We became acquainted with Maurice Suckling with his game Freeman’s Farm 1777 from Worthington Publishing in 2019 and really enjoyed the different mechanics of that game and how they all came together to create an interactive and interesting look at the Battle of Saratoga during the American Revolution. Since that time, Maurice has designed several games that have went onto successful Kickstarter campaigns including Hidden Strike: American Revolution, Chancellorsville 1863 and 1565 Siege of Malta all from Worthington Publishing. He is now codesigning a game with Daniel Burt called Rebellion: Britannia that is the first entry in a future series from GMT Games and we agreed to host a series of Event Card Spoiler posts here designed to give our readers a look into how the game works.

If you are interested in Rebellion: Britannia, you can pre-order a copy for $52.00 from the GMT Games website at the following link: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-989-rebellion-britannia.aspx

*Please keep in mind that the artwork and layout of these cards is not yet finalized and is only for playtest purposes at this point. Also, as this game is still in development, card details may still change prior to publication.

Card #2

Military Occupation

Related to the tension system woven into the design, this is another mechanism that ensures there are direct consequences from Rome’s presence – here, specifically forts – but they’re not always controlled by faction leaders – life is too complex for that, and British tribes aren’t waiting on approval from faction leaders to demonstrate their discontent – they feel it regardless of whether the timing best suits faction leaders or not. The historical record gives us some examples of forts which sustained – and possibly attracted – attacks from British forces in the first century.

Clash of Cultures

Similar to the Military Occupation effect, the assumption here with Clash of Cultures is that Roman presence is an agitating factor helping to provoke British tension. This assumption works backwards from the little we know from the historical record. Camulodunum (modern day Colchester), Londinium (London), and Verulamium (St. Albans) were all destroyed, or at least severely burnt in Boudica’s Revolt (in 60 or 61 CE), seemingly in a dramatic demonstration of resistance and rejection of Roman presence.

Prasutagus Dies

There are several significant historical events which occur in the 14 year span of our game, with all the playable factions – Rome, Iceni, Brigantes, and Silures experiencing changes in leadership. The game uses the Event deck to control the triggering of these Events, rather than letting players control this themselves – again, because life is complex. With 6 Event Cards put aside in every game players can’t actually be certain if events will happen within the span of a game or not. Prasutagus was king of the Iceni, and the husband of Boudica. It was his death in 61 CE that would lead to Boudica’s rebellion. The Iceni had been a client-kingdom to Rome. Customarily, when a client king died his kingdom would pass to Rome. But Prasutagus requested in his will that the kingdom be split between Rome and his wife, Boudicca. The Roman procurator Catus Decianus ignored this request, seized the entire estate, and then ordered that Boudicca be flogged and her daughters raped. Roman money-lenders called in their loans, and unrest in the region spilled over into furious rebellion, with the Iceni allying with the neighboring Trinovantes tribe.

If you missed the previous entry to date in the series, you can catch up on the post by following the below links:

Card #1 Roman Supply Lines Tested, The Tribes Bristle and Development

There will be more card spoilers to come in the near future with at least 8 total cards being spoiled. In the meantime, if you are interested we recently posted an interview with the designers and you can read that at the following link: https://theplayersaid.com/2023/01/09/interview-with-maurice-suckling-designer-of-rebellion-britannia-resistance-against-rome-in-1st-century-britain-from-gmt-games/

If you are interested in Rebellion: Britannia, you can pre-order a copy for $52.00 from the GMT Games website at the following link: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-989-rebellion-britannia.aspx

-Grant