I will not deny it, I have weakness for all Ben Madison designs. These are super-elegant solitaire games which not only put a challenge in front of you – usually defending against the odds – but also providing a lot of historical context and insight. These are usually small footprint titles, with beautiful components (I really love the counters) and pretty procedural rules.

Sword of Orthodoxy: The Rise and Fall of Byzantium 420-1453 is one of latest titles from Ben and leads us through over one thousand years of Eastern Empire – or, as the Western historians call it – Byzantium. Designer created here an interesting mix of classical state-of-the-siege approach, with tracks on which enemy is progressing – that will be for eastern part of the map – with a new approach, seen in KaiserKrieg or Global War, where you accumulate enemies in one box until they reach the threshold for crisis to unleash.

As always, there is a lot of chrome and “tasteful tidbits” to reflect the events and changing geopolitical situation during this millennia. Today we shall present the components of this beautiful game and tell a bit about the rules. More content, including gameplay, to come!

Enjoy!