategy & Tactics #181.
Reception[edit]
In the 1980 book The Complete Book of Wargames, game designer Jon Freeman called this game "wargaming's version of the 1962 Mets [...] probably the worst game ever published on an actual historical subject." He pointed to the rules as the main problem, calling them "an abysmal, if somewhat humorous, disaster; the errata sheet for the game is longer than the original rules." He concluded by giving the rules a rating of "Abysmal" (the only game rules in Freeman's book to receive that grade), and rated the game itself "Very Poor", calling it "An unmitigated disaster."[1]
In the January 1976 edition of Jagdpanther, Scott Rusch called Fall of Rome "one of the best ancient [era] wargames around" but agreed that the rules needed a lot of work, and provided six corrections and improvements, as well as suggestions for improvements in general game play.[2]
Other reviews and commentary[edit]
- Strategy & Tactics #39
- Moves #12
- Fire & Movement #22
- The Wargamer Vol.2 #19
- Outposts #1
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Freeman, Jon (1980). The Complete Book of Wargames. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 86.
- ^ Rusch, Scott (January 1976). "Fall of Rome Revisited". Jagdpanther. Vol. 3, no. 12. p. 10.