Spanish Civil War Commander
by
Civil War Commander
The Spanish Civil War is sometimes broken down to Republican versus Nationalists. This is a much too simplistic way of looking at it. The Republican side was a coalition of Communists, non-native fighters, and normal people who wanted a free Spain. Even the Nationalist side was splintered even though this had much more to do with personalities and jockeying for position in the post-Civil War Spain. Both sides also depended upon outside help from different countries. The Nationalists were helped by both Italy and Germany, but especially by Italy. The Republicans were helped mostly by the Soviet Union and to a much smaller amount other European countries. The Soviet Union was, however, giving aid to see a Communist Spain emerge from the Civil War. The Italians and Germans were also not helping the Nationalists out of the kindness of their hearts. They wanted to see a Fascist Spain come out of the Nationalist side winning the war.
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| This is the brand new 2022 map with a turn record track for Nationalists and Republicans on each side of the map. |
The war was used and looked at by most countries as a proving ground to their different ideas of waging war. While the Germans were able to come up with the theory of combined arms and Blitzkrieg, the Soviets were not so lucky. Their idea of 'Deep Battle' (essentially Blitzkrieg) was shelved by them in exchange for turning back toward World War I tactics. This was to cost them dearly in the early years of their involvement in World War II.
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| A Republican attack on the Ebro. |
Before I get into the components, I just want the reader to understand that this is a large game. The map itself is large and needs a big table. The playing pieces are numerous, as you can see above. To play the game also involves a lot of stickering, sometimes having to affix small stickers onto the plastic pieces. The game is also in the higher price range for wargames. All I can say is due to the game parts and play I believe it is fully worth it.
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| Closer image of the pieces. |
The Map is 48" x 35" and is made of canvas. It is a breath-taking work of beauty of the historical period of the Spanish Civil war. Pictures do not do it justice. It really has to be seen in person to get the full effects of it. The entire game comes in a large tube, so the Map is rolled up on arrival. It flattens out immediately upon it being placed upon a flat surface. It is an excellent piece of work.
Next up, we have the list of components that come with the game:
1 set of 4 rule books
1 game board.
1 deck of game cards.
2 black pawns.
3 sand timers (red, blue, white).
1 set of tweezers.
2 transparent game trays (w/ covers).
5 sheets of labels.
7 flag poles.
10 yellow square border markers.
25 yellow wooden cubes.
20 black wooden cubes.
3 bronze metal cubes.
4 gold metal cubes.
12 silver metal cubes.
1 yellow fraction dice.
1 green victor die.
1 orange measuring stick.
6 × 100 RP tokens.
5 purple disc markers.
6 white ARMY counters
2 white AIR counters
2 white MOB counters
2 white Fleet counters
54 red ARMY counters.
25 red MIL counters.
8 red MOB counters.
6 red ART counters.
5 red AIR counters.
12 Naval counters.
5 red Fleet counters.
10 red Defense markers
10 red Attack triangle markers
12 clear red square Garrison markers
20 red transparent disc city markers
10 red transparent rectangle quality markers
35 red wooden cubes.
2 sets of red DD dice (7 dice).
1 red and black D2 die.
1 red and black D3 die (with dots).
54 blue ARMY counters.
15 blue MIL counters.
9 blue MOB counters
7 blue ART counters
8 blue AIR counters
18 blue Naval counters
5 blue Fleet counters
10 blue Defense markers
10 blue Attack triangle markers
12 clear blue square Garrison markers
20 blue transparent disc city markers
10 blue transparent rectangle quality markers
35 blue wooden cubes.
2 sets of blue DD dice (7 dice).
1 blue and black D2 die.
1 blue and black D3 die (with dots).
And a partridge in a pear tree.
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| A Republican defense of Madrid and the surrounding area. |
The Republican pieces are red, and the Nationalist are blue. If you were looking closely at the list, you saw three sand timers included. I do not think I have ever seen a timer used with any game other than chess. More to come on these later. The wooden cubes are done perfectly no mismatch in size or extra hanging material on them. The five sheets of labels need to be placed on some of the red and blue plastic pieces/counters. Some of the smaller triangle and square pieces need to have labels on them, and so do the ship markers. These were the hardest pieces for me to put their respective labels on. Luckily, the glue on the labels is very forgiving and will still stick to the plastic even after being attached and removed several times. Unless you are very adroit it will take a while to finish all of the labelling. I know it seems like a lot to set up a game, but it is nowhere near as hard as a wargame with over 1000 pieces on the board at the beginning of a game.
All of the above comes in a large cylinder. This does help to keep the map in perfect condition. However, everything but the map and the four booklets come in two long plastic containers. These are fine for the original shipment, but they are not the sturdiest. Do yourself a favor and pick up a divided tray to put the pieces in as I did. Out of all the components, that is my only small gripe. Other than that, and the small size of some of the labels, these components are awesome. They really went out of their way to make the visuals of the game match the stellar map.
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| Some Republican counters |
There are four booklets that come with the game. These are:
Game Setup at eleven pages
Events at nineteen pages
Quick Reference at fifteen pages
Main Rules at nineteen pages
The last is pretty amazing at its size. The reason I say this is that this is a full simulation of the Spanish Civil War, unlike almost every other game you need to keep track of your resources. I do not mean just your supply to your troops, although that is also in here. You have mines, agriculture, and gold reserves to worry about, along with much more.
The booklets themselves are made from thicker hard stock and are not glossy. They do come with some illustrations to help the reader understand how the game works. All four are printed in large enough type to make for easy reading.
The deck of cards is set up just like a normal deck of cards. They come in the four suits from king to ace. They have a picture on them that shows either a person in the war or a historical event. The cards match the other components in being well designed.
This is an amazing piece to find at the start of a wargame rulebook. I know at least two other designers that add something like this to their rules. I just really like how this is written. Plus, the designer actually sends you his email address (redacted) if you buy the game. Here it is:
"The first and most important statement that the game
designer would like to make is: “have fun and do not let
the rules get the better of you”. What we mean by this is
that the game does have a substantial number of rules but
half of these are not crucial for gameplay; rather, they
exist to add realism and historical accuracy. Half of the
content is strict, but the other half is more in the spirit of
directions rather than rules. The rules are made in such a
way that, most times, if you were to forget to apply an
instruction, the repercussion might be very small. Also,
since all aspects of war are not certain, you can attribute
small imperfections in following the rules to the normal
course of events anyway. A few mistakes in playing may
not change the outcome too much and will certainly not
keep you from an enjoyable game play; so don’t stress!
Have fun.
If you have questions about the rules email the
designer directly:"
That is a wonderful way to think when designing games.
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| Example of a Nationalist attack toward Madrid. |
This is the Sequence of Play:
LAND phase
Initiative player is first player to go. Players may study map for 1 min. before beginning turn.
1. Land Movement: roll D12+pay 1; start your timer; use rolled points actions; pause timer when done.
Second player follows.
2. Land Combat: initiative player can attack any forces in range (one battle at a time) his timer runs while he
decides which attack to make or until he passes the round to the opponent; use combat/commander cards;
follow combat table on the board.
Initiative player will decide the next attack. When both do not want to attack further, they go back to step 1.
Repeat steps 1-2 alternating between players until color timer runs out or both are finished attacking.
NAVAL phase
1. Naval Movement: roll D12+pay; 1 min timer; use rolled points for actions.
2. Naval Combat: battle enemy units in same sea zone (one zone at a time); surviving units go to missions
(disrupt/escort convoys, disembark troops).
ECONOMY phase
Each player:
1. Waste: (a) remove 1 in 5 cubes from map, or (b) 1 cube min., or (c) place Supply log at 0 (in that order).
2. Receive resources:
GDP = Industry + Agriculture ÷ 10.
Income points: GDP + Foreign Aid – Depreciation – Convoys disrupted
Resource points: Income Points roll dice × 10. Receive in points Resource box.
3. Country cards (that you hold): roll aid; roll war; exchange gold or mines; sell mines.
STRATEGY phase
1. Events: roll all four D12 dice; follow events.
2. Draw 5 cards from “New Cards”; give to players; study map 1 min; place in “Drawn Cards”.
3. Ships to bases: return all ships on missions to naval bases; leave any that are in sea areas.
4. Calendar: pick units to deploy from all or any of (a) current turn, (b) past turns and (c) “Any Turn”.
Pay with tokens and cubes in Resources box. Pick also fortifications (max 10 for all) and garrisons.
Subtract points from Men log (1 per Spanish army or reinforcement). Use credit if running low on
resources.
5. Deploy units selected above and supply cubes from Resources box.
6. Roll for war for countries with a yellow cube on the Foreign Aid log; remove cube as you roll.
7. Victory conditions check; move calendar markers to next turn.
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| The war at sea. |
Now you see where the timers come into play. The game comes with two scenarios but the second one is really a plethora of scenarios. The first is the historical scenario. The second is called the 'Probable Scenario'. This is because you roll a D4 to see which side all of the different cities start on. So, you can see you can have a ton of different starting points for this one scenario. They do lean historically to the side that they actually were on, but the die roll can change that.
The game seems like it should be vastly complicated by the size of the map and the multitude of components. Luckily for us, it really isn't at all. It goes deep enough to satisfy any grognard, but it is still easy to play. I am really impressed at how the rules make it so easy to play. For a game that uses a measuring stick for combat, these rules are not that hard to learn either. Other countries can get involved due to various reasons. Each country that can intervene has a scale to show where they are in considering open war. The USSR for the Republicans and Germany and Italy for the Nationalists have certain forces in Spain without committing to a full war. However, the Republicans do have to pay to use the USSR help. The Nationalists do not have any cost associated with the different 'volunteer' groups from Italy and Germany.
Just because of the type of wargamer I am, I have always played the historical scenario. When dealing with an entire country's civil war there is enough variation for me to keep playing that way for a good long time. Just as it was historically, Madrid is a magnet for both sides in the beginning of each game. Most of the larger battles took place around it during the war. So, you as the Republican must make sure that you hold it with a good solid defense. The historical infighting of the Republicans is also taken into account during the game.
I haven't even delved into the naval war aspect of the game. It takes on a much greater importance than I have seen in any other game. You have to keep your ports free to be able to receive aid, but also to bolster your economy. There are rules for submarines, air attacks on ships, and destroyers hunting submarines among others.
So, if you were ever looking to put a toe into the miniature side of wargaming I believe this game is a perfect place to start. It definitely has a miniature feel to it. With its time constraints, if you use them, I can see where this would be a great game for a convention.
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| An example of a Republican attack. |
Thank you very much Civil War Commander, for allowing me to review this great and beautiful game. I might be a bit biased because the Spanish Civil War has always intrigued me. I am especially waiting, actually drooling, over one of your next releases: Roman Civil War Commander 49 BC to 30 BC. Their website says that American Civil War Commander will be the next release.
Robert
Civil War Commander:
Spanish Civil War Commander:
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