Review of Assyrian Wars July 20, 2005 Assyrian Wars is a recently released card-driven war game for one to five players from UGG (Udo Grebe Gamedesign). The game covers the last century of the Assyrian Empire. For those unfamiliar with the history of the ancient Near East, the Assyrians were the dominant power in the eastern Mediterranean from the ninth through seventh centuries B.C. From their homeland in northern Iraq, the Assyrians created the greatest empire up to that time. Their success was in part due to their fielding of the first professional standing army. Assyrian imperialistic aggression was often supplemented by an official policy of wholesale slaughter and terror. (Appropriately the background color for the Assyrian counters is BLACK!) This policy at times included the deportation of conquered peoples, the most famous being that of the ten "lost" tribes of Israel. The empire reached its zenith in the seventh century B.C., yet from a position of seeming invincibility, the Assyrian nation was completely destroyed in a brief period of about 15 years by a coalition of the Chaldeans (Babylonians) and Medes. The attractive map covers the ancient Near East from the northern Nile Valley to the eastern part of Medea (present day Iran). The map design is one of interconnected areas as opposed to hexes. The game features several scenarios, including a Campaign game and an introductory scenario for two or three players which features only three of the five major powers. The similarities of the period to the Napoleonic era and, by extension, the GMT game The Napoleonic Wars (TNW) are remarkable. The five major powers (and their counterparts from the Napoleonic era as I see it) are Assyria (France), Babylonia (Austria), Elam (Prussia), the Medes (Russia) and Egypt (Great Britain). I would guess that the typical five player game would pit Assyria against the other four powers, analogous again to France taking on the rest of Europe. Nevertheless, as in TNW, it may be in the best interest of players to change alliances throughout the course of the game. Actual history found Egypt allied with a tottering Assyria against the Babylonians and Medes. Besides the five powers, there are a host of minor countries which may be sought as allies or plundered for wealth—Phoenicia, Judah, Israel, Syria, Uratu, Phrygia, and Persia, a number of minor city states, and the barbarian Scythians and Cimmerians (shades of Conan!) who are great at rampaging all over the map. The game rules are 24 pages of small print. I would rate the game's complexity as in line with that of TNW and definitely greater than Sword of Rome. Udo includes a nice Tutorial leading one through a detailed discussion of the first turn of the introductory scenario. Although the mechanics of Assyrian Wars will be familiar to fans of card- driven games, the list of possible actions a player can choose from exceeds that of any other card-driven game I am familiar with. By my count, there are over twenty-five different actions a player may spend a card's action points on, including, of course, playing the card's event. Assyria starts with more cards than the other powers, the number of cards dealt at the beginning of each of the game's five turns being determined by the power's economic level. As in TNW, each power also has a preset number of "Home" cards, of which Assyria has the most. With the exception of the Home cards, a single deck of cards is shared among the players. Also as in TNW, a player may Mulligan his hand. During play, the player with the most cards can preempt the next player's impulse, shades of TNW again. Up to three armies, including those of allied nations, may be combined into an Army Group. Each power may form a single Army Group except Assyria which, being the power to beat, can form two. An optional rule provides for special unit abilities, the different types of units being heavy infantry, light infantry, heavy cavalry, light cavalry, horsebowmen, bowmen and heavy chariots--the panzers of the time period. For example, hits from missile fire are applied before melee combat, with heavy troops being able to reduce the casualties from fire combat. A strong point of the game is the emphasis on economics since the goal of most wars of the time was gaining control of the trade routes. Each player attempts to maximize his trade while disrupting and raiding that of his opponents. The game nicely reflects all those great things which endear ancient history to us--battles, sieges (with three siege options—the slow but economic hunger siege, the bloody assault or the standard siege), pillage, plunder, conquest, pestilence, diplomacy, double dealing, bad omens, assassinations, fratricide, rebellions, treason, religious fanaticism, barbarians, unreliable mercenaries, and famine, to note some of the high points. One of my favorite cards is Assyrian Luxury showing a bunch of drunken Assyrians "devoting themselves to luxurious pleasures." Victory points are awarded for winning battles (the bigger the battle the more points), taking cities, wiping out less civilized peoples, conquering more civilized peoples, avoiding conquest, certain diplomatic maneuvers, and having the most trade. Although there are sudden death conditions for ending the game, victory is based solely on the accumulated victory points. Thus it may actually be possible, though unlikely, for a player who is beaten into dust by game's end to still emerge victorious. Assyrian Wars looks like a great addition to the growing list of card-driven war games. Jim Miller devonrex@removetoemail.cavtel.net