The Cradle of Civilization: the Rules

The Cradle of Civilization

"Molon labe."
Leonidas of Sparta

I. Introduction

Welcome to "The Cradle of Civilization", a game set in the Ancient World, beginning in 550 b.c. This game owes its very existence to the proud franchise of War and Peace, created by Erich Elfers in 2001. The rules you will see below are very similar to the Elfers system, although you will find a variety of modifications, additions, and subtractions. In large part, they are lifted dierctly or in part straight from the traditional Elfers rulebook. The credit is due to the founder of this system.

This game, like its glorious predecessors, provides a unique mixture of depth and simplicity, of domestic, foreign, military and economic management. The game is heavily interactive and encourages creativity and thought, without the constraints (or costs!) imposed by graphics cards and expensive processors.

II. Economy

a. Loans

One way to raise money is through acquiring debt. “Outstanding” states how much debt a faction has at the beginning of the year. “New Debt” is how much additional money a faction is borrowing for the year. “Debt Paid” is how much money a faction is paying back for the year. “Total Debt” for the end of the year results from “Outstanding” debt plus “New Debt” or minus “Debt Paid.” “Rate” defines the interest rate on “Total Debt.” “Interest” is calculated as follows: (Total Debt * (Interest Rate / 100)). The more indebted a faction is, the worse will be its credit rating, and the higher its interest rate. If interest is not paid, a default will follow, which will hurt the economy.

b. Tariffs

NOTE FOR RETURNING W&P PLAYERS: tariff rules have changed slightly. While trade is incredibly important in this time period, it is nowhere near as important as it will become in future eras. As a result, the ability of a state to tariff has been halved.

Through tariffs, a faction may force foreign merchants to pay tolls for the right to do business within its territory. These tolls generate revenue.

To impose a tariff, write under “Faction,” the faction whose merchants should be forced to pay tolls, write under “Faction's Production,” the total production of the faction to be targeted by the tariff, under “% of Tariff,” a number between 0% and 5%, under “Tariff Income,” the number in dollars which results from multiplying the production of the faction subject to the tariff by the percentage of the tariff divided by one hundred, and under “% of Total Production,” the percentage of the production of the tariffing faction which the income gained through the tariff represents. Under “Total Tariff Income” write the total income from all tariffs imposed on all factions.

No faction may acquire more than 5% of any other faction's total production through tariffs. No faction's total tariff income may exceed 10% of its own total production.

c. Production

The world is subdivided into provinces. A province’s production represents its total output of goods and services. Although vague, production is the best and simplest way to deal with the complexities of economics. A faction’s production consists of the production of all provinces it controls added together.

d. Income

A faction can calculate its income by inserting its total production under “Total Production”, then setting a tax rate on that production, and then making use of the following formula: (Production * (Tax Rate / 100)). Taxes lead to unhappiness and hurt the economy. Under “Loan Balance” write the income gained through new loans or the income lost from the repayment of old loans. Under “Tariff Income” write the “Total Tariff Income” as listed under “Tariffs.” The “Treasury” is money saved in previous years and counts as income.

III. Society

NOTE TO RETURNING W&P PLAYERS: This section has been reworked

Any society can construct improvements (or even "Wonders")within its territory. All improvements have a "value" and an "orientation". An improvement's "value" is how many points it grants toward a particular orientation. An improvement's "orientation" is either toward happiness, law & order or commerce. NOTE: For special projects or huge wonders, or even if you are not sure what an idea you have would effect, contact the GM. This is for cases such as the difference between the Colossus of Rhodes and just an ordinary big statue.

a. Building

To build a new improvement write under “Improvement,” the improvement's name, under “Value,” a variable between 1 and 10, under "Orientation", whether the improvement is to promote happiness, law & order or commerce, and under "Cost", the total amount of money the improvement will require. These improvements will improve your rating in a particular category (happiness, law and order, or commerce) permanently, unless the improvement is destroyed or dismantled. The exact effect of the rating is the GM's little secret, but the results will be real and tangible and increase depending upon the number of points devoted to an issue.

The "Cost" to build an institution is equal to the following formula: (Value x Production / 100). To remove an institution, simply make a note of the change and remove it from your sheet.

IV. Programs

Programs reflect government spending for "Commerce," "Law & Order" and "Happiness." To implement a new program, write down the name of the program under the desired category (this is mostly for RP purposes and aids in news writing, but it also affects the random events table kept by the GM) and the percent of total faction production which is to be devoted to it. To determine the total required expenditure for each category subtotal, tally all percentage modifiers and multiply these by total faction production. Spending on 'Commerce" increases economic growth; spending on "Law & Order" suppresses social dissent, including crime and political unrest; spending on "Happiness" provides welfare and human services.

V. Strategy

NOTE TO RETURNING W&P PLAYERS: There have been very significant changes in this section of the rules. Kindly read them over. Ask the GM any questions you might have.

a. Terminology

All infantry and cavalry units are formed in regiments consisting of 100 soldiers each. All siege units are formed in groups consisting of 10 weapons each. All naval units represent individual ships or squadrons. The cost of a "unit" (regiment, siege unit, or ship) is equal to the cost of the weaponry with which it is armed. Formal unit notation is the recruitment policy followed by the quantity of soldiers followed by the type of unit the soldiers comprise followed by the level of training of the soldiers followed by their type, e.g. V50gINF Farmers would represent 5,000 green, volunteer farmers armed with pitchforks who will soon be slaughtered. Each unit must be assigned to a group, e.g. an army, navy, garrison, or special force.

SPECIAL NOTE You are not required to keep your various regiments or units in specific 'army' groupings on your turn sheet. Be aware, however, that units that are separate and NOT within the same army grouping WILL FIGHT ACCORDINGLY. 10 different groups of 500 spearmen will almost always be routed by 1 group of 5,000.

b. Heroes

In "The Cradle of Civilization" there is one more type of military unit. This is a hero. Every civilization starts off with any combination of heroes which equals out to TWO hero skills. This equates to either one hero with two skills or two heroes with one each.

Over time, these heroes can gain experience (making their skills more valuable) or even gain new skills through action taken. The GM will inform you of any change in this regard. Heroes WILL age and they WILL die. They can die in battle, they can even get sick. Thankfully for you, the player, you can also get new heroes. In general, it also assumed that any major hero has something of an 'understudy'. This could be an air, a favorite student, or many other things. If a hero unit does die, of old age or illness in particular, a very similar (but NOT identical) hero will usually take his place. However, there are circumstances where a faction could lose all of their heroes and have none available. Be careful with them! Civilizations that wage war on a regular basis will receive generals and heroes more often as a general rule, and the specific tactics of warfare usually indicate what skills that hero will gain or possess. Historical Sparta, for example, is unlikely to train a great admiral.

To attach a hero to a unit, simply indicate in the "Heroes" section of your turnsheet which unit you will be attaching the hero too. The Hero's skills will effect the army as a whole, but must be attached to a particular unit within said army to represent the hero's "bodyguard" and where they will do the most good.

c. Armies, Garrisons, Navies

Here is the order of battle of all armies, navies, garrisons and special forces a faction controls.

d. Orders

aa. It is possible to order armies, navies, garrisons, and special forces to move, fortify, go into reserve, reorganize, train or disband. Garrisons may not move, but may fortify, go into reserve, reorganize, train, upgrade or disband. To give an order, write it next to the Orders & Cost slot, followed by the cost of the order.

bb. To move an army, navy, or special force, write its destination, then tally the total cost of all units comprising that group and pay one half.

cc. To fortify an army, navy, or special force, tally the total cost of all units comprising that group and pay one quarter. A fortified group cannot move, but will defend against invasion at full strength.

dd. To put an army, navy, garrison or special force into reserve, tally the total cost of all units comprising that group and pay one tenth. A group in reserve cannot move, but defend against invasion at one quarter strength.

ee. To train an army, navy, garrison or special force, tally the cost of all units comprising that group and pay one half. The training level of the units in that group will increase by one level. A group in training cannot move, but will defend against invasion. A unit may be either green (g), veteran (t), veteran (v), or elite (e). Only trained (t) units which have survived combat can become veteran (v) with the SINGLE exception of those factions operating under a 'military government'. All new units are green (g). Conscript units can reach the training level of veteran (v) but it is significantly harder than with volunteers. Finally, it is possible to advance a military unit to 'elite' status. This is VERY, VERY difficult. It is not simply the matter of a veteran unit winning a battle or two. It requires a large number of battles in a relatively short period of time, and is helped along significantly by the presence of a hero leading the unit in question.

ff. To reorganize an army, navy, air force, garrison or special force, To reorganize a unit takes a year. Tally up the total cost of all the units BEING REORGANIZED (NOT the total number of units in the entire army or unit) and move them into a temporary separate unit-- not the unit they are going to-- and pay 1/4 of the total cost of the unit. Once again, the use of the grouping of 'army' is not mandatory but for your own sake highly encouraged. You may issue orders to the army the units are coming from as well as the one they are going to, but the two armies being transferred between MUST be in the same province for the transfer to take place. For example, the Persian army might wish to transform 10,000 Immortals infantry from a garrison of 50,000 men in Susa (with varying arms) into an army of 250,000 other men waiting in Susa. The Persian player would issue the 'reorganize' order and move the Immortals into a separate 'in limbo' grouping and pay 1/4 of the cost of the 10,000 immortals. The 50,000 garrison would be able to fortify during this time while the 250,000 man army could simultaneously training. The next turn, the 10,000 man Immortals unit would be placed in the 250,000 man army unit.

hh. To disband an army, navy, garrison or special force, pay nothing. The army, navy, garrison or special force will disappear.

e. Movement

Armies not moving on roads or railways may advance one province per turn. Armies moving on roads may advance two provinces per turn. Armies moving across the ocean must begin and end their turns in coastal province and must be accompanied by ships with sufficient carrying capacity.

f. Combat

If two groups of hostile units are in the same province or sea zone at the same time, combat will occur.

VII. Military

a. Industry

Each nation may maintain a single chosen province ("Location") as an industrial zone. The chosen province is the center of arms manufacture and weaponry. This province begins with industrial capacity of 100%. It will usually remain at 100% unless special circumstances arise (such as a pillaging army or a plague). If the player elects to change which province is selected as the industrial zone (say in reaction to an invasion) this action is free. However, the capacity of the newly selected provinces starts at 25%. This capacity increases by 25% each year until it reaches 100% again. "Output" is equal to "Production" multiplied by "Capacity".

b. Production

To produce new military units, write under "Industry" the industrial zone (VII, a) that is being tapped as a source of production, under "Weapon", write which type of equipment (archer, ship, siege tower, etc.) is being used, under "Quantity", how many of that type of equipment, under "Cost", the total cost as calculated in the formula below, under "Notation", the official notation of the newly to be built unit (V, a) and under "Assignment", the group with which the unit is to be deployed.

To calculcate "Cost" as under VII, b, use the following formula: multiply "Quantity" by the cost of the chosen equipment. Multiply "Quantity" by the per capita income of the region which the soldiers are being drawn from. To recruit volunteers you must pay DOUBLE the cost of a normal unit. This can be from any region you control, although keep in mind that the gamemaster WILL note which regions are used to produce which troops and a player controlling a rebellious province would do well NOT to garrison their capital with all colonial troops simply because he thought it was cheaper. After calculating the total PCI, add these two figures together: (Quantity x Cost of Weapon) + (Quantity x PCI of Industrial Zone).

c. Classified

This section is for secret projects, the specific details of which are worked out between the GM and the player.

VIII. Intelligence

a. Network

The higher this number, the more numerous a faction's spies, informants and operatives and the higher their level of funding.

b. Ability

This reflects the experience and sophistication of a faction's intelligence network. A five star rating is the highest, whereas no stars indicates total inexperience.

c. Maintain

The cost to maintain an intelligence network is equal to the network value as listed under VIII, a. If maintenance spending is less than the network value the network will be reduced to the new funding level.

d. Expand

The cost to expand an intelligence network is equal to $2 for every increase of 1 in network value.

e. Priorities

This is where an intelligence network's current missions are to be listed. The more missions a network is ordered to undertake, the less effective it will be at each one.

IX. Budget

a. Society

Under “Building,” write the total amount of money spent on constructing institutions. Under “Commerce,” write the total amount of money to be spent on subsidies and infrastructure. Under “Law & Order,” write the total amount of money to be spent on police and the courts. Under “Happiness,” write the total amount to be spent on convincing the people to like the government.

b. Strategy

Here is where the total cost for all orders assigned to all armies, navies, garrisons and special forces is filled in respectively under “Armies," “Navies,” "Garrisons" and "Special".

c. Military

Here is where the total cost for new military units and special projects is filled in respectively under “Production" and "Classified".

d. Intelligence

Here is where the total cost for all maintenance and expansion of the intelligence network is filled in under "Maintain" and "Expand".

e. Total

Here is where “Expenditures” are subtracted from “Income” to yield “Treasury.” Copy “Income” from the Economy section. “Expenditures” can be arrived at by adding all costs in the Military, Strategy, and Society sub-sections of the Budget section.

X. Government

Each faction begins the game with two traits. One government and one economic. These are set by the GM for reasons of historical authenticity as well as giving the game the proper beginning context. Essentially, these apparent inflexibility is so the players don't have to read history books or do a lot of research in order to get a feel for their country. Also keep in mind that these names are VERY general. Many other types of government, such as oligarchies, have been folded into these definitions.

In general, traits can be changed and modified in two main ways. The first is through roleplaying. Through a sustained effort of roleplaying, institution building and the like, a player may change either one of their traits (or even both) to another combination of one government trait and one economic trait. Such an act might be take the form of an RPed revolution of cultists who would transform a faction into a theocracy. However, the number of traits remains at a maximum of two, with one in each category.

The second way of altering these values is through the fulfilling of faction goals. These represent the general feelings of your populace, nobles, wealthy merchants, soldiers and the like. These goals are rare and will be revealed to the players, in secret, by the GM. Such a goal might be to conquer a specific province which your faction historically has had claim to or, perhaps, to raise a certain number of soldiers or to maintain peaceful relations with all other nations of the world for a certain number of years. These goals will be important, but largely unobtrusive and they CAN and undoubtedly will be changed by RP. If the player of Sparta decides to pursue the ways of pacifism and does a convincing job of role playing the transformation over a certain number of turns, Sparta's faction goal will likely change to something more peaceable. These goals are NOT meant to force a player into taking a specific action. Rather, they represent what the general desires of your 'sim' people really are.

If a faction goal is completed, the player may choose a SINGLE trait for EITHER category and add it to their existing two. In this manner a player may accumulate traits beyond the usual limit of two. For example, a successful player, who completes multiple goals, might have a Confederacy-Monarchy, Urban-Agrarian, implying a society of aligned city-states that have come under the influence of a single, powerful monarch and while their cities are certainly the centers of trade and commerce, there is a significant and large population of rural farmers.

The types of government, in no particular order, are listed below. Note that no 'civilized' faction may ever select tribal or nomadic as a faction trait. These are reserved for barbarians. Also, some traits are harder for certain factions to achieve. It will be difficult, for example, for Phoenicia to implement the Spartan-military rule of a Stratocracy.

Government Type:

Democracy: +5 institutional points towards happiness, -3 points to law and order
Stratocracy: Can train troops to Veteran level, volunteers cost half as much as normal. -5 institutional points towards happiness
Confederacy: +4 institutional points towards commerce, -2 points to law and order
Monarchy: +3 institutional points towards law and order and conscripts are half as expensive. Volunteers are twice as expensive.
Theocracy: +2 institional points towards happiness and +3 institutional points towards law and order. -3 points towards commerce.
Tribal: Special

Economic Type:

Urban: +4 points towards commerce, -2 points to law and order
Agrarian: +3 points to law and order and +1 to happiness. -2 to commerce.
Imperial: Annexation is easier. +2 to happiness and +4 to law and order. -4 to commerce.
Sea-Faring: Sea travel is safer. +2 to commerce. -1 to Law and Order.
Nomadic: Special

XI. Commentary

Players are reminded to consider the context of this time period, especially in regards to the context of most games of this nature which are played closer to the modern age. There is no UN, no League of Nations, and no forum for peaceful negotiation. Nationalism, in any form, is largely unheard of. There is certainly pride in one's home state, particularly amongst the major Greek city-states, but when a poor farmer's government is replaced by another one, he largely does not care or even notice. The ideal of pride in a nation-state is, however, in its infancy and on the rise, and players are encouraged to use this idea if they desire to in their own roleplaying.

Warfare is common and expected and the vanquished are usually pillaged and destroyed. Cities are often razed and innocents slaughtered. Even in the most democratic of states, the countries are largely run by the rich and powerful. In extreme cases, like Athens at various stages of its development, this has been replaced by mob rule, yet these mobs are commonly violent supporters of "benevolent" dictators instead of any elected assembly. This is not the modern world, and the people think very, very differently. Change and innovation are rare, and the trade of technology is slow to the point of nonexistence. The Greeks and Persians do not fight differently because of the various methods of their militaries, they fight differently because the Greeks or the Persians have ALWAYS fought in this way, and it is clearly superior to any strange tactics employed by the barbarian foreigners.

Another important point to note is military conflicts themselves: sieges are rare and most battles are fought in as agreeable terrain as can be found. This is largely due to the primitive nature of tactics. Players are encouraged to give the GM detailed war plans, which can include geographical details if so desired, but your commanders (unless under the influence of a powerful hero) will likely make changes, albeit small ones, to accomodate ease of deployment and traditions. As a final point, battles in this time period traditionally ended when one side had suffered roughly 5% casualties, at which point the army would break and flee. This phenomenon can be offset by training and experience, but if you truly wish your armies to have 'sticking' power in a battle, you will have to plan carefully and utilize your heroes. Remember, the easiest way to accomplish legendary and impressive acts is through the use of heroes, and the best way to attract and produce heroes is through attempting impressive and legendary acts.