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Pendragon: Boudica's Revolt

For The Inaugural ConSim Game Jam 2020

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EDIT: I should warn any subscribers that we only had time for very minimal play testing of this before submission, so the balance is no doubt rather skewed in places. We'd love any feedback or tips for balancing, so please do leave a comment if you play the game and have any thoughts - they'll be much appreciated.
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Boudica’s Revolt took place around 60 or 61 CE and reportedly caused Nero to consider abandoning Britain. Boudica attracted considerable support, especially in the east of the country, and three towns, including Londinium, were burnt to the ground - there was slaughter, and plunder, the destruction of at least onelegion, and Roman rule appeared to be on the brink of collapse. However, Boudica’s army was destroyed by the Romans at the battle of Watling Street, and the rebellion was quelled.

Boudica's Revolt is a two-player COIN-like game - a scenario expansion of sorts to Pendragon. Together with the board, it uses many COIN design features - the basic pattern of play, Event cards, the asymmetric player actions and victory conditions. The game also uses the Initiative Track from Colonial Twilight.

However, there are considerable differences from the base game. The events represented in Boudica's Revolt took place over the course of no more than a year. Possibly less. Pendragon represents events that occur at a different scale, with several decades passing, and it’s modelling something quite different from the intense yet brief conflagration of this revolt. This scenario is not about the Romans managing a simmering rebellion under the surface, it is about a rebellion that ignites, with startling speed, into a militarily acute crisis.

The setup is also different from Pendragon. The northern part of England is deemed as being out of play - for the most part. The game begins with Boudica’s rebellion poised to erupt, and the Roman legions dispersed or fighting the druids in Mona (modern day Anglesey). Combat has been re-designed for this module, permitting distinctions between legions, auxiliary troops, Roman cavalry, warbands, and war chariots.

Players are given faction-specific ‘core cards’ which may be different from each game. Playing these cards confers specific advantages for each side, and deciding when to play one of these cards can be crucial.

The game is played over up to 24 turns, but it might end earlier if a Nero Decides card is drawn and victory conditions are met. In addition the game can end immediately if the Britons burn enough towns, or Boudica is killed.

The Britons are tasked with embarking on a whirlwind of pillage and destruction, attempting to rally warbands to the cause, whilst deciding whether to bleed Roman military power to death by a thousand cuts, or to risk everything on the outcome of a culminating battle.

The Romans must choose between concentrating their defence or dispersing it, relying on a few powerful legions, or the more numerous but less effective auxiliaries. They must decide how many towns and how much plunder to sacrifice for strategic position. They must also decide whether to hunt down Boudica, or to let her reveal herself, and all before the Emperor decides whether to abandon this wild rain-sodden island at the ends of the Earth.