GBoH ventures back into the mists of time, into an area of military history that has seen little coverage by the hobby: The Bronze Age, or the Age of the Chariot. From approximately 1700 BCE to 1200, the abrupt end of The Bronze Age, the chariot reigning supreme on the battlefield. It was the first "modern" weapon system, and chariots controlled most of warfare until actual cavalry appeared in the middle of The Iron Age.

But how did chariots work as a tactical weapon system? There is no complete agreement on what they did, or how they were used, but Chariots of Fire shows you GMT's view of the many applications -- and many types of chariotry -- there were, providing GBoH-ers with the complete and definitive chariot rules... from combat to mobility, from the first battle wagons of the Sumerians to the two-man, fast-moving light chariots of the Egyptians, often complete with specialized Runner Infantry, to the heavy 3-man Hittite wheels.

And to do that GMT is providing nine -- yes 9! -- battles. Two -- Sumer (ca. 2320 BCE, featuring the legendary Sargon the Great) and Sekhmen (1875) -- are pre-chariot. The remaining seven -- Megiddo (ca. 1479), Senzar (1470), The Astarpa (1312), Kadesh (1300), Nihriya (1230), Babylon (1225), and Troy (1200) -- all feature chariot corps. And the last one, Troy, has an extra: Homer's heroes! (But no gyros.)

And of armies there are plenty, and a truly colorful bunch they are: Sumerians, Akkadians, all sorts of Egyptians, Canaanites, Hittites, Mitanni, Arzawans, Assyrians, Babylonians and the Mycaean Age Greeks.

COMPLEXITY: High (7/9)
SOLITAIRE SUITABILITY: High (7/9)