Introduction & Historical Notes

In June 66 A.D., the depredations of Gessius Florus, Imperial Rome’s Procurator in Jerusalem, had driven an already desperate Judean populace into open revolt. Judean freedom-fighters, many of whom were secretly armed for quite some time, rallied to their respective factions leaders.

Florus’ garrison was primarily composed of foreign Velitae and Foederatti, soldiers of King Herod Agrippa II: Rome’s local client King. He had relatively few reliable regular Legionnaires available. But what Imperial Heavy Infantry Florus had would prove utterly fearsome to the ill-armed and trained Judeans. Most of the garrison’s light infantry was spread about the city, manning peacetime positions within Jerusalem’s various gates. The tough, disciplined, Heavy Infantry was split between Antonia Fortress and Herod’s Palace.Isolated fort and gate garrisons swiftly fell to the numerous, enraged, and vengeful Judeans. After parrying a tentative Roman advance upon the Temple, a Judean horde from Jerusalem’s southern quarters overwhelmed Antonia Fortress. Surviving Roman & Foederatti forces fell back to Herod’s Palace. This enabled a coalesced defense of that walled area which proved too much for the rag-tag Judeans to take head-on. A truce was called. After some weeks of negotiation, what remained of Rome’s Jerusalem garrison was afforded The Honors of War and allowed to depart the city. Jerusalem and it’s holy Temple was at last free of foreign troops! Use all standard rules per SoJ’s regular rulebook unless modified or overridden by this scenario’s special instructions.

Roman Forces & Set-up

The Roman Player sets-up first in accordance with the following Order of Battle and set-up instructions. Use the playing pieces from any SoJ Legion except Legio XII Fulminata, which should be set aside.

1 Antonia Fortress Garrison:

Four catapult units, one in each Antonia Fortress fort hex. The following nine units may be placed in any hex of Antonia Fortress or its walls, including those congruent to The Temple, subject to stacking limits: one Heavy Infantry Cohort (7-8, 6-8, & 5-8); three 3-9 Velitae; and three 1-9 Syrian Archers.

2 Herod’s Palace Garrison:

The following nine units may be placed in any hex of Herod’s Palace and/or The Fortress Triangle, on or within the walls. Additionally, Herod’s Palace garrison units may optionally occupy gate hexes of Yafo Gate Complex: one Heavy Infantry Cohort consisting of a 7-8, 6-8, & 5-8; three 3-9 Velitae, and three 1-9 Syrian Archers.

3 Optional Placement Garrison Units: consist of 24 units, one Heavy Infantry Cohort consisting of a 7-8, 6-8 & 5-8, three 3-9 Velitae, and 18 2-10 Foederatti. Deploy these in the following sequence:

3.1 All Jerusalem gate hexes, with the exception of those of the Temple Quarter’s inner and exterior walls, must be garrisoned (occupied) by at least one optional placement unit of the Roman Player’s choice. Remember, the Temple Quarter’s gates must be left empty of Roman units.

3.2 After fulfilling 3.1’s “Gate Garrison” requirement, all still-unallocated Roman optional placement units may go into:

3.2a Any fort or fortress hex, except those of the Temple Quarter, Antonia Fortress, and/or Herod’s Palace garrison (i.e., they can’t reinforce item 1 or 2’s placements). Yafo Gate Complex placement is permitted.

3.2b Any built-up / non-edifice hex of Jerusalem.

When all Roman built-up hex unit placement is complete, every Jerusalem built-up hex which is not occupied by a Roman unit immediately becomes Judean controlled (this is a critical point to setting up Judean forces for this scenario.)

Judean Forces & Set-up

1 Judean Placement Reserve Activation:

1.1 The Judean Player first places the four Faction Leader units on the map:

1.1a Each must be placed within any Judean-controlled built-up terrain hex (see 1.3).

1.1b No more than two Judean Leaders may ever occupy a single Jerusalem Area for purpose of Reserve Activation (see 1.3).

1.2 Reserve Activation, per SoJ Rule 18.611, then takes place. Important: In this scenario, there are no “Judean Reserve Activation Modifiers”. Just use the straight unmodified die/dice Reserve roll for each applicable city area without DRM.

1.3 Normal Reserve Activation is followed by a Special Judean Leader Reserve Activation:

1.3a Each Judean Leader (exception, 1.1b) occupying a built-up/non-edifice hex not adjacent to or in an L.O.F. of a Roman unit may activate additional reserves every Judean Rally Phase.

1.3b Each applicable Leader receives a two dice Reserve release roll:

Use the regular SoJ Activation Table (18.611) to determine the type ofunits to take out of the “pool”.

However, for this and ensuing Special Judean Leader Reserve Activations, only units of that particular Leader, or Zealot 7-7’s, may be taken from the pool. If no 5-7’s or 2-6’s of that faction Leader are available from the pool or dead box when needed; these units may not be taken (may not accumulate untaken Reserves).

1.3c Special Reserve Activation may not be prevented by Roman control of an area (see special rules defining “control” of a Jerusalem area for this scenario… Rule 8) during:

Initial Reserve Placements and Turn One’s Judean Rally Phase. Thereafter, Roman control of a Jerusalem area will prevent new Judean Reserves from both regular and Special Leader sources from being taken.

1.4 Important! There are no Reserve Limits (SoJ Rule 18.612). Players have no need to track activated Judean Reserve units by hashmark.

2 After Initial Placement Reserve

Activations are taken, “The Rebellion” Scenario begins with Turn One’s Judean Rally Phase (consequently, each applicable Jerusalem city area will get two full cycles of Reserve Activations before the Roman Player gets first chance to respond with Turn Two).

Special Rules

1 All roads outside Jerusalem exist.

Movement rates along roads outside Jerusalem, whether in clear or slope terrain, is ½ MP for both Roman & Judean Units.

2 Roman Refuge

(SoJ rule 15.4) is any Roman-controlled area of the city or a mapedge … whichever is closest to an effected Roman unit when it retreats. If more than one refuge area is equidistant, choice is the Roman Player’s.

3 Judean Unit Disruption:

Only Zealot 7-7 and Leader Units may be disrupted by fire and/or melee combat in this scenario. Other Judean units: 5-7’s and/or 2-6’s are immediately eliminated when disrupted.

4 Judean Escalade Ability:

Judean units within Jerusalem, from any ground level hex (including built-up & edifice hexes) may make escalade attacks and movement per all regular SoJ escalade rules usually effecting only the Roman Player. Any Judean unit may serve as an escalade “base”. The Judeans may not make escalade attacks from a hex outside the city. The Romans, of course, may continue to do so with any appropriate units.

5 Roman Cohort Integrity (SoJ rule 11.841):

5.1 Cohort Integrity’s +1/-1 DRM applies to any melee combat involving at least one fresh Roman Heavy Infantry.

5.2 Should all three units (7-8, 6-8, & 5-8) of a particular Cohort attack the same hex, even if from different hexes, an additional Cohort Integrity Bonus applies: shift the odds of that melee combat two columns in the Romans’ favor … e.g., a 1:1 becomes a 3:1 melee attack. There is no odds shift bonus for a Cohort on melee defense.

6 Roman Hesitation to Attack the Temple:

No Roman unit may enter a hex of the Temple Quarter or its perimeter walls (except those hexes which are congruent to Antonia Fortress) until Turn Three. This is a political restriction… although some legend has it that the Romans hesitated through intervention of other “forces”.

7 Command Control:

7.1 Judean – In addition to the four Leaders, each Zealot 7-7 unit may serve as a Leader for any faction’s 5-7 and 2-6 units. Zealots, however, do not convey Rally DRM’s.

7.2 Roman – Gessius Florus was ineffective as a military commander and is consequently not represented by a Playing Piece. What Roman Leadership there was came from the tough and highly trained officers and Centurions of Jerusalem’s Legionnaire Garrison. Consequently…

7.2a Each Heavy Infantry (7-8, 6-8, 5-8) may serve as a Leader capable of providing “cc” to any non-Heavy Infantry Roman unit on the map.

7.2b As Leaders, Roman Heavy Infantry may provide Rally DRM’s (although a single disrupted Heavy Infantry cannot provide itself with Rally DRM – any other undisrupted Heavy Infantry in range could). A maximum of one unit can provide Rally DRM to any Rally Die Roll.

7.2c Heavy Infantry units themselves require no command control.

8 Controlling Jerusalem City areas (use this rule in lieu of SoJ 18.3):

8.1 Unless a city area is controlled by the Roman Player, per rule section 8.2, it is automatically presumed to be Judean controlled.

8.2 Roman Control of Jerusalem City Areas:

8.2a The Temple – is Roman controlled at the end of any Judean Melee Phase with at least one of its edifice hexes occupied by at least one fresh Roman unit of any type.

8.2b Tyropean City, New City, David’s City, Upper & Lower Cities – can be Roman controlled with at least 10 of an area’s unnamed built-up hexes occupied by 10 fresh Roman units of any type within the area’s walls.

8.2c Antonia Fortress – The Romans control Antonia Fortress by preventing Judean occupation of both its edifice hexes (barracks) and at least two of its fortress hexes.

8.2d Herod’s Palace – The Romans control this area by preventing Judean occupation of any of its edifice hexes by game’s end.

Scenario Time Limit & Victory Conditions

1 Time Limit:

1.1 The Rebellion Scenario is not a full Siege Game Assault Period. Consequently Players ignore all special ending an Assault Period early rules.

1.2 The scenario is played until Turn Five’s Judean Melee Phase’s conclusion, unless a Roman automatic victory is achieved (see 2.2A), at which time Players assess which side has won.

2 Victory Conditions:

2.1 Judean Victory.

2.1a The Romans control one Jerusalem city area = Judean Historic Victory.

2.1b The Romans do not control any area of Jerusalem = Judean Decisive Victory. Achieving this is an interesting historical speculation; for what could/would have happened had the Judean Revolutionary Government been able to give more immediate attention to better preparing the city and Province against inevitable Roman counter-attack?

2.2 Roman Victory

2.2a Should the Romans end any game turn in control of the Temple Quarter, the game immediately ends with a Roman victory.

2.2b The Romans may also win the scenario by controlling two or more Jerusalem areas by the end of play (per 8.2’s B, C, or D).

Designer & Players Notes

Although Rebel advance preparation, planning, stockpiled material, and knowledge of the city allow them to make interior escalade attacks in this scenario, it is very difficult for them to overcome any defended wall line without “clouds” of projectiles for firepower support. If the Romans have reserves to replace their disrupted wall defenders, a Judean assault, as they found historically at Herod’s Palace, can be thwarted with relative ease.

In short, Judean strategy is responsive to what the Romans do with their “Optional Placement” units. The Judean Player must hope for good Reserve release die rolling where and when needed: although there’s so much reserve dice rolling that things should “average out” and the Judeans find themselves with a truly huge army containing numerous units capable of attritioning down to size the qualitatively superior Roman Imperial Garrison.

There can be a bit of a dilemma knowing when Leaders are best left in the rear, raising fresh reserves, or being at the fighting front where their combat bonus could be telling. Playing experience should indicate optimal use.

For the Romans, their deployment of “Optional Placement” units is critical.

Two basic strategies are available to the Garrison: Abandon Jerusalem’s built-up sections and adopt a “cordon” defense centered on gates. This segments the city and if Judean Reserve die rolling is poor for a particular area, greatly impede enemy offensive movement and momentum.

The other Roman Placement Strategy is:Concentrate “Optional Placement” units to control a built-up area of Jerusalem. This restricts the Judeans to only their Leader Units Reserve die rolling for that area and then no more after Turn One (assuming the Romans retain control). The Judeans could contest this strategy by placing a Leader or two in the area; but if they get poor Reserve dice rolling, the Romans could swiftly crush the Rebels and eliminate a crucial Leader. The downside of this approach is it exposes Roman units to some possibly most nasty close-in street fighting.

However, The Rebellion is the scenario where Roman Heavy Infantry possess a tremendously potent tactical superiority. Free of “cc” (command control) restrictions, the Roman Player will find the Legionnaires virtually unstoppable if in sufficient numbers for a given situation… of course that’s the catch, since the Romans will generally find themselves heavily outnumbered.

Finally, if you’re trying to control a Jerusalem built-up area but finding the effort flagging, know when to “cut and run” back to the walls of those areas still Roman-held. There’s no sense giving the Judeans additional Reserve Release Die rolling by triggering regular releases, through Roman units being within a city area, in addition to those they receive via Leaders.

The Siege of Jerusalem: 70 AD Scenarios

Introduction
1: The Rebellion
2: Delayed Rebellion/Quick Roman Response
3: The First Assault Period

The Siege of Jerusalem Review and Analysis
The Siege of Jerusalem: Designer's Notes
Jerusalem and Matthew 19:24 : Camel Through Eye of Needle