The Art of Siege

The game begins with the besiegers constructing a series of trenches to approach the walls of the fortress while under cover, while the defenders strengthen their defenses.

Like Lille, this game also uses a hexless map and also starts with siegework construction, this time by the English & French, while the Russians strengthen their defences.

The concept proved popular, and SPI published an entire series of quadrigames, including The Art of Siege in 1979.

[4] In Issue 19 of Phoenix, Ralph Vickers liked the use of hexless maps, saying that for the two battles chosen, "Not only were hexes not needed [...] but they would have been a hindrance."

He concluded, "Let us hope that SPI continues to maintain the generally high standards they have achieved in these Art of Siege quads.

"[3] In Issue 36 of Phoenix, William Hamblin reviewed Acre, and found several inaccuracies in the historical reconstruction, from weapons and armor to tactics and the names of various types of units.

"[5] In Issue 48 of Moves, Stephen Clifford, Pete Bartlam, and Geoff Barnard combined to review three of the four games.

Bartlam thought the opening phase of Acre dragged on, and felt the final assault didn't feel right, saying, "It should be much more dangerous up against the walls, making it necessary to employ a lot of arrow-fodder, with units who successfully breach the defenses having much more effect [...] One doesn't get the feeling of desperate men clawing their way to the parapets, rung by rung, through a hail of arrows."

"[8] In a retrospective review in Issue 20 of Simulacrum, David Chancellor and Luc Olivier noted that twenty-five years after its publication, the game remained a highly collectible item: "The Art of Siege has traditionally been one of the more sought-after quadrigames.