Ancient Conquest is a multi-player boxed wargame from Excalibre Games Inc. and reopens the old argument among wargamers concerning historical accuracy vs playability.

By taking a different design approach, Ancient Conquest achieves both historical accuracy and uses a very playable combat system. This is done by means of historical objective charts and a touch of culture and religion thrown in to boot.

Optional rules are used to "sophisticate" the ability of the combat pieces, thus maintaining a very clean game. The result of this is Ancient Conquest "forces" history into the play of the game and this history is so subtle that a wargamer at first glance might think the game is too easy, but after playing the four groups of peoples and kingdoms he will rapidly realize it takes extremely good execution to gain the victory points and win.

By having four distinct groups the game lends itself to tournaments, as the victory conditions are based on points and each group can gain a maximum of 40. So a final score in a tourney is easy to determine, although a tie is possible.

Seventeen different peoples are used in the game, and unlike many games where there are long lull periods and the sides generally always fight over a set piece situation, Ancient Conquest is portraying the appearance of numerous peoples and kingdoms so the counters appear all over the map and from turn one on the game is a struggle for points and literally of survival.

The groups used were picked mostly by who they did not fight rather than who they allied with. Thus the Bablonian group must ally eventually with the group lead by the Medes and Egyptians. The Hittites are strong initially in another group and have their hands full when hordes of invaders start moving in on their territory. Finally, the group most challenging is the Assyrians since it is tough for them to count on anyone as an ally. They come down like a wolf on the fold until as in history, the Medes and Babylonians gang up on them to sack Nineveth their capitol.

By starting with Ancient Near East 1500 to 600 B.C. we open with the very earliest major civilizations and expose an extremely dynamic period that heretofore has been largely ignored. We added things to the game to really make it a historical simulation.

Message tablets must be used for diplomatic messages, this is done to simulate the difficulty of verbal communication when peoples spoke various Indo-European and Semitic dialects and clay tablets were the usual way to send a message. Thus our diplomatic rules forbid over-the-table conversation and allows written diplomacy only.

Religion is brought in by means of omens which sometimes result in a plague with devastating results. Sieges are done in a new way. The old double in a town bit is not used. Who would D-Back Two inside a walled town? By using a special CRT for Battles and another for sieges we got away from the old unrealistic town defenses used in most games. War machines are added though to help take those towns, but a limited number is supplied so fortress towns like Megiddo and Nineveh are tough to take.

We are anxious to get feedback on this new historical system so we know if we should go ahead and do most of the classic periods in this type of political-historical system.

Ancient Conquest is available from us and at the dealers so after you've played it four times write us and let us know your thoughts. Hopefully we may be able to do some strategy articles on the game in the future.

If the devastating sweep of the Cimmerian horde across Asia Minor has always appealed to you, then Ancient Conquest is your kind of game.