TRIREME Review by: Chris Fawcett (Chris_Fawcett@em.fcnbd.com)

On the subject of Trireme by Battleline/Avalon Hill, I would heartily
recommend this game if you're at all interested in ancient naval
warfare. The Battleline game was actually published as one of the
Heritage Gametime Games line, boasting a hot pink box (hoo-boy!) with a
couple of triremes going at it. It was a remake of an earlier British
effort that was somewhat on the simplistic side.

This game (in the Battleline version) is very reminiscent of Wooden
Ships & Iron Men , also originally by Battleline. In Trireme , each
ship is invidually rated for speed (cruising and battle), strength (for
ramming), and cargo capacity (for marines and archers). Ships range
from the early biremes and lembi, through the cataphracted decakonters
(I hope I got that right) of the later periods, and then touching on
early Norse and Saxon vessels. Like WS&IM, each ship must plot its
movement for the entire turn, which can be no more than 5 movement
points for any ship (and is usually less), using a simple code system
to account for each movement point. Combat is usually resolved with a
ramming attack, which is determined by relative strengths of the ships
involved, as well as speeds and angle of approach. Archery can have
some impact on unprotected crews, but the main bloodletting is during
the boarding actions.

The big drawback to this game is that it's out of print, and a rarity
on the auction front. I paid $40 for a fairly beat-up semi-punched
Battleline copy recently, and I saw an AH version, completely punched,
go for about the same. If you get a chance, pick it up; you won't
regret it if you're ar all interested in the subject.