“THE
REBELLION”
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 SIEGE OF JERUSALEM’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
playing pieces from any Siege of Jerusalem
Legion except the XII (Legio XII “Fulminata” should be
set aside).
-
Antonia Fortress Garrison:
four (4) catapult units, one in each Antonia Fortress
fort hex. The following nine (9) 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 consisting of a 7-8, 6-8,
& 5-8; three (3) 3-9 Velitae, and three (3) 1-9 Syrian
Archers.
-
Herod’s Palace Garrison:
The following nine (9) 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) 3-9 Velitae, and
three (3) 1-9 Syrian Archers.
-
Optional Placement Garrison Units:
consist of twenty-four (24) units, one Heavy Infantry Cohort
consisting of a 7-8, 6-8, and 5-8, three (3) 3-9
Velitae, and eighteen (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:
A)
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.
B)
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 and their
Set-up on the Map:
The Judean Player sets-up
second per the following Order of Battle and “set-up”
instructions. Use all Siege of Jerusalem
Judean 7-7 Zealot, 5-7 Regular, and 2-6 Militia with their
faction leaders as a “pool” for possible Judean forces.
Do not place Garrison (purple),
artillery/cauldrons, or the Eliezar ben Yair Commander Unit into
this “pool”.
-
Judean Placement Reserve Activation:
1.1
The Judean Player first places the four (4)
Faction Leader units on the map:
A)
Each must be placed within ANY
Judean-controlled built-up terrain hex (see 1.3).
B)
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 Siege of
Jerusalem 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:
A)
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.
B)
Each applicable Leader receives a two
dice Reserve release roll:
·
Use the regular Siege of
Jerusalem Activation Table (18.611) to determine the type of
units 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).
C)
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 (Siege of Jerusalem Rule 18.612). Players
have no need to track activated Judean Reserve units by hash
mark.
-
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 (Siege of Jerusalem
rule 15.4) is any Roman-controlled area of the city or a map
edge… 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 Siege of Jerusalem 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 (Siege of
Jerusalem 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… for example,
a 1 to 1 becomes a 3 to 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 (4) 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…
A)
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.
B)
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.
C)
Heavy Infantry units themselves require no
command control.
8.
Controlling Jerusalem City Areas
(use this rule in lieu of Siege of Jerusalem 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:
A)
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.
B)
Tyropean City, New City, David’s City,
Upper & Lower Cities – can be Roman controlled with at least
ten (10) of an area’s unnamed built-up hexes occupied by ten
(10) fresh Roman units of any type within the area’s walls.
C)
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.
D)
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.
A)
The Romans control one Jerusalem city area
= Judean Historic Victory.
B)
The Romans do not control any area of
Jerusalem = Judean Decisive Victory.
Achieving this is an interesting historical speculation; for
what could or 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
A)
Should the Romans end any game turn in
control of the Temple Quarter, the game immediately ends
with a Roman victory.
B)
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
The Judean Army, such
as it was at this time, is numerous but quite brittle (i.e.
Regulars and Militia are eliminated when disrupted).
Lack of City Area Reserve Limits and Faction Leaders’
ability to raise reserve units themselves compensate for this
weakness.
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: 1)
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 & momentum.
The other Roman
Placement Strategy is: 2) 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 (i.e. Herod’s Palace).
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.
“DELAYED REBELLION / QUICK ROMAN RESPONSE SCENARIO”
Introduction & Historical Notes:
A fascinating aspect
of our wargaming hobby is its ability to allow experimenting
with “what if’s”.
The Judean Rebellion
against Imperial Rome in 66 A.D. offers an interesting and
plausible “what if” in-so-far as Jerusalem was concerned.
What if the Rebels delayed their assault on the
city’s garrison (i.e. to better prepare or due to worse than
actual in-fighting amongst Judean Factions)?
Of course the longer
the Rebels waited, the greater likelihood of the Romans, who
were no slouches… they did have spies & informers among
the populace, discovering what was afoot and taking
counter-measures.
The supposition
behind this scenario is that the Judeans do delay their
Jerusalem revolt, the Romans get wind of imminent armed
hostilities and are in process of force marching a Legion of the
Syrian Provincial Garrison south as reinforcement when the
Rebels realize it’s “now or never” and take to the streets.
Can the Judeans wrest
Jerusalem from Rome before the Legio XII “Fulminata” under
Gallus, Governor of Syria, reinforces Florus’ garrison who could
then crush the revolt?
Scenario Rules
are the same as “The Rebellion” save as modified herein:
Roman Forces
Add to the Roman
Order of Battle the entire XII Legion “Fulminata”, without Siege
Towers, and with Gallus in command in lieu of the usual Legate
(Leader Unit). Remember, Gallus is a
Commander Unit.
The following
rules 1&2 apply to Legio XII “Fulminata” units. Rule 3 to the
Jerusalem Garrison’s Heavy Infantry (7-8, 6-8,5-8’s)
1.
Legio XII Heavy Infantry Units: Due
to the effects of their long forced march and unfamiliarity with
the city, the Legion’s Heavy Infantry do not have special
DRM modifiers or Leader ability like Jerusalem’s Garrison Heavy
Infantry. Treat XII Legion’s Heavy Infantry
as in the regular Siege of Jerusalem game.
2.
Arrival: XII Legion’s arrival is at
the Roman Player’s discretion subject to the following Table.
2.1 Once a map edge is chosen, all XII Legion units must arrive from
that map edge.
For example, the entire XII Legion could arrive from North
Map Edge Turn Four.
SPECIAL RULES
(Remember, all rules are the same as “The Rebellion” scenario
save as modified herein.)
1. Units Outside
Jerusalem:
1.1
The Roman Garrison, awaiting relief and
reinforcement by Gallus’ Legion, is assumed to be under orders
not to leave Jerusalem. Conversely, concern
with the imminent arrival of XII Legion would keep the Judeans
within the city as well. Consequently…
1.2
Until at least one unit of XII Legion is
placed upon the map, no Judean or Roman Jerusalem Garrison unit
may voluntarily leave the city’s interior or wall hexes
except as a result of melee combat. Once
a retreating unit is outside the city, the owning Player may do
with it as per all normal Siege of Jerusalem rules. It is
then under no special restriction.
2. Time Limit: The scenario is played until Turn Seven’s
Judean Melee Phase conclusion (day’s end); at which time victory
condition is assessed. Ignore all special
ending an
Assault Period early rules.
3. Victory
Conditions are solely based on how many areas of Jerusalem
under Roman control at the conclusion of the
scenario.
3.1 Instant Roman Victory: All play immediately
ends should any Judean Melee Phase
conclude with the Romans in control of The Temple.
3.2 Otherwise, play through Turn Seven’s Judean Melee
Phase’s. Then…
A)
Romans control any three (3) Jerusalem
areas = Roman Victory
B)
Romans control any two (2) Jerusalem areas
= Draw (This is the worst possible result for the city’s
populace.)
C)
Romans control one or no Jerusalem area =
Judean Victory.
PLAYERS NOTES
Within the group of gamers with whom I tested these scenarios,
the “Delayed Rebellion / Quick Roman Response” is one of our
favorite Siege of Jerusalem scenarios.
To be sure, the Judeans have lots of unit
raising die/dice rolling as is the case with “The Rebellion”
scenario (just have a healthy handful of dice available).
However, Players will notice that with both “The
Rebellion” and “Delayed Rebellion / Quick Roman Response”
scenarios this dice rolling takes care of itself by mid-game,
when most Judean Pool Units are on the map.
Thereafter, regardless of the Judeans’ potential for new
units… there’ll simply be inadequate pieces in the “Pool”.
It’s then a question of whether those units on the map
are in the right place at the right time; and that’s where the
fascination of the “Delayed Rebellion / Quick Roman Response”
scenario can really come into play.
For this is a scenario giving both the
Judean and Roman sides opportunities to be on the strategic and
tactical offense. As with “The Rebellion”,
the Romans initial placement of Jerusalem Garrison units is
critical.
In this scenario, foreknowledge of XII Legion’s
eventual arrival makes a “Cordon Defense” a viable Roman
strategic option. The value of Garrison
units surviving in Yafo Gate, Women’s Gate or the southern Gate
of the Essenes when XII Legion arrives should be readily
apparent.
The Judeans’ task is
complicated by having to deal with Rome’s Jerusalem Garrison
while simultaneously securing city gates and walls against XII
Legion. If a gate cannot be seized and held
outright, the Judeans should mass as many 5-7 Regulars as they
can gather around and behind it. This may
dissuade a XII Legion attack, or at least slow it down.
Occasionally, the Judeans may be successful luring the
XIIth into attacking from an approach it will have great
difficulty exploiting.
As for the Romans…
I’ll let others write suggestions as to “best play”.
“THE FIRST ASSAULT PERIOD SCENARIO”
Introduction & Historical
Notes:
When researching and designing an ancients game,
which Siege of Jerusalem certainly is, alternate
historical interpretations can be explored.
Furthermore, this “First Assault Period Scenario” is a kind of
“Full Siege Game” unto itself… resolvable in a single Assault
Period. So if you and your opponent(s)
don’t have time or inclination to play a “Full Siege Game”
through, this should serve as something of an alternative.
It will certainly reveal insights to many “Full Siege
Game” playing considerations and provide a gaming session with
the full scope and grandeur of attacking one of the Ancient
World’s best fortified cities… Jerusalem!
The design of the boxed Avalon Hill Siege of
Jerusalem “Full Siege Campaign Game”
Allows the Romans
complete freedom of action in deciding how much time to spend
mining. With experience, many Roman Players
will elect to use as little time possible, expressed in “weeks
before Assault” on Siege of Jerusalem’s Preparation Chart
to achieve 3 or 4 main mine shafts as preparation for the 1st
Assault Period.
In this respect the Roman Player is in the role
of Titus. However, with this scenario we’ll
put the Roman Player in the role of Titus’ Chief of Staff,
Tiberius Alexander, and compel closer adherence to Titus’, as
well as many of this officers, historical attitude towards
Jerusalem and its Judean defenders.
This does not invalidate the “Full Siege Campaign
Game’s” design approach. It is, along with
Judean “Increased Factionalism” rules built into this “First
Assault Period” scenario, another alternative interpretation of
the event. These two new design elements
are:
1.
Roman Confidence:
Many of the Legionnaires, as well as their officers,
believed either through a misguided interpretation of
Jerusalem’s defenses, their enemies’ capabilities &
determination, or just plain arrogance; that four fully readied
Imperial Roman Legions would swiftly crush Judean resistance
within the city. Consequently, little time
was spent “Preparing” (at least in relative Siege of
Jerusalem game terms).
AND
2. Increased Judean Factionalism:
Although we won’t go so far as having different factions
actually fight one another; there’s little doubt that
historically Judean factions concern with politics external to
the fight against Rome did impact Rebel military effectiveness.
In this scenario’s interpretation, no neighborhood of the
city wishes to be without defenders and
vociferously protests reduction or loss of their
protection.
This is reflected by the
Inactive/Active Factions & Judean Initial Placement rules.
The Romans’ knowledge of the Judean initial placement’s
basic pattern reflects that they have
some idea of their enemy’s deployment through their own
observations, spies, and/or Judean
Roman-Sympathizers.
Roman & Judean Forces with their Set-Up on Map
1.
Refer to “The Full Siege Campaign Game”
Card provided with Siege of Jerusalem for both sides
Order of Battle details.
2.
Conduct the Card’s set-up steps 3 (Judean
secretly records artillery positions) and then step 5 (Roman
sets-up units on or off map) ONLY. NEXT .
. .
3.
The Roman Player may now complete one
main mine shaft resolution. There are no
Judean repairs possible. No other “Assault
Period Interphase” actions take place. Use
regular Siege of Jerusalem mining rules.
4.
After the Romans have set-up and
resolved their one main mine shaft, the Judeans place their
surviving artillery in their pre-recorded positions and place
their four factions units on the map, one faction for each
listed deployment zone:
4.1
The deployment zones are:
A)
New City
B)
Antonia Fortress / Temple Quarter / City of
David
C)
Lower City
D)
Upper City / Herod’s Palace / Fortress
Triangle / Yafo Gate Complex
4.2
Every gate, bastion, and fortress hex of a
deployment zone’s external-to-Jerusalem wall perimeter must, if
possible, be occupied by at least one Judean unit.
Garrison (purple) units may fulfill this requirement, as
permitted, in lieu of faction units. The
Judean Player may assign Zealot 7-7 units, as desired, to
supplement a faction’s 5-7’s & 2-6’s.
4.3
The Judeans must also garrison, with at
least one unit, all internal gate hexes leading into a
deployment zone. Should one of these gates
be garrisonable by more than one faction, which faction occupies
it is the Judean Player’s choice.
4.4
After all garrison hexes are occupied by at
least one Judean unit of any type, excess units may be added to
each hex at the Judean Player’s discretion per stacking limits.
5.
SPECIAL RULES: INACTIVE / ACTIVE JUDEAN
FACTIONS – To reflect the Judean forces’ poor threat response
times due to command control problems in this scenario, not
reflected in the regular “Full Siege Campaign Game”, all faction
units are inactive at the start of play.
Zealot units and artillery are exempt from this
restriction. Inactive faction units,
5-7’s, 2-6’s and their Leaders, are flipped to their disrupted
side to indicate this status.
5.1
A faction is immedi
