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A boxful of expansions
Amyitis, Caylus Magna Carta, Metropolys, Sylla, Yspahan, Ystari Box - News, Preview
For the next Essen fair, in October 2009, we will sell an expansion box for 5 games of the ystari line: Amyitis, Caylus Magna Carta, Metropolys, Sylla and Yspahan. This box will cost less than 20 € and should replete many fans who want some kind of renewal. If you don’t go to Essen, don’t worry because the box will hit the shelves later. There will be 3 kinds of expansions, one big (for Caylus Magna Carta), 2 medium and 2 small for Metropolys and Yspahan (respectively a few objectives and a few cards).
Caveant Consules: Sylla will feature 2 new characters, 2 new events and one new great work: the forum, which provides a res publica token of each color to the player with the most votes and a token choice for the second player. When you give the votes to the Plebeians, you get 2 points for each set of 3 votes.
The gladiator provides one point in phase IV; its peculiarity is that it counts as a leisure token (green) in case of crisis. As for the philosopher, it combines with another character in order to double its power (2 coins for a merchant, 2 votes for a senator, etc.).
The earthquake is countered by the vestal virgins and its effect is to turn them over. The defeat is countered by the legionaries and its consequence is logically to turn them over.
Royal favor: Caylus Magna Carta will now support up to 5 players and will add a few new buildings (including prestige buildings) which can grant some royal favors. A small board will allow you those favors and gain some resources, victory points or permanent powers. For instance, you may sacrifice a worker for a whole round in exchange for a denier or a resource.
Nebuchadnezzar’s palace: Amyitis will be embellished with a palace and a new craft to get in: the courtier. Depending on your investment in the palace, you may become the first player, do the procession, recruit any character, or get a courtier.
Money or influence?
Sylla - Strategy
We haven’t talked about senators and merchants yet…
A senator is worth one vote in phase I (First Consul) and VI (Great Works), whereas a merchant yields one denier in phase IV (Revenue). So they both allow you to weigh on phases I and VI (votes being represented by untitled senators and deniers).
Anyway, if the Great Work of the current turn allows you to move an interesting marker along the Res Publica ladder, don’t tilt all your senators and merchants during phase III.
Here are three good reasons to choose the senators:
- Intimidate your opponents by raising your number of permanent votes and take possession of the game thanks to the advantages of being the First Consul. If you become First Consul in the first phase (which can be done without ruining yourself), you can be the first to choose a character and a building in phases II and III. If you aren’t the First Consul, you can at least make the prices soar.
- You can run a strategy based on legionaries and senators. Both types work well together since legionaries are used to counter the event which affects senators, that is Senate Purge.
- Adapt to the situation on the Res Publica ladder. Indeed, since you’ll easily become the First Consul, you can take a Res Publica token of any color in phase I! So, changes in the situation won’t be a problem for you.
Here are three good reasons to choose the merchants:
- You don’t have to fear that an event will affect your merchants, since no event results in turning over merchant cards.
- You can easily buy buildings that don’t yield deniers in phase III, viz. invest on Insulae, Taverns, Fields, etc. Think of the Private Temple as early as possible in the game, so that you can use it at each turn to get a Res Publica token of your choice against two deniers.
- Get more freedom of play, since deniers are not necessarily used as votes; keep your potential a secret since coins are hidden behind your screen (unlike charcater cards). Thus, in phase VI, you’ll be more likely to win the majority of votes and the prestige points that go with it.
What is more, use your memory if you want a majority in phase VI. Think of the votes your opponents can count on. You don’t need to spend lavishly on the current Great Work if you aren’t interested in its effect. Maybe you would rather concentrate on the next Great Work which is already visible…
Sword or faith?
Sylla - Strategy
In Sylla, during phase V, the events phase, you will need 2 kinds of characters: legionaries and vestal virgins. 
Of course, if events are going to affect you during this turn, do not use all your legionaries and vestal virgins cards during phase III so that you can participate in phase V.
During phase V, you will use them to collectively fight threats: Epidemics, Eruptions, the Imperial Cult, the Senate Purge, Famines, Christian Persecutions, Floods, Slave Revolts, Pillages, and Decadence. Every event that affects the Res Publica ladder can be fought with the vestal virgins, while the events that affect characters and buildings can predominantly be fought with legionaries.
Why choose the legionaries?
- First when you buy stalls (building that earns you 2 deniers) and do not want them to be destroyed by the Pillage event.
- Then if you recruit some slaves and senators (so that you can dominate phases I and IV), especially if they are Christians (that adds some points at the end of the game), be liberal with the legionaries.
The Slave Revolt, the Senate Purge and the Christian Persecution, which can be catastrophic to your characters, are fought with legionaries.
If you are really into legionaries, favour Civic Spirit tokens: the Imperial Cult (which lowers Civic Spirit on the Res Publica ladder) can be countered with legionaries and vestal virgins, and it will be easier for you to defend yourself if the event takes place.
Why choose the vestal virgins?
- Because you want some latitude to choose Res Publica tokens. Indeed, while helping you to counter the various events more easily than your opponents, vestal virgins allow you to earn the 3 types of Res Publica tokens: Civic Spirit tokens (with the Imperial Cult), Leisure (with the Eruption) and, above all, Health (with Famine, Epidemic and Flood). Conversely, legionaries can never bring you in Health tokens!
- To control the markers on the Res Publica ladder and freeze the various markers in which you have been investing to prevent them from moving along the ladder.
Thus, legionaries allow you to protect your characters, while vestal virgins allow you to protect the value of your Res Publica tokens. These are two different dynamics, but they are not necessarily opposed. Remember that you cannot possibly fight on every front. This is why you have to keep an eye on your opponents’ cards to anticipate their priorities. Countering events with the help of other players will be less expensive for you…
The hard life of a slave
Sylla - Strategy
In Sylla, each player recruits one
character per turn to help them with their tasks. Quite often, there are two phases during which you can use those characters: a bidding phase where you can bid on three colors (blue, yellow and red) to acquire buildings with effects; or another phase for a specific bonus if the character hasn’t been used for the bidding. You choose between bidding and a bonus!
The slave is one of the five characters whose services you can use in the game. This character is the easiest to use at first, because his only power is to bid in all colors during the Building phase. He must be used (preferably at each turn):
- offensively: to make the bids rise whenever possible (or at least to make a minimum bid);
- defensively: to be able to outbid whatever the color;
- constructively: to pay a price high enough to secure an important building, even if it doesn’t appear in your strong color. You only have 5 turns, so don’t be too tight-fisted!
The more slaves you own, the less obvious your strategy will be (your opponents don’t know what colors you will choose); what is more, you will be more flexible when buying buildings (if you fail to secure a bidding you initially wanted to win). Although it will strengthen your purchasing power, the Crane (one of the buildings available in the first phases) will be less essential to you if you own many slaves.
But be careful, recruiting slaves won’t necessarily be easy. 2 events may thwart your plans: the Slave Revolt and the Christian Persecution (if your slaves are Christians). These two events can be fought with legionaries, so it is a good idea to take some if you own more slaves than the other players.
Finally, by emancipating your slaves at the end of the game, you will be able to exchange your deniers with Prestige Points. However, make sure you keep enough deniers to free them.