Combat Variant for
GMT games'
Original Game Designed by Wray Farrell
This Website has no affiliation with GMT games or Wray Ferrell
GMT’s Sword of Rome is a great game and one I love. However, the combat system sometimes is a bit overwhelming. Effort has been made to tone down combat losses with an alternative combat chart offered at www.boardgamegeek.com that Wray Ferrell has confirmed to be an official change.
However, one extremely bad combat roll against an extremely good combat roll can still effectively determine the outcome of the game. Coupled with a hand of bad cards a player can have so many losses that he can no longer compete effectively. A lost combat should have negative consequences, but not to the extent offered in the game. In order to minimize a player’s chance to be eliminated early in the game, we offer the following unofficial combat variant.
The recommended variant is:
The support added/removed is equal to the difference between the losses actually removed by the losing force and those actually removed by the winning force (from combat losses, during retreat, and from any events influencing the battle). If the difference is a negative number than the winning force shall always be permitted to place or remove at least one level of support. Thus, if the winner actually removes 1 cu and the loser actually removes 3 cu then the winner would place or remove 2 levels of support.
After the winner or loser is decided using the normal combat method, losses are determined using the following chart. Each player rolls a number of dice equal to the number of the number of cu’s he had present in the battle. Each 1 that the loser rolls will result in a combat loss for the winner. Each 6 that the winner rolls will result in a loss for the loser.
Losses from retreats and/or combat events are taken normally.
Balance:
We believe that this variant creates a better balance in the game by increasing political support gained while minimizing catastrophic combat losses.
Respectfully submitted,
Desperado Design Group
