Middle Provincial Era GROGPUBLIC game thread

[JasonPratt]

Meanwhile, I have good news for AzTank! ....sort of!

Remember how the Conservative Faction is supposed to start with an extra family Senator?

Me neither!!  :D  :hide: L:-)

But I finally remembered, now, while trying to check on something else. Better late than never.

So I drew the next family Senator out of the Latin Era deck, and the Conservatives can welcome Papirius... who was recovering from a protracted illness when appointed to the Senate, but who has managed to drag himself in finally. Yes, let's just go with that, shall we?

The current overview of the board, and the close-up of the Conservative mat, has been fixed in the above post, including the normal vote total and total influence of the Faction.

I'll make myself a note to give him an extra Talent of Income next Turn, too, to offset the cash he didn't contribute this Turn.

[Tripoli]

Could we raise 3 more legions, or is that pushing Rome's finances too far?  My understanding is it would cost us 30, + 10 upkeep each turn, so we could swing it the first turn.  The next turn we would have -20 talents for the land bill, -10 for legion upkeep, and +30 income.  Very tight, but it might allow us to win the war quickly.  Are my numbers correct, or am I missing something?

[IncompetentIdiot]

Could we raise 3 more legions, or is that pushing Rome's finances too far?  My understanding is it would cost us 30, + 10 upkeep each turn, so we could swing it the first turn.  The next turn we would have -20 talents for the land bill, -10 for legion upkeep, and +30 income.  Very tight, but it might allow us to win the war quickly.  Are my numbers correct, or am I missing something?

I think that's correct. However, if we don't win the war, there'll be another -10 cost.

[JasonPratt]

You've also got some Allied Enthusiasm coming in next turn as a donation... I think 26 Talents? I'd have to check upthread.

Don't forget that your senators can donate talents to the Republic Treasury, too, before the bills come due. It isn't a lot this early in the game, but it isn't nothing either.

[JasonPratt]

Could we raise 3 more legions, or is that pushing Rome's finances too far?  My understanding is it would cost us 30, + 10 upkeep each turn

To clarify, it would be a new total upkeep of 10 per turn, but not an ADDITIONAL 10 per turn. Legions throughout the game only cost 2 Talents per turn, and you'd have 5 (x2=10 upkeep).

[JasonPratt]

We may have a new Faction or two spawning in soon! -- "Malize" from the Computer Wargaming FB group at least has joined up to play, possibly someone else from there, too.

The Populists and then the Expansionists are the next two Factions to arise, but I may let newcomers pick from remaining Factions if they have a preference. (I let y'all pick, too, if you had preferences, but no one said so for or against any Faction, so I sorted you based on your initial senator random draws.)

[malize]

We may have a new Faction or two spawning in soon! -- "Malize" from the Computer Wargaming FB group at least has joined up to play, possibly someone else from there, too.

The Populists and then the Expansionists are the next two Factions to arise, but I may let newcomers pick from remaining Factions if they have a preference. (I let y'all pick, too, if you had preferences, but no one said so for or against any Faction, so I sorted you based on your initial senator random draws.)

Populists are a fine choice, if it helps with the spawn I'd select most popular as faction leader and divide any monies evenly with any remainders going to the faction head

[JasonPratt]

Picking the most popular senator as your Faction Leader is a reasonable idea, but the family Senators (and most Statesmen) always spawn in with 0 (neutral) popularity.

Your Faction won't have any cash yet until the Revenue Phase next Turn, either. But you won't need it either.

I'll probably spawn the Populists in after the Combat Phase, at the start of the Revolution Phase (the final phase of the turn) so that like everyone else when they started the game, you'll have some opportunity to immediately play Statesmen and/or Concessions if you draw any initially.

But if I get around to it, I may bring you in a little earlier to help with voting on who to send to the war and/or how many new Legions should be raised (if any).

[Tripoli]

Manlius and Julius both volunteer to leave their plow and the comforts of home and hearth to lead Rome's 5 legions in defense of their sacred city, should the senate require their humble (level 5 military skill).  But only with the greatest of reluctance.....

[JasonPratt]

Spoken like true Romans! -- but the way the Senate works, only Consuls can lead troops to war. (Or the Dictator with his Master of Horse, but that office only unlocks when the War power exceeds 20 or there are 4+ active wars.)

You may still get a chance to punch the 1st Latin War, if Cinc is still there next Turn.

[JasonPratt]

While I'm busy preparing the Populists to join, remember that aside from discussion on procedure we're waiting for the Frog to make a specific Proposal about either training up more Legions, or packing up the current 2 Legions with a Consul to go fight.

[JasonPratt]

Whilst the Senate deliberates how much force to send with which Consul, the scions of two new senatorial families team up together as the POPULIST FACTION!



The Aurelian family Senators will have the following stats: Mil 2, Ora 3, Loy 7, and Inf 3. Altogether rather a meh family.

The Junius family on the other hand sends the historical Statesman Lucius Junius Brutus! A cousin of the former king Tarquinius Superbus, Brutus earned his cognomen (nickname, the Brute) for pretending to be slow witted, but this hid a careful and cunning plotter, who at the appropriate time revealed himself against the latest scandal of the king as a leader of the revolution to throw out the tyrant and bring the city and its local territories into the government of a Republic! (Although what he originally wanted was to become king himself, cough cough. ;) )

In the game, Brutus has been held out in the Forum from the start, to be given immediately to the first Player to pick up the Junius family. Had this triggered at the start of the game, he would have been automatically the first Consul.

Brutus is no slack, with stats of Military 4, Oratory 3, Loyalty 9, Influence 7, and even a rare starting Popularity of 1! Like Appius Claudius, but with much better Military management skill, Brutus can void D/S results if he's fighting against the 1st Latin War.

As per Malize's preferences, unless he decides otherwise, Brutus will be his Faction Leader, since he already has (a little) popularity to start with. I'll also give them each 1 Talent for their Personal Treasuries.

As a reminder, the Populists farm Popularity (duh). Any time one of their senators gains any amount of Popularity, Malize can add one more free Pop point to any of his other senators. Moreover, while each of their knights will add the usual +1 vote and +1 Talent income, the Populists don't have activist knights. Instead, their senators gain one extra vote in the Senate, for or against any topic, for each Popularity point above 0 (up to the Pop limit of 9). This makes them the only Faction whose activist extra votes are immune to the Neutralist. (I'm playing with balancing this; originally it was going to be positive Pop - 2 extra votes per senator. I might still go back to that if the Populists end up overpowered.)

Perhaps most importantly, as long as a Populist senator is the HRAO during the Population Phase, not only will he get a +4 to his total roll for his State of the Republic speech, but the Republic cannot fail due to a public revolt roll after the speech! -- so if you've got a lot of Unrest you can't deal with yet, his senators could be the safest option for HRAO.

[Ethel the Frog]

Do we have a proposal at this point?  I think it is either to raise 2 legions for 20, which is safely within budget, or 3 for 30 which we can probably afford given anticipated future revenue.

I am leaning towards 2 for 20.  Cincinatus should be able to win the war with that.  But what do others think?  I would like a motion that I can put to a vote. 

[IncompetentIdiot]

I'd be satisfied with two (although another would only improve our chances).

[malize]

Looks perfect JP. :)