By Gavin Tovrea Games I remember as part of my high school world history class, I got to see the movie Ben Hur. Other than the now immortalized chariot race scene, the only other part of the movie I remember sparking an interest in me was the scene where Judah Ben Hur (Charlton Heston) is a slave rower on a Roman galley when they engage in combat. It was great! You could just feel the tension building as he was forced to row faster with each passing moment waiting for the imminent ramming of the enemy ship. It just so happened that at the time I was seeing this movie in my class, a local toy store chain was blowing out Avalon Hill war games; one of those was the game Trireme. The basic rules were, well, basic, and as long as you played with only them you'd understand the game. The advanced rules, however, made it considerably more realistic, but slowed it down a great deal and made it no fun to play. This game spent the next few years on my shelf until I finally parted with it at a local convention. Mind you, my reason for doing so was that it was too complicated for my tastes. Recently I attended a convention sponsored by the local chapter of the Historical Miniatures Game Society, and no sooner had I walked in the door that I saw the one of the most striking miniatures games I have ever seen - and remember this is an all-miniatures convention. I saw eight players, each with their own hand crafted, balsa wood triremes. The oars of each ship, although it sound weird, were made of toothpicks stuck into holes drilled into the sides of each ship, but nonetheless looked the part of the oars on this kind of ship. The grappling hooks were made of small fishing treble hooks, which were attached to a piece of wire to represent the ropes; of course, the points were cut off of the hooks. The Marines participating in the boarding action were 15mm scale, and they even had ballista miniatures being used as dart throwers. I knew I had to check out the rules. Mare Nostrum is as easy as it is playable. Each player can control as many ships as they feel comfortable with. 'Me first thing you will need is a good amount of playing space; a dining room table should suffice. The turn sequence is pretty simple to follow. Each ship has an initiative rating based on a modified d6 roll. Then, in the movement phase, ships determine speed, speed change, movement, grappling, missile fire, and most importantly, ramming! When ships ram each other, they attempt to de-grapple, melee, check for morale, and fight any fires. The movement section of the turn is obviously the most important. Ships can turn (up to 45 degrees) only after they have been moved the minimum distance based on their current speed. The speeds are divided up into classes (Cruising, Full, Ramming, Stop, and Reverse). The actual distance in inches each ship is moved is based on the ship's size. The bulk of the system is in the effects of ramming. All ships have a number of hull points that they can take before they are sunk. Missile fire and melee are used for killing a ships crew in order to capture it. There are even rules for special equipment like towers, fire pots, etc. There are two big problems with this game, but both can easily be rectified. The first is that, at the time of this writing, Mare Nostrum cannot be found in game stores. It retails for $3.00 (you really can't beat that), and can be ordered by from Gavin B. Tovrea, 1519 Pen Hollow Court, N. Las Vegas, NV 89030. The second problem comes in acquiring the pieces. You can order the hand crafted ships from the same address, and they are reasonably priced (a generic trireme was about $20). If you want to wait a little while, the company will be releasing a line of ships cast in resin. The marines and equipment can be found at just about any game store that carries miniatures. Tape measures, dice, and toothpicks shouldn't be hard to find. You can use the Empire War Galleys from GW's Man 0' War, or if you're desperate, just make them yourself out of cardboard, and use half inch counters as your Marines. This game is seriously worth a look. It's fast, it's simple, and most of all it would be tough to beat visually. I loved it, and once I get my hands on a few of the ships I plan on showing it to a few of my friends. I'm sure they'll like it too: we all had the same history teacher in high school. Board Walk Board Game Reviews by Marcelo A. Figueroa Dispatch From HQ News Dynasty League Baseball Sports Game Review Mare Nostrum Trireme Ship Game Review Back to Shadis #17 Table of Contents Back to Shadis List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master List of Magazines © Copyright 1995 by Alderac Entertainment Group This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com