History of the Ancient Seas 2 - DIES IRAE

From Sound of Drums:

The Mediterranean Sea in ancient times. Images of magnificent coasts to be explored and legendary civilizations that rose to power come to mind.

The game series “History of the Ancient Seas” is the ultimate journey through these exciting times. Build new fleets in your city to explore unknown lands, conquer islands and build a great empire.

“History of the Ancient Seas” is a series of three independent games that share the same rules mechanics. They are played in highly interactive micro-impulses.

Your goal is to become the leading empire in the known world. To achieve this, you will need to build armies and fleets to increase your military might, expand trade routes, conquer islands and provinces, develop your military skills, economic efficiency and culture, while always keeping an eye on the wealth, happiness and stability of your people. The game is played in highly interactive micro-impulses. The heart of the game system is the action cycle: here the players choose one of the eight possible actions. Actions chosen by a player can’t be chosen subsequently by the next player. The number of possible actions is limited each turn.

War or peace: That is your decision! You can expand your empire by leading your people to war! But war is costly and the outcome is uncertain. You can lead your empire to the golden age of civilization by keeping the peace and bringing stability and wealth to your people without following the path of war. Offer terms to aggressive enemies to distract or delay them, but always be prepared to defend your empire.

The Mediterranean Sea in ancient times. Images of magnificent coasts to be explored and legendary civilizations that rose to power come to mind.

The game series “History of the Ancient Seas” is the ultimate journey through these exciting times. Build new fleets in your city to explore unknown lands, conquer islands and build a great empire.

“History of the Ancient Seas” is a series of three independent games that share the same rules mechanics. They are played in highly interactive micro-impulses.

Your goal is to become the leading empire in the known world. To achieve this, you will need to build armies and fleets to increase your military might, expand trade routes, conquer islands and provinces, develop your military skills, economic efficiency and culture, while always keeping an eye on the wealth, happiness and stability of your people. The game is played in highly interactive micro-impulses. The heart of the game system is the action cycle: here the players choose one of the eight possible actions. Actions chosen by a player can’t be chosen subsequently by the next player. The number of possible actions is limited each turn.

War or peace: That is your decision! You can expand your empire by leading your people to war! But war is costly and the outcome is uncertain. You can lead your empire to the golden age of civilization by keeping the peace and bringing stability and wealth to your people without following the path of war. Offer terms to aggressive enemies to distract or delay them, but always be prepared to defend your empire.

In DIES IRAE, the second installment in the “History of the Ancient Seas” game series, you will lead one of the great Empires like: The Greek City States, Egypt or Persia and fight for dominancy in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. The people from all of these empires see the Gods as their allies and trust them as supporters for their cause! DIES IRAE is originally a three player game! game but the the “Archimedes” Solitaire bot and the “The King is dead” static empires feature allow you to reduce the player count if needed.

The challenge in a three player game is that gamers face a constant two versus one constellation. All three players have to fight eventually on two fronts at the same time and have to keep a close eye on both opponents. The worst case is that two of them are in an armistice which means they could both focus on you. Each player should avoid this situation at all costs.Which god will help their people the most in the struggle of dominancy in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea?

Game Contents:                                    

large 84 x 60 cm mounted Map board

312 wooden Playing Pieces

38 Playing Cards

74 printed Talent Coins

3 Player Sheets for tracking troops & income

2 Play Tracks for Development & Ressource tracking

3 Play Aids with Ressource Icons, Cost Table and Stability Status

“Archimedes” solo mode Rules and Cards

Game Rulebook

Game Credits:

Game Designer: Karl Hausser

Art Director: Marc von Martial