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Fall of Rome (Civ5)

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Fall of Rome (Civ5)

Fall of Rome image

Fall of Rome is a scenario in Civilization V: Gods & Kings. It is a Classical attack/defense scenario where you must "Play as either Eastern Rome or Western Rome trying to fend off the barbarians, or as one of the barbarians themselves."

Scenario Description[]

The Roman Empire, now split into West and East, has ruled the known world for nearly a millennium. But in this 4th century AD, the empire's borders are being overrun by barbarian leaders carving out their own kingdoms as Rome's might falters. Meanwhile, a great storm gathers to the northeast as Attila and his Huns begin an overpowering wave of pillage and conquest. Choose your side, gather your courage, and fight to decide the next thousand years of history.

Gameplay[]

All of the civilizations are locked into war with each other save Western Rome (the Romans) and Eastern Rome (the Byzantines), who are on a team. The diplomacy screens are thus unavailable (as opposed to 1066: Year of Viking Destiny, where diplomacy screens can still be accessed, but are basically useless). There are three social policy trees - "Roman," "Persian," and "Barbarian" - each of which is available only to select civilizations. Western and Eastern Rome have the Roman policy tree, the Sassanids have the Persian policy tree, and the other five have the Barbarian policy tree.

The policies in the Roman policy tree only have negative effects, so as both Roman empires advance, they go further into decay. In addition, for each city the Western and Eastern Romans lose, they gain more Culture Culture, causing their empires to go even further into decay, and it is impossible for either of them to sell buildings to reduce Culture Culture, increase income, or reclaim precious Gold Gold from a city that is about to be lost to enemies.

In the scenario, the purpose is to have the highest number of Victory Points when the time runs out. Victory Points can only be acquired in this scenario through control of imperial cities (cities that initially belonged to Western and Eastern Rome or the Sassanids) for Western Rome, Eastern Rome, and the Sassanids, while other civilizations gain Victory Points by capturing these same imperial cities; at the end of each turn, the three empires will be rewarded with Victory Points based on how many imperial cities they control. Western and Eastern Rome have an advantage in this arena, starting with an incredible number of imperial cities, but they come under attack from all directions almost immediately and do not have enough units to properly defend against all the invading Barbarians and Persians. The Sassanids start smaller, but they get more Victory Points from each city, don't suffer the penalties the Romans do, and have only a few enemies in the beginning. Barbarians earn Victory Points and Culture Culture from capturing imperial cities; they get the points upon capture whether they choose to keep the city or raze it. They earn more points for capturing bigger cities while also getting extra Happiness Happiness and not having to pay unit maintenance.

The scenario is purely military, and as such disables diplomacy, Science Science, religion, and espionage.

Civilizations[]

There are eight playable civilizations in this scenario:

Units[]

Great People[]

Buildings[]

Social policies[]

There are three policy trees in this scenario. The Roman tree is available to Western Rome and Eastern Rome. The Persian tree is available to the Sassanids. The Barbarian tree is available to the Celts, Franks, Goths, Huns, and Vandals.

Roman[]

Roman Atrophy reflects the fading glory of the Roman empire and how its society unravels as time passes.

The Roman empires start with Roman Heritage, which provides +1 Happiness Happiness for each City you own connected to the Capital Capital and -5% Unhappiness Unhappiness from Citizen Citizens in non-occupied Cities.

When a barbarian enemy captures your city, you will gain 20 Culture Culture.

Policy Effect Requirements
Barbarian Conscription -10% Combat Strength Combat Strength.
Rise of Serfdom Cities with Walls suffer -2 Production Production.
Neglected Infrastructure Gold Gold from city connections reduced by 50%.
Usurper General +1 Culture Culture for each Barracks and a hostile army appears outside one of your non-capital cities. Barbarian Conscription
Popular Ennui -1 Happiness Happiness from each luxury resource. Rise of Serfdom
Coin Debasement +10% unit maintenance cost. Neglected Infrastructure
Dark Age -20 Happiness Happiness. Usurper General, Popular Ennui and Coin Debasement

Persian[]

Sassanid Legacy shines through the continuing greatness of Persia. The Sassanids have a large starting army, few barbarian invaders, and the desire to finish the centuries-long conflict with Rome.

Adopting all policies in the Sassanid tree will convert all future Culture Culture into Gold Gold at a rate of 3 to 1.

Policy Effect Requirements
Pahlavi Literature +1 Culture Culture per city.
Sacred Fire +1 Happiness Happiness per city.
Mercantilism +2 Gold Gold per city. Great People born 25% faster.
Shahnama Starts a Golden Age Golden Age and a Great Engineer appears outside the Capital Capital. Pahlavi Literature and Sacred Fire
Standing Army +2 Production Production per Barracks. Sacred Fire and Mercantilism
Silk Road +1 Gold Gold for each trading post. Golden Age Golden Ages last 50% longer. Mercantilism

Barbarian[]

Barbarian Zeal gives the outsiders hope that they can capture and claim some of Rome's immense glory for themselves.

The barbarian kingdoms have a bonus +20 Happiness Happiness. Receive 15 Culture Culture as plunder for each point of Culture Culture produced in the captured city. They do not have to pay unit maintenance.

Adopting all policies in the Barbarian tree will convert all future Culture Culture into Gold Gold at a rate of 3 to 1.

Policy Effect Requirements
Willing Recruits +50% Production Production when training combat units.
Native Coercion Build Courthouses 150% faster.
Wily Veterans Military Units gain 100% more Experience from combat. Willing Recruits
Tribal Bloom +5 Production Production in every City. Native Coercion
Destiny's Army +50% Combat Strength Combat Strength for military Units which have another military Unit in an adjacent tile. Wily Veterans
Kingdom Come +2 Food Food, Production Production, Gold Gold, and Culture Culture per city. Tribal Bloom

Strategy[]

This scenario uses the Gods & Kings ruleset. While it is largely similar to the Brave New World ruleset, one important difference to keep in mind (especially when playing as the Romans) is that penalties to Gold Gold, Production Production, and Combat Strength Combat Strength from Unhappiness Unhappiness happen only if Happiness Happiness dips to -10 or lower.

As the Romans[]

To earn more Victory Points and deny them to their opponents, both branches of the Roman Empire should focus on protecting their own cities from invasion and retaking captured ones. Note that controlling original barbarian cities, if you somehow manage to capture them, does not give you points.

For the Romans, the mechanic of Culture Culture (much of which is produced by the Monuments that all cities have) is converted into a system of penalties that become progressively worse with time, especially as the Empire loses its cities to opponents. Once a new social policy is available, you are forced to choose the pain to suffer from. Evaluate which policy provides the least negative effects under the current circumstances, and plan ahead to alleviate the effects of future policies. Remember that City Connection City Connections (called Trade Routes in the scenario) give not only Gold Gold but also a bit of Happiness Happiness.

One of the policies, Usurper General, gives +1 Culture Culture for each Barracks, which will be at the front of all cities' build queues (except Rome and Constantinople, which already have them) at the outset of the scenario. This many Barracks are usually not needed, and the cities are often not productive enough to quickly build units in the first place, so it is highly recommended to have your cities build something else. However, while the permanent effects can be made relatively insignificant (one Monument gives twice as much Culture Culture), the policy also has a very high short-term risk. The rebel army, which will include 5 Legions, 3 Composite Bowmen, and 2 Catapults, can spawn near any non-capital city, chosen at random, and may cause considerable devastation if they spawn far away from your primary frontlines. However, they may provide valuable XP to your units (up to a limit of two promotions, as with Barbarians).

Not only do you get Culture Culture from losing cities, but all the barbarian invaders (except the Sassanids) do as well, and the bonuses they get from their social policy tree can be quite powerful, especially that of Destiny's Army (which is essentially a stronger version of Discipline from the Honor tree). Given that your units may get Combat Strength Combat Strength penalties (from Unhappiness Unhappiness, the Barbarian Conscription policy, lack of strategic resources, or a combination thereof), you may want to prioritize ranged units such as Composite Bowmen.

A massive number of cities with buildings, together with an expansive road network, puts a heavy drain on your treasury; to make things worse, many of the cities don't have great Production Production capacity to convert to Gold Gold or invest in Gold Gold-producing buildings.

Some cities in Africa, such as Carthage (West) and Alexandria (East), may not be under risk of immediate conquest; their peaceful development can provide much-needed income to the Roman treasury. However, all these gains can be overturned by a Usurper General army if it spawns there.

As the Western Romans[]

While the Western Romans have a slightly larger number of cities (29, compared to 27 for the Eastern Romans), they have to face a larger number of hostile civilizations - namely the Celts and the Franks to the north, the Vandals to the southwest, and the Goths to the northeast (though their main target will be the Eastern Romans). The Celts and the Vandals are particularly troublesome.

  • The Celts have a 50% Combat Strength Combat Strength bonus against civilizations with more cities than they currently own — combined with other bonuses, their units can become the most powerful in the entire scenario. Their Pictish Warrior also has an increased bonus to flank attacks. They are excellent at moving their units across the sea and through Forests in their territory. They will attempt a landfall in Northern Gaul (modern France), opposite their heartland in Britain, with Coriallum and Gesoriacum in the greatest danger.
  • The Trihemiolias used by the Vandals are superior to Triremes; moreover, all Vandal ships get the Prize Ships promotion, giving them a chance to capture defeated foes. On land, Vandal Axemen are more effective against damaged units (much like the Russian Cossacks). Expect the Vandals to take cities in Mauretania (northwestern Africa) and/or the southern Iberian Peninsula.
  • The Franks are masters of the Rivers; they receive a Movement Movement bonus along them and their Seaxmen aren't being penalized for attacking across them. Frankish units also move faster through Hills. They may launch an attack on Trier (in Gaul) and/or Castra Regina (north of the Alps).
  • The Goths are primarily focused on the Eastern Romans; a mountain range with defensible passes makes it more difficult to invade Western Roman territory, with exception of cities on the other side of the range. Still, expect an attack on Salonae if they have units to spare.

By themselves, the Legions are more powerful than barbarian melee units (or the Clibanarii, their double attack ability notwithstanding). Moreover, Western Roman Legions get the scenario-specific Recruitment Officer promotion which gives them a chance to convert defeated enemies to their side. However, the penalties for Romans and the combat bonuses for barbarians can reverse the gap, and the converted unit, which won't have full health, might not last long against its former comrades; it could be useful as cannon fodder, though. Also, Legions require Iron Iron to build; a lack of it will impose another penalty to the Combat Strength Combat Strength of existing Legions. Barbarian replacements for the Swordsmen (Axemen, Seaxmen, Gadrauht) do not require Iron Iron.

The Ballista is stronger than a regular Catapult, having slightly less Ranged Strength Ranged Strength than Composite Bowmen, and will be helpful both for defending and retaking cities.

As the Eastern Romans[]

The Eastern Romans are close to three hostile civilizations: the Goths to the north, the Huns to the northeast, and the Sassanids to the east. In addition, the Vandals can attempt a naval attack on Eastern Roman cities such as Mistra, Selencia, Caesarea, and Cyrene. However, the Dromons (which make an anachronistic appearance in this scenario) can ensure Eastern Roman dominance in the seas and provide help to the Western Romans. They are less suited for ground support, however, which is where the main action takes place.

The Theodosian Walls special ability is more powerful than its Western Roman counterpart; the combination of a Fort and a Great General will provide a 30% Combat Strength Combat Strength bonus, an increase of 20 percentage points relative to Great Generals of other civilizations. These bonuses make Forts (of which many are already built) even more important for defense. Note that the bonus does not apply to Citadels which are built by Great Generals.

Despite being unable to build Legions, the Eastern Romans still get them as starting units in several cities. Their ability to build Forts is very useful in light of the combat bonus, and the Combat Strength Combat Strength is higher than anything you can build. Try your best to preserve these units.

The strongest unit that the Eastern Romans can build is the Cataphract. While an improvement over regular Horsemen, they are inferior to the Sassanid Clibanarii, which can attack twice, and unable to catch up with Hunnic Horse Archers.

As the Sassanids[]

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As the barbarians[]

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Related achievements[]

Double KO
Double KO
Capture both Rome and Constantinople in the same game in the Fall of Rome scenario.
(Is this a reference to something in popular culture? Please add the information here!)
Et tu, Brute
Et tu, Brute
Win the Fall of Rome scenario.
Dying words of the title character in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.
I Missed That Day in History Class
I Missed That Day in History Class
Capture any Sassanid city as the Celts in the Fall of Rome scenario.
(Is this a reference to something in popular culture? Please add the information here!)
I Sunk Your Imperial Capital!
I Sunk Your Imperial Capital!
Capture Rome as the Vandals using a boat in the Fall of Rome scenario.
A reference to a phrase from the classic board game Battleship which a player would declare after sinking an enemy ship.
Pax Romana Aeternum
Pax Romana Aeternum
Win the game as Eastern or Western Rome on Deity and have all your original cities under your control in the Fall of Rome scenario.
A reference to Pax Romana (Latin for “Roman peace”), the period of Roman dominance which brought relative stability and peace to the Mediterranean region.
The word Aeternum has two meanings. First, it is the neuter singular nominative form of aeternus, an adjective from which the English word eternal comes. However, the word pax (peace) has feminine gender in Latin, so the correct adjective form would be aeterna. Therefore more likely is the second meaning, where aeternum is an adverb meaning “always” or “forever”, thus the whole phrase can be read as “Roman peace forever”.
Turks Shmurks!
Turks Shmurks!
Capture Constantinople as any enemy power in the Fall of Rome scenario.
(Is this a reference to something in popular culture? Please add the information here!)

See also[]

Civilization V Scenarios [edit]
1 Requires a DLC
Added in the Gods & Kings expansion pack.
Added in the Brave New World expansion pack.
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