Blade & Bow - The Ancient World at War (2nd Edition)

Blade & Bow: The Ancient World at War is a low to moderately complex game system depicting combat between ancient armies with a goal of showing the evolution of infantry combat from the adoption of the Greek hoplite formation through the Roman maniple and cohort. Two players take control of historical armies to see how well they might fare as compared to their historical counterparts. Each battle takes two to three hours to complete.

This first volume in the series includes the battles of Marathon (490 BCE), Thermopylae (480 BCE), Plataea (479 BCE), and Mycale (479 BCE), where the mighty Greek and Spartan soldiers made their stands against the invading Persian hordes.

Unlike other ancient combat systems, Blade & Bow takes a unique look at how armies were deployed and maneuvered in a linear fashion using a grid of squares rather than hexagons to provide a more realistic experience. Command is key as commanders provide the leadership required to keep their forces moving until the inevitable clash of shields, as well as the ability to keep their forces engaged in the bloody back-and-forth of ancient combat. A deck of event cards provides period flavor as well as a touch of chaos.