The 5th century BC. In a land divided in many city-states called Poleis, the Persian Wars have devastated the territory and threatened the identity and autonomy of its people, although a strong Panhellenic feeling expelled the invaders. This land was Greece.After the final victory against the Persians in Plataea, the two main poleis, Athens and Sparta, with colliding views regarding government, army, economy, and many other aspects started to distrust the growing power that opposite Polis accumulated. This distrust ended up in an epic clash between these two visions of understanding the life itself. The Peloponnesian Wars begins… And with them the game, Polis: Fight for the Hegemony.
In Polis: Fight for the Hegemony, two players will play the role of Athens and Sparta. They will have all the prestige and population as they can at the end of the game because these two elements will give the victory. But, in Polis: Fight for the Hegemony the winner will not usually be who raises an empire, conquering a lot of Poleis and building a huge army. No, in Polis the winner will be the player who administers in a reasonable manner his Poleis League, keeping in mind things how if you conquer a Polis, you will have to feed its population, so you will have to store wheat in your silos.
How can you administer your Poleis League? You will have 12 actions to choose. These actions are split up into: Development actions, Military actions and Political
actions.
Before we explain the actions more in detail, it is good to explain the game round. A typical scenario of Polis is played in 4 rounds. These rounds begin with an Event card play. The Event cards recreate an historical event, increasing the historical feeling of Polis: Fight for the Hegemony. After the play of an Event card, the players begin the round itself. Polis is not played in several “closed” turns, but players alternate two different actions to one another until both players pass. Then, the End of the Round Phases will begin… But now, we will study which are those actions.
With the Development Actions you can create Hoplites (the infantry of the ancient Greece), Galleys (so-called triremes), and Merchants (who will trade with the foreign Empires like Persia or Egypt). Also you can Begin Projects (like Theaters, attracting Philosophers to your cause, etc.) and with them, you will win prestige.
With the Military Actions you can move Hoplites and Galleys. In Polis, the movement of the units is a very important element, because you can exert blockades in some regions (preventing the movement of your enemy), or to prepare to the next Military action: Besiege Polis with which you will conquer cities. Lastly, you can plunder goods(wheat, wine, oil, silver, etc.) in the territories you control. However, the Military actions have, in contrast, a price: Prestige and it is very scant so you will have to weigh up your next step in the conflict.
With the Political Actions you can Trade with foreign Empires (but the price of the resources can increase). Also, in this section, a relevant figure comes into play: the Proxenos who was the ambassador in ancient Greece. But this influential character was scheming too. So within these actions you can Move Proxenos and Instigate Civil War in neutral or enemy Poleis (using your Proxenos and silver resources). And if he is captured you can Release Proxenos paying silver as a ransom to your enemy.
And we can not forget combat. The combat is not an action, so it happens automatically when 8 or more units are in the same region (land or sea). The system is very easy: it is used a deck of Combat cards which simulates the ancient formations like Othismos, Diekoplus, or the treacherous Salpinx Call. You only will have to match the maneuver played by your opponent; therefore, you will have to manage your hand of cards. This is important because the battles are another source of prestige.
As I have said before, when both players pass the End of the Round Phases will begin.
In these Phases, the players will collect what they have done before. In this sense, the Projects will be finished; the players will have to supply wheat to their Poleis; they may increase their prestige increasing the population of their Poleis; then they will lose the half of the perishable resources (wine, oil, wheat); lastly, the players can exchange prestige for silver resources.
This is a common round in Poleis in the main scenario but you will find two scenarios for shorter games: the Corinthian War and the Second Peloponnesian War.
Polis has been designed by Fran Díaz, illustrated by Marek Rutkowski and we have had the collaboration of Walter Velez who has designed the Combat cards. And all have pinned our effort to make an almost handcrafted game, plenty of possibilities and looking after the historical feeling.
Polis Fight for the Hegemony.
Asylum Games.
Author: Fran Díaz
2 players.
14 and up.
90-150 minutes.
45 euros, in preorder 36 € (you save 20%).
www.asylumgameseditorial.com
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário