Star Wars: Rebellion is a board game of epic conflict between the Galactic Empire and Rebel Alliance for two to four players.Featuring more than 150 plastic miniatures and two game boards that account for thirty-two of the Star Wars galaxy's most notable systems Rebellion features a scope that is as large and sweeping as any Star Wars game before it.Yet for all its grandiosity Rebellion remains intensely personal cinematic and heroic. As much as your success depends upon the strength of your starships vehicles and troops it depends upon the individual efforts of such notable characters as Leia Organa Mon Mothma Grand Moff Tarkin and Emperor Palpatine. As civil war spreads throughout the galaxy these leaders are invaluable to your efforts and the secret missions they attempt will evoke many of the most inspiring moments from the classic trilogy. You might send Luke Skywalker to receive Jedi training on Dagobah or have Darth Vader spring a trap that freezes Han Solo in carbonite!
The battle of Sekigahara fought in 1600 at a crossroads in Japan unified that nation under the Tokugawa family for more than 250 years.Sekigahara allows you to re-contest that war as Ishida Mitsunari defender of a child heir or Tokugawa Ieyasu Japan's most powerful daimyo (feudal lord).The campaign lasted only 7 weeks during which each side improvised an army and a strategy with what forces their allies could provide. Each leader harbored deep doubts as to the loyalty of his units - for good reason. Several daimyo refused to fight; some even turned sides in the midst of battle.To conquer Japan you must do more than field an army - you must be sure it will follow you into combat. Cultivate the loyalty of your allies and deploy them only when you are confident of their allegiance. Win a battle by gaining a defection from the ranks of your opponent.Sekigahara is a 3-hour block game based on the Japanese campaign waged in 1600. The 7-week war fought along Japan's two major highways and in scattered sieges and backcountry skirmishes elevated Tokugawa Ieyasu to Shogun and unified Japan for 265 years.Sekigahara is designed to offer an historically authentic experience within an intuitive game mechanic that can be played in one sitting. Great effort has been taken to preserve a clean game mechanism. (Despite a healthy amount of historical detail the ruleset is a brief 6 pages.) Chance takes the form of uncertainty and not luck.No dice are used; combat is decided with cards. Blocks = armies and cards = motivation. The combination of army and motivation produces impact on the battlefield. Armies without matching cards don't fight. Battles resolve quickly but with suspense tactical participation and a wide range of possible outcomes.Legitimacy is represented by hand size which fluctuates each week according to the number of castles a player holds. Certain events deplete legitimacy like force marches and lost battles. Recruitment meanwhile is a function of a daimyo's control over key production areas. Objectives (enemy units castles resources) exist all over the map.The initial setup is variable so the situation is always fresh. Concealed information (blocks and cards) lends additional uncertainty. In this way the game feels like the actual campaign.Blocks are large and stackable. Every unit on the board is visible at once and the strategic situation is comprehensible at a glance. Components use authentic clan designations and colors and have a Japanese feel.True to history the objectives (castles and economic centers) and forces (armies of allied daimyo) are dispersed. Support for one front means neglect for another. The player is pulled between competing priorities. Each side wonders where his opponent wants to fight and where he is unready. There is a great deal of bluff in the game.Each player must rally the several daimyo of his coalition managing the morale and motivation of each clan. The forces are dispersed and while there are reasons to unify them the objectives are also dispersed and the timeframe compact so skirmishing will occur all over the island.TIME SCALE 1 week per 2-player turns MAP SCALE Point to point UNIT SCALE One block = 5000 soldiers NUMBER OF PLAYERS 2COMPONENTS Mounted Map 119 wooden pieces 1 and 1/2 sticker sheets 110 cards Rulebook Two player aid cardsDESIGNER: Matthew Calkins MAP CARD & BLOCK ART: Mark Mahaffey(source: GMT website)
Volume IV in the Series: COIN (GMT) dives headlong into the momentous and complex battle for South Vietnam. A unique multi-faction treatment of the Vietnam War Fire in the Lake will take players on US heliborne sweeps of the jungle and Communist infiltration of the South and into inter-allied conferences Saigon politics interdiction of the Ho Chi Minh Trail air defense of Northern infrastructure graduated escalation and media war.Fire in the Lake features the same card-assisted counterinsurgency game system as GMT's Andean Abyss Cuba Libre and A Distant Plain with twists that take the Series to another level including:-- description from publisher
Pax Porfiriana – Latin for The Porfirian Peace – refers to the 33-year reign of dictator Porfirio Díaz who ruled Mexico with an iron hand until toppled by the 1910 Revolution.As a rich businessman (Hacendado) in the turbulent pre-revolutionary borderlands of the U.S. and Mexico players compete to build business empires of ranches mines rails troops and banks while subverting opponents with bandidos Native Americans and lawsuits. Each turn goes as follows:1. Action Phase: Perform three actions such as play new cards get new cards from the market speculate on cards in the market buy land or redeploy troops. 2. Discard Headlines: Remove any Headlines (i.e. cards with the Bull-Bear icon) that have reached the leftmost position in the Market. 3. Restore Market: Restore the Market to twelve cards. 4. Income Phase: Collect one gold per Income Extortion and Connection Cube in play. If Depression pay one gold for each card in play (includes Partners and Enterprises in your Row and all of your Troops).Four scoring cards (Toppling) are in the game and their effect depends on the current form of government. The government can change if troops are played and as a result of other cards. The form of government also influences different production values of the game such as how much mines produce. Players win by toppling Díaz either by coup succession revolution or annexation of Mexico by the U.S. If Díaz remains firmly seated at the end of the game then the player with the most gold wins.Pax Porfiriana includes 220 cards but only fifty cards (along with ten for each player) are used in a game so no two games will be the same!
The Roman Republic is coming to an end but not before a power struggle between Caesar and Pompey. Players will command their legions strategically deploying them to key battlegrounds to try and seize control of the provinces and become ruler of the republic.Players draw tokens from a bag to determine their starting forces and to replenish their losses. Players allocate their resources to each province gaining tactical advantages and vying for control of the republic.Three modules to expand the game are included: poison your opponent deploy powerful Centurions and use underhanded tactics to gain advantages in the Expansions of Rome.
Spain 1936: General Franco and his troops advance through the territories of Spain giving way to a long period of civil war and repression. After the Spanish Civil War a group of loyalists to the Republic continued the armed struggle forming resistance groups better known as Maquis. Hidden in the mountains these men and women risked their lives to defend the ideals of democracy and freedom.Fighting against them were the Army of Franco the Civil Guard and the Armed Police but the Maquis perfected their guerilla warfare in France during the second World War and were determined to take back their homeland. In the head of each Maquis resonated the echo of the desire of many compatriots: Resist!Resist! is a fast-playing card-driven solitaire game in which you take on the role of the Spanish Maquis fighting against the Francoist regime. Over a series of rounds you undertake increasingly difficult missions and completing missions earns you the points needed to win. Failing to defeat missions and enemies may cause you to lose. At the end of each round you must choose whether to end the resistance or risk it and take on another mission.At the beginning of the game you assemble a team of twelve Maquis which are represented by a deck of cards. At the heart of the game is the tension between keeping your Maquis concealed from Franco or revealing them to unlock their full potential. Unfortunately revealed Maquis are removed from your deck and you likely won't be able to use them for the rest of the game. While Resist! does have some minor deck-building elements it is primarily a deck-destruction game in which you have to manage your deck balancing the decision of defeating the immediate threat with trying to move on to the next mission.
The U.S. Civil War is a 2-player strategic-level war game of the American Civil War. The game covers the entire war from 1861-65 on a large 30” x 44” map area (2 mounted maps) of the Southeastern United States. Turns represent 3 months during the winter and 2 months during the summer with four Action Phases to each turn.Military forces are represented by generals and strength-points (SPs). Each SP represents approximately 5,000 soldiers. Game mechanics stress strategy maneuver and leadership but details like ironclads naval battles leader promotions forts and commerce raiders are included.Shorter scenarios are included that cover just 1861 1862 and 1863.Players of Eric Lee Smith’s The Civil War (VG) and Mark Herman’s For the People (AH and GMT) will see many similarities between this game and those two benchmark games. Those two wonderful games inspired many of the rules and concepts used in this game.CONTENTS: • a rules booklet • Two mounted maps (30 x 44 play area) • Three die-cut counter sheets (9/16 playing pieces) • Two identical 11” x 17” Player Aid Cards • Three 8.5 x 11 scenario cards • One deck of 30 Special Action CardsTIME SCALE: 2-3 weeks per Phase; 4 Action Phase per turn MAP SCALE: 24 miles per hex UNIT SCALE: Each Strength Point = 5,000 men NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2DESIGNER & DEVELOPER: Mark Simonitch MAP ART: Mark Simonitch COUNTER & CARD ART: Mark Simonitch & Rodger B. MacGowan(source: GMT website)RULES FAQ
It's 1956 and waves of protest in Poland are once again showing cracks of the Eastern European communist bloc. Emboldened by these signs students and intellectuals in Budapest the Hungarian capital organize a protest of previously unseen magnitudes. As the communist leadership sweeps in to kill the movement in its tracks a violent response is provoked thus sparking the Revolution of the 23rd of October.One player takes charge of the Soviet forces trying to shape the headlines to his liking and uses the militia and snipers of the State Protection Authority to stop the revolutionaries at all cost. The other player(s) (from 1-3 opponents) co-operatively play as the ringleaders of the revolutionary forces collecting resources (represented as icons on their cards) and recruiting other fighters to ensure the revolution's events end up in favor of their side while fighting off tanks and soldiers in this exciting historically inspired card driven game.Days of Ire: Budapest 1956 is played over seven days — the last week of October 1956. The Soviet commander plays headline cards at the beginning of every turn gathering Command Points and triggering effects that sometimes help sometimes hinder the revolutionary effort. This card-play reminiscent of well-known card-driven wargames (CDG) such as Twilight Struggle or Labyrinth: War on Terror is what drives the tempo and the strategic thrust of the game. The other player(s) form the revolutionary side. They collect cards and fighters for two reasons: to resolve events for boosts to their side and to fight off militia snipers and Soviet tanks in a drastic fight for survival. They have to manage their positions while spreading across Budapest carefully dividing their actions as a team and always keeping an eye on their morale lest they run out of cards. This team-playing aspect — reminiscent of highly successful cooperative games such as Pandemic — guarantees ease of access to players who would otherwise be more intimidated by a traditional CDG.If any of the revolutionary ringleaders suffer too many wounds or if they fail to resolve enough events by the end of the game history changes and the revolution falls. But if they keep the streets of Budapest free from oppression the revolution lives on to fight another day.Historical Note: In real life the revolution succeeded and Hungary was free for less than a week. On the 4th of November the Soviet forces quickly recaptured the country but that is a subject for a different game...
In March of 1917 Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate the throne of Russia. In his place a conservative Provisional Government formed representing the official authority of the state. Opposed to the newly formed government stood the Petrograd Soviet an elected council of workers organized by socialist activists.Over the following months an internal struggle for power and influence would dominate the country and spark a social revolution. In this state of dual power or dvoevlastie charismatic and powerful leaders would rise with the tide of public dissatisfaction and change the course of Russian politics forever.In Dual Powers 1-2 players direct the forces on one side of this struggle through political action social maneuvering and military conflict. The player with greater support at the end of the game will shape Russia’s future and either launch or suppress the impending Civil War.—description from the publisher
(from the designer:)CRUSADE AND REVOLUTION: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 (C&R) is a card-driven point-to-point movement strategic-operational wargame that covers all the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Its rules are based on Ted Raicer’s Paths of Glory.Each player takes command of one of the sides (Nationalist or Republican) and looks after all the aspects that involve a war: mobilization recruitment movement of troops offensives construction of defences… There are also historical events that must be taken into consideration as the foreign military aid international policy change of Republican Government etc.[en Español:] CRUZADA Y REVOLUCIÓN. La Guerra Civil Española 1936-1939 (CyR) es un juego de guerra (wargame) a nivel estratégico-operacional con cartas y movimiento por zonas que simula la Guerra Civil Española (1936-1939). Sus reglas se basan en Paths of Glory de Ted Raicer.Cada jugador se pone al frente de uno de los dos bandos (Nacional o Republicano) y atiende todos los aspectos que implican una guerra: movilización reclutamiento movimiento de tropas ofensivas construcción de defensas… También hay eventos históricos que se deben tener en cuenta como la ayuda militar extranjera política internacional cambio del gobierno republicano etc.(from Compass Games website:)Crusade and Revolution (C&R) pulls together enjoyment playability and historical simulation. It uses the traditional card-driven system adapting it to the specific circumstances of the Spanish Civil War.Each player has his own deck of strategic cards which are the heart of the game and must make difficult choices on their use through-out the game. Each card has four possible uses but only one of them can be chosen each time the card is played! The possibilities are:Recreate a Historical Event: Each card shows a historical event that affected the course of the war. They include political military economic and even social events as well as the reinforcements that flowed to both sides through-out the war both from within Spain and from foreign powers Germany Italy and Russia. Conduct Operations: Each card has an operations value that is used for activating units on the game map for movement preparing fortifications or attacking. Strategic Redeployment (SR) of Troops: Each card has a Strategic Redeployment value that is used to move units great distances on the game map or to bring units out of Reserve to shore up a threatened flank. Replacement Points for Reforming Your Army: Each card has a Replacement Point value which is recorded and used for repairing damaged or rebuilding destroyed units at the end of the turn.The greater impact the historical event of a card has on the game the greater its Operations SR and Replacements value. As such a player is often faced with a dilemma while playing each card: use an important event launch an offensive in a vulnerable zone move units from one front to other or accumulate replacements to recover from losses? Combine this with Combat cards that bring tactical benefits and a player faces has a myriad of choices with each and every card.A complete C&R game is divided into three phases which illustrate the evolution of the Spanish Civil War and introduce new strategic cards:The War of the Columns phase begins with the outbreak of war and finishes in February 1937. During this phase only “small units” are used because both sides had limited combatants almost all grouped in irregular units - called “columns”- that operated across large poorly garrisoned fronts. The best of these “small units” are the Nationalist African Army regular army units – brought to the Spanish mainland from Morocco by Franco at the outbreak of the war. These units are strong but brittle as they cannot be replaced or replenished with Replacement Points.The Mobilization phase lasts from March 1937 to February 1938. During this period the two sides realized that the war would not be over quickly and began to mobilize their human and material resources to form regular armies. The players deploy their first “large units” (army corps) and large battles erupt across Spain.The War of the Armies phase begins in March 1938 and lasts until the end of the war in April 1939. During this time the Nationalists tried to force the enemy’s unconditional surrender while the Republic fought desperately to resist and prolong the Spanish Civil War so that it might merge with the threatening Second World War which could be seen looming in the horizon.Take command of your forces! Marshall international aid and intervention to your side! But take care...for your opponent is doing the same and while you may be planning on achieving a quick victory you never know what a game of Crusade and Revolution may bring!Time Scale: 1 turn = Two months (1 month during the first 4 turns of the game) Map Scale: 1 space = approximately 60 kilometres (37 miles) Unit Scale: (Small Units) from Irregular columns to divisions. (Large Units) From reinforced divisions to army corps. Players: 2 Playing Time: Small Scenarios: 3-4 hours Full Campaign: 8+ hoursComponents: One 22 by 34 map 110 Strategy Cards 176 5/8 diecut counters 280 1/2 diecut counters One Rulebook One Playbook Four Player Aid Cards Two six-sided diceDesigner: David Gómez Relloso Developer: Kevin Bernatz Artist: Nicolás Eskubi Ugalde
Winston Churchill once said - The Balkans produce more history than they can consume. And the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina showed just that. The war that erupted in the spring of 1992 brought bitter fighting indiscriminate shelling of civilians and a wave of atrocities. The war was fought by: three local ethnic groups (Bosniaks Serbs and Croats) paramilitary formations from Serbia and Krajina Croatian armed forces foreign Muslim volunteers UN peacekeepers and NATO airforce. Events such as the Siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre became iconic of the conflict as the war became the single most important historical event in Balkans since the WW2. And still - it's objective history has yet to be written.Brotherhood & Unity is a 2-3 player card driven wargame which depicts the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992-1995 (Bosnian War). The game shows all of the major events: from the siege of Sarajevo (shown in separate detailed map) to the ferocious battles for the Posavina corridore and desperate defence of the Bosniak enclaves. Main features are: Point-To-Point movement system play driven by Strategy Cards quick combat resolution (no CRT) streamlined rules and fast gameplay. Interaction between warring sides (Bosniaks Serbs and Croats) creates an intensive and exciting gameplay experience.Player's military strength fluctuates based on historical facts with Serbs starting superior in all aspects and Bosniaks struggling to organize an effective fighting formation. Military units represent Brigades - standard military formations of the time ranging from 1500-2000 soldiers. They have different combat and movement values (based on historical data) which forces players to use different tactics for different opponents. Majority of these units are non-motorized infantry formations (moving only several spaces per round) but with the use of special offensive cards players can increase their mobility and surprise the opponents.The game simulates three distinct sides in the war: Bosniaks Serbs and Croats - with no clear border separating them. That provides an interesting set of choices to players: to attack or to fortify whom to ally with and when to change sides. That leads to many turnarounds and pragmatical alliances with former enemies - as was historically the case.Each player gets a deck of Strategy Cards simulating a variety of historical events. The player starts an action round by playing a Strategy Card from his hand. A card can be played as an event (Combat Card Offensive Interrupt Foreign Units and Other) or as one of the game actions (Movement Attack Strategic Redeployment Diplomatic Action or Reinforcement). The events and card values have been carefully created to mimic the historical events and choices. Since each game uses only a part of the available card deck players can't be certain which cards will be drawn during the game. That creates a card fog-of-war and makes the game more replayable.Game uses Strategic Will point system to keep track of the victories and losses and to determine the final score. It is affected by a number of things: capturing or losing regions capturing or losing key spaces eliminating or losing units and as a result of events. One of the most important aspects of the game is capturing player's own key regions - which were different for each side and which reflects the different aims the each side had.The Foreign Attitude is another major track in the game which represents the diplomatic stance of foreign powers (European countries USA Russia and UN) towards a player. It is affected by capturing cities (thus creating refugee crisis) and as a result of events and generally represents a player's international reputation. When it reaches certain levels negative effects occur - from reduction of movement to NATO air strikes to even losing the game.The game enables player to invite United Nations to create UN Safe Areas thus giving a player some kind of protection from being overrun. NATO Air Strike happens when players overreach themselves capturing too many cities too quickly thus creating a major refugee crisis and media outcry. Without careful diplomatic balancing the greatest offensive can thus be derailed and bring a player to the brink of destruction.Supplies are scarce and can be cut-off thus starving and eventually eliminating the unsupplied units. Combat results are easy to calculate and are based on unit attack and defence values modified by terrain and die roll results (no CRT is used). Rules are streamlined to reduce clutter and unnecessary actions which enables a fast gameplay - the full game is usually played in bit over two hours.The name Brotherhood and Unity“ comes from a socialist Yugoslavia doctrine created to inspire unity between 7 nations from which Yugoslavia was created. It was also a main motto behind the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina – nicknamed „Small Yugoslavia“ due to its ethnical cultural and religious diversity. The irony is that when B&H got engulfed in a war there was neither brotherhood nor unity to be found .. what followed was four years of bloody warfare. It remains to be seen will B&H rise above the legacy of The War and reach (or surpass) the prosperity it enjoyed during a socialist Yugoslavia.Product Information:Complexity: 5 out of 10 Solitaire suitability: 5 out of 10 Time Scale: 1 year per turn 2 months per action round Map Scale: Point-to-point strategic level Unit Scale: Brigades Number of Players: 2 to 3 Suitability for Solitaire: Medium Average Time to Play: 2 to 3 hoursComponents:1 22x34 Mounted Map 260 9/16 Counters 96 Strategy cards (in 3 decks: Serbian Croatian and Bosniak) 3 Player aid cards 1 Rulebook 1 Ten-sided die 1 Box and lid set
WWI has ended but the battle for democracy has just begun. Communist movements have sprung up throughout Europe. Trotsky Lenin and Stalin plan to blast through Poland in order to support the red revolutions in Germany France and England. Only the armies of Poland stand in the way of the Bolshevik tide. Strike of the Eagle models the battles and historical events of the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1920.To simulate the tension of the era from the fog of war players alternate placing secret orders on their armies in order to bluff mislead and misdirect their opponents. These concealed orders make it difficult to deduce an opponent's plans and are used to hide a player's true intentions and objectives. Players then reveal and resolve the issued orders. They can then disrupt their opponent's moves cut off supply and much more. Once orders are resolved the next turn begins.Units are represented by wooden blocks. Battles are fought with no dice but with a simple and quick combat system.Action cards are pivotal to the game in that they allow players to either modify how many orders they may issue add army reinforcements or modify a battle's resolution.[...]Strike of the Eagle includes several scenarios for 2-4 players. Some are short games that can be played in an hour up to the full campaign that can last several hours.The map portrays a portion of Eastern Europe in 1920. It is divided into areas that are named after local cities to simplify scenario setups. Along the outer edge of the map is a grid to help find areas during game setup. Each area name is followed by its grid location. The map is divided into two fronts; the northern and the southern. The front line is designated by a yellow line that runs from east to west. In 4 player scenarios each allied player commands blocks on one front only. If a block of one player crosses the line between fronts it moves to the control of his ally at the beginning of the next Operation Phase.The Fog of War series is a card driven game where Divisions and Brigades are represented as blocks. These blocks stand upright during the game to prevent opponents from knowing their strength or unit type and can only be revealed during combat or through Recon Area orders given during each Operation Phase.Strike of the Eagle is divided into a number of Rounds each Round being subdivided into a number of identical phases. The Round Phase Track marks the game's progression. Each round is divided into the Replenish Cards Phase five identical Operation Phases and a Reinforcement Phase. Each side has a pool of order counters to draw from. These order counters represent the various types of orders each unit or group may be given. These orders which range from Forced Marches to Reconnaissance actions allow the player to strategically manouver his Divisions and Brigades. Orders are placed face down leading to guesswork and strategic anticipation on the part of your opponent!The sequence of placing and executing orders is determined by the player(s) with the higher initiative. Each front has its own initiative track. Initiative is gained and lost as the game progresses. Whether to place first or second is an important strategic element of the game!Strike of the Eagle is a card driven game. Each card is broken up into a number of different parts and each card can be played for either its event as listed in the body of the card to increase the number of orders available in a phase (uppermost left) for the combat value on the card (uppermost right) or for reinforcements (lowermost left).Supply is important in Stike of the Eagle. If units are out of supply they will fight less well take much greater losses and lose the advantage of any Garrison which might be located at their city.(from Academy Games website)
A States of Siege (TM) game.This solitaire game suitable for group and classroom cooperative game play tells the story of the English Civil Wars (1640-53) through its key events and decision points. You attempt to stop the advance of four armies bent on destroying Parliament and Puritanism whom you represent; simply holding on to London is not enough.Each of the three English Civil Wars are replayed through the use of separate card decks that recreate the historical military and political events that could spell doom to the Parliamentarian forces. There are civil wars going on not just in England but in Scotland and Ireland too; and each will have varying impact on the play of the game at different times.The title comes from the purported response to the beheading of King Charles by his implacable foe Oliver Cromwell who remarked that this act of regicide was a “cruel necessity.”Note: Cruel Necessity is our first Gold Banner wargame to exclude a mounted map inside. Because of all the gameplay real estate in Cruel Necessity mounting the boards using our print-on-demand publishing model would have raised the Retail Price to $55.00 (i.e. a $15 increase) and that just seemed like too much. We hope our vaunted wargame customers can soldier on with our sturdy paper maps as the great wargames of yore have long provided.What's in the box:• One full color 22-page Rulebook (Designer's Notes included) • One 22” x 17” paper game map (in two sections) • One 11” x 17” Battle Display Mat • 75 cards • 98 thick two-sided multi-shaped game pieces • One 2-sided player aid • One blue (Parliamentary) 6-sided die • One red (Royalist) 6-sided die • One bright red 9 x 11 7/8 Deluxe cardboard VPG game box • One beautiful box cover sleeve • One Wipes-A-Lot napkin • One charcoal desiccant packet
The Commands & Colors: Samurai Battles wargame rules allow players to portray important engagements of Japanese history. The battles included in the scenario booklet focus on the historical deployment of forces and important terrain features in scale with the game system. The scale of the game is flexible and varies from battle to battle. For some scenarios an infantry unit may represent an entire clan of soldiers while in other scenarios a unit may represent just a few brave warriors.—description from the publisher
The year is 1917. Russia’s Tsar Nicholas II has abdicated and Russia slides toward an ever deepening internal crisis. On the western edge of the vast Russian Empire the uncertainty in Russia is giving rise to a power vacuum in the semi-autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. For many across the Finnish political spectrum the turmoil in Russia looks like an opportunity to fulfill the dream of Finnish national independence. Yet the competing factions are unable to agree on a common political vision for the country. By January 1918 a bloody civil war will have broken out in Finland.All Bridges Burning recreates the political and military affairs of the Finnish civil war in a new COIN System volume for three players. The Reds seek to stage a working class revolt and then hold onto their gains while the White Senate forces seek to reassert control. A third non-violent Social Democratic faction fights for the survival of moderate leftism and political reform. All three factions must keep the national sentiment conciliatory enough for a post-conflict settlement and national independence. In addition the non-player powers of Germany and Russia offer military assistance to the Senate and the Reds respectively. Excessive foreign involvement however could quash the dream of Finnish independence and prompt a collective loss of all three player factions. Historical events asymmetrical action menus as well as extensive historical design notes familiarize the players with the historical period.A unique sequence of play for three factions poses players –whether veteran or new to the COIN Series– fresh challenges in selecting from the asymmetric commands and special activities. The Reds will find themselves needing to split time and resources between competing tasks of solidifying the Red revolt by creating working organs of civilian administration on the one hand and fighting an increasingly desperate war against a far more powerful enemy on the other. The White Senate faction in contrast has a more traditional war to fight. The Senate will want to enhance their military performance by capabilities such as armored trains cannons as well as the Finnish German-trained 27th Jaeger Battalion. Meanwhile the Social Democrats will be focused on building and maintaining underground networks of information distributing news across the fronts and advancing a stagnating political process while fending off retributions from the two warring factions.A simple but effective card-driven non-player system enables the game to be played solitaire as well as in a two-player mode. The structure of the sequence of play the character of the commands and special activities in the game the smaller number of players and compact size combine to enable All Bridges Burning to play fast. The solitaire system has been designed to preserve that speed and fluidity of play.—description from the publisher
In Magnificent Style: Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg is a Solitaire-only Tactical level board-wargame depicting the final desperate Confederate attack on 3 July 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg popularly known as Pickett’s Charge. As General Longstreet you must decide how quickly to press your troops across this deadly open ground before allowing the men to regroup for another bound. But time is not on your side and the longer your stalwart soldiers remain in this maelstrom of enemy fire.. the more dangerous it becomes and the less likely they will arrive with the verve and numbers required to carry the day.With only five turns in which to reach your objective and attack how far can you push your luck? Your options are simple: Death or Glory!Game Data:Complexity: 3 on a 9 scale Solitaire Suitability: 9 on a 9 scale Scale: Each turn is approx. 10 minutes of real timeGame Components:• One color Rules sheet (some come with a rule book with 18 pages) • 11 x 17 map • 1 Player Aid sheet • 45 double-sided 1/2 round small troop markers • 28 double-sided 5/8 round large troop markers • 20 double-sided 1/2 square counters
Hearts and Minds: Vietnam 1965-1975 (Third Edition) is an uncomplicated approach to a very complicated conflict. Eight scenarios introduce players to U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia including a scenario after the US withdrew from Vietnam a full campaign scenario as well as high solitaire capability. Players appreciate the ability to start in any year of the war they wish and fight to the end of any other year of the war. The game provides a comprehensive historical approach using mechanics that include guerrilla warfare faction differentiation political turmoil and veteran advantages. This design has already been used as a successful teaching tool.This is a card-driven area-based design with low counter density and a much simplified combat system. Each scenario represents a year and players have the flexibility of starting in any year of the war and ending in any later year of the war. Players choose either the Allies (US ARVN Cambodian and Laotian) or Communist (NVA VC Cambodian and Laotian) Players engage in guerrilla warfare – VC units remain hidden until engaged. VC units may be simple units or reinforced units or simply false information. When determined to be false information players roll on the Bush Events Table which involve events from discovering Chinese troops to the arrival of USO shows featuring John Wayne and Bob Hope.This edition involves the use of three card decks A red deck (communist) a blue deck (Allied) and a black deck (interchangeable). Prior to every game half of the black deck is shuffled into each of the red and blue decks ensuring a different game every time. Cards indicate the amount of RPs (Resource Points) that may be spent or banked a historic situation and its game effects. Certain cards are year specific. Within each Red and Blue Deck are a number of Campaign cards that may be chosen by each player allowing increased abilities but only in a predetermined area.The game does not ignore political ramifications. Card events cover mass protests in the U.S. and more significantly the instability of the South Vietnamese government. The Allied player controls more firepower but must walk a tightrope between U.S. and ARVN (South Vietnamese) casualties. Too many U.S. casualties leads to a rapid rise in Communist morale. Too many ARVN casualties will result in a coup which has major strategic advantages for the Communist Player. While in Cambodia and Laos the destruction of all government forces means the fall of those governments. Throughout the game both sides jockey for the “Hearts and Minds” in each province. Political Control determines the availability and expansion of VC influence.Hearts and Minds Third Edition offers players an easier to follow rulebook with simpler victory conditions. Also included: tested solitaire rules and a separate solitaire player aide; a premium mounted map that includes all of the charts necessary to play the game; full-sized poker quality card deck; standard playing dice and a new artistic approach to factional units.Product InformationComplexity: Low to Medium (4 out of 10) Solitaire suitability: Medium to high (7 out of 10) Time Scale: Each scenario represents one year. The campaign game covers 8-10 years. Map Scale: The Map is divided into provincial areas indicating major cities and US major bases Unit Scale: Units are abstract and represent US ARVN NVA VC Cambodian and Laotian Players: Two Player game (Solitaire friendly) Playing Time: 45 minutes or less per scenario Designer: John Poniske Original Developer: Stan Hilinski Solitaire Developer: David WessmanComponents: 24 page rule/scenario book Solitaire Player Aid Three Counter sheets (3/4” Counters) 22” x 33” Mounted Map 80 Standard Playing Cards (27 Red/27 Blue/ 28 black) Two 6-sided dice (1 Red/1Blue) One box and lid set-from the publisher's website
Description from the publisher:Fort Sumter is a two-player Card Driven Game (CDG) portraying the 1860 secession crisis that led to the bombardment of Fort Sumter and the American Civil War. Fort Sumter is a small footprint game (11x17” mounted map) that takes approximately 25-40 minutes to play. The game pits a Unionist versus a Secessionist player. Each player uses the area control mechanic pioneered in Mark Herman's We The People design and immortalized in Twilight Struggle to place move and remove political capital. The location of political capital determines who controls each of the four crisis dimensions (Political Secession Public Opinion and Armaments). After three rounds of play the game culminates in a Final Crisis confrontation to determine the winner.The heart of the Fort Sumter design is Mark's CDG system where you use Strategy cards for their value or historic event to acquire political capital from the crisis track. Political capital tokens are used to compete for control of the twelve map spaces. Here the likes of William Lloyd Garrison Sam Houston Jefferson Davis and Harriet Beecher Stowe walk on stage while the Southern states dissolve the Union.The twelve map spaces are grouped into the four dimensions of the crisis. You gain a victory point each round that you control a dimension’s three spaces. For example the Armaments dimension is characterized by Federal Arsenals Fort Pickens and of course Fort Sumter. In addition each round you score a victory point for controlling your secret objective space. But beware; either player can score active objective spaces. At the end of the dual Presidential inaugurations (round three) a new Final Crisis mechanic drives the game to its hotly contested conclusion.Utilizing a new Final Crisis Series mechanic you may accelerate the crisis by breaching zones (escalation tension final crisis) that yield bonus political capital. However beware as the first person to breach the final crisis zone gains political advantage yet loses victory point ground. Each game ends with a Final Crisis where cards set-aside during the three rounds complete your final political maneuvers that determine the winner.
Death Valley: Battles for the Shenandoah is the seventh installment of the Great Battles of the American Civil War (GBACW) series published by GMT Games.Death Valley: Battles for the Shenandoah contains eight battle games with multiple scenarios. They range from division level contests on half sized maps to two map battles between armies. Experienced players will be able to play many of the scenarios in one sitting. The rules compare the development of the cavalry and the changes in infantry and artillery organization and tactics in 1862 and 1864.The Great Battles of the American Civil War Series:This series is one of the hobby’s longest-lived design concepts springing from the legendary regimental level Gettysburg game – Terrible Swift Sword (SPI) – designed by Richard Berg in 1976. Under GMT the rules system has remained stable but has shown remarkable flexibility to allow each game to smoothly incorporate additional rules to reflect the historical battles. The series relies on interactive chit-pull mechanics to simulate the oftentimes-chaotic nature of the 19th Century battlefield at the regimental level.Changes have been made to the series rules for Death Valley in order to enhance their clarity and simulation value. Veteran players will find the revised rules to be very familiar with the main differences being in the user-friendliness of the rulebook as well as how the game feels especially for players versed in Civil War tactics.TIME SCALE: Each Turn = 1 Hour MAP SCALE: 145 Yards Per Hex with 25-Foot Elevations UNIT SCALE: 50 Men or 1 Cannon per Strength Pointdescription from GMT website
- Aroha Thompson Red Dust spokesperson and Mining Union organizer.Red Dust Rebellion is volume XII of GMT's acclaimed COIN Series and tells the story of the Martian revolts of the 2250s and the rise of Martian nationalism.—description from the publisher
Stonewall's Sword: The Battle of Cedar Mountain is a two-player wargame on The Battle of Cedar Mountain August 9th 1862. One player commands Thomas Stonewall Jackson's Confederate troops and the other controls Nathaniel Banks' Union troops.Players win by controlling key areas of the map and by earning victory points by eliminating enemy units. There are two scenarios available each with their own victory conditions length and aspect of the battle that is focused on.Stonewall's Sword: The Battle of Cedar Mountain also features the Blind Swords chit-pull system which emphasizes the three “FOW’s” of military conflict: fog-of-war friction-of-war and fortunes-of-war. With each chit pull players will be challenged to make tough decisions based on their assessment of the current situation. Unlike traditional chit-pull mechanisms the Blind Swords system ensures that no combat units can be counted on or conversely counted out. This yields an environment of tense action and constant surprises – an environment that will challenge each player.Charles Kibler created the artwork for the counters and Rick Barber is the artist for the map.
Right-wing Army Generals have rebelled against the Spanish Republic aided by Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy! To save Spain three factions - Anarchists Communists and Moderates - must put aside their differences and forge an anti-fascist alliance. But can you trust your allies when your agendas are directly opposed?Every turn the Fascists will launch attacks on the 4 Fronts and one Front will be particularly tested. Players will be rewarded for their teamwork in repelling those Attacks but certain strategic defeats can be even more rewarding.Players choose to play their cards either for the unique Events or add them to their Tableaus building for more powerful turns in the future. Each player has 2 tracks to maximize triggering bonuses and potentially earning Medallions which give immediate boosts or permanent upgrades.Initiative will be held by the faction that controls the Government unless the Anarchist Revolution is even more powerful. At the end of every turn the Initiative player gets to add one of their tokens to the bag of Glory. When each of the 3 years comes to an end tokens will be drawn from the bag to add to the final score. If the war is won by holding 3 out of 4 Fronts for the Republic whichever faction has the most Glory will win the game. If the war against the Fascists is lost… 40 years of dictatorship await with death imprisonment or exile the only choices remaining.-description from designer
Chancellorsville 1863 is a card-driven game on the American Civil War Battle of Chancellorsville. Playable by 1 to 2 players in 1 hour the game comes with a card-driven solitaire engine. Designed by Maurice Suckling (designer of Freeman's Farm 1777) the game uses many of the concepts from that game. However added hidden movement much more maneuver and other design tweaks make this a truly unique game.Each turn players will play 1 of their 3 in-hand formation cards to maneuver or attack enemy forces gaining momentum cubes based on the formation activated. Each formation is a Confederate division or Union corps. Each formation card will allow a major and possibly an additional minor activation major allowing two moves for a formation while the minor allows one move. After each formation moves combat can occur if a move ends in a location with an enemy formation. Tactic cards may be played during the formation's activation giving it movement or combat bonuses.At the end of the formation card activation players may spend their momentum cubes to buy tactics cards which may give them benefits in combat or movement in future turns.Players then draw a new formation card refilling their hands to 3. Hooker Lee and Jackson have bonuses that can be played once a game adding to movement and combat.Victory is determined by destroying enemy formations through morale/strength loss or the Union occupying the three victory locations which represent cutting off the Confederate army from Richmond.Additional rules allow for fixed defensive positions Jackson's Flank March -- and even his death.—description from the publisher
Kingmaker: The Royal Re-Launch depicts the period of English history in the 15th century that became known as the Wars of the Roses. It is based on the premise that the powerful noble families used the Lancastrian and Yorkist royalty as pawns in a greater game for the control of the kingdom. Players manoeuvre Noble pieces representing the leaders of 24 major families in England and Wales in order to gain control over a Royal piece of their own while also eliminating rival Royal pieces and weakening their opponents. It is a game of political and military action and the ability to react to unforeseen events. You win by a combination of military political and diplomatic skills.There are four games in Kingmaker: The Royal Re-Launch:As a player you control a Faction consisting of one or more Nobles. Each Noble piece you play on the board has a corresponding Noble card which you display in your Faction space on the table. You can strengthen your Nobles with Titles Offices and other cards such as Bishops Mercenaries and Ships.At the beginning of your turn you draw a card from the Event deck and all players follow its instructions. During your turn you may move your Noble pieces fight battles and conduct sieges. You may also have the opportunity to call Parliament to gain the benefit of additional Titles and Offices and perhaps the chance to crown a new King. At the end of your turn you draw from the Crown deck which may enable you to add a new Noble to your Faction or increase the power of a Noble already in play.
Description from the publisher:This War Without an Enemy is a 2-player strategic block wargame funding for launched on Kickstarter on 21st January 2020. The game centres on the First English Civil War when the Royalist forces fighting for King Charles I were opposed by the English Parliamentarian troops and their Scottish allies the Covenanters in a struggle for political economic and religious control of England.The game engine will be familiar to anyone who has played a card-driven block wargame but it adds a number of innovations in order to faithfully simulate both the warfare of the mid-17th century and the unique nature of this conflict that engulfed not only England but also Scotland and Ireland. The game features individual cards deck for each side two thirds of which contain events. The card decks are adjusted from year to year to reflect the historical progression of the war. The regional nature of much of the conflict is recreated using a system of Leader and Regional blocks as well as rules for regionally-based recruitment. The usual block game mechanics for field battles have been modified with special rules for artillery cavalry and infantry while a completely new system has been designed for storming and sieges.
The White Tribe is a unique SOLITAIRE game with military and political aspects. You play the White government of Rhodesia besieged by a Black guerilla army using your potent armed forces to hold it back while you try to persuade your colonialist voters to compromise and move to a system of Black majority rule. The balance of military and political factors makes for an intriguing and very different sort of game; you'll fight guerillas fight elections and even pass bills with the same level of tension! Advancing generous policy positions to win over African public opinion can endanger you with the European voters you depend on for power. At the same time you have to persuade foreign states that your reforms are moving forward -- they have different visions for Rhodesia than you do and they can bring you down with economic sanctions or military strikes. And looming over you are the unstable Portuguese whose empire in Mozambique is vital to your strategic safety! Your aim is to build a government based on justice and equality while holding off extremists on every side using all your military and political tools.—description from the publisher
from MMP's website:In September of 1862 after months of uninterrupted and spectacular successes Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virgina was poised to win the war.Lee has beaten back McClellan's Army of the Potomac from the gates of Richmond routed Pope's Army of Virginia and built a reputation of invincibility.Meanwhile Lincoln had already penned the Emancipation Proclamation which would recast the war from one of a political disagreement over Federal control to a moral crusade which just could not be argued away. He just needed a victory to cast the entire war in an a new strategic light.All could very well be decided by what happens in the western part of Maryland over a few days.McClellan fought Lee's army back to the banks of the Antietam creek near the town of Sharpsburg. There both armies stood to fight the bloodiest single day battle in American history. The final decision is in your hands.None but Heroes is a game about that terrible day. Players tackle each other head-on. Can you do better than McClellan? Can you fight McClellan off like Lee? The stakes couldn't be higher!None but Heroes is the first game in the new Line of Battle Series. While drawing on the lessons of over 20 years of ACW design work of its two ancestor series LoB represents the next generation of ACW game design. No stone was left unturned in making this system the best gaming experience possible. All the unit rosters and paperwork that interfered with the fighting is gone. The typical (and time consuming) multiple fire phases have all been integrated into movement so the action is non-stop.For the first time the rat fight feel of the ACW open battlefield comes alive. The historical units (generally regiments of infantry and batteries of cannon) actually show the combined arms interactions and tactics available at the time. Old hands will see the history in a new light as they explore the implications of more recent research.Representing many years of original research the game contains information not available anywhere else regarding the strength equipment location capabilities and order of battle of both armies. Extensive historical notes layout just some of the myriad of details included in the units scenarios and map.As one small example it explores the frequently overlooked Green units at the battle (units which have been in the army for a few weeks or even less). The Green units will make you look at McClellan's strength in a whole new way. This is a level of greenness well beyond the usual sense of not having been in combat yet. These are enthusiastic men but some of whom have not yet been taught to load their muskets.The Union player is only mildly inhibited by his McClellan persona; you can try a lot of different approaches to cutting the Rebels down to size. You are equipped with the same heavy guns and infantry with just as much grit and determination as he was.The Confederate player will need to use his thin forces wisely but cannot fail to counterattack as needed to blunt Union advances. You must use your troop's elan to make up for their limited numbers.The game features four two-map scenarios which allow players to pick up the action at various times during the day and the morning of the next. The ability to start play the day after the battle allows players a chance to explore the options available on that day. Each of the other three scenarios can alternatively be played as a two day campaign game.In addition to the large scenarios above there are four smaller scenarios involving only portions of one map. One is a very short learning scenario showing the charge of Hood's Texans into the Cornfield. The other three isolate key actions of the battle: The complete Cornfield fight the Battle for the Sunken Road and the final attack by Burnside to take Sharpsburg and the counterattack by A.P. Hill's Division.
Rebel Fury Volume I of the Civil War Heritage Series uses the low-complexity Gettysburg system featured in C3i #32. The Battles featured are Chickamauga Chattanooga Wilderness Spotsylvania Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg (solitaire).This design features a new system on Civil War combat akin to the old SPI Blue and Gray Quads. Each game in Rebel Fury is quick-set-up quick-playing and deeply interactive. The density of counters in each scenario is low allowing you to see and experience the big picture of the battle.Rebel Fury places you the player in the role of the Army Commander (Lee Burnside Hooker Bragg Rosecrans Grant). You maneuver your army to find the enemy’s flanks concentrate your forces for an attack and determine where to commit your artillery assets.Units are portrayed at the Infantry/Cavalry division level. The Civil War Heritage Series game system features a new Zone of Influence/Zone of Control mechanic that controls unit formation (March/Battle) based on their proximity to your opponent. As your units close with the enemy your forces naturally break into battle formation where they then maneuver the last distance to engage. Unlike most hex and counter wargames this system allows you total freedom to move units in any order multiple times unleashing the full range of historical tactics in a simple and clean format.—description from the publisherGame Scale: Game Turn: 12 hours Hex: 0.5 mile / 0.8 kilometer Units: Regiment to DivisionGame Inventory: Three 22 x 34 full color mapsheets Two dual-side printed countersheets (320 5/8 & 80 1/2 counters) One 24-page Rulebook One 24-page Playbook Two Player Aid TEC/CRT cards One Union Off-Map Display card One Game Turn Display card Two 10-sided dice One special 6-sided die Fifteen 4x4 Zip BagsSolitaire Playability: Medium Complexity Level: Medium-Low Players: 2 or more Playing Time: 1-2 hours
(from GMT website)
