Triumvir Interview: Geoff Engelstein

 

Triumvir builds on Versailles 1919 where players use influence to gain control over issues and the path that history will take going forward. In Triumvir, you will use your three-dimensional influence in popularity, money, and legions to vie for the Consulship, Pontifex Maximus, and Governorships as you try to outmaneuver your erstwhile friends on the floor of the Senate. The game can be played with 1 – 3 players.

The rules and images shown here are not final.

You can find it in P500

1-Who are you and you favourite wargame/s?

My name is Geoff Engelstein. In addition to designing games, I am also the founder of the Ludology podcast about game design, and teach game design at the NYU Game Center. My design credits include The Ares Project, Space Cadets, The Fog of War, The Expanse, Super Skill Pinball, and Versailles 1919.

I’ve been involved in war games since the mid 70’s, starting with Richthofen’s War from Avalon Hill. My favorites have tended to be the monster games, including Advanced Squad Leader (Red Barricades in particular), Third Reich, Civilization, and the Europa series. But my favorite probably still is World In Flames, although I haven’t had an opportunity to play it in quite some time.

2-Why did you decide to do this game?

After Versailles 1919, Mark and I were looking for other settings to bring the system. Versailles emphasizes negotiations, but still has flashes of battles and unrest mirroring the actual post-war situation. The fall of the Roman Republic has a similar flavor, with intense political rivalry against the backdrop of provincial uprisings and riots in the streets of Rome itself. 

Plus I’ve always had a soft spot for 1990 game Republic of Rome, and was excited to take another angle on a similar period.

3-Can you talk about the mechanics?

There are a number of changes we made to better highlight the actual situation in Rome in 40 BCE. Since the players represent factions in Rome instead of nations, as in Versailles, we explicitly model three different strata of Roman society – aristocracy, commoners, and military. Each of these has their own influence currency that can be used to bid on issues, and certain types of influence are more effective on matching issues. Importantly, victory in the game is strictly determined by your standing with these three factions, so managing that is crucial.

The Region Unrest track from Versailles has been replaced with Province Unrest. Players may be Provincial Governors, which gives them the opportunity to exploit the provinces for influence gain, but may lead them to revolt forcing the governor to send troops to put it down, or suffer consequences.

The Governorships are handed out through a new Election mechanism, which happens periodically through the game. In addition to the Governorships, player factions may also gain the Consulship or become Pontifex, which confer there own opportunities and risks.

4-How the different factions work?

There is a light asymmetry between the different player leaders (Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus). Each starts with better relations with a different Roman faction, and can recover influence at different rates. In addition, each has a special ability that allows them to manipulate Roman politics in a unique way.

5-Scenarios and/or length of the game?

The main game is for three players, but there are also rules for two players, and a solo mode. The game takes 90-120 minutes to play once the players are familiar with it.

6-Do you have another game/project in mind?

Not using the Versailles / Triumvir system at this time. However I do have a recently announced game on the GMT Games P500 called Zheng He, which is a solo game about the voyages of the Chinese Treasure Fleet in the early 1400’s.