Above in this article I explained the background to these rules and the various articles, books and rules I have found useful in arriving at game rules for campaigns spanning decades. The following will explain the overall game rules for Decimo Fast Play. Decimo fast play is aimed at campaigns fought using paper or computers without resort to table top encounters with miniature figures etc. The rules are divided up as follows: Decimo - Creation Turn Sequence Geography People War or Peace Sieges & Battles War & Peace Dividends Chance Events Decimo - Kingdom Decimo - Empire Turn Sequence The game is based on a ten-year cycle consisting of 4 moves per year giving 40 moves in a cycle. Every five years certain checks are made with chance events determined every ten years. There are no victory conditions, just changes in land ownership and power to wage war. The game starts in the WINTER turn of the first year. EVERY YEAR WINTER Is this a random event year? If yes, determine event. For war situations check diplomacy for allies. Tribute is paid where owed. Reinforcements are allocated. Armies and navies determine their starting point. SPRING Determine who is the attacker in any war. Make moves, determine losses, resolve battles and sieges. Warrior character scores and territory change are recorded. SUMMER Make moves, determine losses, resolve battles and sieges. Warrior character scores and territory change are recorded. AUTUMN Movement, losses, battles and sieges. Armies return home. Warrior character scores and territory change. Administrator & political characters accrue points. Tribans incur blight. Blight is neutralized. Trade cards are earned. Check all tribans, kingdoms & empires for diplomatic relations. EVERY FIVE YEARS: In the winter every 5th year: Check character survival Exceptional administrators die roll to increase base values of their tribans. Kingdoms earn trade cards. Empires, capitals, earn trade cards. EVERY TEN YEARS: In the winter before every 10th year. Determine random events by location and year of occurrence only. Determine raids by location and year of occurrence only. For income from minerals, test 1D6. 4,5,6, IT RUNS OUT! Geography You need to create or adopt some geography for the game. The geography needs to determine what areas exist as follows: Coastlines, rivers, and lakes. Hills, woods and plains. Mountains, forests and deserts People First of all you need to decide how many races exist and where they live. Natural barriers will tend to define the location and extent of each race. A principle adopted in “Decimo” is that of “BLOBS” so simple presented by Steve Foster. This approach allows us to divide up our geography into areas. These areas are called “TRIBANS” in “Decimo.” Using the lie of the land and the boundaries of the races you have created, divide up the mapped areas. Each area is a “Triban” and should be named. For each TRIBAN, you should define the predominant geographic features e.g. TRIBAN: SUNYAMI: coastal, river, plain TRIBAN: TAMAL: coastal, mountain Normally there are at most two features but there can be more. Each “Triban” is occupied by a tribe of people. The game is played between character led Tribans at first. Eventually kingdoms and then empires are created. Triban is used throughout the rules to mean Triban, Kingdom, or Empire. At the end of Decimo - Creation are rules for Kingdoms and Empires. The game can at any time comprise of Tribans of raiders or traders, kingdoms and empires all led by characters. There can also be non-character Tribans of raiders and traders. Each Triban can yield resources for its owner in terms of army units or ships. Each Triban is given an arbitrary starting value influenced by its geography. Mountains and deserts have low values, river valleys have high values. Follow these steps to determine the value of each Triban: A. Throw 1 x average D6 for each Triban. B. Modify for predominant features River Valleys +3 Coastlines +1 Lakes, Plains, Hills, or Woods +1 Mountains -2 Forests -2 Deserts -2 Normally a Triban would comprise one or two predominant features. The existence of river valleys & coastlines may increase this to three or in very extreme cases four features. It is best to stick with two features as a normal maximum. C. Draw a playing card for each Triban: Landlocked: Ace means it is a trade center +3 Coastline: Ace or King means it is a trade center +3 All Tribans: Joker means a desolated Triban Mountain/forest/desert Tribans: Spade means a desolated triban. D. Join up by the most direct route overland each trade centre: natural gaps in mountain ranges should be followed. These trade routes can pass through one Triban at a time. The exception is where a river or estuary is sensibly the trade route. Each Triban with a trade route/s gets +1 for each trade route passing through it. E. Add up the scores in A to D for each Triban. This is its basic value and equates to the number of army units that the Triban can support. Desolated Tribans retain their score but require an exceptional administrator to unlock their resources. F. For coastal Tribans, throw another 1 x average D6. G. Add this score in E. above to get the total number of ships that can be supported by the Triban in addition to its army. Example: TRIBAN A B C D E F G SUNYAMI 3 CPR(5) TC3 +2 13 3 16 NAVRONGO 5 M(-2) - - 3 - - CPR = coastal, plain, river TC = trade centre CHARACTERS Each Triban starts with 3 characters which represent 3 strengths of the Triban: Warrior Administrator Politician Warriors Throw 1D6 to determine their starting score: 1,2 = 1 pt. 3,4,5 = 4 pts. 6 = 12 pts. Battle Honours for Warriors Surviving a battle +1 Victorious in battle +3 Victorious in battle with enemy leader killed or captured +5 Siege Honours Successful capture of Triban +2 Successful defence of Triban +1 Successful capture of Triban with leader captured or killed +3 Warriors: Benefit of Experience Points Fame Effect 15 or more known automatically raises 1 extra unit 20 or more notable automatically raises 2 extra units 25 or more famous automatically raises 3 extra units 35 or more legend automatically raises 4 extra units Administrators and Politicians Throw 1D6 for a starting score: 1,2,3,4 = 1 pt. 5 = 10 pts. 6 = 20 pts. 1 point is earned for each year of service. Administrators and Politicians: Benefit of Experience Points Reputation Effect 15 or more Reliable Administrator Automatically raises 1 extra unit 20 or more Exceptional Administrator Automatically raises 2 extra units 15 or more Reliable Politician Affect diplomatic relations 20 or more Exceptional Politician Affect diplomatic relations Character Survival: Every 5 years test all characters for survival. 1D6. 5 = only administrators or politicians disappear 6 = any character disappears Now roll for a new character in each case. More Decimo Campaign Rules Introduction Rules People, Peace, and War Preparations for War...and Battles Decimo Part 2 Sea Battles Blight and Trade Cards Chance Events Kingdoms and Empires Decimo Part 3 Land and Peoples Creation Campaign Report Diary of the Campaign Back to Table of Contents -- Lone Warrior #139 Back to Lone Warrior List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by Solo Wargamers Association. 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