THERMOPYLAE - 480 BC

Persian vs Greek

Historical Background
King Xerxes, eager to punish the Athenians for his father's defeat at Marathon and their support for Ionian revolts, planned a second invasion of Greece in 480 BC. He amassed a huge army, determined to extend the Persian Empire into Europe. Several Greek city-states gathered around Athens and Sparta, and decided to slow the Persian advance on a narrow pass. After a first unsuccessful expedition to Tempe, the next choke point was Thermopylae. The Oracle at Delphi had announced that Sparta would either be destroyed or lose a King, and Leonidas, one of the two Kings, chose the latter, leading 300 Spartans and other Greeks to one of History's most famous last stands. Xerxes waited four days for the small Greek force to leave. Then, for two days and a half he unleashed his army, wave after wave, against the Greek phalanx that stood firm... until Ephialtes betrayed the Greeks by revealing a goat path that led behind their lines. Dismissing the rest of the army, Leonidas fought with the Spartans and some Thespian and Theban volunteers to their death. Their epitaph reads: "Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie". While a tactical victory, the heavy losses and the one week delay inflicted by just a few hundred Greeks was a significant blow to the Persian morale. In September the Greeks defeated the Persians at the naval battle of Salamis and Xerxes, fearful of being trapped in Europe, returned to Asia with part of his army. The following summer a Greek army led by the Spartans crushed the Persian forces in Europe at Plataea; on the same day, a Greek fleet landed at Mycale, in Asia Minor, routed the remainder of the Persian army and destroyed their fleet. The Persians were never to return to Greece.
The stage is set. The battle lines are drawn and you are in command. The rest is history.

War Council

Persian Army
Leader: Xerxes
Take 5 Command cards
Move First

Spartan Army
Leader: Leonidas
Take 4 Command cards

Victory
8 Banners or Kill Xerxes / Deck runs out (Greek victory).

Special Rules
Before the battle: deal Darken the Sky to the Persian, deal Rally to the Greek, shu²e the deck, discard 20 cards face down, and complete both players' hands. Do not reshuffle the deck after I am Spartacus.

Immortals: they are Medium Infantry units armed with bows.

Phokian Wall: if a Persian unit enters a rampart hex, it may destroy the rampart (replace it with a broken ground tile).

Ephialtes: the Persian Flanking Force may be ordered accross Mount Anopaea to enter the battle by playing Order Medium Troops, or Inspired Left Leadership, or Order 2/3/4 Units Left . Set the ordered units with Hydarnes on any of the 5 hexes indicated on the Persian left, which count as 1 hex of each unit's move. If only part of the Flanking Force is ordered, the remaining units got lost and are out of the game! The Greek cannot move to any of these 5 hexes before the Flanking Force arrives.

Original PDF:     click here to download HELLENICA maps/scenarios (MMxx)
Vassal Module:  click here to download VASSAL MODULE to play online