Armageddon: Tactical Combat, 3000-500 BC
Armageddon: Tactical Combat, 3000-500 BC is a board wargame first published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1972 in Strategy & Tactics, then released as a stand-alone game, then reimplemented as Chariot: Tactical Warfare in the "Biblical" Age, 3000-500 BC.
Description
Armageddon is a tactical board wargame for two players that simulates historic battles in the Fertile Crescent during the Bronze and Iron Ages, with a particular focus on chariots.
Components
The stand-alone game consists of:[1]
- "flat-pack" clear plastic box with integrated counter tray
- rulebook
- 255 die-cut counters
- paper hex grid map
- one six-sided die
Turn phases
Each player, in turn, is given a fire phase for missile weapons, movement phase, and combat phase for melee between adjacent units.[1]
Movement
Each unit has a movement rate, and can use that to move forward into any one of of the three hexes to the front of the unit at a cost of 1 movement point per hex. (Some terrain enacts movement penalties.) If a player wishes to turn the unit to a different facing, the unit can turn 60 degrees at a cost of 1 movement point. There is no zone of control rule, so units can freely by-pass enemy units without having to stop to engage them.[1]
Stacking
During a player's turn, there is no stacking limit per hex, but at the end of the player's turn, there can be no more than three units per hex.[1]
Combat
Units all have two melee combat stregths: "front" (the three hexes in front of the unit); and "flank" (the three hexes behind the unit.) The Combat Results Table lists five possible results against the defending unit: no effect, disruption, retreat, half-elimination, or total elimination. Regardless of the result, melee combat has no effect on the attacking unit.[1]
Scenarios
Thirteen scenarios simulating historic battles where chariots played a major role were included with the game:[1]
- The Delta (1675 BC)
- Babylon (1595 BC)
- Megiddo (1469 BC)
- Kadesh (1294 BC)
- Sinai (c. 1225 BC)
- Qarqar (854 BC)
- Tabal (706 BC)
- Charchemish (608 BC)
- Thymbra (546 BC)
- Bubastis (c. 3000)
- Armageddon (609 BC)
- Lake Regillus (c. 496 BC)
- The Aequi (458 BC)
Publication history
Armageddon was designed by John Young and published as a pull-out game in the September 1972 issue of Strategy & Tactics (#34). It was then released as a stand-alone game.[1]
In 1975, SPI re-implemented Armageddon as Chariot: Tactical Warfare in the Biblical Age, 3000-500BC), one of five Bronze Age, Iron Age, medieval and Renaissance wargames in the PRESTAGS series (Pre-Seventeenth Century Tactical Game System). The other games in the series were Spartan, Legion, Viking, and Yeoman.[2]
Reception
In the April 1976 issue of Strategy & Tactics (#55), Jerrold Thomas gave an in-depth examination of the entire PRESTAGS series, and concluded all the games "have tremendous variety and interest; literally something for everyone. They can also add vividness to the reading of history, which can become suddenly more comprensible when you can actually see just what the opponents had to work with, and what they did with it."[3]
Other reviews
- Moves #7
- Fire & Movement # 22, #71
- The Wargamer Vol.1 #5
- JagdPanther #15
- Adventure Gaming Vol. 2 #1
- Phoenix #1
- Paper Wars #63
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "Armageddon: Tactical Combat 3000 to 500 B.C. (1972)". BoardGameGeek. Retrieved 2021-05-12.
- ^ "Chariot: Tactical Warfare in the "Biblical" Age, 3000-500 BC (1975)". BoardGameGeek. Retrieved 2021-05-12.
- ^ Thomas, Jerrold (April 1976). "Ancient and Medieval Armies". Strategy & Tactics.
Category:Simulations Publications games
 | This game-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |