One player assumes the role of the combined armies of the Greek city-states and the other player assumes the role of the Persian superpower. The influence of the theme already starts with the game’s set-up and goal. After the demands for earth and water were made, the Spartans seem to have actually thrown envoys into a well with the comment, “go ahead and find your own water.”ģ00 Earth & Water also draws inspiration from histories’ well (pun intended) and gives us a striking balance between historical accuracy and entertainment amongst others in terms of game play and the game mechanics. The scene where an envoy is kicked into a well sounds fictionalized for the film, but actually has a historical basis. In the film, Leonidas – not entirely swayed by the demands – kicks the envoy into a pit after shouting Leonidas’ famous words: This is Sparta! Although the film takes a liberal approach to history, it does incorporate elements of actual Greek history. Perhaps those demands sound familiar to you if you have watched the film 300, where a Persian envoy delivered this message to King Leonidas. The title of the game is a reference to the last stand of 300 Spartans after the withdrawal of the Greek armies at the Battle of Thermopylae, but also a reference to the demands for capitulation of the Greek city-states (Polis) made by the Persian invaders: earth and water, meaning: control over the land and all the resources that could be found on that land. Historical contextģ00 Earth & Water is an asymmetric war game for two players. The Persian wars are also the inspiration for the wonderful two-player game 300 Earth & Water published by Geronimo Games and Nuts! Publishing.

The story of the film and the comic book – taking various liberties – is based on the Battle of Thermopylae: a pivotal battle during the second Persian invasion of Greece led by Xerxes I, who decided, after the failed first invasion of his predecessor and father Darius I, that he could do much better.

This film is based on a just as stylistic comic book series filled with violence and blood by the same name by author Frank Miller, also known for penning Sin City and The Dark Knight Returns. You’ve probably seen (or heard of) Zack Snyder’s popular – and at the time aesthetically very original – film 300 about a small group of heroic Spartans who, led by the Spartan King Leonidas, were willing to die for their Greece by stopping a vast slave army of the Persian King Xerxes I.

300 spartans comic book