Tag Archives: Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East

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An Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East Discourse of Game Questions, Historical Background, and Items of Overall Interest

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By Francesco Guerrieri (with Responses by Chris Vorderbrugge, Mark McLaughlin, & Fred Schachter: ACME’s Design/Development Team)

Introduction by Fred Schachter (ACME Game Developer): Deb of the GMT Office forwarded a letter to Chris, Mark, and myself from Francesco Guerrieri of Rome, Italy, whom, as you’ll read, is a fan of the Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East game GMT Games – Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East.

That initial exchange of correspondence grew to the point where we realized it could make for an interesting InsideGMT article, particularly for those who play, or will play, ACME. So here it is commencing with Francesco’s letter which started it all.  I edited the ensuing correspondence to provide readers a sense of the fun back and forth Chris, Mark, and I enjoyed with Francesco.

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Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East (ACME) Is Electric… on Vassal That Is!

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Designers Christopher Vorder Brugge, Mark McLaughlin, and I would like to express our gratitude for the support, patronage, and encouragement which so many of the GMT Community provided over the lengthy, but always enjoyable, journey of ACME from concept to publication.  You have our thanks.

We would also like to express our particular gratitude to Joel Toppen, a prolific, talented, and creative designer who so graciously and expertly created a VASSAL module for ACME. This module is available at VASSALEngine.org: https://vassalengine.org/wiki/Module:Ancient_Civilizations_of_the_Middle_East

ACME Map on VASSAL
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“It’s All in the Cards”: A Compendium of Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East’s Cards: Chapter Three, Part One – Disasters Both Natural & Manmade

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We continue our sojourn through the cards of GMT’s upcoming, now P-500 listed, second game of the “Ancient Civilizations” series: Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East (ACME) GMT Games – Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East [the first game of the series is Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea GMT Games – Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea (ACIS)].

ACME’s selection of “Regular” cards provides instruments which inflict benefits, sometimes at the expense of another Civilization; and then there are cards which singularly direct pain. These represent the Ancient World’s ways of damaging a Civilization, sometimes fatally when multiply applied, in the form of disk loss and/or the erosion of its wealth (mina).

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“It’s All in the Cards”: A Compendium of Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East’s Cards: Chapter Two, Part Three – Resource Cards

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We continue our sojourn through the cards of GMT’s upcoming, now P-500 listed, second game of the “Ancient Civilizations” series: Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East (ACME) GMT Games – Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East [the first game of the series is Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea GMT Games – Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea (ACIS)]. 

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“It’s All in the Cards”: A Compendium of Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East’s Cards: Chapter Two, Part Two – Trade Cards

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Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East provides ten (10!) Trade cards… not cards the players trade with one another, but cards representing the Ancient World’s commercial environment and the forces which effected it. 

Please note cards are generally played sequentially by Civilization after the Deployment Phase which places disks upon the map. For an explanation and example of game Phases leading up to the Card Phase, see: Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East (ACME) Example of Play Part 1 of 3: Game Set-Up through Growth Phase – Inside GMT blog As to the Card Phase itself, see: Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East (ACME) Example of Play Part 2 of 3: Card Phase through Competition Phase – Inside GMT blog

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Full-Court Press Double Teaming – Ancient Civ (of the Middle East) Style or… Kadesh Tomorrow, Ninevah Tonight!

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Egyptian and Hittite armies clashed in one of the first, great, recorded battles of ancient history- the epic clash of chariots at Kadesh. That is what is supposed to happen in the “Balance of Power” scenario of the now P-500 listed Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East GMT Games – Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East. And it would have if the Assyrians hadn’t showed up to the party.

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“It’s All in the Cards”: A Compendium of Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East’s Cards: Chapter Two, Part One – Competition Cards

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Chapter Two: Competition, Trade, & Resource Cards of ACME

Part 1: Competition Cards

Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East provides eleven (11!) regular Competition cards. For those unfamiliar or needing a refresher as to how an Ancient Civ game’s Competition is resolved for each Contested area, see the extended example of a Competition accessible through this link: Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East (ACME) Example of Play Part 3 of 3: Reckoning Phase with Additional Examples of Competition – Inside GMT blog. Several of Chapter One’s Great Person Competition cards, as well a couple of those encompassed within this article, are cited.
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“It’s All in the Cards”: A Compendium of Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East’s Cards: Chapter One, Part Five – Great Person “Negate” Cards

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Introduction by ACME Game Developer Fred Schachter: The previous parts of this Chapter One introduced readers to the game’s Great Person Investment, Competition, Spy, and “Power, Money (Mina) & VP” cards. This exposition, which concludes Chapter One, proceeds to the game’s Great Person Negate cards.

Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East play testers attest that Negate cards add a fun, dramatic, and exciting dynamic to the game since they can be used with an immediacy that other cards cannot duplicate. They can save your civilization’s day and frustrate your enemy’s evil intent!

But first, to set the mood, a Mark McLaughlin Design Note aside regarding each ACME game card’s biblical quote… 

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“It’s All in the Cards”: A Compendium of Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East’s Cards: Chapter One, Part Four – Great Person “Power, Money (Mina) & VP” Cards

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Introduction by ACME Game Developer Fred Schachter:  The previous parts of this Chapter One introduced readers to the game’s Great Person Investment, Competition, and Spy cards. This exposition now proceeds to cards with much varied, but never-the-less valuable attributes.  Having additional background regarding this forthcoming GMT P-500 listed game should assist a reader’s appreciation of this article series.  This can be obtained from material resident in GMT’s site for the game: GMT Games – Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East

But first a word from Designer Mark McLaughlin…

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“It’s All in the Cards”: A Compendium of Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East’s Cards: Chapter One, Part Three – Great Person “Spy” Cards

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Introduction by ACME Game Developer Fred Schachter: The previous part 2 of this series examined the game’s Great Person Competition cards. We now proceed to cards whose function is not overt on the game map… the “Spy” cards of Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East whose shadow role occurs before a turn’s first Competition is resolved!