The Darkside of AdeptiCon

On top of planning AdeptiCon, starting a new job this year, expecting a child this summer, and trying to get a fledgling game company off the ground - I also decided it would be a good idea to demo a skirmish game I have been working on at AdeptiCon. This is a brief introduction to the game written by Dave Pauwels:

Vox Populi takes place in the sprawling city of Republic Rome. The year is 44 BC and Rome has become a tumultuous place. Different factions within the Roman government vie for control of the masses. On one side, Caesar uses his popularity, won on the battlefields of Gaul, to manipulate public opinion. On the other side, the Senate, fearful of Caesar’s growing popularity, attempts to block his every move.

But the Palantine Hill isn’t the only battleground. In the cobblestone streets of the Subura, Rome’s poorer district, different interests are at work. Slave-traders and criminal networks recruit from Rome’s poor, while slave revolts become almost daily events. Rabble-rousing politicians find themselves at odds with unscrupulous merchants. Every corner of Rome’s slums becomes a potential battlefield.

This is the setting for Vox Populi, a city on the brink of tearing itself apart. Even now, rumors of Caesar crossing the Rubicon spread like wildfire throughout the city. It is a desperate time and everyone is forced, finally, to choose a side…

The original plan was to set a reasonable deadline and force me to get everything in order and ready for playtesting. I soon found that this added burden was both a curse and a blessing. As AdeptiCon planning and preparation reached breakneck pace, I suddenly found myself needing to finish writing playtest rules, build/paint two factions and build a table. I can speak from experience...Rome was not built in a day.

While this perhaps was a bit much, in the end I accomplished everything I was hoping to. We are now a mere 36 hours away from the start of a massive wargaming weekend and I am very eager to see this game in action and hear some feedback from outside our small group of playtesters. Dave Pauwels was kind enough to paint up 13 or so Roman characters, slaves, plebs and the like. I haven't even seen them yet - but I am sure they are fantastic. I have one final roof section to complete this evening and the table will be complete. Here are a few WIP photos of the table:



After AdeptiCon, I hope to make some revisions to the rules, add some details to the table and prep the demo for some action at Little Wars. Vox Populi demos will be taking place Friday evening and Sunday afternoon in the the Specialist Games Hall (Lilac).