From: Roberto Chiavini Subject: Game Reviews ALEXANDER (AH) 1974 Designer : Gary Gigax Games played : 6 (3 Macedonian wins, 2 Persians wins, 1 draw) Review: Old, but not bad recreation of the ancient battle of Gaugamela (or Arbela), fought in 331 B.C. between the armies of Alexander the Great and his Persian adversary, Darius III. The mounted map shows hexes bigger than usual and less than 100 counters (blue for the Macedonians and red for the Persians). The Macedon player has, of course, less units to move, very varied in the components, with the phalanxes as his mayor strenght. The Persian has almost the double of the units of his enemy, with units like chariots and elephants. The basic rules are the standard in boardgaming, while the advanced rules put more enphasis on the different type of movement for the units (especially the phalanxes), cavalry charges. There are even handicap rules for balancing the play between players of different ability levels. Sequence of play is Movement/Defensive Fire/Melee, with an unlimited number of turns, until a winner is declared. Victory is based on the armies morale levels, that depends on the losses inflicted. Movement is standard, with facing problems for the bigger units. There are four different attack tables, based on the attacker morale. Even with the apparent unbalance of the armies in play, Alexander is a tight game, often resulting in near run things, so to speak, with the Macedonian not a clear winner (as in other, more recent games, like the first edition of Great Battles of Alexander, or the Four Battles of the Ancient World). The game plays smooth, it's enough fun to consent several repeated plays, is good for a tournament (playing time is about 2 hours or less, depending on the players) and it's playabl e solitaire.