Pericles Playbook Final

PLAYBOOK
TABLEOFCONTENTS
14.0 Scenarios.........................................................2 18.0 Strategy Guide.................................................35
15.0 Solitaire & < 4-Player Rules...........................11 19.0 Designer Notes................................................38
16.0 Comprehensive Example of Play....................17 20.0 Bibliography....................................................43
17.0 Card Personalities...........................................30
2 Pericles Playbook
14.0 Scenarios 14.1 Thucydides Scenarios

(All Dates are BC)
(All Dates are BC)
Design Note: During the creation of Pericles I heard from
14.01 First Time Player Training many members of our tribe that they were intrigued by the
Before playing one of the main scenarios I suggest that you play period, but did not know much about it. I have found that his-
several short scenarios that are in 14.1, Thucydides Scenarios. torical gaming is enhanced by some knowledge of the events
I would play the following vignettes in the following order: being portrayed in the narrative. This led me to conclude that
A. 14.1.01, Turn 1B: The Ostracism of Thucydides (Political the designs entertainment value would be enhanced with more
only mini-scenario, 10 minutes) historical context and the inclusion of this series of scenarios.
B. 14.1.06, Turn 6B: Sparta Declares War (Political only mini- This scenario is an experiment in historical story telling, teach-
scenario, 10 minutes) ing the game, and offering player experiences that take 1 hour
C. 14.1.01, Turn 1A: The Battle for Central Greece (Theater or less to play. I have attempted to create interesting vignettes
War only mini-scenario, 20 minutes) and one- to two-turn scenarios that are focused on interesting
D. 14.1.09, Turn 9A: War in the Aegean (Theater War only mini periods of the historical narrative. The shorter scenarios are not
scenario, 30 minutes) always meant to be competitively balanced yet should still offer
E. 14.1.08, Turn 8A: War in a Time of Peace (One Turn interesting decisions and insights into how to develop your own
Scenario) strategy in the main scenarios. The Battle vignettes in particular
are illustrative examples meant to tell part of the historical nar-
F. 14.1.06, Turn 6A: The Archidamian War (Two Turn Scenario) rative and not meant for competitive play. On the other hand,
G. At this point you are ready to play any of the longer scenarios the single- and two-turn scenarios are competitively balanced
and the campaign game. where how you perform will determine the winner. Hopefully
Play Note: If you have four people, play A and B simultane- you will enjoy my little experiment with interactive history.
ously, the rest play with four. Historical Preamble
In 499 the Ionian Greeks revolted against their Persian overlords.
Phormio Play Note: Phormio works for any one or more turn Many of these City-States were of the same ethnic origin as
scenarios. If you have less than four humans for the shorter Athens. Athens supported the revolt and in 498 ravaged Sardis,
training scenarios, just have the missing Sides played by one the regional Persian capital. In 494 a resurgent Persia went on
of the players. the offensive and the revolt was extinguished under reasonable
14.02 Scenario Inventory terms in 493. However, the Persians now wanted to settle their
Scenario 14.1 is the Thucydides scenario that covers the score with Athens and in 490 sent an amphibious expedition
entire period of the war in short episodes lasting from a part across the Aegean Sea. This military expedition led to one of
of a game turn, one game turn, or two game turns. the most famous battles in Western history, Marathon. In this
pitched land battle the Athenian hoplites smashed the invasion
Scenario 14.2 is a three- to five-turn scenario covering the force and Persian aspirations in Greece for a decade.
1st Peloponnesian War.
Due to a Persian succession crisis precipitated by King Darius
Scenario 14.3 is a three- to five-turn scenario covering the
death the return match between Persia and Athens had to wait a
2nd Peloponnesian War.
decade. After killing many relatives and stabilizing the empire
Scenario 14.4 is the 7-10 turn Campaign scenario, called The the newly minted King Xerxes in 480 led a major invasion of
Suicide of Greece, covering the period from 460 to 401. Greece to deal with the Greek problem. This campaign saw
14.03 Plague in Scenarios a massive Persian army bridge the Hellespont, march through
All scenarios that begin after game turn 6 are under the Post- Northern Greece and encounter a joint Greek land-naval force
Plague condition (5.13), which are Turns 7,8,9, and 10. If play- at Thermopylae-Artemisium. The death of the Spartan King
ing a scenario that begins in game turns 1 to 6 the condition is Leonidas and his Greek detachment known as the 300 forced
always Pre-Plague until the Plague occurs normally through an the retreat of the Greek naval units and opened up Central Greece
Aristophanes card (Acharnians A, B, C) event. to the Persian forces. Xerxes burned down Athens in revenge for
Sardis, but then lost a decisive naval battle at Salamis. In 479
14.04 Quick Solitaire a Spartan-led coalition defeated the Persian occupying army,
If you want to play a quick filler game of Pericles, play 14.1.09 leading to a series of campaigns that ejected Persian forces
Turn 9 A, The War in the Aegean. from Europe.
At this point Spartas arrogant generals and political reluctance
to pursue the war into Asia caused a Greek leadership vacuum.
At the behest of the Ionian Greeks, that position now fell to the
Athenians. This leadership change created the Delian League, so
named because it was ratified at a meeting on the island of Delos.
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Pericles Playbook 3
Athens continued to lead the war against the Persians, but over War penalties per the normal rules, see 13.2. The side with the
time its aggressive policies toward its allies caused revolts and most Honor wins.
the evolution of the Delian League into the Athenian Empire.
The Athenian Empire was a thalassocracy (literally rule of
the sea), so named because its strength revolved around its
dominant naval power.
As time advanced a series of political crises saw the bonds
between Sparta and Athens fray. In 460 Megara felt abandoned
during a dispute with Corinth (Isthmus of Corinth) and left the
Spartan alliance known as the Peloponnesian League to enter
into an alliance with Athens. This culminating event led to the
1st Peloponnesian War chronicled in Thucydides Pentecontae-
tia section and where my design Pericles: The Peloponnesian
Wars begins.
Legend
A#xL/N/B = Athens # of Land/Naval/Base units B. The Ostracism of Thucydides
D#xL/N/B = Delian League # of Land/Naval/Base units Political Training Vignette
S#xL/N/B = Spartan # of Land/Naval/Base units Game Length: This is a training scenario that commemorates
P#xL/N/B = Peloponnesian League # of Land/Naval/Base units an important political fight that saw Pericles (Aristocrats) con-
Argos: #L = Argos land units solidate power by exiling his political opponent Thucydides
(Demagogues; not the historian Thucydides). This is played
out as a single hand, where the Aristophanes card Frog C puts
14.1.01 Turn 1: 460, 459, 458, 457, 456, 455 Ostracism on Thucydides 1 space.
Historical Note: 1st Peloponnesian War and Campaign Sce- Aristocrats: Card 10 and Card 16, deal 7 random cards.
nario Start, 14.2, 14.4.
Demagogues: Card 1 and Card 13, deal 7 random cards.
A. Battle for Central Greece Victory Conditions
Theater Training Scenario The player with the highest Oratory Honor and has won the
Game Length: Begin this scenario with the Theater phase. Ostracism issue wins. A player must meet both conditions to
All previous phases are ignored for this scenario. Athens and win; otherwise it is a draw.
Sparta are at War.
C. Isthmus of Corinth
This scenario only uses the Isthmus of Corinth (5), Sparta (6), Ath-
ens (7), Boeotia (8), S. Sporades (19) and Eastern Mediterranean Game Length: This scenario is one turn in length. Use the
(20) Theaters. Use the Master Setup charts Turn 1 Setup. Issues normal sequence of play.
can only be placed in these Theaters; ignore the rest of the map. Use the Master Scenario Setup for Turn 1.
Honor order is Aristocrats, Agiad, Demagogues, and Eurypo- This scenario uses the entire map.
ntids.
Athens
Athens Controlling Faction: Aristocrats, Assembly Neutral, Black
Controlling Faction: Aristocrats, have 8 Strategos tokens, 2 Meeple (Alcibiades), 1 Black Strategos Token (Athenian State
Military, 1 Diplomatic issues plus 1 Rumor marker. Ship)
Demagogues have 10 Strategos tokens, 2 Military, 1 League, Sparta
and 1 Oracle Issue plus 1 Rumor marker.
Controlling Faction: Agiad, Assembly Neutral
Sparta
Athens and Sparta are at War; all players begin with 10 Honor.
Controlling Faction: Agiad, have 8 Strategos tokens, 1 Military,
1 Diplomatic, 1 League issues plus 1 Rumor marker. Persian War is active, see 13.2.
Eurypontid have 8 Strategos tokens, 2 Military, and 1 Oracle Victory Conditions

Issue plus 1 Rumor marker. Do not score any Controlling Faction, Geography or Economic
Scenario Special Rules bonuses. The City-State with the most Honor wins the scenario
and the Faction of the winning side with the most Honor wins
Follow a normal Theater phase (see sequence of play) and then the game.
determine the winner based on the final Honor score. All play-
ers start with 10 Honor. The Athenian Aristocrats suffer Persian
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4 Pericles Playbook
14.1.02 Turn 2: 454, 453, 452, 451, 450, 449 14.1.03 Turn 3: 448, 447, 446, 445, 444, 443
A. Peace of Callias
Game Length: This scenario is one turn in length. Use the
normal sequence of play.
Use the Master Scenario Setup for Turn 2.
This scenario uses the entire map.
Athens
Controlling Faction: Aristocrats, Assembly Neutral, Black
Meeple (Alcibiades), 1 Black Strategos Token (Athenian State
Ship)
Sparta
Athens and Sparta are at War; all players begin with 10 Honor. A. End of the 1st Peloponnesian War
Persian War is active, see 13.2. Game Length: This scenario is one turn in length.
Victory Conditions Use the normal sequence of play. Use the Master Scenario
If Athens has not met the conditions for the Peace of Callias Setup for Turn 3.
(end of Persian War), the Athenian Controlling Faction loses 10 This scenario uses the entire map.
Honor. Beyond this potential penalty, do not score any Control-
ling Faction, Geography or Economic bonuses. The City-State Athens
with the most Honor wins the scenario and the Faction of the Controlling Faction: Aristocrats, Assembly Neutral, Black
winning side with the most Honor wins the game. Meeple (Alcibiades), 1 Black Strategos Token (Athenian State
Ship)
Sparta
Athens and Sparta are at War; all players begin with 10 Honor.
Persian War is concluded, see 13.2.
Victory Conditions
Do not score any Controlling Faction, Geography or Economic
bonuses. The City-State with the most Honor wins the scenario
the game.
Scenario Special Rule
If Peace is declared during the Political Phase, play the entire
turn under Peace.
14.1.04 Turn 4: 442, 441, 440, 439, 438, 437
A. Periclean Peace
Game Length: This scenario is two turns in length, see 14.1.05.
Use the normal sequence of play.
Athens
Controlling Faction: Aristocrats, Assembly Neutral, Black
Ship)
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Pericles Playbook 5
Sparta Athens
Controlling Faction: Agiad, Assembly Neutral Controlling Faction: Aristocrats, Assembly Neutral, Black Meeple
(Alcibiades), 1 Black Strategos Token (Athenian State Ship)
Athens and Sparta are at Peace; all players begin with 10 Honor.
Sparta
Controlling Faction: Eurypontid, Assembly Neutral
B. Samos Revolt Athens and Sparta are at Peace; all players begin with 10 Honor.
Game Length: This is a one-Theater Battle vignette. It is meant Persian War is concluded, see 13.2.
for training and historical illustration purposes.
The card draw phase is modified as follows:
Samos Theater (16)
Eurypontids: Card 37, deal 8 random cards.
Athens
Agiads: Card 34, deal 8 random cards.
A4xN, A1xL, 9 Strategos
Both Athenian Factions are dealt 9 random cards.
Sparta This scenario uses the entire map.
P2xL, P1xB, 4 Strategos
B. Sparta Declares War
Flip a Battle card for both sides; the winner of first a naval and
then a land Battle wins the scenario, else draw. Political Training Scenario
Game Length: This is a training scenario that commemorates
14.1.05 Turn 5: 436, 435, 434, 433, 432, 431 the Spartan debate to go to war. Archidamus (Eurypontid, Con-
trolling Faction) argued for time to prepare, while the Ephor
Second turn of Turn 4 Scenario Periclean Peace, 14.1.04 A.
Sthenelaidas (Agiad) pushed for an immediate declaration of
Victory Conditions war. This is played out as a single hand, where the Aristophanes
Do not score any Controlling Faction, Geography or Economic card Clouds A puts War/Peace on the Agiad 1 space. Each player
bonuses. The City-State with the most Honor wins the scenario discards 2 cards from their Entourage leaving:
and the Faction of the winning side with the most Honor wins Eurypontids: Card 37, deal 8 random cards.
the game.
Victory Conditions
The Eurypontid player wins if he has the highest Oratory Honor
and the War/Peace issue is in the Assembly zero space. The
Agiad player wins if he has the highest Oratory Honor and the
War/Peace issue has been won by either side declaring War. A
player must meet both conditions to win; otherwise it is a draw.
14.1.07 Turn 7: 424, 423, 422, 421, 420, 419

Second turn of Turn 6 Scenario the Archidamian War, 14.1.06 A.
Victory Conditions
Do not score any Controlling Faction, Geography or Economic
bonuses. The City-State with the most Honor wins the scenario
the game.
14.1.06 Turn 6: 430, 429, 428, 427, 426, 425
B. Death of Brasidas and Cleon
Historical Note: 2nd Peloponnesian War Scenario Start, see 14.3. Game Length: This is a one-Theater Battle vignette. It is meant
for training and historical illustration purposes.
A. The Archidamian War
Amphipolis Theater (12)
Game Length: This scenario is two turns in length, see 14.1.07.
Athens
Use the normal sequence of play, but the Aristophanes card
Clouds A is used for the first turn of the scenario. A2xL, D1xL, D1xB, 6 Strategos
Use the same setup as the 2nd Peloponnesian War scenario: see Sparta
Master Setup Turn 6. P4xL, 9 Strategos
This scenario uses the entire map. Flip a Battle card for both sides; the winner of the land Battle
wins the scenario, else draw.
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14.1.08 Turn 8: 418, 417, 416, 415, 414, 413 14.1.09 Turn 9: 412, 411, 410, 409, 408, 407
A. War in a Time of Peace A: War in the Aegean

Game Length: This scenario is one turn in length. Theater Training Scenario
Use the normal sequence of play. Game Length: Begin this scenario with the Theater phase. All
previous phases are ignored for this scenario.
This scenario only uses Sparta (6) and Athens (7), plus Theaters
This scenario uses the entire map. numbered 13-19 (Hellespont, Ionia, Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Cy-
Athens clades, S. Sporades). Persia has the Alcibiades Meeple in that
location with 2 Persian Bases. Use the Master Setup Charts
Controlling Faction: Demagogues, Assembly Neutral, Black
Turn 9 setup. Issues can only be placed in these Theaters; ignore
the rest of the map.
Ship)
Honor order is Aristocrats, Agiad, Demagogues, and Eurypo-
Sparta
ntids.
Aristocrats and the Agiads are the Controlling Factions. Alcibi-
Athens and Sparta are at Peace; all players begin with 10 Honor. ades is not in Athens, hes in Persia. Each Faction begins with
Persian War is concluded, see 13.2. 10 Honor.
Victory Conditions Athens

Do not score any Controlling Faction, Geography or Economic Controlling Faction: Aristocrats, have 12 Strategos tokens, 3
bonuses. The City-State with the most Honor wins the scenario Military, 1 League issue plus 1 Rumor marker.
and the Faction of the winning side with the most Honor wins Demagogues have 12 Strategos tokens, 2 Military, 1 League,
the game. and 1 Diplomatic Issue plus 1 Rumor marker.
B. Battle of Mantinea Sparta
Game Length: This is a one-Theater Battle vignette. It is meant Controlling Faction: Agiad, have 12 Strategos tokens, 3 Mili-
for training and historical illustration purposes. tary, 1 League Issues plus 1 Rumor marker.
Spartan Theater (6) Eurypontid have 12 Strategos tokens, 2 Military and 2 Diplo-
matic Issues plus 1 Rumor marker.
Athens
Special Instructions
Argos: 4xL, A1xL, D3xL, D1xB, 4 Strategos
Follow a normal Theater phase and then determine the winner
Sparta based on the final Honor score. Place all Honor track markers
S6xL, S2xB, 8 Strategos on 10. The side with the most Honor wins.
Flip a Battle card for both sides; the winner of the land Battle B. The Battle of Cyzicus
Game Length: This is a one-Theater Battle vignette. It is meant
C. Sicilian Expedition for training purposes.
Game Length: This is a one-Theater Battle vignette. It is meant Hellespont Theater (13)
for training purposes. Athens
Sicily Theater (1) A3xN, 8 Strategos, Athenian Ship of State Strategos
Athens Sparta
A3xN, A2xL, D1xL, D1xB, 4 Strategos P4xN, 2 Strategos
Sparta Flip a Battle card for both sides; the winner of the naval Battle
P4xN, P3xL, P2xB, 8 Strategos wins the scenario, else draw.
Flip a Battle card for both sides; the winner of first the land and C. Turning of the Tide
then a naval Battle wins the scenario, else draw.
Game Length: This scenario is one turn in length. Use the
normal sequence of play.
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Pericles Playbook 7
Athens Victory Conditions

Controlling Faction: Aristocrats, Assembly Neutral, 1 Black If Sparta controls the Hellespont Theater at the end of the sce-
Strategos Token (Athenian State Ship) nario, they win and the Spartan Faction with the most Honor
wins, in case of a tie the Controlling Faction wins. If this is not
Sparta
the case, then do not score any Controlling Faction, Geography
Controlling Faction: Agiad, Assembly Neutral or Economic bonuses. The City-State with the most Honor wins
Athens and Sparta are at War; all players begin with 10 Honor. the scenario and the Faction of the winning side with the most
Honor wins the game.
Peace of Callias, see 13.2. Black Meeple (Alcibiades in Persia)
Victory Conditions B. The Battle of Arginusae
Do not score any Controlling Faction, Geography or Economic Game Length: This is a one-Theater Battle vignette. It is meant
bonuses. The City-State with the most Honor wins the scenario for training purposes.
and the Faction of the winning side with the most Honor wins Lesbos Theater (15)
the game.
Athens
14.1.10 Turn 10: 406, 405, 404, 403, 402, 401 A3xN, 8 Strategos, Athenian Ship of State Strategos
A. Fall of the Athenian Empire Sparta
Game Length: This scenario is one turn in length. Use the P6xN, 8 Strategos
normal sequence of play. Flip a Battle card for both sides; the winner of the naval Battle
Aristophanes card is automatically Frogs B. wins the scenario, else draw.
Use the Master Scenario Setup for Turn 10. C. The Battle of Notium
This scenario uses the entire map. Game Length: This is a one-Theater Battle vignette. It is meant
for training purposes.
Athens
Controlling Faction: Aristocrats, Assembly Neutral, 1 Black Chios Theater (16)
Strategos Token (Athenian State Ship) Athens
Sparta A3xN, 2 Strategos, Athenian Ship of State Strategos
Controlling Faction: Agiad, Assembly Neutral Sparta
Athens and Sparta are at War; all players begin with 10 Honor. P4xN, 9 Strategos
Alcibiades is in Persia. Flip a Battle card for both sides; the winner of the naval Battle
Scenario Special Rules D. The Battle of Aegospotami
1. The Athenians and the Spartans may not build any City-State Game Length: This is a one-Theater Battle vignette. It is meant
bases or units during this scenario. Both sides may build and for training purposes.
deploy League bases and units. Hellespont Theater (13)
2. Remove 8 Strategos tokens from both sides stock. Athens
3. If Peace occurs, the scenario continues, but under the normal A3xN, 2 Strategos, Athenian Ship of State Strategos
restrictions for Peace.
Sparta
Play Note: It is usually not to Spartas advantage to declare
P4xN, 8 Strategos
Peace as you may need the Spartan fleet in Ionia to seal the
deal in the Hellespont. Flip a Battle card for both sides; the winner of the naval Battle
Design Note: This scenario is quite interesting as it gives you
a perspective on how the war ended. Lysanders victory at the
Battle of Aegospotami destroyed the Athenian navy. This al-
lowed Sparta to cut Athens grain supply and initiate a siege
that resulted in Athens surrender. The inability for the main
protagonists to build forces is an application of rule 14.43,
the Ravages of War.
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8 Pericles Playbook
14.1.11 Thucydides Master Scenario Setup Charts turn. Each side cross indexes the Turn column with a Theater
The Master Scenario Setup Charts are used for all one-Game- and place the indicated pieces on the map at that location.
Turn or longer scenarios. Each scenario designates a setup game
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10 Pericles Playbook
14.2 Pentecontaetia; 1st Peloponnesian War 14.34 Ending the Scenario

The scenario ends on Turn 8, 9, or 10 immediately during the
Game Length: Game Starts on game turn 1 and lasts from 3
Political Issues Segment if Peace is declared, an automatic vic-
to 5 turns (see 14.24).
tory has occurred, or it is the end phase of Turn 10.
14.21 Display Setup
Athens 14.4 The Suicide of Greece: 460 400 BC
Controlling Faction: Aristocrats, Assembly Neutral, Black Campaign Scenario
Meeple (Alcibiades), 1 Black Strategos Token (Athenian State Game Length: Game Starts on game turn 1 and lasts for up to
Ship) 8 - 10 turns (see 14.44).
Sparta 14.41 City Display and Piece Setup
Controlling Faction: Agiad, Assembly Neutral Use 1st Peloponnesian War Setup, see 14.2.
Athens and Sparta are at Peace; all players begin with 10 Honor 14.42 Piece Setup
Persian War is active, see 13.2. Use the game Turn 1 setup from the Master Scenario Setup
Chart, 14.1.11.
14.22 Piece Setup
Use the setup for game turn 1 from the Master Scenario Setup 14.43 Scenario Rules
Chart, 14.1.11. Ravages of War
A. Plague: Any units lost due to Plague (both sides) are
14.23 Scenario Rules permanently removed from play.
Persian War: See Persia, 13.0.
B. Military Disaster: In any Land Battle for every set of
Optional: See 14.43. 2 friendly land units eliminated (round down), one is
14.24 Ending the Scenario permanently removed from play; Enemy choice. In any
The scenario ends on Turn 3, 4, or 5 immediately during the Naval Battle for every set of 2 friendly naval units eliminated
Political Issues Segment if Peace is declared, an automatic vic- (round down), one is permanently removed from play; Enemy
tory has occurred, or it is the end phase of Turn 5. choice.
C. Bottom of the Barrel: Athens and Sparta cannot have their
14.3 Second Peloponnesian War force pool reduced to below 2 land and 2 naval units. Delian
and Peloponnesian League cannot have their force pools
Game Length: Game Starts on game turn 6 and lasts from 3 reduced below 8 land and 4 naval units.
to 5 turns (see 14.34).
D. Leadership Loss: At the end of each game turn that War has
14.31 City Displays been declared, both sides remove from the game 1 Strategos
Athens token from their stock.
Controlling Faction: Aristocrats, Assembly: Aristocrats, Black Design Note: The 2nd Peloponnesian War had a profound
Meeple (Alcibiades), Black Strategos Token (Athenian State impact on population. As the war entered its third decade the
Ship) main protagonists had seen their military age males reduced
Sparta by more than 65%. For the Athenians their losses from the
Sicilian Expedition were mostly Athenian citizens which had a
Controlling Faction: Eurypontid, Assembly Neutral profound effect on their Hoplite and Rower assets. With player
Athens and Sparta are at Peace; all players begin with 10 Honor. agreement this rule can be used in the shorter scenarios. I did
not make it part of the shorter scenarios as it usually does not
Peace of Callias: Persian War has ended, see 13.2.
have a significant impact due to the shorter length of play.
The card draw phase is modified as follows:
Eurypontids: Card 37, deal 8 random cards. 14.44 Ending the Scenario
The scenario ends on Turn 7, 8, 9 or 10 immediately during the
Political Issues Segment if Peace is declared, an automatic vic-
Both Athenian Factions are dealt 9 random cards. tory has occurred, or it is the end phase of Turn 10.
14.32 Piece Setup
Use the game turn 6 setup in the Master Scenario Setup Chart,
see 14.1.11.
14.33 Scenario Rules
Optional: Use 14.43.
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Pericles Playbook 11
the other player nominating a War/Peace issue to create the

conditions for Peace.
2. A player faction may not nominate Ostracism if his faction
is the Controlling faction.
B. Both players each pick a faction from one of the City States
(Athens or Sparta) and Phormio with or without Brasidas (15.9)
plays both factions on the other side.
1. The human players should debate their sides issues before
debating the non-human, Phormio faction sides issues.
2. There are two ways to play in this situation. Either use
two Phormio factions for the non-human side or use the
abbreviated Brasidas solitaire faction rules, see 15.9.
Play Note: Using 15.12 A is the shortest as the use of the
15.0 Solitaire & < 4-Player Rules Phormio charts does take some time to execute. You will find
that if using the 15.12 B variant that having both players take
Pericles can be played with less than four humans using the fol- one side and then using Brasidas (15.9) is faster than if you
lowing rules. The non-human decision processes are known as implement the full Phormio system for the non-human players.
Phormio. In a given session you may be playing with one, two,
15.13 Three Players
or three parallel Phormio faction sets of decisions depending on
Two humans take factions in one City State and the other human
the number of humans present. The rules should cover all situ-
takes a faction in the opposing City State and uses Phormio as
ations that I can conceive of, but I have learned that this is not
his compatriot faction.
likely to be the case, so when you come to a fork in the decision
pathway, take one by rolling a die to pick between two options. 15.14 Phormio Honor Handicap
A. Solitaire: On the all non-human side, each Phormio fac-
Design Note: This is not a computer program with thousands
tion starts any scenario with a +20 honor bonus at the start of
of lines of code. If you want that type of solo experience, play
any scenario. The Phormio faction on the human side does not
a computer game. Pericles is a multi-player manual board
receive this bonus.
game with interesting solitaire rules for when you are short
handed. If you are looking for a tense competitive experience B. Two Players against Phormio: Each Phormio faction starts
with Pericles, play with humans. If you want to explore and any scenario with a +20 honor bonus.
experience an interesting game narrative, Phormio with his C. Three Players: Each faction on the all human team side
strategy and decision flow charts should fill the bill. receives a +5 Honor bonus at the start of any scenario.
Play Note: In a three-player game it is advisable that one of
15.1 Human-Phormio Combinations the opposing players implements the Phormio factions deci-
15.11 Solitaire sion for the human-Phormio team.
You pick one of the four factions and Phormio will play the
other three sides. Do note that you can play with no humans, Design Note: I have set the handicap for the Phormio at the
but I make no guarantees on what may happen. high end as a single major defeat can close a 20 point gap. If
you find that you are never winning against Phormio, suspend
Play Note: Phormio mimics to the degree possible the me- the bonus and add some back until you find your balance point.
chanics that a human would go through to play the game. If If you find that you are not being sufficiently challenged double
you are playing solitaire and do not want to play out all of the the bonus until you lose, then slowly reduce this number until
games procedures and just want to fight a short war, I suggest you feel it is balanced for your level of skill.
you examine the War in the Aegean mini-scenario, see 14.1.09
A or use the abbreviated solitaire rules called Brasidas, 15.9. 15.15 Phormio Glossary of Concepts
A. PS (Prime Strategy): PS is used in the Phormio flowcharts
15.12 Two Players as an abbreviation. A Prime strategy is based on a City-States
A. Each player takes one faction from each City State and the chosen Theater Strategy, see 15.3.
humans play out the game leveraging their position on each
side to try and achieve an individual victory. Phormio is not B. PS (Prime Strategy) Theater: Based on the Strategy matrix
used in this variant. choice, a Primary Strategy (PS) Theater is chosen. All PS is-
sues are placed in the PS Theater in the order indicated by the
1. When playing this variant, a player may not voluntarily Primary Strategy matrix.
nominate the War/Peace issue with both of the factions he
or she controls. In this circumstance the player can declare C. PS (Prime Strategy) Issue: This is an issue associated with
war on their own, but it would take an Aristophanes card or Phormios prime strategy (PS). When a flowchart indicates
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whether a PS issue is available, to be placed, or on the display, ways to solve this issue, use judgment or randomize amongst
the condition is fulfilled if the issue is on its City State faction the options.
track or in the zero space, whether Phormio chose it or not. The H. Legal: Phormio is an honest Bot. No matter how you
goal is to get at least one set of the necessary issues onto the interpret an instruction, Phormio will not violate the rules of
Faction track, then won in debate, and then placed in the PS the game.
Theater in the order indicated so Phormio can play intelligently
to achieve its chosen strategy. I. Endless Loop: If you are in one of the flowcharts and your
answers or your perception of the answer to the decision boxes
Play Note: As a mnemonic I like to use the faction colored has you moving literally in logic circles, change the answer from
markers to remind myself of the types and order of the issues yes to no and get to a resolution.
that I need to acquire for Phormio.
Play Note: The team has extensively tested the Phormio charts
D. Feasible: Phormio is trying not to make a poor card play. and they are as good as I can make them, but I know in my
Phormio is trying to make card plays that move issues onto its heart that there are some edge cases that I have not experienced
Faction track. The card feasibility formula is trying to calculate or foreseen. When I have failed you, use your common sense
whether a particular card play has a reasonable probability of or roll a die to keep the game moving.
achieving this objective. The formula for whether a card play
is feasible or not is whether a card value plus issue attribute
minus 2 is sufficient to move a designated issue from its current
15.2 Aristophanes Segment
location onto Phormios track. If nothing meets this criterion, This segment is played per the normal rules without modifica-
then make the card play that moves an issue the closest to the tion.
Phormio track to lower the opponents oration honor total. This
is often how Phormio chooses an unusual unpredictable path. 15.3 Phormio Primary Strategy
Its not a problem, its a feature.
Before the Boule segment you need to first determine what each
E. Random Choice: There are two situations. If Phormio is Phormio faction is going to use as its primary strategy. There is
trying to randomly choose a Theater, roll the 1d20 to determine a City State Strategy Table for each side. Take the appropriate
the Theater. If the result is the primary strategy theater or the Strategy table and starting at the top find the highest priority
Eastern Mediterranean after the Peace of Callias, roll until an- strategy that applies to the situation on the map. Roll a six-sided
other Theater is chosen. In other circumstances Phormio is trying die, if the die roll is 1-5 that becomes Phormios primary strat-
to randomly choose amongst possible options. Assign choices egy. If you roll a six, skip down to the next applicable strategy
matched to a 1d6 and use the die roll to make the final choice. and roll the die again. If you come to the last strategy, that is
F. Assembly Path: Phormio during military expeditions will automatically Phormios primary strategy.
move its units on the map. Phormio will move its units one at Play Note: If a Strategy that would prevent Phormio from
a time and take a path that allows the unit to arrive unimpeded losing the game is the highest priority strategy, do not roll
at its Theater destination. If this is not possible, Phormio will the die and potentially skip the strategy, just use the strategy.
choose a path that stops the least number of units to allow one For example a Phormio Athens has a high priority strategy
or more units to arrive at the Theater destination. If this is also to avoid losing the game due to a lack of a base in a granary
not possible, Phormio will choose the path that will equalize the theater. If this issue becomes an option do not roll the die and
moving force type in as many Theaters on a path to the Theater risk losing the game, just use this strategy.
destination as possible, but will stop once numerical equality is
achieved. If a unit move would put that unit into a Theater that When Phormio represents both factions on a side, the Controlling
it cannot exit due to a lack of a base, the unit will not attempt faction takes the highest priority strategy that applies and then
the move. Once all possible combinations have been exhausted, the Opposition faction bypasses the Controlling factions choice
Phormio will fight a battle. If you have difficulty sorting out the and continues down the chart to the next applicable strategy as
best option, randomize amongst the options. its primary strategy choice.
G. Sudden Death Avoidance: If a Phormio faction were put in Play Note: Each Phormio faction on the same side will al-
a situation where following the flowchart logic would result in ways choose a different primary strategy unless it is the last
an automatic victory for the other side, then override the logic choice in which case they will pick different Theaters. In the
and avoid letting this happen on purpose. For example if Athens highly unlikely case that each Phormio faction gets to the last
begins the turn without a base in a granary theater and for some possible choice then and only then will they use the identical
reason the won Athenian issues would be placed to ensure an primary strategy.
automatic defeat or not preserving sufficient Strategos tokens
prevents a League base from being built in a granary Theater, 15.31 Strategy Table Descriptions and Implementation
dont let this happen. Place the issues where they can potentially A. Each City State has its own unique Strategy Table. The first
prevent the automatic loss or do not spend the Strategos tokens, two columns of each table broadly describe the Conditions and
regardless of what the flowcharts indicate. If there are multiple the Strategy title.
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Example: On the Athens Phormio Strategy Matrix the first strat- 15.4 Card Draw and Boule Segment
egy priority is the condition on whether or not the Athens space
is contested. If there are Spartan units in the Athens space then Play Note: You can substitute this section and 15.5 with the
this strategy is the highest priority. If Athens controls the Athens Brasidas procedure, 15.9.
Theater (no Spartan units) this this strategy is skipped and you
move down to the Granary Strategy and see if it does or does not 15.41 Phormio Boule Segment Flowchart
apply and so on until you find one whose conditions do apply. Use this flowchart for Phormios issue choices. The normal
Once you find a strategy condition that does apply, remember to Boule segment rules are used; the chart is just making the faction
roll a 1d6 to determine if you use this strategy (die roll of 1-5) or choices. You always begin by choosing the Primary Strategy
skip and move to the next one that apply (die roll of 6). that indicates which issues are PS issues (see 15.15 C). If this
is done, then go to the Start decision diamond.
B. The issues column is written in priority order from top to
bottom. The Strategy table usually designates two to three is- A. Is there a PS issue available? means is there an undes-
sues for a given strategy. Phormio wants to win these issues in ignated issue of the required type that is not yet on the City
order to implement its primary strategy. Phormio will choose States faction track. It can be on either factions track or in the
these issues, before making choices based on the political cards issues space.
that faction is dealt. The intent and goal is for Phormio to try B. Another decision diamond asks Are all PS issues on the fac-
and win these issues during the Assembly debate and will not tion track? Regardless of who chose the issue, if all of the PS
turn to other choices until the indicated issues are on its faction issues are on the faction track in the Issues spaceor on either
track. During the Boule segment it is entirely possible that by factions side of the trackthe answer is yes; otherwise it is no.
happenstance the Aristophanes card has placed one of the neces-
C. Are all Boule issues chosen? is based on whether that side
sary issues onto Phormios faction track; in this case Phormio
has chosen the requisite number of issues per the rules, Control-
considers this issue won for the time being and proceeds to the
ling faction would have chosen 4 in total and the Opposition
next priority issue on the list or randomly based on its cards.
faction would have chosen 3 in total.
Example: Once again on the Athens Strategy Matrix, if due to
15.42 Phormio Nine-Card Hand
an Aristophanes card the Will of Assembly: Build or Convert a
The Phormio factions do not play with an Entourage, but always
base was the event and this strategy is chosen, then Phormio is
play from a nine-card hand with the three unused cards automati-
tasked to win in priority order a military, league, and oracle issue.
cally discarded next turn. Each Phormio faction is dealt a nine
If the Aristophanes card had put the league issue on Phormios
Political card hand each turn.
faction track, then the priority order for choosing issues would
be military then oracle. 15.43 Phormio Has Hostages
If Phormio has hostages available he does one of the following
C. Theater: Based on the strategy chosen there may be multiple
in priority order:
Theaters that meet the strategys conditions. In these cases the
Theaters are arrayed from highest to lowest priority. Choose A. If the Aristophanes card has put the War/Peace issue onto
the highest priority Theater that meets the conditions of the the opponents track, Phormio does not use Hostages and holds
prime strategy. onto them.
Example: On the Athens strategy matrix the Control of Naval B. If Peace, Phormio does not use Hostages and holds onto them.
Chokepoints strategy is chosen if Naupactus, Hellespont, or C. If War and Phormios city state is losing or tied, Phormio will
Corcyra Theaters are contested. If Naupactus and Corcyra are use his hostages to put the War/Peace issue into play.
both contested, then Naupactus is the prime strategy Theater
since the list is in priority order. D. If War and Phormios city state is winning or tied, Phormio
will not use Hostages and holds onto them.
D. The Theater, Issue order, and Issue Implementation Notes all
apply to the Theater segment and are described in those sections 15.5 Assembly Debate Procedure
below. As a general concept, the priority order for choosing the
issues is reversed when you place them during the Theater seg- Play Note: You can substitute this section and 15.4 with the
ment as the game is using a Last in-First out (LIFO) queue, so the Brasidas procedure, 15.9.
highest priority issue needs to be placed last so it is resolved first.
15.51 Use the Phormio Assembly Segment Flowchart
E. Usually the PS issues are placed in the Primary Strategy A. Each time an issue debate occurs, begin in the Start deci-
theater , but note that there are times where a military issue sion diamond. If this is not Phormios issue choice the answer
is placed in Phormios City State Theater, usually to build is no. If this is Phormios turn to designate the debate issue the
additional forces that could be used in support of the Primary answer is yes.
Strategy Theater.
B. Are all PS issues required for the strategy on Phormios
Important Note: In all cases the strategy matrix takes prece- track means that the number and type of PS issues Phormio
dence over the decision charts when they disagree. is tasked to win are all on Phormios faction track on a one or
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better box. Once Phormio is winning the necessary number 15.6 Theater Phase
and type of issues, the answer is yes; if not, the answer is no. It
is possible that this answer will change over the course of the 15.61 Theater Issue Placement
debates as an issue that was for a time on Phormios assembly Use the Phormio Theater Issue Placement Flowchart. Be mindful
track may have moved off and subsequently Phormio will have of 15.15 G, Sudden Death avoidance.
to reengage on that issue to reacquire it. Example: Phormio is Important Note: In all cases the strategy matrix takes prece-
tasked to win a military, league, and oracle issue. Once Phormio dence over the decision charts when they disagree.
has one military and league issue on its assembly track the fact
that there are additional military and league issues available to A. Each time it is Phormios turn to place one of its issues, first
debate does not deter Phormio from going after the Oracle issue. examine the strategy matrix to see if it has an instruction else
C. Once all of Phormios PS issues are on its track it will check begin in the Start space on the decision matrix. If all of Phor-
to see if the other faction is trying to win the Ostracism issue mios issues have been placed the answer is yes and he passes.
and the circumstances of the War/Peace issue. The answers of If Phormio has one or more issues/rumor markers to place the
yes and no are based on these potential circumstances. answer is no.
D. Usually by the third round of debates Phormio will either run B. If Phormio has one or more Rumor markers available he will
out of PS issues that it requires or it will determine that debating place them every third chance he has to place an issue. If there
those issues are no longer feasible. Once this occurs Phormio is a Theater queue that has an Enemy issue on top he places
is going to try and play its strongest card whether it is or is not his Rumor marker on that queue. In the likely event that there
aligned to an issue (issue bonus applies) that it can potentially is more than one Theater that meets this condition, randomize
move onto its faction track. If no issue meets this criterion then where it is placed. If there are no Theaters that meet this condi-
Phormio is going to try to move the lowest value issue closest tion, then choose the Theater randomly (1d20).
to it to reduce its compatriots oration value. C. The main focus of Phormio is to get the PS issues into the
Play Note: The notion of what is feasible will in some cases location and order specified on its Strategy matrix. Not all PS
be tedious to determine. My advice is to save yourself the issues are placed in the PS Theater, but in many cases are placed
time and mental pain and just randomize amongst reasonable where they can be used to build forces that will culminate in
choices or better yet, just pick what you would have picked. a military expedition into the PS Theater. Read and follow the
I have given you a simple formula that offers quantitative instructions on the Strategy matrix. In the event that Phormio
guidance. However, this is where all of the rules questions are did not secure all of the necessary issues, follow the instructions
likely to occur, as folks want to know is this the most feasible for which issues to forgo in the placement. When in doubt place
card/ issue combination or a host of complicated situations the available issues in the PS Theater in the order specified.
that the design creates on purpose. Remember, the rule in all D. Phormio at times will win an extra League issue or two that
cases where you are not sure between two or three options is are not called for by the PS strategy. In these cases the decision
to randomize the choice. On occasion this is going to create flowchart is trying to place the League issue where it can build
some less than perfect decisions, but often these are more forces to protect an uncovered base, else it is trying to build a
interesting decisions. League base in a controlled theater that contains only friendly
military units. If none of these situations apply, then place where
15.52 Faction Leader Card
it can remove a Treachery marker. Each Theater on the map
Per the flow chart Phormio will use its Faction leader card if (Persia is not a Theater) is numbered from 1 to 20. When you
Ostracism or War/Peace (under certain circumstances) is being need to randomize a Theater, roll a 1d20 and place the issue in
debated and this is its strongest card versus that issue. If the the theater whose number matches the die roll.
indicated circumstances do not occur, the Phormio faction will
not use its Faction leader card, but will save it for the Strategy Play Note: Phormio will often do interesting things and
Board segment. Phormio will never use the Brain Trust option, sometimes will do things that cannot be accomplished with
unless you override his actions. its remaining issues. This is why Phormio gets an honor bonus
15.53 Phormios Strategy tokens at the beginning of the scenario as compensation. If you are
playing solitaire feel free to pick the secondary Theater or
Per the normal rules, Phormio accumulates Strategos tokens
leave it to fate (1d20).
through the play of Political cards aligned to the issue it is
debating and from the card played during the Strategy Board
segment, which is usually the faction leader card. Phormio is
usually attempting to align its strongest card with the issue be-
ing debated. When there is a choice between two cards of equal
strength the card that yields the most Strategos tokens wins ties.
Consequently, Phormio over the course of the debate should
receive its fair share of available Strategos.
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15.62 Issue Resolution Play Note: Phormio is often trying to conduct a series of
Issues are revealed according to Honor order. When it is a supporting issues to set up a military expedition in its prime
Phormio factions turn to choose it uses the Phormio Theater strategy Theater. If this is going to generate a battle, Phormio
Issue Decision chart to see which issues it will choose. The will send in a maximum effort. If the resolution of the military
flowchart is just following the rules with no particular priority issue is not going to result in a battle, be mindful of how many
beyond playing legally. Once an issue is revealed that Phormio Strategos tokens are available if there is an as yet unresolved
is the issue owner of, follow the flowchart that applies to the league or military issue that will require resources. I have
indicated issue. done the best I can to create logic for the main situations you
will run into, but there will be other times that you need to
Important Note: In all cases you use the decision charts to
make a decision on the best use of this limited resource, so
drive the decisions, but at times the Strategy matrix will give
again when in doubt, randomize amongst the two best choices.
specific instructions that will contradict the decision flow
charts. In all cases the Strategy matrix specific instructions E. When Phormio is the commanding general leading a Military
take precedence and priority over the flow charts. Expedition, he uses the Phormio Commanding General Military
Expedition flow chart to resolve the issue.
A. If a Diplomatic issue is being resolved by Phormio, use the
Diplomatic Issue flow chart. Examine the Strategy matrix to see F. If Phormio is the commanding general and the Athenian
if it has instructions that override the flow chart. controlling faction, he will commit the State Ship Strategos at
the earliest opportunity.
Play Note: Phormio is trying to determine whether it needs to
save Strategos tokens for a yet to be resolved military issue. Play Note: Phormio is trying to win the battle, therefore he
Otherwise, depending on the Theater conditions, Phormio is going to go all out to assemble the strongest force possible
will either attempt to convert an Enemy base or build a base and hit as hard as he can. Sometimes he is going to get into
in a neutral Theater. a battle that he cannot win. Welcome to the Peloponnesian
War where not everything works out as planned; just ask the
B. If an Oracle issue is being resolved by Phormio, use the Spartans about Pylos.
Oracle Issue flow chart.
Design Note: This is why in a three-player game; the human
Play Note: Without Strategy matrix guidance, Phormio usu-
team is given an Honor bonus as compensation.
ally opts to take the Honor bonus.
15.63 Strategos Honor
C. If a League issue is being resolved by Phormio, use the
At the conclusion of the Theater phase a Phormio faction will
League Issue flow chart.
trade in surplus tokens (sets of four) for Honor.
Play Note: When Phormio is not directed by the Strategy
Design Note: I want to set expectations, I have done my best to
matrix with a specific instruction, he is usually attempting to
cover the basic situations that you will tactically encounter to
build up forces for an upcoming military expedition, else he
resolve a Phormio-controlled issue. I cannot write instructions
is trying to do something useful like build a base or remove
for the millions of possible combinations of board position, is-
Treachery. The humans need to be mindful of how many Strat-
sue, Enemy forces and overall game situation that will optimize
egos tokens are available for future requirements associated
the Bots performance. Do what the Strategy table is asking
with the primary strategy and not let the instructions cause
you to do and do not try to over-think the simple instructions.
Phormio to run short.
When for some reason nothing makes sense to you, roll a die
D. If a Military issue is being resolved by Phormio, use the to resolve any reasonable choices. Remember this is a manual
Military Issue flow chart. If the current condition is Peace, do game and if you are playing solitaire the goal of these instruc-
not execute any moves that are illegal. Specifically use League tions is to give you a framework to have some fun exploring
units to substitute for City State units that cannot legally enter the design when no one is around.
a Theater. Be mindful of 15.15 G, Sudden Death avoidance;
specifically reserve Strategos tokens to build a critical base in
lieu of additional commitment for a military expedition.
Important Note: When assembling units from Theaters that
have a Theater queue, maintain at least one unit per base
aligned to the Theate type (land or naval). When given the
choice to violate this restriction or assemble less units than
allowed, assemble less units.
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15.64 Battle 15.92 Ostracism

At this point all available forces are present in the battle. Use If the Ostracism issue was placed on the Assembly by the Aristo-
all normal Battle resolution rules and procedures. phanes card, that faction has won the Ostracism issue. Follow the
normal rules for the Favor of the Assembly and Honor awards.
A. If Phormio loses, take losses, and then if possible eliminate
the maximum number, versus strength, of Enemy units possible. 15.93 Oration Honor
B. If Phormio wins eliminate Athenian or Spartan units as a Assuming that there was no Ostracism issue in play, roll 1d6
priority to gain Hostages and once that is accomplished, elimi- for each Phormio faction and compare the results: add the dif-
nate the maximum numbernot strengthof Enemy units with ferential to the Honor of the faction with the higher die roll and
the remainder. subtract this value from the other Phormio faction. If the die
roll is a tie, do not alter the Honor, but see 15.96, Unique Issues.
C. If Phormio wins and has an equal or greater amount of com- If the differential was 5, an Ostracism issue has automatically
bined strength in the optional follow-on battle (naval in a land occurred: implement rule 15.92.
Theater or land in a naval Theater) then conduct that battle. If
this is not the case, no further battles are fought and the military 15.94 Determining Controlling Faction
issue is resolved. If its a close call, especially near the end of If there was no Ostracism issue awarded, the side that gained the
the game when victory or defeat is on the line, let a random die higher Oration Honor die roll in 15.93 becomes the Controlling
roll decide. faction, gains the Favor of the Assembly, and moves the marker
toward their faction.
15.7 Maintenance and Redeployment 15.95 War/Peace
Conduct per the normal rules. If possible, Phormio will rede- The War/Peace issue can only occur if called for by the Aris-
ploy at least one unit aligned to the Theater type (land unit to tophanes card. In situations when this occurs the War/Peace
land theater, naval unit to naval theater). If there are choices on issue is won by the faction whose track the War/Peace issue
where to redeploy units, determine Delian and Peloponnesian is initially placed upon and is considered a won issue that can
League moves randomly and leave (when possible) one unit in individually cause Peace to change to War, or if a War/Peace
a Theater to give Control or Contest that location. issue is simultaneously won by the opposing side, War changes
to Peace with the normal Honor award.
15.8 Phormio Dead End 15.96 Unique Issues
If you follow the Phormio flow chart logic and you find yourself If the Oration honor die roll resulted in a tie, one of that sides
without a path forward, then you need to establish two choices unique issues will occur if one is available. If there is only one
that come the closest to fulfilling the instructions and randomly unique issue that issue is awarded to the Controlling faction. If
choose one of the options. Overall, Phormio will use maximum there are two unique issues available, randomly choose one of
effort if a lesser one is not indicated by his instructions or this them; that issue is awarded to the Opposition faction.
rule. Also, be mindful of 15.15 G, and avoid an obvious defeat 15.97 Strategos Tokens
when possible. Give each faction 10 Strategos tokens or half of those available
in the Stock and the Strategy Board, whichever is larger (the
15.9 Brasidas Abbreviated Solitaire Variant odd token goes to the Controlling faction). If there are Strategos
tokens remaining in the stock, then roll a 1d6 and give each
Design Note: In situations where you are playing solitaire or faction Strategos tokens equal to half the value of the die roll,
both humans are playing against two Phormio factions you round down or half of those remaining, which ever is less. For
can speed things up by substituting the Brasidas procedure example a die roll of 1 yields no additional Strategos tokens.
for rules 15.4 and 15.5.
15.91 Issue Award

In this variant take the Primary Strategy Issues called for in the
Strategy Matrix (see 15.3) and award them as won issues to the
Phormio faction. If the Aristophanes card placed any issues on
the Assembly display, that faction automatically wins that issue
in addition to those awarded by the Strategy matrix. If the total
number of issues awarded to either faction is less than 3, reveal
the top card of the Political deck and give that Phormio faction
the issue that aligns to the issue bonus for that Phormios fac-
tion. If the card chosen is for an issue that is not available, then
continue drawing cards until the requisite number of issues has
been chosen. Do this until Phormio has 3 issues.
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Diagram: The Aristophanes card has

16.0 Comprehensive Example of Play several elements. At the top is a quote
from the Clouds play. Next comes an
Design Note: I first started doing these with my Pacific War instruction to place the War/Peace issue
design back in 1985. I believe they are very important to help on each opposition factions one space,
players integrate the rules and lower the barrier to entry. For so the War/Peace issue is placed on the
this edition of my over 3 decade tradition I am going to try Athenian Demagogue and Spartan
and have these reflect elements of the training regime (14.1) Agiad 1 space. The last portion of the
by using the Archidamian War scenario (14.1.06 A), while also card is an event titled Peace Party so
integrating the solitaire rules. The chances that there will be each side has its Strategos Stock re-
zero mistakes even after many people have looked these over duced from 21 to 15 for this turn.
are slim to none, but be of good cheer and remember, time
heals all errata. Since this Aristophanes card does not have a Will of Assembly
event nor a Plague event, we now go to the Draw Political Card
segment.
16.1 Setup
It so happens that the mini-scenario 14.1.06 B Sparta Declares
This example of play uses the Turn 6 Setup that begins the
War uses the same start as the Archidamian War, so this next
Archidamian War 14.1.06 A and 14.3 Second Peloponnesian
portion is the comprehensive example of play covers this train-
War (See Diagram).
ing scenario also.
If you look at the Sequence of play, each turn begins with an
The special scenario rules indicate that each Spartan faction
Aristophanes Phase. Due to the special rules for this scenario
begins this scenario with their Faction Leader card (as always)
the first Aristophanes card is Clouds A.
Diagram: This is the Master Chart Turn 6 Setup, which portrays rules, but I will use the Brasidas solo rules to handle the political
the situation at the beginning of the 2nd Peloponnesian War element to speed up play. Since this is how the scenario is being
and the Archidamian War scenario that will be covered in this played, both Athenian factions get a +20 honor handicap, but
comprehensive example of play. Note that the human is playing the Agiad faction that is on the humans side gets no handicap, so
the Spartan Eurypontid faction; Phormio is playing the Agiad both Spartan factions begin with 10 honor points per the normal
faction. The Athenians are also being played by the Phormio scenario instructions.
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plus a specified card (Eurypontid card 37 and Agiad card 34). It should be noted that in a four player all-human game these
Note that each card has been turned so it reads right side up for activities would be performed by each faction simultaneously.
the owner of the card. In addition each player receives eight Since the Agiad faction is being run by Phormio, the sequence
random cards. of play is interrupted while Phormio chooses his strategy for
the turn. This is done by examining the Spartan Strategy Matrix
and determining Phormios strategy. What is going to happen
is we are going to choose the first strategy whose conditions
are applicable.
The first applicable strategy is Protect Key Allies; in particular
Boeotia theater. This Spartan decision was arrived at by deter-
mining that the Defense of Sparta and the two Will of Assembly
strategies were not applicable. We roll the die and it is not a six,
so this strategy is chosen as Phormios Primary Strategy (here-
after PS). If the die roll had been a six, we would have skipped
this strategy and gone to the next applicable one available.
We now examine what Phormio will attempt to accomplish. First
off, Phormio has to attempt and win specific issues in a specific
order known as his PS Strategy issues. For the Protect Key Allies
strategy Phormio will focus on winning in the specific order of
a military, then a league, and last another military issue. There
Diagram: Per the Archidamian War scenario scenariuo instruc- are more instructions that we will reexamine during the Theater
tions (14.1.06 A) both Spartan factions start with these cards plus phase, but briefly, these three issues will be placed in Boeotia
8 additional random cards. and Sparta based on the order of placement, from first to last that
correspond to the issue implementation notes column. (More on
these details later in this narrative.)
We are now ready to execute the Boule segment. Since this is
the first turn of the scenario there are no hostages available,
so the Controlling faction, which is the human player, decides
to choose a Diplomatic issue that is placed on the Eurypontid
track on the 2 space. Now the Opposition faction chooses an
issue and based on the required PS strategy issues, Phormio
chooses a military issue and places it on the Agiad 1 space.
Now the human Eurypontid faction chooses 3 issues and based
on the cards chooses to pick one military, one league, and one
oracle issue that are all placed in the large issues space on the
assembly display.
Now the Phormio opposition faction looks at the situation
through the decision charts. The first question is: are all of the
PS issues required to execute its strategy on the display? The
answer is yes since there are two military and one league issue
on the City States faction track on the Issues zero space, or on
either factions side of the track. This means that we pick the
two issues based on the two strongest cards as aligned to an
issue. Note that the faction leader card is never used for this
determination. In this case card 35 (Gerousia 3) is an 8 value for
Diagram: Opening Spartan hands; since the Eurypontid faction military and card 34 (Gerousia 2) is equal in strength, but since
is the human, that player needs to establish an Entourage by there is only one War/Peace issue and it is already on the display,
placing three cards face down. The human decides to place card we pick a military issue. For the second choice card 34 is still
37 (Gerousia 5), card 46 (Gerousia 14), and card 58 (Gerousia the remaining strongest card, but for the same reason as before
26) into his entourage. On the other hand, Phormio does not use this is moot, so the second strongest card is a tie between cards
an entourage and has access to all nine of his cards during the 36 (Gerousia 4) and 39 (Gerousia 7) that both have a strength
remainder of the Boule segment and Assembly Phase. of 7 when aligned to their issue. Since we have two choices
we randomize using the 1d6 and it is determined that card 36
prevails and the second issue chosen is the league issue that is
placed on the central issues space.
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able, the human chooses to play a weaker card so the issue gets
played to the mutual benefit of Sparta. Now the human could
just play card 59 (Gerousia 27) that has a 1 value if not played
on the games issue, but that might give the Opposition too strong
a move when one considers oration honor; yet it turns out that
given other considerations that is what is played. The result is
Phormios 7 versus the humans 1 value places the league is-
sue on the Agiad six space with Phormio receiving 3 Strategos
tokens. Since the humans card was not aligned to the issue he
receives no Strategos tokens.
Now the human designates the league issue that is on the center
space and plays card 59 (Gerousia 27) with a value of 5 and 1
Strategos token. Phormio does not have a card aligned to the
league issue, so plays its strongest card, which turns out to be
Diagram: Spartan display at the end of the Boule segment.
card 34 (Gerousia 2) that is also a 5 card. This results in the
Now in a four player game the Athenian display would look issue remaining in place with the Eurypontid faction gaining
similar at this time, but since Athens is being played by two another Strategos token.
additional Phormio Bots, we will pick them up after we have The choice now moves back to Phormio who now has a military
concluded the Spartan Political Phase to preserve some mystery and a league issue on its track, so it chooses another military
to the solo experience. issue in the center. Phormio chooses card 39 (Gerousia 7) with
Since Sparta and Athens are at peace we use the white pawn a value of 7 on the military issue. The human now determines
to designate the issues that are being debated during each of that Phormio has won three issues and is likely to gain control
the six rounds to follow. If we were at war we would use the of the government, so chooses to limit his losses by playing card
black pawn as a mnemonic. The human Eurypontid faction 44 (Gerousia 12) with a value of 6. Phormio wins the issue by
designates the first issue. Any issue on the display whether in one and moves the military issue onto its 1 space. Now between
the middle of the issues (zero space) or on either players track the two sides 5 Strategos tokens could be awarded, but there are
can be chosen. With the reduced number of Strategos tokens only four left. Starting with the Controlling faction (Eurypon-
available, the human chooses to designate a Military issue on tid) the two sides alternate taking one Strategos until all have
the issues space by placing the white pawn on the issue. Now been expended. In this case each side gains two, expending the
each player, if human, would pick a card and hold it face down, remaining Strategos in the stock. Hereafter no further Strategos
then simultaneously reveal and see how the issue is moved. will be awarded until the Strategy Board segment.
Since we are playing against Phormio, the human chooses card Now the human is positive that the control of the government
33 (Gerousia 1) that is an 8 strength military card if played on will shift, so he chooses the military issue on the center space
a military issue and if played this way will yield 4 Strategos as opposed to going after one on Phormios track, which would
tokens to the Eurypontid player. Now we examine the Assem- actually hurt the Spartan cause in the ensuing Theater phase.
bly debate decision chart and since Phormio is not choosing an Since the human wants to win the issue, he decides to use his
issue he plays his strongest card aligned to the issue if he has faction leader, whose value against any issue except War/Peace
one, which he does and he plays card 35 (Gerousia 3) with an 8 is 7 and 1 Strategos, but with none remaining this bonus is moot.
value. Since the differential between the two cards is zero, the Phormio will only use its faction leader if Ostracism or War/
issue does not move. The Eurypontid faction gains 4 Strategos Peace are being debated, so since this is not the case he plays
tokens with the Agiad faction gaining 3 Strategos tokens. Place his strongest card, which is a 4, so the human places the military
these behind each factions shield. issue on its 3 space.
Now its the Agiad Opposition factions turn to designate an is- For the sixth and final round Phormio determines that all of
sue, so returning to the Assembly decision chart, we determine its required PS issues (two military and one league) are on its
that Phormio is choosing the issue and then we are confronted track, so now it plays its strongest card to bring an issue onto
with the question of whether all PS issues are on Phormios its track. In this case the strongest is card 54 (Gerousia 22) with
track. Since Phormio needs a military, a league, and another a value of 6 when played on the Diplomatic issue. But since
military in that order, we need to designate a league issue since the diplomatic issue is on the Eurypontid track we have to test
one military issue is already on Phormios track. Hence with for feasibility, which is the issue aligned value of the card of 6,
a No answer we need to choose the league issue and choose minus 2 which would yield sufficient movement to get the issue
Phormios strongest league issue card. As it so happens card 36 onto the Agiad track, so the Diplomatic issue is designated and
(Gerousia 4) has a strength of 7 when used on a league issue and this card is played. It so happens that the human has card 38
it is played. The human only has card 55 aligned to the league (Gerousia 6) with a value of 7 on a diplomatic issue, so the issue
issue. The human does not have to play a card aligned to the moves up one more space from the Eurypontid 2 to the 3 space.
issue, but if he does so he will gain 1 Strategos token whether
he wins or not. However, since there are two league issues avail-
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This ends the Assembly phase, so now we begin the Political

segment. Again if this were a four human game both sides
would have to finish their Assembly phase before the Political
phase could begin.
Diagram: Here we see the won issues being replaced with the
faction Theater issue markers that will be placed secretly on
the map plus two rumor markers. Note that the War/Peace issue
does not have a Theater issue marker as it was resolved during
Diagram: This is how the Spartan display looks at the end of the Political Phase, Sparta is now at war with Athens. Also note
the Assembly phase. that the Oracle and League issue in the issue center space were
not won by either side and are removed.
The first thing determined is oration honor. The Eurypontid
Oration total is 6 (two issues on the three space) versus the If this were a game with four humans the Athenians would
Agiad 9 (one issue on 6, and three issues on 1 spaces). This is a identically execute the process that the Spartans just concluded.
differential of 3, so the Eurypontid honor is reduced from 10 to However, in this comprehensive example of play I want to show
7 and the Agiad honor is increased from 10 to 13. Remember, how you can use a combination of the Phormio Primary Strategy
you can never gain or lose more than 3 Honor due to Oration. determination with the Brasidas abbreviated solitaire procedure
for speeding up the normal Phormio process. Now it is perfectly
Next there is a determination on which faction controls the gov- permissible for the human to play out two Athenian Phormio
ernment until the next political phase. The faction that wins the processes, but for this example we will use the Brasidas process.
most issues controls the government. In this situation the Agiad
faction won four issues (value does not impact this unless there So, the Brasidas process works like this. It begins in the same
is a tie) versus two won by the controlling Eurypontid faction. manner as Phormio whereby each Athenian faction, starting with
Therefore the Agiad faction is now the controlling faction; the the Controlling faction (Aristocrats) picks its Strategy. As this
Assembly marker is moved to the Agiad space on the Assembly is technically taking place simultaneously with the Spartans, we
track, and the control marker is shifted to the Agiad side of the work all of these decisions under Peace, not war. In this case
faction track. the Aristocrats choose the Granary strategy (die roll of 2 not
6). This yields a military and a league issue. The Demagogues
At this time all non-military, league, diplomatic, and oracle now skip past this issue and end up with an Expansion strategy
issues are resolved in a specific order (see Sequence of Play). targeted on Macedonia, the first theater that meets the neutral
The only issue in this category is the War/Peace issue. When at condition specified in the strategy. This also gives a military and
peace, which is how the scenario begins if either or both sides a league issue to the Demagogues. As both factions need to gain
have a faction that wins the War/Peace issue, War is declared at least three issues we examine the Demagogues; due to the
(substitute the black for the white pawn to denote this change Aristophanes card the Demagogues have three issues (military,
in status). league, War/Peace) whereas the Aristocrats only have two. So
During the Strategy Board segment each side, starting with we draw the top card of the Athenian deck and it is card 29
the Controlling faction (currently the Agiad faction) reveal (Antiochis X) where the Aristocrat aligned issue is the Oracle,
their 7th card in their hand. All cards except the faction leader so this is awarded to the Aristocrats. In addition both Athenian
award one Strategos token. As it so happens Phormio still has factions are given their two rumor markers.
his faction leader card available and since the scenario begins Next, oration honor is calculated by rolling a 1d6 for each
in a Pre-Plague condition, the Agiad faction gains 2 Strategos Athenian faction. The Aristocrats roll a 3 versus the Demagogue
tokens from the five available. The human player used his fac- 5 producing a differential of 2, so the Demagogues honor is
tion leader during the Assembly Phase, so his last card is not a increased from 30 to 32 and the Aristocrats are reduced to 28
faction leader card and gains one Strategos token. from 30. With the Brasidas procedure the Demagogues higher
The last portion of the Political Phase is the Theater Award is- oration honor makes them the new Controlling faction and the
sue where each faction substitutes one of their faction Theater Favor of the Assembly moves from the neutral space to the
issue markers on a one for one basis with the type of issues Demagogue space.
that they won during the Assembly Phase plus add their two We now examine the non-Theater issues and we discover that the
rumor markers. Athenians also declared war on Sparta, so war it is. It should be
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noted that during Peace if either or both sides win a War/Peace happen last is the first thing (near the bottom) in the queue. So
issue, war is declared. If at War both sides have to have a faction to translate this into what the Demagogues are trying to do is
that wins the War/Peace issue in order for Peace to be declared. place a league issue into the queue before they place a military
issue. The reason for this is the military issue will be executed
As there are twenty Strategos tokens remaining after six were
before the league issue. If the Demagogues are successful in
removed by the Aristophanes card, each faction is given 10
deploying military forces into the neutral Macedonia theater
Strategos tokens.
they will enable a subsequent league issue to build a base. The
We are now ready to begin the all-important Theater phase. The reason for the order is you cannot build a base in a theater if
first act is to begin the Theater Issue Placement Segment by first you do not have friendly military forces present. Hence Last in
determining the Honor order, which is Demagogues, Aristocrats, (military issue yet to be placed), first out and executed.
Agiad, and Eurypontid. As a mnemonic each faction is issued a
Now the 2nd in the Honor order places an issue, so the Aris-
counter to this effect. So here is the situation.
tocrats according to the chart, following the same logic as the
Demagogues above, place a league issue in Sicily. Then the
Agiad faction places a military issue, but we note that the first
military issue is placed in Boeotia. The basic plan is depending
on how things during the Theater phase resolve in Boeotia that
league issue will raise local Peloponnesian forces in Boeotia,
hopefully with Spartan forces reinforcing, followed by a mili-
tary issue in Boeotia resulting in a successful battle to clear the
theater of Enemy forces.
Now it is finally the humans turn. The human has one piece
of information that was not available to the Phormio Bots;
Sparta is now at war with Athens. The human has a diplomatic
Diagram: Ordinarily in a four-player game the Theater issues and military issue available. Sparta is under a naval blockade
would be behind their faction shield to keep them secret from via Naupactus and Athens that prevents Sparta getting into the
the other City State. You are allowed to show them to your City Aegean. So my thinking here is to try and use the Diplomatic
States other faction. Honor order is not a secret and is shown issue to cause a Delian League base in the Aegean to revolt and
here. For the remainder of this Theater Phase this is the order convert to Peloponnesian. I will use my military issue to protect
of activity and it does not change due to circumstances that alter my Peloponnesian allies. It appears that the Spartan Phormio is
Honor during the action that follows. handling Boeotia, so I will put a military issue into Chalcidice.
We now start placing the Theater issues onto the map. The As I would like to have the diplomatic issue resolve before any
Demagogues are going first and use the Phormio Theater issue Enemy activity I will hold it for as long as possible. Since I want
placement decision chart. We start at the top and the following to win the last battle in Chalcidice this turn I want the military
decisions need to be evaluated. issue to be the bottom of the queue so my first action is to place
the military issue in Chalcidice.
1. Have all issues been placed? No (we just started)
The action now rolls back to the Demagogues (Honor 1) and
2. Is this the 3rd, 6th, or 9th issue to be placed? No (we just
following their instructions the next issue placed is the military
started, but when this occurs we will be deploying rumor
issue in Macedonia. The Aristocrats now follow this by placing
markers down the road).
their military issue into Sicily. Then the Agiad faction places
3. Is there a friendly base in a granary theater or no base and a the military issue in Boeotia. Now its my choice and my plan
league issue in a granary queue? Yes (the Hellespont meets is to place my two rumor markers before committing my dip-
this condition) lomatic issue to the Cyclades where I hope to create a revolt.
4. Are any PS (Primary Strategy) issues available for placement? I would like to slow down the Athenians, so I place my rumor
Yes marker in Sicily.
We now need to place a PS issue. If we examine the Demagogue Now when we look at the decision chart we note that it is now
Strategy of Expansion in the Macedonia Theater we look in the the 3rd issue placement, which means that Phormio will now
Issue Order column and we note that we are supposed to play a deploy one of its available rumor markers to the map. It is placed
league issue in Macedonia (face down). Now it is important here randomly on top of any queue that has a Spartan issue on top.
to talk briefly about Theater queues. What is going to happen is There are currently three locations that meet this criteria: Sicily,
all of the Theater issues in the diagram are going to be placed Boeotia, and Chalcidice. I assign die rolls to the options and roll
on the map. Whenever a second issue is placed in a Theater a 1d6 that results in the rumor marker being placed in Boeotia.
it is stacked on top in a LIFO queue (Last In, First Out). This Then it is the same decision for the Aristocrats where Sicily
is perhaps the hardest concept to wrap your strategy thoughts and Chalcidice are the targets and where the rumor marker is
around. Whatever you want to happen first, needs to be the last placed. The Spartan Phormio also places a rumor marker with
thing in a queue (on or near the top). The thing you want to the choices Boeotia and Macedonia with the rumor marker being
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placed in Macedonia. I choose to place the remaining Eurypon- Next up is the Agiad faction whose primary strategy is Boeo-
tid rumor marker in Macedonia so I can potentially control the tia where there is a Spartan issue on top of the queue that is
timing of how things happen in the north. revealed as an Agiad league issue. Based on the instruction,
since this is not in an Enemy city state and there is a yet to
As it now turns out, the Demagogues are out of issues and place
be resolved military issue, the Agiad faction is going to build
their last rumor marker in Sicily from the others available. The
military units. According to the strategy matrix, since this is a
Aristocrat faction now enters a different set of decisions as all
PS issue we are instructed to build a naval unit, which is con-
of its PS issues have been placed. So, we now are asked whether
tradicted by the league decision chart. In all cases the strategy
this is a league issue, which it is not, so we now are told to choose
matrix takes priority over the decision charts. In this case the
the issue randomly. As there is only the Oracle issue we are told
decision chart says to build land units in a land theater, but the
to do this randomly with a 1d20 (result of 3), resulting in the
strategy matrix specifies building naval units. Since there is
Athenian holy men going to Aetolia (theater 3 corresponding
one Peloponnesian base in Boeotia one Peloponnesian naval
to the die roll). Spartan Phormio still has a PS issue (league),
unit is placed in that theater.
which per its strategy is placed in Boeotia. I place my last issue
(diplomatic) in the Cyclades. It is now my (the human) turn. Since the Chalcidice only has
one issue located there and since I placed it, I know it is a
Now it is the Demagogues turn, but they are out of issues, so
military issue. I think I can steal a march and get some forces
they pass, the Aristocrats place their last marker (rumor) ran-
into that region and potentially win big in the north. I flip over
domly on a queue. Amongst four choices, it randomly goes into
a Eurypontid (human controlled) military issue. Since I am
the Cyclades on top of my diplomatic issue. Then the Agiad
human I do not use any charts per se, but I will need to use the
faction places their last issue in Sparta. That ends the Theater
charts to see how the three Phormio factions will respond. If
issue placement segment.
we examine the abbreviated Military Issue Sequence (9.0) the
So, now we have debated strategy, expressed those strategies as first relevant action is point 4 since the Chalcidice is a contested
issues placed on a map and now we get to see how it all resolves Theater. I have the choice to either raid or conduct a military
in the Theater Resolution Segment. expedition. I choose to launch a military expedition. This starts
Continuing with Honor order, the Demagogues must reveal one with Expedition Assembly and Strategos commitment. As the
Athenian issue that is on top of a queue. Using the logic on the sole human and the commanding general (issue owner is always
Theater Issue Choice decision chart, the Phormio Bots will try the commanding general) I commit 4 Strategos tokens (out of
to resolve issues in their Primary Strategy Theater, which in this a possible 5 for a commanding general) to the battle. Now if
case is Macedonia, but there is a Spartan issue on top, so the this were a 4 player human game then each of the other three
Demagogue must choose randomly. That ends up being Sicily, factions would now commit from 0-4 Strategos tokens. Each
the Aristocrat primary strategy theater. person would have put the tokens in their hand and then ONLY
the Commanding General and their Compatriot would reveal
how many tokens were committed.
Since we are using Phormio as our opponents you examine the
Military Resolution decision chart. All three of the Phormio
Bots will follow the same decision path in this situation as you
will conclude that Phormio is not the commanding general and
as this is early in the Theater Resolution Segment all of the Bots
have outstanding theater issues that have yet to be resolved, so
they will all commit zero Strategos.
Design Note: I have wrestled to have the Bots be a bit more

nuanced in how they commit Strategos by using a random die
roll, etc., but in the end the solo human will find it way to easy
to manipulate this logic and run the Bots out of Strategos and
prevent them from executing their strategies. I have found from
Diagram: Sicily Theater queue where the Athenians control the extensive solo playtesting that the Bots do much better if they
first issue to be revealed. follow their own plans. If you want more nuance, randomly
have the Bots commit Strategos, but be aware of what else
Flipping over the top Athenian issue, we find that it is a Dema- the Bot needs to accomplish when you do this.
gogue rumor marker, which is removed. The Aristocrats are
focused on Sicily, but now there is a Spartan issue on top, so The commanding general (4 Strategos) and his Phormio Bot
the choices are Aetolia and the Cyclades with Aetolia being Compatriot (Zero Strategos) in total have committed 4 Strategos.
chosen. This is an Aristocrat Oracle issue, so we go to the All of the Strategos for any commitment must come from those
Oracle decision chart. Since this issue is not associated with the available to that player, so in this case all four come from the pre-
Aristocrat primary strategy, they resolve the issue by gaining viously won Eurypontid 8 Strategos total and these 4 Strategos
3 Honor (28 to 31). are placed in the Chalcidice Theater leaving four for future use.
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Play Note: Four is the magic number in many cases, so be

aware when you are committing Strategos that take your avail-
able below four. In this case this battle is very important, so
I am betting Spartan strategy on Nike (victory), but I believe
4 is sufficient since I will not be able to get a naval unit into
this Theater that will be explained below.
So now the commanding general conducts movement with up
to 4 military units (either land or naval) total that can attempt
to move to Chalcidice. In a nutshell I want to try and win a land
battle and a naval battle, but to do that the Spartans first have to
win a land battle. We will find that the naval battle is a trireme
too far, but I want to walk you through why that is the case step
by step. Hereafter I will not go into as much detail on movement,
but what follows is the blow by blow of how one simple rule
can create a great deal of nuanced movement.
All Theaters are connected to other Theaters by routes. In order
for any land or naval unit to exit (not Enter) a Theater along a
route they must meet the exit criteria. So lets try and move a
Spartan land unit from Sparta to Chalcidice. Sparta has two exit
routes, one is a naval only route, and so no land unit can move Diagram: In the following illustration we see the Spartan unit
along that route. The other route is the deep blue that requires exiting Sparta and about to enter the Isthmus of Corinth. This
that for a land unit to exit Sparta, the Spartans must have mili- unit will continue through Boeotia and enter Thessalia where it
tary forces whose land unit strength is equal to or greater than will have to stop as the total land strength in Thessaliaonce
Athenian land unit types (remember bases are both land and the Spartan unit enterswill be 2 (Spartan land strength) versus
naval unit types). The Spartan land strength is 20 (two strength Athens 4 (two one-strength land units and one two-strength base)
for each of the 8 Spartan land unit and two Spartan bases) to preventing it from exiting Thessalia. Its movement is complete
zero Athenian, so clearly the Spartan land unit can exit Sparta. for this military expedition, but not necessarily for the remainder
of the Theater Resolution segment.
Important Player Note on Battles: Unlike other wargames
you may have played, there is no minimum value of units Our intrepid Spartan land unit has now arrived in the Isthmus of
required to have a land or naval battle. Strategos tokens and Corinth, where Spartan land strength is 6 (two land units with
Treachery markers have a value of one, not to mention the one strength and two bases of two strength each), so our Spartan
value of the Battle card. Even when there are no land or naval land unit can exit this Theater and continue moving. There are
units present, you can have a land or naval battle with Strategos multiple routes that exit the Isthmus of Corinth. The Spartans
tokens alone supplying the total strength for one side. You can can move into Athens, but then they would be prevented from
also have a side with a value of zero in a battle plus the Battle exiting Athens, as Athenian land strength is 10 (six land units
card value. Obviously if one side has no forces present, they with strength 1 and two bases with a strength of 2 each). So,
are not going to take any losses, but they would lose the land that route is blocked. The Spartans could try to go to Naupactus,
or naval battle, which might allow the optional second battle but then they would again be stopped by the land strength of
to occur or not, based on the wishes of the first battle winner. 3. The last route goes to Boeotia, which is a land route only, so
If you read the rules literally and do not try to impose the we continue to march north.
logic of other wargames on Pericles you should no problems.
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Now that we went through that mental calculation, hereafter we naval unit and one base with a strength of two each) and Athens
realize that all paths to Chalcidice must go through Thessalia 16 (six Athenian naval units and two bases with a strength of
(where incidentally Thermopylae is located). As we examine two each). The Peloponnesian naval units can enter Sparta, but
the path we note that our forces have land and naval strength then they have the same issue with Athens. The last route out of
equality or greater in the Isthmus of Corinth and Boeotia, but the Isthmus is a land only route, so we conclude that these three
in Thessalia the Athenians have four land unit strength and two naval units are not going to arrive in Chalcidice.
naval strength (remember bases are both land and naval unit Now we see the advantage of the earlier strategy instruction to
types). There are currently no forces in Macedonia, so my plan build a naval unit in Boeotia as this puts one naval unit outside
is based on getting through the hot gates in Thessalia. the dual blockade of Naupactus and Athens. Now we examine
To thread this needle I do the following. I have to get four land Thessalia and since it has a base with a naval strength of 2, our
and two naval strength into Thessalia to allow for any other mili- single naval unit in Boeotia is not going to arrive in Chalcidice.
tary forces to arrive in Chalcidice. To accomplish this I first send The point of this last piece was to explain why I now realize
one Spartan land unit into Thessalia followed by a second. As that I cannot get a naval unit into Chalcidice and I am going to
Spartan land units are two land strength each I have now equaled focus my efforts on winning a land battle.
the land strength in Thessalia, permitting other land forces to For my last two units I decide to send one Spartan unit from
move through that Theater. As you become more familiar with Sparta to Chalcidice that now with an open route traces its move
this simple rule, you will find it faster to move units in groups. into Chalcidice. For my last unit I choose to send a Pelopon-
nesian land unit from the Isthmus of Corinth to Chalcidice;
since there are no Athenian issues present there is no threat in
the Isthmus this turn. I could have taken the Peloponnesian unit
from Aetolia or Boeotia, but based on other considerations I take
it out of the Isthmus.
Now the Spartan special unit is the 300, which is both a Strat-
egos and a land unit. This gives the unit the ability to be self
deploying since it is also a Strategos token. I see no reason not
to send it, so the 300 also march into the Chalcidice.
Diagram: Here we see that two of the 4 Spartan military units

have moved into Thessalia and now equal the strength of the
Athenian forces. Subsequent Spartan land units can now enter
and exit Thessalia on their way into Macedonia then terminating
in Chalcidice where the military issue is being resolved.
So now that I have opened the land route to Chalcidice I make a
calculation as to whether I can do the same for my naval units, as
my objective is to win first a land battle and then a naval battle
to crush the Athenian position in Chalcidice. Sparta has naval
units in three theaters: Sicily, Isthmus of Corinth, and Boeotia.
The naval unit in Sicily has a naval strength of 1 so we quickly
see that we can exit Sicily, but we cannot get this naval unit
Diagram: Chalcidice on the eve of battle. We see Athens has its
through Corcyra that has a naval strength of 4 (two naval units
original forces of a Delian league base and an Athenian naval
and one baseonly Athenian, not Delian, naval units have a
and land unit. The Spartans have one base, one Spartan land unit,
strength of two). I then examine the Isthmus of Corinth where
two Peloponnesian land units, one Spartan Treachery marker, the
there are three Peloponnesian naval units. What we are about
Spartan 300 and four Strategos tokens. The Athenians commit
to discover is how Naupactus and Athens (actually the port at
their Ship of State token.
Piraeus) historically blockaded the Peloponnesian (historically
Corinthian) fleet as the strength in Naupactus is 4 (one Athenian
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Battle Calculation the Athenian State Ship is flipped to its unavailable side (the
Battle Location: Chalcidice non-embossed side).
Forces in Chalcidice:
Athens
1 Delian Base, 1 Athenian land, 1 Athenian naval
Sparta
1 Peloponnesian base, 2 Peloponnesian land, 2 Spartan land, 1
Treachery marker, 4 Strategos tokens
Each player turns over the top card of their battle deck (cards
not used during the Assembly Phase), the Spartans turn up a 2
(you only use the value of the card, no bonuses) and the Athe-
nians turn up a 3.
Battle Note: The opposing side does not send any forces, only
those already in that theater. If they had wanted to reinforce their
position they would have needed an earlier resolved military
issue of their own to send forces into the Isthmus.
Battle: Chalcidice is a Land Theater so a mandatory land Battle
is conducted.
Spartan land total is 14: 2 Spartan Land for 4 + 2 Pelopon- Diagram: Post-battle situation in Chalcidice.
nesian Land for 2, 1 Base for 2, 5 Strategos tokens (note one
of them is the 300 Strategos) for 5 + 1 Treachery marker for 1 Continuing with Honor order, it is now the Demagogues turn
plus a random Battle deck card of 2 value = 16 and there are two Theater queues with an Athenian issue showing
(Boeotia and the Cyclades). Randomizing, the Athenian issue
Athens land total is 4: 1 Athenian Land for 1, 1 Delian Base in the Cyclades is revealed to be a Demagogue rumor marker.
for 2, 0 Strategos tokens for 0, State Ship for 1 plus a random Now the Demagogues are faced with only one choice, so the
Battle Deck card of 3 = 7 Boeotia Theater marker is revealed to be the other Demagogue
Land Battle outcome: Land Battle outcome: Sparta 16 Athens rumor marker. The Spartan Phormio Agiad Bot now chooses
7 = 9, so the Athenians must lose 9 land value, since there is to follow its primary strategy. Since the Boeotia Theater queue
only 1 land unit, it is eliminated. We know this because if you is a Spartan issue, the Agiad Bot flips up this issue and reveals
look at the Land Combat Losses: Battle loser table we see that an Agiad military issue.
for each Spartan land unit two Athenian side land cubes of any We first look at the Strategy matrix as it takes priority over the
type (Athenian, Delian, or Argos) are removed. Since the Delian decision chart when it is the Bots primary strategy and we are
League base has a friendly naval unit located in the Theater the instructed to commit 5 Strategos tokens and conduct a military
base cannot be eliminated and the remaining potential 8 losses expedition. This is the same procedure that we followed for the
are forfeited. last military expedition where the Bot will use 5 of its 10 avail-
Based on the Losing Sides eliminated units (1 land), we see that able Strategos tokens that are placed in Boeotia. I (human) need
it takes 2 eliminated Athenian land units to eliminate 1 winning three Strategos for my future Diplomatic issue in the Cyclades,
Peloponnesian land unit, so no winner losses are assessed and but this is going to be an overwhelming attack. I choose to com-
the land Battle is concluded. This is found on the Land Combat mit zero tokens and save one for later. As both of the Athenian
Losses: Battle Winner table. We note that we would have to Bots have yet to prosecute their main strategies they respond
have lost four land units (any color) in order to eliminate one just as Athens did when Plataea was put under siege, not much.
Spartan land unit or two land units to eliminate one Pelopon- So they commit zero Strategos tokens.
nesian land unit. We now use the Phormio Commanding General Military Ex-
Based on the results the Spartan commanding general (Eurypo- pedition Resolution decision chart (thats a mouthful). We start
ntid) receives 2 Honor (twice the number of units eliminated) and the first question is: Have units equal to Strategos commit-
moving his score from 7 to 9, the Agiad faction gains 1 Honor ment been assembled? Obviously the answer is no and it will
(13 to 14 total Honor) and each of the Athenian factions lose continue to be no until 5 units have moved. The next question
1 Honor (Aristocrats from 31 to 30 and Demagogues from 32 is theater type; Boeotia is a land theater (brown border). Can
to 31). a land unit assemble in Theater without naval support?the
answer is yes and will be throughout this assembly. Then Is
Optional Naval Battle: Sparta now decides that it does not
there a land unit available?, which is yes, so we send the stron-
want to fight the optional naval Battle, so the military issue is
gest unit and cycle through until we run out of available land
resolved and all Strategos tokens are returned to the stock and
units or move 5 of them.
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Clearly the strongest units available are the Spartan units, but
per the rules you must always try and leave one Spartan land
unit per Spartan base in Sparta, so we have two available. Per
our earlier analysis we have a clear land path from Sparta to
Boeotia via the Isthmus of Corinth, so two Spartan land units
move to Boeotia. I am going to send 5 units, but one of them
is going to be the 300 Spartan unit. Technically the 300 is self
deploying, but Phormio does not make this distinction. So for
the third and fourth units we send the two Spartan units (300
and land unit) in Chalcidice that can still move through Thes-
salia and they now arrive in Boeotia. For the last land unit we
find that one of the two Peloponnesian land units in Chalcidice
is our fifth unit because you do not take the last land unit from
a land theater if possible. Diagram: The post-battle situation in Boeotia.
So now it comes back to me (human) and I choose to execute
my Cyclades Theater issue, which I remember to be a Diplo-
matic issue. I now commit three of my four remaining Strategos
tokens and since the 3 Strategos tokens are greater (not equal)
to the Athenian military strength of 2 (base). This converts the
Delian league base (Athenian and Spartan bases are immune to
this issue) to a Peloponnesian league base with the Eurypontid
gaining 2 Honor (to 13). The Demagogues by virtue of being the
Athenian Controlling faction are reduced by 2 Honor (29 to 27).
We now continue with the Demagogues who must pass, as there
are no exposed Athenian issues and the same for the Aristocrats.
The Agiad Bot still has a primary strategy issue in Sparta but it
is covered and randomly chooses to remove the Spartan issue in
Macedonia which is a Eurypontid rumor marker that is removed.
Diagram: The pre-battle situation in Boeotia. Clearly this is an
I then choose to remove the other rumor marker (Agiad) from
overwhelming attack that very closely approximates what the
the Macedonia theater issue queue.
historical Plataea experienced in 429 (Thucydides Book 2.73).
Now its the Demagogues turn and their PS issue is available in
First the Spartans have to conduct a mandatory land battle. The Macedonia, which is revealed as a Demagogue military issue.
Spartan forces have a military value of 22: 4 Spartan land units This is a neutral theater, so only the commanding general com-
(8), 5 Peloponnesian land units (5), 1 Peloponnesian Base (2), mits any Strategos and according to the Strategy matrix instruc-
5 Strategos tokens (5), 300 Strategos token (1), 1 Treachery tions the Demagogues are to commit 1 Strategos token to move
marker (1) versus Athens with 3: 1 Delian League land unit, 1 a unit into Macedonia. According to the Decision chart this unit
Delian league base (2). Each side flips the top card of their battle is meant to be the opposite of the theater type, so a naval unit.
deck, but it wont change the result, so the Spartan card is a 1 There is an open path via Chalcidice to move an Athenian naval
and the Athenian card is a 5 for a final score of Sparta 23 versus unit from Athens to Macedonia. This resolves the military issue.
Athens 8 for a differential of 15. There are more than sufficient
numbers of Spartan land units to eliminate the single Delian Now the Agiad faction goes and randomly chooses to reveal the
land unit, and the Delian base, without any surviving military Spartan rumor marker in Sparta. Now I (human) go and I choose
units (land or naval), is eliminated with two of the differential the only available Spartan issue removing my (Eurypontid)
with the remaining 12 forfeited. We should note that we now rumor marker from Sicily.
calculate how many winner losses are taken. If we look at the As we move toward the conclusion of the segment the Dema-
Land Combat Losses: Battle Winner chart, while two Athenian gogues now have one of their PS issues available in Macedo-
side units have been eliminated, only one of them is a land unit, nia that is revealed to be a League issue. The strategy matrix
so no Spartan units are eliminated. Also, note that bases never instructs us to build a Delian league base plus gains 2 Honor
effect actual losses just military value, so the loss of the base (Demagogues go from 27 to 29).
does not impact this calculation.
The Aristocrats now have a PS issue in Sicily that is revealed
This battle outcome yields 4 Honor for the Agiad faction (2 En- to be an Aristocrat military issue. The Strategy instruction is
emy units eliminated times 2) and the Eurypontid faction gains commit 5 Strategos tokens and move Naval units in excess of
2 Honor (2 Enemy units eliminated times 1), which increases the Enemy naval units present in the Theater. The Demagogues
the Agiad to 18 (from 14) and the Eurypontid to 11 (from 9). will commit their last Strategos. This means that two naval units
Both of the Athenian factions lose 2 Honor each (Demagogues must attempt to arrive in Sicily with the remainder being 4 land
to 29 and Aristocrats to 28). units. The path from Athens to Sicily for naval units is open via
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Corcyra. I move two naval units; that meets the instruction to As there are no Spartan issues available both Agiad and Eu-
send two naval units (in excess of the one Peloponnesian naval rypontid factions pass. The Demagogues with all of their PS
unit in Sicily) and now the remainder are prescribed to be land issues resolved randomly choose to reveal the Athenian issue
units, so 4 Athenian land units move from Athens to Corcyra, in Sparta that is an Aristocrat rumor marker. This is followed
but to move from Corcyra land units in addition must also have by the Aristocrats revealing their last PS issue in Sicily that is
a friendly base in Corcyra, which is the case. This allows 4 land a League issue. The Aristocrats commit four of their remaining
units to arrive in Sicily. five Strategos tokens to build a Delian league base in Sicily and
gain 2 Honor (Aristocrats 35 and the Demagogues 33).
Now the Agiad faction has 5 Strategos available and the Eury-
pontids have 1 that I am going to commit. For the Agiad faction
we look at the decision chart and determine that the Agiads will
commit 4 of their 5 Strategos.
Diagram: Sicily after the Athenian campaign; note that there

are opposing bases in the Theater with room for a third down
the road. Syracuse is feeling the historical heat of a Sicilian
Expedition.
Diagram: Sicily prior to the opening land battle.
The Agiads close out the segment by revealing the last issue in
Since Sicily is a land theater we open with a land battle. Athens Sparta that is an Agiad military issue. Since this issue is in the
strength is 10: 4 Athenian land units (4), 6 Strategos tokens (6) City State space, the Agiad player builds Spartan units in Sparta.
versus Spartas 9: 2 Peloponnesian land units (2), 1 Pelopon- Each base can build two land units or one naval unit. Since there
nesian base (2), 5 Strategos (5). Sparta pulls a 3 card from its are only two land units available Sparta builds two land units
Battle deck and the Athenians pull a 4 resulting in final strengths and one naval unit. If any Athenian units were present it might
of Athens 14 versus Sparta 12 yielding a difference of 2. This cause a battle, but since the Theater is Spartan-controlled the
eliminates the two Peloponnesian land units and since two military issue is resolved.
Peloponnesian land units were eliminated, according to the loss
table one Athenian land unit is also eliminated. The Pelopon-
nesian base is not affected as the differential has been used and
because there is a Peloponnesian naval unit still present. The
Aristocrat commanding general gains 4 Honor (2 eliminated
land units times 2) and 2 Honor for the Demagogues (now 32
and 31 respectively). Each of the Spartan factions lose 2 Honor
(Eurypontid to 11 and Demagogue to 16).
Since Athens won the land battle they have the option to now
fight a naval battle. The Demagogues say, heck yes, so now we
calculate a naval battle. Athens has a strength of 10: 2 Athenian
naval units (4), 6 Strategos tokens (6) versus Spartan strength
of 8: 1 Peloponnesian naval unit (1), 1 Peloponnesian base (2),
5 Strategos (5). The Spartans pull a 3 and the Athenians pull a
2. This gives a final result of Athens 12 versus Sparta 11. This
differential is sufficient to eliminate the Peloponnesian naval
unit, but the Peloponnesian base survives. This gives the Dema-
gogue commanding general 2 and their Compatriot Aristocrats
1 Honor (33 Honor each) and reduces each of the Spartan fac- Diagram: This is Sparta after resolving the Agiad military issue.
tions by 1 Honor (Eurypontid 10 and Agiad 15). This resolves
the military issue.
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Now that all Theater issues have been concluded, each faction per base) with each naval unit counting for 2 and each land
returns their remaining Strategos to the stock. The Agiad and unit costing one. Athens has 14 naval and 14 land for a total of
Demagogue factions each have one; that is insufficient to gain 42, so well under the maintenance limit. Sparta can support 36
additional Honor (need at least four) and the other factions have points of units and has 5 naval and 17 land for a total of 27, so
none remaining. The Theater resolution segment is concluded. also well under the limit. If either side had had units in excess of
its maintenance limit, units would have been removed (owners
It is now the beginning of the End Phase. Since this is a two turn
choice) from the map.
scenario according to the scenario instructions it would only
end by an automatic victory. While the current score is Athens The Redeployment segment allows players to reallocate units
70 versus Sparta 25, the conditions for an automatic victory are amongst their bases. This is an important element in this chess
not in effect as the lead is insufficient (see 11.11, 11.12, 11.13). game as units are placed, not moved as they are during military
We now enter the Maintenance segment. First we look at how expedition. See 11.3 for the details, but a Theater without a
many bases each side has on the map. Athens has 15 to Spartas friendly base can only have one unit (land or naval) remaining
9. Athens can support 60 points of units (4 maintenance points at the end of redeployment and any theater with at least one
Diagram: The situation prior to redeployment.
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base can contain up to 15 friendly units. League units must be the Isthmus of Corinth and all Spartan land units in Boeotia move
in Theaters with League bases, Sparta in Theaters with Spartan back to Sparta. In Thessalia one of the two Spartan land units
bases. Athens advantage is that they can place their units in must leave since there is no base, but since the only remaining
Theaters with Delian league or Athenian bases. unit is a Spartan land unit it is allowed to remain in Thessalia.
According to the rules you attempt to ensure that all bases are The last item on the turns sequence of play would be to now
covered, with choices done randomly. Starting with the Delian determine how an Aristophanes cards Will of Assembly objec-
League we determine that no units need to move and by choice tive had resolved. Since this was not the case in this turn we
there is no redeployment. Athenian forces are now determined now move to the second turn of the game. I would suggest that
and the Athenian forces randomly determine to shift one Athe- if this is your first time you may want to try and play out the
nian land and naval unit from Sicily to Athens while the remain- second and last turn of this scenario using your own strategy.
ing forces stay where they are. Then the Peloponnesian League
sends a land unit from Boeotia to Sicily, a naval unit from the
Isthmus of Corinth to the Cyclades, a land unit from Boeotia to
Diagram: Final position at the end of the first of two turns of the Archidamian War scenario.
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Alcibiades was the scion of the Alcmaeonidae clan whose tumul-

17.0 Card Personalities tuous career literally saw him fight on all sides in the conflict.
by Carole Herman He was handsome, rich, and was parodied by Aristophanes
as speaking with a lisp. He was at times a brilliant politician
Historical Note: The major source for whos who during the and military leader who seems to have lacked a moral com-
5th century BC is Thucydides and Xenophon as supplemented pass. His father was killed in 447 BC at Corona, Boeotia and
by Plutarch and Diodorus. The sources do not always agree Pericles became his legal guardian. He served with Socrates at
and it should be noted that several individuals have the same Potidaea and defended him when he was wounded at the Battle
or similar names (e.g., Jon, John). In many cases all we know of Delium. He fought for Athens, Sparta, Persia, then Athens
about some of these individuals is based on a single passage. before finally being exiled for the second time. He died from
That said, we have tried to convey some details on who these assassins of unknown origin or avenging brothers of a wronged
personalities on the cards were and some sense of their impact woman in 404BC.
and role during this period. Anaxagoras was a philosopher who discovered the true cause
behind eclipses. He was an ardent supporter of Pericles, but
17.1 Faction Leaders was prosecuted for impiety by asserting, The sun is an in-
candescent stone larger than the region of the Peloponnese.
Historical Note: The names of the factions deserve some Pericles managed to have the charges dropped, but Anaxagoras
conversation. The Spartans were easy as there were two royal felt compelled to leave Athens and spend the rest of his days in
houses, so the faction names coincide with the names of the self-imposed exile.
royal houses. When it comes to the Athenians there were several
ways to go. During this period Athens had many factions, but Anthemocritus was an envoy who was murdered by the Mega-
at the broadest level there was a ruling faction and an opposi- rans.
tion faction. Thucydides used the term Demagogues to reflect Archestratus led the the Macdonian and Chalcidician cam-
the opposition party, especially when under the leadership of paigns.
Cleon. I leaned toward calling the ruling party conservatives,
Aristocrates was an ambassador and signer of the Peace of
but chose in the end to use Plutarchs term Aristocrats.
Nicias.
The names of the faction leader changed due to death or dis-
grace over the course of the sixty years in this game. In some Axiochus hailed from the ancient Alcmaeonidae clan. He was
cases the faction that an individual led changed. For example a politician who spoke on domestic and foreign policy issues.
in the beginning of this game, Pericles was the faction leader of Callias was a major Athenian diplomat who negotiated the peace
the Demagogues or in this period the opposition, with Cimon with Persia that bears his name (Peace of Callias). Although the
leading the Aristocrats. After Cimons death, Pericles became war with Persia was officially ended, according to Kagan, spo-
more conservative and had morphed into the faction leader of radic hostilities continued in what he calls an ancient Cold War.
the Aristocrats with Cleon leading the opposition Demagogues.
Callias II was a diplomat who was killed during the Battle of
As a consequence I use the faction leader cards to represent
Potidaea.
the evolving leadership for the opposing factions based on
votes or succession (King). Callimachus was a famous sculptor and architect. He was com-
missioned by Pericles to build the Temple of Athena Nike on
the Propylaea (gateway) to the Acropolis.
17.2 Athenian Personalities
Callixeinus led the effort to execute the victorious generals after
I attempted where known to associate a personality with his
the Battle of Arginusae.
Athenian tribe, which is at the top of the Athenian cards. I
would say that there was sufficient historical evidence for only Cimon, son of Miltiades was an Athenian aristocrat, brilliant
about half of these associations with the other half more heroic general, and political leader who was at the Battle of Marathon
guesswork than fact. and later ostracized by Pericles.
Aeschylus was a Greek tragedian who fought in the Battle of Cleophon, son of Cleipiddes was considered the greatest
Marathon. Sometimes called The Father of Tragedy, his plays, demagogue at that time who opposed the oligarchic coup. His
along with Sophocles and Euripides, are amongst the only constant sparing with Critias earned him a spot in Aristotles
works of Classical Greek literature to survive. Rhetoric. Like many politicians he was the butt of satirical
attacks by the comic poets who portrayed him with as being
Adeimantus, son of Leucolophies was a general who avoided
contemptible. Some have considered him a true revolutionary.
execution after the victory at Arginusae by not returning to Ath-
He was murdered in 404 BC by a mob.
ens. He also served under Alcibiades in the expedition against
Andros and was present at the climatic Battle of Aegospotami Cleon was the poster child of an Athenian demagogue. Cleon
where he was accused of treachery, taken as a prisoner, and was considered a new politician as he was without noble an-
impeached by Conon. cestry. He had radical ideas that he delivered with an aggressive
oratory style that was both effective and unpolished. His wealth
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was not based on land but on trade and his tannery business. a consequence Eurymedon was forced to pay a huge fine. His
After the death of Pericles, Cleon became the de facto leader last command as it turned out was to sail with Demosthenes to
of Athens. He fought bitter political battles with Nicias. Nicias aid the Athenians at the Siege of Syracuse, but he was killed in
backed Cleon into leading the offensive to take the Island of a skirmish enroute.
Sphacteria. Cleon smartly took General Demosthenes as his
Euripides was an Athenian aristocrat and one of the three famous
second in command, leading to the dramatic success that cap-
Greek tragedians who wrote Medea and The Trojan Woman.
tured the Spartan force. Unfortunately this success caused him
to go up against the brilliant Spartan general Brasidas that saw Glaucon was Platos older brother known for his Socratic
both die in the Battle of Amphipolis (Aristophanes card Knights dialogues.
B event). The death of Cleon and Brasidas opened negotiations Hagnon was the son of Nicias and father of Theramenes. At
that led to the Peace of Nicias. the ripe age of sixty he was elected along with Sophocles as a
Conon was the Athenian admiral who lost the Battle of Aegos- Proboulos of Athens. His military career saw him found the col-
potami and the war. ony at Amphipolis. He participated in the Samian and Chalcidice
campaigns and was one of the signers of the Peace of Nicias.
Critias was an Athenian noted for his tragedies, elegies, and
prose works. Also for tyranny and political murder, right after Hyperbolus was a politician who came to prominence after the
the war ends death of Cleon. Aristophanes referred to him in the play Peace
as a lamp maker before he was a politician. Hated as much as
Democlidas led several Thracian campaigns and was the founder
Cleon was, he is also associated with the alleged decline in
of the colony of Brea.
Athenian political culture that led to Athens defeat. In 411 he
Demosthenes, son of Callisthenes, was an important Athenian was murdered at Samos where he had lived in exile since 416.
general from the 2nd Peloponnesian War until his death in the Thucydides mused that his death was caused by his giving
Sicilian expedition. In 425 BC he fortified Pylos and along with pledge and good faith to the Athenian oligarchal coup.
Cleon, captured the Spartans on Sphacteria. He was one of the
Ictinus was one of Athens most celebrated architects who de-
signers of the Peace of Nicias in 421 BC. After his defeat in
signed numerous works, most famously the Parthenon.
Sicily by the Syracusans, he and Nicias were captured and were
executed despite Gylippus orders that they were to be made Iolcius was an ambassador to the Peace of Nicias.
prisoners instead. Lacedaemonius descended from the Philaidae clan who were
Diomedon was a late war general who contributed to the victory land owning aristocrats. His father Cimon so admired the Spar-
at the Battle of Arginusae. tans that as a sign of goodwill named his son after the city of
Lacedaemon. He commanded a squadron of 10 triremes during
Diotmus commanded part of the Athenian naval forces at the
the initial Corcyra crisis with Corinth.
Battle of Sybota.
Laches was a general who after an early failure in Sicily was
Ephialtes was an Athenian demagogue, politician and early
prosecuted by Cleon, but acquited of any wrongdoing. Laches
leader of the radical democratic movement in Athens. He began
along with Nicias negotiated the Peace of Nicias, but when the
by diminishing the power of the Areopagus and set forth new
peace fell apart he once again went into the field. He was killed
laws that included control of office holders and the judicial han-
in 418 at the Battle of Mantinea.
dling of state trials, for public officers to receive pay, a reduced
property qualification and a new definition of citizenship. He Lamachus was known for his military skill and courage. Aris-
unfortunately never got a chance to participate as he was assas- tophanes commented on him favorably in some of his dialogs.
sinated during an oligarchic coup. He was one of the generals placed in command of the ill-fated
Sicilian Expedition, where he was killed in battle.
Epilycus, was an Athenian aristocrat, and a member of the Boule
who helped negotiate a treaty with the Persian King Darius in Lampon was an ambassador of the Peace of Nicias.
424- 423 BC. Leocrates was a general who led the siege that conquered Ath-
Eurymedon was a general during the 2nd Peloponnesian War. He ens naval rival Aegina.
was sent to intercept the Peloponnesian fleet, which was on its Leon was a staunch democrat and general during the latter
way back to Corcyra. Upon arriving Eurymedon took command part of the Peloponnesian War. He and Diomedon took charge
of the combined fleets after Nicostratus with a small squadron at Samos and attacked the Island of Rhodes when it revolted
from Naupactus secured the island in the name of Athens. He against the Delian League.
was then appointed command of an expedition to Sicily along
with Sophocles. On his way there he stopped by Corcyra in Lysias had his wealth stolen from him by the 400 Oligarchs.
order to assist the Democratic Party against the oligarchic ex- Lysias was one of the generals executed after the failed mission
iles. When he finally arrived in Sicily he was forced to accept to save the drowning sailors at the Battle of Arginusae.
the pact made by the Syracusan Hemocrates with the erstwhile Lysicles was a general killed during an expedition to collect
Athenian allies. However, the terms were not satisfactory to tribute in Caria.
the Athenian assembly who blamed his actions on bribery. As
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Mnesicles was hired by Pericles to be the architect who built Scironides was an Athenian aristocrat and a general elected in
the Propylaea, the Periclean gateway to the Athenian acropolis. 412 and later charged with dereliction of duty when he voted
to withdraw from Iasus and Amorges.
Myrtilus was an ambassador to the Peace of Nicias negotiations.
Socrates, son of Sophroniscus a stone mason and sculptor, was
Myronides led a successful counterattack winning the battle of
known as the founder of the Socratic method. He is credited
Oenophyta during an early Boeotian campaign.
with saving Alcibiades life after he was wounded at the Siege
Nicias was an Athenian aristocrat, a general and political leader of Potidaea and was against executing the eight generals dur-
who came into power after the death of Pericles. After a decade ing their trial after the Battle of Arginusae. After Athens defeat
of war the conditions for peace were created after the simultane- in 404 saw the short period of the 30 Tyrants followed by the
ous deaths of Cleon and Brasidas at the Battle of Amphipolis. re-establishment of Democracy. The new Democracy brought
Nicias was the leader of the Athenian peace movement that lead Socrates up on impiety charges that led to his execution in 399.
to the cessation of hostilities later titled the Peace of Nicias. He
Sophocles was an Athenian aristocrat and general who fought
reluctantly accepted a joint command of the Sicilian Expedition
with Pericles during the Samian revolt and during the late
that resulted in the turning point of the Peloponnesian Wars.
Peloponnesian war was reelected to the Strategy board. He was
After he surrendered Athenian forces to Syracuse he was sum-
famous in his own lifetime and is best known as a tragedian who
marily executed over the protestations of Gylippus the Spartan
wrote over 120 plays, including Antigone and Electra.
commander.
Pericles the Younger was an Athenian aristocrat and the illegiti- Design Note: Sophocles is one of my favorite personalities of
mate son of Pericles. He was one of the six generals executed this period. He was a Renaissance man long before the term
following the Battle of Arginusae for failing to pick up survivors could have any meaning.
in a storm.
Strombichides was a general and staunch democrat who com-
Pericles, Son of Xanthippus, was an Athenian general and poli- manded eight ships sent to the coast of Asia Minor following
tician from the Acamantis clan who came in to power after he the revolt of Chios.
ostracized his rival Cimon. He is considered one of the greatest
Theramenes was a central figure in four major episodes in
figures in Greek history. He enacted the controversial decisions
Athenian history. After the Battle of Arginusae he served as a
that siphoned off Delian League funds to enhance Athens with
trierarch, whose job was to rescue the sailors from sunk ships,
a massive building program that included the Parthenon. As
but was diverted by a storm. He was one of the leaders in an
a general he put down the Samian revolt and during the 2nd
oligarchic coup, served as a general and after the Athenians
Peloponnesian war conducted large raids of the Spartan coast.
defeat at Aegospotami, arranged the terms for which Athens
He died of the plague in 429 BC.
surrendered to Sparta. He was a member of the Thirty Tyrants,
Phormio was an Athenian aristocrat and was considered by leading Sparta to impose harsh rules upon Athens. Theramenes
Thucydides to be an exemplary commander. He led the siege was a controversial figure, whose disagreements with members
of Chalcidice and won two extraordinary naval battles over of government, and protests against the Thirty Tyrants caused
superior-sized Peloponnesian fleets that led to agreements with them to denounce him. When they could not decide how to
the Acarnanians. He died in 428 BC after being charged with punish him, he was thrown to a crowd of angry citizens and
corruption. executed without a trial.
Phrynichus was an Athenian demagogue and sycophant general Thrasycles was a general who along with Strombichides was
who along with Theramenes, Piesander and Antiphon, over- sent to the coast of Asia Minor to quell the Chios revolt.
threw the government during an oligarchic coup. The Sicilian
Expedition along with many other events left the coffers of Thrasybulus, son of Thraso was a general who led democratic
Athens in a dismal state. The Four Hundred was set up to resistance to the Oligarchs. He blamed the disaster at Notium
revise a better way to handle these finances, but only lasted for on Alcibiades, accusing him of conducting the campaign like a
four months. Thucydides stated: they would have preferred to luxury cruise. Alcibiades was also accused of engaging in
establish an oligarchic government and maintain Athenian rule debauchery by getting drunk and visiting whores. It looks like
over the empire. As the Athenians became suspicious of their what was old is new again.
real intentions, they arranged to betray their city in exchange Thrasyllus was a leader who played a role in organizing demo-
for their own safety. In 411 Phrynichus was stabbed to death as cratic resistance in an Athenian fleet at Samos. He was elected
he was leaving the council-chamber. general by the sailors and soldiers and held that position until
Proteas was a commander at the Battle of Sybota. he was executed in 406 after the Battle of Arginusae.
Protomachus was a general who participated in the Athenian Thucydides son of Olorus was an aristocrat, an admiral, and his-
victory at Arginusae. Despite the victory the generals were ac- torian. His writings are from the point of view of a rich Athenian,
cused of failing to recover Athenian survivors and the bodies of who had oligarchic leanings. He admired Pericles for exerting
the slain. Fearing the anger of the people along with Protomachus a firm control over the undisciplined Athenian democracy. As
and Aristogenes, he chose not to return to Athens to stand trial an admiral he failed to save Amphipolis from Brasidas and was
and avoided the fate of the other six generals who were executed. exiled until after the surrender of Athens. During this time he
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wrote The History of the Peloponnesian War. He returned Lysander whose naval victory brought Athens to surrender after
to Athens and lived in Thrace, during his retirement, and was a lengthy siege.
possibly killed during a robbery. His daughter and Xenophon Agesander was a war party ambassador at the beginning of the
finished his work. 2nd Peloponnesian War.
Thucydides son of Melesias was a prominent politician who Agesandridas was a Spartan general who commanded Pelopon-
opposed Pericles after the death of Cimon. He believed in the nesian ships that raised Euboea in revolt. He also led several
philosophy of the so called old oligarch and strived to bring Peloponnesian fleets to victory in the Eretria campaign.
back the days of Cimon. His political power reached its peak
in the beginning of the First Peloponnesian War. His strategy Aisimides was a Corinthian admiral at the Battle of Sybota.
establishing an assembly where all his supporters unite as one Alcamenes, son of Sthenelaides was a military governor who
voice allowed him to show the differences between himself was appointed by Agis II as the commander of the Lesbos revolt.
and Pericles. He was however, later ostracized by Pericles and He sailed with 21 ships to Chios, where he was pursued, attacked
possibly traveled to Sybaris. and killed by the Athenian fleet off the Isthmus of Corinth.
Tolmides was experienced general who commanded many Alcidas was a vicious Spartan Admiral who during the Ionian
expeditions that encompassed raids on the Peloponnesus, took Revolt executed prisoners even while he fled from Athenian
Chalcis, and successfully defeated Sicyon. He was a major pursuers. Other than several atrocities he accomplished little,
political rival of Pericles who died in battle during an under- although he forced the Athenians to spend precious resources
resourced Boeotia campaign. to neutralize his voyage.
Xenophon was an Athenian with expressed sympathies for Antiphus was an ambassador to Peace of Nicias.
Sparta. He was a Greek historian, mercenary and philosopher. He
is famous for many important works, such as Anabasis, a military Antisthenes was a naval commander who led a Spartan fleet
memoir with vivid and brutal descriptions from his journal. His from the Peloponnesus to Miletus.
Hellenica was a personal memoir supposedly only intended for Aristeus, son of Pellichas, was a Corinthian general who led
his friends who experienced many of the events. His account the Chalcidice revolt.
starts in 411, after Thucydides breaks off his narrative and ends
Astyochus was a navarch ordered to execute Alcibiades who
in 362, the year of the 2nd Battle of Mantinea. Xenophon was
had defected to Persia.
also a student of Socrates and a foremost authority on his teach-
ings. His work, The Apology of Socrates to the Jury recounts Brasidas, son of Tellis, was a brilliant Spartan general who
details of Socrates trial. After the 2nd Peloponnesian war, he Thucydides referred to as intelligent, competent and brave. He
left Athens and joined the expedition of the Achaemenian prince saved Methone from an Athenian attack and was elected ephor.
Cyrus the Younger to overthrow his brother King Artaxerxes He led freed Spartan helots and Peloponnesian mercenaries into
II, which resulted in Xenophons Anabasis and his exile from the north, where he re-energized the Chalcidian rebellion against
Athens. He was killed in Spartolos in 429 BC. Athens and captured Amphipolis. He died there fighting Cleon
in the failed Athenian counterattack. His death in the same battle
17.3 Spartan Personalities as Cleons demise cleared the way for negotiations that led to
the Peace of Nicias.
The major ruling body of Sparta was the Gerousia that con-
sisted of 30 individuals who had achieved the rank of Ephor. I Callicratidas was a navarch who fought and died at the Battle
have chosen to title the Spartan cards in this manner. Where it of Arginusae. There are two versions about what happened
is known I have associated the various personalities with the to Callicratidas at that battle. Diodoruss account is bit more
royal house they were associated with, but for the most part the spectacular, stating Callicratidas went out in a blaze of glory,
information on Spartan personalities is tougher to come by since ramming ships to his left and right until he finally met his violent
Thucydides and Xenophon were Athenian and were obviously demise when he hit Pericles ship. The other version, written by
more familiar with people that they personally knew. Xenophon, paints a somewhat different, if not more somber pic-
ture. According to Xenophon in 406 Callicratidas fell overboard
The main faction leader personalities were the Kings of Sparta. and drowned when his ship was rammed by an enemy trireme
Sparta had two Kings at any time but due to age differences one near Mytilene. Apart from the fact he died, there is very little
King was often more important with a Regent for a younger detail about what exactly happened in that battle.
royal. At the very beginning of the period King Pleistoanax
led the invasion of Attica that turned back and he was exiled Calligitus was a Megaran ambassador who advocated aggressive
on bribery charges. At the beginning of the 2nd Peloponnesian support for the Ionian revolts.
War, King Archidamus of Archidamian War fame was running Chalcidaeus was a general who supported Alcibiades during the
the show, but without any fanfare he disappears from the nar- Aegean campaign. In 412 the Athenians killed him near Miletus.
rative and is presumed to have died of causes unknown. The
main royal in the latter part of the war was Agis II with an older Cheirisophus was a late war Spartan commander who is best
Pleistoanax returning to Sparta. The architects of the Spartan known for leading the ten thousand in the Greco-Persian Wars.
victory are attributed to Agis II with his army in Decelea and Chionis was an ambassador to the Peace of Nicias.
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Cleandridas was a political advisor to Agiad King Pleistonax. Eurylochus was a Spartan commander during the Aegean revolts
Clearchus, son of Rampias, was a hated military governor of who marched a large army from Delphi threatening Naupactus
Byzantium, a naval commander who lost the city to revolt and and laid siege to Amphilochian Argos. In 426 BC he died in
supported Pharnabazus in the Hellespont. His love of warfare the battle at Olpae.
and battle was considered extreme even by Spartan standards. Evagoras known as a tyrant, served as a Spartan commander
Clearidas was a Spartiate and sub-commander at the Battle for in Cyprus.
Amphipolis. Gylippus was a general whose place in Spartan society was
Cleobulus was an Ephor who opposed the Peace of Nicias. He hindered by his mother being a helot. He led the successful relief
also advised the Boeotians and Corinthians to act together to of Syracuse but after the Battle of Aegospotami in 405, he stole
form an alliance with Argos in an effort to sabotage the peace. money he was carrying to Sparta and like his father before him,
he was condemned to death and fled into exile.
Cnemus was an admiral at the Battle of Naupactus.
Hateomaridas was a peace party Ephor.
Deiniadas was a Laconian periokios who caused Methymna
on Lesbos to revolt. Hegesandridas was a Spartan admiral who led several successful
campaigns, most notably the capture of Euboea.
Dercylidas was a Spartan admiral known for being crafty and
cunning. King Agis II sent him from Amphipolis to the Helles- Hetoemaridas was of noble birth and a very well respected
pont to bring about the revolt of Abydos, which was a Milesian Spartan citizen. As a peace party Ephor on the eve of the 2nd
colony. Peloponnesian War, he felt Athens should be allowed to keep
her naval hegemony, since it was not advantageous to Sparta
Diathus was a Lacedaemonian ambassador to the Peace of to dispute over the sea.
Nicias negotiations.
Hippagretas was a Spartan commander at the Battle of Sphac-
Dmagon was one of the founders of Heraclea, along with Leon teria.
and Alcidas.
Ischagoras was a Spartan ambassador to the Peace of Nicias.
Dorcis was an unpopular Spartan commander who took com-
mand after the Battle of Mycale. Laphilus was a Spartan ambassador to the Peace of Nicias.
Eccritus was a Spartan general who led 600 helots and neo- Lichas, son of Arcesilaus, was a Spartan diplomat who negoti-
damodeis as reinforcements during the Sicilian campaign. ated a treaty for Persian aid, but objected to turning over Greek
cities to the Great Kings rule.
Empedius was a Spartan ambassador to the Peace of Nicias.
Lysander was the brilliant Spartan admiral who was very
Endius was an Ephor who supported Alcidas during the Chian close to the Eurypontid King, Agis II. He won many victories
Revolt. including in the Hellespont region where he won the decisive
Epicydidas was a Spartan commander who lost a fleet during final battle of Aegospotami. Over the next year his blockade
a storm. forced the Athenians to surrender, bringing an end to the 2nd
Peloponnesian War.
Epitadas was a Spartan commander who was killed at the Battle
of Sphacteria in 425 BC. Even with 420 hoplites Epitadas could Metagenes was a Spartan diplomat at the Peace of Nicias ne-
not stop the Athenians from blockading his forces. The Spartans gotiations.
were willing to negotiate a peace, but Cleon smelling blood Mindarus was an admiral who took over command of the Spar-
dismissed the idea and captured this force. Sphacteria was the tan fleet at Miletus. He felt that the support that he was receiving
first time that a Spartan army had surrendered rather than be from the Persian satrap Tissaphernes was insufficient and was
killed on the spot. enticed to shift his support to another satrap Pharnabazus in the
Eteonicus was a Spartan commander during the Arginusae and Hellespont. While in the Hellespont with an expanded fleet he
Aegospotami campaigns. was brought to battle by Alcibiades and Thrasybulus at Cyzicus.
In a confused set of naval and land engagements, Mindarus was
Eualas was a Spartan commander during the Aegean revolts. killed and his fleet was eliminated.
Eubulus was a Spartan naval commander during the Methana Naucleides was a Plataean traitor whose failed coup was one
campaign. of the causes of the 2nd Peloponnesian War. He and the other
Eurybatus was a Corinthian admiral at the Battle of Sybota. wealthy citizens of Plataea despised Athens and wanted to seize
This battle was perhaps the largest naval battle between Greek power. He had the backing of one of the most powerful men in
city-states up to that point and is considered one of the catalysts Thebes, Eurymachus, whose father Leontiades betrayed Thebes
for the 2nd Peloponnesian War. to the Persians in 480BC.
Nicomedes, son of Cleombrotus, was a royal agent who under
the authority of King Pleistoanax, son of Pausanisas, aided the
Dorians in Boeotia.
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Pausanias was a Spartan commander and son of Cleombro-

tus who served as regent after his death. He was the father of 18.0 Strategy Guide
Pleistoanax who later became king. According to Thucydides Introduction
and Plutarch, many Hellenic League allies joined the Athenians
As with any new design of mine the issue is often not that the
because Pausanias was arrogant and misused his power. In 478
mechanics are complex, but the strategies for success are not
he was convicted of conspiring with the Persians. He was be-
immediately obvious. Here are some basics to improve your
trayed by one of the messengers he used to communicate with
enjoyment in your early matches. In my University classes I
Xerxes with a letter providing evidence of his intentions that
teach a technique that I call right to left thinking that is my
gave the Ephors enough evidence to convict him. His home was
way of translating the Zen concept of be the target into actions.
surrounded and he eventually died of starvation.
The idea is to understand where you are going before you start
Peisander was a Spartan commander and the brother of Ag- the journey.
esilaus.
Pericles is a political-military game, so while you begin with
Pericledias was a diplomat and signer of the Peace of Nicias. politics and choose issues to debate, which issues to pick and
Philocharidas was a Spartan commander and one of the Ambas- why are the important questions that need to be answered. If
sadors to the Peace of Nicias negotiations. He was sent as an you begin by looking at the map, you should ask yourself what
envoy to the cities in the Thracian region, to demand the Spartan do I want the situation to look like after the turn is concluded.
commander Clearidas hand over Amphipolis to the Athenians. Once you understand what you want to happen militarily then
Clearidas refused to accept them. The failure to fulfill the main you should ask yourself, which issues do I and my Compatriot
Athenian objective for peace inevitably set the conditions for need to put into play to make that happen. Then it is a matter
the renewal of conflict. of nominating and successfully debating those issues to enable
your chosen path. What follows are some important tactics, but
Phrynis was a Spartan ambassador and perioikoi. He was sent to while no plan survives impact with the enemy, without a solid
Chios to see if they had sufficient forces to gain Spartas support foundation in strategy you will find yourself treading water
to revolt. When Phrynis stated they had told the truth, the Spar- instead of advancing toward your goals.
tans entered into an alliance with the Chians and Erythraeans,
dispatching 40 ships and initiating operations in the Aegean. Now here comes the interesting wrinkle to all of this. During
the war it is us versus them, but in the political dimension it is
Ramphias was a peace party ambassador at the beginning of me versus you. This means that at times you are fighting a two
the 2nd Peloponnesian War. front war, especially as a scenario is drawing toward a finish.
Sthenelaidas was an influential war party Ephor who demanded That is what I think makes this historical situation so fascinating.
that Sparta declare war against Athens: In his powerful speech In this period faction loyalty often took precedence over City
he gave to his fellow Spartans, he pleaded for them to: Vote State loyalty. Welcome to 5th Century Greece!
therefore, Spartans, for war, as the honor of Sparta demands, and Theater Campaigns
neither allow the further aggrandizement of Athens, nor betray The heart of the Pericles system is the Theater phase that drives
our allies to ruin, but with the gods let us advance against the the action. During the political portion of the turn players will
aggressors. win issues. During the Theater phase they place those issues on
Tellis was one of the signers of the Peace of Nicias. the map in one of the twenty Theater spaces plus Persia. The
first issue placed establishes a Last In-First Out (hereafter LIFO)
Therimenes was an admiral during the latter part of the 2nd
queue. The counterintuitive part is the first thing you want to
Peloponnesian war.
happen in a Theater has to be the last thing you put in the queue.
Xenares, son of Clinias, was a Spartan Ephor who along with The last thing you want to happen is the first thing you put in
Cleobulus advised the Boeotians and Corinthians to act together the queue. In a Theater of war it is this sequence of opposing
to form an alliance with Argos in an effort to sabotage the Peace issues in the Theater queue that captures the thrust-counterthrust
of Nicias. narrative of the Peloponnesian Wars. Once you have this basic
Zeusidas was a Spartan diplomat and signer of Peace of Nicias. concept in your mind all else follows.
What is a Theater? There are twenty Theater spaces on the
Pericles map plus Persia. A Theater is either a land or a naval
Theater. What this means is if you decide to initiate a battle in
a land theater you must fight a land battle and the winner can
optionally fight a naval battle. The opposite applies in a naval
Theater. Each side has bases that anchor military forces and
represent economic infrastructure. In the final counting a City
State gains Honor for control of Theaters and their bases.
Why a particular Theater is important to your side will be cov-
ered later in this guide, but lets postulate that Boeotia (Land
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Theater) is important to your strategy. Lets also postulate that In Pericles the side with superior planning and timing will
this is the beginning of the 2nd Peloponnesian War and Boeotia prevail. So, how does this translate into Athens defending its
(Central Greece) is a contested Theater. A contested Theater position in Boeotia? Athens has several choices, but lets say we
has both sides forces present. Sparta has a Peloponnesian base simply want to improve our situation in Boeotia. If our issue is
(Thebes) with four land units opposed by a Delian League base at the top of the Boeotia Theater queue we will have first mover
(Plataea) with one land unit. The raw land strength count is advantage in Boeotia.
Sparta 6 versus Athens 3 as each land unit counts for one and
The three major choices are a League, Military, or Diplomatic
bases count for 2. A good place to start this conversation is how
issue. Athenians as their first action (last into the queue) in
does Athens defend Boeotia and how does Sparta attack Boeotia?
the Theater could resolve a League issue, build two more land
Thucydides describes a war of thrust and counterthrust. This is units (each base can build two land or one naval per base) and
an era of small armies and large spaces. Geographic chokepoints now our forces are just under one to one with the Enemy forces
and enemy bases are where the battles were fought because with- present. Perhaps the better option might be to build one naval
out airplanes, radios, or drones, it was hard to time the arrival of unit. Now our base has a sea line of communication and while
forces to block enemy activity. The Theater issue queue is how our small army might get smashed, we will not lose the base
Pericles captures this chess-like move-countermove dynamic. unless Sparta can win first the land and then a naval battle. At
Imagine you are Pericles (Aristocrat faction) standing before the this point Athens naval supremacy and control of the Saronic
Athenian assembly proposing a military expedition to Boeotia Gulf chokepoint (Athens Theater) makes it very unlikely that
to punish Thebes for a failed coup against your ally Plataea. Sparta could assemble a fleet and successfully sail it to Boeotia,
You propose your nephew Alcibiades to lead the attack while so our single naval unit ensures our bases survival.
Cleon (Demagogue faction) counter proposes Demosthenes. Athens could instead have put a diplomatic issue into play. This
Pericles barely wins the debate naming Alcibiades as the com- activates a conspiracy of opponents within the Peloponnesian
manding general (3 Strategos tokens), but Demosthenes is also base. As the Peloponnesians have a large army present, I have no
given a command (4 Strategos tokens). Unless there is further chance of a successful coup at this time, but for the expenditure
debate on this issue Athens will conduct a military expedition of three Strategos tokens, I place three Treachery markers, ef-
to Boeotia. How you allocate and deploy your Strategos tokens fectively increasing my local strength by 3 due to conspirators
amongst your various enterprises and how you respond to Enemy and other minor City State forces in Boeotia.
actions is the heart of the narrative that determines the winner
Another option is to reveal a Military issue, and assemble several
of the wars.
land and naval units in Boeotia, but resolving Military issues
In a traditional wargame like For the People you have named in Contested Theaters will bring on a battle or a Raid. A Raid
generals and everyone knows that Robert E. Lee should be a go avoids fighting a battle and for the expenditure of three Strategos
to guy for the South. In this period there were equivalent great tokens you gain three Honor points, while forcing our opponents
generals, such as the Athenian Demosthenes, who held a similar to lose from one to five Strategos tokens due to ravaging. Raiding
distinction until his death. In Pericles how you deploy your should be a major component of your military strategy.
Strategos tokens determines whether you are sending a Demos-
One of the truths in war is: The enemy gets a vote. While
thenes (great general) or a Diomedon (an average general). As a
Raids are subtle we all understand marching to battle. Remem-
rule if you and your teammate were to gain all of the available
ber the issues in a queue are secret until revealed. Lets say
Strategos tokens with a full agenda of issues, your team could
that the Spartans had put a military issue into Boeotia at the
send out multiple military expeditions, diplomatic missions,
bottom of the queue. If Athens has a military issue higher in
muster forces, build several League bases and even invoke the
the queue what could occur is the Athenians send in an army
gods (Oracle issue). Likewise the other team is conducting the
to fight with Thebes, so now Athens has an army in Boeotia. If
same process to generate their response. I will cover political
another Athenian military issue in another theater is resolved
strategy in more detail later in this guide, but now back to the
before the Spartan issue at the bottom of the queue resolves, this
main question, how to gain control of Boeotia?
Athenian force could move off. On the other hand if the Spartan
This is a period of militia armies. There are no standing armies military issue is revealed before the Athenians can move off you
akin to ancient Rome. Even the vaunted Spartan army needed to could find yourself rediscovering why the Athenian strategy for
be mustered. Historically it took months to prepare and launch Central Greece collapsed for following this exact strategy. You
a military force, so unlike later ancient periods with standing have been warned.
armies you cannot react after an attack has already begun.
Hopefully this gives you an idea on how you need to think about
Remember, no radios or satellites, just information arriving
Theater queues. I would be remiss if I did not relate one other
once things are in motion. If we do not correctly anticipate
aspect of Theater queues is how they play out across multiple
our enemys strategy your reinforcements will arrive too late,
theaters. The key rule is that when it is your turn to reveal an
so you have to anticipate your opponents actions and get there
issue and there are one or more of your side available you must
first. Failure to correctly counter your opponents moves will
reveal one of them. So, how to control or disrupt your enemies
let you walk a mile in Admiral Thucydides sandals, who was
issue timing is an important tactical consideration.
cashiered for being a day late and a trireme short.
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Each faction places two rumor markers each Theater phase. By I have seen a medium sized Peloponnesian army with a single
getting a rumor marker on top of a queue prevents your opponent Spartan land unit get ambushed late in a Theater phase by an
from revealing those issues until the rumor has been resolved. Athenian military issue that wins the battle and eliminates the
The collective effect of the eight rumor markers in the various Spartan unit for hostages and lots of Honor. If this happens you
queues creates true chaos. Have no fear, the rumors all get re- have relived the Spartan defeat at Pylos.
solved, but how the issues in various queues reveal themselves
Assuming that Athens plays cautiously what should the Spar-
and how this all turns out will give you a front seat on a roller
tans do? The simple answer is raid Athens. The basic tactic that
coaster ride with its inevitable ups and downs that brings up
mirrors the war is to send a strong Spartan army into Athens
the next question. How does one think about integrating multi-
where Athens will win the naval battle, no losses are taken or
theater issue queues into a coherent military strategy?
honor is lost, but now the Spartans are contesting Athens. Then
Strategy build a base in Athens (Decelea) and Raid with military issues.
Military academies and senior training institutions, such as the Note that this same strategy works for Athens with naval units
Naval War College where I have taught, have used the Pelopon- in Sparta ala Pylos and vice versa. If Athens builds the third
nesian War as a case study for decades. The two main themes of base in Athens find a way to do it in some other Theater like
the case study examine the effects of long periods of conflict on Naupactus. In all cases you need to contest Theaters that you
a Democracy (Athens) and the asymmetrical character of Athe- can reach by land and build up your bases.
nian naval power versus Spartan land power. It is this last point Another piece of Spartan strategy is taking advantage of the
that is important to how you develop a strategy for your side. spread out nature of the Athenian empire and using diplomatic
The Athenians are a naval power and if you remember the simple issues to convert Delian league bases and then build naval power
rule that in a naval theater you always fight a mandatory naval outside the geographic chokepoints of Athens and Naupactus. If
battle before you fight the optional land battle you have the you can do this in Ionia or due to a fortuitous Alcibiades event,
basis of your strategy. Fighting land battles is apt to have you build Persian bases and then use Persian gold to develop suf-
relive history. If you want to understand the Athenian Sicilian ficient naval power to defeat the Athenians in detail. This takes
disaster or the loss of Central Greece (Boeotia), just get a large time and like Athens on land you have to pick your spots, but
land force exposed to a Spartan riposte. If this happens to you, the creation of a legitimate naval threat will pay big dividends
dont despair, just revel in the fact that you have simulated his- if properly applied.
tory without a special rule. Politics
This is not to say that Athens cannot win a land battle, but only This is the portion of the game that shows its Churchill lineage.
when you time it so you avoid a Spartan response. Historically Each team of two factions debates issues. I am not going to
after a Spartan raid of Attica (Athens) had returned home, the go into this in detail, but the main strategy point is this is the
Athenian army would raid the Isthmus of Corinth (Megara). So, arena where the two factions cannot change their total Honor
it is an important strategy, but you have to time it right. points, but redistribute their City States honor based on politi-
cal performance. So, while you are a team during the war, it is
The main strategy for the Athenians is to follow the Periclean
strategy that is to maintain naval supremacy, protect the empire, YOU versus ME as measured by who wins issues with a higher
and avoid dangerous adventures. You can and should experiment oratory score (box number on the track where an issue is won).
with alternate paths, but if you follow this one build bases in Political strategy is very important in Pericles. Becoming the
naval theaters. Remember a base in a Theater with a naval unit Controlling faction comes with Honor perks and potential penal-
cannot be eliminated unless the Spartans can eliminate the naval ties. Successfully ostracizing your teammate has a large benefit,
unit. Also remember that you can have up to three bases in a but once this issue is in play it can boomerang on you. As I said,
Theater. Remember establishing bases brings honor. assuming your side wins the war, how you play in the political
arena will usually decide the winner of the game. Lose the war
Your offensive options revolve around getting a naval unit into
and your orations become a footnote.
a Theater to make it a contested Theater and then use military
issues to Raid to gain Honor and reduce the number of avail- The downside of excessive infighting is political gridlock. If
able Spartan Strategos. The other important consideration is in your side cannot collectively generate won issues, your side
a long scenarios end-of-game scoring, Sparta and Athens gain is going to place fewer issues into play than your opponents.
Honor for Control of a Theater. Contested Theaters do not score, If your side is generating less activity than your opponents,
so ensure that most if not all land Theaters on the map have a your team is going to find it difficult to win the war. This is the
friendly base with naval support. delicate political balance that each side has to consider during
political debate.
The basis of Spartan power is their Spartan land units. What I
have found is most wargamers intuitively understand Spartan An important card design element is issue alignment. Cards all
strategy. Sparta is always looking to score a knock out blow have a value from one to five and both decks are identical in
against an Athenian army. I have found that most Athenians new this regard. Where the decks differ is in their issue alignment.
to this system will naturally make this mistake. But be careful Issue alignment is the value bonus and Strategos award a faction
that you do not inadvertently spread out your Spartan land units. receives when a card is played on its issue.
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There are no weak hands in Pericles, just hands that are weak strongest lessons come from making mistakes and achieving
against certain issues. If you are weak in an issue you need for unexpected successes. Good luck!
your strategypick it first as it starts in your win column bar-
ring a poor debate performance. If you look at the cards care-
fully you will notice that there are no weak cards if you play
the low value cards on their aligned issue. The advantage of the
stronger value cards is they are more flexible and are usually
the strongest cards when played aligned with their issue. This
is important when you receive your cards and consider which
issues to nominate in debate.
I designed into the deck that the average value of an issue aligned
card is approximately five. If both factions play symmetrically
you will get political gridlock. This is intended and can be very
frustrating especially if you remember that you cannot discuss
any aspect of your card play with your opponent. At times you
may have to play a weaker card to ensure that it gets into play
with the obvious downside that you are giving away oration 19.0 Designer Notes
honor to your Compatriot. How the two factions learn to com-
pete while working for the greater good of the City State is a 19.1 The History behind the Pericles design
key aspect of the Pericles political model.
One of the key lessons that I learned from Jim Dunnigan and
Your faction leader represents you in the assembly. It is often my time at SPI is that popular views of what constitutes an ac-
best to use your faction leader to gain some portion of the curate view of an historical event are sometimes not based on a
Strategy board, but if you know you are going to lose control deep understanding of the known facts and more importantly a
of the government you might be advantaged to use your faction quantification of those details. Much of this numerical analysis
leader to capture an important issue in debate. Another resource, comes directly out of Hansons book, A War Like No Other
especially late in a scenario, is to use the brain trust. (see bibliography), and confirmed by my own research into the
Unless you are playing one of the longer scenarios, the brain period. My purpose in this section is to convey some context
trust option is usually a once per scenario opportunity. It is a and texture to the history represented in the design.
very powerful way to really gain control of an issue such as At the big picture level 5th Century BC Greece was composed
Ostracism or War/Peace when it can decisively alter who is in of ~1500 autonomous City States. There are various formal
the lead on your side. If you think this may happen it is best to city-state definitions, but at its core there were three elements:
choose three stronger card values to go into your Entourage. This a territory that rarely supplied more than a subsistence level
way if your faction leader is not opposed by your compatriots of agricultural products, a central market and administrative
leader you can turn a 6- or 7-value play into a 10+ value play center that supported a citizenry coalesced around a common
for leverage in determining oration honor. If done on the last origin myth culture.
turn of the scenario or if causing Peace ends the scenario it can
Land was sacred and central to the soul of a city-state and the
be a game winning play.
traditional method of resolving disputes or expanding territory
Last, I would like to discuss how the Aristophanes cards impact was for an invading army to literally plant itself on the Enemys
strategy. The most notable effect is which issues are put into play. soil and threaten to ravage their land. This usually caused the
If this is Ostracism or War/Peace it can break a fragile political invaded city-state to muster its militia army, composed mostly
relationship and shake up a City States political landscape. of the land owning class, who suited up in their armor panoply
Alternately, the free issue given to one side can cause a change and fought a short decisive engagement that settled the issue
of government on winning more issues. one way or the other. This style of warfare takes it name from
Aristophanes events usually alter the size of the Strategos stock the technologically advanced shield known as a Hoplon from
or impose a Will of Assembly mission. Your side needs to pay which the Greek Hoplite derives his name. It should be noted
attention to these missions as it can lead to a 20 point Honor that ~75% of the time the defending army won the Hoplite battle.
swing if one side succeeds and the other fails. The placement The outlier to this model developed in the late 6th century BC
of the Will of Assembly markers is meant to throw the chaos of and became an accepted fact that the Lacedaemonians (Sparta)
the masses onto your desired path. All in all, this creates some were a cut above the rest. Sparta in the 7th century BC conquered
great situations as both sides try to cause the other side to fail Messenia and enslaved its population, known to the Greeks as
even as they struggle to meet the will of the assembly. Helots. Spartan citizens were allotted plots of land worked by
Conclusion Helots and the tithe of food taken supplied the Spartan armies
mess requirements. This economic system enabled Spartan
Hopefully this short strategy guide will give you some thoughts
citizens to train and muster on a permanent year-round basis.
on how to play in your early contests. That said, some of the
Through this economic model Sparta created a standing militia
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force that can be argued was the first city-state professional army. ranging in the 30,000 force range outnumbering the Athenian
I tend to view it as a very well trained militia army as the main hoplite militia by a factor of 2 or more. No army in this period, to
role of the army was to garrison their territory to maintain Helot include the Spartans, could prevail in a Hoplite battle with both
subservience and not campaign, which was a rare event. This is of its flanks exposed to envelopment. I wrestled with whether to
borne out by the fact that between 431 and 425, the Spartan army make a finer distinction and raise the Thebans up a notch, but
campaigned a total of 3 months during the first 84 months of the in the end while these were some of the better Hoplites the data
war. The three Spartan commanders Archidamus, Cleomenes, suggests that they werent superior enough to warrant a strength
and Agis (Spartan faction leaders) all failed to launch a second advantage over the other city-state militias in this period.
attack in the same year. So, during the 81 months the Spartan
For context, it would take the emergence of the Theban military
army was not campaigning during this period it did what it was
genius Epaminondas to create new tactics that shattered the
designed to do, ensure that the order of magnitude more numer-
Spartan army at Leuctra and made them the preeminent land
ous Helots remained suppressed and growing food.
force in the early 4th century. Thebes held this preeminent dis-
During the 2nd Peloponnesian War (431) one of the unintended tinction until the Battle of Chaeronea when Philip of Macedon,
consequences of the Spartan raiding strategy was it concentrated supported by his brilliant cavalry commander Alexander, shat-
the Athenian population in the city with inadequate water and tered the primacy of Greek city-state military power for all time.
sewage infrastructure just as a plague hit the city. This was a
The ineffectiveness of traditional Hoplite warfare to bring the
significant factor in the war that killed 30% of the Hoplite class
war to a conclusion saw the rise of new concepts around small-
(over 10,000 hoplites) with a commensurate loss amongst the
scale irregular warfare, often conducted at night. The new
Thete class. The Thete class supplied the rowers for the fleet
tactical unit was the peltast, a lightly armored, missile throwing
that required from 40-60,000 oarsmen to operate. It is hard to
force of infantry who were at home in difficult terrain and their
argue with the then-prevailing view that the plague was an act
specialty the night attack. The historical sources document 43
of god. The plague was associated with Apollo whose Delphic
such types of night operations that led to significant casualties
oracle was a known Spartan supporter. There were at least two
that dwarf what occurred during the two main Hoplite battles
and likely up to four waves of the plague, though of reduced
during the 2nd Peloponnesian War (Delium and Mantinea) and
severity as the survivors became immune to the disease. The
the smaller clashes at Solygia and Syracuse. Another aspect of
military effects of the plague were that for many years Athens
this form of warfare is it targeted civilians and their property
was unable to prosecute significant land or siege operations.
leading to an environment of brigand raids against isolated
My point is that during the Peloponnesian wars the Spartan regions.
armys reputation, more than its performance, was a strategic
Raiding developed during the Peloponnesian Wars as a tactic
factor in the war. The reason that the minor defeat at Pylos car-
of economic warfare in its own right, rather than a catalyst to
ried strategic weight was it destroyed the myth that Spartans
pitched battle. One of the major myths around the primacy of the
could not be defeated and would die rather than surrender. The
Hoplite battle is borne out by the fact that during the 27 years of
Spartan response was that it was not a fair fight, but were dis-
the 2nd Peloponnesian War there were approximately 5 hours
mayed that the small Spartiate force on the island of Sphacteria
of traditional Hoplite combat. It was the skirmish battles that
chose to surrender rather than die heroically.
swirled around raids that dominated land combat in this period
Despite the impact of Pylos on Spartan morale, at the critical and generated the majority of the military and civilian casualties.
moment in the war the Spartan phalanx prevailed at Mantinea. One of the grimmer factors in this war is that raiding developed
While there were a few other important Phalanx battles such into a no quarter doctrine where captives swept up in this style
as the medium-sized battle at Delium, Mantinea was the only of warfare were almost always executed.
large hoplite battle of the period and the only one that could
Raids, while they generated a great deal of death and destruction,
have won the war for Athens. The reason that Athens did not
were due to logistic considerations usually of short duration. So,
fully support the Argos coalition at Mantinea was that Nicias
while the Athenians enthusiastically embraced raiding as their
neutered Alcibiades strategy to the long-term detriment of his
primary strategy, its main purpose was to demonstrate Spartan
City State. Mantinea confirmed that in a traditional stand up
impotence in the war for honor and primacy in the minds of
fight, the Spartan hoplites were still the premier infantrymen of
the Greek world. What made the Athenian raiding strategy so
the period. Sparta would not be tested again in a Hoplite battle
effective was it rested on naval power. The Athenian military
for the duration of the war.
expeditions could arrive out of nowhere from the sea over-
The second and third best Hoplite infantrymen of this period whelming the local defenses with 100 triremes (over 10,000
were the Thebans and the Athenians although Argos could make men) while preventing any reaction by minimizing time spent
a claim for the third position. One of the arguments that the conducting land operations. Sparta never developed a response
Athenians were not up to the Hoplite standards of the period to the Athenian raiding strategy that highlighted the ineffectual
is based on the fact that they would not come out and fight the nature of its own military doctrine. Spartan raids during the
Spartans on the few occasions when they showed up in Attica. Archidamian war ended after Pylos when the threat to execute
This argument falls apart when you consider that the Spartans the Spartan hostages secured Attica until the Peace of Nicias
and their Peloponnesian allies usually raided Attica with armies repatriated them.
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Another component of raiding was its timing. This is a period of training Peloponnesian fleets, even when they outnumbered the
small armies, large spaces and short campaigns. It was common Athenians by 4 to 1 odds, could not prevail against the quality of
during the Archidamian war for a Spartan army to arrive in At- Athenian admirals, tactics and their experienced trireme crews.
tica, destroy some agricultural infrastructure, and go home only The other component was the skilled artisans and elaborate
to see the Athenian army then raid the neighboring territories infrastructure resident in the Piraeus (Athens port) that main-
of Thebes and Megara. The important point is the concept of tained the numerous yet fragile Triremes. A Trireme is a wooden
intercepting an Enemy army on the march just did not occur dur- vessel whose motive power is based on a crew of 200 of which
ing this period, as it was too easy to refuse battle in the absence 170 were the rowers. Athenian naval doctrine had overturned
of significant cavalry forces. One of the reasons for the Sicilian the use of triremes locked together enabling a land battle on
disaster is the superior numbers of Syracusan cavalry imposed floating platforms. Athenian tactics emphasized maneuver and
logistic pressure on the Athenian land forces. the primacy of the ram. A Triremes speed and maneuverability
Raiding was raised to the next level with the advent of the were its main strengths and its wooden construction its vulner-
Epiteichismos (forward fortification) strategy. Epiteichismos ability. A Trireme could not spend long periods in the water or
was the brainchild of Demosthenes who manipulated events to it became waterlogged reducing the speed required for the new
build a fortification at Pylos that through perseverance, Spar- tactics. Too long out of the water it dried out and leaked. On
tan mistakes, and chance resulted in a decisive advantage that average it took a month to ready a Trireme for campaign and
ultimately ended the Archidamian War. The basic notion was to due to the cost of operating the fleet most of the 300 Athenian
fortify a location inside the Enemys territory as a refuge and a triremes sat in sheds in the Piraeus with only a few operational
means to deny the use of farmland on a continuous basis. This until a campaign was planned. Most military operations were
technique was adopted by the Spartan king Agis as preached by of small size (~25 Triremes) used for most offensive operations,
the treacherous Alcibiades while a guest in Sparta. This led to with major raids comprising 100+ Triremes composed of over
Agis occupying Decelea in Attica for the remainder of the war. 20,000 men.
The permanent presence of a Spartan army in Attica ultimately It would take the Sicilian disaster of 413 to create a level of naval
bankrupted the Athenian aristocracy whose civic duty was to parity. Yet, while the Greek world saw Sicily as the beginning
directly support the Athenian navy as Trierarchs (build and of the end for Athens they were sadly mistaken. From 411 till
maintain a Trireme), besides denying access to the important the end of the war the Athenians continued to win most of the
Laurium silver mines. In spite of all of this, Athens continued naval battles, but the constant naval war in the Aegean wore
to survive and at times prosper because its navy maintained its down the Athenian fleet. This eventually opened the door to
overseas supply lines and kept their Allies in check. This would Persian money, Delian league revolts, and rising Peloponnesian
all change once Sparta contested and won naval superiority in naval quality that finally annihilated the last Athenian fleet at
the later part of the war. Aegospotami, leading to a negotiated surrender. To put the Io-
The core of Periclean military strategy was a radical doctrine nian war in perspective, from 411 to 405 BC the Athenians lost
centered on the convergence of two technologies. The long 270 Triremes and over 50,000 sailors whereas in total the two
walls that connected the city of Athens to its port Piraeus made sides lost ~500 Triremes and 100,000 sailors. It turns out that
the city invulnerable to siege as long as its navy maintained this final stage of the conflict was the bloodiest.
control of the seas. There were 101 documented assaults against Closing Thoughts
fortifications during this period of which 50% were successful.
What is fascinating to me about this period is how the traditional
The Athenians were superior to the Spartans in siege warfare as
Greek concept of battle epitomized by the Hoplite battle line was
their ability to isolate a port, especially one on an island, enabled
found to be ineffective in settling the disputes that brought on a
them to starve an Enemy into submission or benefit from the
sixty year period of conflict. What evolved were new concepts
timely intervention of collaborators on the inside opening a gate
such as the Athenian strategic concept of an inviolate city state
(14 instances from 431 to 406). Although the Greeks understood
supported by naval superiority that saw the raid and small scale
all of the traditional methods of building ramps, battering rams,
operations overthrow tradition. That said, it was Athens inability
and escalades these techniques took time to build and implement
to defeat the Spartan hoplite army that kept the war from reach-
and were antithetical to the logistic constraints that limited the
ing a conclusion in their favor. Time and a misguided Athenian
duration a Hoplite force could remain in the field. In the end
strategy gave the Spartans an opening that enabled them over a
fortifications, even modest ones, could usually buy the besieged
decade of naval conflict to finally achieve victory.
sufficient time to out wait the besiegers.
One of the interesting questions is why it took so long for the 19.2 My Periclean Journey
Spartans and their Allies to focus on destroying the source of
Athenian power, its navy. Having rowed in college I can ap- Thucydides
preciate that Athenian naval superiority rested on the physical My first exposure to Thucydides was when I was in High School.
and nautical talents of its trireme crews and the infrastructure I found a copy in the library and was exposed to one of the
that supported the fleet. It took years to train a trireme crew greatest history books ever written. While Admiral Thucydides
and one of the elements of the Athenian raiding strategy was is clearly using the work to settle old grudges and put his spin
to deny Sparta and her Allies the ability to train. Without this on things, it remains an epic account of the death match between
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Athens and Sparta in the latter half of the 5th Century BC. For a RAM vs Faction Model
book written over two millennia ago it has a surprisingly read- The acronym RAM is a political science term that stands for
able style that is unusual for literary works from this period. rational actor model. The concept is used as a simplified way to
Back to the Future model a nations behavior. The major assumption of this model
Thucydides re-entered my life in the early 90s when I taught is that a nations international behavior can be understood as a
Military Strategy and Policy for the Naval War College in the coherent singular set of policies. In his classic work, Essence
Washington DC area. Simultaneously my friend and mentor Jim of Decision, Graham Allison examined the Cuban Missile crisis
Dunnigan asked me to design a game for S&T magazine during through this and other models and concluded that the RAM was
his second short stint as its editor. For this design I decided to inadequate to model a politys action.
do a solitaire game on the Peloponnesian War. As it so hap- What I find interesting is most strategic wargames have tra-
pened the Naval War College experience also gave me access ditionally used the RAM focused on the player acting as the
to a large catalog of taped lectures on the various case studies omnipotent representation of a combatant. Pericles eschews
in the class I was teaching. the RAM and looks at the opposing City States policies and
My favorite lectures were those on the Peloponnesian war given strategies as the output of an internal struggle for power. In the
by a major ancient scholar, Al Bernstein, who studied under 5th century BC there were times that faction loyalty dominated
Professor Kagan, considered the leading expert on this conflict. City State affiliations. This was an important consideration in
Then fate stepped in and I met and befriended Al when he taught how I constructed the Pericles model and how I tried to more
at the National War College in Washington, DC. strongly align this design with history.
Early in our association I asked Al if he would take a look at my Aristophanes

nascent design. As a serious scholar he was skeptical that any One of the things that working on Pericles has done is it has
game could represent this war. I remember the first question he caused me to re-read the plays of Aristophanes. Aristophanes
asked me when I showed him the map, How do you account was one of the original creators of Western satirical comedy and
for the Athenian raiding strategy? I then showed him how it his plays were performed while the Peloponnesian Wars were
worked and he really warmed up to what he was seeing. I spent being fought. This makes the plays a rich source of informa-
many hours over the remainder of that games development tion as Aristophanes parodied many of the leading politicians
discussing details of the conflict with him. I really wish Al were and generals of his day. He particularly disliked Cleon and any
still around as a sounding board for Pericles, as many of our reference to a tanner, Paphlagonian, or leather merchant was
conversations were about Athenian politics and how strategy code for the leading Demagogue of his day. I used Aristophanes
was developed to prosecute the war. In fact it was my inability as a vehicle to bring some random context and events into each
back in the 90s to show the political dimension of the Pelopon- game turn. In Aristophanes play Clouds, he satirizes Socrates
nesian War that led me to revisit this topic now that I am armed and his philosophy. What I find fascinating about these plays
with my Churchill debate mechanic. I am dedicating this game is Aristophanes knew and saw some of these legendary figures
in memory of Al and I hope he would approve of what I have on a daily basis in the Athenian agora. He spoke to them, had
done with the topics of our long-ago conversations. all the gossip on them, and then he made fun of them in front
of the entire city. Sometimes the only clue we have of an event
The results of these conversations and study led to the publica- not mentioned in the Thucydides text is Aristophanes where it
tion in 1994 of my last Victory Games design, The Pelopon- appears in a humorous dialog.
nesian War. This earlier effort was primarily a solitaire game,
but it had two-player and multiplayer variants that found a A secondary effect of this research is it caused me for personal
small but dedicated following at early WBC tournaments. It is reasons to do some extra research on Socrates. The prcis version
a design that I still play on occasion, primarily because my late is, a life unexamined is not worth living. So here it goes, my
twentieth century solo system, that are now called Bots, still nature and desire is to always push the game design envelope.
has a winning record against me. This has many unintended consequences. First, if you have
played one of my games, you have played one of my games.
More relevant to this design, I used to lecture on the Pelopon- Even my CDG designs are quite dissimilar from each other as
nesian War for another great American, Admiral Stansfield is Pericles from its point of origin, Churchill. This means that
Turner. I gave Admiral Turner a copy of my VG design and I have been a total failure in developing a consistent series that
he asked me if I could modify it for his National War College people can use as the basis for learning my next design, although
class. This resulted in the game being computerized and used Great Battles comes close, but more due to Richard Berg than
for a time in the Universitys seminar program. The gist of this myself. Second, it has gained me a reputation for designing
modified VG Peloponnesian War effort was that the class was complex strategy games for which I am guilty as charged. This
broken into three teams, Athens, Sparta, and Persia. Within each means that I am unlikely to ever design a game that becomes a
team there were factions that had to cooperate to develop strat- worldwide phenomenon even though my mechanics have fueled
egy to win the war, yet only the faction in power when victory the efforts of others.
occurred was declared the winner of the exercise. Basically I
have playtested the basic concept for Pericles across a diverse My design philosophy has always been to design deep strategy
audience of military and civilian students for over a decade. games with bespoke mechanics that can stand the test of time.
2016 GMT Games, LLC

This means that I am unlikely to have a marketing hit with one gymnasium where you can ease into the design, I hope you
of my historical designs. In essence I am at my core an histori- take advantage of this offered path into the game.
cal game designer, not one who takes a themed mechanic and The Persians
dresses it up with meeples in ancient clothing and calls it history.
This was perhaps the greatest design challenge I faced. When I
Others will have to judge whether I have been successful in this
taught this topic in graduate schoolto see if my students had
regard, but the heirs to We The People are still being played
actually read the materialI would ask, Who won the Pelo-
over two decades and counting. As the guy who jumped off the
ponnesian War? A reasonable answer is Sparta; in my mind the
Empire State Building said as he passed the 80th floor, so far,
more correct answer is Persia. As Pericles covers the period from
so good. Thats enough introspection, so now back to Pericles.
460 BC to 400 BC it should be noted that the Persian War of
Simplicity on the other side of Complexity Salamis fame was still active during the first decade of this game.
I think when you know a topic intimately you have a chance at The reason that I state that it was the Persians who won the Pelo-
achieving mechanical simplicity that translates the complexity ponnesian war is based on the treaty that ended the Persian war.
of the topic into a useable format. This was my intent, although That treaty between the Greeks and the Persians stated that the
as usual it is likely more than the general gaming audience can Persian navy could not enter the Aegean Sea and that all coastal
tolerate. I believe that that Aristophanes would have recognized colonies in Ionia could not be approached any closer than a 3
these inadequacies and satirized me for it. day march by Persian land forces. In return the Greeks promised
An example of what I am talking about is the all-important to stop attacking the Persians. At the end of the Peloponnesian
sieges that were attempted and successful about fifty percent war essentially both of these major conditions collapsed as an
of the time. How do I know this? My research for Pericles exhausted Sparta succumbed during the Corinthian war that
found a paper published 1997 after I did my VG design by followed in the 4th century BC.
Scott Rusch, titled, Poliorcetic Assault in the Peloponnesian Having seen 30 military officers in three teams fight the Pelo-
War. It is a 969 page doctoral dissertation that covers sieges ponnesian war, you find that the Persian rolewhile signifi-
in a highly detailed and well documented manner. I was able cantwas one of finance and political manipulation. Perhaps I
to purchase an electronic copy of this work whose facsimile is will do an expansion to Pericles some day, but the increase in
a typewritten manuscript. My guess is Dr. Rusch used a lot of complexity to introduce an aggressive third side was outside the
white out in its creation. The conclusion of the study was in the historical narrative and would take the focus of the design off of
first sentence, but you will have to believe me or read the paper where I thought it belongs. As it stands, the Persian rule allows
to confirm that in his words, We discover, in fact, that 101 Sparta to gain Persian finance by building nearly untouchable
assault incidents occurred in the Peloponnesian War, of which bases that support a larger military, which at its core was the
one-half ended in successes for the attackers. By the way, this tangible Persian contribution to this conflict. I feel that this is
was my conclusion from my earlier research for my VG design. the best balance of history and complexity for this design.
I can also count, but no PhD.
Conclusion
While I am sure there is a small group of gamers who would
I could write a great deal more about the design, but luckily I
like to have a rule for each historical siege and analytic metric
have Rodger MacGowans c3i magazine for future discussions on
cited in the paper, I chose to boil it all down to one rule in about
one of my favorite historical topics. I hope you enjoy the game.
a dozen words. So, when I say that I am an historical game
designer and I researched sieges in detail, this is what I mean.
Based on that research I accounted for sieges accurately and
hopefully elegantly within the Pericles construct. By the way
Poliorcetic is Greek for (approximately) the taker of cities.
This hopefully illustrates how I strive to find simplicity on the
other side of complexity.
That said, one of my lessons learned from Fire in the Lake is
that Volkos superior play aids are a great way to make a game
more accessible and control the designs complexity budget. I
designed most of the game based on what I could summarize
in one play aid. So, once you have gone over the rules, you
should never have to look at them again if you use the play aid.
Of course that will not work for everyone, but the rules safety
net should solve any remaining questions. While the rules are
not shorter than the play aid, they are by my standards fairly
straightforward using simple mechanics, so hope springs eternal
that it will be a low barrier to entry design. Toward that end I
have spent considerable time developing my version of a training
2016 GMT Games, LLC

Durant, Will, The Life of Greece, Simon and Shuster 1939

One of my goals before I die is to finish his eleven volume opus
on civilization. For this design I finally read volume 2. It is quite
good and the title of the campaign scenario comes from the
chapter about this conflict, The Suicide of Greece.
Green, Peter, Armada from Athens, Doubleday, 1970.

An old favorite whose main thesis is: the Sicilian expedition
arose out of Athens desire to control a rich grain location. This
is based on a single line in Thucydides that has been eroded by
recent research and commentary. Since almost all commentary
on this period is a combination of scholarly work and conjec-
ture, decide for yourself. I found that my read of Feeding the
Democracy (see below) with its more statistically based analysis
somewhat supported this older perspective.
Herman, Mark, The Peloponnesian War, Victory Games, 1991.

I used much of my original research for this design. I have yet
to find a comparable summary of the naval battles and statistics
published in the playbook.
Hanson, Victor Davis, A War Like No Other, Random House,

20.0 Bibliography 2005.
This is a must read once you have read Thucydides. This book
Following is a list of the key sources that I have read and studied analyzes the key dimensions of the 2nd Peloponnesian War
on this period and used to design Pericles and my earlier The and has some great insights; such as there were only 4-5 hours
Peloponnesian War. I have consulted or read at least another of traditional Hoplite battles during the entire 27 year conflict.
50 works since college included in the various bibliographies Highly recommended.
of these books.
Kagan, Donald, The Peloponnesian War (multiple works),
Aristophanes, The Complete Plays, various English translations Viking, 2003.
and editions. For brevity I have listed the one volume version of his four-
One of the important and interesting commentaries on the volume opus that I discovered back in the 1990s when I designed
Peloponnesian War is the political satire of this great playwright The Peloponnesian War (VG, 1991). If you want to get serious
(Aristophanes). In some cases he is the only source for possible about this topic you need to check out the four-volume set con-
Peace missions that are not mentioned by Thucydides. There sisting of The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, The Archida-
are only 11 existing complete plays; the first Acharnians was mian War, The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition, and
performed in 425 BC. No one is quite sure how many plays he The Fall of the Athenian Empire. I accessed these four volumes
actually wrote, but there were 1st and 2nd editions of the plays for my original Peloponnesian War design via inter-library loan,
we have and another 30 or so that are referenced for which no and I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I also used for this
copies exist. I will mention that several of Aristophanes plays and my earlier design the two works, Pericles of Athens and the
cover adult material with extremely adult words, so parental Birth of Democracy and Thucydides, by this author.
discretion is advised.
Lendon, T. E., The Song of Wrath, Basic Books, 2010.
Bagnall, Nigel, The Peloponnesian War, Pimlico, 2004. This is one of the most exciting and well-written books that I
A good standard work on the period, but given the other choices have ever read on this topic. While it purports to only cover the
I would suggest you start with Lendon or Kagan. first 10 years of the conflict known as the Archidamian War, it
actually does an amazing job of covering the 1st Peloponnesian
Bernstein, Al, Audio tapes Naval War College lectures, unpub- War and the Persian War that preceded this conflict. The entire
lished. concept of Honor and how the victory conditions operate in
I first became acquainted with this fellow New Yorker and former this game were inspired by this work. Besides being a talented
Kagan student from his Peloponnesian War lecture tapes that scholar, Ted Lendon is also an ancients wargame collector and
the Naval War College made available to its professors. I then a very cool guy.
met and became close friends with Al, who was my consultant
on my earlier Peloponnesian War design. I dedicate this work
in memory of my old friend.
2016 GMT Games, LLC

Moreno, Alfonso, Feeding the Democracy, Oxford University Xenophon, Hellenika, various English translations and editions
Press, 2007. If you read Thucydides you will realize that his history ends in
One of the big questions that I wanted to understand for this 411 BC, almost in mid-sentence. So how, you ask, do we know
design was how vulnerable Athens was to having its grain sup- how the war ended and who won? The answer is Xenophons his-
plies cut off. The answer is that Athens had many sources of tory picks up where Thucydides left off and continues the story
grain available on the market, but the Hellespont represented till its end. Clearly they were working together at some point.
the most reliable on a regular basis. This work has answered So, you need to read at a minimum the first third of Xenophons
this question to my satisfaction. history if you want to see how the movie ends.
Rusch, Scott M., Poliorcetic Assault in the Peloponnesian War,

U of Penn., 1997 CREDITS
A doctoral dissertation that covers every assault on a fortified Game Design: Mark Herman
work during the entire period covered by this game. This nearly Research: Carole Herman
1000 page paper confirmed my earlier rule in my VG design that
Game Development: Francisco Colmenares
this type of attack worked fifty percent of the time.
Art Director & Package Design: Rodger B. MacGowan
Rusch, Scott M., Sparta at War 550-362, Frontline Books, 2011. Rules Editing: Steven Mitchell
A very detailed historical account of Spartan culture and strat- Rules, Playbook and Player Aid Cards: Charles Kibler
egy before, during, and after the war by the same author as the
Map, Counters and Card Decks: Francisco Colmenares
Assault paper.
and Knut Grunitz
Siculus, Diordorus, The Persian Wars to the Fall of Athens Books Proofreading: Jonathan Squibb
11-14.34 (480-401 BCE), University of Texas, 2010. Graphic Design: Peter Cluen and David Dockter
This translation is by Peter Green (see above) and covers the Developmental Support: Steven Mitchell, Franciso Col-
entire period of this design. In the preface it quotes a commenta- menares, JR Tracy, Jonathan Haber and David Dockter
tor who says, the historian (Diordorus) whose work every
modern historian of ancient Greece must use, while fervently Producers: Gene Billingsley, Tony Curtis, Andy Lewis,
wishing this could be avoided. He survives, as he is the only Rodger MacGowan, and Mark Simonitch
voice that connects the entire 5th century into a complete nar- Production Coordination: Tony Curtis
rative. Use with caution, especially when you consider his epic Playtesting: Carole Herman, Grant Herman, Dan Schrieb-
work was written several centuries after the events he describes stein, Jonathan Haber, Tom Stein, Ken Stein, James Diener,
based on sources we no longer possess. JR Tracy, William Terdoslavch, Steven Matthews, Scott
Muldoon, Andy Lewis, Charles Finch, Gordon Pueschner,
Thucydides, Son of Olorus, The Peloponnesian War, various David Dockter, Chris Greenfield, Steven Mitchell, Drew
English translations and editions. Gilbert, Rory (Hawkeye) Aylward, Greg Schmittgens, Jim
This is my favorite book, so I have read it many times and is Lacey, Jimmy O., Wendell, Mark Mimh, Peter Perla, Richard
our main source for this period. Over my lifetime I have read Phares, Gary Gonzalez, and the 1st Minnesota
most of the available English translations. The one I would
Special Thanks to Francisco Colmenares (card design and
suggest is the Landmark Thucydides (Strassler translation)
all around graphic support), David Dockter (playtest map
that has extensive maps with excellent summary notes in the
redesign), and Jonathan Haber with Cluen for his perspec-
margins. The Crawley translation is considered the truest to the
tive and support for this design.
original text and then there are the Finley, Warner, and Ham-
mond translations. The great news is many translations of this
legendary history are available at your local library (remember
when this is how we obtained books) with several free or very
inexpensive e-versions ($0.99).
GMT Games, LLC P. O. Box 1308, Hanford, CA 93232-1308 www. GMTGames. com
2016 GMT Games, LLC

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14.0 Scenarios 14.1 Thucydides Scenarios

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Eurypontid have 8 Strategos tokens, 2 Military, and 1 Oracle Victory Conditions

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14.1.04 Turn 4: 442, 441, 440, 439, 438, 437

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14.1.07 Turn 7: 424, 423, 422, 421, 420, 419

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A. War in a Time of Peace A: War in the Aegean

Victory Conditions Athens

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Athens Victory Conditions

A. Fall of the Athenian Empire Sparta

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14.2 Pentecontaetia; 1st Peloponnesian War 14.34 Ending the Scenario

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the other player nominating a War/Peace issue to create the

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2016 GMT Games, LLC

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2016 GMT Games, LLC

2016 GMT Games, LLC

15.64 Battle 15.92 Ostracism

15.91 Issue Award

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Diagram: The Aristophanes card has

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2016 GMT Games, LLC

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This ends the Assembly phase, so now we begin the Political

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2016 GMT Games, LLC

Design Note: I have wrestled to have the Bots be a bit more

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Play Note: Four is the magic number in many cases, so be

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Diagram: Here we see that two of the 4 Spartan military units

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2016 GMT Games, LLC

2016 GMT Games, LLC

Diagram: Sicily after the Athenian campaign; note that there

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Diagram: The situation prior to redeployment.

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2016 GMT Games, LLC

Alcibiades was the scion of the Alcmaeonidae clan whose tumul-

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2016 GMT Games, LLC

2016 GMT Games, LLC

2016 GMT Games, LLC

2016 GMT Games, LLC

Pausanias was a Spartan commander and son of Cleombro-

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2016 GMT Games, LLC

2016 GMT Games, LLC

2016 GMT Games, LLC

2016 GMT Games, LLC