Wouter & Ymke 
Fight for dominance over the eastern Mediterranean in this 2-player game about the Greco-Persian Wars!
2 players, ages 14+
Playing time: 40 minutes
Designer: Yasushi Nakaguro
Artwork: Antonio Stappaerts
Publisher: Nuts! Publishing
https://www.nutspublishing.com/
A game of 300: Earth & Water is played over the course of 5 rounds, unless a player manages to control both Major cities of their opponent during the scoring phase, the game immediately ends with that player winning.
Each of the rounds follows the same structure:
In the preparation phase, you pay talents to obtain cards and place new armies and fleets on the map.
During the operation phase, players take turns playing cards, either carrying out its event, or moving their troops. When armies or fleets of the two players occupy the same location, combat occurs with players rolling a die for each of their units, and whoever rolled the highest die wins, with the other player removing a unit. Combat continues until someone retreats, or has all their units defeated.
The operation phase ends when both players have passed, after which players have to make sure their armies are supplied: each amphorae in cities they control can feed one army. You must also establish a line of communication between your armies and one of your Major cities.
In the scoring phase, players count the cities under their control, and they record the difference on the score track.
After the 5th round the game ends, and the player with the score marker on their side wins the game.
300: Earth & Water is definitely a special game: it comes in a small box with not that many components, but still the gameplay is very interesting and every play has been both captivating and tense. In its core it feels like a short and streamlined asymmetrical wargame, very accessible even when you haven’t played this type of game before.
The fact that it’s card driven but only comes with 16 cards, and yet every play is different, is just beautiful and proves that not every great game has to come with tons of components. 300: Earth & Water is a game that shines in its simplicity!
