Mare Nostrum Diumvirate

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M A R E N O S T R U M :D I U M V I R A T E

A SCENARIO FOR 2 PLAYERS BY UBIRAT OLIVEIRA

Introduction

This document describes the scenarioMare Nostrum: Diumviratefor 2 players created by UbiratOliveira. Ubirat made the original document available on the site of BoardGameGeek at the URLhttp://www.boardgamegeek.com/fileinfo.php?fileid=8889, apologising profusely for the fact thatEnglish was not his native tongue. The result is a rather colourful description which unfortunatelyhas a tendency to get in the way of the scenario itself. While English is not my native tongue either, Iam of the opinion that the work of Ubirat deserves wider acclaim, and so rewrote the text. I had himproofread the document, for which I kindly thank him.

You do not need any special nor additional game material save for the base game ofMareNostrum: theMythological Expansionis therefore not required. All game pieces and cards are used inthis scenario. The players use two different colours each, and share the fifth, green. This colour nowdesignates special items: the fortress is considered a special building, legion and trireme are special forces,and the influence marker is an Olympic favour. The abilities of the special items are explained later in

the text.Many changes have been made to the games structure which can be easily overlooked. Pay

special attention to the uncoupling of heroes and civilisations, the determination of the roles, howincome is derived, the changes to the use of temples and markets, how to pay for objects, and (last butnot least) the victory conditions.

Enjoy!

Victory conditionsThere are nowfiveways of winning the game. A player wins immediately if he fulfills one of thefollowing conditions:

Completely eliminating the army of his opponent, comprising triremes, legions, fortresses, andspecial forces.

Conquering both enemy capitals in one and the same turn.

Accumulating any combination of 10 Hero and Wonder cards.

Accumulating any combination of 15 special items, be them forces, buildings or favours.

Accumulating bothany combination of 6 Hero and Wonder cards andany combination of 8special items.

Setting upRoll one die to determine who begins the set up. The winner choses any colour except green, andautomatically takes on the role and player guide of the corresponding civilisation. The hero of thatcivilisation is not given out at this moment, nor is he or she in any way tied to this civilisation in


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this scenario!He then adds pieces of his chosen colour and cardboard markers to the board asfollows:

Influence markers and fortresses are placed as indicated on the player guide. Place a single legion in every province withouta fortress. Depending on the colour of the pieces, place a single trireme in the sea west of Rome

(yellow), north of Carthage (red), west of Antiochia (purple), or north of Alexandria (blue). Place caravans as indicated on the player guide. Do notplace city markers on the board: instead, place a single templein the capital of the

chosen empire.The other player then choses two colours in succession and sets them up according to the above rules,the remaining colour left over for the person who chose first.

The character role cards are not awarded at this point.

Finally, place one templeeach on Sparta and Troa, and one caravan either olive oil resource ofthose provinces. All temples are now in play.

Playing the scenario

The scenario follows the general outline of the base game: the game is played in rounds, and eachround is divided into four subsequent phases: establishment of roles, commerce, construction andmilitary actions.

1. Establishing the roles

DIRECTOR OF COMMERCEThe player with the highest number of resource cards left over after the construction phase becomesDirector of Commerce for the next round. In case of a tie, the role of Director of Commerce is notawarded to either player. Note that in the very first round of the game, there is no Director ofCommerce. Agamemnon (unaltered)

POLITICAL LEADERIn the very first round, the role of Political Leader is determined by a throwing a die. The winner getsto chose whether to become Political or Military Leader; the other player automatically takes on theother role. In all subsequent rounds, the player with the highest number of tax cards left over aftertheconstruction phase becomes Political Leader for the next round. In case of a tie, the role remains withthe player who was Leader before. Salomon (unaltered)

MILITARY LEADERIn the very first round, the role of Military Leader is established co-currently with that of PoliticalLeader. In all subsequent rounds, the player with the highest amount of military points on the board(regular triremes, legions and fortresses valued at 1 point each; special forces at 2 points each) after themilitary phase becomes Military Leader for the nextround. In case of a tie, the role remains with theplayer who was Leader before. Archimedes (unaltered)

2. Commercial phase

OBTAINING RESOURCE AND TAX CARDSBoth players obtain income for both civilisations as follows:

Every resource covered by a caravan yields 1 card of that resource. Every resource covered by a market yields 2 cards of that resource. Note: This is different

from the base game! Every city site covered by a city marker yields 1 tax card. Every city site covered by a temple yields 2 tax cards. Note: This is different from the base

game!

Every special building in a province gives the player the same income he obtains from thetiny round markers: 1 special building doubles his income, 2 special buildings triple it, andso forth.


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Once a commodity is depleted, it cannot be handed out any more, nor is it replaced by another. Ifthere are not sufficient cards of a commodity to be handed out to both players, a die is rolled todetermine who draws first.

The income is laid out open in front of the players.

Colossus and Temple of Artemis (unaltered)

Hanging Gardens (new and altered)TRADEIf there is a Director of Commerce, he now chooses the cards he wants to trade with his opponent andthe cards he expects in return. The other player may not refuse the trade. If there is no Director ofCommerce, there is no trade. Ulysses (altered)

3. Construction phase

CONSTRUCTION RULESThe Political Leader for this round determines the order in which the players will build. The normalbuilding rules apply unless stated otherwise:

Payment of objects is done in resource cards, tax cards, or a combination of both. Resourcesin a set need not be unique. Note: This is different from the base game!

Influence markers of a particular colour may only be placed adjacent to a provincecontaining a marker of equal colour. Hammurabi and Pharos (unaltered)

Legions and triremes of a particular colour may only be built in provinces with an influencemarker of that colour.

Markets may onlybe placed on resources; there may be more than one market in a province.Note: This is different from the base game!

Temples can no longer be bought as they cannot be removed from the board with a militaryaction. Note: This is different from the base game!

The Pyramids no longer bring instant victory. Pyramids (altered) Bought (and previously stolen) special buildings and forces are first put into a private

storage from which only half(rounded down, excluding Olympic favours) can be actuallyput on the board this turn. Special buildings are not fortresses and are not subject to the rule of one fortress per

province at most (or two if the player owns Zeus). Zeus (unaltered) Special forces may only be built in provinces where there is at least one own fortress or one

own legion; the trireme of course only in a province adjacent to sea. It is recommended thatone player puts his special forces flat on the board to distinguish between the special forcesof the players.

Olympic favours are just put in front of the player. All special items in a players possession immediately count towards the victory conditions.

CONSTRUCTION COSTSThe construction costs of numerous items have been changed:

Mausoleum and Cleopatra (unaltered)

Influence marker 3 resource cards

City 3 resource cards

Caravan 3 resource cards

Legion 3 resource cards + 1 tax card Julius Caesar (altered)Trireme 3 resource cards + 1 tax card Perikles (altered)Fortress 3 resource cards + 1 tax card Julius Caesar (altered)Market (new) 6 resource cards + 3 tax cards

Market (upgrade) 6 resource cards (the replaced caravan returns to the stock)

Wonder 9 resource cards or9 tax cards

Pyramids 9 cards of any kind (resource and / or tax)

Hero 9 resource cards or9 tax cardsSpecial item 10 resource cards or10 tax cards


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Cards left over from construction can be carried over into the next round without limit. Note:This isdifferent from the base game!

4. Military phase

BASIC RULESThe Military Leader choses the order in which the players will move and perhaps fight. First, triremesmove in their normal way and fight as usual. Then legions and special forces make their move, andfight if necessary. Should the attacker remain alone in a province without enemy military units, hegets a military action. However, he can only occupy or convert; he may notsack the province. Note:This is different from the base game! Hannibal (unaltered)

Perikles and Nabuchadnezzar (altered)

If a special forces unit is destroyed in combat, it is put in the private holding of the other playerwho can then bring it onto the board in the next game turn as if he just bought it. The special buildingis not removed (as it does not participate in combat); it just changes ownership when the province isconverted.

Helen of Troy cannot be applied to special forces. Helen of Troy (unaltered)

PROPERTIES OF THE SPECIAL ITEMSA special legion moves up to 2 spaces through friendly territory and / or unclaimedterritory (in otherwords, it may not enter a province which has an enemy influence marker in it) and then participatesin everyfight in this, and the immediately adjacent provinces on one and the same turn, whetherdefensively or offensively. The unit rolls an automatic 6, and its capabilities can be enhanced byHeroes and Wonders, such as Hannibal. A special legion can support a naval battle in an adjacent seaprovince during the phase of trireme movement.

A special trireme moves up to 2 spaces through sea provinces, rolls an automatic 6 whenengaged in combat, and can support landlocked combat in adjacent land provinces as often as itwants on the same turn. Just like the special legion, its capabilities can be enhanced by Heroes andWonders.

Special buildings and Olympic favours have no special combat features.

Changed Heroes and WondersUlysses Right after trade, steal 1 resource and 1 tax card from your opponent.Nabuchadnezzar The moment you attack a province, obtain 1 corresponding commodity (either

resource or tax) for every cardboard marker in the province.

Hanging Gardens Get 1 tax card from the bank.Pyramids No longer bring instant victory.

Julius Caesar Legions and fortresses cost 1 card less (either 1 tax or 1 resource).Perikles Triremes cost 1 card less (either 1 tax or 1 resource); enhanced combat ability of

triremes remains unaltered.

TipsThe scenario plays like a monstrous free-for-all fight. In the beginning things are slow, but dont bealarmed if at any one point in time you have over 20 cards (!) in your hands. Youll notice thatobtaining Olympic favours isnt quiteas easy as it looks. Regrettably, the fact that the scenario isheavily resource-based makes Rome a very powerful civilization to play: dont give the Roman playercontrol over Carthage as well, otherwise youre in serious trouble from the start.

DOCUMENT INFORMATIONConcept: Ubirat Oliveira

Author: Maarten D. de Jong

Version: v1.0 (23-XIII-2006)

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Mare Nostrum Diumvirate