Introduction

One of the best ways to judge the quality of cardboard counter wargames (or any wargame for that matter) is by whether the initial offering spawns a series and the number of offspring that follow. If the production of related titles winds up like the Energizer bunny and keeps going and going, then you can bet that someway, somehow, the game clicked. For modern cardboard gamers this is an especially rewarding situation, since it means the player only has to learn a baseline set of rules, and then simply apply them to the new environment of the next game, perhaps with a modification or two. The Gamers brigade-level American Civil War series remains a good example. Play their version of Gettysburg and you're ready to lock horns at Antietam or just about anywhere else blue and grey crossed bayonets in that tragic conflict.

A more recent trend, however, has been the extension of several game series by so-called "expansion modules." Long a mainstay of the miniatures community, these are scenario books that also include whatever additional counters or maps needed to play the battles represented. What is not included is the basic rules set of the original game from which the series began. In fact, players considering an expansion module are well advised that they might not only need the original game, but several in the series to ensure the appropriate map and counter mix. Let's face it, Greek hoplites could be found on practically every street corner in beautiful downtown Thebes, so don't expect a related scenario book to pony up a duplicate set of counters as other games within the series likely included them in droves.

The following review examines an expansion module from one of the best counter based wargame series going (and going, and going...) - GMT's Great Battles of History, specifically the Great Battles of Alexander Deluxe. As such the review will be just a little bit different from previous Wargamer offerings in that the focus is on the scenarios themselves and supporting components. An in-depth evaluation of actual game mechanics and game play will not be provided. For that we refer the reader to a top-notch review: Rick Fehrenbacher's excellent take on the Alexander Deluxe 4th Edition. If you like what you read here, you'll like playing the additional scenario described below.

Background

While it may seem hard to believe, I'm sitting here right now with a copy of the original Great Battles of Alexander, the one with the orange box and a counter set with about as much glitz as a bag of Fritos. This was in 1991 folks, with the snazzier deluxe version following in 1995, and that means that Alex and the gang have played heavyweights on cardboard battlefields for close to 14 years now. That, my friends, is staying power. GMT followed this effort with a host of similar games under the moniker of Great Battles of History, effectively expanding out to Gustavus Adolphus bashing Imperialist heads during the 30 Years War. Great Battles of Alexander was duly rewarded with two expansion modules, the first being Diadichoi (1995) which covered the age of the Macedonian Successor states, and then Phalanx (1998) which looked at the waning days of the Greek city states, their alliances and their futile fight for Hellenic supremacy.

This latest installment is Tyrant, published in 2003 and currently in stock at GMT for $20.00. Daniel A. Fournie is the author and will be familiar to many as editor for the Great Battles of History series in GMT's C3i Magazine. The module covers a rather nasty fight between the North African empire of Carthage, a Phoenician derived state that under Hannibal would push Rome to the precipice of defeat, and the Greek city state of Syracuse which controlled most of the Italian island of Sicily. The term "tyrant" at this time did not necessarily imply unethical or brutal behavior. More often than not such men gained their position through popular revolt against an archaic and corrupt aristocracy. The tyrants of Sicily in particular gained absolute power this way and kept it with popular backing, not only due to the Carthaginian military threat, but also because they were sober and capable rulers. History notes for example, that Sicilian tyrants Hiero I, Hiero II and Dionysius the Elder were quite the patrons of the arts.

Syracuse fought Carthage due to its natural resources and more importantly due to its strategic geographic position which sat astride several maritime trade routes. As such, Tyrant presents 12 battles from this struggle covering a period of just over 200 years, specifically 480 to 276 BC. It's really a fascinating bit of eclectic military history, pitting a typical hoplite supported city state against what is essentially an army of mercenaries. The war is equally fascinating due to the amazing leadership on both sides. Included on one side are Carthaginians such as Hamilcar-Gisco and Mago-Himilco who must have been pure geniuses in their ability to field such an ethnically diverse, yet effective army. On the other side we have the leaders of Syracuse whose capable generalship allowed the city state to battle resource rich Carthage to a bloody draw.

In the end a draw was something neither could afford. While Greek and North African crossed spear point at obscure little places like Ecnomus, a new group of thugs moved into the neighborhood and bided their time until the two antagonists weakened each other to the point that they were easy prey. These thugs, of course, were the legions of Rome.