New: Barbarians at the Gate (commercial, closed-ended, www, computer, historical, wargame, economic, abstract)

From: lindahl@pbm.com (Greg Lindahl)

Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2001 16:14:32 +0000

Name:		Barbarians at the Gate
Costs:		averages 2 GB pounds/turn
URL:		http://www.pbmsports.com/barbarians.htm
Frequency:		one per two weeks
Email:		danny@pbmsports.com
Type:		Historical Wargame
Last-Update:		2001Nov13
Keywords: commercial, closed-ended, www, computer, historical, wargame,
economic, abstract

Description:

When the Romans left Britain, they turned out the lights. This is what
happened before�

Barbarians at the Gate is a game about the fall of the Roman Empire. At
the start of the game the empire still stands although it�s already been
divided in two and the entire effort of the Empire is devoted to holding
the frontiers against the barbarian invaders beyond.

Barbarians at the Gate uses the same game system and software as Dark Age
II and the same map as Medieval Empires, but it should play differently
from either.

At the start of the game there are six Roman players. The Eastern and
Western Emperors are based in Constantinople and Rome itself, and four
Caesars (army commanders) control the armies in Britain, Syria, on the
Rhine (Gaul) and Danube (Dalmatia � see note 1).

Huge lines of fortifications and garrisons extend the length of the Rhine
and Danube and the frontier with the Persians.

Beyond the northern borders are the reasons for the fortifications. There
are eight German kingdoms. From west to east, they are the Franks, the
Burgundians, the Alemanni, the Vandals, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths,
with the Angles to the north and the Lombards to the rear.

Far to the east are some important reasons why the German kings will not
be remaining in their homelands, as the Huns are pouring over the eastern
map edge.

You don�t want to get between some latter-day Attila and the riches of the
empire, unless you fancy you can defeat him on the steppes before the
hordes descend on Europe.

In addition to the sixteen start �kingdoms� there are eleven more that can
be activated later in the game (players can swap to these the same way as
in Dark Age). These are the Irish, Scots and Picts in Britain, the Norse,
Danes, Swedes, Finns, Balts and Slavs in Northern Europe, the Berbers in
North Africa and the Arabs in the Middle East.

[ This is a new entry for the PBM List. You can find the list
itself, and instructions for adding games or comments, at
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/pbm_list/ -- greg ]