Trierarchs: Trireme Warfare in the 5th Century

Trierarchs is a modern take on ancient Tactical Naval Warfare during the 5th century with a special focus on and surrounding the Peloponnese War. The naval conflicts of the ancient world were strategically and logistically vital to any nation’s ambitions of expansions and colonization. Thucydides himself was exiled as a result of his failure to prevent a Spartan landing at Amphipolis and the subsequent death of Athenian general and politician Cleon at that battle.

The period is notable for the relative ferocity and unique nature of naval conflict. The primary tactic being to ram your opponents ship via it’s broadside as quickly as your oarsman could row. Triremes were packed sparingly along with several hoplite marines and archers who could either attack or board enemy ships if close enough. Athens was primarily the dominant naval power until the end of the war and even had an original tactics where they could maneuver a ship parallel to an opponent going in the opposite direction, pull in their oars, and shear off the oars of their enemies leaving them dead in the water. The quality of a crew would frequently make up for inferior numbers in combat making for interesting and thrilling scenarios, of which Trierarchs is packed.

A basic and advanced version of the rules will be included where players may easily pick and choose what rules they wish to include. The advanced rule increase the playing time and relative complexity of the rules in order to more accurately reflect the nature of ancient naval warfare. Optional rules are included for simultaneous movement, double-blind refereed games, as well as limited combined-operations with land forces.

-description from publisher's website