
WE ARE SPARTA!
Modified Set-up
First I will explain why I think a modified set-up is necessary. Following is an analysis of the 18 games I’d played up to the point of modifying the set-up.
8 games finished with the ‘Game Turn 3’ rule with Sparta surrendering all 8 times. There was not a single ‘Game Turn 3’ surrender by Athens. The other 10 games finished with ‘Bellicosity 0’ surrenders. Sparta surrendered 7 times and Athens just 3. The reason for such one-sided results is Athens is controlled by the player in turn 1 and due to the way bellicosity normally pans out, the player ends up with a good probability of controlling Athens in turn 2 as well. As an example, in all 8 ’Game Turn 3’ results above, Athens was controlled by the player in both the 1st and 2nd turn!
Modified Set-up
First I will explain why I think a modified set-up is necessary. Following is an analysis of the 18 games I’d played up to the point of modifying the set-up.
8 games finished with the ‘Game Turn 3’ rule with Sparta surrendering all 8 times. There was not a single ‘Game Turn 3’ surrender by Athens. The other 10 games finished with ‘Bellicosity 0’ surrenders. Sparta surrendered 7 times and Athens just 3. The reason for such one-sided results is Athens is controlled by the player in turn 1 and due to the way bellicosity normally pans out, the player ends up with a good probability of controlling Athens in turn 2 as well. As an example, in all 8 ’Game Turn 3’ results above, Athens was controlled by the player in both the 1st and 2nd turn!
So out of the 18 games played, Sparta surrendered 15 times and Athens a mere 3 times. With the start as it is, the first few turns are repetitive with a definite advantage to Athens. In my games I had ended up hoping for a side change on turn 2 so the game would carry on after turn 3!
Before commencing a new session of games I wanted this situation sorted. The problem is Athens, being controlled by the player in turn 1, normally carries out multiple operations. On the other hand Sparta, with their 'Attack Athens' strategy, might end turn 1 with a single successful siege, if lucky! As regards to changing sides in turn 2, even though Athens gets lots of operations, not all will be successful and the player will normally end up with a high probability of controlling Athens again on turn 2.
I am not keen on modifying other designer’s rules but I think my modified start does not have any adverse effect on the game and makes the first few turns of the game much more exciting. The player will now control Athens for 1 turn and Sparta for 1 turn initially decreasing the chance of an early extreme bellicosity shift and allows the player to set his strategy for the game for both sides. Also I have cancelled the first 2 historical operations and now start immediately with randomly generated operations. Read We are Sparta! below to see how it works.
I have played 6 games so far with the modified set-up. There were 2 ‘Game Turn 3’ surrenders (1 Athens and 1 Sparta) and 4 ‘Bellicosity 0’ surrenders (3 Athens and 1 Sparta). A much more balanced series of results I think!
Before commencing a new session of games I wanted this situation sorted. The problem is Athens, being controlled by the player in turn 1, normally carries out multiple operations. On the other hand Sparta, with their 'Attack Athens' strategy, might end turn 1 with a single successful siege, if lucky! As regards to changing sides in turn 2, even though Athens gets lots of operations, not all will be successful and the player will normally end up with a high probability of controlling Athens again on turn 2.
I am not keen on modifying other designer’s rules but I think my modified start does not have any adverse effect on the game and makes the first few turns of the game much more exciting. The player will now control Athens for 1 turn and Sparta for 1 turn initially decreasing the chance of an early extreme bellicosity shift and allows the player to set his strategy for the game for both sides. Also I have cancelled the first 2 historical operations and now start immediately with randomly generated operations. Read We are Sparta! below to see how it works.
I have played 6 games so far with the modified set-up. There were 2 ‘Game Turn 3’ surrenders (1 Athens and 1 Sparta) and 4 ‘Bellicosity 0’ surrenders (3 Athens and 1 Sparta). A much more balanced series of results I think!

We are Sparta!.pdf |