The Peloponnesian War (wargame)

Friction between Athens and the Peloponnesian states, especially Sparta, flared into war in 431 BCE, and did not end until 404 BCE.^[1]

The Peloponnesian War is a two-player board wargame where one player controls the forces of Athens, and the other the Spartan forces. Although the game has a 22" x 28" hex grid map, only 270 counters, and rules characterized as "simplistic",^[2] it is a long game, estimated at 8 or more hours.^[2] Much of the strategy concerns logistics, including troop mobilization and funding. Troop supply also must be maintained by controlling cities and naval supply lanes.^[2] Each turn in the game represents one year, and the game ends after 27 turns.^[3] There are also rules for a three-player game, where the third player controls the Peloponnesian states other than Sparta.^[3]

In the mid-1970s, Stephen Newberg was working on his Master's thesis in ancient history while in the Canadian Armed Forces.^[4] He designed The Peloponnesian War as an outgrowth of his scholarly work, later commenting, "Athens and Sparta, at first glance, display the classic confrontation between a democracy and a dictatorship, a seapower and a land power. An ideal, and often-touted direct analogy to the modern standoff between the United States and Soviet Russia during the Cold War."^[4]

Newberg founded Simulations Canada in 1977 to publish The Peloponnesian War as a ziplock bag game. Five years later, a second edition with new counters and revised rules was published as a boxed set.^[5]