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1754 saw the start of the last war between France and England for the control of the North American continent. It was the fourth of their colonial wars. The first three were:
King William's War 1688-1697
Queen Anne's War 1702-1713
King George's War 1744-1748
This war, The French And Indian War, was going to be a fight to the finish to see who would finally gain control of the eastern part of the continent. At fist glance, it didn't seem to be much of a contest. The English Colonies had a population of 1 million, and New France had a population of about 50,000. For the first years of the war, the French won a string of victories. In the end, the sheer might of the British won the war.
The game '1754 Conquest' wins the prize for the shortest rulebook I have ever seen. In total, it is eleven pages long, with four of them being a 'Historical review' of the war.
The game is played with two to four players. The sides are:
French Canadians
French Regulars
British Colonials
The game is played for three to eight rounds, and each round has five turns to it.Starting on round three the players start to check for 'Game end Conditions'. This is the same as 'sudden death' or something similar in other games.
The turn sequence is:
1. Reinforcement Phase
2. Movement Phase
3. Battle Phase
4. Draw Cards Phase
The game has one rule that really helps to duplicate the 'Fog Of War'. When rolling your die for a battle you can get a 'Command' roll on the die. At that time, the rolling player can use that 'Command' result to move their units into any adjacent areas, even ones that are already scheduled for battle. So say you have two adjacent areas. In one, both you and your opponent each have three units and in the adjacent area you both have one unit. If you get a 'command' roll you can, if you want, then move one of your units to the other area. Then you will have a 2:1 advantage in that area. I think it is a novel rule to help keep the players on their toes even though at the start of the battle round you can see everyone's units.
The cards for the game add flavor and many various strategies. One of the strongest cards the 'British Regular' player can use is the 'William Johnson' card. He was the British Crown's ambassador to the First Nations. His influence among the Iroquois was immense. Joseph Brant's sister Molly Brant was his consort. When using this card for the entire turn, all Natives allied to the French become allied units to the 'British Regular' side.
Speaking of them, the First Nations become an ally of whichever side, British of French, that place a unit in that First Nations territory. If the French or British move all of their pieces out of a First Nations territory that First Nation reverts to becoming independent, essentially neutral.
The map is well done and mounted. The actual forces of both sides are small colored plastic squares. The cards, dice, and actual counters are of good quality, with the writing on them large enough for even me to read them.
The game itself is on the lower end of the complexity scale. The setup is straight forward and the rules and game play are fast and deadly. This is a great game for two to four players that do not have much space or a very long time to play. I believe it would be a perfect game to use as a conduit from a game like 'Risk' to introduce budding generals to the wargaming community. Several of the Academy Games have been used by teachers to try and make history more hands on for their pupils.
Robert
Robert
was this made in 1754
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