Spartacus: Crisis in the Roman Republic 80-71 B.C.

About this board game

Spartacus: Crisis in the Roman Republic 80-71 B.C. is a two-player, strategic-level, card-driven point-to-point board-wargame simulation with an approximately 300-minute playing time. One player commands a loose coalition of forces under Sertorius, while the other leads the Roman Republic as restructured under Sulla and his lieutenants.

As the Sertorian coalition, your aim is to push the Republic into collapse and rebuild it as it was before the Sullans changed the constitution. Apply pressure through territorial conquest, deepen tensions within the Republic, force it to rely on new and potentially ambitious Sullas, or attempt the most direct route by taking Rome itself.

The Republic must defeat and neutralize Sertorius quickly, before he can ally with Mithradates VI and create a two-front war. Yet recruiting too many troops and employing ambitious generals can accelerate the very collapse the Republic seeks to prevent. Italy also demands attention, with civil war looming through Lepidus and a slave revolt led by the gladiator Spartacus.

The central mechanism is the Republican Crisis Track, which monitors the Republic’s level of crisis. Battlefield actions, the condition of the empire, the strain of raising legions, ambitious generals, and power politics all affect this track. Sertorian forces seek to heighten the crisis, while the Republic must keep it away from political collapse.

• Use conventional forces in battle.
• Conduct guerrilla and pacification operations.
• Deny your opponent control of strategic spaces and provinces.
• Hasten or delay the Republic’s political collapse.

Even if the Republic avoids collapse, it can still lose if a strong Sertorian presence remains on the board. Spartacus challenges both players to balance military action and political maneuvering while preserving their most valuable asset: survival.