Welcome mortals back to the sinister tome of Boardgames & Role-playing. In this issue I would like to introduce you to a boardgame from Chaosium by the name of Raiders & Traders. My reasons got this choice is firstly, the game converted extremely well to solo play and secondly, due to basic design, the rules system is easily adaptable as a basis for Fantasy, Ancient, Renaissance or Horse & Musket campaign rules. Raiders & Traders is a boardgame of ancient Aegean Bronze Age civilization. Three scenarios are presented: The Early Bronze Age 2900-2000 B.C., The Middle Bronze Age 2000-1500 B.C. and The Late Bronze Age 1500-1100 B.C. Depending on the scenario played, a game will last from one to four hours. The game takes places on a topographical map of Greece, the Aegean Islands, Crete and coastal Anatolia. Each turn represents one generation, or about 20 years. Players assume the role of the leader of a royal house, and must determine their plan of survival for each generation. The game objective is to accumulate wealth by conquering and occupying land, by raids and piracy, and by trade. At game's end, the royal house with the most gold talents is declared the winner. Optional rules are also provided to include mythological elements for the three scenarios. Now, a word regarding the versatility of the Raiders & Traders system for campaign rule purposes. The map outline is territorial and all game functions revolve around the province (e.g. Attica). Each of these areas contains one or more representative cities (e.g. Athens), the location of any border passes (e.g. Thermopylae) and a population index/revenue number (2 to 12). Counters represent either an army (1200 men), fleet (20 ships), fortification level (1 or 2) or leader (1). Any of the terminologies mentioned above could easily refer to your preferred campaign set-up. The rules for Initiative, Investment, Fertility, Diplomacy, Campaign, Commerce, Revenue and Supply are abstract and could be applied to any historical period you prefer. All that must be accomplished during rule study and map scrutiny is to visualize your planned campaign while ingesting the details, imagining them to apply to your scenario. The majority of my solo rules for Raiders & Traders cover player decisions during game play. But I have added two concepts which require some explanation, Solo Diplomacy and the Expansion Diagram. It is advisable to give the Solo Diplomacy section a close look because there I have presented to you a basic system which can be utilized in many campaign situations. I have included a Diplomacy Indicator with this article for you to copy. Use markers on this template to indicate the present political stance between the royal houses during play. Now, study the Solo Campaign rules (4), (5) and (6) and then refer to the Expansion Diagram. This is used to indicate which territories are eligible for an expansion check. On comparing the diagram with the game map, you will find that a test must be made for all adjacent territories. The only exception to this is found in rule (5). As an example of this case, to be eligible for a possible expansion move into the Cyclades (Andros, Melos, Naxos or Thera) from the Peloponnesos, you must occupy or have a treaty with both Messenia and Laconia. If you own a copy of Raiders & Traders try the solo version. In my last game I set up the Early Bronze Age scenario with the royal houses of Argolis/Corinth (Aphrodite), Thessaly (Hestia), Mysia (Hephaestos) and my own Central/Eastern Crete (Ares) and got thoroughly trounced, and with the god of war on my side! I hope this article has been of special interest to any of you lone warriors out there who delve into ancients and have a preference for the Greek period. I personally have five 6mm Greek State Armies (Sparta, Athens, Corinth, Thebes and Syracuse) and enjoy solo hoplite warfare thoroughly. I am again in debt to Mr Bradshaw for another fine review, this time covering Thunderbolt/Apache Leader. Thanks Steve and keep in touch. Remember members, if you have any material covering the worlds of boardgames or role-playing, drop me a line and I will include your works amongst the pages of this section of Lone Warrior. Until next time...... May the deity of the solo wargamer protect you always! RAIDERS AND TRADERS - SOLO RULES A. INVESTMENT 1. Spend up to profits of previous turn. Do not purchase on last game turn. 2. Commercial risk 50% (round up to nearest 5) of total treasury before expenditure or 100% after buying if commerce modifier 13+. 3. Deity (D6): 1-2:3t, 3-4:4t, 5-6:5t. Generate a hero if at war. 4. Recruit armies up to 50% total territory numbers (minimum of 20). 5. Build 1 fleet per port (maximum of 5 per game turn). 6. If at war, build 1 wall per game turn starting with highest territory number with most cities on the frontier. Build Cyclopean walls if all territories walled. Non-house home territories start the game walled. B. COMMIT FLEETS 1. 33% of fleets to raids/expansion/defence. 2. 33% of fleets to merchant (minimum of 1/maximum to +24 commerce modifier). 3. 33% of fleets to piracy (minimum of 1/maximum to 33% of total enemy fleets). 4. Commit extras in order 1-3. C. DIPLOMACY 1. Houses start with a Diplomacy number of 3. +2 per treaty. +1 per marriage. -1 per piracy act. -1 per raid. -1 Owner of richest treasury (after investment). -2 per territory lost during expansion. Standing Diplomacy Number Piracy Raids Expansion Allied 6 N N N Friendly 5-4 Y N N Neutral 3-2 Y Y N War 1-0 Y Y Y 2. First attempt treaties, then marriages. Houses check current treasury position (1-4). (1) attempts treaty with lowest diplomacy number. (3) attempts treaty with (4). 3. Houses attempt treaty with neutral territories if the combat modifier is negative. 4. Diplomacy talents are taken from the treasury or commerce if none. Diplomatic missions/10 talents are paid for on a (D6) 1-2. 5. Attempt marriages with lowest diplomacy number houses. Proposals are accepted on a (D6) 1-2. Princes take princesses to home territory. D. CAMPAIGN 1. Roll random piracy targets or enemy house/s if at war. Deploy pirate fleets equal to merchant fleets. 2. Roll (D6) 1-3 House and 4-6 Neutral raid targets or enemy house/s if at war. Raider choose territories with most cities or highest territory number. Raid chance: (D6)<6-modifiers. -1 if only 1 commander available, but only if other modifiers apply. 3. Retreat before combat if modifier is 4+ unless defender is a single garrison army. Counter-attack unless modifier is negative. 4. Expand into territory with best combat modifier, unless negative. If equal then most cities - highest territory number - most ports - random. Campaign with hero last. 5. Occupy, or have a treaty with, all territories in one region to be eligible for expansion to or from Lemnos/Thasos/Imbros-Euboea-Cyclades-Crete. 6. Corfu, Ionian Islands, Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Karpathos and Rhodes are presumed to be bordering the nearest territory for expansion purposes. 7. Relocate 1 army per territory and 1 fleet per port in territories with 2 or 3 cities. Divide extra armies/fleets into units of 5 and deploy on frontier with house/s with worst diplomatic relations or at war in the following order: Walled - most cities - most ports - highest territory number - random. Put treasury in 'safest' territory. Raiders and Traders Diplomacy Indicator Diplomacy Number ROYAL HOUSE RELATIONS Red Purple Brown Purple Yellow Purple Brown Red Yellow Red Yellow Brown 6 . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . 0 . . . . . . Back to Table of Contents -- Lone Warrior #106 Back to Lone Warrior List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by Solo Wargamers Association. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com