With this new My Favorite Wargame Cards Series, I hope to take a look at a specific card from the various wargames that I have played and share how it is used in the game. I am not a strategist and frankly I am not that good at games but I do understand how things should work and be used in games. With that being said, here is the next entry in this series.

Card #41: Sarmatia from The Wars of Marcus Aurelius: Rome 170-180CE from Hollandspiele

The Wars of Marcus Aurelius: Rome 170-180CE is a solitaire only game that uses cards similarly to a CDG to simulate the strategic level struggle of the Romans led by Marcus Aurelius to stave off the invasions of Germanic tribes and Sarmatian raiders as they encroach on Roman territory across the Danube River. That’s the history. And it is really well integrated. The game play is very fun, strategic, with lots of decision points about what to do and what cards to use, and it is really challenging.

In the game, the Roman player has a deck of Roman Cards that can be used for the printed events for various effects or that can be discarded to take any number of actions such as attack a Barbarian army or Off-Map Conflict enemy, advance the marker on the Imperium Track, add two Level 1 Forts to any eligible map spaces, flip one Level 1 Fort to a Level 2 Fort among several other actions. Sometimes the printed events in the game are just more powerful than discarding a card for just 1 action so you have to pay attention to this economy and make sure you get the most out of your cards. Now, keep in mind, sometimes discarding a good card whose ability is not right for the current situation you find yourself in is part of the game but you have to use these cards wisely to do well in the game.

The Sarmatia event card is such a card as it simply does something a bit better than the ability assigned to the discard of the card and you have to use it when appropriate. In the game, Forts are important to place out on the frontier as your Roman armies move closer and closer to the Barbarian Tribe’s home spaces and their eventual conquering. They provide you with a bonus in combat based on the level of the fortifications and also provide you with the ability to keep a conquered tribe pacified by making their truce break check that much more difficult. The Sarmatia card allows the Roman player to place out not just 2 Level 1 Forts but 2 Level 2 Forts. The only qualifier to the event is that these Forts have to be placed onto the Iazyges Track. This track is the right most track on the game board and represents the territory of the Sarmatians. Getting these Level 2 Forts on the board can be a lifesaver as the combat gets fiercer and more bloody and the player has to be willing to use this card in this manner to make a difference.

The Sarmatians were a confederation of nomadic tribes of Iranian origin including the Alans, Iazyges and Roxolani, which played an important role in the history of Eastern and Central Europe from around the 5th century BCE until the 4th century CE. Inhabiting the vast steppes north of the Black Sea, they occupied the territories of today’s Ukraine, Russia and partly Poland. Their relationship with ancient Rome was a dynamic one and involved both temporary and short lived alliances as well as their fair share of open conflicts and intense cultural exchange. Sarmatians came from the same ethnic group as the Scythians, and their language belonged to the Iranian family. The culture of the Sarmatians was dominated by nomadic life, strong tribal structures and a warlike lifestyle. Their distinctive cavalry, armed with long spears called kontos, was one of the most effective military units of antiquity. Sarmatians quickly began to dominate the steppes of Eastern Europe, displacing the Scythians and coming into contact with various European and Asian peoples.

One of the most characteristic aspects of the Sarmatians’ relationship with Rome was periodic military alliances. The Romans, aware of the military skills of the Sarmatians, often used their help to defend their northern borders. Sarmatians, as mercenaries, often served in the Roman army, and their heavy-armed cavalry was valued for its fighting skills.

During the reign of emperor Marcus Aurelius, Rome struggled with many barbarian invasions, including the Sarmatians. In 169–175 CE, during the Marcomannic Wars, the Sarmatians fought against Rome, attacking the borders of the Danube. Ultimately, the Romans defeated them, forcing them to enter into an alliance under which thousands of Sarmatians were resettled to the Empire and conscripted into the army. There is a famous episode when approximately 5,500 Sarmatian horsemen were settled in Britain after the end of the Marcomannic Wars, where they served as border guards. Some historians suggest that the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table may have had its roots in Sarmatian mythology, brought to Britain by these settlers.

The territorial range of Sarmatian tribes in the 4th century CE.

I shot a playthrough video for the game and you can watch that at the following link:

I also followed that up with a full video review sharing my thoughts:

In the next entry in this series, we will take a look at Frankish Mercenaries from Stilicho: Last of the Romans from Hollandspiele.

-Grant