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300: Earth & Water
- 2 players
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- 2018
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Port Arthur
2020
Rules assistance for Port Arthur
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2 players
- 50–75 min
- 12+
- Complexity 2.1/5
For 2 players
Rules assistant for Port Arthur
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Port Arthur is a board game released in 2020 for 2 players, 50–75 minutes per game, and ages 12 and up. It was designed by Yasushi Nakaguro and its main mechanics are Area Movement, Dice Rolling, and Simulation.
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About the game
Refight the 1905 Russo-Japanese war at sea in Port Arthur, a vibrant and fast moving two player naval strategy game. Play as Japan and attempt to amphibiously land your armies in Manchuria and bloody the nose of the Imperial Russian Navy. Or play as Russia, far from home, battling to prevent Japanese landings until reinforcements can arrive. Game play is quick and tense as you use your naval forces to mount sorties against the enemy and gain dominance of the naval zones that surround Japan. Each turn is rich in tough decision making. Success in combat hinges on how much risk you are prepared to take, based on the variable speed and gunnery skills of the ships involved. Port Arthur is the second game on the Combat Rations series, following on from the extremely popular 300: Earth & Fire. Like all Combat Rations games it is quick playing, easy to learn, with a small footprint and high quality art and components. Will history repeat itself, with the Japanese sending the Russian Baltic Fleet to the bottom of the ocean? Or will the Russians avert disaster and win the day? You decide.
Categories
Designers
Publishers
- Geronimo Games
- Schwerkraft-Verlag
- Fox in the Box
- Nuts! Publishing
- Ergo Ludo Editions
- Draco Ideas
- Bonsai Games
Questions and answers
Port Arthur supports 2 players according to the catalogue. This is the publisher’s listed player count, so the game is designed for exactly that number of participants. Variants for other group sizes, if any, are described in the rulebook of your edition, so check it before setting up a different configuration.
The listed playing time for Port Arthur is 50–75 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Port Arthur for ages 12 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Port Arthur has a complexity rating of 2.1 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Port Arthur belongs to these categories: Wargame, Nautical, and Post-Napoleonic. Its main mechanics are Area Movement, Dice Rolling, and Simulation. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Port Arthur are: Yasushi Nakaguro. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Port Arthur as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.