In a World of Sci-Fi and Mythology with Lords of Hellas

Travel to the Dark Age in Greece where mythology and science fiction intersect in a battle for power in Lords of Hellas.
Onward with the excitement of trying out even more unplayed solo games! Lords of Hellas was a fairly recent purchase by my husband, and he’s been eager to understand if it might be fun multiplayer. So I gladly added it to my alphabetical challenge to test it out! Although the solo mode looked quite different, I was excited to form an opinion after playing!
Game Overview
Game Name: Lords of Hellas
Publication Year: 2018
Designer: Adam Kwapiński
Artist: Piotr Gacek
Publisher: Awaken Realms
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
During a scenario, the Persians slowly invade from the north as Achilles and his troops gain a foothold across a massive map. Dangerous monsters of myth roam the land, while special quests provide other ways to advance. Yet the threat from the enemy army is always lurking…
First Play
March 12, 2022
Complexity
4
Latest Play
March 12, 2022
Expansions
0
Setup Time
10 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
2
Play Time
30 Minutes
High Score
N/A
Game Area
46" x 34"
Low Score
N/A
The Speed of Achilles
In the solo mode, there is a very limited solo scenario booklet that only allows for Achilles to be the main hero. However, he’s still an excellent character!
Various statistics provide bonuses to different actions. In particular, actions should all be used before being re-used. Marching over and over isn’t possible, for example.
This clever mechanic allows for a very diverse approach where everything and every troop needs to work together.
Definitely not something that came easily to me! I read through the rulebooks about 3-4 times. Lots of details!
Starting in Laconia
There might not be a clear photo amidst this post, but the map is absolutely enormous! It covered my entire available vertical play area, which was kind of neat.
At the same time, I had to stretch to reach a lot of areas. Not exactly my favorite, but that’s the price of a very cool table presence. Ha ha! And those miniatures? Awesome!
With all sorts of randomized elements, I could see how this single scenario might not get repetitive too easily.
I just needed to figure out what I was actually doing. Send my army against the Persians? Or watch out for monsters?
A New Mythology
Many of the monsters were familiar from my time studying Greek mythology, yet this is a world unlike ours.
These mysterious creatures also took on some science fiction characteristics. All of them were quite alien-like, which was a really neat interpretation and setting!
Hunting was the only way for Achilles to battle these frightening monsters, but as I mentioned before, it wasn’t efficient to try to over-use a single action.
So I had to bide my time and collect enough cards to have a chance at defeating a monster in a couple of hunts.
Mechanical Cerberus
As the map was populated by random chance during setup, Cerberus showed up in a rather dangerous position.
My main priority was to mobilize against the Persians, but these monsters were going to try to destroy some of the fantastic statues to Athena, Hermes, and Zeus.
In order to survive, I had to maintain a strong army of Hoplites and try to manage the monsters as they rampaged across the land, closing in on the statues.
There were some very exciting turns, yet I was rather sad to realize that my excitement was clouded by confusion.
Achilles to the Rescue
I simply couldn’t grasp the rules, particularly since most of the reference material was for the multiplayer game. There was plenty of page-flipping as I checked every rule!
The highlight of this play was when Achilles followed Cerberus around Greece, slowly damaging the monster. It only took him 3 hunt phases to reach Acarnania…
With a bit of luck in the card drawing department, I finally matched all of the symbols and Cerberus fell!
Yet things didn’t look good. The Persians weren’t doing much, but the monsters were closing in on the statues.
Felled by the Monsters
The scenario included a pair of acts. I survived the first part in rough shape… Then immediately lost within 5 minutes as the monsters closed in on Athena. No!
Also, never fear: These giant statues are designed to either be built or destroyed, so they come in pieces that fit right back together. This just looked so much more dramatic!
I took a look at the rest of the board and the things I hadn’t even tried. Would I have changed my strategy?
It was an interesting experience and I loved the aesthetics. But unfortunately, this didn’t feel like a game for me.
Solo vs. Multiplayer Rulebooks and Confusion
As I’m sure most solo players are used to, a lot of games feature the main rulebook and a separate section or booklet for the solo rules. The thing that often confuses me the most is when the solo portion states that an aspect is exactly the same as the multiplayer aspect, but for solo, these things are different. So much flipping back and forth!
I also got the feeling that this wasn’t built for a solo experience. With only a single scenario, it definitely looked like there were glimmers of hope on the solo side. Maybe I wasn’t the only one who felt like it was a bit too different.
There may very well be the other common possibility… I played something incorrectly. The Persians never posed a threat and I was so limited by my movement. Plus, how was Achilles to take out all of these monsters? I double-checked: The Hoplite troops could not go after a monster. They could be eaten, though. So there was that. Ha ha!
Why isn’t this a game for me? How I love to try to understand my preferences! I enjoyed the combination of myths and sci-fi, and even though the map was probably way too large, I enjoyed the scope of the world. It all came down to the rules and sequence of play. Things felt a little too jumbled and separate, leading to a constantly confusing game state.
Session Overview
Play Number: 1 and 2
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Outcome: 1 Win and 1 Loss
Such a lovely map! Alas, it was kind of deflating when the monsters took out Athena’s statue before Achilles could even attempt to head east to fight them. I still had my moment of defeating Cerberus, though, so I considered this to be a reasonable solo game experience. Can’t love them all! I still took away some positives, even if I don’t expect to ever play again. Where else will I ever find a Cerberus and Hydra like the ones depicted here?!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
3
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
5
Originality
Design & Theme
9
Quality
Components & Rules
4
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
4
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
10
+ Pros (Positives)
- The combination of Greek mythology and science fiction is very interesting and creates a unique world setting.
- Discovering the optimal and efficient ways to use every action before resetting is interesting and strategic.
- Many different paths may be explored, whether that involves working on quests or defeating monsters.
- All of the miniatures are highly detailed and add a unique presence to the world map, especially with the statues.
- Solo involves a lot of random elements from setup to the little narrative snippets, adding plenty of variety.
- Besides some necessary rulebook referencing, play time is fairly quick and easy to move from one act to the next.
– Cons (Negatives)
- The core rules are confusing in the way they’re spread between various rulebooks and different sections.
- With so much to do, it can be overwhelming to figure out the best way to play through the full set of actions.
- Although the box includes a storage solution, it doesn’t quite fit all of the components or help with setup time.
- Despite being randomized, there is still only a single solo scenario that uses 1 of the 4 included hero characters.
Victory Conditions
Win All Scenario Acts
- Overall Goal Progress 50%
Goals and Milestones
Complete Act 1 with a positive outcome.
Complete Act 2 with a positive outcome.
Continue the Conversation
Have you played Lords of Hellas solo? Are there any other board games you like that feature unique theme mash-ups? I appreciate the idea of this world, even if I might not plan to return to play again. Such a neat idea to bring a little sci-fi into the land of mythology! I’m glad I had a chance to play… Now to tell my husband it might be multiplayer only. Ha!
I’ve seen photos from a Battle of Waterloo wargame where they rented a gymnasium and split the map so that you could walk into the middle to reach things there…
I would much rather see a dedicated solo rulebook that just contains the rules you need to play solo, all of them. Or integrate the solo changes with the main rules rather than having to flip back and forth, but that’s not as good because you don’t know what you can ignore from the multiplayer. I wouldn’t mind downloading a proper solo-rules PDF rather than having it in the box, if printing cost is a concern.
Wow, that must have been a truly huge map! At least this one still fit in my play area. Just barely, though. Ha!
It looks like there are a number of fan-made files out there that distill the solo rules into short 1-2 page documents. Those are probably hugely helpful! If I liked the game mechanics enough to play again, I would hunt down something that keeps the solo rules all in a single place.