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Yellow Jack  The War of Jenkin's Ear 1739-1743 Part of The Sea Lords Series of Games By  Red Sash Games   The War of Jenkin's Ear, w...

Yellow Jack: The War of Jenkin's Ear 1739-1743, By Red Sash Games Yellow Jack: The War of Jenkin's Ear 1739-1743, By Red Sash Games

For your Wargamer, Toy soldier collector, MiniFig collector, military history nut. Reviews, interviews, Model Making, AARs and books!

Red Sash Games





Yellow Jack 


The War of Jenkin's Ear 1739-1743


Part of The Sea Lords Series of Games


By 


Red Sash Games






  The War of Jenkin's Ear, was mainly a conflict between Bourbon Spain and England. Robert Jenkins was a captain of an English merchant vessel who was mutilated by Spanish Coast Guards in 1731. In reality, the war was really about money, specifically the Asiento (a contract with England that allowed her to sell slaves in Spanish America). In Spain, the war is called The Guerra del Asiento. The war mostly took place in the Caribbean. The War of Jenkin's Ear then became part of the wider European conflict: The War of the Austrian Succession 1740-1748. There was also an earlier outbreak of hostilities between Spain and England over the same reasons named The Anglo-Spanish War 1727-1729. The wars were really about English merchants' access to the Spanish areas of North and South America. Red Sash Games mainly has naval and land warfare games centering around the time of the War of the Austrian Succession. They call their land warfare games of the time The Lace Wars Series. Their sea warfare games of the time are from their The Sea Lords Series. As obscure as this war seems I remember being taught about it in High School. Well, enough of that. Here is what actually comes with the game:


6 die cut counter sheets – 720 counters – including the naval forces of Britain, Spain, and France, plus Pirates (no Caribbean naval game is complete without Pirates). One of the counter sheets includes all the important naval leaders who participated in the War of the Austrian Succession; another consists of land units – all the regiments that fought in the Caribbean. There is also a sheet of generic markers.


37 wooden disks representing “task forces” (boxed game only; regular counters are also supplied to represent these items).


48” x 54” map depicting the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and Carolinas coastline.


1 series rulebook, 1 exclusive rule book, 2 scenario/OOB books, 1 set of charts & tables, historical commentary. 1 set of display cards.


One piece of the Map


 This is their own write up about the game:


"Autumn, 1739. Fierce economic competition between Britain and Spain has broken into open war: the War of Jenkins' Ear. As His Britannic Majesty's naval commander-in-chief in the Caribbean, your duties have suddenly multiplied. Their Lordships at the Admiralty demand action. Parliament expects the speedy conquest of Spain's New World possessions - ALL of them - but is unwilling to supply men and ships. That would require the adoption of methods suitable only under a 'French Despotism'. Before you utter them let it be known that your objections are unpatriotic and un-British. Meanwhile, the powerful Planters' Lobby is insisting you make defending their islands your top priority, while the equally powerful Traders' Lobby is demanding convoy protection and simultaneously accusing you of 'pressing' merchant seamen into service aboard your ships. Or, can you honourably serve the great House of Bourbon, whose scions rule France and Spain? The English heretics have unjustly fabricated a war. They are jealous of Spain's greatness and desire her colonies for their own. For years they have paid lip service to the international laws of commerce while breaking those same laws at every opportunity. Of late, His Most Catholic Majesty had graciously agreed to accept arbitration for so-called 'wrongs' done to British traders, waiving compensation for similar wrongs done to Spain. But when she offered payment, the English dogs slapped Spain's hand aside, saying it was not enough! This insult will not go unavenged. The King has ordered you to secure our trade routes and has issued letters of marque for the harrying of British merchantmen - let their own methods be used against them! In the fulness of time, our brother France has promised his support.


Control the seas and you control the fate of the New World. Whichever side you choose, glory and honour - and prizes galore - are yours for the taking. Provided you avoid court martial and disgrace."


 I like the writing in the above piece, so I added it in. Sometimes a game company can come up with a more succinct and intriguing summary than a reviewer.  The game is operational in scope. By the way, Yellow Jack is actually jargon for the rampant Yellow Fever in the area. Although by this time they were waning, the game does contain pirates and privateers.




 The map pieces are well done, and to me at least have a period flavor to them. It could be because I played Pirates from Sid Meier for so many hours on the C-64. The counters are wonderful. They are pretty much the same as the ones in their game 'Cockpit of Europe'. I did a review of that excellent game, and the link will be below. The counters are large and easy to read. There are numerous Players' Aids in the box, from a hurricane sheet to a four page turn sequence fold out! It also comes with a twenty-three page 'Exclusive Rule Book' for this game. Yellow Jack comes with two Scenario & Orders Books, one for the Bourbons (France & Spain), and one for the English. To top it all off, there is a 111 page Historical Commentary which is well stocked with maps and pictures. The Historical Commentary moves easily between the big picture and the minutiae of the period, and it is easily worth its weight in gold doubloons. The game and Historical Commentary were both done by the designer Ian Weir. It is plain to see that these games are a labor of love by Mr. Weir. 

 

 This game was given a rating of 4.5 for complexity. Yes, it is a very complex game. This is not one that you are going to break out on game night and decide to play on a whim while trying to teach the rules. However, like almost all games that are complex, you get out of it what you put into it. If you have a Saturday to run through one of the smaller scenarios, and then try your hand at the campaign game, this would be your best bet.




 There are five Minor Scenarios from 1739-1743, each one lasts one year.


1739 - Rule Britannia

1740 - Old Grog & Peg Leg

1741 - Carlos Don't Surf

1742 - Spanish Fly

1743 - Hot Cocoa

The Price of and Ear - The Campaign Game

Hasta La Muerte - The Extended Campaign

1744 Scenario

1745 Scenario

1746 Scenario

1747 Scenario

1748 Scenario


 The scenarios of 1744-1748 saw no major operations historically, but they do add France as a Spanish Ally.





 The Turn Sequence has these and many other segments:


Wind Generation Step

Check for new Hurricanes

Check for Random Events

Resolve Hurricanes

Resolve Gales

Reinforcement & Reorganization 

Conduct Searches & Mark Spotted Formations

Detach Independent Squadrons Without Orders

Disembark Expeditions


One side of the Hurricane Map


 If you love sea warfare from an operational standpoint, this game is for you. The historical information of sea warfare at this time is alone the price of admission. The game is complex, but it has to be to plumb the depths of historical accuracy that the designer intended. The game was intended to be a two-player, but like almost all games it can also be played solo. The age of warfare that the game represents has very little boardgames to choose from. This game is not historically like the Campaign of Trafalgar. It is one of far flung outposts that are important to each crown, but not as much as they once were. There are no more Spanish Treasure fleets filled with Inca and Aztec gold plying these waters. Even Piracy has lost the glitter of its golden age. Both sided in the game must deal with pretty much the forces that they have been dealt with, especially in the one year scenarios. 


 I am definitely an aficionado of the era. For me to pull myself away from a game, or simulation, of land warfare when one of your counters represents Maurice de Saxe is a pretty hard task. However, Yellow Jack was up to it and more. Thank you very much Mr. Weir and Red Sash Games for letting me review this game. 


 Red Sash Games has numerous ways to buy their products, including the ever more popular print & play. I urge you to take a look at all of their games when you have a chance.


Robert


Red Sash Games:

Red Sash Games Home Page

Yellow Jack:

Yellow Jack (redsashgames.com)

My Review of 'Lace Wars, The Cockpit of Europe':

Cockpit of Europe by Red Sash Games - A Wargamers Needful Things

Cockpit of Europe by Red Sash Games    The War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) is a war that not many people know about. Oh, you have...

Cockpit of Europe by Red Sash Games Cockpit of Europe by Red Sash Games

For your Wargamer, Toy soldier collector, MiniFig collector, military history nut. Reviews, interviews, Model Making, AARs and books!

Red Sash Games





Cockpit of Europe


by


Red Sash Games



 



 The War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) is a war that not many people know about. Oh, you have history buffs that because of Frederick the Great know about the war in central Europe, but not many people know anything about the war in the Low Countries. The English Army did not always have things their way against the French. In another war that is even less known about, The Nine Years War (1688-1697), Marshal de Luxembourg consistently had the upper hand. It is true that during the War of the Spanish Succession, Marlborough beat the French Army whenever he faced it. Now we come to one of France's greatest Marshals Maurice de Saxe; as an aside, he could bend and snap horseshoes with his hands, just like his father Augustus the Strong of Saxony. Neither a Frenchman nor a Catholic, he became Marshal General of France's Armies during the War of the Austrian Succession. I believe his writings helped to bring about the Corps system that allowed Napoleon to rise to fame, and it is still used today. de Saxe was also able to beat the English whenever he faced them. This simulation is focused in the Low Counties in the years 1744-1748. So, for those of us who have longed for the day, we now have an operational simulation of the war that featured the Battle of Fontenoy. So, let us see what comes in this oversized box. These are the contents:


1) One 24x18 inch map representing Northwest Europe from the Channel to Metz, and from Paris to the Zuider Zee, derived from a mix of modern cartography and period maps dating from 1715 to 1750. Scale is 8.5 miles per hex (roughly 4 leagues per hex).

2)  1080 die cut counters representing contingents from France, Britain, Holland, Austria, Hesse, Bavaria, and even Russia! (The Dutch army itself contains Swiss, Saxon, Bavarian, Walloon, and Scottish mercenaries, not to mention forces from Holstein-Gotthorp and Hessen-Philipstahl).

3) Rules, charts, tables, and display cards.

4) An historical commentary.




 Opening the box is like looking into a cornucopia. You do not know where to start first. The map may seem kind of small for anyone who is used to monster games. However, if you have played any games about the campaigns of Marlborough you will notice it is exactly the same area. There is a reason it was called the Cockpit of Europe. France and her allies and enemies alike had been fighting over this area for centuries. The next thing you will notice about the map is how colorful it is, and the fact that it is covered in fortresses. Again, if you are not used to wargaming this area during this period, sieges and battles to stop sieges were a way of life for the military in the Low Countries. Movement on the map is point to point, although the rules, to follow wargame norms, call them hexes. Looking at the map, you can easily see how easy it is to fight a defensive war, and how difficult it is to prosecute an offensive one. The map might seem 'busy' to some, but the actual space between points is only 8.5 miles. Barely a good stretch of the legs (if you are into old movies). The game comes with two rule books. One is the 'Lace Wars' rulebook. Lace Wars is the series of games that Cockpit of Europe is part of. Lace Wars is based on the War of the Austrian Succession and the different games are based on the different parts of Europe during the war. The second is the actual Cockpit of Europe rulebook. They are both in black and white. The Lace Wars rulebook is forty-two pages long, and the Cockpit of Europe rulebook is twenty-three pages long.  Some people might look at them and believe they are daunting to behold (more on this later). However, they are well set up and take the player through the different concepts in an easy manner. The counters seem larger than their 5/8" size. On one side is a beautiful recreation of the unit's actual uniform jacket. The flip side is the unit's name and rating, etc. This side is in large type and easy to read. The officer counters also have all their ratings  displayed large enough to easily read them. They also have small portraits of the officers when they could find one available. I cannot say enough about the counters; they are extremely well done. It also comes with a fantastic forty-four page Historical Commentary that is better than most articles about the war. There is so much else that comes in the box. I will give you a list:


Two, two-page French and English HQ Display Charts

Turn Record Track and Peace Index & Operation Track etc.

Cockpit of Europe Counter Guide

Cockpit of Europe Terrain Effects Chart, The other side shows how to setup Battlefields

Sequence of Play

Four sheets of Tables

Allied Campaign Plans, Opposite side has the French Campaign Plans

Cockpit of Europe Unit Class Summary

Cockpit of Europe French OOB Book

Cockpit of Europe Allied OOB Book

Two sheets with Officers" Mess, Recovery Box etc.

Two sheets of 'Wings' A through J to use for battles


 In a word, it has anything you can think of that a player might need to play a deep simulation like this. All of the tables are in black and white. The Counter Guide and Terrain chart and a few other are in color.



These pics are of the Print & Play map


 So, in a nutshell this has all of the trappings of a monster game without the size. I will tell you straight off, anyone looking for a light or medium complexity game please avert your eyes. This simulation, and its brothers, were meant for the grognard. Some gamers who are used to the sweep of panzers across the steppe might think the game slow. For those of us who have wished and prayed for an operational game about the Austrian War of Succession, our prayers have been answered. There have been some games about the war, but almost all of them center on Frederick the Great's part in it. For me the battles in the Cockpit of Europe are the end all and be all. My birthday is May 11th, the same day the battle of Fontenoy was fought. Just hearing the name de Saxe gets my ears to perk up. This is a piece written in the latest Lace Wars rulebook to give an overview of the system:


"Focus of the Series

The Lace Wars series examines the wars of the 17th through 18th centuries (with an option to move into the 19th Century) at the Operational level. In the military thinking of the period, there was no written doctrine entitled ‘operational art’. It was either strategy or tactics. So, by Operational I mean you play the part of a theatre commander. Above you are the Monarch and his or her cabinet (or a republican senate), and the diplomats, and any allied rulers, and all the faceless socio-economic forces. None of which are in your control, though you may be able to manipulate them. Under you are the combat Units, the regiments, brigades, battalions, and war-bands, plus a logistics net and a motley group of generals. These also are not entirely under your control. Generals have personalities of their own, and combat Units have variable strength and cohesion. Since you are in the middle, ‘winning the war’ is not all that vital, and is usually not made the focus of the game, even when the situation is a balanced one. Most historical situations are not balanced. But, the system does provide a balance between you and your opponent, which is all that really matters. This is done by making you chase after personal Prestige. Campaign Plans (CPs) are the key to earning Prestige. They are essentially a set of ‘mandated objectives’, but you usually have a lot of leeway not only in resolving them but in picking them. This way, you can experiment with different strategies. In fact, the series is intended to give you lots of scope for experimentation. The system does not absolutely constrain you to a particular course of action, but it rewards you if you hit on the correct strategy and penalises you if you make mistakes. As you might expect with an operational-level game, the core elements in the Lace Wars series boil down to managing your Units effectively, supplying them, outmaneuvring your opponent, and winning in combat. In the period covered by the series, battles were infrequent but important, sieges were all-important, armies were usually fragile instruments, and supply was centered on the establishment of a network of depots. If you can maintain your forces in being while accomplishing some Campaign Plans, you have a good chance of winning. "





 This is a link to the Lace Wars Quick Start Guide on Red Sash's website:

LW QSG (redsashgames.com)


 How does it play? Like a simulation of an 18th century war, focused on operational warfare. The tactical module is an added attraction. The tactical battles play out much like other games that have 'Battleboards'. Movement is slow compared to most other wargames. The period relied on depots, and while sacking was not uncommon, a king did not want to add a burned out shell of a province into his realm. As I had alluded to, the movement will seem glacial to gamers that are used to 20th century games; even Napoleonic warfare has more movement to it. The simulation rewards you if you can play as an 18th century general. If you go into it with the mindset of Zhukov or Guderian, you will quickly fail. 



 The simulation has everything an 18th century general would have to contend with:

Lines of Communication

Fortifications

Formations

Siege Artillery

Auxiliaries

Leadership

 This is just a small taste of what you will have to deal with while playing. The rulebooks are filled with excellent quotes from many of the generals etc. of the time:

"The French are what they were in Caesar's time, and as he described them, brave to excess but unstable" Marshal de Saxe 

"A pack mule can go on the campaigns with Prince Eugene of Savoy, and still learn nothing of tactics". Frederick the Great




 This was one of my Grail games, and after reviewing it my mind has not changed one bit. It is a labor of love, as is the whole series, of one man's vision to bring the War of the Austrian Succession to a wargamers table. In this, Red Sash Games has hit the bullseye in the target. This is not a simulation to start on your road to becoming a grognard. This is one of those jewels of wargaming that you find after you have traveled that same road for awhile. Thank you Red Sash Games  for the chance to review this beautiful, and excellent simulation.

 The Lace Wars from Red Sash Games are on the pricier side of wargames. However, they also offer 'Print & Play' options for all of their games at incredibly low prices. I myself would suggest to save up and buy the games ready made. Then you have nothing to do but open the box and start playing, or at least start reading the rulebooks.

Red Sash Games:

Red Sash Games Home Page

Cockpit of Europe:

Cockpit of Europe (redsashgames.com)


Robert 

 

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