Rainy Day Solo #Boardgame – Holding back the barbarian hordes in Pandemic: Fall of Rome (@Zmangames_ , 2018)

The rainy weekend meant staying in on Saturday. To pass a bit of the afternoon I sat down for a solo play of Pandemic: Fall of Rome (Z-Man Games, 2018). I got this game late last year and posted my initial reactions before. As I wrote then, the game is highly thematic, if not strictly historic, and a real challenge.

Given the RockyMountainNavy Boys would rather play a game of Enemies of Rome (Worthington Publishing, 2017) instead I tried the Solitaire Challenge version of Pandemic: Fall of Rome. Although I own the original Pandemic (Z-Man Games, 2008) I have never played it solo. In the Solitaire Challenge, you take on the role of the Emperor and command three different roles in the game. Instead of each role/player having their own hand of cards here you have a common hand and a Treasury to draw on. Each turn a different role is used in sequence and for each there is the usual Do 4 Actions, Draw 2 Player Cards, and Invade.

In my game the roles I was drew were Praefectus Fabrum, Preafectus Classis, and Vestalis. I feel this was a fortunate draw because both Fabrum and Classis have actions that add Legions and the ability to move strategically about the map. Vestalis gives access the the unused Event Cards as well as allows a bit of Player Card management with her ability to draw 3 Player Cards and keep the two you want (the third going back on top of the deck).

I tried to implement a strategy I had not tried before and built many Forts forward along invasion routes. Instead of spending time moving about trying to collect cards for Forge Alliances I instead focused on keeping the number of invading barbarians down. I got lucky in that a few times when revolts came I had Legions in those cities and was able to limit the spread. As the game moved into later phases and the Recruitment Rate dropped I was able to get the right cards and Forge Alliances that made up for lost Recruitment with the ability to Enlist Barbarians.

It was still a near-run thing and I was subjected to five of the the six Revolts and my Decline was just one away from defeat while the Player Cards deck was almost exhausted. After Forging Alliances with three tribes and though lots of Enlist Barbarian actions and strategic movement I was able to eject the last two invading tribes from the map and win; and a very satisfying win it was for Pandemic: Fall of Rome is not an easy game to beat.

I found the Solitaire Challenge extremely satisfying and fun to play. The game still struck all the right thematic cords and built an interesting historical narrative as play progressed. I hope that the RockyMountainNavy Boys will give this game another chance, but even if they don’t I know Pandemic: Fall of Rome is a solid solo game that at least I can still enjoy.

Feature image ospreypublishing.com – Peter Dennis battlescene art from Campaign 286 Catalaunian Fields AD 451.