Vex Capture

Capture the Vex

Vex Concept:

In order to add even more undercurrent to the event, and particularly to make sure the guards are paying attention and the Britons have a goal on friday, we have made four red wool standards that are roughly 14 inches by 48 inches. They are this size so no other standard can be mistaken for them. Each has SPQR in big white letters and a image at the bottom, as well as a colored stripe (Silver, Yellow, Blue, Green) to differentiate them. Two will be in the fortress, and two will be held by the Britons at the start of the scenario friday morning. Throughout the day friday and Saturday, each side will attempt to beg, borrow, bribe, or steal the standards. The new "control" rules below are being tried this year.

General Rules:

Standards must be unrolled and displayed when in the camps, and cannot be hidden. They may be displayed in a tent or structure, but must be openly visible to onyone who looks in. They MAY NOT BE Placed on any Pole with a metal tip wether it is sharp or not.

The Purpose of stealing a Standard is to show it off. Once you have it, it must be taken to your camp and displayed by the most reasonable (reasonable, not direct, but reasonable) route possible. You cannot put the four of them in your pants and hide in Carl's house or march in circles for hours.

On friday, absolutely no combat can be involved in Vex Capture. You must use wits, skill, money, or blind luck. If a Roman patrol outnumbers the Britons, they may take it outright and vice versa and spread the hate. No bloodshed (real or NF) is allowed friday.

If you have the bullocks to grab it out of the principia and run out the gate, any two Romans that confront you "out number" you and get to take it back. We do not want tackling and fighting over them. Any guards that allow this may as well as fall on their own NF sword....

No other items may be "stolen" from camps. So limit your foraging to the special Vexis (one exception here are the weapon crates, but that is part of the scenario and will be handled by commanders. You can not steal the "weapon boxes" by yourself, they are too heavy)

If you are killed via NF on saturday while holding the vex, you must drop it immediately, on the ground, in the open. You do not get to hide it under you or in a bush or hole or pass it off. Your partner can pick it up. You can of course pass it off BEFORE you are dead or as you are being killed.

The vex may be rolled up and concealed only in a bag or like carried item. It CANNOT be concealed in your clothing (I mean really... you want the guards ripping off your pants?) If you were real britons, you wouldn't have any pants anyway...

Other rules deemed necessary may be enforced by the event staff with notice to all participants.

On Saturday, NF armed personnel may engage in combat over the standards. Once we "go to war" after lunch, the Vex Capture ends. Point is moot, as we will be slaughtering all the Britons anyway...

New Vex Capture Rules (New for 2011)

1) The celts would place their flags in positions of their choosing anywhere they wanted. The flags would have to be easily visible and have to stay where they were placed. These flags would represent the "controllable" resources of the local tribe. They should be placed in areas that make sense as well. The Oppida flag should be inside the Oppida. Livestock needs to be protected from wildlife and thieves... this should be taken into account. You can't hide an entire field of crops... this banner should be somewhere in the open. The sacred grove is a bit different... it has a lot more options but the key is that the banner can't be hidden in the underbrush. Sacred groves were well trafficked areas.

2) Our banners would be hung openly inside of the fort and would represent our strength and ability to control and dominate the celts if necessary.

3) Both sets of banners, Celtic and Roman are able to be captured. If the respective banners are captured then they are under the control of the capturing force. The capture rules differ between the two forces and are explained below.

3a) The Celtic banners are captured by having a roman banner placed over top of them. This indicates that Rome is now in control of that particular resource. We can't remove Celtic banners from their location because the banners represent renewable resources. The only banner that falls outside of this classification for the Celts is the Sacred Grove banner. If Rome finds the Scared Grove and decides to defile it then it is removed from play. A defiled Sacred Grove would be a significant blow for a society who's Gods were important to them.

3b) Roman banners can be captured by stealing them from the fort or taking them when they are being transferred on the march. If we are in a live steel situation they can be captured by having superior numbers. If we are in needlefelt then they are captured by taking them in combat. If a roman banner is placed over a Celtic banner the Roman banner can be removed by the Celts. If it is removed it must be returned to the Roman fort. It can't just be thrown in the field. Honour is an important element for this to work. If a roman banner is captured through combat or theft then that banner is permanently removed from play therefore representing a loss in Rome's ability to achieve "total" victory

Rome will start with one banner in play at the Celtic Oppida. This represents that we are in control of their village because the chieftain has decided to ally with Rome and submit to our order.