We played an interesting game Monday night called Gloria Mundi. This is a game where you play a Roman statesman during the fall of the Roman Empire. The goal is to get as far from Rome as you can with the winner being the first to reach Africa. While the players are fleeing Rome, the Goths are rampaging towards Rome pillaging as they go. On a player’s turn, he decides what kind of a round it’s going to be: Farm, City, or Peace. The type of round he chooses determines what type of resources he gets. Unfortunately whatever a player chooses could help all the other players as well. After collecting resources, the player can build a building, if he can afford one. A player is able to move further from Rome by building buildings or by spending resources on a building’s ability. During the final phase of a player’s turn, he must decide if they are going to bribe the Goths or let them rampage, possibly destroying one or more of his holdings.
So how did our game go? Fantastic! In the beginning we all wondered just what the best strategy should be. We learned quickly just how devastating the Goth rampage can be. It wasn’t long though before a few players were using the Goth rampage to their advantage. I believe Owen was the first to cause someone else (me) to lose a resource card, while he scooped up the resource from the board.
Throughout the game I got very lucky in that I was able to purchase relatively cheap buildings that helped me move further and further from Rome. Soon I was in the lead and was managing to stay there. It looked liked Owen was going to give me a run for my money near the end of the game, but some unlucky resource losses kept him from getting too close. In the end I was able to win. (I told you the game went fantastic.) Owen was second, followed by Ben and then Mike.
I think we’re all anxious to play this again. Me, because it was fun. Everyone else, because they want to see if my win was pure luck or brilliant strategy. I think we all know which it was.
Chaos Steve