2018 · Ancient

The Wars of Marcus Aurelius

A solitaire, card-driven strategic-level game that puts the player in the role of the Roman emperor during the Marcomannic Wars (170–180 CE). Each year plays out over four rounds—early campaign, late campaign, winter, and an attrition/housekeeping phase—while the player draws and plays cards to move legions, attack tribes, build forts, commit reserves, and trigger historical events. Barbarian cards activate enemy tribes, generate off-map conflicts, or introduce hazards such as plague and rebellions. Combat uses opposing d6 rolls modified by legions, leader ratings, morale, terrain and spent cards. Victory requires defeating and pacifying three enemy tribes while managing troop shortages, limited resources, off-map wars, and political standing (Imperium Points); failure occurs if tribes breach Italy, Imperium collapses, or time runs out in 180 CE.

groupPlayers

1

schedulePlaying time

30–90 min

cakeAge

12+

psychologyComplexity

2.4 / 5