Aurelian

Aurelian is a tabletop game about the Crisis of the Third Century, the period during which the Roman empire nearly disintegrated in constant civil war and foreign invasions.

Players take one of four roles: a Roman, Germanic, Sarmatian, or Persian commander. Any number of players can conduct a campaign, in which each type of army has a different set of victory conditions. While holding off Rome's many enemies, the Roman players are also trying to defeat each other and ultimately become (and remain!) emperor.

The Persians are trying to carve away provinces in the east and add them to the Sassanian monarchy. The barbarians are trying to raid and carry away as much loot as possible while amassing glory from victorious battles over any sort of enemy, even one's own tribe. Every battle is therefore a balancing act, in which the military and political context is constantly shifting.

Aurelian can be played with miniatures, or with "unit tiles" on any flat surface, much in the same manner as Blücher's unit cards. The centerpiece of the game is the campaign, in which each player manages the fortunes of his character and faction, much in the manner of the campaigns in Maurice and Longstreet.

Unlike most Ancients games, which attempt to span the millennia from Moses to Columbus, Aurelian concentrates on a specific period of roughly 70 years. Players fight a series of nine battles against a variety of enemies, often from one's own side. The composition of their armies changes. Veteran Roman legionaries become incresingly scarce and irreplaceable as the Roman players cobble together vexillations and recruit barbarian foedorati and tributarii. Will the Persians squander their expensive elite cataphracts and elephant units in early battles, or hold them in reserve? Will a barbarian warlord play it safe and not raid as deeply into the empire, at the risk of not bringing back enough treasure and glory to maintain the loyalty of his optimates?