106 AD · Sarmizegetusa, Dacia
The Dacian capital fell after its water supply was cut; King Decebalus took his own life rather than be captured, ending Dacian independence.
The peace of 102 AD left Decebalus his kingdom and Rome its grievance. When he moved against Roman allies and rebuilt what the treaty forbade, Trajan returned in 105 with a far larger force and no intention of negotiating.
Sarmizegetusa Regia sat high in the Orăștie Mountains, ringed by fortresses and terraced sanctuaries — the political and religious centre of the kingdom.
The Romans took the outlying forts one by one and closed the ring, then did the thing that decided it: they cut the pipes carrying water to the citadel.
The defence collapsed with the water supply. The city was taken and burned, and Decebalus fled north with a small following. Run down by Roman cavalry, he took his own life rather than be captured — a scene shown on Trajan's Column, and the reason we know the face of the auxiliary who reached him first.
Dacian independence ended here. The kingdom became the province of Dacia, its gold went to Rome, and the war was commemorated in the capital on a scale that says how much it had been worth winning.
The scenario is a defence under pressure that gets worse with time: Dacia is strongest early and behind its walls, Rome wins by shutting down what keeps the defence standing.
The sides, the commanders and the siege are historical. Cards, energy and turns are the game's own language, and a siege that took weeks becomes a match of minutes.