One Game Turn of Hellenes

The following is an AAR spanning one complete game turn of Hellenes, GMT’s upcoming block game on the Peloponnesian War.

Before I begin, let me give a brief overview of the game.  Hellenes is a two player game: one player plays Athens, the other player plays Sparta.  The game board contains large number of areas and city states whose loyalty is color coded (white labels are Athenian; black labels are Spartan).  The goal of the game is to accumulate prestige points.  You gain prestige points by: winning pitched battles on land or at sea, forcing an enemy to ignominiously retreat from battle, capturing a city by siege attrition or assault, by holding cities loyal to the opposing faction at the start of a new turn, and by pillaging besieged cities.

The game uses 6 types of units which appear in the game as blocks: hoplites, peltasts/light troops, archers, barbarians, cavalry, and galley squadrons.  Each block has an agility rating (when it fires in combat), and a combat value (what die rolls it needs to score a ‘hit’ in combat) that is tuned to match the city state it belongs to—no cookie-cutter units here.

Each turn in Hellenes begins with a New Year segment.  During this segment, players gain prestige points for controlling enemy-loyal cities.  Both players then draw cards into their hand.  Each card has from 1 to 3 action points and an event.  Before beginning the action phase, each player has the opportunity to play a card as a sacrifice to an Olympian.  Olympians can be used to gain special advantages such as a combat re-roll, or a re-draw of cards, etc.  Any card can be discarded to gain the favor of an Olympian (there are 7 such Olympians .

Now the Action begins.  Each action phase is a season of the year: Spring, Early Summer, Late Summer, Fall, and Winter.  Each season begins with each player playing a card face-down.  The orientation of the card determines whether the player will play for the event or for action points.  Then both players’ cards are revealed.  Events trigger first (if both players play an event, the Spartan event triggers first).  Then actions are conducted.  The player with the fewest actions goes first.  Actions can be used to recruit new units, (drawn blindly from a pool of reinforcement blocks) reinforce existing units, or move groups of blocks.

Now, enough of that!  Let’s look at the game.

It is the 428 B.C. turn of the 431 B.C. campaign.  Pericles, the leader of Athens has died of the plague which broke out when Sparta and Arcadia besieged Athens in 431 B.C.  Sparta controls the Athenian-loyal city of Plataea and the island of Chios.  A helot revolt has broken out in Cynuria in Lacedaemonia giving Athens control of the coastal city-state.  Presently, the prestige track is in Sparta’s favor with 4 prestige points.

As the Spartans, I am concerned about the situation on Chios.  I only have a 1-step garrison holding the place.  If I don’t move first in the Spring turn, the Athenian fleet will move quickly to squash the revolt and recapture the place.  My fleets are weak in both combat strength and in number of steps at the present.  I do have a Corinthian fleet in Thebes, however.  My plan this turn is to play a 1-action card to ensure I get to go first.  But to get from Thebes to Chios, I’ll have to cross open ocean so I begin the turn by playing a 1-action card as my sacrifice card.  We gain the favor of Poseidon who we pray will give us favor in our voyage.

The Athenians play a 2-action card for their sacrifice.  They sacrifice to Ares who gives a combat unit a re-roll during a battle or assault.  Looks like they mean business this turn.

Spring, 428 B.C.: we play our 1-action card.  By moving to reinforce Chios, we are conceding the possibility that Athens will move to reinforce the helot revolt at Cynuria, but we are willing to make that concession because Chios has a city capacity of 3 (capacity doubles as prestige value each New Year) and Cynuria has a city capacity of only 1.

We both reveal our cards and find that we have both played a 1-action card.  As ties mean Sparta goes first, I take my single action.  I use it to transport a 3-step peltast unit by sea using a Corinthian fleet conveniently based at Thebes at the moment. After crossing the deep-water border between the Andros Sea and the South Aegean Sea we roll a die to determine if we encounter foul weather.  The die roll is a 2 which means we have encountered storms.  We immediately use our Poseidon Olympian to re-roll.  The re-roll is a 3 so we pass successfully.  Fortunately for us, Athens used its “Hera” Olympian last turn.  Hera would have forced me to re-roll after my Poseidon re-roll.  We land successfully at Chios.  I have no sieges anywhere on the board to resolve, so our turn ends and the Athenian turn begins.

Athens uses its action to sail two blocks from Athens to Cynuria, reinforcing the place.

Early Summer, 428 B.C.: Our situation on Chios looks secure for the moment but we are a little concerned about the situation in Lacedaemon.  Is this a feint? Or is this the prelude to a major move against Sparta?  My units in Achaea are rather spread out.  I think I need to crush this problem quickly before an ugly situation develops.  I want to go last this turn as it will allow me to better appreciate the situation and respond appropriately.  I play a 3-action card.

We both flip our cards and lo and behold the Athenians have played a 3-action card!  Not good.  I have to go first.  Now I have to be careful because when I regroup, I will leave important places vulnerable to a sudden lunge from the 9 blocks in Athens.  The Athenian fleet also gives Athens incredible range. They are able to strike the coastline great distances from Athens.  My own fleet is weak and scattered at the moment so I can’t even challenge Athens at sea.  The balancing factor is that my hoplites are much better quality than the Athenians’.  What to do?  First, I will perform a muster move to gather a number of blocks into the central location of Tegea.  We empty Elis, Messenia and leave one block in Plataea to muster 5 blocks in Tegea.  Our second action will be to move the group in Tegea into Cynuria.  Now I have a tough decision of what to do with my last action: If leave Plataea with only 1 block which has 2 steps, I might lose it and the city.  I don’t like leaving my Corinthian galleys in Chios where they could be bottled up (I’d like to bring them back to Corinth or Thebes) as they are my best fleets and really the only fleets capable of fighting Athens on something approaching even terms.  I need new blocks.  Pella in the north is vulnerable to a push from Thessaly or the Athenian hoplites and galleys in Byzantium.  Leucas in Ambrasia is vulnerable and the blocks there should be reinforced.  The peltasts I brought to Chios need reinforcements as they only have 2 steps.  I decide to draw recruits.

When drawing recruits, I spend 1 action and blindly draw 4 blocks from my pool.  I select one.  All new recruits arrive with one step and will need reinforcing actions later to bring them up to full strength.  The exception is barbarians.  Barbarians arrive at full-strength, but at the end of the turn, they disband and return to the draw pool which means they are only temporary help.  I draw 2 barbarians, an Ellis 2-step fleet, and a Corinthian 2-step fleet.  Great! Another tough decision!  I need that Corinth fleet.  But if I select the Lydian barbarians, I can besiege a city in Ionia right now and create a new headache for Athens as they could pillage and gain prestige points.  I’ve got some momentum now and the barbarians could keep it going so I go with them.  Unlike regular recruits, barbarians get to move one hex so I move them into the vacant city of Ephesus to besiege the place. Athens places a one-step garrison block there.  Since this is a new siege, no combat can take place there this turn. 

That’s all my actions.  So we address combat in Cynuria.  Before we reveal our blocks, the Athenian player wisely decides to decline to fight a battle and fortifies behind the city’s walls.  The city capacity is 1 so he can have twice that number of blocks plus one garrison behind the walls.  This is exactly the case, so a siege is established.

Now for the Athenian player’s turn.  He too has 3 actions.  His first action is to draw a recruit.  It is apparently a barbarian as it is placed in Macedonia and moves into Pella.  I have a block there but I know that the only barbarian unit that could move like this is the Macedonian cavalry 3-step block.  I better duck behind the walls of the city.  I wait to see what else he does.  He uses 2 actions to move two blocks from Byzantium to Pella.  3 blocks against 1 and I recall that the blocks up in Byzantium were pretty tough hombres, so I fortify and place a garrison block in Pella.  A new siege is established.

Late Summer, 428 B.C.:  I hold 3 more cards.  One of them is a “Treachery” event which degrades the defensive fire of a besieged loyal city.  Cynuria is just such a city.  But if I play this as an event, I’m risking losing Pella as I get zero actions this season.  I take the risk.

We reveal our cards and I find that my opponent has played the “Factualism” event.  My event triggers first.  We have 3 combat situations.  We do nothing in Pella as a sortie would be tantamount to suicide at the present.  In Ephesus, we decide to try for siege attrition.  In siege attrition we roll 1 die for each enemy besieged block.  On a die roll of a ‘1’ one enemy block takes a hit (during winter a 1-3 will score a hit).  We roll a 5 for no effect.  Now for the main show: Cynuria. We choose this city to be the city to use our event on.  We both reveal our blocks.  Besieged defenders have an agility of “A” which means they will fire first. They have a combat value of ‘2’ which means they cause step losses on a die roll of 1-2 (they are an A2 unit) and rout an entire block on a die roll of 5-6.  I have no agility “A” units and even if I did, the defending “A” units would fire first so all the defenders get to fire at me first.  They blaze away:  they score one ‘1’s two ‘5’s and a ‘6’.  I take one step losses off my largest block, and rout three (the 5-6 results) of my weakest blocks which leaves me with two blocks remaining in the fight (routed blocks take no step losses but they are effectively out of the fight).  I fire back hoping for the best: I have two B2 units with a total of 6 steps so I throw 6 dice (agility of “B” which means they fire after “A”s). Since besieged units never rout, I only score hits on a 1-2.  Besieged defenders also enjoy double-defense—it takes 2 hits to score 1 step loss. But the “Treachery” event takes away the double-defense on the first round of combat.  I get a rather poor result and only score two ‘1’s for two hits.  The defender loses 2 steps off his largest units.  With 3 of my 5 blocks routed, I decide to call off the assault. 

Now Athens performs its event card play:  They assault Pella.  The Factionalism event causes all defenders to fire at A1 which means I inflict step losses on a die roll of ‘1’ and rout enemy blocks on a die roll of ‘6’.  I have three steps so I fire with 3 dice and hit on one die, an average result.  My opponent takes the hit on the largest block, his galley squadron (galley squadrons, when in coastal areas double as C1 combat units—marines if you will).  Now he fires back: He has 6 steps of C1 units and 3 of C2 units.  He only rolls 2 hits and since I have double-defense, I take one step loss.  Since I’m down to 2 steps and he hasn’t had any units rout, he presses the assault for another round.  Unlike my Treachery event, Factionalism lasts for the duration of a battle—not just one round.  He scores 3 more hits, but since his last C1 block missed on all three dice, he decides to use his appeal to Ares and re-rolls.  His re-roll fails so only I take another step loss and I’m down to a single step.  Now I get lucky and roll a ‘6’ which routs his weakest unit.  Since all his blocks are down to 3 steps, he chooses to rout the galley.  His C1 barbarians miss on all three dice.   But his C2 hoplites score two ‘2’s.  Ugh, my last step dies and the city falls.  Worse, Athens gains 2 prestige points.  Just like that my prestige points are down to 2.

Fall, 428 B.C.: I’m down to two cards.  I need actions so events are out of the question.  I have a 2-action and a 3-action card left.  I figure that I need the 3-action card for winter so I can maintain the siege in Cynuria—the Athenians aren’t going quietly and I’m disappointed with my assault attempt.  I play the 2 action card.

We both reveal our cards and find we have both played 2-action cards.  I go first.  My first action is to pillage Ephesus with the Lydian barbarians.  This costs 1 action and gains me 1 prestige point.  This was my MUST play as pillaging is not allowed in winter.  With my last action, I have about 10 things I’d like to do, a few things I should do, and only one thing I can do!  I decide the best course of action, now that Pella has fallen is to recruit.  I draw four blocks, select a Corinth hoplite and place it in Corinth.

For combat, we only have one situation: Cynuria.  Should I assault again? I decide to give it a go.  There is moderate risk, as he has six steps. If he rolls a 5-6 on five of his six dice, I lose and lose big.  He causes two step losses and routs three of my blocks.  Not exactly what I had hoped for.  I need to get at least on step loss on him to make this even remotely worth my while.  I have 5 dice to throw and will hit on a 1-2.  I throw the bones and whiff, scoring only a single ‘2’.  We’ll have to let attrition wear down the enemy.

My opponent now takes his two actions.  He uses one to build a garrison block in Pella.  This tells me those hoplites are moving south next turn.  Then he sends 4 blocks out of Athens into Plataea.  I have three choices now:  1) I can fight.  My block there is a C2 unit, however so he may not get to fire first and will probably get squashed. 2) I can retreat to Corinth, and risk getting routed or killed in the process. I will also surrender 1 prestige point, but I will keep my block if I’m successful. Or 3) I can fortify and hope to survive the winter.  I choose the latter and a siege is set up, but since Plataea is not loyal to me, I don’t get to place a Garrison block.  My decision not to use an action to build one there could end up costing me.

Winter, 428 B.C.: No events can be played in winter, so we both play our cards for action points.  I have 3 and my opponent has 2.  Before we do anything, we declare how many action points we will use to maintain units outside cities through the winter.  I choose to maintain 2 which leaves me with 1 action.  My opponent chooses to maintain 1 leaving him with one action.  My opponent played the low card so he gets to go first.  He uses is to reinforce a block in Athens.  Next, he takes advantage of free special movement to get his blocks into winter quarters.  Three blocks besieging Plataea quarter in Athens, and two blocks in Pella also return to Athens.  For combat, he rolls for siege attrition in Platea.  A 1-3 will cause my 2-step block to take a hit (but since no blocks are revealed for attrition, he doesn’t necessarily know how precarious my position is there).  I get lucky and he misses with a ‘5’.

Now for my action:  I maintain 2 blocks besieging Cynuria and use my action to draw a recruit.  Of the four blocks I draw, I select a Spartan cavalry block and place it in Sparta.  For Wintering moves I quarter 2 of my 5 blocks besieging Cynuria in neighboring Sparta, while the third, an Ellis hoplite, winter-moves to Ellis.  Now for siege attrition in Cynuria.  The enemy has 3 blocks so I roll 3 dice and need a 1-3 to cause a hit.  I score 2 hits which is promising!

The year-long turn comes to an end when both sides’ barbarian units disband and are placed back into their draw piles.

At the start of the next turn, I will gain tribute from the cities of Chios and Plataea worth 4 prestige points total.  My opponent, however, will gain tribute from Cynuria and Pella worth 2 prestige points.  The loss of Pella, however, was a significant blow as it will allow Athens to concentrate against me in the south.  Though I will have a 4 prestige lead, my position is anything but sure.

I hope you have enjoyed this brief tour of Hellenes!  Even more, I hope you preorder this amazing game!