We are proud to announce our first undertaking. Last Satnd:The Battle of Thermopylae.

Synopsis

Take control of the garrison at Thermopylae, as you hold back as many Persians as possible in your epic last stand. Play as Leonidas King of Sparta, and take control of both the renowned 300 Spartans and 700 Thespians. Now is your chance to rewrite history and and defeat hopeless odds.

Gameplay begins as soon as Leonidas dismisses all Greek forces. After being given a few moments to organize your forces Persians will begin spilling out of mountain path. The player must decide where to carry his forces to make his last stand. Hero mode is available although stamina is limited. The Persian army has been scaled down to 17,000 in order to increase computer performance. To win, the player must defeat several waves of Persians including archers, infantry and cavalry. Be wary that if King Leonidas is slain, all hope is lost for those in Thermopylae.

Complete with professional cinematics, Last Stand:The Battle of Thermopylae will set a new standard in scenario design.

History

481 BC. Thermopylae was a narrow mountain pass on the coast of the Gulf of Mails. Upon the western side of the pass stood the roots of formidable mountains and sheer cliffs. On the opposate side of the pass there lay a drop into the western edge of the Gulf of Malis. The pass itself was said to have been about 14 yards wide, although other estimates state it was barely wide enough to allow the comfortable passage of two Scythe Chariots. The name Thermopylae in Greek translates as, "The Hot Gates" in reference to several hot water springs in the vicinity of the gates. Thermopylae was actually composed of not one, but a series of three gates, the center one reinforced by a short wall. It was at this gate that the Greeks held the Persians at bay.

Although he is deemed the victor at Thermopylae, Xeres I of Persia is often seen as the antagonist in the minds of many historical enthusiasts. The size of his army is often a subject of much controversy for historians, although the generally agreed upon number is that given by Herodotus of Halicarnassus. He speaks of 1,700,000 infantry, and 80,000 cavalry alongside 20,000 Arabs and Libyans. A great force to be reckoned with in ancient times.

The Greek forces under the command of King Leonidas of Sparta were said to have amounted to 5,200 total troops, a mere spec of dust in contrast to the mighty Persian army. The renowned 300 Spartans as well as 500 Matineans, 500 Tegians, 1,120 Arcadians, 400 Corinthians, 200 Floians, 80 Mycenaeans, 700 Thespians, 400 Thebans, and 1,000 Phocians made up this small garrison. Such a small response to a Persian army of such numerical magnitude suggests that these noble men were sent to the pass to delay Persian advancement. They were not expected to emerge victorious.

Xeres arrived at Thermopylae before expected, and set up his camp in the plain below the pass. After sending scouts to the pass, he was surprised to hear of the Greeks performing calinsthenics and braiding their hair, not aware of the fact that these were signs of men with a resolution to fight to the death. After this news, Xeres went to the pass to announce his presence to King Leonidas, and offered to make him king of all of Greece if he would join him. To this the noble king answered, "If you knew what is good in life, you would abstain from wishing for foreign things. For me it is better to die for Greece than to be monarch over my compatriots” Once again Xeres asked the king to surrender his arms, and it was then that king Leonidas sealed his fate shouting, "Come and take them!"

Enraged, Xeres marched back to his camp and, dismissing the King's words as naive impudence, and announced to his men that he would give the Greeks a few days to abandon the pass.

An army as large as that of Xeres I would consume much resourses and could not afford to stay in one place for to long. It was because of this that on the fifth day, Xeres ordered 10,000 Medes into the pass, so confident of his victory that he ordered them to take the Spartans alive. The Spartans, aware of his movements marched away from the safety of the gate, and formed a phalanx in the pass. Lining up into rows stretching the length of the pass, the first few rows holding their spears outwards towards the enemy. It was with these spears and their superior armor that the Spartans were able to repel the 10,000 Persians. However this first victory should not only be credited to the Spartans' equipment, but to the militaristic strategy as well. Several times the Spartans feinted retreats, turning and fleeing a few yards towards the gate and, just as the enemy began to break rank and pursue them, the Spartans quickly turned back into formation, spilling Persian blood upon their shields. Later that day, Xeres sent another 20,000 men into the pass, accompanied by whip wielding officers who lashed them whenever they attempted to retreat. These too were defeated by the Spartans through the same technique.

On the second day of battle, Xeres sent 50,000 into the Spartan deathtrap, only to hear once again that they were repelled. Growing increasingly frustrated, he resorted to the Persian Immortals, a class of battle scarred veterans, very similar in resolve to the Roman Triarii. Unfortunately, Xeres last resort also fell to the Spartans' tactical advantage.

Little known is the fact that Leonidas had arranged for groups of hoplites to be sent from various nearby cities to be sent to Thermoylae so that he would have fresh troops on the front line yet, while in battle many of the Greeks did not rotate, but kept on fighting the Persians.

That night, after the second day of fighting was done with, a local shepherd by the name of Ephialtes (consequently the Greek word for traitor) found a way into Xeres' camp and informed him of a separate pass through the mountains that would lead him behind the gate, allowing him to outflank and surround the Greeks. Xeres immediately sent Hydarnes and his Immortals into the pass, where they discovered the pass was guarded by 1,000 Phocians. Surprised and ill prepared for combat, the Phocians fought briefly and retreated up the mountain to regroup. Hydarnes did not pursue the Phocians but marched unopposed through the pass.

It was morning when the Greeks discovered that the Persians had entered the pass and, knowing that they now had no chance against them, Leonidas disbanded all Greek forces except the Spartans and Thebans, however a group of 700 Thespians under Demophilus refused to leave. This offer to stay and fight was of such great significance because Spartan soldiers had been trained from such young ages to die in combat, and the Thebans were honor bound by their king to remain in the pass yet the Thespians, all citizen soldiers, had a choice to leave the pass with their lives and still they chose to stay and fight alongside their brothers in arms. As a result of this selfless act of comradeship, the Spartans bestowed upon them their cloaks and swore alliance with the Thespians for eternity.

The fighting began that dreadful morning as the immortals drove the Greeks up a small hillock in the narrowest pat of the pass where their heroic last stand was to occur. After witnessing this, the Thebans took no time in surrendering to the Persians. The fighting stretched on for three days, the Greeks forming an unbreakable circle in the middle of the hill. Carrying their wounded into the circle to be treated. Relieving each other of their relentless fighting. Every Spartan and Thespian in that circle was no more than a few yards away from the clamor of swords. These men did not ease, there was always fighting to be done. When their spears cracked, they fought with their xiphos. When these short swords broke, they fought with their bare hands, and when these grew weary, they fought with tooth and nail.

It was far from his Spartans that Leonidas fell. After witnessing this, a group of soldiers broke from this circle and frantically fought their way towards their fallen king, retrieving him, and carrying him back to the main group. To this Xeres demanded that the Spartans surrender Leonidas' body in return for their lives, and the Spartans answered, "A Spartan leaves the field with his shield or upon it!" Xeres then gave a final command that his infantry be withdrawn from battle, and the Spartans killed with a hail of arrows.

Enraged at the immense losses he suffered; Xeres cut off the head of Leonidas King of Sparta, and crucified his body.

It has been said that King Leonidas did not leave Thermopylae because an earlier reading of the Oracle at Delphi stated that either one of Sparta's two Kings must fall in battle or Sparta herself would fall to ruin.

Nevertheless, the great sacrifice of the Spartans and Thespians has been remembered through the ages as a selfless last stand!

[This message has been edited by Jaime Medrano (edited 10-22-2006 @ 08:05 PM).]