Field of Glory: Fractured Empire -- Roman Civil War Campaign

Fractured Empire is a cut-throat, quick and simple cut-throat Field Of Glory campaign of a semi-fictional Civil War in the Roman Empire of the 3rd Century.

(it's short -- only 5 turns and rules are really quite simple.)

The Roman Empire is in crisis and four factions led by pretenders to the Imperial Throne vie for power -- while armies of Barbarians and Sassanid Persians are poised on the frontiers to exploit the empire's weakened state.

It is the age of the barracks emperors, generals backed by their legions who command or die on the battlefield.

I have myself & @kronenblatt and @otosan as Roman players, and @chiquichops as Barbarian player.

I'm sure once he's back, @cargol will also join as a Roman player.

If necessary, we can add further players as assistant battlefield commanders, but I would like to keep this one streamlined and quick-playing as possible. 

Players

The campaign is designed for FIVE players -- four playing a Roman faction each  and one player commanding the Barbarian & Sassanian armies on the FOG battlefields.

Starting Setup

Factions are assigned by random draw -- one faction has control of ROME and its leader declared (for now) the de facto Emperor ... how long will he last?

Each faction starts with THREE provinces.

The campaign is played over FIVE turns and the faction with the highest score at the end of Turn 5 wins.

Attacks, Battles & Capturing Provinces

Each faction gets ONE attack per turn (if possible).

The Barbarians attack order is decided first by die roll using the Barbarian Attacks table and attack directions indicated on the map.

Once a Barbarian Faction has captured a Roman province and the Barbarian die roll selects this faction again, the Barbarian player can then select the province he would like to attack next in that sector. 

The Roman attack orders sequence at Turn 1 is by random draw. 

From Turn 2 onwards, it is determined by the best Victory % points result for each faction from the previous turn's battle results.

A faction can attack any enemy home province that is adjacent to a friendly-controlled province or across a sea zone if a FLEET is available. (see: Fleets)

You may not attack from a province that is already under attack by another faction.

You may attack into a province from which an attack into a different province has been launched.

Battles

All FOG battles are Medium Open Battles on geographically appropriate Agricultural maps (and Desert in provinces with Middle-Eastern map), or maps agreed to by both players. In the case of disagreement, the defender decides which map to use.

Any winning percentage difference in casualties inflicted wins the battle or captures the province if attacking.

Draws: In the unlikely event that a battle ends with identical loss percentages, the battle continues in the next turn.

Suggested FOG battle maps:

North European: Britannia

North European (if attacked from north): Gallia, Pannonia, Thracia

Mediterranean: Italia, Hispania, Graecia, Asia, Pontus

Mediterranean (if attacked from south): Gallia, Pannonia, Thracia

Middle Eastern/Desert: Africa, Aegyptus, Syria

Armies

The following armies are use in the FOG battles:

ROMAN

Roman (197 - 284 AD)

PRAETORIAN GUARD: Only the player who controls ITALIA and is Emperor may use the Praetorian Guard units in FOG battles.

Allies:  

Not much going in terms of allies -- at this point all allies were incorporated into Roman army as auxiliaries

BARBARIANS

FRANKS: Frankish (260 - 495 AD)

ALAMANNI: German Foot Tribes (260 - 599 AD)

GOTHS: Germanic Horse Tribes (260 - 492 AD)

SASSANIANS: Sassanid Persian (224 - 349 AD)

Generals

Each faction starts with TWO Generals -- the faction's Primary General and his Deputy (counter with white edging), who takes over after the Primary General is killed in battle.

Every turn, each faction has to assign a General to one of their FOG battles during this turn.

Only one general per faction is assigned to battle each turn — the other is kept in reserve until the first one is KIA.

During the FOG battles, players keep track to see if either sides CiC is killed. This leader is then removed from the map after all the battles have been concluded. (the loss of the CiC does not affect the outcome of the FOG battle per se)

Once the Primary General is killed, the Deputy takes over. If he is also killed in battle, his legions desert and the faction collapses and is eliminated from play -- all its provinces are immediately assigned by random draw to the other factions.

Generals can be reassigned to a different battle from one turn to another, even if the original battle continues into the next turn

Attacking and Defending ITALIA

Any army attacking or defending ITALIA must have a General in command (a General initially deployed somewhere else, can be moved into ITALIA for that battle)

Fleets

Each faction has ONE Fleet assigned to it. This can be used in any of the three Sea Zones to launch a seaborne attack against an enemy province.

If the attack is successful, the Fleet is returned to the Available Fleets box for use in following turns.

If the attack fails, the Fleet is removed from play and returns to the map two turns later.

There are NO naval battles.

EMPEROR

The player holding ITALIA is considered the Emperor.

Being Emperor has several advantages:

ITALIA is worth TWO points for final scoring (all other provinces are ONE point)

The Emperor may use Praetorian Guard units in FOG battles.

The Emperor's faction gains ONE Prestige Point for Turn he starts as Emperor (see: Prestige Points)

Prestige Points

Prestige Points are earned and lost in two ways:

ONE Prestige Points is earned for every victory over the Barbarians/Sassanians.

ONE Prestige Point is earned for every Turn that a faction starts as Emperor (except for at start of Turn 1)

ONE Prestige Point is LOST for every DEFEAT against the Barbarians/Sassanians.

Prestige Points are used in Final Scoring to break ties.

SCORING

ROMAN

Roman factions are awarded ONE point per province controlled, TWO for controlling ITALIA.

If points are tied, then the player with the higher Prestige Points score wins.

BARBARIAN

The Barbarian player is awarded ONE point for every victory, and TWO points for every province under his control at the end of the campaign.

Player with highest score at the end wins ... and he might not even be the Emperor!  😎 

Sample map of start of hostilities -- players have indicated they'd like to pick their own Generals' names -- so we'll change those once we get going.

I think that's everything -- hope I haven't missed anything.