Stats:
No. of players: 1
Amount of time to play: 60-90 min per Act
Age requirements: 14+
Set-up time: 5-10 min

Hoplomachus Victorum is a solo campaign game of gladiatorial combat set in a mythological version of classical antiquity. You play as a hero who travels through different regions engaging in tactical arena battles or deadly combat. Over the course of 4 acts, each consisting of 12 weeks, you will build a squad of combat units, face mini-bosses and face off against the final boss.

Hoplomachus Victorum Rules Description:

To begin Hoplomachus Victorum you must first pick the hero you want to play. Heroes begin with a few neutral units, three prowess cards, and three tactics. Neutral units join you in battle, tend to be weaker than other units, and don’t get benefits in any of the arenas. Prowess cards grant you innate bonuses that are specific to your hero. Tactics are one-use bonuses or penalties that you can add to both friendly and enemy units during events.

Then you pick three random Primuses (mini-bosses) and a Scion (big bad) to face off against. The game is broken into four acts which are broken into 12 weeks (or rounds). Before the 12th week of each act you must travel to the region of one the Primuses and face off against them. At the end of the fourth and final act you must travel to the capital of Vesuvius and take on the Scion.

Each round is broken into three phases, Travel, Event, and Cleanup. Your hero starts in the capital of their region. In the Travel you must move one space on the world map and cannot backtrack. Each space is marked with a sport, bloodshed, or opportunity icon which determines the type of event you’ll resolve in the next step. Each region of the world map has an associated arena. These arenas have special rules and give bonuses to units from that region (locals).

The Event phase is played out slightly differently depending on the type of event you are resolving. At sporting events you draw the top sporting event card. It will tell you the specific type of event you can choose (King of the Hill, Capture the Flag, or Spar), the number of local and random enemy units you’ll face off against, and if your enemies have tactics. One of these units will be the Tribute. If you take out the Tribute there are harsh penalties. The card also shows the number of units you can recruit to the event and any special rules or conditions for that event.
King of the Hill events entail controlling specific hexes in the arena at the start of your turn, gaining a point for each you do. Get to six points and you win the event.
Capture the Flag events require you to get from your starting area to the enemies, pick up the flag, and return it to your starting area.
Spar events call for you to eliminate all but the Tribute unit.
Sporting events are non-deadly for your units. They are knocked out but not killed and if you win, you can recruit one of the opposing units you faced or refill your tactic tokens.

Bloodshed events are similar to Spar events except they are deadly and you must eliminate all enemy units. There is no tribute and winning lets you increase one of your stats.

Opportunity events let you draw two opportunity cards and keep one. They have a goal on them that lets you claim a reward once the goal is met. These rewards include special prowess cards, unique units, and unique tactics.

After the Event phase is over you mark a week off your hero sheet and collect rewards or punishment based on the success or failure of the event.

Combat begins with the opponent adding their first unit to the board. You also place health chips under the unit equal to its health stat. Units enter play dazed and cannot take any actions on the round they enter the arena. For your first turn you may add a unit to the arena. Next turn for the opponent will be to add another unit and move and attack if possible with the unit they placed in the first turn. They may also place tactics and where they move and who they attack is based on the arena and event. Every arena details the priority for enemy units. On every turn a non-dazed unit may move and then attack. Movement, range, and the dice used for attacking are on a unit’s chip. Units also have skills that will help them in a fight and there is a sheet that details all of these. You continue to add enemy units every round until you add the number shown on the event card. You may add units up to the number shown on the event card.

Some turns you might be too beat up to take on an event. In this case you can spectate. This doesn’t advance the week, heals your hero, and adds to the scion’s influence. Based on the Act you are in, you mark off spots on the Scion Influence track. Certain spaces on this track require you to add Bane tokens into the units bag. As you would expect these are bad for you when drawn. You may also give up but this also adds Scion Influence equal to the current Act. If your hero is ever killed you may use one of your Blessings to fully heal them. You start with eight, four, or one Blessing depending on difficulty.

Primus fights take place as soon as you enter the capital of their region. They are always Bloodshed events and you cannot give up. Primus’s health and the units they add to the combat are in the rulebook and they get more difficult each Act. Each Act also increases the difficulty of events by adding units to their lineup, deploying 2 units on the first turn, and giving them extra health.

At the end of Act four you must face off against the Scion. You may not give up and you may not use Blessings. Instead any remaining Blessings are used to remove Banes from the game. Scions roll a bunch of dice and then resolve them step by step. Then it is your turn. You may deploy your units in any order but there is a limit on the number of units you may add to the arena based on the Scion you are fighting. This is a winner take all combat and you either win or lose the game based on its outcome.

Quick Review of Hoplomachus Victorum:

Hoplomachus: Victorum is a fun and engaging solitaire board game. It features tactical gameplay, squad building, and hero progression. It takes some careful planning and a bit of luck to get to and beat the final boss. This game is not overly complex but there is a lot to track. The rules description above is not exhaustive but explains the main rules in the game.

The components for this game are premium. The weighted plastic chips and neoprene mats are not just durable. Everything looks really good and of top-notch quality. The rule book is well-written and easy to follow. This video is a great help to get an understanding of the flow and basic understanding of the game. I do wish some rules were highlighted more and easier to find. I often play with my laptop nearby to google rules.

I really like the squad construction you can do in this game. You will need to build (and rebuild) an effective team. Being able to spend a Blessing to fill out your squad was something I missed early on but it could have a big impact. Hero progression is always fun in games and there are some different ways you can build out each unique hero. Some of how your team and hero get flushed out is driven by completing Opportunity Events. This adds a random element to team construction. I don’t mind this but it is good to be aware of it going in.

Hoplomachus: Victorum has a ton of replay value. There are eight heroes and scions to pit against each other and decks of random Sport and Bloodshed events that will play out differently based on the arena where they occur. And as mentioned above, there are a variety of Opportunity Events to resolve to gain different bonuses. You can even play the game on three difficulties.

The biggest drawback of this game is its length. It takes about 60 to 90 minutes per Act. So it is a time investment. As you play the game moves quickly enough but can feel like a bit of a grind. Spending a lot of time fighting in a region helps you beat the Primus, but it can feel repetitive being in the same arena the majority of an Act. You can enter the capital to face off against the Primus at any time. But not spending the time to win events to level up seems like a losing strategy. I do like how easy it is to save the game whether at the end of an Act or any week.

I mentioned there are lots of things to track in this game. A few times I forgot rules on event cards. During my first play I forgot to add the Combat Act Modifiers at the beginning of Act Two. None of these things are the end of the world but often forgetting rules goes in your favor and I want to win playing correctly.

My other issues are mostly nitpicks. The world map is at the bottom of the play mat and often I would knock my marker off the current city while moving cards of units in the arena. I would have preferred this to be somewhere out of the way. The world map is at times hard to read. The dotted lines donating a route you can travel blend into the background in some regions.

If you are looking for a great solo board game with a bunch of replayabilty and excellent components, pick up Hoplomachus Victorum.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 5 out of 6
Luck 5 out of 6
Player Interaction N/A
Replay Value 5 out of 6
Complexity 5 out of 6
Fun 5 out of 6
Overall 5 out of 6