MacGowan & Lombardy's The Great War Card Game

Expanded 2nd Edition

by

Lombardy Studios

Kyle Cisco, a colleague and friend who owns Iron Raven Editing, is helping me with a Kickstarter campaign for second, expanded editions of MacGowan & Lombardy's The Great War card game and the four World War One minigames I originally designed for the 2014-2018 centennial. You can see more here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2030222759/world-war-one-legacy-collection

This Kickstarter’s purpose is to raise funds to publish second, expanded editions (v2) of five World War One games originally created for the centennial commemoration events in 2014-2018. All of these games can be played solitaire as well as by 2-players.

If you have the original 2021 edition of the card game MacGowan & Lombardy’s The Great War (TGW) you can still use those playing cards with the v2 rules which will be a free download after the crowdfunding campaign ends. You can read more about the original card game development and view the 2021 game art, rules, etc., here: https://lombardystudios.com/2020/09/13/macgowan-and-lombardys-the-great-war-card-game

Briefly, each card has a value or "battle points" shown in a circle on that card. There are also icons that indicate whether a card can be used to attack (arrow), or cancel an enemy card (X), or be added to other cards (+) such as Observation Balloons added to artillery – a "force multiplier" in today's military terms. 

The expanded v2 games include revised rules for faster learning, larger card art that includes historical context for the cards, and a totally new illustrated historical guidebook about the war. Other World War One collectibles listed below are available as pledge levels or add-ons.

The second edition of MacGowan and Lombardy's The Great War (TGW2) card game features large tarot-size cards compared to the original 2021 poker-size cards. If you bought the first edition of TGW you can still play the v2 game using the original 2021 cards. The new second edition rules are simpler and can be downloaded for FREE when they are posted after this Kickstarter campaign ends.

 This is a YT video on how to play:

Kickstarter WW1 card game 102720

There are also links to a good number of books available.

Aviation Flight Badges of World War One

4-volume series of oversize hard cover books 9-inches x 11-inches

1,512 pages total with nearly 2,000 full-color photos and other images

Allied Volumes 1 and 2 

First time in English for the Allied books describing details about the Serbian, Japanese, and several other air services of France, Russia, Great Britain, and America. 

Limited print run

Central Powers Volumes 1 and 2

Germany, Austro-Hungry, Bulgaria, Ottoman Turk

 The Battle of White Plains

Twilight of the New York Campaign October 28th - 31st, 1776

Battles of The American Revolution, Volume X

by

GMT Games

  The American Revolution, at least in New England, was a much bigger historical period in people's minds than even the Civil War. There are hardly any summer weekends where reenactments of battles or just field camps cannot be found. The area where I was born and raised had several smaller battles, and the larger ones were  100-150 miles away. The memory of The Green Mountain Boys is a staple in Northern New England. Unfortunately, because of urban sprawl there is not much to see in Southern New York State except, of course, for the environs around West Point. I was a pretty young child, younger than five, when we lived in a house that had been part of a Revolutionary War battle. There was a plaque outside of the house saying that this was where Benedict Arnold's horse was shot during the battle and then buried. I am told that as a toddler I attacked the front yard like a mole or a budding Indiana Jones looking for said horse, or at least its remnants. I doubt I had enough wherewithal at the time to think the operation through to its conclusion. It is probable that this was my first steps on a lifelong love of history. Let us take a look at this newest entry in the Battles of the American Revolution series of games.

 The Battles of the American Revolution Series comprises these games:

Saratoga Volume I

Brandywine Volume II

Guilford Volume III

Savannah Volume IV

Monmouth Volume V

Pensacola, 1781 Volume VI

Germantown, 1777 Volume VII

Newtown Volume VIII

Rhode Island Volume IX

The Battle of White Plains Volume X

The Battle of Green Springs Volume XI - P500

 GMT also released two American Revolution Tri-Packs of the earlier releases. These are:

Monmouth, Germantown, and Newtown

Guilford, Saratoga, and Guilford - P500 reprint

 There is also a new series of Small BoAR with The Battle of Cowpens being Volume I.

 These were all designed by Mark Miklos

 This is what comes with the game:

Two Hard-mounted Maps Featuring 1-inch Hexes

245 Unit Counters & Game Markers (1.5 Countersheets), Including Seven Replacement Counters for Previous Games in the Series

52 Opportunity Cards: 26 American & 26 British

16 Tactics Cards: 8 American & 8 British

Two Full color, 4-page Player Aid Cards: 1 American & 1 British

One Full-color Exclusive Rulebook

One Full-color Series Rulebook

Two 10-sided Dice

Game Scale: 1 hr. per turn

Map: 200 yds per hex

Units: Infantry Regiments, Battalions & Companies. Cavalry Troops. Artillery Batteries. Each Strength Point equals 100 men or 2 guns.

Players: 1-2

 This is some information from GMT Games about White Plains:

"White Plains is among the least written-about battles of the American Revolution, an oddity when one considers the scale of forces engaged. Most secondary sources give it a passing mention in the larger discussion of the New York campaign while among the scant primary sources there is considerable disagreement as to key details. Source maps are scarce and often contradictory as well. To bring you Volume X in the Battles of the American Revolution series, exhaustive research was conducted in the sources and on the ground to bring to life the most accurate battlefield map possible.

Likewise, the order of battle was painstakingly reproduced from scraps of information: memoirs, General Orders, casualty lists, pension records, compilations of the Westchester County Historical Society, journal articles, Blogs, secondary-source histories, firsthand accounts, and a little intuition. As usual when studying the American Revolution, British records are more complete. American records less so. Where specific unit placements are known the corresponding units are placed accordingly. Where specific deployments are not known, deployments are notional but stand up to the litmus test of brigade and divisional integrity."

 The first thing we will talk about are the maps. You are given two sections of a large, mounted map. The map and game were designed by a consortium of Charlie Kibler, Rodger B. MacGowan, and Mark Simonitch. I am very impressed with its look. Somehow, they have illustrated exactly, to me, what the Colonial Era would look like on a map. The hexes are very large, and the terrain is clearly marked out for every single hex. So, you will have none of the arguing over what terrain is in each hex, or which type of terrain is the majority in each hex. The Army Morale, Turn Track, Terrain Key, Strength Point Loss, Leader Summary Table, and a few others are strategically positioned around the outside of the map. I am very much a fan of having these, as much as possible, on game maps. Having to make room for a map is sometimes enough of a problem without having to have those tables etc. strewn next to a map. There is also a small box with the story of the 'Headless Horseman'. He might have been a Hessian that lost his skull at this battle. The story comes from the northern settlements of New Amsterdam.

 The Series Rulebook is in large type and is double-columned. It is in full color and only 16 pages long. Next, we have the Exclusive Rulebook for the game. It is also in full color, double-columned, and the same large type in 36 pages. The actual exclusive rules for the game only take up 13 1/2 pages. The rest is taken up by the scenario setup/rules, Opportunity Card Notes, Design Notes, Order of Battle, and a Counter Manifest (I wish more games came with this). Each player gets his own 11" x 17" four-page fold out Players' Aid. These are made of heavy-duty card stock. The type size on them is sometimes smaller than the actual Rulebooks, with the 'October 31st Deployment Reference' on the back page being the only type that I need to bring closer to my aging eyes. There are four card decks that come with the game. Each side gets an 'Opportunity Deck' and a Tactics Deck. The Opportunity Decks have contemporary pictures on them. The Tactics Decks do not but only have the different modifiers on them. These are for Frontal Assault, Turn Flank, and Stand fast etc. The cards are the normal size for wargaming cards. However, they do seem to be a little stiffer than most. The Opportunity Decks are actually split into three different decks for each player. Each player starts out with deck one, and then on game turns October 30th and October 31st deck two and then deck three are added to the players usable cards. The counters are well done and are sized at 5/8". This is a good size for the less dexterous of us. They have either a representation of the troop type or a picture of the commander on them.

 The physical components of the game certainly pass muster.  

 Oh no! The game comes with some errata. There is one problem with the Player Aid Cards. Two minor problems with the rules, and one problem with the American Order of Battle. Thank you, GMT for being so thorough.

  Sir William Howe has been always described as being very wary of attacking the Americans when they were entrenched in any way. This was supposed to have come from his firsthand knowledge of what happened at Bunker (Breed's) Hill. This game uses that hesitancy of Howe's in a novel manner. Because of the nature of the ground where the American lines were, the ability of these troops to entrench themselves was limited. They did however do their very best to mimic real fieldworks with the material they had on hand. This was achieved with stacked cornstalks and clods of earth stuck to them like mortar. So, what looked to the British like a bristling line of dug in Americans was not exactly what it seemed in most places. This leads us to the game rule that is called 'Ruse de Guerre' (Trick of War). The rule is a little complicated and slightly devious, as its name suggests. The American player secretly designates 1-5 of his fieldwork hexes as containing a Ruse de Guerre. Then he rolls a die, and using the Ruse de Guerre Template in the back of the Exclusive Rulebook, he then consults the Ruse de Guerre Table situated on the map. These locations will be written on the template. It sounds a little more involved than it really is. Now comes the British part of the rule. If the British player does attack one of the hexes the ruse has been discovered, and the American player must tell the British player that it was a Ruse de Guerre hex. Then the British player is allowed to take the 'Probe' card from his Opportunity Deck. He can then use it to probe the American lines for other Ruse de Guerre hexes. The actual history of the battle has the Ruse de Guerre working so well that the British never attempted to attack the American lines. I think this is an elegant way to represent the actual history of the battle, since we know, or assume, that our nowadays British commander will not husband his cardboard pieces as Howe did his men.  

  As you can tell by the size of the rulebooks the game is not overly complex. It is rated as a six out of ten on GMT's complexity scale. That is assuming that you have played other 18th and 19th century wargames. These are some of the rules that you will encounter:

Initiative

Stacking (6 SPs and one artillery unit. Leaders and markers do not count toward stacking)

Zones of Control (All six adjacent hexes)

Movement/Strategic Movement

Rifle Fire

Defensive Artillery Fire

Close Combat

Tactic Cards (To be used by the player in Close Combat)

Rain Turns

Army Morale

Militia Special Rules

 This is the series sequence of play:

Each game turn consists of two player turns. During the initiative 

segment, players determine which player executes their player 

turn first. Each player turn consists of several phases that must be

executed in sequence. A more detailed version can be found in the 

Expanded Sequence of Play on the back page. 

A. Initiative Segment

 1.Determine which player has the Initiative this turn.

B. Initiative Player Turn

 1. Flip the game turn marker to indicate the correct player turn

 2. Movement phase

 3. Rally phase

 4. Defensive Artillery Fire phase

 5 Rifle Fire phase (simultaneous)

 6. Close Combat phase

 7. Move the game turn marker to the bottom half of the game 

   turn and flip it over

C. Second Player Turn 

  1. Movement phase

  2. Rally phase

  3. Defensive Artillery Fire phase

  4. Rifle Fire phase (simultaneous)

  5. Close Combat phase

D. End-of-Turn Segment

  1. Check for Automatic Victory

  2. If it is the last game turn of the scenario, determine a winner

  3. If additional game turns remain, advance the game turn 

marker to the top half of the next turn. 

This is the setup for the four-day scenario. Chatterton Hill is almost in the middle down at the bottom with just two lonely regiments.

 The game comes with three scenarios:

Historical Scenario: Chatterton Hill October 28, 1776 Four- and one-half game turns

Hypothetical Scenario: Howe's Grand Assault October 31, 1776, ten- and one-half game turns

Campaign Game: October 28, 1776, to the evening of October 31, 1776, 42 game turns

 As is the usual with me I dove into the deep end and played the four-day full battle scenario first. I have played some of the other games in the series. So, I felt that I could work through the exclusive rules somewhat easily. The historical Chatterton Hill scenario is an excellent one to teach tyros the game system. It has the least number of counters, and both of the smaller scenarios do not use some of the rules that only apply to the four-day scenario. 

 It is obvious that a lot of thinking went into making this game as historically accurate as possible. The Putnam Engineers counter only allows the American player to build up real fieldworks a hex at a time. This melds right into the rule about the Ruse de Guerre and the physical properties of the ground that the Americans are on. The Hessians also get an Amusettes counter. This was a very large caliber 'super' musket that was accurate to about 500 Yards. They are represented as having a two-man team. Think of them as a prototype bazooka without the exploding warhead. The American militia troops are also treated differently than the trained troops on either side. They can be exceptionally brittle. The British player also gets to roll a die before game turn 32 (7:00am, October 31). He then checks it against the Patriot Militia Attrition Table situated on the map. The American player then has to remove from three to seven militia units. The American player also suffers a -1 against his Army Morale. This occurs in the Campaign and Howe's Grand Assault scenarios.

 I did find one problem. Howe's counter is marked 2358 for setup. It should read 2538.

 Thank you, GMT Games, for allowing me to review this excellent addition to a great series. I might be more partial to this game and the Saratoga one because of knowing the areas and having visited them.

Robert Peterson

The Battle of White Plains

Battles of The American Revolution

GMT Games

 Crusades: Book I

Sword & Siege Series

by

Wargame Design Studio

 

 The words Deus vult! erupt across Christendom in the Year of Our Lord 1095. Pope Urban II has sent his best preachers all throughout Europe to drum up Lords and soldiers to retake Jerusalem from the Moslems. Never mind that the city has been under Moslem rule since 637 or 638 A.D. So, this call to the masses to rescue the city is almost 500 years too late. I guess the Pope felt that it was better late than never. The Byzantine Emperor, Alexios I Komnenos, was looking for some mercenary help from his Catholic brethren. Instead, he started an avalanche of the faithful coming straight at Constantinople. The date for the start of the 1st Crusade is generally given as 1095. However, it was not the actual first crusade to the Holy Land. The People's Crusade left for Asia Minor earlier than the Lords and martial crusaders. The People's Crusade was crushed at the Battle of Civetot in Anatolia. One of the leaders of this crusade was Peter the Hermit, who will become a big part of the history of the 1st Crusade. Wargame Design Studio has given us a new series of games in which this game is the flagship offering. So, let us see what the digital wizards of WDS have cooked up for us this time.

 This is what they have to say about it:

"Crusades: Book I includes 65 Scenarios – covering a variety of sizes and situations, including a solo tutorial scenario, five Training scenarios, Historical, Variant and What If versions for both head to head play and vs. the computer AI.

A range of maps are included covering all the significant locations fought over during the 1st & 2nd Crusades and some of lesser known locations.

The order of battle files cover the various forces that participated in the campaigns with other formations added in for hypothetical situations.

There are extensive 3d unit graphics covering all of the major armies involved.

Campaign and Scenario Editors which allow players to customize the game.

Sub-map feature allows the main maps to be subdivided into smaller segments for custom scenario creation.

Design notes which cover the production of the game, campaign notes and a bibliography that includes the sources used by the design team to produce this historical simulation game.

Crusades: Book I provides multiple play options including play against the computer AI, Play by E-mail (PBEM), LAN & Internet "live" play as well as two player hot seat."

 These are some of the battles that come with the game:

"Includes battles from all aspects of the 1st & 2nd Crusades - major encounters to small skirmishes. 65 stand alone scenarios and 2 campaigns. A sampling would be:

Nicaea

Dorylaeum

Antioch

Ma'arat al-Numan

Jerusalem

Ascalon

Heraclea

Ramla

Acre

Harran

Tripoli

Tyre

Aleppo

Edessa

Ephesus

Damascus"

 As is usual for a WDS release, they have taken a wonderful game and attempted to drive us mad with it. Instead of five or even ten scenarios for us to get lost in, we have the standard myriads of them to get mired in. And if that was not enough, there are also two campaigns that you can try to play. The reason I say 'try to play' is because there is only so much time that we are allotted on this Earth. Every game, some even more than others, released by WDS comes with a cornucopia of scenarios to be played from either side and with numerous differences to each scenario. Upon opening up one of WDS games, one feels a bit like Rip Van Winkle and wonders exactly when you will get your life back. Then when you have finally marched through the entire game you can then use the Campaign and Scenario Editors to further dig your hole into the time span of your life. Of course I jest, but only slightly. To click on any exe of a WDS game is not for the faint hearted. 

 The most amazing feature of this game is that we now can actually play out sieges. WDS has certainly given us battles and campaigns to play, as have other gaming companies, but none that I can recall has ever given us the ability to besiege cities, towns, and castles, at least in the ages before gunpowder. For someone who believes the boardgame 'The Art of Siege' by SPI is the crowning glory of their boardgame collection, this is really an epiphany. This not only opens up the ability, at some time, to play out the siege of Acre in the 3rd Crusade but so many others from these and other centuries. This is made even more amazing by the inclusion of both 40 meter, normal, and 100 meter per hex sizes. This will also help with counter density on the larger scenarios. Some of these are only available once you add the free expansion available for download. Please see below for more information on this.

 The ebb and flow of the battles in Outremer is shown in the game's design. The charges of small amounts of well armored knights do make a difference just as they did in real life. The masses of lightly armed Moslem horse archers swarming around the crusaders is shown just as well. These are the earlier years of the crusades. While you will not see any Mamelukes, you will see the different Christian Orders of Knights, as in the Templars and Hospitallers. The battles have been well chosen to give both sides chances to command infantry and knights and light cavalry, sometimes all in the same scenario. WDS has continued to work on the game engine. They have recently had almost weekly updates on many of their series of games. They also have kept tweaking the AI and picking scenarios that are especially made for the AI of both sides. In this day and age, all wargames, whether they be board or digital, should have the option to play a well-designed solitaire version of whatever game it is. Yes, if you play the game constantly and only a few, or one, scenario repeatedly each day for x amount of time you will learn how to 'cheat' or beat the AI. If, however, you play like most of us and can only get in a certain number of hours a week and choose different scenarios to play, the AI will do just fine. I believe that WDS is only getting better with each passing week and release or update. 

 

 So, what is the verdict? It was never really in any doubt. This is another stellar release from WDS that will keep you playing for as long as you want to. The release of Age of Longbow Volume I has only meant that they are fully behind the Sword & Siege Series and have many more planned after the battles of the Hundred years War. I am drooling over the prospect of a game that has the battles of the Wars of the Roses! I know that I cannot wait for a further release on the crusader battles and the chance to besiege Acre in the Third Crusade. Of course, we would also get all of the battles of Melek-Ric and Saladin. 

 Long time readers will know that I base my wargaming taste of the moment depending upon what book I am reading or have read. In this case there has been a lot of ink spilled about the First Crusade and the taking of Jerusalem in 1099. So, it is only natural that my favorite scenarios in this game deal with the crusaders besieging Jerusalem. The battles for Antioch come in as a close second. Both have some of the most desperate times for the crusaders, with the crusade itself hanging in the balance. At both Antioch and Jerusalem, the crusaders are, no pun intended, able to pull off miracles to not only keep the crusade going but outright win battles that they absolutely have to.

 Kudos, as usual, go out to WDS for this new game and series. We as wargamers have been truly gifted by not only their game releases but their constant upgrading and even at times throwing us freebie expansions.

 Since the arrival of Crusades: Book I into our hot little hands WDS has not been idle. They have released a freebie par excellence for us. This is what they have written about it:

"With the exceptional reception Crusades: Book I has got since release—just shy of 90 days ago—we wanted to bring you a further boost to this already great game package.

Today's expansion package will give you 9 new scenarios to play. The twist is, most of these are at the 100-meter scale. So, while they recreate familiar battles from the initial release, now those large encounters can be played with a lower counter density and larger individual units. When you extract the package to your main game directory, it will add these 9 new scenarios to the bottom of the list in the selection screen.

Oh, and did I mention this is a completely free addition to the game for existing owners? It certainly is. And when the next update for the game is released, it will be incorporated into that package.

Outside of counter density and smaller maps, some other differences relate to Siege Towers and Fortress Walls. The capacity for both has been increased from 75 to 150 men for the 100-meter variants. In the case of the walls, this is to account for the larger length of wall represented in each hex; for Siege Towers, it represents the increased amount of time available in a turn, which enables more men to traverse up a tower.

The following two images compare the 40-meter version to the 100-meter version.

The final two scenarios in this package are designed to be played from the Muslim side against the AI. One of them is a siege scenario and the other is an open field battle. Both of these scenarios are at the traditional 40-meter hex scale.

Additionally, today we are releasing another video focusing on this game, to add to the existing four videos in the Crusades Playlist. You can check that out below - Siege Playthrough, Part 1."

 Here is the link to the free expansion:

https://wargameds.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/CrusadesI_Expan_Pack.exe

 This is the link to the video described above:

https://youtu.be/wLxh8vLlaEQ

Robert

Wargame Design Studio:

Wargame Design Studio Store

Crusades: Book I:

Crusades: Book I – Wargame Design Studio

 Neither King Nor God

by

Sound of Drums

 This is some information from Sound of Drums about its newest release.

"Dear friends, supporters and grognards!

I hope you all do well and enjoy autumn, the long evenings around a table with family and friend playing board games.

Designing Neither King Nor God: The Story Behind Its Creation and the Pilot Edition

First and foremost, I’m a gamer - and have been since I was a kid. Some of my favorite moments are when fellow gamers reach out or when we meet at conventions to talk about games, history, and those wonderful cardboard boxes that bring the two together.

I had been keeping an eye on Europa Universalis for ages. Back in the early days of Sound of Drums, I even reached out to AEGIR about possibly doing a German edition. But since AEGIR, like us, is a small and passionate team, they were understandably swamped getting the project off the ground, so our contact remained casual.

For years I kept going back and forth, asking myself, “Should I back it? Shouldn’t I?” Each time I decided, “No, Here I Stand is already on the shelf, and let’s be honest, you’ll probably never play EU anyway.” That internal debate lasted far longer than I’d like to admit.

At heart, I’m a wargamer, mostly drawn to the Napoleonic era. But the Renaissance, with its politics, intrigue, and shifting alliances, has always fascinated me.

So, while I was busy dithering between Europa Universalis and Here I Stand, my desire to play an epic game set in that period only grew stronger. Then, after reading a historical novel that captured the era’s drama and complexity, I thought: why not design one myself? And that’s when the idea was born: a game built on the design philosophy of Sound of Drums.

The important thing was that it had to be accessible, and yet epic. Or perhaps better said: epic, as the theme deserves, but still accessible. In other words, the exact opposite of Europa Universalis and Here I Stand in that regard.

The novel also sparked the idea for the game’s core mechanism - one that would ensure a high level of player interaction, something I consider absolutely indispensable in any design.

Sorry, I posted the old meeple sheet along with this new one.

How can I bring the game to a wider audience? And how can I reach the full potential of the player base that might love it?

We’re gradually making a name for ourselves, but the market - and the competition - is brutal. I know from experience how much my beloved series History of the Ancient Seas has flown under the radar. I’m thrilled that it’s now slowly finding a wider audience, but it takes time and persistence.

With our rhythm at Sound of Drums and the way we work, I can’t simply produce eight or nine advanced prototypes, send them out to reviewers, and launch a massive marketing campaign. That’s not realistic for a small studio.

We do, however, have a loyal base of players who appreciate the quality, artwork, and game design we deliver. But the market moves fast. Players rush from one novelty to the next. And I always remind myself, with every project: we only get one chance to do this theme. One bullet in the chamber. It has to be right, because we won’t revisit the Renaissance or Mediterranean civ-building theme a second time. It has to be the ultimate game.

That’s when the idea came to me: what if we created a “light” version, focused on the core mechanism - the Courtiers? I asked my friend and fellow gamer Chris Synatzschke to lead the development and Andrew James to take on the role of editor. Both had very little time to work with, and the challenge was enormous.

The goal was to scale down the original design: only four factions, a smaller map, and just 300 wooden pieces. We’re producing this Pilot Edition in a very limited quantity - once they’re gone, they’re gone.

It will be available from October 11 to 31, 2025, priced at EUR 29 instead of EUR 69. Production finishes on October 14, just in time for Essen. We don’t expect to sell out instantly; some retailers have already shown interest in taking remaining copies. We’ll also be generous with YouTube reviewers and influencers.

The goal of this limited edition is simple: to showcase the unique, intelligent Courtiers mechanism and to build anticipation for the epic version. I hope many players will say, “For 29 euros, I’ll give it a try,” and later, “Wow! That Courtiers mechanism is brilliant.”

The full epic version will offer much more: a rich diplomatic subsystem, a non-player Ottoman Empire, deeply asymmetrical factions, additional courtier types, and plenty more. Yet it will still remain accessible - far more so than Europa Universalis or Here I Stand, both incredible games that are admired more often than they’re played.

My plan is to reach those same players through this Pilot Edition campaign. And thanks to our talented graphic designer Marc von Martial, along with our signature wooden components, I’m confident we can achieve a production quality that truly justifies the effort.

We’re also expanding thematically. We’re about to sign another historical title alongside Neither King Nor God: The Collapse, designed by Daniel Iniesta Hernández, set during the Thirty Years’ War."

 This is the information about the game:

84 x 60 cm double-layered mounted map

over 300 wooden playing pieces, most customized & silk printed

36 Victory Conditions cards

4 double layered faction sheets

4 wooden storage boards

2 dice

1 cloth bag

1 play aid withset up instructions

1 rules manual

Game Info:

Designer: Uwe Walentin

Artist(s): Marc von Martial

Developer: Chris Synatzschke

LTD  Pilot Edition: This edition is only available until 31st of October in a limited print run. 

Hist. period: Renaissance

Game length: 90+ minutes

Players: 4 players

Age: 14+ years

Complexity: 5 / 10

Solitaire: no 1 / 10

Robert

Sound of Drums

Neither King Nor God

My reviews of Sound of Drums other games:

Eylau 1807 Battles of Napoleon Volume I by Sound of Drums - A Wargamers Needful Things

1793 Patriots & Traitors by Sound of Drums - A Wargamers Needful Things

Hellas: History of the Ancient Seas I by Sound of Drums - A Wargamers Needful Things

Old Guard Publishing

A new wargaming company

 This is news straight from the Grognard's mouth:

"Old Guard Publishing specializes in horse and musket period games with a particular emphasis on the epic period of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars.

Our mission is to have fun while educating. Not only will you have a fun game, but each game contains a wealth of historical information in the scenario book that will rarely be found in any other game. With every game you'll have a complete understanding of the history and the choices faced by each commander as the action unfolds. In the scenario book you'll find primary source material that has never been translated into English until now.

Old Guard Publishing's motto is playability with historical accuracy. This means game mechanics should be as simple as possible to model the particular issue at hand. For example, in the tactical horse and musket system, Glory & Empire, a unit's fire strength is read from the counters/markers and modifiers are added or subtracted from the fire strength. In the case of skirmishers, the rules are more detailed, yet still with an eye towards simplicity and elegance, to differentiate the use of skirmishers prior to the French Revolution and their later use. These are not simple games, but the hope is to avoid bogging people down in complicated game mechanics.

Currently, Old Guard Publishing has two game series in development: a tactical horse and musket system called Glory & Empire, and an operational scale horse and musket system.

Glory and Empire is a game series devoted to grand tactical command, maneuver and combat during the horse and musket period. It will handle the time period from the introduction of cadenced marching up until the introduction of the mini-ball. The player is cast in the role of Army Leader. Though the player must still move all of his pieces on the ‘chess board.’ However, just as in chess there are limits on how he may maneuver his pawns and knights. The game is designed for two or more players but may be played solitaire.

The map scale is 125m per hex. Units are battalions and companies for infantry, regiments and squadrons for cavalry and companies for artillery. Each strength point is 100 men for infantry, 50 men and horses for cavalry or one section, or 2 guns, for artillery. Turns are 20 minutes. Unit counters and some markers are 5/8" and other markers are 1/2".

The rules consist of three sets: Soldier's, Battalion and Brigade rules set. Players can learn the basics with the Soldier's rules, move to a full-fledged simulation with the Battalion Game and pick and choose rules from the Brigade Game to suit their tastes. Or players can jump right into the Brigade Game and understand how grand tactical maneuvering was practiced on the battlefield during the 18th and 19th centuries.

The Soldier's Game gives players new to the era an introduction to foundational concepts of tactics in the horse and musket era. In the Soldier's and Battalion Games there are the usual line, column, square and skirmishers. The Battalion game expands the use of skirmishers, introduces important concepts for maneuvering forces on the battlefield and has more detailed close combat procedures. The Brigade Game adds close columns, attack columns, closed square, Austrian division masses. Artillery is simplified for the Soldier's and Battalion Games, but the Battalion Game adds artillery ammunition. The Brigade Game adds bombardment zones, bounce through, howitzer fire and separate ammunition tracking for round shot, shell, canister and shrapnel. The Brigade Game also gives players more tools to react to enemy moves.

However, the raison d'être of the Brigade Game is its unique command system designed to show how units really maneuvered on the battlefield. It's core concepts come straight out of the drill regulations of the period. Brigades maneuver in grand tactical formations as lines of battle and in grand columns. These grand tactical formations impose their own ebb and flow on the battlefield as they break apart in combat and reform as units rally. No longer will your games look like rugby scrums. More detail can be found on these BGG threads: [On Command - Brigade Game Command Rules](https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2809161/on-command-brigade-game-command-rules) and [On Orders of Battle](https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2841446/on-orders-of-battle).

The Glory & Empire system made it's debut with First Victories covering two smaller battles: Roliça and Vimeiro. The BGG entry can be found here: [First Victories](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/340120/first-victories-wellington-versus-napoleon).

The next entry in the series is a game on the less well-known battle of Fuentes de Oñoro that takes place on the Portuguese-Spanish border in May 1811, following Masséna's retreat from Portugal. Fuentes de Onoro consists of a tactical game with four maps and seven counter sheets. For this game a new feature, called the Marshal's Game, has been added. The Marshal's Game adds an operational map, about 4x the scale of the tactical maps, that overlays the tactical game. It has an additional sheet of 3/4" counters that represent the brigades and leaders of each army. Brigade units can leave the operational map and enter the tactical map converting to their tactical equivalents for battle. The Marshal's Game allows players to move units around the periphery of the battlefield on the operational map to try alternate strategies, without them being scripted by the designer, providing much more replay value in what if situations. Development is nearly complete and will be available for pre-order soon.

Old Guard Publishing's second system is the Glory & Empire Operational System (GEOSS). It's a working title. Once, it gets closer to publication a real name will be chosen. GEOSS is intended to be a more complete operational game, than the Marshal's Game. The scale is 1 to 2 KM per hex and 1 to 4 hours per daylight turn, depending on the length of the campaign. Units are mainly regiments or brigades, but there may be some artillery companies, battalions and regiments to handle mixed brigades and army and corps resources. This is more fine grained than Kevin Zucker's Campaigns of Napoleon series, which I've long enjoyed. These games will cover the critical period of a campaign when armies are on the march towards a pitched battle, usually a few days to a couple of weeks. The game system will focus on command and maneuver and the key relationship to logistics. The first game in this series will be the battle of Castiglione campaign from July 31 to August 8, 1796. The game is still very much in development.

Those are Old Guard Publishing's present plans, and the intent is to remain focused on horse and musket period games."

 So, as you can see, this announcement is about not just a new game company but also a new Napoleonic operational gaming system along with their tactical battles.

 Home of Wargamers 2025 - Matrix 25th Anniversary

 This is the information about today's Matrix information filled expo.

Home of Wargamers 2025 - Matrix 25th Anniversary - Today at 18.00 CEST

A strong lineup of Matrix Games in one event!  Home of Wargamers 2025  will take place next week on Today at 6:00 PM CEST. As part of the celebrations for the 25th anniversary of Matrix Games, we will present the future of the Combat Mission franchise, exciting news about Armored Brigade II, and the new expansions for Rule the Waves 3 - Expanded Battles and Strategic Command: American Civil War - Concert of Europe.

This will be a unique opportunity to meet and hear directly from the developers of Rule the Waves 3, WEGO WWII: Overlord, Command: Modern Operations, Flashpoint Campaigns, Nuclear War Simulator. And there will be a truly special surprise for all fans of the War in the East franchise.

https://www.matrixgames.com/news/home-of-wargamers-2025-september-25th 

 Iron Squad

by

Princeps Games

On Kickstarter now

 This is straight from Princeps Games:

"Hello,

My name is Vukasin Nisavic and I am the cofounder of Princeps Games together with my brother Janko Nisavic. When we are not designing games I work as a legal adviser. My brother and I design games, playtest them and we are doing our best to deliver a fine product to the audience. Nothing new with ‘Iron Squad’ regarding this.

While playing board wargames it always bothered me how players can see the enemy’s units on the board. Even though there are some mechanisms which simulate the FOW system in computer games up to a point, all those systems were not quite there yet. There was always something missing. So, I decided to give it a try, and I designed a system that will allow the players to have the same experience while playing board games which they have while playing computer games.

 ‘Iron Squad’ was originally designed for our new ‘Fog of War’ system. We like to call it ‘revolutionary’. This system required a unique game management so we needed a simple game to start with and that’s how the ‘Iron Squad’ was born. Unfortunately, we found that mass production of this kind of FOW system was too challenging for our small company at this time, so we decided to do an overhaul of ‘Iron Squad’ and here we are. You would definitely have to check this FOW system in order to understand the scale of it. Here is the video if you’re interested

https://youtu.be/gIZgbsffANo

With ‘Iron Squad’ we wanted to offer a game with high replay ability, so this time we went for a game board design which will allow players to have a different terrain configuration in every game by using the ‘Terrain Tiles’. Also, a different setup of the game is possible thanks to the mini-map sheets which allow the players to set the starting position of their units in a different way every time they play the game. Players draw ‘Mission Cards’ and the player who completes the mission first is the winner. If this doesn’t happen until the end of round 12, the winner is the player with the most Victory Points.

There are so many factors which can lead to a different game. You have the ‘Terrain Tiles’ which bring new configuration of the game board. Then you have mini-maps which allow a different setup. Each player has 5 different Missions Cards to draw. In addition, you have a ‘Weather’ and ‘Day&Night’ modifiers. At the end, there is a very interesting combat system with a modified D20 dice which allow the players to choose the impact of luck.

‘Iron Squad’ is currently live on Kickstarter and you can check the campaign page and back the game by clicking on this link:"

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/princepsgames/iron-squad

These are two reviews I did of other Princeps Games:

The Battle of KhalKhin Gol July - August 1939 by Princeps Games - A Wargamers Needful Things

March on the Drina WWI by Princeps Games - A Wargamers Needful Things

This is a review that Polydor did:

FREEZING INFERNO - A Wargamers Needful Things