A game of Ancient Greek politics, with the addition of giant robots! Take on the role of Archon (political leader), Engineer (builder of stuff), Herald (diplomat, spy and trader) Priest, or Strategoi (general) in one of eight factions struggling to dominate Atlantis and its colonies, but also striving to avoid the wrath of the Gods and the doom of Atlantis.
The Colossus of Atlantis Megagame is next being run on Saturday 1 June 2019 at Wellycon. It will run from 10.30am to approximately 5pm.
You must purchase a Wellycon ticket to play the game. Tickets for Saturday cost $22 and are available at lilregie.com. A weekend pass is $40. All dice, cards, maps, and game tokens will be supplied for players to use. If you want to help out with running the game, please contact Dillon Burke at grand.vizier@gmail.com.
Updates concerning the Megagame will be made here, or on the Facebook event page. Detailed rules of play and faction briefings will be posted here or made available via email by 18 May 2019.
General Rule Briefing
The general rules brief presents an overview of the game, player roles, political factions, the constitution of Atlantis, game tokens, game resources and economy, sequence of play, doom bids, diplomacy, citizenship and exile. The Constitution cards give you an idea of the range of articles that might be incorporated into the Atlantean constitution during the game.
Factions
There are eight factions available to players:
- Amazons: noble women, descendants of Ares (God of War), and feared warriors. The Amazons seek citizenship and emancipation.
- Aristocrats: nobles and traditional supporters of the monarchy, they seek to preserve the traditional virtues of Atlantis against corrupting influences.
- Democrats: the poor and needy, who seek Democratic government, fair taxes, and justice for all. Starts with the strongest navy.
- Medes: foreign workers and merchants, who seek trading opportunities and legal rights within the Atlantean Empire.
- Monarchists: the traditional rulers of Atlantis, who desire to continue their claim to the throne of High King. Starts with the most political power.
- Oligarchs: the wealth seeking faction, who desire a world where they can make profits from trade, without impediment from unjust laws. Most wealthy faction at the start.
- Stratocrats: the militarist faction, with the best trained hoplite soldiers in the world, who seek a strong Atlantis ruled by military veterans. Starts with the strongest army.
- Tyrants: a faction of power seeking upstarts, who seek to make Atlantis great again. The faction with the most friends and least enemies at the start.
In the game each faction is differentiated through:
- Special tie break winning battle powers
- A DOOM score, which represents how corrupt the faction has really been
- An Arete (moral excellence) score, which represents how virtuous the faction is perceived to be by the citizens of Atlantis
- Long term objectives, which can be “won” by ensuring the Constitution of Atlantis grants or restricts certain rights and privileges to favour your faction
- Short term goals, which can be met through trade, which increases the faction’s income level.
Factions will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. When a group of five players agrees on what role each player will play in the game, they can contact Dillon Burke and ask for the faction of their choice. This website will be amended to note which factions are no longer available.
As at 22 May, the Monarchist, Oligarch and Tyrant factions have been RSVP’d. The other five factions remain available.
Player Roles
There are five player roles. Each faction has one player for each role.
- Archon: team leader and politician. The Archon discusses and votes on political matters in the Council of Atlantis, shaping the Constitution and Laws, and occasionally leading their faction in vicious street fighting in Atlantis. This is a role that requires negotiating with other players.
- Engineer: team builder of mundane units like Hoplites and Triremes, as well as epic units like Colossi (giant robots) and Wonders. While this is a “worker placement” game, it will also reward creativity. This role needs information from the Herald to make optimal builds for other team members.
- Herald: team diplomat, spy and trader. The Herald will move around a lot in the game, and is essential for coordinating team play in the Action Rounds. The Herald is also the master of special action cards which allow unique and creative actions. This is the most demanding role in the game, as you must balance conflicting demands for attention from all the subgames.
- Priest: team treasurer and archivist. Priests are responsible for tracking Doom, Divine Wrath, sacred oaths and alliances, heroic quests, mythic crises, making sacrifices to the Gods. Play the role well, and your team will have many Divine Favour cards to help them out. This role will reward player knowledge of Ancient Greek myths and legends.
- Strategos: team general. Strategos are responsible for commanding combat units on the main game map. Their job is to conquer and defend as many colonies as possible. This is the simplest role in the game.
Three Act Structure and Core Gameplay
The game will be divided into a three act structure:
- In Act One no player versus player combat is allowed. Players will learn the game.
- In Act Two player versus player combat is allowed, and special action cards to facilitate “shenanigans” (such as bribes and assassins) will be introduced.
- In Act Three the chances of horrible events happening increases, and combat outcomes become more decisive.
The exact timing of Act changes depends on player actions, but the first Act should be concluded within two hours of game play. Each of the two act transitions will see a major Assembly held, with all players attending, some speeches, and voting on important constitutional matters. Otherwise the standard flow of gameplay is alternating rounds of Diplomacy and Action, each lasting 20 minutes.
In a Diplomacy Round, players do a lot of talking and planning. Factions make a Doom bid to gain Tyche (luck) tokens, and all factions gain talents and other game resources for use in the next Action round.
In an Action Round players attend a table where their subgame actions are resolved (heralds are free to wander between the different tables). each subgame has its own sequence of play and actions to resolve. If players are quick, they can play through the turn sequence multiple times in one Action Round.