In an earlier article I mentioned that there were ships involved in Euphoria, but I didn't feel inclined to burden an already protracted reflection with even more information. For the Euphoric Campaign, the situation at sea is similar to that on land, the Romans begin as strong as they are going to get, but the Greeks can count on reinforcements. Each side begins with six ships (half with catapults) and if the allied city of Tardis ever activates, the Greeks can count on three more (none with catapults). The catapults are unlikely to be decisive but add color. As with the elephants and Roman sword wielding javelin tossing heavy infantry on land, catapults make the rules for sea inappropriate for the Peloponnesian War, but allow for situations much less monochromatic than that conflict.

As with my last article, the rules here are a refinement of the rules used for a trial runÄagain thanks to a visit from Francis Lynch.

At the very first local convention I presented a game based on a small fleet action between Spartans and Athenians. As mentioned earlier, I appreciate a certain asymmetry and having a Spartan fleet relying on boarding and an Athenian fleet relying on the ram made for two different styles of play with similar types of forces. The rules required a fair amount of bookkeeping and used a series of turn circles of different diameters, depending on the sides skill and oar damage. Individual figures fought each other and the players seemed greatly to enjoy the game.

The drawback was one that I frequently encountered. A set of rules that is good for a convention (there is enough to do to occupy several players on each side) does not work well in my own basement (I am lucky to have any opponent and must command an entire side solo). I conducted various experiments to cut done on bookkeeping and paraphernalia and tried and discarded various ideas, good, bad and indifferent, along the way. The final result is something that works well one on one but would probably be a disappointment at a convention. Fortunately, the figures and ships are identical in both cases and the more cumbersome rules can always be used when the number of available players is sufficient.

I set up two the initial fleets from the Battle of Thestos as described in Paul Hague's book, Sea Battles in Miniature (with the difference that both sides had some catapults and the Romans lacked their fighting towers-- Hague mentions them but fails to describe their effect on the game).

My plan was pretty simple this time. Francis took the Greeks this time, so Romans would simply try to avoid the enemy's rams and close and board as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, it was not an auspicious visit for Francis. I had a series of lucky die rolls and in the space of two turns the Greek fleet was a mass of crippled wood. His single undamaged ship was unable to effect the outcome.

Perhaps the rules are too simple, but they are supposed to be part of a campaign game and the experience of many who have participated in campaigns is the difficulty of keeping them going. They have a lot of moving parts and the more complexity in each part, the more likely the campaign is to wither and die. The fleets are unlikely to be decisive, but they can have their innings and provide good entertainmentfor an hour or two. comments may be addressed to:

The Very Rev'd. Mired Glidden, O.S.B. St. Gregory's Abbey
56500 Abbey Road
Three Rivers, M1 49093