An Impossible War: The First Carlist War in the North, 1834 - 1838

by

Bellica 3rd Generation

 Much like the last review, but to any even greater extent, I needed to learn some history to get myself sufficiently grounded in the basics of the game. I assume you can play wargames without knowing anything about the history behind the game. However, that is something that is completely foreign to my way of thinking. So, here we have a game about the 1st Carlist War. This is a bit of history that is pretty far off the normal beaten path. They took place in the mid 19th century in Spain. The Bourbons, in 1700, brought the Salic Law with them to Spain. This was a French law that said that no woman could reign over France. You might remember it mostly from Shakespeare's play Henry V. It became the crux of the matter in this dynastic war. I will not get into the details, more on this later. You just need to know that it is a pretty much hidden part of European history. In actuality, more Spanish people died during these wars than in the years of the French attempted occupation of Spain known as Napoleon's Spanish Ulcer. I tried to read what I could find on this era of Spanish history, but English books about it are few and far between. However, the designer has given us an incredibly deep and expansive historical background as I have ever had the pleasure to read. So much for our beloved hobby being looked at as a complete waste of time and money. Take that, George Carlin and ponder on it (If you were not aware he did a whole skit on the insanity of our hobby, at least to him. It is a shame, for other than that I really liked him). Thank you, Bellica 3rd Generation and designer David Gómez Relloso for creating a game where I had to learn more history. I also have to apologize to both of them for the length of time it took me to create this look at their game. Below is what Bellica 3rd Generation has to say about the game:

"The First Carlist War was a civil war that ravaged Spain between 1833 and 1840. Upon the death of Ferdinand VII, using the succession conflict between his daughter Isabella and his brother Carlos as a pretext, supporters of liberalism clashed with defenders of tradition. Carlism gained its strongest foothold in Navarre, the Basque Provinces, and neighboring territories—the North—where the main campaigns, battles, and sieges took place.

Back of the Box

Tomás de Zumalacárregui organized the Carlist forces into an army capable of fighting the liberal government troops. Despite being outnumbered, he took advantage of his strengths and the enemy’s weaknesses to defeat them and consolidate his control over a region where the geography and popular support were in his favor.

The Carlist objective was to capture a city. They laid siege to several, but failed to take any, and Zumalacárregui died while besieging Bilbao in June 1835. Expeditions were sent to encourage uprisings in the rest of Spain, but the liberals relentlessly pursued them. Don Carlos himself led an expedition that reached the gates of Madrid in September 1837 but was unable to take the capital.

Some of each sides Stickers

At the end of 1836, Baldomero Espartero became commander-in-chief of the liberal army. Under his leadership, the troops improved their performance and carried out a relentless campaign to crush the enemy. Carlism was far from defeated, but its chances of winning the war had vanished, while internal divisions grew.

In August 1839, peace supporters laid down their arms with the Embrace of Vergara, while Don Carlos and those refusing to surrender crossed the border into France. In the Maestrazgo and Catalonia, the Carlists would not be defeated until July 1840.

An Impossible War is a game about the decisive years of the First Carlist War in the North. Infantry and cavalry are represented by blocks, which introduce fog of war into operations. There are also artillery counters (field and mountain artillery) and logistics units (supply trains and backpacks).

One of the Cards

The main map is a point-to-point board covering the northern theater of operations: Navarre, the Basque Country, and surrounding areas of La Rioja, Burgos, and Cantabria. In addition to provincial capitals, major towns and other localities are shown, along with primary and secondary routes of communication. There is also a smaller map of the rest of peninsular Spain, showing the regions affected by the Carlist uprising and allowing expeditions being launched from the North.

Each turn, players compete for initiative and carry out a variable number of actions. There is also a card deck for each side, including historical, operational, and tactical events. The cards add background and unpredictability to the game, helping make each session different. This is NOT a card-driven game, but one assisted by cards.

Northern piece of the Map

An Impossible War simulates the historical conflict, which featured numerous skirmishes, few major battles, and significant siege warfare. It is an asymmetric game in which each side has strengths and weaknesses. Players must exploit their advantages and mitigate their disadvantages to achieve victory.

The Carlist player must make use of superior mobility and unit quality to consolidate territory, wear down the enemy, and threaten cities. The Liberal player must contain and suppress the insurrection; they have more troops, but of lower quality and plagued by logistical nightmares. Additionally, they must quell uprisings and chase down Carlist expeditions across the rest of Spain.

Game Contents:

1 Main map (Northern map)

1 Regional map of the rest of Spain

1 Battlefield board

1 Rulebook

1 Playbook

2 Player aid sheets

73 wooden blocks (48 blue, 25 red)

1 sheet of 18 mm stickers

2 punchboards with 18 mm tokens

72 cards (36 Liberal, 36 Carlist)

10 artillery tokens (wooden)

4 six-sided dice

2 cloth bags

ALL GAME COMPONENTS ARE IN ENGLISH"

 As usual, I want to take a look at the game's components first. We will start with the map. It is a mounted map that uses point to point movement. The map is of Northern Spain, including a good amount of the Basque country. Wargamers who have read and/or played games about the 20th Century Spanish Civil War will be very familiar with the territory shown on the map. The map has a good number of the tables etc. that you will need for play. In a novel approach both sides of the map have the Sequence of Play listed. 

Battle Board

 The Rulebook is 31 pages long. It is in full color and is in a two-column format. The type is nice and large. It also has a liberal amount of play examples. The Playbook has 46 pages of excellent information and gaming goodness. It comes with 12 pages of different play examples! It starts with the scenario setups. Then it continues with Rules Clarifications (this is a nice touch that usually waits for the errata to be issued). Next up, we have the Card Clarifications, and then there is a section on Optional Rules. These are listed as either helping one side or the other. The section on all of the different Play Examples is next. These are of Combats, Skirmish, Battle, and Assault. There is a Historical Background and Historical Notes on the Cards. Next comes, the excellent history of the First Carlist War in the North. Then we have the Design Notes and even a section on Advice for New Players. 

Southern piece of the Map

 We have two nice thick cardstock player aids. The first is a map of all of Spain to show how the Carlist Uprising is playing out in the rest of the country. The second is the actual battlefield map or board. There are also two large three-page foldout player aids made of flexible cardstock. One is for the Liberal player and one for the Carlist. The type on these is the same large size that are in the Playbook and Rulebook. The cards come next. There is a deck for both players. These are the normal size and thickness of most other game cards. The backs of the deck both have a nice painting of cavalry on them. The front of the cards has a scene or picture of the personality mentioned. These are well done black and white drawings. The rest of the card has the information used in playing them. The type size is large enough to not need to read them with a squint. Even though it is a block game, it comes with a good number of counters. These come with pre-rounded corners. However, for those who care about such things, there are nibs on the side of the counters. The blocks are all the same with no 'flashing' on any of them like you used to find on some game blocks. The game I received had already been used, so I do not know how easy the blocks are to sticker or to release the counters from their sprue. I will say that whoever stickered the blocks was an artist and I have some games that I need their help with.

Strategic map

 The game components definitely pass muster. It states proudly that the game was produced in Spain. This game is an excellent example of Spanish craftmanship.

 This is one of those games where playing each side is completely different than playing the other. For most games the forces involved are pretty much complimentary on each side. This is one of the games where playing each side is a learning experience. If you have played a few games where one side looks to have all of the cards of the deck stacked on one side, then this game will be easier to learn and understand. This is for the most part a guerilla war and the Spanish have been practicing it since before Roman times. Napoleon should have read up on the Iberian history. 

 The Liberals are behind Isabella and the Carlists support, guess who, Carlos. Take the name Liberal with a grain of salt here. They are only named that compared to the Carlists and not other European Liberals. The Carlists are ensconced in a small part of northern Spain. Your job as the Carlist faction, if you choose to accept it, is to keep the Carlist movement alive. To do this you have a small territory and limited resources. Your greatest asset is the actual physical territory that you occupy. It is the perfect area for a guerilla war. The population is also firmly behind you and supplies you with much better recruits. The Liberals have more of everything compared to the Carlist meager resources. However, their forces are the ones that will have to both attack and defend themselves in a hostile environment. This is from the Playbook: "The Carlist player has the initiative for the first three years, and the ability to do double turns." Logistics play a major role when playing the Liberals. You will find out, just like the French, that a large army starves and a small army is defeated. You do start with a few fortresses in the Carlist stronghold, but the main issue is, can you keep control of them? Other European powers were also involved with the Carlist Wars. France and England sent troops to the conflict. The French Foreign Legion saw service in Spain.

 The game is not that hard to learn. This is in part to a very well-done English translation. The objectives and the rules themselves make sense. However, there are a lot of moving parts to the machine. Both sides have their advantages and disadvantages, and the cards only add to the tense play. I absolutely love wargames that try to be as historical as possible, even if that means that playability must take somewhat of a hit to achieve it. I was never able to find enough different sources to compare gameplay to the historical reality, at least in the amount that I like to look at before playing a game. To that extent I was able to, though the game seems to be a very good historical examination of the realities of the war. I believe that this is a great game for historical wargamers and especially for grognards who do not want to play the 150th take on Waterloo.

 Thank you, Bellica 3d Generation for allowing me to review this game. Thank you also for allowing me to use some pictures from your site. I must apologize once again for the amount of time it took to post this review.

Robert Peterson

An Impossible War: The First Carlist War in the North, 1834 - 1838

Bellica 3rd Generation

 Interview with Carl Paradis designer of Battle Commander and more

 I have the pleasure of interrogating, sorry, interviewing Carl Paradis about his latest efforts and wargaming and design in general.

 1.Now that we have you safely strapped into the chair, I hope the straps are not too tight yet. As you can see, we have a very well-appointed dungeon. We have thumbscrews, heated pincers, a new rack, and the equipment for strappado. It is unfortunate that the Iron Maiden and the Pear of Anguish are actually newer fakes. We try to be as historically accurate here as possible. So, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got trapped into the money pit that is wargaming. Or will we be forced to use the 'Comfy Chair' on you?

LOL! Oh, I’m not scared, at all, I think… +20 years in wargame design has me pretty much inured to most bad happenstances that could befall me; that and my +35 years in Engineering… Bring in the pain! C’est la guerre!

As for Dungeons, I started as an AD&D Dungeon Master in 1977, so I might have a trick or two, or more, that I can teach you amateurs!

2.There now, just breathe and we will continue. Your designs seem to cover a large swath of history. Is there any era of history that you enjoy the most?

Sure, but be careful what you ask for, gentle sir: my “Dragon Breath” spell always needs to be practiced now and then; DM professionalism and all that.

BUT, excellent question: I definitely enjoy WW2 a lot, as it’s part of my family’s history. Still, my favorite period is Napoleonic, bar none. I also like Naval and Air Warfare games; albeit for the latter that are not that many designs published, but this is rapidly changing. In fact, most of the other periods also interest me in a way or other, like for my recent American Civil War interest. They are all so fascinating! The only exception would probably be modern-era conflicts: hits too close to home, I guess.

3.Here you go, just take a sip of water before we turn the rack one more tiny little crank. Please tell us more about your new game Battle Commander.

Thanks for the water, it’s a little bit stale, but hey, way better than some vintages I tasted. Care to add a bit of lemon to it, please? Or Vampire blood? Always good for complexion. As for your rack: surprisingly comfortable I say, was more than reading some badly informed gamers’ reviews about my designs for sure!

Battle Commander? So much to tell! And you have already said lots already. Let’s just say that I started the project by accident, at the demand of a publisher, and it was supposed to je just a tiny mini-game with just one battle (Marengo) but Napoleonic's being my favorite topic it quickly ballooned out of proportion and became a series, and I have to find a new editor: Sounds of Drums happily obliged. So, this will be, hopefully, a huge series of black-powder era battle games, each featuring a dozen battles or so. Painted-on wood blocks, event cards, no dice, mounted boards, 3D player mats, all super deluxe, the works! It’s all in chronological order for the Napoleonic series. Check it all on BoardGameGeek, where I’m very active, and on Sound of Drums’ website. 

4.Can we force you, pardon the expression, to discuss any additional games in the Battle Commander line? 

I’m now doing the Napoleonic wars in chronological order. Napoleon’s 1st and 2nd Italian campaign battles were covered in Vol I, with an expansion pack added, and a second expansion coming later this year. Volume II is almost ready, and will feature Battles of the Second and Third coalitions; so the Pyramids, Austerlitz, Novi, etc… Then the Fourth coalition1806-1807 battles for Vol III, like Iena Auerstadt, Eylau, Friedland. Then in Vol IV we’ll travel to the Spanish Peninsula, where the Emperor’s English foes will make a splash appearance. 

Ah yes: I’ll soon start some Volumes for the American Civil War, with lots of expansions. The first will cover an eclectic mix of fights, like First Bull Run, Pea Ridge, Antietam, South Mountain, and many others. The rules will be simpler than the Napoleonic series, as I need less “special Stuff” to make it all work correctly. If customers answer the call, we can soldier on to other epochs, like the 30 years wars, American Independence etc. We’ll see soon enough!

5. Thank you so much and I hope that this experience was as engaging for you as it was for me. Do you have anything else to add?

Well, first a big thanks for looking at my little games! I’m a player first, game designer second, and I make designs I want to play. If other gamers like what I do, so much the better (plus it gets me published!). I push for playability, historical pageantry and realism, always with the best possible game components.

If I may, some parting words of advice:

“To be a good soldier* you need: heart of a lion, the feet of an hare, and the appetite of an ant.” Napoléon 

* or a good game designer. LOL!

Vive l’Empereur!

Carl Paradis

Québec Canada

 Thank you, Sir! For the informative answers!

Battle Commander

While you are there, please take a look at the other great games Sound of Drums Games has to offer.

Sound of Drums

German Aircraft Weaponry

Machine Guns, Cannon and Aerial Artillery in Luftwaffe Service 1939 - 1945

by

Tim Heath

 

 Just like many books that I have been receiving from Casemate Publishers to review, this book can be accused of lying in its title. In actuality the first three chapters are about aerial weaponry in the First World War and the intervening years. This is in fact a very good thing and gives the reader a background in German aerial weaponry that can then be followed through the rest of the book. In fact, the book gives the whole story behind even the weaponry that was designed outside of Germany before and during the Second World War. 

 The reader is introduced to machine guns first and then is shown all of the experimental weapons of this type. There are even comparisons between the Allied weapons and the German ones. Next, we are shown the larger caliber auto-cannon weapons. The author takes us through the first tentative steps to get these larger caliber weapons in airplanes. Then we are shown the ultimate types of these weapons used in the war. Of course, we are also shown the various dead ends that designers took on the way. The book also has information on both the Italian and Japanese use of this type of weaponry. The next stop on our journey is to the land of actual cannon sizes that would be used on the ground battlefields by soldiers. These would be calibers of 50 millimeters and more, with warheads that had so much recoil that drastic measures had to be taken to deal with it and the actual weapons weight. 

 On the way through we are shown Schräge Musik (Jazz Music), and its application in various night fighters (these would be cannon placed at an angle firing diagonally upward toward the bottom of a bomber). We also see the rebirth of the Ju-87 in its G configuration as a tank killer.

 The book also has a good number of photos of the actual weaponry and the effects it had on Allied planes etc. However, we are presented with six photos that, in my opinion, may not have been needed to be reproduced in its pages. These photos are essentially autopsy photos of the effects of the weaponry on human bodies. Yes, many books feature pictures of dead soldiers and some of them quite shocking. I do not remember ever seeing photos like these in a military history book. Maybe it is a good thing that we see the actual results of warfare. That is a question above my pay grade.

 Thank you, Casemate Publishers for allowing me to review another fine book from your stable, and also thank you to Pen & Sword for publishing the book.

  

Robert Peterson

Book: German Aircraft Weaponry

Author: Tim Heath

Publisher: Pen & Sword

Distributor: Casemate Publishers

 The Great Anglo-Boer War

by

Cadet Games

 This is from Cadet Games KickStarter page about this new game that will be starting its campaign soon. Here is what they have to say:

"Thank You to all of our Cadet Games Backers for making our last five projects successful!  "They Were Soldiers & Dak To / Hill 875", "Nguyen Hue '72 - The 1972 Easter Offensive in Vietnam", "Linebacker II", "A&A Arnhem '44" and "A&A Blitzkrieg '40" are all challenging players on tabletops from Kansas to Singapore, Sweden to New Zealand - and everywhere in between!  None of this is ever possible without YOU...so, Thank You All Again!

Our latest project is the culmination of a fascination that began in the old library stacks at New Mexico Military Institute back in 1984.  Long before West Point or Army Special Ops, our designer, as a young cadet, ran across a large book with the famous picture of the hundreds of British dead choking their shallow trench on Spion Kop in Natal from Jan 1900.  It looked like something from WWI, but it wasn't - this was 1900?

What war was this?  Just what enemy had humbled the great British Empire in such stunning fashion - and where in the world was Natal?  That book, and dozens more over 40+ years now, have provided the groundwork for a Grand-Strategy Tabletop hex-and-counter contest that we at Cadet believe will be THE definitive game of The Great Anglo-Boer War.  And what a war it was!  We at Cadet believe the Boer War was the most significant of all the Victorian campaigns and certainly the most important conflict to inform tactical, operational and strategic lessons in the profession of arms before WWI.  

There are only a handful of wargames on the topic - Incredible, really.  Many are only "magazine-type" games from long ago. The best yet made (in our opinion) isn't even available as its own game - but only included (almost as a secret) in the same box - as the "flip side" of "The Defense of Rorke's Drift" from the old 3W (you can still get a copy from Decision Games).  It was this significantly under-developed and errata-riddled 3W effort from back in 1991 that we took much of our design framework from.  We studied the two different Miranda designs, the Strategmata games, the ATO game, all the latest from Geoff Noble and Godfrey Bailey (Legion), and even a few files from the old "age of rifles" computer simulation from SSI (super old).  We did a serious and detailed study of all "professional production-level" Boer War titles produced to date, and what we created is a Boer War grand-strategic-level simulation that honors the significance of the contest to both 19th and 20th century military history - and to the study of the art of war.  Seriously, this is a really impressive game.  We are very proud to bring this design to the community.

If you know the Great Boer War and have been wanting to wargame it- then this is the one you have been hoping someone would make.  If you are curious about the war, you will likely get the "bite" and will then become someone who learns about the war because of this simulation.  It is a fascinating bit of history - both for the profession of arms and for the world.  The Boer War started as the first of the 20th century conventional wars (BOTH SIDES used bolt-action magazine rifles, Maxim machine guns, modern breech-loading artillery, trenches, barbed wire, smokeless powder, automatic rapid-fire cannons, telephone/telegraph communications, and more) - but after the first year it morphed into the first modern guerrilla conflict, foreshadowing many more to come in the 20th century (and also many parallels to both the American Revolution and the Vietnam War).  

I will add here that we at Cadet know this topic is not likely the most anticipated or "profitable" idea for our next design.  But we just love military history.  And wargames.  And it's about time someone made this.  We sincerely hope you will support this one.

About the game - As already mentioned, we took much inspiration from the old 3W game from 1991, and the player familiar with that design will see many of those same key design choices in our game (odds are pretty good though, that most don't know that game even exists).

Some players disliked the 3W game’s off-map Arrow/Wheel unit strength accounting system by leader – but we loved it.  Leaders on both sides were consistently in command of columns of widely varying strength from month to month during both the conventional and guerrilla phases of the war, and the system Erich Faust and Lew Fisher came up with to manage this dynamic was brilliant.  Also, any realistic simulation of the war couldn’t use a traditional “step loss” dynamic to accurately portray the relatively small number of losses for both sides in a typical engagement, but here again – the off-map "number wheels" worked perfectly. The leader-specific initiative rating system, though hardly revolutionary in wargame design, was also particularly useful to model the Boer War – ultimately representing far more than simply a leader’s tendency to move or attack, but also his relative command influence for scarcity of resources, typical Victorian Officer rivalries, orders and communications variables, bad intelligence and other typical "frictions" in the conduct of war.  Again, those two designers had some very good ideas for this particular conflict, and we took notice.

For our design, we wanted a more granular scale of both movement and combat than any other strategic-level Boer War game yet published.  Rayne Kruger, in chapter 23 of his “Good-Bye Dolly Gray” pointed out that, perhaps more than any other Boer advantage, the Empire was fighting “a war against space.”  We ended up having two 22x34 map sections at 9 miles/hex to pull this off.  A large game on the table – but very typically “Cadet.”  As it goes here, bigger is better.  More hexes = more realism.

Scenarios - the game is designed with 3 scenarios: The Conventional War (from starting positions after Oct 1899 through Dec 1900) - 14 Turns; The Guerrilla War (from October 1900 through June 1902 - or perhaps ending earlier, depending on events); and the Grand Campaign (the whole war - from starting positions after Oct 1899 through June 1902 or earlier - depending on events).  The Conventional War will be super-interesting for those who are keen on the main pitched battles of the war (Colenso, Spion Kop, Magersfontein, Stormberg, Paardeberg, Tugela Heights, etc.) while the Guerrilla War scenario will appeal to those who know that part of the conflict (Nooitgedacht, Bakenlaagte, Elands River Poort, the multiple invasions of the Cape, the Magaliesberg escapes, Tweebosch, Botha's Natal invasion, etc.). 

The full campaign is THE ULTIMATE BOER WAR EXPERIENCE - from the first desperate siege defenses of 1899 to the treaty of Vereeniging (or maybe not?) - and everything tactical and otherwise in between.  Battles, blockhouses, farm-burnings, evasions, escapes, raids, concentration camps, sieges, drives, armoured trains, 1-pdr automatic "pom-poms", surrenders, entrenchments, typhoid, barbed-wire, native spies, night marches, supply wagons and more.  If it was part of the real Boer war - it is in the game.  Again, if you know about the war - this is the one you've been hoping someone would make, and if you are learning about it - this IS THE GAME for that.

 Please take a look at all the other games they have to offer below.

The Great Anglo-Boer War KS Page

Cadet Games

 Cuius Regio: The Thirty Years War

by

GMT Games

 This is what the designer has to say about this himself, Cuius Regio, and other games he has designed:

"Cuius Regio: Fighting the Thirty Years' War, Campaign by Campaign

The Thirty Years' War is a difficult war to turn into a game. It lasted thirty years, involved most of the major powers in Europe, and was really a collection of different conflicts that overlapped and changed over time. When I started working on Cuius Regio, one of the first things I had to decide was which part of that war I actually wanted to put on the table.

The answer was the Holy Roman Empire. Cuius Regio is an operational-level wargame for two players covering the war from the Defenestration of Prague in 1618 to the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.

Why the Thirty Years' War, and why this scope

The Thirty Years' War is often told as one big story, but it wasn't really like that. Different wars and campaigns were happening at different times, and the interests of the various countries involved changed quite a lot during the conflict.

So, fairly early in the design, we decided to concentrate on the Empire. We left out places such as the Low Countries, northern Italy and France. They were obviously connected to the war, but they also had their own dynamics. Including all of them would have made the game much bigger and, more importantly, would have required a much more complicated system.

In the game, one player commands the Imperial side and its allies, while the other controls the Protestant coalition opposing them.

How it plays

The game uses a single 34" x 33" map, with each hex representing 16 miles. A turn represents a whole year, and each army normally gets somewhere between three and five activations during that year.

Getting the scale right was probably one of the most important parts of the design. I wanted players to be able to recreate things like Mansfeld's march in 1626 or Gustavus Adolphus's campaign after landing in Germany in 1632, but I didn't want the game to take an entire evening just to resolve one battle or a few days of movement.

Most of the turn is about military operations, but there is quite a bit going on outside the battlefield too. After the armies have moved and fought, players go through Diplomatic and Recruitment phases. Controlling important cities gives you Political Points and losing them can help bring foreign powers into the war. Spain, Denmark, Sweden and France can all intervene and provide help to the side that is losing.

There's no separate diplomacy system — losing an important city doesn't just cost you the city, it can also make it more likely a foreign power intervenes.

Most sieges during the period didn't last months and months, so every city doesn't go through a long siege procedure. If the conditions are right, an army can take a city automatically, or the result is decided with a single die roll. This leaves room for the exceptional cases. Magdeburg or Stralsund can still turn into major events, but a little siege on the map doesn't become a mini-game.

Leaders have a single composite rating that represents tactical skill, logistics, political influence and their ability to attract recruits. The numbers were derived from regression analysis using historical outcomes. I preferred that to simply deciding that one commander was a 3 and another was a 2 because I happened to think he was better.

The numbers are still an abstraction. We can all have an opinion about whether Wallenstein was a better commander than Gustavus Adolphus, and in which particular areas. But trying to break that down into very precise numbers is, to me, mostly false precision. 

Who it's for

The game is for players who want to make decisions rather than follow a historical script.

There isn't a rule telling you that Breitenfeld has to happen at a particular point, or that Gustavus Adolphus has to follow the same route he did historically. The players have armies, cities, alliances and a limited number of years, and they have to figure out what to do with them.

You can try to recreate history if you want. You can also completely ignore it. That's one of the things I like most about the game. The same starting position can produce very different wars.

In the end, winning is mostly about making fewer mistakes than the other player. 

A word about support

Since the game was released, I've stayed quite involved with the community on BoardGameGeek and Bluesky. I answer rules questions and keep a Clarifications & Errata document updated.

I actually enjoy this part of publishing a game. If someone finds a rule that is unclear, I'd rather discuss it and fix it than leave everybody trying to work out what I meant six months later. Some of these discussions have also made me realize that I hadn't explained something as well as I thought I had.

The historical discussions are probably even more interesting. Players sometimes have a very different interpretation of an event from mine, and I enjoy those conversations even when I disagree with them. 

About me

Cuius Regio is my first design, although it isn't my first published game.

I also designed Plantagenet for GMT Games, about the Wars of the Roses. It's part of the Levy & Campaign series designed by Volko Ruhnke. I've also designed two games for Salt & Pepper Games: Onoda, a solitaire game, and Habemus Papam, a negotiation and hidden-roles game.

So, I've somehow gone from medieval succession wars to a Japanese soldier hiding on an island for decades and then to a papal conclave. I'm not sure what that says about me as a designer, except that I apparently have a habit of choosing subjects that I find interesting and turn them into games.

I'm currently working on two more designs. One is an operational game about Vietnam, and the other is a 4X game that is designed to play much faster than most games in the genre. Neither has a publisher yet.

Cuius Regio is published by GMT Games. Mike Sigler is the developer, and Tomasz Niedzinski and Nicolas Roblin are the graphic designers. Nicolas also did the map, which I think looks fantastic.

A lot of people helped during the six years of development, and the game would be considerably worse without their contributions. That's one of the slightly strange things about designing a game: you may start with your own idea, but by the time it is published, it has usually become the result of a lot of other people's work as well"

GMT Games

Cuius Regio: The Thirty Years War 

 Battle Commander: Napoleon's Italian Campaigns

by

Sound of Drums

 One of the greatest perks or extra pleasures of playing wargames is the learning that is involved. I am not talking about game rules. I am talking about learning about other periods of history. While I can quote you verse and chapter about Napoleon's campaigns after 1808, I know very little about the early campaigns or the Spanish Ulcer. Oh, I know the general history but not the nuts and bolts of those campaigns. So, my first thought when I saw this title on my table was, I am going to have to do some deep diving. You cannot judge how a wargame represents a certain period of time without knowing anything about that period. Questions such as, Did the Austrians really have a chance? Was Napoleon really just leading a ragtag army that had very little chance of victory? How close in some of the battles did the Austrians come to winning, except of course for Marengo. To me, only after you have delved into the actual history of the campaigns can you get a feel for how well a game represents it, if at all. Some wargames are more of a sandbox than a representation of history and that is quite alright. It is the games that supposedly come close to being a simulation where they should be more harshly judged on reality. So, let us open the box and see what Sound of Drums and Mr. Paradis have in store for us. This is what Sound of Drums has to say about the game and the series:

Ew Gross, tokens it's a Eurogame!!!

"Battle Commander recreates historical 18th-19th century battles. It features a fresh framework focused on providing two key aspects: command decision and maximum playability. In Volume I, you act as Army Commander in a series of six dramatic Battles fought during Napoleon’s two Italian campaigns. Volume II will cover engagements of the Second and Third Coalitions, including Austerlitz and the Battle of the Pyramids.

In Battle Commander, you struggle against the chaos of battle, making meaningful high-level decisions, not micro-managing your troops: that’s your colonels’ job! Good card play is paramount for Battle success but make no mistake: this is not a card-driven, but a card enhanced game.

Cube-pull activation is used to manage game phases (movement, combat, rally, card draws etc.), and cards for the interactive combat system and events, allowing for a myriad of possibilities and solitaire-friendly gaming. No dice, no complex odds counting, no markers, no play downtimes, no sure thing!

A persona card represents each Commander, his specific abilities and your Army’s resources; the all-important Subordinate Leaders are integrated in an innovative multi-role card system. Morale and troop skill are a core mechanic: demoralizing the enemy goes a long way towards winning the fight, with Armies slowly degrading in performance, until the breaking point! Casualties are managed effortlessly, and a correct “Battlefield Look” maintained at all times.

With a game piece count similar to chess, you’ll be able to assess your going in one quick “coup d’oeuil”. Be ready for an exciting battle simulation that’ll allow you to refight Napoleon’s greatest triumphs, and failures. Action is quick and non-stop, rewarding planning, risk-taking, and initiative.

I seem to remember this person.

In Battle Commander you are in command, you make the critical decisions, you play history!

What makes Battle Commander a unique and exciting wargaming experience?

Immersive Historical Setting: The game is set during the early Napoleonic Wars, a period of great upheaval and change in Europe. You can command the armies of Napoleon himself, barely 26 years of age at the time, or lead the forces of his many enemies. The gorgeous deluxe game components, including painted wood blocks, pictured event cards, and a new map-grid system, fully immerses you in a series exciting of 19th-century military confrontations.

Engaging Gameplay: Battle Commander uses a cube-pull activation system that keeps the game moving quickly and creates unpredictable situations. You’ll need to make tough decisions on the fly, just like a real Napoleonic general. The game also features event cards that can swing the tide of battle, adding an element of surprise and excitement.

Streamlined Mechanics: While the game is historically detailed, the mechanics are streamlined and easy to learn. This allows you to focus on the strategic and tactical challenges of Napoleonic warfare, without getting bogged down in complex rules.

Emphasis on Command: Battle Commander puts you in the role of a Napoleonic commander, making critical decisions about troop deployment, movement, and combat. You’ll need to manage your resources carefully, maintain the morale of your troops, and exploit your enemy’s weaknesses to achieve victory.

Varied Scenarios: The game includes a variety of scenarios based on historical battles. You can play as the French or their opponents, experiencing the challenges of both sides. Optional rules allow you to customize the game to your liking, adding new challenges and historical flavor.

High Replayability: With multiple scenarios, optional rules, and the unpredictable nature of the cube-pull system, Battle Commander offers high replayability. No two games will be exactly alike!

Yes, you get two different Nappy cards.

Who is Battle Commander for?

Wargame Enthusiasts: Battle Commander is perfect for wargamers looking for a new and engaging experience.

History Buffs: If you’re fascinated by the Napoleonic era, Battle Commander is a great way to learn about the tactics and strategies of the time.

Casual Gamers: The simple no-nonsense lively wargame mechanics and short scenarios cater to people new to this fascinating genre of games.

Solitaire Players: The game’s design makes it easy to play solo, thanks to the cube-pull activation system and a set of solitaire card-play guidelines.

What does Battle Commander offer?

A fresh, engaging, and historically accurate wargaming experience.

A chance to step into the shoes of a Napoleonic commander and experience the thrill of battle.

Hours of fun and challenging gameplay."

The other cards in all their glory.

Game Components

3 x Double-sided 22”x17” mounted game maps

105 x Wooden cubes & markers

100 x Customized silk printed wooden blocks*

100 x Event / Leader / Commander cards

2 x Army Management mats

2 x Player aid sheets

1 x Rulebook

1 x Playbook

 It may seem like I have let Sound of Drums prattle on where I should be the one typing. However, this is no different than someone doing an unboxing video and relaying all of the box's information to you by voice. 

 This game is most definitely a cross between a wargame and a Eurogame. There is nothing wrong with that and the ones that I have played have definitely visually livened up the wargaming tables. The one thing I have noticed about Sound of Drums games is the heft of each game. Uwe must have a feeling that a wargame is not complete unless you can use the box for curls (unless it is their Assault games series, those you can use to bench press). The boards are on the smaller size at 22"x17", but they are mounted. The first thing that you will notice about the boards is there are no hexes or areas as we have come to know them. They are covered with large squares. However, the squares are not aligned as on a chessboard. They are staggered from one row to the next. So, perhaps they come closer to maps that have very large hexes in their design. Just like any other game board or map that I have seen from Sound of Drums they are beauties in their own way. There are six battles with this first volume, so there are three double-sided maps. 

 It is hard to decide which piece of the game we should describe first. So, I guess we will start with the Rulebook. It is 40 pages long with a complete Index on the back page. Do not be too quick to judge by the number of pages. The size of the type and the incredibly numerous illustrations make the Rulebook longer than it would normally be. This is another gift from game companies to the denizens of Shady Acres Grognard Home. The Playbook is longer at 51 pages. Both it and the Rulebook are in a magazine style. However, the illustrations are even larger than in the Rulebook and some of them take up a full page. As usual, you get the setup for the six different scenarios. This is also what you get in the Playbook:

Game Component Manifest (this is exceedingly helpful)

Full Example of Play (eight pages long)

More Combat Examples (seven pages long)

Player Notes

Historical Notes

Designer Notes

Game Credits (with playtesters listed, always a nice touch)

 Next, we have the Player Aid sheet. This is a large fold out one that is actually six pages in total. It is as colorful and large as the two books. The absence of a normal CRT is because this game has no dice. Then there are two small Army Management Mats. These are actually in 3d and have different compartments for the game tokens. Then we go the game cards. The first thing I notice about the card packs is something that takes me back to my irresolute youth. They come with the little tab and lines for opening that cigarettes used to come with (for all I know they still do, it has been 41 years). The cards seem the normal size, but they do seem a little sturdier than most. The Leader Cards have the appropriate small picture of the leader on them. Most Leader Cards are double-sided. The French, Coalition, and Shared Cards have pictures depicting an actual event during the Napoleonic Wars.

These are just the troop tokens.

 Finally, we have the tokens. There is not one counter in the entire box. This is not a knock on the game. It is just strange to me because even games that use tokens usually have at least a few actual counters. The Tokens come in two distinct types. The first would be the ones depicting both sides' troops. The rest are either gameplay tokens or ones to use with the troop tokens to depict formation etc. All of the tokens are colorful and are cut correctly. There are no flanges hanging off or chipped tokens.

 So, there you have it. Sound of Drums has lived up to its aesthetic level of wargaming once again. We have seen what it all looks like but how does it play? This is not that easy of a question to answer.

 Carl Paradis (designer) and Sound of Drums took a bit of a gamble on this new series of games. First of all, they picked some of the earliest of Napoleon's battles to simulate. Most game companies start with the usual battles of the 1st Empire. Secondly, the game components look like they should belong to a much more beer & pretzels like game. The game is enough of a simulation to attract the grognard. However, grognards are typically hidebound and not attracted to new things. They, me included, are usually hex, dice, and CRT or nothing players. On the other hand, the way the game looks might attract the said beer & pretzel crowd, much to their chagrin. This is a game that you should on no account judge by its cover. It is a rich, deep, and thinking cap required simulation. The ability to solo play is a definite plus in this day and age.

 The game includes rules for these:

Infantry Square and Line

Fire Combat

Assault

Infantry - Elite, Veteran, Trained, Conscript, Militia Units

Cavalry Grand Charge and Steady

Horse Artillery and Foot Artillery

Grand Battery

Reserves

Garrisons

Headquarters

Rally

Morale

Reaction

 This is just a small list of what was included to simulate Napoleonic warfare.

My pathetic picture of part of the Battle of Arcole

 Morale is one of the core parts of the game. Just as in reality troops will lose the will to stay and fight quicker than actual casualties pile up. You, and your opponent, will also have the ability to rally their unsteady troops. All movement and combat is based upon the large six squared 'hex' around each unit. Each side starts out, or hopes to, with activation cubes, which are the currency of almost all parts of the game. Your ability to hoard them and then to use them at the appropriate moment is one of the core ideas behind the game design. As in Chess, the player must think turns ahead. If you are used to grognard wargaming then I do agree with Sound of Drums that it is an easy game to learn. 

 The cards put another level of gameplay on the table. They can put the proverbial 'wrench in the works'. Your well-developed plan that would take three turns to come to fruition is now, on the second turn, turned into a nightmare of your own making. Of course, on the other hand the card gods might be extremely helpful. However, do remember that this game and its winning and losing is entirely in your hands. You will be handed lemons and some plums, but it is up to you in the end. Your plans and reactions to the other players' plans are what is going to make you lose or win. The Austrian side of most of the battles is the one that requires the most gray matter, at least in my playthroughs. The French side becomes more able to deal with the friction of war as the battles go by in time. The optional rules can help balance between players level of skill.

The two Army Management Mats

 To be totally honest and fair, I did not really look at the game until it thudded down on my porch. My delight quickly turned to a little bit of chagrin because of its looks. Unfortunately, because of almost going straight from the womb to a love of history and a very early purchase of Tactics II, I am still not used to Euro style wargames. I see them and my lizard brain sees a game of RISK. I am very glad that I was completely wrong about this game. It is much deeper than I ever imagined but is not hampered by a set of rules that looks like an old phonebook and necessitates constant indexing and reading. Not that I do not like those games. I most certainly do. However, this is one of those games that make you realize that hexes and counters are not the end all and be all.  

 I am totally sold on the game and the series. The rules, along with the optional ones, play out more like a simulation than the game's slight resemblance to Stratego does. Looking at it from a historical point of view you would think that the Austrians are behind the eight ball right from the beginning. However, the card play and sheer 'friction' of battle mean that the games could play out with both sides having a chance at victory. The victory conditions also make it easier in that respect.

 Thank you, Sound of Drums, for allowing me to review this extremely interesting and dare I say fun (shudder) game. By the way, Expansion I for the game has been released and I will have something to say about that in short order.

Robert Peterson

Sound of Drums

Battle Commander: Napoleon's Italian Campaigns

 

A fresh, engaging, and historically accurate wargaming experience.

A chance to step into the shoes of a Napoleonic commander and experience the thrill of battle.

Hours of fun and challenging gameplay.