Spartan: Tactical Warfare in the Hellenistic Age, 500–100BC
board wargame published in 1975
Spartan: Tactical Warfare in the Hellenistic Age, 500–100BC is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates battles during the rise of Greece to the period of Roman rule. Originally published by SPI as Phalanx, the game was revised and republished with the title Spartan as part of a series called PRESTAGS ("Pre-Seventeenth Century Tactical Game System").
Description
Spartan is a two-player tactical board wargame in which one player controls Greek, Macedonian or Spartan forces, and the other player controls historic enemies during the period 500–1000 BC, including Persians, and Carthaginians. Seventeen scenarios are outlined, including the battles of Marathon, Plataea, and Corinth.
The game system used by all games of the PRESTAGS series is a simple "I Go, You Go" system of alternating turns where one player moves and fires, followed by the other player. More complexity can be added by using optional rules for panic, leadership, facing, melee and simultaneous movement.
In addition to the PRESTAGS rules, Spartan also has rules unique to the Greek era, including the use of elephants and special leaders.
Publication history
In 1971, John Young designed a game about historic battles during the Greek period that was published by SPI titled Phalanx. Over the next three years, SPI published other similar games set in ancient and medieval eras.
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This entry incorporates text from “Spartan: Tactical Warfare in the Hellenistic Age, 500–100BC” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.