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Annotated Games: Version 1.96, 4 playersThis game was played during the game testing of Politeia. The players pursued different paths towards the victory.
The action board is coded with black numbers for the number of neutral action markers with colored numbers if any of them is a player action marker. The player table shows talents, citizens, talents in stock, citizens removed and hand (resources and buildings). Actions are written with parantheses around actions not taken (i.e. the actions from which action markers are taken and any actions where action markers are dropped without any action taken). 
Round 1
Athens starts with Levy and places a citizen in Sparta. Sparta supports and places a citizen in Salamis. This also means that Persia loses her majority there. Thebes builds and goes for the Colonize building while Korinth produces and gets 1 talent and 1 grain. Round 2 (pre-war)
Athens finds herself locked in between two expensive actions and go for Trade-Import instead. She imports metal and immediately trades it for 1 talent to get more options for her next turn. This gives Sparta an excellent opportunity to choose Levy-Tax. She taxes 2 talents and receives a 3rd talent from the Levy action, allowing her to levy in Sparta, Athens, and Argos. Thebes goes for Revolt-Colonize. First, she revolts in Byzantion and receives 1 talent, and then she uses 1 of her 2 talents plus the talent she receives thanks to her Colonize building to colonize in Emporion and Neapolis, saving 1 talent for the next turn. Korinth can't resist the empty Support action, particularly not since the nearby Tax may be vacated next turn, so she chooses Sacrifice-Support. She sacrifices 1 talent and 1 grain for 2 VP and then uses her remaining 2 talents plus the talent for Support to support Trapezos, Byzantion, and Ephesos. This means that Persia loses her majority in another 3 cities and a Greco-Persian war breaks out. Round 2 (post-war)
The Greco-Persian war removes citizens in Salamis (Argos), Ephesos (Athens), Trapezos (Korinth), Sparta (Sparta) and Byzantion (Thebes). Then a neutral Argos citizen returns to Salamis and since there is a Spartan there as well, the two Greeks remove the Persian there. The same thing happens in Sparta, where the Persian is removed by the Athenian and Spartan there. This is good news for Athens, who suddenly finds herself leading both Athens and Sparta. Korinth is also satisfied with 3 citizens in Elysion and 3 pretenders in Ionia. Round 3 (pre-war)
Athens gets the empty Produce action she hoped for and goes Produce-Levy. She receives 1+2 talents and 2 grain from the Produce action and levies 3 citizens in Athens, Sparta, and Thebes. Sparta is less happy about her options and finally chooses Sacrifice-Produce, receiving 3 talents from her 3 pretenders in Hellas and then paying 1 talent to sacrifice 1 talent to Elysion, leaving her with 1 talent for the next turn. Thebes proceeds with her plan to dominate Megale Hellas through Support-Revolt. First she pays 1 talent to revolt in Emporion and Neapolis (sending 1 Athenian and 1 Korinthian to Hades) and receives 2 talents. Then she supports 1 citizen in Byzantion (sending 1 Persian to Hades). This triggers the second Greco-Persian war in the game. Round 3 (post-war)
The Persians skip several Ionian cities and attack Korinth (1 Korinthian), Byzantion (another 1 Korinthian), Athens (1 Athenian), Sparta (another 1 Athenian), and Salamis (1 Spartan). Athens and Sparta still have 2 citizens so the 2 Persians there return to Hades, as do the Persian in Salamis when a neutral Argonaut moves there. This leaves 5 Persians in Hades and an interesting position on the board with Persia dominating Ionia, Sparta dominating Hellas, and Thebes dominating Megale Hellas. Korinth completes the 4th round by going to Tax (receiving 1 talent for the empty action and another 2 talents for her 2 pretenders in Ionia) and Sacrifice (paying 1 talent for the full action and sacrifices another 1 talent). Round 4
Athens supports Ephesos (receiving 1 talent for the empty action and sending 1 Persian to Hades) and taxes (receiving another 1 talent). Sparta imports pottery and builds Strategeion for the 1 talent she receives from the empty action. Thebes goes for Trade-Import-Produce, leaving Trade for last. She imports 1 wine, 1 iron, and 1 marble and produces 1 talent and 1 grain (receiving another 1 talent for the empty action). Then she sells her grain for 1 talent and pays 3 talents for a 2nd wine, iron, and marble. Korinth realizes that Thebes can't be left alone in Megale Hellas and uses her 4 actions to levy in Korinth (receiving 1 talent for the empty action), support Trapezos (sending 1 Persian to Hades), colonize Neapolis (receiving another 1 talent for the empty action), and revolting in Thebes and Neapolis (receiving 1 talent each for the cities plus a 3rd talent for the empty action). This sends 1 Persian and 1 Thebian to Hades, bringing the total to 9 citizens so another war is approaching. Round 5
Athens sacrifices and receives 1 talent, which she uses together with 1 grain to move 2 citizens to Elysion. Then she moves on to levy 1 citizen in Athens and claim the majority there against Sparta. Sparta pays 1 talent to import another 1 Pottery, hoping to build up an army and use her recently acquired Battle card. Thebes pays 1 talent to trade her 3 duplicate resources for a total of 6 talents. Korinth also pays 1 talent for her action - support to add citizens to Ephesos, Trapezos and Salamis. Round 6 (pre-war)
Athens follows up her previous Levy action with produce (receiving 1 talent for the action and another 3 talents and 1 grain for her Hellas possessions) and sacrifice (sacrificing another 1 talent and 1 grain for 2 citizens to Elysion). Sparta chooses Build-Battle-Colonize. She uses the 1 talent for the empty Build action to flip her Battle card and the 1 talent for the empty Colonize action to colonize Cyrene. Then she uses the Cyrene citizen for a battle against Emporion (paying no talent thanks to her Battle 2 card). The Thebian there is removed to Hades and Sparta adds another 1 citizen there. With that, a Greco-Persian war breaks out. Round 6 (post-war)
The war removes a Korinthian in Trapezos (although the Persian returns to Hades due to the 2 remaining Korinthians there), a Thebian in Thebes (skipping the already occupied Byzantion), another Korinthian in Ephesos (although the Persian returns to Hades due to the remaining Athenian and Korinthian there), a Spartan in Sparta (skipping the already occupied Miletos), and an Argonaut in Salamis (although the Persian returns to Hades due to remaining Argonaut and Korinthian there). Finally, the Argonaut in Hades returns to Salamis. This leaves 6 Persians in Hades. Thebes is not happy about the loss of her possessions but uses her 4 actions to Import-Build-Revolt-Colonize. First, she builds the Revolt building for 1 talent. Then she uses 3 talents to colonize Massalia, Neapolis, and Emporion. Then she revolts in Neapolis and Byzantion, removing 1 Korinthian and 1 Persian to Hades, receiving 1 talent for the action (thanks to her Revolt building) and another 2 talents for the revolts. Finally, she imports 1 marble and 1 wine and receives 1 talent for the empty action. Korinth focuses on Hellas with Tax-Levy-Produce. She taxes 4 talents and receives another 1 talent for the empty action. She uses some of them to levy Korinth, Argos, and Thebes (and receive 1 talent for the empty action). This removes the Persian in Thebes to Hades and brings another war closer. Round 7 (pre-war)
Athens prepares for another war by choosing Support-Tax. She receives 1 talent for the Support action and supports Ephesos, Byzantion, and Trapezos. Then she taxes 2+1+1 talents for those cities. Sparta is hopelessly behind but find no better option than Battle (free action thanks to her Battle 2 card) to attack Sparta and trigger a war. Round 7 (post-war)
Persia attacks and removes citizens in Trapezos (Korinth), Byzantion (Thebes), Ephesos (Athens), Sparta (Sparta), and Salamis (Argos) but can only hold on to Byzantion and Miletos. This is bad news for Thebes, who now finds herself with plenty of talents but no presence in Hellas and Ionia. She decides to revolt in Emporion (for free thanks to Revolt 1 card and receiving 1 talent for removing Sparta) and start rebuilding her colonial empire. Unfortunately it's too late, since Korinth can end the game with Sacrifice-Tax. First she receives 1 talent for the Sacrifice action, which she immediately sacrifices. Then she pays 1 talent to tax 5 talents and since she only has 4 talents left in her supply, the game ends.
Korinth managed to finance her gameplay with efficient actions. Athens' balanced strategy could have paid off but should perhaps have been completed by a building or two for cheaper actions. Sparta was unlucky to have her board presence ruined by early wars and should have rebuilt her presence as quickly as possible. Thebes had an excellent economy but failed to turn it into board presence and victory points. Round 8
Persia attacks and removes citizens in Trapezos (Korinth), Byzantion (Thebes), Ephesos (Athens), Sparta (Sparta), and Salamis (Argos) but can only hold on to Byzantion and Miletos. This is bad news for Thebes, who now finds herself with plenty of talents but no presence in Hellas and Ionia. She decides to revolt in Emporion (for free thanks to Revolt 1 card and receiving 1 talent for removing Sparta) and start rebuilding her colonial empire. Unfortunately it's too late, since Korinth can end the game with Sacrifice-Tax. First she receives 1 talent for the Sacrifice action, which she immediately sacrifices. Then she pays 1 talent to tax 5 talents and since she only has 4 talents left in her supply, the game ends. If the game would end now the score would be as follows:
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