There can surely be nobody so petty or so apathetic in his outlook that he has no desire to discover by what means and under what system of government the Romans succeeded in less that fifty-three years in bringing under their rule almost the whole of the inhabited world, an achievement which is without parallel in human history. Or from the opposite point of view, can there be anyone so completely absorbed in other subjects of contemplation or study that he could find any task more important than to acquire this knowledge?
Polybius, The Histories I.1
Imperium: Campaigns of the Ancient World is a historical strategy game that simulates the great campaigns of the Hellenistic world from Rome's first intervention in affairs outside Italy in the early third century BC to the birth of the Principate a quarter of a millennium later. The player will take the roles of the Generals, Consuls, and Kings of the era and lead the armies and fleets of their nations to victory or defeat.
The particular aspect of history which both attracts and benefits its readers is the examination of causes and the capacity, which is the reward of this study, to decide in each case the best policy to follow.
Polybius, The Histories VI.2
Game play in this grand-strategic challenge is based on simultaneous planning of season-long turns. Players issue orders (administrative or military) to their units during the order phase and these orders are then resolved simultaneously.
At the operational scale of the game, armies can maneuver (in theory) as far and as long as they want. An operation such as Hannibal's march from Spain into Italy takes but a turn; like Hannibal, however, the player is likely to suffer heavily from attrition trying to do so.
On the march, the player's armies suffer greater attrition the farther they try to march them during the turn, as well as for moving armies through areas that cannot subsist them and enemy terrain. Cleared areas (such as found around the meditteranean) will be better able to sustain large armies than the hinterlands of Gaul and Spain.
In addition to direct offensive operations, a wide array of other possibilities also exist for the player. Ravaging enemy territory is a time-honored way of lowering the national morale of the enemy and defraying the expenses of campaigning. Pitched battles are the most direct and effective way to destroy the fighting will of an enemy state, but if the enemy army proves elusive, a siege may be an effective way to force them to battle.
Most land regions contain a city (representing the major "urban" centres of that geographical region). Cities may contain a port and works of fortification of different levels. Cities provide a bonus to taxes, but often at the cost of reduced manpower. In addition, cities have an intrinsic defense force consisting of the city militia. These will fight to defend their home, but can be quite unreliable if fighting on behalf of a foreign occuppier.
An army that ends its move outside of an enemy controlled city, automatically has the choice of besieging the city or retreating. Armies can choose to besiege the city actively by trying to reduce the fortification rating of the city defenses, or besiege passively by simply blockading the city. They can also choose to assault the city, but although these can provide quick results, they can be extremely expensive in the case of all but the most weakly garrisoned and fortified cities. Settling down for a siege also pins down the besieging army, making it easier for an enemy force to force the besiegers into an unwanted pitched battle.
When armies (or fleets) are in the same region, a battle may occur. Each commander may choose to retreat from the battle; as it was historically, it is hard to force an unwilling opponent to battle. If battle is joined, combat is resolved in the simple battle engine of Imperium. The commanders deploy their forces (skirmish lines, battle lines, flank and reserve), the skirmishers contest the battle during deployment (providing a bonus to the side whose skirmishers succeed in defeating their opponents) and then the battle lines clash. The quality of troops, superiority of cavalry, and the quality of the commander constitute the most important components for winning battles in Imperium.
Fleets are extremely expensive, but allow for more effective movement and redeployment of land forces. In addition, fleets are vital for the successful siege of ports in order to blockade the cities efficiently. Combat at sea is resolved in a simple battle engine similar to on land, though the factors involved obviously differ. At sea, the focus is on superior crews, the quality of the ships, and the leadership of the commander and on being able to outflank the enemy battle line.
The goal of Imperium is to try and provide you with a game engine that poses the player with some of the most important (and interesting) challenges that faced the leaders of the Ancient world. The rest is up to you...
The game is being developed in Java and should be playable on all Windows platforms, Linux, and Max. Detailed requirements remain to be determined, but they are likely to be fairly low.
Most of the game data (including language files) will be available in simple text files, making it easy to modify the game and construct new scenarios.
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