Introduction by ACIS Developer Fred Schachter: The Designers, Mark McLaughlin and Chris Vorder Bruegge, as well as myself, would like as many of our fellow hobbyists as possible to enjoy playing ACIS. We appreciate some gamers sharing how they’ve mitigated the game’s chaos through a variety of house rules and it is grand learning how those customized changes result in more folks having fun with the game and consequently playing it repeatedly.

Upon reading of gamers modifying ACIS, Mark responded… “If they are playing the game and are happy, I am happy… if they are playing the game and making it their own, I am even happier.”

These positive developments inspired Designer Chris Vorder Bruegge to make recommendations of his own, recommendations which mitigate Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea’s chaotic game environment with a menu of choices. For those interested in experiencing this different ACIS milieu, a more merciful environment than the game as published offers, we hope you’ll appreciate and enjoy Chris’ offerings…

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The following set of optional rules are designed for those players who wish to calm the chaotic waters and introduce more strategic depth into the otherwise wild and wonderful world of Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea. Players may add any, some or all of these rules to make their game play more like a traditional civilization-building game (rather than the civilization-survive-the-chaos environment of the GMT published design).

These rules offer:

• added incentives for defending in and around a civilization’s homeland;
• a separation of the cards into Fate and Technology Decks;
• reduced hand-size for shorter, quicker turns;
• reduced reshuffling of the deck(s);
• reduced occurrence of “bad” events

Defending the Homeland: “God Gave This Land to Me”

“Civilizations historically valued the lands in and around their homeland more than those farther afield. If players want to develop this “God Gave this Land to Me” approach to building their civilizations, then the following might be useful optional rules to accomplish that:”

• Core Area: All land areas adjacent to the civilization’s Homeland are designated Core Areas.  (For Minos, we recommend including the two Sea Areas adjacent to the Minoan Homeland.) 
  • SETTLEMENTS/CITIES IN ALL – If at the moment a civilization calculates its Growth it has a Settlement or City in its Homeland area and every Core Area but does not have a City in every one of those areas, then it gains one extra disk of Growth as well as the VP noted below.
  • CITIES IN ALL – If during the Card Draw Phase a civilization has a City in its Homeland and in every one of its Core Areas (except for Minos, which gets this bonus if it meets the conditions for Cities on land), it gets an additional card draw over and above cards it would normally get for number of Cities. 
  • PRESENCE IN ALL – If at the beginning of the Reckoning Phase a civilization has at least one of its disks in its Homeland and every Core Area, it gains one VP.
  • Please note that some civilizations will have more areas than others, but the conditions apply to all equally. Not all civilizations enjoy the equal blessings of nature with their Homeland and Core Areas.

• Objective Areas: Beyond the Core Areas, civilizations have areas they seek striving to expand into… each to its own “manifest destiny”. This can be played one of two ways: 
  • The nearest other player Homeland area in play becomes the objective. Any land area directly between the two homelands is also an objective, but only the shortest land distance between them. For Minos, the objective is Mycenae, Troy or Phoenicia in that order. Mycenae may choose either Minos or Troy or Rome if any are in play. When another player civilization objective alternative is selected (the “target civilization”); it is declared at the beginning of the Growth Phase and may only be changed at the beginning of another turn’s Growth Phase.
  • Treat the capture of a target civilization’s objective areas under the preceding core rules: Presence in All; Settlements/Cities in All; or Cities in All. Each criteria will earn its own reward: e.g. “Presence in All” for both your own and the target civilization’s Core Areas will earn two VP. Each criteria will earn its own reward: e.g. “Presence in All” for both your own and the target civilization’s Core Areas will earn two VP.
  • In lieu of the preceding, an alternative for objectives which is strictly geographic may be selected. It is the outer ring of land areas adjacent to the player civilization’s Core Areas.   

Technology and Fate

The designers and developer of ACIS decided to embed technology in the game’s Fate Cards. They did this because in ancient history civilizations did not have an applied research program of consciously developed new technologies. When a new technology developed, civilizations often worked to acquire it, which is why the Fate Cards for technical advancements are short-lived. They are also random and unconnected because, again, civilizations did not “consciously” plan a path. However, we understand many gamers fond of civilization games like to focus on making those decisions rather than have them happen randomly. Consequently, here is what we recommend:

• Separate the Fate Cards into two decks.  All technology cards, mainly Competition “C” cards, but including others with a technical basis, are in one face down pile – this is the Technology Deck.  All others are in the traditional Fate Card Draw Deck.
  • For Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea (ACIS) there are 21 cards in the Technology Deck:

7 Land Improvement

26 Metal Forge: Armor

27 Improved Plow

36 Law Giver

46 Coinage

58 Radical Ideologies

63 Trading House

69 Chariots

70 Composite Bow

71 Armored Infantry

73 War Machines

75 Triremes

76 Navigator

78 Appian Way

79 Obsidian Quarry

80 Iron Mining

89 Siege Engines

90 Caravansary

91 Academy of Science

95 Architect

96 Healer

• For Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East (ACME -currently in playtest), there are 18 cards in the Technology Deck:

2 Gold Smith

5 Grand Astrologer

18 Breeder of Stallions

19 Giver of Laws

31 Armored Infantry

33 Siege Engines

34 Shield Bearers

36 Improved Bow

37 Light Chariots

38 Heavy Chariots

39 War Machines

56 Advanced Agriculture

57 Improved Irrigation

58 Coinage

59 Royal Roads

52 Wharves and Bridges

54 Canals and Qanats

62 Grain Storehouses

For more concerning Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East (ACME), see material within https://www.gmtgames.com/p-836-ancient-civilizations-of-the-middle-east.aspx. A number of the above listed cards, with the context of their playing, are noted in one or more of the pieces within GMT’s site for the game. 

When to Draw From Which Deck

During the initial Card Deal, each Epoch Card Deal, and each Card Draw Phase, civilizations may draw ONE card from the Technology Deck and the rest from the regular Fate Deck.  

The Caravansary, Academy of Sciences, and the Wonders Great Library and/or Mausoleum (or, in ACME: Deities) allow extra card draws. No more than one of the cards drawn may be drawn from the Technology Deck.

If a player elects to BUY a card, that civilization may choose from either deck, however a card purchased from the Technology deck costs two talents (minas in ACME) rather than the usual one.

Any Fate Card that allows a player to draw a new card must draw from the regular Fate Card deck.

All Must Play Event Cards remain in the regular Fate Card Draw Deck. 

Remember: Technology Cards that are played or discarded are placed in a separate Technology Discard pile. If the Technology Deck is empty, shuffle the cards in the Technology Discard pile to make a new deck. If there are NO Technology discards available to shuffle, any and all card draws MUST be made from the Fate Deck.

During the End of Epoch reshuffle, keep the two decks separate. If drawing for a Change of Epoch, draw from the Fate deck.

A Little Less Reshuffling of the Deck

The frequent reshuffling of cards is intentional as it increases the historically based unpredictability of the game. Players may agree in advance that any Fate Card that directs a card to be shuffled into the deck or a deck be reshuffled is ignored. Hence, reshuffles will most likely occur at the end of an Epoch or if a Draw Deck is exhausted. Note that if anyone builds the Mausoleum Wonder in ACIS (or the God of the Dead in ACME), removing those cards until change of Epoch further alters the game by reducing the value of that Wonder (or Deity).

Note that that the Barbarian invasion Event cards are designed to allow the player in last place to have a means of leveling the playing field of the game by afflicting other players, namely those with more or most VP, with these invasions. Of course, if using the Mausoleum Wonder in ACIS or the God of the Dead in ACME, removing those cards from discard until change of Epoch further alters the game since each invasion card will only be playable once per Epoch.

Shorter Game Turns – Shorter Game Duration

The full four-Epoch game can last several hours. If you have less time available, consider the options below: 

• Limit the number of Epochs to play. We estimate that one epoch of four turns will take about an hour each for very experienced players who minimize table talk. Many gamers enjoy games of two Epochs.
• Limit the time to play or set a specific time at which the game ends: e.g. three hours. This will work provided everyone is fair and towards the end of play everyone gets to finish their turn. Be fair and do not drag out your turn to burn out the clock so to speak!
• Set a Victory Point (VP) sudden death trigger for the win. For example, a short game would be concluded when the first player reaches 25 VPs. A moderate length game might be 50 VP, etc. 
• Play one of the many historical or sandbox scenarios that call for fewer turns. 
• Try “ACIS Express”, a new concept:
  • Deal one less card to each civilization than is called for in the rules for both the initial draw at the start, at the beginning of any Epoch, and during the card draw step of each turn.
  • Maximum Hand size is reduced to five cards, not six. 
  • An additional card is earned for every FIVE cities, not Four, a civilization has on the map.
  • Each Epoch lasts three turns, not four. The possible Sudden Death End of Epoch occurs only at the end of turn 2 of each Epoch.

Reduce the Chaos by Curtailing Fate

In ACIS and ACME a player directs the fate of a civilization across millennia. Even today earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, brush and forest fires, floods, famine, as well as human caused death and destruction occur with depressing regularity. With modern communications, transportation and wealth, most civilizations can mitigate or fend these off—but at a cost.

In ancient times, such disasters were not easily predictable nor could they be readily ameliorated. Each ACIS or ACME turn encompasses such a vast amount of time that within a turn much chaos should be expected. That is the environment in which the game’s ancient civilizations existed. Still, we understand some gamers like a more closed system, that is, one in which the players can count influencing factors upon their civilization and devise a strategy that will take them to victory. ACIS and ACME contain kernels of such an approach; but it has more to do with a balancing act within the game’s “arena of chaos” than a set of rules providing a more structured and stable playing field.

If players wish to reduce the chaos, (which the designers do not recommend but acknowledge there are gamers who may find such an environment preferable), then the main source of chaos, the Fate Cards and certain End of Epoch Events, can be mitigated. Here are some suggestions:

• Reduce the Fate Card hand size from six to four. Fewer events, temptation to back stab another player’s civilization, or card negating will occur. This will likely shorten the game as well. 
• Reduce the effect of Barbarian Invasion Event Cards by limiting them to a maximum of three stacks of four black disks each.
• Eliminate End of Epoch Events. There are not that many of them during a game, some are benign/positive, but the negative ones can wreak havoc on certain civilizations, as actually happened, for example, during the 12^th Century BCE. 
• Allow only one “C” Fate Card be played per civilization in each competition area. This makes competition a bit more deterministic, but civilizations may still offset losses with discard of a Fate Card or money (talents in ACIS and minas in ACME). Those who prefer competition to be purely deterministic could, of course, agree to limit the number of moneys or Fate Cards that could be used in each competition as well.

The preceding can be used as a “menu” to make your game less chaotic. Please feel free to use ACIS’ “sandbox” of rules/components to make a game to you and your gaming friends’ best enjoyment!

“A Coming Attraction”: Optional Culture Tracks

The Design/Development Team, after final design and extensive play testing, plans InsideGMT introduction of one other concept: Culture Tracks. ACIS and ACME as originally designed are basically games of extensive expansion and building of Cities for Victory Points.

For those who want more options in designing their civilization, there will be a different approach offered for a player to develop their civilization,  Culture Tracks, which will present three or more levels of culture: A) Military-Political, B) Economic-Social, and C) Religious-Intellectual. There will be four or more boxes along each track. Civilizations may choose to ignore these tracks altogether or try to advance along one or more them by investing their civilization’s resources. 

It will cost resources to move up each track, and the cost increases with each level as cultural complexity demands additional resources to advance. There will be rewards for civilizations as they advance to recoup those costs over time. However, there will be one additional benefit. A civilization that reaches the top box on all the tracks to assume leadership of them all will automatically and immediately win the game regardless of victory points by virtue of cultural dominance. Call this Pax Romanum, the Mandate of Heaven or the King of the Four Corners of the World, if you like. This is still under development and may be released as an optional rule for ACME and back fitted to ACIS. Watch InsideGMT for more regarding this fun and exciting option which will add another puzzle component to optimally playing the game.

The designers and developer hope that you find something intriguing in these suggested approaches to making ACIS, and later ACME, differently enjoyable. Please use the section InsideGMT provides at the conclusion of this article to pose any question and/or requirement for additional information you may have.  

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