Between purchases on Amazon for Memoir '44 expansions (yes, I have gone deep down the rabbit hole - free shipping to New Zealand is a big draw!) and picking up various books and things I came across a little game on the Persian invasions of Greece called 300: Earth and Water.
I have always been interested in these campaigns, right from when I was a youngster reading about Leonidas at the Hot Gates, or Themistocles at Salamis. I think I borrowed the Peter Green book from the library when I was at Intermediate school, and even wrote a poem in an 'epic' style for English class, which amusingly enough relied entirely on a (mis)pronunciation of Thermopylae (Therm-o-PY-lae) for its meter.
It is a nice package. An attractive mounted map which extends to a little over A4 size, well-produced cards, and coloured wooden cubes and rounds representing armies and fleets make up the playing area and pieces. The rules are only a few pages long, supplemented by some historical commentary.
The cards - just sixteen of them - drive the game and are used either as events or to activate armies or fleets for movement and/or combat.
There are five campaigns (or turns if you like) during which players purchase armies, fleets and cards to play, play them, and then score points for areas occupied at turn's end. The Persians have greater purchasing power and a larger stock of armies, but the Greeks have advantages in combat and more efficient lines of supply.
The object of the game is to occupy the two enemy home cities or else win on points at the end of the five campaigns. The rules are simple, but offer wide scope for different strategies to be employed by both sides.
I have played one test game so far, which was won by the Persians. I was just learning the rules and the cards rather than playing optimally, so I wouldn't read anything into the result.
Once you know what you are doing I think you could easily finish a game in half an hour. If you had the armies in miniature it could work well as a campaign game battle-generator.
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| The board at end of my learning game. |
I'm quite pleased with it. It is compact, clever, and will require thoughtful play. I hope that the system will be used for other campaigns as well, and it could be used to generate home-made scenarios with a bit of tweaking.
Now I just have to convince someone to play it with me!
