Not another war !!!	Happier times in the Senate ...

Another year has passed and there is a new first man in Rome. Chris Bartiromo was able to successfully navigate a tumultuous and war weary senate to claim his position as first man after an 11-year absence. Indeed, although this was his second championship, his name had heretofore been absent from the laurels roll simply because he predated laurels.

Tournament Recap:

It's said that every year Republic of Rome is played that some sort of theme becomes pervasive throughout all of the games. This year's theme would have to have been "What can you do for me?" Again and again the Roman senate would seemingly grind to a halt until certain factions contributed considerable talent donations for political favor. While to some extent this is the normal 'modus operandi' of the political climate and has fit perfectly within the historical context, this year it reached near epidemic proportions and threatened the very health of Rome herself.

The use of the Hannibal 'drop dead' card was again an overwhelming success in both preventing end game decimation of the Roman Senate and allowing for a fair and equitable end-game. The mass end game assassinations fly in the face of history. Many players were frustrated and discouraged when the last turn of the game would turn to a single roll of the dice deciding the victor.

This year's preliminary heats passed without much fanfare. Peace was the rule of the day throughout Rome. Mortality attempted to rear it's ugly head - especially with a first turn epidemic in one of the heats - but Rome stayed healthy and the effects of mortality were minimized for a change.

This year's Final was quite unlike any I have seen in the past. Rome was surprisingly quiet and peaceful. Until the very end when it seemed all of Rome's enemies allied to form a mighty host to sack Rome. The once splintered Roman factions attempted to band together to fight back the combined might of the outside horde. The Roman legions fought valiantly but were ultimately defeated by the relentless assault of so many foreign armies.

This Final really stuck because never before has random chance worked in such a way to cause almost every war and revolt to come into play one after another. It eventually reached a point where Rome had no chance of surviving no matter what the players did. Since Rome did fall and the game did win rather than a player it became necessary to use the fallback method to determine the ultimate winner of the tournament. This is similar to the way we advance players into the Final from games where there was no outright winner. Each faction's influence is totaled and in the end Chris Bartiromo came out on top with a sizable influence advantage. Whether this got him a prime seat at the weenie roast as Rome burned is unknown.

After the embers cooled - it was a very entertaining year in the Roman senate. It is always exciting to see players devise a new strategy to win the game. One of the things that makes Republic of Rome such an interesting game is that there is no set strategies to win, every iteration is different. No two games are really ever alike. As always - we look forward to next year!