A Guide for Players New to Fall of Rome

By Mierco

 

This guide is intended to help the new player (“newbie”) navigate through the screens of the Fall of Rome game system.  Unlike most other online games which are real time, this is a turn based strategy game, meaning you have a deadline (usually 72 hours) in which to submit your orders.  When the deadline hits, the computer processes all orders for all players in your particular game and all kingdoms in your game are updated with the results for that turn.  At that point, you can log in, check your results and plan your next move.   

 

• This guide is not a substitute for reading the rules . . . make sure you have already printed a copy of the commands and read over them.  Also print out the kingdom information from the Fall of Rome web site – this is vital information on each kingdom (their strengths, where they start, etc.).  Keep all this information handy as a reference.
• This guide is not a strategy guide . . . . read some of the early-turn strategies on the web site offered by other players, some of whom were play testers who had game design input.   They provide good insight into how to get off to a good start. 

 

This guide is designed to walk you through the game screens so you can get into this game quickly and painlessly and enjoy how it develops.   

 

LOG IN:

 

When you go to the KoA website, you log in your user name and password and are taken to a page which enables you to activate the game(s) you’re in by hitting the launch button.   This takes you to the main page that has 14 icons along the top (the Top Menu Bar) that are your means of navigating through the game.  Holding the mouse cursor over an icon for a second will reveal the meaning of the icon, similar to any basic Windows function.  NOTE: Make sure your computer’s display is set to a minimum of 1024 x 768, otherwise you won’t see the entire screen. 

 

1.  WHERE TO START – STRATEGIC VIEW       

 

Left click on the icon that is a Globe.  This provides a view of the world and the 12 regions.  Each region has a city, the location of which is known to all players.  The game system uses the “fog of war” concept, meaning you will only see the towns and villages you either control, or have found through playing the game.  Most kingdoms start with a mix of 4 towns and villages under their control.  Your kingdom flag marks the locations of your starting population centers.  Find them on the map.

 

Take note of which regions border you and check your reference material to see which kingdoms start near you . . . these are the kingdoms you’ll need to pay some attention to early on . . .. more about that later in the Player Contact discussion.

 

2.  OPERATIONAL MAP VIEW      

 

Find and left click on the icon at the top that looks like a map and is labeled Operational Map View.  In this view, there are vertical and horizontal scroll bars to move around this map.  As you hold your cursor over a hex, a window pops up telling the terrain type and region.  Left click on a hex and it zooms you into the Tactical View of that hex.  Take a moment to zoom into hexes with different terrains and a city or two to get a flavor of the artwork that is in this game.   To get back to the Operational Map View, either left click within the Tactical View, or click on the map icon at the top menu bar.    

 

Once back in the Operational View, let’s scroll around the map to find your 4 population centers (PCs) - they’re marked with you kingdom flag.  Some of your PCs have additional icons in the shape of characters crowded into the hex.  Left click on that hex and you’ll zoom into the Tactical View – it make take a few seconds to refresh your screen.  When it does, you will see any buildings or fortifications that are in place as well as what characters (agents, emissaries, officers) or armies are located there. Holding the curser over an item gives you the name and status of the asset.  Go to each of the 4 PCs you control and see what’s in them.  You’ll notice they’re all awaiting orders because we haven’t issued any yet.  NOTE:  Most of your time will be spent in the Operational View, as that is where you issue most of your orders.  The rest of the icons are there mainly to categorize the information about your kingdom for your review.    Let’s take a quick look at those before we issue any orders.

 

3.  POPULATION CENTERS      

 

Find the icon that shows a city view on the top menu bar. Left clicking will display all PCs which you know about.  For PCs you control, you will see a summary of what improvements exist, what resources are produced, etc.   The 12 cities start neutral . . . you and the other players know where they are but you will not get any additional information until you send one of your assets there to investigate it.  Scroll down to the bottom and you will see some other towns and villages in close proximity to you which are independent . . . make a note of these and the city in your starting region as early targets to get control of.

 

4.  CHARACTERS       

 

Find and left click on the icon showing a group of guys in togas to see all your loyal subjects, where they are and what they are doing.  They are all awaiting orders because we haven’t issued any yet. 

 

5.  FORCES           

 

Clicking on this icon showing spearmen opens up your military legions page.  On the left are your various legions, each of which has a distinctive group name.  Highlight anyone of these groups and you’ll see a breakdown of number of brigades, leaders, location, etc. 

 

6. KINGDOM       

 

Find the crown icon at the top, left click on it and we’ll get some information relative to your king’s influence in the world.  Note his rulership (# of commands you can issue in a given turn) and his influence which affects your political effectiveness.  Also note your Popular Reaction in the various regions around the world.  Your reactions are better in your starting region.  Unlike the last 3 icons we just looked at, which are information only, there are other commands you can issue from the Kingdom Screen.  We’ll cover those later.

 

7.  LEDGER        

 

Find the treasure chest icon to check your resources.  You can readily see what is being produced from your PCs and what is consuming your resources.  Most starting kingdoms will notice they’re army is eating up more supplies than your starting PCs produce.  Not to worry . . . you’ll be capturing additional PCs to fix that.  Note on the right there is a Cash Flow option, which shows your current status, and a Forecast option – once you issue your orders for the turn, you’ll be able to come back to this screen and see how much it costs to carry out your commands and what resources you’ll have remaining.

 

8.  COUNCILORS’ REPORT       

 

Find the icon on the top menu bar with the fellow with his arms spread wide.  Clicking here will bring up the Report of the Royal Councilors screen.  There are four sections which will show your results from the previous turn.  First is the Chancellor, who tells you all your political results.  Next is the Minister of War, where you will find all military results except battle reports (those are under the Encounters button).  Third is the Chamberlain, who tells you of all things of an economic nature.  Finally is the Grand Inquisitor, a busy guy who will let you know about all things covert including new reconnaissance information. 

 

9.  MESSAGES      

 

Find this icon that shows a scribe writing a, well, message. There’s a nifty capability in the game where you can send messages to the other players that are immediately delivered to that player, like a chat room.  More about that later.

 

10.  THE PLAN       

 

Find the icon at the left edge of the top menu bar that shows three hands pointing at a map.  This will display what orders you have issued so far during the turn and the impact on your supplies and gold.  You will refer to The Plan many times during the course of issuing orders.  Let’s do that now!

 

 A.  MILITARY       

 

Let’s deploy our military and get ready to kick some butt. Go to the Operational Map View and find your Capital.  (It’ll be the PC where you have the most icons.  There is also a button on the Kingdom screen to go to the capital.)   Zoom in (left click on that hex) to pull up the Tactical view.  You’ll notice each legion has a white line border with a smaller black background icon within.  The black background icon is the name of the group and within the white border is the composition of that group – leader(s) and brigades. 

 

The first thing to consider is possibly pulling in additional leaders into your main legion.  Like the King, who is also a Marshal, an important military leader.  To pull the king in, right click on his icon. On the popup, select Transfer Units – Before legion movement.  You’ll then see a window pop up with the leaders on the left and brigades on the right. Highlight the king and drag him across to the brigades on the right.  He is now with that group.  You may also start a transfer in the tactical view by right clicking in open terrain (not on an icon): this will bring up the menu that asks if you wish to make a transfer before or after legion movement.

 

Now let’s move the group.  Right click on the small black icon which represents the legion.  A drop down menu will give you a number of different options.  Since this is your main group with the King, let’s move it to a nearby neutral village.  Select Move Legion.  The Operational Map opens up.  Move the cursor to a neutral village nearby and click twice, which completes the move order.  Note that the destination hex must be green . . . if it’s red, it’s too far away to reach in one turn.  You’ll get a confirmation that your legion is moving to an allowed destination if you double click on a green hex.  To recap, you have issued orders to move the King to your largest group and moved the group to an independent village.  Next turn you will be in position to take action against that village using the same drop down menus we just executed.  Read the rules on what action you can take! 

 

Now that you know how to execute military move commands, find your other groups and send some of them out on Move and Scout orders – they will report back any PC or unusual sightings they pass on the way when the game orders are processed, right after the turn deadline is reached and all orders are processed.  The time remaining before the turn deadline is shown at the bottom right of your screen: it counts down like a NASA space flight until 00:00 is reached.  Then the game is locked briefly while the program runs and everything is updated for all orders by all players.

 

B. POLITICAL        

 

Let’s go back to your capital (you now remember how to do that, right?)  Right click on any of your nobles.  You will see a drop down menu.  Nobles can get you neutral or enemy population centers, but first you need to move them into position.  Select Relocate on the menu.  When the Operational View comes up, select one of the independent PCs near you.  Like moving legions, you have a limited distance you can move.  If the destination hex is red, it’s too far.  Move a noble to a neutral PC.  Which one to move?  Read the rules on what level noble has the optimum chance/cost to turn the PC. 

 

C.  COVERT          

 

Go to one of your PCs with an agent within.  Right click on that agent.  Agents are good at gathering intelligence (among other things).  Choose Reconnaissance from the menu.  Unlike nobles, agents can perform missions up to seven hexes from their base, and then (if they live) return to their base, all in the same turn.  Click on the city in your region – say way as you moved your noble.  Next turn he’ll provide a report on what other players’ characters or armies are in that hex, both inside and outside the city – good info to know before you try to use your nobles or legions to get that city. 

 

D. HIGH PRIESTESS     

    

She starts at your capital.  Right click on her which opens up her options.  It’s a good idea to try to get control of your region early and she can help you do that by divining PCs you don’t know about.  Select that option and then position her search area on the Operational View which provides the greatest coverage area within your region of uncharted hexes.   Next turn, you get the location of any hidden towns and villages in that coverage area. Neat huh?

 

E.  CHECK OUR PROGRESS       

 

Let’s go to The Plan icon at the top and confirm our order have been issued.  As you will see, the gold and supplies cost for each order is displayed in the top section.  Down below we have a recap of what gold and supplies we started with and what is left at this point.

 

F.  COMPLETING YOUR FIRST TURN MOVE

 

Now is the time to execute the rest of your orders, based on your study of the rules and the kingdoms.  Basically, you will be revisiting this several times and checking The Plan to see how many orders you have left and checking the Characters and Forces screens to see that you’re utilizing the maximum you can.  Remember, you can go back to each individual character or group or your king to cancel any order . . . you’ll do this multiple times to end up with the optimum orders and this is truly the challenge of the game.  You can continue to do this up until the deadline.

 

G.  RETURN TO THE KINGDOM

 

Remember, The Kingdom icon was one of the screens where you could issue Kingdom wide orders.  Left click on that now.  This is also where you select your Secret Victory Condition – you must do this by Turn 3 or it defaults.  Review the rules on the options, your kingdom characteristics from your reference material and decide what play style you want to pursue and make a selection now or before turn 3. 

 

While we’re on this screen, notice the open market trade button.  Let’s go back to the Councilor’s Report screen to see what advice we have from our economic expert.  He’s forecasting a 1 for 1 exchange which is better than you’ll see the whole game with respect to gold for supplies.   Do your calculations either via The Ledger – Forecast screen or via the bottom of The Plan screen and trade accordingly.

 

H.  PLAYER CONTACT

 

Remember the Messages icon?  After you have weaved your strategy and executed your orders for turn 1, best to do some communication. After all, you don’t want to be attacked from all sides do you?  Go to the Messages icon and send the proper messages at least to some of the kingdoms that are near you . . . in my humble opinion, how you handle other players will go a long way toward how well you do in the game . . . you can’t be friends with everybody but you’ll probably need some friends or at the least, non-combatants along the way . . . use your imagination and interpersonal skill, which is quite beyond the scope of this paper.

 

I.  GOOD LUCK!

 

That concludes the tutorial.   If you have gotten this far, you understand the game mechanics and how to navigate around the game.  I haven’t covered some icons which are driven by your order results, but you’ll figure them out once you get your first turn results.  Hopefully you will play around with your first turn orders and read some of the early turn strategy articles on the web site, study the rules and the kingdom description from the web site and adjust accordingly.  And enjoy the game . . . this is truly a unique experience that has unlimited potential in the online gaming world as far as strategy and outcomes, limited only by your imagination and initiative . . . . Experiment and have fun!