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Republic of Carthage
Differences from The Republic of Rome™
The goal was to present the unique features of Carthage.
The concessions are gone. Added is a Trade phase that's very similar to that of Civilization. A consequence is that everyone tends to have a lot more money, making each turn much more dangerous than in RoR, because of the various things the players can do – persuasion, vote buying, etc.
Not every challenge in the game is a war. There are now also explorations, which can take quite some time to complete as the explorers can get lost for turns on end.
The nature of the wars is different as well. There are lesser ones that novice players tend to ignore, but which are actually very important because without them the player does not build up his force pool, another new concept. On the other hand, the wars with Pyrrhus and Rome are very difficult; players need to have done their homework to defeat them.
Failing to win a war is no longer just a matter of losing popularity. The commander could end up crucified by the people.
Forces now have different costs depending on type rather than the flat 10T cost for every legion in Rome and sometimes certain forces depart Carthage and become unavailable, which can be tricky to manage.
There is a different set of offices in Carthage, with players taking the positions of the Committee of Five. Each one of these offices has a different function and ability. There is no Dictator or Master of Horse. No speech to the people either.
There is a new type of card, the News card, which can dramatically affect play, especially Trade. The Law cards are also more powerful in that they change the rules of the game more significantly.
The rules, are completely rewritten; reviewers find them much more readable than those of
The Republic of Rome.™
I think the game thus has a more fluid and dynamic feeling; the bottlenecks and difficulty points are moved so one needs to be open-minded and think about the challenges differently.
So while it's not as dramatic a departure as
Founding Fathers,
it's not really a clone of
The Republic of Rome™ either.
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