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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 Build and builds the Build building for 1 talent. Her idea is to build the Levy and Produce buildings as well and use those actions to dominate Hellas. Sparta starts with Support and places 1 citizen in Miletos, thus denying Persia absolute majority there and removing the Persian. Her idea is to prepare for battles in Ionia. Thebes starts with Colonize and places 1 citizen in Emporion. Her idea is to use the triangle Colonize-Trade-Import to build a colonial economy. Korinth starts with Levy and places 1 citizen in Argos. Her idea is to take advantage of the empty actions left by Athens and/or Sparta next turn for cheaper actions. Round 2 (pre-war)
Athens does not want to choose Levy, since Korinth's action marker is there. Instead, she goes for Revolt-Produce, receiving 1 talent for revolting against Persia in Ephesos and another 1 talent and 1 grain for producing in Athens. Sparta proceeds with her plan through Tax-Battle. For 1 of the 2 talents she receives for taxing Miletos, she can afford the battle action and attack from Miletos to Salamis. Persia loses her majority there and Sparta gets to place 1 citizen there directly from her supply. Thebes goes for Trade-Import as planned. She imports Metal and Wine from Emporion and Massalia, of which she then trades the Metal for 2 talents. Korinth takes the opportunity to first build, using the talent received for the empty action to buy the Revolt building, and then to use the Revolt discount to revolt for free in Trapezos and receive 1 talent for removing the Persian there. This causes the first Greco-Persian War of the game to break out. Round 2 (post-war)
Persia attacks Trapezos (removing 1 Korinthian), Thebes (skipping the already Persian city of Byzantion and removing 1 Thebian), Ephesos (removing 1 Athenian), Miletos (removing 1 Spartan), and Salamis (removing 1 Spartan but unable to hold the majority against the 1 Spartan and 1 Argonaut). Then Argos returns 1 citizen to Salamis and reclaims the majority there. Round 3
Athens decides to go for more buildings with Sacrifice-Build. First she sacrifices 1 grain and 1 talent for 1 citizen to Elysion and 1 talent and then she builds both the Levy and the Produce building (receiving 1 talent thanks to her Build building and then paying 2 talents). Sparta rebuilds her army with Support-Levy-Intrigue. The first two actions are empty so she receives 1 talent each for them, which she uses to support Salamis and Levy in Sparta. Sparta has to pay 1 talent for the Intrigue action but thinks it's worth it to have 1 Persian replacing 1 Argonaut in Salamis only to be immediately removed to Hades again due to not getting majority there. Thebes finds herself locked out from the actions she would like to take. The empty Colonize action is tempting but not for the price of only getting one action the next turn. Instead, she goes for Battle-Support to build a buffer for her colonies against Persian aggression. She starts by supporting Byzantion and Trapezos, removing 1 Persian in the former city. Then she wages a Battle against Thebes, removing another 1 Persian there and replacing it with an own citizen (and receiving 1 talent for the empty action). Not bad for a "peaceful" strategy. Korinth finds another good opportunity with Colonize-Trade-Import. First she spends her 1 talent and the 1 talent she receives for the empty action to colonize Massalia and Syracuse. Then she imports 1 marble and 1 wine (and receives 1 talent for the empty action). Finally she pays 1 talent for the Trade action and Trades her marble for 2 talents. Round 4
Athens reluctantly goes for Levy-Sacrifice. She's unable to use the Sacrifice action but with the talent on hand and the talent received thanks to her Levy building, she may Levy well needed citizens in Athens and Thebes. Sparta would like to Battle but not a Greco-Persian War and she needs talents so she (also reluctantly) goes for Tax-Produce-Colonize. Produce gives her 1 talent for the empty action and another 1 talent and 1 grain for Sparta. She can then afford 1 talent for the Tax action and Tax Salamis for 2 talents. Finally she Colonizes Cyrene and Syracuse, saving 1 talent for the next turn. This gives an excellent opportunity for Thebes to claim 4 actions next turn by selecting the empty Intrigue action and the Tax action with 3 action markers. She Intrigues in Emporion, replacing the Athenian with a Persian and receiving 1 talent for the action and 1 talent for the Intrigue. Then she happily pays 1 talent for the Tax action and Taxes Byzantion (2 talents) and Trapezos (1 talent). Korinth selects Produce for her only action and produces 1 talent and 1 grain in Korinth and another 1 grain in Argos. Round 5
Athens selects Intrigue-Support-Levy to increase her presence on the map. She uses the talents received from the Support action to Support the Thebian city of Byzantion. Then she Intrigues in this city, which gives Persia the majority and her 1 talent. Using this talent, Athens Levies in Sparta. Sparta wants to Battle but has to move towards the Battle action first and does so through Sacrifice-Intrigue. She Sacrifices the talent she receives from the empty action together with 1 grain to receive 1 VP and 1 talent. Then she pays 1 talent to Intrigue in Syracuse to remove 1 Argonaut, although Persia won't get majority there and Sparta won't get any talent. Thebes decides to build up her strong colonial empire, although this will give Korinth an extra action marker, with Produce-Colonize-Revolt-Sacrifice. Produce gives her 1 grain and 1 talent for Thebes (less the 1 talent action cost). Colonize gives her 1 talent for the action and citizens in Emporion (taking the majority from Persia), Massalia, Neapolis, and Cyrene. Revolt removes the Korinthian from Neapolis and gives her 1 talent. Sacrifice gives her 2 VP and 2 talents for her 3 talents and 1 grain. A very strong move indeed! However, this also gives Korinth the excellent actions Tax (1 talent for the empty action)-Import (1 talent for the empty action and 1 marble and 1 oil)-Trade (less 1 talent for the action but letting her buy 1 grain, 1 metal, and 1 pottery for 3 talents). Round 6 (pre-war)
Athens decides to raise cash by Build-Revolt-Produce. Produce gives her 1 talent for the empty action and another 2 talents and 2 grains for Athens, Sparta, and Thebes. Revolt gives her another 1 talent for removing the Persian there. Build lets her flip her 3 buildings for 2 grain and 1 talent. Unfortunately she ends up on an empty action and can only hope that another player will pass it. Sparta thinks the time is ripe for a Greco-Persian War and goes for Support-Battle-Tax. First, she Battles in Syracuse, Ephesos, and Miletos, removing 1 Argonaut and 2 Persians and adding 3 citizens there. With 9 Persians and 1 Argonaut in Hades, the Greco-Persian War breaks out. Round 6 (post-war/pre-war)
The Persians attack Korinth (skipping the Persian city of Trapezos and removing 1 Korinthian), Byzantion (removing 1 Athenian), Ephesos, Miletos, and Salamis (removing 3 Spartans). Sparta then proceeds to Tax 1 talents each in Ephesos and Miletos and use those talents to Support the same cities, regaining the majority from Persia. Thebes realizes that she must hurry and go for Produce-Colonize, aiming at Trade and Import the next turn. Produce gives her 1 talent and 1 grain, after which she Colonizes Neapolis and Cyrene, claiming the majority from Korinth and Sparta. Korinth suddenly finds herself locked in on the action board. Instead of giving away action markers to the other players, she selects the route Import-Battle-Intrigue-Levy. By Intriguing in Massalia, Neapolis, Syracuse, and Argos, she has 2 Thebians, 1 Spartan, and 1 Argonaut removed to Elysion and hopefully interrupts their plans. None of the Persians manage to get a majority so Korinth doesn't get any talents (except the 1 talent for the empty action but she does become leader in 2 colonies and can Import wine, marble, and oil. She gets another 1 talent for the empty Levy action and then spends both her talents and all her 3 grain to Levy in Argos, Korinth (2), and Sparta (2). By that she can send 3 citizens to Battle and decides to send 1 to Cyrene (replacing the Spartan leader) and 2 to Thebes (replacing the Thebian leader). She does end up on an empty action but is well positioned to sacrifice the many resources she has collected. More importantly, this triggers a new War. Round 6 (post-war)
The Persians attack Korinth (skipping the Persian city of Trapezos and removing 1 Korinthian), Byzantion (removing 1 Athenian), Ephesos, Miletos, and Salamis (removing 3 Spartans). Sparta then proceeds to Tax 1 talents each in Ephesos and Miletos and use those talents to Support the same cities, regaining the majority from Persia. The Persians attack Korinth and Thebes (skipping the Persian cities of Trapezos and Byzantion and removing 2 Korinthians there), Ephesos and Miletos (removing 2 Spartans there), and Salamis (removing 1 Argonaut there). However, the Persians are unable to get majority in Thebes and also loses it in Salamis when 1 Argonaut returns. Argos also takes back the majority in Argos and become pretenders in the heavily contested Syracuse. Round 7
Athens finds herself with a good presence in Hellas but few opportunities to take advantage of it. Levy would only give Korinth an action marker and leave her own action markers alone. Instead, she selects Tax-Battle. She pays 1 talent to wage a Battle in Ephesos, replacing the Spartan there with a citizen from her supply. Then she pays another 1 talent to Tax the newly captured city of Ephesos and get back her 2 talents. More importantly, for the next turn, she can look forward to 4 actions. Sparta is less happy about her presence with no led cities. However, Produce-Sacrifice-Revolt will rectify this and provide plenty of actions the next turn as well. Revolt costs her 1 talent but overthrows the Korinthian in Sparta and the Persian in Miletos, earning her 2 talents. Then Produce gives her 1 talent for the empty action and 1 talent and 1 grain for the newly reclaimed city of Sparta. Finally, Sacrifice lets her Sacrifice 1 grain and 1 talent for 1 VP and 1 talent. Thebes can finally return to her colonial strategy through Trade-Import. First she pays 1 talent to import pottery, metal, and marble. Then she trades 1 marble and 1 wine for 8 talents, setting herself up for a strong finish. This stresses Korinth, who looks for opportunities to capitalize on all her resources with only 1 action. She settles with Build and pay 1 oil and 1 marble for the Sacrifice and Intrigue buildings and 1 wine to flip her Revolt building. The game may end any turn now and the current score is as follows:
Round 8
Athens uses her 4 action turn to increase her presence in Hellas with Intrigue-Levy-Sacrifice-Produce. First, she Intrigues in Thebes to have the Korinthian leader removed, although the Persian can't get majority there. Then she levies in Athens, Sparta and Thebes for 2 talents+1 talent for the empty action. This makes her leader in both Sparta and Thebes in addition to Athens. Finally, she Produces and takes 3 grain and 4 talents, including the 1 talent received for her Produce monument. Then she Sacrifices 1 grain and 1 talent for 1 VP and 1 talent, plus 1 . talent for her Sacrifice monument. Athens finally managed to take advantage of her buildings! Sparta realizes that she has to get back the initiative in Ionia and goes for Sacrifice-Intrigue-Support. She skips the Sacrifice action (but makes it more expensive for opponents), pays 1 talent to Intrigue in Syracuse (Korinth), Cyrene (Thebes), Sparta (Athens), and Ephesos (Sparta), although without Persian majority anywhere, and pays another 1 talent to Support a citizen in Miletos. Not a very strong move but at least she has an army ready to Battle next turn. Thebes then grabs the opportunity to Trade-Colonize-Sacrifice. She pays 1 talent for the Sacrifice action and another 1 talent for 1 grain. Then she gets 1 talent for the Colonize action and Colonizes Massalia, Neapolis, and Cyrene. Finally, she Sacrifices all her 4 resources and 4 talents for 4 VP and 4 talents. Since she can only get back 2 talents, the game ends!
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