Dawn of the Ancients

Dawn of the Ancients was a closed-ended, computer moderated play-by-mail game.[1] Game Systems Inc., published it on August 1, 1984, as its second offering after the PBM game Earthwood.[2] In 1985, the publisher updated the game, increasing the required victory points from 100 to 250 and available action points per turn from 100 to 125.[1] These changes began with game 16.[3] In 1988, KJC Games began offering the game in the United Kingdom.[4]

Dawn of the Ancients is a historical fantasy wargame.[5] Its setting was "the dawn of the great civilizations" and it had some similarities with the game Civilization.[1] In the game, 12 players vied for control, each leading one of the nations as: "Egyptians, Phoenicians, Parthians, Trojans, Greeks, Macedonians, Romans, Carthaginians, Britons, Gauls, Persians, [and] Huns".[1] This placed the greatest historic Mediterranean civilizations in opposition at game start.[3] In addition, the computer played Atlantis.[3] Players also chose a historic theme—Republic, Barbarian, and Empire—each with military and economic implications.[1] Gameplay occurred on a hex map.[1] This included the Mediterranean Sea and land areas comprising 1,380 hexes.[3]

The game's purpose is to win by attaining the required number of victory points, or "to be the only nation to have a home city higher than level three" at game's end.[1] Up to three allied nations can share a win.[1] Players move toward victory by various actions such as acquiring map hexes, increasing the strength of home cities, increasing military strength, and waging war on other players.[1] There are sixteen possible actions.[3] Players are allocated a set number of points per turn to conduct actions toward these ends.[1] Each nation could have up to 15 leaders as well.[1] Games lasted 18–24 months.[5]

Cathy Cunning reviewed the game in a 1985 issue of Paper Mayhem. She noted some problems with the game, while stating that she would recommend it to "anyone who is looking for a simple game that still has the potential of being very interesting".[1]

Greg Tackett and Mike Scheid reviewed the game in a 1987 issue of Flagship. They spoke positively about the publisher. Both observed various game issues with Tackett providing a generally negative review and Scheid calling it "a good introductory historical wargame" with good expansion potential.[5]

• List of play-by-mail games