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Rules assistance for The Near East
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2 players
- 60 min
- Complexity 4.0/5
Rules assistant for The Near East
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
The Near East is an expansion for Western Desert released in 1983 for 2 players and 60 minutes per game. It was designed by John Astell and its main mechanics are Dice Rolling, Hexagon Grid, and Simulation.
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About the game
The Near East, Europa IX, is a module of maps and counters covering the countries of the Near East. Three maps cover Asiatic Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Western Iran, at the standard Europa scale of 16 miles per hex. They display the diversity of terrain in the region, from sandy desert to high mountain peaks, from the marshy lowlands of the Persian Gulf to the rugged, wooded coast of the Caspian Sea, from the wadis of Syria to the karst of Turkey. Counters cover the armed forces of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Egypt, at standard Europa scales of divisions, brigades, and regiments. Air units represent groupings of 40 to 60 aircraft, organized by type (such as fighters or bombers) and model (from Gladiator biplanes to 4-engined B-24 bombers). Naval units represent individual large warships or flotillas of smaller vessels. The counters also include British and Indian forces which do not appear elsewhere in Europa. The charts give the orders of battle for the countries of the Near East, and a set of guidelines for combining The Near East with Western Desert (Europa Game VI) is included. Game Components: three 21" x 27" maps (Europa Maps 20, 21, 22) 240 die cut counters (Counter Sheet #35) chart set
Mechanics
Designers
Publishers
- Hobby Japan
- Game Designers' Workshop (GDW Games)
Questions and answers
The Near East 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 The Near East is 60 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 Near East has a complexity rating of 4.0 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a heavy 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.
The Near East belongs to these categories: Wargame, World War II, and Expansion for Base-game. Its main mechanics are Dice Rolling, Hexagon Grid, 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 The Near East are: John Astell. 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 The Near East as an expansion for Western Desert. Expansions add new content, rules or scenarios to the base game and usually cannot be played on their own, so you need Western Desert to use it. Check that your edition of Western Desert is compatible, as some expansions were revised between editions.