Roma Invicta - Hannibal in Italy 218-216 BC

Roma Invicta? is a simulation game of the first two years of Hannibal's Italian campaign (autumn 218 to autumn 216 BC) during the Second Punic War. Historically, this period encompassed the Carthaginian victories at the Rivers Ticinus and Trebia, the classic ambush at Lake Trasimene, the frustrating 'delaying tactics' adopted by Fabius, the annihilation of a massive Roman army at Cannae, and the failure of Hannibal to convert this crushing battlefield triumph into a strategic victory over Rome. The game thus covers one of the most famous and dramatic two years of campaigns in the whole of ancient warfare.

The accent throughout is on simplicity, accessibility, and speed of play, while still providing a faithful simulation of the complex strategic dynamics which shaped the actual campaigns. Play is highly interactive, with each side having 26 alternating two week rounds plus two winter phases. Hannibal enjoys massive tactical advantages through his own generalship and his large numbers of cavalry, and so can often annihilate entire Roman armies through ambush or encirclement. The Romans benefit from a growing flood of reinforcements and from the ability to avoid battle by sheltering behind fortifications, but if they let Hannibal ravage their lands without challenge, the resulting demoralization will quickly destroy the Roman confederacy. Play therefore revolves around a careful balancing of military and prestige losses, as the Romans trade troops for time until they learn sufficient caution to bog Hannibal down in an attritional stalemate as happened historically after Cannae.