This ADC2 game is for the solitaire game of:
The Fall of Rome, The Barbarian Invasions, 100 AD to 500 AD,
published by Simulations Publications in 1973.

I had recently completed the World War II game with ADC2 and I was looking for another SPI game to try.  Many of the games I really liked are on the Decision Games list so I looked over the games I have that I would like an ADC2 version.  I came across Fall of Rome.  This is one of the first games I received via my S&T subscription (#36, DAGC was the first).  I remember having a little fun with it.  I still remember playing the game and having the luck of getting through the first scenario without ever getting a revolution.  That was 15 turns at 1:6 odds each time.  Sometimes the die rolls for you, sometimes not.

The area of Europe covered in Fall of Rome is almost the same as that of World War II.  I looked over the WWII map and noticed that I could duplicate the Fall of Rome areas within the existing map.  As I familiarized myself with the game again, I realized that an ADC2 version would be better than the original.  The original game had Roman counters and then the same color counters applied to everything else.  To distinguish among the various entities, counters were used to identify what was in each stack.  In making the units for ADC2, I could provide unique counters (and colors) for all the entities in the game and do away with the stack identifiers.  Admittedly, starting the map from scratch would result in a map that looks more like the original.  I feel this map and its game is playable.

I find that the game really plays on just map levels 1 and 2.  Most of the playing area is visible in level 2.  I suspect that there might be little need for level 3.

The map has a few playing aids.  This map is more helpful than the original.  The Game Turn / Replacement Track is still there.  The Treasury Tracks for the Roman and Persian treasuries are now provided.

In the game, the militia for any province can be owned by one of many different entities.  In some scenarios, the militia is not active.  I thought that providing a play aid (in the upper right corner of the map) would help the game player keep track of this detail.  The same play aid also provides all the area victory point values for easier reference.  The sum of the victory points for the Roman controlled provinces determines the tax collections; the same for the Persia treasury.  Since neither entity has to garrison its controlled provinces, whether a province is controlled (and by whom) can be forgotten.

Interest in this particular game is probably minimal.  The original rules were a mess requiring 50 changes in its errata.  The play of the game is summarized in several of the info pages.  This is enough to recall the feel of the game.  (The rules are too complicated to fully represent all cases any way.)  With the seven charts and tables available (and the rules nearby for reference just in case), the game is ready to go.  

Perhaps having an ADC2 version might prompt someone to give it a try again.  The play area is rather small.  The player is confronted with a variety of challenges - barbarians, rebellions, revolutions.  It can be a fun solitaire game.  It can be a frustrating one as well with so much determined by the roll of a die.

A note about playing one of the scenarios:

For each scenario, the Roman Legions are placed in possible locations.  In the 260AD, 420AD and 530AD scenarios, the Legions are placed in any controlled provinces.  In the other three scenarios, they are in specific provinces but not areas within them.  Please remember: the Legions can be moved about before the actual start of the game within those restrictions.

Have fun,

Dave Michalets
mailto:michaletsdw@yahoo.com
