Middle Provincial Era GROGPUBLIC game thread

[JasonPratt]

Wait, Terentius can't be Censor, he hasn't been a "Prior Consul" (nor successfully prosecuted one).

[IncompetentIdiot]

Wait, Terentius can't be Censor, he hasn't been a "Prior Consul" (nor successfully prosecuted one).

I'll appoint according his preference.

[JasonPratt]

He notes in chat that he'll go with Furius then (the prior Censor).

This delay was partly my fault, since I had told him Terentius was valid, at first.

I'll process this afternoon.

Those Factions petitioning for Governors, should be letting I.I. (and me) know which senator you want to send off for Governance!

I think I recall Tripoli saying he wanted to send off Aelius. And for AzTank, obviously Terrance makes the most sense: it can't be Furius, who will be busy being Censor again, and if he sends Paullus off for three turns he'll take his votes with him!

[Erax]

Can we get a look at the province cards? Tripoli and Aztank may want to work out who gets what.

[JasonPratt]

Yeah, originally that was going to be included in my pre-Senate snapshot update, which I somehow brain-barfed into oblivion...  L:-)

Here's a snapshot from earlier.



I have zoomed the shot in pretty far; the provinces are near (just right of) the upper left corner. (This is in lieu of going back and taking a direct snapshot properly zoomed in, which I'll try to provide later this afternoon.)

Neither Province is in danger of random Barbarian Invasion. In fact, Sardinia/Corsica cannot even raise militia! (I put an exclamation point after the 0 on the card where this would normally be marked.) Sicily gets 30 local taxes to spend on raising militia and local fleets each turn, but that isn't a resource the Governor gets to keep (he just has to decide what mix of 3 units to spend it on, up to the maximums.)

Sard/Corsc, in its Undeveloped condition (like now), only has a 1 in 6 chance of generating an extra talanton of spoils. And if you fail, the Faction or the Republic (player's choice) has to pay the result! But trying for Spoils is optional. The Republic will also be paying out cash each turn for its upkeep until it develops! (The Governor doesn't get to keep, or skim from, that payout.)

On the other hand, it's relatively safe: it only has to defend against the 1st Cicilian Pirate war. We'll find out later how strong that is, but it shouldn't be like going to war with Carthage.  ::)

Sicily is obviously the plummier post, if you're going to skim profits. It isn't going to cost anyone money until it Develops, although of course taking Spoils from it hampers its chance of Developing. It can make a nice base from which to launch a rebellion, too...  :-"

[JasonPratt]

And here's a proper closeup (which can be embiggened further by left-clicking):



Weirdly, Sardi/Corsi, even once its Developed, still only produces a negative 1d6 +1 ! That means Rome only has a 1 in 6 chance of not having to spend money on the place each Turn!

You'd definitely want to send a Governor there who can possibly offset that loss by squeezing the Developed 1d6-1 extra Spoils and donating that to the Republic!

It's an unusual political mix of punishment detail (Governors must go where they're voted, although they have the right to refuse if they've just come back from Governing somewhere) and trusted neutralizer of a liability the Republic will be saddled with during this time period.  :o

[JasonPratt]

Step 5: By Scipio's Proposal, and by Contracted voting agreement, Furius of the Conservatives is re-elected for Censor. His Influence goes up 5 from 14 to 19; total Influence up from 33 to 38.

I will note that with this, AzTank, who got backstabbed by the Frog long ago as the start to a string of bad luck, has solidly passed the Plutocrats for 4th place (partly thanks to some recent bad luck for the Plutocrats, too).

Step 6: Presiding Magistrate duties shift temporarily to the Censor Furius; who by AzTank's Contract agreement, announces he will not Prosecute anyone this Turn, with the understanding that he gets a Province later. Presiding Magistrate duties return to the Dictator Scipio. All Suspicions are deleted until next Turn.


Next, Scipio must Propose giving a Governorship to a Militarist senator (presumably Aelius), and to a Conservative senator (presumably Terentius). Be aware that the only benefit likely to be gained by a senator Governing Sardi/Corsi, is some Influence when-if-ever he Develops it. Have fun chewing that over. ;)

[JasonPratt]

Allow me to make a suggestion for I.I.'s Proposal, since it turns out one of the Provinces is a ditch that will be completely unprofitable to a Faction until when-if-ever it develops: I.I. should Propose Sulpicius as Governor of Sardinia et Corsica!

Non-aligned senators can be voted as Governors. This will ensure the Province has a normal opportunity to develop into something that a trusted senator can at least be deployed to for recovering cash for the Republic (since throughout the game this Province will simply be costing the Republic cash each Turn even once developed, but a Governor could be trusted to squeeze some extra Spoils from it once developed and then donate that cash occasionally back to the Republic to offset the ongoing random expenses.) And meanwhile no aligned senator (and his votes) will be wasting away there!

As for the much plummier Sicily, I.I. can instruct me to roll randomly between Aelius and Terentius, or the Players can work things out among yourselves, or I.I. can just choose between them himself on whatever basis.  O:-)

[malize]

Upside: Sulpy will never refuse and never go for spoils

They could contrac to trade off Sicily whomever doesn't get it now gets it next

[IncompetentIdiot]

Allow me to make a suggestion for I.I.'s Proposal, since it turns out one of the Provinces is a ditch that will be completely unprofitable to a Faction until when-if-ever it develops: I.I. should Propose Sulpicius as Governor of Sardinia et Corsica!

Non-aligned senators can be voted as Governors. This will ensure the Province has a normal opportunity to develop into something that a trusted senator can at least be deployed to for recovering cash for the Republic (since throughout the game this Province will simply be costing the Republic cash each Turn even once developed, but a Governor could be trusted to squeeze some extra Spoils from it once developed and then donate that cash occasionally back to the Republic to offset the ongoing random expenses.) And meanwhile no aligned senator (and his votes) will be wasting away there!

As for the much plummier Sicily, I.I. can instruct me to roll randomly between Aelius and Terentius, or the Players can work things out among yourselves, or I.I. can just choose between them himself on whatever basis.  O:-)

I'm happy with whatever solution the two of them work out.

[Tripoli]

How about whoever gets Sardinia can trade it for a better province if his choice in 5 turns or when it becomes available whichever is more?  All players would have to agree

[ArizonaTank]

Lets ask Jason to roll on it... 50/50 shot.

[JasonPratt]

Would you like me to roll on who gets Sicily first, and then y'all work out what to do with Sardinia?

The Frog would be glad to send a senator to Sardinia next Turn, I think, by the way, if the Senate agrees (even if it hasn't developed yet). He's kind of struggling to regain Influence, so is willing to take opportunities that others might not care for.  O:-)

Upside: Sulpy will never refuse and never go for spoils

They could contrac to trade off Sicily whomever doesn't get it now gets it next

Also, if Sulpy gets steamrolled later....... wait wait wait, hold up! Let's rethink this a moment.

If the Scipio task force against Hannibal fails (e.g. Cannae disaster), then whoever is Governor of Cisalpina Gaul is probably going to be Defeated and die.

Consequently, the safest choice is to send Sulpy to replace Val as Governor of Gaul: if he gets murdered by the Carthaginians, it won't matter to anyone else (aside from losing all those Talents which someone could theoretically gain control of by punching successfully through them to Persuade him!) And a senator doesn't lose Influence or anything like that for being replaced before his three turns are up, so Val wouldn't suffer.

In that case, if no one wants Sardinia except someone desperate enough to waste time hanging out there gambling on its Development for three turns, then I.I. could send the Frog's senator (he hasn't specified which one yet) to Sardinia since he's willing to volunteer, and then let's say I roll 50/50 to see who gets Sicily first and the two senators switch out on that each Turn until such time as.... well, I don't know, in perpetuity perhaps? (A Governor can only stay, or be made to stay, away Governing for three Turns, but can be replaced at no dishonor or cost each Turn at a vote from the Senate.)

Another alternate is that the Militarists and Conservatives Contract that, whomever gets Sicily, they split the Spoils as evenly as possible with each other for the next three Turns, with any rounded up Talent (in the final sum at the end of the 3 turns) going to the senator who didn't get to go there (since he's losing out on the chance to earn some Influence by randomly developing the Province -- which, if they're spoiling it each turn, reduces to a 1/6th rather than 1/3 chance each turn anyway.)

[JasonPratt]

So... the Proposal would be:

1.) A Plutocrat senator (I assume the Frog would want to send Acilius since he's got the least influence) gets sent to Govern Sardinia;

2.) Sulpy gets sent to Govern Cisalpine Gaul, recalling Valerius automatically to the Aristocrats in Rome;

and

3.) I roll 50/50 to see who gets Proposed for Sicily, Aelius or Terence. Whoever goes, agrees by Contract to try for Spoils each Turn and to split the Spoils as evenly as possible in an ongoing total, between the two senators (so for example if Aelius rounds up 1 Talent more the first Turn, Terence would get enough of the next spoils to even out their total). In case there's a final 1 Talent surplus rounded up, the senator who didn't get to go there would receive that, because the senator who does go gets the chance to earn a little Influence from randomly Developing-up the Province.

I think that would cover everyone nicely?  O:-)

[Tripoli]

So... the Proposal would be:

1.) A Plutocrat senator (I assume the Frog would want to send Acilius since he's got the least influence) gets sent to Govern Sardinia;

2.) Sulpy gets sent to Govern Cisalpine Gaul, recalling Valerius automatically to the Aristocrats in Rome;

and

3.) I roll 50/50 to see who gets Proposed for Sicily, Aelius or Terence. Whoever goes, agrees by Contract to try for Spoils each Turn and to split the Spoils as evenly as possible in an ongoing total, between the two senators (so for example if Aelius rounds up 1 Talent more the first Turn, Terence would get enough of the next spoils to even out their total). In case there's a final 1 Talent surplus rounded up, the senator who didn't get to go there would receive that, because the senator who does go gets the chance to earn a little Influence from randomly Developing-up the Province.

I think that would cover everyone nicely?  O:-)

I will  agree to that