Pandemic: The Fall of Rome - Z-Man Games
This board game uses the pandemic plague mechanic to replicate the invading barbarians. It is a co-op game, similar in style to the other games in the pandemic series.
Together you must stop the fall of Rome as the barbarian hordes invade the empire. Intelligent decision making and effective use of the available resources are vital to success.
The barbarian hordes operate automatically following predetermined paths and use the plague mechanic to move from city to city. If you have ever played any of the other games of the pandemic series you will know how scary it can be when a city is close to being overrun by the plague.
Quality of the Pieces
The pieces of this game are fantastic. Your little legionnaires look like legionnaires. The barbarians are represented by different coloured cubes in the same style as in the other pandemic games.
This was a little disappointing as I felt it was a missed opportunity to have different pieces representing the different hordes. Having said this I can see why they made this choice as the board quickly got overwhelmed with these pieces and it would have been unmanageable if they had been anything other than little cubes.
They are all made of painted wood and they were all good quality. No cheap plastic.
Agency & Claustrophobia
You play as important rulers at the end of the empire. Each character has special abilities that will be vital in stopping the hordes. You also have access to action cards.
All of these things allow you to feel instrumental in the defence of Rome. You are also limited in your power. I always felt we were having an impact on the specific area of the map that we were in. The other areas were threatening to explode.
So the game felt well balanced. We had power to make decisions to change the course of the war but we also had limited resources. The action cards were very well designed, including the Latin of the phrase as well. I thought it was a very nice touch.
Replayability
While the routes of the different hordes are the same every game the times and speed at which they invade will be different. You will also have access to different characters with different abilities every game.
With these variants I feel that the game has a great deal of replayability. Having said that, you are essentially playing out a single campaign during the fall of Rome. There are limited ways that this can be varied and still be playable.
