Middle Provincial Era GROGPUBLIC game thread

Started by JasonPratt, September 17, 2018, 05:04:17 PM

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JasonPratt

A hard 10! -- man, a craps table laying side odds on this roll streak would be raking in cash!

That's a Scenario, which turns out to be a Faction card sent face-down to Malize's hand along with his other one (making two of them). I've sent him a pmail about it already.

In the process, Malize p-mailed me to make sure he could change his original plan, and get first dibs on buying the Circus Maximus, which yes he can! I'll process that next.
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Erax

Malize, you should wait until the population phase so we have some Unrest to reduce, I promise not to spend the 10 gold on Flaminius on the Circus Maximus until you've had your opportunity.

JasonPratt

...I'll hold off processing a little while until Players have had opportunities to try convincing Malize not to buy it yet.

He's snagged the first right to buy it, however, unless he verbally and publicly agrees to relinquish it.
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

Erax

I think I'm the only other player who could buy it this turn so he's safe.

JasonPratt

I was about to comment, but I don't want to say anything that would give preferential advice to one player per se.

Any inference any player draws from that statement, is that player's responsibility, and I do not guarantee its correctness.  ^-^ (Unless someone asks me about matters of fact, of course.)

With that, I'm hitting the sack tonight, and will check in tomorrow morning. Busy evening umping tonight! -- glad to be moving the game along so well.  O:-)
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

Tripoli

I agree, it would be best to wait until we have some unrest efore buying the Circus card.   Dropping unrest by 5 could come in handy
"Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?" -Abraham Lincoln

JasonPratt

Still no resolution from Malize yet, so I'm not advancing the clock, just in case.  O:-)
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

IncompetentIdiot

I'd be willing to commit to a binding agreement to refrain from funding the Circus until Malize does so at a time of greater need for the Republic.

malize

Quote from: JasonPratt on October 27, 2018, 10:03:26 AM
Still no resolution from Malize yet, so I'm not advancing the clock, just in case.  O:-)

Seems to me there's no need for you to wait. 


JasonPratt

With that confirmation, Malize changes his original plan, and has Brutus spend 10 of his 13 Talents buying the Circus Maximus!

Brutus gains 5 Inf (up to 12) and 5 Pop (up to 6). Aurelius, the only other Populist senator right now, gains the extra 1 Pop (up to 1) from the Faction's special abilities. The Populist ability to get extra votes from Pop points, also means the Populist Vote Tally (on any topic, pro or con), just went up to 15!

Of course, he can't get extra funds this way, as he would from knights and their extra votes; and Popularity can be lost rather more easily than losing knights. Also, every senator has an absolute maximum Popularity of 9, so there are limits (unlike with knights!) to how far this ability can go. Popularity usually (but not always, as with here) costs more per point gained than for knights, too.


Last around the table for the Forum Phase this turn, are Erax's Progressives, who roll...

[blockquote]Rolled 2d6 : 2, 6, total 8[/blockquote]
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
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PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
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JasonPratt

Close to a 7, but not exactly, so that's a final Scenario card for this Turn. He draws a red-text Faction card to his hand, and I've p-mailed him about it already.

Erax originally planned for Flaminius to spend 5 of his Talents on an automatic knight gain, and I don't think the situation has changed where he would spend it on something else. He'd only have a senator Persuasion total of +15, so his chances of picking up a senator from someone else's Faction would still be remote to impossible -- and even for remote, his chances would be proportionately high that he'd only be giving that cash to that senator (and thus, in effect, to that Player for usage and redistribution later).

Thus, Flam gains a 2nd minion, and the Faction normal vote tally goes up to 5.

It is possible that Erax may want to play some number of his Faction cards (at least one being valid) this round, but based on what that card or those cards might be, I can and will allow a reasonable lag time for application if he does.

Moving along then, this ends the Forum Phase (aside from possible Erax lag), and on into the Population Phase.
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

JasonPratt

TURN FIVE -- POPULATION PHASE
-----------------------------

Putting Rome in order, preparing for the Senate!

Starting this Turn, and for the rest of the game, all senators with major offices get a Major suspicion marker. This Turn, that's
Tribunal Consul Valerius of the Aristocrats (currently also the HRAO, who will open the Senate as Presiding Magistrate); Tribunal Consul Acilius of the Plutocrats; and Tribunal Consul Papirius, and Pontifex Maximus Fabius, of the Conservatives. (This sort of represents the suspicion of the Tribunal Council plotting to make themselves Consuls for Life historically, and being deposed, thus creating the subsequent office of the Censor; but more on this soon.)

There's an Enemy Leader waiting in the Curia, to roll for. He dies without his War on a roll of 5 or better...

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 5, total 5[/blockquote]
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

JasonPratt

The Republic has been amazingly fortunate in this game: that's two Leaders removed without facing them in their Wars!

The Aequian War went Unprosecuted last turn...



...so Public Unrest has gone up +1 to 1.

Consular Tribune Valerius of the Aristocrats opens the Senate this Turn with his State of the Republic speech...

[blockquote]Rolled 3d6 : 3, 6, 2, total 11[/blockquote]
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

JasonPratt

Speech total 11, - 1 Unrest, +2 Valerius' Oratory skill = 12, No Change.

TURN FIVE -- SENATE PHASE
---------------------------------

Here are the Player mats for ease of reference, clockwise from Player One:
























The Republic has seven Active Legions (1st thru 7th inclusive), and another three (8th thru 10th) potentially in the Force Pool.

You have 107 Talents in the Treasury. Expected income next Turn is 40 Talents; expected expenses are -14 unit upkeep, and -10 if the War continues. Net expected income thus 40 - 24 = +16.
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

JasonPratt

#479
As usual, Pontifex Maximus Fabius of the Conservative Faction, can appoint or reassign a priesthood to any one senator, at will, any time during the Senate.

The Mandatory Business this Senate will be for I.I.'s Valerius to successfully Propose two new Consuls (as usual except for last Turn), who will settle Roman and Field Consul duties between them.

Then the new Roman Consul must successfully Propose a new office, and henceforth for each Senate Phase in the game: the Censor.

Censors can be any senator Aligned with a Faction, in Rome -- which is every senator currently -- who has previously held any Consul office even once. (This is the whole point to the little green "Prior Consul" markers.) He cannot currently hold Consular or Dictatorial office. (Dictator functionality, as well as Master of Horse, only unlocks if too many Wars are Active at once, so I'm mostly ignoring those offices until such time as it's relevant.)

The Censor will be the next highest Senatorial office after the Consuls. He cannot go to War, so (unless he is assassinated!) he will always be HRAO if both Consuls leave Rome. Consequently, he also cannot be appointed as a Governor (once the Republic starts gaining Provinces outside Italy). A new Censor must be elected each Turn after Consular elections; but (as far as I can tell) the current Censor can be elected Censor again, as long as he's still valid.

Once a Censor is elected, the Presiding Magistrate post will shift to him temporarily, so that he may conduct Prosecutions.

Historically, Censors were responsible for (among other things) checking to make sure that Senators didn't have outstanding criminal or character problems. In game terms, this means the Player controlling the Censor can, at his choice, launch either one Major Prosecution, or up to 2 Minor Prosecutions. He cannot launch a Prosecution against himself (unless he is the Faction Leader of an assassination attempt!), but he can Prosecute senators from his own Faction!

This involves a lot of new rules which I won't get into until and unless the Censor announces a Prosecution. For now what's important is that typically Minor Convictions result in the Accused losing 5 Popularity, 5 Influence, and any Concessions (which go to the Forum for possible reassignment by vote as Other Business). Major suspicions can be treated as Minor Prosecutions. In a Major Conviction, the Accused dies! There are also results for the Accused being Freed; and the Censor as well as his chosen Prosecutor (who cannot be himself but who acts as what used to be called in Western jurisprudence the Judge Advocate), and the Accused's chosen Advocate (whether himself or some other senator), may also gain or lose stats depending on the outcome.

It is not possible for the Censor to undertake more than one Prosecution per Turn -- except Special Major Prosecutions for the Faction Leader of any caught assassins! -- and then only two Minor Prosecutions. So while it can add some extra action to any Senate Phase, it won't be a massive amount. There are several choices involved along the way, but the mechanics are worked out with stats and dice rolls.

Once the Censor declares no, or no more, Prosecutions; or runs out of Prosecution attempts; or his Influence goes to zero; or he dies (from assassination!), then the Prosecution segment is over and the Presiding Magistrate post goes back to the HRAO (usually the Roman Consul).

Prosecutions are not Proposals, which can make a difference for some voting purposes (like the Conservatives' activist knights: their vote only counts x2 when against Proposals, not 'for' Proposals, nor during Prosecutions either way.)

The Censor office changes the game in some ways both large and subtle, so I recommend Players check the Living Rules, and also my "Sabrerules" compilation flowsheet (which need a bit of updating but not about the Censor yet).
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!