Alea Jacta Est... Birth of Rome

[mikeck]

Yeah, me too. I bought it, never played it and then uninstalled it. I love playing as Rome and am not big on "cards" in my combat games. May have to give it a shot

[Boggit]

I preferred AJE. I think it comes down to scenario preference. If you like post Marian legions and civil wars it AJE...if you like The early wars it's BOR. Both are fantastic.

I favor the Marian reforms, however lack of variety kills it for me.  Caesar vs Vercingetorix anyone???


PE

I don't find it repetitive. I play the mithradates vs rome (Sulla) scenario and the Pompey v Caesar civil war primarily and each time they play a little difference. It's a real challenge going up against professional legions instead of stomping greasy barbarians... I would love a Gallic campaign though

+1 for a Gallic Campaign

[Boggit]

Not to derail the thread, but have y'all played Matrix's Hannibal:Rome & Carthage In The 2nd Punic War? I like it a lot. It has nice stylized art, wicked A.I.,and is very boardgamey.  It's also quite difficult.

The biggest drawback is lack of replayability, since it only has one scenario and you can only play as Carthage.  Still, there are random event cards and rule variations that mitigate that somewhat.

The developer was supposedly working on a new title for Matrix, but I haven't heard anything about it in a while, so it may be a dead project.

It's a wonderful game.  The AI can beat the snot out of you, and not just because it can have the numbers advantage.  It can be downright devious. 

The artwork is excellent & unique.  It still holds it's tabletop game roots well, even down to the counters. 

While replayability could be an issue, I found it easy to have a different experience every time, after the initial march over the Alps and stopover in Cisalpine Gaul.  Especially when you crank the difficulty/ruleset up to where the Carthaginian senate is dictating part of the overall strategy and troop allocation.   My biggest complaint would be some of the learning curve because, like many old tabletop wargames, there a lot of little special rules to learn.  Luckily there is a nice in-game manual to help in that endeavor, along with tutorials.

I've been looking forward to his next game, which will reportedly have two playable sides.  I'm not sure what the setting will be but I believe it's still a Classical/Roman period thing.  8)

As an extra note.. beta testing this game was probably the most fun I've ever had doing so.  I can't express enough just how open and receptive the developer was to suggestions, it was always a pleasant experience.  That's saying a lot because I've beta tested for other wonderfully easy-going and receptive developers.  I hope he's making progress on the next one, because the guy has talent.

I never managed to beat the AI. I got ground down and killed - a bit like the real thing... ::)

[Nefaro]

Not to derail the thread, but have y'all played Matrix's Hannibal:Rome & Carthage In The 2nd Punic War? I like it a lot. It has nice stylized art, wicked A.I.,and is very boardgamey.  It's also quite difficult.

The biggest drawback is lack of replayability, since it only has one scenario and you can only play as Carthage.  Still, there are random event cards and rule variations that mitigate that somewhat.

The developer was supposedly working on a new title for Matrix, but I haven't heard anything about it in a while, so it may be a dead project.

It's a wonderful game.  The AI can beat the snot out of you, and not just because it can have the numbers advantage.  It can be downright devious. 

The artwork is excellent & unique.  It still holds it's tabletop game roots well, even down to the counters. 

While replayability could be an issue, I found it easy to have a different experience every time, after the initial march over the Alps and stopover in Cisalpine Gaul.  Especially when you crank the difficulty/ruleset up to where the Carthaginian senate is dictating part of the overall strategy and troop allocation.   My biggest complaint would be some of the learning curve because, like many old tabletop wargames, there a lot of little special rules to learn.  Luckily there is a nice in-game manual to help in that endeavor, along with tutorials.

I've been looking forward to his next game, which will reportedly have two playable sides.  I'm not sure what the setting will be but I believe it's still a Classical/Roman period thing.  8)

As an extra note.. beta testing this game was probably the most fun I've ever had doing so.  I can't express enough just how open and receptive the developer was to suggestions, it was always a pleasant experience.  That's saying a lot because I've beta tested for other wonderfully easy-going and receptive developers.  I hope he's making progress on the next one, because the guy has talent.

I never managed to beat the AI. I got ground down and killed - a bit like the real thing... ::)

I won a handful of games, but they usually involved a lot of focus (and some luck) on gaining the naval advantage while capturing some weaker cities on the east side of Italia, then turtling up with Hannibal in southern Italy to recruit while waiting for reinforcements from Africa and/or Spain.  Oftentimes the Roman AI would up and attack one of those with a naval landing and wipe out my recruits, maybe even capture the area.

Hrmm.. makes me also wanna fire it up again.  The AI always seemed to sniff out where I was weakest and strike there.  The interesting thing is that the Roman commanders are programmed to behave somewhat like their historical counterparts in that after you win some open field battles against them, they'll start trying to avoid a big engagement with Hannibal's army for a time, until they're quite ready later on.

[Nefaro]

BTW...

Parthian Wars is the next AJE expansion.

http://www.matrixgames.com/products/513/details/Alea.Jacta.Est-.Parthian.Wars

Don't recall if that was linked earlier.