Undaunted publisher Osprey targets gap in historical wargaming market with one-box, fast-playing Battalion: War of the Ancients

UK tabletop publisher Osprey Games says it is hoping to fill a gap in the historical gaming market with the release of accessible tabletop combat game Battalion: War of the Ancients.

The new design from Libertalia and Ethnos designer Paolo Mori and Pocket Battles creator Francesco Sirocchi sees players take charge of one of four factions – the Romans, the Han dynasty, Greece or Carthage – before assembling multiple units from cardboard ‘rank’ tiles and sending them into battle.

Osprey says games should take between 20 and 45 minutes to play out – a strategy clearly inspired by the publisher’s success in reimagining traditional miniatures-focused combat gaming through its quick-playing Undaunted series of deckbuilders.

An Osprey spokesperson told BoardGameWire, “War of the Ancients is all about accessibility – it offers a quick-playing, one-box alternative to the time and cost-intensive experience of historical miniatures wargaming.

“It’s from a pair of two phenomenal designers and builds on our reputation here at Osprey Games for top-class two-player board wargames, and its striking unique art style from Roland MacDonald also helps it stand out.”

Despite seeming ripe for expansions, Osprey would not be drawn on its future plans for Battalion beyond the retail release of the game in November, following early demos and sales at October’s Essen Spiel board game fair.

Battalion is one of three big board game releases due from the publisher this year, alongside choose-your-own-adventure game War Story: Occupied France and the first sci-fi instalment of the Undaunted series, Undaunted 2200: Callisto.

The company also publishers a host of miniatures wargames including Bolt Action, Frostgrave and Stargrave and a string of roleplaying games.