Ancient

Refight battles between the greatest armies of the Ancient World: Republican Roman, Carthaginian, Alexandrian Macedonian, Achaemenid Persian, and more!

Milito is a card-based, diceless wargame by Martin Wallace that puts you at the head of an Ancient army, making the key tactical decisions that will win or lose you the battle. Commanding a combination of troops unique to your own army, you'll play unit cards to take control of the battlefield. Skirmish with light troops to hold the enemy at bay, use your cavalry's maneuverability to your advantage, and advance your units of well-armored infantry to drive the enemy away. Flank attacks and army-specific leaders provide further tactical depth. Choose the right moment to commit your best units into the battle line, and capture three terrain areas to win the game.

Each card in your hand represents one of your army's units, which has the same strengths and weaknesses as its historical counterpart. Units are rated for speed, attack strength, defense strength, and other modifiers based on battlefield performance. Leader cards offer combat bonuses and have their own unique abilities — but be warned that not every leader card is an Alexander or Hannibal!

—description from the publisher

At the center is the Ziggurat, where you must bring 4 sacrifice tokens to win. But to deliver them, you must have sufficient Mana reserved by praying in temples, which players build. You bring your sacrifices from 4 huts that you build, and you can breed at an empty hut to increase your people. To build huts, temples, and Mana, you use rocks and timber that you collect from quarries and forests.

Each turn, you can move 5 places, placing new tiles if you go off the map, seeding stones or timber if they are quarries or forests, and carrying resource to empty plains if you want to build. Building a hut or temple, breeding, or drawing an action card ends your turn, and you bank Mana if you have people on temples. So gradually, you build up your clan and have them do different things. Some stand at temples to pray, some explore and carry resource, others help build or breed. And when you deliver a sacrifice, you kill the messenger too, thus needing to breed more.

Expanded By

Mesopotamia: Expansion

Settlers of Canaan takes place in the territory of Canaan off the coast of the Great Sea. Each Player represents a tribe of Israel as they seek to settle the land of Canaan. The time period of the game spans the time of Joshua's conquests of Canaan (Joshua), the turbulent years ruled by judges (Judges) through the choosing and crowning of King David (I & II Samuel).

The game uses the same basic mechanics as Settlers of Catan but adds some unique elements, similar to the Historical Scenarios. In the case of this game, players build the wall of Jerusalem by contributing bricks. The player who contributes the most bricks earns victory points and the right to use a special "rule-breaking" power of his/her choosing. This is contested in the same manner as "the longest road" from Settlers.

The German version does not use the build Jeruselem and stones mechanisms. Instead there are 13 hero cards that generate God's help. There are events (cards) that take place. Also the German board has 5 hexes not on the English board and one changed hex as well.
Belongs to the Catan Series.

Description from the publisher:

In a time long forgotten, the cruel Fomori rule over Érin, the green island. They praise their king Balor, who reigns from his fortifications in the north with an iron fist. Old paths and ruins spread over the island's face, which will be called Ireland many generations from now. But new tribes arrive at the island striving for permanent presence. Who will control Érin's fate over the next centuries to come?

Each player in The Arrival represents a tribe leader who tries to gain predominance over the mythical island of Érin while pushing back the demon-like Fomori. But the players are facing a dilemma, for spreading too quickly means becoming more and more corrupt and strengthening the Fomori in their power...

Over 4-6 rounds, the players determine their resources by means of a unique game mechanism, which will be used later on profitably. During a first phase (Earning Phase), players draw four cards, each showing three sections of different resources. Two of these sections are gradually blocked by the player, thus leaving one section. The resources shown on this section are the ones the player gets. During this phase, they have to decide which section is the best one; while the upper section of the cards offers many resources, it also results in unwanted Corruption Points. The middle and the lower sections offer fewer resources, but also less Corruption.

After that, the Action Phase takes place and the players must use their resources wisely while having the choice from different kinds of actions in order to get Fame Points.

The game ends when a certain number of rounds have been played or somebody reaches the corruption limit.

The winner is either the one with the highest amount of Fame Points or the one with the fewest Corruption Points. This depends on the scene of the board at the end: Do the tribes (players) control more locations on Érin than the Fomori do — or is it the other way around?

In Dragon Boats of the Four Seas, Zhong-Guo, the Middle Kingdom, is an island surrounded by the four Dragon Seas. After a long period of strife, Zhong-Guo has once again been unified and the noble houses rise from the ashes, hoping to cross the Dragon Seas and reach the wealthy vassal states of the former Empire. In Zhong-Guo, Dragons are believed to be good luck and sources of celestial power, so the people make offerings to Dragons at temples and cast coins with the images of Dragons on them to bring fortune at the marketplace. Farmers invoke Dragons over their fields for a bountiful harvest and boats are made in the likeness of Dragons for protection on the dangerous waters. As the leader of one of the noble houses of Zhong-Guo, you must build farms, trade, and make offerings for the safe passage of your ships to these forgotten lands. Recapture the glory of the old Empire and ride the Dragon Boats to victory!