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 #5
Salt Trade
This part of the card relates to the Culture system discussed previously, incentivizing Briton factions attempting to control Trade tokens, representing a focus on trade-based development over military conquests, although there can be some relationship between the two. The Iceni region of Britain was a leading producer and exporter of salt. This Event card is placed beside the board and is used in end game scoring, with the card type being highlighted by having a VP icon as its background. As not all Event Cards are used in any given game of Rebellion: Britannia, this scoring card may or may not come into play over the course of a game.
The Tribes Bristle
This is the same system discussed previously and represents the ways the Briton tribes would respond to Roman rule and not only their presence but as a reaction to Roman conquests. This card targets placing Tension in Iceni areas.
Prasutagus Dies
This event is important enough to history that we have placed it into the games on multiple cards to increase its chances of surfacing. 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 entries to date in the series, you can catch up on the posts by following the below links:
Card #1 Roman Supply Lines Tested, The Tribes Bristle and Development
Card #2 Military Occupation, Clash of Cultures and Prasutagus Dies
Card #3 Bountiful Land, The Tribes Bristle and Venutius Rebels
Card #4 The Power of the Druids, The Tribes Bristle and Petuaria
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
The Players' Aid 