Perikles

The Players

In Perikles, three to five players each represent a Greek family with political influence spread across the six main cities of Greece. Players will use their influence to gain control of these cities, which in turn allows them to use their military forces to win glory on the battlefield.

The Game

Perikles details the politics and battles of the Peloponnesian War in ancient Greece. The game is played over three turns, with each turn being divided into four main phases.

Influence

In the first phase players select Influence tiles that will allow them to place influence on the map. Influence is represented by wooden cubes. With three or four players, each player will select five Influence tiles. If there are five players then each player takes four tiles. Certain tiles also allow players to propose candidates for leadership, or an assassination to reduce another player's standing.

Elections

In the second phase, players propose candidates for the remaining vacant candidacies. Once this is done players determine which of the two candidates in each city will become the leader, this depends on the amount of influence behind each candidate. As we know, though, any group in power always becomes unpopular, so the winning player loses an amount of influence equal to that of the opposing player.

The War

The second half of the game is devoted to the fighting of the war. Each player takes control of the military forces for the cities he leads. Players will fight over seven Location tiles. The order in which players commit forces to these locations depends on the Influence tiles they selected earlier. Normally a player can send up to two units to battle but he can spend more if he is prepared to use up an Influence cube.

Each Location tile reflects a historical location that was fought over during the actual war. The tile will indicate which city originally controls it. Some locations start with intrinsic defenders. Others have rebels ready to rise up if aided by another city. The battle for a location normally consists of two rounds, land combat involving hoplites, and sea combat involving triremes. The order in which these two rounds are fought is shown on the tile.

Winning the first round of combat gives an advantage in the second round. The winner of the second round of combat takes the tile, thus earning victory points.

The Transition of Power

At the end of each turn, all the leaders die. The grateful citizens then erect statues of them to commemorate their wise leadership in such dark times. Then, a new turn begins.

Victory

The game normally ends after three turns, although this could be less if Athens or Sparta are knocked out of the war. Players count up their victory points, which are earned from having influence on the map, for winnin gLocation tiles, and for statues. The value of a statue depends on how well its city did in the war, with each defeat lessening the value of all the statues in that city.