ONUS! Rome Vs Carthago: English Version of the game

[Jose Manuel Moreno]

Greetings friends!

I’m Jose Manuel from Spain. I’m part of Draco Ideas, a new Spanish publisher. We publish last year our first game: ONUS Rome VS Carthao.

We introduce you this game that is very well known in Spain, has good reviews and that we will produce in English after summer, along with two expansions

ONUS! is a wargame similar to miniature games, where both sides fight an old age battle. The game is based on the II Punic War mainly, although battles from III to I B.C centuries could be simulated. The game concept combines both orders and events cards, that makes each game different and each combat unpredictable and exciting.

YOUTUBE (texts in Spanish)

The game has:
A rule book with some battles (40 pages)
A quick guide (4 pages)
1-player rules (4 pages)
90 unit cards
6 help cards
72 action and event cards
4 wooden dice
Cloth bag
Over 130 counters
Rules
Box size: 23x15x5.5cm
Number of players: 1-4
Play time: >30m
Minimum age: 12
Box weight. 0,6Kg

ONUS! has a strategic component similar to that of a miniature game such as Warhammer Fantasy, Fields of Glory or the like, because it allows us to extend formations, change them (wall of shields, phalanx, arrow, square formation), or flank enemies using a special counter. In addition we have to decide how to play the order/event cards. They will allow us to give orders to our army and to change the combats and shootings with special features such as ambush, lancers against mounted units, wounding the officials or the general, reinforcing a unit, making a unit veteran, etc.
ORDERS allow us to activate units in order to be able to charge, move, heal, change formations, shoot, etc…
EVENTS allow us to change a combat adding bonuses or penalties to the dice rolls. For example we can play the event “Wind changes” when the enemy shoots us and she will have some penalties. Or if we charge against a most powerful unit than ours we could use the event “Harangue” that means that our official cheers up our soldiers giving us some attack bonuses.

HELP CARD with bonuses/penalties and turn phases: http://onusgame.com/juego/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/help-card.pdf

We will launch a Kickstarter campaign in a few months in order to get enough financial support to produce it in English. And to produce the Persian and Greek expansion and the Scenarios one (with fortresses, woods, assault towers, rams, fire shooting, assault rules, etc..(similar to the Total War videogame! )

Here you can download the quick guide to know more about ONUS!: http://onusgame.com/juego/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/quick-guide.pdf

[Mike]

Cheers for sharing!

[Guy Farrish]

Looks interesting.

Have to say I am not a fan of Kickstarter – if it is a success in Spain already why do you need to go that route?

Sorry – that sounds negative and you no doubt have your reasons. I guess I am somewhat old fashioned in my approach – if there is a product I like the look of I will buy it – but I’m not in the habit of funding a start up business.

Having said that I would like to play this so Good luck.

Hope it takes off.

[Jose Manuel Moreno]

Greetings friends,

Thank you for your answers.

Guy, unfortunately we are a small publisher called Draco Ideas. This game was our first game, and we have to start a crowfounding campaign to produce it. Release a international version requires an important logistic effort to release the game.

Together the english language version of the game we are working in new features and expansion like Greeks-Persian ones.

I will keep you informed.

Thank you for your words!!

[Norm S]

Looks interesting and well produced. Good luck with getting this out.

[Cerdic]

It does look very professionally presented for a small company. Best of luck with it!

http://28mmreview.blogspot.co.uk

[Jose Manuel Moreno]

Thank you again for your kind words.

We will post more information here and you can also take a look in http://www.onusgame.com and http://www.facebook.com/OnusWorld and @ONUSenglish in Twitter.

We want to let you know what and how it is ONUS. We will launch a Kickstarter campaign in a few months in order to get enough financial support to produce it in English. And to produce the Persian and Greek expansion and the Scenarios one (with fortresses, woods, assault towers, rams, fire shooting, assault rules, etc..(similar to the Total War videogame! )
Here you can download the quick guide to know more about ONUS!: http://onusgame.com/juego/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/quick-guide.pdf

HELP CARD with bonuses/penalties and turn phases: http://onusgame.com/juego/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/help-card.pdf

Battle pic

Some pics of the game

Have a nice day!

[Jose Manuel Moreno]

Grretings friends,

Here you have more photos of the released Spanish version of the game.

Map of the Mediterranean Sea with the 5 more important battles during the II Punic War, included in the game:

Game festival in Spain

Other pics of ONUS battles!

[Jose Manuel Moreno]

Salutem Civium!

In this message, we are going to introduce you 3 of the units of the game:
Sagittarii was the name given to archers during the Ancient Republic of Rome. They were part of the auxiliary troops giving support to the legionaries. Most of the archers were infantry and therefore pedestrians.
http://onusgame.com/juego/reviews/sagittarii-archers/

Los Punic archers of Carthage: Carthaginians should know how to use the composite bow, of Semite origin, although its use was not very common among the mercenaries.
It has been written about Cretan archers among the defending army at Siracuse, during Marcus Claudius Marcelllus siege.
http://onusgame.com/juego/reviews/punic-archers/

And the Lusitan infantry of Carthage: Lusitan infantry is a skirmisher unit, light and fast, skilled for ambushes and fast retreats. Anong their equipment they had a small shield, concave in the front and with a diameter of 2 ft, that they carried over the shoulders with the help of straps. They also had a dagger or a knife and several javelins. Most of them had a linen armor.
http://onusgame.com/juego/reviews/lusitan-infantry/

[Jose Manuel Moreno]

Hi all!

We are working in the illustrations for the ONUS! expansion ‘Scenery and fortresses’

Here you can see a testing version of the wooden fortress. It will be made of small pieces that you can assemble together creating the fortress you wish.

In the enclosed image there is a Roman triarii ready to begin the assault. Once it touches the wall it faces it using the marks that the wall has. These marks allow both the defender and the attacker to line up with the wall.

Defenders inside fortresses can overlap themselves. In the image 3 sections of the Celtiberian infantry and 4 sections of the Sacred batallion defend this area of the wall. The section that is below the friendly unit due to the overlapping can’t attack or be attacked. It would be similar to beingpositiones behind the friendly unit. Defenders are placed both over and behind the walls.

If the wall is attacked by onagers or ballistas then the defenders will suffer collateral damage.

In the image’s example, when the Roman faces the wall she can decide whether trying to damage the wall with fire or other means or climbing it. In this case we will use a counter to show that the unit is climbing. The defender, in her turn, will be able to attack the Roman from above (she doesn´t need an action to do it) and there will be no counterattack by the Roman.

In her next turn, the Roman will have climbed one level (being on top of the wall) and she will be able to attack (without using any action cards) but after the defender´s attack. So the deffender attacks first, then the Roman makes a morale check (if wounded) and finally she will attack. At the end of the turn the unit most wounded will make a final morale check. The defender has +1/+1 to armor values due to the wall’s cover.

These are the general guidelines for assaulting a fortress.

To be continued…

[Jose Manuel Moreno]

Hi!!!!

We have updates about the expansions!!!:

– In the expansion Greece & Persia we will include at least 6 new generals: 2 from Athens, 2 from Sparta and 2 from Persia. To be able to play battles with different generals (the new ones, the standard ones and Scipio and Hannibal) we have created a recruitment cost system. This way we will be able to play battles using generals of different eras.

Generals will be represented with counters and we will add a general card, with an illustration, its recruitment cost, its moral range, its bonuses, its leadership value and special skills they may have.

Would you like to know the special skill of Leonidas or Themistocles?

– In the Scenery & buildings expansion we are still working in the design. Here you can find some river tiles. There will be plenty of them so we will be able to design the river we want. There will be areas to cross them and bridges too. But watch out! wood bridges can be set on fire and stone bridges can be blown off with onagers

And here you can see the promotional clip. We hope you enjoy it

[Jose Manuel Moreno]

Hi!

We have almost decided the start date of the new ONUS crowdfunding campaign: October, 9th at 17.00 CET.

This campaign contains the ONUS 1st English edition and the 2nd Spanish one plus the expansions Greece & Persia and Sceneries & Buildings in both languages. All this will be available separately or in several packs depending on what you would like to get.

We are currently working in the units and generals illustrations. Generals will be more important in the game and they will have its own recruitment cost.

There will be new rules, mainly within the Sceneries & Buildings expansion. An example of this is the following combat sequence by a river and a bridge:

1. Romans move towards the river. Cavalry with the extended formation on the left side and the triarii ready to cross the river

2. The Lusitan infantry pivots backwards, then moves forward and shoot their javelins (inflicting 1 wound). Afterwards they move backwards (due to being skirmishers). The archers shoot (1 more wound) and the phalanx gets closer to the bridge

3. The Roman cavalry charges against the Lusitan infantry, flanking them and rolling 6 dice. After the attack the Lusitans flee and have 4 wounds. The triarii gets closer to the bridge and charges with 2 sections (the bridge size doesn´t allow more sections to engage in combat

Just to finish this post, a question for you: Do you know these folks?

To be continued…..

[Jose Manuel Moreno]

Greetings!

We already have a start date for the ONUS Kickstarter campaign: October, the 14th. From that date you will be able to reserve a copy of the game and be a project backer. The game will be available in both English or Spanish language.

Share this with your friends!

But the Kickstarter campaign will not only let you get the game. Further to it 2 new expansions will be released. Here you have the Scenery & Fortreses cover. It shows all you can find in it: siege and assault rules, bridges and rivers, woods, and much more…

And don’t forget the Greeks & Persian expansion too!

[Jose Manuel Moreno]

Now in ONUS! the figure of the GENERAL becomes even more prevalent. With the upcoming expansions and since each General has his unique set of skills, there will be a modifier depending on the General and the number of points of your army. Hannibal and Scipio are well balanced.

But, what will happen with the new Generals included in the Greece expansion and those that may be unblocked in the upcoming Kickstarter campaign?

Leonidas, Themistocles, Xerxes, Mardonius, Lysander…

You have to carefully choose your General and your army to win the battle!

[Noel]

This looks like it could be a lot of fun.

[Jose Manuel Moreno]

Thank you!

[Jose Manuel Moreno]

Greetings friends,

Are you ready for ONUS?

ONUS! Rome Vs Carthage Kickstarter campaign has just started! You can see all the details about it here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dracoideas/786963334?token=ab0cd58c

There are some pledge levels, and stretch goals waiting for you. 2 new expansion packs are available: ONUS! Scenery & Fortresses and ONUS! Greeks & Persians.

We hope you find everything interesting!

Best regards,

Jose Manuel

[malc johnston]

Interesting stuff

Willyoupleasehelpmefixmykeyboard?Thespacebarisbroken!

[Jose Manuel Moreno]

Thank you Malc!

We are updating the project at the KS page. Now you can find Rams, and soon more information about scenery & fortresses expansion pack.

[Jose Manuel Moreno]

Goal Hit! Time to improve ONUS!

Many thanks to all the backers! Onus! and its two expansions will be edited thanks to your support.

We inform you of a new Stretch Goal that will be unlocked if we get 300 retweets of this tweet

https://twitter.com/OnusEnglish/status/656429745819787264

It is a new unit, the Gladiators, mercenaries used mainly by the Romans. These soldiers were former prisoners, slaves or criminals that were recruited when there was an urgency. They can also be played in battles against Rome. They are a fast unit, carrying light armor, professionals and with an extra skill. Backers will receive 3 cards of this unit.

And we’ve just unlocked the first stretch goal at 21.000 USD!

At KS project we have uploaded some pics of units belonging to the base game and the cards showing different bonuses and penalties that apply when rolling dice at combats.

[Thaddeus Blanchette]

This game looks very cool and I am probably going to buy it, but… ONUS?

Really guys?

You realize that this game is going to be rebaptized, worldwide, as ANUS? Like, as soon as it hits the shelves?

I mean, not to be an asshole, butt….

We get slapped around, but we have a good time!

[Noel]

Despite being essentially free, it seems that dictionaries are woefully underused, these days.

[Jose Manuel Moreno]

When we chose ONUS we played on words. ONUS in English means burden and in Spanish means ‘carga’. But ‘carga’ in Spanish has several meanings. One of them is ‘charging’. Therefore we chose ONUS with the meaning of ‘charging’

[Noel]

It’s a good name.

[Lagartija Mike]

Well, at least it wasn’t “ANALINGUS”, the game of ancient backdoor diplomacy.

[Thaddeus Blanchette]

Noel wrote:

Despite being essentially free, it seems that dictionaries are woefully underused, these days.

Give me some credit, Noel. I know what “onus” means. In three languages, no less. And the average gamer looking at it on the shelf also probably knows what “onus” means and he will still call the game “ANUS“.

Explaining what the word means makes you guys sound like the publishers of that old board game Cape Horn, complaining that “people don’t understand that Cape Horn is a place! It really truly is! Gosh, don’t people look at maps anymore?”

Well guess what? Gamers DO look at maps and read dictionaries. Cape Horn is still, to this day, universally known as Gay Porn and ONUS will be ANUS.

It’s like you guys never watched a bunch of grown gamers playing Settlers of Catan and chuckling over “wood for sheep”, fer chrissakes.

My suggestion? Once you got the thing funded, change the name. It’s a pretty esoteric play on words which isn’t that funny in any case. But I guarantee you, based on my decade of experience selling games for Devir Livraria, gamers will be chuckling about ANUS everywhere, except perhaps for Spain and its ex-colonies… and I have my doubts about them, too.

Hell, even in Portuguese “Onus” is “Ônus”….

 

We get slapped around, but we have a good time!

[paintpig]

I’m tempted to hit the KS button a mix between board game, turn based tactical video game and Impetus….. my three favourite time wasting past times. Our group spends a couple of months a year ditching mini’s for board games so I might pick up a copy of ONUS.

Sorry Thaddeus,  apparently I’m not a dedicated bored gamer  …..I could forgo the temptation to be an arsehole

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel
Slowly Over A Low Flame

[Noel]

Thaddeus, not everyone does this with names and — by your own examples — the people that do will do it no matter what the name of the game is.

Give me some credit, Noel.

What credit should I give you when all you really have done here is needlessly put the manufacturer on the defensive because you could not refrain from twisting the name?

 

 

[Thaddeus Blanchette]

Noel, no they won’t. Sorry. I sold games for a decade and believe me, there are certain names — like Cape Horn — that just scream out for parody.

And seriously, man: I am giving the manufacturer free advice, which is worth every penny he pays for it. But I am definitely not “twisting” the name in order to put the manufacturer on the defensive: I am simply the first to publicly point out what everyone will be saying.

You can pretend that is not the case if you like, but it damned well is. And yes, it is immature. But then again, gamers are extremely well known for our maturity, aren’t we? Especially the demographic this game seems to be going for, which isn’t exactly the WRG Nth edition crowd.

I am sorry to be the one to bring the bad news, but killing the messenger isn’t going to help in this case. And it’s not my money and my creative efforts going into the project, nor my name on the box, so I guess I shouldn’t care, but old habits die hard. And again, the immaturity factor might not have any impact at all on sales, or even give the game a small boost. Who knows?

But “ANUS”is going to be the game’s nickname. On that you can bank.

All this brings up yet another concern, however, which is the competency level of the translation. I would urge the manufacturers to have a native speaking language professional look the text over and clean it up before it goes to press. It really doesn’t do much for my confidence to see Zé Manuel promise that ONUS will allow us to “fight an old age battle”. Thanks, but no thanks, Zé. I am already doing that. 😉

But what the hell do I know? I mean, aside from the hundred or so scientific translations that I have done from Portuguese to English, I’m only the guy who playtested/cleaned the translations for GURPS, World of Darkness, Paranoia, Magic the Gathering and several other Devir game releases.

It’s not like I have any long-term or extensive translation or marketing experience in the gaming field, neh?

We get slapped around, but we have a good time!

[Thaddeus Blanchette]

And by the way, if you think that telling a publisher to pay a native speaker to revise a translation is a bit of obvious advice, let me assure you, it isn’t. Especially in this day and age of Google Translate where pretty much everyone thinks they can muddle their way through. I hope that in the budget for ONUS’ kickstarter there’s a line item for professional translation revision, but if Zé and the crew actually did that, in my experience, they’d be in the minority of publishers. Hardly anyone pays for revision these days, or even does it. At best, they pass the job off to a friend because they have no idea as to the work it entails and they think that it can be done in a couple of hours during his spare time.

That might be acceptable for most projects these days, but it isn’t acceptable for complex, rules-driven systems like games, for reasons which should be obvious.

By the looks of things, ONUS is a rich and fairly complex system. It will sink or swim based on the legibility and clarity of its rules translation. So please, guys, don’t skimp in this department.

We get slapped around, but we have a good time!

[Jose Manuel Moreno]

Hi,

A new stretch goal has been unlocked!! We go for Persian chariots units!!

Please, don’t worry about rules and components. My English isn’t so good, but rules and game components shall be revised by a native before go to printer.

 

[Thaddeus Blanchette]

Glad to hear it, Zé! I am looking forward to this!

I was up in Madrid in June and was very, very impressed by Spain’s gaming scene. It is really great to see all the games that are coming out in Spain these days and many of them would have a much larger market, if translated.

Even if you guys hire a professional reviser, however, my advice is give the translated and revised version to a bunch of native-speaking gamers who don’t know the system and ask them to circle any doubts.

At Devir, we had that problem. Our translating staff were all hyper-competent translators, but none of them were gamers. One of my major jobs, then, was to take their translations and make sure their obsession with grammar didn’t fuck up the rules.

Gaming grammar is different from regular people grammar, so make sure you pass it by some native speaking gamers, too. Those guys, you can probably pay in product.

And if you need anyone in that respect, me, me me! 🙂

We get slapped around, but we have a good time!

[Thaddeus Blanchette]

And it’s “Lusitanian” infantry, btw, gajo, not “Lusitan”. 😉

We get slapped around, but we have a good time!

[Lagartija Mike]

HIJOLE!

[Jose Manuel Moreno]

Greetings friends!!

We are pleased to announce that another Stretch Goal has been unlocked, so now the expansion Scenery & Fortresses will have 2 additional new bridges.

Also, there will be new dice for the base game and ONLY FOR BACKERS,
customized cloth bags with imprinted Rome and Carthage logos. But that´s not all… we have also a new King: Philip II (father of Alexander the Great).

He belongs to a later era and is the first one of a new army, the warlike Macedonians.

We are working on the illustrations of the Greeks & Persians expansion, both represented in the box cover and also in some of the units, once the playtesting process has finished. As an example, here you can see  the Spartan Hoplites and the status of the sketch drawing of the box cover at present.

Coming soon we will have a new addon, available to all backers. A 75×75 cm(29.5×29.5 inches) playmat at a very low price. Built with waterproof material, it doesn´t wrinkle, regardless how many times and for how long you fold it. Easy to store as there is no need to roll it up and handy to carry.
A great addon nobody should miss!

For stores we have added a new pack, containing 3 base game plus 2 expansions of each type.

And now, time to give some insights about the  new SG. The target has been set at 30.000$ and it does offer:

· For the Greeks and Persians expansion, a new Athenian unit (4x
Peltasts). They were Tracian soldiers that fought as light infantry.

· For the Scenery & Fortresses expansion, a new Campaign Rulebook
and the Hispania Campaign, comprised by 8 scenarios (starting with The Siege of Saguntum)

[Jose Manuel Moreno]

Greetings friends!!

We have news from you. A new stretch goal has been unlocked: Persian War Chariots and General Regulus has arrived to ONUS!

Further to it we have added 2 playmats. You just need to add them as an add on on your pledges and enjoy ONUS! a bit more.

It is 75x75cm (29.5×29.5in). It doesn´t wrinkle, it is waterproof, it can be folded…

We hope to unlock soon the new SG: including in the Greeks & Persians expansion the general Mardonius and 3 cards of Cretan Archers within the mercenaries. Mardonius was a good commander in Darius I army. He fought close to Xerxes in the Persian Wars when invading Greece.

Thank you for your support!!

[Jose Manuel Moreno]

Greetings friends,

As requested by several backers we are going to add a new add-on. 6 Armies Deck Boxes. The add-on price is 9$ for the set of 6 boxes. These deck boxes are 92x20x67mm (5.9×0.8×2.6″). They are big enough to contain our army units with or with no plastic cover. They will come in  layers so they are not damaged during shipping. All you will have to do is fold them. If you remove the base game inlay that comes with the box you can have the 6 deck boxes inside and the  rest of the components as well.

We have 1 new unit just designed: The Peripolos. They are mercenaries. A light infantry unit, skirmishers, and with javelins. Young soldiers, with high morale and life values that were seen quite often fighting along the Greeks as special forces or securing the borders.

We update you about the new 34000$ SG and the new social Stretch Goal to unlock Alexander the Great and 2x Macedonian Companions Cavalry!

This SG will be unlocked when we reach 300 likes in https://www.facebook.com/ONUS.World and this post is shared 200 times https://www.facebook.com/ONUS.World/posts/1071561096187606

THANKS for sharing it!!!

[Jose Manuel Moreno]

Here you have Persians & Greeks cover:

The last week of the KS is coming… and there are a lot of surprises waiting for you!

[Jose Manuel Moreno]

Greetings friends!!

This is the last KS week!!

We have finally unlocked  the facebook SG and we will have Alexander the Great and 2x Macedonian Companions Cavalry

We have unlocked the 32000 SG  as well: 2  watchtowers for the S&F expansion and just for backers Hamilcar the Carthaginian, father of Hannibal Barca, who fought against the Romans during the I  Punic War. He took part in the Mercenaries War and conquered part of Iberia.

We need some more backers to help us unlocking the Twitter SG. We need 300 shares and there are 130 left. They are needed to unlock 3x Gladiators

https://twitter.com/OnusEnglish/status/656429745819787264

Thanks all once more!!

[Jose Manuel Moreno]

Greetings friends,

We have unlocked a new SG: 2x Hippeis Cavalry for the G&P expansion, 4 lake tiles for the S&F one and 3 rulers for the new armies

The new unlockable SG has many tiles to be  able  to build  our own stone fortress, the Spartan general Lysander and 2x Macedonian Hypaspists and we are so close to unlock it too!!

We have a sketch of the watchtower (that can be used to place a unit) and a tile of the stone  fortress

And two new units ready to fight: Athenian Cavalry and Melophores Guard

Thanks for your support!!

[Author]

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