Dawn of Battle - From Guts to Gunpowder, 3000 Years of Combat

From Blue Panther:

Dawn of Battle is a hex-and-counter war game system that allows players to experience battles before the modern era. The game spans 3,000 years of combat, from the age of Greek generals to the invention of gunpowder.

The game system is straight forward and action packed. Players depend upon the quality of their army's leadership to provide orders needed to maneuver their armies and strike against the enemy. The better an army's command, the more flexibility it has to move, rally, and attack.

Also included are supplementary rules that cover free deployment in scenarios, barbarian charges, command control and impetuosity, elephant panic, and random events.

Each scenario notes the disposition of the armies that engaged at a historical battle and the terrain that encompassed the battlefield. Units include a variety of infantry (including hoplites and the Macedonian phalanx), cavalry (including chariots and mounted archers), missile units (including slingers, longbows, and early gunpowder weapons, and special units such as elephants and war wagons.

The game's primary engine is comprised of an action deck used to determine command, the randomly determined outcomes of actions, and melee combat. Additionally, action cards provide special effects that players can use to enhance their units' abilities as well as the narrative of the play experience. The deck ensures that no two games are ever the same.

The base game includes twenty scenarios:

    Megiddo, 1457 BCE
    Che, 717 BCE
    Marathon, 490 BCE
    Gaugamela, 331 BCE
    Ipsus, 301 BCE
    Heraclea, 280 BCE
    Lake Trasimeno, 217 BCE
    Raphia, 217 BCE
    Illipa, 206 BCE
    Zama, 202 BCE
    Sabis River, 57 BCE
    Pharsalus, 48 BCE
    Hastings, 1066 CE
    Dyrrhachium, 1081 CE
    Fornham, 1173 CE
    Bouvines, 1214 CE
    Kalka River, 1223 CE
    Crêçy, 1346 CE
    Poitiers, 1356 CE
    Aljubarrota, 1386 CE

In addition to these battles, the game includes comprehensive guidelines on how to create your own scenarios, making "Dawn of Battle" a complete system usable to recreate virtually any battle from the ancient world to early gunpowder.

This Designer's Edition of Dawn of Battle is an update to the original Dawn of Battle released by Worthington Games in 2021. This edition includes all new scenarios as well as 120 double-sided terrain tiles.

PLAYERS: 1-2
TIME: 2-3 Hours
AGE: 14 and up

Designer: Mike Nagel

COMPONENTS:
    Rulebook
    Scenario Book (20 scenarios)
    2 Player Aid Cards
    One Paper Map (34x22" inch)
    4 Counter Sheets
    4 Terrain Tile Sheets
    2 Decks of cards (72 per deck; 144 total)