With a greater variety of nations, scenarios, troop types and options, “Birth of Rome” is even more interesting than its predecessor, “Alea Jacta Est,” which was no slouch of a game itself.

“Saints in Armor,” a GMT boardgame covering six battles of the 30 Years War, is not for beginners or the casual player, but experienced gamers will find it delivers an involving and satisfying experience.

DNA confirms a skeleton found buried in Leicester, central England, is that of King Richard III.

“War of the Roses” is a multiplayer-only deathmatch that tries to authentically recreate high medieval combat. It has its flaws but is engrossing and fun once it gets going.

Well-written and insightful, “Rome’s Last Citizen” is not only interesting for the historical perspective it sheds on Cato and Rome, but also for the light it sheds on the similarities between Rome and modern America.

‘Crown Of Roses’ is a blend of strategic wargame and political game. It is a fine simulation of the period of the War of the Roses.

‘Alea Jacta Est’ is a big, wonderful game that puts all other Ancient-period games in the shade, but players need to assimilate a great deal of data.

‘Samurai Battles’ board game is an instant classic. Actually two games in one, it comes with 122 snap-together models, Konstantin Krivenko’s ‘Art of Tactics’ rules, and Richard Borg’s ‘Commands and Colors’ rules.

Archaeologist Douglas D. Scott expands on his ACG magazine article by delving into how the discoveries at the Bosworth battlefield are redefining historians’ knowledge of early gunpowder weapons’ use in medieval warfare.

‘Virgin Queen: Wars of Religion 1559–1598′ is a boardgame of diplomacy, trading, and war in a time when Europe faced conflict between competing religious beliefs.

‘Warlords of Europe’ is a strategic board game covering 13th-century Western Europe, with plastic playing pieces and a clever mechanism for handling the Church’s moral authority.

Sun of York is a fast-moving card game of the Wars of the Roses. Despite some obtuse rules, it is actually quite easy to play as either a two-person or solitaire game.

The PC game ‘Crusader Kings II’ is really in a league of its own in strategy games. Its focus on dynastic survival requires different thinking and strategy than most strategy PC games do.

The block game ‘Julius Caesar: Caesar, Pompey, and the Roman Civil War, 49 – 30 BC,’ is simple, but challenging: easy to learn, a challenge to master. Enemy units’ identities are hidden till combat is joined, and cards represent the influence of the Roman gods.

This is the solution to the Combat Decision Game “Saladin Vs. Crusaders, 1187” that was presented in the March 2012 issue of Armchair General® magazine.

Wolfram Grajetzki’s book “Greeks and Parthians in Mesopotamia and Beyond: 331 BC – 224 AD” examines a part of history that is all too often overlooked, when the eastern territories that had been conquered by Alexander the Great were losing ground to a new power, the Parthians.