The long-awaited Hannibal & Hamilcar: Rome vs Carthage will be in stores soon! In our preview articles we offered you an overview of this special and renewed edition of the game, the development of the side game Hamilcar, and historical and game information about the Roman and Carthaginian armies of the Hannibal era.
Now, to close the series written for us by the PHALANX team, it’s time to have some insight on the two expansions releasing together with the game: Price of Failure and Sun of Macedon, which really spice up the game and add more flavor...
Price of Failure: expansion for Hannibal & Hamilcar brings a Roman leader - Claudius Pulcher.
Price of Failure expands the Hamilcar game with a new leader and two related strategy cards. In ancient times, wars had the status of religious acts. Omens and divine signs had great importance when going to war. The game designers featured this element by adding an authentic Roman leader - Claudius Pulcher (consul), who regrettably misunderstood an omen (sacred chickens which refused to eat) during the First Punic War and, as a consequence. lost a big portion of the Roman fleet at the battle of Drepana (249 BC). To properly reflect Claudius’ tragic disaster, two new strategy cards were also added - Bad Omen and Price of Failure (hence the name of the expansion).
Bad Omen is a card which can be played before a battle to make things difficult for the Roman player. According to Jaro Andruszkiewicz, co-author of the game, this event has been inspired by two similar ones: Gaius Flaminius did not properly carry out the rituals after becoming a consul and pressed for a battle - known later as Battle of Lake Trasimene- which resulted in his defeat and death. Claudius Pulcher disregarded a bad omen prior to battle and lost at Drepana.
The Price of Failure card is a very strong leader removal tool, which is available to the Roman player. “Carthaginian leaders Hannibal Gisgo and Hamilcar (the other Hamilcar, not Hamilcar Barca) were removed from command after losing engagement - well, not just removed from command, but also crucified. Carthage didn’t have much sympathy for losers. Also, Pulcher faced charges and was never again offered an office”, Michal explains.
Sun of Macedon expansion adds Philip V of Macedon to Carthaginian forces.
Sun of Macedon is an expansion which was added to supplement the Hannibal game. Just as with Price of Failure, the idea behind it is also inspired from ancient rituals - in this case, as the name suggests Macedonian ones. Macedonia was an ally of Carthage during the Second Punic War. When Philip V of Macedon tried to join Carthage, Rome blocked his path, also providing Hannibal with a recruiting opportunity. Thus, with the Sun of Macedon expansion, a Carthage general (Philip V) is added, along with two corresponding strategy cards - Desert March and Hidden Cove.
Desert March allows player to move an army over quite a distance – as Hannibal’s father, Hamilcar, had reached Gades overland from Carthage. Such a successful journey across hostile territory might have been an inspiration to Hannibal for his march over the Alps. The card allows a small army to follow Hamilcar’s footsteps.
Hidden Cove also allows you to move your units over a few spaces, but only to and from Genua, which at the time wasn’t really a big port. Not every existing harbor is shown as a port in the game. There are good reasons for that. Some of them were not capable of receiving large armies. Some of them were not shown as a game design decision. Genua, however, was used twice, in very specific circumstances. Mago arrived there with reinforcements and then, after years of fighting, most probably evacuated through the same port when things become too hot to handle.
Last, but not least, both expansions bring new events into the games, making them even more amazing experiences. Don’t miss out on them!
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