Project Rome - optional weather rules.

I have been asked if weather would have a role in these campaigns and my answer would be most definitely. At the moment this is a work in progress as the information sketched here must be integrated in some manner to the maps and the record card. This issue will be resolved with further play tests.

Climate Conditions in Spain (Wiki)

Spain has three main climatic zones and these can be distinguished by their geographical situation and orographic conditions given here. The strategic map could have each square coded with its climate condition.

• The Mediterranean climate, dry and warm summers and cool and wet winters, dominates the Iberian Peninsula, susceptible to summer droughts but the far northern part of the country.
• The oceanic climate is located in the northern part of the country, especially in the regions of Basque Country, Asturias, Cantabria and Galicia.
• The semiarid climate is the region of Murcia and in the Ebro valley. In contrast to the Mediterranean climate, the dry season continues beyond the end of summer.

To simplify the use of weather in the campaign we can arrive at an average temperature level for each month. This can vary as explained below.

Spring  March (cold), April (cold), May (warm).

Summer June (warm), July (warm), August (dry).

Fall     September (warm), October (warm), November (wet).

Winter December (cold), January (cold), February (cold).

The climate description given in parenthesis is from the DBM section covering weather and players could factor these in their battle or siege games. My preference would have weather influence strategic planning, for example inclement weather decreasing movement or a prolonged dry period reducing forage to name two examples.    

This could be done with the draw of a card to determine if the weather remains unchanged for the new month or move up or down a level. For example, April’s weather could remain unchanged for the month of May to advance to a warm period in June. This part requires further work.

Time of Day or Night

According to the DBM rule set, Spain falls under a warm climate region which gives us the following averages for sunrise and sunset during each season.

Spring 0600 to 1800, Summer 0500 to 1900, Fall 0600 to 1800, Winter, 0800 to 1600.

Livy does note the time of day when certain battles took place and this is useful for players wishing to create a historical scenario or include this as an option for their standard game. However, in this campaign rule set the time of day or night will become useful when devising stratagems that need to take place at a certain hour.