Guide for Role-playing Roman Leaders and Armies for Europa Babarorum (EB)
Welcome to SwordsMaster’s role-playing guide for roman family members in Europa Barbarorum (EB from now on). As of now the last functional version is 0.74, so any changes applied afterwards are to be considered in revised versions of the guide.
This guide is separated into 2 parts, Sons of Mars (armies and generals), and Sons of Jupiter (governors). So let’s dive in.
…The historian crossed the room towards the illuminated end where a slave was still copying documents on Egyptian papyrus. “Not finished yet?” the slave looked up “Almost, master”. The historian opened one of the rolls and grunted satisfactorily. “Good”. “The young master will be happy”…
(Version 1.1 update)
Policy
The floor of the senate was a disputed place today. Both consuls and the tribune wanted to speak, but in the noise of the shouting senators noone could hear what they were saying. The man in the back row smiled. The session would have to be posponed. He got to keep his post for another while. Just enough.
You do not sell trade rights. You exchange them.
You can sell maps, or buy maps, but not exchange them unless with a long ally (more than 50 years).
You cannot declare war on any faction unless they attack an ally or have ships or armies, or agents (spies or assasins) wandering into your territory.
You can bribe armies only when at war. (duh!)
You can sign white peace (no resources exchanged) only when:
You have taken more settlements from the enemy than you lost.
Or you have not had hostilities for a year or more.
Sons of Rome:
The cursus honorum for a Roman noble looked like this: at age 20 or so the young man served with an army somewhere as a military tribune to get experience in war. At age 30 he entered could stand for election as quaestor and entered the senate. A few years after that he could stand for election as Tribune of the Plebs (if he was a plebeian) or as Aedile. (less influential) All these are essentially political functions, having nothing to do with the military.
At age 39 he could be elected as Praetor, the one-after highest official in Rome. The praetors were used for various political functions (lawcourts, foreign and domnestic offices) but were also sent to govern provinces after their term. This usually involved military commands.
At age 42 he could finally become one of the consuls, and the year after that would usually govern a province and lead armies if so inclined.
Most of these actual ages were only codified in the later republic, but the offices and the progression itself were in effect at the start of the game. (though in this time the actual consuls more often led the armies as wars were fought closer to Rome.)
Unfortunately for the Romans, there was no academy to train generals, which led to some spectucalarly incompetent field commanders, as well as some very good ones.
Anyway, to represent the real way wars were waged in the republic, the governor of a province would usually have to be the one to command armies. If he wants to fight an offensive war, he'd have to leave his province ungoverned. This would then cause much mumbling about "gloryseeking fools" back in Rome and complaints about misgovernment in the province itself, as well as being a royal pain in the backside for the player.
A more fun way to represent elements of this would be to send young family members back to Rome at the appropriate ages to stand for office for a year, if at all viable. The ages for consul and praetor are a bit too close for comfort, but say going at age 30 to enter the senate and at age 42 to become a consul could be done. Add aedile at 36 to taste. The more diplomatically inclined family members would also have to serve a couple of years with an army at age 20, before being allowed to go back to more peaceful pursuits.
There are few exceptions:
Promoted captains cannot ever become governors. Nor can they ever retire from the army. Usually they have the “Plebeius” trait, and so are barred from governing anything unless they get a triumph. I consider them influential enough if they do, to govern any settlement bar Rome.
Promoted captains cannot obtain an education (i.e. sit in a settlement with an academy) unless they become Imperator.
Patrician generals can be made governors only if a “life changing” event occurs in their lives. They have a son, they become “attuned governors” (this represents the man discovering his vocation),or them getting an important post in the Republic (from Quaestor upwards).
Governors can command armies against rebels or in case of an invasion in their province, but have to return to their post if the enemy army leaves the province they are assigned to.
If, and only if, your Faction Leader is at the same time "Imperator", can the ages for the offices be neglected and anyone can stand for any office or command armies independently of his age. This case would represent a dictatorship - Sulla or Caesar style - and the governor's favourites would occupy important posts despite them being not old enough.
Now lets look at the particular cases:
Sons of Mars:
The young roman paced across the yard waiting for the general to finish talking to the barbarian guide. He was impatient. Today could be the first time he could maybe take independent action if the barbarian said the right thing. And of course he had received gold to say the right thing.
Ah, a military career in Rome. The admiration of the ladies, of the elders and the power that comes with an army and the shiny golden eagle. But it is not that easy. Even if some barbarian arrow doesn’t take you and the Gods prevent you from dying from cold or illness, there are still plenty of things to be afraid of.
Once decided if a man is to become a general or a governor, the general will spend a year in the academy, unless his biological father is also a general, in which case he can serve with his dad, and even adopt his ancillaries. This is the only case when ancillaries can be transferred. It represents the dispute for power to find and collect the ancillaries with every new character.
All generals must retire when they reach 60 years of age. The only exception is the promoted captains that are discussed above. Once they reach this healthy age, command is transferred to the younger general in the stack, or if there is none, the army must remain in a fort inside roman territory until a new general is dispatched.
(Update 1.2)
All young generals have to spend at least 1 year in a stack with a more senior general before they can command anything at all themselves even garrison troops unless they have the “Veteran” trait, in which case they are considered experienced enough.
Experienced armies (armies in which 50% or more of units have at least a silver chevron) cannot be commanded by any general that doesn’t have 2 stars (or Veteran + 1 star).
Armies have to be composed of a roman “core” i.e. at least 50% roman. Any battlefield army (not rebel-fighting) has to have at least 1 hastati, 1 principe 1 triarii, and at most 4 units of cavalry including generals. Only rebel-fighting forces can have 1 general, battlefield armies need 2. No professional roman soldiers can be left as garrison, i.e. only roarii, accensii and leves and local units.
(Update 2.2)
Another consideration is retraining: Roman units can only be retrained in a settlement with a governor and the ability to manufacture weapons and armour (any armour-upgrading buildings). Local units can be retrained in any settlement.
More conditions: Units with 3 or more silver chevrons cannot be retrained. At all. This is to represent the possibility of recruiting soldiers with a few campaigns behind their backs from the settled citizens, but the impossibility of obtaining top-notch veterans out of the blue.
Mercenaries cannot be retrained or re-equipped.
(Update ver 1.1)
Guard units: A unit can be considered "guard" once they reach 3 silver chevrons. This is a life-changing matter. The guards must get the best available equipment (i.e. be retrained in the city with the highest level of armour&weapons available), they cannot be used in the first line of attack unless absolutely necessary and they remain with the general that saw them reach the "guard" status until his death (not retirement). After that, they can either return to front-line duty or be assigned to the Faction Leader or Faction Heir. This is the only case when a professional unit can be used as garrison.
There are several conditions:
First: The Princeps' guard must be more experienced than the Heir's. At all times.
Second: If the Princeps doesn't have a guard, the heir cannot have one either (unless he is the general who formed it(under who's command it became "guard"))-
Third: If a different unit aquires a "guard" status higher than the one already present, the most experienced one gets the post.
Fourth: Only one guard unit per general unless they are a part of a battlefield army.
And this conclude the chapter on generals.
Sons of Jupiter
The man at the table clapped once. A centurion entered the room. The tax collector turned around. "I know you have been keen on colecting taxes, Claudius, but not so keen on passing them on to the Republic" said the governor as he put a scroll on the table. "Hence the interview" he added. "Now my centurion and his men will make sure it doesn't happen again."
Governors. The men who bring in your income, and build your cities. They are men you need to watch.
Every governor has to have a spy and a diplomat stationed in the city. This is to reflect his network of aids and officers for the nearby province.
As a youngster, a governor has to spend at least 2 years in an academy. They cannot either inherit ancillaries, even less so than the generals. The governors within the Italian peninsula cannot be old generals, as a rule of thumb, these would occupy provinces they themselves conquered.
The governors will be distributed according to their influence in concentric circles around Rome, with the most influential ones being closer to the capital.
The governors don’t get retired, although if they lose their influence as they get older, they might be replaced by more influential men and moved to the peripheria.
Ver: 2.2 to be updated
Thanks to:
Randal: for the info on Republican offices and ages
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