Description:
2000 years ago, wanting to conquer the world did not make you a super villain, but rather a legend. At less than 30 years old, Alexander of Macedon inherited a kingdom and turned it into an empire that stretched to the corners of the known world! Discover the major battles of Alexander's campaigns, with a special focus on the Battle of Issus in 333 BCE that led to the collapse of the Persian Empire. Learn about reforms to the Macedonian army, the unification of Greece, as well as how Alexander's strategic genius allowed him to defeat an army five times larger than his own.
Students will engage in a hands-on 3D battle strategy game using the military dioramas that they make! Using artistic model-making techniques, hand tools, paint, and miniatures, each student will craft a 10 X 16 diorama. In class, they will view historical maps, artistic renderings, and/or photographs to understand the topography and development of this time and place in history. Students will customize their dioramas with landforms, landscape elements, waterways, and structures to represent a scene from this period. Once individual projects are constructed, students will populate them with 1:72 scale miniature figures. Students will combine their dioramas alongside those of their classmates to approximate a larger battlefield. Students will spend the remainder of the quarter learning about the tactics and outcomes of this conquest while playing a table-top strategy game. Student strategists will use a simplified version of the Fire and Fury historical war gaming rule system for moving troops and equipment. Along with their classmates, students will see how this battle progressed and test different outcome scenarios that might have occurred with different battlefield choices. Each student will have at least one board and set of miniatures to take home with them.
Course documents such as maps, game rules and all other instructional media will be available via a Google Drive link which will be emailed to parents. There is a $20.00 materials fee payable to the instructor on the first day of class. Topics in this year's series include: Alexander the Great (Quarter 1); Hannibal (Quarter 2); Julius Caesar in Britain (Quarter 3); and Attila the Hun (Quarter 4).
