Introducing Arete’s New Scenario: The Siege of Tyre

Hi everyone, I’ve been quiet but busy since releasing Arete: The Battles of Alexander the Great on iOS and Android. In the early stages after release, I was fixing bugs which were mostly hiding in the online games area. Thankfully most of them were minor and there weren’t many so I was quickly able to shift focus to making gameplay and UI improvements thanks in large part to feedback from you, the players.

When the game was in a place I was happy with, I was finally able to revisit a scenario that I initially wanted to be part of the game: The Siege of Tyre. Tyre is a fascinating episode in history and in the story of Alexander, so it might surprise you that I went back and forth on whether to include it. My hesitation had nothing to do with the siege’s significance and everything to do with how to make it work within the existing rules while feeling like it belongs…and how long it would delay release to make it happen.

Every other battle that’s modeled in Arete can be measured in minutes, but The Siege of Tyre lasted 6 months! The other battles were clashes where victors were decided by how many were left standing on the battlefield, and while that’s technically true of Tyre as well, victory against its defenders couldn’t come until that other foe, the walled island of Tyre itself, was conquered.

I didn’t want to sacrifice quality by rushing nor did I want to delay the game’s release, so I decided to release the game without Tyre. But now after much brainstorming and tinkering, I’ve landed on a way that feels right to me so I’m proud to present, the Siege of Tyre!

Summary of Tyre Rules

The in-game rules have been updated, but this is a rules summary for you players who already read Arete’s rules and don’t want to sift through them all just to find the differences.

Objectives, Not Victory Points

To win as the Macedonian player, you must gain two objectives and be holding them during the Victory Check Phase. There are two ways to gain objectives in Tyre. The first way is by moving one of your counters onto one of the four objective hexes outlined in orange (they all have Tyrian Wall counters on them at the start of the scenario). The second way to gain an objective is by completing the mole (see next section).

To win as the Tyrian player, you have to prevent the Macedonian player from having two objectives during the Victory Check Phase for the duration of the scenario.

The Build Phase and Building The Mole

There is a new Build Phase in the Tyre scenario after the Movement Phase and for the Macedonian player only. It’s just a single die roll where new segments are built, existing segments are destroyed, or nothing happens. If the Macedonians complete the mole, they gain one objective. No more Build rolls will happen after this so this objective, once gained, can’t be lost.

Historically the mole-building Macedonians had to regularly fend off attacking Tyrians. At one point, the Tyrians “flung” a galley full of incendiary material at the mole that caused it to burst into flames, destroying it, killing many workers, and forcing the Macedonians to construct a second mole. I decided to abstract all this out into a single die roll to minimize scenario-specific rules and fiddliness. I played around with a lot of ideas here (even got me thinking about making a dedicated Tyre game), and the Build Phase may evolve in subsequent games, but I decided this was the most fun for this scenario within the context of Arete.

The Ram Phase and Warships

The Siege of Tyre focuses on the naval battle, so there are…triremes! We know both sides’ navies were mostly comprised of triremes, but there were also a scattering of quadriremes, quinqueremes, and possibly other war galleys present, but in the game they’re all labeled “Warship.”

Warships have two ways to attack: via Close Combat and by Ramming. In Tyre, there is now a Ram Phase after the Initiative Phase and before the Movement Phase. If a warship counter is used to ram, it can not move in the subsequent Movement Phase. A warship counter is eligible to ram if it:

• is exactly 2 hexes away from an enemy warship.
• can legally (respecting stacking limits) move through an intervening hex to reach its target’s hex.
• could legally enter the target’s hex if all enemies were to be eliminated.
• is not in the Zone of Control of an enemy.

If the ramming attempt is along a hexside and there are two valid intervening hexes the ship could ram through, you must first select which of the hexes through which to conduct the ramming attempt.

Ramming introduces a new combat result in “DE” which stands for “Defender Eliminated.” If you successfully eliminate the target ship, and there are no other counters in its hex, you end your Ram in the enemy’s vacated hex. Otherwise the ramming ship ends in the intervening hex (or the hex you chose if it was along a hexside).

With some tweaks, this ramming mechanic may evolve into cavalry charge in later games. I’ve had a couple players ask me why there are no cavalry charges in Arete now. The answer is because cavalry charges as we know them weren’t being employed until medieval era combat, when advancements in saddles, stirrups, spurs, and lance techniques made them feasible.

Additional Notes & Tips

• Apart from Ramming, naval combat here works exactly like Close Combat in the other scenarios. Surrounding enemy ships with the best odds possible is still the best strategy.
• There are no leaders in this scenario. This means both sides will always get the -2 die roll modifier so they effectively cancel each other out. No leaders also means there’s no Rally Phase. When you take damage, it’s permanent.
• This scenario makes heavy use of Reinforcements. Alexander’s navy were contributed from cities he had conquered or those eager to please him. If you’re the Macedonians, don’t forget about the Reinforcements or you might not have enough time to break through.
• Other scenarios in the game have a lenient round limit just to ensure the Macedonians play the role of aggressors. Here, the round limit plays a more significant role in that it’s how the Tyrians win the game. It is advisable for both sides to be cognizant of it at all times.
• There is no “Balanced” option when creating a new Quick, Pass-and-Play, or Online game for this scenario so you’ll note that the option is disabled.

As always if you have any questions or comments about these rules or any others, don’t hesitate to drop me a line.

Thank you for all your support and I hope you have as much fun playing Tyre as I did making it. If you’re enjoying Arete, please consider leaving a rating on the app store.

Happy gaming!