ONUS TRAIANUS
FROM
DRACO IDEAS
Back in September 2016, I reviewed Onus from Draco Ideas which, if you check via this LINK, was a remarkably small, but impressive game. With this latest addition to the series. things have got a whole lot bigger and what a stunning package it is! In my previous review I used the cliche "good things come in small packets": well even better things have just come in a much, much bigger packet. The simple comparison below makes that very clear!
I also wasn't wholly sold on the rather cartoonish original box art and, as you can see, that too has taken a turn for the more serious. The period has also shifted from the early days of the monumental clashes between Rome and Carthage to the glory days of the Emperor Trajan and an incredible range of cards to cover an amazing tranche of opponents - Celts, Dacians, the Germanic tribes, Parthians and Sarmatians, along with a massive deck of Mercenaries and to help out the Romans, a deck of auxiliaries. The system remains the same, an admirable transformation of miniatures using cards for units instead of metal or plastic figures.
Lifting the box lid and focusing purely on the cards, you can see just how many are stacked up. There is ample storage not just for the cards, but also measuring rulers, dice and all the many markers.
There are in total a magnificent 272 unit cards, 34 General cards, 98 action cards and 6 quick reference cards. What I value even more in the storage facility is that all the compartments are designed to be large enough to hold the cards, if sleeved. Usually, sleeving is my immediate choice, but in the case of Onus Traianus, I'm reluctant to sleeve the cards that represent the units, as I find them harder to manoeuvre over the battlefield.
Set out above are the five enemy nations, the Roman core units and below them the auxiliaries, the extra large stack of mercenaries, on the far right the stack of generals, with Trajan uppermost, and below them, the largest stack of all - the many action cards that determine your orders.
Even when you add in all the other components, the box remains delightfully spacious. So much so that I'm intending to transfer my cards from the original Onus to this storage as well.
Impressive as all this is, it is the various books that add a distinctly luxurious feel to the game. The original rule book was small, compact and did a very, very good job of setting out the rules. For its small size, it included an amazing number of illustrations, but it was crammed to bursting with eye-straining text! The new rule book is capacious and voluminous. The print is still on the small side, but with double-spacing of all the text, plus frequent use of extra white space it is ease itself to read. Combined with this are a steady flow of illustrative pictures to support the many examples of each clearly explained step in the sequence of play, a comprehensive 2-page Contents list at the front of the rules, a 2-page alphabetic Index at the back, a single page Important Rules Summary and finally on the back cover is a summary of all the Modifiers neatly headed according to each element of the game that they apply to.
Comprehensive Summary of Modifiers
All this makes it a genuine pleasure to sit down to read, whether for the first time or simply to browse and refresh your memory. An awesome accomplishment in rules presentation that deserves full praise as does the striking and handsome front cover illustration.
The rule book begins with a one page Introduction, which draws you in with a pictorial display of the card backs of all the nations included in the original game, its two expansions and now this stand-alone game. Then a page of new additions to the rules is followed by three pages explaining the three types of card in the game: Unit Cards, General Cards and Action Cards. Each page offers a compact illustration of a typical unit card with brief explanations of all the symbols they contain.
We quickly pass on to Setting Up which covers Historical Scenarios and creation of Scenarios by point count, Victory Conditions and Troop Deployment which details how to set out your card units on the gaming area. The bulk of the book [32 pages] takes you through the Turn Sequence in order providing all-embracing, detailed, step by step rules. They provide an admirably clear explanation throughout which, as mentioned earlier, is significantly helped by the layout so that you never feel overwhelmed or intimidated by the level of detail.
In brief, the Turn has 7 Phases.
Activation
Movement
Ranged Attack
Skirmish
Melee
Flight
End of Turn
Among the many easy to understand rules, those explaining movement and melee stand out for me. Especially the latter - melee rules - have so often with other sets of miniatures rules been a nightmare of complexity merely to understand, never mind actually carry out in a game. Having watched in the past with other systems, ten or more minutes of number crunching, percentage calculations, modifier applications et. al. result in both sides suffering no effects, Onus' method is a gamer's blessing.
Many capitalised side headings, sequences of short simple statements, exemplification distinguished by its text being in italics and plentiful full-colour illustration all contribute to take the work and effort out of absorbing these rules. I have two sets of very substantial miniatures rules for gaming battles in the ancient world which I thoroughly enjoy reading, but Onus Traianus covers so much in a straightforward way that leads to an ease of execution.
When you get down to play on your tabletop, this ease of understanding is augmented to a major extent by the fact that the units are cards not miniatures. First of all, I always know immediately what a unit is simply because its nationality and type is written on the card. I have a rather nicely painted set of 10mm ancients miniatures, but because of the scale I often strain to make out even such simple things as exactly what type of cavalry I'm seeing.
Even more important is that all the key data needed for movement capability, ranged fire, melee strength in attack and defence, morale and health are also printed on the card.
No need for reference to a multitude of extensive tables to extract this information. The only limited reference needed is to the icons for special abilities and even here there are benefits, as colour coding on the cards quickly distinguishes those special abilities that are triggered automatically [orange and green circles] and those that need to be activated [blue circles] by placing a distinctive marker on the card.
Finally, the unit card serves as the base on which to place a range of markers, such as marching or fleeing, broken morale, number of wounds, the presence of a hero or loss of an officer - all of which simplifies the organisation of your game in the course of play.
Whatever you're level of experience as a gamer, Onus Traianus provides a great range of qualities. Perhaps the most important is that you're getting a satisfying depth of game play coupled with an ease of learning and a sand box of material with
a very easy point system to design your own battles. Next it allows you to explore a wide range of conflicts from this period of the Roman Empire against so many different opponent nations. This is not just because of the unit decks for these nations, but because of the impressively large Campaign Book - all in all, 95 pages and 38 battles organised into 4 Campaigns. If the Rule Book looks superb, this Campaign Book is gorgeous and of a very substantial weight and thickness. You really have got a book in your hands .
There are four campaigns covered and each one is prefaced by a simple map with the battles marked on and the order in which they occurred. Each individual battle is illustrated with a full colour set up map, an historical outline, any special rules and victory conditions. The one drawback is that only approximately half of the battles can be played easily with just Onus Traianus alone. Frankly, if the Campaign Book had given you only those eighteen alone, you'd be getting huge value for money, but to play the others you will need the Terrain and Fortresses Expansion box, which will be explored in my follow-on review. I defy you to withstand the lure and I must thank Draco Ideas for their generosity in providing the Expansion to review as well as the core game.
The last item in Onus Traianus is a very slim booklet for playing in Solo mode and here I did struggle to understand their workings because of the brevity of explanation, especially after the thoroughness and clarity of the Rule Book. In particular, I think the several tables used need much fuller explanation to make the system work smoothly. I have to admit that it is not something I would choose to support me in playing this game solitaire, but nor is it needed for me to enjoy playing the game solo rather than against a live opponent. For those who absolutely insist on playing solo only by using a game system, it might not serve. However, there are few miniature gamers I know who would consider this essential or even how they would play solitaire.
So, to sum up.
Excellent components throughout
Visually attractive
Comprehensive rules well set out and clear to understand
Ease of play
Magnificent Campaign Book - extensive range of battles linked into four campaigns
Solo mode only weak point
I really hope that Draco Ideas will look at producing an Expansion for the Republican battles between Julius Caesar v Pompey the Great and/or the battles between Marius v Sulla.
Once again many thanks to Draco Ideas for providing the review copy for Onus Traianus and the Expansion Terrain and Fortresses which I shall be reviewing next.
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