Epipolae: The Athenian Expedition in Sicily, 415-413 BCE Interview: Jason Walonoski

 

For the first time, Epipolae brings Volko Ruhnke’s Levy & Campaign series to the Ancient World, portraying 5th-century BCE Greek military operations with a focus on logistics and maneuver. Players will raise and equip their armies and navies, build alliances through diplomacy, and ravage, siege, and battle their way to victory.

The rules and images shown here are not final.

You can find it in P500

-Tell us about this evolution of the levy and campaign series.

Epipolae brings Volko Ruhnke’s Levy & Campaign Series to the Ancient World, portraying 5th-century BCE Greek military operations with a focus on logistics and maneuver. The game focuses on the Athenian Expedition to Sicily, which started with the arrival of the expedition in 415 BCE, culminated in the Siege of Syracuse (413 BCE), and ended with the complete destruction of the Athenian force.

The Levy & Campaign (L&C) series of games was designed from the ground-up to model operational-level medieval military campaigns. This includes some modeling of the feudal system of Lords and vassals, obligations and fealty, and organization and service. The campaign portion of the series has a heavy focus on logistics (transport, supply, capabilities) and an emphasis on maneuver.

While specifically designed for the medieval era, the L&C model is also sufficient to represent the dynamics of ancient operational-level campaigns. Though various ancient cultures did not have a medieval European-style feudal system of fealty and service obligations, the basis of the Levy mechanics work equally well for the Greek city-states (or even Persia, Carthage, Rome, and Egypt).

Similarly, the "plan and command" mechanics of the Campaign phase are able to recreate ancient campaigns. The actions of these armies -- marching, foraging, ravaging, besieging, battling, and so on differ from their medieval descendants only in size, temporal scale, and technological effectiveness.

-What are the main mechanical differences with other games in the series?

Moving from the Medieval era with Feudal obligations into the Ancient era means there will be some differences, but the changes are not drastic.

Feudal obligations and vassals are gone and reframed (for instance, Lordship became Logistikos). The Levy phase still includes mustering of Lords (called Strategoi in the game), transport, and capabilities. But instead of mustering vassals, you can muster individual units directly (e.g., hoplites, peltasts, cavalry, triremes, etc). In the ancient era, these could be additional units from the city-state, from nearby allies or tribes, or even mercenary units.

The concept of “Greed” is also removed from the game and a new “Reorganization” mechanic is introduced into the Levy phase. Friendly Strategoi who are in the same location can swap units and assets. These commanders were focused on the success of their city-state, and did not necessarily share the petty concerns of Feudal Lords. They would work together, and assume different roles from one campaign to the next in order to achieve their objectives (for instance, leading a fleet one season, conducting a siege by circumvallation the next, to outfitting skirmishers for an assault another).

Speaking of units, the game also features naval warfare with Triremes. Some of the naval mechanics were adopted and modified from another L&C design in work: Lauria by Mark Greenwald. In Epipolae, Naval units have both Naval Ramming (Triremes ramming each other) and Naval Combat (encompassing grappling, short range missile fire, and deck fighting). Given the time-scale, range limitations of Triremes, and historical tendencies – the land battles and naval battles happen at the same time. The Athenians start with a superior navy, but over time this advantage will slip away due to events, capabilities, and Syracusans building up their own fleet.

In terms of Campaign commands that are available: you’ll see the familiar commands you expect from Levy & Campaign (for example, March, Sail, Forage, Supply, Ravage, Siege, Tax) but you’ll also see Counter Walls and Diplomacy.

Counter Walls. In this era, and in this particular campaign, besieging a city typically involved circumvallation, encircling a city with walls to cut it off from supply. A common defense against this was Counter Walls. A besieged Strategoi can elect to build these Counter Walls which will allow besieged defenders to take additional actions and provide additional defenses.

Diplomacy. As Thucydides tells us in his History of the Peloponnesian War, the ancient Greeks were clever diplomats, orators, and statesmen – even while on campaign. They were equally likely to use the olive branch as they were to use the sword. Your diplomatic overtures can be effected by the actions of you and your opponent, so reconsider Ravaging those neutral cities unless circumstances are dire.

Finally, I will mention Trophies. Ancient Greeks routinely erected battlefield trophies (typically constructed with captured weapons and armor from slain foes) to mark their victory. Losers would have to approach the site under truce to humiliatingly request permission to recover the bodies of the dead. This permission was routinely granted, and failure to recover the dead was a grave offense.

(Photo of print-and-play components with play test art. Actual components will look different)

-How do the different sides work?

Athens arrives with a numerical advantage in commanders and a powerful fleet of Triremes. They have capabilities in naval operations, diplomacy, and have the financial backing of the Delian League. The Athenians only have a handful of local allies and supply sources in Segesta and Leontinoi, but no ports to harbor their fleet.

(Play test art. Left: Nicias mat with forces and assets arrayed. Right: a variety of Athenian capabilities arrayed. Cards subject to change)

Syracuse has a fleet of its own, ample food and supply, and superiority in cavalry, but is lacking in allies until they either make their own alliances or the Peloponnesian League intervenes and comes to their aid. They have a variety of capabilities geared toward defending, supplying, upgrading their fleet, and utilizing their cavalry in a variety of roles.

(Play test art. Left: Hermocrates mat with forces and assets arrayed. Right: Olympieum Riders with forces and assets arrayed)

Historically, the Athenian expeditionary force included the infamous general Alcibiades. He was recalled from the expedition by his political enemies, which caused him to flee to Sparta as a traitor. He was instrumental in getting the Peloponnesian League to intervene in the war on behalf of the Syracusans. All of this is modeled in the game with the “Alcibiades Recall Procedures.”

Alcibiades is a skilled general that the Athenian player will want to make use of as much as possible. However, he is only available for a short time. Alcibiades is recalled when his icon is revealed a total of four (4) times on Event cards. Neither side knows exactly when the recall will occur, so this procedure is “solo friendly.” Mathematically, the recall occurs earliest in Spring 415 BCE, most often in Autumn 415 BCE, but could possibly stretch out until Winter 414 BCE. The Syracusan player cannot muster Peloponnesian allies until after Alcibiades has been recalled. Mustering an ally by the Syracusan player is completely optional, but once one of them is mustered, then it is only a short wait until the Athenian player can muster their own reinforcements. So, in effect, the recall of Alcibiades triggers a slow escalation of the conflict.

-Tell us about the scenarios.

The scenario list is not finalized yet. But currently there are four mini scenarios, four full-length scenarios (each can be played one or two years), and the full campaign.

The four mini-scenarios involve only Battles, Storming, or Sally actions. They cover the historical Battle of Anapus River, the first battle of Epipolae (an Approach Battle and Relief Sally), the second battle of Epipolae (the night assault Storm), and one of the battles in the Great Harbor (a Sally).

The four full-length scenarios are tentatively, the Expedition Arrives (415 BCE), Recalled (415-414 BCE), Escalation (414 BCE), and Tragedy (413 BCE).

-Can you recommend bibliography to get us into the setting?

No bibliography would be complete without Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War. I prefer the Landmark edition edited by Robert B. Strassler, but there are free editions online. This is a classic and I would highly recommend it.

However, I would also recommend these three books:

Donald Kagan. The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition. Cornell University Press, 1981. (Other than Thucydides himself, this is probably the best single treatment of the setting and campaign, but it is also extremely detailed and goes into the historigraphy, so it is not an introductory read).

Victor Davis Hanson. A War Like No Other. Random House, 2005. (This book doesn’t discuss the campaign directly except for one chapter, instead it covers how the belligerents fought each other).

Nic Fields. Syracuse 415-413 BC. Osprey Publishing, 2008. (This book offers a concise treatment of the campaign).

-Do you have any other project in mind?

Right now all my focus is on Epipolae. We are working hard in development and testing to finalize the game. I want to make it as good as we can. My hope is that it will make the cut on the P500 quickly, and we can get it into player’s hands sooner rather than later.